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Pocket Guides

by Ben Morris

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes beautiful 6-panel foldout with art by Ryan Schröder, band photos by Zosha Warpeha, graphic design by John Bishop, and notes on the music by Ben Morris.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Pocket Guides via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Ymir's Bones 07:20
2.
3.
4.
"Imagine time as a river, and that we are flying high above it in an airplane. Far below you can just make out the mountain caves of the mammoth-hunters, and the steppes where the first cereals grew. Those distant dots are the pyramids and the tower of Babel. But in front of us, there is nothing but mist, mist that is dense and impenetrable. Now let us quickly drop down in our plane towards the river. From close up, we can see it is a real river, with rippling waves like the sea. A strong wind is blowing, and there are little crests of foam on the waves. Look carefully at the millions of shimmering white bubbles rising and then vanishing with each wave. For a brief instant they are lifted on the wave’s crest, and then they sink down and are seen no more. We are like that. Each one of us no more than a tiny glimmering thing, a sparkling droplet on the waves of time which flow past beneath us into an unknown, misty future. We leap up, look around us, and before we know it, we vanish again. And what we call our fate is no more than our struggle in that great multitude of droplets in the rise and fall of one wave.” —E.H. Gombrich, in A Little History of the World (1935, Yale University Press)
5.
Hvalsang 11:43
6.
Old Barney 06:59
7.
Fellfields 03:00
8.
Edvard 08:54

about

Writing for his large, uniquely-voiced ensemble, and with Influences ranging from traditional Norwegian folk music, modern jazz, and contemporary classical music, composer/pianist Ben Morris' dynamic debut surprises and captivates. With his core group—Zosha Warpeha on Norwegian Hardanger fiddle and violin, Juan Olivares on clarinet, Dan Montgomery on bass, Evan Hyde on drums, and Ben on piano—he was invited to premier four original pieces at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2019, setting in motion the inspiration to expand the ensemble & compositions to create "Pocket Guides." With visions of bustling foreign cities, Norse mythology, tundra and waterways, Morris's music is cinematic, surprising and visceral, the rich textures reflecting his experiences living and studying in Norway, Korea, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and now Colorado.

credits

released June 17, 2022

David Bernot — tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones, flute
Juan Gabriel Olivares — clarinet and bass clarinet
Derek Ganong — trumpet and flugelhorn
Magnus Murphy Joelson — trombone
Jack Bogard — violin and mandolin
Zosha Warpeha — hardanger fiddle and violin
Joy Adams — cello
Jonah Udall — guitars
Ben Morris — piano and melodica
Dan Montgomery — bass
Evan Hyde — drums
Sam Gautier — percussion
John Boggs — voice (4)

Composed, arranged, and produced by Ben Morris (ASCAP)
“Bubble in a River” text by E.H. Gombrich (1909-2001)

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Colin Bricker at Mighty Fine Productions, Denver, CO
Mixed by Loren Dorland and Colin Bricker
Recorded January 17-20, 2022

Front cover art by Ryan Schröder
Cover design and layout by John Bishop
Released on OA2/Origin Records

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Ben Morris Nacogdoches, Texas

Ben Morris is a composer and jazz pianist whose music tells unconventional stories and crosses genre boundaries.

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