The Squid's Ear Magazine


Neumann / Smith / Graham / Rosenthal / Fujiwara / Ewen : Quartet:Quartet:Trio [2 CDs] (Balance Point Acoustics)

A double album of electroacoustic improv sessions from Sommerville, MA, centered around electronic artist Andrew Neumann on the Buchla Music Easel--a complex additive analogue synth--heard in quartet and trio sessions with Forbes Graham (trumpet), Sandy Ewen (guitar & objects), Junko Fujiwara (cello), Damon Smith (double bass) and Eric Rosenthal (drums & percussion).
 

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:



Andrew Neumann-Buchla Music Easel

Forbes Graham-trumpet

Sandy Ewen-guitar, objects

Junko Fujiwara-cello

Damon Smith-double bass

Eric Rosenthal-drums, percussion


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




Label: Balance Point Acoustics
Catalog ID: BPA 2CD4
Squidco Product Code: 32446

Format: 2 CDs
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Recorded at "Q" Division Studios, in Sommerville, MA, on June 20th, 2019,

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

A double album of electroacoustic improv sessions from Sommerville, MA, centered around electronic artist Andrew Neumann on the Buchla Music Easel--a complex additive analogue synth--heard in quartet and trio sessions with Forbes Graham (trumpet), Sandy Ewen (guitar & objects), Junko Fujiwara (cello), Damon Smith (double bass) and Eric Rosenthal (drums & percussion). Neumann, also an artist, sculptor and installation artist, can be heard on the Driff album Bathysphere with Jeb Bishop, Tony Malaby, Taylor Ho Bynum, &c. His use of the Buchla synthesizer reminds of the work of Allen Ravenstine of Pere Ubu fame, interacting and accenting the work of the other players as he creates alien environments and pointillistic inflections. Masterful playing and concentration from all of the musicians makes their interaction continuously fascinating.


Artist Biographies

"Andrew Neumann is an American artist working in a variety of media, including sculpture, film and video installation, and electronic music. He has received numerous awards and residencies a Guggenheim Fellowship and a LEF Foundation Grant. He has had solo shows at bitforms Gallery in NYC and Seoul, Korea, The DeCordova Museum, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, The Boston Cybverarts Gallery, The Childrens Museum in Boston, as well as solo shows for the Boston Cyberarts Festival. His CD's are available on Sublingual Records. His videos have been shown on PBS, The Worldwide Video Festival, Artist Space, and elsewhere. He has had solo music/video performances at Issue Project Room, Experimental Intermedia and Roulette, in NYC. During 2001 he was an Artist in Residence at the iEAR Studio at Rensalear Polytech Institute. He has also had residencies at MacDowell, YADDO, Ucross Foundation, Steim, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Art/OMI, Teton ArtLab, iPark and the Experimental Television Center."

-MacDowell Organization (https://www.macdowell.org/artists/andrew-neumann)
3/13/2024

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

"Forbes Graham born 1977 in Washington, DC. Forbes Graham is a trumpet player, electronic musician, and composer living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked with a diverse array of musicians and currently is a member of Para Quintet, Rock Flint Contemporary Ensemble, Wild May, Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra, Grizzler, Construction Party, Equal Time and Citizens Orchestra. He is the founder of the Rock Flint Artists Retreat, and has appeared at numerous festivals including High Zero, Full Force, and Vision."

-Evil Clown Website (http://www.giantevilclown.com/bio-forbes-graham.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Sandy Ewen was born in Toronto, Canada in 1985, Sandy Ewen received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. Since then she has resided in Houston, TX where she pursues musical and visual projects and her architecture license. Ewen has released several albums, including a duo with guitarist Tom Carter, a trio with bassist Damon Smith & drummer Weasel Walter, and a rock album with Austin's Weird Weeds. Ewen's visual work is closely tied to her work in sound; she uses both mediums to explore texture, composition and materials.

Ewen's microcollages, enlarged through projection and digital printing, are an exploration of material and technique. Using a unique process pioneered by the artist, natural materials and polymers are torn, liquefied, scorched, melted, cut, and fused. When enlarged, the microscopic nuances of these manipulations are manifested in exquisite detail. Ewen has presented prints of her work at 14 Pews (2012), Spacetaker/Fresh Arts (2012), Khon's (2013) & Galeria Regina (2014).

As an improviser in both art and music, Ewen sees herself as guiding materials and space rather than executing a preconceived composition. "I like to explore mediums and materials and tease out their essence," says Ewen. "Working with slide projections has focused my eye on the subtitles of natural processes of decay and transformation. Through my work, I am asking questions of the materials rather than dictating answers." "

-Sandy Ewen Website (http://www.sandyewen.com/about/)
3/13/2024

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

"Junko Fujiwara, based in Haverhill, Massachusetts, is a professional cellist who performs live, plays on various recordings, and offers cello lessons. An accomplished musician, Ms. Fujiwara possesses a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University and a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University.

Ms. Fujiwara currently holds faculty positions at Boston College, Governor's Academy, Masconomet Regional Schools, and Ipswich Public Schools. She is also affiliated with the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestra, where she coaches chamber groups."

-Junko Fujiwara Website (http://junkocello.com/)
3/13/2024

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

"Damon Smith studied double bass with Lisle Ellis and has had lessons with Bertram Turezky, Joëlle Leandré, John Lindberg, Mark Dresser and others. Damon's explorations into the sonic palette of the double bass have resulted in a personal, flexible improvisational language based in the American jazz avant-garde movement and European non-idiomatic free improvisation. Visual art, film and dance heavily influence his music, as evidenced by his CAMH performance of Ben Patterson's Variations for Double Bass, collaborations with director Werner Herzog on soundtracks for Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, and an early performance with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Damon has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including: Cecil Taylor, Marshall Allen (of Sun Ra's Arkestra), Henry Kaiser, Roscoe Mitchell, Michael Pisaro, Wadada Leo Smith, Marco Eneidi, Wolfgang Fuchs, Peter Brötzmann and Peter Kowald. After many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and five great years in Houston, Texas working regularly with Alvin Fielder, Sandy Ewen, David Dove & Chris Cogburn, Damon will move to the Boston area in the fall of 2016. Damon has run Balance Point Acoustics record label since 2001, releasing music focusing on transatlantic collaborations between US and European musicians."

-Balance Point Acoustic Website (https://www.balancepointacoustics.com/damon-smith/)
3/13/2024

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

"Drummer Eric Rosenthal is based out of the Boston area. The former student of Ed Blackwell has studied and performed more than American jazz drumming; he has also delved into West African traditional and South Indian classical percussion. Rosenthal has performed and improvised with Anthony Braxton, Mat Maneri, Pandelis Karayorgis, Mario Pavone, and the Either/Orchestra. He has performed all over North America and Europe, and appeared in Greece at the Patras Jazz Festival, at Montreal's North Sea Jazz festival, even at Finland's Pori Festival. Besides producing his own improvised music recordings, he also appears on CDs with the Hypnotic Clambake and the Zairean soukous band Freestyle. The late '90s found Rosenthal busy in the group Naftule's Dream. The band has two releases on John Zorn's Tzadik label, Search for the Golden Dreydl and Smash, Clap!"

-Evil Clown (http://www.evilclown.rocks/bio-eric-rosenthal.html)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



CD1



1. Qa1 16:31

2. Qa2 5:53

3. Qa3 9:10

4. Qa4 15:22

5. Qa5 7:22

CD2



1. QB1 26:13

2. QB2 10:01

3. QB3 7:33

4. T1 9:47

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Quartet Recordings
Trio Recordings
Boston Area Improvisers
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

Search for other titles on the label:
Balance Point Acoustics.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Graham, Forbes (Forbes / Lopez / Lopez)
Another Day, Another Vector
(Relative Pitch)
Promo copy with line thru bar code. An unusual set of electroacoustic improvisations recorded at Firehouse 12 from a New York trio led by trumpeter Forbes Graham, also on laptop and drum machine, Cecelia Lopez on analog synth, and bassist Brandon Lopez, Graham mutating his trumpet through sound processing, complemented by Cecelia Lopez's synthetic punctuations, all grounded by Brandon Lopez' solid bass work.
Blonk / Smith / Moses
Rune Kitchen
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Four unusual studio recordings of voice, electronics, double bass, drums & percussion from the trio of Netherland vocal improviser Jaap Blonk with bassist Damon Smith and drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Moses and Blonk collaborating on the concrete poem that makes up "liner notes" for this wonderfully odd and sophisticated album of avant free improv.
Bishop / Karayorgis / Smith
Duals [3 CDs]
(Driff Records)
Three albums of three duos between three frequent Boston collaborators and improvisers -- Jeb Bishop on trombone, Pandelis Karayorgis on piano and Damon Smith on double bass -- each CD respectively a combination of trombone & bass, piano & bass and piano & trombone, each recorded during the last year of Jeb Bishop's residency in Boston between 2016-2022.
Cameron / Smith / Cunningham
Time Without Hours [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Storm Cellar)
The of trio of Lisa Cameron on percussion, Damon Smith on double bass and Alex Cunningham on violin, continue their work after 2020's Dawn Throws Its First Knife with this cassette and download releases of five collective improvisations, using extended techniques amidst cogent conversation, from assertively exciting to darkly moody atmospheric interplay.
Vinkeloe, Biggi / Mark Weaver / Damon Smith
Desert Sweets
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Twenty two vignettes of improvised conversations named for desert fauna between alto saxophonist & flutist Biggi Vinkeloe, tuba & trombonist Mark Weaver, and double bassist Damon Smith, using a unique tuning choice for the band suggested by Vinkeloe, and applying a quality to the studio to create a uniquely orchestrated and resonant album of masterful playing.
Stein, Jason / Damon Smith / Adam Shead
Volumes & Surfaces
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Live recordings from the trio of Chicago improvisers Jason Stein on bass clarinet and Adam Shead on drums & percussion in a trio with double bassist Damon Smith, 3 tracks recorded in the studio at Chicago's Elastic Arts and then 2 live performances captured at The Hungry Brain that same night, an album of rich proportion through the deep strings, dark drums and deep reeds.
Bryerton, Jerome / Damon Smith
There Must be a Reason for Generating Sounds... [CD + BOOKMARK]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, drummer Jerome Bryterton & double bassist Damon Smith toured & recorded with legendary German multi-reedist Wolfgang Fuchs, who was a great influence on both musicians, here presenting a tribute to the late improviser through 11 recordings titled with quotes from Fuchs, and released with a bookmark from an improvisation workshop in Oakland.
Fielder, Alvin / David Dove / Jason Jackson / Damon Smith
The Very Cup of Trembling
(Astral Spirits)
Five inventive, lively and informed collective improvisations plus one brief interlude from the quartet of Alvin Fielder on drums, David Dove on trombone, Jason Jackson on tenor & baritone saxophones and Damon Smith on double bass, recording in Texas three years after their excellent From-To-From, with titles provided courtesy of poet and scholar Fred Moten.
Ewen, Sandy / Keith Rowe / Damon Smith + Gooseberry Marmalade
Houston 2012 [2 CDs]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
During a two-day encounter in Houston in 2012, visiting improviser & guitarist Keith Rowe and double bassist Damon Smith combined with guitarist Sandy Ewen, on day 1 joining with her all-female experimental music ensemble Lady Band (of Various Fruit Names) to perform works from the 70s London ensemble Scratch Orchestra; on day 2 recording two uniquely creative improvsations as a trio.
Ulher, Birgit / Damon Smith / Chris Cogburn
The Eternity-Cult
(Balance Point Acoustics)
A building and extended set of fully free improvisation using unusual techniques, from the trio of Birgit Ulher on trumpet, radio, speaker & objects, Damon Smith on double bass and Chris Cogburn on percussion & electronics, Ulher using the trumpet as a sound source as much as a conventional instrument, as the trio builds from near silence to intensely controlled interaction.
Mitchell, Roscoe / Sandy Ewen / Damon Smith / Weasel Walter
A Railroad Spike Forms The Voice
(ugEXPLODE)
The first meeting between Art Ensemble of Chicago saxophone legend Roscoe Mitchell and the long running improvisational trio of Sandy Ewen (guitar), Damon Smith (double bass) and Weasel Walter (drums), in an epic 72-minute recording captured live at Duende in Oakland, CA in 2014, an amazing display contrasting control & chaos, form and deconstruction; exemplary!
Ball, Hugo (Jaap Blonk / Bart van der Putten / Pieter Meurs / Damon Smith)
Six sound Poems 1989 & 2013 [2 CDs]
(Balance Point Acoustics / kontrans)
Dedicated to Dada legend Hugo Ball, founder of the Cabaret Voltaire, through modern interpretations of six sound poems written by Ball in 1916, performed at BIMHUIS in 1989 by the trio of Jaap Blonk (voice), Bart van der Putten (saxophone) and Pieter Meurs (double bass); and in 2013 at radio station KUHF by the duo of Jaap Blonk and Damon Smith on double bass.
Feichtmair, Tanja / Damon Smith / Gino Robair
The Shrilling of Frogs
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Discovered in a box of recordings in BPA's possession, this recording from 2003 restores a stimulating freely improvised studio encounter between then-West Coast frequent collaborators, double bassist Damon Smith and percussionist Gino Robair, in a trio with Austrian alto saxophonist & bass clarinetist Tanja Feichtmair, mastered to pristine quality by Weasel Walter.
Alexander, Sarah Ruth / Damon Smith
God Made My Soul an Ornament
(Balance Point Acoustics)
An unusual duo of double bass, voice, hammered dulcimer, recorder, slide whistle, and various objects, recorded in 2019 between bassist Damon Smith and Sarah Ruth Alexander, freely improvising through nine pieces that show the breadth of creative imagination and powerful technical skills of each; curiously compelling, unpredictable and marvelously diverse.
Gregorio, Guillermo / Damon Smith / Jerome Bryerton
Room of the the Present
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Two performances of Chicago reedist and composer Guillermo Gregorio's graphic score "Moholy 2", inspired by the artwork of László Moholy-Nagy, recorded in two conductions at the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago in 2007 & 2008 by the trio of Gregorio on clarinets & alto sax, Damon Smith on double bass, and Jerome Bryerton on percussion, cymbals and drums.
Various Artists (curated by Nick Vander)
Walk My Way, Volume Five
(Orbit577)
The final of five volumes from this series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Harvey Valdes, Antonio Guillen, Boris Belica, Sandy Ewen, Denis Sorokin, Arvind Ganga, Pengboon Don, Josue Amador, Todd Clouser, and Mohammed Ashraf.
Schindler, Udo / Damon Smith / Karina Erhard
The Munich Sound Studies Vol 1
(FMR)
Performing at the Gottfried Duren/arToxin at Galerie ar Toxin in 2019, the trio of Udo Schindler on clarinet, bass clarinet & alto horn, Damon Smith on double bass, and Karina Erhard on C flute & alto flute present a sophisticated set of free improvisations with a chamber improv feeling, using tremendous technique and intent listening through six fascinating dialogs.
Ewen, Sandy / Damon Smith / Weasel Walter
ST
(ugEXPLODE)
Four unorthodox improvisations that evade idiomatic playing through "wantonly abstract" and unusual approaches to their instruments, keeping their listeners guessing where their playing might take them, from frequent collaborators Sandy Ewen on guitar, Damon Smith on bass, and Weasel Walter on drums & percussion, recording in the studio in Brooklyn, 2019.
Clucas, Dan / Jeb Bishop / Damon Smith / Matt Crane
Universal or Directional
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Three quartet improvisations and six duo combinations between Dan Clucas on cornet, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Damon Smith on double bass, and Matt Crane on drums, recording in the studio in Rhode Island, 2018, the various permutations of each player elucidating the full group interactions through focused and captivating investigations of instrumental combinations.
Fielder, Alvin / Damon Smith
Song For Chico [CASSETTE]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Free improvisations and a few fascinating covers of work by Cecil Taylor, Chico Hamilton, and Johnny Dyani from the duo of double bassist Damon Smith and legendary drummer Alvin Fielder, showing intense and unusual approaches in great rhythmic dialog.
Smith, Damon
Whatever Is Not Stone Is Light
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Taking his title from a poem by Octavio Paz with titles from translations by Lysander Kemp of other Octavio Paz poems, this solo album from double bassist Damon Smith is his definitive statement on the instrument: 23 tracks from 46 seconds to 5 minutes 50, developed over 15 years and displaying Smith's incredible technique and creative intent; incomparable.
Cliff Trio (Pandelis Karayorgis / Damon Smith / Eric Rosenthal)
Precipice
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Recording at the Lilypad in Cambridge, MA, the Boston-area trio of pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, bassist Damon Smith, and drummer Eric Rosenthal are captured in concert for an adventurous album of free improvisation, Karayorgis's compositions leading this piano trio of magnificent mastery into buoyantly exciting interaction as they take their listeners to a dizzying precipice edge.
JeJaWeDa (Bishop / Blonk / Walter / Smith)
Pioneer Works Vol. 1 [CD + BOOKLET]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
The 1st of two volumes from the quartet of Jeb Bishop on trombone & electronics, Jaap Blonk on voice & electronics, Weasel Walter on percussion, and Damon Smith on double bass, each player an innovator and leader on their own, together bringing unique elements of virtuoso quirk and passionate mastery, merging voice, electronics and acoustics in profoundly unusual ways.
Leap of Faith Orchestra
performs The Photon Epoch by PEK
(Evil Clown)
The full Boston-area Leap of Faith Orchestra in its largest configuration performing a Frame Notation Score composed by PEK to guide the improvisation, this work based on the The Photon Epoch, a period in the evolution of the early universe, using a vast assemblage of instruments and devices to create a unique narrative in an energetic and wonderfully unpredictable journey.
Smith, Damon
Winter Solos for Robert Ryman [CASSETTE]
(Balance Point Acoustics)
Reflecting on the passing of artist and musician Robert Ryman, double bassist Damon Smith dedicated this concert of outstanding playing, technique and momentum at Cafe Fixe in Brookline, MA to Ryman, as Smith sought to present a definitive solo concert as an overview of his own work, ably realizing Ryman's concept of finding all the things you can do with your instrument.
Greene / Smith / Moses
Life's Intense Mystery
(Astral Spirits)
Performing live at Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA, the trio of free jazz piano legend Burton Green in a trio with bassist Damon Smith and drummer Ra-Kalam Bob Moses, in 6 collective improvisations, with impressive playing from all three as they segway through the three part "Life's Intense Mystery", taking exploratory moments and even some "Kid Play" inbetween.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC