Unstatic Manu Katché

• 1Introducción02:21
• 2Unstatic05:15
• 3Flame & Co05:56
• 4City03:57
• 5Blossom05:49
• 6Daze Days04:34
• 7Rolling06:03
• 8Ride Me Up04:52
• 9Trickle04:23
• 10Out of Sight04:15
• 11Presentation03:18
• 12Just a Thought03:04
• Total Runtime53:47

Info for Unstatic

Manu Katché returns with a new studio album, 'Unstatic', for an enhanced formation of a bassist, Ellen Andrea Wang. We know the importance Manu Katché places with each of the bass players he has collaborated with. This is also clearly a return to basics, since the role of the bass was not entrusted to a specialist of the instrument but to the organ of Jim Watson during his two previous records !

The material on “Unstatic” is comprised of eleven originals written by the leader, all of them played in what has now become familiar as the ‘Manu Katche style’. Katche’s way with a groove and ear for a good tune remain undimmed and the core group sound is expanded by the presence of guest trombonist Nils Landgren who appears on five tracks.

Landgren features on the opening track, simply titled “Introduccion”, a seductive rhumba that finds Katche working in harness with no fewer than three guest percussionists in the shapes of Abraham Rodriguez Mansfarroll, Joel Hiereezuelo Balart and Esteben Sotolongo Zapata. Landgren makes a significant contribution on trombone alongside Watson on acoustic piano.

Emmanuel Manu Katches family roots can be traced back to Africas Ivory Coast, although he was born near Paris. He began his musical education at the age of five when he began piano lessons, but he switched to percussion at 14. Katche studied classical percussion at the Conservatoire National Superieure de Musique de Paris. After his graduation, he began to develop his own unique style, grounded in jazz and his African roots. This release, in contrast to his 2014 quartet album, includes double bassist Ellen Andrea Wang. The addition of this timbre creates an incredible soundscape. The eleven titles on this release were all written by Katche, proving his skill as a composer.

„Something of a return to form by Manu Katché. His music may be relatively undemanding but it's far from vacuous and there's some excellent writing and playing throughout this album.“

„Contemporary musicians don’t come much more graceful in sound or execution than Manu Katché, the French drummer/composer who has lent his unhurried elan to everyone from Peter Gabriel and Sting to Youssou N’Dour and Jan Garbarek. Unstatic is a more vividly varied set than his current jazz group’s 2012 debut, adding the pop awareness of young Norwegian bassist/vocalist Ellen Andrea Wang, and with Swedish jazz and funk trombonist Nils Landgren guesting. Katche is a gifted mixer of catchy idioms and improv surprises, defined from the off in the intro’s delightful, languidly snappy rhumba. Saxist Tore Brunborg and Arve Henriksen-like trumpeter Luca Aquino make an atmospheric horn pairing, and in funkier moods the band resembles a laid-back Headhunters, their striking themes spawning provocative new riffs as they develop. Brunborg brings a soul-sax rootsiness, and UK keyboardist Jim Watson is a constant spur, notably in his Fender Rhodes solo and the churning undertow of the hustling, uninhibited Ride Me Up. Warm, inviting, effortlessly skilful world-jazz.“ (John Fordham, The Guardian, UK)

Manu Katché, drums
Luca Aquino, trumpet
Tore Brunborg, saxophone
Ellen Andrea Wang, double bass, vocals
Jim Watson, piano, keyboards
Raul Midón, Gitarre
Richard Bona, bass
Additional musicians:
Nils Langren, trombone (on tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7, 11)
Abraham Rodriguez Mansfarroll, percussion (on track 1)
Inor Esteban Solotongo Zapata, percussion (on track 1)
Joel Hierrezuelo Balart, percussion (on tracks 1)

Recorded 2015 at Studios Ferber, Paris, France
Recorded and mixed by Toby Gendron
Mixed at Gypsy Studio, Montréal, Canada
Mastered at Trillium Sound Mastering Montréal, Canada

Paris-born (in 1958) and originally a pianist, Katché switched to percussion while studying at the Paris Conservatory. His distinctive drum style is derived from classical snare drum and kettledrum studies as well as from a conscious embracing of African roots. His work with Peter Gabriel on the album “So” and, subsequently on the Amnesty International World tour with Gabriel, Sting and Tracey Chapman catapulted him to world attention and he was soon recording and/or touring with Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson, Dire Straits, Simple Minds, The Bee Gees, Tears for Fears, Youssou N’Dour, Joan Armatrading, Joe Satriani, Nigel Kennedy and dozens more. His ECM affiliations include recordings with Jan Garbarek, amongst them: “Took Up The Runes”, “Twelve Moons”, “Visible World”, “In Praise of Dreams”, and the recent live album “Dresden”. Katché’s first leader date for the label, “Neighbourhood”, was recorded in 2004, with “Playground” following in 2007.

This album contains no booklet.