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TANYA KALMANOVITCH: HUT FIVE Tanya Kalmanovitch, violin & viola Rick Peckham, guitar Ronan Guilfoyle, acoustic bass guitar Owen Howard, drums Canadian violist Tanya Kalmanovitch operates at the intersection of contemporary jazz, classical music and free improvisation. A formidable classical performer, she is fast building an international reputation as an innovator on the viola, bringing its rich, warm tone into the realms of contemporary jazz. On "Hut Five" Kalmanovitch is joined by three of jazz's foremost creative musicians: Boston guitarist Rick Peckham, Dublin bassist Ronan Guilfoyle, and New York drummer Owen Howard. The ensemble swings seamlessly between extended composition and free improvisation, touching on elements of rock, funk, classical music and modern jazz to achieve a remarkable synthesis between composition and improvisation. Many of the album's tracks showcase the sound of the viola, from the austere lyricism of "Rara Avis" and "Chimera" to the angular forms and dense chromaticism of "Hidden Agenda" and title track "Hut Five". Others, such as Guilfoyle's "Strabo" and the group's bristling rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression" feature Kalmanovitch on violin. Interspersed throughout the disc are "Vignettes", miniature collective improvisations that showcase this group's uncanny creative chemistry. REVIEWS OF HUT FIVE Kalmanovitch is an exceptional musician. In soloing she thinks compositionally, with an expressive contrast between the astringent chromaticism of her lines and compositions and her warmly malleable tone. The quartet shares an uncanny mutual awareness ... characterised by sometimes austere beauty and a remarkable unity between the written and the improvised. * * * * (four stars) Ray Comiskey, Review of "Hut Five" Irish Times 27 Feb 2003 The viola may be seldom heard in jazz, but Kalmanovitch's instrument sounds entirely at home in the company of Rick Peckham's guitar, Ronan Guilfoyle's bass and Owen Howard's drums. This band of old associates do considerable justice to the jagged melodies and angular forms of the leader's compositions, making them sound easy (almost!). This is an engaging album, bristling with energy ... Kalmanovitch's playing is forceful and direct, and the superb Peckham sounds like a man possessed. * * * (four stars) Cormac Larkin, Review of "Hut Five" The Sunday Tribune (Ireland) 2 Mar 2003 HUT FIVE BIO Canadian violist Tanya Kalmanovitch operates at the intersection of contemporary jazz, classical music and free improvisation. A formidable classical performer, she is fast building an international reputation as an innovator on the viola, bringing its rich, malleable tone into the realms of contemporary jazz. Kalmanovitch received her classical training at the Juilliard School in New York, and has studied jazz improvisation with Charlie Banacos and at the Banff International Jazz Workshop. She has performed with a diverse range of artists including Tom Rainey, Julian Arguelles, John Stowell, John Cage, Jann Arden, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Martin Hayes and Shujaat Husain Khan. Kalmanovitch performs extensively in North America and Europe, and travels frequently to India where she studies Karnatak music. In her latest project Hut Five, Kalmanovitch is joined by three of jazz's foremost creative musicians: Boston guitarist Rick Peckham, Dublin bassist Ronan Guilfoyle and New York drummer Owen Howard. Kalmanovitch met Owen Howard and Ronan Guilfoyle when the three were students in jazz and classical workshops at the Banff Centre in 1986 and 1987. They missed guitarist Rick Peckham by a year, but the four were reunited in May 2001 when Peckham, Guilfoyle and Howard returned to the Banff Centre as faculty members while Kalmanovitch was in residence at the Leighton Studios. The band took its name from the mountainside studio where they first rehearsed. Rick Peckham is an internationally known jazz guitarist, composer, writer and clinician. He has performed with George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Mike Gibbs and Tim Berne, and recorded the album "Stray Dog" as a member of the highly original jazz ensemble Um, led by trombonist Hal Crook and featuring organist John Medeski. Rick is Assistant Chair of the Guitar Department at Berklee College of Music and maintains a website at www.rickpeckham.com. Irish bassist and composer Ronan Guilfoyle performs as leader of his own bands as well as a side player to the likes of Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Joe Lovano, Andy Laster, Emily Remler, Benny Golson, Norma Winstone, John Taylor, Charlie Mariano, Pepper Adams, Sonny Fortune, Richie Beirach, Greg Osby and Kenny Werner. He has recorded with Pat LaBarbera, Keith Copeland, Dave Liebman, Steve Coleman and Simon Nabatov. Recent releases include "Bird" with his own band Lingua Franca (IMC) and "After Dark" with David Liebman (IMC). He is also a very accomplished composer,winning the Julius Hemphill Composition Award in 1997, and has recently been elected to Aosdana, the state sponsored Irish organisation which recognises high achievement in the creative arts. Ronan maintains a website at www.ronanguilfoyle.com. New York-based Canadian drummer Owen Howard appears often as a side player with artists such as Tom Harrell, Kenny Werner, Joe Lovano, John Abercrombie, Michael Formanek and Dick Oates. He has toured across Canada, Europe and the United States with many groups including Sheila Jordan, Mick Goodrick, Nils Wogram, Andy Middleton and Jay Clayton. Owen has released two albums as leader: "Sojourn" and "Pentagon" (Koch Jazz). Check out the artist's website: http://www.tanyakalmanovitch.com Track List: 1. Hidden Agenda 2. Hut Five 3. Vignette Number 5 4. Chimera 5. Vignette Number 9 6. Manic Depression 7. Rara Avis 8. Vignette Number 12 9. Vignette Number 13 10. Strabo 11. Vignette Number 14 12. Vignette Number 15 13. Oh, You Dear Little Night 14. Lovely Horse 15. Vignette Number 17 Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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