One of my favorite records of 2021! Imagine if John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane had the opportunity to make one more record together, it would sound like this record "WAX///WANE"
Bio Information on Lucien Johnson:
Lucien Johnson has been described as “a saxophonist and composer of rare excellence and mettle.” Involved in a diverse range of artistic projects, his music always succeeds in maintaining a distinctive sound, with a chameleonic emotional range that can shift from warm and intimate through to radical and rebellious.
Growing up in an artistic household in Pukerua Bay, north of Wellington, New Zealand, Johnson took off for Europe at the age of 22. Since then his music has been greatly informed by his global travelling and encounters. Living in Paris for most of his formative years in the 2000s, he performed in a free improvising trio with Alan Silva (master free jazz double bassist and contemporary of Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra and Albert Ayler) and Makoto Sato, releasing an album on French label Improvised Beings. He has performed with a long list of luminaries from jazz and improvised music, such as Mulatu Astatke, Barre Phillips, Marilyn Crispell, John Betsch, Steve Potts, Jobic Le Masson and Lol Coxhill. He returned to New Zealand in 2009 where he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Victoria University.
Johnson has composed music for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Dance Company, for short film and documentaries and for his own projects. He was musical director of Shogun Orchestra which released two albums on German label Jakarta Records. His latest album under his own name, “West of the Sun”, was released on Japanese label Wonderful Noise and was a finalist for NZ jazz album of the year.
Johnson is the composer for Borderline Arts Ensemble, directed by choreographer Lucy Marinkovich. For their work, LOBSTERS, Johnson was awarded Sound Designer of the Year and was also nominated for Outstanding Composer at the Wellington Theatre Awards. Johnson wrote the scipt and music for their next project, STRASBOURG 1518, which was a major commission for the 2020 New Zealand Festival. It was subsequently performed at the 2021 Auckland Arts Festival and at a sold-out return Wellington season to rave reviews.
Johnson and Marinkovich were co-recipients of the 2018 Harriet Friedlander New York Residency, administered by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
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