Showing posts with label Jon Durant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jon Durant. Show all posts

Monday, December 7, 2020

Keyboardist and Brian Eno Collaborator Peter Chilvers and Guitarist Jon Durant Create a Series of Stunningly Beautiful Aural Vistas

Peter Chilvers & Jon Durant Release “Always Golden Sands” & “Vista” - An ambient jazz album in two parts

English keyboardist and Brian Eno collaborator Peter Chilvers teamed up with American guitarist Jon Durant to create a series of stunningly beautiful aural vistas, which blend ECM inspired chamber jazz improvisation with ambient music. For both artists, this recording was an opportunity to explore their introspective sides as well as their textural tendencies. Gentle melodies weave their way through atmospheric clouds, at times reminiscent of Budd and Eno, but with a sense of interplay between the guitar and keys those ambient pioneers left out.  

The duo settled into a rhythm of working across distant time zones during the pandemic. Tracks often began with a morning keyboard improvisation from Chilvers, which would be embellished and transformed by Durant as daylight hit his side of the Atlantic. Having completed Vista, the momentum built up, and three further tracks emerged. These stood well on their own and will be released first as “Always Golden Sand” - a starter to Vista’s main course.

The EP features the exquisitely melancholic “Always Autumn”, the playful dialog of guitar and percolating synths on “Shifting Sands”, and the pensive “Golden”, a reworking of the more rhythmic “Age of Steam” from Vista. The album also includes the darker shades of “Embers” and the expansive “Sunset” - multiple piano loops slowly build around each other, augmented by Durant’s signature cloud guitars before giving way to a deep dusky atmosphere to close the album. Best enjoyed with a glass of whisky.

Chilvers commented, “As a teenager, I fell in love with the great ECM recordings of the 70s and 80s. Working with Jon has felt like travelling back to that period and finding an undiscovered star. It’s been a joyful and effortless recording, a live album somehow recorded despite lockdowns on opposite sides of the Atlantic. I wish I could beam it back to my teenage self.”

Durant noted, “My favorite aspect of this record is the level of interplay we managed to achieve, especially given the difficult circumstances in which we made this record. Peter’s lovely piano melodies were an inspiration for me to add not just beautiful textures but also play melodically with and around his piano and synths.”

Peter Chilvers: Remodelled Pianos, Synths, Generative processes, Fretless bass
Jon Durant: Cloud Guitar, Fretless Guitar, Mixing

Release dates:

December 11. 2020
The three song EP “Always Golden Sands” will be released digitally on Bandcamp and all streaming services.

January 15, 2021
The full length “Vista” will be released digitally on Bandcamp and all streaming services.

For more information:
https://www.jondurant.rocks
http://www.peterchilvers.com

To Purchase:
https://jondurant.bandcamp.com
https://peterchilvers.bandcamp.com

About the artists:

Peter Chilvers is a musician and software designer. Best known for creating the iOs applications Bloom, Trope, Scape and Reflection with Brian Eno, he has also toured with Karl Hyde (Underworld) and recorded numerous albums with vocalists Tim Bowness and Sandra O’Neill, as well as several solo instrumental albums. Many of these were released through Burning Shed, the online label he co-founded in 2001 with Tim Bowness and Pete Morgan.

Since 2006 he has worked as a musical and technical assistant to Brian Eno on projects including the soundtracks to “The Lovely Bones” and “Spore”, album collaborations with David Byrne and the Warp releases “Small Craft on a Milk Sea”, “Drums Between the Bells” and “Lux”. He worked as Assistant Producer on Eno’s 2016 release “The Ship”, for which he also helped develop a multi-speaker installation which has been shown in many countries.

As one of the earliest successes when Apple’s App Store’s debuted in 2008, Bloom continues to be fondly remembered. This led in 2018 to a collaboration with Microsoft to produce Bloom: Open World, an augmented reality installation shown in Denmark, and Bloom: 10 Worlds, a complete reimagining of the app for modern phones and tablets. Eno and Chilvers were also commissioned to create Hypnotised, a customized version of Bloom for use in Coldplay’s live stadium shows.


Innovative guitarist Jon Durant brings a unique sense of texture and melody to his instrument. His distinctive “cloud guitar” soundscapes and engaging lead work have graced numerous CD recordings and film soundtracks and his very distinctive use of fretless guitar has been widely admired.

Durant has previously released 10 solo albums and three Burnt Belief records (with Colin Edwin of Porcupine Tree). Durant has also been featured on the Astarta / Edwin album which was released in 2016. Durant, Colin Edwin and Ukranian singer Inna Kovtun released a CD in 2019 which featured a completely unique and modern take on traditional Ukranian folk music, with a blend of progressive rock, ambient, and pop elements. Durant’s acclaimed 2018 solo release “Parting Is” was his first “solo guitar’ recording and the follow up solo guitar album “Alternate Landscapes” continues to stretch the boundaries of what a guitar record can sound like. Both solo CDs have been nominated for “Best Ambient Album” in US new age radio publications, while “Alternate Landscapes” also spent multiple weeks at the top of the NACC Chill Charts. In 2020, Durant released the well-received duo album Across the Evening with Estonian guitarist Robert Jürjendal as well as his most recent solo album, Soul of a River which featured Jon playing guitars and piano.

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Guitarists Jon Durant and Robert Jürjendal Release A Vibrant New Musical Collaboration "Across the Evening"


“Across the Evening,” by ambient experimental guitarists Jon Durant and Robert Jürjendal, further extends the ambient/jazz/world crossover music both musicians have traversed throughout their diverse careers. Featuring appearances from Colin Edwin (UK) on bass, Aleksei Saks (Estonia) on trumpet, and Andi Pupato (Switzerland) on percussion, “Across the Evening” is a multi-dimensional, trans continental delight.

With sounds that caress and envelop, rhythms that percolate and inspire, the two guitarists nimbly play off each other and their guests, rarely allowing the listener to imagine that they are hearing guitars.

From the sublime “Reflective Sea” to the deep middle eastern vibe of “Beguiling Eyes,” the album crosses multiple stylistic boundaries. The final two tracks, “Return to Russia” and “Balkan Blue” are live recordings from the ensemble's live performance in Tallin, Estonia in 2019.

Says Jon, “Robert and I had known each others' work for some time - I'm really fond of his group Uma (with Aleksei Saks), and between my collaborations with Tony Levin and Colin Edwin, he'd been following my work as well. But we hadn't connected personally until recently. When the idea of collaborating was floated, we met it with great enthusiasm. We are both very interested in the textural possibilities with guitar but approach it differently, both in terms of tools and techniques. In the end, the two approaches blend wonderfully, and it's often hard to believe that what you’re hearing is guitar. When we began working, we realized that while it's great to be able to work remotely, there was a strong desire to also work together in the same room. I arranged a trip to Tallinn, and Robert organized a concert at Philly Joe's Jazz Club in Tallinn. We were very fortunate to have Aleksei Saks join us on Trumpet, and Inna Kovtun came up from Kiev to sing with us. It was an incredibly inspiring evening, and two tracks on the album are from the recording of that show. The album includes ideas and concepts born out of our few days of rehearsing and improvising together, and flushed out with fantastic performances from Colin Edwin (bass) and Andi Pupato (percussion).”

THE ARTISTS

Jon Durant - Guitars

Jon Durant brings a unique sense of texture and melody to his instrument. His unique “cloud guitar” soundscapes and engaging lead work have graced numerous CD recordings and film soundtracks and his very distinctive use of fretless guitar has been widely admired. He has previously released 9 solo albums and three Burnt Belief records (with Colin Edwin). Durant's acclaimed 2018 solo release “Parting Is” was his first “solo guitar” recording and the follow up solo guitar album “Alternate Landscapes” continue to stretch the boundaries of what a guitar record can sound like. Both solo CDs have been nominated for “Best Ambient Album” in various US new age radio publications, while “Alternate Landscapes” also spent multiple weeks at the top of the NACC Chill Charts.

Robert Jürjendal - Guitars

Robert Jürjendal is an Estonian guitarist and composer who studied classical guitar and composition (Anti Marguste) at Tallinn Georg Ots Music School. In 1992-1997 he participated in Robert Fripp Guitar Craft Courses. He has written music for classical and contemporary guitar, cembalo, mixed ensembles, choirs; documentaries, art exhibitions and theater. His compositions include both traditional and contemporary elements, from folk music to post-rock and ambient-jazz. Robert Jürjendal is working as a freelancer composer / artist / lecturer. He is also the curator of the music program SOOLO at Tallinn Art Hall. Recent albums include “Source Of Joy” (Unsung Records 2013), “Balm Of Light” (iapetus - media 2014) and “Simple Past” (Strangiato Records 2016). “Another World” (with Colin Edwin) (Hard World 2018), “Five Seasons” (Albany Records 2018), With Noya and Godwin, “Samliku” (New Dog Records 2019), with Sandor Szabo “Electric Poetry” (Greydisc 2019).

To purchase:
Bandcamp: https://jondurant.bandcamp.com/album/across-the-evening

Burning Shed: https://burningshed.com/jon-durant_robert-jurjendal_across-the-evening_cd

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Across-Evening-Jon-Durant/dp/B089LYGZKT

Jon Durant's official website: http://www.jondurant.com
Robert Jürjendal's official website: http://robertjyrjendal.com

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Monday, April 1, 2019

Innovative Guitarist Jon Durant Releases New Solo Guitar Album "Alternate Landscapes"


Portland, OR - Following his acclaimed CD “Parting Is,” Jon Durant returns with a new solo album “Alternate Landscapes.” While both records are solo guitar, that’s also where the similarity ends.

Alternate Landscapes expands the idea of solo guitar to include MIDI guitar triggering old school synthesizer sequences and breathy wind instruments alongside Jon’s signature cloud guitar textures. The result is a strikingly original blend of highly unusual sounds and textures with the additional context of vintage synthesis all translated through the guitar. In addition, each of the four expansive tracks take the listener on an extended sonic journey through a multitude of aural landscapes.

Durant commented: “For my entire musical career, I’ve steadfastly refused to wear my influences on my sleeve. If I ever do something that sounds too much like someone else, I have always discarded it. This time I allowed myself to let, for example, my Tangerine Dream influence come to the fore, and decided to make a statement that offered homage without being too derivative.”

Continuing, Durant spoke of the very different nature of how he approached his guitar playing on “Alternate Landscapes” relative to his previous work: “I’ve always had a great love of melody, and on all my earlier work whether solo or with Burnt Belief my lead guitar was a centerpiece of what I did. The cloud guitar textures, for which I have gained a certain reputation, were usually placed in a context underneath a more obvious lead guitar melody. On Alternative Landscapes, however, I have almost eliminated the lead guitar voice in favor of letting the cloud guitar textures become the dominant theme.”

“Two of the songs, “Aragon” and “Ciel du Cheval” are solo guitar pieces, performed live in the studio with no overdubs. All the percussive elements on “Aragon are a loop played on guitar, over which I played my fretless guitar. “Ciel du Cheval” is solo cloud guitar piece all played on guitar with an E-Bow. Listeners might be reminded of the landmark work of Fripp & Eno in it’s scope and approach, though not necessarily in the sounds that emerge.”

The other two tracks involve the use of guitar synthesizer, and also include sounds of voices and trains recorded on an iPhone and played back through the pickups of a guitar and processed through Durant’s complex effects rig to render those sounds completely indistinguishable from where they began.

Guitarist Jon Durant brings a unique sense of texture and melody to his instrument. His distinctive “cloud guitar” soundscapes and engaging lead work have graced numerous CD recordings and film soundtracks. His 2018 release “Parting Is” was nominated for “Best Ambient Album” in the Zone Music Reporter awards. In 2019, several highly regarded recordings feature Jon’s work as a session player, including Stephan Thelen’s landmark “Fractal Guitar” on which Durant can be heard alongside David Torn and Marcus Reuter and many other innovative guitarists. 

As executive producer of Alchemy Records, he produces recordings for internationally acclaimed artists in his small home studio. Alongside Durant's six solo albums and three Burnt Belief records (with Colin Edwin of Porcupine Tree), Alchemy has also released albums by artists Michael Manring, Gary Willis, Leni Stern/Wayne Krantz and others.



To Purchase Jon Durant's “Alternate Landscapes”:
https://jondurant.bandcamp.com/album/alternate-landscapes
https://www.amazon.com/Alternate-Landscapes-Jon-Durant/dp/B07NRF9ST6
https://burningshed.com/jon-durant_alternate-landscapes_cd?filter_tag=jon%20

Video for Burnt Belief, “Ghosts Aquatic”:


Video for Burnt Belief, “Dissemble”:


Video for Burnt Belief, “Semazen”:


Jon Durant's official website: http://www.jondurant.com

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Monday, January 8, 2018

Innovative Guitarist Jon Durant Releases Solo Guitar Album "Parting Is"


Boston, MA - Following three acclaimed CDs with his group Burnt Belief, Jon Durant has returned with his first solo album since 2011's “Dance of the Shadow Planets.” Unlike his previous solo albums, however, “Parting Is” is a completely solo guitar album.

A deeply emotional and personal record, “Parting Is” takes the idea of a solo guitar album and transforms it into a stunning sonic landscape of texture and color. Many of the sounds on the album bear no relationship with traditional guitar, but there are no synthesizers employed at all. Everything is played by Jon Durant on guitars (with Durant also playing fretless bass on four pieces).

Durant commented: “In recent years, I have been spending a lot of time away from people and places I love very much. My two boys are out of the house, one graduated college and the other is a senior in college this year. We have a wonderful time when I get to see them, but then they go away and there is a bit of a pang as we part. Also, we have a second home on the other side of the country (Portland, OR) where I spend a fair bit of time, and is also where much of this album began. Frequently my wife will join me for a long weekend, and I will stay on for another week or so, and of course there's the sadness when we part. What is reflected in this music is the sweet sorrow that comes from this parting - recognizing that it's temporary but still longing for more time together.”

About the music, Durant stated: “On most days, one of the first things I do is grab a cup of tea or coffee, and begin to experiment with my guitar. The music that comes out is not done with any intention of becoming a composition, or a recording, but is rather more of a meditation. However, a friend heard a brief recording of one such piece and asked why I didn't record more of them. When I began to do so, I felt a pattern was emerging that might be worth exploring.

“Many pieces begin as loops that I would play a melodic lead over. I recorded several of these, then began to deconstruct the loops and record the various parts as separate components which could become less loop like and more dynamic and flowing. The track, 'Open Window' is a perfect example of how that played out.”

That track, “Open Window” also provides an opportunity to explore the unusual sound and textures that Durant creates. The primary guitar which began as a loop is an electric 12 string. From there, multiple electric 12 string parts were layered in a minimalistic way. The melodic guitar is a fretless electric guitar, and the low tones (which sound a bit like the old Moog Bass Pedals) are generated from the fretless guitar. Also, swirling around in the background are Jon's unique cloud guitar sounds, notes which hang in the air like clouds with no discernable beginnings or endings.

There are three solo cloud guitar pieces (“Clouds in Advance”, “Before the Rain Falls” and “Willamette Fog”) and two pieces which remained as a loop with lead guitar over the top. “The Room Where She Waits” is a loop of electric 12 String and the lead is fretless guitar. On “Evolve in Place”, the loop is an electric guitar with fretless guitar over the top.

Guitarist Jon Durant brings a unique sense of texture and melody to his instrument. His distinctive “cloud guitar” soundscapes and engaging lead work have graced numerous CD recordings and film soundtracks. As executive producer of Alchemy Records, he produces recordings for internationally acclaimed artists in his small home studio. Alongside Durant's six solo albums and three Burnt Belief records (with Colin Edwin of Porcupine Tree), Alchemy has also released albums by artists Michael Manring, Gary Willis, Leni Stern/Wayne Krantz and others.

To Purchase Jon Durant's “Parting Is”:
https://www.amazon.com/Parting-Jon-Durant/dp/B077319LXV
https://burningshed.com

Video for Burnt Belief, “Ghosts Aquatic”:


Video for Burnt Belief, “Dissemble”:


Video for Burnt Belief, “Semazen”:


Jon Durant's official website: http://www.jondurant.com

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com