Credits:

Nik Bartsch

Description:

Swiss pianist/composer/conceptualist Nik Bartch, best known as the leader of Ronin and Mobile, makes his first solo album for ECM. This fascinating solo album, Entendre, offers a deep insight into Nik Bartch's musical thinking. As the album's title suggests, Entendre (French for "listen") is about hearing as a creative process, a reference to the patient development of Bartch's modular polymetric work. Nick's works numbered "modul" can be thought of as templates rather than fixed final compositions, which he calls "basic martial arts training that can be adapted to any situation." 'The way I work is to create a new context,' he says. Each piece plays with compositional, interpretive, and improvisational ideas, and can produce very surprising results while being nourished by the same forces," he said, which becomes clear from the opening. "Modul 58-12" combines "Modul 58" from the 2018 work "Awase" as Ronin and "Modul 12" from the 2016 work "Continuum" under the Mobile name to emotional and powerful effect It's an emotional and powerful effect. It evolved in that direction in the studio. It developed in that direction in the studio, it wasn't planned and we didn't expect it to develop that way. The combination of the two works may be more of an inner call than a coincidence.The album opens as an opening flight, beginning with a vivid celebration and moving toward emptiness, silence, and breathing space," he commented. He also emphasizes that this solo work is the result of collaboration, including years of study with Ronin and Mobile, and teamwork in the sessions themselves with producer Manfred Eicher and engineer Stefano Amerio. Manfred Eicher said, "Having Manfred listen and give me advice on how to approach and interpret the work was a very valuable experience. For example, he asked me about the connection to Gurdjieff's music in certain pieces and suggested that I try to play them in the same vein that I found when performing 'Modul 26. This feedback helped expand the overall listening experience in a very organic way," he also commented. This work was recorded at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano in September 2020 and produced by Manfred Eicher. 180g weight LP.[Personnel] Nik Bartsch (p)

Tracklisting:

1.Modul 58_12
2.Modul 55
3.Modul 26
4.Modul 13