Nguyen Le - Celebrating The Dark Side Of The Moon (2014) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/96kHz]

Nguyên Lê is a magician; his art reveals itself not only in his own compositions but also in his celebrations of the music of the past, where his approach to the latter resembles sculptures made of new clay. Remember Purple, his tribute to Jimi Hendrix, or more recently his Songs Of Freedom and its evocations of rock's greatest moments. He's a flamboyant guitarist and, while he shows courteous deference to his source material, he has always expressed the full diversity of an imaginary world engendered by his own history, that of a nomad, self-taught virtuoso: his music feeds on influences embracing all continents, and is painted with colours drawn from jazz, rock, and a kind of world fusion permeated with light.

Celebrating The Dark Side Of The Moon demonstrates that the imagination of Nguyên Lê has indeed risen to power; it is no simple tribute to a record which made history. It fervently expresses the re-creation exempt from all imitation of a score which you can hear in filigree. Lê produced and arranged the album, and adds five tracks of his own, interspersing the Pink Floyd material. Korean singing sensation Youn Sun Nah adds dramatic vocals and Michael Gibbs provides the orchestration.

March, 1973… A quartet known for its psychedelic inclinations delivered a fortress of an album: 'The Dark Side of The Moon' was a musical UFO featuring the most advanced technology of the period, a stratospheric record which mirrored society and our errant human ways. Pink Floyd was about to write an essential chapter in Rock history and enjoy planetary fame; even today, their album is still one of the greatest sellers of all time.

The idea behind a new reading of it came from ACT-director Siggi Loch and NDR producers Stefan Gerdes and Axel Dürr, whose radio Big Band is no secret for Jazz fans. Their idea may have been a bold initiative, but the project implied an orchestra capable of linking tradition with today, and it looked to have every chance of succeeding because it would involve not only Michael Gibbs - composer, arranger, old friend, but also, joining forces with them, Nguyên Lê, a guitarist known for jumping stylistic borders. The whole idea, finally, seemed a very good one indeed.

'Celebrating The Dark Side Of The Moon' demonstrates that the imagination of Nguyên Lê has indeed risen to power; it guides us down other, more personal paths, and is inhabited by that musical 'brotherhood' which has never left him all these years. It's as if the ecumenism of song was part of his creative DNA.

'Celebrating The Dark Side Of The Moon' is no simple tribute to a record which made history. It fervently expresses the re-creation – exempt from all imitation – of a score which you can hear in filigree. This is a palimpsest. The writing can still be (re)read, with warm hues forged by respect for the original matrix and the multiple expressions of its identity. Like a principle of life.

Tracklist:

01 - Speak to Me
02 - Inspire
03 - Breathe
04 - On the Run
05 - Time
06 - Magic Spells
07 - Hear This Whispering
08 - Great Gig in the Sky
09 - Gotta Go Sometime
10 - Money
11 - Us and Them
12 - Purple or Blue
13 - Any Colour You Like
14 - Brain Damage
15 - Eclipse

Orchestrated by Michael Gibbs. Produced by Norddeutscher Rundfunk.
Produced and Mixed by Nguyên Lê at Louxor studios, Paris Barbès, March & April 2014.
Recorded at NDR Bigband studio by Michael Ploetz and Wolfgang Dierks, Hamburg, December 2-6, 2013.
Recording Producer: Walter Quintus. Mastered by Bruno Gruel at Elektra Mastering, France.

Musicians:
Nguyên Lê - electric guitar, electronics
Youn Sun Nah - vocals
Gary Husband - drums
Marcio Doctor - percussion
Vładysłav Sendecki - piano, synthesizer
Marcus Bartelt - baritone sax, bass clarinet
Jürgen Attig - electric fretless bass
NDR Bigband, conducted by Jörg Achim Keller


Thanks to the Original customer!