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Doubtless

by Jure Pukl

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    High quality, 180 gram, 12" LP - comes with download code containing the digital album in multiple formats

    Includes unlimited streaming of Doubtless via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 300 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $28 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    High quality, 6 panel digifile with a velvety soft-touch laminate finish

    Includes unlimited streaming of Doubtless via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Comes with album artwork booklet PDF + album cover photo as a jpg
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

1.
Doubtless 05:13
2.
Doves 07:09
3.
InterSong 04:31
4.
Elioté 04:33
5.
Compassion 04:12
6.
Elsewhere 06:45
7.
8.
9.

about

PERSONNEL

Jure Pukl - tenor saxophone
Melissa Aldana - tenor saxophone
Joe Sanders - upright bass
Gregory Hutchinson - drums

ALBUM CREDITS

Recorded at RSL Studios, Novo Mesto, Slovenia
(February 27th 2017)
Engineered by Matej Grobec
Mixed and mastered by David Stoller & Jure Pukl at
The Samurai Hotel Recording Studios
Astoria, New York (September 2017)
Produced by Jure Pukl
Executive Producer - Michael Janisch
Cover painting by Cecile McClorin Salvant
Album artwork graphic design by Sophie Moates

credits

released May 25, 2018

ABOUT THE ALBUM

As New York-based saxophonist and composer Jure Pukl enthuses, Doubtless is pretty much a family project/album – an exuberant, high-spirited double-tenor quartet with wife Melissa Aldana plus close friends Joe Sanders (double bass) and Greg Hutchinson (drums).

Both saxophonists have multifarious musical interests between them – Pukl’s vibrant four-piece release, Hybrid with pianist Matija Dedić, released last year on Whirlwind; and Aldana’s four albums as leader have garnered a raft of reviews praising her indubitable invention.

Yet here is a creative circle so organically conjoined that the entire session was captured inside three hours, live in the studio in Jure Pukl’s home country of Slovenia, on the back of workshops and tour schedules.

Spontaneity is key. “It’s very improvised – and every number sounds different at each gig,” says Pukl. “Joe can change things so much, including time signatures, so we have to react in the moment. But it’s great to switch the vibe – we go for it, and the audience feel it. Once we’ve checked out the pieces, we then purposely let them go; and I’ve found so much liberation in this – we all become transformers for where the music wants to take us.” It’s clearly an artistic marriage made in heaven: “I don’t know many saxophone couples who like to perform together; but with me and Melissa, it’s the opposite – it feels natural, we have a similar tenor vocabulary, and that energy unites us. So in this quartet we create harmony, counterpoint… and Joe has an amazing harmonic ability, too, alongside his and Greg’s deep sense of rhythm. There’s so much happening – the sound is incredibly full.”

That drive is perceptible in an album whose extemporary freedom is complemented by attractive melodic hooks – from the flowering, canonic phrases of ebullient 'Doubtless 'to a more lyrical horn partnership in elegantly waltzing 'Doves', albeit with sparky drum-and-bass undercurrent. Ornette Coleman’s lesser-known 'InterSong' was a pleasing find for Pukl, his captivatingly intuitive explorations with Aldana widening into sizzling restlessness; and Joe Sanders’ 'Eliote' (for his newborn son) is full of leaping bass figures, perky rhythms and extended tenor intervals. Trio piece 'Compassion' – Pukl’s tender expression of the need for worldly tolerance – is contrasted with tumbling, bass-pliant Elsewhere and the swooning, almost delirious phrases of 'Mind and Soul' (Pukl seeking the fine line between artistic intellect and heart). Slow, Latin-tinged tenor-and-bass duo 'Where Are You Coming From?' reinterprets a classically-inspired number from Hybrid, whilst 'Bad Year Good Year'’s subtly Tijuana-style opening heralds deliciously cool, shared tenor improv against percussive fervor.

