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Story Book
Josh Rosen
Label: Ziggle Zaggle Music
Released: 2025
Views: 213
Tracks
Strolling; Signaling; Memories; Samuel, My Grandfather; When We Say Goodbye; New York City in the late 1950’s; Brownsville Streets; Whispers; (0.5mm) Harlem; The Little Apple; Gnawa Abstractions; T. Sphere Monk; On Meeting Mingus; Slam Stewart Space Mashup; NYC Squirrels; NYC Waterways; Pyramid; The Windhover; Reverie
Personnel
Josh Rosen
piano
John Voigt
bass, acousticAlbum Description
Josh Rosen and John Voigt Release Story Book - Musical reflections on New York City, Brooklyn ancestry, jazz legends, and the passage of time
“deliciously vivid, warm storytelling…deeply satisfying instrumental journeys…poignant” - Noah Schaffer, WBUR
Josh Rosen and John Voigt announce the release of their latest recording, Story Book (ZiggleZaggle Music) featuring piano, string bass and voice. Imaginative use of sound collage and Josh’s “found sounds” adds sparkle and depth to several pieces. The album includes one pre- composed piece, the poignant ballad “When We Say Goodbye,” a meditation on separation and change.
Pianist and sound artist Josh Rosen reflects on how the pandemic shaped the project: “The world grew quiet. Time felt suspended. Out of that stillness, creativity flourished...The pandemic's quiet, along with John’s inspiration, opened a creative space for renewal. It became an expansion of my work, sculpting with sound.” To continue their collaboration remotely, Voigt sent Rosen home recordings of solo bass and voice. Rosen responded using techniques inspired by musique concrète, manipulating pre-recorded acoustic and found sounds.
“Calling what we do ‘free jazz’ or ‘avant-garde jazz’ comes close, but it’s not quite right,” says bassist John Voigt. “We create emotionally charged pieces that unfold like stories in a book.”
The duo’s improvisations emerge either through free exploration of a musical idea or by building from a specific source. An ancestor’s Brooklyn memoir, a poem, a drawing, or existing music. The personalities of Thelonious Monk or Charles Mingus. Or the North African rhythmic chanting of the Gnawa people, or a harmonic study for bass sextet in the manner of Satie’s Gymnopédies, or even the squirrels of Central Park! And then there’s John’s "outer space visit" to the bowed bass and scat singing of Slam Stewart.
“Everything is music,” Voigt adds. “You can start anywhere and make something meaningful.”
As the collection grew, Story Book took shape—stories of 1930s Brooklyn, Harlem’s jazz heyday, master musicians, poetry, drawings, improvisations, and ultimately, goodbyes.
For detailed information and credits: https://zigglezagglemusic.com/story-book
###About Josh Rosen:
Josh Rosen is a celebrated composer, pianist, and educator with a distinguished career spanning several decades. He has released nine critically acclaimed CDs featuring his unique jazz compositions, often in collaboration with Boston legend Stan Strickland. His musical journey is punctuated by collaborations with jazz luminaries like Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Joe Lovano, and Mick Goodrick, among others. Rosen's global performances include notable tours in Ethiopia and Ireland with the Either/Orchestra, sharing stages with Ethiopian master musicians Mulatu Astake and Mahmoud Ahmed, including performing at Lincoln Center's Summer Festival.
Critics have praised Rosen's compositions for their sophistication and emotional depth, highlighting a blend of melodic accessibility and harmonic complexity. His piano playing is noted for its eloquence and elegant feel, captivating audiences with surprising spontaneous ideas and heartfelt expression.
Beyond performing, Rosen is Professor of Piano and Ensembles at Berklee College of Music, where he imparts his passion and expertise to aspiring musicians.
About John Voigt:
John Voigt is a visionary bassist and key figure in creative music, known for his innovative approach to the string bass, and for his work with such luminaries as Thurston Moore, William Parker, and Paul Motian, and a host of Downtown New York players. Based in Boston, Voigt has performed at iconic venues in Boston, Cambridge, and New York City, including The Half Note and Knitting Factory, and at major jazz festivals worldwide.
Among Voigt’s credits are two recordings on Top Ten Critics’ picks: “Revolt of the Negro Lawn Jockeys,” Gerald Futrich (Coda) and “Fire in the Valley,” Steve Holtje (Jazziz.)
Critics hail Voigt as, "An avatar of creative music in Boston" (Cadence) and "One of the world's most inventively alive bass players" (Seattle Post Intelligencer).
For more information, visit his archived page https://web.archive.org/web/20160314090444/http:/art-energy.org/johnmusician.html
Contact: john.voigt@comcast.net
Album uploaded by Josh Rosen
