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"The idea of sitting down at a table and making a composition on paper is totally foreign to me. To come up with a piece of music, I have to make the sound myself, have the instruments in my hands."

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François Couturier's solo excursion "Un jour si blanc" is conceived by its maker as the second volume in a planned trilogy, and an extension of the earlier quartet disc "Nostalghia", dedicated to filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. The highly poetic approach – both in the playing itself and in the referential and allusive conception – is again evident. The new album's starting point is a poem by Arseni Tarkovsky, which gives the disc its title and atmospheric implications. Thereafter, the music opens up associatively, making trans-idiomatic improvisational interconnections. "I wanted to pay tribute to some great artists I particularly like", says Couturier. These include Johann Sebastian Bach, Arthur Rimbaud, Claude Debussy, Franz Schubert, Toru Takemitsu, Joan Miró, the painters of the Blaue Reiter group and more. Meanwhile, "Lune de miel" quotes liberally from "I Fall In Love Too Easily"... But if standard jazz is a component of this disc it is filtered through the focus of a player steeped in the European classical and experimental traditions. This first solo disc from the insightful French pianist is also a richly creative contribution to the unaccompanied piano genre established at ECM, as Couturier now joins the distinguished list of improvising pianists – Chick Corea, Paul Bley, Keith Jarrett, Marilyn Crispell, Jon Balke, Misha Alperin – who have recorded alone for the label.

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Born and raised in New England, Eddie (Haydn) Higgins started his professional career in Chicago, while studying at the Northwestern University Music School. For twenty years Eddie worked at some of Chicago's best known jazz clubs, including the Brass Rail, Preview Lounge, Blue Note, Cloister Inn and Jazz Ltd. His longest and most memorable job was at the London House, where he led the house trio for twelve years, playing opposite the biggest jazz stars of the 50's and 60's, including Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Errol Garner, George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans and many others.

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Beautiful duets between trumpeter Paolo Fresu and keyboardist Uri Caine -- a wonderful session from the Italian arm of Blue Note Records, and easily one of Caine's more sensitive moments on record! The pair play together without any sort of rhythm section -- just Fresu's horn, and Caine's keys, which are either acoustic piano or Fender Rhodes. But many tracks also feature a string quartet too -- used lightly, but nicely -- bringing in some gentle tones that really fit the mood of the music, and further underscore some of the more personal sounds that are clearly Paolo's influence on the set.

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Jazz pianist David Hazeltine was born and raised in Milwaukee, making his professional debut at age 13 and going on to gig extensively in Chicago and Minneapolis as well. Serving as the house pianist at the Milwaukee Jazz Gallery, he backed luminaries including Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt and Chet Baker, the latter encouraging Hazeltine to further pursue his career by relocating to New York City; arriving there in 1992, he formed his own trio with drummer Louis Hayes and bassist Peter Washington, additionally serving as musical director for Marlena Shaw and playing with Slide Hampton's Jazz Masters Big Band as well as the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. With tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, Hazeltine also helmed the group One for All; as a headliner, he made his debut in 1995 with Four Flights Up, followed two years later by The Classic Trio. He resurfaced in 1998 with How It Is, issuing The World for Her the next year. Blues Quarters, Vol. 1 was released in August 2000. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

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2010 release, an all-French album from the American Jazz vocalist. Raconte-Moi..(Tell Me) revisits great classics of the French musical heritage with songs by Barbara, Paul Misraki, Georges Moustaki, Henri Salvador, Michel Jonasz, Keren Ann and Benjamin Biolay, and also showcases original work by talented young songwriters like Claire Denamur, Camille D'avril and Emilie Satt. Stacey Kent bridges the divide between genres, elegantly and daintily stamping her own personal hallmark on this shining album. EMI.