The Squid's Ear Magazine


Ward, Alex: Gated (Discus)

A stunning solo album showing the widely diverse interests of UK clarinetist and guitarist Alex Ward, recording in the studio in 10 multi-track pieces using clarinets, saxophones, guitars, keyboards, electric bass and assorted software instruments in a mix of pre-composed and improvised approaches, burning the spectrum from contemplative to aggressively assertive performance.
 

Price: $15.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Alex Ward-composer, performer, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, keyboard, electric bass, software instruments


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 5051078988320

Label: Discus
Catalog ID: 114CD
Squidco Product Code: 31121

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2021
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Recorded at Stowaway Studios, between July, 2020, and March, 2021, by the artist.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Conceived and realised over an 8-month period of intense solitary work, "Gated" is Alex Ward's most ambitious musical statement to date. The ten pieces employ all of Alex's instrumental resources as a performer, featuring clarinets, saxophones, guitars, keyboards, electric bass and assorted software instruments; and furthermore they draw on everything he has learned during his three-decades-plus of activity as a free improviser, composer/bandleader and sideman. The result is a dense and multi-layered array of detailed compositional structures, headlong improvisational flights and deft studio manipulation."-Discus



"Another sonic adventure from Discus finds Alex Ward's abilities on the various instruments used here being stretched to their limits. He plays everything here, and that covers guitar, bass, drums, woodwind, keyboards and various dizzying noisemakers. Not only is it an instrumental tour de force, but the musical styles that the album encompasses are varied in the extreme, bursting through: free jazz, metal, math rock and ambient drone, often with them all in one piece.

Gated is a fairly breathless listen with little opportunity for respite, and I find myself trying to picture the process of Alex recording the pieces section by section, playing over himself, over and over, pushing ever further as the tempo increases and the solos spiral out of control, speakers rattling. Spread across ten tracks, the shortest of which is two minutes, the longest eighteen, you don't really know what to expect apart from a sensory overload. I am reminded of Jesus Lizard in places, but to some unexpected extreme; and then you may find yourself tripping down a psychedelic woodwind blowout next. It is quite something.

The two-minute opener "Heat Patch" is the ultimate jerk out of complacency; the woodwind flutters like a crazed moth as the drums push and parry, the guitar a brief explosion. It feels like a supremely compressed box full of elastic bands just waiting to burst or somebody gritting their teeth until they crack. It is that sort of intensity. The bass playing throughout is clean and concise, but twists and turns, trying to lose the drums that at times come on like a machine gun. Just when you think you might have the measure, a track like "Let" appears with its slightly atonal horns. It is soft-ish and a little hesitant in its atmosphere, the drums mellow and the cymbal wash surprisingly welcoming.

There is a little metal in the ingredients on the album, with the staccato drumming of "Buyout" definitely of the speed variety; they have the power of a waterfall, and with the churning bass and eccentric guitar, there is no space whatsoever to even breathe, each second stuffed with sound. There is a little more room on "Hewn", but then it is just over eighteen minutes long. The shimmer of the cymbals is deeply affecting here, but it is impossible to relax because you just don't know what will happen next. One abstract section of industrial noise reminded me of a particular Don Caballero track, the one where it feels as if you have inadvertently wandered into a sawmill.

I think there are some vibes on "Stilled" and they hang in the air, circling ever higher, just out of reach, as if picking the right moment to swoop; while "Cushioned" is a free combo of cheery piano and clarinet. It is full and vibrant, and even has a touch of Hammond, which adds some drama, and the whole piece is exhilarating and desperate in equal measure. It is part of the joy of the album, seeing what instruments will be gathered together on each track. Alex also loves that sense of hypnotic repetition that comes from hammering a single chord and not relenting, as if trying to overload the listener or see how much they can take. It reminds me a little of that Human Impact album that was released recently, but with so many more tributaries flowing into the raging torrent.

Gated is one of those records that gives up so much more every time you listen and that special feeling never grows old. You kind of have to take a deep breath and force yourself to relax once the album ends; and we all need that once in a while."-Mr Olivetti, FREQ


Get additional information at FREQ

Artist Biographies

"Alex Ward was born in 1974. He is a composer, improviser, and performing musician. His primary instruments are clarinet and guitar, and he has also performed in public and on recordings on alto sax, piano/keyboards, bass guitar, and as a vocalist. He was based in Oxford from 1992-2000, and since then has lived in London.

His involvement in freely improvised music dates back to 1986, when he met the guitarist Derek Bailey. As an improviser, he was initially principally a clarinettist (sometimes also playing alto sax), but since 2000 he has also been active as an improvising guitarist. On both instruments, hIs longest-standing collaborations in this field have been with the drummer Steve Noble.

From 1993 to 2001, most of his activity as a composer took place in collaboration with Benjamin Hervé, mainly in the context of the rock band Camp Blackfoot. From 2002-2005, his writing was mostly done solo, and was primarily focused on songs. Since 2006, he has been heavily involved in both solo and collaborative composition, predominantly (though not exclusively) of instrumental music. Much of his writing and performing during this time has been done with Dead Days Beyond Help, a duo with drummer Jem Doulton. He also currently leads a number of bands including Predicate, Forebrace, The Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet, and Alex Ward & The Dead Ends.

He has been a member of many other groups including ensembles led by Eugene Chadbourne, Simon H. Fell and Duck Baker, and has also done various work as a session musician and in collaboration with other media. Since 2005, he has co-run the label Copepod Records with composer/performer Luke Barlow. He does the recording, mixing and/or mastering of most of his own music, and for many of the groups he plays in."

-Sites.Google.com (https://sites.google.com/site/alexwardmusician/biography)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Heat Patch 2:05

2. The Celebrated Retriction 3:26

3. Let 6:28

4. Buyout 5:23

5. Hewn 18:23

6. Stilled 5:20

7. Cushioned 14:39

8. Brow 4:29

9. The Bradford Factor 2:50

10. Maybe It'll Break The Heat 10:40

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Compositional Forms
Electro-Acoustic
Organized Sound and Sample Based Music
Electroacoustic Composition
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Solo Artist Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Rock Forms
New in Experimental & Electronic Music

