Pyongyang Express, by Airkraft

Pyongyang Express

by Airkraft

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New and original CD of Airkraft's 'Pyongyang Express'!

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1.	Pyongyang Express 00:37		buy track
2.	Trainspotting 02:50	info	buy track
3.	DPRK 1 00:26		buy track
4.	Double Entry 05:09	info	buy track
5.	DPRK 2 00:20		buy track
6.	Hugh 04:44	info	buy track
7.	DPRK 3 00:20		buy track
8.	Howlin' Wolf 01:49	info	buy track
9.	Mind Interception 03:08	info	buy track
10.	DPRK 4 00:06		buy track
11.	Freedom 04:01	info	buy track
12.	DPRK 5 00:25		buy track
13.	Golden Cirkel 02:39	info	buy track
14.	DPRK 6 00:15		buy track
15.	Darwin Blues And The Evolution Horns 04:01	info	buy track
16.	DPRK 7 00:20		buy track
17.	Shadows of Arirang 00:54		buy track
18.	Hugh's Loops 00:30	info	buy track
19.	Virtuality 'Live And Well 07:08	info	buy track

about

London Jazz News review (2012) by Chris Parker:

"In April 2009, Airkraft (baritone saxophonist Chris Caldwell, soprano player Pete Whyman, tenor saxophonist Frank Van Der Kooij) were invited by the organising committee of the 'April Spring Friendship Art Festival' to play in Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

This intriguing album provides a record of this experience, comprising a number of short field recordings of singing, news broadcasts, trains, street sounds etc., interspersed with trio pieces (mostly composed by Van Der Kooij) inspired by the trip.

These are mainly stately, tender compositions in which tenor and baritone typically harmonise the rhythmic foundation for Pete Whyman’s blazing, agile, pure-toned soprano solos, but there are also freely improvised passages, a couple of Hugh Hopper tunes (one of them recorded live at the Bookworm, Beijing, at an earlier stage of the band’s short Far East tour) and some perfectly judged tenor contributions from Van Der Kooij.

Overall, this is unusual and absorbing saxophone-trio music, well described on the sleeve as mirroring the sights and sounds of the DPRK: 'organised, angular, meticulous and industrial, but … sweet and melancholic'."

credits

released February 1, 2012

Pete Whyman (soprano/alto sax)
Frank van der Kooij (tenor sax)
Chris Caldwell (baritone sax)
Featuring Hugh Hopper (bass) on tracks 18 & 19

Sampler (Field Samples) & Photography by Henk Weltevreden
Mixing & Mastering by John Winfield
Design by Ewan Rigg
Executive Producer: Trevor Taylor
Engineer: Ebby Acquah

Recorded at Coombehurst Studio (tracks 2,4,6,8,9,11,13,15) and Bookworm, Bejing (track 19); field samples were recorded in 2009/2010 in the DPRK.

Released by FMR Records

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about

Frank van der Kooij Breda, Netherlands

Frank is a saxophonist and composer from Breda. Through the city's jazz scene he became in contact with the Breda-Canterbury project in 1985, which later resulted in the Hugh Hopper Band with the late Soft Machine bassist. Other projects include collaborations with Mark Hewins (Bob Geldof Band), Richard Sinclair, Patrice Meyer, Rembrandt Frerichs, and many more. ... more

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