Recorded by Michael Flanagan at the Lipinsky Studio, Asheville NC
October 2013.
A guitar that sounds like razor blades dragged across the face of impending doom. A guitar that sounds like Godzilla crashing an orchestral performance set in a warehouse stocked with pessimism and confidence. A guitar that sounds like a tree being felled by a fighter jet’s depression.
All in all, Tashi Dorji‘s Blue Twelve can only be summed up by actually listening to it. The beauty of the album lies in it’s desire to evoke fantastical melodies that avoid the expectations of normal guitar sounds.
-7BitArcade
Blue Twelve is the first electric guitar release by Tashi Dorji, whose acoustic recordings have gained praise from guitar avatars such as Sir Richard Bishop and Ben Chasny. While his approach is easily transferable from acoustic to electric, the decision to plug in has enriched his playing with depths of tone and dynamic possibility- all down to corona of reverb from his Fender Delux amp and overtones it sustains from hammering of harmonic intervals. Although slight effects,they furnish rich seams of enquiry for the North Carolina based guitarist`s crabwise improvisations.
…from punk rock to Baroque via Flamenco and Jazz. This synthesis reaches its apex on this tape, with two side-long improvisations that are as genre negating and sound – as- sound focused as anyone looking at the guitar after Derek Bailey. The opening piece begins with sustained chords ghosting in and out of focus through tightly controlled volume swells, creating an effect close to gamelan. It eventually decelerates into carousel arpeggios that sound momentarily like the intro to the existential doo-woop of The Ink Spots` “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me)
-Alex Neilson, The Wire
Like his previous releases, Blue Twelve sounds like an alien landscape, full of clanging metal and vaguely familiar yet uncomfortable melodies. Dorji bends his steel strings to the point of breaking before rolling it back, settling down, and starting all over.
– FACT Magazine
“Daisy and Bishop eschew the groove-oriented nature of some of their larger groups, namely The Engines and Vandermark 5. Old Shoulders is heavy on smart and playful extended investigations of textures and tones, of atmosphere and mood more than rhythm, aggression or melody.” -Patrick Wall, freeTimes
Percussion – Tim Daisy
Trombone – Jeb Bishop
“In the first four tracks there are moments of respite and beauty amidst the chaos. After Pa, the sounds are harsher and it is a violent new landscape. There is a sense throughout the second half of desperately trying to get somewhere but being unable to do so. By transforming into this brutality, the album lives up to its name.” – Anna Heflin
Quoniam Facta Sum Vilis (for I have become vile in the eyes of the lord)” is the newest solo album of the award winning composer and virtuoso bassist, Brandon Lopez. Created, in part, as an answer to the musical “reason” of the Bach cello suites, Lopez seeks to create the inverse of what’s hailed as musical logic. To create something florid and beautiful from the violent and erratic and to deny the supremacy of the wrote in favor of the intuitive.
Recorded mostly in the May Funerary Chapel in Chicago’s Rosehill Cemetery, and partially in Brooklyn’s Issue Project Room.
All compositions by BRANDON LOPEZ.
Recording by DAVID ZUCHOWSKI & BOB BELLERUE.
Mixed diligently by FATHER JON LIPSCOMB.
Mastered by ALAN JONES at LAMINAL AUDIO.
Special thanks to Dave Rempis, Elastic Arts, Issue Project Room and SMR Double Basses.
“It is hard to tell which are vocal sounds and which are electronic or sampled since all are strange in different ways. What is most interesting is the way that Mr. Blonk blends all of the sounds into fascinating combinations, stretching and manipulating select sound in a most focused way. It might be hard to tell that there are vocals at the center of some of these pieces yet I was still captivated throughout.” -Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
Recorded in Arnhem, Netherlands, 2010-2016, except 8: 1996 and 10: 2003.
