Marco Lucchi : piano, music box and synthesizers

12 marzo 2021

***

for the Naviar Haiku project
https://www.naviarrecords.com/2021/03/10/naviarhaiku375-the-long-long-river/

***

naganaga to
kawa hito suji ya
yuki no hara

Nozawa Bonchō

The long, long river
A single line
On the snowy plain

Marco Lucchi - Naganaga [Naviar Haiku # 375]

Song For The Growing Grass [sax & piano]

Onda Portante

Picture This is a heavenly slice of classic jazz arranging and performance. This endlessly gentle piece is filled with an indescribable yearning and a sense of resigned loss. Emotional and sensitive yet effortless to listen to, thanks to the thoughtful performances throughout. 

Citing influences from John Coltrane and Stan Getz to Pat Metheny, Mark Millington is an entirely new name to the UK jazz community but one with a wealth of knowledge and inspiration to bring to the table. 

Having started his early career touring internationally with groups like Misty In Roots and Kabbala and performing alongside artists like Hugh Masekela and Light of the World, a diversion into behind-the-scenes songwriting and then ultimately raising a family meant Mark didn't follow the path into Jazz that he maybe first imagined. So Picture This, his debut album, is a blessing and a dream come true for both him and us alike. 

Although Mark calls Coventry home his debut album was recorded in New York at the beginning of 2024. Mark's love for classic jazz, blues and bop connected him with American saxophonist and arranger Kenny Shanker culminating in a trip to play with Kenny's band in a small Brooklyn studio filled with vintage equipment perfect to capture this particular record. 

Recorded in its entirety in just 6 short hours, the music is a true expression of a lifetime dream and a work of energy and honesty.


Bustling with the drums and percussion of Ryan Fishler and Ernesto Marichales (Jordan Rakei), melodies delivered on saxophone and guitar by Mark Millington and Jackson Potter, special guests Nick Walters on trumpet (We Fall) and Ruta Sipola on flute (Matilda's Dance), all underpinned by the effervescent piano playing of Addison Frei and driving bass of Yoshi Waki.

Truth Be Told

Truth Be Told (Edit)

Etude 01 A Flat Minor

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5XPxpD330QwOEOOfmRZzwe
Buy: https://atlascedar.bandcamp.com/album/fool-ep

A song about climate change and our effect on the planet, its climate and our future. Inspired by a Nature paper about 'the trillionth tonne' of CO2 emissions, this song had/has a working title of 'Sonoma' and was originally about grapes 'withering on the vine'... I didn't realise that 'withering on the vine' is an expression about doing nothing while a problem gets worse and worse, which fits in very well with the subject of climate change.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08019
http://trillionthtonne.org/

This song is the 'twin' song of 'Fool' - both songs were written within 48 hours of each other back in May, and both songs were recorded and published online within 24 hours of each other... in August. Both songs were written and played using a bouzouki as opposed to a guitar.

Photography by Hasan Almasi (@hasanalmasi)on Unsplash.com

Music and lyrics by Atlas Cedar (c) 2019
Original improv: 16th May 2019
Recording: 24th August 2019

wither on the vine
poisoning the wine

the futures on the line
running out of time

what have we done
can't blame it on the sun
the time will come

beyond the trillionth tonne
planets going to burn
facing everyone
the barrel of a gun

too late now
can't blame it on the sun
the time will come

what have we done
don't blame it on the sun
the time will come

Beyond The Billionth Tonne

🎧 Listen on Spotify

Beyond The Trillionth Tonne

This track was made with sincere respect and the deepest admiration to Kraftwerk, some of the greatest pioneers of electronic music, without whom the modern musical landscape would have been very different.

Tour De France is without a doubt one of my favourite tracks of all time. At the age of 9 or 10, I bore sole responsibility for wrecking our VHS copy of Breakin’ (or ‘Breakdance - The Movie’ to give it its UK title), as I became transfixed and obsessed with Boogaloo Shrimp’s legendary broom scene and the astonishing music that accompanied it. Seriously, I rewound the shit out of that tape!

So, many years later, I still love it and have finally worked up the courage to attempt a re-imagining. Remixing such a classic proved to be an intimidating task, to the point that I barely used the original for reference for fear of being put off the job altogether.

I am aware that my version is in a different key and rather slow when compared to the original, but I just worked from my heart outwards and this is the result.

If you like this track, please hit the appropriate icons, leave a comment and maybe even share it with other likeminded electronic music enthusiasts.

Kraftwerk - Tour De France (Usul's retinax 5 remix)

Just This Side Of Glory

Scott Whitney-Fiddle, Alan Ingall-Accordion,Zach Schneider-Whistle,Hilary Dirlam-Banjo Guitar Bass

Wounded Hoosier Remix

Music by Robin
Vocals are a poem by Kyli Santiago

Wishes

wishes

I work better on writing individual songs if I'm working toward a larger specific concept. I don't think you could categorize this as a "concept album," per se, but there is a theme that connects all the pieces.

Something I've realized over time is that *the* concept - as vague as it may be - is almost always rooted in a single piece that acts like a key for the larger work. This always feels like a petite breakthrough moment, in a way - having a song that's the embodiment of a direction you want to go. 

For this album, this song is the key. I wanted to work in shifting tempos and time signatures, and to have lyrics that could almost turn back and evaluate themselves...something that balanced my normal cynicism with an openness to the world outside my own experience and understanding.

Snag, if you wish:
https://mayorofdonutville.bandcamp.com/album/perpendicularism

Perpendicularism

Statues

Minimal/contemporary improvising, playing piano and sax, electronics. Combining acoustic and electronic approaches. Working with poetry, theatre, soundtracks.

Song For The Growing Grass [sax & piano]

Rosmarino Baia

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