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Paul Dunmalll (Dunmall / Kinch / Cole / Mwamba / Kane / Drake):
Bright Light A Joyous Celebration (Discus)

Recalling his Sun Quartet album, UK saxophonist Paul Dunmall's new sextet pivots off the jubilant rhythm section of drummer Hamid Drake, double bassist Dave Kane and vibraphonist Corey Mwamba, with three saxophonists--Dunmall on tenor & c-soprano saxophones, Xhosa Cole on tenor and Soweto Kinch on alto & tenor saxophones--in a truly joyful bright celebration of free flowing jazz. ... Click to View


John Butcher / Pat Thomas / Dominic Lash / Steve Noble:
Fathom [COLORED VINYL] (577 Records)

The debut for UK saxophonist John Butcher on 577 Records is this exemplary 2021 live recording at Cafe OTO in London by the quartet of Butcher on tenor and soprano saxophones, Pat Thomas on piano, Dominic Lash on double bass and Steve Noble on drums, four of the UK's leading free improvisers demonstrating their prodigious abilities in concentrated conversation. ... Click to View


Ned Rothenberg (w / Courvoisier / Halvorson / Fujiwara):
Crossings Four (Clean Feed)

Crossing styles, generations and approaches to improvisations, multi-reedist and composer Ned Rothenberg's quartet of Rothenberg on clarinets & alto sax, Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, Mary Halvorson on guitar & effects and Tomas Fujiwara on drums perform five Rothenberg compositions and one by Rothenberg & Courvoisier, of spectacular timbral, rhythmic and melodic intersections. ... Click to View


Grzegorz Tarwid Trio ( w/ Mucha / Karch):
Flowers (Clean Feed)

Lyrically upbeat and expressive piano trio compositions from Polish pianist Grzegorz Tarwid and his trio with double bassist Max Mucha and drummer Albert Karch, all active performers on the Polish and European free jazz secene, here in six works of diverse moods that start with Latin tinges and seamlessly work through playful and pointillistic pieces to end in a tranquil "Sleep". ... Click to View


Calcanhar (Mortagua / Azevedo):
Jump (Clean Feed)

The project name chosen by the duo of Portuguese improvisers, saxophonist Joao Mortagua and pianist Carlos Azevedo, translates to "heel", which they explain "represents the footprint we leave behind as we navigate a constantly evolving musical path", heard in 14 succinct improvisations that balance implicitly lyrical dialog with unconventional and often mischievous technique. ... Click to View


Crossland / Frangenheim:
Basic Tracks Baltimore New York (Concepts of Doing)

Nearly a decade after their first duo collaboration, Ape Green on the Creative Sources label, Wuppertal-born and Berlin-based double bassist Alexander Frangenheim joins again with Baltimore-based trombonist Patrick Crossland for two live performances of wildly creative interaction: first at the 2022 Livewire 12 Festival, then at The Record Shop in Brooklyn. ... Click to View


Joelle Leandre / Vinicius Cajado:
Storm Dance (Not Two)

Six "Dances" of a deeply turbulent nature as legendary French bassist Joëlle Léandre meets Brazilian bassist Vinicius Cajado for a 2022 live concert in Vienna at Alte Schmiede, both employing massively powerful techniques, Léandre vocalizing at times to push their dialog into tempestuous territory; at times darkly explosive but illuminated by incredible creative intent. ... Click to View


Sergio Merce:
Traslasierra (expanded landscape) (Hitorri)

A beautiful album of expanded landscapes performed on electronically modified Electronic Wind Instrument, field recordings, virtual instruments and synthesizer from Argentinian sound artist Sergio Merce, his characteristically patient pacing and use of space creating dramatic and beautiful sonic environments that hint at warm narratives in a seductive excursion. ... Click to View


Made Of Bones (Fonesca / Clemente / Dias / Sousa):
Handgun (Phonogram Unit)

Having collaborated over 15 years in bands including Slow is Possible and Cat in a Bag, the Portuguese quartet of Duarte Fonseca on drums, Joao Clemente on guitar, Nuno Santos Dias on Waldorf Zarenbourg electric piano and Ricardo Sousa on double bass, borrow from electric 70's jazz, rock and experimental forms through 10 diverse and intriguing concepts tinged with a dark wit. ... Click to View


Sheldon Suter:
Berceuses & Nocturnes (Shhpuma)

