*All proceeds from this album will be donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund & Black and Pink National Organization*
Drummer and composer Chase Kuesel (“key-sull”) is set to release his debut album, Space Between, on ears&eyes Records on July 10, 2020. Recorded in June 2019, at the end of Chase's one-year stay in Switzerland for the Focusyear Artist Grant, the album features an international ensemble of leading musicians from Brazil, Italy, Korea, Spain, the UK, and the United States. The album showcases Chase's diverse musical interests as it incorporates influences such as the West-African folkloric drumming of Brice Wassy, the modes of Olivier Messiaen, the lyric writing of Norma Winstone, and the minimalism of Steve Reich.
Now based in Brooklyn, NY, Chase laughs and notes that the title Space Between was chosen in the winter, long before social distancing took effect across the world:
“I first came across those words during a conversation with the pianist David Virelles, who told me that his record Antenna was largely inspired by his manipulation of the 'space between' different notes. I wrote a song around that idea, and later realized that it was also a useful concept to frame the work we do as musicians and composers."
Indeed, he now feels that his initial reasoning behind the title may be more appropriate than ever:
"I wanted to call the album Space Between because I believe that music is at its most ambitious – and culturally vital – when it is working to sound-out a middle ground – between the real and the imagined, between cultural influences, between generational moments, between personal and collective histories. Music allows us a space to process these disparate narratives and do the difficult work of figuring out what we want to say in the midst of all of it. Given the vast challenges of our contemporary moment, I believe this mission – to work to find personal meaning within the vast continuum of history you are placed in – remains vitally important.”
Still, in his mid-20’s, Chase's commitment to this process has already earned him considerable recognition from prominent cultural institutions. In 2020, he was recognized by both the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards, for his song “Senescence,” and the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, for his song “Falling” – both of which are featured on Space Between. In 2018, he was one of seven musicians selected from an international applicant pool to participate in Focusyear, an artist diploma program based in Basel, Switzerland. Through this program, he performed with mentors such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Billy Childs, John Hollenbeck, and Julian Lage. His ensemble Echoes has released multiple albums as a collective and has been hailed as “The Sound of Jazz in the ‘Right Now’” by Jazziz Magazine. He has performed across the globe and shared the stage with musicians such as Noah Preminger, Jason Palmer, Alex Hamburger, Doug Weiss, and Julian Shore.
The depth and variety of these musical experiences are on display throughout Chase's debut work as a leader. Featuring eight original compositions across ten tracks, the record transverses a wide musical landscape as it synthesizes the diverse influences that have shaped Chase's life so far into a sound that is his own. Space Between represents a bold first contribution from a drummer and composer poised to make a significant impact on the music scene for years to come.
credits
released July 10, 2020
All compositions by Chase Kuesel
Chase Kuesel: Drums, Glockenspiel
Francesca Gaza – Voice (2, 7, 10)
Song Yi Jeon – Voice (4, 5, 8)
Santi De La Rubia – Tenor Saxophone
Sam Barnett – Alto Saxophone
Iannis Obiols – Rhodes
Vinicius Gomes – Electric & Acoustic Guitar
Matt DiBiase – Vibraphone & MalletKat
Eli Heath – Electric Bass
Recorded in Basel, Switzerland, June 2019
Engineered by Daniel Somaroo
Mixed & Mastered by David Darlington
Album Design by Niccolò Campanini
Photos by Xin Xie (cover) & Alex Ventling (band)
Influenced in equal measure by BeBop Drumming, Contemporary Beatboxing, Drum and Bass Programming, Singer-Songwriting and
Tap Dancing, Chase Kuesel (pronounced “key-sull”) is a drummer and composer whose first album, “Space Between,” is set to be released on Ears & Eyes Records on July 10, 2020....more
This is one of the albums that really sweep me away, no matter which track I'm listening to, and its pleasantly long running time of almost 80 minutes guarantees a maximum sweeping effect. Basically, Matt Ulery is a jazz musician and composer playing the double bass, but the magic he creates on this and other albums is well beyond the confines of the genre. The brilliant varied orchestrations clearly put it into a neo-classical chamber music frame, frequently reminding me of Argentine chamber folk, and the smooth vocals contributed by Grażyna Auguścik and Sarah Marie Young add considerably to the magic, as does the piano work of Rob Clearfield, who's a great composer himself. Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)