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Continuous Break

by The Leif Arntzen Band

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Tired 05:01
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Vain Insane 06:57
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My Ideal 05:46
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The Call 05:32
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Street Dog 09:32
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about

“Soulful and passionate, Arntzen has the same kind of magnetism for which we remember Chet Baker.” - All About Jazz

"Leif has always been a natural and he produces a beautiful tone on his horn. He comes from a family of musicians and his 'on the job' education in jazz comes through on this spontaneous and inspired CD. His band, made up of creative young players, has his back all the way." - Michael Blake

After nearly three decades in New York paying dues with groups from Tito Puente to the Gil Evans Orchestra and paying homage to his heroes (Channeling Chet, 2005) the lyrical trumpeter Leif Arntzen is finally pursuing his own music with an unprecedented fervor. As his son, 21 year-old wunderkind drummer Miles Arntzen is all grown up and playing with Antibalas, Superhuman Happiness, and his own 10-piece Afrobeat band EMEFE, Leif has had the time and space to stretch out and develop his own musical concept. He has assembled a group of cutting edge musicians to rehearse regularly in a non-tradition way and cut a record in his home studio. Spanning territory from ballads and blues to blistering free-jazz and psychedelic post-rock, the result is by far his best work to date, and a heartfelt expression of a real collective group identity.

"I wanted a band where everybody had a developed voice already and felt comfortable composing on the spot. Collective composition, that kind of drive, was something I was really interested in trying to harness in some way," says Leif.

The band was formed in 2010 when Leif called his longtime friend, saxophonist Michael Blake (Lounge Lizards, Ben Allison, etc.) looking for a bassist. Blake turned him on to some serious players from his own band that were jazz improvisers and composers as well as bandleaders in their own right. Used to tackling the difficult music of downtown composers like Dave Douglas, Michael Blake, Pete Robbins, Samuel Blaser and Kris Davis, the band was surprised when Leif presented them first with a series of simple calls or short trumpet phrases to signify a change in texture in an otherwise free-improv set. The free pieces were contrasted with simple groove-oriented tunes, blues or standards. The relative simplicity of the music helped to shift the focus of the rehearsals toward the nuances of the group sound, and made everyone listen more carefully to each other.

"The open element to the music is just a different way of getting to a collective thing. Knowing the music cold like that, anything can happen at any time. When you're playing in your own band, you’re trying to understand the identity of the band, or if you're a sideman you're trying to make the identity of the band happen, whereas this is a whole different approach," says bassist Michael Bates, whose five widely acclaimed recordings as a leader use a more involved compositional approach to achieve "the risky, exciting feeling of free jazz, in which things always seem about to fall apart entirely, but never do. [All Music]”

Continuous Break achieves an honesty that stands out in the era of airbrushed jazz and rock. Leif is quite aware of this, and openly favors jazz and rock albums from the pre-digital age, when bands recorded live in the studio, because he believes they often have a vital, intangible quality.

“The essence of it is there, the warts of it and all, and that's what lasts. It makes it human and it includes every listener. I mean everyone gets to be a part of it, because you can hear that in the music. I think that people instinctively hear that, and that's why they keep listening to those records over and over. That's why I do."

On Continuous Break, that essence is palpable, even uncomfortable at times. Leif’s expressive tone is fully exposed as he commands a fiery band through a wide range of tempos and feels.

Press Support:
Ryan Blotnick
Blot Ink PR
(646) 732-8761
ryanblotnick@gmail.com

Gwendoline Records
17 Cornelia Street, Suite 1B
New York, NY 10014
www.leifarntzen.com

credits

released June 30, 2012

Leif Arntzen - Trumpet
Ryan Blotnick - Guitar
Landon Knoblock - Keys
Michael Bates - Bass
Jeff Davis - Drums

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