Live at House of Music Hungary – Tabula Rasa Vol 1. [Pure DSD]

The Saxophone trio format has always been one dear to my heart and when I was approached by Attila and Ernő to play with them in the newly christened House of Music Hungary it was an opportunity I did not want to miss. Perhaps one of the many beautiful things about jazz is that musicians who have never met before can instantaneously create something special on their first encounter and this was certainly the case last March in Budapest. After a short afternoon rehearsal we shared a lovely debut concert which was captured to Pure DSD 256 Stereo by the team of Hunnia Records. For this evening we selected a mix of songs, old and new, which we treated in a very open and playful way. This is a Pure DSD 256 Stereo album. Available exclusively in its original recorded format of Pure DSD 256 Stereo, as well as Stereo DSD 512, DSD 128, and DSD 64. It is not available on SACD. Some brief words about the songs... Introduction: Wherever I roam on this good earth my Indian shruti box is always at hand and I love to use it to accompany the sax. In this introduction I start alone and am slowly joined by bass and drums to set the mood for the songs to follow. Piosenka Dla Stasia is a song I first heard by the Polish vocalist Anna Maria Jopek and right away it was one I felt I would love to transport into the trio format. I believe it was written for her son and it carries with it a heartfelt melody. Star Shepherd is an old favourite of mine with a modest attempt to transpose the acoustic illusion of shepard tones which seem to endlessly rise or fall into a jazz context. Precious Lord was the favourite song of Martin Luther King and has been recorded by countless stars in its history. The text was the first part of the song to catch me–it is a go-to song in times of need and we give it our own take this time. In Daylight Mourning was a song I wrote for the late pianist John Taylor. I still feel his beautiful presence close by each time I play it. Foolish is a ballad improvisation based off a well known standard. It still is one of the great ballads I love to play over. Evening Waltz for Mayflies is a delightful tune which Attila brought with him to the session. After we sightread it on the rehearsal we felt it fit into the set just perfectly. Too Marvelous for Words is simply one of my favourite standards and one I’ve always loved to blow over. An alternative title for this one could be “Blowing out the jazz cobwebs post-pandemic”. Our encore was the Sidney Bechet classic Si Tu Vois Ma Mère and simply reflects the fact I had been revisiting a lot of older classic recordings by this master during the several lockdowns of the previous year." Hayden Chisholm - Alto Saxophone, Shruti Box, Vocals Erno Hock - Double Bass Attila Gyarfas - Drums