Inhabiting their own stylistic realm encompassing mediterranean folk song, chamber music, improvisation and the world of acoustic jazz, this trio comprises the award-winning singer, multi-instrumentalist and song-writer Alice Zawadzki, joined by two of London’s most distinguished musicians, Fred Thomas and Misha Mullov-Abbado. The clear synergy harnessed by these three musicians is the result of almost a decade’s work together, drawing upon the successes and singular abilities of its members: multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Fred Thomas, whose recent exceptional album for ECM Records received 5 stars from Gramophone Magazine, Misha Mullov-Abbado, whose stature as bassist and composer has garnered commissions from the BBC Concert Orchestra, and Alice Zawadzki, described by The Guardian as “a genuine original”. The group plays acoustic chamber music, guided by a special emphasis on intimacy, delicacy of sound, space and subtle interaction, qualities which have led them to ECM Records, whose founder Manfred Eicher produced their debut album ‘Za Górami’ in Lugano in 2023.

“Beautiful music and absorbing stories…beautifully conveyed wistful songs, but only exploratory and jazz-immersed musicians could have delivered them this way” The Guardian – Jazz Album of the Month – 4****

“Perhaps this track best sums up the intimate beauty and expansive mystery of this exquisite trio” Downbeat Magazine

“The recordings of this trio are a model of cliché-free beauty and gossamer-fine musical communication, which thrives on Alice Zawadzki’s velvety, clear voice and yet is a triangle of equally important partners… A musical experience of lasting beauty“ Bayerische Rundfunk Radio

“It’s a delicate free-flowing, spacious, still-of-the-night affair with a sensitive less-is-more approach to ensemble dialogue…An exquisite recording that penetrates a little deeper with every listen” Jazzwise Magazine 4****

“The trio, in their debut recording together, cast a wide net reaching from Poland to Argentina and enchant with a selection of works for Zawadzki’s entrancing vocals, supported by plaintive piano, percussion, vielle and bass. Folk? Jazz? Chamber? World music? Who cares?” BBC Music Magazine  5*****

“A magnificent CD, full of a deep existential melancholy, of a timeless constructive wisdom, of a human stoicism built on the truth of contemporary living” Spettakulo

“A remarkably successful and credible genre fusion of jazz and folklore, classical and early music, and a highly musical and very profound affair that brings the listener under its spell” Jazz Podium

“A deep well of folk-inspired music and poetic lyrics that is drawn upon to create original interpretations that fit the ECM imprimatur like a glove” UK Jazz News

“Za Górami is an exceptionally compact and at the same time transparent combination of intimacy and intensity. And thus, quite independently of the lyrics of these songs, a love story of its own” Die Weltwoche

“Intimate, ad libitum, folk-rinsed and haunting music” Jazz Journal

“An extraordinary debut album from a trio of extraordinary musicians…utterly spellbinding” Jazzviews

“From start to finish the album is expansive, acting as a vessel enabling the listener to dream and contemplate. Throughout Za Górami the trio unearth fresh listening avenues for the ear, pioneering and reviving unexplored music from different pockets of the world” Presto Music

“These are lieder for a modern world in which echoes of the past are inescapable…The clarity and subtle shadings of Zawadzki’s soprano, the handsomely shaped bass sound and calm phrasing of Mullov-Abbado, and Thomas’s reflective piano and subtle percussion work together to create a pan-national music in which elegance, economy and ardour are held in perfect balance. In its quiet way, this is one of the year’s outstanding albums” Blue Moment blog

“A mix of impressive individual talents” UK Jazz News

“This is a haunting genre-busting project that deserves to be heard” The Honest Broker

“Za Górami incorporates folk songs, chamber music and improvisational jazz styles to meld a mesmerizing sound” All About Jazz

“A beautiful album full of subtle nuances” Jazz Forum

“A remarkably successful and credible genre fusion of jazz and folklore, classical and early music, and a highly musical and very profound affair that brings the listener under its spell” Jazz Podium

