One Dance Alone Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet

• 1July II06:09
• 2A Walk in the Rain06:21
• 3July III04:44
• 4A Fond Farewell04:20
• 5July I04:42
• 6To Say Your Name07:16
• 7Waltz from Woman of Tokyo05:52
• 8One Dance Alone02:54
• 9Good Shepherd07:39
• 10We Never Met03:10
• 11Undecided04:09
• Total Runtime57:16

Info for One Dance Alone

This is the second release of the Gravitas Quartet, with Peggy Lee on cello, Ron Miles on trumpet and Sara Schoenbeck on bassoon. Whereas the first release "Way Out East" contained a more avant-garde feel, with lots of use of extended techniques, "One Dance Alone" comes closer to the accessibility of Sweeter Than The Day, but then in a real chamber jazz environment. The band and the music were specifically created with these musicians in mind, with the explicit intention to mix composed themes with small group improvisation. And the band is a perfect fit for the music : all four musicians are extremely gifted, but also manage to play in a very focused and self-effacing way : the instruments just build the music together, as a whole, not as consecutive soloists supported by the other three. And whereas Sweeter Than The Day is fun and light-hearted, this band is dark en deeply emotional, full of melancholy themes and romantic moods. Despite the big difference between the two bands, the music is still unmistakeably Horvitz. The great success of the album is the similarity in approach of the four musicians : perfectionists with a very precise touch of their instruments, playing with lots of clarity, moving effortlessly between classical music and avant-garde or jazz improvisation. Of the composer's many projects, this is clearly a winner, and one that will hopefully continue to perform and record.

Keyboardist/composer Wayne Horvitz may still be known (notorious is more like it) for his association with the mad, bad avant-garde blare of John Zorn’s Naked City. But Horvitz, ever the experimentalist, has had more than his share of equally eccentric and doubly haunting ensembles since Naked City’s dissolution: the President, Pigpen and Zony Mash among them. Then there’s Horvitz’s Gravitas Quartet.

One Dance Alone follows in the delicate, daring footsteps of the Quartet’s 2006 Way Out East, with Horvitz’s elegantly paced and spacious piano runs leading the way for cellist Peggy Lee, bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck and cornet/trumpeter Ron Miles. Make no mistake, there’s a group dynamic at work, a mod chamber groove that allows each of Horvitz’s collaborators their own formidable voice. But one can’t help but notice that Horvitz’s mix of Erik Satie-meets-Lennie Tristano stylization is One Dance Alone’s shining beacon, even when it’s hiding within the shadows.

Each player takes to composer Horvitz’s pensive nuances, whether it’s a cautious ballad such as “July II,” the more playful “A Walk in the Rain” or something as dramatic and angled as “July III.” When the teaming of Lee’s cello and Schoenbeck’s bassoon provide a somber backdrop for the proceedings, Miles seems to be having the most fun. When Lee and Schoenbeck find themselves tickling each other’s funny bone, Miles leads the tease with Horvitz around for the eventual punch line. Miles’ cornet playing comes at the listener in a yawning, muted yowl, with his round tone and flittering featheriness at its best during the pastoral “A Fond Farewell (For Nica).” You can’t help but wonder when Miles will record again—his last album was 2006’s Blossom/Stone. For now, Horvitz’s Gravitas Quartet is a good home for his talent. (A.D. Amorosi, JazzTimes)

"(An) adventurous statement from a great American composer." (PopMatters)

"Horvitz (creates) a time-warped ambience, in which the listener feels a stillness that is languid and foreboding. (Down Beat)

Wayne Horvitz, Piano
Peggy Lee, Cello
Ron Miles, Cornet
Sara Schoenbeck, Bassoon

Wayne Horvitz
is a composer, pianist and electronic musician who has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He is the leader of Gravitas Quartet, Sweeter Than the Day, Zony Mash, Pigpen, The Four plus One Ensemble and co-founder of the New York Composers Orchestra. He has performed and collaborated with Bill Frisell, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Robin Holcomb, Fred Frith, Julian Priester, Philip Wilson, Michael Shrieve and Carla Bley, among others. He has been commissioned by the NEA, Meet the Composer, Kronos String Quartet, Seattle Chamber Players, Mary Flagler, BAM, Earshot Jazz and others. Collaborations with choreographers include work with Paul Taylor with the White Oak Dance Project, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and Crispin Spaeth. film work includes music and sound design for 3 PBS specials and Gus Van Sant’s Psycho.

Cellist, composer, and improviser Peggy Lee performs frequently locally and abroad, and her music has been presented in festivals in France, Portugal, The Netherlands, The US and across Canada. She has also created music for the Standing Wave ensemble, Vancouver New Music, Talking Pictures; for the dance companies EDAM, Dancecorps, Frozen Eye; and for the theatre companies Rumble Theatre and Ruby Slippers. In 2009 Peggy wrote and performed the score for Fugue Theatre’s production of the operetta Via Beatrice with librettist Jenn Griffen and in 2010 she wrote and performed music for Western Gold and Presentation House’s co-production of Eugene Stickland’s play Queen Lear for which she received a Jessie Richardson award for original composition. Peggy is currently a member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Standing Wave, Wayne Horvitz’s Gravitas Quartet, Talking Pictures, and the Tony Wilson Sextet. Peggy also leads her own groups, Film in Music, and The Peggy Lee Band––which has released four compact discs that feature her original compositions. In 2004 Peggy was the recipient of the Freddie Stone Award which is awarded for integrity and innovation in music.

Sara Schoenbeck, bassoonist, is dedicated to expanding the sound and role of the bassoon in the worlds of contem- porary notated and improvised music. The Wire magazine places her in the “tiny club of bassoon pioneers” at work in contemporary music today. Sara has performed with Yusef Lateef, Anthony Braxton, Leo Smith, Miya Masaoka, Gino Robair, Fred Frith, John Butcher, Mark Dresser, Pauline Oliveros, and Nels Cline, among others. She is currently a mem- ber of Vinny Golia’s Large Ensemble, the LA contemporary music group, Ensemble Green, Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra and Adam Rudolph’s GO Organic Orchestra. Sara has performed in jazz orchestras backing Stevie Wonder, Diane Reeves and under the baton of Quincy Jones. She has recorded for television and major motion pictures, including the Matrix trilogy, Dahmer and Spanglish, and has performed throughout North America and Europe at a variety of major festivals.

Denver trumpeter Ron Miles’ resume includes time with Bill Frisell, Don Byron, the Ellington Orchestra, and Fred Hess’ Boulder Creative Music Ensemble. Besides being solicited all over the world for his unique sound, Ron is a staple of the Denver jazz scene and his recent releases as band leader show off his skills as a composer and arranger as well as a “phenomenally gifted trumpeter” (Bill Milkowski). Ron Miles was widely recognized as a musical director and arranger with the release of Ginger Baker’s Coward of the County (Atlantic 1999). His compositions anchor that record and highlight the varied influences from which Ron draws inspiration. Hailed as an inventive composer and gifted trumpeter on his solo releases, Ron cruised through the 1990s with a series of well received releases on Gramavision (My Cruel Hearth, Woman’s Day) and Capri (Witness, Ron Miles Trio).

This album contains no booklet.