Syncline, by Jean Kapsa

Syncline

by Jean Kapsa

supported by

anancastic Perhaps, this is how I would play if I thought no one could hear... Perhaps, I would play like this if I felt safe and accepted. Perhaps, this is how I would want to describe hope, gratitude and wonder with music. Perhaps... in another, better life... Favorite track: Above the Chapel.

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

€5 EUR or more

1.	Bloom 03:29	buy track
2.	Pastoral 03:48	buy track
3.	Above the Chapel 04:06	buy track
4.	Fringe 04:22	buy track
5.	Planeur 04:02	buy track
6.	Basswood 03:04	buy track

about

French pianist and composer Jean Kapsa shares a beautiful mini-album, ‘Syncline’, out on all digital platforms via LEITER. A collection of six solo pieces, it was recorded at night between September and November 2022 in Kapsa’s home in Paris on the piano his parents gave him when he was just 15 and which he still keeps in his living room, surrounded permanently by microphones. “Most of it consists of first or second takes,” he says, “usually recorded not too long after a piece’s composition – and often on the same day – so that the mood was the same. If I wasn’t happy after three takes, I usually gave up. I wanted the listener to be able to witness this intimate, fragile way of building an album made up of very new, personal, precious pieces.”

‘Syncline’ manages to be all those things: intimate, fragile, personal and precious. And it’s also performed with rare skill. Kapsa’s connection to LEITER dates back almost a decade to the loft he was sharing with seven other roommates in 2014. “The place was really special,” he recalls, “and one evening La Blogotheque came to film the band Real Estate with a little group of guests as the audience. I knew that a pianist friend of the producer had been invited to join us after the concert, but it was a surprise to see Nils Frahm arrive. Afterwards, while people were tidying up, I sat at my piano, the same one on which I’d later record ‘Syncline’, and started to improvise. Nils came over and joined me for twenty minutes or so. You could say we introduced ourselves without words.”

So impressed was Frahm that he not only insisted Kapsa stay in contact, but also invited him to perform a duet, ‘Hammers’, at the Philharmonie de Paris the following night for a show broadcast by ARTE. Afterwards, Frahm explained to the crowd how they’d met the previous evening: “I was like, ‘Who’s that? He’s way better than me!’” Still, it would be another eight years before they encountered one another again, though in the meantime Kapsa added to what was already a flourishing catalogue, with two solo albums, 2019’s 'Haïku' and 2020’s 'Vespera', joining 2012’s 'Improvisations', not to mention multiple releases, before and since, with some of the many bands in which he performs. Over the years, you see, Kapsa has built up an impressive reputation in the French capital’s jazz scene, where he’s particularly appreciated for his improvisational skills.

credits

released November 24, 2023

Music by Jean Kapsa
Produced by Jean Kapsa
Mixed by Nils Frahm
Mastered by Zino Mikorey
Cover image by Klaus Frahm

license

about

Jean Kapsa Paris, France

Jean Kapsa is a pianist and composer based in Paris, France.

contact / help

Contact Jean Kapsa

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Jean Kapsa, you may also like:

Empty
by Nils Frahm

supported by 11 fans who also own “Syncline”

my favourite nils record tiagoquintanilha
go to album
Day
by Nils Frahm

supported by 11 fans who also own “Syncline”

my god. he never plays this instrument from the outside, rather he plays deep within it, absorbing as he presses keys, the materials, space and vibrations w such an honesty that the most intensely beautiful stories of sound can be the only result. thank u for taking us with you to this sacred place. all recordings are exceptional. Highly recommended w decent hphones Ews Nsj
go to album
Esja
by Hania Rani

supported by 10 fans who also own “Syncline”

I think it's beautiful lelgraham
go to album
Jacob's Ladder
by Brad Mehldau

featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 22, 2022
go to album
Colour Talk
by Bram De Looze

Stark and moving piano compositions that feel as delicate as snowfall and as hushed as a late winter’s night. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 22, 2020
go to album
From a Distance
by Katarzyna Wiktorski

featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 17, 2020
go to album
On Giacometti
by Hania Rani

supported by 9 fans who also own “Syncline”

thank you!🙏 this music is a blessing. I appreciate you for creating these beautiful tracks of music. tomlevings
go to album