Search - Stephan Crump :: Rosetta

Stephan Crump's Rosetta, an intimate collection of compositions performed by bass and two guitars. The three friends have gathered many times before, sharing beers, meals, or tips on vintage amplifiers, or rehearsing music for one of the many projects where their talents have overlapped through the years. But this time the scene is a little different -- more focused, more intimate, more intense. Over a few chilly days in January of 2004, in a cozy little home studio painted leaf green, they are creating a richly conceived and brilliantly executed new album: Rosetta. The friends are double bassist and composer Stephan Crump, acoustic guitarist Liberty Ellman and electric guitarist Jamie Fox, working to bring Crump's very personal vision to life. Feeling the need for deeper intimacy and wider flexibility in his music, and partially inspired by the experience of performing and recording as a duo with his wife (singer-songwriter Jen Chapin), on Rosetta Stephan departs from the more traditional ensembles of previous outings to arrive at the rare concept of a drumless, chamber-like trio of strings. The result is a collection of intricate, narrative compositions set against a uniquely sparse, yet rich sonic landscape. Largely composed at home on the Rhodes piano from fragments emerging during the period after September 11th, the songs are complex yet immediate, and ever-so-slightly twisted. The melodies are unforgettable, and their impact is quietly explosive. Places and friends near and far from home planted the seeds for many of the songs. I was finishing the body of "Carrousel en Verre" on Block Island at the wedding of some friends, Stephan shares, It's about the fragile nature of our lives. That weekend became the last time we saw our friend, Kristy Ryan, who died in the World Trade Center only weeks later. I wrote the outro for her... for her ascent. At a seaside village in England Stephan heard "The Bells of Bamburg", while cinema served as the inspiration for