Circular Chant (Remastered) [CD]

On September 18, Storyville Records releases a newly remastered edition of Circular Chant, percussionist Marilyn Mazur's 1994 recording made in connection with the Jazzpar Project, featuring new liner notes by saxophonist Fredrik Lundin and new album cover art.Marilyn Mazur (1955-2025) was a singular presence on the international jazz scene. Few percussionists have commanded such a wide range of instruments. She reshaped the role of percussion in improvised music and developed a personal musical language that expanded it's expressive scope.Recorded in March 1994 at Sun Studio in Copenhagen and at the Jazzpar Prize Concert at the SAS Falconer Center, the album documents a specially assembled ensemble featuring Nils Petter Molvær, Per Jørgensen, Michael Riessler, Hans Ulrik, Bugge Wesseltoft, Mikkel Nordsø, Klavs Hovman, Jacob Andersen, and Mazur herself.The album contains 13 tracks in total: nine compositions by Marilyn Mazur and four co-composed group pieces. Although the group was formed for the Jazzpar concerts, the recordings show a high degree of cohesion. The ensemble, often referred to as Pulse Unit, combines composed material by Mazur with ensemble pieces and shorter interludes.Mazur worked throughout her career at the intersection of composition and improvisation, and Circular Chant reflects this approach to ensemble writing and performance. The album places strong emphasis on group interaction, with the ensemble frequently functioning as a responsive collective.The three wind players, Molvær, Ulrik, and Riessler, play a central role throughout, moving between melodic and textural roles. They are supported by Wesseltoft on keyboards, Nordsø on guitar, Hovman on bass, and the rhythmic interplay between Andersen and Mazur on percussion and drums. The recording moves between composed ensemble works, vocal-led sections, electric group passages, and shorter interludes.More than thirty years after it's original recording, Circular Chant stands as a distinctive collaborative release from European jazz in the 1990s, bringing together a group of musicians who were central to the Scandinavian and wider European scene at the time.