Quartette Oblique

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Michael Stephans

Label: Sunnyside Records
Released: 2018
Views: 1,164

Tracks

Nardis; Vertigo; You and the Night and the Music; In a Sentimental Mood; All Blues; Vesper; So What.

Personnel

Additional Personnel / Information

Michael Stephans: drums; David Liebman: saxophone; Marc Copland: piano; Drew Gress: bass.

Album Description

Four such forward thinking musicians came together to create Quartette Oblique, an ensemble which, as their name suggests, approaches the music from a skewed but engaging angle. Brought together by drummer Michael Stephans, the group features saxophone great Dave Liebman, pianist extraordinaire Marc Copland and the stalwart Drew Gress on bass. Their new eponymously titled recording finds them at their most freewheeling in a live performance at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania. For Quartette Oblique, Stephans reached out to three brilliant, improvising musicians who he knew would trust their instincts and play collective music in an open and exploratory way. Copland is a pianist who Stephans appreciated for decades and who made perfect sense for the ensemble. Having been a longtime fan of woodwind master Dave Liebman, Stephans first worked with Liebman in 2004 and their relationship has truly blossomed. Gress was a perfect pick on bass, as his personal touch and beautiful sound have buoyed Stephans ’s drums in a number of rhythm sections in the recent past.