Barry Guy, Marilyn Crispell & Paul Lytton - Deep Memory

After the highly praised trio CDs, Odyssey and ITHAKA, the composer and bassist Barry Guy presents a new CD – Deep Memory – with the same trio members, pianist Marilyn Crispell and percussionist Paul Lytton. For his new compositions, Barry Guy was inspired by Irish painter Hughie O’ Donoghue - all titles on Deep Memory courtesy of the Irish painter Hughie O’ Donoghue’s Berlin exhibition (2007) entitled “Last Poems”. A music has emerged of a tense and lacerating beauty. Tonal painting contrasts with abstract reflection. Expressive moments stand next to elegant moods. Powerful improvisation goes up in lyrical intimacy.

Barry Guy writes in the linernotes: „Beyond the titles of Hughie O’ Donoghue’s paintings, the viewer becomes aware that he has a deep love for the act of applying paint to a canvas – an emotional act with an historical perspective. His complex layering of paint gives us rich colours and surface textures in the manner of Titian. I hope it would not be too fanciful to say that the music of the trio in a similar way engages with the tradition of the medium whilst exploring new avenues of expression for the inquisitive listener.“