Tracklist:
01 - Hymn
02 - Douce dame jolie
03 - Saltarello
04 - Dame, se vous m'estes lointeinne
05 - Color
06 - Cantus Planus
07 - De fortune me doy pleindre et loer
08 - Bohemia
09 - Linea
10 - Introït
11 - Complainte- Tels rit au main qui au soir pleure

Samuel Blaser, trombone
Joachim Badenhorst, bass clarinet, clarinet, tenor saxophone
Drew Gress, double bass
Russ Lossing, piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer
Gerry Hemingway, drums, percussion

In their second release, celebrated Berlin-based Swiss trombonist’s Euro-American band find common ground between avant jazz and the sophisticated court music of medieval masters Machaut and Dufay.

Blaser takes a varied approach to the material, from faithful transcriptions to recompositions that freely adapt formal elements of the originals. The band members, long recognized for their contributions to jazz and beyond, play with a relaxed refinement that occasionally erupts in joyful abandon. Benoît Delbecq’s glowing audiophile production and Blaser’s colorful arrangements establish a continuity of mood and feeling that gives the record broad appeal. Blaser is ranked #7 on the Downbeat Critics Poll this year for trombone (August issue).