The Squid's Ear Magazine


Sommer, Gunter Baby / Raymond MacDonald: Sounds, Songs & Other Noises (Clean Feed)

Following their 2007 Clean Feed release Delphinius and Lyra the duo of Gunter Baby Sommer and Raymond MacDonald reach deeper into their collective creative conversation for sixteen succinct improvisations--confident, boisterous or introspective--including a 5-part series of "Miniatures", performed on alto & soprano saxophones, drums and an eclectic set of percussive devices.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Gunter Baby Sommer-drums, percussion

Raymond MacDonald-alto saxophone, soprano saxophone


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UPC: 5609063006070

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF607
Squidco Product Code: 32503

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at The Reid Concert Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, on December 6th, 2019, and June 4th, 2016, by Roderick Buchanan-Dunlop, Louis McHugh and Giorgos Mikrogiannakis.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Gunter Baby Sommer, born in Dresden, is one of the pioneers of European Free Jazz.

In a prolific career spanning over 50 years he has developed a unique approach to percussion and a captivating highly personalized style that has taken him around the world, collaborating widely and delighting audiences with charm and virtuosity. He has also developed and made his own exceptional instruments and has an unmistakable soundworld that marks him out as a master and a true living legend of percussion.

Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist and composer with an extensive career in music, cross-disciplinary arts and academia. Much of his work explores the boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition. As a saxophonist and composer, MacDonald has released over 60 CDs, toured and broadcast worldwide and has composed music for film, television, theatre, radio and art installations.

The result of their collaboration can be heard on their new CD Sounds, Songs and some other Noises. Joyous and celebratory, this CD captures two artists at the top of their game exploring new landscapes with mesmerising ideas, drawing listeners into their unique and engaging world of sound. At times fragile and delicate and at others boisterous and freewheeling, they explore their sounds and songs with a telepathic understanding of old friends sharing good times.

Carving a new set of beguiling pieces brimming with warmth and excitement, Sommer's endlessly inventive rhythms dance and weave to create wondrous percussive stories, while the saxophone searches, sometimes soaring and weeping and sometimes probing with tiny subtle sparkling textures. Jointly they create an improvised magnetic charm that is inviting, irresistible and fun. Breezy melodies and roller-coaster improvisations merge in a thrilling adventure bathing the audience in new and glorious sounds."-Clean Feed


Artist Biographies

"Günter "Baby" Sommer (born 25 August 1943 in Dresden) is a German jazz drummer.

He studied music in Dresden. He rose to fame in the GDR. He is part of the European free jazz avantgarde. He was part of the trio with Conny Bauer and Peter Kowald. He is now professor for drums and percussion in Dresden. The drummer and composer Christian Lillinger was one of his former students. The album Three Seasons "(HGBS 2014 with Michel Godard and Patrick Bebelaar) was awarded " Album of the Year 2014 " by The New York City Jazz Record."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Sommer)
3/27/2024

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

"Raymond MacDonald co-leads The Burt/MacDonald Quartet and is a founder member and key player in The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. He also performs with The Scottish Jazz Composers Ensemble and the saxophone quartet Rich in Knuckles. He has recently collaborated Lol Coxhill, Keith Tippett, Harry Beckett, Evan Parker, Gunter Baby Sommer, Fred Frith, Keith Rowe, George Lewis, Maggie Nicols, Satoko Fujii, Ken Hyder, Natsuki Tamura, Steve Beresford, Mike Zerang, and Fred Longberg-holm.

Other work includes composing and performing for film, television, theatre and collaborations with visual artists, including commissioned work for Martin Boyce, Simon Starling and Christine Borland. He collaborated with David Byrne on David McKenzie's film Young Adam.

In December 2005 he made a solo tour of Japan and in July 2006 performed with Josh Abrams and Miguel Carvalhais at The Glasgow International Jazz festival."

-Creative Sources (http://creativesourcesrec.com/creative_artists.html)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. I'm on The Way to Become a Ballad 04:05

2. Again and Again 04:26

3. Trickles and Pickles 03:41

4. Hiking Song 03:07

5. Precious Metal 05:11

6. Kitchen in Stress 01:28

7. Wooden Trail for Delicate Steps 05:17

8. Five Miniatures: No. 1 01:17

9. Five Miniatures: No. 2 02:32

10. Five Miniatures: No. 3 02:06

11. Five Miniatures: No. 4 02:13

12. Five Miniatures: No. 5 02:35

13. From Somewhere Else to Nowhere 04:50

14. Fast and Friendly 03:02

15. Take The Main Road 04:01

16. Song of a Homesick Donkey 05:11

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Duo Recordings
Saxophone & Drummer / Percussionist Duos
Clean Feed
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers
Collective Free Improvsation

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Clean Feed.


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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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