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'SCOPES' - Album Trailer

Scopes

by Scopes

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    High quality, 180 gram, 12" LP - comes with download code containing the digital album in multiple formats

    Includes unlimited streaming of Scopes via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $28 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    High quality, 6 panel digifile with a velvety soft-touch laminate finish

    Includes unlimited streaming of Scopes via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $2.50 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Comes with album artwork booklet PDF + album cover photo as a jpg
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

1.
Echo Of Their Own Prejudices 07:24 video
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2.
Chamberlain 06:00
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3.
Aquaponies 05:42
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4.
Balance 05:13
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5.
Whistle 05:15
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6.
Alter Ego 03:52
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7.
Lakeview 05:08
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8.
Nostalgia 04:03
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9.
Mode 05:09
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about

PERSONNEL

Ben van Gelder - alto saxophone
Tony Tixier - piano, Yamaha Reface CS
Tom Berkmann - double bass
Mathias Ruppnig - drums

ALBUM CREDITS

Recorded at Recpublica Studios, Lubrza, Poland (April 2018)
Engineered, mixed and mastered by Martin Ruch for Control Room, Berlin
Produced by Mathias Ruppnig and Tom Berkmann
Tracks 1,4, 6, 8 composed by Matthias Ruppnig
Tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 composed by Tom Berkmann
Executive Producer - Michael Janisch
Artwork by Slawek Michalt
Director of Photography - Manuel Schaffernak

credits

released March 29, 2019

ABOUT THE ALBUM

The contemporary sound is strong in this sparkling, eponymous debut from new European quartet Scopes, led by Austrian drummer Mathias Ruppnig and German bassist Tom Berkmann. Originally meeting up when based in New York for several years, performing there in various projects with French pianist/keyboardist Tony Tixier, they created the basis of a striking collaboration completed by acclaimed Dutch alto saxophonist Ben van Gelder.

Formed as recently as 2018, the quartet has already begun to make an impact, touring across Spain, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Their roots in jazz tradition are evident, yet Scopes’ quest for a “sense for the pulse time” has shaped a young, sleek sound world incorporating wider influences – a melting pot of original, melodic composition and improvisation infused with textural synthscapes and liquescent sax. It’s a confidently joyous partnership, Tom Berkmann describing their band name as “a frame inside which we can be endlessly creative – a ‘musical playground’ where we are able to open up in different ways.”

The freshness of Ruppnig’s ‘Echo of Their Own Prejudices’ is a great indicator of the environments which the band inhabit, an ebullient groove underpinning van Gelder’s characteristically mellow, tumbling tones, complemented by Tixier’s portamento synth lines and rapid piano runs. Berkmann had been working on impressionistic, Ravel-like harmonies which ended up in a quite different place, reminding him of US sculptor John Chamberlain’s transformative automobile scrap metal art – hence the title of a searching piece which features his lithe bass soloing. A story by author Michael Ende provided the inspiration for gently-bobbing ‘Aquaponies’ (seahorses), a fertile under-sea world of serenity for van Gelder’s extemporizations, followed by an almost Weather Reportian sax-and-synth pairing in eager ‘Balance’.

Analogous swan-like atmospheres in ‘Whistle’ find Ruppnig providing its percussively busy undercurrent as synth auras glide over, contrasted by the seductive samba-swing of ‘Alter Ego’. Berkmann’s reflective ‘Lakeview’ (apartments in Brooklyn where he once lived, and apparently favored by musicians) eases back, though there’s always a sprightly angle to the quartet’s explorations, heard too after the initial, dreamy spaciousness of ‘Nostalgia’. And airy ‘Mode’ – after guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel’s advice to the guys on entering new musical situations: “Just get into the mode” – affirms this band’s focused, evolutionary approach to their sound.

“I’m interested in how people ‘hear’ music – what happens in their head when they listen to it”, discloses Tom Berkmann. “I was once told by someone at a gig, ‘What I love so much about jazz is that, even though there can be a lot of information communicated, so many thoughts and associations pop up that you wouldn’t usually think about.’ For me, as a musician, that’s a good thing; and I hope that Scopes has that effect – for listeners to zone out.”

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

"Infused with a refreshing collectivity."
★★★★ DownBeat Magazine

"Judging by this excellent first album, the band could well have the makings of the epithet "international super group."
★★★★ All About Jazz

​"​An excellent debut offering from Scopes. The music combines accessibility with adventurousness, the strong focus on melody enhanced by rhythmic inventiveness and imaginative soloing.​"
★★★★​ ​The Jazz Mann​

​"Most enjoyable and satisfying​."
Bebop Spoken Here

"Pure lines, rounded sound, rich textures (superb saxophone-piano harmony): the group delivers thoughtful and original work."
Jazz News

“A sparkling debut from a young, highly accomplished European quartet with a distinctive contemporary sound.”
Jazz Views

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