Sunday, April 04, 2021

Ambient Trumpet: A Jazz-Colored Solitude — by Paul Asbury Seaman


Photo by Alex on Unsplash

Back in January Paul emailed me about an album called "Bardo Tank" by Ron Miles playing trumpet in The Tank in Colorado. That email started me off in search of tunes for what became my "Resonant Spaces" mix. Paul went a different direction and sought out tracks for an ambient trumpet mix.

The result is a great collection of tunes that span different styles and old to new, while still maintaining an ambient atmosphere. Here's what Paul says about this mix:

“No musical instrument, at least in the Western world, conveys anguish and melancholy as effectively as the trumpet. One can trace a direct line from Miles Davis’s tender and gut-wrenching solos to the jazz-colored ambience of ECM Records. The signature sound of this European label is both intimate and austere, as reflected in the lonely landscapes of their album covers. There’s a delicate grandeur in the tunes I’ve gathered here. Or sometimes, just the sound of solitude.

For me, the overall effect was surprisingly similar to the tranquil, meditative state evoked by the bell-tone mix I did last December.”

Thanks Paul, for another superb set.

Cheers!


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]


T R A C K L I S T :

  • 00:00    Arve Henriksen - Patient Zero (Towrds Language 2017)
  • 02:02    Paolo Fresu - Se Va La Murga (In Maggiore 2015)
  • 06:47    Alaskan Tapes - Leita(Ft. Ryan Svendsen) (Leita/North 2018)
  • 10:28    Nils Petter Molvaer - Puri Jati (Buoyancy 2016)
  • 14:00    Oystein Sevag - Miles Near (Link 1993)
  • 15:35    Jeff Oster - The Lotus Within (Reach 2018)
  • 22:27    Ron Miles - Pacem (Bardo Tank 2013)
  • 28:49    Miles Davis - The Pan Piper (Sketches of Spain 1960)
  • 32:27    Mark Isham - Tibet part II (Tibet 1989)
  • 36:14    Arve Henriksen - Migration (Cartography 2008)
  • 41:38    Ralph Towner & Paolo Fresu - The Sacred Place(reprise) (Chiaroscuro 2008)
  • 43:27    Matthew Halsall - Canopy & Stars (Salute to the Sun 2020)
  • 51:04    Ambrose Akinmusire - Roy (On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment 2020)
  • 53:26    Jon Hassell - Time And Place (Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street 2009)
  • 56:55    Matthew Halsall - Stories from India (Oneness 2019)
  • 65:09    Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Tale (Lontano 2006)
  • 68:54    end


4 comments:

rs in TO said...

It's been a long time since I've sent word, LowLight...this one is gold, for sure, but you've dropped so many great mixes over the last while...Golden Hour, Night Absolves, Stay Inside, Lighting Out for the Territories; all the great guest mixes and snow mixes, and the Harold Budd tribute...thanks so much for keeping us all sane and chill. best regards...

Anonymous said...

Fantastic!

The Interstellar Radio Station said...

We all should revere Paul Seaman for his musical taste and the excellent tracks he has brought to this blog to enrich us. However, can we let his "no western instrument but the trumpet" comment go unanswered? The violin and the cello are from western music, is he telling us a trumpet can express melancholy and give more us angst than those? Now perhaps if he qualified it to the instruments typically found in jazz ensembles, then maybe that statement could be viable.

A great mix concept demonstrating how a portion of the jazz spectrum gives us the sensation of ambience. Once again demonstrated, it is the "conceptual innovation" of the mixes of this blog that make it stand out among its peers.

Low Light Mixes said...

I'm glad everyone liked the mix. It's a nice departure from the usual ambient fare. Thanks to Paul for selecting the tracks. Cheers!