The album title, Doubtless, reflects Pukl’s sure faith in this amiable though energized collaboration, as well as recalling a period of intensely personal emotion: “This record was born around the time my mom was seriously sick (she’s fine now); but I trusted the universe that her health, and this album, would all come together. When you have someone close who is ill, you learn to think differently, to let go and trust – and this also came out in the recording. I have realised how important it is to play with people you love and respect – they love you back, and it takes the music to a higher level. It’s magic being on the road with these guys. What we create is something that people – not just jazz audiences – connect with. This band brings together everything that we are, and it works. It’s kinda amazing!”

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

"Slovenia-born Jure Pukl and his wife,Melissa Aldana, both tenor saxophone players, share a common musical vision and vocabulary... Their sweetly entangled saxophone lines reach ever upward, grounded by the driving pulse of the grounded rhythm section."
★★★★1/2 DownBeat Magazine

​"Pukl and Aldana play a collection of playfully cryptic pieces in unison, call-and-response, warm harmony and improvised polyphony... Fluently close knit music."
Jazzwise Magazine

"​Under it’s guise of artless, improvised freedom,​ ​this is highly sophisticated music, requiring an impressive level of virtuosity from all concerned​."​
​Jazz Views​

​"​A fascinating study in modern tenor saxophone​... Musical ideas building in a like-minded exchange that is a pleasure to share.​"
London Jazz

“An intense, artistic collaboration provoking organic and spontaneous exchanges... Reinventing, reinterpreting and rearranging... Masterful.”
Radio REC

"​Pukl evinces his own voice, his compositions and arrangements proving increasingly irresistible.​"
★★★★ All About Jazz

"This album deserves attention for sure.​"
Stereogum

"A fine new album."
WGBO

“Pukl and Aldana not only complement one another perfectly, they sometimes seem to speak with one voice. Modal marital harmony!”
★★★★1/2​ Concerto Magazine​

​​“Exuberant and High Spirited”
Medien Info

​"An absolute 'must-hear'."​
Jazz Podium

“Fresh... Current... Thrilling.”
Musikreviews Magazine

"These explorations of musical closeness and distance neatly mimic the conversations between friends and partners; the key to the success of this album lies in the natural rapport among these players as they engage and improvise"
★★★★1/2 DownBeat Magazine

"Another strong offering from Pukl. Straddling the cusp between composition and improvisation the album is consistently engaging and the playing is excellent throughout."
★★★★ The Jazz Mann

“Spontaneous, intimate, lively and fresh... Creates moments of tension that defy definition.”
Musik an Sich

"Doubtless showcases Pukl and his associates combining traditional and modern elements within well-defined forms and structures... An exciting expedition bolstered by the passion of true creators and their solid musicianship."
JazzTrail

“Free improvisations, catchy melodies and embellished phrases... Thrilling.”
Digitale Jazz Zeitung

“During their solos, the saxophonists fully flex the tonal spectrum of their instruments with depth, warmth and high-pitched sound, their creative understanding is further enhanced by the rhythm section's magical drive.”
★★★★★ Fono Forum

“A playful exchange of ideas strongly supported by bass and drums.”
Der Hörspiegel

“A fine album.”
Westzeit

"Emblematic of how much more telling music can be when the practitioners are working to an agenda other than the one which involves laying all their technique on the listener all the time."
Jazz Journal

"Musical altercations and entanglements built upon a solid foundation of trust."
SWR2 Jazz across the border

"Their [Pukl and Aldana] creative understanding is spurred on by the rhythm section's magical drive... The whole thing reminiscent of an exuberant saxophone love affair."
★★★★★ Stereo

"Fine high note dalliances, thrilling tenor dialogues and a vibrant lively groove rolled out by a cracking rhythm section."
Hifi & Records

"The interaction of Pukl and Aldana is truly enchanting - sometimes intricate, sometimes challenging, yet emotionally stirring at all times."
Forum

“Musical dialogue, an amazing rhythm section, emotions and experiences – within the framework of contemporary mainstream.”
Jazzma

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