Different Roots, Change Ensemble´s first album, is inspired by Rodrigo Faina´s adolescence and childhood in Argentina, where the literature of Julio Cortazar and Jorge Luis Borges went hand in hand with jazz music and played a fundamental role in Rodrigo´s life.
Each piece is inspired by literature and organically incorporates some form of improvisation. The album’s music evokes feelings and sensations that remain with us after having read each story, and aims to take us to a fantastic place that exists only in the composer’s mind.
Sound, space and a certain autumnal lyricism are the real common thread through the entire album, and some pieces arouse a deep feeling of nostalgia that some listeners might associate with tango music.
The instrumentation of most of the album is clearly rooted in jazz music. One could say that the ensemble is some kind of extended big band, although the characteristic orchestral writing takes the listener to unexpected places.
NEW ALBUM COMING SOON !
Change ensemble´s new album will be released on February 12th on Brooklyn based Red Piano Records. Stay tuned !
PRE-ORDER NOW
Different Roots – Rodrigo Faina and Change Ensemble
Pre-order of Different Roots. You get 1 track now. Download in WAV and Mp3 + Digital Artwork and Album Cover. Physical copies can be acquire from directly from the Bandcamp site.
€14.00
Change Ensemble Personnel:
Fanny Alofs – Voice
Marieke Franssen – Flute
Ilse Eijsink – Bb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Lars Wouters – Bb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Paul van der Feen – Soprano, Alto Saxophone
Kees Krabben – Alto Saxophone
Iman Spaargaren – Tenor Saxophone
Nils van Haften – Soprano, Tenor, Baritone Sax (Soloist on If I’m to live)
Stefanie Liedtke – Bassoon
Marc Kaptijn – Trumpet, Flügelhorn
Gerard Kleijn – Flügelhorn (Soloist on At night)
Erwin ter Bogt – Trumpet, Flügelhorn
Victor Belmonte – Trombone, Bass Trombone
Daniel Quiles Cascant – Trombone
Dave Kutz – Tuba
Guillermo Celano – Electric Guitar (Soloist on A Room Full of people)
Folkert Oosterbeek – Piano, Rhodes
Clemens van der Feen – Double Bass
Marcos Baggiani – Drums, additional percussion
Jasper Le Clercq – Violin
Nina Hitz – Cello
Rodrigo Faina – Conductor, Electric guitar
Bonus track personnel:
Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley
All compositions by Rodrigo Faina
Produced by Rodrigo Faina
Recorded by Erik de Reus at Studio de Reus, Rotterdam
Edited and mixed by REX at Rex studios, Madrid
Mastered by Manuel Pajaro and Rodrigo Faina
Artwork and cover design by Blanca Bonet
Voices
Voices is an internal dialogue, a person having a conversation with themself, an exercise to break down sadness and blur concerns.
Voices is the second single of Electric Landscapes and Lonely People.
Ilse Eijsink, Bass Clarinet
Rodrigo Faina, Composition, electronics
Produced by Rodrigo Faina
Recorded by Erik de Reus
Mixed and Mastered by Rodrigo Faina
Cover picture by Daniela Pafundi
Buy (Voices – Mp3 and WAV Files)
€2.00
Invisible
There are bodies full of light that can illuminate souls, and that emit sounds that only a few bodies can perceive.
Rodrigo Faina
Invisible is the first single of Electric Landscapes and Lonely People.
Marieke Franssen, Bass Flute
Rodrigo Faina, Composition, electronics
Produced by Rodrigo Faina
Recorded by Erik de Reus
Mixed and Mastered by Rodrigo Faina and Erik de Reus
Cover picture by Daniela Pafundi
Buy (Invisible – Mp3 and WAV Files)
€2.00
Imposible (impossible)
This piece is a reflection about real love. It is an attempt to show love for what it really is, an imperfect labyrinth of feelings full of little dark corners.
The electric guitar has always been my main instrument, and because of this, I have always been fascinated by the use of different types of effects and sound processors, as well as microphones and audio engineering. Due to this, and after having some frustrating experiences writing commissions for very traditional classical music ensembles, I decided to write a piece free from limitations of any kind in which I could apply some concepts and ideas that arise from my experience as a guitarist. This would allow me to express some contradictory feelings that were locked inside me.
Jellantsje de Vries, Violin
Anna voor de Wind, Clarinet
Pascal Meyer, Piano
Rodrigo Faina, Composition, electronics
Produced by Rodrigo Faina
Recorded by Mikel Le Roy
Mixed and Mastered by Rodrigo Faina
Cover picture by Daniela Pafundi
Buy (Imposible – MP3 and WAV files)
€2.00
A Breath to Say Goodbye
I imagine myself falling into an infinite void, while a few words still echo in my head that I find very confusing and I cannot fully understand, but that I know contain a fatal meaning.
This short piece was written on an obscure and abstract image, and it is dedicated to those people that deeply miss someone.
Ilse Eijsink, Bb Clarinet
Lars Wouters, Bb Clarinet
Rodrigo Faina, Composition, electronics
Produced by Rodrigo Faina
Recorded by Erik de Reus
Mixed and Mastered by Rodrigo Faina
Cover picture by Lorenzo Lamonica
Buy – A Breath to Say Goodbye – Mp3 and WAV Files
€2.00
I Will Be Gone
I Will Be Gone was inspired by a long walk in the park during an autumn afternoon. The piece aims to capture the beauty of leaves falling from the trees and the overwhelming colours of nature under the autumnal sunlight.
Rotterdam String Orchestra
Enric Sans i Morera, Bb Clarinet
Rodrigo Faina, Composition, Conductor and Sound design
Produced by Rodrigo Faina and Annika Pannitto
Recorded by Erik de Reus
Cover picture by Daniela Pafundi
I Will Be Gone was written for Annika Pannitto’s dance performance When you come to see me I will be already gone.
Buy – I Will Be Gone – Mp3 and WAV Files
€2.00
Caminos
Caminos (paths/roads) has been inspired by the memory of the road I used to take to go to high school. It is one of the strongest memories that I have from my hometown. I vividly remember the cold and foggy mornings, the trees, the little houses, the silence around me and the old benches in the square, completely empty.
Composed by Rodrigo Faina
Produced by NESKO
Performed by NESKO
Conductor, Lucas Vis
Cover picture by Daniela Pafundi
Caminos was commissioned by NESKO and recorded at Zeewse Concertzaal, Middelburg, The Netherlands on 11th April 2015.
Buy (Caminos – MP3 and WAV files)
€2.00
Artifacts
Presenting the invisible side of a human being means for me to have the chance to see another layer of what and who we are. I would like to guide the audience towards a deep observation path because only with attention and care it is possible to discover a secret.
Annika Pannitto
The electronic sounds of Artifacts were mainly derived from small objects I had on my desk at the time of creating the piece. I recorded, transformed and sampled every sound in order to create a multi-layered electronic texture that could portrait the complexity of Ingrid, the main character in Annika Pannito’s dance piece Girl With The White Flag. Portrait of Ingrid.
Produced by Rodrigo Faina and Annika Pannitto.
Mixed and Mastered by Rodrigo Faina
Cover Picture by Majid Gheidarlou
Buy (Artifacts – MP3 and WAV File)
€2.00
A NOCTURNAL SUN
Performed by Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by Bas Wiegers.
This piece narrates the story of a man who could no longer cope with his daily life. Overwhelmed by sadness and emotionally unstable, he found himself immobile, contemplating his life as if it were someone else’s.
The main melodies in this piece represent this man’s voice. We can hear him thinking out loud, wondering about the meaning of his life, about his achievements and failures and about how truthful the love of the people around him really is. Towards the end of the first movement this man decides to let himself die. The piece’s second movement aims to represent this man’s journey towards the afterlife.
