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Ochs, Larry / Aram Shelton Quartet (w/ Nordeson / Dresser / Walton): Continental Drift (Clean Feed)

Key artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, composers and bandleaders Larry Ochs on tenor and sopranino saxophones and Aram Shelton on alto saxophone join together with Swedish drummer Kjell Nordeson, joined by either double bassist Mark Dresser or Scott Walton, in an album drawn from two sessions featuring exhiliarating pieces of unique approach from both composers.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Aram Shelton-alto saxophone

Larry Ochs-tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone

Kjell Nordeson-drums

Mark Dresser-double bass

Scott Walton-double bass


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UPC: 5609063005554

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF555
Squidco Product Code: 29396

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2020
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Tracks 1-3, 5-7 recorded on July 14th, 2013, tracks 4 and 8 recorded July 12th, 2018, at Unsound Recording, in San Francisco, California, by Eric Moffat.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Can musicians of different generations be like-minded companions? Yes they can, at least when their names are Larry Ochs and Aram Shelton, the two composers and bandleaders of this quartet. As they themselves acknowledge, Continental Drift is a kinetic meeting of sorts, with compositions that are designed to inspire magnificent contributions from the entire team of players, both individually and collectively. The resulting music profits greatly from each members' individual capacities and personalities.

Ochs and Shelton's musical backgrounds are both quite varied, evidenced by their own separate pasts exploring the worlds of jazz, contemporary classical, electroacoustic and "other" music. More than that, both have been important voices of the San Francisco Bay Area improvised music scene: Ochs being a cutting-edge Bay Area improviser since the 1970's, while Shelton, now living in Europe, is also known for his connections to the very different Chicago scene. Each plays in his own way, but they share the same principles and look for very similar results - together creating new music with a jazz approach and an avant-garde attitude, not alienated from history."-Clean Feed


Artist Biographies

"Aram Shelton is an improviser and composer who performs on saxophone, clarinets, and live electronics. His writing and playing is grounded in avant-jazz and free improvisation and is documented through more than two dozen albums to date. He's been an integral member of the creative music communities in the Bay Area and Chicago, and has recently relocated to Copenhagen.

Shelton creates music with an aesthetic that is guided by the musicians he works with. In Oakland (2005-2016), he developed music for the avant jazz quartet Gold Age; the creative free jazz Ton Trio II; his solo electroacoustic project Tonal Masher; the chamber improv group Broken Trap Ensemble; the electroacoustic Stratic; the collaborative quartet Cylinder; his sextet Marches; and the Oakland Active Orchestra. In Chicago (1999 - 2005) he created music with his Quartet, the cooperative sextet Fast Citizens, Jason Adasiewicz' Rolldown, Dragons 1976; Arrive; the electroacoustic duo Grey Ghost, and others.

Shelton studied electroacoustic music and recording techniques at Mills College in Oakland, California. He continues to improvise and compose electroacoustic music focused on the concepts illustrated in his graduate thesis Sound Extended: Replication of Acoustic Material and Phrase Modification.

In the past Shelton has been fortunate to perform with many exceptional musicians from the Bay Area, Chicago and New York scenes including Larry Ochs, Kjell Nordeson, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Frank Rosaly, Jordan Glenn, Cory Wright, Kristina Dutton, Tim Daisy, Mark Clifford, Safa Shokrai, Britt Ciampa, Theresa Wong, Jason Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Keefe Jackson, Matt Bauder, Alex Vittum, Michael Coleman, Lisa Mezzacappa, Darren Johnston, Henry Kaiser, Kyle Bruckmann, Jon Raskin, Steve Adams, Bruce Ackley, Jacob Felix-Heule, Jacob Wick, William Winant, Mark Dresser, Weasel Walter, Mary Halvorson, Josh Sinton, Jason Ajemian, Ken Vandermark, Audrey Chen, Tony Buck, Magda Mayas, James Fei, Damon Smith, Tim Perkis, Guillermo Gregorio, and Chris Brown. He has performed in Europe, Canada and the United States including appearances at the Switchboard Music Festival, Soundwave, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, the Suoni per il Popolo Festival, and the Krakow Autumn Jazz Festival. He has led workshops at the Evergreen State College, the Luzern Jazz School, through NEXMAP and at UC Santa Cruz. As a curator he founded the Active Music Series and Active Music Festival. His playing and music are available through Delmark, Clean Feed, Cuneiform, 482 Music, and his own Singlespeed Music."

-Aram Shelton Website (http://www.aramshelton.com/about.html)
5/7/2025

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

"Larry Ochs (b. May 3, 1949, New York City) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Ochs studied trumpet briefly but concentrated on tenor and sopranino saxophones. He worked as a record producer and founded his own label, Metalanguage Records, in 1978, in addition to operating the Twelve Stars studio in California. He co-founded the Rova Saxophone Quartet, and also worked in Glenn Spearman's Double Trio. A frequent recipient of commissions, he composed the music for the play Goya's L.A. by Leslie Scalapino in 1994 and for Letters Not About Love, which was named best documentary film at SXSW in 1998. He has also played in a new music trio called Room and the What We Live ensemble. He has recorded several albums as a leader. He formed the group Kihnoua in 2007 with vocalist Dohee Lee and Scott Amendola on drums and electronics, which released Unauthorized Caprices in 2010. He is married to the poet Lyn Hejinian."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ochs_(musician))
5/7/2025

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

"Drummer/vibes player Kjell Nordeson, who was born in 1964, currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Nordeson studied classical percussion with Björn Liljeqvist, principal percussionist of the Stockholm Philharmonic. In 1986, Nordeson formed the longstanding AALY Trio with Mats Gustafsson. Nordeson has also collaborated with such musicians as Sten Sandell, Christer Bothén, Peter Söderberg, David Stackenäs, Martin Küchen, and Fredrik Ljunkvist. As a member of the AALY Trio, Low Dynamic Orchestra, Nacka Forum, Katzen Kapell, Firehouse, and Exploding Customer, Nordeson enjoys a healthy high profile in the Swedish music scene.

In North America and Europe, Nordeson has done numerous tours with the AALY Trio and School Days. He has played in collaborations with Peter Brötzmann, Barry Guy, Joe Morris, William Parker, Paul Rutherford, Stephano Scodanibbio, and Ken Vandermark. In 1994, Nordeson founded Co. Alba with choreographer Nathalie Ruiz, which is also a platform for his work as a composer. Together, Ruiz and Nordeson produced a number of dance performances; the latest is the short film Désiré, a commission by Swedish Television. Nordeson has worked in theatre performances in Riksteatern, and The Royal Dramatic Theatre and Stadsteater in Stockholm. With choreographer Philippe Blanchard's ensemble Adekwhat, he toured Germany, Finland, Israel, and Egypt."

-Nuscope (http://nuscope.org/musicians/kjell-nordeson/)
5/7/2025

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

Mark Dresser is a Grammy nominated, internationally renowned bass player, improviser, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator. At the core of his music is an artistic obsession and commitment to expanding the sonic, musical, and expressive possibilities of the contrabass. He has recorded over one hundred thirty CDs including three solo CDs and a DVD. From 1985 to 1994, he was a member of Anthony Braxton's Quartet, which recorded nine CDs and was the subject of Graham Locke's book Forces in Motion (Da Capo). He has also performed and recorded music of Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Dave Douglas, Osvaldo Golijov, Gerry Hemingway, Bob Ostertag, Joe Lovano, Roger Reynolds, Henry Threadgill, Dawn Upshaw, John Zorn. Dresser most recent and internationally acclaimed new music for jazz quintet, Nourishments (2013) his latest CD (Clean Feed) marks his re-immersion as a bandleader. Since 2007 he has been deeply involved in telematic music performance and education. He was awarded a 2015 Shifting Foundation Award and 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award. He is Professor of Music at University of California, San Diego.

- Website (https://www.mark-dresser.com/bio)
5/7/2025

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

"Scott Walton has performed with George Lewis, Wadada Leo Smith, John Carter, Vinny Golia, Bobby Bradford, Nels Cline, Quincy Troupe, Ray Anderson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Clifford Jordan, and Al Cohn, among others. He has collaborated with poets, dancers, performance artists, and filmmakers. Current projects as a bassist in addition to Cosmologic include the Vinny Golia Quintet, the Rain Trio (with Alex Cline and Eric Barber), and ongoing work with Harris Eisenstadt, Erik Griswold, and Jason Stanyek. As a pianist he has commissioned and premiered works by numerous composers (David Lipten, most recently), has toured with the Octagon Ensemble, and has collaborated in interactive computer and multimedia performances with Vibeke Sorenson and Harry Castle. He is currently performing music of Henry Cowell, and an improvised interpretation of Charles Ives' Concord Sonata. Walton is featured on recent CD releases by the Vinny Golia Quintet (One, Three, Two), O'Keefe, Stanyek, Walton, Whitehead (Tunnel), Nathan Hubbard (Skeleton Key Orchestra), Jeff Kaiser (17 Themes for Ockodektet), Chris Chafe (Arcology), and Anthony Davis (Tania). He has recorded on the Soul Note, Nine Winds, JazzHalo, Circumvention, pfMentum, Koch, Innova, Centaur, Albany, and Revelation labels. He is a member of the San Diego based Trummerflora Collective."

-Discogs.com (https://www.discogs.com/artist/532246-Scott-Walton)
5/7/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. Another Night 8:03

2. Slat 8:43

3. Switch 6:04

4. Continental Drift 5:24

5. Anita 6:23

6. Strand 5:51

7. Test Shots 7:15

8. The Others Dream 19:25

Related Categories of Interest:


Clean Feed
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
West Coast/Pacific US Jazz
Quartet Recordings
Quintet Recordings
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