The 2nd of NI-VU-NI-CONNU's 5-LP John Butcher series, the duo of pianist Sophie Agnel and soprano & tenor saxophonist John Butcher is informed by previous collaborations as a duo and in a trio with cellist Márkos Albert, here in a superb 2019 concert of balanced tension and intense interaction captured at Ausland in Berlin, a meeting of two perfectly matched improvisers.
Format: LP Condition: New Released: 2022 Country: Luxembourg Packaging: LP Recorded at Ausland, in Berlin, Germany, on November 29th, 2019, by Andrew Levine.
"Agnel and Butcher have played together in different formations over the past decade, including in a trio with Hungarian cellist Márkos Albert and as a duo, but this is the first time their collaboration is captured on vinyl. A kind of ideal duet, no imitation conversation but two simultaneous composers each repeatedly provoked and silenced, prodded and enchanted by the other..."-Stuart Broomer, from the liner notes.
Sophie Agnel (b. 1964 in Paris) is a composer and a pianist. A classically trained artist, she shifted to jazz in the early 1990s and then to free-improvisation. She is a regular member of the Orchestre National de Jazz and has collaborated with numerous musicians including Phil Minton, Daunik Lazro, Lionel Marchetti and Andrea Neumann. Among her releases to date are a trio with Steve Noble and John Edwards as well as her much-remarked album Capsizing Moments (2009).
John Butcher (b. 1954 in Brighton) describes himself as "a saxophonist who attempts to engage with the uniqueness of time and place." His music ranges from improvisation and compositions to multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and unusual acoustics.
After publishing a PhD in quantum chromodynamics (1982), Butcher left academia and took off with music. He has since collaborated with hundreds of artists, for many decades in the case of some, including Eddie PrŽvost, Derek Bailey, Steve Beresford, Paul Lovens, Rhodri Davies, Matthew Shipp, Akio Suzuki, Thomas Lehn, Christian Marclay, Gino Robair, Okkyung Lee, Mark Sanders, StŒle Liavik Solberg, Phil Minton and Angharad Davies and the groups Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Thermal and Polwechsel.
Compositions have been varied, the most recent being Tarab Cuts (based on early Arabic recordings) and Fluid Fixations for 14 players at HCMF (2021).
Butcher also values playing in occasional encounters ranging from large groups, such as Butch Morris's London Skyscraper and the EX Orkestra, to duo concerts with David Toop, Ute Kanngiesser, Joe McPhee, Keiji Haino, John Tilbury, Fred Frith, and Otomo Yoshihide.
The John Butcher Vinyl Series / Part 1:
A set of 5 LPs with live recordings featuring the prominent British saxophonist in five different musical formations. They capture a series of concerts held in 2019, four of which saw Butcher joined by a roster of international musicians for a two-day celebratory event at ausland in Berlin, and the fifth marking the debut of a new trio recorded in Leipzig and Berlin.
The series bears witness to the extraordinary breadth of Butcher's musical palette, which allows him to play across different musical scenes and with performers from the most diverse backgrounds. In these recordings, he variously reunites with colleagues with whom he has worked extensively in the past (Burkhard Beins, Werner Dafeldecker, Thomas Lehn, Gino Robair, Sophie Agnel, Tony Buck, Magda Mayas) and engages with a group of performers from the eclectic Berlin Echtzeitmusik scene (Liz Allbee, Ignaz Schick, Marta Zapparoli).
The recordings cover a wide range of musical approaches and experiments, from "expression, speculation, ceremony, initiation and transcendence" (Stuart Broomer) to sound refractions and mimicry. Documenting Butcher's versatility and empathic sense of communion, they underline his unique status in the improvised music world, which has earned him a reputation as one of the scene's most influential musicians.
Five LPs in an edition of 300 copies, edited and mixed by John Butcher, liner notes by Stuart Broomer, Inner sleeve photography by Cristina Marx.