Album Notes

Lineup:

valdinho langer...guitars
wolfgang puschnig...altosax,flute
karl schaupp...piano


while the cast for the latest three cds (”fragments of a journey”, “variety”, “some of us”) ranged from solo to quintet, “the bright path” - as far as instrumentation is concerned - is a not quite conventional trio performance with wolfgang and karl, to whom I owe a lot in my musical life. the idea for this indeed came very playfully, and after some concerts, one of which was broadcast by radio oe1, we set out for the studio with it.



“song for everyone” and “song for prakash”

are dedicated to the memory of my late friend, the tabla virtuoso prakash maharaj (see also “fragments of a journey”, “variety”). at the time I had recorded shankar’s beautiful composition “song for everyone” with prakash. here it has found a different tone. “song for prakash” is a new composition, recorded here for the first time.

“pusan“

what’s intriguing about “pusan” (from “fragments”) is that wolfgang was already part of it then, in a trio together with percussionist milton cardona. we are back with it here, slight alterations and the piano creating a new sound pattern.

“little chamber music”

(from “fragments” too) has developed from a fragile solo to a more fully voiced experience of sound.

“tico” and “so pra mim”

a waltz and a choro, bow deeply to pixinguinha, one of the truly great of the rich brazilian tradition.

“für wolfgang”

is karl’s intimate dedication to wolfgang, the only piece here to deviate from the trio formation.

“tierra caliente”

gives three cheers to the spanish latin american tradition, a passion of mine that’s here to stay.

“regenzeit”

is meant to let imagination take its course, an hommage to the tropics and their wasteful abundance.

“cuando sali de cuba”

I heard “cuando sali de cuba” for the first time in the 60ies as a popsong by the tremeloes (“once on a sunday morning”). this simple, heart-warming song actually originated in cuba. wolfgang has given it the ennoblement it deserves.


Valdinho Langer
born in 1955 in Vienna
begins to play the guitar at age 14 und discovers his love for Spanish and Latin American music
first public performances at age 18, occupies himself with other musical cultures, classical music and jazz
after studying Geography and History at the universities of Vienna and Graz he makes his first extensive journeys and gets into contact with various musicians from a wide range of countries

1982 first LP ‘Aficionado’
mid-1980s contacts with the Austrian free jazz scene

1985 second LP ‘Human Dates’
late 1980s beginning of the co-operation with Wolfgang Puschnig, a major turn in his career, growing musical relations with renowned musicians of world music and jazz scene

1994 ‘Fragments of a Journey’ with Wolfgang Puschnig, Milton Cardona,
Prakash Maharaj et al feedback from international musical experts

1997 ‚Variety’ with Wolfgang Puschnig, Igor Pomykalo, Prakash und Vikash Maharaj, David Friesen et al

2006 ‘Some Of Us’ with the Austrian musicians Wolfgang Puschnig, Karl Schaupp, Reinhard Ziegerhofer und Franz Schmuck
Igor Pomykalo, Gary Barone und Riccardo Tesi join the prominent guest list of the former CDs

2009 ‚The Bright Path“ in a trio with Wolfgang Puschnig and Karl Schaupp