Never Ending, by Nicolas Masson

Never Ending

by Nicolas Masson

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited edition 180g vinyl

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edition of 100

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Poster/Print + Digital Album
Cover art by Nicolas Masson on 30x30cm exhibition-quality print, Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper.
Prints are limited to 20, numbered and signed.
Download card included.
Larger formats are available upon request.

Includes unlimited streaming of Never Ending via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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edition of 20

Purchasable with gift card

€80 EUR or more
Streaming + Download

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

Purchasable with gift card

€10 EUR or more

1.	Prelude 01:23	info	buy track
2.	Fast Forward 03:33	info	buy track
3.	Cabala 02:39	info	buy track
4.	Song for Titch 04:05	info	buy track
5.	Simple 03:36	info	buy track
6.	Interlude I 00:46	info	buy track
7.	Wood 03:20	info	buy track
8.	White 04:50	info	buy track
9.	Granit 03:19	info	buy track
10.	Interlude II 00:36	info	buy track
11.	5 Miles to Wrentham 02:58	info	buy track
12.	Gingko 04:04	info	buy track
13.	Never Ending 03:35	info	buy track
14.	Interlude III 00:38	info	buy track
15.	Last Call 01:01	info	buy track

about

Voluntarily locked up for two days alone with some recording gear, a few months before being forced into solitary confinement due to a pandemic that we no longer want to talk about, Nicolas Masson wanted to challenge himself with a solo project. Stripped, as close as possible to the bone, Never Ending bears witness to those suspended moments when one finds oneself in the intimate presence of a musician and his instrument.

After recording eight albums with his various projects, the last three for the prestigious ECM label, saxophonist Nicolas Masson felt the need to take a step back and rediscover the essence of his passion for music.
The idea of working on a solo for a monodic instrument is the ultimate challenge: how do you succeed in creating a series of pieces that are interesting, with an instrument that is usually meant to be played accompanied? What is the nature, the essence of a musician when he comes face to face with himself? Several weeks of preparation preceded these two days of recording. Over the course of rediscovering works that marked his adolescence, Nicolas Masson realized that many solo recordings for monodic instruments had marked him: the pieces for solo clarinet by Stockhausen, the cello suites by Bach and Britten, but also the solo performances of Julius Hemphill, Anthony Braxton, David Murray.

Never Ending is not only a homecoming, the beginning of the next chapter, or an introspective process, but also the moving encounter of a musician with his intimacy. Through a series of new or revisited personal compositions, improvisations and three compositions by the great Paul Motian, Nicolas Masson takes us into his inner world.

Music has a parallel in the life of Nicolas Masson with photography, the two arts evolving in symbiosis. He feels that photography and music "feed off of each other". "Taking pictures helps me understand what I'm reacting to, what inspires me, the energies that attract me (…) I try to channel these energies using music and photography."
His photographs have illustrated seven album covers for the ECM label, he produces numerous portraits, including a series called "People of AMR" which was published each month in the monthly Viva la Musica for a year. He has also been working as a photographer for Eklekto, a contemporary music ensemble focusing on percussion, since 2014.
Never Ending is illustrated with a photograph that is part of a series of images of rocks that fascinate Nicolas Masson for "the history, the sounds and the forgotten eras they contain".

credits

released November 28, 2020

Nicolas Masson: tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet

All music composed by Nicolas Masson, except tracks 2, 3 and 15 composed by Paul Motian

Recorded by Nicolas Masson at Studio d'Agostini in Geneva on August 12 and 13, 2019.

Mixed and mastered by André Pousaz

Photography by Nicolas Masson

Cover design by Espen Friberg

Many thanks to the Conservatoire Populaire de Danse, de Musique et de Théâtre for letting me lock myself in Studio d'Agostini for two days. To Sylvain Fournier, John Aram and Nicolas Duboux for the microphones.

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about

Nicolas Masson Geneva, Switzerland

A leading figure on the Swiss jazz scene, ECM recording artist Nicolas Masson has worked with a broad international cast of musicians including Ben Monder, Gerald Cleaver, Kenny Wheeler, Thomas Morgan, Kris Davis, Eivind Opsvik, Russ Lossing, Samuel Blaser, Colin Vallon, and many more.
He is also a photographer whose work was featured on several album covers for ECM Records. ... more

discography

Thirty Six Ghosts

Sep 2022
Never Ending

Nov 2020
Abacus

Jun 2014
Awake

Apr 2002

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