Jazz /
Locus
Locus, the seventh album by the Chicago Underground Duo (Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor), follows on the heels of their acclaimed 2012 Northern Spy release Age of Energy. Bits of breakbeat and Afropop are heard within the jazz, ambient and electronica elements of their unmistakable grooves. Also in the mix is a Ghanian folk tune and Ennio Morricone played on cornet, drums, mbira, ballophone, bamboo flute and Game Boy. The pairing came out of the Chicago Underground Orchestra founded by Mazurek almo…
Tandem (remastered) (1979/82)
"All of two exceptional Worcester (Massachusetts) and Los Angeles concerts: clarinet and cornet duos and solos in improvisations on original compositions. Even those who know Carter and Bradford's work in larger groups will be astounded. The original CDs were the first (non-video) release of this duo performing unaccompanied, and the sound has been cleaned up considerably for this double CD set."-Emanem
White String's Attached (1979)
Violinist Coombes explains things perfectly in his hilarious liner notes. Beethoven, he says, realized that the piano and violin sound horrible together, the instruments literally hate each other, and gave up after ten sonatas. "For us to try and surmount Beethoven's problems, for example, in the heat of trying to make the music up as we go along is almost laughable." Nonetheless, a blindfold test of this record to a knowledgeable listener often results in the music being misidentified as…
Fingerpainting
Fingerpainting is the first solo release of Greek percussionist and electronic music composer Christos Chrondropoulos. The main source of inspiration for this one sided, 45 rpm, solo percussion album are the documental recordings of musicological record labels such as Smithsonian Folkways, Tangent and Ocora.
Following the short recording time format that is encountered commonly in these releases, Fingerpainting gives the impression that it's a recording of an unknown music culture that operates …
Fools
Solo release by Antoine Chessex, Fools presents studio material recorded in 2008 in Berlin. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Chessex is his ability to take a single instrument Ña tenor saxophoneÑ and seamlessly move between the hallmarks of musical genres that many others simply get stuck in. As an immersive journey into the physicality of sounds, FOOLS features phasing microtonal explorations of time and space, dense layers of harsh electrified explosions, deep droning textures and moments …
Opened, but hardly touched
Peter Brötzmann, alto, tenor & baritone saxophone, e-flat clarinet, tarogato. Harry Miller, double bass. Louis Moholo, drums. On Opened, But Hardly Touched, the Brötzmann-Miller-Moholo combination, displays the most accessible approach of the live trio recordings surveyed. An extemporaneous master who puts the spur in the spur of the moment, reedman Peter Brötzmann is surely one of Albert Ayler's most vital sons for his blowing stamina and savage sense of humor. Bassist Harry Miller and drummer …
Absolute Horizon
Not enough is heard from Brooklyn-born bassist Adam Lane. He boasts an impressive track record, illuminated by a series of outstanding recordings, mainly on the CIMP label, but culminating in the acclaimed Ashcan Rantings (Clean Feed, 2010). Nothing has surfaced under his own name since, so any new disc grabs attention. That's not to say he has been idle, notching up notable appearances on drummer William Hooker's excellent Bliss Suite (Not Two, 2010) which also featured rising star saxophonist …
Curare
Daunik Lazro - baritone & alto sax. Jean-François Pauvros - electric guitars. Roger Turner - drums & percussion. Tracks 1 and 2 recorded live at Instants Chavirés (Montreuil) by Jean-Marc Foussat and Dominique Pauvros on 7th November 2008. Tracks 3 and 4 recorded live at festival Jazz en Frache-Comté (Besançon) by Jean-Marc Foussat on June 30th 2010. Edited and mixed by Jean-Marc Foussat
Remembrance
Recorded 9th February, 2004 at Steam Room Studios, London. Recording engineer Jon Wilkinson. Photos by Gérard Rouy except photo of Tony Bianco by Christopher Trent. Mastered by ArÅ«nas Zujus at MAMAstudios. Design by Oskaras Anosovas. Produced by Danas Mikailionis. Co-producer - Valerij Anosov
Grey Matter
All the music is improvised by Jean- Luc Cappozzo, Gerry Hemingway and Christine Wodrascka. Recorded in October 18th 2012, live in Le Carré Bleu, Poitiers, France. Recording, mixing by Miké Goupilleau. Photos: Framboise Estéban (photos of the musicians). Mastered by ArÅ«nas Zujus at MAMAstudios. Design by Oskaras Anosovas. Produced by Freddy Morezon Prod and Danas Mikailionis. Co-producer – Valerij Anosov. Partners: Jazz à Luz Festival, Toulouse II University, Jazz à Poitiers
The Prisoner
All compositions by Max Johnson (Max Johnson Music ASCAP). Recorded 20th December, 2012 by Tom Tedesco at Tedesco Studios, Paramus, NJ. Mixed by Eivind Opsvik at Greenwood Underground, Brooklyn, NY. Mastered by Tim Cramer at Cramersound, New York, NY. Design by Oskaras Anosovas. Produced by Max Johnson. Executive Producer - Danas Mikailionis. Co-producer – Valerij Anosov.
