Daniel Carter, Stelios Mihas, Irma Nejando, Federico Ughi :: Radical Invisibility
Daniel Carter, Stelios Mihas, Irma Nejando, Federico Ughi :: Radical Invisibility
Daniel Carter - Saxophones, Trumpet, Clarinet, Flute, Keyboard
Stelios Mihas - Guitar
Irma Nejando - Bass
Federico Ughi - Drums
Recorded January 13th, 2018
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jeremy Loucas at Sear Sound, New York City
Music production by Stelios Mihas
Original recording produced by 577 Records
Photographs by Katerina Delta
Graphic design by Sergio Vezzali
All music by Daniel Carter, Stelios Mihas, Irma Nejando and Federico Ughi (Five Seven Seven Records Music, ASCAP)
577 Records is an independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York operating since 2001
577 Records
Brooklyn, New York
www.577records.com
©+℗ 2019 vinyl edition
This is the debut album of a group dedicated to the invisible world. Some people operate invisibly by choice, some are invisible because of the nature of events in their life, some remain invisible and unknown against their will.
Legendary music master Daniel Carter came up with the title Radical Invisibility. He says about this project: “This group has signature attitude, and astonishing access to some of the enticingly key mysteries of musical creation… mood, atmosphere, recognizable group-sound identity. A graceful, but quite radical, radical, but quite graceful, subtle synthesis of a wide range of musical styles/genres/traditions/sensibilities. Divinely infectious”. In various sections of the music, the listener, may ask her/himself, "I know I’m somewhere notably specific and real, but how did I get here?”.
"Ms. Gertrude" from Daniel Carter: "Gertrude Stein, who again is not exactly invisible, though she’s hardly a household name for most people. I think she might qualify as invisible because her writing is so radical and “obscure”, therefore, basically very unpopular, so it’s like she’s virtually invisible."
"Diaspora Guinéa" from Federico Ughi: "dedicated to my friend Simon. He drowned while trying to cross over from Africa to Europe in a handmade boat. He wanted to bring his music project Diaspora Guinéa to Spain."
"weNyamombe and Gomukomu weSimbi" from Stelios Mihas: "it was in Mozambique during the 1940s that Dr. Tracey met musicians Katini weNyamombe and Gomukomu weSimbi. They were composer-poets as he describes and their texts "are an excellent resource of the unique qualities of African poetry. Combining joy with melancholy, political comments and protest with everyday gossip. They express the dynamic liveliness of the people, while carrying a universal spiritual message.” The composer works at first on the text (which is a highly regarded social service as there are no newspapers or other publications besides the village square where opinions can be shared). Then the composer starts working on the music, first by memory, then with the help of the xylophone. After presenting the music to the orchestra (which is made up entirely of local musicians), they work on the underlying theme together to create variations that make up the basic structure of the "ndogo" (the symphonic work). Then the choreographer comes and invents movements to the music until the work is complete. According to the writer the whole work is so rich in melody, rhythm & color that it contradicts the western idea of the necessity of notation & the limits of musical memory."
"Mrs. Myth" from Daniel Carter: "a creative variation of, or wordplay on, Mrs. Smith, i.e., Bessie Smith, who’s not exactly invisible, though maybe relatively invisible for most people."