A combined unit
Under the umbrella of Focusyear, a new group of musicians always comes together to record a new album within twelve months. For 2021, the ensemble has succeeded in creating a work that sounds fresh and offers something impressive.
Focusyear is the name of an annual course at the Jazzcampus Basel. It is aimed at up to nine musicians who are formed into an international ensemble and taught and supervised by annually changing representatives of the jazz scene under the artistic direction of Wolfgang Muthspiel. "Focusyear is my attempt to create the most direct learning environment possible for talented musicians," says the Austrian guitarist, explaining his mission statement.
The aim is for the students to develop concert programs and record an album in the school's own recording studio over the course of the twelve months in which they benefit from a full scholarship. Consequently, Focusyear Band 21 - under the title Bosque - now presents the result of their sonic activities. What is immediately apparent is that the artists, who come from Argentina, Hungary, Ukraine and the USA among other countries, have succeeded in finding a common musical language that is pleasingly risky and shows a pronounced penchant for improvisation.
The eight participants are all represented with at least one composition, which ensures a stylistic range that never gets out of hand. Instead, the band comes together to create an astonishingly homogeneous sound. While the first track, Bonfire, pays homage to playful post-bop, approaches the The Nordic Shuffle The album is reminiscent of the jazz sounds of Scandinavian provenance and knows how to blend undercooled drama with fluttering wind instruments and Tatiana Nova's shadowy vocals. Other highlights include the balladesque Bound To You and Mean Street, which comes up with dynamics and all kinds of rhythmic hooks. Conclusion: The ten refreshing tracks not only manage to keep the tension high until the end, but also prove that even a thrown-together ensemble can achieve impressive results.
Focusyear Volume 21 (Ethan Cohn, Gianni Gagliardi, Sebastián Greschuk, Tatiana Nova, Joshua Schofield, Aron Talas, Yakiv Tsvietinskyi, Lorenzo Vitolo): Bosque. Neuklang 10465665
More info: www.focusyearbasel.com
