29th September 2014: RELEASE DAY: Cloudmakers Trio ‘Abstract Forces’ out worldwide

We’re proud to announce the official release date for Abstract Forces by Cloudmakers Trio.  Check the events page to see where the band will be playing this fall in support of the release.

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Abstract Forces is the second release from Cloudmakers Trio, the brainchild of vibraphonist Jim Hart which features WWR founder Michael Janisch on double bass and Dave Smith on drums. The album is a powerful mix of strong grooves, catchy hooks and, as the title suggests, very open improvising. Hart’s writing explores different textures, moods and eclectic sound worlds, rendering the music unpredictable and exciting while at the same time beautifully accessible.

The album is an organic continuation of a well-established musical relationship originally formed to collaborate and record with the NYC-based trumpeter Ralph Alessi in 2010 (the result was the Cloudmakers’ debut Live at the Pizza Express, one of the most lauded albums of 2012 in the UK jazz/improv press). It was during the buildup to the tour and recording of the live album that Hart had the good sense make this trio the focus of his new compositions and arrangements.

Hart explains, “After years of playing together as a rhythm section for many artists, Michael, Dave and I decided to get together and prepare new music for a collaboration with Ralph, and during those rehearsals we three played a lot, sometimes up to eight hours a day. It was during these rehearsals that I realised it was the right moment to begin exploring, in greater depth, what potential the ‘vibes trio’ might have. I began writing music just for the trio and over the last four years we have developed and expanded the repertoire through regular touring. This record is a document of where we’re at in this process and I am extremely proud of it. It can sound much bigger than just three players at times whilst also having the dynamic interplay that you can only have in a trio.

For me, Abstract Forces is also the culmination of more than ten years of experience performing as a vibraphonist, as well as leading bands and writing for this instrument. Since I formed my first quartet band ‘Gemini’ in 2003 I have been trying to develop a sound and an approach to the vibes as the only harmony instrument in the ensemble. It is a role that I have always felt under exploited for the the vibes and I have made it my mission to do something about that. In a way I have been quietly developing Cloudmakers Trio from within various quartets since that time.

The name of the group and album comes from the analogy of a trio of rhythm section instruments acting as an engine room within the music. I thought of it like a power station that also produces clouds which have an abstract, ethereal quality to them. Our music is definitely highly charged and has a strong rhythmical focus on the one hand, but at the same time it is absolutely jazz in that it celebrates the freedom and openness of improvisation without being constrained by the compositions. There are abstract forces at work.”