The Squid's Ear Magazine


Kaiser, Henry / Anthony Pirog: Figure / Ground (Ramble Records)

A gorgeous album of duo work from West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser and D.C. guitarist Anthony Pirog, creating "ground" structures of beautifully rich harmonics over which "figures" of virtuosic guitar playing emerge and submerge, the overlap creating almost hallucinatory effects as the listener is transfixed somewhere between exquisite foregrounds and backgrounds.
 

Price: $13.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Henry Kaiser-electric guitar, effects

Anthony Pirog-electric guitar, effects


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




Label: Ramble Records
Catalog ID: RAM-0046
Squidco Product Code: 31708

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: Australia
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded in February, 2021, by the artists.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Figure/ground organisation is a type of perpetual grouping that is a vital necessity for recognition objects through vision. In Gestalt psychology it is known as identifying a figure from the background. Figure/ground perception can be expanded from visiual perception to include non-visual concepts such as melody/harmony, subject/background and positive/negative space. The concept of figure and ground fully depends on the observer and not on the item itself. In the typical sonic scenarios people encounter auditory figure and ground signals after overlap in time as well as in frequency content. In these situations, auditory objects are established by integrating sound components over time, timbre, space, and frequency."-Ramble Records


Artist Biographies

"Henry Kaiser (born September 19, 1952) is an American guitarist and composer, known as an idiosyncratic soloist, a sideman, an ethnomusicologist, and a film score composer. Recording and performing prolifically in many styles of music, Kaiser is a fixture on the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. He is considered a member of the "second generation" of American free improvisers. He is married to Canadian artist Brandy Gale.

In 1977, Kaiser founded Metalanguage Records with Larry Ochs (Rova Saxophone Quartet) and Greg Goodman. In 1979 he recorded With Friends Like These with Fred Frith, a collaboration that lasted for over 20 years. In 1983 they recorded Who Needs Enemies, and in 1987 the compilation album With Enemies Like These, Who Needs Friends? They joined with fellow experimental musicians John French, and English folk-rocker Richard Thompson to form French Frith Kaiser Thompson for two eclectic albums, Live, Love, Larf & Loaf (1987) and Invisible Means (1990). In 1999 Frith and Kaiser released Friends and Enemies, a compilation of their two Metalanguage albums along with additional material from 1984 and 1999.

In 1991, Kaiser went to Madagascar with guitarist David Lindley. They recorded roots music with Malagasy musicians and discovered music that, he says, "changed us radically and permanently". Three volumes of this music were released by Shanachie under the title A World Out of Time. In 1994 he made a similar trip to Norway, again with Lindley, recording music that was released as Sweet Sunny North (2 volumes, 1994 and 1996).

Since 1998, Kaiser has been collaborating with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in the "Yo Miles!" project, releasing a series of tributes to Miles Davis's 1970s electric music. This shifting aggregation has included musicians from the worlds of rock (guitarists Nels Cline, Mike Keneally and Chris Muir, drummer Steve Smith), jazz (saxophonists Greg Osby and John Tchicai), avant-garde (keyboardist John Medeski, guitarist Elliott Sharp), and Indian classical music (tabla player Zakir Hussain).

Kaiser has appeared on more than 250 albums and scored dozens of TV shows and films, including Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World (2007). He was given a Grammy Award for his work on the Beautiful Dreamer tribute to Stephen Foster.

In 2001, Kaiser spent two and a half months in Antarctica on a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program grant. He has subsequently returned for nine more visits to work as a research diver. His underwater camera work was featured in two Herzog films, The Wild Blue Yonder (2005) and Encounters at the End of the World (2007), which he also produced, and for which he and Lindley composed the score. Kaiser served as music producer for Herzog's Grizzly Man (2005). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work as a producer on Encounters at the End of the World."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kaiser_(musician))
12/3/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Born in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, but raised in the D.C. suburb of Vienna, Virginia, guitarist Anthony Pirog first came to national prominence as one half of the instrumental duo Janel & Anthony, with virtuoso cellist Janel Leppin. The pair's 2012 Cuneiform release Where Is Home garnered critical acclaim for their seamless electro-acoustic fusion of myriad styles, ranging from classical and folk to rock and jazz. Pirog's own multi-faceted approach to the guitar has its roots in the music of regional favorites like Danny Gatton, whose virtuosic fretwork similarly combined numerous styles of popular music.

Pirog has performed with a wide variety of musicians, ranging from avant-garde icons like Henry Kaiser, Elliott Sharp and William Hooker to roots and rockabilly legends such as Billy Hancock, Bill Kitchen and Tab Benoit. He has even played with ex-Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chambelain in the power trio Skysaw. He currently leads a number of ensembles, from trio to septet."-Troy Collins

-Point of Departure (http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD49/PoD49Pirog.html)
12/3/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Figure 22:03

2. Ground 22:33

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Electro-Acoustic
Guitarists, &c.
Duo Recordings
West Coast/Pacific US Jazz
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Experimental & Electronic Music
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

Search for other titles on the label:
Ramble Records.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Ackley / Chen / Centazzo / DeGruttola / Kaiser / Manring
Two Views Of Steve Lacys The Wire
(Don Giovanni Records)
Saxophonist Bruce Ackley, percussionist Andrea Centazzo, pianist Tania Chen, cellist Danielle DeGruttola, and bassists Henry Kaiser and Michael Manring present a tribute to soprano saxophonist & composer Steve Lacy's 1977 album The Wire, replicating the instrumentation of that album but electrifying the bass, as they reflect twice on Lacy's incredible contribution to creative jazz.
Amendola, Scott / 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."
Prevost, Eddie / 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.
Renzoku (Kondo / Kaiser / Goodman / Oswald)
Jump
(Metalanguage)
Revealing 40 years of collaborations between late trumpeter Toshinori Kondo and West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser, in configurations of duos between Kondo & Kaiser--most notably a beautiful and extended 2016 improvisation--then earlier duos from 1978, a 1980 trio with pianist Greg Goodman, a 1979 trio with saxophonist John Oswald, ending with a wonderfully idiosyncratic 2020 duo.
Various Artists (curated by Nick Vander)
Walk My Way, Volume Three
(Orbit577)
The third of a five volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Sergio Sorrentino, Christian Vasseur, CharbelHaber, Misha Marks, Henry Kaiser, Nick Ashwood, Emil Palme & Taus Bregnhøj-Olesen, Sharif Sehnaoui, Colin Robinson, Martin Huba
Kaiser, Henry / Ed Pettersen
We Call All Times Soon
(Split Rock Records)
A series of acoustic guitar duos between Henry Kaiser playing on an 18-string harp guitar, and Ed Pettersen, playing an 8-string Weissenborn guitar, freely improvised and with a psychedelic/cosmic impulse as the two draw on elements of Americana and roots-based folk music in four extended recordings, the camaraderie and mutual intent evident in this fascinating album.
Other Recommended Releases:
Gargaud, Guillaume / Eero Savela
Syyspimee
(Ramble Records)
A truly lovely and intimate duo album between French guitarist, composer and improviser Guillaume Gargaud and Finnish trumpet player Eero Savela, their second album after their 2020 release Helsinki, expanding their conversation in relaxed and filtered jazz that balances abstraction and lyricism with a natural pace and sophistication.
Kaiser, Henry
The Lost Chord
(Metalanguage)
Focused around a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter titled "A Lost Chord", West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser invokes the spirit of Procter's words through a stunningly beautiful album of both contemplative and technically excellent work, his first solo album performed on the lower tuned baritone guitar, in 10 tracks inspired by Frith, Xenakis, Evan Parker, Ligeti, &c.
Includes a free copy of Trouble with the Treble while quantities last!
Day, Bryan / Dereck Higgins
Woven Territories
(Public Eyesore)
San Francisco East Bay sonic artist and Public Eyesore/Eh? label-leader Bryan Day meets Omaha bass player and sound artist Dereck Higgins for four enveloping works of sound, sonically rich and epic journeys through terrains of identifiable musical elements and acousmatic curiosity, all with an ear to story-telling as the duo weave passages of fantastic elements.
Kaiser, Henry
Mahalo Nui
(Metalanguage)
Ten exceptional solo improvisations performed live without overdubbing on electric & acoustic guitars, using effects to expand the expressive capabilities of each guitar, as Henry Kaiser endeavors to sound like more than a single musician, inspired by improvisers like Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor or Derek Bailey, each improv providing a dedication or influence.
Kaiser, Henry / Rome Yamilov
The Lenoir Investigation
(Little Village)
The Little Village Foundation run by keyboardist Jim Pugh assembled this band through Indian blues harmonica player & singer Aki Kumar, who brought drummer June Core and guitarist Rome Yamilov, deciding to make the release a "crazy guitar album" by adding Henry Kaiser; along with vocalist Lisa Leuschnet they hit the mark in an exuberantly diverse set of blues performing the music of J.B. Lenoir.
Smith, Wadada Leo / Henry Kaiser / Alex Varty
Pacifica Koral Reef
(577 Records)
Interpreting trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's Ankhrasmation graphic score--the term joining the Egyptian symbol for life, the Ethiopian word for leader and the universal term for mother--Smith and guitarists Alex Varty & Henry Kaiser use the rich combination of visual cues and musical notation to record this rapturous and unduplicable album of profound and engaging improvisation.
Kaiser, Henry / John Oswald / Paul Plimley
At One Time - Improvisations for Cecil Taylor
(Metalanguage)
In tribute to late free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, the West Coast/Vancouver trio of guitarist Henry Kaiser, alto saxophonist John Oswald and vibraphonist Paul Plimley explore the intention of Taylor's singular style in six anagrammatically titled improvisations, with Chicago violinist Tracy Silverman joining for the massive "Oceans Felons Salad", and Scott Amendola joing for "fir loom".
NAD
dangereuXorcisms
(CKC)
A fun and lyrical jazz album that references a host of culture and style, performed in collaborations with the NAD core of keyboardist and "soundmaster" Nicola C. Salerno and guitarist Roberto Zorzi and artists including the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, presenting original compositions and eclectic covers from Ornette Coleman, Chocolat, and even Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive"!
Brice, Olie / Binker Golding / Henry Kaiser / N.O. Moore / Eddie Prevost
The Secret Handshake with Danger Vol. One
(577 Records)
A merging of free jazz and free improvisation in the UK/US West Coast quintet of legendary AMM drummer Eddie Prévost, guitarist Henry Kaiser on "ismguitar", N.O. Moore on "guitarisism", Blinker Golding on saxophone and Olie Brice on double bass, in a rollicking album of electric jazz recorded in the studio in London for two exhilarating "Doors" of quick shifting improv.
Russell, John / Ray Russell / Henry Kaiser / Olle Brice
The Dukes of Bedford
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Exploring the lineage of the Dukes of Bedford, the Russell lineage in Bedford, England, in groupings of acoustic & electric guitarists John Russell, Ray Russell, and Henry Kaiser along with double bassist Ollie Brice, from duos to quartets, eight Duke "Russells" from 1680 to 2003 are explored through intricate and joyfully creative and technically amazing string improvisations.
Flying Luttenbachers, The
Imminent Death
(ugEXPLODE)
The ever-shifting lineup of jazz/no-wave/avant/aberrant improvisers The Flying Luttenbachers, anchored by drummer Weasel Walters, brings multi-reedist Matt Nelson, two guitarists (Brandon Seabrook & Henry Kaiser), bassist Tim Dahl and Brad Laner on synth for an aggressively informed and excitingly unpredictable album of superb playing and possibly bad intention; recommended!
Chadbourne, Eugene / Henry Kaiser
Wind Crystals: Guitar Duets By Wadada Leo Smith
(Relative Pitch)
Long-time collaborators, guitarists Henry Kaiser and Eugene Chadbourne perform the compositions of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, starting with their recording from 1977 of his "Wind Crystals", then improvising over 5 other Smith compositions, ending the album with an updated, 2017 version of "Wind Crystals"; an excellent refresh and retrospective from two incredible improvisers.
Ackley, Bruce / Fred Frith / Henry Kaiser / Aram Shelton
Unexpected Twins
(Relative Pitch)
Born out of Eugene Chadbourne's Twins band concepts from the 70s, which included over time saxophonist Bruce Ackley, and guitarists Henry Kaiser, and Fred Frith; fast forward to 2018 as Ackley & Frith return to the concept with Henry Kaiser and saxophonist Aram Shelton to revisit the original approach through pieces by those artists plus Steve Lacy, Eugene Chadbourne, and John Zorn.
Ballou, Dave / Beephonk
The Windup
(Clean Feed)
The Baltimore area quartet of Dave Ballou on trumpet, Anthony Pirog on guitar, Adam Hopkins on double bass, and Mike Kuhl on drums, met in 2011 at Baltimore's Windup Space where Adam Hopkins organized weekly concerts through the Out Of Your Head Collective; finding common ground they took the name BeepHonk, this being their first album, appropriately recorded live.
Various Artists
District of Noise Vol. 5
(Sonic Circuits)
The fifth installment of the District of Noise series featuring a diverse set of experimental noise and electronic artists from the Washington DC area released as part of the 2012 Sonic Circuits Festival.
Bennet / Bryerton / Butcher / De Gruttola / Kaiser / Smith
Sextessense: A Tribute to John Stevens and the SME
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Kaiser, Henry / Mari Kimura / Jim O'Rourke / John Oswald
Acoustics
(Les Disques Victo)



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Shepp, Archie
Fire Music To Mama Too Tight, Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Archie Shepp's second album for Impulse! merges the fire of free jazz with an incredibly eclectic set of styles, his inclusive approach to composition integrating a vast source of styles from Ellington to Ipanema; this is paired with Shepp's octet release, including an epic 20 minute work for American artist Robert Thompson reflecting his paintings in powerful thematic and abstract expression.
Smith, Ches (w/ Bill Frisell / Mat Maneri / Craig Taborn)
Interpret It Well
(Pyroclastic Records)
Expanding drummer and composer Ches Smith's working band of violist Mat Maneri and pianist Craig Taborn with guitarist Bill Frisell, who had joined the band for one live gig that felt so natural that recording as a quartet was a natural conclusion, heard here in seven compositions that allow room for band members to improvise or "Interpret" on the compositions themselves.
Columbia Icefield (Nate Wooley / Mary Halvorson / Ryan Sawyer)
Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes
(Pyroclastic Records)
The second outing for trumpeter and composer Nate Wooley's Columbia Icefield band with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar, Ryan Sawyer on drums, plus violist Mat Maneri and bassist Trevor Dunn joining for one track; an album of sublime and subtly complex sondscapes in beautiful abstractions that evolve to exceptional group and solo interplay.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC