Jazz /
From Here from There
He is la giusi, I am il piera. We'll explain why we have these nicknames another time. We started rehearsing in 1996. Three years and three recordings passed before we decided to release our first CD, "19 Calefactions" Takla Rec. Since then we have never stopped seeing each other and sharing experiences and paths. As a duo we have released three more works: "Due" Z.rec., "Big Margotta" Brokenresearch, and "Nel margine" Red Toucan. We have always liked trio collaborations and we have released the…
Akagera
Mined like gold from the vaults of the seminal French jazz imprint, JMS, comes the first ever vinyl reissue of Akagera, originally recorded and released in 1980 by an astounding trio of Daniel Humair, François Jeanneau, and Texier.
Directions
If you thought that Rafael Toral’s quartet was named after some reference to Sun Ra’s spatial jazz, here is the confirmation that there’s much more at stake than that, even if the many allusions to the Saturn envoy are also true. Space is the valorization of pauses, interstices, a certain measure of expression and narrative, a way to create transparencies and, most of all, a return to a human dimension, aware of its heart beating, its organic, silent thinking/ inner living of bodily functions. I…
Nature Hath Painted the Body
Clean Feed presents Nature Hath Painted the Body by Jonas Cambien Trio. André Roligheten soprano and tenor saxophone, bass clarinet | Andreas Wildhagen drums | Jonas Cambien piano (soprano saxophone on track 4, organ on tracks 6, 11). Belgian-born, Oslo-based pianist Jonas Cambien couldn’t have chosen better partners than Andreas Wildhagen and André Roligheten to perform his cleverly constructed compositions. On its third studio album, his trio shows itself as a tightly interacting ensemble, …
The Solo Concert
Presented here are parts from three solo concerts from the early 1970s. Roscoe Mitchell plays soprano, alto, tenor, and bass saxophones. One of the tracks on this LP reissue includes an early version of 'Noonah,' a composition that many of his followers will recognize. Originally released on Sackville recordings in 1974 as The Roscoe Mitchell Solo Saxophone Concerts, this historical reissue has been remastered and contains the same material as the original, which is primarily solo concerts from …
Branches
2000 release ** "Entropy Stereo Recordings presents Branches by Northwoods Improvisers. This album represents a slightly different approach for the group. While the Northwoods have collectively used a wide variety of instruments on previous recordings, here they choose to explore the possibilities with the marimba, bass, and drum combination. The album opens with the original composition "Kuntu" which launches into a high energy 7/8 African groove. In fact, rhythms are the key to Branches. Throu…
The Eighth House - Riding with Pluto
** 2021 Stock ** The 8th House is a disc of solo clarinet and saxophone improvisations with a few duets with Juma Santos thrown in. Wendell Harrison and the Tribe were pioneers along with BAG in St. Louis and the AACM in Chicago. Here Wendell recalls some of the freedom and soul from his early work with the Tribe in Detroit. He is joined by percussionist Juma Santos on a few tracks. You may recall Juma from his work with Miles Davis on the Bitches Brew record, or some of his work with Marion Bro…
Luc Houtkamp in Chicago
** 2021 Stock ** This disc represents the first American release for Dutch saxophonist Luc Houtkamp. Here, he appears with Chicago stalwarts Kent Kessler (double bass) and Michael Zerang (drums) in a 1997 studio date. Liner notes by Ken Vandermark, and artwork by Northwoods' Mike Johnston. "Houtkamp often showcases an aural dictionary of multiphonics complete with echoing tongue slaps, colored hissing and speedy key pops, adding the coagulated vibrato of every bar-walking saxophonist's nightmare…
Lattice
** In Process of Stocking ** Dave Rempis is a mid-career artist whose deep roots in the Chicago improvised music scene have by now stretched themselves out across the world through his multiple ongoing collaborations. But he waited a long time to put out this first solo recording. Highly aware of the singular statements in this context put forth by artists such as Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy, Joe McPhee, Evan Parker, Ab Baars, and Mats Gustafsson to name just a few,…
Cochonnerie
** In Process of Stocking ** Aerophonic Records presents Cochonnerie by The Rempis Percussion Quartet. With a band that’s been around for thirteen years, one might reasonably ask with a new recording, what’s new here? Are there now dance beats superimposed on the music? Maybe some electronics? A different instrumentation, or perhaps some special guests? The answer on this recording – the eighth official document of this improvising quartet since it started in 2004 - is a resounding no. It’s the …
Perihelion
** In Process of Stocking ** This sophomore release by the working trio of Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra shows a band doubling down on the slow, patient approach to improvising that characterized their first release, 2014’s Aphelion. The trio continues to pulsate, expanding ever outwards, yet returning to a central core each time to launch their next adventure. The live sets presented on this new two-disc set document that musical expansion and contraction within the trio, but also…
Polynya
** In Process of Stocking ** This debut release by the working trio Gunwale matches veteran Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis up with two of the brightest up-and-coming stars from the next generation of Chicago improvisers. While Ryan Packard is known mostly for his extensive work as a composer and percussionist within the thriving contemporary classical scene in Chicago, Albert Wildeman has achieved notoriety for his meteoric rise from novice instrumentalist to one of the busiest players around a…
Cash and Carry
** In Process of Stocking ** On August 31st, 2014, The Rempis Percussion Quartet celebrated its tenth year in existence with an increasingly rare hometown concert at Chicago’s venerable Hungry Brain, a bar whose dark, relaxed, and frequently hard-drinking atmosphere helped to define more than a decade of the Chicago improvised music scene. The band had cut its teeth with regular performances at the Brain in the mid-aughts, but sadly, this would be the last time they hit the stage before the bar’…
Western Automatic
** In Process of Stocking ** Four generations of Chicago saxophonists join forces in this collaborative quartet, each one separated in age by almost exactly ten years. This wasn’t a calculated decision when Rempis and Vandermark first brainstormed the idea of the group in late 2013. The lineup came together based purely on the musical affinity of the personalities involved. (Oddly enough, Mazzarella and Williams had also been discussing the idea of forming a saxophone quartet at that time). Howe…
Worse for the Wear
** In Process of Stocking ** The fifth release by this powerful working trio in as many years shows a band once again not afraid to come out of the gate swinging. As always, these three individual virtuosos combine their unique talents to put forth a churning mix of hard-driving grooves and well-forged power. However, as the band has continued to work and tour together regularly for the past five years, their music continues to find new avenues of expression. On this recording, Worse For The Wea…
Aphelion
This debut release by the regular working trio of Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra is a perfect example of what makes Chicago such a fertile breeding ground for improvised music; three musicians of widely varying ages, backgrounds, playing experiences, and musical interests join forces to deliver moments of both sublime beauty and volcanic energy, continually tempered by the seamless narrative momentum that they weave together in a seemingly effortless way. Although the trio has only …
Boss of the Plains
** In Process of Stocking ** Wheelhouse was formed in the summer of 2005, when bassist Nate McBride relocated to Chicago from Boston, and was looking for some similarly-minded musicians with whom to work. Having previously met Dave Rempis during the saxophonist's visits home to Boston, he approached him with the idea of starting a band together. Rempis recommended up-and-coming vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, who has gone on to become one of the most noted voices in the Chicago improvised music s…
Second Spring
Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy are two musicians whose work has helped to define an entire generation of Chicago improvisers. Having performed together since they both hit the Chicago scene in the fall of 1997, these two have joined forces on hundreds of performances and dozens of recordings with notable groups including Triage, The Engines, The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Vandermark Five, and countless other ad hoc groupings. Their duo pairing has a similarly long history whose roots date back to…
Codes / Myths
** In Process of Stocking ** Saxophonist Dave Rempis and percussionist Frank Rosaly share a musical relationship of the once-in-a-generation variety. These two improvisers have worked together for almost twenty years, beginning in 2001 when they met in the basement of the Nervous Center, a divey Lincoln Square café that served as a crucial breeding ground for young improvising musicians in Chicago at that time. From the spark of that first musical encounter, the two went on to work together in c…
Sud Des Alpes
** In Process of Stocking ** This record is the tenth release by The Rempis Percussion Quartet, recorded during a 2019 European tour that celebrated their fifteenth anniversary as a working ensemble. Those are some pretty hefty milestones. So how do they push forward artistically with so much already under their belt? From what we hear on Sud Des Alpes, it’s all about digging deeper into the musical dilemmas they’ve been examining for years. These four improvisers continue to grind ideas and per…