Clifford Thornton - Ketchaoua

Clifford Thornton: percussion, trombone, trumpet, cornet, conga, percussion
Archie Shepp: soprano saxophone
Arthur Jones: alto saxophone
Grachan Moncur III: trombone
Dave Burrell: piano, bells
Earl Freeman: bass, percussion, conga, gong
Beb Guerin: bass
Sunny Muray: drums
Claude Delcloo: drums

Review

by Brandon Burke

Clifford Thornton's only Actuel date as a leader is, like many of the others in this BYG series, an all-star blowing session highly indicative of the times. For some, it will be difficult to tell whether taking credit for composing these pieces is a lost cause. This is some very free music and, save for a handful of scored passages, almost wholly improvised. A number of the scene's top players make appearances here in different groups. On the large ensemble pieces Thornton is joined by Grachan Moncur III, Archie Shepp (on soprano sax), Arthur Jones, Dave Burrell, Beb Guerin, Earl Freeman, and Sunny Murray. Otherwise, "Brotherhood," a piece for quintet, is performed by Thornton, Jones, Guerin, Freeman, and this time, drummer Claude Delcloo, while on "Speak With Your Echo" only the two bassists (Guerin and Freeman) accompany Thornton's cornet. This piece in particular is especially enjoyable and reminiscent perhaps of Arthur Jones' fantastic ballad, "Brother B," from his own Actuel LP, Scorpio. At times the ensemble pieces sound like a Pan-African Morton Feldman, and at others, hazy, psychedelic post bop. Fans of brooding and contemplative improvised music will find a great deal to enjoy here. In fact, many would argue that this is the best LP under Thornton's leadership.

1969 KETCHAOUA

Archie Shepp & Philly Joe Jones

Archie Shepp: tenor saxophone, piano
Philly Joe Jones: drums
Anthony Braxton: soprano & alto saxophones
Chicago Beau: soprano saxophone, harmonica, vocals
Julio Finn: harmonica, vocals
Leroy Jenkins: violin
Earl Freeman: bass, vocals

1969 ARCHIE SHEPP & PHILLY JOE JONES (LP)

Evan Parker & Keith Rowe - Dark Rags

Evan Parker: tenor saxophone
Keith Rowe: guitar, electronics

Review

by Steven Loewy

This is not the first time Evan Parker and Keith Rowe have recorded together, but what makes these two lengthy live improvisations so compelling is the seamless and almost uncanny way in which the musicians meld their creative concepts. Rowe is a surprisingly effective partner for the more aggressive Parker, as the former lays down alternatively minimalist and complex layers of electronic fabric that the saxophonist integrates in his blowing. There is always a sense of equal pairing, of smorgasbords of ambient clouds rising up in swirls of interlocking embraces. Curiously, neither of the tracks ever grows tedious, even though both hover at the 40-minute mark, and there is a certain static quality throughout. This is utterly fascinating fare, with Rowe's low-key electronics occasionally adding humor, and Parker adjusting his sometimes frenetic style by lowering the volume and bouncing delicately off the manipulated noises. Somehow, Rowe brings out qualities in the saxophonist's playing that are not usually heard; the results are often thrilling.

2000 DARK RAGS

John Butcher & Phil Minton - Apples of Gomorrah

Phil Minton: voice
John Butcher: soprano & tenor saxophones

Review

by François Couture

To state it upfront: Apples of Gomorrah is an excellent album, probably the best one could have hoped for from this duo. But it raises two questions: Why does it take three years to release an album? And why does it need two tape editors other than the artists? Free improv purists will immediately jump on the "record and let it be" case. Tampering with the tapes leads to interrogations regarding the quality of the performance as it happened. On the other hand, the German label Grob has shown in the past its interest in releasing the best album possible, not the most accurate document. In that, Apples of Gomorrah succeeds. Most of this album (the first 12 tracks) was recorded at Gateway Studios in August 1999. To push the set to 45 minutes, one track from a concert at the LMC (recorded in July) and four more from the Red Rose (February) were added. In all tracks, vocals and saxophone dance with each other; sometimes they waltz, sometimes they trash, elsewhere they achieve a Butoh-like purity in stillness ("Wormleaf," powerfully dense in its lack of movement). Phil Minton is as playful as ever, which means he never crosses over to childish play-acting, even though his musical vocabulary would make it easy to do so. No matter how many times you hear Minton sing, the sounds he makes remain amazing and fresh. His sense of improvisation matches John Butcher's ability to keep proceedings on the cutting edge. The main quality of this album resides in the brevity of the tracks. Most last between two and three minutes, enhancing the density of the playing.

2002 APPLES OF GOMORRAH

Adam Lane - Zero Degree Music

Adam Lane: bass
Vinny Golia: soprano & tenor saxophones
Vijay Anderson: drums

2005 ZERO DEGREE MUSIC
Review

Bobby Few - More or Less Few

Bobby Few: piano, melodica, voice
Alan Silva: bass
Mohamed Ali: drums

1973 MORE OR LESS

Frank Wright - One For John

Frank Wright: tenor saxophone
Noah Howard: alto saxophone
Bobby Few: piano
Mohamed Ali: drums

1969 ONE FOR JOHN

Frank Wright - Church Number Nine

Frank Wright: tenor saxophone
Noah Howard: alto saxophone
Bobby Few: piano
Mohamed Ali: drums

Review

by Dan Warburton

Following on from the Fractal reissue of Frank Wright's two Center of the World albums three years ago, the French label Black Keys has unearthed and issued an even rarer free jazz gem. Originally released in 1973 on an obscure label called Calumet, only 300 copies of Church Number Nine ever made it into circulation. As was customary at the time, the sides of the original album were entitled "Part One" and "Part Two," but each is in fact a separate track and is presented as such on the CD. The booklet retains the original Calumet front and back covers, along with Val Wilmer's liner notes and also includes a useful complete Wright discography. The personnel is the same as on Wright's BYG Actuel album One For John: Wright on tenor, Noah Howard on alto, Bobby Few on piano, and Mohamed Ali (sic) on drums. The first track, a 26-minute explosion of holy-rolling free gospel, finds the leader extending the tradition of free jazz's two most influential saxophonists, John Coltrane and Albert Ayler -- the theme is a churchy chord sequence which could have come right out of Ayler's songbook, and the occasional extra percussion instruments recall late Coltrane. Few's playing is particularly volcanic, including Tyner-esque comping and spectacular runs of clusters and glissandos, and Ali's drumming throughout is close in spirit to the raw energy of Sunny Murray. The second track has no theme other than a ten-note idea Wright blurts out ten times before taking off on a high energy solo flight. Howard's solo starts out more florid, but the rhythm section's relentless attack and Wright's preaching vocals and percussion eventually blast him into the upper atmosphere. 1973 CHURCH NUMBER NINE (flac) PART 1 / PART 2

Qwat Neum Sixx - Festival Musique Action (Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, 05-18-2007)

Daunik Lazro - saxophones
Sophie Agnel - piano
Michaël Nick - violin
Jérôme Noetinger - electronics

2007 VANDOEUVRE LES NANCY (BOOTLEG, FLAC) PART 1 / PART 2

Christine Sehnaoui & Magda Mayas - Teeming

Christine Sehnaoui: alto saxophone
Magda Mayas: piano

"Magda Mayas and Christine Abdelnour Sehnaoui both play acoustic music that is diametral, a space they conquered by changing the traditional ways of their instruments: modern alchemy. Together they express a strong physical experience. Mayas is a master of sparse fragments of motion and Sehnaoui works in a flux of changing sounds. The multiple layers of their performance create a shivering moment of existence, which reminds me of the words of the Danish artist Malene Bach: "Art finds its own relevance in forming the alternative space, where utopias, dreams, intentions and everything, that we cannot agree exists, can articulate itself and take place." (Thomas Millroth)

2010 TEEMING

Chris Corsano - The Young Cricketer

“Chris Corsano is fast becoming one of those musicians who needs no introduction or career summary at the start of record reviews. He’s already recently crossed over into the mainstream thanks to his work for Bjork on her Volta album, and is now quite rightly regarded as one of the very finest drummers of his generation. The Young Cricketer plays out like a showreel for Corsano’s miraculous dexterity and virtuosity as a drummer. It’s a set of recordings made during Corsano’s time living in Manchester back in 2006 utilising all manner of objects and apparatus to offset and treat his drumkit, often morphing its sound into something unrecognisable. A good example of this would be Corsano’s bizarre sticky tape/snare drum combination, in which he attaches one piece of tape to the drum surface, while stretching the other end to tension. The drum acts as a kind of amplification chamber for the resonant creaking sound made when Corsano runs his fingers across the bottom of the tape – it’s difficult to visualize but as documented here, it sounds pretty incredible. Quite at odds with the records he’s made his name on (all those collaborations with the likes of Paul Flaherty, C. Spencer Yeh Dream/Aktion Unit et al), The Young Cricketer is a beautifully recorded album, with Corsano’s expanded kit occupying a vast stereo field, and every percussive gesture allotted its own distinct place in the mix. Consequently, this is probably the most thorough representation of Corsano’s near peerless drumming yet committed to record and stands as a pretty indispensable document for all lovers of free music and percussive invention. Stunning.”

2006 THE YOUNG CRICKETER

Agusti Fernandez, William Parker, Susie Ibarra - One Night at the Joan Miro Foundation

Agusti Fernandez: piano
William Parker: bass
Susie Ibarra: drums

2000 ONE NIGHT AT THE JOAN MIRO FONDATION

Chris Corsano - Another Dull Dawn

Chris Corsano: drum sets, toy percussion, baritone sax mouthpiece on a 2 foot metal pipe, violin strings, banjo and violin bridges, contact mics, effect pedals, claw bell, metal strips from windshield wipers, toy comb, clarinet, toy gamelan, guitar cable, gongs, metals, triangle, nylon guitar strings, amps, melodica, pot lids etc.

"When Chris Corsano turned 6 years old, I already begged him on my wounded knees to record an LP for Ultra Eczema. He played it cool, was clearly annoyed but remained polite. From then on (he is now 46) I would email him the same question daily. I slept in a tent in front of his house, sent him letters every week, had all his different cell phone numbers, I even gave him new clothes, though he kept wearing his fully blue outfit. Much like Michael Jackson, Corsano, the last drummer on earth, always remained calm and polite and made this full on incredible LP of absolute madness played on different drum sets, toy percussion, baritone sax mouthpiece on a 2 foot metal pipe, violin strings, banjo and violin bridges, contact mics, effect pedals, claw bell, metal strips from windshield wipers, toy comb, clarinet, toy gamelan, guitar cable, gongs, metals, triangle, nylon guitar strings, amps, melodica, pot lids etc. In every collab he played in (with Bill Nace, Thurston Moore, Spencer Yeh, John Olson, Eric Thielemans, Bjork, Byron Colley, Blood Stereo, Paul Flaherty, Greg Kelley, Idea Fire Company, etc.) he always changes things and never sounds the same.
Corsano, together with all mentioned collaborators above, changed and refreshed improvised music forever, blew the "free" into free music again, threw an energy molotov cocktail over western Massachussets, and has a non-academic and unlimited interest in sounds far behind any traditional free music school! This LP is a collection of most of his different techniques that blew you away when you saw him play live."

2009 ANOTHER DULL DAWN

Joëlle Léandre & Akosh S. - Kor

Akosh S.: metal- & bass-clarinet, soprano & tenor saxophones, flute, bells
Joëlle Léandre: double bass

2008 KOR
Review

Joëlle Léandre & Akosh S. - Gyor

Akosh S.: reeds
Joëlle Léandre: bass

2005 GYÖR

Adam Lane Trio - Music Degree Zero

Adam Lane: bass
Vinny Golia: soprano & tenor saxophones
Vijay Anderson: drums

2005 MUSIC DEGREE ZERO
Review

Burton Greene - Live at the Woodstock Playhouse 1965

Burton Greene: piano
Marion Brown: alto saxophone
Reggie Johnson: bass
Rashied Ali: drums

2010 LIVE AT THE WOODSTOCK PLAYHOUSE 1965 (reissue)
Review

Greg Kelley - Trumpet

Greg Kelley: trumpet

From Aural Innovations #15 (April 2001)

"Trumpet" is just that... a series of solo trumpet tracks in which Kelley's focus seems to be on the sounds the instrument can produce and how they can be manipulated. In some ways this reminds me a lot of what so many experimental electronic musicians have done, and indeed this is mighty abstract stuff. Several times I had to adjust the volume, both up and down, to either hear the almost voiceless parts or protect myself from brain-splitting tones. Wind, fuzz, breathing techniques, whimsical runs... Kelley runs his instrument through a series of sonic calisthenics that come across as a primer for trumpet sounds and effects. And speaking of effects, I listened closely and while it sounds like electronics are employed in spots I suspect there are none. I'd guess he's combining breathing with muting devices and methods. This is an interesting, if difficult, work and its value strikes me more as being a demonstration of the possibilities for a larger work in combination with other musicians. Kelley's web site indicates he's worked with musicians as diverse as Anthony Braxton and Keiji Haino. I'd be interested to hear the result of a teamup with some electronic musicians.

2000 TRUMPET

Evan Parker & Eddie Prevost - Imponderable Evidence

Evan Parker: tenor saxophone
Eddie Prevost: drums

2004 IMPONDERABLE EVIDENCE

Joe McPhee, Mikołaj Trzaska, Jay Rosen - Intimate Conversations

Joe McPhee: tenor saxophone
Mikolaj Trzaska: bass clarinet, alto & c-melody saxophones
Jay Rosen: drums

2007 INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS
Review

Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Paul Lytton feat. Joe McPhee - The Rewood Session

Evan Parker: soprano & tenor saxophones
Barry Guy: double bass
Paul Lytton: drums, percussion
Joe McPhee: trumpet (on last track)

1995 THE REDWOOD SESSION

Anthony Braxton Sextet - Live in Paris 1977

George Lewis - trombone
Anthony Braxton - alto sax
Hamiet Bluiett - baritone sax
Muhal Richard Abrams - piano
Mark Helias - bass
Charles Bobo Shaw - drums

1 Well, You Needn't 14:33
2 Cherokee 15:17

1977 BOOTLEG

David S. Ware - Saturnian (solo saxophones, volume 1)

David S. Ware: saxello, stritch, tenor saxophone

2010 SATURNIAN
Review

MIMEO with John Tilbury - The Hands of Caravaggio

MIMEO:
Keith Rowe: guitar, electronics
Kevin Drumm: guitar, analogue synth
Phil Durrant: software granuler samplers & treatments
Thomas Lehn: analogue synthetizer
Kaffe Matthews: computer
Jérôme Noetinger: electroacoustic devices
Gert-Jan Prins: electronics, FM modulations, radio
Peter Rehberg: computer
Marcus Schmickler: digital synthetiser, computer
Rafael Toral: guitar with analogue modular system
Markus Wettstein: amplified metal garbage
Cor Fuhler: inside piano
John Tilbury: piano

2002 THE HANDS OF CARAVAGGIO
Review

Evan Parker & Eddie Prevost - Most Material

Evan Parker: saxophones
Eddie Prevost: percussion

Review

by Thom Jurek

This is matchless all right. There is almost nothing in the way of language a review of these astonishing recordings can say. It is easier to talk about them then to reveal what they are about musically or esthetically. Master percussionist Eddie Prevost -- who regards bowing strange things on metal objects percussion as well as drums, and right he is -- and saxophonist Evan Parker have recorded a double CD of duets that is so invigorating, confounding, and hysterically beautiful, no one could blame either man if he gave it up right now. There are nine selections between the two discs, ranging in time from nine and a half minutes to over half an hour. All of the titles are quotations from Francis Bacon, who would have been proud to have his spirit evoked during them. This isn't simply improvisation; this is investigation in the same way that Charles Olson's Maximus poems were investigations, in the same way that Pico Iyer and Bruce Chatwin's journeys were investigations, and in the same way that Stockhausen's Hymnen is an investigation. These pieces go after the rooted heart of sound itself, the veiled face of that magical echo that dwells inside and outside of everything, in order to find out how it spells its name and how it decides which hearty to beat. There are flurries and drones and conflicts and resolutions and downright mystical moments of pure Blakean illumination. This is music that's about so much more than music that it cannot be addressed in merely musical terms. This is the very case in point of Henry James' definition of art: this is the "thing that can never be repeated."

1997 MOST MATERIAL CD1 / CD2

Alan Silva & Oluyemi Thomas - Transmissions

Alan Silva: double bass
Oluyemi Thomas: bass clarinet, c-melody saxophone, wooden flute, percussion

1999 TRANSMISSIONS
Review

Misha Mengelberg, John Tchicai, Han Bennink, Derek Bailey - Fragments

ICP ORCHESTRA:
Misha Mengelberg: piano
John Tchicai: saxophone
Derek Bailey: guitar
Han Bennink: drums, percussion

1970 ICP 005

Hamiet Bluiett - Birthright

Hamiet Bluiett: baritone saxophone

Review	by Scott Yanow
This concert performance is quite unusual: an unaccompanied recital by the great baritonist Hamiet Bluiett. Although its subtitle is "A Solo Blues Concert," the "blues" refers to the feeling that Bluiett puts into his music rather than the structure of his originals itself. "In Tribute to Harry Carney" is a highpoint. Bluiett is in top form during this adventurous but fairly melodic performance.

1978 BIRTHRIGHT

Adam Lane, Ken Vandermark, Magnus Broo, Paal Nilssen-Love - 4 Corners

Adam Lane: double bass
Ken Vandermark: baritone saxophone, clarinet & bass clarinet
Magnus Broo: trumpet
Paal Nilssen-Love: drums

Recorded in Coimbra, Portugal in June 2006, 4 Corners brings together Lane, Vandermark and Thing drummer Paal Nilssen-Love with Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo for seven originals. The first curious aspect of this date is that, like Håker Flaten and Bridge 61's Nate McBride before him, Lane has chosen to plug in his upright to a fuzz-box in his amp cabinet. Of course, this is nothing completely new, but here such augmentation is used to tonally align the music with the grungier effects of rock. Granted, the opening "Alfama (for Georges Braque) quickly segues from a punchy waltz to a deft and mercurial duet between Broo and Nilssen-Love. Vandermark's bass clarinet is a raunchy Dolphy over the returning fuzz and feedback-laced vamp, and Nilssen-Love is once again proven to excel at forwarding both delicate open improvisation and throaty ensemble mass.

It's a testament to Vandermark's writing that free-bop and rock can coexist, but in this particular instance, the interaction between the two sides retains an aesthetic wall—Lane's (v)amp is often used more as a reminder of intent than aesthetic device. Lane's "Spin With The EARth, previously heard with reedman Vinny Golia and drummer Vijay Anderson is, in the hands of Vandermark and Broo, a lost Carter-Bradford Quartet number for clarinet and trumpet. The reedman gets ample unaccompanied space for a recital of multiphonic spirals, slapped tongues and pointillistic jabs, soon a dialogue of wood before Nilssen-Love stirs the percussive pot.

Rock is, to a degree, about mass, velocity and time, and coupling low reeds and insistent basslines with darting trumpet and Nilssen-Love's oft-suspended notions of time is an interesting take on "fusion. Perhaps this is closer to its meaning than merely plugging in for a bass solo. However, I wished for a more circular room in this quartet's music.

2007 4 CORNERS

Eugene Chadbourne & Toshinori Kondo - Possibilities of the Color Plastic

Eugene Chadbourne: dobro & eletric guitars, vocals
Toshinori Kondo: trumpet, alto horn, mutes, percussion

1979 POSSIBILITIES OF THE COLOR PLASTIC (LP)

Kaoru Abe, Motoharu Yoshizawa, Toshinori Kondo, Derek Bailey - Aida's Call

Kaoru Abe: alto saxophone
Motoharu Yoshizawa: bass
Toshinori Kondo: trumpet
Derek Bailey: guitar

Review

by Skip Jansen

This 1978 session saw three leading figures of the Japanese free improvisation scene in collaboration with the godfather of British improvised music, Derek Bailey. The guitarist is at home in the highly abstract rapid-fire ad-hoc setting with trumpeter Toshinoro Kondo, bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa, and saxophonist Kaoru Abe, the latter in fact the outstanding player of the quartet through the sheer force with which he plays. The recording is let down somewhat by poor recording quality -- but nonetheless is a vital and historical date for Derek Bailey, who worked with all the players in duo settings on other occasions -- but rarely with three of the Japanese avant-garde's finest musicians.

1978 AIDA'S CALL

Tony Conrad - Fantastic Glissando

Review

by Rolf Semprebon

Along with La Monte Young and others, Tony Conrad was one of the founders of minimalist music in the early '60s in New York. These four pieces from 1969 take that minimalism to new extremes, as the title track consists of a processed tone from a sine-wave oscillator with a slowly raising pitch, and each of the subsequent tracks adds another layer of processing to the previous piece. What listeners get is a slow, devolving tone, with increasing textures caused by the static that surrounds it until by the final fourth track the tone is buried beneath the processing. Even the first track has enough texture to be more than just pure tone, and each layer of effect creates more sounds as well as a more aggressive feel to the piece as the crackle, fuzz, and other imperfections overtake the oscillator-generated tone. Fantastic Glissando is an interesting experiment with interesting results, even if it's not quite up to par with more successful Conrad works like the Early Minimalism box and the album with Faust. 1969 FANTASTIC GLISSANDO

Milford Graves Percussion Ensemble with Sunny Morgan

Milford Graves: drums, bells, gongs, shakers
Sunny Morgan: drums, bells

1965 PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

Milford Graves - Meditation Among Us

Kaoru Abe: sopranino & alto saxophones
Mototeru Takagi: tenor saxophone
Toshinori Kondo: trumpet, alto horn
Toshiyuki Tsuchitori: drums, percussion
Milford Graves: drums, percussion, piano, voice

Review

by Thom Jurek

Recorded in 1977, Meditation Among Us is the collaboration of American vanguard jazz drummer Milford Graves with a Japanese jazz quartet which included trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, saxophonist Kaoru Abe, drummer Toshi Tsuchitori (who also plays piano on this session), and bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa. There are two long selections here, credited to Graves, but they feel like completely free improvisations. The blowing intensity on any Graves' date is intense, but here it is over the top, as the Japanese players attempt to match his intensity -- something they only succeed at in part. The reedy tones of Kondo and Abe contrast well with Graves tom-tom heavy approach, but as the drummer continually plays in triple, and even quadruple time, their soloing comes off more as bleats of sound than an articulation of musical ideas. In other words, this date, feels more like tonal improvisation at a very fast pace, rather than any extended harmonic engagement. To whit, there is also a distinct lack of dynamic tension here, as everything is played in overdrive, making listening an arduous chore after 15 minutes, rather than revelation.

1977 MEDITATION AMONG US

John Coltrane - Live in Japan Volume 2

John Coltrane: soprano, alto & tenor saxophones
Pharoah Sanders: alto & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet
Alice Coltrane: piano
Jimmy Garrison: bass
Rashied Ali: drums

1966 LIVE IN JAPAN VOL.2 disc 3 / disc 4

John Coltrane - Live in Japan Volume 1

John Coltrane: soprano, alto & tenor saxophones
Pharoah Sanders: alto & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet
Alice Coltrane: piano
Jimmy Garrison: bass
Rashied Ali: drums

1966 LIVE IN JAPAN VOL.1 disc 1 / disc 2

John Butcher & Paal Nilssen-Love - Concentric

John Butcher: soprano & tenor saxophone
Paal Nilssen-Love: drums, percussion

2006 CONCENTRIC

Artifact iTi - Artifact: iTi Live in St Johann

Ken Vandermark - reeds
Johannes Bauer - trombone
Thomas Lehn - analogue synthesizer
Paal Nilssen-Love - drums

2010 ARTIFACT: ITI LIVE IN ST JOHANN

Archie Shepp & Max Roach - Force (Sweet Mao - Suid Africa 76)

Archie Shepp: saxophone
Max Roach: drums

1976 FORCE

Art Ensemble of Chicago - The Spiritual

Lester Bowie: trumpet, flugelhorn, horns, bass drum
Roscoe Mitchell: alto-, soprano- & bass saxophones, clarinet, flutes, whistles, siren, bells , percussion
Joseph Jarman: alto, soprano & tenor saxophones, clarinet, oboe, flute, piano, harpsichord, guitar, percussion
Malachi Favors: bass, fender bass, banjo, cythar, percussion

1969 THE SPIRITUAL

Art Ensemble of Chicago - Tutankhamun

Lester Bowie: trumpet, flugelhorn, horns, bass drum
Roscoe Mitchell: alto-, soprano- & bass saxophones, clarinet, flutes, whistles, siren, bells , percussion
Joseph Jarman: alto, soprano & tenor saxophones, clarinet, oboe, flute, piano, harpsichord, guitar, percussion
Malachi Favors: bass, fender bass, banjo, cythar, percussion

1969 TUTANKHAMUN

The Thing with Otomo Yoshihide - Shinjuku Crawl

Mats Gustafsson: alto & tenor saxophones
Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten: bass
Paal Nilssen-Love: drums
Otomo Yoshihide: guitar

2009 Shinjuku Crawl

Christine Sehnaoui - On Air (03-10-2007)

Christine Sehnaoui: alto saxophone

01 Västerås'07III10 (25'09'')

2007 BOOTLEG

Anthony Pateras & Max Kohane - Pivixki

Anthony Pateras: piano
Max Kohane: drums

Avant-garde piano and grindcore drums. Not exactly a merlot/sirloin or pinot grigio/swordfish kind of musical match but then Sabbatical Records, the Melbourne-based label have a tendency of serving up challenging and experimental combinations. This – the 14th release in the Sabbatical series – sees Anthony Pateras, a multidisciplinary musician best known for his performance on piano and analogue electronics, team up with Max Kohane, the hardcore and punk drum whiz who has smashed skins for the likes of Far Left Limit, George W Bush, Cut Sick and Agents of Abhorrence.

From the opening 'Submit to the Sound', Pateras' pianistic skills and Kohane's intensity is evident and, yes, like a cross between Iannis Xenakis and Discordance Axis the results make for an interesting collaboration. 'Modes of Limited Perception' starts with some delicate piano twinkling until the tranquility is interrupted by Kohane's rapid drums blast in much the same way a quiet day in the park can be disrupted by a low flying helicopter blasting 400 rounds of live ammunition into the duck pond. 'Fu-Neen-Molds-Betaal' in contrast has some Guantanamo Bay-like funk going on, and the interaction between the percussion and piano is almost playful.

Through his work with Agents of Abhorrence, Kohane has gained a reputation as a complex drummer and there is no doubt his true percussive love comes from hardcore punk and grind. But on a song like 'Ayala Valva' he shows off a controlled and more delicate side. Recorded at the ABC’s Melbourne studios by erstwhile avant-garde music engineer Chris Lawson, the songs sound great even though Kohane’s ferocious drums can sometimes override Pateras piano. But, hey, you try and stop a stampeding buffalo.

