The Squid's Ear Magazine


Weinberg, Sam / Henry Fraser / Weasel Walter : Grist (ugEXPLODE)

Hard-edged NY improvisation from the performing trio of Sam Weinberg on sax, Henry Fraser on bass and Weasel Walter on drums, who since 2017 have developed a group sound of powerful and fiercely determined free jazz roots using interesting instrumental technique, often muscular and urgent but also with periods of constrained interplay and dialog; an extremely well balanced band.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Sam Weinberg-tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

Henry Fraser-upright bass

Weasel Walter-drums, percussion


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UPC: 195448292411

Label: ugEXPLODE
Catalog ID: ug78
Squidco Product Code: 29736

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2020
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded at Seizure's Palace, in Brooklyn, New York, on October 23rd, 2019, by Jason LaFarge.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"The studio debut by this regular trio featuring Sam Weinberg on saxophones, Henry Fraser on bass and Weasel Walter on drums. Beginning in 2017, this threesome has performed live in New York regularly, honing their instrumental interplay and focusing mainly on a brand of fast-paced, muscular free improvisation with strong hints of free jazz from both the US and Europe strains. Both Weinberg and Fraser are newer voices in the scene and their strong musicianship is a great match for journeyman drummer Walter. The running time is over 1 hour, this is a glass mastered CD in a digipak."-ugEXPLODE


Artist Biographies

"Sam Weinberg is a Brooklyn based saxophonist, improviser and composer whose playing ranges from the textural and timbral to slippery and melodic. With equal footing in non-idiomatic free improvisation, free jazz, and notated musics, Weinberg attempts to push the language and capacity of the saxophone beyond its usual, assumed limits. Current outfits include Maestro Day, a quartet he co-leads with bassist Henry Fraser (along w Joe Moffett and Connor Baker) which explores novel forms of composition, structure and group interaction ; W-2 with synthesizist Chris Welcome, an abrasive, rhythmically abraded and contorted electro-acoustic duo ; Captain Phillips with snare drummer David Grollman which borrows performative elements and humor in its performances. Other improvised collaborations/ projects are many and varied and include the likes of Jaimie Branch, Jack Wright, Andrew Smiley, Brandon Lopez, Chris Pitsiokos, Jon Lipscomb and Weasel Walter.

For a year and a half, he was a curator at the weekly music series A.E. Randolph Presents at Bar Below Rye in S. Williamsburg, Brooklyn."

-Sam Weinberg Website (https://samweinbergsax.wordpress.com/about/)
3/24/2025

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

"Henry Fraser is a bassist, composer, and improviser from Boston, MA. He received his B.F.A. from New England Conservatory of Music in the spring of 2014, where he studied with Cecil McBee, John McNeil, Anthony Coleman, & Ted Reichman. Since moving to Brooklyn, NY in 2014, Henry's unique combination of technical facility and aesthetic flexibility have made him an in-demand sideman and formidable band leader. Henry has performed throughout Europe and South American, including suchfestivals as the Panama Jazz Fest and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Current projects include Michael Foster's The Ghost, the Chris Pitsiokos Quartet and Maestro Day, a quartet co-lead by saxophonist, Sam Weinberg, as well as regular collaborations with the likes of Joe Morris, Brandon Seabrook and Jack Wright."

-Henry Fraser Website (http://henry-fraser.com/about/)
3/24/2025

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

"Weasel Walter (real name Walter Wyzowski) is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with a current member of Cellular Chaos and Behold...The Arctopus. Over the years, The Flying Luttenbachers included noted Dylan Posa, and Michael Colligan, while creating a body of music drawing equally from no wave, death metal, gamelan, noise music, hardcore punk and modern classical. Walter moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003, where he formed the latest of many Luttenbachers lineups, remaining on percussion with the addition of bassist Mike Green (Burmese), and virtuoso guitarist Ed Rodriguez (ex-Colossamite, Gorge Trio). Singular guitar phenomenon Mick Barr (Krallice, Octis, Orthrelm) joined the group in 2005. The Flying Luttenbachers ceased to operate in late 2007. On November 25, 2009, Weasel Walter announced that he was moving to New York City to join the band Behold... The Arctopus on drums and will be writing "new, more extreme material from scratch." He also formed Cellular Chaos with Marc Edwards (drummer), Admiral Grey and Ceci Moss."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_Walter)
3/24/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. For The Mill 14:06

2. For The Spill 5:10

3. For The Pill 7:10

4. For The Quill 7:30

5. For The Chlorophyll 4:55

6. For The Shrill 2:45

7. For The Catskill 11:22

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Trio Recordings

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ugEXPLODE.


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The Squid's Ear Magazine

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