The reMission
Andy Milne and Unison
| Produced by: | Andy Milne |
| Executive Producer: | Andy Milne |
| Musicians: | Andy Milne – piano John Hébert – bass Clarence Penn – drums |
| All Compositions: Andy Milne Triborg Publishing – SESAC/GEMA Except Passion Dance – McCoy Tyner – Aisha Music Company – BMI Sad to Say – Benny Golson – Celedia Music – BMI |
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| Recorded by: | Max Ross & Mike Marciano @ Systems Two – Brooklyn, NY (April 22nd, 2019) |
| Mixed by: | Rich Breen @ Dogmatic Sound – Los Angeles, CA (October 2019) |
| Mastered by: | Graemme Brown @ Zen Mastering – Vancouver, BC (December 2019) |
| Graphic Design & Photography: | Jason Wood |
| Special Thanks: | Special Thanks to John & Clarence for your musical genius, generosity and friendship. I’m loving this journey with y’all. Thanks also to Systems Two, Rich Breen, Graemme Brown, Bruce Halliburton, Jason Wood, Charles Hairston, Andrew Cyrille, Ralph Alessi, Benoit Delbecq, Andrew Bishop, Ellen Rowe, Michael Gould, Robert Hurst, Ed Sarath, Bill Mays, Jennifer Pollard, Francois Zalacain, Lydia Liebman, Eric Alper, Gail Boyd, and as always, my family & my wife La Tanya. |
The reMission
For over a decade, musician friends have urged me to make a trio recording. Early in my career, I dabbled with trios, but I focused mainly on duos, quartets and quintets as I began to develop my voice as a composer and collaborator. In 2017, I faced a life changing health challenge, and I began to reflect on how this might influence a musical course change. The jazz pianist’s venerable formation stared me squarely in the eyes and I realized now was the time.
I need to thank my friends of 30 years, Benoît Delbecq and Ralph Alessi, for routinely dropping the trio hint. They are also responsible for introducing me to John Hébert — our musical rapport ironically set the stage for this group. When I moved to New York City in 1991, one of the things that struck me immediately was the variety of phenomenal drummers on the scene. As I began to think seriously about performing with a trio, one drummer kept coming to mind – Clarence Penn. He and I have known each other since we both moved to NYC but had never performed together. Every time I heard him perform, I found myself fixated by how his sound, time and finesse elevated whatever band with whom he was performing.
My vision for UNISON has evolved since our first performance in 2017. I’ve endeavored to go deeper into honoring my influences and collectively, we’ve been refining our musical interactions, although if I say so, I felt like we started off in a pretty magical place. Some of the music presented here was composed or arranged specifically for this trio, and some found a new home here. Originally, I imagined UNISON might perform mainly jazz standards, exploring the influences that formed my foundation and entrance into jazz (Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Ahmad Jamal.) Like the unexpected joys of an improvisational journey, our collective conversation guided our path towards the intersection of our combined sensibilities — joy, risk & trust. For now, here is where we live.
Andy Milne
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“With all the atonal intimacy and polyrhythmic history of piano trios past and present, …The reMission as of one this year’s finest recordings.”
AllAboutJazz.com |
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“A spirited reading of “Passion Dance”, one of McCoy Tyner’s finest compositions, is presented in opposition to the polished depiction given to Benny Golson’s “Sad to Say”. The two aforementioned pieces are the opener and closer of this journey, respectively. While the former has those pleasurable modal chords soaring over a magnetic groove, also swinging when convenient, the latter is rendered with some cautious restraint but also a strange magic. It’s jazz sculpted with art and melancholia.”
JazzTrail.com |