Stephan Oliva

[jaka]

The appearance at AAJ of a review on Stephan Oliva's latest effort Miroirs made me search for a thread in these parts, and since there hasn't been any...

The AAJ's review can be reached here.
It's quite close to what I think of this recording, to the exception of a couple of things, but when I came across the following — "Oliva’s discography - sadly unavailable in North America, for the most part - continues to gradually build on his unique interpretive skills" — I wondered how many of you know about him, for I think he's truly a unique musician and pianist, that I never fail to mention when asked about active french musicians to check out.

The first part of the above sentence says it all, unfortunately, and it's a pity that two of his best recordings, namely his quintet Itinéraire Imaginaire and his septet 7 Variations on Lennie Tristano (with co-leader François Raulin) on the defunct Sketch label are on the verge of going Out-Of-Distribution.
You know where to ask though...

As for Miroirs, the Minium label it's released on is basically the same production team as for all Sketch releases, recorded in the fabulous La Buissonne studio (if you own any of these, you know what I mean). It's part of a series of recordings called "Standard-Visit" and is without a doubt the best in the lot.


Any thoughts on the man's work?

[relyles]

I only recently heard of Oliva when someone uploaded a torrent of a broadcast of a solo piano performance from Düsseldorf last December. I have not had a chance to listen to it yet, but coincidentally I cam across the review earlier today and decided it might be time to give the broadcst a listen.

[jaka]

Originally Posted by relyles

I only recently heard of Oliva when someone uploaded a torrent of a broadcast of a solo piano performance from Düsseldorf last December.

It must have been his "Paul Auster" project. He released a solo album called Coincidences last year, each track being inspired by one of the author's book.

[relyles]

Here is the set list for the solo performance:

Stephan Oliva
Düsseldorf (DE), Steinway-Haus Heinersdorf
December 15, 2005

1. La traversée (Oliva) 3:44
2. Portée disparue (Oliva) 3:51
3. La valse aux illusions (Oliva) 5:29
4. Bloc (Oliva) 3:24
5. Vertigo (Bernard Hermann) 10:43
6. Casanova (Nino Rota) 3:21
7. Preface (Oliva) 5:04
8. Cécile seule (Oliva) 6:14

[relyles]

Found another one that was also uploaded that I missed. The solo performance has been removed, but this one appears to still be available.

Stéphan Oliva Quintett - Studio Charles Trenet/Radio France, Dec 10 2005)

Stéphan Oliva, Piano
Jean-Marc Foltz, cl
Matthieu Donarier, ss
Bruno Chevillon, b
Nicolas Larmignat - Schlagzeug


setlist:

01 Tango indigo 10:41
02 Preface - Marche Antique 14:58
03 Pandore 04:17
04 Cécile seule 05:30
05 Spirales 07:48

all compositions by Stéphan Oliva

[bgugg]

I've enjoyed Stephan Oliva Fantasm for years.

Fantasm - The Music of Paul Motian - Trio with Bruno Chevillon & Paul Motian.

Amazon.fr has a few copies for cheap:
http://www.amazon.fr/Fantasm-Stephan...e=UTF8&s=music

[Sand]

It's a live trio recording from 2001, with Bruno Chevillon and Paul Motian. Mostly Motian tunes, one from Oliva, one by all three and My Man's gone Now and Skylark.
I heard the greatness and promise of this recording right away, though it - due to work - was a fragmented experience. Being ill for a few days after that, I've been waiting for the right moment to give the recording the attention I felt the music deserved that after those first impressions I had.
And it payed off! Very varied stuff, lyrical, impressionistic, high energy sometimes, and the two standards are played in simple way and with immense authority to great effect. This shines through in all they do. This trio stands out.
The applause is not polite. The audience know what they've been listening to.


It's a joy to discover Oliva. I agree that Itinéraire Imaginaire and his septet 7 Variations on Lennie Tristano are among his best, and the first one was a very fine introduction to his musical word.

Now playing Miroirs

[Sand]

Stephan.



The guy doesn't even know how to spell his own name