Silvan Joray - Updraft

[GA Russell]

Ubuntu Music Presents   Silvan Joray featuring Nadav Erlich & Jeff Ballard   Updraft   CD AND DIGITAL FORMATS AVAILABLE ON NOVEMBER 3, 2023. UBUNTU MUSIC – UBU0144 (THE ORCHARD) WWW.UBUNTUMANAGEMENTGROUP.COM | WWW.WEAREUBUNTUMUSIC.COM

CD RELEASE EVENT Threes Brewing Gowanus 333 Douglas St., Brooklyn, NY Wednesday, November 8, 8.30 pm https://threesbrewing.com/pages/gowanus

Silvan Joray - guitar and compositions Nadav Erlich - double bass Jeff Ballard - drums  

New York City-based guitarist and composer Silvan Joray is proud to present Updraft, his second album as a leader and first for the Ubuntu Music label. The album showcases his forward-thinking original style characterized by a transparent tone, crispy articulation, creative rhythmic ideas and extended techniques like quarter tones and „tapping“ which are not traditionally associated with jazz guitar playing. A follow up to his ambitious 2020 trio album, Cluster, Joray’s latest outing features once again Israeli double bass player Nadav Erlich and this time, living legend Jeff Ballard (Brad Mehldau, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny) on drums.   Born and raised in Switzerland, Joray embraces both the openness of European as well as the rootedness and swing of American jazz. While the music on Updraft is clearly influenced by the American jazz tradition, it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not and is totally content with being in its own category. Renowned jazz bassist Larry Grenadier states: “Silvan along with Nadav and Jeff have made a musical statement together that has at its core a sense of history and at the same time moves the music towards the future with bold playing and fresh compositions. Sonically beautiful and captivating music.“

Ballard, Joray, Erlich  © Victor Hege

The recording includes seven original compositions and two short, freely improvised tracks. The serenity of joyful straight eighth grooves, as heard in “Kokodrillo“ or “Kaeppeleview“, complements the swinging energy of pieces like “Updraft" and “Kurtish". Joray is also passionate about playing jazz standards and pays tribute to two masters of the genre, Cole Porter and Andrew Hill, with "At Long Last Love" and “Subterfuge“.   Starting in September 2020, the trio had the chance to refine its band sound and interplay over the course of two years before going into the studio. At the same time, humanity faced some new challenges that heavily impacted everyone’s life. Updraft is Joray’s personal way of dealing with these difficult times and presents a collection of compositions that strive to lift our spirits and elevate our perspectives. The title of the album beautifully encapsulates this sentiment, and Joray’s innate gift for melody and lyricism shines through both in his playing and compositions.

TRACKS 1. Kokodrillo 7:09 2. Kaeppeleview 6:33 3. Updraft 6:39 4. Morning Breeze 0:34 5. Very Sweet Stuff, But Nice! 5:43  6. Subterfuge 5:50 7. The Liar 4:56 8. Kurtish 5:01 9. Something Ahead 4:31 10. Evening Breeze 1:00 11. At Long Last Love 6:25    All compositions written by Silvan Joray except for tracks 4 and 10 (improvised) Track 6 (Andrew Hill) and track 11 (Cole Porter)   Produced by Silvan Joray Co-produced by Roman Hošek (SRF2 Kultur) Executive Producer: Martin Hummel   Recorded by Daniel Dettwiler at Idee und Klang Studio Basel on June 11 and 12, 2022 Second engineer, tracking and editing by Josua Dillier Mixed and mastered by Daniel Dettwiler at Idee und Klang Studio Himmelried.   Front cover photo: George Korunov Designed by Rumney Design

ABOUT SILVAN JORAY Silvan Joray is currently based in New York City. He has gained recognition in the jazz community, having won special prizes at the UNISA International Strings Competition in South Africa 2022 and the Smietana Jazz Guitar Competition 2019 in Poland. He has performed at prestigious jazz festivals including the Krakow Summer Jazz Festival, Offbeat Jazzfestival Basel, and International Jazz Festival Bern, and has toured in Germany, Norway, Poland, Spain, and Israel. Silvan will be touring throughout the year – please see his website for details: www.silvanjoray.com   ABOUT UBUNTU MUSIC Ubuntu Music, a division of Ubuntu Management Group, is a progressive recorded music label that is committed to bringing quality, accessible jazz and related music genres to increasingly wider audiences. Their approach includes collaborative efforts with an array of performing artists who have a passion for jazz and who possess unique and diversified talents. www.weareubuntumusic.com