The Names — Four Names and a Song (CD)
Tracklisting
1. Song for Angela Davis (Overdub Version) (20:02)
2. MA (Michelle Alexander) (15:52)
3. QT (Quentin Tollmieri) (11:04)
4. GMGS (Germaine Sijstermans) (10:01)
Format CD + insert (includes MP3 download)
Catalog Number EV012CD
Press Release (PDF)
About
From Matt Marble’s essay "Our Greater Potentials" which appears in the liner notes (included with purchase): “Four Names and a Song" is an encoded love letter addressed to a vital intersection — that of the traditions of AACM jazz and Cagean aleatoric composition, on the one hand, and that of racial injustice and white responsibility, on the other. Using his own musical cipher, Dutch composer and bassist Koen Nutters first translated the names of ensemble members and social justice icons into musical pitches. Each person's unique ‘melodic code’ then naturally gives rise to their own melodic and harmonic figures. In his arrangements Nutters also found inspiration from 1960s jazz harmony, which he abstracts into musical question marks. Chord progressions are slowed down into atmospheric textures suspended in parenthetical silences. Though the music takes on a disembodied character, it doesn't feel escapist. Almost ceremonial, it is more like the construction and adornment of an altar.” Marble goes on to say, “The music of The Names does not provide any solutions to the injustice they meditate upon, nor do they completely fulfill the white responsibility which Angela Davis suggests. But Four Names and a Song is a radical ambience in which to reflect on these powerful voices and on what that responsibility might entail.”
Credits
The Names in alphabetical order:
Sara Barbosa de Campos - speaking voice (3)
Seamus Cater - harmonica, speaking voice (1)
Heather Frasch - flute
Marielle Groven - violin, speaking voice (1)
Morten Joh - just intonation electric vibraphone
Carina Khorkhordina - trumpet
Jeroen Kimman - electric guitar (2)
Koen Nutters - acoustic guitar (1,3), upright bass, speaking voice (1)
Han-earl Park - electric guitar (4)
Gert-Jan Prins - percussion, voice
Germaine Sijstermans - clarinet
Aimée Theriot-Ramos - voice, cello, speaking voice (1)
Quentin Tolimieri - melodica
released April 1, 2022
Melodies, Frameworks, and Overdubs by Koen Nutters
Recorded by The Names
Mastered by Taku Unami
Words by Angela Davis (1), Michelle Alexander (2), and Audre Lorde (3)
Cover: Iris Kensmil - Angela Davis (Grey), gouache, 2021
Photos of The Names by Agata Guevara
Design, layout, and production by Jordan Dykstra
First printing by Atomic Disc in March 2022
© & ℗ Editions Verde, 2022
*** Free Digital Files
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