CS Radio Archives - Catalytic Soundstream

Large Unit with Akira Sakata

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“Hohai-Bushi” is the meeting of Paal Nilssen-Love and his Large Unit ensemble, here in a 13 people strong line-up, and legendary Japanese musician Akira Sakata. Since the 1960s Sakata has been one of the leading saxophone players in the field of free jazz and improvisation, from his start in Yamashita Trio, on to his own ensembles, to a latter-day cross-over to younger musicians from different genres, including noise and experimental music. Akira Sakata is a living legend of the last 50 years of radical new music, and is still active and pushing the frontiers of the artform to this day. In 2013 he formed the trio Arashi with Paal and Johan Berthling, with extensive touring and five albums to show for, so this collaboration with Large Unit shouldn’t come as a great surprise. That said, the music will surprise – and delight – even the most experienced listeners. The CD release of “Hohai-Bushi” is presented as a single 55 minute recording, and is a musical journey that has to be heard from beginning to end.

Like many of his Large Unit pieces, “Hohai-Bushi” started with Paal’s interest in world music. Having been curious about the music of Tsugaru-Shamisen from Aomori in Japan, during the pandemic Paal started to study it more in depth during the pandemic, and he discovered a traditional song from Aomori, “Hohai-Bushi”, sung by Unchiku Narita. Before Large Unit’s ten-year anniversary festival in 2023, Paal transcribed the song together with Akira Sakata. This was then combined with a new composition for Large Unit, which was to feature Sakata. The performance was one of the (many) highlights of the festival, so two years later, in June 2025, Sakara was invited back to Norway in order to record the piece in the church of Tøyen in downtown Oslo. The natural reverb of the church gave the recording an extra dimension, making Sakata’s vocal and solo passages even more gripping and intense.

The record shows the whole spectrum of Large Unit. Sakata also performs the poem “What the Dead Man Left Behind” by Shuntaro Tanikawa. This poem was written during the Vietnam war and remains as relevant now as then. Sakata also ends the set with a solo, an “Atakombo” by Kosaku Yamada.
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Akira Sakata – alto saxophone, Bb-clarinet, voice
Signe Emmeluth – alto saxophone, flute
Marthe Lea – tenor saxophone, flute
Hanne de Backer – baritone saxophone
Andreas Røysum – bass clarinet, flute
Niklas Barnö – trumpet
Mats Äleklint – trombone
Per Åke Holmlander – tuba
Kalle Moberg – accordion
Ketil Gutvik – electric guitar
Jon Rune Strøm – contrabass
Christian Meaas Svendsen – contrabass, shakuhachi
Celio de Carvalho – percussion, Paiste gong
Andreas Wildhagen – drums, percussion, Paiste gong
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums, percussion, Paiste gong

Composed by Paal Nilssen-Love (TONO) but based on a traditional melody from Tsugaru, Aomori, Japan
Poem “What the Dead Man Left Behind” by Shuntaro Tanikawa. Translated to the English by Yuki Takeshita. Read by Akira Sakata
Solo by Akira Sakata: Akatombo, by Kosaku Yamada

Recorded at Tøyen Kirke, 3rd June 2025
Recording, mix and mastering by Christian Obermayer.
Produced by Paal Nilssen-Love
Cover by Lasse Marhaug

This album was supported by Fund for Performing Artist.

Extra Large Unit

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“Steam Waterfall” is the second album of an extended version of Paal Nilssen-Love’s Large Unit. But this is not the same Extra Large Unit as heard of 2018’s “More Fun Please”. This is a live recording from Oslo Jazz festival in 2022 with key members of Large Unit and a host of younger musicians which Paal had met through workshops and teaching in the two years prior to the concert. The number of musicians heard is 25, the largest Unit yet, but during the performance four dancers was also part of the performance – one Norwegian contemporary and three traditional Columbian dancers.

The piece clocks in at 75 minutes, and is quite a journey – from the opening, when we hear the audience entering the room, to the end (spoiler alert) when 100 ping pong balls are thrown around on stage by all musicians, bouncing on the floor and instruments and even knocking down a glass or two. In between there’s a whole world of different events – as Paal has set up the piece as a juxtaposition of techniques, combining written passages with conceptual sections, graphic scores, as well as solos and sectioned group improvisations. It’s an ambitious piece, but listening to the recording it never feels forced and overly conceptual – it’s still all about the music and the collective experience of both listening and playing.

The CD comes with extensive liner notes by Paal, detailing the thoughts and inspirations that shaped the project. This passage gets to the core of it:

“Steam Waterfall” is a result of my attempt to question what a concert is, when it begins and when it ends. The composition is also an attempt to question what a piece of music is. Do I define the course of the music, and/or how much can I rely on the performers to move the music forward? What is a concert? When does a concert start? Is it when you walk into the concert venue, or when the band takes the stage? When the musicians first produce sounds on their instruments? Or has it already started when you have just read about the concert and decided to go? When does it end? When the last sound is over? When the audience starts applauding? When they leave the room? Or does it go on resonating forever?
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Miriam Aasland – flute and piccolo flute
Heidi Sævland – alto saxophone
Jesse Schilderink, tenor saxophone
Kristoffer Alberts – tenor and baritone saxophone
Eivind Leifsen – Bb clarinet and baritone saxophone
Klaus Ellerhusen Holm – Eb clarinet and baritone saxophone
Lotte Krüger, – harp
Lina Knörr – voice and flute
Tuva Victoria Lundberg Olsson – trumpet
Guro Kvåle: trombone
Emil Bø – trombone
Magnus Breivik Løvseth – tuba
Sondre Ross Folkestad – tuba
Per Åke Holmlander – tuba
Børge Brustad – viola
Kristian Enkerud Lien – acoustic guitar
Ketil Gutvik – acoustic guitar
Andrine D. Erdal – cello
Christian Meaas Svendsen – double bass
Maren Sofie Nyland Johansen – accordion
Kalle Moberg – accordion
Patrycja Wybranczyk – drums, percussion, Paiste gongs
Michael Lee Sørenmo – Korean traditional drums and gongs, hi-hat, Paiste gongs
Andreas Wildhagen – drums, percussion, Paiste gongs
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums, percussion, Paiste gongs
Alexander Aarø – dance
Lida Albarracin Søreide – dance
Ana Barragan Lid – dance
Lina Duque – dance

Recorded live in Marmorsalen at Sentralen, Oslo Jazzfestival, 18th August 2022.

