Latvian trumpet player Kristians Kalva and German pianist Simon Gelsdorf, continuing their previous successful collaboration, released their first jazz music album at the end of last year. "Impro Sketches Vol.1" is a modern experimental jazz album.
The two young and talented musicians, who met while studying at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Netherlands, continue to contribute jazz music. During the creation of the album, ten recordings were made that fit into the album and are a collection of the best improvisations of this recording session.
''The album was a spontaneous idea and experiment for both of us. Each song on the album is completely free improvisation with no previously discussed chords, melodies, or shapes. Before we started playing the song, we gave the song a name that reminded us of a situation or an emotion. We want to invite you all to listen and experience a moment of the song, just as we did when we played it, '' said Simon Gelsdorf.
The two young people are united by their musical ideas and desire to experiment, creating new compositions, their arrangements, and interpretations of melodies, where artists try to convey their emotions, feelings, as well as various contradictions and ideas where there are no boundaries. As a source of inspiration, the musicians invented life situations and the emotions they created in the recording studio, agreeing only on the tonality of the composition. Each piece is deeply lived and the titles of the pieces are nuanced so that the listener can create their sense of feeling.
Christian about the work on the album: ''We made only the title of each song. Driven by the emotions associated with the title of the song, we improvised freely but in a very controlled way, listening to each other and letting the music flow our own way. Stylistically, the songs fit best in the category of modern jazz, influenced by classical music and traditional folk music of Central and Northern Europe."
The sound direction of the album - Reinis Richāts, visual identity of the album - Paula Bloma. Album presentation concert on January 9 in the culture house "Wiktorija", Liepaja.
Kristians Kalva is one of the brightest new generation jazz trumpet players in Latvia. He studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from Europe's most famous trumpet players, Rik Mol and Martijn de Laat. He studied at the Malta College of Music, and has won recognition at various international competitions. He regularly collaborates with the most important Latvian orchestras - the Latvian Radio Big Band, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Sinfonietta Rīga Chamber Orchestra, the Latvian National Opera and Ballet Orchestra, as well as has performed in foreign projects in Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, the USA, Spain, etc.
