“New Artifacts” documents a thrilling concert in Brooklyn by Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri, and Daniel Levin. The performance captured here transformed the listeners in attendance that evening, bringing them into a creative world open with possibilities. Now, with this recording, Malaby, Maneri, and Levin invite you into their narrative of sound. This is music rich in gesture, and a music that is lyrical at its core. Its lyricism does not set itself in song form, yet is deeply reminiscent of the emotional ethos of vocal forms. This lyricism becomes the ground of the compositional field these three artists enter into: It is a field that is open to asides, proclamations, intimate words, and cries across a great space. The human voice is translated to their instruments with great compulsion. We hear Tony Malaby’s voice on his saxophones as a big circle, or perhaps a vibrant sphere in open space, with wind and light inside it – and this shared space is mirrored by the strings. At times, it’s as if Daniel Levin’s cello and Mat Maneri’s viola become saxophones, too, and vice versa. We are lucky to have a document of this special concert, to provide an opportunity for those of us who were not there that night to experience the magic of this music for themselves.

All compositions by Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri, and Daniel Levin

Recorded by Randy Thaler at Three’s Brewing, Brooklyn, NY on August 9, 2015 | Mixed and mastered by Nick Lloyd at Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Produced by Malaby, Maneri & Levin | Executive prodution by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos