Jazz /
Slag
The sixth release by Ballister, recorded live at the renowned Café Oto in London in March of 2015 finds a well-honed working unit that's settled into the deep groove of their stride on a long tour. Exactly halfway through the journey, on the eve of Rempis’ fortieth birthday, the band bursts out the gate screaming, spewing fire and ash into what might have otherwise been a quiet Monday in London. Although the band and these players are often characterized as working in “improvised music,” or “jaz…
Perihelion
** In Process of Stocking ** This sophomore release by the working trio of Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra shows a band doubling down on the slow, patient approach to improvising that characterized their first release, 2014’s Aphelion. The trio continues to pulsate, expanding ever outwards, yet returning to a central core each time to launch their next adventure. The live sets presented on this new two-disc set document that musical expansion and contraction within the trio, but also…
Polynya
** In Process of Stocking ** This debut release by the working trio Gunwale matches veteran Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis up with two of the brightest up-and-coming stars from the next generation of Chicago improvisers. While Ryan Packard is known mostly for his extensive work as a composer and percussionist within the thriving contemporary classical scene in Chicago, Albert Wildeman has achieved notoriety for his meteoric rise from novice instrumentalist to one of the busiest players around a…
Cash and Carry
** In Process of Stocking ** On August 31st, 2014, The Rempis Percussion Quartet celebrated its tenth year in existence with an increasingly rare hometown concert at Chicago’s venerable Hungry Brain, a bar whose dark, relaxed, and frequently hard-drinking atmosphere helped to define more than a decade of the Chicago improvised music scene. The band had cut its teeth with regular performances at the Brain in the mid-aughts, but sadly, this would be the last time they hit the stage before the bar’…
Western Automatic
** In Process of Stocking ** Four generations of Chicago saxophonists join forces in this collaborative quartet, each one separated in age by almost exactly ten years. This wasn’t a calculated decision when Rempis and Vandermark first brainstormed the idea of the group in late 2013. The lineup came together based purely on the musical affinity of the personalities involved. (Oddly enough, Mazzarella and Williams had also been discussing the idea of forming a saxophone quartet at that time). Howe…
Worse for the Wear
** In Process of Stocking ** The fifth release by this powerful working trio in as many years shows a band once again not afraid to come out of the gate swinging. As always, these three individual virtuosos combine their unique talents to put forth a churning mix of hard-driving grooves and well-forged power. However, as the band has continued to work and tour together regularly for the past five years, their music continues to find new avenues of expression. On this recording, Worse For The Wea…
From Wolves to Whales
** In Process of Stocking ** Having crossed paths around the world many times over the years, Nate Wooley and Dave Rempis finally realized their long-time intention of forming a band together in the winter of 2014, with a lineup that can only be described as stellar. Featuring some of the leading lights of both the New York and Chicago improvised music scenes, the four members of this quartet, all internationally acclaimed players in their own right, found a common language as a unit right from …
Aphelion
This debut release by the regular working trio of Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra is a perfect example of what makes Chicago such a fertile breeding ground for improvised music; three musicians of widely varying ages, backgrounds, playing experiences, and musical interests join forces to deliver moments of both sublime beauty and volcanic energy, continually tempered by the seamless narrative momentum that they weave together in a seemingly effortless way. Although the trio has only …
Boss of the Plains
** In Process of Stocking ** Wheelhouse was formed in the summer of 2005, when bassist Nate McBride relocated to Chicago from Boston, and was looking for some similarly-minded musicians with whom to work. Having previously met Dave Rempis during the saxophonist's visits home to Boston, he approached him with the idea of starting a band together. Rempis recommended up-and-coming vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, who has gone on to become one of the most noted voices in the Chicago improvised music s…
Second Spring
Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy are two musicians whose work has helped to define an entire generation of Chicago improvisers. Having performed together since they both hit the Chicago scene in the fall of 1997, these two have joined forces on hundreds of performances and dozens of recordings with notable groups including Triage, The Engines, The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Vandermark Five, and countless other ad hoc groupings. Their duo pairing has a similarly long history whose roots date back to…
Codes / Myths
** In Process of Stocking ** Saxophonist Dave Rempis and percussionist Frank Rosaly share a musical relationship of the once-in-a-generation variety. These two improvisers have worked together for almost twenty years, beginning in 2001 when they met in the basement of the Nervous Center, a divey Lincoln Square café that served as a crucial breeding ground for young improvising musicians in Chicago at that time. From the spark of that first musical encounter, the two went on to work together in c…
Sud Des Alpes
** In Process of Stocking ** This record is the tenth release by The Rempis Percussion Quartet, recorded during a 2019 European tour that celebrated their fifteenth anniversary as a working ensemble. Those are some pretty hefty milestones. So how do they push forward artistically with so much already under their belt? From what we hear on Sud Des Alpes, it’s all about digging deeper into the musical dilemmas they’ve been examining for years. These four improvisers continue to grind ideas and per…
Stringers & Struts
Aerophonic Records presents Stringers & Struts by Dave Rempis – alto/tenor/baritone saxophone, Jeff Parker – guitar, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – bass, Jeremy Cunningham - drums. If you know Chicago jazz, you know the tendons beneath the surface run deep. This isn’t always apparent at first glance. Up above, it’s a broad-shouldered expanse where a multitude of players continue to weave specific sections on the tapestry of this ever-evolving art. And many of those sub-scenes have unique venues, audie…
Znachki Stilyag
** In Process of Stocking ** 2020 marks the tenth anniversary of the working trio Ballister, and it’s been a productive ten years. Eight previous records, and regular concert dates across North America and Europe, have produced a band that maintains a core sound and energy, while taking the time and space to continually expand their individual voices and respective interests. In October 2019, these three musicians met up in Europe for the first time since a US tour in late 2017. With the myria…
Live at Berliner Jazztage
** 2021 Stock ** Alternative Fox presents Live at Berliner Jazztage, Berlin, November 6, 1971. A legendary show from the Miles Davis Group recorded from SWR in Germany in 1971, and featuring a breath-taking line-up including no less than Keith Jarrett on electric piano and organ. Live at Berliner Jazztage in Berlin on November 6, 1971.
Utopic Cities : Progressive Jazz In Belgium 1968-1
** Limited Grey Marbled edition ** Sdban Records presents Utopic Cities: Progressive Jazz in Belgium 1968-1979 featuring twelve essential compositions from a highly creative period in Belgian jazz. The release follows Sdban's critically acclaimed Let's Get Swinging: Modern Jazz in Belgium 1950-1970, released back in 2017. Utopic Cities is an eclectic selection of forward-thinking jazz from the Belgian underground, including the left-field fusion of Marc Moulin's Placebo, Koen De Bruyne and Solis…
African Spaces
The South African response to Chick Corea’s Return to Forever and Miles’ On the Corner. A defining musical statement in South Africa’s jazz canon – pinpointing the moment of social and musical ferment in which the country’s terms of engagement with jazz were irreversibly changed. Forged when township kids were facing down bullets, this is an electric mulberry funk – slick, intense and complex.
Echoes of Africa
Highly recommended, a true Revelation! After a long hiatus since the homonymous 2006 release on Schema Records, The Invisible Session is back with Echoes Of Africa to be released on the newly-launched Space Echo label. Initiated in 2006 by Schema Records’ co-founder and musician Luciano Cantone, The Invisible Session’s influences are rooted in Black music. Written in collaboration with trombonist and multi-instrumentalist Gianluca Petrella, and with lyrics by poet, rapper, and MC Martin Thomas P…
Hassan's Walk
** 2021 Stock ** Don’t let the date fool you, released back in 1983 this modal to slightly free jazz outfit from California takes you on a journey back to the late 60s and very early 70s, into the spiritual realms of greats like John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, John McLaughlin and Miles Davis among others. A soul jazz treasure from the LA scene of the early 80s – a fantastic record that I rank with the best Strata East sides of the time! The group's led by alto saxophonist Dadisi Komolafe, and fe…
Exit 1971
678 Records presents Exit 1971 by Ian Carr's Nucleus. Recorded on friday june 11 1971 in a small club called the Exit in Rotterdam The Netherlands. Amazing and unknown performance from legendary UK jazz prog fusion rockers Nucleus led by trumpet player Ian Carr. A rare set as regular guitarist Chris Spedding who was absent for unknow reasons was not replaced by another guitarist (often Ray Russell) but by a second keyboard player: Hywel Thomas.
Ian carr -TrumpetBrian Smith - tenor sax. soprano s…