The Squid's Ear Magazine


Sound of the Mountain w/ Tetuzi Akiyama / Toshimaru Nakamura: amplified clarinet and trumpet, guitar (Mystery & Wonder)

Sound of the Mountain is an independent label led by Montreal-area improvisers Elizabeth Millar (clarinet) and Craig Pedersen (trumpet), who traveled to Tokyo in 2017 for several concerts and this spectacular and unique recording session at GOK studio in Kichijoji with ea-improvisers Tetuzi Akiyama (guitar) and Toshimaru Nakamura (no-input mixing board).
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Elizabeth Millar-clarinet

Craig Pedersen-trumpet

Tetuzi Akiyama-guitar

Toshimaru Nakamura-electronics


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Hand-printed custom cut sleeve and obi strip, liner notes by Mexican media-artist Gudinni Cortina, and mastering by Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering.

Label: Mystery & Wonder
Catalog ID: MW008
Squidco Product Code: 28247

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: Canada
Packaging: Cardstock box
Recorded at Gok Sound, in Kichijoji, Tokyo, in October, 2017, by Yoshiaki Kondo.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"There is a clear affinity amongst the members of this quartet for mixing acoustic and electric elements and extending the physical possibilities of their instruments. Sound of the Mountain met Japanese improvising musicians Tetuzi Akiyama (guitar) and Toshimaru Nakamura (no-input mixing board) in Tokyo in August 2017. Several concerts and a recording session at the legendary GOK studio in Kichijoji were the foundation for this collaborative effort in creating sound together, putting focus on the musical possibilities of form and interaction inherent in improvised music. In October 2019 they embarked on a Canadian tour for the release of their recording amplified clarinet and trumpet, guitars, nimb."-Mystery and Wonder Records



"Mystery & Wonder is an independent label started in 2017. It is run by Elizabeth Millar and Craig Pedersen.

Many of our releases focus on sound art, improvisation and compositional works that give attention to the musical possibilities inherent in combining or superimposing closely amplified elements with acoustic elements. We are interested in work that takes care with sound and timbre, structure and form, is close, direct and in high-definition. But most off all, we are interested in work that defies our understanding of all this and moves us in ways we don't expect, work that stands on its own.

We are lovers of the album as physical object. We custom cut the majority of our sleeves with high-quality paper using an industrial die-cut machine. Our latest releases include some combination of obi strips, hand printed covers, scores, photographs, and liner notes. With the exception of a few, releases are hand-assembled."


Hand-printed custom cut sleeve and obi strip, liner notes by Mexican media-artist Gudinni Cortina, and mastering by Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering.


This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Elizabeth Millar is an experimental musician, sound-artist and clarinetist, based in Montreal since 2009. Engaging with sound, noise, free improvisation and self-made instrument building, her creative practice explores the merging of acoustic and electronic textures using amplification and extended techniques.

Active locally, nationally and internationally she has performed throughout Canada and in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico. Alongside her solo work, she is also one member of Sound of the Mountain, an amplified clarinet and trumpet duo with Craig Pedersen. She performs regularly with Montreal-based Ensemble Supermusique and with a variety of collaborators, including Érick d'Orion, Joane Hétu, Anne-F Jacques, Tetuzi Akiyama and Toshimaru Nakamura. She is co-founder of Mystery & Wonder Records.

Her 2019 solo release no instrument machine, air, extends the timbral and textural scope of her work with amplified clarinet, adding machine hums, metallic resonances and low frequency air noise, generated by self-made instruments made from recycled electronic components.

Recent highlights include performances at Open Waters Festival Halifax (2019), Rencontres de Musique Spontanée Rimouski (2019), IMOO Festival Ottawa (2019, 2018), Open Ears Festival Kitchener Ontario (2018), Make It Up Club Festival Australia (2018), Codes d'Access Montreal (2018), Suoni per il Popolo Festival Montreal (2019, 2018, 2017) and KLEX festival Malaysia (2017); a residency with Tone List in Perth, Australia (2018) and a 3-month independent residency in Tokyo (2017)."

-All About Jazz (https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/elizabethmillar)
3/13/2024

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

"Craig Pedersen is a trumpet player, composer, and educator based out of Montréal. He actively leads his own bands, the Craig Pedersen Quartet and the It's A Free Country duo (with Joel Kerr), and co-directs the Musique a La Poele series in Montreal. He also co-founded the Improvising Musicians of Ottawa/Outaouais Concert (IMOO) Series. Since its inception in 2010, IMOO has served as a hub of improvised music in Ottawa, presenting both local and international artists. Craig has released eight albums worth of material, ranging between composed material to improvisation, and has collaborated with Lori Freedman, Nicolas Caloia, Evan Tighe, Aaron Lumley, Ian Birse and Laura Kavanaugh (Instant Places), Joel Kerr, and Mark Molnar (Kingdom Shore), as well as recording on the soundtrack for Robert Lepage's Needles and Opium, and performances at L'Off Festival du Jazz, and FONT Canada. He has recently written a method book of extended techniques for the trumpet, to published by Berklee Press and Hal Leonard in November of 2014.

Mark Molnar plays strings and electronics with Kingdom Shore, 1/4 Tonne Spike Pitcher (Nick Keupfer and Eric Craven), Generator (John Higney and Jamie Gulliksen), Mice (Bennett Bedoukian and Dave Clark), and in duos and a variety of configurations with Eric Craven, Craig Pedersen, James Annett, David Broscoe, Jamie Gulliksen, Linsey Wellman, and Bennett Bedoukian. He also plays erhu and rebab in Gamelan Semara Winangun."

-Black Bough (http://www.blackbough.ca/PedersenMolnar.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Tetuzi Akiyama (Akiyama Tetsuji) (born 13 April 1964) is a Japanese guitarist, violinist, and instrument-maker. Akiyama formed the improvisation group Madhar in 1987, and the classical ensemble Hikyo String Quintet in 1994 (which also included Taku Sugimoto on cello). In 1995, Akiyama and Sugimoto formed a guitar duo, and played at venues in New York City, Chicago, and Detroit. During this time, Akiyama was also a member of Keiji Haino's Nijiumu outfit. Akiyama also formed Sutekina Tea Time (a duo with Takashi Matsuoka) and Mongoose (a trio with Taku Sugimoto and Utah Kawasaki).

In 1998 Akiyama began organising a monthly concert series, The Improvisation Meeting, with Toshimaru Nakamura. In December 2006 he began a regular duo with Hervé Boghossian (France), they toured in Europe (France, Portugal, Switzerland, England) several times in 2007 (in May, October & December) & also played in Tokyo during Hervé Boghossian Japanese tour in August/September 2008. In 2009 he worked with David Sylvian."

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

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

"Toshimaru Nakamura is a Japanese musician, active in free improvisation and Japanese onkyo.

He began his career playing rock and roll guitar, but gradually explored other types of music, even abandoning guitar, and started working on circuit bending. He uses a mixing console as a live, interactive musical instrument: "Nakamura plays the 'no-input mixing board', connecting the input of the board to the output, then manipulating the resultant audio feedback."

Nakamura's music has been described as "sounds ranging from piercing high tones and shimmering whistles to galumphing, crackle-spattered bass patterns."

Nakamura founded the ensemble A Paragon of Beauty in 1992. He has recorded solo albums, worked as a session musician, and collaborated with artists including Sachiko M ("a kindred spirit"), Otomo Yoshihide, Keith Rowe, John Butcher, Nicholas Bussmann, Taku Sugimoto, Tetuzi Akiyama, dancer Kim Ito, and drummer Jason Kahn."

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

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


Track Listing:



1 Amplified Clarinet And Trumpet, Guitars, Nimb 18:39

2 Amplified Clarinet And Trumpet, Guitars, Nimb 16:51

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Asian Improvisation & Jazz
Canadian Composition & Improvisation
Quartet Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Mystery & Wonder.


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