Iron into Wind Alexander Hawkins

• 1 Song All the Way 04:27
• 2 Congregational 04:26
• 3 Tough like Imagination 04:31
• 4 Pleasant Constellation 04:46
• 5 Gossamer like a Ghost Tree 03:43
• 6 Strange Courage 05:29
• 7 It Should Be a Song 05:35
• 8 Hard as Threads 03:06
• 9 Tumble Mono 06:08
• 10 Wander/Wonder 06:13
• 11 We All Bleed 04:05
• 12 Etude 04:36
• Total Runtime 57:05

Info for Iron into Wind

Alexander Hawkins is a creative epicentre from the London jazz scene and is regarded in the UK as one of the most innovative musicians of the younger generation with a surprising radius of action. He plays with Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Taylor Ho Bynum, Louis Moholo, Shabaka Hutchings and Elaine Mitchener. 'Iron into Wind' is the name of his new piano solo. The phrase "Iron into Wind" evokes for him both the transience of improvisation and a fascination with solid material, represented by the powerful blocks of sound to be heard in several of these pieces. Richard Willimas writes in the liner notes: "The mood varies from the two-handed avant-gospel figurations of "Congregational" to the hurtling "Étude" via the austere ruminations of "Tumble Mono", the knotted blues of "Strange Courage" and the explosive accelerations of "It Should Be a Song", with a diversion, in "Pleasant Constellation", by way of variations on an element from Sun Ra's "Fate in a Pleasant Mood". What he achieves here is a fine balance of all his interests, creating a self-portrait of a wonderfully inventive modern musician." Alexander Hawkins ist ein kreatives Epizentrum aus der Londoner Jazz-Szeen und gilt in England als einer der innovativsten Musiker der jüngeren Generation mit einem überraschenden Aktionsradius. Er spielt mit Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Taylor Ho Bynum, Louis Moholo, Shabaka Hutchings und Elaine Mitchener. In den fünf Jahren seit seinem ersten Soloalbum (Song Singular, 2013) haben ihm eine Vielfalt von Gelegenheiten und Erfahrungen mehr Selbstvertrauen gegeben: ‚Iron into Wind' heisst sein neue Piano Solo-Werk.

Die Wörter ‚Iron into Wind' bedeuten für ihn sowohl die Vergänglichkeit der Improvisation als auch die Faszination für feste Materialien, wie etwa die kraftvollen Klangblöcke, die in einigen dieser Stücke zu hören sind. Richard Williams schreibt in den liner notes: "Die Stimmung variiert von den zweihändigen Avant-Gospel Figuren auf ‚Congregational' bis zum rasend schnellen ‚Étude', über die strengen Reflexionen auf ‚Tumble Mono', den verästelten Blues von ‚Strange Courage' bis hin zu den explosiven Beschleunigungen von ‚It Should Be a Song', mit einem Schlenker, ‚Pleasant Constellation', durch Variationen eines Elements aus Sun Ras ‚Fate in a Pleasant Mood'. Was er hier erreicht, ist ein feines Ausbalancieren all seiner Interessen, mit dem er das Selbstporträt eines wunderbar kreativen modernen Musikers schafft."

Alexander Hawkins, Klavier

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Alexander Hawkins
is a composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader who is ‘unlike anything else in modern creative music’ (Ni Kantu) and whose recent work has reached a ‘dazzling new apex’ (Downbeat). A largely self-taught improviser, he works in a vast array of creative contexts. His own highly distinctive soundworld is forged through the search to reconcile both his love of free improvisation and profound fascination with composition and structure.

His writing has been said to represent ‘a fundamental reassertion of composition within improvised music’ (Point of Departure), and his voice one of the ‘most vividly distinctive...in modern jazz’ (The Jazzmann).

As a pianist, he has been described as ‘remarkable...possessing staggering technical ability and a fecund imagination as both player and composer.’ Concerning his organ playing, critic Brian Morton recently commented that ‘[t]he most interesting Hammond player of the last decade and more, [Hawkins] has already extended what can be done on the instrument.’

He is a frequent solo performer, and also appears in groupings ranging from duo (with the likes of Evan Parker, John Surman, Han Bennink and Sofia Jernberg), via his co-led quartet with the vocalist Elaine Mitchener ('probably a new standard for improvised music with song', Jazzism), through to large ensembles ('Unit[e]...is a free-jazz masterpiece', Free Jazz).

An in-demand sideman, Hawkins continues to be heard live and on record with vast array of contemporary leaders of all generations, including the likes of Evan Parker, John Surman, Joe McPhee, Mulatu Astatke, Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Marshall Allen, Han Bennink, Hamid Drake, Rob Mazurek, Taylor Ho Bynum, Harris Eisenstadt, Matana Roberts, and Shabaka Hutchings, amongst many others. He has also been noted for a number of years for his performances in the bands of legendary South African drummer, Louis Moholo-Moholo.

In 2012, he was chosen as a member of the first edition of the London Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Soundhub’ scheme for young composers. He has been commissioned by the BBC, as well as by festivals including the London Jazz Festival and the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. He was named 'Instrumentalist of the Year' in the 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. In 2018, he was elected a fellow of the Civitella Ranieri.

Concert appearances have taken him to major club, concert and festival stages worldwide.

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