Live sound, recording, mixing and mastering by Christian Obermayer.

Cover by Lasse Marhaug.

All music by Paal Nilssen-Love

Large Units: Small Bands

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“What Just Happened?” is an album collecting four pieces by Paal Nilssen-Love, composed for smaller constellations of his Large Unit ensemble. The pieces are for specific instruments: according, snare drum, saxophone, and tuba – from three to six performers. This act of stripping down the ensemble to single instruments does not mean sparse minimalism, rather the opposite, as Paal explores the possibilities – and limits – of the singular instruments. Adding to the quality of the music is the incredible level of musicianship of the performers, and their willingness to go into new areas.

The album was recorded in the church of Tøyen, in Oslo, June 2025, by Large Unit regular sound engineer Christian Brynildsen Obermayer, and produced by Paal himself. In the growing catalogue of Large Unit recordings “What Just Happened?” is perhaps most closely related to 2018’s “More Fun Please” album, with the extended Extra Large Unit, which also showcased Paal’s abilities not just as a musician and bandleader, but also his interest in contemporary composition and the exploration of new sounds. Or as Joe McPhee would say it: “fuck free jazz”

Asked what the title means, Paal states that was his desired response when he set up the three-day festival of Large Unit projects in Oslo in 2022 – that both the audience and the performers would walk out afterwards and wonder “what just happened?” – and most of all himself.
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All music composed by Paal Nilssen-Love (TONO)
Recorded at Tøyen Kirke, 3rd June 2025
All recording, mix and mastering by Christian Brynildsen Obermayer
Produced by Paal Nilssen-Love
Cover by Lasse Marhaug

This album was supported by Fund for Performing Artist and Norsk Komponistforening.
credits
releases May 1, 2026

5 X 10
Composition for 5 drummers
Performers: Ole Mofjell, Andreas Wildhagen, Jennifer Torrence, Dag Erik Knedal Andersen, Paal Nilssen-Love

Spread Rain
Composition for 6 saxophones
Performers: Eivind Leifsen – soprano saxophone, Signe Emmeluth – alto saxophone, Marthe Lea – tenor saxophone, Aksel Ø. Røed – tenor saxophone, Hanne de Backer – baritone saxophone, Andreas Røysum – bass clarinet

Dragespel
Composition for 3 accordions
Performers: Maren Sofie Nyland Johansen, Mykola Sheremeta, Kalle Moberg

Zlang!
Composition for 3 tubas
Performers: Per Åke Holmlander, Børre Mølstad, Sondre Ross Folkestad

It Was Her Idea

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“Daughter of War” is the debut album of the new four-piece band It Was Her Idea. Vocalist Juliana Venter and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love have already worked together in Paal’s PNL Circus project, and wanted to further this collaboration to a different direction, to explore other aspects that they had touched upon in Circus, and work with material that isn’t only composed by Paal. The first choice of bass player was Ole Morten Vågan, who is an orchestra by himself. Ole Morten and Paal go way back as friends with a mutual respect for each other as artists, yet never really found the time to work properly together. Now’s the time. The fourth member is the Swedish (Norwegian-based) pianist Oscar Grünberg, who in the last year has clearly marked himself as one of the strongest piano players in the Scandinavian music scene. Already on paper you can tell this is going to be a different beast.

The four musicians started playing together in 2022, with all of them bringing in compositions, and through the juxtaposition of these four individual voices something new was born, something more than a one-off meeting. The music is a mix of jazz, contemporary music, noise, and conceptual pieces – a wide musical landscape that reflects the combined years of experience of the four of them. A strong feature of the band is the visceral vocal performance of Juliana, which gives the band a unique focus. The title track – the sadly all too relevantly titled “Daughter of War”, with lyrics written by Khaleda Froagh – is a testament to Juliana’s strenght as a vocalist.

In 2025 It Was Her Idea went to Athletic Studios in Halden and had Dag Erik Johansen record their first album.
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Juliana Venter – voice
Oscar Grönberg – piano
Ole Morten Vågan – double bass
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums, percussion, Paiste gongs

Recorded at Athletic Sound, Halden on 20th and 21st May 2025 by Dag Erik Johansen. Mixed and mastered by Joe Talia.

Supported by Fund for Performing Artists

Cover and lay out by Lasse Marhaug

Thanks to Amel Mahi for the idea.

Circus with The Ex Guitars

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“Calls!” is the third album from Paal Nilssen-Love Circus, following “Pairs of Three” (2022) and the live recording “Turn Thy Loose” (2025). Circus first came out of Large Unit as a side-project but quickly grew to become its own steady project. The band plays music composed by Paal, and in live performance the musicians are free to play any parts of any song at any time. On this studio recording they take a different approach, the songs are recorded separately and carefully produced (the CD and LP even has different running orders, as Paal believes the formats tells different stories). As the live album “Turn Thy Loose” the already powerful six-member line-up is extended with Terrie Hessels, Andy Moor an Arnold de Boer from the legendary Dutch punk rock band The Ex. Collaborating with The Ex is not a first-time venture for Paal, who has been part of numerous collaborations with them in the past, but the Circus line-up/sound offers a new combination that feels fresh.

“Calls!” was recorded in both Amsterdam and Oslo and features six compositions by Paal, as well as two unusual cover songs: “I Should Be So Lucky” by the British punk band Stretchheads and a song from Nazare da Mata in Northeast Brazil, by Mestre Barachina. The band goes into some slight surrealistic and more conceptual areas, such as “Pussy Pussy Cha Cha”, “Eg Såg” and not least “Slainté”. However, the real standout will for many listeners be “Calls: Let they be free!” – a wild song that’s both danceable and political – and often a highlight when the band performs live.
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Juliana Venter, voice
Thomas Johansson, trumpet
Signe Emmeluth, alto saxophone, and flute
Kalle Moberg, accordion
Christian Meaas Svendsen, electric and acoustic bass
Paal Nilssen-Love, drums, percussion, Paiste cymbals plus piano on “Eg Såg”

Andy Moor Terrie Hessels, electric guitar on Pussy Pussy Cha-Cha, I should be so Lucky and Calls: Let They Free!
Arnold de Boer, electric guitar and megaphone on Calls: Let They Free, vocals on “I should be so Lucky”

All music by Paal Nilssen-Love (TONO) except “I should be so Lucky” and Nazaré. “I should be so Lucky” by Stretchheadd. Nazaré is by Mestre Barachinha, a song Paal heard in Nazaré da Mata when Bernardo Oliveira, Mariana Mansur and Bethania Brandao took him to experience the deep Nordeste of Brazil.

“Calls: Let They Free!” arranged by Andy Moor
Lyrics on “Calls: Let They Free!” and Pussy Pussy Cha Cha by Juliana Venter.
Lyrics on “Song for Joe” by both Juliana and Paal.
Lyrics on “Eg Såg” is a broken-up excerpt from Arne Garborg´s “Haugtussa”.
The sound of bamboo trees during bass solo and after “Song for Joe” was recorded outside the museum of Francisco Brennand in Recife, Brazil.

Special thanks to Oddrun Lilja, Danielle Oosterop, Bernardo Oliveira, Mariana Mansur and Siba. Thanks also to Håvard Hunsdal Schjong for introducing Paal to Stretcheads 35 years ago, plus Andreas Joner for selling him that same LP “Five Fingers Four Thingers a Thumb a Facelift and a New Identity” – still a highly recommended album. Big thanks also to Christian Engfelt and Bob Weston for their impeccable expertise.

Eg Såg, Nazaré, Seven Times, Slainté, Song for Joe – recorded by Christian Engfelt at Paradiso Studio, Oslo on 17th and 18th June 2024
Pussy Pussy Cha-Cha, Calls: Let They Free! and I should be so Lucky – recorded by Kasper Frenkel at Electric Monkey Studio, Amsterdam, Netherlands on February 27th, 2024

Mixed by Christian Engfelt at Studio Paradiso.
Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service.
Produced by Paal Nilssen-Love.
Co-produced by Christian Engfelt.
Photo by Håvard Gjelseth.
Cover by Lasse Marhaug.

Cimota

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Cimota seeks a unique sound as an ensemble, where the focus is equally based on collective musicianship as on solo-driven performances. The music draws inspiration from the entire history of jazz, European and American free improvisation and new composed music from all corners of the world. All this is framed by compositions with occasionally complex forms, intricate themes, grooves and swing, but also not afraid to explore the quiet, with long sound-based parts. It all flows easily and frictionless from start to finish. This is jazz for our time, challenging and accessible, melodic and abstract, music that refuses to be ignored and demands that the listener give it their full attention.

“Årlig gis det ut plenty av fantastiske jazzalbum i alle former og fasonger, men få kjennes like viktig og rett på sak som [ k m t ] gjør ved inngangen til 2026. Billetten inn er ikke gratis, men den gir høy avkastning.” – Ando Woltmann / Morgenbladet

“På «Sunday Picnic» danser de fem i frilynte post-bopartede rytmer og sprudler i soli. När de samler seg mot slutten, er det som om gamle kjente har funnet sammen igjen. Praten gär som om det var den mest selvfolgelige ting I verden” – Chris Monsen / Klassekampen

“[ˈkɪmɔtɑː] is packed with eventful, curious compositions—intricate yet restrained—shaped by a fascination with all the ways one can write for a small quintet: splitting it apart and stitching it back together. The music draws inspiration from odd jazz and 100–150 years of composed music, while along the way the ensemble also finds the occasional open space to scramble around in at will. There is a tangible joy inspired by all kinds of modernists, and a playful seriousness that I, at least, very much need here and now. To be continued.” – Filip Roshauw / Now’s The Time
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Eivind Lønning- Trumpet
Espen Reinertsen- Saxophone
Håvard Wiik- Piano
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten- Bass
Hans Hulbækmo- Drums

Recorded at Øra Studio, Trondheim, May 20th & 21st by Kyrre Laastad
Mastered by Helge Sten / Audio Virus Lab
Cover design by Federico Peńalva
Produced by Cimota, Executive Producer Ingebrigt Håker Flaten
All music composed by Håvard Wiik (TONO)

Jonas Cambien

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MAN EATING TREE is the first solo album by Belgian-born, Oslo-based pianist Jonas Cambien. On prepared piano and electric organ, Cambien channels a soundscape of meditative repetition and oscillating rhythms.

Cambien’s background is dappled with diversity. While training in classical piano at the Conservatory of Brussels, he focused on contemporary repertoire. This would deeply shape his playing and ensuing projects, largely in Norway, where Cambien has embedded himself as a pillar of Oslo’s free jazz and improvised music scene. There, he has released four albums as a band leader with Jonas Cambien Trio and Maca Conu, and lent his touch to many more constellations, such as Aksiom, Platform, and Simiskina. A far cry from Northern Europe, Cambien found his way to Egypt via an ongoing collaboration with oudist and composer Aly Eissa and violinist Ayman Asfour. Cambien’s work with The Handover saw him absorbing an Egyptian stylistic sensibility on the keys, which entered the aqueduct of his musical influences, a complex and vibrant blend that surfaces in MAN EATING TREE. While this album is a culmination of the experiences and inspirations that live in its creator, it is a distinct departure from his previous releases. Grounded in repetitive melodies and fluctuating rhythms that stratify and evolve, it nods to contemporary composer Ligeti, along with minimalists Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

The opening track, “Tre”, begins with a minimalist repeating piano motif a la Philip Glass. Vacillating rhythms cascade around it, pulling and pushing the tension before building into a hallucinatory, clattering finale. “Árbol” shows off Cambien’s hemispheric prowess, as his hands work autonomously to knit a tapestry of wobbling polyrhythms and layered motifs. Muscular and percussive, it cascades into a gentle, aquatic space before resolving into crystalline clarity. With deep listening, this one would surely rewire some brain synapses. “Silverware Vibrating Inside Grand Piano” is exactly that. The metallic buzz and cavernous rumble of metal on metal, amplified by wood, is an elemental meditation. Cambien’s Handover-enhanced musicality is particularly visible on “BOOM”.
Executed on Ace Tone organ and prepared piano, it enters serenely before chugging forth on a lurching rhythm. A rippling Alice Coltrane-esque solo tops it off.

MAN EATING TREE is certainly the work of someone who, having mastered his craft, is now unfettered by constrictions, free to play among the garden of chance. Though a work of great sophistication, it remains unpretentious and footloose; music that will saturate the subconscious as much as the conscious mind.

(text: Tucker Wiedenkeller)
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Composed and performed by Jonas Cambien on prepared piano and Ace Tone Top 5 combo organ

Recorded by Morten Qvenild
Mixed by Magnus Nergaard and Bård Ingebrigtsen
Masterd by Lasse Marhaug

Artwork by Johann Kauth

Sonic Transmissions Records 2026

Amalie Dahl's Dafnie EXTENDED

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Amalie Dahl – alto saxophone, composition
Henriette Eilertsen – flute, electronics
Oscar Andreas Haug – trumpet
Jørgen Bjelkerud – trombone
Sofía Salvo – baritone saxophone
Ida Løvli Hidle – accordion
Anna Ueland – synthesizers
Lisa Ullén – piano
Nicolas Leirtrø – double bass
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – double bass
Trym Saugstad Karlsen – drums
Veslemøy Narvesen – drums

Recorded at Moldejazz, Teatret vårt, July 17th 2025 by Erik Valderhaug
Mixed by Jørgen Smådal Larsen
Mastered by Mastered by Helge Sten at Audio Virus Lab
Coverart & design by Juliane Schütz
Released on Sonic Transmissions Records

All compositions by Amalie Dahl

Supported by Komponistenes Vederlagsfond, Kulturrådet and Koda Kultur.

Vinicius Cajado, Kit Downes & Lukas Koenig

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Sirenjaw documents the first meeting of three musicians who, while previously connected through various collaborations, had not performed together as a trio before this recording. The project brings together long-standing musical relationships: Lukas Koenig and Vinicius Cajado share a deep-rooted connection within the Viennese music scene; Koenig and Kit Downes have collaborated both live and on record; and Downes and Cajado have recently worked together in a range of ensemble contexts in Berlin. The recording took place during a hot summer day in Vienna, where the trio approached the meeting with an open and immediate focus on collective improvisation. The resulting recording captures this initial encounter and serves as the foundation for an ongoing collaboration. Sirenjaw marks the beginning of a new ensemble, shaped through process, presence, and a commitment to collective exploration.
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Vinicius Cajado – bass
Kit Downes – piano
Lukas Koenig – drums

Recorded on 20th June 2025 in Vienna with Martin Siewert
Mixed by Kit Downes. Mastered by Andres Marino

Sonic Transmissions Records 2026

Karl Bjorå Trio

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Time, here, is a serving suggestion. Karl Bjorå Trio – Bjorå (guitar), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (upright bass), and Ole Mofjell (drums) – treats meter like a toolkit, not a law. The set opens in manic, rattling, chitter-chatter conversation: pattern-shifting, bebop-Beefheart feints; sustain-augmented guitar doubling as its own accomplice. It progresses with angular melodies rolling one into the next with a near train-shuffle, the guitar desynchronising in sudden bursts of tempo yet somehow staying on the rails – a high-wire act that refuses to fall. Mid-flow, the air tilts: textural blankets of wavering loops, overtones that bloom, a slow corrosion into noise – then the interlocking locomotive returns. By now, prediction is useless and that’s the pleasure: insane comping for a song that isn’t there; a burrow into bowed dread; tape stutter and breakdown, double-speed ghosts, vinyl crackle – and then, like a side-door, the sound of 80s electric-piano chords, overdriven drumkit and fuzz riffology wars. What feels like random beat and riff reveals a spine. That’s Bjorå’s trick: melody and structure pulled from chaos like a diamond from a barrel of broken glass. This is jazz but not free so much as—
Milo: Let’s interrupt this monologue for a moment, have an espresso, and talk about the personnel.
Thilo: Yes, Milo – we’re here for that!
Milo: Many things have been said about project leader, Karl Bjorå (guitar): “Each melody takes every sharp angle… executed with surgical precision.” [1]; Aftenposten hailed him as “en gitarist for vår tid” (“a guitarist for our time”)[2]. Time and again, his versatility is noted: that he moves between raw, noise-inflected energy, angular modern-jazz language, and hook-friendly but proggy songcraft. It seems that here he has taken a deep dive into pre-fusion jazz and has come up with some new treasures?
Thilo: Yes, Milo. Reviews and bios consistently frame him as versatile and “exploratory,” and he’s still up to those tricks. He’s predictably unpredictable, catching us off-guard with unexpected choices.
Milo: And what a trio! Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (upright bass), long described as “one of the busiest contemporary practitioners on the instrument,”[3] with a trans-Atlantic footprint from The Thing to Atomic, and an absolutely massive discography that seems to be a veritable who’s who of contemporary jazz!
Thilo: Absolutely! Ingo IS Mister Bass Man! A veritable demigod of the lower frequencies, and seemingly completely unaware of constraints – if he can dream it, he’ll do it!
Milo: Oh yeah! He’s in charge of everything below Middle C. And what about Ole Mofjell (drums)?
Thilo: His hyper-alert time feel and fearless improvising have made him a go-to across Scandinavia’s boundary-pushing scenes. Volatility in service of form: risk as a route to momentum. Restless energy shepherded into service of the music!

