The Squid's Ear Magazine


Rempis / Piet / Daisy: Throw Tomatoes (Astral Spirits)

Bringing together two live shows from 2017 of the trio of Chicago luminaries, Dave Rempis on saxophones, Tim Daisy on drums, and Matt Piet on piano, in an exhilarating album of free jazz that shows the excitement of all three in what are only their 3rd and 4th live gigs together, each driving the other to enthusiastic heights amidst contemplative and playful moments.
 

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Personnel:



Dave Rempis-saxophones

Matt Piet-piano

Tim Daisy-drumsĘ


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UPC: 711583491191

Label: Astral Spirits
Catalog ID: AS060
Squidco Product Code: 25704

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack
Track 1 recorded live at Elastic Arts, in Chicago, Illinois, on May 8th, 2017, recorded by Dave Zuchowski.

Track 2 recorded live at the Hungry Brain, Chicago, Illinois, on July 2, 2017, by Bill Harris.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"This recording is a document of the third and fourth occasion of Dave Rempis, Tim Daisy, and yours truly convening to improvise together. (In Chicago at Elastic Arts and Hungry Brain, respectively.) Our first two meetings were captured and released on Cure for the Quotidian (Amalgam) and Hit the Ground Running (Aerophonic). Each time I play with Tim and Dave is a revelatory experience. A year ago, during the set at the Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago that yielded Hit the Ground Running, I had a playing experience at least a decade in the making. In a manner like that which I described experiencing in live theatre, at once I felt entirely tethered to my own playing, the trio's group dynamic, and the sense of a silent but rapt audience. I have played fearlessly, and with a profound sense of ease, ever since...

It is a truism that the trio may be the configuration that offers the optimal conditions for both intimate interplay and stark individuality in improvised music. This case has certainly been proven, time and again: from the standard, ubiquitous "piano trio" format, to the achievement in epic longevity one finds in a trio like that of Alexander von Schlippenbach with Evan Parker and Paul Lovens. In a trio, someone is always taking care of the music. Overlapping swaths of group energy can give way to a drum solo built block-by-block, or a series of overblown saxophone iterations, or a madcap piano cadenza.

(One of my favorite moments on this album occurs on the first track, when Tim and I seem hell-bent on dramatically bringing the music to a close, at about eighteen minutes. Dave, apparently, had more to say, and leads us up a glissando that is a direct tribute to Johnny Hodges, only to make the sound entirely his own after he reaches the precipice...)

"Someone is always taking care of the music." Indeed, this could not be more true a case than playing with such master collaborators as Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy. Playing with this trio gives me the sensation that I've only experienced in the theatre: I feel confidently that I can make all the right moves as a player and simultaneously entertain all the delights of a listener, as though I'm a member of the audience myself.

My thanks, as always, to Dave and Tim, for joining me in the occasional musical trialogue. Also, many thanks to Nate Cross for his help in bringing the music to you, the listener. I hope you enjoy this music as much as we enjoyed playing it. If not, well, see title for further instructions..."



"Contrary to the fabled image, they didn't really throw rotten tomatoes during Shakespeare's time at The Globe Theatre. Vegetables, yes, but there are no tomatoes on record in Britain for another seven-score years after Shakespeare. No matter. The title of this album by the Rempis/Piet/Daisy trio is my own flippant gesture to the listener: "Say what you will about this music; this is what we three offer you, unapologetically. If you are revolted by the madness of our method, well, by all means, revolt: throw tomatoes." As for the stolen titular references to Hamlet, well... I thought I'd spare you my own wordplay-within-wordplay, this once. As I have so often said: "'Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.' - Oscar Wilde."

If there is one thing that perhaps colours my approach to improvising on the bandstand in a way dissimilar to those with whom I share it, it is that I come from theatre first. It was in live theatre that I first experienced that magnificent extrasensory perception that takes place as an actor becomes aware of a trifold energy in the performance space. There is one's own awareness of self, an awareness of space and troupe energy on stage, and the most mysterious of the three: a psychic awareness of the state of the audience. Getting laughs, of course, renders audible what the actor will use as validation and can be quite the adrenaline rush. Yet, even at the quietest of moments, this constant "read" of a group of strangers in the dark is always accessible, even when one is met with absolute silence. This sounds as though it would be baffling, frightening. Much to the contrary, the silence itself feels not at all like a void, but seems to actively have its own agency, providing the players with willful encouragement to go on."---Matt Piet, March 2018, Chicago

"Where I am, I don't know, I'll never know, in the silence you don't know,you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on."SAMUEL BECKETT, The Unnamable

Also available on cassette with digital download

Artist Biographies

"Dave Rempis was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts on March 24th, 1975. He began his musical studies at the age of 8, inspired by a family friend who played clarinet in local Greek bands, and by Zoot, of the Muppets Band, to pick up saxophone. During high school he performed in his town, district, and all-state bands and wind ensembles, as well as in a jazz combo at a local music school.

