The Weekend Planet

Musically, one of 2008’s sadder events was Esbjörn Svensson’s unexpected death in June. The 44-year-old Swedish pianist led EST, one of the world’s best-loved jazz (and beyond) trios. He was alive and well when his compatriot Ulf Wakenius made and issued Love is Real, which sees one of the leading jazz (and beyond) guitarists explore Svensson’s compositions lovingly and imaginatively. Wakenius plays acoustic and electric guitars beautifully. He also deploys other players nicely - most especially a string quartet and three horn players, who each appear singly, once.

Ulf Wakenius site:
www.myspace.com/ulfwakenius

‘Times’ obituary for Esbjörn Svensson is here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4148652.ece

Playlist

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Details of each track are presented in the following order:
BROADCAST TIME
TRACK NUMBER AND TITLE
COMPOSER
PUBLISHING AND COPYRIGHT DETAILS
RECORDING COMPANY AND CD NUMBER
( distributor/ source details, in brackets like this, in lower-case)
ARTIST AND CD TITLE
Duration of track
Description of track, in lower-case.
Where relevant, further info links to information, gigs/events/related programs

’THE WEEKEND PLANET’ SUN 10.8. 08

2205
THEME:
(details below, as per the original CD.. This cut is also on these compilations Ketama - ’ Nuevos Medios Coleccion’ - Nuevos Medios NM 15 820
{ in Australia via MGM www.thegroovemerchants.com
worldwide, via: www.flamenco-world.com/noticias/nuevos.htm }
and ’ Jarabi - the best of Toumani Diabate’ (Hannibal 334352 )

CD CUT 1, ’JARABI’
TRAD, ARR TOUMANI DIABATE
HAMILCAR MUSIC LTD
HANNIBAL HNCD 1323
( in Australia, some releases through Stomp Enquiries to: ben@stomp.com.au
worldwide: www.rykodisc.com )
KETAMA, TOUMANI DIABATE, DANNY THOMPSON - ’SONGHAI’
THIRTY SECONDS (EXCERPT)
(retains a stately-Manding air, whilst also embracing flamenco elements. Toumani Diabate’s kora, Danny Thompson’s beautiful double bass and Ketama’ s flamenco guitars )

2207
CD CUT 1, ’SEVEN DAYS OF FALLING’
ESBJÖRN SVENSSON/ E.S.T, ARR BY ULF WAKENIUS
ACT PUBLISHING LTD
ACT MUSIC ACT 9459-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
ULF WAKENIUS - ’LOVE IS REAL’ (ULF WAKENIUS PLAYS THE MUSIC OF ESBJÖRN SVENSSON)
6: 36
( mostly-introspective, with many different aspects and textures, including discreet electronics. Ulf’s acoustic guitar is prominent, with elec guitar too, ac bass, piano and drums, then - five minutes in, enter trumpeter Till Brönner and this becomes a vehicle for his decidedly-Milesian muted trumpet. Ends with a pregnant coda from ac bassist Lars Danielsson. This was not intended as a ’posthumous salute’. The dedicatee/composer - the piano-playing leader of est - was alive and well when this CD was issued in Europe, a few months ago. Svensson died whilst scuba diving on June 14, 2008 )

SEGUE

2214
CD CUT 8, ’EIGHTHUNDRED STREETS BY FEET’
ESBJÖRN SVENSSON/ E.S.T
ACT PUBLISHING LTD
EMARCY 1706575
( through Universal Music )
E.S.T - ’TUESDAY WONDERLAND’’
6: 46
( cheerfully propulsive initially. It becomes more mysterious in latter part: the leader’s piano, Magnus Oström’s drums and Dan Bergland’s plucked and bowed double-bass, with all sorts of gizmos applied so his bass becomes an acoustic-electric-orchestra. Ulf’s version of this piece is the next track in this show, @ 2223 below )

2223
CD CUT 8, EIGHTHUNDRED STREETS BY FEET’
ESBJÖRN SVENSSON/ E.S.T, ARR BY ULF WAKENIUS, WITH STRINGS ARRANGED BY JOHANNES DICKBAUER
ACT PUBLISHING LTD
ACT MUSIC ACT 9459-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
ULF WAKENIUS - ’LOVE IS REAL’ (ULF WAKENIUS PLAYS THE MUSIC OF ESBJÖRN SVENSSON)
6: 21
( Also-propulsive, but very different version of the piece @ 2214 above. Begins with Ulf’s ac guitar alone, then involves a string quartet as something much more interesting than just ’add strings’. It’s the same quartet on this show’s next cut. I suspect that Johannes Dickbauer is the violin soloist )