“The fact that it all comes together as if from a single mould is what makes this album truly magical and deserving of great interest far beyond the jazz scene!” Zeitschrift für Kultur und Gesellschaft ‘CD Tipp’ 

“The British-Polish singer and violinist Alice Zawadzki, who, together with pianist Fred Thomas and bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado, takes on old Sephardic songs with great empathy and a sense of lyrical intensity on her debut album “Za Górami”, released by ECM, is truly a new voice” ORF Spielräume

“These are moments when not only the musicians, but also listeners hold their breath. Moments full of eloquence” Trouw 4****

Album Liner Notes:

Za Górami (Behind the Mountains) is much more than a geographical place, though the cautionary tale of the young Maɫgorzatka certainly paints the Polish Carpathians vividly. An ancient rallying cry, this cryptic phrase summons something transcendental, reminiscent of ’Once upon a time…’ It’s in this spirit of openness that the ten stories of our album Za Górami unfold.

Collected on our travels and taught to us by our friends, these are songs we have learnt and loved together. Though our musical and cultural backgrounds encompass Europe, Russia and South America, we were all three born in England. This happenstance was the product of love, war, exile, the arbitrariness of borders and the yearning for a new life – all themes which are themselves woven through the narratives you’ll hear within. Gathered from Argentina, France, Venezuela, Poland and the deep well of Sephardic culture, these folk tales speak to the moon, the mountains, the rain, the madness of humans and the prophecies of birds.

Our trio relies on the intimacy of deep listening and a trust in our long-standing friendship. The discovery of what each song wanted to be was a patient process of contemplation, omission and distillation of ideas, animated by the flexibility of our instrumentation: voice, piano, double bass, violin, vielle and percussion. Za Górami was recorded behind the mountains of the Lugano Alps, under the nurturing guidance of Manfred Eicher. In a concert hall whose unique acoustic encourages delicacy of sound and space, we strived to be both free and controlled, to tread softly and to summon the night.

Alice Zawadzki, Fred Thomas, Misha Mullov-Abbado

Fred Thomas – piano

Alice Zawadzki – voice

Fred Thomas and Alice Zawadzki present a program of Schubert Lieder, lovingly chosen from the early 19th Century Viennese composer’s 600-strong songbook. Their project takes inspiration from film-maker David Lynch’s maxim: having caught an idea, don’t let it go! As Fred describes, “We’re trying to access a simpler way – both ancient and contemporary – of delivering song, one that sidesteps assumptions and embraces music lovers of all kinds. With the sound intimately close to the listener, our innermost thoughts are exposed by the tiniest details; in this micro universe, nuances become earth-shattering. The songs do their work through virtuosities of sound, stillness and psychology.”

Schubert is perhaps the subtlest songwriter in the Western classical music canon, a quality harnessed by Thomas and Zawadzki in their search for this hushed intensity. In this interior mode, audiences have the chance to hear what emerges when the unquestioned tropes of classical music performance practice are gently dismantled. Taking inspiration from the Schubertiades (intimate concerts held at people’s homes) of 1820s Vienna, this duo treat Schubert’s songs as living and breathing compositions, available to everybody.

Beloved favourites such as Death and the Maiden are reevaluated alongside lesser known jewels, bringing to life the transformative Romantic poetry of Schubert’s young friends and contemporaries: Goethe, Müller, Schiller and many others. Long term collaborators, Fred and Alice have numerous albums out on ECM Records, including ‘Three or One’ and the recently released ‘Za Górami’. 2025 will see them record this Schubert program.

About Fred Thomas:

“A boundary-blurring composer and improviser” Gramophone Magazine

“Remarkable” International Piano Magazine

“Thomas is challenging the status quo of the classical music genre” Vice

“a revelation” Apple Music

“mesmerising” BBC Music Magazine

About Alice Zawadzki:

“A genuine original” The Guardian

“Tender in spirit and defiantly anti-genre” Jazzwise Magazine

“Zawadzki’s larynx is a supple, expressive, rousing delight” Mojo Magazine

“A force to be reckoned with” CLASH

“A voice of velvet suppleness and gutsy emotional power” The Arts Desk

Kees Boeke and Fred Thomas play French and Italian medieval duos from the Modena & Squarcialupi Codices, as well as the music of Paolo da Firenze, Matteo da Perugia, Giovanni da Cascia, Ciconia, Francesco Landini, Lorenzo Masini and Guillaume de Machaut.

