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.
In Stock
Quantity in Basket: None
Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units
Sample The Album:
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.
"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
• Show Bio for Henry Kaiser "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." ^ Hide Bio for Henry Kaiser • Show Bio for Anthony Pirog "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 ^ Hide Bio for Anthony Pirog
12/3/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
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
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.