Mike Nock - Hearing

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2023
Time: 50:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 117,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:19) 1. Prologue
(4:34) 2. Sunrise
(1:42) 3. Conundrum
(6:19) 4. Vale John
(1:03) 5. Re-Affirmation
(7:16) 6. And In The Night Comes Rain
(1:24) 7. Jacanori
(1:30) 8. Accessing the Flow
(6:55) 9. Spirit Song
(1:02) 10. Square Circles
(4:04) 11. Waltz For My Lonely Years
(6:36) 12. Journey Through An Imaginary Landscape
(5:49) 13. Windows Of Arquez

Mike Nock has had a varied sixty-five-year musical journey, receiving many awards and honours. It has been thirty years since he released his celebrated solo piano album Touch, recorded at the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Eugene Goossens Hall in Sydney in 1993. Hearing has him returning to the same hall for another solo album and, as the title indicates, it is all about the facility of perceiving sounds aptly and interpreting them in a particular way on a range of his compositions and tunes from a few of his favourite musicians, Bryce Rohde, Bernie McGann and Jonathan Zwartz.

A spontaneously delicate bijou of an opener, "Prologue," is followed by " Sunrise," from Nock's first solo album in 1978. The improvisation, "Conundrum" then leads to "Vale John," a work in progress at the time, which celebrates the life and friendship the pianist experienced with the drummer & bandleader John Pochée who sadly died unexpectedly a day before the recording.

A brief stellar Nock reimagining, "Re-Affirmation" leads on to a delicate interpretation of Jonathan Zwartz's, "And in the Night Comes Rain" which he originally wrote for the pianist, proves sonically blissful, as does the other brief improvisation "Jacanori." Bernie McGann's iconic "Spirit Song," now almost an Australian standard, is interpreted sensitively to the original. "Journey through an Imaginary Landscape" meanders towards a personal favourite on the album, the pianist's interpretation of the Bryce Rohde composition, "Windows of Arquez."

The atmosphere of quiet which runs right through this recording is reason alone to recommend it. More space is given between notes than is expected from a solo piano recording. This recording is all about becoming cognisant of sound. Finally, it is not what you play but how you play. This is a recording of virtuosic and introspective pianism, with occasions of playfulness and melody. Mike Nock's session of interpretations and improvisations gives the feeling of a continuation of an intimate, unique, and personal musical adventure from a master of his craft.
By Barry O'Sullivan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/hearing-mike-nock-abc-jazz

Personnel: Mike Nock - piano

Hearing

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Mike Nock, Marty Ehrlich - The Waiting Game

Styles: Piano, Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:39
Size: 129,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:40)  1. The Waiting Game
(5:22)  2. Reconciliations
(5:37)  3. The Duke
(3:31)  4. Break Time
(5:34)  5. El Testamen de Amelia
(5:38)  6. Amhran Pheader Breathnach
(2:09)  7. 3 Postcards: Three Postcards: # 1
(1:50)  8. 3 Postcards: Three Postcards: # 2
(1:52)  9. 3 Postcards: Three Postcards: # 3
(4:29) 10. Like Spring
(3:00) 11. In The Moment
(5:01) 12. Jacanori
(3:51) 13. Snowy Morning Blues

Longtime friends and jammates since the '70s, Mike Nock and Marty Ehrlich finally got together to document their shared values. While Nock's witty notions are clear on the piano, it is Ehrlich who provides the surprises whether on alto or soprano sax, clarinet or bass clarinet. They form a partnership that languishes in subtleties and shaded nuance, well within modern mainstream or creative improvised guidelines, with occasional twists. Of the 13 selections there are two standards: Dave Brubeck's light swinging, clarinet driven evergreen tribute to Duke Ellington, "The Duke," and James P. Johnson's immortal "Snowy Morning Blues," with Ehrlich's potent alto inspiring Nock's classic striding. Two traditional folk melodies are also adapted; the pensive, hymnal, bass clarinet based "El Testamen de Amelia," and "Amhran Pheader Breathnach," with heavy modal piano and soprano waltzing along. Other 3/4 numbers include the spirit waltz for Ehrlich's soprano, "Reconciliations," and the more quiet, spaced notes by provided by alto sax or piano mixed with silence for emphasis in "In the Moment." Their most patient construct is prevalent on the title track a pained, longing soprano/piano duet laced with gut wrenching discourse and a reggae feel midway through, while the lithe alto sax bop of "Like Spring," playful bass clarinet call and response in "Jacanori," and the spontaneous time-shifting and romping improv that takes place during "Break Time" provide interesting contrasts. More cutting edge is the mini-suite "Postcards," with a quiet, long toned clarinet, inside piano string trade-outs, giddy and reckless abandon in the B section, and distinct point/counterpoint for resolution. These two brilliant musicians need little critical comment, their musicianship stands on its own high merit. Recommended. ~ Michael G.Nastos https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-waiting-game-mw0000055099

Personnel: Piano – Mike Nock; Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet – Marty Ehrlich.

The Waiting Game

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The Mike Nock Underground - Between Or Beyond

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1971/2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:47
Size: 89,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:12)  1. Between Or Beyond
(5:28)  2. The Squire
(3:22)  3. Hobgoblin
(4:51)  4. Outfall
(6:48)  5. Denim Dance
(4:58)  6. Lady Love
(4:00)  7. Wax Planet
(4:04)  8. Space Bugaloo

The Fourth Way (with keyboardist Mike Nock, violinist Michael White and drummer Eddie Marshall) was an early fusion quartet that released three fine albums between 1969-71, none of which has been reissued on CD. Between Or Beyond was an album released in 1970 by the German MPS label and credited to the Mike Nock Underground, basically the Fourth Way minus White. Given its time and place (recorded in Germany in June of 1970), sonically, it's very much of its time. But it's a corker of an album that is the equal to any of the Fourth Way discs as well as a lot of other better-known electric jazz experiments of the time. McClure plays electric bass and it's mixed to the foreground so it functions as much as a frontline instrument as in the rhythm section. While some of this disc dwells in the area of adventurous acoustic piano trio jazz ("Hobgoblin" and McClure's "Denim Dance"), most of it is electric piano based jazz/rock. Nock sounds like he's having a lot of fun making his piano do a lot of things the old acoustic couldn't do. A point of reference might be Canterbury bands' forays into jazz improv. Nock's disc is a good demonstration that before it devolved into formulaic demonstrations of soulless technique, some highly enjoyable recordings were released under the fusion banner. Good to see this one back in print, although it may be hard to come by since it's a Japanese reissue. ~ Robert Iannapollo https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ron-mcclure-wonderland-always-and-between-or-beyond-by-robert-iannapollo.php

Personnel: Mike Nock - piano, electric piano;  Ron McClure - bass; Eddie Marshall - drums.

Between Or Beyond

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Mike Nock - Ondas

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1981
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:14
Size: 117,6 MB
Art: Front

(15:58)  1. Forgotten Love
( 9:11)  2. Ondas
(11:35)  3. Visionary
( 7:59)  4. Land Of The Long White Cloud
( 6:28)  5. Doors

At the time of this recording, New Zealand's Mike Nock was one of the great, unsung pianists in European stlyed jazz. His elegant phrasing and wildly inventive melodicism fly in the face of all notions that claim improvisation must be outside Western musical parameters and structures. On Ondas, Nock has assembled a rhythm section that, while never having played together before shared the ability to create the bedrock, however flexible, for the artist's crystalline compositions and solos. Eddie Gomez was a wise choice for this session because of his experience with Bill Evans, who is an obvious influence on Nock's own composing -- as is Keith Jarrett. His pizzicato flourishes and shifting timbres on "Forgotten Love" and "Visionary," while retaining an elemental sense of meter, are remarkable. Christensen is the greatest of all the drummers in the ECM stable. His style is one of paucity and sparse riffs, but his cymbal "dancing" is a trademark favorite of pianists and saxophonists everywhere. He has the ability to open up time, creating a window for improvisers to stretch each note, each interval, each mode, for all it's worth, suspending notions of time and space for the listener. Evidence is on the title track and "Land of the Long White Clouds." For his part, Nock is a magician of lyrical invention. His compositional architecture is created of minor modes and subtle textures. His chords are small enough to be their own rhythm section and large enough to fit all the notes in between them and the next octave in combinatory gestures of shimmering beauty. He does all of this in a manner in which tension and its resolution are in constant flux, never out of balance with one another. His solo on "Forgotten Love," that is based upon Gomez', is a case in point: towering ivy clusters of notes flex over darkened minor chords, up and through the middle and then upper registers of the instrument before inviting Gomez back in. In all, this is a glorious recording by a crack batch of musicians. It is also a stellar example of what Manfred Eicher's label and production offer to the world. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/ondas-mw0000193926

Personnel:  Mike Nock - piano, percussion; Eddie Gómez - bass; Jon Christensen - drums

Ondas

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