Nguyên Lê enlightens the Floyd’s repertoire – pure happiness – and enchants it with the collusion of the NDR Bigband and its brilliant soloists, deploying new sound-textures created by the uplifting orchestrations of Michael Gibbs. The arrangements here provide choice settings for inspired improvisations and also reveal other compositions which appear as natural extensions of the original opus.
March, 1973... A quartet known for its psychedelic inclinations delivered a fortress of an album: The Dark Side of The Moon was a musical UFO featuring the most advanced technology of the period, a stratospheric record which mirrored society and our errant human ways. Pink Floyd was about to write an essential chapter in rock history and enjoy planetary fame; even today, their album is still one of the greatest sellers of all time.The idea behind a new reading of it came from ACT-director Siggi Loch and NDR producers Stefan Gerdes and Axel Dürr, whose radio Big Band is no secret for jazz fans. Their idea may have been a bold initiative, but the project implied an orchestra capable of linking tradition with today, and it looked to have every chance of succeeding because it would involve not only Michael Gibbs – composer, arranger, old f...
line upNguyên Lê / electric guitar, electronics
Youn Sun Nah / vocals
Gary Husband / drums
Jürgen Attig / electric fretless bass
NDR Bigband conducted by Jörg Achim Keller
NDR Bigband :
Conductor: Jörg Achim Keller
Trumpets: Thorsten Benkenstein , Benny Brown , Ingolf Burkhardt ,
Claus Stötter (solo on 12) & Reiner Winterschladen
Saxophones / reeds: Fiete Felsch (alto & flute / solo on 11), Peter Bolte (alto & flute),
Christof Lauer (tenor & soprano / solo on 4), Lutz Büchner (tenor & soprano / solo on 14),
Sebastian Gille (tenor & soprano), Marcus Bartelt (baritone & bass clarinet)
Trombones: Dan Gottshall , Klaus Heidenreich , Stefan Lottermann ,
Ingo Lahme (tuba & bass trombone)
Percussion: Marcio Doctor
Piano & synths: Vladyslav Sendecki (solo on 8)
Produced by Nguyên Lê
Executive Producers: Axel Dürr & Stefan Gerdes
All arrangements by Nguyên Lê, except 04, 14 & 15 by Michael Gibbs
Orchestrations by Michael Gibbs
Recorded at NDR Bigband studio by Michael Ploetz and Wolfgang Dierks (audio technician), Hamburg, from December 2 - 6, 2013
Youn Sun Nah recorded by Nguyên Lê
Recording Producer: Walter Quintus
Produced and mixed by Nguyên Lê at Louxor studios, Paris Barbès, March & April 2014
Mastered by Bruno Gruel at Elektra Mastering, France
Cover art: “Blue Valentine” (detail, 2009) by Martin Noël (1956 - 2010), by permission of Margarete Noël