A Nocturnal Sun was written for Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble and it premiered on 20th April 2012 at the WMDC in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
YOU CAN TALK TO ME
Performed by Birgit Böhm
It is very hard to translate into words what this piece is about, but whenever I try, the words ‘emotionally oppress’ always come to my mind. The origin of this feeling is diffuse, and the figure of the oppressor seems to be absent.
The flute melody on this piece aims to express those words or thoughts we cannot share with anyone and our struggle to set them free.
You can talk to me was premiered by Susanne Peters in October 2012 during the Luciano Berio Festival in Den Haag, The Netherlands. This recording is from the performance of Birgit Böhm at the V Composer’s Marathon in Vienna, Austria, 29th September 2013.
AN INSTALLMENT OF TIME (Instructions on how to wind a watch)
Performed by DKBB, Zapp 4 and Claron McFadden
An instalment of time was inspired by Julio Cortazar´s short story Instructions on how to wind a watch, and aims to capture the story’s surreal and magical universe.
The piece features a collective guided improvisation by the full ensemble, inspired by Cortazar’s love for jazz and his commitment to freedom. It is because of this that each version of the piece is slightly different.
An instalment of time was written for David Kweksilber Big Band, who performed the piece on several occasions, and it was later recorded by Change Ensemble, who included the piece on their debut album Different Roots (buy album HERE).
An instalment of time was commissioned by Fonds Podiumkunsten.
You can also watch a video of this performance HERE.
AN INSTALLMENT OF TIME
Performed by David Kweksilber Big Band
This version of the piece was recorded at the premiere, which took place on 3rd October at the Muziekgebouw aan’ IJ in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
You can watch the video HERE.
DIFFERENCES
Performed by: Bulgarian National Radio Symphony conducted by Hans Leenders
One day there was something that they couldn’t agree on, a little unimportant thing, a difference, but from then on there was no common ground between them. Only differences.
From François Ozone’s film Water drops on burning rocks
Differences was inspired by François Ozone’s film Water drops on burning rocks. It is a composition about the irony of love, about how magical and painful love can sometimes be. It can rescue you from hell and it can draw you back into it. It is an inexplicable rollercoaster of feelings where two people try to deal with their differences. They talk to each other, scream to each other or laugh with each other. It is a piece about those tiny differences that make us come together again and again…
Differences was written for Kurt Rosenwinkel and RSJO and commissioned by the Rotterdam International Jazz Festival. You can watch some excerpts from the premiere HERE.
DEEP, DARK AND BLUE
Performed by David Kweksilber Big Band
Gradually, the beautiful universe was abandoning him; A stubborn haze wiped the lines of his hand, the stars disappeared from the sky, the earth was unsteady beneath his feet. Everything went away and confused.
Jorge Luis Borges, El hacedor.
Deep, Dark and Blue was written for David Kweksilber Big Band, who performed the piece on several occasions, and it was later recorded by the Change Ensemble, who included the piece on their debut album Different Roots (buy album HERE).
These two live recordings belong to the premiere, which took place on 1st December 2016 at De Doelen, Rotterdam, and to a performance made at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR Cologne).
Deep, Dark and Blue was commissioned by Fonds Podiumkunsten.
AT NIGHT
Performed by: DKBB and Claron McFadden
At Night was inspired by Julio Cortazar’s short story Discourse of the bear, from the book Cronopios and Famas.
The piece was written for David Kweksilber Big Band, who performed the piece on several occasions, and it was later recorded by Change Ensemble, who included the piece on their debut album Different Roots (buy album HERE).
This live recording belongs to the premiere, which took place on 1st December 2016 at De Doelen. At Night was commissioned by Fonds Podiumkunsten.
AN ENDLESS NIGHT
Performed by DoelenEnsemble
I fear that the worst is yet to come. I feel restless, sad and I cannot sleep, and there are times when life feels like an endless night.
This piece aims to portrait a very troubled period of my life in which it was impossible for me to find an emotional balance. The piece was written in four weeks, and I tried to capture the feelings of chaos and instability I felt during that period.
The piece was commissioned by the Doelenensemble, and it premiered on 20th November 2013 at concertgebouw De Doelen, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
