The Squid's Ear Magazine



Guitarist Sandy Ewen and double bassist Damon Smith recorded these 2 extended improvsations in concert as part a "Desbordamientos" series at Cine Tonala, in Mexico City, pairing live music with screenings of Derek Bailey's 4-part series on improvisation.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Sandy Ewen-guitar

Damon Smith-doublebass


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Label: Confront
Catalog ID: ccs 42
Squidco Product Code: 20600

Format: CDR
Condition: New
Released: 2015
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: Cardboard Sleeve Sealed
Recorded at 'desbordamientos' at Cine Tonala in Mexico City, Mexico on October 28th, 2012 by Sandy Ewen.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Sandy and I stared working on our duo music shortly after I moved to Houston, Texas from California in 2010, as well as the duo music it became the core of several important projects with musicians such as Keith Rowe, Weasel Walter, Roscoe Mitchell, Jaap Blonk and Chris Cogburn. This concert was part a series called "Desbordamientos" at Cine Tonala, in Mexico City, Mexico curated by Fernando Vigueras and Chris Cogburn pairing improvised music concerts while screening Derek Bailey's four part series on improvisation. Days before, Sandy & I played in the home of a favorite writer of mine, Octavio Paz. The Album and track titles are taken from his poem, Valle De Mexico."-Damon Smith


Artist Biographies

"Sandy Ewen was born in Toronto, Canada in 1985, Sandy Ewen received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. Since then she has resided in Houston, TX where she pursues musical and visual projects and her architecture license. Ewen has released several albums, including a duo with guitarist Tom Carter, a trio with bassist Damon Smith & drummer Weasel Walter, and a rock album with Austin's Weird Weeds. Ewen's visual work is closely tied to her work in sound; she uses both mediums to explore texture, composition and materials.

Ewen's microcollages, enlarged through projection and digital printing, are an exploration of material and technique. Using a unique process pioneered by the artist, natural materials and polymers are torn, liquefied, scorched, melted, cut, and fused. When enlarged, the microscopic nuances of these manipulations are manifested in exquisite detail. Ewen has presented prints of her work at 14 Pews (2012), Spacetaker/Fresh Arts (2012), Khon's (2013) & Galeria Regina (2014).

As an improviser in both art and music, Ewen sees herself as guiding materials and space rather than executing a preconceived composition. "I like to explore mediums and materials and tease out their essence," says Ewen. "Working with slide projections has focused my eye on the subtitles of natural processes of decay and transformation. Through my work, I am asking questions of the materials rather than dictating answers." "

-Sandy Ewen Website (http://www.sandyewen.com/about/)
3/27/2024

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

"Damon Smith studied double bass with Lisle Ellis and has had lessons with Bertram Turezky, Joëlle Leandré, John Lindberg, Mark Dresser and others. Damon's explorations into the sonic palette of the double bass have resulted in a personal, flexible improvisational language based in the American jazz avant-garde movement and European non-idiomatic free improvisation. Visual art, film and dance heavily influence his music, as evidenced by his CAMH performance of Ben Patterson's Variations for Double Bass, collaborations with director Werner Herzog on soundtracks for Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, and an early performance with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Damon has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including: Cecil Taylor, Marshall Allen (of Sun Ra's Arkestra), Henry Kaiser, Roscoe Mitchell, Michael Pisaro, Wadada Leo Smith, Marco Eneidi, Wolfgang Fuchs, Peter Brötzmann and Peter Kowald. After many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and five great years in Houston, Texas working regularly with Alvin Fielder, Sandy Ewen, David Dove & Chris Cogburn, Damon will move to the Boston area in the fall of 2016. Damon has run Balance Point Acoustics record label since 2001, releasing music focusing on transatlantic collaborations between US and European musicians."

-Balance Point Acoustic Website (https://www.balancepointacoustics.com/damon-smith/)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. La Piedra Cantellea 15:09

2. El Sol Me Arranca Los Ojos 10:51

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Guitarists, &c.
Stringed Instruments
Duo Recordings
West Coast/Pacific US Jazz

Search for other titles on the label:
Confront.


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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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