10 Seconds: Fabienne Ambuehl
- georgenelsonphotogra
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
1. Becca Stevens - Wild Eyes Open (1'19" - 1'29")
from Becca Stevens - Maple to Paper (2024)
"I am right inside the story from the first word of the song. This line makes me tear up every time I hear it. I am a big fan of Becca’s writing, musicality, voice, and lyrics, and fascinated by her artistic journey and development over the years."
2. Efterklang - Black Summer (4'30" - 4'40")
from Efterklang - Pyramida (2012)
"Such a slow build in this song, with actual chorus/the words “Black Summer” starting only at 4.30. I first came across this band during my time studying in Denmark. The album is inspired by an expedition to the ghost town of Pyramiden on the island of Spitsbergen just 1000km from the North Pole. The band travelled there and brought home a library of more than a thousand field recordings that were used in the making of the songs on the album. I love those grooves and sounds. It inspires me to this day, in terms of their concept, the songwriting and the production."
3. Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley - The Old Country (1'11" - 1'21")
from Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley (1962)
"I love this transition from the head in to the solo. Beautiful melodic solo by Cannonball, and still one of my favourite albums, that I keep coming back to. How everyone is serving the songs, including Nancy who herself considered her voice “as some sort of third horn” on this album. I like that, it comes across as so relaxed. Nancy’s phrasing and tone moves me."
4. Rachelle Ferrell - I Can Explain (6'31" - 6'41")
from Rachelle Ferrell - Live in Montreux (1991)
"This just blew me away when I first heard it at about the age of fifteen. The rhythm, the precision, the excitement, and then of course that long high note, her technical skills as a vocalist are just at another level, giving her a huge freedom of expression, which is possible in jazz."
5. Joshua Redman - Jazz Crimes (0'00" - 0'10")
from Joshua Redman - Elastic (2002)
"I don’t believe anyone can listen to this without wanting to move, when hearing the beginning. Memory lane again. I believe it was the first time I was dating another musician and the feeling to really share music as a vocation/passion is resonating in this song for me. I love a good groove."
6. Keith Jarrett - Innocence (0'57" - 1'07")
from Keith Jarrett - Personal Mountains (1979)
"My husband recently arranged this intro for three horn players and arco bass, which sounded stunning live. As a huge fan, I could of course have chosen endless “10 seconds” of Keith’s recordings, but this was one recent rediscovery. How Keith starts with so few notes, the urgency of his playing, the invention and voices, the natural pauses and flow, the insisting pace and tone, it is all so heartfelt, it just gets me every time."
7. Alan Pasqua - My New Old Friend (0'00" - 0'10")
from Alan Pasqua - My New Old Friend (2005)
"I was introduced to Alan Pasqua by the bass player of my first album, Yuri Goloubev. I find this
melody so catchy, almost with a pop flavour to it, the sound, the way it’s recorded, the harmony
and voicings, it never gets old for me. I have listened to the album, with this as my favourite track,
countless times over the years.
8. Maria Schneider - Datalords Sanzenin (1'53" - 2'03")
from Maria Schneider - Data Lords (2020)
"This album was my regular soundtrack when commuting from London at 6am, every week during Covid. Sanzenin immediately transports me back to that time. It was great to have these car rides to just let my thoughts wander weekly, with great music played from actual CDs. The album is in two halves, one about the digital world, the other about the natural world. I love Gary Versace’s solo on this track, also how he really uses the high register of his instrument, to illustrate “the joy-filled stroll through the temple gardens”. Sanzenin is the opener of the 2nd CD (natural world). It is inspired by beautiful temple gardens north of Kyoto and reflects on the connection between man and nature."
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