Maquishti (Valley of Search)
Patricia Brennan
Released January 2021
New York Times 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2021
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n-gO_7DQe_SwpAp_tDF95dnSqr8qpzrMA
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/52xnMW8ir7yfyuVzUSpeTZ?si=sRkFSdmpQRWpKrdzNdbYTg
About:
Mexican
born, New York-based vibraphonist, marimbist, improviser and composer Patricia
Brennan has confirmed the release of her debut full length album Maquishti,
January 15, 2021 on the Valley of Search label.
The twelve original instrumentals that make up the album were composed and
performed solo by Brennan on vibraphone and marimba. Employing unusual
performance techniques and occasional electronics, many of the compositions
were borne from improvisations created live in the studio at the time of recording.
At times exploring silence and space, stillness and patience the album
investigates new sonic territories with an endless sense of curiosity.
“This album is a personal statement not only as a vibraphonist but also as an
improviser and composer,” says Brennan. “From bowing and bending pitch, to the
use of extended effects via guitar pedals, this album reflects my vision for
the vibraphone and the potential of all the possible ways it can be played. I
wanted to not only incorporate all those techniques in the compositions but
also wanted them to become part of my general improvisatory language.”
Patricia has performed with many renown musicians including singer and composer
Meredith Monk and Theo Bleckmann, saxophonists Jon Irabagon and Scott Robinson,
trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, drummer Marcus Gilmore, guitarist Mary Halvorson
and many others. She has performed in venues such as Newport Jazz Festival, SF
JAZZ, and Carnegie Hall, as well as international venues such as Wiener
Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany, Palacio de
Bellas Artes in Mexico City and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Track Listing:
1. Blame It (Patricia Brennan) 04:13
2. Solar (Patricia Brennan) 04:12
3. Improvisation VI (Patricia Brennan) 03:22
4. Sonnet (Patricia Brennan) 05:45
5. Episodes (Patricia Brennan) 05:28
6. Improvisation III (Patricia Brennan) 03:55
7. Magic Square (Patricia Brennan) 06:55
8. Improvisation VII (Patricia Brennan) 03:13
9. I Like for You to Be Still (Patricia Brennan) 06:23
10. Point of No Return (Patricia Brennan) 04:28
11. Away From Us (Patricia Brennan) 04:14
12. Derrumbe de Turqesas (Patricia Brennan) 05:29
Personnel:
Patricia Brennan: vibraphone, marimba and composition
Recorded August
24 – 25, 2018, at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, Queens, NY
Engineered by Max Ross and Mike Marciano from Systems Two
Mixed and Mastered by Max Ross from Systems Two
Produced by Patricia Brennan
Executive Producer: Nabil Ayers
Cover Artwork by Juha Penttinen
Photographs by Noel Brennan
Layout by Mike Zimmerman
Review:
Twinkling and mesmeric, the debut album from this Mexican-born, New York-based vibraphonist and marimba player mixes composed material with tracks that were improvised in the studio whole cloth. Some are retouched with echoey, scrambling effects, but none is particularly lush or layered. Moving way outside the standard language of jazz vibraphone, Patricia Brennan has created something like a landscape of vapor, full of wandering melodies lost in the fog.
Giovanni Russonello (New York Times)