Kees Boeke – recorders
Fred Thomas – vielle

Kees Boeke is an internationally acclaimed artist in the field of early music, specialising in recorders and medieval fiddle both as a performer, teacher and director. He has recorded over 80 CDs with various labels including his own record label, Olive Music, founded in 2001. He has been published as a composer and editor of renaissance and medieval music (Zen-On, Schott, Donemus, Olive Music Editions).

His activities in the realm of medieval music began as a member of Kees Otten’s ensemble Syntagma Musicum in the mid 1970’s, continuing with the renowned ensembles Quadro Hotteterre (1968), Sour Cream (1972), and later Little Consort Amsterdam (1978) and Mala Punica (1989). In 2003 he founded his medieval ensemble Tetraktys.

Professor at the Institut fur Alte Music in Trossingen, Germany, Kees Boeke became Director of the Medieval/Renaissance program there. He was also professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich for 25 years. Presently, he is in his seventh year as director of the medieval summer course Settimana musicale del Trecento in Arezzo, Italy. He regularly gives master classes all over the world including Amsterdam, The Hague, Tokyo, Seoul, Taiwan, Tel Aviv, Palermo and Innsbruck. Kees has lived in Toscana for over 40 years, where he makes organic olive oil. www.o-livemusic.com

As a fundamental part of his practice, Fred Thomas plays ancient bowed strings instruments such as the viella and viola da gamba, as well as double bass, electric bass, guitar, cavaco and tenor banjo. A new album is coming soon!

Saied Silbak – oud, vocals, composition

Fred Thomas – double bass, electric bass

Saied Silbak is a Palestinian composer and oud player born in Shafaa`mr, in the lower Galilee of occupied Palestine. He began training in classical piano at the age of four, before moving onto the oud in his early teens to delve deep into the nuances at the base of Arabic music. Silbak has a unique understanding of different types of music, from Arabic, Turkish and Indian to classical Western styles.

His signature sound, created through his artful ability to fuse these styles together, has seen him perform around the world at festivals and concert series in the UK, Belgium, France, Palestine, Morocco, Argentina and beyond.

In recent years he has worked with many artists on interdisciplinary projects and has been involved in educational and community work, developing a politically and socially engaged practice.

This jazz trio features Fred Thomas on double bass, pianist Liam Noble and percussionists Dudu Kouate or Gerry Hemingway.

© Emma Werner

© Elisa Nader

© Emma Werner

© Katie Edwards

© Stephanie Claire

© Emma Werner

 

 

The EP features Phaedra Ensemble string quartet, Maurizio Ravalico (percussion), Jill Feldman (voice) and Fred Thomas on prepared piano. The five-movement piece sets to music texts drawn from various writings of Thelonious Monk, Anton Webern, J.A. Baker, Morton Feldman and John Cage, and then re-assembled into poems by Fred Thomas.

Fred Thomas curates an ongoing series at the legendary Sands Films Studios in Rotherhithe, inviting artists he admires to play duos or small ensembles followed by informal interviews delving into their artistic practice. Featuring Elizabeth Kenny, Abel Selaocoe, Kit Downes, Dudu Kouate, Gerry Hemmingway, Liam Noble, The Magic Lantern, Barnaby Keen, Saied Silbak, Julia Biel, Kadialy Kouyate, Preetha Narayana, Alice Zawadzki, Maurizio Ravalico, Ewan Bleach, Laura Jurd, Rob Luft, Elina Duni and Misha Mullov-Abbado. Production by Sands Films and Olivier Stockman.