Search for other titles on the label:
Discus.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Pere Ubu
Trouble On Big Beat Street
(Cherry Red)
The 19th Pere Ubu album brings members from the history and offshoots of the band that initiated in Cleveland with vocalist David Thomas, melded with members Keith Moline and Andy Diagram from Pale Boys, legendary drummer Chris Cutler (Wooden Birds & Pere Ubu), clarinetist & guitarist Alex Ward and bassist Michel Templem, for 17 wide-ranging songs, often eccentric, but always uniquely Ubu.
Ward, Alex Item 4
Furthered
(577 Records)
An assertive album of compositional jazz from clarinetist & guitarist Alex Ward's Item 4 with London improvisers Charlotte Keeffe on trumpet & flugelhorn, Otto Willberg on double bass and Andrew Lisle on drums, a dynamic album that elicits exciting solos from all players around unusual structures that surprise in quick turns and changes of mood; inspiring!
Alva Noto
HYbr:ID Vol. 1
(Noton)
The first installment in a new series from Alva Noto, aka Carsten Nicola, bringing together heterogeneous composition methods that aim to merge astrophysics phenomena, fiction, and performance movements, inspired by cinematic visual techniques and static images portraying scientific events; includes graphic inserts of notations informed by the album's sonic and acoustic code.
Keeffe, Charlotte
Right Here, Right Now
(Discus)
Collecting facets of London trumpeter Charlotte Keeffe's diverse settings and interests, including three live recordings with her own quartet, three recordings with London Improvisers Orchestra including a conduction for a piece dedicated to Steve Beresford, a duo with guitarist Diego Sampieri, and two solo recordings, one interacting with live electronics.
Myers, David Lee
Room In A Moon House
(pulsewidth)
A series of "Rooms" and related electronic environments from New York sound artist David Lee Myers, whose long running Arcane Device project runs parallel to these nearly ambient works that Myers intimates are for intimate environments, developed through deft use of Eurorack electronics, feedback, sampling and other elegant electronic processes.
Consorts
Distinctions
(Spoonhunt)
Composer Dominic Lash's Consort ensemble explores the possibilities of combining sustained-tone music, guided & free improvisation, and the relationship between acoustic and amplified sound, heard in this evolving, extended concert at Café Oto on Lash's 40th birthday, in a unique mix of acoustic & electronic instruments that even includes an amplified kitchen sink!
Lash, Dominic Quartet (w / Carmona / Tejero / Ward)
Limulus
(Spoonhunt)
Honing their conversation in their third release as a band, British double bassist Dominic Lash's Quartet with Javier Carmona on drums & percussion, Ricardo Tejero on alto saxophone and Alex Ward on electric guitar are heard live at Cafe OTO in London, Lash providing all compositions and arrangements over six wide-ranging, edgy and innovative improvisations; outstanding!
Locals, The (Thomas, Ward / Thomas / Lash / Hasson-Davis)
The Locals Play The Music Of Anthony Braxton
(Discus)
An upbeat and energetic performance at the Konfrontation Festival, Ulrichsberg in 2006, featuring six early compositions by Anthony Braxton, arranged by pianist Pat Thomas and performed by the quintet of superb improvisers and interpreters Alex Ward on clarinet, Evan Thomas on electric guitar, Dominic Lash on electric bass, and Darren Hasson-Davis on drums.
Kraabel, Caroline
Last1 And Last2
(Emanem)
LAST is part of a series by Caroline Kraabel (LIO, Remote Viewers) mixing live improvisation with pre-recorded material provided by Robert Wyatt for this purpose, performed live at Cafe OTO in two versions: first where the 15-piece ensemble has not yet heard the Wyatt interventions, and second where they were familiar with and use his voice to structure what they play.
Forebrace (Ward / Sassi / Horro / Doulton)
Steeped
(Relative Pitch)
Blending jazz and rock forms with frenetic excitement and masterful control, multi-reedist Forebrace quartet with Roberto Sassi (electric guitar), Santiago Horro (electric bass) and Jem Doulton (drums) run the gamut on exultantly virtuosic improvisation, here recording live at Cafe Oto.
Morris, Joe
Perpetual Frontier The Properties of Free Music [BOOK]
(Riti Publishing)
Joe Morris wrote this book to discuss aspects of free music, including responses to his questionnaire written by Joe McPhee, William Parker, Jamie Saft, Ken Vandermark, Marilyn Crispell, Nate Wooley, Jack Wright, Matthew Shipp, &c.
Morris / Fell / Ward
The Necessary And The Possible
(Les Disques Victo)
This incredible trio, recorded at the 25th Victo Actuelle Festival, play complex music using shared ideas about articulation, timbre, and methods of interaction.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Fowler, Chad / George Cartwright / Christopher Parker / Kelley Hurt / Luke Stewart / Steve Hirsh / ZA
Miserere
(Mahakala Music)
A septet bridging generations of improvisers from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, DC, Minnesota, and NY, from Chad Fowler (sax & flute), George Cartwright (sax & guitar), Christopher Parker (piano), Kelley Hurt (voice), Luke Stewart (bass), Steve Hirsh (drums), and guest tenor saxophonist Zoh Amba, in four works reflecting our turbulent times, plus a tribute to Davey Williams.
bBb (Martin Kuchen / Ola Rubin)
Animal Quotes
(Relative Pitch)
Quirky in a masterful display of instrumental skill from the Swedish duo of soprano saxophonist Martin Küchen and trombonist Ola Rubin (Swedish Fix, Lazy Rude Monk), using every inch of their instruments along with mutes, percussion and percussive emanations, creating a virtual menagerie of animalistic sounds alongside dexterous lines.
Butcher / Charbin / Kanngiesser / Prevost
The Art Of Noticing
(Matchless)
"To celebrate drummer/percussionist Eddie Prévost's 80th birthday, Café Oto hosted four concerts once a week in June, 2022, each a differing configuration from Prévost's history; this 2nd concert brings together Prévost, Marjolaine Charbin (piano), Ute Kanngiesser (cello) and John Butcher (sax), the same group that recorded the contemporary album Sounds of Assembly on the Meena label.
Zorn, John (w/ Lage / Roeder / Wollesen)
New Masada Quartet, Volume Two
(Tzadik)
LOWER PRICE! Taking on another set of compositions from John Zorn's Masada Songbook, the New and electrified Masada quartet of Kenny Wollesen on drums, Julian Lage on guitar, Jorge Roeder on bass and Zorn himself on alto saxophone releases their second volume, seven melodically rich and intricate works that lead to incredible, often burning soloing and group interchange.
Koenjihyakkei
Nivraym Revisted
(Skin Graft Records)
Originally released in 2001 on the Magaibutsu label, the 3rd studio album from Japan's Koenjihyakkei led by drummer/vocalist Yoshida Tatsuya energetically blends progressive rock, chamber rock, fusion and composed forms, here revisited for the 2nd time with the 2009 expanded reissue remixed again with new additions, plus three bonus tracks from a 2020 concert.
Lih Kadim (Jaka Berger / Marko Jenic / Jure Borsic / Andre Bost Ruda / Jost Drasler / Vid Drasler)
Sunday Sextet
(FMR)
With shared background in Slovik groups and ensembles including work with Szilárd Mezei and the Olfamoštvo ensemble, the Lih Kadim sextet of electroacoustic improvisers is heard in an exceptional 2021 concert of innovative and exploratory interaction, each recording taken from a successive night performing at the Cultural Centre, Bistrica Ob Sotli in Slovenia.
Fowler, Chad / William Parker / Anders Griffen
Broken Unbroken
(Mahakala Music)
Led by New York wind and reed player Chad Fowler, who performs here on stritch, saxello & alto flute, this collective free jazz album brings together frequent collaborators, bassist William Parker (with whom Fowler plays in Dopolarians) and drummer & trumpeter Anders Griffen (heard on Thinking Unthinking and the Music of Frank Lowe) for two extended improvisations from contemplative to assertive.
Fowler, Chad / William Parker / Anders Griffen
Thinking Unthinking
(Mahakala Music)
Focusing on lyrically inclined grooves with a relaxed pace, the details and thoughtfully "unthought" playing from the NY trio of Chad Fowler on stritch, saxello & alto flute, William Parker on bass and Anders Griffen on drums, are heard in the Park West Studios in Brooklyn for three extended collective improvisations of passionate, expressive and empathetic playing.
Kuchen / Fernandez / Kaucic
The Steps That Resonate
(Not Two)
Uniquely orchestrated with all three members bringing a trove of objects & percussion, the trio of Martin Küchen on saxophones, Agustí Fernández on piano and Zlatko Kaučič on drums are heard in this two-part live concert at BUMF festival in Smartno, Slovenia, for a superb example of intent listening and use of space around confident, stunningly creative & virtuosic playing.
LAMIEE . / Drolo Ensemble
The Deafening Moment Of The Whistle After The Noise
(Shhpuma)
A truly fascinating and seamless hybrid of improvised and composed music, alongside an exploration of feedback and "its acoustic double, a harmonic noise", from the merging of two projects--LAMIEE and Dròlo Ensemble--plus Italian poli-instrumentalists Nicholas Remondino and Andrea Giordano (OTONN), yielding wonderfully complex and enveloping sound worlds.
Fade In (Calcagno / Barcelona / Luparia)
Live Fast, Die A Legend
(Clean Feed)
With one foot in 60s free jazz and the other in contemporary improvisation, the pianoless Italian trio Fade In of Federico Calcagno on bass clarinet & clarinet, Pietro Elia Barcellona on contrabass and Marco Luparia on drums perform original compositions, spirited pieces with inventive elements, solid melodic foundation and surprising twists and turns.
Mela, Francisco / Zoh Amba
Causa y Efecto Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
The first volume of powerful free playing and intimate conversation bringing together two New York-based improvisers, Cuban native drummer/percussionist Francisco Mela and Tennessee native reed & wind player Zoh Amba, both sharing a mountain region upbringing that brings a uniquely reflective quality to their playing, fortified by the exploratory NY improv scene.
Parker, Christopher / The Band of Guardian Angels
Soul Food
(Mahakala Music)
An open and free album of modern jazz evoking loft-style collective improvisation but controlled under the compositions of pianist Christopher Parker, in his debut album as a leader with the incredibly talented sextet of Kelley Hurt on vocals, Daniel Carter on winds, Jaimie Branch on trumpet, William Parker on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums
Ullen, Lisa / Elsa Bergman / Anna Lund
Space
(Relative Pitch)
The debut of this thoroughly modern piano trio from Sweden of pianist Lisa Ullen, bassist Elsa Bergman and drummer Anna Lund, merging traditional and free jazz forms along with influences from contemporary compositional music, approaching their collective music using a diverse set of strategies and techniques that yield a spectrum of captivating conversations.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC