The Squid's Ear Magazine


Black Host (Cleaver / Cooper-Moore / Seabrook / Jones / Niggenkemper): Life in the Sugar Candle Mine (Northern Spy)

Drummer Gerald Cleaver leads this New York quintet through eight original compositions that fuse improvisation with modern jazz, post-punk, and electrified noise.
 

Price: $12.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Gerald Cleaver-drums, sound design

Cooper-Moore-piano, synth

Brandon Seabrook-guitar

Darius Jones-alto saxophone

Pascal Niggenkemper-bass


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




UPC: 081159198695

Label: Northern Spy
Catalog ID: NS039
Squidco Product Code: 17828

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2013
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded by Bryce Goggin.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Sometimes it can be a challenge to rise above the flood of interesting music available in the new-release (let alone reissue) coffers and bring a vibe to the table that's robust enough to grab one by the throat, offering seamless introspection within past and present. Black Host, a New York quintet nominally led by in-demand drummer Gerald Cleaver, is an improvising ensemble prepared to do just that. Cleaver is joined here by pianist Cooper-Moore, alto saxophonist Darius Jones, bassist Pascal Niggenkemper and guitarist Brandon Seabrook on a program of eight original compositions that blend modern jazz, free music, psych, post-punk and electrified noise with painstaking detail and heady abandon. The historically obsessed might name-check Albert Ayler (especially the groups with pianist Bobby Few and guitarist Henry Vestine), the early '70s music of Norwegians Jan Garbarek and Terje Rypdal, or Gary Windo with Carla Bley, but Black Host present dynamic, incisive and utterly contemporary music. Life in the Sugar Candle Mines is the group's first record - hopefully one among several - a reverb-drenched and incisive stew of rhapsodic piano, searing alto and fractured guitar over rhythms that are alternately chunky and airy, rendered with a "live" energy that cuts through the cones on your speakers."-Northern Spy


Artist Biographies

"Gerald Cleaver (born May 4, 1963) is an African-American jazz drummer from Detroit, Michigan. Cleaver's father is drummer John Cleaver Jr., originally from Springfield, Ohio, and his mother was from Greenwood, Mississippi. Gerald had six older siblings. Cleaver joined the jazz faculty at the University of Michigan in 1995. He has performed or recorded with Joe Morris, Mat Maneri, Roscoe Mitchell, Miroslav Vitous, Michael Formanek, Tomasz Sta ko, Franck Amsallem and others.

Under the name Veil of Names, Cleaver released an album called Adjust on the Fresh Sounds New Talent label in 2001. It featured Maneri, Ben Monder, Andrew Bishop, Craig Taborn and Reid Anderson and was a Best Debut Recording Nominee by the Jazz Journalists Association. Cleaver currently leads the groups Uncle June, Black Host, Violet Hour and NiMbNl as well as working as a sideman with many different artists."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Cleaver_(musician))
3/13/2024

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

"As a composer, performer, instrument builder/designer, storyteller, teacher, mentor, and organizer, Cooper-Moore [b. August 31, 1946] has been a major, if somewhat behind-the-scenes, catalyst in the world of creative music for over 40 years. As a child prodigy Cooper-Moore played piano in churches near his birthplace in the Piedmont region of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. His performance roots in the realm of avant jazz music date to the NYC Loft Jazz era in the early/mid-70s. His first fully committed jazz group was formed in 1970 - the collective trio Apogee with David S. Ware and drummer Marc Edwards. Sonny Rollins asked them to open for him at the Village Vanguard in 1973, and they did so with aplomb. A studio recording of this group was made in 1977, and issued as Birth of a Being on hatHut under Ware's name in 1979 (re-mixed and re-issued in expanded form on AUM Fidelity in 2015!). Following an evidently rather trying European tour with Ware, Beaver Harris, and Brian Smith in 1981, Cooper-Moore returned home and completely destroyed his piano, with sledgehammer and fire, in his backyard. He didn't play piano again until some years after, instead focusing his energies from 1981-1985 on developing and implementing curriculum to teach children through music via the Head Start program. Returning to New York in 1985, he spent a great part of his creative time working and performing with theatre and dance productions, largely utilizing his hand-crafted instruments. It was not until the early 90s, when William Parker asked him to join his group In Order To Survive, that Cooper-Moore's pianistic gifts were again regularly featured in the jazz context. In the early 'aughts the group Triptych Myth was his own first regular working jazz group in decades and together they blazed some trails and released two albums: one rich formative, and one exquisite. A destined creative re-union with David S. Ware in the Planetary Unknown quartet, the Digital Primitives trio with Assif Tsahar & Chad Taylor, and continued work with William Parker followed. Cooper-Moore's creative life continues well-strong and unabated into the present day. He will be/was the Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the 22nd iteration of Vision Festval, NYC on May 29, 2017."

