The Squid's Ear Magazine

Vandermark, Ken

The Field Within a Line (Black Cross Solo Sessions 1)

Vandermark, Ken: The Field Within a Line (Black Cross Solo Sessions 1) (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

One of Corbett vs. Dempsey's Black Cross Solo Sessions, Ken Vandermark recorded these twelve succinct, insightful and technically superb solo recordings at his home during pandemic lockdowns, part of a new book of compositions for solo reed instruments, each piece dedicated to an artist across multiple disciplines, including Joe McPhee, Anthony Braxton, Samuel Beckett, &c.
 

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Liner notes by Vandermark, cover art and design by Christopher Wool.

Label: Corbett vs. Dempsey
Catalog ID: CvsD CD080
Squidco Product Code: 31067

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2021
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at the artist's home in Chicago, Illinois, on September 25th and 26th, 2020, by Ken Vandermark.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"With his riveting performance in the inaugural Sequesterfest online festival in April 2020, Ken Vandermark inspired the Black Cross Solo Sessions. Already in the early days of lockdown, making good on the promise - or threat - of protracted off-road time, Vandermark had dedicated himself to the creation of a new book of works for solo reed instruments, which he debuted that day.

The result of this watershed moment for the Chicago-based improvisor and composer was a body of works that reassert his seriousness and test his ability to reflect and reevaluate. The compositions, which are platforms for invention, are dealt with in relatively economical, almost stripped-down fashion, ringing with a kind of bell-like clarity and focus. Most tracks are on the shorter side, straight to the point, featuring the rippling intensity that is a Vandermark hallmark, but with an altogether reborn sense of purpose.

Pieces are dedicated to filmmakers, photographers, and painters, musicians, choreographers, and writers, pointing outward from the hermetic situation of the pandemic to a network of creative icons. Recorded at home in the detailed chamber sonics of his living room, they offer a bulwark against adversity - the triumph of an endlessly questing mind over the terror of enforced stasis."-Corbett Vs. Dempsey


Liner notes by Vandermark, cover art and design by Christopher Wool.

Artist Biographies

"Born in Warwick, Rhode Island on September 22nd, 1964, Ken Vandermark began studying the tenor saxophone at the age of 16. Since graduating with a degree in Film and Communications from McGill University during the spring of 1986, his primary creative emphasis has been the exploration of contemporary music that deals directly with advanced methods of improvisation. In 1989, he moved to Chicago from Boston, and has worked continuously from the early 1990's onward, both as a performer and organizer in North America and Europe, recording in a large array of contexts, with many internationally renowned musicians (such as Fred Anderson, Ab Baars, Peter Brötzmann, Tim Daisy, Hamid Drake, Terrie Ex, Mats Gustafsson, Devin Hoff, Christof Kurzmann, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love, Paul Lytton, Andy Moor, Joe Morris, and Nate Wooley). His current activity includes work with Made To Break, The Resonance Ensemble, Side A, Lean Left, Fire Room, the DKV Trio, and duos with Paal Nilssen-Love and Tim Daisy; in addition, he is the music director of the experimental Pop band, The Margots. More than half of each year is spent touring in Europe, North America, and Japan, and his concerts and numerous recordings have been critically acclaimed both at home and abroad. In addition to the tenor sax, he also plays the bass and Bb clarinet, and baritone saxophone. In 1999 he was awarded the MacArthur prize for music."

-Ken Vandermark Website (http://kenvandermark.com/2013/10/made-to-break-biography/)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Feet On Main (for Robert Frank & Gordon Parks) 1:33

2. Imagine The Paper (for Philip Guston & Dieter Roth) 5:14

3. Arcade of Persuasive Language (Samuel Beckett & Thomas Bernhard) 4:43

4. Portable Nowhere (for Robert Irwin & Richard Serra) 6:12

5. Shared Testament (for Joe McPhee & Stu Vandermark) 1:04

6. End The Giraffe Lottery (for Chris Marker & Agnes Varda) 4:58

7. Counter Space (for Francis Bacon & Kerry James Marshall) 4:33

8. Every Waiting Room (for Chantal Akerman & Pina Bausch) 1:17

9. No Other Suit (for Anthony Braxton & Coleman Hawkins) 3:47

10. Another Household Word (for Robert Bresson & Abbas Kiarostami) 6:15

11. Capture Chaos (for Tarsila do Amaral & Helio Oiticica) 0:43

12. Looking BackAt Looking Forward (for Ola Trzaska and Marek Winiarski) 8:47

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Ken Vandermark
Solo Artist Recordings
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