Jazz /
Warszawa 2019
Fundacja Sluchaj! presents Warszawa 2019 by Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. Recorded live on 12 of October 2019 at 14th Ad Libitum Festival, Laboratorium, U-Jazdowski, Wojciech Krukowski Hall, Warsaw by Kuba Sosulski. Mixed by Evan Parker with Fil Gomes at Arcobarco, Ramsgate, UK. Mastering by Grzegorz Piwkowski (High End Audio). Photos: Piotr Gruchała. Liner notes: Stuart Broomer. Cover Design: Zuza Ustjan. Executive Producer: Maciej Karłowski.
The ElectroAcoustic Ensemble was formed in…
Known / Unknown
Fundacja Słuchaj! presents Known / Unknown by Paul Lytton and Nate Wooley. Recorded January 2018 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Engineered and Mixed/Mastered by Bojan Vuletic. Special Thanks to Bojan and Maciej. All Music by Paul Lytton (GEMA) and Nate Wooley (fourwordseamusic BMI). Paul Lytton photo by Gerald Schauder. Nate Wooley photo Frank Schneeman. Graphic Design: Małgorzata Lipińska. Executive Producer: Maciej Karłowski.
It had been awhile since we'd made a real studio recording in which I cou…
Nights on Saturn - Communication
Astral Spirit presents Nights on Saturn (Communication) by [Ahmed]. Recorded live at Cafe OTO, London, December 5th, 2019. Recording: Shaun Cook. Mixing: Billy Steiger. Mastering: Mikey Young. Inner-sleeve text: ' Origins Revisited' by Pat Thomas (2004). Cover photo of Ahmed Abdul-Malik at the Cabana Club, New York City, 1965. "The journey of self-discovery, communing with the eternal sound. A musician steeped in multiple worlds; oceans apart yet closely connected in ancestral memory. Musicians …
Free Jazz Manifesto
** Texts in English and French ** 169 fundamental free jazzrecords recommended in 180 pages by Maurizio & Roberto Opalio (My Cat Is An Alien) and Philippe Robert, from must-have classics to indispensable curiosities. Free Jazz Manifesto is not simply a list of 169 recommended records, but a poetic vision, a parallel universe based on a personal aesthetics of perception and an in-nite love for the most creative, incendiary, spiritual music. If Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman or Anthony Braxton are well p…
Spectral
** 2021 Stock ** Aerophonic Records presents Spectral by Dave Rempis, Darren Johnston and Larry Ochs. This free-improvising trio came together in the fall of 2011, when Rempis journeyed to the West Coast to discover some things about his compatriots on the Bay Area improving scene. Trumpeter Johnston, a frequent visitor to Chicago, where the two had collaborated in several different settings in the years prior, suggested this trio lineup for a performance at Oakland’s Uptown Nightclub. Although …
This Week Is in Two Weeks
** Edition of 500 ** Recorded direct to lathe cut, this pair of spontaneous creations teams two Berlin-based horn players with two New Yorkers of broad-ranging vision. Since their inception in 2003, Talibam!’s ultimate goal has been to wed disparate ideologies through proficiency, controversy, inquiry, and compassion. This is their fifth release on ESP-Disk’. Silke Eberhard, alto saxophone; Nikolaus Neuser, trumpet; Matt Mottel, piano, synthesizer, three-string guitar; Kevin Shea, drums.
Purple Dark Opal
Purple Dark Opal is the second release by the working trio Kuzu, a band whose deep roots in disparate musical traditions delivers a sound that’s not only new, but totally organic. Saxophonist Dave Rempis is best known for his work in the improvised music scene in Chicago, often exploring areas at the farthest edge of the jazz tradition. Guitarist Tashi Dorji, a native of Bhutan, came up through the active noise scene in his home base of Asheville, NC. The last decade has found him deep in that w…
ICOCI
This transatlantic trio combines musical sensibilities derived from their experiences in two world capitals of improvised music, Chicago and Amsterdam. Rempis and Rosaly, both longtime staples of the Chicago scene, have partnered for more than 15 years, most significantly in the Rempis Percussion Quartet and Rempis/Rosaly Duo. The two met guitarist/bassist Jasper Stadhouders at the Moers Festival in 2009 where the three shared a stage on the legendary “morning sessions.” Despite being only 18 ye…
Empty Castles
Empty Castles is the third document of Spectral, a working horn trio split between the cities of San Francisco and Chicago that’s been active since 2012. As with their previous two releases, 2014’s self-titled debut, and 2016’s digital-only Neutral Nation, this new recording showcases a free improvising band that fully embraces the term “instant composition.” While their performances are known for thoughtful pacing and development, methodically spinning off complex structures from scratch with a…
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 …
Slag
The sixth release by Ballister, recorded live at the renowned Café Oto in London in March of 2015 finds a well-honed working unit that's settled into the deep groove of their stride on a long tour. Exactly halfway through the journey, on the eve of Rempis’ fortieth birthday, the band bursts out the gate screaming, spewing fire and ash into what might have otherwise been a quiet Monday in London. Although the band and these players are often characterized as working in “improvised music,” or “jaz…
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…
From Wolves to Whales
** In Process of Stocking ** Having crossed paths around the world many times over the years, Nate Wooley and Dave Rempis finally realized their long-time intention of forming a band together in the winter of 2014, with a lineup that can only be described as stellar. Featuring some of the leading lights of both the New York and Chicago improvised music scenes, the four members of this quartet, all internationally acclaimed players in their own right, found a common language as a unit right from …
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…