SLAMCD578 Szilárd Mezei & Jon Hemmersam – Floating Orange

Danish guitarist Jon Hemmersam‘s credits include an impressive catalogue of recordings with Bob Moses, David Liebman, Evelyn Glennie and many more. ‘Floating Orange’ his collaboration with violist Szilard Mezei, is the seventh SLAM album for Mezei, one of the labels most highly praised artists.

Hemmersam and Mezei have enjoyed a longstanding relationship in many different musical settings, including Szilard’s album ‘Karszt’, however ‘Floating Orange’ is their first duo recording. The title was inspired by the CD’s artwork designed by Erzsébet Mezei, Szilard’s mother, an established visual artist working in various materials, including ceramics and felt.

The music here is improvised – Jon Hemmersam describes it: “I feel that the music is really floating, and connecting on a very high level on this recording, and I do have images containing the colour orange when I listen to it…therefore it is floating orange to me and Szilard as well…”

Szilárd Mezei: viola, double bass
Jon Hemmersam: acoustic guitar

“This is an all acoustic offering and it is superbly recorded. The first three pieces are entitled the “Floating Orange Suite” and are over 30 minutes long altogether. There is a bristling intensity going on here as if something is about to explode, yet eventually calms down to some sparse, spacious interplay. There is strong, spirited dialogue going on here, with both players exchanging ideas at both a furious and a calm pace. As one person solos, the other weaves a flurry of activity underneath. Even when Mezei switches to double bass, the intense narrative continues with tight lines spiralling around one another. There are those occasional magical moments where someone repeats a melodic fragment and the other answers in what sounds like a song or lullaby or sorts. When those transcendent moments appear, it is truly inspiring and makes me smile.” – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

“Mezei once again indulges his penchant for aleatory technique with another accomplished recording of improvisatorial compositions. Seemingly even more exploratory than on previous releases. Mezei creates some exciting new textures, such as the pseudo musique concrete elicitations on Floating Orange Suite. Hemmersam on guitar supplements the free style nature of performance expressions well and their shared cognisance allows for cohesive interactions throughout. The appeal of this album is in the captivating textures of each track and the fascinatingly unusual yet outwardly refines timbres they generate as a duo.” – Jason Balzarano, Jazz Journal

All compositions by Szilárd Mezei and Jon Hemmersam
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Szilárd Mezei / LVA, in Novi Sad, Serbia, on 14th of June 2013

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