The creative imagination of pianist Chris Gestrin animates this set of contemporary jazz compositions. Trumpetist Brad Turner and reeds player Jon Bentley draw sound paintings on the acoustic-electric canvas of Gestrin, bassist André Lachance and percussionist Dylan van der Schyff. Audiophile Audition described the sonics as “super-clean, detailed and spatially located with great precision…’ear-stretching’.”
– Mark Werlin, NativeDSD Music & AllAboutJazz
Chris Gestrin is a Vancouver-based pianist, keyboardist and composer who might occasionally put you in mind of Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett, if either of those masters were young today and equally at home with the acoustic and the electronic, jazz and ambient.
Stillpoint was his first release on Songlines Recordings, and it stands as perhaps his most personal statement as a jazz-and-beyond composer-performer. His handpicked, versatile quintet, featuring trumpeter Brad Turner and drummer Dylan van der Schyff, creates rich images in sound. From a tender solo piano improvisation to swirling group inventions, a musical narrative of almost cinematic sweep unfolds. Gestrin’s compositions range across jazz, experimental music, new age and world music for their ideas, but this is not “fusion” in any ordinary sense, there is too much originality and panache for that. The multi-channel remix opens on an imaginary environment that connoisseurs of surround sound, whether jazz fans or not, will surely appreciate.
Born just outside Vancouver in 1972, Gestrin graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1995 with a degree in film composition. He quickly became one of Vancouver’s busiest pianists, keyboardists, effects artists, and soundtrack composers, co-leading or performing in many bands of various kinds, from funk and soul jazz to less categorical combinations of jazz, fusion, ambient, and improv. His trio with bassist Andre Lachance and Dylan van der Schyff has been active since 1996.
Chris Gestrin – piano, synthesizers, sampler, electronics
Brad Turner – trumpet, flugelhorn, electronics
Jon Bentley – tenor & soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, electronics
André Lachance – double bass
Dylan van der Schyff – drums, percussion, electronics
Joseph ‘Pepe’ Danza – percussion (4)
Deanna Newton – voice (11)
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 01:11:20
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | SGLSA15402 |
| Qualities | |
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| Mastering | Mastered by Graemme Brown, Zen Mastering. |
| Instruments | Flugelhorn, Bass clarinet, Double bass, Drums, Percussion, Piano, Soprano saxophone, Trumpet |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Recording & Mixing | Recorded July 10-11, 2001 in 24/96 and mixed in analogue to stereo 24/96 by Shawn Pierce at The Factory, Vancouver BC. |
| Surround Sound Mixing | Mixed in analogue to 5.0 DSD at Blue Wave, Vancouver, by Shawn Pierce. |
| Release Date | October 4, 2024 |
Press reviews
AllAboutJazz
While the group certainly functions as a very productive and integrated unit, it’s clear that the vision behind Stillpoint is singular. In a very postmodern sense Gestrin seeks to bring together some unusual combinations and create something genuinely new. His effort is extremely successful. Those with the equipment to enjoy this disc’s audiophile SACD encoding have an advantage in appreciating the multi-dimensional nature of this production, though it works fine on regular systems.
Pop Matters
This is some of the most original and innovative new music on the scene today. Admittedly, it’s not entirely accessible even to those with the most open of minds, but for those who are willing to pursue, it’s well worth the effort.
Audiophile Audition
From the lineup this may look like a heavy fusion session, but nothing could be further from the facts. The Vancouver, B.C.-based keyboardist admits to a heavily ECM-influenced sound and also says ‘the term New Age comes to mind, but not New Age as in rain falling while I’m in the bath with my crystals – it’s more like a soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist.’ That seems to say it all here. Not at all electronic-sounding, Gestrin’s dozen works – all either his sole compositions or shared with others in the group – are subtle and thoughtful creations exhibiting his love of experimentation and improvisation…The title Stillpoint is perfect for the album – it’s the Buddhist idea of being content with exactly where you are and not worrying about what has happened or is about to happen. Some of the tracks approach a sort of very musical musique concrete – Complex One/City has sounds like slamming doors which mesh with the various percussion sounds behind the trumpet, sax and piano. Cliffs and Clouds has a lovely soprano sax solo over what sounded to me like musical glasses struck with silverware – the notes credit the sound to ‘potlids.’…Sonics are super-clean, detailed and spatially located with great precision…’ear-stretching’ – as Charles Ives would put it.
Downbeat
Gestrin’s music is rounding so swiftly into shape that it’s hard to believe this 30-year-old pianist-composer from Vancouver is largely unknown outside his hometown. Stillpoint…is something wonderful. Here, a stark and brooding trio abstraction turns into a perfectly imagined 72-minute soundscape, a stunning and beautiful network of impromptu acts and through-composed bits. Bringing many sources to mind — Weather Report’s orchestra detail and ECM’s more cinematic stuff…Stillpoint bristles with action and fresh, absorbing ideas. Gestrin never panders emotionally and he’s got a real gift for making a handful of musicians sound remarkably like a dozen…Extended techniques and plain, handsome sounds are modestly wrapped and quietly submerged into the design…Songlines must have had Stillpoint in mind when it moved over to Super Audio CDs. It’s simply an exquisite sonic treatment, something commensurate to Gestrin’s rare and far-reaching vision.
Allmusic.com
Gestrin and his musical associates pursue ambient dreamscapes and climactically driven passages throughout this beautifully recorded production.
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