SOUNDSCAPES: PETER PONZOL, MARILYNN SEITS and ABBEY RADER SOUNDSCAPES is a dynamic and innovative exploration of improvised free jazz played by Peter Ponzol on tenor and soprano saxophones, Marilynn Seits on acoustic piano and Abbey Rader on percussion. This album was recorded using short musical phrases as the basis of each song. There were no charts to follow, no musical keys, no count-off for tempos, just the short opening phrase presented by one of the musicians. Then the the others joined in and spontaneously created a piece of music on the spot. Many of the songs have an ethnic feel to them such as DERVISH DANCE and FOR BUDDHA. All three musicians have had a long standing interest in Asian music and philosophy and Abbey Rader has a large collect of percussion instruments from around the world that he used on this CD. Some of the songs are very rhythmical as when Abbey started pieces on percussion (track 4 DERVISH DANCE & track 2 PEACE WON). Some are more lyrical as when Marilynn started a piece on piano (track 9, SOUNDSCAPES) and some are more driving and melodic as when Peter started songs (track 1 NO WORDS & track 3 DARK CORNERS). There was very little editing on this project. What you hear on this CD is pretty much the way it was recorded. Sit back and enjoy this fine example of free jazz improvisation from three masters of the genre. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HERE'S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT SOUNDSCAPES Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times "...Jazz improvisation is a mysterious art. Its moment of truth comes in that spilt second in which the player takes leave of the scripted passages of the music and enters the wide-open world of spontaneity. ...Think of that passage as an experience comparable to standing on the edge of a seaside cliff, strapped to hang glider, ready to leap off into the blue. Sounds risky? Of course. But if one follows the ebb and flow of the wind, as the improviser follows the shifting patterns of harmony, the flight - like the improvisation - will be a success... ...Now imagine a similar moment, poised in the open door of an airplane, ready to dive into space - with a parachute rather than a hang glider - ready to soar without limit for thousands of feet before the final flowering of the chute that permits a safe landing. That, metaphorically is what confronts the player embarking upon a free improvisation. Without the supportive currents of harmony and structure, anything is possible, in the same way that a body soaring through space an do anything it chooses to do. More than that, when spontaneous invention is at its best, a musical flow can be created which is powerful enough to, in effect, allow one to sail with imaginative wings of one's own making...together they (Peter, Marilynn & Abbey) make a unique team, one that can soar together in spontaneous musical invention, solo independently and intuitively make the connections between each other as well as shifting currents of the improvisational process..." Sean "Meistro" McAusland, WRVR RADIO, Burlington, VT "...Melodies and patterns form then dissipate, chaos becomes dissonant beauty, then beauty becomes dissonant chaos, and structure becomes unstructured which becomes structure again...This is a powerful and challenging work that openly explores the very foundation of what defines music..." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ABOUT THE MUSICIANS Marilynn Seits is a pianist/composer whose performances and writing cover a broad range of music including Jazz, Blues, Free Improvisation, Ambient and World Beat. She played jazz for many years in New York City before moving to West Palm Beach, where she continues to perform and record with several area bands. Peter Ponzol is a saxophonist whose career has included performing in numerous jazz clubs, radio concerts and jazz festivals in the US and Europe. Both he and Abbey Rader performed avant-garde and free-jazz music before enthusiastic European audiences for over ten years. Abbey Rader is a drummer, percussionist, poet, composer and teacher who has been performing and teaching more that thirty-five years in the US & Europe. Abbey has also recorded with Billy Bang, Mel Waldron and Dave Liebman. All three musicians believe firmly in the power and beauty of spontaneously improvised music and this CD is a tribute to that belief. "Together they make a unique team, one that can soar together in spontaneous musical invention, solo independently, and intuitively make the connections between each other as well as the shifting currents of the improvisational process." DON HECKMAN, Jazz Critic, LOS ANGELES