Forever (American Bandstand) Wayne Horvitz

• 1 Ben´s Music 04:35
• 2 Prepaid Funeral 05:46
• 3 Love, Love, Love 04:45
• 4 Capricious Midnight 03:20
• 5 9 to 4 04:46
• 6 In the Ballroom 05:21
• 7 Forever 05:18
• 8 Disingenuous Firefight 05:15
• 9 Tired 05:27
• 10 Little Man 03:37
• 11 American Bandstand 05:05
• Total Runtime 53:15

Info for Forever (American Bandstand)

When Wayne Horvitz decided a few years ago to do a new piano record (the first leading his own group since 1987's Nine Below Zero with Butch Morris and Bobby Previte), he took his time until he found the combination of players that was just right. The wait was worth it: thanks to a great-sounding piano and studio, eleven of his distinctive tunes, and the members of his Hammond B-3 based group Zony Mash playing 'unplugged', the music shines. Foregrounding melody and harmony through the gently plangent voicings of the piano/guitar front line, concise solos, and thoughtful group interplay, the program sets a leisurely pace while evoking a range of styles and feelings. Impressionistic ballads that might recall Paul Bley, Ellington/Strayhorn, Debussy, or the wistful and piquant irony of Satie, blend with mid-tempo songs likewise steeped in the history of jazz, r&b/r&r, soul, funk, blues, gospel, and the avant-garde. A chamber-jazz homage to musical roots, Forever is an open-hearted yet serenely beautiful record.

Formed in 1999, Sweeter Than the Day began simply as the acoustic incarnation of Zony Mash. The band played a series of weekly shows at Seattle's Baltic Room, and quickly became Wayne Horvitz’s first piano-based ensemble in over 10 years, and one of Wayne's longest-running groups, as well as one of his favorites. Despite the shared personnel, the ensemble is quite distinct from the electric Zony Mash and the repertoire is almost entirely different. The band has toured throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Sweeter Than the Day also presents double bills with Robin Holcomb, where it serves as Robin's backup band.

Sweeter Than the Day recorded 2 CDs for Songlines: American Bandstand (now re-titled Forever) (2000) and Sweeter Than the Day (2002).

“Horvitz and co. tone things down a bit while pursuing refined elegance on delicately melodic and altogether stirring pieces such as 'Ben's Music' and the gently understated 'Tired'. Horvitz and guitarist Timothy Young continue their enticing blend of richly stated chord voicings and sonorous unison lines on 'Prepaid Funeral' as the pianist's well-placed chords and crisp delivery speak volumes. On this piece, the musicians turn up the heat as they pursue subtle dynamics and finger-snapping grooves via Horvitz' Texas roadhouse style piano articulations and Young's animated yet intentionally fragile picking and acute phraseology....From beginning to end the musicians allegorize personal sentiment without becoming morose or overly introspective...[a] wonderful recording.' (Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz)

Wayne Horvitz, Piano & Keyboards
Timothy Young, Guitars
Keith Lowe, Acoustic Bass
Andy Roth, Drums

Wayne Horvitz
took piano lessons briefly as a child. At 13, he received a few classical guitar lessons; he found the style unsuitable and quit. A year later, influenced by the records of blues pianist Otis Spann, he took up the piano again. From that point, he was largely self-taught. Horvitz made a name for himself in the '80s by playing with some of the leading lights on the downtown New York-based experimental/improv scene, including Bobby Previte, Butch Morris, Fred Frith, Elliott Sharp, and others. His most famous association was with saxophonist/composer John Zorn as a member of the latter's band, Naked City. Horvitz-led ensembles included the President, the Horvitz/Morris/Previte Trio, and Pigpen. By the mid-'90s, Horvitz had moved from New York to the Pacific Northwest; his primary band became the Seattle-based Zony Mash (Horvitz; Timothy Young, guitar; Keith Lowe, bass; Andy Roth, drums). Their organ-based, groove-oriented music incorporates some 'outside' elements, but largely avoids the avant-garde tendencies characteristic of Horvitz's New York work. Besides Zony Mash, Horvitz continues to perform in other contexts, leading the Four Plus One Ensemble (Horvitz; Eyvind Kang, violin; Julian Priester, trombone; Reggie Watts, keyboards; Tucker Martine, electronics and live processing) and Ponga (Horvitz; Bobby Previte, drums; Skerik, saxes; Dave Palmer, keyboards). Horvitz has also recorded for the Songlines, Knitting Factory, Elektra/Nonesuch, Sound Aspects, and Black Saint labels.

Guitarist Timothy Young has performed in Seattle rock bands The Scabs, Scallywags and Devilhead, and with Robin Holcomb, Eyvind Kang, Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Julian Priester, Michael White, Sam Rivers, and the Young Composers Collective (renamed the Degenerate Art Ensemble), with whom he helped create a live score for Fritz Lang1s Metropolis (available on CD). He also spent five years touring with Cambodian master musician Dr. Sam Ang Sam performing traditional Pin Peat repertoire.

Bassist Keith Lowe's early background is in symphonic music; more recent interests include the blues (the Duffy Bishop Band, Rod Cook's Toast), Louisiana blues-rock (Guano Bueno), and jazz and funk (Crack Sabbath, with Skerik, Leif Totusek, Ron Weinstein, and Mike Stone). He tours with Fiona Apple and Bill Frisell's Willies.

Drummer Andy Roth plays jazz, rock, funk, reggae... He has performed and recorded with Robin Holcomb, Bill Frisell, Jay Clayton, Jim Knapp, and the New York Composers Orchestra (West), and is a member of Seattle world-beat band The Groove.

This album contains no booklet.