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About the background of the Asymmetry album
It is unnecessary to introduce the great American bass player Michael
Manring. We started to work together 10 years ago, and produced three
albums. The first was "Inner Smile" from 2009; released by the
German label Acoustic Music Records. Then in 2014 the album entitled "Fractal,"
released as a digital album. This was released by the American label Greydisc
Records. Released in August 2017 is the new album "Asymmetry."
When we recorded the first album, we omitted some tracks because they
did not fit at that album. Eight years later, I remixed them using a new
concept, and a new and exciting sound started to take shape.
I had an idea to make further recordings with the new sound. However,
the big distance between where we live, and our schedules forced us to
use a different way of working. Since I mixed Michael Manring and Kevin
Kastning's 2011 duo album "In Winter," I had some unused tracks
from this album project in my studio and I asked their permission to use
the bass tracks for creating new music. They were both very supportive
in this project, and I started to overdub some layers on the bass tracks.
Bit by bit a completely new soundscape was born.
The musical content with exciting solutions is a conception based on several
pillars. It was important to introduce the bass in an unusual role. Michael
is able to play solo concerts sounding as a whole band introducing rich
musical contents with exciting musical ideas. So his attitude inspired
me to create a new music and sound.
From my part, I intented to create interesting and unusual combinations
of instruments like lute, 16-string guitar, esraj, and guzheng together
with fretless bass. I wanted to strengthen the feeling that the listener
hears never-before-heard music in never-before-heard sounds. The sound
became even richer by the playing of the great percussionist Balázs
Major on the exotic udu and cymbals.
The title of the new album is "Asymmetry." The album displays
a high artistic level not only in the music, but also in its sound. To
create a new exciting soundscape, I boldly used the latest software plugins
to get the proper result. Therefore, unusual spaces, atmospheres, moods
appear on the recordings.
The album cover artwork and design is by László Hutton,
the Hungarian photographic artist.
The album is released by the American label Greydisc Records in August
2017 as a digital download album. "Asymmetry" can be downloaded
from CD Baby at d Asymmetry - Sandor Szabo. Listen @cdbaby.
I would like to express my thanks to my friends Michael Manring, Kevin
Kastning and everyone at Greydisc, Balázs Major, and László
Hutton.
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