In 1993, Rempis began a degree in classical saxophone at Northwestern University with Frederick Hemke. Finding this environment stifling, Rempis quickly ditched the music degree to pursue studies in anthropology and ethnomusicology. As part of these studies, he spent a year at the International Centre for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana, Legon, studying African music and ethnomusicology. He also continued to perform with many different types of groups, ranging from highlife and reggae bands while in Ghana, to jazz, free jazz, funk, and contemporary music ensembles at home. He graduated from Northwestern in 1997.

Upon graduating, Rempis decided to focus on performing, and in March of 1998 at the age of 22 was asked to replace veteran saxophonist Mars Williams in the well-known Chicago jazz outfit The Vandermark Five. This opportunity catapulted him to notoriety as he began to tour regularly throughout the US and Europe playing clubs, concert halls, and festivals on both continents.

During his tenure with The Vandermark Five, Rempis also began to develop the many Chicago-based groups and international collaborations for which he's currently known, including The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Ballister, Rempis/Abrams/Ra, Wheelhouse, The Rempis/Rosaly Duo, and The Rempis/Daisy Duo. Many of these groups have been documented on the Okkadisk, 482 Music, Not Two, Clean Feed, Solitaire, and Utech record labels. Past collaborations have included performances with Paul Lytton, Axel Dörner, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Steve Swell, John Tchicai, Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Anderson, Kevin Drumm, Paal Nilssen-Love, Nels Cline, Tony Buck, and Joe McPhee. Rempis has been named regularly since 2006 in the annual Downbeat Critics's Poll as a "rising star" on alto saxophone, and as a "rising star" and "established talent" on baritone saxophone.

Aside from performing, Rempis is also active as a presenter. Since 2002, he's curated a weekly Thursday-night concert series for the Elastic Arts Foundation. The series has featured over 500 concerts by some of the best improvisers from around the world, while maintaining a focus on up-and-coming local musicians. In late 2005, Rempis helped form the presenters' collective Umbrella Music, working with a small group of musicians and presenters in Chicago to provide better playing opportunities for creative and improvising musicians. As part of this group, he organized the annual Umbrella Music Festival from 2006-2014.

Rempis is also one of the main organizers of the indie-rock Pitchfork Music Festival, a 60,000-person event which takes place in Chicago's Union Park every July."

-Dave Rempis Website (http://daverempis.com/bio/)
3/25/2024

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

"Matt Piet is an improvising pianist, composer, and music director. Matt was born and raised in suburban Chicago, began his studies as a pianist and vocalist at age ten, and was a proficient classical pianist and accompanist by his early teens. Piet set aside his classical studies to focus on jazz, improvisation, and composition during his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Piet returned to Chicago in 2014, and has since been an active participant in Chicago's rich jazz and improvised music scene. In addition to playing many ad hoc improvised performances as a leader and a sideman, he has three working trios: Matt Piet Trio, Four Letter Words, and the Rempis/Piet/Daisy trio. Piet works actively as a Music Director and accompanist throughout the Chicagoland area."

-Matt Piet Website (https://www.mattpietmusic.com/)
3/25/2024

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

"Tim Daisy (percussion) has been an active member of Chicago' s creative music scene since moving there in 1997. He has performed, composed, recorded, and toured with many of the city's celebrated musicians and ensembles, including the Engines, KLANG, the Rempis Percussion Quartet, the Resonance Ensemble, and the Vandermark 5. In addition, Tim maintains an active composing schedule, writing for his own bands (such as Vox Arcana and Group 4-34) as well as contributing music to a number of collaborative projects- including chamber groups, jazz ensembles, dance, and film. He has had the fortunate experience to perform and record with many great improvisers both from around the world, including: Fred Anderson, Jim Baker, Jeb Bishop, Magnus Broo, Xavier Charles, James Falzone, Erik Friedlander, Per-Ake Homlander, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Nate McBride, Joe McPhee, Dave Rempis, Steve Swell, Mikolaj Trzaska, Havard Wiik, Waclaw Zimpel, and Michael Zerang. Besides a regular concert schedule in Chicago, Tim has toured throughout North America and Europe, and has performed at numerous international music festivals."

-Ken Vandermark Website (http://kenvandermark.com/2013/10/made-to-break-biography/)
3/25/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. To Play Is The Thing 28:27

2. The Thousand Natural Shocks 27:22

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items

Search for other titles on the label:
Astral Spirits.


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