Ghost Horse (Hobby Horse) - Trojan (2019)

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Ghost Horse (Hobby Horse) - Trojan (2019)

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Italian-American sextet Ghost Horse's debut record Trojan was released on October 18th, 2019 as a double LP by groundbreaking Chicago-based underground electronic label Mathematics Recordings and on CD by Auand, Italy's most important contemporary jazz label.

Sprouting from a rich humus of Latin and African polyrhythms, Ghost Horse generates a dark and mysterious ecosystem, digesting, decomposing and recombining elements of free jazz, hip hop, blues and loop music. The result is something fascinating but quietly menacing, pulsing and breathing with the visceral force of nature reclaiming abandoned structures.

Trojan's ten original compositions are conceived as a series of complex musical conflicts, their titles inspired by historical struggles for land and water rights during European and U.S. colonisation and territorial expansion in North America. These topics remain tragically relevant in the midst of a global dialog centered around resource exploitation, mass migration, demographic transformations and economic and digital warfare, all superimposed over the looming threat of catastrophic environmental collapse.

Ghost Horse is a sextet expansion of avant-jazz trio Hobby Horse, which has been breaking trail in Italy for ten years, at the forefront of a creative renewal in the national jazz scene which is beginning to receive well-deserved recognition worldwide. Their strikingly original approach to warping and recombining musical languages is apparent on 2018's Helm (Auand/Rous Records), resulting in a long list of 'Best of 2018' mentions from the likes of Allaboutjazz and the New York City Jazz Record.

The cover image was created by Evan Ross Murphy, the artist responsible for the majority of Hobby Horse's cover art over the last decade. The base of the collage is a photo of Sitting Bull, political and military leader of the Lakota (Sioux) people at the center of the Sioux and Cheyenne's attempts to resist white settlement of the American West. After years of exile and skirmish warfare, his decimated group was forced into surrender and relocated to a reservation. Subsequently, fear that he would lend his support to the fledgling 'Ghost Dance' movement led to an order for his arrest. During the arrest attempt, fighting broke out, and Sitting Bull was shot and killed by police in 1890.

Sitting Bull's face is masked by an image of the original face of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the French which would go on to become one of the most recognised symbols of the United States of America. The statue was erected 1886 on Liberty Island facing towards the Atlantic Ocean, and beyond it, Europe. Starting in 1892, two years after the death of Sitting Bull, millions of European immigrants would pass under its gaze en route to Ellis Island, principal entry point for those in search of a new life in the New World. Many of these immigrants would go on to populate the newly pacified American West.

The title of the statue is 'Liberty Enlightening the World'.

Ghost Horse was founded during a residency in 2017 supported by Novara Jazz. Trojan was recorded in May 2018 during a residency supported by Correggio Jazz.

Dan Kinzelman (Tenor Sax/Bass Clarinet) is a central figure in Italy’s flowering creative music scene, highly in demand both as a bandleader and as a soloist. Cofounder of Hobby Horse and it's expanded version, Ghost Horse, he tours regularly with Simone Graziano Frontal and his own experimental wind quartet Dan Kinzelman's Ghost, appearing in some of Europe's most prestigious venues. Since 2016 he has collaborated with Italian choreographer Daniele Ninarello as a composer (STILL, Pastorale) and performer (Kudoku). He teaches saxophone, improvisation and small group interaction at Siena Jazz's master's degree program, and works regularly as a guest lecturer in universities and conservatories throughout Europe and the U.S.

Filippo Vignato (Trombone) is an Italian improviser and trombonist, recognized as one of the most important voices of his generation in Italy. He was selected by Italy's foremost jazz magazine as 'Best New Talent' in 2016 following the release of his Plastic Breath, his first record as a leader. His most recent record, Ghost Dance, was recorded in duo with cellist Hank Roberts.

Glauco Benedetti (Tuba/Euphonium) is one of Italy's busiest tuba players thanks to his virtuoso-level skill set and rare musical versatility. He is currently active internationally with projects like Francesco Diodati 'Yellow Squeeds', Piero Bittolo Bon's 'Bread & Fox', Zoe Pia 'Shardana', Lydian Sound Orchestra and other projects.

Gabrio Baldacci (Baritone Guitar) is leader of Gruppo Formica. His guitar lends grit and substance to a lot of the best projects in Italy's jazz/rock underground. He can often be heard with Italian trombone giant Gianluca Petrella, and his latest record as a leader features Tim Berne on alto sax.

Joe Rehmer (Bass) was born in Woodstock, Illinois, but has been living in Italy since 2010. He is a founding member of Hobby Horse, Ghost Horse and Drive! and tours regularly with Giovanni Guidi 'Avec le Temps' and Espada.

Stefano Tamborrino (Drums) is entirely self-taught, and his unusual background has led him to develop an extremely original and unconventional approach to the drums, which can be heard in projects like the David Binney Trio, Gianluca Petrella Trio 70's and Simone Graziano Frontal. In recent years he has begun to perform his own compositions with projects like Don Karate and Seacup as well as collective projects Hobby Horse and Ghost Horse.