There is no denying the duo’s skills and musical dexterity, but the wild fusion will not be for everybody. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for some challenging musical acrobatics, it's well worth tracking down one of the 200 limited-edition CDs.

by Tim Scott

2009 PIVIXKI

The Art Ensemble: 1967/68

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO:
Lester Bowie: trumpet, drums (bass), flugelhorn, horn, siren
Roscoe Mitchell: alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute, harmonica, percussion, recorder, gourd
Joseph Jarman: alto & soprano saxophones, flute, clarinet, bassoon
Malachi Favors Maghostut: bass, electric bass, kazoo, zither
Charles Clark: bass
Thurman Barker: drums
Robert Crowder: drums
Phillip Wilson: drums

Review

by Scott Yanow

This limited-edition five-CD set available directly from Nessa not only reissues the important free jazz albums Old/Quartet, Numbers 1 & 2, and Congliptious but contains quite a bit of music taken from rehearsals by the members of the group that would by 1969 become known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. With such advanced improvisers as trumpeter Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman on reeds, bassist Malachi Favors, drummer Phillip Wilson, and appearances from bassist Charles Clark, drummers Robert Crowder and Thurman Barker, the music is usually very emotional and sometimes quite scary. There are meandering sections and individual performances that do not work all that well, but in general the music is quite colorful, adventurous, and innovative: in many ways the beginning of the modern avant-garde. Open-eared listeners are advised to search for this important historical set. 1967/68 THE ART ENSEMBLE : CD1 - CD2 -CD3 - CD4 - CD5

Mick Flower & Chris Corsano - The Undisputed Dimension

Mick Flower: shamisen
Chris Corsano: drums

2007 THE UNDISPUTED DIMENSION (7'')

Osorezan - Mimidokodesuka

Jim O'Rourke: guitar
Darin Gray: bass
Chris Corsano: drums

2006 MIMIDOKODESUKA
Review

Daunik Lazro - Zongbook

Daunik Lazro: alto & baritone saxophones

Review

by François Couture

Zong Book is the solo CD saxophonist Daunik Lazro needed to establish himself outside of Europe as one of the leading baritone blowers -- and a great altoist too. This highly underrated improviser possesses a huge palette of techniques and colors, and most of them are displayed here. Recorded over two studio sessions almost three years apart (January 1997 and November 1999), this CD offers eight free improvs, plus a beautiful rendition of Albert Ayler's "In Heart Only" (a nice change from "Ghosts" or "Mothers" avant-garde players usually cover). On the two "Monotonic" pieces (both performed on baritone), Lazro focuses on circular breathing and multi-phonics, creating strange landscapes with puzzling sonorities -- "Monotonic 2" is simply mind-boggling, going farther than anything Evan Parker has recorded. "Formule 1" showcases him as a power player, displaying Peter Brötzmann-like energy. There are no easy shortcuts, no over-indulgent clichés in his playing. Even when he sets into a softer mood, as on "Zong From Evananjoe," his lines are ornamented with complex parallel thoughts. Zong Book is not about technique and virtuosity; it is one saxophonist tapping into his inner self and bringing it out. Beautiful and sincere.

1999 ZONG BOOK

Daunik Lazro & Phil Minton - Alive at Sonorités

Daunik Lazro: baritone saxophone
Phil Minton: voice

The sheer humanity of his vocalising comes across most effectively when there are no other instruments around, and even when the sounds produced are trans-human. Then the set with saxophonist Daunik Lazro appeared, an astonishing coordination of two very different but similarly conceived voices, Lazro's baritone horn capable of everything from emphysemic whispers to huge, heavily tongued blarts to singing passages that sit perfectly with Minton's occasional forays into abstract bel canto. Minton's is the nimbler voice, inevitably, and often some of the time Lazro muses behind him in short bursts of cello tone rather than engaging him directly. But the parallelism works and, while there's nothing on the set to match the sheer astonishment of the "Breath Out" sequence on No Doughnuts, the 50 minute Montpellier set is deeply involving and ultimately just as satisfying.
Brian Morton - The Wire

2007 ALIVE AT SONORITES

Nmperign + Dörner, Beins

Bhob Rainey: soprano saxophone
Greg Kelley: trumpet
Axel Dörner: trumpet
Burkhard Beins: percussion

2002 NMPERIGN + DORNER, BEINS
NMPERIGN INTERVIEWED by stylus magazine