NEW LANDS
With “New Lands”, Armando Luongo ventures into uncharted territories: the realm of composition with this debut album, but more importantly, the landscape of emotions he taps into to present melodies trat effortlessy evoke deep feelings without unnecessary embellishments.
This universal journey is where Armando excels, succesfully communicating the most intimate emotion to the listener.
In a letter panned in 1962 to Don DeMichael, Coltrane speak of e Creative urgency, a sentiment that struck him after reading a book on Vn Gogh’s Life. He describes it as an inner inspiration that lifts him from the harshness of daily life, a profound feeling that breathes life into art.
Coltrane reflect on the jazz pioneers of his time, plagued by social inequalities and repeated rejections, touched by personal tragedies. Trough their art – jazz – they managed to illuminate their lives with a positive light fueled by Creative urgency – a concept that resonates with many musicians, including Armando, post – lockdown, serving as driving force behind this debut record.
New Lands is a meeting ground for six hungry and characterful musicians who got to know each other, giving rise to an unprecedented project: a traveler’s logbook that records the sonic quest for new undiscovered worlds. Each melody is the story of a voyager who rediscovers the images of his dreams on his journay in the shade of a “Korean Tree” or in the light of a “New Moon”.
“Everything we see might be real might be not. Every feeling might be an end and might be an illusion. All over life we find the darkness with a smile. Sometimes alone, and sometimes with the people we love”
Line Up
Armando Luongo (IT) – Drums, compositions
Jean.Paul Estièvenart (BE) – Trumpet
Matt Chalk (US) – Sax
Wajdi Riahi (TU) – Piano
Giovanni Di Carlo (IT) – Guitar
Basile Rahola (FR) – Double Bass
Francesca Murro (IT) – Voice (track 8)
Louay Dabous (SYR) – Voice (track 8)
Track List
Nano Ballerino 4:43
New Moon 5:03
Korean Tree 5:26
Vibes 8:47
La Ballata Di Kali 6:45
New Lands 5:18
Out of Control 3:12
Illusion 10:46
Release date: December 15, 2023
Label: Hypnote Records
UPC/EAN: 5063381528773
Didtribution:
Outhere Distribution (Benelux)
Alliance Entartainment (USA)
Inouie Distribution (France)
Recorded by Rudy Coclet at Jet Studio (Brussels)
Mixed by Jonas Verrijdt
Mastered by Dave Darlington al Bass Hit STudio (New York)
Photography by Louay Dabous
Artwork by Noèmie Warion
Executive producer: Giuseppe Millaci
ARMANDO LUONGO
Graduate of the Salerno Conservatoty (Italy), Armando entered the Royal Conservatoty of Brussels in 209, then The Hague in 2012. Armando has won numerous awards (Jazz à Vienne, Dinant Jazz Night, European Jazz Contest….), met some of the greatest names in jazz (Bob Mover, Bert Joris, Godwin Louis, Seamus Blake….), and releases now a promising first album as a composer.
JEAN-PAUL ESTEVIENART
Jean-Paul Estèvenart needs no introduction: in the space of ten years, he has estabilished himself as a leading trumpeter on the Belgian scene, with a recognizable identity and a talent for composition that make him a force to be reckoned with. With numerous collaboration with internationally renowned artists and already four albums of composition, he brings his experience and virtuosity to an original project.
MAT CHALK
Originally of Kansas City, Mat Chalk is a saxophonist, composer, painter and multidisciplinary artist. At the age of 18, he moved to New York and studied at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Mat Chalk in a member of the SCOPES Ensemble, whose latest album “Age of Reasons” (2021) received critical acclaim.
WAJDI RIAHI
After graduating in Arabic music in 2011, Wajdi went on the play as a sideman in a wide range of formation, including the Aleph Quintet and Basile Rahola’s Baz trio with Oscar Georges on drums, leading two albums. In 2022, Wajdi Riahi released his first album of compositions, Mhamdeya, adding the quality of his writing to his reputation ad a valued sideman.
GIOVANNI DI CARLO
Giovannni Di Carlo began playing guitar as a child, and completed his classical music studies at a very early age at the Campobasso Conservatory in Brussels. Giovanni has played in a number of bands following outstanding performances in competition, and today leads a quartet under his own name, wich released an album “A child’s Eyes”, in 2021.
BASILE RAHOLA
Basile Rahola took his first music lesson at the age of 7 in Montpellier. He went on to study at the ENM in Villeurbanne (Lyon). He performed in many countries before settling in Bussels, where he founded the Baz Trio, his first band on trio as leader with Wajdi Riahi and Oscar Georges.