Wayne Horvitz free download series

This week’s free Wayne Horvitz track is from his 2014 release At the Reception, which features his current working crew, The Royal Room Collective.  As I’ve mentioned in previous columns featuring Horvitz’s 52 free downloads for 52 weeks, his sound can vary dramatically from moment to moment just as it evolves over time.  In this instance, it’s a straight-ahead sound that’s warm and familiar.  Of particular interest are those compositions that were performed previously on recordings by Horvitz groups that weren’t situated so closely to Jazz center, and it’s always interesting to hear new variations and facets of well-liked tunes.   A different vision of this composition can be heard with Horvitz’s chamber ensemble, The Gravitas Quartet, on their album One Dance Alone, as well as the 2008 recording from his jazz-blues-folk group Sweeter Than the Day.

Remember, these tracks are only free for a week, typically running from Tuesday to Tuesday, so don’t wait to take advantage of the artist’s offer.

Your album personnel:  Wayne Horvitz (composer, conductor), Kate Olson (soprano sax), Al Keith, Samantha Boshnack, Steve O’Brien (trumpets), Naomi Siegel, Jacob Herring, Willem de Koch (trombones), Beth Fleenor (clarinet), Ivan Arteaga (alto sax), Skerik (tenor sax), Greg Sinibaldi (baritone sax), Ryan Burns (piano), Geoff Harper (bass) and Eric Eagle (drums).

Released in 2014 on Songlines Recordings.

Listen to other album tracks on the label’s Soundcloud page.

Explore more of Horvitz’s music on his Bandcamp page.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon

This week’s free Wayne Horvitz track is from his 1992 release Miracle Mile, which was my introduction to his music as band leader.  As I’ve mentioned in previous columns featuring Horvitz’s 52 free downloads for 52 weeks, his sound can vary dramatically from moment to moment just as it evolves over time.  Today’s track, “An Open Letter to George Bush,” came from a time when Horvitz was adding heavy infusions of electronica to his addictive blend of folk, modern jazz and pop.  My favorite manifestations of that equation came in the form of moody, contemplative pieces that possessed an ever-present threat of volatility.  Today’s free track was one such piece, and it was a track that (thankfully) kept me coming back and checking out more of Horvitz’s work over all these years.  I’ve got a little bit of nostalgia wrapped up in today’s rec, which is part of the fun of revisiting all of these old Horvitz recordings as he rolls them out for this series.

Here’s that track…

Your album personnel (but not necessarily on this song):  Wayne Horvitz (keyboards, amplified piano, harmonica), Stew Cutler (guitar), J. A. Deane (trombone, electronics), Kermit Driscoll (electric bass), Bobby Previte (drums), Doug Wieselman (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Bill Frisell (guitar), Elliott Sharp (guitar), Denny Goodhew (saxophones) and Ben Steele (guitar controlled sampler).

Also, Horvitz is currently working on a new project and has a crowdfunding thing going for it.  You can learn more about it, as well as read some of Horvitz’s thoughts on today’s free track, on his Bandcamp page.  It’s also where you can download the free track (or just hit the word “download” on the embedded audio player above).

And remember, these tracks are only free for one week, so be sure to download it soon before it expires (approx. Tuesday April 26th).

And if you want to buy Miracle Mile, here’s a link to Amazon.