Percussionist Sheldon Suter steps out from groups including Musique Brute, Big Bold Back Bone, Marco von Orelli 6 or Jurg Wickihalder Orchestra for a seductive album of solo percussion, using zithers, portable turntables, a shruti box and harmonica in immersive works intermixing six pulsing and serene lullabies with five ominous nocturnal environments. ... Click to View


Sheldon Suter:
Berceuses & Nocturnes [VINYL] (Shhpuma)

Percussionist Sheldon Suter steps out from groups including Musique Brute, Big Bold Back Bone, Marco von Orelli 6 or Jurg Wickihalder Orchestra for a seductive album of solo percussion, using zithers, portable turntables, a shruti box and harmonica in immersive works intermixing six pulsing and serene lullabies with five ominous nocturnal environments. ... Click to View


Jose Lencastre / Hernani Faustino / Vasco Furtado :
Vento (Phonogram Unit)

A remarkable trio of active players on the Lisbon free improv scene -- José Lencastre (alto sax), Hernâni Faustino (double bass) and Vasco Furtado (drums) -- and the debut release for the Phonogram Unit label, in six collective improvisations recorded in the studio, evenly proportioned between boppish free jazz and abstract, almost chamber sonic expression; beautiful. ... Click to View


Albert Ayler (incl. Milford Graves, Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Lyons, Sunny Murray, &c):
More Lost Performances, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Remastering previously unavailable and vital performances from three configurations of saxophonist Albert Ayler's bands, including their 1967 Newport Festival concert with Milford Graves, their performance at John Coltrane's 1967 Funeral at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in NYC, and an incredible 1962 concert with Cecil Taylor's group with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray in Copenhagen. ... Click to View


Bill Evans (Evans, Hall, Peacock, Motian, Israels, Bunker):
Duos With Jim Hall & Trios '64 & '65, Revisited [2 CDs] (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Three configurations of sophisticated duos & trios from four remastered albums recorded between 1962 and 1966 by pianist Bill Evans: first in duos with guitarist Jim Hall (Undercurrent); then with his trio of bassist Gary Peacock & Paul Motian (Trio 64); then with bassist Chuck Israels & drummer Larry Bunker (Trio 65); and last full circle to 1966, again with Jim Hall (Intermodulation). ... Click to View


Scott Amendola / Henry Kaiser / Michael Manring:
Haunted by Eternity [2 CDs] + Trouble with the Treble (Agren / Colby / Kaiser) (Fractal)

The West Coast power trio of Scott Amendola on drums & live electronics, Henry Kaiser on guitar and Michael Manring on bass are heard in this double album of 15 assertive tracks that balance heavy electronics and effects with intense soloing amidst unusual "soundtracks for quite a number of films that do not exist in our homeworld version of the Earth's infinite timelines." ... Click to View


Mars Williams / Vasco Trilla:
Critical Mass (Not Two)

The second release from the duo of Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla and Chicago reedist Mars Williams, the latter performing both on reeds and on toy instruments, each using extraordinary and extended technique to create exotically energetic conversations and beautifully meditative environments, in five creative, playful and impressively informed dialogs. ... Click to View


Tony Oxley / Stefan Holker:
The New World (Discus)

A meeting between two percussive collaborators from legendary UK improviser Tony Oxley and long-time collaborator and member of Oxley's Celebration Orchestra, Stefan Holker, the latter on acoustic percussion while Oxley performs in his inimitable style of close miking and effecting percussive objects, as the pair perform six Oxley compositions of tightly ringing, energetic activity. ... Click to View


Armonicord (Querlier / Minor / Houari / Traindl):
Libres (Festival de Massy 26 Octobre 1975) (Fou Records)

Four free players from the assertive history of French free jazz--Jean Querlier on alto saxophone & soprano oboe, Jouk Minor on baritone & sopranino saxophones, Rachid Houari (the original drummer for Gong) on drums and Joseph Traindl on trombone--are heard in this exceptional and determined set performing two compositions by Jouk Minor at the 1st Massy Independent Festival in 1975. ... Click to View


Thanos Chrysakis / Chris Cundy / Peer Schlechta / Ove Volquartz:
Archangel (Aural Terrains)

The follow-up to Music for Two Organs and Two Bass Clarinets, combining the collective work of clarinetists Chris Cundy, (bass clarinets, soprano ocarina) & Ove Volquartz (bass clarinets), Thanos Chrysakis (chamber organ & voice) and Peer Schlechta (pipe organ), recorded in the natural resonance of the Neustadter Kirche church in Hofgeismar, Germany. ... Click to View


Catherine Lamb / Kristofer Svensson:
Translucent Harmonies - two duos for violin and viola, performed by andPlay (Another Timbre)

The New York-based andPlay duo of violinist Maya Bennardo and violist Hannah Levinson perform two extended works commissioned for their performance series, Translucent Harmonies: first an acoustic rendering of Catherine Lamb's "Prisma Interius VIII (Melodic Duo)"; then Kristofer Svensson's work of contrasts, surprises, modulations, and transformations. ... Click to View


Butcher / Prevost:
High Laver Levitations Vol 1: Unearthed (Matchless)

Long-time collaborators and iconoclastic improvisers, drummer Eddie Prévost and saxophonist John Butcher, met at All Hallows Church, in High Laver, Essex in 2023, using the natural ambience of the space to capture these three improvisations, Prévost playing primarily on a drum kit and both in a more jazz-oriented sax and drum duo, extended by both players' exceptional technique. ... Click to View


Charbin / Prevost:
The Cry of a Dove Announcing Rain (Two Afternoon Concerts at Cafe OTO) (Matchless)

Two unfolding, extended sets from a 2022 concert at Cafe OTO by AMM legendary percussionist Eddie Prévost and French pianist based in London, Marjolain Charbin, the pianist playing inside and out her of instrument augmented by objects, Prévost creating sonic environments through cymbal bowing and scraping, as the duo evolve into high motion and withdraw into suspenseful beauty. ... Click to View


Eddie Prevost / NO Moore / Henry Kaiser / Binker Golding / Olie Brice:
The Secret Handshake with Danger Volume Two (577 Records)

The 2nd volume of the UK/US West Coast quintet of legendary AMM drummer Eddie Prévost, guitarist Henry Kaiser, N.O. Moore on "guitarisism", Blinker Golding on saxophone and Olie Brice on double bass, merging free jazz and free improvisation in a rollicking album of electric jazz recorded in London, adding two more exhilarating "Doors" of quick shifting improv. ... Click to View


Jessica Pavone:
Clamor (Out Of Your Head Records)

With a septet of women improvisers and contemporary performers, composer and violinist Jessica Pavone's long-form collective improv compositions are titled after innovations made by women throughout history to circumvent obstructions to their freedoms, revealed through string and bassoon orchestration that balances harmony, dissonance, drone and disruptive experimentation. ... Click to View


ZYFT (Felixbrodt / Taubenfeld / Zwerver):
Triangle Moments (Creative Sources)

The sophomore release for the acoustic free improvising Amsterdam trio of Ziv Taubenfeld on bass clarinet, Henk Zwerver on guitar, and Maya Felixbrodt on viola, upping the intensity in a set of abstract improvisations of an active nature using unorthodox and extended techniques; upbeat and often exciting collective discourse that leads to great moments of individual expression. ... Click to View


Ernesto Rodrigues / Nuno Torres / Guilherme Rodrigues / Eric Bauer / Stephen Flinn:
Letters to Milena (Creative Sources)

Referencing the book Letters to Milena (Briefe an Milena) by Franz Kafka of his intense love affair with Czech journalist & writer Milena Jesenská, through four lettered parts of a subtly sophisticated set of improvisations by Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Nuno Torres (alto sax), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Eric Bauer (electronics) and Stephen Flinn (percussion). ... Click to View


Junji Hirose / Kazuo Imai / Darren Moore:
Be Quiet!!! (Meenna)

The catalyst for this album is Australian drummer based in Singapore Darren Moore, whose 2022 tour of Japan took him to Tokyo where he performed with legendary Japanese free improvisers, Kazuo Imai on electric guitar and Junji Hirose on tenor saxophone, this album recorded in GOK Studio, the session anything but Quiet!!!, but definitely energetically charged and assertive. ... Click to View


Jurg Frey / Apartment House:
String Trio (Another Timbre)

Reworking a piece for string trio originally commissioned by the Concertgebouw Brugge and premiered by the Goeyvaerts Trio as part of the 2019 SLOW Festival, this new version expands on the original composition to bring elegant calmness and clarity to the work, performed by UK's Apartment House members Mira Benjamin on violin, Bridget Carey on viola and Anton Lukoszevieze on cello. ... Click to View


Toshimaru Nakamura / David Lee Myers:
Elements (Surface World)

Two like-minded electronic sound & feedback artists, David Lee Myers, aka Arcane Device from NYC and Toshimaru Nakamura from Japan, use feedback matrices & modular electronics (Myers) and No-input Mixing Board (Nakamura) in a remote collaboration of alien overlays, sonic extensions and disruptive digressions through 12 complex and varying compositions. ... Click to View


Phillip Gayle:
Mammoth Flower (Public Eyesore)

A psychedelic set of recordings based around the guitar work of Philip Gayle, improvised, recorded, and layered into diverse experiments in sound and performed on banjo, bass, cello, door, guitars, mandolin, percussion, piano, toy piano, voice, ukulele and waterphone, with guests including saxophonist Shogo Ohshima and vocalists Shizka Ueda, Omusubisan and Fuuchan. ... Click to View



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  Sergio Armaroli 
  I Dream I Was an Earopean  
  (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut, Ltd.) 


  
   review by Marc Medwin
  2023-08-27
Sergio Armaroli: I Dream I Was an Earopean (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut, Ltd.)

In his always insightful notes, Brian Morton chooses breath as the point of focus around which he discusses these improvisations by vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli in the company of trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini, vocalist and trumpeter Phil Minton and percussionist Roger Turner. Yes, breath is paramount to the winning combination of whimsy, wisdom and virtuosity expected from this assemblage, and it plays one of the subtlest roles imaginable on the very first and fairly brief improvisation. Amidst Turner and Armaroli's interplay, Minton draws breath, a couple times only, but the gesture is as poignant as any he has ever committed to tape. Like those Samuel Beckett vignettes Morton evokes as indicative, a whistle, tone or pithy tintinnabulation can speak volumes.

This overarching concern leads me to think not so much of breath as of size. When we hear a voice like Minton's, which regularly emits multiphonics, the entire hierarchy depicted by any perceived grouping of forces is obscured, even irradicated. Each musician in this supposed quartet accomplishes similarly defiant modes of perception-bending. Vibes and trombone combine tonal felicities, or maybe the same thing happens between voice and trombone, both in multiphonic mode. Even a single pitch, like the one Minton emits as "Dream I Was a Laysure" slides and sputters into focus, rings with overtone as wah-wah trombone and percussive shades swim and pulse around it.

So what sort of an aggregate is this anyway? Are we hearing duos, or trios, or the ideal quartet in the tightest chamber-music focus? Of course, the correct answer is: all of the above. That wonderfully diverse thing that we used to call European free improvisation has morphed into and beyond its components. Sonic atoms jump and punch, vying for prominence while beneath and around them, note and drone define and elongate the spaces they never quite fill, so beautifully transparent is the playing. Of course, the fact that several partnerships are long-nourished, especially Minton and Turner's ever-fascinating ventures, but if this superb quartet has recorded together, I've never heard it. It should go without saying, given the label, that the recording is equal to any of the music, full and transparent when necessary. As the ensemble grows, morphs and fades, each detail is foregrounded without any sacrifice of ambiance. Beyond all that, it's great fun, right down to the track titles!



Sergio Armaroli: I Dream I Was an Earopean
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Recent Selections @ Squidco:


John Butcher /
Pat Thomas /
Dominic Lash /
Steve Noble:
Fathom
[COLORED VINYL]
(577 Records)



Sergio Merce:
Traslasierra (
expanded landscape)
(Hitorri)



Sheldon Suter:
Berceuses &
Nocturnes
(Shhpuma)



Paul Dunmalll (
Dunmall /
Kinch /
Cole /
Mwamba /
Kane /
Drake):
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A Joyous Celebration
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Mars Williams /
Vasco Trilla:
Critical Mass
(Not Two)



Ned Rothenberg (
w /
Courvoisier /
Halvorson /
Fujiwara):
Crossings Four
(Clean Feed)



Jose Lencastre /
Hernani Faustino /
Vasco Furtado :
Vento
(Phonogram Unit)



Scott Amendola /
Henry Kaiser /
Michael Manring:
Haunted by Eternity
[2 CDs] +
Trouble with
the Treble (
Agren /
Colby /
Kaiser)
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Albert Ayler (
incl. Milford Graves,
Cecil Taylor,
Jimmy Lyons,
Sunny Murray, &c):
More Lost Performances,
Revisited
(ezz-thetics by
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Ltd)



Butcher /
Prevost:
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Prevost:
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Announcing Rain (
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akLaff + St. Louis, Dhar, Gant):
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Clamor
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Jurg Frey /
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