After the highly praised trio CDs, Odyssey and ITHAKA, the composer and bassist Barry Guy presents a new CD – Deep Memory – with the same trio members, pianist Marilyn Crispell and percussionist Paul Lytton. For his new compositions, Barry Guy was inspired by Irish painter Hughie O’ Donoghue - all titles on Deep Memory courtesy of the Irish painter Hughie O’ Donoghue’s Berlin exhibition (2007) entitled “Last Poems”. A music has emerged of a tense and lacerating beauty. Tonal painting contrasts with abstract reflection. Expressive moments stand next to elegant moods. Powerful improvisation goes up in lyrical intimacy.

Barry Guy writes in the linernotes: „Beyond the titles of Hughie O’ Donoghue’s paintings, the viewer becomes aware that he has a deep love for the act of applying paint to a canvas – an emotional act with an historical perspective. His complex layering of paint gives us rich colours and surface textures in the manner of Titian. I hope it would not be too fanciful to say that the music of the trio in a similar way engages with the tradition of the medium whilst exploring new avenues of expression for the inquisitive listener.“

Cover art: Hughie O’Donoghue
Graphic design: Jonas Schoder
Photos: Markus Kuhn. Liner
Notes: Barry Guy

Compositions by Barry Guy (PRS/MCPS). Recorded May 21, 2015, at Powerplay Studios, Maur, Switzerland, by Reto Muggli for SRF Kultur and Intakt Records. Mixed and mastered by Ferran Conangla, Barcelona. Produced and published by Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt.