The Squid's Ear Magazine


Kellers, Willi Quartet: Life In A Black Box (FMR)

Grid Mesh drummer Willi Kellers Quartet with the dual saxophone lineup of Paul Dunmall and Frank Paul Schubert and bassist Clayton Thomas (BassX3, Ames Room) performing live at Black box/CUBA, in Muenster, DE; powerful and innovative improv.
 

Price: $14.95


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:



Willi Kellers-drums, percussion

Paul Dunmall-tenor saxophone, bagpipes

Frank Paul Schubert-alto saxophone, soprano saxophone

Clayton Thomas-bass


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




UPC: 0617629603453

Label: FMR
Catalog ID: FMRCD382
Squidco Product Code: 19744

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2014
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded live at Black box/CUBA, in Muenster, Germany on Feburary 14th, 2014 by Erhard Hirtmastered and Olaf Rupp.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"In a recent batch of releases from the prolific FMR Records, the one that caught my eye was Life in a Black Box by the Willi Kellers Quartet, featuring (together with Frank Paul Schubert) half of the Grid Mesh quartet, whose album Live in Madrid I have enjoyed. Together with Kellers & Schubert, Life in a Black Box includes Paul Dunmall (who has a huge discography, including on FMR) & Clayton Thomas (featured in this space with The Ames Room, plus various other German releases), two other prominent musicians. It's a very long album with a lot happening, free blowing (and other playing) reminiscent of the Ornette Coleman standard with two horns, bass & drums. There is a lot of soloing, although with some overlap, producing a fairly conventional album that differs more in detail (e.g. bagpipes) than in approach, at least for most of its length. It's a lot of activity, with some different interaction (more into tonal coloring) only with the bass solo opening "Second Box" invoking a slow battle with the frenetic style, leaving a residual pointillism that is eventually dominated by a layered atmosphere. With that track, the album does seem contemporary. The final track features quick motion again, but quieter & more fractured, almost "free jazz" as a background. [...]"-Todd McComb


Get additional information at Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

Artist Biographies

"Willi Kellers, b. 1951 in Münster Studied music at the colleges Münster and Detmold Theater work as a composer in Bochum and Cologne, Basel, Hamburg, Burgtheater Vienna

Numerous concerts and tours with Peter Brötzmann, Tony Oxley, Frank Whright, Willem Breuker, Albert Mangelsdorff, Peter Kowald, Keith Tippet, Lol Coxhill, Marylin Crispel, Manfred Schoof, Fred Frith, Charles Gayle, Cecil Taylor, Luten Petrowsky, Barre Phillips u.v.a.

Willi Kellers played at all European festivals and many festivals worldwide."

-Willi Kellers Website (http://www.willikellers.de/)
3/13/2024

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

"Paul Dunmall was born 1953, Welling, Kent; saxophones, clarinets, bagpipes, miscellaneous wind instruments.

As told to Watson (1989), Paul Dunmall was a working class lad from Welling who left school at 15 and spent two years repairing instruments at Bill Lewington's shop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. He turned professional at 17 and, following two years touring Europe with a progressive rock band (Marsupilami), joined the Divine Light Mission, a spiritual movement led by Guru Maharaj Ji and moved from London to an ashram in America. He told Isham (1997), 'I moved to an ashram full of musicians - a music ashram - but it was still spiritual practice. That gave me a spiritual understanding through meditation, Coltrane's music, and all the rest of it, led me to that, and that's been a fundament in my life ever since - that I can actually sit down and meditate and forget my body. I realise how important meditation is in my life... but I don't do it so much these days.' During the three years he lived in America, Dunmall played with Alice Coltrane (in a big band with the Divine Light Mission) and toured for twelve months with Johnny 'Guitar' Watson.

Back in England, he played with Danny Thompson and John Stevens as well as folk musicians Kevin Dempsey, Martin Jenkins and Polly Bolton and then, in 1979 he became a founder member of Spirit Level (Tim Richards, piano; Paul Anstey, bass; Tony Orrell, drums), staying with the group until 1989. During his time with Spirit Level, Dunmall joined the two-tenor front line group Tenor Tonic with Alan Skidmore (1985), played and broadcast with Dave Alexander and Tony Moore in the DAM trio (1986) and formed the Paul Dunmall Quartet with Alex Maguire, Tony Moore and Steve Noble (1986).

In 1987 Paul Dunmall joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, being a constant member and appearing on all their recorded output from that date onward. The following year the improvising collective quartet Mujician was formed by Keith Tippett, Dunmall, Paul Rogers and Tony Levin and has continued to be a regular performing, touring and recording group, sometimes augmented by other musicians. Dunmall has also played in a trio with Keith and Julie Tippetts and in Keith Tippett's big band Tapestry. Two other duos have also sprung out of Mujician: Dunmall with Tony Levin (two CD releases) and Dunmall in folk-influenced outings with Paul Rogers. Another regular playing partner throughout this period and up until the present includes Elton Dean.

In 1995, two trios were formed, the first with Oren Marshall, tuba and Steve Noble, percussion, the second with John Adams, guitar and Mark Sanders, percussion, these sometimes coming together as a quintet. More recently, Dunmall has played in another reeds/guitar/drums trio with Philip Gibbs and Tony Marsh and there appears to be regular crossover between all these players. The Paul Dunmall Octet was founded in 1997."

Dunmall also has released a large number of albums and a box set on the UK FMR label, in various configurations and instrumentation.

-EFI (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/mdunmall.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Frank Paul Schubert is a saxophone player in the realms of Improvised Music and Contemporary Jazz.

Born in Neuss/Germany in 1965, he began to play the saxophone self-taught in 1982, took lessons with Lajos Dudas from 1988 to 1992, studied at Musikhochschule Aachen (classical saxophone repertoire as well as jazz) with Prof. Hugo Read from 1992 to 1996, and, after a short interlude in Aschaffenburg/Bavaria, moved to Berlin in 1999.

Schubert works regularly with Willi Kellers, Andreas Willers, Johannes Bauer, Matthias Müller, John Edwards, Mark Sanders, Uwe Oberg, Paul Dunmall, Alexander von Schlippenbach and many more (more detailed list see below). Besides his main project GRID MESH (see "projects"), he also collaborated with drummer Günter Baby Sommer from 2006 on.

Also in 2006 he started to work with trombonist Matthias Müller in several small group settings and finally in the duo FOILS, which since 2012 is expanded to the FOILS QUARTET with John Edwards and Mark Sanders.With Antonis Anissegos he has been playing since 2002. They released their duo CD "Phoobsering" in 2005.

Frank Paul Schubert is member of the Willi Kellers Trio (with Clayton Thomas) as well as the Willi Kellers Quartet feat. Paul Dunmall.Since 2009 he has been playing a series of duo concerts with pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach (in Amsterdam, Leipzig, Münster, Berlin) as well as frequent local small group gigs featuring Mr. von Schlippenbach.

Festival appearances include Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen, Ulrichsberg Kaleidophon, Sibiu Jazz&More, Madrid Hurta Cordel, Lisbon Jazz im Goethe Garten, Wiesbaden Just Music, Hamburg ElbJazz, JAZZDOR (Jazz d'Or) Offenburg, Greiz JazzWerk#9, Nordhäuser Jazzfest, Stuttgart Saxophonfestival and some more.Tours led him to Poland, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, UK, USA and Canada.He released several recordings on labels including Leo Records, NoBusiness Records, Red Toucan Records, FMR, Creative Sources, gligg, JazzHausMusik, KONNEX, farai-NRW.

Frank Paul had the pleasure to collaborate with many fine musicians including the following (in alphabetical order):Liz Allbee, Antonis Anissegos, Johannes Bauer, Simon Camatta, Anat Cohavi, Yorgos Dimitriadis, Paul Dunmall, John Edwards, Jörg Fischer, Rudi Fischerlehner, Gerhard Gschlössl, Paul Hubweber, Peter van Huffel, John Hughes, Klaus Janek, Hilary Jeffery, Kalle Kalima, Achim Kaufmann, Willi Kellers, Jan Klare, Meinrad Kneer, Andreas Krennerich, Burkard Kunkel, Klaus Kürvers, Lömsch Lehmann, Björn Lücker, Mike Majkowski, Christian Marien, Matthias Müller, Uwe Oberg, Olaf Rupp, Mark Sanders, Julie Sassoon, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Harri Sjöström, Günter Baby Sommer, Ricardo Tejero, Christof Thewes, Clayton Thomas, Andreas Willers."

-Frank Paul Schubert Website (http://www.frankpaulschubert.de/bio.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Double Bassist Clayton Thomas was born 1976, in Hobart, Australia. Inspired by the sound, velocity and social movements of jazz, Clayton has dedicated his musical life to finding a personal truth that links his own cultural life as a white Australian, with the radical, far reaching pursuits found within the creative music. What he can't find as a bass player, he searches for in the organisation of unreasonably large ensembles.

Clayton Thomas relocated in Sydney, Australia, in 2014. Clayton is currently not a regular member of the Splitter Orchester, but he was part of the 2014 concert @ MaerzMusik and he'll also take part in the 2015 concerts in Berlin and Huddersfield."

-Splitter Orchester Website (http://www.berlinsplitter.org/index.php?article_id=104)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. First Box 33:02

2. Interlude 9:26

3. Second Box 23:59

4. Burlesque 7:11

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improv, Free Jazz & Related
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Quartet Recordings
FMR Records
Instant Rewards

Search for other titles on the label:
FMR.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Krennerich / Schubert / Osswald / Fischer
Degrees Above
(Creative Sources)
Four German saxophonists are heard in three sophisticated and extremely creative chamber-oriented improvisations recorded at Kulturzentrum Hufeisen: Andreas Krennerich on soprano, sopranino & baritone saxophones; Frank Paul Schubert on alto & soprano saxophones; Hartmut Osswald on tenor sax & bass clarinet; and Nils Fischer on baritone sax & contrabass clarinet.
Keys & Screws (Thomas Borgmann / Jan Roder / Willi Kellers)
Some More Jazz [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
Two thirds of the free jazz group "Boom Box"--saxophonist Thomas Borgmann and drummer Willi Kellers--and referencing that band's 2011 album titled Jazz, Keys & Screws is rounded out as a trio with double bassist Jan Roder, following the format of "Jazz" with compositions from each player following head/solo format, fueled by each player's extensive experience.
Dunmall / Owston / Jozwiak / Iragabon
Awoto
(FMR)
New York saxophonist Jon Irabagon, performing on alto and Swanee saxophone, joins alto & tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall for a burning live performance at Sanson Studios in Birmingham in a quartet with bassist James Owston and drummer Tymek Jozwiak, the saxophones weaving and climbing over the powerful and adept rhythm section; formidable!
Dunmall, Paul / Phillip Gibbs / James Owston / Jim Bashford
Live At The Claptrap
(FMR)
Featuring the same quartet from Dunmall's 2018 album "Inner and Outer", Paul Dunmall on alto & tenor saxophones, James Owston on bass, Jim Bashford on drums, and Philip Gibbs on guitar bridge generations with impressive interplay as they take their playing to higher ground in two extended improvisations from their concert at the Claptrap in Stourbridge, UK.
Pursglove, Percy / Paul Dunmall / Mark Sanders / John Etheridge
Deps
(FMR)
A smoking session recorded at Bristol Fringe Club, UK in 2019 from the quartet of frequent collaborators Percy Pursglove on bass & trumpet, Mark Sanders on drums, and Paul Dunmall on soprano & tenor saxophones and alto flute, and on this concert John Etheridge (Soft Machine, Zappatistas) on electric guitar, adding great technical skill and intensity to this exceptional concert.
Gauden's, Ed Crux+1
Control
(FMR)
Birmingham drummer Ed Gauden's Crux trio with bassist Colin Somervell and saxophonist Mark Hanslip add keyboardist Steve Tromans in their 3rd album for FMR after their self-titled and "Believe" releases, originally developed from the sax and drum duo of Gauden & Hanslip; here in an extended studio improvisation of considerate exploration and lyrical intention.
Dunmall, Paul / Philip Gibbs / James Owston / Jim Bashford
Inner And Outer
(FMR)
Paul Dunmall's 2018 studio album in a quartet with James Owston on bass, Jim Bashford on drums, Philip Gibbs on guitar, and Dunmall on tenor saxophone, Gibbs's hollow-body opening up the band sound as Owston and Bashford trade rapid responses or provide solid grooves, the themes of the dialogs focused on space and time through intricate, complex and profound interaction.
Dunmall / Siegel / Pursglove / Sanders
As One Does
(FMR)
Two saxophones take the front line in Paul Dunmall's 2018 studio album, the leader on tenor saxophone with fellow tenor player Julian Siegel, also on bass clarinet, while Mark Sanders drums and Percy Pursglove handles bass and also trumpet, as the band falls into a hard bop mode, weaving lines together over wonderfully turbulent and soulful grooves; outstanding.
Dunmall, Paul / Jon Irabagon / Mark Sanders / Jim Bashford
The Rain Sessions
(FMR)
Dedicated to Cecil Taylor and taking advantage of NY saxophonist Irabagon's UK visit, this album presents four drum duets "time two", as two tenor saxophonists--Paul Dunmall and Jon Irabagon--meet two lyrical drummers--Mark Sanders and Jim Bashford--following Dunmall long-standing interest in drum and sax duets, the results this ebullient and remarkable album.
Dunmall, Paul Quintet
The Dreamtime Suite
(FMR)
Saxophonist Paul Dunmall's quintet with Hamid Drake, Dave Kane, Steve Tromans, and Percy Pusgove, bridge traditional with chamber jazz and world music, including a work for bagpipes and frame drum, in a monumental suite of improvisational possibilities.
Schubert, Frank Paul / Rudi Fischerlehner
Willing Suspension of Disbelief
(Not Applicable)
Long-time collaborators and compatriots Frank Paul Schubert on soprano sax and Rudi Fischerlehner on drums and percussion recorded these intricate and engaging improvisations in their shared studio in Berlin, presented as a live album, unedited and in the order performed.
Deep Whole Trio (Dunmall / Rogers / Sanders)
That Deep Calling
(FMR)
The UK trio of Paul Dunmall on saxophone, Paul Rogers on bass and Mark Sanders on drum, performing live at the Lamp Tavern in Birmingham, 2013, for three extended free improvisations of masterful playing.
Rose, Jon
Rosin [3 CDs + 1 Data Disk + Book]
(Recommended Records)
A 3 CD box set with a booklet and bow hair marking violinist/conceptualist Jon Rose's 60th birthday, all previously unreleased works ranging from radio documentary and radio fiction to virtuoso performances using acoustic violin and his hyperstring interactive bow system.
Ames Room, The
Bird Dies
(Clean Feed)
Bringing the lineage of saxophone trios into the 21st century, saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet, bassist Clayton Thomas and drummer Will Guthrie performed this extended recording live in Lille, France.
Anderson / Dunmall / Gibbs / Hymas
21st Century V-Bop
(Slam)
Covering a vast landscape sonically & stylistically, the quintet of saxophonist Paul Dunmall, guitarist Philip Gibbs, keyboardist Tony Hymas & drummer Mark Anderson were captured live in the studio.
Grid Mesh (Schubert/ Willers / Fischerlehner]
Coordinates
(FMR)
The Grid Mesh trio performing live at The Loft in Cologne, dark and biting improv with an electroacoustic edge that shifts between playful dialog to massive walls of sound.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Coltrane, John Quartet
Impressions Graz 1962
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Taking his quartet on a European tour in the fall of 1962, Coltrane's band with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass, and Elvin Jones on drums performed in Graz, Austria at Stefaniensaal, the concert beautifully recorded by ORF Steiermark and here released as the first of two volumes, showing both Coltrane's lyrical origins and expanding free inclinations.
Dunmall / Noble / Edwards / Sanders
Chords Of Connections
(FMR)
A stunning example of collective free improvisation from the quartet of frequent collaborators and superb improvisers, Paul Dunmall on tenor & soprano sax, Liam Noble on piano, Mark Sanders on drums, and John Edwards on bass, recording in the studio in Birmingham.
Keune, Stefan / Lovens, Paul
Live 2013
(FMR)
Working together in various ensembles since the early 90s, Stefan Keune on sopranino, alto and baritone saxophone and Paul Lovens on drums and cymbals captured these three extraordinary improvisation in the studio in Brussels, Belgium and live Munich Underground in Germany.
Dunmall, Paul / John Edwards / Tony Marsh
To Be Real
(FMR)
Hard working free improv session from the UK trio of Paul Dunmall on tenor sax, John Edwards on double bass and the late Tony Marsh on drums, performing live at the Vortex in 2010, and at UWE in Bristol, 2007, never released material reminding of Marsh's stature and skill.
AMM
Spanish Fighters
(Matchless)
Recorded at the festival Neposlusno (Sound Disobedience) in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2012, the AMM duo of Eddie Prevost on percussion and John Tilbury on piano perform an extend improvisation of tension and dynamic, delicately balancing sound in a rich dialog.
Barriere, Lali / Miguel A. Garcia
Espejuelo
(Nueni)
The duo of Miguel A. Garcia on electronics and Lali Barriere on objects and no-input mixer for an album of investigative, detailed improvisation that's well paced and calmly complex.
Janas, Gene / Vinnie Paternostro / Jay Reeve / Other Matter
United Slaves #2~3
(Improvising Beings)
Recorded in Brooklyn and Paris, this quintet crosses the threshold between jazz, rock and electronic sound with a somewhat dark intent, using guitar & sitar, organs, syths, pianos, drums, bass and sounds to evoke thick and extended psychedelic environments.
Wilson, Tony 6tet
A Day's Life
(Drip Audio)
The first recording of Tony Wilson's music inspired by the plight and lives of the homeless and drug addictied in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, in a band with P Carter on trumpet, Jesse Zubot on violin, Peggy Lee on cello, Russell Sholberg on bass and Skye Brooks on drums.
Joyfultalk
Muuixx
(Drip Audio)
Vancouver-based Jay Crocker, half of Bent Spoon with Chris Dadge, in an album of electronics using homebuilt instruments and treatments, rhythmically based music with effective melodies and a quirky, sometimes lo-fi, but always engaging approach.
Levin, Daniel Quartet
Friction
(Clean Feed)
Cellist Daniel Levin Quartet leads his quartet with Nate Wooley on trumpet, Matt Moran on vibes, and Torbjorn Zetterberg on bass, in open-minded modern compositions that blend jazz, chamber, and experimental improvisation of reserved and riveting character.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC