condition (record/cover): NM / EX

With authograhed inscription.

Ned Rothenberg ran Lumina Records out of New York from the early eighties as a vehicle for his own solo work and a handful of associated downtown improvisers (John Zorn's first two volumes of The Classic Guide to Strategy came out on the imprint before Tzadik existed). Portal is his second solo LP after Trials of the Argo (1981) and the document of his early extended-technique vocabulary on alto saxophone, bass clarinet and Sopranino double ocarina.

Four pieces, three solo: Portal and Caenis (recorded 21 October 1982 at Sorcerer Sound, NYC) for alto and bass clarinet respectively; Caeneus (21 November 1982) for the double ocarina; Polysemy (3 April 1983) for bass clarinet with Gerry Hemingway on steel drums and percussion. All pieces recorded direct to two-track tape, no overdubs, no electronics. The vocabulary draws on Japanese shakuhachi practice (Rothenberg was studying with Ralph Samuelson) and circular breathing techniques. Reissued together with Trials of the Argo and Trespass on the 2006 Tzadik Solo Works 2CD.