{"product_id":"sgl16273-the-snowghost-sessions","title":"The Snowghost Sessions","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003eStepping away from the tightly arranged compositions of Some Places Are Forever Afternoon, pianist-composer Wayne Horvitz, along with bassist Geoff Harper and percussionist Eric Eagle, performed a set of lightly-sketched pieces at SnowGhost Studio, Montana. The trio were recorded with audiophile Royer and Telefunken tube microphones, and the resulting sound could be described as audiophile super-realism subtly shaded by live electronics.\r\n\u003cem\u003e- Mark Werlin, AllAboutJazz\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\r\nIn the spring of 2015 \u003cstrong\u003eWayne Horvitz\u003c\/strong\u003e, with longtime Seattle collaborators \u003cstrong\u003eEric Eagle and Geoff Harper\u003c\/strong\u003e, spent most of a week in residence at SnowGhost Studios in Whitefish, Montana. SnowGhost is a state-of-the-art 21st century studio with great acoustic spaces, and a meticulously maintained Steinway B grand piano. Owner Brett Allen, who has a keen interest in experimental music, engineered the sessions. In exchange, at the end of the residency the trio gave an intimate private concert for Allen’s invited guests, a group of audiophile engineers and developers.\r\n\r\n\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Snowghost Sessions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is Horvitz’s first trio record since the 1980s. And his first piano\/keys-bass-drums record ever. Wayne describes the working vibe: \u003cem\u003e“I’ve never felt so free of expectations in the recording studio in my life. Whitefish is a quiet town in a beautiful place, and it’s easy to focus and leave the outside world behind. The sessions were relaxed, creative, and without a specific goal. We didn’t set out to make a record, we just set out to enjoy the process. I brought in a pile of tunes and sketches, including some chamber pieces from my installation 55: Music and Dance in Concrete, and we started making music. The only thing I knew was, I wanted to work with Eric and Geoff, and I wanted to find an organic marriage between the idea of a piano trio and some ideas I’d been exploring with amplified and processed piano.”\u003c\/em\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cem\u003e“It was one of those moments when you have a good musical feeling that leads to realizing these are people you want to get to know better, and dig a little deeper. We had played all sorts of gigs over the years, and Eric had played a lot of my music. I think everyone was excited to go in without a lot of plans, and even though they were my tunes, we really collaborated on the process. It’s a nice thing to not be beholden to a fixed outcome for a project. I wasn’t even sure it was something that would ever see the light of day, but when I heard the rough mixes I knew I had something. As for trios – I like trio formats – but mostly I have had trios that were collectives. The piano trio, in the jazz sense of that term, is daunting, there is such a history, and even as a leader I always approach things as a composer and a collaborator, and the traditional piano trio puts one in the position of “principal soloist,” which isn’t the part of music I am most excited about.”\u003c\/em\u003e\r\n\r\nMost tracks are live, including the processing, with minimal overdubs; a few pieces involve multiple keyboards. \u003cem\u003e“I also used my laptop, triggering samples mostly from the 55 project….For the electronics I just used old school pedals: 8 second delay, a tremolo pedal I love, a memory man, just garden variety stomp boxes…. Since electronics were involved it did leave a lot of options for how to mix. For example: do we keep the drums ‘natural’ or try to do something interesting with them in the mix.”\u003c\/em\u003e\r\n\r\nSome of the tunes do have an almost ambient feel, while others take the music into avant-jazz territory, but it’s mainly a subtle record of grace and beauty (Horvitz calls it “textural and contemplative”) – one that repays close listening.\r\n\r\n\u003chr\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cstrong\u003eWayne Horvitz, Piano, Amplified Piano, Live Processing, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Hammond B-3 Organ, Nord Lead, TX-7, \u0026amp; Mellotron\u003c\/strong\u003e\r\n\u003cstrong\u003eGeoff Harper, Contrabass\u003c\/strong\u003e\r\n\u003cstrong\u003eEric Eagle, Drums \u0026amp; Percussion\u003c\/strong\u003e","brand":"Songlines Recordings","offers":[{"title":"DSD 512 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":56741778751812,"sku":"SGL16273-21","price":35.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DSD 256 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":56741778784580,"sku":"SGL16273-16","price":29.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC 192 kHz \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":56741778817348,"sku":"SGL16273-6","price":20.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DSD 128 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":56741778850116,"sku":"SGL16273-15","price":25.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"WAV 96 kHz \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":56741778882884,"sku":"SGL16273-5","price":23.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DSD 64 \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":56741778915652,"sku":"SGL16273-14","price":23.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"DXD 24 Bit \/ 2ch Stereo","offer_id":57343140528452,"sku":"SGL16273-22","price":25.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/7900\/2436\/files\/SGL16273.jpg?v=1778502608","url":"https:\/\/www.nativedsd.com\/products\/sgl16273-the-snowghost-sessions","provider":"NativeDSD Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}