LUCIAN BAN

pianist, composer

LATEST NEWS

  • “OEDIPE REDUX” based on George Enescu Oedipe opera out on Sunnyside Records

    MAY 2023 → Nearly ninety years after its opening in Paris at Opera Garnier, Transylvanian expat pianist Lucian Ban and American violist Mat Maneri present a radical re-imagination of George Enescu’s famous Oedipe opera. To reinvent Oedipe for the 21st century, Ban and Maneri streamlined Enescu’s score for a smaller, more flexible ensemble and knew they needed musical cohorts that would be able to immediately understand the project and bring their own personalities into the music. They recruited trumpeter Ralph Alessi, bassist John Hébert, drummer Tom Rainey, and French clarinetist Louis Sclavis, a legend in the world of contemporary music and improv in Europe. And for the vocal parts, perhaps the most important element of the opera, they invited Jen Shyu and Theo Bleckmann, both brilliant contemporary vocalists, that could handle Enescu’s difficult lines and bring new life to Oedipe Redux. Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri harness the spirit of George Enescu’s masterwork, Oedipe, and channel it into a modern recreation in their own vernacular. Oedipe Redux is a breathtaking retelling, breathing new life into one of the most storied tales of human drama.

    Get the album here: 

  • “WAYS OF DISAPPEARING” Lucian Ban first piano solo album out on Sunnyside Records

    MAY 2022 → Lucian Ban’s mesmerizing new recording of solo piano improvisations, Ways of Disappearing is out on Sunnyside Records. Featured in The Wall Street Journal, album garners glowing reviews in Downbeat, New York City Jazz Record, etc. Recorded in his native Transylvania in the stunning Baroque Hall in Timisoara, in May 2021, in the midst of a world standing still, the album represents a daring addition to the genre and is a powerful and uncompromising statement for his first unaccompanied solo album. Co-produced with long time collaborator, violist Mat Maneri, the album presents 14 pieces and improvisations’ including Lucian’s chilling takes on two modern jazz standards, by Annette Peacock and Carla Bley, respectively.

    Get the album here: 

  • BLACKSALT by Abraham Burton & Lucian Ban out on Sunnyside Records

    APRIL 2021 → Sunnyside Records releases BLACKSALT, Abraham Burton & Lucian Ban blistering duet concert recorded live at The Baroque Hall in Ban's native Transylvania in 2018. The new recording encapsulates the sympathetic nature of their pairing in a freely played collection of pieces, composed and improvised.

    JAZZ WEEKLY says, " Burton and pianist Lucian Ban deliver free from conversations, both in tribute to Pharoah Sanders, but in inspiration throughout" NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD "Burton is on fire, drawing inspiration from Pharoah Sanders to whom “Opening-Free Flow” is dedicated . . . the highlight is Ban’s “Not That Kind of Blues” (previously recorded in duo with Harding and Maneri). This version reaches the very heart of the blues."

    Get the album here:   

  • TRANSYLVANIAN FOLK SONGS by Lucian Ban, John Surman, Mat Maneri out on Sunnyside Records

    Album review. Click play to listen

    MAY 2020 → In 1904 Béla Bartók experienced an epiphany when he heard 18-year-old Lidi Dósa singing songs from her Transylvanian village. Between 1908 and 1917 Bartók would go on to record & transcribe over 3,400 peasant folk songs, describing the completion of his research into Romanian folk music as “my life’s goal”. The Béla Bartók Field Recordings represent still to this day the biggest collection of Romanian folk songs from Transylvania. A century later, three outstanding improvisers Mat Maneri, Lucian Ban and John Surman draw fresh inspiration from the music that fired Bartók’s imagination,looking again at carols, lamentations, love songs, dowry songs and more. TRANSYLVANIAN FOLK SONGS was released May 15 on Sunnyside Records to critical acclaim with features on NPR, Financial Times, The Wire, Jazztrail, Jazziz , etc.

    Get the album here:   

UPCOMING SHOWS

Fire Museum
April 7, 2024
8pm
1 set
Philadelphia PA
Mat Maneri Quartet ASH

Mat Maneri (viola) Lucian Ban (piano) Brandon Lopez (bass) Randy Peterson (drums). Celebrating Mat Maneri Sunnyside Records “ASH” album.

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