Xose Miguelez' creativity, his sensibility, his openness, and his fearlessness have been a constant source of joy for me. He has a flawless sense of melody and storytelling, and his sound is beautiful and conveys a vast range of feelings and emotions - rare thing these days...
While looking through songbooks of traditional Galician music, Spanish saxophonist Xose Miguelez happened upon a recording by the ethnic musicologist Dorothé Schubart of a ballad, sung by his own Great-Aunt Amparo almost 40 years ago in Cerdedelo-Laza, a beautiful village hidden in the Galician hills. All of the compositions on Ontology come from a four-note motif at the beginning of that ballad. The idea came from Kansas City saxophonist Matt Otto, a friend and mentor to Xose and the producer of this recording. Though through the sounds of this dynamic, modern jazz quartet it may be difficult to discern the four-note motif, it is the very root and inspiration of this work. Listen to the end to hear Great-Aunt Amparo sing her song.
Track Listing:
1. Ontology 4:30
2. Chasing Myself 4:17
3. Frozen Roses 3:38
4. Sweet Delia 7:00
5. Missed Call 3:05
6. Esperanza 4:30
7. Autumn Flower 5:25
8. Shelter 5:10
9. Under the Big Tree 4:27
10. Great Aunt Amparo Sings a Song 1:15
All music by Xose Miguelez, except:
"Great Aunt Amparo" recorded in 1981 by musicologist Dorothé Schubart in Cerdedelo-Laza, Spain
Performers:
Xose Miguélez - tenor saxophone
Storm Nilson - guitar
Ben Leifer - double bass & electric bass
John Kizilarmut - drums & cajon flamenco
Peter Schlamb - vibraphone (2,9)
Matt Otto - tenor saxophone (1,4,5), EWI (2)
Production Info:
Produced by Matt Otto
Recorded by Nate Espy at Roof Top Media, Kansas City, MO
August 11,12 & 13, 2018
Mixed by Jose Trincado / Matt Otto at Savik sound - Galicia - Spain
Mastered by Jose Trincado at Savik sound - Galicia - Spain
Photographs by White dog studio
Cover design & layout by John Bishop
Reviews of Ontology
Midwest Record (Chris Spector)
Ethnic, but not world jazz, inspired by his great aunt and some motifs that run through it all, this is solid sitting down, listening jazz that flows like the river in a Zen koan and never blows a false note. You don't have to be an egghead to love it, just someone that appreciates sax blown right starting with some blue prints on the artist's DNA ...
Jazz, Ese Ruido (Spain) ( Félix Amador )
Risk is the title of the chapter that the Jazz series of Ken Burns dedicates to bebop and, although bebop has ceased to be a novelty, jazz continues to advance and good musicians continue to appear capable of risking, giving everything to find that (eternal) new path that is the risky essence of jazz. In the disc of saxophonist Xose Miguélez there ...
Distrito Jazz (Spain) (Iñigo Ortega Medrano)
From Galicia comes another new sample of the strength of jazz in that area. The saxophonist Xosé Miguélez is the protagonist with his 'Ontology'.
Miguélez, apart from his work in 'Ontology', is part of the XMA trio, together with the double bass player Xacobe Martínez Antelo of which we recently referenced his latest work 'Capturas' - http:/ ...
Jazziz (Matt Micucci)
Internationally renowned Spanish saxophonist-composer Xose Miguelez's latest album, Ontology, began with his research on traditional Galician music. That research led him to a discovery of a recording by ethnic musicologist Dorothé Schubart of a ballad sung by his own great-aunt Amparo almost 40 years ago in a village in the Galician hills named C ...
Jazz (Portugal) (Rui Eduardo Paes)
One of the most prominent saxophonists in the Galician jazz scene, Xose Miguélez is also an expert - and a bagpiper - practitioner of the traditional music of his region, which he teaches at the Vigo Conservatory. He is also one of the present cultists of what is called "muiñeira jazz", a hybrid of Galician jazz and popular music that had its mai ...