EXCUSE ME, GENTLEMEN!
As I was saying: This is jazz but not free so much as untamed. Bass and drums mark the territory; the guitar redraws the map. Micro-fanfares flare, surf-rock conniptions skitter, discord becomes a breadcrumb trail. The trio often sets off in different directions and somehow reaches the same door – then, when locked in cohesion, gleefully disperses on parallel adventures before reuniting as if there were never another choice. Manic, not angry: curiosity at a sprint. When the tape ghosts clear, the shape stands there – lean, a little singed, unmistakably a tune. File it left of free, right of rock: design-forward, road-tested, splinters included – hard-bop Looney Tunes for the post-consensus hangover. It is the essence.
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Karl Bjorå (guitar)
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (upright bass)
Ole Mofjell (drums)

Produced by Karl Bjorå. Recorded by Karl Bjorå at Flerbruket
Mixed by Karl Bjorå
Mastered by Espen Høydalsvik at OSLO:Fuzz

Cover art: Signe Emmeluth.
Design: Juliane Schütz.
Label: Sonic Transmissions Records

Colin McLean & Andy Moor

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Colin McLean – computer
Andy Moor – guitar / cassette machine
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Recorded live in Amsterdam between June 2006 and November 2007 during Music Dance 301 sessions, a monthly series where musicians and dancers improvise at OT301, except Delta Block and Waiting for the angels which were live duo improvisations recorded November 29 2007 at OT301, Amsterdam.

Text on Waiting for the angels from Fort Capuzzo by Scots poet Hamish Henderson, from Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica, 1947.

All music by Andy Moor (PRS) and Colin McLean.

Calliope Tsoupaki

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“Medea, a melodrama for 8 instruments” by Calliope Tsoupaki performed by Ensemble MAE

It is the first in a series of chamber music compositions focusing on drama.The composition is written for ensemble MAE, that distinguishes itself for its colourful, direct, physical and improvisatory character; Tsoupaki uses the ensemble’s palette, composing solos, duets, trios, wrapped in larger sonic fields, with a strong associative and visual impact. Further there is no story-telling for the listener to be led into the piece; the music material itself is suggestive, and the melodies have a leading role, as characters in a theatre play. Coming back as in different scenes in a film, each time changed and transformed, they are the vectors of tangible dramatic development.

As the music material unfolds, we get close to an ultimate Medea, ever changing, beautiful, and wild, but also dignified and powerful. But next to an exploration of the myth, “Medea” attempts to compose a self-portrait, the composer shedding light onto a deep, unspoken part of herself.

Pasolini’s “Medea” was an inspiration for writing this piece, and most of all Maria Callas in the role of Medea, “so tragic that she did not sing a word.”
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Composed By – Calliope Tsoupaki

Performed by Ensemble MAE
Conductor – Bas Wiegers
Clarinet – Michel Marang
Contrabass – Jelte Van Andel
Electric Guitar – Wiek Hijmans
Percussion – Fedor Teunisse
Piano – Reinier Van Houdt
Recorder – Karolina Bäter
Trombone – Koen Kaptijn
Violin – Marleen Wester

Recording – Dick Lukas
Mixing – Yannis Kyriakides
Design – Isabelle Vigier

David Fennessy

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Irish composer David Fennessy is known for his intricate textures and arresting harmonies: the four works presented on this album, Caruso (Gold is the Sweat of the Sun), and the viola driven triptych Hauptstimme, Nebenstimme, and Nox, represent the many facets of his inventive music.

The music in Caruso (Gold is the Sweat of the Sun) is almost completely made up of very short extracts from gramophone recordings of the Italian tenor opera singer Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) dated between 1903 and 1908, which are looped, stretched and combined to form a kind of ‘choir.’ The electric guitar, played by David himself, is a representation of an obsessive, creative force at the centre of the relentless river of sound of the myriad of voices.

The three other works on the album, Nox, Hauptstimme and Nebenstimme, create a fascinating perspective on the idea of the individual, in relation to the collective.

Nox, written for the violist Garth Knox, is like a portrait of the musician. The open string, first a C then a G is explored in all its rich sonic glory. Conversely, in Hauptstimme, it is as if the viola player, this time Megumi Kasakawa, struggles to convey their individuality against the backdrop of the forces of Ensemble Modern, but this is intentional. According to the composer: “For much of the time, the solo viola is buried in a thick ensemble texture with the primary goal merely to be heard. Once it has achieved this, a more complex question emerges – what to say?”
Nebenstimme, the final part of the triptych, is like a photographic negative of Hauptstimme. What was before a loud, forceful rhythm in the percussion, is transformed here into a delicate, ornamented chorale in the celesta. The viola remains the solo instrument but is in this case shy and uncertain.

credits

released April 10, 2026

David Fennessy, Ensemble Modern, Megumi Kasakawa, Garth Knox, Michel Maurer & Pete Dowling.

Made with financial support from RCS Athenaeum Award, Vaughan Williams Foundation, Hinrichsen Foundation.

“Caruso (Gold is the Sweat of the Sun)” recorded at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 08/2016.
Recorded and mixed by Pete Dowling.

“Hauptstimme” recorded at Festeburgkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 18/07/2020.
Recording Producer – Martin Rust
Recording Engineer – Arnd Coppers
Recorded and mixed by Martin Rust
Executive producer Harry Vogt
P) A production of Westdeutscher Rundfunk, 2020; Licensed by WDR mediagroup GmbH)

“Nebenstimme” and “Nox” recorded in the chapel at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, 31/05/2023.
Recorded by Christophe Hauser.

“Caruso”, “Hauptstimme” and “Nebenstimme” are published by Universal Edition.
All music by David Fennessy.
Mastered by Yannis Kyriakides.
Design by Isabelle Vigier.

Locus Asper Locus

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Benjamin Bondonneau, Lionel Marchetti and Xavier Charles form the trio Locus Asper Locus. The acoustic instrument ensemble relies on improvisation and a choice of electronic tools to push the exploration of the Sib clarinet to the extreme, as much for its capacity to produce high intensity ‘noise’ as finesse. Inspired by Voyage with a donkey in the Cévennes by R. L. Stevenson, the trio sets off on an hike in the Périgord, for a few summer days. They will experience the very varied territories through listening, and through the creation of sonic universes inspired by what’s around them, accompanied by the three donkeys who are also their first audience. The three musicians are equipped with packages, instruments, active speakers, a synthesizer, cables and effect pedals, all on batteries for complete autonomy. They choose beautiful sites where they improvise, installing their recording systems in the open air. The tranquil mules lend an attentive ear while nature vibrates and the clarinets converse in the July heat.

Digital release and CD with leporello.

Design by Isabelle Vigier with illustrations by Benjamin Bondonneau.

Susie Ibarra & Tashi Dorji

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“n 2019, the Tang Museum at Skidmore College presented The Second Buddha: Master of Time, an exhibition concerning Padmasambhava, the guru credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet during the eighth century. Along with lectures and exhibits both visual and virtual, the museum commissioned a concert—conceived as a “musical bardo exploration”—by Susie Ibarra, a Philippine American percussionist, and Tashi Dorji, a Bhutan-raised guitarist who’s been based in Asheville, North Carolina, since 2000. Buddhism does not figure strongly in the work of either musician, but rhythm does. Following early experiences with Philippine kulintang music and free jazz, Ibarra has used sound art as a means of addressing concerns about cultural and environmental survival and renewal. Dorji came to free improvisation from punk rock, and he’s never forsaken his early commitments to social engagement and musical intensity. The bardo is the transitional state between death and rebirth, and on the album of the duo’s performance, also called Master of Time, the disparities between the musicians’ styles introduce one layer of in-betweenness; the give-and-take of their grooves going in and out of sync with each other provides a second. The LP comprises two side-length excerpts from the concert (the download adds two shorter tracks) that explore the juxtaposition and disruption of rhythms. During “Confluence,” Dorji’s jagged, distorted tone cleaves Ibarra’s rushes of pure sound and rustling textures like the chop of a rusty guillotine blade. “The Way of the Clouds,” on the other hand, morphs from a face-off between gradually evolving grooves to an exchange of stark gestures in mostly empty space.” -Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader
—

Master of Time is a live performance commissioned for the exhibition of Bardo Now, The Second Buddha: Master of Time at the Tang Teaching Museum during a residency on April 16-18, 2019.

VINYL contains the tracks “Confluence” and “The Way of the Clouds”. Tracks 2 & 4 are digital only bonus tracks.

Recorded by Frank Moscowitz at the Tang Teaching Museum 2019.
Mixed by Eli Crews at Spillway Studio 2020

Susie Ibarra ASCAP
Tashi Dorji BMI

Thank you to Ben Bogin and Tom Yoshikami at the Tang Teaching Museum and Skidmore College for inviting us to perform.

Joe McPhee, Tashi Dorji & Bill Orcutt

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“Thursday, June 7th, ISSUE presents an evening of improvisations between celebrated four-string guitarist Bill Orcutt, unbound Bhutanese guitarist Tashi Dorji, and Poughkeepsian creative jazz originary Joe McPhee. While all three musicians are tireless collaborative improvisers and iconoclast solo performers, each possesses an enduring aesthetic approach that’s as independent as it is profoundly empathic.

The evening features two duo sets (Orcutt & Dorji, McPhee & Dorji), culminating with the three coming together for a debut trio performance — a combination that’s sure to yield unseen results. Here, Dorji’s erceness is the consistent thread within each conversation, a discourse owing between the mutually frenetic stylings of Orcutt and deeply intentional mediations of McPhee.

Bill Orcutt’s authorship of a highly disruptive version of “The Great American Songbook” lls chasms of negative historical space — with ows of fragmented notes revising, interpolating, and critiquing the form. Here, Orcutt expands the ruptures of songcraft, breaking each melody into in nitesimal pieces, coding each part into new narratives. Marked by an inimitable, sputtering style, Orcutt’s prophetic stature in American guitar music is indisputable given his constant re-discovery of the vibrancy of “rotten” historical materials — either in guitar song, or in noise during years prior in Harry Pussy. In the words of critic Matthew Philips, “he brings these pieces of history out from the invisibility where they had festered ever since their last audition.”

Tashi Dorji’s own omnivorous skewering of guitar traditions has developed a highly idiosyncratic take on on the instrument, one de ned by his non-stop movement and profound openness to technique. Although much as been said about his parallelisms with the stark improvisational world of Derek Bailey and meditative energy of Ben Chasny, Dorji has reached the point where his hybrid style has amalgamated into a new form altogether. Although his lawless approach can often express itself ercely, with roots in the more savage strands of avant-jazz or free folk, his playing can quickly deviate to impressionistic, emotive gesturing — harmonizing between quiet chord-sustain and knobby, quick passages.

The instrumental outlier, Joe Mcphee serves as the non-sequitur in response to Orcutt and Dorji’s guitar vexations. Combining his jazz lineage with extended instrumental and electronic techniques, McPhee often approaches his music conceptually by “disrupting an apparent sequence and arriving at the solution from another angle.” Deeply informed by this spirit, McPhee’s notion of “sideways thinking” in creative improvisation led him to develop the concept of “Po Music,” described as a “process of provocation” (Po is a language indicator to show that provocation is being used) to “move from one xed set of ideas in an attempt to discover new ones.” McPhee concludes, “It is a Positive, Possible, Poetic Hypothesis.” The application of Po
principles to creative improvisation are likely to be at play in conversation with the wild stylings of Orcutt and Dorji.”
—

credits

released May 15, 2026

Joe McPhee: Saxophone & voice
Bill Orcutt: Guitar
Tashi Dorji: Guitar

Recorded at ISSUE Project Room, Thursday, June 7th, 2018.
Recorded by Bob Bellerue
Mixed by James Emrick

Photography by Cameron Kelly Courtesy ISSUE Project Room

Tashi Dorji

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‘Collected Works’ is a glimpse into the early, self released cassettes of Tashi Dorjil. Only being physically released through Dorji’s ‘Ola’ imprint, these albums have never been released on any other physical format. Having been sold only as digital albums once the cassette versions sold out.

All material by Tashi Dorji with the assistance of Patrick Kukucka & Meredith B. Silver.

Design & layout by Matthew Nieto-Miller

Aki Onda, Tashi Dorji & Che Chen

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Aki Onda ~ Cassettes, Photographs
Tashi Dorji ~ Violin, Banjo, Contact Mic
Che Chen ~ Flute, Reel to Reel, Edits, Type

Thank you Chad/ Sunview.

MANAS

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“Unlike World War 3 II, which referred to the second album by that thuggish UK band, or Manfred Mann’s Chapter III, which referred to the third outfit led by Mr. Mann, Manas III is neither the third album by Manas, nor the third iteration of the band. Rather, it refers to the number of participants on the second album by this spectacular Asheville NC unit, previously known primarily as a duo.

The two main actors in question are guitarist, Tashi Dorji, and drummer Thom Nguyen. Tashi’s earliest recordings were largely acoustic abstractions, lauded by everyone from Ben Chasny to William “Bill” Nace. Thom’s drumming has been part of such legendary Asheville ensembles as the great Mendocino (LP hopefully forthcoming sometime). Together, they presented an electric splat approach to power-improv with parallels to outfits like Rangda and OvO. Their first album, Manas (FTR 208), blew the lips off most people who heard it.

For Manas III, percussionist Tyler Damon (who has also recorded with Tashi in a duo) format is added to the mix. His playing brings a whole new width and depth to the proceedings, comprised as it is of varietal clanging and tingling in the tradition of Jamie Muir and those who sail with him. The flavors this adds to the music are alternately proggy and free, and we think you’ll agree this trio thing is a blast. Tashi’s guitar work is full of static-rich surges that sounds like something Nikola Tesla would dig. And the bottom is is a fat and fleet as Queen.

We’ve been complete suckers for everything Tashi has done thus far, and Manas is one of the best projects he’s undertaken. Pretty sure Manas III is going to knock you right off your bike. So hang on tight.”
-Byron Coley, 2017
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Tashi Dorji – guitar
Thom Nguyen & Tyler Damon – Drums

Cover Art by Bill Nace

MANAS + E.M.M.

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“Following “Alone We Are Alone As Far Down As the Sediment,” last year’s collaboration with N.R. Safi, the duo of guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer Thom Nguyen return to Radio Khiyaban with “At House Unamerican,” an explosive collective improv set with guitarist Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra, et al) cut in MANAS’ hometown of Asheville, North Carolina during the duo’s 2022 tour with Godspeed.

More than anything, “At House Unamerican” calls to mind Masayuki Takanayagi’s legendary “mass projections” – a series of sonic molotov cocktails setting whole streets aflame with incendiary guitar shred, landsliding drums, and crackling sheets of sound. In fact, looking back through Menuck’s kaleidoscopic career this might actually be the most liberated we have heard him as a guitar player – and that furious sense of freedom finds welcome kin in Nguyen and Dorji’s own expansive creative visions. These recent collaborations certainly have us salivating for the long-awaited follow-up to the duo’s last studio album, 2017’s III.

Though best consumed as an uninterrupted whole, this piece has had to be split into three sections due to Bandcamp’s track length constraints (the music remains complete across each side of the cassette version of the album).”
—

Thom Nguyen: Drums
Tashi Dorji: Electric Guitar
Efrim Manuel Menuck: Electric Guitar

Recorded November 11th, 2022 in Asheville, North Carolina
Mastered for cassette by N.R. Safi
Artwork by E.M.M.

MANAS

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First LP by Manas, a duo comprised of guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer Thom Nguyen. Tashi, who’s based in Asheville NC these days, has been cutting a wide swathe through the guitar underground over the past few years. Originally focused on acoustic weaponry, he has added electric guitar to his arsenal, without giving up any of the weird angular bite of his initial work. Thom is known to have played with a couple of Asheville free rock bands, Nest Eggs and Mendocino, but this is the first exposure his excellent work will be having outside of Buncombe County.

As a duo, Manas explores lots of improvisational ground, ranging from extreme sideways expansions of sonics texture — with Tashi’s guitar moving decisively outward while Thom’s drums explode in a mostly (but not entirely) parallel plane — to repetative reflecto passages that curl up into a tight ball before achieving escape velocity. The record is a blast, with deceptively arch liner notes by none other than Ben Chasny, who has been one of Tashi’s loudest cheerleaders for many a moon.
But we can’t really blame Ben. This Manas LP makes us wanna shout about team spirit too. Guh! Guh! Guh!
– Byron Coley, 2015

“Bhutanese guitarist Tashi Dorji has been searching for new ways of squeezing abstract tones from his instrument since first laying ears on the likes of Derek Bailey and other free improvisers. Originally an acoustic player, he has since dipped his fingers in electricity, widening his tonal range and spewing flames in the process. Now based in North Carolina, Manas is his duo project with drummer Thom Nguyen, who has been involved in a few free-rock outfits in the area. The electric guitar-drums combination is a template for greatness, especially with a pair of tornado-conjuring players such as these fine gentlemen.

Dorji, whose playing is decidedly “normal” sounding on the duo’s self-titled debut LP (in comparison to his Bailey-like acoustic workouts), takes a variety of directions aided and abetted by Nguyen’s energetic skin pounding. There is layering and a few moments of slow-burning tension, but most of the exciting moments arise when the players plough full steam ahead in a seemingly hydra-headed fashion. Those who enjoy unbridled freedom and energy in their music should certainly take note of these two rising stars.”

Byron Hayes, Exclaim!
exclaim.ca/music/article/manas-manas
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Tashi Dorji: Guitar
Thom Nguyen: Drums

All tracks recorded by Patrick Kukucka in 2014.

No Oracles, Black Spots, We Torched The Bankcards & Ash recorded at Hi Z lo z Studio, Asheville. Encounters recorded at the Toy Boat Community Arts Center, Asheville.

Tashi Dorji & Bill Orcutt

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Tashi Dorji: Guitar Right
Bill Orcutt: Guitar Left

Recorded in concert at Issue Project Room
Brooklyn NY June 7th, 2018

Steve Noble & Tashi Dorji

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First meeting of guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer Steve Noble, recorded at OTO in June 2023. The set begins with a deceptive sparseness, Dorji picking out jagged clusters of guitar notes as Noble’s cymbals swirl around them like a deep inhalation. You might want to take that breath too, you’re going to need it.

Dorji soon ratchets up the distortion as Noble circles around the kit with an unflagging momentum and the pair of them are soon hurtling along in a whirling, tumbling barrage of sound and fury. But cathartic as it is, this is no aimless blowout. For all the rapturous chaos, there are moments of delicate beauty that ring out all the clearer amidst the surrounding storm.

Aside from anything else it’s the sheer amount of ground covered here. Two masters of their respective instruments seemingly bringing all of their skills to bear across the set’s 35-minute running time. Dorji has a way of playing the guitar that is all his own; coruscating jabs of distortion giving way to skittering, stop-start harmonics, muted strings that clip and yammer, yearning single notes escalating into a bewitching, howling maelstrom. Needless to say, Noble matches him every step of the way, expanding upon the intricacies of Dorji’s playing to reveal new and unexpected shapes in the cataclysm. Rhythms and textures emerge, evolve, and fracture with a ceaselessly propulsive drive.

With such synergetic complexity, it’s hard to believe that this was their first time playing together. We can only hope it won’t be the last.

And breathe.
—

Tashi Dorji: Guitar
Steve Noble: Drums

Recorded by Billy Steiger at Cafe OTO in June, 2023.
Mixed by Tashi Dorji
Mastered by Oli Barrett

Cover design by Oli Barrett

Tashi Dorji

21 Tracks

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Tashi Dorji: Nylon string guitar

Tim Daisy & Ken Vandermark

16 Tracks

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“The album starts with “Autostrada”, slowly picking up speed with Vandermark on clarinet, then Daisy pushes up a kind of tribal rhythm, bringing the clarinet to full intensity, then slowing down for a nice melodious moment. “The Empty Chair” is the ideal Vandermark + percussion duet, full of funky power, deep rhythmic grooves, offering the drummer all the opportunities to demonstrate what can be done if the rhythm is already so inherently present in the solo instrument, and that’s what Daisy does, grasping the opportunity to play slow, or double-time, or play around the beat, all cleverness and subtlety, driving the reverse situation to an extreme in the last minutes. Man, this is great fun!” -Free Jazz Blog
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Side A: Tim Daisy / Ken Vandermark Duo
Side B: Tim Daisy / Ken Vandermark Duo
Side C: Tim Daisy Solo
Side D: Ken Vandermark Solo (Etudes For Jimmy Giuffre)

Ken Vandermark: Reeds
Tim Daisy: Drums

A/B: recorded at Dragon Club, Poznań, Poland, May 14th, 2008.
C/D: recorded at Estrada Poznańska, Poznań, Poland, May 20th, 2008.

Producer – Ken Vandermark, Tim Daisy, Wawrzyniec Mąkinia
Recorded by Maciej Frycz (tracks: A1 to B3)
Recorded & Mixed by Eryk Kozłowski (tracks: C1 to D4), Kasia Palicka (tracks: C1 to D4)
Design [Cover Design], Photography – Marek Wajda