Sten Höstfält
Composer Guitarist
Bandleader Producer
Record Label Proprietor
Educator Theorist
Research Scholar
Composer Guitarist
Bandleader Producer
Record Label Proprietor
Educator Theorist
Research Scholar
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Press Media as a Solo Performer and Bandleader Dictionnaire des musiques microtonales (1892-2013) Jedrzejewski, Franck, L'Harmattan (France), 2014: Hostfalt (Sten). Guitariste de jazz et improvisateur américain. Sten Hostfalt emploie les micro-intervalles a la manière de Joe Maneri depuis 1992. Il a enregistré plusieurs CDs sur son propre label Sonus Rex. Enregistrements. 29 Pieces for the Microtonal Guitar Live at Knitting Factory (Sonus Rex, 2003). Macroscope (Sonus Rex, 2006). JAZZIT Magazine (Italy) July 27, 2018 Edition. Johnny Lapio Improvising Artist Portrait Feature. "New York mi ha visto invece prima in duo il chitarrista Sten Hostfalt col il quale, oltre a registrare un disco, ho tenuto una serie di concert in lioghi come lo ShapeShifter Lab di M.Garrison è poi con l'organista Constance Cooper nel Queens. L'atmosfera e stata surreale poiché nei miei giorni di permanenza mi sono imbattuto in un tempo veramente grigio e nevoso, il vapore dei tombini avvolgeva le persone e in due occasioni nelle chiese in cui ho suonato era percepibile chiaramente il passaggio della metrapolitana il cui suono è stato inglobato in manera assolutamente naturale nell'atmosfera del concerto insieme ai colori dei rosoni. Anche in questo caso, in particolare con Sten, c’è stata un’ottima intesa e ho avuto modo di confrontarmi anche con la sua musica microtonale, fortemente innovativa." CityGuide NY March 2, 2018, Sten Hostfalt Soundalike at ShapeShifter Lab, Brooklyn New York. Sten Hostfalt Soundalike is the most recent incarnation of pioneering and acclaimed yet long time under the radar New York City guitar virtuoso and composer Sten Hostfalt, a Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley and Joe Maneri protege' whose original work may be considered groundbreaking in the future according to Jazz Review and is regarded as among the most riveting explorations of the microtonal world ever recorded by Signal To Noise Magazine. Featured guest is trumpet player Johnny Lapio, a celebrated member of the Italian Avantgarde whose work credits include Anthony Braxton, Markus Stockhausen and Sylvano Bussotti. Fresh Music: Explorations With The Creative Workshop Ensemble For Musicians, Artist and Teachers. by Jon Damian [YO Publications 2015] ISBN 978-0-9863105-0-8. Library of Congress Control Number 2015901154 Chapter 11-Week 11 ( pg. 135-138 ) Sten Hostfalt: Microtonalism: "I am very excited to introduce to you Sten Hostfalt, a Creative Workshop ancestor. It was about ten years ago (this written in 2006) that Sten graced CreW with his creative efforts. Sten is a leading innovative guitarist / composer working on the New York music scene today. He performs with some of the most original and unique voices in modern music. Sten has been called highly exceptional by legendary American music icon Jimmy Giuffre and virtuosic by musical innovator Joe Maneri." - Jon Damian, Professor, Berklee College Of Music and Founder and Director of the Creative Workshop at Berklee*. Jon Damian's Creative Workshop at Berklee College of Music have during it's 40-year course featured some of today's most prolific guitarists including Bill Frisell, Jeff Parker, Mark Whitfield, Leni Stern, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Wayne Krantz and Lionel Loueke. Signal To Noise Magazine Issue 36 Winter 2005, page 53-54 Sten Hostfalt/Eternity Check [g-wOw 1214], 29 PIECES FOR THE MICROTONAL GUITAR LIVE AT KNITTING FACTORY NEW YORK [g-wOw 1215] In these two releases, guitarist Sten Hostfalt develops a finely-detailed, insect-scaled musical system in which a thousand granular details, seemingly disjointed and unrelated, fuse to build a giant mound swarming with life. The centerpiece of Eternity Check is }a 1992 Boston recording in which Hostfalt ringmasters a boisterous sextet. In this context the leader's fussy guitar work often comes off as the fine print in a broadside combining jazzy bass lines with spacy synthesizer wobbles and rockish riffs. The three shorter tracks on this disc, recorded in 2001, almost don't belong here (although this 30-minute disc could hardly afford the loss) With Magnus Lind's time-folding accordion arabesques, they presage the total immersion in a mini-verse of finely etched detail that Hostfalt takes to glorious extremes in 29 Pieces for Microtonal Guitar. Recorded live at the Knitting Factory in 2002, 29 Pieces is among the most riveting explorations of the microtonal world ever recorded. Its fine focus and beauty of details puts the cycle in a class with John Cage's exquisite "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano". With few tracks lasting more than two minutes, Hostfalt contracts the material to the crystalline scale of fly wings, piercing the mind and soul with intimations of the deep and strange order of the universe. The live recording is almost desperately intense and immediate, and the disc has richly rewarded as many listeners as I have been able to give it (five so far). - Larry Cosentino Fundacio' Pilar i Joan Miro Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain XXXV Encontre de Compositors Festival Illes de Balears 2014: "L'Encontre Internacional de Compositors és història viva del nostre patrimoni musical. Al llarg d'aquests 35 anys d'història, Mallorca ha pogut veure als seus teatres i auditoris a les principals figures de la música contemporània nacional i internacional i és avui, més que mai, quan les energies de la Fundació ACA es troben en el seu estat ple per emprendre una nova edició. En aquesta XXXV edició, l'Encontre Internacional de Compositors recupera una de les seves senyes d'identitat que marcaren els seus orígens: els concerts monogràfics. Des dels seus orígens l'aposta de la Fundació ACA per la dignificació de la figura del compositor ha estat total. Possiblement a la societat actual el compositor de música contemporània sigui un dels estaments creatius més invisibles i és per això que la Fundació ACA aposta plenament en la rellevància històrica i social que aquest suport mereix. Aquesta edició estarà dedicada principalment a tres compositors de tres generacions: Helmut Lachemann, José Luis Torá i Mateu Malondra. Des de les institucions culturals tenim una gran responsabilitat a l'hora de programar un festival apostant per la qualitat i l'originalitat de les propostes, però mai hem d'oblidar que programam per un públic que desitja trobar-se amb la música contemporània de múltiples maneres. És per això que a la propera edició de l'Encontre Internacional de Compositors a més d'aquests tres concerts monogràfics volem mostrar una programació més plural que mai adaptada als diferents perfils de públics que demanden música contemporània per a una societat contemporània. Deu concerts articulats en quatre cicles componen aquesta edició de l'Encontre Internacional del Compositors que es celebrarà a Mallorca del 31 d'octubre al 15 de novembre. A la Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca: 21 NOVEMBRE 21.00. Sten Hostfalt, guitarra Obres de Sten Hostfalt "Microtonal Guitar". All About Jazz CD Review: 29 Pieces for the Microtonal Guitar Live at Knitting Factory New York "Sten Hostfalt takes the rigid confines of the Guitar and transforms it into an instrument capable of exploring the minute spaces between traditional notes by using altered tunings, mechanical preparations and electronically enhanced techniques. The result, 29 Pieces for the Microtonal Guitar, is an intriguing recording that shows just how far an instrument can be bent and altered to meet a more experimental and adventurous need, taking you on a journey to a place where rules, quite simply, don't exist and anything is possible. For those with ears broad enough to allow for the possibility that music can extend beyond the expected, and expand the potent boundaries of experience, 29 Pieces For The Microtonal Guitar Live at Knitting Factory New York constitutes a trip well-worth taking. William Burroughs once wrote "exterminate all rational thought" and, while there is an unquestionable logic behind Höstfält's work, it is so rooted in the unusual as to have the appearance of complete abandon." - John Kelman 2004 New York Music Daily June 9 2014. Sten Hostfalt's Dimensional States Orchestra at ShapeShifter LAB NYC: "A bunch of A-list adventurous Jazz types play Sten Hostfalt's microtonal Dimensional States for Jazz Orchestra at ShapeShifter Lab" Time Out New York March 13, 2014. STEN HOSTFALT'S DIMENSIONAL STATES TRIO + ORCHESTRA at SHAPESHIFTER LAB. "Avant-jazz experimenter Sten Hostfalt presents his microtonal works with both his Dimensional States trio and Orchestra". Symphony Space NYC Jan 10 2012. STEN HOSTFALT SOLO CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENT: "Described as genuinely innovative and ground-breaking by Don Williamson of Jazz Review, impressive and intense by Time Out NY, inimitable by Paper Magazine as well as Virtuosic, Original and Highly Exceptional by legendary icons of American music Joe Maneri, George Russell and Jimmy Giuffre respectively. And with three decades spent in creative music, two of them on the NYC international scene alongside some of the world's most innovative musicians, at some of the world's most presigious venues, expanding the vocabulary for the planets most popular, most played instrument with self-invented, new, original interpretative techniques, virtuoso phenom guitarist, bassist, composer and bandleader Sten Hostfalt makes some of todays' most unique original new music." Am NY/Pm NY Sten Hostfalt Solo Concert, Symphony Space, New York City, August 2011. "This composer and guitarist takes classical jazz techniques and transforms them by adding his own progressive original style" West Side Rag NYC August 5th, 2011 STEN HOSTFALT, SYMPHONY SPACE NEW YORK SOLO CONCERT "Sten Hostfalt, described as genuinely innovative and groundbreaking by Don Williamson of Jazz Review, impressive and intense by Time Out NY, as well as virtuosic, original and highly exceptional by legendary icons of American music Joe Maneri, George Russell and Jimmy Giuffre respectively". Jazz Now CD REVIEW by Kenneth Egbert 2005 Sten Hostfalt / 29 PIECES FOR THE MICROTONAL GUITAR LIVE AT KNITTING FACTORY NEW YORK "Not for the faint of heart, but more for those of us who think that the late great David Tudor got a bit 'easy listening' towards the end, and Derek Bailey may very possibly be the God that others of us thought in the 1960s Eric Clapton was. Utilizing Joe Maneri's Micro scale "Alive on the Dead Screen" shreds and distort over a droning, howling background while "Icons" quick-picks through a seemingly decaying landscape. Beyond rapturous. "Dialogue" from the 'Lighters' suite pits Höstfält improvising against a tape of himself from an earlier timeframe, very sharp and 'on point', while the 'Major Changes' sequence moves more into John Fahey territory-with well-thought-out and absorbing results. In fact this entire 40-minute live recording from the Knitting Factory NYC (8-29-02) reaches that peak early and stays there with very little difficulty. Certainly one advantage of using a microtonal scale is that you will get new runs of notes, new chordal matrices. For an illustration note, "Roll", last section of the suite "Eight Variations" a furtively smooth run of cacophonous tones that fit together only because Mr. Höstfält and the listener want them to. High-density, highly logical in a completely different way and highly recommended". Time Out New York 2007 Live Announcement: "Sten Hostfalt's prepared guitar explorations combine jazz soloing with surreal effects; we're Impressed with his fast fingers and intense focus ". The New York Jazz Record March 2013, The 4TH Annual Joe Maneri Celebration: "High points were Ed Schuller's rock-tinged bass solo, soon joined by Ben Jaffee's brawny tenor ; Steve Dalachinsky's recitation of poetry and autobiographical sketches ; Sten Hostfalt and Savina Theodorou's visually dramatic duets; Josh Sinton and Simon Jermyn's equally dynamic duet ; Noah Kaplan's operatic microtonalism and the final soiree, an extended tribute to Maneri's living memory " - Tom Greenland. Guitar Player Magazine Editor's (Barry Cleveland) CD Pick Feb. 2005 Rants & Raves: Sten Hostfalt / 29 Pieces for the Microtonal Guitar Live at Knitting Factory New York In a collective list of Guitar Player editor's selections including King Crimson, Grant Green, Nick Drake, Gil Evans Orchestra and John Lee Hooker. Zeitgeist Gallery Cambridge MA, March 13 2006 Sten Hostfalt Live Solo Concert Announcement - "Acknowledged as one of the world's foremost improvisers on the microtonal guitar and currently announced as 'an innovator on the cutting edge on the New York City music scene' as enthusiastically reviewed, featured and documented in leading international press like Guitar Player, Jazz Times, The New York Times, Time Out New York, Cadence, All Music Guide and All About Jazz, after over a decade of work alongside some of the world's most innovative musicians, award-winning New York City 6-string virtuoso, composer and live electronica improviser Sten Hostfalt is recognized as a singularly unique voice among the new generation of improvisers." Altrisuoni (Italy) CD Review, Alekos Pandelis 2004: Eternity Check & 29 Pieces for The Microtonal Guitar Live at Knitting Factory New York "Sten Höstfält guarda alla microtonalità come ad uno sviluppo organico dalle tecniche tradizionali e dalle pratiche compositive e alla conoscenza del sistema del dodici toni, diatonicismo, cromatismo e serialismo, cosi come alle serie degli ipertoni e al principi fondamentali dell'acustica". Riconosce le proprietà uniche del sistema a 72 note ET, un sistema ideato da Maneri che usa 72 toni fissi per l'ottava al fine di definire l'espressione all'interno di un virtuale tono continuo. Con un'esperienza accademica di studi sulle tecniche compositive microtonali, parallela al suo lvoro di strumetista e compositore nella musica jazz improvvisata, per Höstfält la microtonalità è piu di un semplice ingrediente della musica, ma rappresenta una vera e propria fonte d'ispirazione per il fraseggio, il ritmo, l'interpretazione armonica e melodica. I due lavori qui recensiti potrebbero essere visti uno come l'espansione dell'altro, nel senso che come strumentista appare chiaro che Höstfält abbia voluto innanzi tutto sviluppare le tecniche tradizionali della chitarra a sei corde, strumento che tra l'altro suona con particolare bravura, sperimentandole poi su un più largo ensemble di strumenti. L'interplay tra mucisisti - tutti largamente noti nella scena improvvisativa di New York-contribuisce a dare una particolare verve a questo disco, forse più pieno, senza riserve o manierismi, proprio perche' il gioco si allarga ad una squadra che risponde con un particolare spirito. Dal punto di vista strettamente jazzistico, questo approccio, dove il confine tra parti scritte e preparazione accademica e libera e creativa improvvisazione è davverolabile, l'approccio di Höstfält sembra dare nuovo ossigeno, molta energia e una particolare luminosità tanto all'approccio qualto all'esecuzione. Un jazz complesso, mai troppo astratto, capace di trovare bei momenti di poesia. Un ottimo risultato per uno che ha una vita di musica davanti a sè ! PM NYC/Paper Magazine Concert Announcement: Sten Hostfalt's Ghost Factor at Monkeytown NYC [2007] "There are few musicians brave enough to combine live poetry with the toy piano and the trombone but then there are few musicians like Sten Hostfalt. He takes even more risks with his band Ghost Factor incorporating guest improvisation into each inimitable performance". Club Le Triton Les Lilas, France 2002 Concert Program Announcement: Sten Hostfalt's Tura-Leri/Michel Barbaud's Karwan "En mai fais qu'il te plait ! Michel Barbaud et Sten Höstfält vous presénteront Karwan TuraLeri, un projet musical très improvisé qui cherche à rapprocher les antipodes. Leur musique se joue des racines. Partant du jazz, elle nous emmène en Turquie, en Suède, en Bulgarie, à Marseille pour atterrir aux Lilas" Jazz Review CD Review by Don Williamson (2005) Sten Hostfalt/29 Pieces for the Microtonal Guitar Live at Knitting Factory New York: "Sten Höstfält has more than absorbed the teachings of some of the free-jazz New England-based musicians he studied with at the New England Conservatory of Music and Berklee; he has internalized their thoughts to come up with his own investigations. As of late Höstfält has been exploring and presenting the theoretical propositions of Joe Maneri, who has identified 72 pitches within the octave, although traditional traditional Western musical theory involves at the most the 12 notes of the chromatic scale. All of a sudden the addition of six times as many tonal possibilities has opened up new vistas for sonic expression as the nuances between the normally expected vibrations are stated, rather than being contained within temporary pitch-wavering allusions such as "blue notes" or vibrato. It means that Höstfält now has developed his own repertoire that incorporates the microtones contained within expansion of pitches available to him. Tuning his guitar in intervals of a quarter tone and smaller, Höstfält sketches with his guitar, allowing the listener to connect the lines, rather than painting a mural, referring to traditional harmonic conventions even as as he microtonally upends them, removing the audience's comfort zone as he challenges it's combined expectations with a genuinely Innovative approach for guitar. In the future 29 Pieces For The Microtonal Guitar may be considered a groundbreaking work as Western musical theory catches up with the microtonality of Indian and Middle Eastern genres". Cadence October 2005, Grego Applegate Edwards CD Review: Sten Hostfalt 29 Pieces For The Microtonal Guitar Live at Knitting Factory New York. "Sten Hostfalt is perhaps the better known of the group of guitarists in this batch, having played and/or recorded with Bobby Shew, Paul Bley and Jimmy Giuffre. Hostfalt uses conventional instruments and obtains microtones through various other means. More or less pure-toned microtones, buzzes, string scratches and other timbral textures weave in and out of the aural palette in an attractive complexity."Major Changes" begins with electric low notes, then follows with rapid figuration, microtonal chords and arpeggios. "Eight Variations" features Jazz-like figurations without a tonal center, mostly acoustic. Lower strings seem down-tuned and punctuate the texture dynamically. "Alive on the Dead Screen" brings in increased energy. A white noise wash of electronics in the background to distorted electric noise-oriented Post-Hendrix utterances you hear the influence of the Hendrix at Monterey finale and "Third Stone from the Sun". The electronic wash varies, interjecting Morse-code-like high frequency punctuations underneath the psycho-workout. Pretty convincing. "Diplomacy" turns again to the acoustic guitar with added prepared objects that provide percussive metallic timbres and low buzzes. Starting sparsely, the figuration becomes rapid. On "Lighters II" prepared guitar with a metallic slide produce intriguing koto-like sounds. If you find Derek Bailey's solo guitar works to be of interest, Hostfalt gives you another angle on exploring tone colors and guitar abstractions that you will not want to miss" Jazz Views (U.K.) CD REVIEW August 2004. STEN HOSTFALT 29 PIECES FOR THE MICROTONAL GUITAR LIVE AT KNITTING FACTORY NEW YORK - "As alien as the harmonies are, as abstruse as the overall concept is, Höstfält's approach draws the listener into it's most extrinsic world. Even rapid-fire and more aggressive pieces like "Micronic" and "Roll" manage to somehow lull the listener with a somewhat hypnotic sensibility. The more processed pieces that comprise the five-part suite "Alive on the Dead Screen" may be more jagged and sharp, but they still create an ambience that is strangely appealing. C | Net / Download.Com 2006 "With just a regular old guitar, Sten Hostfalt completely rethinks and restructures conventional technique" - Editor's Pick [track: ICONS]. Club D'Elf Calendar March 2007, Concert Announcement Lizard Lounge Cambridge MA. Shared event with Club D'Elf ft. David Tronzo. "Labeled groundbreaking, virtuosic innovators on the cutting edge of the NYC scene and lyrical graceful jazz impressionists of the highest order, guitarist Sten Hostfalt and Bruno Raberg are known to create a highly unique, original sonic universe whenever they join forces and merge." TomaJazz (Spain) by Jesus Moreno 2007: "Lo cierto es que en mi mùsica me gusta un acercamiento ínside-outside. Me gusta experimentar con mi colega Sten Hostfalt, que està desarollando un concepto de guitarra microtonal. El es uno que viene de la escuela tradicional y sabe tocar muy inside. Eso para mi es algo natural y no exagerado, pero es muy abstracto y poca gente escucharia algo asi Hemos tocado ahora en Nueva York en los clubes 'sub-underground' - Jimmy Weinstein ; artist spotlight. PhillyJazz.Org Philadelphia PA, August 4 2006, Sten Hostfalt & Katt Hernandez Concert Announcement: Internationally critically acclaimed improvisers Sten Hostfalt-guitar/electronics (NYC) and Katt Hernandez (Boston)-violin, both with mentor, microtonalist/ contemporary music innovator Joe Maneri as a common denominator, appears live in an all improvised microtonal duo-concert program at The Cinema, 3925 Walnut Street Philadelphia PA. Bowerbird The Cinema, Philadelphia PA, Aug 4 2006 HOSTFALT/HERNANDEZ DUO CONCERT PROGRAM "Currently noted for continuously Time Out NY recommended solo and duo concerts with violinist Katt Hernandez, as well as with his 'Soft Value' trio performing originals in homage of mentor Jimmy Giuffre's style/genre transcending spirit, Brooklyn NY based guitarist, composer and live electronica artist Sten Hostfalt is also after early 1990's studies with microtonal composer Joe Maneri and the subsequent critically acclaimed '03 microtonal solo CD-release "29 Pieces for the Microtonal Guitar live at Knitting Factory NY", Acknowledged as one of the world's foremost microtonal improvisers on the guitar. Notably so by interpreting Maneri's 72-note system primarily through self-invented, new extended instrumental techniques for the traditional 6-string/ 12-fret guitar." Jazz Review CD REVIEW Natasha Mitchell 2004 STEN HOSTFALT/ ETERNITY CHECK [g-wOw 1214] "Eternity Check, the brainchild of guitarist/ composer Sten Hostfalt presents a clever improvisation that is matchless. The four track compact disc marks Hostfalt's debut as a lead performer, and Eternity Check features American and European interpretations of original improvised material." Free NYC January 2006 Concert Announcement, Sten Hostfalt Solo Microtonal Guitar, Lucky Cat Brooklyn NY. "Continuing the mind expanding events for the day Sten Hostfalt will perform microtonal guitar sonorities tonight. Hostfalt's octave consists of 72 pitch bending tones derived from the theories of Joe Maneri (who, for all you hippies out there, also taught John Medeski). These sounds are, at times, hard on my ears but I find their academic value limitless. Check it out yourself to be the judge." - - - - - - - - - - - - PRESS / MEDIA As a member of and featured soloist with Guillermo Klein's Big Van, NYC 1993-1995. All Music Guide CD Review, David R. Adler. Guillermo Klein/ Big Van-El Minotauro, 1998. * * * * "This album, inexplicably out of print, documents one of the earliest incarnations of Guillermo Klein's big band. Called Big Van, the ensemble had pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Johannes Weidenmueller, and drummer Marc Miralta in the rhythm section; Chris Cheek and Mark Turner, Matt Hong, Dave Barraza, and Dan Bosshardt on saxophones; Richard Nant, John Walsh, Juan Cruz de Urquiza, and David Boato on trumpets; Sandro Tomasi, Masa Ikeda, and Sir Matt Pavolka on trombones; and Sten Hostfält on guitar. Klein wrote, arranged, and conducted the album's eight powerful tracks. Blending the sounds of his native Argentina with a cutting-edge harmonic and orchestrational sophistication, Klein guides you through a wide swath of musical territory: the bright Latin jazz of "El Minotauro" and "Free"; the darker, majestic sounds of "Primer Tango" and "Lo Perdido" (the latter featuring an intense Spanish vocal performance by Sophie Durer); the impressionistic portraits "La Manzana de Las Luces" and "Abismo"; and the retro jazz/funk grooves of "La Madre de Mi Hermana" and "Technicolor." Klein's mastery of timbral variation and subtle dynamics makes the album a lasting pleasure. The band's brilliant soloists heighten the impact of Klein's writing all the more. And the strategic use of quirky voice-overs and signal processing gives the album an added punch. Along with figures such as Maria Schneider and Jason Lindner, Guillermo Klein is helping give rise to a new era in big-band composition". CD Liner Notes Guillermo Klein's Big Van-El Minotauro "The band continued to rehearse and in the summer of '95 played every Sunday at Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, New York. Hearing the band was an uplifting experience as saxophonist George Garzone Recounts : "I first heard Guillermo's big band in the fall of 1995 at Small's Jazz Club in New York City. Guillermo's writing struck me as truly singular with cluster voicings passing in and out of each other in a surprising yet fluid manner within every voicing each line had a discreet melody and when layered on top of one another they created a unique effect and added a smooth harmonic flow to the music. Guillermo's compositions are romantic, dramatic and passionate. His Argentinian roots lends his music a character and a rhythmic feel that, coupled with his harmonic and melodic ideas create a totally new and whole expression. Big Van includes musicians such as Juan Cruz de Urquiza, Chris Cheek, Mark Turner and Marc Miralta to name a precious few. These young players provide Guillermo with the chops, interpretive creativity and enthusiasm he needs to articulate his music. The freshness of their improvisations only strengthen his vision. While many younger musicians and improvised music as a whole searches for new directions, Guillermo demonstrates a command over the forces necessary to create his own directing, harmony, melody, feel and a reverence for the music we play." - George Garzone. Big Van en la Argentina TOUR PROGRAM 1995 CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENT dirigada por Guillermo Klein. Saxos: Matt Hong, Chris Cheek, Seamus Blake,Victor Scorupsky. Trompetas : Richard Nant, Diego Urcola, Juan Cruz de Urquiza. Trombones : Sandro Tomasi, Matt Pavolka, Masa Ikeda. Sección ritmica : Sten Hostfalt, Aaron Johannes Weidenmueller, Marc Miralta, Jeff Ballard. "La ¨Big Van¨ es una orquestra de 16 músicos que naciò a fines del '92 en Boston, cuando estudiaba en Berklee. Empezamos tocando los proyectos que componía para la escuela. Rápidamente me identifiqué con músicos como Richard Nant, Sandro Tomasi, Juan Cruz de Urquiza, etc. y mi música tomó un rumbo más personal. Después de algunos recitalesen Berklee, decidimos salir a tocar en los clubs de jazz. Al principo no fue fácil, pero tuve la suerte de estar avalado por Herb Pomeroy y por los músicos de la orquestra, que en ese momento eran de los más interesantes en Boston. La respuesta de la gente y de los medios fue siempre muy estimulante, cosa que nos dió la oportunidad de tocar regularmente y seguir evolucionando. En el '94 me mudé a Nueva York con la idea de conectarme con algunos de mis músicos favoritos que estaban en la misma búsqueda que yo y también con el deseo de establecer la "Big Van" en la gran "Manzana", capital del jazz. En diciembre último, grabamos un CD con el sello "Beat Records", y después de tocar en varios clubs, estacionamos en "Smalls", un club de jazz situado en el Village, donde tocan muchos músicos de vanguardia y donde nosotros tenemos un ciclo todos los domingos." - Guillermo Klein. The New York Times 1995 Concert Review by Peter Watrous. Guillermo Klein's Big Van at Smalls. Many sources for an Argentine composer: - Guillermo Klein, a young Argentine composer who is leading a big band at Smalls every Sunday this month can be abrupt. His show this week opened with one large brusque chord that immediately died, leaving silence. Sudden riffs burst from nowhere. What had been background noise emerged as the beginning of an electronically distorted saxophone solo. Mr. Klein's orchestra, which draws from the cliched music written for 1960's television and movies, from Steve Reich-style Minimalism, from poly-chordal harmony and occasionally from mainstream jazz, is unlike any other working in New York. There are jokes in the music as well. At the end of one piece, Mr. Klein played two corny organ chords making explicit the tunes' connections to a 1960's style. The music owes something to the electronic experiments of 60's rock-jazz, with the horn soloists playing through amplification. Mr. Klein manages to make it all sound sincere. The authoritative way Mr. Klein called riffs was percussive as well, as he were wrenching them from the band. And he fooled with tempos keeping the rhythm section working at one speed, while slowing or speeding up the riffs. When Mr. Klein returns to Argentina in a few months he will take one of the better continuing experiments in New York with him. Jazz Times CD Review 1998 by Marcela Breton Guillermo Klein/Big Van -El Minotauro [Candid Records]: "Klein's band, Big Van, includes four trumpeters, three trombonists, five saxophonists, a guitarist plus the standard rhythm section. Klein composed, arranged and conducted this ambitious and energetic music. "Abismo" is inspired by Poe's "Descent into the Maelstrom". The title cut and "La Manzana de las Luces" have stately openings that lead into the frenzied, passionate sound of the big band. "Primer Tango" points to Klein's Argentine roots. Klein's music is interesting and finely executed." Cadence Vol. 22 No. 8, August 1996, pg. 90, CD Review by David Dupont: Guillermo Klein/Big Van -El Minotauro [Candid Records] Big Van, led by conductor, composer, and arranger Guillermo Klein, is a big band with a difference .. a couple of differences really. This is not a band devoted to full-blown brass and sax tuttis. Rather, the sections are inter-voiced, with individual players called on to take the lead. The result is a band at once cohesive yet with the looseness of a combo. Mostly the music of Latin and South America informs this session. It's not so much a burning, salsa-inspired drive, as it is the lyricism of the tango and a knack for layering rhythmic patterns as on the closing ensemble of 'Technicolor' where the band courts chaos before stopping on a dime. Recommended. Smalls Jazz Club New York City, 1994-95 Concert Flyer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PRESS / MEDIA as a sideman & featured soloist with Sandviken Big Band and Elexir, Sweden 1997-1999. Orkesterjournalen (Sweden) CD REVIEW 1997 SANDVIKEN BIG BAND / RIGHT ON TIME [Sittel Records]. "Speciellt hajar jag till i avslutande 'Two Bassfishers', där gitarristen Sten Höstfält inleder sitt solo taggigt och avigt innan han glider över i mer klassiskt jazzspel. Kul att någon prövar att skära sönder ljudbilden som annars kan bli väl förutsägbar." Falukuriren (Sweden) CD Review 1998 by Uno Petersson; Elexir Featuring Sten Hostfalt/Feel Real * * * * * - "Lågmält, elegant och intimt musicerande av fyra skickliga instrumentalister och kompositörer. CD'ns musik är uteslutande signerad av bandets medlemmar. Gruppen förmedlar stor samhörighetskänsla, musiken är fint uppbyggd, solisterna kan sträcka ut i låtarna som har improvisations -vänligt harmoniskt underlag. En lyssnar -vänlig produktion som bör passa alla musik-konnässörer". Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden) CD REVIEW 1998, Elexir/Feel Real featuring Sten Hostfalt: "Gåshud garanterat, en smått sensationell CD. Gitarristen Sten Höstfält är en spännande solist, tillika effektiv medspelare". CD Liner Notes Feel Real, Elexir, (by Göran Olson, 1998) "Spektrat når ut trots lågmäldheten. Intimiteten som kammarjazz f örknippas med är markant. Kompositionerna är väl valda med öppning för flexibilitet. Rent av fräscht eleganta utan att vara pråliga. Wes Montgomery skulle inte ha avfärdat gitarristens sparsmakade toner och ackord i gruppens originalmusik. Inte Jim Hall heller för den delen om man vill ägna sig åt amerikanska liknelser. Det kan man dock göra i det här fallet för så välspelat är det." Jazz Guitar International (U.K.) CD Review 1999; Elexir feat. Sten Hostfalt -guitar/Feel Real * * * * "A fine band with a progressive guitarist who mixes bebop with a modern approach, great facility, lovely touch and sound. This is one of the CDs a reviewer gets every now and then that finds its way into his private collection. Highly recommended. PRESS/MEDIA 1986-1990 CD-Release 1990, One Two Three Four Jazz & More from Berklee College of Music. Liner notes by exective Producer Gary Burton: "Berklee and Jazz have always gone together and the list of famous alumni from the college's past includes Quincy Jones, Joe Zawinul, Branford Marsalis and many more important musicians of the past four decades. When producing this CD, we felt that a project highlighting our best ensembles would be a good way to connect Berklee's past and present. The Concert Jazz Orchestra has been under the leadership of professor Herb Pomeroy since it's inception during Berklee's first years, when it was simply known as the recording band. In decades past, Pomeroy's ensemble recorded annually and the albums were released as the Berklee "Jazz in the Classroom" series. It is a particular treat to once again be recording the Herb Pomeroy big band ensemble. The band has continued to be the college's most prestigious jazz ensemble and many of our students aspire to get a chance to play in this group. Their twice-a-year concerts are always exceptional, and offer the best opportunity to hear the college's most outstanding jazz players and writers. The selections featured here start with an arrangement of Duke Ellington's "Little African Flower" by Tommy Kamp. A minor blues, originally recorded on a trio record with Charlie Mingus and Max Roach and never scored for the Ellingtons big band, he referred to it in his biography as one of his favorite pieces. Kamp's arrangement gives the piece a modern interpretation featuring contemporary solos by Pat Loomis alto sax, Sten Hostfalt on guitar and preceded in a more traditional vein by Mercedes Rossy on piano. The most enduring impression I have after more than fifteen years at Berklee is the continuing cast of talented musicians. Our young musicians' skill and creativity are a constant reminder that the future of music in general, and the future of Jazz, in particular, is in good hands." Sydsvenska Dagbladet (Malmö, Sweden) 1986 Jazz Concert Review by Alexander Agrell, at Swing Inn, Malmö Sweden. "Söndagens Swing Inn mönstring utvecklades precis som den skulle -förvirringen över alla nya spännande smaker var samtidigt en positiv orgie i omväxling . . . Högre upp i kåken mullrade samtidigt Jerker Olofson Group och flöt in genom dörren. Funkande elektrisk Jazz på fyra man lika blå som skicklige gitarristen Sten Höstfälts Fender. Den som spelar sådant här går på en knivsegg, tråkigheten är bara ett felskär borta. J.O. group klarade sig lätt på tyngd och känsla" . |
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Photo by Jose' Luis Luna Rocafort
© All Rights Reserved 2014-2025.
XXXV Encontres de Compositors
Sten Hostfalt solo concert 2014,
Pilar i Joan Miro, Palma de Mallorca,
Islas Baleares, Spain
© All Rights Reserved 2014-2025.
XXXV Encontres de Compositors
Sten Hostfalt solo concert 2014,
Pilar i Joan Miro, Palma de Mallorca,
Islas Baleares, Spain