Potter, Chris - Alive With Ghosts Today CD
SKU
21-EDN1293
Chris Potter : Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Bill Frisell : Guitar
Burniss Travis : Bass
Nate Smith : Drums
Rane Moore : Clarinet
Zekkereya El-magharbel : Trombone
Sara Caswell : Violin
“Chris Potter’s Alive With Ghosts Today brings together Bill Frisell, Nate Smith and Burniss Travis with Rane Moore (clarinet), Zekkereya El-Magharbel (trombone) and Sara Caswell (violin) in a deliberately off-centre ensemble that places Potter’s tenor and soprano inside a textured, human-scale sound world. Written around the story of abolitionist John Brown and the 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry, the album confronts a moment that exposed deep fractures at the heart of the American narrative. “It’s a story that holds the complexity and tragedy of America in one moment,” Potter says. “It felt important to engage with it now.”
“I didn’t want a big band or an orchestra – I wanted something in between, almost like a slightly unruly village band,” Potter explains. Drawing on Copland-like openness, blues, gospel and African rhythm, the instrumentation creates a distinctly American atmosphere that feels rooted yet subtly tilted. Written with specific voices in mind, and shaped by the seriousness and focus of the musicians, the project began, as Potter puts it, “as a hope and a prayer,” before becoming something collective – “larger than any one of us.”
- LabelEdition
- UPC5060509793198