Jailbreak - The Rocker

Heather Leigh: pedal steel, vocals
Chris Corsano: drums

Jailbreak is the duo of pedal steel/vocalist Heather Leigh and drummer Chris Corsano. The name foregrounds the kind of outlaw violence with which the two reformulate rock/roll instants by bringing free jazz fire power to amp-humping sex beats. Their musical alliance goes all the way back to the legendary Brattleboro Free Folk Fest, the birthplace of the 'New Weird America', where Corsano and his long-term saxophone partner Paul Flaherty joined Leigh and Christina Carter for a quartet show that took the roof off the building and the skin off their fingers. Since then Corsano and Leigh have worked together as part of Taurpis Tula and as members of Thurston Moore's Dream/Aktion Unit.

So, who better to describe this 700 edition debut LP, than Mr. Flaherty: For those of you who've been worried that the Free Power Noize scene has become a little too tame, (and seriously who isn't somewhat concerned about that), a new screamin' creamin' duo -- Jailbreak -- expoldes to the rescue. The Rocker is a blast-furnace of blisteringly joyous witch-howling assaults on the essence of whips and chains and repressive injustice gone legal. Both of these magisterial musicians are capable of extreme dynamics and subtleties, but those concepts don't get in the way of this monster-truck of a record. And why should they when drums and guitar can slash and burn in a riotous electric smash fest like this crazed merry madcap of an album. Over the top . . . Way!

"... when Ms. Murray rips open this LP called The Rocker, she might as have been rakin them strings across the inside of my skull. There I was fightin the infernal racket w/everything I could muster, yet diggin it all the time. It was 'Bad Motor Scooter' live all over again. Ronnie was tearin into that intro back on that eventful night in Seven-Four; brain cells was meltin, worlds was collidin, the chickens of future past was comin home to roost." -- Siltblog

"No idea who's singing, but that person is channeling Haino Keiji. Don't let the Thin Lizzy refs fool you -- this was made in Scotland. The choice of guitar here provides for the most brutality, a prolonged assault of scorched-earth distorto blues/noise cage-rattle with no space to breathe." -- Doug Mosurock, Still Single/Dusted

2010 THE ROCKER (rapidshare/mediafire)

Evan Parker, John Edwards, Chris Corsano - A Glancing Blow

Evan Parker: soprano & tenor saxophones
John Edwards: bass
Chris Corsano: percussion

2007 A GLANCING BLOW
Review

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

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

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

Mick Flower & Chris Corsano - The Four Aims

Mick Flower: shamisen
Chris Corsano: drums

2009 THE FOUR AIMS

Paul Flaherty, Chris Corsano, C. Spencer Yeh - Slow Blind Avalanche

Paul Flaherty: alto & tenor saxophones
Chris Corsano: drums
C. Spencer Yeh: violin, voice

2006 SLOW BLIND AVALANCHE (LP)

Paul Flaherty & Chris Corsano - Steel Sleet

Paul Flaherty: tenor saxophone, alto mouthpiece
Chris Corsano: drums

2005 STEEL SLEET (LP)
Review

Paul Flaherty & Chris Corsano - Full Bottle

Paul Flaherty: alto & tenor saxophones
Chris Corsano: drums

"It's not a church anymore, it's an ex church, it's used now for cultural purposes, noot for praying and religious madness anymore." those are the exact words some random anxious pedestrian yelled at Chris Corsano and Paul Flaherty, trying to stop them from putting the St John Renaissance Theater in Louisville, Kentucky on fire. Paul Flaherty used his long grey beard to start the fire and blew as high as he could with a rusted tenor and alto saxophone, the flames went high, but not hight enough for Chris Corsano aka the last drummer on earth! Chris throws oil and lighter fluid on there to spice up the barbeque a bit. This is a beautiful live recording by these two amazing free jazz musicians from Massachussets/USA. It sounds a bit different than their other recordings as it is indeed recorded in a church. It has a thick/full natural reverb on it which gets fully adopted in their music!!!

2005 FULL BOTTLE (LP)

Paul Flaherty & Chris Corsano - Last Eyes

Paul Flaherty: alto saxophone
Chris Corsano: drums

2005 LAST EYES (LP)
Review

Paul Dunmall & Chris Corsano - Identical Sunsets

Paul Dunmall: tenor saxophone, border pipes
Chris Corsano: drums

Best known for his collaborations with people like Paul Flaherty, Michael Flower and Thurston Moore as well as a year-and-a-half stint as the drummer for Björk's Volta tour, Chris Corsano is widely considered to be one of the best and most adaptive drummers of his generation. Equally adaptive is UK saxophone giant, Paul Dunmall, who has worked disparately with jazz greats like Alice Coltrane and Evan Parker as well as funk and folk acts like Johnny Guitar Watson and Dando Shaft.

After a chance meeting in a taxi line at Lisbon Airport, a surreal intertwining of tours emanated. In between the lasers, confetti and face-painted fans at Plymouth Pavillions and Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Chris left the Björk mega-tour to get down to business alongside the prolific and imaginative Dunmall for some vital improvisation at Slak Bar in Cheltenham, England.

This wonderfully recorded live set begins with Dunmall swirling away on the border pipes (he may be the preeminent improvisor using bagpipes). What follows is an impulsive and lyrical improvisation, alternatingly sparse and impossibly textured. Corsano's skittering marries perfectly with Dunmall's rapid-fire lines. The melodies are expertly uncoiled so that they remain charged whether the tempo is at full speed or crawling. The set ends furiously and with the impression that this duo was fated to work together.

2010 IDENTICAL SUNSETS

Nels Cline, Wally Shoup & Chris Corsano - Immolation / Immersion

Nels Cline: electric guitar, effects
Wally Shoup: alto saxophone
Chris Corsano: drums

2005 IMMOLATION / IMMERSION
Review

Mick Flower & Chris Corsano - The Chocolate Cities

Mick Flower: shamisen (japan banjo)
Chris Corsano: drums, melodica

2009 THE CHOCOLATE CITIES
Review

Mick Flower & Chris Corsano - The Radiant Mirror

Mick Flower: shamisen
Chris Corsano: drums

Chris Corsano has gained a well-earned reputation as one of the hardest-working drummers around. Equally at home with intense kinetic explosions of energy and concentrated near-silence, he effortlessly flows from one idea to the next, always sympatico with his fellow musicians. He has recorded and gigged with, among others, Paul Flaherty, Thurston Moore, Jessica Rylan, Jim O Rourke, Nels Cline, Jandek, Greg Kelly, Daniel Carter, Six Organs of Admittance, Evan Parker, Sunburned Hand Of Man, MV&EE, Keiji Haino, Dredd Foole, Vampire Belt, Joe McPhee, Carlos Giffoni, Christina Carter and Heather Leigh Murray.

Mick is the founding member of the British avant garde collective Vibracathedral Orchestra, one of the most seminal UK acts in the free music scene pioneering an approach that has influenced a tribe of other outsiders. Mick occasionaly plays with Sunroof and Sunburned Hand of The Man.

2007 THE RADIANT MIRROR

Paul Flaherty & Chris Corsano - The hated music

Paul Flaherty: alto & tenor saxophone
Chris Corsano: drums

2000 THE HATED MUSIC
Review

Paul Flaherty, Chris Corsano, C. Spencer Yeh - A rock in the snow

Paul Flaherty: tenor, alto saxophones, voice
Chris Corsano: drums, voice
C. Spencer Yeh: violin, voice

2006 A ROCK IN THE SNOW
review

Paul Flaherty & Chris Corsano - The beloved music

Paul Flaherty: tenor & alto saxophone
Chris Corsano: drums

2006 THE BELOVED MUSIC
Review