Jordina Millà & Barry Guy · ECM Records.
This live recording, from Munich’s Schwere Reiter hall, documents the debut concert performance by the duo of Catalan pianist Jordina Millà and British bassist Barry Guy. Together they they shape fluid, highly detailed music, of ever changing mood, and cast fresh light on the meaning and possibilities of “extended technique” in free improvisation.The musicians first crossed paths at Barcelona’s Mixtur Festival in 2017 where Guy was composer-in-residence, creating a piece together with a mixed festival ensemble of professionals and students. Millà, as one of the pianists in the group, immediately stood out for her “commitment, energy, virtuosity and creativity,” and a musical friendship was established.Guy and Millà went on to record a studio album together, String Fables, for the Polish label Fundacja Słuchaj in 2021. Live In Munich represents a major advance in its depth of sound and range of expression, with remarkable clarity even at moments of most intense activity.In characterizing their swirling, undulating sound, Jordina Millà draws analogies with the movements of the sea, “so full of life and dark at the same time, a change of light making the treasures and wonders visible.” In the duo, “heightened listening and sensibility allowed colours and sudden changes to be perceived, expressed and established in the musical discourse.”Barry Guy, renowned for his improvisational capacity to reveal the full sonorous potential of the double bass, is well-partnered here by Millà, who – in addition to her formidable keyboard skills – is opening up a new world of sound with her inventive explorations of the piano interior, drawing arresting textures and glistening harmonics from its harp of strings. “To work with these colours,” says Barry Guy, “is a great challenge and joy!”After studying classical and contemporary music in Rotterdam and Paris and playing in diverse chamber groups, Jordina Millà was guided towards the improvisers’ world by Agustì Fernandez, éminence grise of the Spanish free scene, who has been a mentor and a supporter of her work. Fernandez was quick to note the originality of Millà’s approach, writing in 2018: “We feel Jordina breathe through the piano. How does she manage to create dreamlike atmospheres, travel landscapes that are so suggestive and gorgeous, energetic and sweet at the same time…?”In addition to her work in improvisation, Jordina Millà is active in several dance and theatre projects, including Tide Mountains, a new collaboration with choreographers Roberta Legros and Julyen Hamilton.*Barry Guy has been at the forefront of creative music for more than 50 years. One of the so-called “first generation” of UK improvisers who established the language of free playing in Britain in the late 1960s, he has been active across the idioms in many roles – as soloist, chamber musician, baroque music performer, leader of the London Jazz Composer’s Orchestra and more. He has also held principal bass position in various orchestras including The Orchestra of St. John’s Smith Square, City of London Sinfonia, Monteverdi Orchestra, The Academy of Ancient Music, Kent Opera and The London Classical Players.His appearances on ECM include the album Folio with Guy’s compositions played by the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the duo album Ceremony with Maya Homburger, and his collaboration with the Hilliard Ensemble on A Hilliard Songbook. He can also be heard as a member of John Potter’s Dowland Project (In Darkness Let Me Dwell, Care-Calming Sleep,Night Sessions), the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble (Toward The Margins, DrawnInward, Memory Vision, The Moment’s Energy) and the Evan Parker/Roscoe Mitchell-led Transatlantic Art Ensemble (Boustrophedon, Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3). For Guy’s complete ECM discography: www.ecmrecords.comJordina Millà and Barry Guy return to Barcelona’s Mixtur Festival in October. For further dates and other background information, visit www.jordinamilla.com.Live In Munich was recorded by Zoro Babel, who previously appeared on ECM with Markus Stockhausen and Gary Peacock on Cosi Lontano…Quasi Dentro.
