To Fly to Steal

To Fly to Steal is a studio album by American violinist Mark Feldman and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier together with drummer Gerry Hemingway and bassist Thomas Morgan. The album was released on the Intakt Records label in 2010.^[2][3] The album contains seven original compositions written by bandmembers.

To Fly to Steal
Studio album by Mark Feldman
Released	2010
Recorded	July 23, 2009
Studio	Sear Sound, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	62:02
Label	Intakt Records Intakt CD 168
Producer	Mark Feldman, Patrik Landolt, Sylvie Courvoisier
Mark Feldman chronology
Secrets (2009) To Fly to Steal (2010) Oblivia (2010)
Sylvie Courvoisier chronology
Femina (2009) To Fly to Steal (2010) Oblivia (2009)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Guardian[1]

Reception

John Fordham of The Guardian wrote "This absorbing session's free-improv associations are conspicuous in episodes of drifting violin figures against trickling piano musings, and abrasive chords over stabbed low-end notes and percussion furores, yet the overall impression is of audaciously reworked lyricism, and an accessible narrative shapeliness. The dancing melody of the opening Messianesque is typical of Courvoisier and Feldman's long-evolved empathy, and the suite-like Five Senses of Keen is a miniature masterpiece of solemn high-register violin figures and subtly harmonised chords, like distant Gregorian chants, interspersed with Courvoisier's punchier percussive departures. The pianist even sounds eerily like Thelonious Monk on the tramping Coastlines."^[4]

Glenn Astarits of All About Jazz noted "The quartet manifests a self-identity during these emotively imbued works, designed with asymmetrical pulses, and brisk unison lines to contrast improvisation-based call and response frameworks. It's an undulating program, kindled by Feldman's climactically executed staccato phrasings and synergistic interplay with Courvoisier. Coupled with emphatic tension-and-release statements, the band abides by a democratic outlook."^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Messianesque"	Courvoisier	5:52
2.	"Whispering Glades"	Hemingway, Feldman, Courvoisier, Morgan	8:34
3.	"The Good Life"	Feldman	10:23
4.	"Five Senses of Keen"	Feldman	12:13
5.	"Fire, Fist and Bestial Wail"	Hemingway, Feldman, Courvoisier, Morgan	9:44
6.	"Coastlines"	Hemingway, Feldman, Courvoisier, Morgan	5:29
7.	"To Fly to Steal"	Courvoisier	10:58
Total length:			62:02

Personnel

Band

• Mark Feldman – violin Producer
• Sylvie Courvoisier – pianoProducer
• Gerry Hemingway – drums
• Thomas Morgan – bass

Production

• Amy Sillman – cover art
• Jonas Schoder – graphic design
• Chris Allen – recording, mixing
• John Corbett – liner notes
• Michael MacDonald – mastering
• Patrik Landolt – producer
• James Farber – recording, mixing

References

1. Fordham, John (4 March 2010). "Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman: To Fly to Steal". The Guardian. theguardian.com. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
2. "Sylvie Courvoisier - Mark Feldman Quartet – To Fly To Steal". Discogs. discogs.com. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
3. "Sylvie Courvoisier / Mark Feldman Quartet To Fly to Steal". Allmusic. allmusic.com. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
4. Fordham, John (4 March 2010). "Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman: To Fly to Steal". The Guardian. theguardian.com. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
5. Astarita, Glenn (March 23, 2010). "Sylvie Courvoisier / Mark Feldman Quartet: To Fly To Steal". All About Jazz. allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved 28 April 2017.