Michael Mantler - Michael Mantler: Concertos [CD]

The Austrian-born trumpeter's new album features an "all star" line-up ranging from Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason to legendary jazz trombone giant Roswell Rudd. A new album by Michael Mantler is always an event, and Concertos is likewise special: it's the first album of new material by the trumpeter in eight years (since Hide And Seek, recorded 2000) and it features an exceptional line-up of soloists in the seven pieces. Besides Nick Mason and Roswell Rudd, the other star performers are Majella Stockhausen, new music pianist (and daughter of the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen); mallet percussion virtuoso Pedro Carneiro, who has recorded for ECM New Series with Erkki-Sven Tüür; guitarist Bjarne Roupé, key member of Mantler's Chamber Music and Songs Ensemble; jazz tenorist Bob Rockwell, respected bandleader in his own right (who has also played with everyone from Thad Jones to Tito Puente); and Michael Mantler himself - playing excellent, exciting trumpet. There's superb playing also by the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin under the direction of Roland Kluttig. It is music that connects to Mantler's distinguished history with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra in the 1960s – with the soloists now drawn from contemporary new music as well as jazz and rock, supported by a musically flexible classical chamber ensemble. Concertos was recorded in Berlin, New York and Pernes-les-Fontaines, between November 2007 and February 2008. Personnel: Michael Mantler (trumpet), Bjarne Roupé (guitar), Bob Rockwell (saxophone), Pedro Carneiro (marimba, vibraphone), Roswell Rudd (trombone), Majella Stockhausen (piano), Nick Mason (percussion), Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin; Roland Kluttig (conductor).