The Squid's Ear Magazine


Decision Dream: Steamroom Variations (Red Toucan)


 

Price: $9.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 4.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Tony Bianco-drums and cymbals

Magnus Alexanderson-electric guitar and loops

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells-fichter electric doublebass and loops


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




UPC: 777078912565

Label: Red Toucan
Catalog ID: RT 9328
Squidco Product Code: 5243

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2005
Country: Canada
Packaging: Jewel Tray
Recorded direct to Pro Tools at the Steamroom in East London August 24, 2004 by Jon Wilkinson

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.
Recorded in a former public bathhouse in East London, these 3 musicians aim for the "spirit of Ayler, the intensity of Brotzmann, the depth of Coltrane, the vision of Braxton, the courage of Stockhausen and the electricity of Fripp." A mighty set of idols to follow, but these players have the strength to pull of a collective improvisation that draws upon those references while bringing a new and strong voice of their own. "What separates this outing from similar endeavors is the trioŐs dedication to sustained energy. While dynamic, sonic diversity can be seen as compositional foresight, here the trio maintains an extremely high level of intensity for the duration of the record. This does not preclude structural variety however, as there are moments of focused exploration that do not rely on endless waves of sonic mayhem; there is always an edgy rhythmic variation, stuttered phrase or keening loop present to keep the listenerŐs attention. Where many like-minded efforts have a tendency to fall into a quiet, impressionistic haze, the trio maintains its edge by never allowing the music to be anything less than ecstatic."-Troy Collins/One Final Note

Artist Biographies

"The unlimited vistas of music show us our own limitless perceptions of our being. My hopes of music are my hopes for art and humanity. I was born in New York City, the son of a drummer and the grandson of a guitar player. I always saw music as a work of heroes. My father saw music more as a vocation than an occupation. I was lucky. Growing up in New York City I could experience the greatest sounds in jazz. Seeing these greats play was a blessing. I remember seeing Elvin, Mingus, Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, Miles, Liebman, Tony Williams, Dexter Gordon, Ron Carter. What an experience. This intensified my love for this music. I always thought that there was a point to it all. A reason. I took chances in my life because of this. I was always single-minded. I had a hard time compromising. I knew being a musician was a career, but I was never business minded. I just floated. Of course, my father was always anxious for me. He wanted me to play some kind of jazz he understood, but I just played what I heard at the time. I felt jazz was a very contemporary sound, not just a sound that was based on the past although I have great respect for the past. I think these perceptions come naturally from the time we live in. Progress. What is sound? What is perception? I never felt I was good enough. A father who loved the greats can be very intimidating. I was always searching for some perception that was my own. There was a time I thought 'forget music - it's impossible. You'll never have your own attitude'. Then I heard John Coltrane. He made me feel it was possible. Praise and Thanks.

Of course growing up in New York I thought these sublime thoughts but I had to make a living. I thought of myself as a drummer. I did what I thought a drummer should do. I became, of course, less idealistic and did all kinds of work - any work that would come my way. This included all genres. I thought of myself as a jazz musician but I seemed to be playing everything else except jazz. I got a steady gig in New York City in a warm-up band in a famous comedy club - Catch a Rising Star. It's a legendary comic club that a lot of the great comedians came through (Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, Richard Belzer). It was actually a great experience - kind of like a talkshow band (Jay Leno, David Letterman). It was a steady gig and it was real easy, and of course I could just float. The bass player on the gig was Lloyd Mair. He was a devotee of avant garde music and jazz. He knew some really interesting things about jazz. I learned a lot from him. Lloyd was great. Of course being at this club I played in some pretty interesting situations - Edgar Winter, Pat Benatar. I even played drums behind Andy Kaufman doing his Elvis routine. This club had more of a vibe than anything else. Anyway, it was a steady gig (five years). In that time I explored my own ideas and met a lot of musicians. One became a close friend - a tenor player Mac Goldsberry. He introduced me to a lot of the New York City players even though he was from Texas. Through him I played and recorded with Ed Schuller, Herb Robertson and Charlie Elgart (a commercial FM sounding jazz). I started to write music at that time. I made a recording with John Hart on guitar. At the same time I hooked up with (through Goldsberry) the singer, writer, jazz musician and poet Bob Lennox and his son Adam. Through Adam I first met Liebman. We did a record and gig doing this progressive rock thing. At this time also I also did a recording with Anthony Jackson, the legendary electric bass player. I also started to play more free jazz at this time. But things in New York for me weren't really going well. I broke up with my first wife and was feeling kind of dark. I was really going through a lot. There was a lot more going on than I could write about. You dig? I met some musicians from the University of Miami (Mike Gillis, legendary guitar player and great guy) and went to Japan for a few months with them. On coming back to the U.S. one of the teachers from the University said why don't you come to Miami - maybe we could hook you up with a teaching gig there. Then I thought, well okay, what else is there to do. I went to the International Jazz Educators Seminar at the University to check it out - see if I could get a gig. Anyway, at one of the parties that night I met Liebman, and he said to me 'What are you doing here?' I said maybe I can get a gig teaching here. Then he said forget that - go to Berlin where some of your mates went to live and play jazz (Lennox, Goldsberry). Liebman said that I needed to get out of NYC to see myself. He said if you were born there you needed to get out to feel yourself - New York is such an intense city (that was 1990). Anyway, I decided to got to Berlin - I had some money from that gig in Japan and borrowed some money from my Japanese girlfriend (Naomi) and sold my grandfather's vintage guitar (I got ripped off) and went off to Berlin.

I moved to Berlin in 1991. It was great. The Berlin Wall had recently come down and there was a good feeling in the air. I started to do more of the music I wanted to do (jazz). This city had a very free feeling. I started to work with Alex von Schlippenbach and his wife Aki Takase, and Gerd Dudek. I had an opportunity to hang and play with Reggie Workman on a Schlippenbach gig and was very honoured that he seemed to like me. I was learning more about the European free improv scene. At the same time I worked with the late legendary bass player Jay Oliver who influenced me in some rhythmic concepts and attitude. I was also privileged to work with the late gypsey guitarist Costa Lucas. My rhythmic concepts really took a turn when I worked with Hans Hartman (bass and stick player) and Turkish percussionist Mesut Ali - these guys could really play in different time signatures. At this time I was really understanding a different sort of sound.

I lived in Berlin until 1995. I felt a longing for some familiarity at this point (the English language). I returned to New York for a few months, then joined my wife (who I met in Berlin) in London. We had enough money for one month's rent and a phone. I had to borrow my first drum set, but somehow met some of the guys. I met Loz Speyer (great guy) who got me a drum set and he introduced me to a lot of the straighter players. I also met Alex McGuire who introduced me to Elton Dean, from where I met the rest of the free scene. I met Paul Dunmall and we played and recorded some great music together. I also made some great music and recordings with Elton. I started to complete some of the ideas I came up with in Berlin. I came up with a project called Freebeat with Elton Dean and sound engineer, Jon Wilkinson. It was a concept of playing through time signatures but playing also free through it. It never materialised as a label-released record but it inspired a lot of ideas. These ideas interested Dave Liebman. I recorded a similar but different project with him in Berlin (2003). These ideas and projects were never released either but I am working on it.

The CD 'In a Western Sense' handles some of these same concepts. I think that time signatures are a way of defining phrasing. My music really doesn't watch the time signature as much as the phrasing. Through beats (a drum thing) you can keep a pulse but have no number on the pulse. It's not in 1-1. That's impossible, since the phrasing has to be in one and it's not. It is actually many different time signatures but one pulse. I could explain this in more detail but not on a website bio. Anyway, this concept influenced practically all my musical ideas. Time and no time were brought together. Liebman told me I came into the world to do this. Who knows. The thing is that my improvised and free music seems to have this pulse in it. It is done quite unconsciously on some level (I think it was to do with my studies or working out these concepts) and on another level quite deliberate. I do have a method. Sometimes great complexity is held together by great simplicity. Anyway, I moved to London in 1996 - it's been good and bad - what hasn't? It's been a hard place for me to meet people but I did get some records out. I played and recorded with Paul Dunmall, Elton Dean, Simon Picard, Paul Rutherford, Keith Tippett, Paul Rogers, Marcio Matthos and John Edwards. Some great music was played.

I was also very fortunate to meet the band that played 'In a Western Sense' - Zoe Rahman, Carlos Lopez-Real and Oli Hayhurst. I have (probably because I am an American) the need to combine the sounds of straight and free jazz. It is part of my instinct. Like many other musicians at this time. It seems to be what is happening. Reason and chaos, chaos and reason. Maybe it resolves in peace."-Tony Bianco

-Tony Bianco Website (http://www.tonybianco.f9.co.uk/biog.htm)
3/27/2024

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

"Jair-Rôhm Parker Wells (born October 13, 1958) is an American jazz bassist. He is one of the founding members of the improvising band Machine Gun with Thomas Chapin and the founder of the Meeting Interdisciplinary Arts Festival in Stockholm, Sweden. He lived in Stockholm, Sweden, from 1985 until 2010.

He has been a promoter of improvised and experimental music and has collaborated with Bob Belden, Karl Berger, Daniel Carter, Jaron Lanier, John Sinclair, Riksteatern, and Tony Scott. In 2017, he was in residence at EMS in Stockholm where he began work on his opera #blacbuc. The work was composed on the Buchla 100 and 200e systems at the institute. Compositions from his Liberation cycle are featured as part of res·o·nant, the light and sound installation by artist Mischa Kuball at the Jewish Museum Berlin.

Raised in southern Germany, Jair-Rôhm moved to New York in 1978. After touring the United States for a year with a pop music band, he attended Tulane University in New Orleans. At Tulane he performed with local jazz and rhythm and blues musicians. He also performed as a member of Tulane University's Tulanians, met and studied with Richard Payne, and discovered the music of Harry Partch. In 1980 he returned to New York and started work-study with saxophonist Ken Simon. He met Anthony Braxton and studied his music. In 1982 he founded his experimental music theater group Glass Thought Theater Ensemble. Between 1982 and 1983 he was composer in residence at the New York Theater Ensemble, writing and producing a trilogy of progressive "operas". He received a Meet the Composer grant in 1983. During the next year, he lived in New Jersey and was a founding member of the New Brunswick Jazz Musician's Collective, for which he composed several works for ensembles. He has performed at Vahdat Hall (Tehran, Iran), Xinghai Conservatory of Music (Guangzhou, China), Tribeca Performing Arts Center (New York), Globen Arena (Stockholm), Saxophone Jazz Pub (Bangkok, Thailand), Cafe Oto (London, England) and the Domicil Jazz Club (Munich, Germany)."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jair-R%C3%B4hm_Parker_Wells)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Streamroom Variations (Part 1) 18:36

2. Steamroom Variations (Part 2) 12:10

3. Steamroom Variations (Part3) 27:28

4. Life | Less 4:36

Related Categories of Interest:

Improvised Music
January 2006
Trio Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Red Toucan.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Dunmall / Brackenbury / Brice / Bianco
Prema
(FMR)
Part of a series at Birmingham, UK's East Jazz Club by saxophonist Paul Dunmall with some of the UK's finest improvisers, here in a quartet of two string players—Olie Brice on bass and Faith Brackenbury on violin—plus long-time collaborator Tony Bianco on drums, the title Prema referring to divine love or higher love, as heard in this tremendous, extended performances.
Dunmall, Paul / Tony Bianco
Autumn
(FMR)
The collaboration of UK saxophonist Paul Dunmall and American ex-pat drummer Tony Bianco has at least a 15 year history, heard in these telepathic duos of free improvisation recorded at Delbury Hall, Shropshire in 2014 for 3 extended works of breathtaking playing.
Dunmall / Bianco / Kane
Ritual Beyond
(FMR)
Live recordings from 2009 at Delbury Hall with the mighty Paul Dunmall on tenor and clarinet; blistering music from an incredible trio playing seriously smoking free jazz.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Kwang, Goh Lee / Christian Meaas Svendsen
Gibberish, Balderdash and Drivel
(Nakama Records)
Three "nonsensical" musical conversations between Malaysian experimental musician and Herbal International label founder Goh Lee Kwang, and Norwegian bass player and Nakama label leader Christian Meeas Svendsen; a first encounter between two different mindsets, nationalities and generations, packaged with a pencil to let you draw your own cover.
Fake Humans (Fisher / Didur)
Exegesis [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)
The Toronto-based duo of Colin Fisher on woodwinds and percussion and Carl Didur on keyboards and bass bridge acoustic and electronic improv with science fiction sensibilities in their two part "Exegesis", a critical exposition of un-genred music that borrows from global sources in service to their unusual and exotic tale; a wonderfully perplexing album.
Humcrush (Storlokken / Stronen)
Enter Humcrush [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)
After a six year break, the Humcrush duo of Stale Storlokken on keys and Thomas Stronen on drums & electronics return with this studio album of rhythmic angularities and experimental sound worlds, drawing on their experiences with bands including Supersilent, Food, Elephant9, Time is a blind guide, Meadow and Motorpsycho.
Junk & The Beast (Petr Vrba / Veronika Mayer)
Trailer
(Mikroton Recordings)
Petr Vrba and Veronika Mayer use non-idiomatic improvisation to research the combination of textural materials, crossing them with vibrations of objects on the speakers, pure sound waves, feedbacks, tones coming from trumpet, accordion, electronics, and laptop, culminating in the creation of a muscular frenetic soup of tense energy fields.
Acre (Baron / Boschi / Bonini)
Unexpected Variations
(Creative Sources)
The Italian Acre trio of Ermanno Baron on drums & objects, Ginomaria Boschi on guitar & effects, and Marco 'uBiK' Bonini on laptop, tapes, theremin, in a five-part improvised work using a "free game" methodology to promote new modulations and configurations in organic and synthetic sounds and timbre, make each player subsume into their collective sound.
Area, David / Tomas Gris / Ernesto Rodrigues
Chorismos
(Creative Sources)
An album of patience and concentrated listening from the lowercase trio of David Area on electronics, Tomas Gris on guitar and objects, and Ernesto Rodrigues on harp and objects, each player subtly coaxing sounds out of their instruments while the electronics act as environmental ambience over which tones slowly voice, recede and occasionally punctuate.
Filosofer
Landet Er Gitt Oss [VINYL]
(Nakama Records)
An hallucinogenic and commanding blending of improvisation, song, spoken word, and tonal/timbral music from double bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen's Filosofer, creating beautiful sonic environments out of which voice and message emerge and submerge, buoyed by a string quartet (two violins and two double basses), computers, turntables, synths and samplers.
Big Bold Back Bone (Marco von Orelli / Sheldon Suter / Luis Lopes
In Search Of The Emerging Species
(Shhpuma)
Swiss musicians, trumpeter Marco Von Orelli and drummer Sheldon Suter and their Portuguese partners, guitarist Luis Lopes and electronics artist Travassos, in an album of unconventional collective improvisation using extended techniques in a large work of evolving, subtle interactions, magnifying sound and gesture in an engrossing sonic environment.
Gomberg, Billy / Anne Guthrie / Richard Kamerman / Takahiro Kawaguchi
[4X4 Poster/Print w/ Download Link]
(Winds Measure)
Of interest to lowercase/Wandelweiser fans, the quartet of Billy Gomberg, Anne Guthrie, Richard Kamerman and Takahiro Kawaguchi use synthesizer, french horn, found objects, & field recordings, frequency generators, to create evolving sound environments of unique sound and timbre.
Farmer, Patrick
Wild Horses Think Of Nothing Else The Sea - Tape Readings [2 CASSETTES + TEXT]
(Winds Measure)
During 2012 Patrick Farmer walked half of the Welsh Coast, writing a series of observations, which on this release are read in environmental settings by Antoine Beuger, Jeph Jerman, Bruno Guastalla, Sally Ann McIntyre, Holly Pester, Daniela Cascella, & Michael Pisaro-Liu.
Amalgamated
Amalgamated
(Aubjects)
An album of hallucinogenic and melodic rhythhm and sound from the Amalgamated collective, who take their influence from 80's industrial / cassette culture, as heard in these 8 tracks, balancing modern electronics with lo-fi/home taper instruments and sensibilities.
Chrysakis, Thanos / Christian Kobi / Christian Skjodt / Zsolt Sores
Carved Water
(Aural Terrains)
Using principles similar to Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening, the quartet of Thanos Chrysakis, Christian Kobi, Christian Skjodt, and Zsolt Sores use acoustic and electronic instruments in carefully developed improvisations based around dynamics, densities & textures.
Ease: Klaus Filip / Noid
No No No, No
(Mikroton Recordings)
An anniversary release for the 10 year collaboration of Ease, the duo of Klaus Filip and Noid, using Filip's ppooll software (formerly lloopp) to tailor both pure electronic sound and modified field recordings into subtle and mysterious sound environments.
Hocevar, Dre (Hocevar / Pluta / Tevis / Qu / Rasmussen / Corren / Clarke / St. Louis / Fraser)
Transcendental Within the Sphere of Indivisible Remainder
(Clean Feed)
An expansive album blending acoustic and electronic instruments in unique ways, creating a tapestry of sound as a framework for creative improvisation, composed by drummer Dre Hocevar & performed in an ensemble that includes some of New York's finest young improvisers.
Kwang, Goh Lee
Back2Bed
(Herbal International)
Goh Lee Kwang recorded these tracks from 2012-2015, a diverse set of pieces using sound, noise, field recordings, even guitar and rhythm to create unique audio environments, a succint and interesting reflection on the inquisitive nature of this audio explorers work.
Jerman / Barnes
Versatile Ambience [VINYL]
(IDEA Intermedia)
Without referencing typical genre or style, the collaboration of sound artists Tim Barnes and Jeph Jerman moves a step forward with this 45 RPM LP release of texture and atmosphere, with assistance from Ken Vandermark, Jacob Duncan, Aaron Michael Bulter, Sara Saltau & Bret Berry.
Ich B!n Nintendo (Winther / Nergaard / Johansen)
Lykke [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)
The Ich Bin Nintendo trio of Christian Skar Winther (guitar & voice), Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard (bass) and Joakim Heibo Johansen (drums) take their improvised noise music into the post-punk world with demanding and energetic music that voices it's power and exultation.
GGRIL (Grand Groupe Regional d'Improvisation Liberee)
Geste
(Tour de Bras)
Eric Normand's Quebec based 12-piece GGRIL (Grand Groupe Regional d'Improvisation) in an album of 5 improvisations and a piece by percussionist Danielle P. Roger; wonderfully creative music with eclectic instrumentation that's simultaneously challenging and fun.
Kay, Martin
Courtyards
(Herbal International)
Sound artist Martin Kay focuses on the intimate and visceral symphony of domestic activity reverberating throughout a variety of shared courtyard spaces in Paris, using field recordings from various locations to examine their distinct acoustic characteristics.
Kwang, Goh Lee
Innere Freuden / Internal Pleasures
(Herbal International)
The title of this work for a cross-wired analog DJ mixer from Goh Lee Kwang translates to "Internal Pleasures", as he finds unexpected sounds from the noise floor of his equipment, which he develops into 7 untitled sound works of hiss, hum, controlled feedback, and rich sound.
Battikha, Philippe
Invisible Backgrounds
(Samizdat)
A beautiful solo album from Montreal/Brooklyn trumpeter Philippe Battikha, who also developed the field recordings over which he plays, joined on two tracks by double bassist Johan Fortune, in a melancholy and haunting album of emotionally rich soundscapes.
Kwang, Goh Lee / Tim Blechmann
Findars
(Herbal International)
A work for heavy electronic drone and glitch, Herbal International Label founder Goh Lee Kwang presents this live performance from Malaysia's Finders Art Space in Kuala Lumpur, for 36 minutes of mysterious intensity that settles and fills the listening space like a pall.
Kwang, Goh Lee
_, And Vice Versa
(Herbal International)
A series of unusual electronic constructions from Malaysian sound artist Goh Lee Kwang, Herbal International's label boss, a diverse set from indistinct squiggly sound to full-on noise, with lengths from 31 seconds to 37 minutes; unusual, peculiar, and fascinating.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC