Fantastic Merlins
A mysterious blend of jazz and chamber music brings together visceral power and sparse textures through original compositions and improvised pieces - producing sounds that are intriguing, energetic, and positive.
Listening to Fantastic Merlins is like walking down an alley in a film noir: shadowy characters, ambiguous motives, and cliffhanger moments abound. Both dissonant and resonant, Fantastic Merlins effortlessly weave together the dark and the light, the dangerous and innocent. Their cinematic sound coalesces organically in an exquisite tension between jazz and chamber music, surprising listeners as often as it soothes.
Fantastic Merlins' balance between highly orchestrated passages and improvisational flights of fancy creates a constant process of discovery. It keeps the Fantastic Merlins sound fresh — delighting both listeners and band members themselves. This process produces momentary mysteries, too: discerning the difference between dramatically different instruments can be nearly impossible.
Fantastic Merlins' most recent album, How the light gets in, is mostly composed of our interpretations of songs by Leonard Cohen, with a few original tunes of ours inspired by his work thrown in as well. The package of the CD is amazing - a 50 page booklet of paintings by the wonderful artist Stephane Levallois depicting a scenario by Jean Simon about the band, the Black Dog, Leonard Cohen, Federico Garcia Lorca, and others. It's not available in the US yet - except at the Black Dog Cafe in St. Paul - but you can order it from various sites online.
Fantastic Merlins’ second studio release, A Handful of Earth, gestated for a couple of years; instead of a mere follow-up to their acclaimed debut, they’ve delivered a decisive artistic leap forward. Without sacrificing their adventurous spirit, the Merlins have tactically embraced simplicity and outright lyricism. They’ve opened their blend of jazz, classical, and improv to more possibilities in order to deliver memorable surprises. Discovery is key to the Merlins’ music. A Handful of Earth features a procession of fantastical alleys, fields, and groves awaiting your exploration.
Fantastic Merlins’ first studio album, Look Around, creates a swirling tension just underneath the surface, which keeps listeners under its spell from beginning to end. Moody and gorgeous, it is an album-length siren song and was chosen as a semi-finalist for the 2007 Grammys in the Best Jazz Instrumental category.
2010
How The Light Gets In released in conjunction with a special performance by Fantastic Merlins and Kid Dakota at the Sons d’Hiver Festival in Paris. Cellist Daniel Levin joins the band for a week-long tour of France in November, and as the permanent fourth member of the quartet.
2009
A Handful Of Earth is released. How The Light Gets In, a collection of songs by Leonard Cohen arranged by Fantastic Merlins, is recorded with Matt Turner replacing Jacqueline Ultan on cello, and Darren Jackson aka Kid Dakota on vocals.
2008
Peter Hennig joins the group on drums, replacing Federico Ughi. A Handful Of Earth is recorded.
2007
Look Around released by Innova Records
2005
The band becomes a quartet with the addition of Federico Ughi drums. Look Around is recorded.
2004
Fantastic Merlins begins as the trio of Nathan Hanson saxophone, Jacqueline Ultan cello, and Brian Roessler bass at the Clown Lounge, St. Paul, MN