This debut recording between two of New York’s most idiosyncratic and distinctive improvisers reveals just what careful listeners pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson really are. Each musician contributed pieces to the album, which is deeply chamber-like in its deft, interactive intimacy. But the real action is where they take those written themes. – Peter Margasak
—
Recorded August 21, 2016, Brooklyn, NY
Mixed & Mastered in October of 2016
Recorded, Mixed & Mastered – Joe Branciforte
Cover [Picture] – Mario del Curto
Executive-Producer – Kevin Reilly, Mike Panico
Graphic Design – Ikue Mori
Guitar – Mary Halvorson
Piano – Sylvie Courvoisier
“Music of disarming intimacy” – The New York Times
–
Mutual Aid Has A History
It points to the concept of community action and the human drive to provide succor to our fellow humans. Mutual aid is the primary ethic of an anarchistic utopia in which each knows what they have, is honest about what they need, and is prepared to give and receive accordingly. Every human want is met by a commensurate surplus and all are lifted equally above suffering.
The music on this disc is, to a degree, about this political conception of mutual aid history but, rather than celebrating its primary act of what to give, it concentrates on the decision of how to give it. It asks the musicians to take stock of their gifts and to ask themselves, in each moment, how their use of that gift will affect the community (ensemble) of which they are currently a member. Will their addition provide:
1. A refined musical gesture that simply makes the group sound better
2. A raw idea that opens new sets of possibilities for the other musicians, or
3. The inspiration to others of making the difficult, selfless musical choice.
This set of eight ensemble concertos sprouts from a compositional system that asks musicians to question what they add to the ensemble as human beings first and musicians second. Rather than the traditional aim of faithfully reproducing a score through its mastery, the members of the ensemble are prompted to make decisions that purposely force the music away from facsimile and toward a spontaneity that may feel awkward and uncomfortable. Each supports each in the search for something new and interesting; a music that is not only greater than the compositional whole, but has the potential to recast the way we think about the balance of virtuosity and improvisational spirit in our practice. After all, if we, as an ensemble can enjoy jumping off musical cliffs together within the relative safety of this compositional system, then what’s to stop us from trying to find that same exhilaration in the other music we make?
—
Nate Wooley – Trumpet
Ingrid Laubrock – Sax
Joshua Modney – Violin
Mariel Roberts – Cello
Sylvie Courvoisier – Piano
Cory Smythe – Piano
Matt Moran – Vibraphone
Russell Greenberg – Vibraphone and Percussion
Mutual Aid Music was recorded June 3, 2019 at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY Engineered, mixed and mastered by Ryan Streber
Design by Lasse Marhaug
Pleasure of the Text Recordings 2020 (PotTR1309)
“The musicians address a narrow window within a broad perspective. The recording as a whole describes a memory of the epitome of the Harlem Renaissance and how musicians came out of that time still longing for a recurrence of the dream of the focal point which was Sugar Hill- where resided the quintessence of the African-American culture…. one whole world within a geometry of avenues and streets.
The music possesses a substantive subtlety. It is taut and somewhat restrained, even though the fluidity of McPhee’s tenor lines overrides the tightness of the rhythm section. The music is soft even when it is loud. The music grows out of melody into abstraction easily, without fracture.” -Lyn Horton, jazzreview.com
—
Recorded at The Spirit Room, Rossie, NY, October 19, 2004
Joe McPhee: Tenor Saxophone
Dominic Duval: Double Bass
Jay Rosen: Drums
“McPhee is such a versatile player that sparks fly whether he blows a saxophone or trumpet. Here, he performs solely on the soprano sax, joined by bassist Dominic Duval and percussionist Jay Rosen. The mood is generally more pensive than to be expected, although fires are lit in a few of the pieces. McPhee shows himself to be a thoughtful, sensitive player, where every note counts and space is just as important.” -Steve Loewy, AllMusic
—
Recorded at The Spirit Room, Rossie, NY, May 26 & 27, 1998
Joe McPhee: Soprano Saxophone
Dominic Duval: Double Bass, Hutchins Bass
Jay Rosen: Drums, Percussion
Stewart Smith of The Quietus described Action Jazz as “More accessible than subsequent releases, […it] finds a balance between the stoopid-fun [sic] of their garage material, the swing of their [Don] Cherry inspired free-bop, and the open-form weirdness to come.”
Writing for All About Jazz, Eyal Hareuveni stated that on Action Jazz, The Thing “deliver one of their heaviest performances,” and called the album “another testimony to the success of this group’s risk-taking and barrier-shattering attitude.”
In a review for Rockfeedback Magazine, Thomas Hannan commented: “It might be because they’re so adept at it, it might be because they’re playing skewed rock songs, it’s probably got something to do with the unrelenting pace and wide eyed wonder at sound itself that The Thing seem to possess and display within every track, but Action Jazz is one heck of a lot of fun.”
—
Mats Gustafsson – baritone sax, alto sax, slide sax
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – double bass
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums
Copyright © – Smalltown Superjazzz
Recorded At – Atlantis Studio
Mixed At – Atlantis Studio
Mastered At – Cosmos Mastering
Pressed By – Dicentia
Co-producer – Joakim Haugland
Design – Rune Mortensen
Liner Notes – Conny Charles Lindström
Mastered By – Christofer “Hoffe” Stannow*
Mixed By – Janne Hansson, Mats Gustafsson
Photography By [Studiophotos] – Lotta Melin
Producer – The Thing
Recorded By – Janne Hansson
Recorded and mixed at Atlantis Studio, Stockholm.
Mastered at Cosmos Mastering, Stockholm.
“For his second album as a full leader, Nilssen-Love could not have brought together three more positive influences.” -Andrey Henkin, All About Jazz
—
Recorded and engineered at decibel.no, at Byorkesterets Hus during the Kongsberg Jazzfestival 2002.
Double Bass – Ingebrigt Håker Flaten
Drums, Percussion – Paal Nilssen-Love
Piano – Sten Sandell
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker
Duets & trios.
Recorded at Sparrow Sound Design, Chicago, 10/1994
Bass Clarinet – Gene Coleman (tracks: 9 to 13)
Guitar, Accordion, Percussion – Jim O’Rourke (tracks: 9 to 13)
Reeds [Fluteophone], Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Mats Gustafsson
Percussion – Michael Zerang (tracks: 1 to 8)
Executive-Producer – Bruno Johnson
Graphic Design – Louise Molnar
Liner Notes – John Corbett
Photography – Jeff Rotman
Producer – John Corbett, Mats Gustafsson
“Ada is one dirty delicious hell raising improvisation. Within a minute of the sets start, Nilssen-Love’s wash of percussion stacks, Longberg-Holm’s cello stokes, and Brötzmann’s sax sparks the fire. This blazing recording, a single 33 minute set by the Ada Trio, begins full blast, ends full blast, and runs the gamut of intensity between.” -Paul Acquaro, Free Jazz Blog
—
Recorded at Café ADA in Wuppertal, Germany, 22nd of April 2011.
Thanks to Uli Armbruster/Cafe ADA
Mastered By – Stefan Deistler
Recorded By – Jost Gebers
Self Released
Peter Brötzmann: Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Tárogató
Fred Longberg-Holm: Cello, Electronics
Paal Nilssen-Love: Drums
Since 1990 Jaap Blonk and Cor Fuhler have been collaborating in several groups in dutch improvised music, as well as in a pair of experimental radio plays. this is their first available recording as a duo.
JAAP BLONK – VOICE, POWERBOOK, EFFECTS
COR FUHLER – EMS SYNTHI-AKS, TURNTABLE
RECORDED MARCH 30, 2004 BY JURRE WIEMAN AT EDGETIP STUDIO, ARNHEM, NETHERLANDS
PRODUCED BY COR FUHLER AND JAAP BLONK
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JAAP BLONK FOR KONTRANS
DESIGN BY DANIEL GROSS
“Since the summer of 2000 I have set out to record
pieces that would stay close to the simplicity and clarity of
a solo voice improvisation, but at the same time offer a greater
range and density of texture than the human voice is capable
of.
For each piece I experimented with a different configuration
of sound equipment, and made a recording at a stage where the
setup still held a certain amount of unpredictability for me.
I chose to stick to my voice as the sole source of sound in these
recording, using it straight as well as in sampled and processed
form.” -Jaap Blonk, April 2001
—
Artwork – Catalogtree
Voice, Edited By, Composed By – Jaap Blonk
Recorded August-November 2000 at Akkerattic (Arnhem, The Netherlands).
Wrapped in a special plastic case designed by Arnhem based graphic design studio Catalogtree.
Setting the stage for The Zebra Paradox requires building anticipation and intrigue on the inside of the listener before they even hear the first notes. To accomplish this an imagined transference of information must bloom like a deep inhalation of sonic spores. If categories can be applied to explore how concepts are played out in this music and throughout the album, perhaps think of displacement, confusion, time distortion and derangement. Otherwise the listener might choose to transfer meaning to the side and delve into sound as tangible matter?
With the addition of Nate Wooley’s acoustic and amplified trumpet and the ritualistic/concrete vocals of Fritz Welch, to the original Re-Ghoster lineup of piano, drums and revox, The Zebra Paradox brings a shift that pushes the puzzle into quantum fields. The compounded result weaves a trail through seemingly illogical soundscapes replete with trans-dimensional echoes in which phantasmagoric frequencies and chrono-phonic spectres collide in a musical paradox.
During the deepest listening you might actually be able touch the vocal dust if you have such morbid inclinations. And the trumpet’s presence might rub right onto your flesh. The extended ensemble’s instrumental mutations and it’s sonic manifestation is unique and haunting but perhaps it is actually ultra familiar like the churning of a restless crowd or the seeping of an oily stain? Unknown or not, The Zebra Paradox pushes towards somewhere and creates its own narrative something-or-other while taking the listener through possible sub-realities and future nows. From the transdimensional echoes to the phantasmagoric frequencies, this is The Style. Its the way it has to be!
All tracks recorded @ Tortion Studio between September 15th & 16th 2021
Except “Hypocrisis” recorded live @ Cave12 on September 19th 2021
Mixed by Nicolas Field @ KonnektSoundLab
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu @ Schwebung Mastering
Cover art by Fritz Welch and layout by CHAT&SA
Nicolas Field: drums / percussion & electronics
Thomas Florin: piano
Valerio Tricoli: revox & electronics
Nate Wooley: trumpet acoustic & amplified
Fritz Welch: voice
Drums – Paal Nilssen-Love
Electric Bass – Massimo Pupillo
Tenor Saxophone – Peter Brotzmann
Recorded live, at Casa Del Jazz, Rome, Italy, 22 December 2008.
It’s not often that Aerophonic Records has put out recordings by bands that are first-time groupings. There are a few notable ones, including AR024 and 026 – Of Things Beyond Thule Volume 1 and 2 featuring Joe McPhee, Tomeka Reid, Brandon Lopez, and Paal Nilssen-Love. Another one was AR029 Stringers and Struts with Jeff Parker, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and Jeremy Cunningham. Those lineups and performances were just too stellar to let them pass without being documented (and those records are all long sold out!). But most of the time we focus our efforts on working groups, a decision that’s both artistic and financial in nature. So the fact that this quartet grouping made the cut already speaks volumes about the music they produced together on their first meeting.
In June 2023, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis paid one of his first visits back to Chicago since the pandemic. Prior to that time, the Boston-based pianist had a deep relationship to the city through work with reedist Ken Vandermark and bassist Nate McBride in the late 90’s, which blossomed into many other artistic relationships in the decades to come. Rempis and Karayorgis first connected in Boston on a tour Rempis did with The Vandermark Five in 1999, and have maintained an important working relationship since that time. Rempis is a native Bostonian, whose father is Greek, so there were already cultural connections that bind them. Musically, their work in the longstanding Boston-based quartet Construction Party with Forbes Graham and Luther Gray has been a key focal point of their collaborations. Another was the Chicago-based quintet Karayorgis assembled in the early 2010’s featuring Rempis alongside Keefe Jackson, Nate McBride, and Frank Rosaly. That band put out a pair of fantastic recordings of Karayorgis’ compositions on Driff Records in 2013 and 2014.
For the start of this new era of Karayorgis’ relationship to Chicago, Rempis assembled a quartet featuring a pair of younger musicians who by all accounts are among the best improvisers and instrumentalists of their generation on the Chicago scene – Jakob Heinemann on bass, and Bill Harris on drums. And the interplay of this band was spot on from the first downbeat, showing off a sensitivity to pacing, dynamics, and space on this recording that would be a rare feat even for a group that’s worked together for years. While Karayorgis spins off circuitous lines that traipse through a yellow-brick road of possibilities before alighting on ingenious endings with a cagy wink to show he knew the path right from the start, Rempis hones in on specific intervals drawn from those lines, using them to construct larger scales and structures that serve as an uncommonly specific sort of counterpoint to Karayorgis’ linearity. Meanwhile Heinemann and Harris produce some of the most sensitive and creative rhythm section accompaniment imaginable across the two pieces presented here. Let’s hope this band becomes a more regular occurrence since this auspicious debut truly begs for it!
—
Dave Rempis – alto/tenor/bari saxophone
Pandelis Karayorgis – piano
Jakob Heinemann – bass
Bill Harris – drums
Recorded June 29th, 2023 at Elastic Arts, Chicago
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski
Artwork and cover design by Lasse Marhaug
Produced by Dave Rempis & Pandelis Karayorgis
Recorded and mixed at Nord Studios in Stockholm, February 21 & 22, 2001. Engineered by Leif Allanson. Mastered by Christofer “Hoffe” Stannow at Cosmos Studios in Stockholm.
Produced by Christian Falk & Mats Gustafsson. Executive producer: Conny Charles Lindstrøm.
Mats Gustafsson – reeds
Joe McPhee – pocket trumpet and tenor saxophone
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – bass
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums
“There are all the violent shrieks and wails one expects from Gustafsson, the polyrhythmic, Paul Lovens-ian drumming of Paal Nilssen-Love and Flaten’s updated Mingus style. But there also are enough quiet, almost introspective moments that highlight each musician’s technical facility and make the louder portions even more forceful.” -Andrey Henkin, All About Jazz
—
Track 1: ”Old Eyes” by Joe McPhee (Jomac/BMI), ”Haunted” by Norman Howard (Stork Music, BMI), ”Cha Lacy’s Out East” by Charles Taylor (Copyright Control).
Recorded live at Blå on the 26th of June, 2003, by Søren Brandt. Mixed and Mastered by Ingar Hunskaar at Strype Audio. Produced by The Thing. Co-produced by Joakim Haugland. Photo by Anders Minge. Design by Rune Mortensen.
Mats Gustafsson – reeds
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – bass
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums
“The concept of this cycle is to simulate the ecstatic experience described by Trappist Monk Thomas Merton in his book of the same name. The music is both introspective and noisily rapturous.” -Mark Corroto, All About Jazz
—
Chris Corsano – drums (disc 1 & 2)
Paul Lytton – drums (disc 1)
David Grubbs – electric guitar (disc 1)
Nate Wooley – trumpet and amplifier, tape (disc 1 & 2)
Matt Moran – vibraphone (disc 1 & 2)
Chris Dingman – vibraphone (disc 1)
C. Spencer Yeh – violin (disc 1 & 2)
Ryan Sawyer – drums (disc 2)
Ben Vida – electronics (disc 2)
Jen Baker – trombone (disc 2)
Chris McIntyre – trombone, conductor (disc 2)
William Lang – bass trombone (disc 2)
Chris DiMeglio – trumpet (disc 2)
Tim Leopold – trumpet (disc 2)
Gareth Flowers – piccolo trumpet (disc 2)
Seven Storey Mountain III:
Recorded at Issue Project Room on March 11th 2011
Seven Storey Mountain IV:
Recorded at Issue Project Room on June 6th 2013
Mastered By – James Plotkin (tracks: CD2), Mell Dettmer (tracks: CD1)
Mixed By – Jeremiah Cymerman
Recorded By – Jeremiah Cymerman
“McPhee’s cooption of improvised figures out of which he conjures satisfying creations is best shown on “Crescent City Lullaby” where his a capella alto arpeggios gradually link into a plaintive song, referenced time and again through the ensuing improvisation.” -John Sharpe, All About Jazz
—
Recorded 24th September, 2009, live at BIG TOP – New Orleans, LA, USA
Mastered At – MAMAstudios
Mixed At – belAir Sound Studio
Co-producer – Valerij Anosov
Design – Oskaras Anosovas
Mastered By – Arūnas Zujus
Mixed By – Todd Carter
Photography By – Peter Gannushkin
Producer – Danas Mikailionis
Recorded By – Carl R. Moller
Alto Saxophone, Pocket Trumpet – Joe McPhee
Drums – Michael Zerang
“McPhee allows the trio space to stretch out and they reciprocate by diligently seeking ways to set off his pocket trumpet and saxophone to best advantage. In spite of the generational differences all four are accomplished breakers of new ground.” -John Sharpe, All About Jazz
—
Track 1 performed live at Cafe OTO on 29 October 2011 and mastered at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
Tracks 2, 3, 4 performed live at Cafe OTO on 30 October 2011.
Recorded At – Cafe Oto
Mastered At – Dubplates & Mastering
Artwork, Design – Oliver Pitt
Recorded By – Mick Ritchie
Double Bass – John Edwards
Drums – Steve Noble
Organ – Alexander Hawkins
Pocket Trumpet, Alto Saxophone – Joe McPhee
John Herndon: Drums
Nate McBride: Electric Bass, Electronics
Jeff Parker: Electric Guitar, Electronics
Ken Vandermark: Tenor Saxophone
Sides A-C Recorded at Estrada Poznánska/Scena Na Pietrce live on may 9, 2007 in Poznan/Poland
Side D recorded at Chicago Public Radio on January 14, 2008 in Chicago, Illiinois
Engineer – Mary Gaffney (tracks: D)
Mixed By – Bob Weston* (tracks: A – C)
Design – Marek Wajda
Photography By – Krzysztof Penarski, Krzysztof Wesolowski, Ziga Koritnik
Producer – Wawrzyniec Mąkinia
In the history of jazz and improvisation the saxophone duet is remarkably rare. Sax players tend to lock horns with drummers, bassists, trumpeters, even cellists and violinists, but rarely with each other. But here to blow that convention out of the water come two of the planet’s most uncompromising and inventive young hornithologists, Colin Stetson and Mats Gustafsson. Mats Gustafsson has perfected the art of the vein-popping, no-compromise blowout, and has appeared with Sonic Youth, Jim O’Rourke, improvising legends Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, Peter Brötzmann and Ken Vandermark. His own free jazz power trio The Thing recently released the acclaimed Cherry Thing album with Neneh Cherry; while his Fire! trio with Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin have released three albums on Rune Grammofon. The four tracks on Stones were recorded live on stage at the 2011 Vancouver Jazz Festival. Miraculously, this explosive encounter was also their first meeting. “It was completely magic”, remembers Mats. “All was there, the communication, the interaction, the music, the mystery…” This is fire music that smoulders in the dark. Perhaps this will give the sax duo a new lease of life. After all, as Mats says, there’s “No escape… nothing to hide… you just need to go out there and interact!”
—
Recorded live on stage at the 2011 Vancouver Jazz Festival.
Titles inspired by Gunnar Ekelöf (1907 – 1968).
Design – Kim Hiorthøy
Colin Stetson: Alto Saxophone, Bass Saxophone
Mats Gustafsson: Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone
“If there is a way—and there most certainly is—to feel music with all the senses, then Flow Trio, comprising saxophonist Louie Belogenis, bassist Joe Morris and percussionist Charles Downs, show how completely spectacular this can feel when it all comes together on a record such as Rejuvenation. The group, all seriously schooled in the poetics of sound, have literally mastered the way to fully explore the sound dynamic of saxophone, bass and drum, vertically- -for harmonic depth—and horizontally—to toy with the melodic elasticity.” -Raul d’Gama Rose, All About Jazz
—
All tracks by Belogonis/Morris/Downs except track 1 by Belogonis
(Boundless Music BMI)
Recorded on October 4th, 2008 at Context Studio, Brooklyn, NY.
Louis Belogenis: Tenor Saxophone
Joe Morris: Bass
Charles Downs: Drums
