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Fred Lonberg-Holm
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“The ten untitled improvisations radiate a kind of almost spiritual refining of Lonberg-Holm’s deep, personal relationship with the instrument. He channels and distills his extensive experience to the most essential, in an honest, sober and unpretentious manner that still sparks with the initial innocence and passion to discover new, fascinating sounds.” – Salt Peanuts
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Recorded live, this album presents Lonberg-Holm in an intimate relationship with his cello, beautifully recorded by Joaquim Montes at Studio Namouche in Lisbon. Using a variety of extended techniques, he conjures a barrage of multiphonics, interwoven timbral excursions, and minuscule textural knots lined along the peripheral architecture of these pieces. Lonberg-Holm alludes to his music having a non-denominational devotional presence in his life, and this relationship is evident in these deeply personal improvisations. This is visceral playing: heavy, dry, honest, and unpretentious. Lonberg-Holm has performed in an exceptional number of free jazz and free improvised ensembles, not to mention with a variety of indie rock bands; one can hear this experience permeating the seasoned playing in these recordings.

–

Artist’s statement:

“Over the years, I have made a number of solo recordings, some in studios such as the now demolished Airwaves in Chicago and the first ESS location (now gone as well), some in concert halls (e.g., Mills College), some outdoors (my father’s farm in central NY as well as the Florida Everglades), and a few at various homes I have lived in. Location has an obvious impact and my long and affectionate relationship with Lisbon inspired me to want to make a solo document there. I have recorded with a variety of projects at Studio Namouche in the Benfica neighborhood of Lisbon and love it. That was where I wanted to make this solo recording.

Anyone who has been to Namouche knows it is a magical place. A faded version of its once probably grand self, Namouche is a sort of small RCA studio A that somehow survived the tumults of the recording industry; it still has the right proportions and materials on the walls, floor and ceiling. Add in good mics, a mixing desk, and the very capable ears of head engineer Joaquim Montes and it’s about perfect.

I’ve described the cello as a “four string busy box” for many years but only recently did I realize it also acts as a “safe space” for me. Although the outcome of pressing the various levers is more unpredictible on a cello than a busy box, I still feel that if I follow the material where it wants to go, nothing can go wrong. It is an act of faith.

For many years, “religious” music has been a source of entertainment and inspiration for me. In spite (or because?) of my lack of religious identity I find beauty in many types of music for worship. Over the years, at different times, I have been obsessed with Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist musics, sermons and chants. While I sometimes fantasize about making a record of religious music, the only faith I can claim to have any real relationship with is Christianity and a recording of Christian music might be misunderstood so . . . I refrain. Instead, I like to think that my solo cello improvisations are a kind of non-denominational devotional music.

During the period when this was recorded, I was listening a lot to Alfred Reed. He seems to favor a very low A (almost A flat) and I experimented with tuning my cello down as a result. Some of the tracks are at that lower pitch and others are closer to A440.

Namouche has a very fine grand piano and a number of other excellent keyboards. They also have some derelict pianos. Most noticeable are the two in the front vestibule and the one in the live room. The short piano pieces were recorded using only the piano in the live room. Because such wrecks aren’t found in most good studios, I couldn’t resist playing it. The juxtaposition of a derelict instrument and an incompetent pianist in a great room with excellent equipment was simply too good to pass up.”
—

Fred Lonberg-Holm – cello, unprepared piano

Recorded March 21, 2019 by Joaquim Montes at Namouche Studios, Lisbon

Mastered by Branic Howard

Artwork by E. Lindorff-Ellery
Photograph by Fred Lonberg-Holm
Letterpress printed by Small Fires Press, New Orleans, LA

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Elisabeth Harnik
12 Tracks
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Piano, Voice, Producer – Elisabeth Harnik

Recorded: Tracks 1/34/6 at Florentiner Saal and tracks 2/5/7/9/10 at E23, Kunstuniversität Graz, December 7, 2004. / Tracks 8/11 at Klavierhaus Fiedler, Graz, November 15, 2004. / Track 12 recorded in concert at “Hörfest 2004” by ORF Steiermark.

Note: for tracks 2, 5, 7, 9 and 10 piano tuning as used for microtonal piano nr.1 in Georg Friedrich Haas opera “Die Schöne Wunde” based on the spectrum of f#, 2 1/2 octave below middle c.

Artwork, Design by Eva Murauer
Recorded By Florian Hollerweger (tracks: 1 to 11), Gerhard Hüttl (tracks: 12)
Mastered by Florian Hollerweger

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Luke Stewart
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“While Astral Spirits releases remarkable music on a near-weekly basis, this album has truly held its place as one of the best releases of the year.” – Daniel Palmer, PostGenre
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Liner notes:

“Back in 2018, I was invited by Dave Rempis to participate in the Exposure Series at Elastic Arts in Chicago. The Series was for me a shining example of artist-lead organizing of different yet connected communities around the Music. From my standpoint, it is yet another in the continuum of such actions, specifically in Chicago, and has been a major inspiration for my work as an artist and for the material on this recording.

The ensemble was assembled by Mr. Rempis, and was the first time the group had ever played together. The experience was immensely moving and was a major event in my own musical development, having the chance to lead a collective ensemble of true pillars in Creative Music.

Later that year, I was invited back to Chicago by Ken Vandermark for the Option Series at Experimental Sound Studio. It was then when I was able to schedule a recording and subsequent concert with the group, revisiting the material conceived by the ensemble earlier that year. As for the actual composition, I wanted to showcase the collectivism of the sounds produced in that first meeting. With that in mind I listened back to the first recording and transcribed different movements, motifs, and themes, plus added a few original composition ideas. We then recorded these collective compositions, first in a private recording session, second in front of an audience at Elastic Arts, where the Quintet first met.

What is presented here on this double album is a collection of both sessions. I want to convey again the collectivity of the Quintet. The concept of being a (C)omposer is a result of centuries of musical hierarchy, regarded and celebrated as the ultimate form of a musical artist. The example set out by the journeys of many in Improvised Music, including the gentlemen on this recording, allows for exploration of “composition” in true collective non-hierarchical form. There are no single series of notes, timbres, and dynamics conceived previously by an individual that was then imposed. Rather the Music was allowed to be presented with equal representation from each individual. The “Composer” here, is merely the organizer of the spirit energy of the ensemble. This is the nature of the beautiful offering that This Music provides.”
-Luke Stewart, July 2020.
—

Luke Stewart – Bass, Compositions
Edward Wilkerson, Jr. – Reeds
Ken Vandermark – Reeds
Jim Baker – Piano
Avreeayl Ra – Drums

Recorded by David Zuchowski
Mastered by Mikey Young
Artwork & Layout by Jaime Zuverza

Thanks to Dave Rempis for instigating.

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Joe Morris, Ben Hall & Andria Nicodemou
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Recorded May 14, 2016 at Firehouse 12 studios New Haven Connecticut
Engineered, mixed and mastered by Greg DeCrosta

Joe Morris – guitar, effects
Ben Hall – drums, tympani, percussion
Andria Nicodemou – vibraphone, percussion

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English
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Unreleased archive recordings of English, Seoul South Korea, 2007.

Joe Foster: trumpet and electronics
Bonnie Jones: electronics

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claire rousay
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“Among the tiny pieces of this tangential pattern, motifs emerge, like a scrunching of heavy paper (lately, I keep ripping the pages of my diary right out) and a single booming drum hit honestly and repetitively as a kind of call to arms, ominous, for an impending doom, perhaps, and what is built using those bits post-destruction. The glass, a window, a mirror, by design. Descriptions that reject prescriptive understandings. Working towards solutions, not even methodically, but hypothetically and completely. Sounds of an involuntary faith, which is what faith is.” – cookcook, Tiny Mix Tapes
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Artist Statement – claire rousay

I am an improviser and percussionist. I use physical objects and their potential sounds as a way to explore queerness, human physicality, and self perception. As a queer and transgender person, I am constantly aware of my physical state. Whether this is anatomic or geographic, it plays a massive role in how I view myself and interact with those around me. This awareness constantly shifts my self perception which then informs those same surroundings in a new way. This happens constantly and endlessly. I am interested in creative improvisation because of the ability to create works using it that have this ever-evolving quality that is similar to my emotional and physical experiences.

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Nate Wooley
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“It is a haunting, often aggressive sound world that moves from a place of chilled droning into a dense and pummeling chaos, before returning to a stressed restraint reminiscent of the work’s opening moments.” -Molly Sheridan, New Music Box
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Amplified Trumpet, Tape – Nate Wooley
Violin – C. Spencer Yeh
Drums – Chris Corsano

Performed live at Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY December 8th, 2009
Mastered at Aleph

Mastered By – Mell Dettmer
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeremiah Cymerman

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Nate Wooley
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“Seven Storey Mountain” involve a sloughing off of conventional technique in favor of esoteric sounds, and a sensation of slow, steady ascent through mysterious terrain toward a distant peak.” -Steve Smith, New York Times
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Harmonium – David Grubbs
Percussion – Paul Lytton
Trumpet [Unprocessed Amplified Trumpet], Tape – Nate Wooley

Dedicated to the memory of Hazel Wooley, a softly humming island of calm in a flood of voices

Performed live at Abrons Art Center, New York, NY, September 29th 2007.
Mixed and mastered at Studio Stats.

Recorded By – Jon Rosenberg
Mixed By, Mastered By – Reuben Radding
Artwork, Design – The Wyvern

Commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music with support from the Greenwall Foundation.

Special thanks to Paul and David.

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Mats Gustafsson
6 Tracks
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Review by Brian Olewnick, All Music

“What a pleasant surprise! The Swedish multi-reed maestro, he of the coruscatingly wild fluteophone attacks, turns to the relatively calm and linear world of Steve Lacy and finds a very happy medium in this solo release. While he treats Lacy’s deadpan and deceptively simple melodies with clear respect, he uses them as jumping off points for his own idiosyncratic deconstructions. On “Deadline,” he navigates into a territory of ultra-soft percussive clicks and taps, creating a fascinating spatial field before tiptoeing back to the theme. Gustafsson is not averse to approaches that might strike the Lacy aficionado as sacrilegious, such as transforming his “Prospectus” into a drone piece for baritone sax. Lest any of these stances seem too outré, Lacy himself provides very appreciative liner notes for the project and, in any case, Gustafsson can quell any criticism with his gorgeous reading of “Retreat,” a heartbreakingly lovely, shakuhachi-like song. He also makes the inspired choice of covering Cecil Taylor’s “Louise” (a composition that Lacy often performed while a member of the pianist’s early bands) and contributes two lovely investigations of his own: the fluttery, percolating title track (for fluteophone, a flute with a sax mouthpiece) and the closing, bubbly “Outline.” Windows is an important step in Gustafsson’s career, evidencing a mature combination of technical prowess, conceptual rigor, and sublimated passion. Highly recommended.”

Mats Gustafsson: Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Reeds [Fluteophone]Recorded at AirWave Recording Studios, Chicago, January 26, 1999.
Mixed and mastered at AirWave, September 1999.

Photography by John Corbett
Producer: John Corbett, Mats Gustafsson
Recorded by John McCortney

Thanks to Brad Kendrick and the Empty Bottle.

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Han Bennink & Terrie Ex
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”Han and Terrie share a giddy playfulness and the feeling of performing a crazy little dance next to a ravine. That old school drum kit and irreparable guitar are not just instruments, but tools to kick-start your imagination and they rattle, scrape, howl, screech, squeak and rumble incessantly. It is like a game of musical hopscotch: sometimes there is a swift win, sometimes it is unclear until the very end who will come out on top, and occasionally the game will be disbanded halfway through. They are messing with expectations and conventions,
always with some mischief and a grin, challenging you to do something about it.” — Guy Peters.Ten improvs, recorded live at Les Instants Chavirés, Montreuil (F) by Benjamin Pagier. September 22, 2022.

All music by Han Bennink and Terrie Ex.
Mixed by Lena Hessels.
Mastered by Arnold de Boer.
Cover art: Han Bennink.
Letterpress cover art: Harm van der Tuuk.
Photo: Geert Vandepoele.

Layout: Emma Fischer.
Liner notes: Guy Peters.
Cut by Lex van Coeverden at The Vinyl Room.
Pressed at DiscoMat, Herk-de-Stad (B).
Also thanks: JF and the Instants crew, Annemiek, Tom & André, ICP and The Ex.

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Mette Rasmussen & Tashi Dorji
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“The density of the improvisations isn’t of the overlapping non-communicative variety, but is rather sympathetic and well timed. When one provides hard lines, the other provides color. Their excellent rapport makes for a very compelling listen; let’s hope we hear a great deal more from this duo in the near future.” – Nick Metzger, Free Jazz Blog

“Mette Rasmussen is a Danish saxophonist, based in Norway, who has been recording with some of our favorite players (Chris Corsano, Alan Silva, Mats Gustafsson, Ace Farren Ford, etc.) She has also formed this duo with Asheville-based guitarist, Tashi Dorji (whose combo, Manas, has had two LPs on Feeding Tube this far: FTR 208LP, 2015 and FTR 330LP, 2017). The duo material for this LP was recorded in Montreal, right around the same time Mette and Tashi recorded a trio set for Trost (with the addition of drummer Tyler Damon). And it’s all great stuff. Mette’s playing has a raw tonal approach that makes one think of Eric Dolphy at his harshest. Her lines evince much of the same nimbleness as well. The effect is not unlike being hit in the face by a bunch of snakes with wings. Naturally, Tashi is playing electric in order to make himself heard, and the clots of sound he manages to coax out of his amp are worthy of comparison with such form-erupters as Keith Rowe. On the first side, there’s a real physicality to the blocks Tashi creates, as well as to the manner which Mette’s reed attacks them. It’s an incredible sound — brutal and communicative in equal measures. But as much as this may imply a musical surface akin to that of Borbetomagus, there’s a lot more open space here. Especially on the second side, the music is paced to give itself over (now and then) to crenellations that allows in as much light as they emit. This record is a supremely human effort and hopefully the harbinger of much more to come.” –Byron Coley, 2018

All tracks recorded in Montreal QC, June 17 2016
at The Hotel2Tango by Patrick Kukucka except Liberty recorded live at La Sala Rosa, Montreal QC

Mixed & Mastered by Lasse Marhaug

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Sylvie Courvoisier & Evan Parker
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“Even though the duo can get confrontational, they also know how to turn their dueling into fun and communicate the pleasure they take in playing with each other.” – Alain Drouot, Down Beat

Sylvie Courvoisier: Piano
Evan Parker: Saxophones

Relative Pitch Records (2014)

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jim Clouse at Parkwest studios, Brooklyn, NY on September 24, 2013

Produced by Mike Paniko and Kevin Reilly
Executive producer RobertD. Bielecki
Artwork and design by Michael Sprigle
Over photograph by Mari

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Dafeldecker / Kurzmann / Drumm / eRikm / dieb13 / Noetinger
5 Tracks
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“The first release on clarinetist and laptopper Christof Kurzmann’s Charhizma imprint in 1999 teamed him up with Polwechsel’s Werner Dafeldecker on double bass and electronics and guests Kevin Drumm, Christian Fennesz, and Jim O’Rourke. On this follow-up album, with the same garish fluorescent (green this time) cover art by Fineder and Winkler, Dafeldecker and Kurzmann are joined by Drumm, eRikm, Dieb13, and Jérôme Noetinger on various electronic devices. Sourced from concert recordings from Berlin, Graz, and Vienna in 2000 and 2001, the five tracks are mixed together to form a continuous 48 minute arc of music that disappears down a hole only to return eight minutes later with the obligatory ghost track (yawn) to round off the total CD duration to exactly one hour. The dark, woody tones of Dafeldecker’s bass and flutters of Kurzmann’s fragile clarinet fit well with Noetinger’s lo-fi electronics and Dieb13’s gritty turntablism, and Kurzmann’s affection for techno is evident from time to time in his fondness for gently clicking loops. The album is sedate but not without touches of humor, notably from Marseille DJ eRikm’s prepared piano and shotgun samples.” -Dan Warburton, All Music

Recorded live 2000 at Berlin (1) and 2001 at Graz, Wien (Vienna) and Berlin.

Artwork [Cover] – M. Fineder, V. Winkler
Computer [G3], Clarinet – Christof Kurzmann
Design [Cover Art Remixed] – Marion Gerth
Edited By, Mastered By – Christof Kurzmann, Werner Dafeldecker
Electronics, Bass – Werner Dafeldecker

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Paul Lytton / Nate Wooley + Ikue Mori & Ken Vandermark
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The duo of the veteran and pioneer Paul Lytton and the innovative newcomer Nate Wooley is one of the most powerful and intriguing of these last years. They managed to revalue this old instrumental format, seeing it not only as the most basic structure of interactive improvisation but also as a kind of metonymy of all the processes and lexical resources possible in this field. That’s why after one masterpiece like “Creak Above 33” and a deeper and deeper application of their “one-to-one seeming more” ideas, they invited other musicians to join them. On stage people of several generations of the improv scene like Fred Frith, C Spencer Yeh, Ben Hall, Evan Parker and John Russell, among others, and on record musicians of the relevance of Christian Weber (“Six Feet Under”) and David Grubbs (“The Seven Storey Mountain”). At John Zorn’s The Stone they played in 2011 with Ikue Mori and two weeks later they stepped at Chicago’s Hideout with Ken Vandermark, besides presenting the original duet. The recordings of those dates are now reunited in a double album that enables you to fully understand that the Lytton/Wooley partnership is the same when only the two are involved and when there’s a “special guest”. The trios with Vandermark and Mori aren’t duos plus one, and neither the duos aren’t a return to the essentials: everything is in perspective, accomplishing the old aspiration to create collective music in which the individuality of the participants isn’t damaged in any way. What a lesson!

Recorded live at The Stone, NYC, March 2, 2011 & live at The Hideout, Chicago, March 16, 2011

Nate Wooley: Trumpet
Paul Lytton: Percussion
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Ikue Mori: Computer
Ken Vandermark: Sax

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Mark Feldman, Dave Rempis & Tim Daisy
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Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy are two musicians whose work together over the last 25 years has been the cornerstone of countless improvising bands: Triage, Vandermark Five, Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Earscratcher, and their longstanding duo, to name a few. Over the last decade they’ve purposely found ways to shake their interaction up, reconstructing and redefining the possibilities to keep the music moving forward. Part of that approach has involved bringing in countless musicians as guests with their duo, to knock things every which way. On their last record – 2018’s Dodecahedron – they chose a panoply of improvisers whose approaches run the gamut of current experimental practice, including Jason Adasiewicz, Jim Baker, Zoots Houston, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Steve Swell, and Katie Young. Across the pandemic, they’ve used their ongoing concert series at Milwaukee’s Sugar Maple to do the same with guests including Russ Johnson, Michael Zerang, Jen Clare Paulson, Peter Maunu, and Jeb Bishop.

Amongst all of those collaborations and explorations, one such trio grouping stood out like leather pants at a PETA convention. When Chicago native Mark Feldman returned to the city during the pandemic, after decades in New York, Rempis and Daisy jumped on the opportunity. Feldman is a singular voice on an instrument with too few practitioners in the world of improvised music. His unparalleled technique and chameleon ability to absorb and dissect any musical style he delves into is astounding. Whether the gig is with John Zorn, Muhal Richard Abrams, Loretta Lynn, or John Abercrombie, Feldman is there. Thrown in with Rempis and Daisy on several gigs in 2022, Feldman laser-beamed in on precisely what makes their language tick, and wrapped himself into it like a warm coat. But in doing so, he also found ways to splinter it apart from the inside out.

On Sirocco, you hear him teasing slow-wavering long tones against the horn, throwing sharp jabs of articulation back at Daisy’s kit, and bouncing impossibly quick counterpoint back at both of them across five octaves. With those maneuvers, Feldman capitalizes on his boulevard-wide technique to bust up any of the time-tested tropes that Rempis and Daisy might try to roll out, forcing them to reconstruct their decades of interaction into a new immediate sound. But it’s never a struggle or conflict, simply an ongoing set of questions and proposals, posed by a master of the form. If you’re looking for a primer on artistic reinvention, here you go.

Mark Feldman – violin
Dave Rempis – alto/tenor/bari saxophone
Tim Daisy – drums/percussion

Recorded October 20th, 2022 at Elastic Arts, Chicago
Recorded by Bill Harris
Mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski
Artwork and cover design by Lasse Marhaug Produced by Dave Rempis

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Tim Daisy & Erez Dessel
6 Tracks
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Open Spiral documents a set of duo improvisations between new to Chicago pianist and composer Erez Dessel and veteran percussionist Tim Daisy. Six open ended tracks exploring a wide range of sounds and gestures from intricate textural landscapes to full force free jazz cacophony. Recorded one sunny afternoon in December at The Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago.

Erez Dessel: piano
Tim Daisy: drums and percussion

All compositions by Tim Daisy (ASCAP) and Erez Dessel
Recorded on December 10th, 2022 at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago,IL
Recorded by Ralph Loza
Mixed and Mastered by Todd Carter bel_ Air Studios
Special thanks to Ralph Loza, Kate In, Todd Carter and the Experimental Sound Studio
Photo by Tim Daisy

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Ballister
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When Ballister hit the stage at the Catalytic Sound Festival in Chicago in December 2022, no one in the band was quite sure what to expect. Although they’d done a two-week tour of the US in April of that year, their first reunion following an almost three-year break due to the pandemic, you never know what might happen after several months apart. Sometimes that first gig is magic. And sometimes it swims around searching for a center. That’s just a danger of the art form.

But drummer Paal Nilssen-Love’s hard driving tom rolls at the start of “Smash,” called all three right to attention. And they dove in with a level of careless abandon that lesser groups would burn through like kerosene. But one of the defining characteristics of Ballister is the band’s ability to shape spewing lava into meaningful form thanks to their many years of shared history. On Smash and Grab, a punk aesthetic wraps itself into the mature sensibility of seasoned improvisers to create one of those rare sets that simply unfolds calmly in front of you like an origami flower. Full-on energy melts into quiet solo explorations by every band member, which in turn morph back into fiery rhythmic juxtapositions that pulse forth like a quasar. Drive and density meet centered patience in a series of unpredictable transitions.

Although the band had already been selecting material recorded during their earlier spring tour for a new release, all that went out the window after this set. As soon as they walked offstage they knew this was it.

For a set of music that was so clearly the one, it also only made sense to treat it as the rare and special event that it was, with a limited edition vinyl pressing. And why not make it hot pink, just for fun? This is only the fourth vinyl LP that Aerophonic has pressed in our 10-year history, and it’s a worthy addition to the other three sold out LP’s on that short list. Despite having released 10 other albums in their almost 15 years of work together, it’s also only the third LP in the Ballister catalogue. 2014’s Both Ends and 2017’s Low Level Stink are both long gone! So perhaps grab yours while you still can? (Also available on cd for the faint of heart!)

Dave Rempis – alto/tenor/bari saxophone
Fred Lonberg-Holm – cello/electronics
Paal Nilssen-Love – drums/percussion

Recorded at the 3rd annual Catalytic Sound Festival December 2nd, 2022 at Elastic Arts, Chicago
Recorded by Bill Harris
Mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski
Artwork and cover design by Lasse Marhaug Produced by Dave Rempis

Special thanks to Ken Vandermark and all of the musicians of the Catalytic Sound Collective.

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Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy & Mark Feldman
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“Begin, Again” documents a set of new compositions realized by three veterans from the creative improvised music scene: trombonist Jeb Bishop, violinist Mark Feldman and percussionist Tim Daisy. Inspired by Jeb and Mark’s recent relocation back to the windy city, Tim Daisy seized on the opportunity and organized a semi regular workshop at his home in Evanston. The inspired results of these meetings are evident on this inaugural release: a set of eight new pieces composed by both Jeb and Tim, with invaluable guidance and assistance from Mr Feldman, and three solo improvisations, showcasing the artist’s individuality and sonic range on his chosen instrument.

The cohesion, focused performance, and stylistic range of the music on this recording is owed not only to the regular rehearsals that have taken, and continue to take place at Tim’s home, but just as importantly, to the combined experience that these three musicians brings to the table. A quick look at each of these artist’s discographies highlights a who’s who of improvised musicians and ensembles, working in a wide range of contexts. This decades long consistency and dedication to their art form is what truly helps ignite the spark that sets this music in motion.

Begin, Again is the inaugural document by this new experimental music trio. Born out of a semi-regular meeting in a basement just north of Chicago, with no plans of slowing down, the group hopes to continue its sonic investigations, adding to its growing list of compositions, building momentum by performing, rehearsing and touring. Evolving….like all great working bands do.

Jeb Bishop: trombone
Tim Daisy: drums, marimba,radio
Mark Feldman: violin

1,2,4 & 8 composed by Tim Daisy (Split Music/ASCAP)
5,6 & 10 composed by Jeb Bishop (BMI)

Recorded on June 16th, 2023 at the Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL
Recorded by Nick Broste
Mixed by Mark Feldman
Mastered by Todd Carter bel_ Air Studios
Photo “Edisto Island” by Tim Daisy
This is Relay Recordings 036

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Håvard Wiik & Tim Daisy
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Slight Return documents two sets of inspired sound making between Berlin based pianist Håvard Wiik (Atomic, Element, Free Fall) and Chicago drummer Tim Daisy (Vox 4, Rempis Percussion Quartet.) Reconnecting a decade after their 2013 release “A Fine Day in Berlin” (relay 006) which included bassist extraordinaire Clayton Thomas, Daisy and Wiik continue their synergetic dialogue in a duo context. Pushing, pulling and prodding; investigating a wide range of sonic territories from low volume textures to full blast free jazz cacophony and everything in between. Spirited improvisation recorded one lovely afternoon at Zentrifuge studios in Berlin, mixed and mastered in Chicago.

Håvard Wiik: piano
Tim Daisy: drums

Recorded on May 20th, 2023 by Ti To at Zentrifuge Studio, Berlin
Mixed and Mastered by Todd Carter at bel_ Air sound, Chicago, IL

Artwork/ Design by Jamie Breiwick B Side Graphics
Photo “Vienna Sky” by Tim Daisy

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Edition Redux
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This music utilizes a “cinematic” approach to organizing the pieces, a system which allows me to reconfigure the material for every performance, leading to new paths for the music during the compositions and in open sections as well as self-determined free improvisation between them.  This methodology can be challenging to work with because each player needs to keep in mind where they’ve been, where they are, and where they’re going regarding the compositional sequences, as well as what needs to take place during each piece.

Edition Redux had its first rehearsal on March 29th, 2023. During a seven-date April tour in the States following those initial meetings, the group became a creative machine, each concert leading to new acuity regarding the music and how it can be performed.  The quartet transformed from a new project to a full-fledged band during that process, enabling the group to record all 17 pieces from the book in first takes at Experimental Sound Studio on April 25th. That creative arc is more than extraordinary and was made possible because of the ongoing innovation and insight that Erez Dessel, Lily Finnegan, and Beth McDonald put into the music.

I’d like to thank Katinka Kleijn and Nick Macri for the work they contributed during more than half a year of rehearsals and performances in Chicago to developing the material heard on this album, and I look forward to collaborating with them on an expanded version of Edition Redux in the future.

-Ken Vandermark, Chicago, September 25, 2023

“One and one is two- that’s business. One and one is four- that’s art- or if you like it better- is life. I think that makes clear: the many-fold seeing, the many-fold reading of the world makes us broader, wider, richer. In education, a single standpoint cannot give a solid firm stand. Thus, let us have different viewpoints, different standpoints. Let us observe in different directions and from different angles…”

-Josef Albers (speech delivered at the Black Mountain College Luncheon, Cosmopolitan Club, New York, December 9, 1938; back cover from from One and One Is Four: The Bauhaus Photocollages of Josef Albers (Museum of Modern Art: 2016), contributors: Sarah Hermanson Meister, Elizabeth Otto, Lee Ann Daffner).

Music composed by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music Publishing/ASCAP, AUME/Published by Cien Fuegos)

Music performed and improvised by-
Erez Dessel: piano and Nord synthesizer
Lily Finnegan: drums
Beth McDonald: tuba and electronics
Ken Vandermark: reeds

Recorded by Alex Inglizian at Kate In at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago on April 24, 2023. Mixed and mastered by Alex Inglizian at ESS. Produced by Ken Vandermark for Audiographic Records.

Cover art, idea 1, by Michael Finnegan
Album design by Fede Peñalva

Thanks to the musicians; to Alex Inglizian, Kate In, and the staff at Experimental Sound Studio; to all the audiences and organizers on the April 2023 U.S. tour; to Fede Peñalva; and to the listeners.

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Nate Wooley
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Four Experiments stemmed from a pandemic fascination with an early book of poetry by Stephen Spender and a desire to explore new ways of viewing my relationship to instrumental, compositional, and improvisatory technique. Each piece here was written to be played by any number of players with any level of background, and they are presented here in solo versions and in small ensembles. Beyond the musical challenges posed through manic repetition, instrumental discomfort, the frailty of the untrained voice, and working in uncomfortable time frames, these pieces also present personal and social challenges to be overcome in preparation for their performance. It was only natural to base the set’s ensemble on the group of musicians loosely referred to as Mutual Aid Music. These performers combine their mastery with a fearlessness that is necessary in attacking each Experiment. Failure is a possible form of virtuosity, and the stunningly intimate and raw music made by these musicians, using the odd constructions of the Experiments as their guide, is proof that this kind of mastery can be overwhelmingly moving

Disc One
Experiment One
“Bray Trumpets,
Blow forever in my head!”

1. John McCowen recorder (27:01)
Recorded in Reykjavik, Iceland April 24, 2022
2. Weston Olencki trombone (31:51)
Nate Wooley trombone
Recorded at Oktaven Studios, Mt. Vernon, NY July 28, 2022

Disc Two
Experiment Two
“The voices of the poor, like birds
That thud against a sullen pain,”

1. Ryan Packard bass drum, sine tones, speaker cone, and rope (18:21)
Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden May 11, 2022
2. gabby fluke-mogul violin (20:35)
Russell Greenberg percussion
Cory Smythe piano
Lester St. Louis cello
Luke Stewart double bass and amplifier

Disc Three
Experiment Three
“Touched lips and quiver, as though these worn things…”

1. Nate Wooley voice (22:54)
Recorded in Brooklyn, NY April 24, 2022
2. Joshua Modney violin and voice (6:48)
Mariel Roberts cello and voice
3. Joshua Modney violin and voice (8:39)
Mariel Roberts cello and voice
4. Joshua Modney violin and voice (8:00)
Mariel Roberts cello and voice
Recorded at Oktaven Studio, Mt. Vernon, NY October 4, 2022

Disc Four
Experiment Four
“I am dizzy looking at their faces;”

1. Seymour Wright alto saxophone (33:15)
Recorded in London, England February 22, 2022
2. Laura Cocks – flute (34:52)
Madison Greenstone – clarinet
Eric Wubbels – piano, voice, autoharp
Recorded at Oktaven Studio, Mt. Vernon, NY June 28, 2022

Design and Layout by Lasse Marhaug
All pieces by Nate Wooley (2021 fourwordseamusic, BMI)

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Farida Amadou, Jonas Cambien & Dave Rempis
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This brand new transatlantic collaboration unites three renowned improvisers in a stellar first time matchup. Electric bassist Farida Amadou’s stratospheric rise over the last several years has been shaking the roofbeams of the European improvised music scene. She’s participated in high flying collaborations with heavyweight improvisers like Peter Brötzmann, Steve Noble, and Thurston Moore, many of which have been documented on the Antwerp-based Dropa Disc label.
Jonas Cambien on piano and electronics, a fellow Belgian like Amadou, has been living in Norway since 2008. During his tenure there, he’s become an integral part of the thriving Norwegian improvised music scene, with an extremely broad set of pursuits. He works regularly with his own trio featuring saxophonist André Roligheten and Andreas Wildhagen on drums, is a founding member of the new music ensemble Aksiom, and has studied and performed Arabic music extensively in Cairo with a number of Egyptian musicians. Saxophonist and label founder Dave Rempis needs no introduction to Aerophonic fans, and it was on a shared bill with Amadou in Antwerp in November 2021 where they first hatched a plot to combine forces.

One year later, in November 2022, those plans coalesced around a short tour of Belgium and Netherlands with Amadou’s regular collaborator Cambien. With the gracious support of their friends from Dropa Disc and Sound in Motion in Antwerp, who organized and recorded the proceedings, they were able to document the entire first day of their collaboration with an afternoon recording session and live evening concert in Eindhoven, NL at Paviljoen Ongehoorde Muziek. That material is presented here with its many overlapping layers of possibility. With both Amadou and Cambien doubling on electronics, the range of options for the trio’s sonic palette far exceeds what three musicians could normally put forth. And don’t let the lack of a drummer fool you – the rhythmic drive of this band is intense. Whether pushed forth by Amadou’s percussive approach to her main ax, by Rempis floating driving lines on top of a bed of electronic noise, or by Cambien offering up calliope-like repetition at the keyboard, the momentum here is always strong. Of course that doesn’t prevent the band from sometimes devolving into swirling masses of sound reminiscent of a gathering storm. In fact, it’s their notable ability to gather those swirls into cohesive and sustained drive them gives the band such a unique sound.

Dave Rempis – alto/tenor saxophone
Jonas Cambien – piano/electronics
Farida Amadou – electric bass/electronics

Recorded November 13th, 2022 at POM Eindhoven, NL
Recorded by Koen Vandenhoudt
Mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski
Artwork and cover design by Lasse Marhaug Produced by Dave Rempis
Special thanks to Christel Kumpen and Koen Vandenhoudt at Sound In Motion, Antwerp, and Bart van Dongen at POM, Eindhoven.

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Survival Unit III
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“To rush at the wind and having caught it, to soar.” – Unknown

Astral Spirits and the Instigation Festival are proud to announce the first release on Instigation Records: “The Art of Flight: For Alvin Fielder” by Survival Unit III (Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Joe McPhee (tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet), Michael Zerang (percussion).

This set finds the trio breaking new ground – Lonberg-Holm going sans electronics for the first time in Survival Unit III’s storied discography – while displaying the mastery of sonic shade and deft interplay that’s been their hallmark over the past sixteen plus years.

Beautifully recorded at the New Orleans Jazz Museum during the 2018 Instigation Festival, the night was fittingly historic: Survival Unit III performed the middle set of a three act bill featuring Ken Vandermark’s Marker (released as Roadwork 1 on Vandermark’s Audiographic imprint) and the final performance of McPhee (filling in last minute for an ill Kidd Jordan) with legendary drummer and beloved AACM elder Alvin Fielder to whom this album is dedicated. That set – with James Singleton on bass to round out the trio – will be released on LP in 2023 as the third title on Instigation Records.

With precious few recordings of Survival Unit III, every new release is a cause for celebration, and a perfect encapsulation of the spirit of the festival: honoring the history by crafting the future.

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Dave Rempis, Elisabeth Harnik & Michael Zerang
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This trio didn’t know how lucky they had it. They were certainly happy to perform again when this concert was recorded at the ArtActs Festival in St Johan Austria in early March 2020. Although their first outing was back in 2013 in Harnik’s hometown of Graz – a live concert broadcast through the Austrian National Radio/ORF, the band has had a sporadic performance history. So the opportunity to reunite for this festival performance was already special. Little did they know what lay ahead though, with a pandemic that was actually breaking out right around them in the Alpine ski areas of Tirol, Austria, an epicenter that would soon be tied to COVID’s spread around Europe by international vacationers. This opening night of ArtActs ‘20 would be one of those last care-free times, when one could sit until the wee hours at the bar with friends, celebrating a night of music- making with laughter and cheer, and with no concern for a shared breath.

Thankfully, these three took advantage of the opportunity to produce a stellar document of their performance. Astragaloi is the third release by this trio formation, after the digital-only Wistfully which came out in 2016 on Aerophonic, and 2020’s Triple Tube issued on cd by Not Two. While some of those records have flown under the radar because of the trio’s sparse performance schedule, that doesn’t diminish the musical simpatico that these three have enjoyed for years. Ever since Harnik’s introduction to the Chicago scene at the 2008 Umbrella Music Festival when she was a featured visiting artist, she’s actively maintained the relationships she built there, including with Rempis and Zerang. Aside from their work as a trio, all three have worked together in duo contexts since that first meeting.

On Astragaloi, it may be Harnik’s wide-ranging abilities that tie things together in such an astounding way. At one moment her preparations inside the piano turn the instrument into a quietly percussive zither, while at another her full- throated insistence at the keyboard draws out the resonance of a full orchestra. Skittering, plucking, pounding, caressing. And while she has the sheer energy to keep up with Rempis’ firebreathing tendencies, she also knows how to rein him in to quieter, more abstract spaces that explore breathy nuance and pinpoint texture. Zerang meanwhile displays the singular approach that he’s developed on the drum kit, rooted in his Middle Eastern upbringing and the significant abilities as a hand percussionist that he developed early on. That approach frees him as an improviser from so many of the tropes common to “drummers,” as he pushes the instrument beyond groove to focus on color, density, articulation, dynamics, and drive, in a way that creates an uncommon unity within the group. There are no specialized duties here, all three of these improvisers roll up their sleeves to keep the narrative momentum moving forward using every tool at their disposal.

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Dave Rempis, Tomeka Reid & Joshua Abrams
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Allium is the second recording by this chamber trio, a follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2018 release Ithra. On that record they made a singularly powerful statement delving into non- soloistic group interaction and compositional development in a free-improvised context. Allium ventures even further down that fertile path.

In fact it’s frankly difficult to believe these pieces weren’t pre-composed and rehearsed at length. The beginnings, endings, development, and structure of each one demonstrates total clarity, sense of purpose, and assurance. There’s never a moment when someone rushes in head-first, only to find themselves backpedaling to compensate for a tactical error. Instead we hear thoughtful and deliberate actions that always drive the narrative exposition forward. Even when a member occasionally steps to the fore with a more soloistic approach, it’s only used as a means for further development of the whole. And each of these short pieces is a terrain complete unto itself from one to the next – desert, rainforest, tundra, mountaintop.

This achievement isn’t one that many groups could pull off. Most are limited by a set of dogma associated with the particular genre they work in. Jazz, improvised music, contemporary classical, etc., each of which has its own working methodologies and precepts. But these three musicians are ones who have deeply considered and successfully straddled those boundaries in their decades of work; each one as noted bandleaders, as well as in their collaborations with some of the most important thinkers in creative music over the last half-century. Those decades of elbow-deep trial and error diving into a myriad of creative strategies is what allows these three to come together in such a unique example of spontaneous compositional collaboration.

The end result of this working process is jaw- dropping, since the concentration it demands makes every moment sing with tension. Each piece on Allium holds the visceral excitement of an impending implosion, as Rempis, Reid, and Abrams race towards an as-yet-unknown finish line while trying to avoid any devastating stumbles along the way. They can never be sure from one piece to the next if a particular structure might collapse under its own weight, or trail off into irrelevance. And yet they stick that landing each time, piling up one small miracle after another, and creating a sonic monument to non-hierarchical human collaboration. This artistic statement carries meaning much greater than just the sounds you hear, delving deep into the ethical, political, spiritual, and philosophical underpinnings of their unique process.