-Aum Fidelity (http://www.aumfidelity.com/cooper-moore.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Described by Spin Magazine as "An apocalyptic, supersonic general of the banjo..." Brandon Seabrook has made a name for himself in the New York avant-garde music scene as an explosive guitar and banjo performer, relentlessly committed to immediacy and precision.

Seabrook honed his terror-inducing riffage skills at the New England Conservatory in Boston. He has since performed extensively in North and South America, Mexico and Europe, as a solo artist, bandleader and collaborator. He has been summoned by the likes of Anthony Braxton, Elliot Sharp and Joey Arias for his unpredictably spiked approach to improvisation and impeccable caterwauling. He has been profiled in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Magnet Magazine, Fretboard Journal, NPR and The Wire.

Seabrook Power Plant, the nuclear trio donned "a manic clusterfuck of merciless banjo torture" by the Village Voice, is Brandon's brainchild, blending the brutal energy of punk-rock with the intricate execution of through-composed avant jazz. The band has released two albums to much critical acclaim. Time Out New York praised the band's eponymous debut as "not only one of the most baffling experimental releases of the year... also one of the best."

Brandon is an accomplished solo artist, named Best Guitarist in New York City by the Village Voice 2012. In 2014, New Atlantis Records released his first solo album titled Sylphid Vitalizers. Noisey called the album a "dissonant guitar army...(with) mind-blowing prog-rock complexities - all at mind-numbing breakneck speed."

Brandon is currently working on two new albums with his noise-prog trio, Needle Driver and a new sextet featuring immoral, percussive compositions under the name Die Trommel Fatale. This recent work is a poly-rhythmic exploration of the dark side of the drum, layering cello, bass, electronics, voice and guitar against dichotomous drummers."

-Brandon Seabrook Website (http://www.brandonseabrook.com/bio/)
3/13/2024

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

"Over the past decade, Darius Jones has created a recognizable voice as a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer by embracing individuality and innovation in the tradition of African-American music. "Jones' concept is proudly his own," writes Philip Clark in The Wire. [His music] poses big questions about the relationship between the African-American tradition of spirituals, blues and gospel, and now." With New York City as his base since 2005, Jones has brought his unique sound to dozens of cities around the United States, Canada and Europe.

Jones early on established himself as a powerful voice in the jazz community and was nominated in 2013 for Alto Saxophonist of the Year, and for Up & Coming Artist of the Year two years in a row for the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards. Jones was one of Jazz Times' Debut Artists of the Year for 2009 and was featured in the Wall Street Journal in 2011. In 2012 he was featured in DownBeat and on WBGO's The Checkout. Jones' 2012 release, Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) was listed among NPR's Best Top 10 Jazz Albums of that year. "Jones speaks through his alto in an original and unforced language," writes DownBeat's Joe Tangari. Critics have called him "robustly creative" (Nate Chinen, New York Times) and "one of NYC's most incisive and passionate saxists" (Time Out New York). AllAboutJazz.com reviewer Troy Collins writes, "Jones has set the stage for a winning series of albums designed to document his rise as one of the most impressive and unique voices of our time."

More recently The New York Times named Jones among the Best Live Jazz Performances of 2017 for his Vision Festival performance with Farmers by Nature.

Jones has collaborated with artists including Gerald Cleaver, Oliver Lake, William Parker, Craig Taborn, Jason Moran, Georgia Ann Muldrow, Trevor Dunn, Eric Revis, Mike Reed, Nasheet Waits, Orrin Evans, Branford Marsalis, Kris Davis, Vijay Iyer, Marshall Allen, Dave Burrell, James Carter, Harriet Tubman, JD Allen, Tyshawn Sorey, Andrew Cyrille, Yo La Tengo, Chad Taylor, Dan Weiss, Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith, Steve Lehman, Jim Black, Sun Ra Arkestra, Shazhad Ismaily, Fay Victor, Cooper-Moore, Imani Uzuri, Matthew Shipp and many more.

Signed to AUM Fidelity records in 2009, Jones has released a string of diverse recordings which comprise his Man'ish Boy Epic, featuring music and images evocative of Black Futurism.

In 2008 Jones was awarded the Van Lier Fellowship by Roulette, which he used to launch his chamber ensemble, the Elizabeth-Caroline Unit, a project dedicated to new works for voice. Roulette continued their support for Darius' work through a Jerome Foundation Commission, and he was a Jerome Artist-in-Residence when the Elizabeth-Caroline Unit premiered the first section of The Oversoul Manual, in the Spring of 2014. Jones made his compositional debut at Carnegie Hall with the same work in October of 2014. In March 2018, Jones presented a new composition entitled LawNOrder a dramatic commentary on social justice and American politics, at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

In 2013, Jones was awarded the French-American Jazz Exchange grant for a collaboration with French vocalist Emilie Lesbros.

Jones graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelors in Jazz Studies in 2003, earning a Master's Degree in Jazz Performance/Composition from New York University in 2008. He also taught New Music Improvisation there for a year as an adjunct professor. Jones taught saxophone and improvisation at Columbia University in 2017.

Of note, Jones was featured in the Wall Street Journal and BBC's Jazz on 3 in 2011. In 2012 he was featured in the New York City Jazz Record, JazzTimes.com, the Village Voice Blog, DownBeat, and on WBGO's The Checkout. Darius was featured on the cover of Portuguese magazine, Jazz.pt in 2012, and on the cover of Italian magazine, Jazz Colours, in 2013. Darius' 2012 release, Book of Mæ'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise) was listed among NPR's Best Top 10 Jazz Albums of that year."

-Darius Jones Website (http://www.dariusjonesmusic.com/read.html)
3/13/2024

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

"New York City-based German-French bassist, composer and improviser Pascal Niggenkemper is a performing and recording artist active on the creative music scene in the US and in Europe.

From 1999-2005 he was musicaly active in Cologne having studied jazz & classical double bass at the Hochschule für Musik. In 2005 he received the DAAD award and moved to New York.

From 2008 to 2010 Pascal led the PNTrio with Tyshawn Sorey and Robin Verheyen. (CD "pasàpas" Konnex 2008 & "urban creatures" JazzHausMusik 2010). The trio toured extensively in Europe performing at the Jazzcologne Festival, Jazzherbst Konstanz and at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Recordings for the WDR and the BR Radio.

In cooperation with Jazzdor Strasbourg-Berlin, Pascal formed the septet vision7 that performed at Jazzdor Strasbourg-Berlin, Vive le Jazz in Cologne, Jazz à la Cité in Paris and at the Pori Jazz in Finland. (CD 'Lucky Prime' clean feed records Sept 2013)

In September 2011 Pascal released with Simon Nabatov and Gerald Cleaver the CD/LP upcoming hurricane on NoBusiness Records which is listed among 'Albums of the year' 2011 in the 'The New York City Jazz Record'. The trio performed in Canada and the USA.

He recently recorded a new solo program called: 'look with thine ears' music for bass & preparations was premiered at the Jazzdor Festival in Strasbourg in November 2013. The CD was released in March 2015 on clean feed records. He performed for the France Musique radio broadcast by Anne Montaron called 'a l'improviste'.

In 2014 he presented the double trio 'le 7eme continent' with the program 'talking trash' at the Vive le Jazz festival in Cologne, Germany and the concert was broadcast by WDR3 radio. Their CD was released in May 2016 on clean feed records and the group performed in France, Belgium and Germany.

Pascal is co-leading the groups baloni with Frantz Loriot viola and Joachim Badenhorst clarinets (CD 'fremdenzimmer' 2011, 'Belleke' 2014 & 'Ripples' 2015 clean feed records) PascAli a duo for two prepared basses with Sean Ali (CD 'suspicious activity' creative sources 2012) and Miner's Pick with Thomas Heberer. (CD 'miner's pick' FMR records 2014)

With friends, he curates in NY the house concert series ze couch, where every month artists meet to present their work.

Festival presence includes: Jazzdor Strasbourg-Berlin, Vision Festival New York, Umbrella Festival Chicago, Banlieues Bleues Paris, Strade del Cinema Aosta, météo Mulhouse, Jazzcologne, JIGG Lisbon, Taktlos Zurich, Jazz à la Cité in Paris, ESCUCHA Madrid, Washington DC Jazz Festival, Pori Jazz Festival, Middelheim Antwerp, Grenzenlos Köln, undead Jazzfest NYC, D'Jazz Nevers, NewAdits Klagenfurt, Font New York, Music Unlimited Wels, Vive le Jazz Cologne, GONG Aarau, Konfrontationen Nickelsdorf, Ljubljana Jazz Festival etc...

He received the following scholarships/grants: DAAD, Henry Mancini Institute, North Rhine-Westphalia composition stipend."

-Pascal Niggenkemper Website (http://www.pascalniggenkemper.com/bio_english.html)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



Hover 16:10

Ayler Children 11:23

Citizen Rose 8:04

Test-Sunday 6:35

Amsterdam/Frames 6:01

Gromek 12:58

Wrestling 5:59

May Be Home 10:28

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
NY Downtown & Jazz/Improv
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Quintet Recordings
Instant Rewards

Search for other titles on the label:
Northern Spy.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Cleaver, Gerald
Griots [VINYL]
(577 Records)
Drummer Gerald Cleaver continues his explorations in electronic music, taking his compositions of modular electronics, synthesis, FM tones, and muted drum machines into intricate and wide-ranging territory, compelling through the solid and natural rhythms he imparts to each piece, many of which are titled for musicians who have influenced him.
Hprizm
Signs Remixed [BLACK VINYL]
(577 Records)
577 Records' experimental, electronic sub-label Positive Elevation releases this remix of Gerald Cleaver's Signs album, itself an innovative album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, here reworked by producer Hprizm, aka High Priest of Antipop Consortium, channeling Cleaver's work into dream-like territory that re-thinks and re-paces the original.
Hprizm
Signs Remixed
(577 Records)
577 Records' experimental, electronic sub-label Positive Elevation releases this remix of Gerald Cleaver's Signs album, itself an innovative album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, here reworked by producer Hprizm, aka High Priest of Antipop Consortium, channeling Cleaver's work into dream-like territory that re-thinks and re-paces the original.
Niggenkemper, Pascal
Look With Thine Ears
(Clean Feed)
Ever-active bassist Pascal Niggenkemper in his first solo album of riveting and intriguing double bass work, from aggressive to contemplative and immersive improvisations using work using bass preparations to transform the instrument and make us rethink its potential.
Baloni
Belleke
(Clean Feed)
A New York-born trio of European free improvisers, bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst, and viola player Frank Loriot present a unique orchestration that blends contemporary compositional forms with free improvisation in sublime ways.
Revis, Eric / Taylor / McHenry / Jones / Branford Marsalis
In Memory of Things Yet Seen
(Clean Feed)
A superb modern jazz release from NY bassist Eric Revis with Chad Taylor (drums), Bill McHenry (sax) and Darius Jones (sax), plus special guest Branford Marsalis on two tracks.
Digital Primitives
Lipsomuch & Soul Searchin' [2 CDs]
(Hopscotch Records)
The trio of saxophonist Assif Tsahar, drummer Chad Taylor and multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore in the 3rd Digital Primitives release, rhythmic and soulful improvisation with an inventive New York attitude.
Bynum, Taylor Ho / John Hebert / Gerald Cleaver
Book of Three: Continuum
(Relative Pitch)
Collective improvisation from Ho Bynum's Book of Three with bassist John Hebert & drummer Gerald Cleaver, following their RogueArt CD with this exceptional album of original compositions plus works from Bobby Bradford, Salim Washington, and Jim Hobbs.
Baloni (Badenhorst / Loriot / Niggenkemper)
Fremdenzimmer
(Clean Feed)
The debut album from the NY based Baloni trio, blending chamber techniques with a unique approach to improvisation, as performed by bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, violist Frantz Loriot, and multi-reedist Joachim Badenhorst.
Hertenstein / Niggenkemper / Heberer
HNH
(Clean Feed)
The German born NYC-based trio of quarter-tone trumpeter Thomas Heberer, drummer Joe Hertenstein and bassist Pascal Niggenkemperer, bringing European perspectives to jazz with a NY flavor.
Cooper-Moore
Solo - Deep in the neighborhood of history and influence
(Hopscotch Records)
Cooper-Moore's astonishing solo piano album live in Guelph shows his immense knowledge of jazz idioms crossed with mind-altering, outer-edge playing, Moore's "improvisation as lifeblood".



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Smith, Wadada Leo / Lewis, George / Zorn, John
Sonic Rivers
(Tzadik)
Tzadik's new Spectrum series begins with the collaboration of 3 legendary NY performers--Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet); George Lewis (trombone); John Zorn (alto sax)--in 8 technically superb and joyfully unique compositions and collective improvisations.
Auris + Gino (Robair / Leonardson / Miller / Preissing)
Rub
(Public Eyesore)
The Electroacoustic improv trio of Eric Leonardson (springboard & electronics), Julia E. Miller (guitar & electronics), and Christopher Preissing (flute & electronics), present 3 collective improvisations and 3 duos between Auris members and percussionist Gino Robair.
Lacy, Steve
Avignon and After - 2 (1972-7) Volume 2
(Emanem)
The second volume of Steve Lacy's solo soprano saxophone concerts, starting off with the three short versions of Billy Strayhorn tunes which opened his first solo concert at Avignon in 1972.
Nechustan, Alon
Ritual Fire
(Between the lines)
Pianist Nechusthan leads his powerful trio of bassist Ken Filiano & drummer Bob Meyers, plus clarinet legend Harold Rubin, in a Jackson Pollack-influenced action suite, 10 pieces of free improvisation following a larger structured process.
Vandermark, Ken and Mats Gustafsson
Verses
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Surprisingly after long partnerships with Peter Brotzmann's Tentet and the saxophone trio Sonore, this is the first time that Ken Vandermark & Mats Gustafsson have recorded as a duo, here in 6 incredible improvisations balancing technique, power, and beauty.
Dahl, Anders & Skogen
Rows
(Another Timbre)
Sweden's Skogen returns with a beautiful work for chamber ensemble with Magnus Granberg, Angharad Davies, Toshimaru Nakamura, Ko Ishikawa, Anna Lindal, Henrik Olsson, Petter wastberg and Erik Carlsson, interpreting a piece by Anders Dahl using a 12 tone system.
Wooley, Nate Sextet
(Sit in) The Throne of Friendship
(Clean Feed)
Unique approaches to modern jazz from NY trumpeter Nate Wooley's Sextet with Josh Sinton (reeds), Matt Moran (vibes), Eivind Opsvik (bass), Dan Peck (tuba) and Harris Eisenstadt (drums), extraordinary music from exceptional players.
Ducret, Marc
Tower, Vol. 3
(Ayler)
Guitarist Marc Ducret's sextet performs comments on the music previously played in the other albums of the Tower series, either as rewritten fragments or developments of excerpts or patterns.
Wheelhouse (Rempis / Adasiewicz / McBride)
Boss Of The Plains
(Aerophonic)
The debut album from the trio of Dave Rempis (sax), Jason Adasiewicz (vibraphone) and Nate McBride (bass) is a rich melodic and harmonic release with tracks that vary from sparse to zestful.
Rempis Percussion Quartet ,The
Phalanx [2 CDs]
(Aerophonic)
A 2-CD set of live concert recordings from this brilliant improvising quartet headed by Dave Rempis (sax) with prominent members Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy (drums), and Frank Rosaly (drums).
Musique Action #4 (Marclay / Jauniaux / Minton / Yoshihide / Parkins / Weston / Vatcher / Luc Ex)
Madame Luckerniddle - Tribute to Tom Cora
(Vand'Oeuvre)
The fourth of a collection dedicated to the French Musique Action Festival, here in a tribute to Tom Cora recorded in 1998 with Catherine Jauniaux, Phil Minton, Zeena Parkins, Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, Veryan Weston, &c. &c.
Braxton, Anthony Steptet (with Ho Bynum / Halvorson / Pavone / Rozen / Siegel / Testa)
Echo Echo Mirror House
(Les Disques Victo)
Composer/saxophonist Braxton performed "Composition NO 347 + 62'37" " at the 2011 Victo Festival with the "super-group" of Braxton alumni - Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum, Jessica Pavone, Jay Rozen, Aaron Siegel, Carl Testa", on their respective instruments + iPods.
Edelin, Michel Quartet
Resurgence
(RogueArt)
French artists Michel Edelin (flute), Jacques Di Donato (reeds), Jean-Jacques Avenel (bass) and Simon Goubert (drums) in a melodic and creative jazz album that surprises in beautiful and unusual compositional structures.
Halvorson, Mary / Kirk Knuffke / Matt Wilson
Sifter
(Relative Pitch)
Presenting compositions from all three players, the NY-based trio of Kirk Knuffke (cornet), Mary Halvorson (guitar) & Matt Wilson (drums) this exceptional trio play a stripped down, rocking blend of free form improvisation.
Cappozzo, Jean-Luc & Geraldine Keller
Air Prints
(Ayler)
The duo of Jean-Luc Cappozzo on trumpet, horns and objects, and Geraldine Keller on voice flute & objects in an album of tones and tongues, an unusual set of adventurous free improvisation.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC