Alexander Hawkins

• DIGIPACK EDITION

With Togetherness Music, British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins presents a fascinating musical panorama, a distillation and synthesis of different traditions and influences, reflecting the broad spectrum of an extraordinary musical spirit. Released to celebrate Hawkins' 40th birthday, this six-movement quasi-orchestral work is an extensive expansion and revision of a piece which originated with a commission from conductor and composer Aaron Holloway-Nahum for the Riot Ensemble, to feature Hawkins and saxophone icon Evan Parker - with whom Hawkins has enjoyed a now more than decade-long musical association - as soloists. The new incarnation of the work features the original forces, augmented by additional acoustic improvisers and the electronic wizardry of matthew wright. Whilst the Riot Ensemble are primarily renowned for their performances of notated contemporary classical music, and Parker is one of the seminal figures in free improvisation and the post-Coltrane jazz continuum, roles shift fluidly throughout this work, creating an entirely distinctive soundworld.

PERSONNEL:

• Alexander Hawkins - piano, composition
• Evan Parker - soprano saxophone
• Aaron Holloway-Nahum - conductor
• Rachel Musson - flute, tenor saxophone
• Percy Pursglove - trumpet
• James Arben - flute, bass clarinet
• Neil Charles - double bass
• Mark Sanders - drums, percussion
• Matthew Wright - electronics
• Benedict Taylor - viola
• Hannah Marshall - cello

• THE RIOT ENSEMBLE:
• Mandhira de Saram - violin
• Marie Schreer - violin
• Stephen Upshaw - viola
• Louise McMonagle - cello
• Marianne Schofield - double bass

Oxfordshire, UK, July 30, 2020

TRACKS:

• 01. Indistinguishable From Magic
• 02 Sea No Shore
• 03 Ensemble Equals Together
• 04 Leaving the Classroom of a Beloved Teacher
• 05 Ecstatic Baobabs
• 06 Optimism of the Will