Saxophonist and composer Maria Faust is renowned and respected worldwide for her award-winning ensembles Sacrum Facere, Machina, and Jazz Catastrophe.
Although her unique musical language as a composer and singular improvising style are easily identified, she is difficult to place in the kanon of contemporary jazz and composition. This is partly due to the broad spectrum of her influences and also because her music goes beyond stylistic definitions and into the realm of the deeply personal.
Today Maria Faust is one of the most celebrated and established Estonian musicians of all time, recipient of numerous awards and prizes from Estonia and Denmark (where she resides), but also a celebrated artist all over Europe and slowly but surely catching the attention of American audiences. Maria Faust's Jazz Catastrophe was originally founded in Copenhagen in 2012 as a modern big band, The present album documents its third mutation. Concentrated and reduced down to its essence like a thick syrup, the new music is performed by a trio where Maria Faust's alto saxophone is flanked by long-time associates Lars Pilgaard on guitar and Anders Vestergaard on drums.
"Moth" is Faust's 15th album and as the name suggests, it is inspired by the life of those mysterious nocturnal creatures - moths. Their being attracted to light is called positive phototaxis and although there is much speculation as to why, the reason is still unknown. The potentially fatal lure of artificial light that seemingly changes the will of the moth, is a central theme of the album. It is a bittersweet realization of the similarities to human behavior. We can all hear the warning sounds of "hells bells" when something is about to go wrong, but we choose go straight towards the flame anyway. This is part of the human experience but it's important to say that these compositions are not about death and demise. "Moth" is primarily an album for star-crossed lovers. In euphoria they see only the light. In here lies the beauty of the metaphor and the reality is that this is music that is so stripped down, real and beautiful that it can hurt you, but you won't be able to turn away.
Although her unique musical language as a composer and singular improvising style are easily identified, she is difficult to place in the kanon of contemporary jazz and composition. This is partly due to the broad spectrum of her influences and also because her music goes beyond stylistic definitions and into the realm of the deeply personal.
Today Maria Faust is one of the most celebrated and established Estonian musicians of all time, recipient of numerous awards and prizes from Estonia and Denmark (where she resides), but also a celebrated artist all over Europe and slowly but surely catching the attention of American audiences. Maria Faust's Jazz Catastrophe was originally founded in Copenhagen in 2012 as a modern big band, The present album documents its third mutation. Concentrated and reduced down to its essence like a thick syrup, the new music is performed by a trio where Maria Faust's alto saxophone is flanked by long-time associates Lars Pilgaard on guitar and Anders Vestergaard on drums.
"Moth" is Faust's 15th album and as the name suggests, it is inspired by the life of those mysterious nocturnal creatures - moths. Their being attracted to light is called positive phototaxis and although there is much speculation as to why, the reason is still unknown. The potentially fatal lure of artificial light that seemingly changes the will of the moth, is a central theme of the album. It is a bittersweet realization of the similarities to human behavior. We can all hear the warning sounds of "hells bells" when something is about to go wrong, but we choose go straight towards the flame anyway. This is part of the human experience but it's important to say that these compositions are not about death and demise. "Moth" is primarily an album for star-crossed lovers. In euphoria they see only the light. In here lies the beauty of the metaphor and the reality is that this is music that is so stripped down, real and beautiful that it can hurt you, but you won't be able to turn away.