SEGUE

2229
CD CUT 1, ’OPEN COUNTRY JOY’
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, ARR BY KLEMENS BITTMAN AND BERNIE MALLINGER
PUB NOT SPEC
ACT 9462-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
RADIO STRING QUARTET - ’CELEBRATING THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA’
3: 54
( For the most part, cheerfully restless. Also - especially latterly - has a wistful-melodious aspect and melody. String quartet - conventional kind - unconventionally deployed. The original was on 1973 Mahavishnu Ochestra LP, ’Birds of Fire’)

SEGUE

2233
CD CUT 11, ’VIATICUM’
ESBJÖRN SVENSSON/ E.S.T, ARR BY ULF WAKENIUS, WITH STRINGS ARRANGED BY BERNIE MALLINGER
ACT PUBLISHING LTD
ACT MUSIC ACT 9459-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
ULF WAKENIUS - ’LOVE IS REAL’ (ULF WAKENIUS PLAYS THE MUSIC OF ESBJÖRN SVENSSON)
6: 16
( the title refers to a rite - usually, Holy Communion - administered to one whose death is apparently imminent. The piece is suitably beautiful-but-dark, with lots of string-bending/tremolo-etude-ish ac guitar from Ulf, v intimate, post-Miles muted trumpet from Paolo Fresu, some most unusual deployment of a sometimes-processed string quartet { radio.string.quartet.} and - near the end - solemnly-plucked lead ac bass from Lars Danielsson )

2242
CD CUT 5, ’ULYSSES’
JAMIE OEHLERS, PAUL GRABOWSKY, DAVE BECK
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
JAZZHEAD HEAD091
( www.jazzhead.com )
JAMIE OEHLERS, PAUL GRABOWSKY, DAVE BECK - ’LOST AND FOUND’
11: 33
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: Mostly-powerful-insistent trio improvisation for Paul’s piano, Jamie’s tenor sax and Dave’s drums )

SEGUE

2253
CD CUT 6, ’GED A SHAEOL MI AIR M’ AINEOL’ ( ALTHOUGH I SAILED IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES )
TRAD, ARR JULIE FOWLIS, EAMON DOORLEY, IAIN MACDONALD
SONG IS PUBLIC DOMAIN. ARR NOT SPEC.
SPIT AND POLISH SPIT031
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
Worldwide: www.juliefowlis.com )
JULIE FOWLIS - ’MAR A THA MO CHRIDHE’ ( AS MY HEART IS )
3: 06
(Julie sings in Scots Gaelic with Eamon Doorley’s bouzouki, John McCusker’s fiddle, someone uncredited’s ac guitar and bodhran - possibly John Doyle and Martin O’Neill, respectively. Rolling-celebratory-seafaring song in persona of storms-surviving sailor. He looks forward to surprising his mother by returning home, alive )

2258
CD CUT 1, ’KYRIE ELEISON’
ACHILLES YIANGOULII, NICK TSIAVOS, ANTHONY SCHULZ (IMPROVISATION, BASED ON A TRAD BYZANTINE CHANT/PRAYER)
ANAN 006
( www.anankemusic.com
The trio’s CDs are available worldwide via www.indie-cds.com )
ANANKE - ’MAPS FOR LOSING ONESELF’
1: 00 ( excerpt )
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: An unusual instrumental trio: improvising on an ancient hymn/prayer. ’Ananke’ means ’necessity’ in Greek. Achilles Yiangoulli plays the bouzouki, Nick Tsiavos is the double-bassist, Anthony Schulz the accordionist.

ANANKE CD LAUNCH CONCERT ALERT (Melbourne)

Monday 18th August @ 8.00 pm
LaMama
Faraday St Carlton
enq: 0403 602 067 )

----
11 PM NEWS
----

2305
CD CUT 5, ’’O QUE SERA’
CHICO BUARQUE DE HOLLANDA
PUB NOT SPEC
STUNT STUCD 07182
( In Australia, through Australian Northern Europe Liaisons
www.henk.com.au
Worldwide: www.sundance.dk )
HANS ULRIK, STEVE SWALLOW, JONAS JOHANSEN TRIO - ’BELIEVE IN SPRING’
5: 37
(not to be confused with Doris Day! A flowing-lyrical, obviously-Brazilian song - here as an instrumental for four worldly jazzers. The core trio - Hans Ulrik on tenor sax, drummer Jonas Johansen’s drums and electric bassist Steve Swallow - has a guest on acoustic guitar: Ulf Wakenius )

2312
CD CUT 3, ’BELIEVE, BELEFT, BELOW (LOVE IS REAL)’
ESBJÖRN SVENSSON/ E.S.T, ARR BY ULF WAKENIUS
ACT PUBLISHING LTD
ACT MUSIC ACT 9459-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
ULF WAKENIUS - ’LOVE IS REAL’ (ULF WAKENIUS PLAYS THE MUSIC OF ESBJÖRN SVENSSON)
4: 26
( Ulf’s acoustic guitar with Lars Danielsson’s double bass and the brushes/cymbals of drummer Morten Lund - a spacious, pastoral-serene, hymnal-tinged ballad... not a million miles from Pat Metheny-land )

SEGUE

2316
CD (DISC ONE) CUT 2, ’THE RUBE THING’
E.S.T ( Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström )
ACT PUBLSHING LTD
ACT 2CD 6002-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
E.S.T. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) - ’E.S.T LIVE IN HAMBURG’
14: 05
(’live’ in November 2006. Begins with crystalline-open, overtly ’European’ solo piano from Esbjörn Svensson. It then erupts, becomes mostly jubilant-rhythmic-ecstatic. Wonderfully alive and inter-active performance, very well-recorded. Esbjorn gets in touch with his grooving-gospel side, Dan Berglund plucks up a storm and drummer Magnus Öström is very audibly ’not your typical jazz drummer’ )

2332
CD CUT 10, ’SHINING ON YOU’
ESBJÖRN SVENSSON/ EMRIK LARSSON. ARR BY ULF WAKENIUS
ACT PUBLISHING LTD
ACT MUSIC ACT 9459-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
ULF WAKENIUS - ’LOVE IS REAL’ (ULF WAKENIUS PLAYS THE MUSIC OF ESBJÖRN SVENSSON)
4: 08
( Ulf’s acoustic guitar with Lars Danielsson’s double bass and the brushes/cymbals of drummer Morten Lund. Very haunting. The equally- eloquent guitar and bass are well-supported by Lund )

SEGUE

2336
CD CUT 11, ’A CASE OF YOU’
JONI MITCHELL
CRAZY COW MUSIC
CAMJAZZ CAMJ 7775-2
(In Australia, through Birdland www.birdland.com.au
worldwide: www.camjazz.com )
MARIA PIA DEL VITO - ’SO RIGHT’
8: 12
(Italian female singer, in English, ’live ’in studio, really exploring the song. She’s much too smart to ape Mitchell, but really grasps the lyric. Beautifully more-than-merely-accompanied by pianist Danilo Rea and double-bassist Enzo Pietropaoli. The original is on Joni Mitchell’s 1971 LP, ’Blue’. One of the more potent, non-complacent love songs, still. Maria sings several Joni songs on this disc )

SEGUE

2344
CD CUT 7, ’GOOD MORNING SUSIE SOHO’
ESBJÖRN SVENSSON/ E.S.T, ARR BY ULF WAKENIUS
ACT PUBLISHING LTD
ACT MUSIC ACT 9459-2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
worldwide: www.actmusic.com )
ULF WAKENIUS - ’LOVE IS REAL’ (ULF WAKENIUS PLAYS THE MUSIC OF ESBJÖRN SVENSSON)
5: 24
( funky-blue strutter, which begins with the leader’s string-snapping steel-stringed guitar, alone. It then goes into a cooler-funk groove, with guitars, piano, bass, drums-cussion and trombonist Nils Landgren. Latter part is a feature for the trombone and Lars Jansson’s piano )

2352
CD CUT 2, ’JOURNAL TO A LEAP OF FAITH’
ACHILLES YIANGOULII, NICK TSIAVOS, ANTHONY SCHULZ
ANAN 006
( www.anankemusic.com
The trio’s CDs are available worldwide via www.indie-cds.com )
ANANKE - ’MAPS FOR LOSING ONESELF’
7: 10 ( excerpt )
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: An unusual instrumental trio: improvising freely , although not jazzily. Has a definitely Greek accent. Achilles Yiangoulli plays the bouzouki, Nick Tsiavos is the bow-specialist, double-bassist, Anthony Schulz the accordionist. ’The trio’s name - ’Ananke’ - means ’necessity’ in Greek.

ANANKE CD LAUNCH CONCERT ALERT (Melbourne)

Monday 18th August @ 8.00 pm
LaMama
Faraday St Carlton
enq: 0403 602 067 )

Presenter

Doug Spencer

Producer

Doug Spencer