Hayden Powell – Circadian Rhythm & Blues (2015) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Circadian Rhythm & Blues is trumpeter Hayden Powell’s most personal and ambitious work to date. The double album kicks off with a set of tunes from Powell’s acoustic trio and continues into a new realm of solo improvisations, soundscapes and electronics.

The term Circadian Rhythm refers to the body’s internal clock and underlying cycles of sleep and metabolism. Circadian rhythms also respond to impulses such as light and temperature. There’s a similar duality in music. We all have our own aesthetics, but must relate to our surroundings, other musicians, the audience and our own feelings and aspirations. On this album, Powell and his ensemble guide us through a 24-hour cycle, with songs such as “Reveille”, “Late Night Politics” and “Sleepless”, all conveying a range of different moods.

Powell explains:“In the summer of 2014 the trio started working on new tracks – we wanted to make something more extrovert and punchy. During the same period I started work on a solo album, which, for me, represents a long-held ambition in my development as a working musician. The two projects began to ripen simultaneously and ideas and inspirations were shared between them. Many of the basic musical ideas are similar but the end result has taken very different forms influenced by those with whom I’ve worked and by where I’ve been. Hence the reference to the concept of Circadian Rhythm, which I also find fascinating in its own sense”.

The trio section of “Circadian Rhythm & Blues” features Powell’s regular ensemble of recent years: pianist Eyolf Dale and bassist Jo Skaansar. Both are sensitive and intuitive musicians who provide an ideal partnership for Powell’s lyrical and dynamic trumpet playing. This part of the album was recorded in Copenhagen, during an intensive three-day stay in the studio The Village, with the engineer August Wanngren.

The solo part has been created in collaboration with producer Øyvind Røsrud Gundersen (Hanne Kolstø, Atlanta, Siri Nilsen) and recorded in Tøyen Church in Oslo – a room with a wonderful acousQc. The whole thing was mastered by Morgan Nicolaysen at Propeller Mastering. Jens Jørgen Carelius Krogsveen designed the cover, which includes images by the photographer Anne Valeur.

Tracklist:
CD1
01. Reveille
02. Truffles
03. Cobalt
04. Homework
05. The Cat’s Idea
06. Mascot
07. Guardian
08. Late Night Politics
CD2
01. Suddenly Alone
02. Pepper-Upper
03. Red Sky at Night
04. Continuum
05. Crosswind
06. Sleepless
07. Cantillation
08. Ville De Montréal
09. Water Song
10. Cat in a Box
11. Wakeup Call (Remix)