Cadences Gabriel Zucker & Attila Gyarfas

• 1 Part 1: then 28:34
• 2 Part 2: now 22:21
• Total Runtime 50:55

Info for Cadences

Als sich das Duo im Februar 2023 zu einer geplanten zweiwöchigen Tournee von Budapest nach Izmir traf, brachte Zucker das Material für eine zweite Platte mit, die auf Fragmenten aufbaut, die während der Pandemie in der Wüste von New Mexico geschrieben wurden, sowie auf einem Thema aus einem Aufenthalt in Mexiko-Stadt im Jahr 2022, das im Zuge der turbulenten Lebensveränderungen um den Jahreswechsel zusammengefügt wurde. Anstatt einen einzigen, geschlossenen Erzählbogen zu bilden, ist die Komposition in zwei Hälften gegliedert, die jeweils eine andere Version derselben fünf Stücke enthalten. Das Auftauchen von Turbulence II - einer friedlichen Reflexion der aggressiven Turbulence I, mit der die Komposition eröffnet wird - im größten Teil der zweiten Hälfte suggeriert eine Bogenform, einen abschließenden gespiegelten Abschluss des Anfangs. Aber stattdessen schließt die zweite Hälfte wie die erste, mit Cadences II, einer auffallend nicht-kadenziellen Komposition, die eher das Fehlen von Schlussfolgerungen suggeriert - als ob die Musik sich einfach endlos in die Zukunft drehen könnte.

Gyárfás und Zucker entwickelten die neue Musik im Februar auf einer Tournee, die durch das Erdbeben in der Türkei unterbrochen wurde, vor Publikum in Budapest, Szeged, Belgrad, Sofia, Plowdiw und Istanbul, probten bei Soundchecks und in Zügen und Bussen. Die Musik wurde schließlich im August 2023 aufgenommen, beide Hälften in einzelnen epischen Live-Takes, in einer eintägigen Aufnahmesitzung in Budapest.

Gabriel Zucker, Klavier, Synthesizer, Stimme
Attila Gyárfás, Schlagzeug, Gong-Synthesizer

Gabriel Zucker
“Piano firebrand” (Brooklyn Rail) Gabriel Zucker is a pianist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from New York, whose work combines maximalist compositions with the progressive improvisation of New York’s creative music scene. His music has received two ASCAP composition awards, and has been praised in Downbeat (4.5 stars), All About Jazz (4.5 stars), Stereogum, Jazzwise, and the New York City Jazz Record. A Yale graduate and Rhodes Scholar, Zucker has performed throughout New York at such venues as Carnegie Hall, The Stone, Roulette, and the Jazz Gallery, as well as in 22 countries around the world.

Zucker’s groundbreaking large ensemble, the indie jazz orchestra The Delegation, was born at the Banff Jazz and Creative Music Workshop. The group’s debut record, a twelve-movement composition titled Evergreen (Canceled World), was supported by an American Composers Forum JFund grant and released in October 2016 on ESP-Disk' to critical acclaim. The ensemble’s sophomore release, Leftover Beats From The Edges Of Time, was released in September 2021 on ESP-Disk'. Zucker’s small-ensemble touring incarnations of The Delegation have performed in over a dozen countries.

Zucker maintains a prolific activity with a range of other projects. In November 2018, ESP-Disk' released Zucker’s third studio record, Weighting, an extended composition inspired by Rachel Kushner’s novel The Flamethrowers, featuring Tyshawn Sorey, Adam O’Farrill, and Eric Trudel. The record was widely praised, recognized as a Debut of the Year by the New York City Jazz Record, listed among the Best of 2018 by All About Jazz, and featured as a runner-up in Stereogum’s Best Jazz of 2018 list. Zucker and Sorey collaborated again in 2018 with the premiere of Zucker’s new duo New York, USA, 2018 at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall. Zucker’s avant indie band underorder released its critically acclaimed sophomore record, Other Ways To Be Apart in parts over the course of 2019 and 2020. He also performs regularly as a concert pianist focusing on twentieth century repertoire. His 2018 performance of Frederic Rzewski’s Squares was listed among the New York Classical Review’s best concerts of the year, and his 2019 performance of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant Jesus also drew praise. Before the pandemic, Zucker was a manager and curator of the prominent experimental music venue Spectrum.

A committed social activist in addition to a musician, Zucker is currently Associate Policy Director for the tax benefits program at Code for America. He previously served as Director of Research at the progressive turnout organization VoteTripling.org; worked on homelessness and healthcare policy as a member of the U.S. Digital Service; and co-led the successful campaign to end veteran homelessness in Connecticut. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 2012, where he double majored in Ethics, Politics, & Economics and Music, and he holds a Masters in Applied Statistics from Oxford, where his research focused on applications of machine learning to social policy administration.

“pianist Zucker creates a compelling, mysterious world that is as beautiful as it is elusive... A captivating album that reveals more of its charms with each encounter.” — All About Jazz

“Zucker’s advanced compositional work is knotty, unpredictable, and utterly satisfying. Spinning with freshness and maturity, Weighting is put forward with a sterling avant-garde posture that reflects the artistry and commitment of the musicians involved.” — Jazz Trail

Booklet for Cadences