The French scene always seemed to have a deep historic connection with the current developments in jazz, all the way up to the early Miles Davis era. For example, Miles' only soundtrack he did around that time was for a French film called 'Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud', a gorgeous score fully improvised in the studio. This inspiration is still present in today's musicians and Nils Boyny is a young musician who's embodying all the previous sounds and knows how to drive them forward.
The Strasbourg-based keyboardist and producer Nils Boyny is a name we've been familiar with thanks to current French bands like Emile Londonien and ACOUSMATICS. Both are Dope Tones Records affiliates and groups that we've covered in previous articles already, HERE and HERE. This time Nils lands on our radar with his personal project Midva, where he explores the intersecting territories around sampling, improvisation, and production. In most cases, the tracks were created in improv jam settings and transformed into a full tune afterward.
The name "Midva" refers to the Slovenian language, in which it's is a pronoun used in the dual form. It literally means "the two of us", and refers to his intention to record and sample different musicians around him in this project. Nils' playing shines through in every project he's involved in, but with Midva that differs depending on the collaborative artist. On this new track, he has Célestine on the main flute melody, giving him more space for his own piano solo. As he says himself, the track sounds like it sits:
"Somewhere between J Dilla and Thelonious Monk. " - Midva
'Praliné' will be released via Omezis and Nils' own label lo:jzz on February 24th.
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