The Squid's Ear Magazine


Butcher, John / Nilssen-Love, Pal: Concentric (Clean Feed)


 

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Personnel:



John Butcher-tenor, soprano saxophones

Paal Nilssen-Love-drums, percussion


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UPC: 5609063000672

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF067
Squidco Product Code: 7274

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2006
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardstock foldover

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"John Butcher's experiments with feedback, amplification, microtonality and multitracking are pretty far from the studies in rhythm and texture developed by Paal Nilssen-Love. The British saxophonist is one of the top names in the ranks of the new guard of free improvisation (even if he's been around since the Eighties and played with the old guard - people like Derek Bailey, John Stevens, and Phil Minton). The truth is, Butcher started the radical process of reinventing his sax playing during his tenure with those players, while the Norwegian drummer made his fame in the new wave of free jazz (his partnerships with Ken Vandermark and Mats Gustafsson, for instance), and only that condition of being "new" in their respective scenes seems to be common to them. That, and the improv factor, and this is precisely what enabled the existence of this duo. The "center" implied by the title of the CD is nothing more than the praxis of improvisation, and here we have two masters immersed in that kind of methodology and approach. And here we have two guys well-versed in the sax-drums formula: John Butcher toured and or recorded with people like Gerry Hemingway, Gino Robair, Eddie Prévost, and Dylan van der Schyff; and Paal Nilssen-Love experimented with the "Interstellar Space" instrumental combination (the title of the recording by John Coltrane and Rashied Ali) with Vandermark. The resulting music lands somewhere between jazz and totally improvised music."-Clean Feed


Artist Biographies

"John Butcher's work ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and extreme acoustics.Originally a physicist, he left academia in '82, and has since collaborated with hundreds of musicians - Derek Bailey, John Tilbury, John Stevens, The EX, Akio Suzuki, Gerry Hemingway, Polwechsel, Gino Robair, Rhodri Davies, Okkyung Lee, John Edwards, Toshi Nakamura, Paul Lovens, Eddie Prevost, Mark Sanders, Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, Phil Minton, and Andy Moor - to name a few.

He is well known as a solo performer who attempts to engage with the uniqueness of place. Resonant Spaces is a collection of site-specific performances collected during a tour of unusual locations in Scotland and the Orkney Islands.His first solo album, Thirteen Friendly Numbers, includes compositions for multitracked saxophones, whilst later solo CDs focus on live performance, composition, amplification and saxophone-controlled feedback.

HCMF has twice commissioned him to compose for his own large ensembles. Other commissions include for Elision (Australia), the Rova (USA) & Quasar (Canada) Saxophone Quartets, reconstructed Futurist Intonarumori (USA), "Tarab Cuts" (based on pre-WWII Arabic recordings, and shortlisted for the 2014 British Composer's Award) and "Good Liquor .." for the London Sinfonietta. In 2011 he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists.

Recent groupings include The Apophonics with Robair and Edwards, Anemone with Peter Evans, Plume with Tony Buck & Magda Mayas and a trio with Okkyung Lee & Mark Sanders.Butcher values playing in occasional encounters - ranging from large groups such as Butch Morris' London Skyscraper and the EX Orkestra, to duo concerts with David Toop, Kevin Drumm, Claudia Binder, Paal Nilssen-Love, Thomas Lehn, Fred Frith, Keiji Haino, Ute Kangeisser, Matthew Shipp and Yuji Takahashi."

-John Butcher Website (http://www.johnbutcher.org.uk/Biog.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Paal Nilssen-Love was born in Molde, Norway, Dec 24. 1974, and raised at a jazz club in Stavanger, run by his parents. It was natural to choose his fathers drums as his instrument and jazz as his work. From 1990 on he took actively part in the jazz milieu in Stavanger and joined bands with established musicians such as trumpeter Didrik Ingvaldsen and saxophonist Frode Gjerstad. In many ways, these collaborations were essential as they pointed out the directions for Paal's later musical development and career. During his studies at the Jazz dept at the University in Trondheim, where the first self initiated bands were established, things developed really fast - and Paal was nationally acknowledged at the age of 20.

The forming of the quartet Element in 1993 in many ways represented the start of a new phase in Paal's musical life. Element musically became a platform for several other groups with bassist Flaten and pianist Wiik, and lead to collaborations with Iain Ballamy and Chris Potter, amongst others. Paal moved to Oslo in 1996, where he joined and/or took part in the forming of bands like Vindaloo, SAN, Håkon Kornstad Tio, The Quintet and Frode Gjerstad Trio. He later on got more into self initiated projects and collaborations with Swedish musicians, such as pianist Sten Sandell and saxophonist Mats Gustafsson.

Paal played his first solo concert in 1999, and since then the solo concept has been an important part of his work: "Everyone should try doing some solo work, just to feel who you really are and what gets you going". His solo album "Sticks and stones" was put out in 2001 on SOFA Rec.

Being active in several bands at the same time has always been Paal's deliberate working method. He is constantly conscious about the projects he is in, as his participation in each and one of them is fully dedicated. Playing is not about getting from start to goal, but rather being in an everlasting process, a continuous movement where each new piece of music performed is a prolongation of the latest. Hence, keeping focused and concentrating all energy around what's happening there and then is of greatest importance - as is the freedom in the music, the ability of being free within the expression.

All bands, although various styles and musical versatility in general, represent important pieces that make up a total, and all bands are formed or joined with a clear vision. Today Paal's portfolio includes Atomic, School Days, The Thing, Frode Gjerstad Trio, Sten Sandell Trio, Scorch Trio, Territory Band, FME, and various duo projects such as with reedmen Ken Vandermark, John Butcher, Mats Gustafsson, organist Nils Henrik Asheim and noise wizard Lasse Marhaug. And not to forget the recently joined Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet."

-Paal Nilssen-Love Website (http://www.paalnilssen-love.com/biography.php)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Pipestone

2. Mono Lake

3. Point Lobos

4. The Stob

Related Categories of Interest:

Clean Feed
Improvised Music
Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
John Butcher
January 2007
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Paal Nilssen-Love
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
Duo Recordings
Saxophone & Drummer / Percussionist Duos

Search for other titles on the label:
Clean Feed.


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