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Xavier Lecouturier

Xavier is a 21 year old, American, drummer, composer, with French and Mexican heritage. He is a Graduate of the Cornish College of the Arts Music Department where he spent his last four years completing his degree. In his four years in Seattle, Xavier primarily focused on developing a compositional and playing style that was manifested in his quintet. He has a commitment to the study and roots of the jazz tradition but also finds all the ways in which the things he carries can influence his music. The music he composes is drawn from the music he grew up listening to, including classical music, latin jazz, Mexican pop-rock, or pop. He is a unique musician and composer that brings something new to the tradition of jazz and modern music. "The care that Xavier takes in his music comes through in every piece. You get the sense he is hearing the whole sound, the whole piece, the whole band and that he is carrying out a unique vision that pushes past the modern boundaries of genre" (Dawn Clement). The quintet was and continues to be a deep source of discovery and growth for Xavier as a musician. Beyond that, he has been an active member of Thomas Marriott's quintet. He also Leads an Octet, "DX-Tet", as well as a big band with his close musical cohort Dylan Hayes.

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6
Album Review

Martin Budde: Back Burner

Read "Back Burner" reviewed by Paul Rauch


The title of this debut recording from Seattle-based guitarist Martin Budde suggests the music has been percolating in the backwaters of his musical endeavors over the past few years. Indeed, that is the case, as the past five years have found Budde smack dab in the middle of the musical collective, Meridian Odyssey. The music was inspired by, and recorded during, the pandemic shutdown of 2020. This was a time when this collective of young Seattle musicians was sequestered in ...

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Liner Notes

Martin Budde: Back Burner

Read "Martin Budde: Back Burner" reviewed by Andrew Luthringer


In the ever-evolving crucible of progressive jazz guitar, younger players often face a formidable challenge: forging a distinctive approach amidst the echoes of legends. The roles and methodologies that define modern electric jazz have multiplied exponentially in recent decades, but Martin Budde, a guitarist of floating, effortless fluidity and solid foundational control, navigates this landscape with the confident stride of a searcher who's found something he wants to communicate. On Back Burner, his second solo album, he shares the riches ...

6
Liner Notes

Francesco Crosara: Circular Motion

Read "Francesco Crosara: Circular Motion" reviewed by David Adler


"I refuse to be labeled a 'straight-ahead' player or a 'fusion' player," says Italian-born, Seattle-based pianist Francesco Crosara. It's a sentiment widely shared by jazz musicians, though they follow many different roads to get to that place. Crosara, for his part, plays both acoustic piano and Yamaha MODX-8 synthesizer on this absorbing, varied program of original music for three different trio lineups, two of them with electric bass. He cites the influence of Chick Corea, a mentor and family friend ...

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Liner Notes

Jun Iida: Evergreen

Read "Jun Iida: Evergreen" reviewed by Gary Fukushima


They are everywhere, dotting the undulating terrain of the great Pacific Northwest, from the winding, twisting shorelines of Puget Sound to the mountains that rise in the distance in every direction: the Olympics to the west, the Cascades to the east, Mt. Baker to the north and the majestic Rainier to the south. The trees are a constant, comforting blanket over this land, ever-present, ever-green. Jun lida has called this place home for the past three years, another ...

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Album Review

Jun Iida: Evergreen

Read "Evergreen" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Evergreen from trumpeter/flugelhornist Jun Iida is a textural panorama of multi-cultural jazz flavors, offering original and known fare. Each of the ten tracks is a portrait, and they display fine solo and ensemble playing. To describe Evergreen in one word is to call it “intriguing." “Gooey Butter Cake," one of six originals from Iida, opens things in a jovial, hippity-hop, jny: New Orleans-esque groove which develops into a trumpet-bass solo ride, with solos following from pianist Josh Nelson ...

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Liner Notes

Meridian Odyssey: Second Wave

Read "Meridian Odyssey: Second Wave" reviewed by Paul Rauch


The human qualities that are attributed to friendship, draw a remarkable parallel to those qualities that bring musicians together and allow them to communicate without fear. There is the willingness to make oneself vulnerable to emotional discretion, to communicate and embrace others without the encumbrances of ego. There is hard work involved, and a unity that is earned through honest interpretation of one's personal humanity. The actual circumstances that bond friendship, or musical integrity, are distinct and variable. In the ...

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Album Review

BrandonLee Cierley: Camaraderie

Read "Camaraderie" reviewed by Paul Rauch


Camaraderie (Lofijazzsoul,2022) is BrandonLee Cierley's introduction to the jazz world, where he is a relative newcomer. A Tacoma, WA native who now works out of Portland, OR, Cierley clearly prioritizes original composition as much as he does spontaneous composition as a jazz tenor saxophonist. For a younger player, and as stated, a musician new to the jazz idiom, it is often the case. With the major shift in the recording industry over the past decade, more and more younger players ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Circular Motion

OA2 Records
2024

buy

Back Burner

Origin Records
2024

buy

Evergreen

OA2 Records
2023

buy

Earthshine

Origin Records
2022

buy

Camaraderie

Lofijazzsoul
2022

buy

Second Wave

Origin Records
2021

buy

Red

From: Back Burner
By Xavier Lecouturier

Julia's Tango

From: Circular Motion
By Xavier Lecouturier

Preludio Flamenco

From: Circular Motion
By Xavier Lecouturier

Gooey Butter Cake

From: Evergreen
By Xavier Lecouturier

XD

From: Earthshine
By Xavier Lecouturier

Interlake

From: Second Wave
By Xavier Lecouturier

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