Trio and Duo in New Orleans
CD1: Edward "Kidd" Jordan – tenor saxophone, Alvin Fielder - drums, percussion, Peter Kowald – bass. Recorded on 28th April, 2002 at Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana / Coordinator - Eduardo Young / Engineer - John Crutti Jr. All titles composed by Edward "Kidd" Jordan (Danjor Music, ASCAP), Alvin Fielder (ASCAP) and Peter Kowald (GEMA) Special thanks to Rene Broussard, Rob Cambre and Dr. Jimbo Walsh
CD 2: Edward "Kidd" Jordan – tenor saxophone, Alvin Fielder - dru…
Reps
Sophie Agnel, piano. Olivier Benoit, guitare. Recorded at Césaré, July 2011. Highly recommended ! 'In my mind, the music of Sophie Agnel and Olivier Benoit has always contained something like a disclosure of the intimate. They are not overly prolific when it comes to phonographic output. They have no time for superfluous chit-chat. This is their second opus in almost fifteen years of collaboration, and in this sense, Reps is a finely selected jewel bearing witness to the sensitivity that animate…
The Trio
Featuring two American ex-pats on bass (Barre Phillips) and drums (Stu Martin), and English saxophonist (John Surman), The Trio is a monster 2LP of avant-garde and free jazz originally released on the Dawn label in 1970. By the time this double album was recorded, the various band members had developed quite a pedigree having played with the likes of Archie Shepp, Paul Bley, Bob James, Mike Westbrook, Attila Zoller, Gong, Marion Brown, and more! Their experience and expertise are visible here as…
Tales of the Algonquin
Originally released in 1971, 'Tales Of The Algonquin', is one of the finest artifacts of the British modal and free jazz scene of the 1960s/1970s. Johns Surman and Warren, like their contemporary Mike Westbrook, take the big band form and flip it on its head by incorporating elements of modal, free, and progressive jazz. The results are powerful and this album is perhaps the greatest example of that quintessentially British jazz style. Long sought after by jazz collectors across the globe, this …
Celebration
Originally released on Deram in 1967, 'Celebration' is one of the most important albums of the 1960s British progressive and avant-garde Jazz scene. The Mike Westbrook Concert Band included some of the UKs most important jazz figures of the time, including John Surman, Mike Osborne, and Harry Miller. These recordings, culled from two days of studio work, are equal parts swinging and experimental, boundary pushing and accessible. Original copies on Deram now fetch a hefty sum, thankfully the folk…
All For Now
All for now, by Thollem McDonas (Piano, Voice) and John Dieterich (Guitar). Celebrating their first public collaboration, All for now is one of those special moments, when the empathy and complicity between two players emerges into something far wider, complex, and profound than the simple circumstance of their encounter. In fact, as they play along, one wonders how did they have achieve such maturity in their first work together, evoking both their idiosyncratic inner voice and years of traditi…
Caustic Gate
Wasteland Jazz Unit is a Cincinnati duo by Jon Lorenz (saxophone) and John Rich (clarinet). Caustic Gate is no exception to their previous works, consolidating the reputation theyve built in the past times in the lineage of great mavericks and art provocateurs, standing therefore beyond any easy definition of free jazz, noise or improvisation. The sound of their instruments is stretched to the extreme, until they are barely recognizable, revealing new sonic and formal possibilities. This is musi…
AuldLangSyne
Berlin based improviser Olaf Rupp combines multiple elements and parameters into one very unique and personal idiom, whether he plays acoustic or electric guitar. Recorded last year in Berlin, "AuldLangSyne" inspired by a traditional Scottish poem is a mirror of that amalgamation of sound. Olaf Rupp's versatile approach to freeform guitar ranges from folk tinged arpeggios and heavy strumming to dense chord clusters. Possessing miraculous technique,he lashes out harmonics overtones and cluster no…
Schatten
Recorded in Vienna during Winter on a snowy night, Berlin-based musicians Magda Mayas & Anthea Caddy present on "Schatten" a dense and piercing improvisational statement. Focusing mainly on texture and structure,but also the percussive possibilities of their instruments, both artists display a continuum of immense creativity, pushing their instruments to higher limits and even beyond recognition with each new aural event surpassing the previous one. Magda Mayas explores both the outside as well …