Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer // The Closest Thing to Silence LP [BLACK/COLOR] / CD

This is a record released by French 4th World musician Ariel Kalma and modular players Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer from LA, USA, on the jazz label International Anthem in Chicago, USA in February 2024.

Contains 11 post-new age ambient jazz songs.

*If you would like a digital sound source, please feel free to contact us.

Below is a commentary by the label.

"In August 2022, Ariel Kalma, a legendary author of 8th World music based in Australia and born in France, was invited to appear on BBC Radio 4's special collaboration program 'Late Junction' series. The show pairs artists who have never worked together before to collaborate and create new music.

International Anthem recording artists Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer released their duo debut Recordings from the Åland Islands to critical acclaim a few months ago. Chiu has long been a fan of Kalma, even citing him as a major influence on his approach to electronic music composition.

The basic structure of the Late Junction collaboration was for the artists to work together to create approximately 20 minutes of music. A song started by Kalma goes back and forth between one started by Chiu and Honor, each adding to and editing the track before giving it back to the other artist. The music only goes back and forth a few times before it's finally completed.

Having achieved their 20-minute goal for the show (four songs in total), the three were satisfied with what they presented and sent their work to producers at Late Junction. However, there was a suspicion that this was not the end. There were some pieces that were almost finished but weren't sent for recording on the radio show, and I had a lot of ideas for further refining the finished pieces. With this in mind, the three agreed to continue working together to further their music. The fledgling trio felt they had more to say and more to do. Late Junction aired in September 4. At the same time, the three of them began to further develop the music they had started for broadcasting, working diligently on their music for several months.

Their collective approach to this work was born out of improvisation and realized through collage-based editing. As a result, several different musical moments, sometimes recorded decades apart, speak to each other, forming new stories from the accumulation of old music. Fragments of each musician's improvisations would be edited together with what Kalma recorded with GRM in the '70s, and even voice memo moments like Kalma explaining his ideas would go into the final mix. be.

Ultimately, this collection of music is an immersion in the context heard on Chiu and Honor's Recording from the Åland Islands, as well as a generational reverence (and unmistakable presence) for Kalma's decades-long body of work. ) while highlighting the works of the three musicians. It is the work that definitively enshrines him as one of the truly transcendent pioneers and sages of New Age and Fourth World music. This reverence is reflected in the group's choice of album title, ``The Closest Thing to Silence.'' The title is taken from a quote by Kalma from RVNG Intl's 3 compendium/retrospective documentary An Evolutionary Music. Perhaps coincidentally, Kalma's words were a slight variation on the legendary ECM Records motto: "Music is the closest thing to silence."

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Available on 12" black 140gram vinyl, 12" 'silent grey' 140gram vinyl, or CD in 4-panel digipack. 

tracklist:

1. Ten Hour Wave 03:25
2. Breathing In Three Orbits (Intro) 00:45
3. Breathing In Three Orbits 05:59
4. The Closest Thing To Silence 03:52
5. Dizzy Ditty 04:33
6. Une Ombre Légere 04:23
7. New Air 02:25
8. Ecoute Au Loin 06:02 video
9. A Treasure Chest 06:12
10. Stay Centered 02:15
11. Stack Attack 06:29

Text excerpt by International Anthem:

"[...] The essential structure of the Late Junction collaboration was that the artists would work together to create around twenty minutes of music. They began passing music back and forth, some that Kalma had started, and some that Honer & Chiu had started, with each adding to or editing the track before returning it to the other. The music would only go back and forth a few times before being finalized.

After meeting their twenty minute goal for the program (four pieces total), the three musicians were satisfied in what they would present and sent along their work to the producers of Late Junction. However, there was a nagging suspicion that this wasn't the end of the story. There were several pieces that they had nearly completed but that weren't sent for inclusion in the radio program, and there were many ideas for refining those pieces that had. With this in mind Kalma, Chiu and Honer agreed that they would continue to work together to try to push the music further. The freshly minted trio felt like there was much more to be said and more work to be done. The Late Junction program was broadcast in September of 2022. Simultaneously, Kalma, Chiu and Honer began expanding upon the music they had started for the purpose of the broadcast, working diligently on the music for several months.

Their collective approach to this work was born in improvisation and realized via collage-based editing. The end result brings several distinct musical moments — recorded sometimes decades apart — into conversation with one another, forming new narratives from building blocks of old ones. There are snippets of improvised playing from each musician, edited together with recordings that Kalma had made in the 70s at GRM, and even moments of audio notes — like Kalma explaining his ideas — that would make it into the final mixes.

Ultimately, the collection of music highlights the work of all three musicians, intertwining the contextual immersion heard on Chiu & Honer's 'Recordings from the Åland Islands' with an intergenerational reverence for (and the undeniable presence of) Kalma's decades-spanning body of work. It is work that has definitively enshrined him as one of the true, transcendent pioneers and sages of new age and fourth-world music. That reverence is affirmed by the album title chosen by the group — "The Closest Thing to Silence" — which is taken from a quote by Kalma included in a documentary by RVNG Intl (as part of their release of the 2014 compendium/retrospective An Evolutionary Music). Perhaps coincidental, Kalma's quote was a slight modulation of a legendary ECM Records motto, as he said: 'Music is the closest thing to silence.'"

Artist : Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer

Label: International Anthem

CAT No.: IARC0077