The Squid's Ear Magazine


Four Letter Words (Piet / Wark / Harris): Pinch Point (Amalgam)

The first fully improvised album from the Chicago trio of Jake Wark on tenor saxophone, Matt Piet on piano and Bill Harris on drums, recording at Experimental Sound Studios in 2018 for seven numbered and concise improvisations, running the gamut from rapidly active yet controlled interaction and investigatory conversations of confident expression and creative drive.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Matt Piet-piano

Jake Wark-tenor saxophone

Bill Harris-drums


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Label: Amalgam
Catalog ID: AMA016
Squidco Product Code: 30588

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded at Experimental Sound Studios, in Chicago, Illinois, on February 11th, 2018, by Alex Inglizian.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"The Chicago-based trio Four Letter Words comes full circle on its second album. Pianist Matt Piet, tenor saxophonist Jake Wark and drummer Bill Harris first convened to play a night of trios at the venue Constellation, but then pursued an investigation of written material before returning to spontaneous music making for this nicely packaged, short run disc.

You can get a lot out of this music by focusing on Harris' inventiveness and humility, or Wark's angular impetuousness or Piet's astonishing capacity to pick the best ideas of a half century of jazz practice and put them in just the right places. But you might get more from listening to how the trio collectively imagines musical environments, realizes them, and then pushes off to the next idea at just the right moment to leave you wishing they'd stayed a little longer."-Amalgam



"Jake Wark is a saxophonist, composer, and improviser based in Chicago. Jake was born and raised in Rochester, New York, where he resided until completing his undergraduate studies at Nazareth College. Upon moving to Chicago in 2014 to pursue a graduate degree in music at DePaul University, he quickly became immersed in the city's vibrant improvised music scene. Jake can be regularly heard with his own quartet and as a collaborator in Four Letter Words, Bowlcut, and Javier Resendiz's Imagery Converter. Jake has appeared as a bandleader and collaborator at many prominent venues and festivals across the northeast and midwest, including the Chicago Jazz Festival, Constellation, The Green Mill, Elastic Arts, The Hungry Brain, The Bop Stop, The Jazz Showcase, and the Rochester Fringe Festival.

Bill Harris is a drummer, composer, improviser, and audio engineer from Pittsburgh currently based in Chicago. He also operate and produces for Amalgam, a 100% artist-run collective and label dedicated to showcasing works of improvised and experimental music in Chicago. Bill is also an audio engineer working in both studio and live situations, and operates an independent studio at the Music Garage in Chicago. He has engineered, mixed, mastered, and produced a number of records that have been released on Amalgam, Astral Spirits, and other labels.

Matt Piet is an improvising pianist, composer, and music director. Matt was born and raised in suburban Chicago, began his studies as a pianist and vocalist at age ten, and was a proficient classical pianist and accompanist by his early teens. Piet set aside his classical studies to focus on jazz, improvisation, and composition during his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Piet returned to Chicago in 2014, and has since been an active participant in Chicago's rich jazz and improvised music scene. In addition to playing many ad hoc improvised performances as a leader and a sideman, he has three working trios: Four Letter Words, Matt Piet Trio, and the trio Rempis/Piet/Daisy. In 2018 he released two highly praised live recordings on Clean Feed Records and Astral Spirits Records, and his latest studio album, City In A Garden, on ears&eyes Records. In addition to performing regularly as an improviser, Piet works actively as a teacher, Music Director, and accompanist throughout the Chicagoland area."-Madison.com


Artist Biographies

"Matt Piet is an improvising pianist, composer, and music director. Matt was born and raised in suburban Chicago, began his studies as a pianist and vocalist at age ten, and was a proficient classical pianist and accompanist by his early teens. Piet set aside his classical studies to focus on jazz, improvisation, and composition during his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Piet returned to Chicago in 2014, and has since been an active participant in Chicago's rich jazz and improvised music scene. In addition to playing many ad hoc improvised performances as a leader and a sideman, he has three working trios: Matt Piet Trio, Four Letter Words, and the Rempis/Piet/Daisy trio. Piet works actively as a Music Director and accompanist throughout the Chicagoland area."

-Matt Piet Website (https://www.mattpietmusic.com/)
3/13/2024

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

"Jake Wark is a saxophonist, composer, and improviser based in Chicago. Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Jake earned his bachelor's degree in saxophone performance from Nazareth College in 2014, studying classical saxophone with Chisato Eda Marling and jazz improvisation with Paul Smoker. Upon graduation, Jake moved to Chicago to attend graduate school at DePaul University where he studied with Scott Burns. At this time, he began to participate in the city's vibrant improvised music scene. He performs regularly in the Chicago area with Four Letter Words, a collaborative trio co-led with drummer Bill Harris and pianist Matt Piet. Four Letter Words' debut album, Blow, was included on Budd Kopman's "Best Releases of 2016" list. [...] In addition to these projects, Jake can be heard performing with the Jake Wark/Ben Pedersen Quintet, the experimental trio Bowlcut, Gerritt Hatcher's Refunction, and other ensembles and improvised groupings various venues in Chicago."

-Jayceland / Bop Shop (http://jayceland.com/blog/event/jake-wark-trio-musical-performance/)
3/13/2024

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

"Bill Harris is a percussionist, composer, improviser, and audio engineer from Pittsburgh currently based in Chicago. He also operates and produces for Amalgam, a Chicago-based collective.

(B. 1987, Pittsburgh, PA)

Bill has been active in Chicago's music communities since 2011, working at the intersection of free improvisation, jazz, noise, rock, and country. His music has been presented at Constellation, Elastic Arts, The Bop Stop, The Hungry Brain, The Hideout, Experimental Sound Studios, Spot Tavern, Beat Kitchen, Empty Bottle, and Comfort Station.

Bill is humbled to have played or recorded with Jim Baker, Dave Rempis, Kent Kessler, Brian Sandstrom, Ed Wilkerson, Carol Genetti, Angel Bat Dawid, Jeb Bishop, Peter Maunu, Josh Berman, Brandon Lopez, Keefe Jackson, and Jason Roebke, among many other experimental and improvisatory musicians and artists.

Bill is constantly inspired by and thankful to work with his frequent collaborators: Ishmael Ali, Jake Wark, Timothee Quost, PT Bell, Gerrit Hatcher, Eli Namay, Matt Piet, Brianna Tong, Wills McKenna, David Fletcher, Jess McIntosh, Aaron Smith, Jeff Kimmel, Adam Shead, Molly Jones, Jakob Heinemann, and many others...

In 2015 he started Amalgam, a 100% artist-run collective and label dedicated to showcasing works of improvised and experimental music in Chicago. Bill is also an audio engineer working in both studio and live situations, and operates an independent studio in Chicago with engineering, mixing, mastering, and production credits on labels such as Amalgam, Astral Spirits, No Index, 577 Records and Ears&Eyes."

-Bill Harris Website (http://www.billyharris.net/bio)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Eighteen 01:40

2. Five 06:50

3. Seven 05:39

4. Eight 06:30

5. Three 06:38

6. Four 06:48

7. Six 03:21

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Collective Free Improvsation
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Trio Recordings


Search for other titles on the label:
Amalgam.


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