The Squid's Ear Magazine


McNeill, Michael (w/ Susan Alcorn / Dave Ballou / Shelly Purdy): Barcode Poetry (Infrasonic Press)

After their 2022 tour, the quartet of Michael McNeill on piano, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar, Dave Ballou on trumpet, and Shelly Purdy on vibraphone and percussion recorded seven studio improvisations composed by McNeill, using a compositional framework inspired by the black and white keys of the piano (the 'barcode') to fuel their poetic and expressive impulses.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Michael McNeill-piano

Susan Alcorn-pedal steel guitar

Dave Ballou-trumpet

Shelly Purdy-vibraphone, percussion


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UPC: 198588870518

Label: Infrasonic Press
Catalog ID: IFSP-08
Squidco Product Code: 35472

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Peabody Conservatory, in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 24th, 2022, by Ed Tetreault.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Barcode Poetry is the culmination of this quartet's first tour in June 2022. The band spent a week on the road, developing McNeill's tunes and deepening the band's chemistry. In studio, the band distilled its sprawling improvisations into concise, focused performances. The record is marked by a gorgeous fluidity, with the diverse sororities of the four instruments often merging and emerging from one another in vividly colorful textures.

The titular "Barcode Poetry" refers to McNeill's approach with the band, employing a rigid compositional framework-the black-and-white patterned keys of the piano, the mechanisms of valves, strings, pedals, and bars on his collaborators' instruments-to empower these machines to yield to the musicians' poetic impulses."-Infrasonic Press



"Somehow this seemingly unwieldy combination of instruments proved to be an ideal vehicle for our individual and collective explorations. Perhaps most importantly, our personalities meshed well, too. For those who didn't get to hear us on the road, I hope the distilled recorded performances will provide a window into the collective energy we cultivated that week."-Michael McNeill


Artist Biographies

"Michael McNeill is a pianist, improviser, and composer from Western New York. He's involved in projects ranging from reinterpretations of music by Thelonious Monk (on the album Refractions with drummer John Bacon) to the chambercore quartet The Evolution of the Arm, which "nearly forge[s] an entirely new subgenre of sounds" (TakeEffect). two CDs with bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Phil Haynes have drawn praise from critics in the US and abroad, who note that the band's music is "brimming with intelligence and passion" (AllAboutJazz.com), and that the trio "has much to offer not only to jazz or classical music, but music as a whole" (Music On The Run, Brazil). Current projects include an album of telepathic improvisations with The Evolution of the Arm, sideperson appearances in drummer Scott Clark's new Dawn & Dusk, and solo electronic music. His quartet Allegories - featuring pedal steel guitar innovator Susan Alcorn, trumpet virtuoso Dave Ballou, and exploratory percussionist Shelly Purdy - toured and recorded in June 2022 and will release an album in 2024. [...]"

-Michael McNeill Website (https://michaelgraymcneill.com/bio.html)
12/3/2024

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

"Susan Alcorn (born 1953) is an American composer, improvisor, and pedal steel guitarist. Having started out playing guitar at the age of twelve, she quickly immersed herself in folk music, blues, and the pop music of the 1960s. A chance encounter with blues musician Muddy Waters steered her towards playing slide guitar. By the time she was twenty-one, she had immersed herself in the pedal steel guitar, playing in country and western swing bands in Texas.

Soon, she began to combine the techniques of country-western pedal steel with her own extended techniques to form a personal style influenced by free jazz, avant-garde classical music, Indian ragas, Indigenous traditions, and various folk musics of the world. By the early 1990s her music began to show an influence of the holistic and feminist "deep listening" philosophies of Pauline Oliveros.

Though mostly a solo performer, Alcorn has collaborated with numerous artists including Pauline Oliveros, Eugene Chadbourne, Peter Kowald, Chris Cutler, Joe Giardullo, Caroline Kraabel, Earl Howard, Le Quan Ninh, Sean Meehan, Joe McPhee, LaDonna Smith, Mike Cooper, Walter Daniels, Ellen Fullman, Jandek, George Burt, Janel Leppin, Michael Formanek, Ellery Eskelin, Fred Frith, Maggie Nicols, Evan Parker, Johanna Varner, Zane Campbell and Mary Halvorson."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Alcorn)
12/3/2024

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

"Trumpeter/Improviser/Composer/Educator, Dave Ballou has released ten CD's as a leader and co-leader. He has performed or recorded with ensembles led by Michael Formanek, Denman Maroney, Maria Schnieder, Andrew Hill, Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Steely Dan, Rabih Abou-Kahlil, Don Preston and an extensive list of jazz personalities. Dave has performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Bella Musica Orchestra of NY, Larry Austin's Improvisations with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Gunther Schuller's Journey into Jazz with the Spokane Symphony and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He appeared as a featured soloist for the premiere of Schuller's Encounters, a composition celebrating the 100th anniversary of Jordan Hall.The Meridian Arts Ensemble, The TILT Brass ensemble and the Monarch Trio have all performed his compositions. His work for solo trumpet, "Samskara" has been recorded by Jon Nelson for release in 2010. In 2009, Dave received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. In 2010, Universtiy of Michigan French Horn professor, Adam Unsworth, performed an adaptation of "Samskara" for horn.

Dave is a Professor of Music at Towson University and coordinator of the Jazz/Commercial music division. He teaches classes in Jazz history, Jazz theory and improvisation, Jazz arranging, studio jazz trumpet and improvisation for all instrumentalists, jazz composition and coaches small jazz ensembles including the improvisation ensemble. He has taught at the Litchfield Jazz Camp, the Maryland Summer Jazz Camp, the Maine Jazz Camp and The Banff Institute.

He earned a BM (magna cum laude) from Berklee College of Music in 1986 and a MA from the University of New Hampshire in 1991.Born in Peace Dale, Rhode Island Dave was drawn to the trumpet at age 11 and quickly was excited by the sounds of jazz trumpeters Clifford Brown, Woody Shaw, Maynard Ferguson, Clark Terry, the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra as well as classical trumpeterers John Willbraham and Bud Herseth. His early trumpet studies were with RI philharmonic trumpeter Julio Tancredi. Dave began working gigs at the age of 16 playing society gigs in the mansions of Newport and Italian Festival parades in Providence, RI.After brief study at the University of Rhode Island, Dave attended the Berklee College of Music. There he studied with Herb Pomeroy, Greg Hopkins, Jimmy Mosher and Greg Fritze. Other teachers have been George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Hal Crook, Laurie Frink, Charles Schluter, Jeff Stout and Paul Caputo.

Tours with the big bands of Tommy Dorsey (led by Buddy Morrow) and Woody Herman (led by Frank Tiberi) followed studies at Berklee. Dave then attended the University of New Hampshire and received a Master's of Art's degree in 1992. At UNH he came under the direct influence of the jazz great Clark Terry.

Dave worked many types of gigs in the Boston area during and after his studies at UNH. He was also a member of the bands Orange Then Blue and the Either/Orchestra.

In 1994 Dave moved to New York City. Seeking a community in which he could grow as an artist and be surrounded by like-minded musicians, Dave settled into Brooklyn and took part in the vibrant scene there. In NY Dave played Broadway shows , recording sessions and many jazz concerts with some of his heroes: Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Tim Berne, Billy Hart, Dewey Redman, Michael Formanek and Dave Liebman.

Dave joined the faculty of Towson Universtiy in the fall of 2004. He became to coordinator of the Jazz and Commercial Music division in 2006 and has worked to reconnect the Jazz program with the community of musicians influenced by former TU music professor Hank Levy. Earning tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in the 2009-2010 academic year Dave has become recognized as an innovative pedagouge in the teaching of improvisation and composition. His students have become leaders in the improvised music scene in Baltimore.

He continues to perform with innovative improvisors and composers. Recently appearing with on recordings by Denman Maroney, Mario Pavone and Grammy nominated John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Dave continues to develop as an instrumentalist, composer and teacher."

-Dave Ballou Website (http://daveballou.com/?page_id=528)
12/3/2024

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

"Shelly Purdy is a contemporary percussionist and teaching artist from Maryland, where she has for the past decade been committed to presenting new and experimental music. Her sonic explorations tend to favor the mingling of found objects with more traditional instruments and an affinity for chance and silence whenever possible. Purdy's adventurous nature connects her with exceptional project partners, such as powerhouse Baltimore improvisers' Tom Goldstein, Paul Neidhart, and Will Redman in their percussion quartet; Umbilicus. She is also a founding member of the science/music ensemble The Inverse Square Trio with boisterous edu-tainer Bill Louden where they demonstrate acoustic properties and aural illusions through the works of Alvin Lucier, Steve Reich, Diana Deutsch, Richard Feynman and others. Both groups inspire sonic discovery by commissioning new works, often composing for ourselves, and genuinely 'experimenting' in the processes and phenomenon of perpetuating sound. Purdy also has been studying Javanese & Balinese Gamelan under the tutelage of Prof Gina Beck and has been a member of The High Zero Foundation and Red Room Collective since 2016."

-Mind on Fire (https://www.mindonfire.org/artists-advisers)
12/3/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Timeigrant 07:46

2. Barcode Poetry 06:50

3. Elegy 07:35

4. As a Metaphor (take 2) 09:30

5. Branches 04:02

6. As a Metaphor (take 1) 10:25

7. Double Memory 10:39

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz & Improvisation Based on Compositions
Jazz
Quartet Recordings
New in Improvised Music
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