Extremely active in the Downtown NY scene as a versatile double bassist in a wide variety of settings, Brandon Lopez presents a tour de force album of solo improvisations, developed to illuminate his abilities as a powerful string player but also as a mischief-maker on the strings through unexpected technique and the application of "RealBadVibes".
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UPC: 642623801123
Label: Tao Forms
Catalog ID: TAO 011CD
Squidco Product Code: 33251
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded by Brandon Lopez.
"This is the exquisite new solo work by virtuosic bassist/composer Brandon Lopez. vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile is about perceptions. More pointedly: it is 'less about -a thing- than it is about perceptions of things, questioning those perceptions, and possibly altering perceptions.'
On moving to NYC, Lopez immediately began making himself indispensable in many creative music scenes. From New York Philharmonic's David Geffen Hall to the DIY basements of Brooklyn, Lopez has worked extensively beside many luminaries of jazz, classical, poetry, and experimental music. As with all bass players of great skill and commitment through the ages, Lopez has been prolifically active in collaborations because he has been in duly high demand.
The Cleveland Review of Books noted: 'This is virtuosity as vocabulary, a total command of texture, subtlety, and a depth that can be reached into.' Lopez is also an improvising composer of estimable gifts. One recent example is his expansive work in duo with equally astonishing drummer Gerald Cleaver; recently incorporated into a trio with Fred Moten, the inimitable poet, theorist, critic, and 2020 MacArthur Fellow. Among the attention paid to their 2022 debut was an '8.0' review in Pitchfork and a 'Best Jazz Albums of 2022' notice by the New York Times.
The brawn which Brandon brings to his playing is abundantly clear on stage, and can be viscerally felt as a force coming out of his recordings. The strings and wood frame are wholly resonant when called forth, by muscles well-developed for the purpose by a longtime gravedigger. Yes, Lopez dug many for a strong spell as a young man. It is also abundantly clear that 'brains over brawn' are a key differential. A Puerto Rican kid growing up working class in North Jersey doesn't perform with the New York Philharmonic (as a soloist, no less) without the brains.
Lopez has kept busy during these pandemic years, releasing solo works (and other collaborative stealth recordings) via his Bandcamp page and creating live streams on Instagram. vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile is, however; by his own telling, only his second 'real one' for solo bass -- an album created with forethought towards wider release."-Tao Forms
Also available as a vinyl LP.Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Brandon Lopez "[..] Composer/bassist, Brandon A. Lopez, deemed "The Ubiquitous Free Improv Bass Ace" by the Village Voice and said to play with a "Bruising Physicality" by the Chicago reader. He was born and raised in the splendors of Northwestern New Jersey, in the shadow of the (New York) city. It was there that he cultivated a taste for the left of center musics and subsequently, dug graves. He's had the pleasures of working with many of the world's luminary weirdos. Here's a list: Nate Wooley, William Parker, Chris Corsano, Justice Yeldham, Weasel Walter, Peter Evans, Tyshawn Sorey, Gerald Cleaver, Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey, Tony Malaby, Paul Lytton, Mette Rasmussen, Jooklo Duo, Michael Foster, Leila Bordreuil, Jaimie Branch, Joe Morris, Brandon Seabrook, Cactus Truck, John Dykeman, Daniel Carter, and many others. He's currently leads a trio dubbed "The Mess", another one called the Brandon Lopez Trio, works as a soloist and is formerly/currently/latterly writing more and more music. He may play some it sometime soon (see "gigs"). He attended New England Conservatory." ^ Hide Bio for Brandon Lopez
9/11/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. LikeTheEdgeOfAMachete 4:12
2. Piri 6:13
3. Billie 3:51
4. RealBadVibes 5:49
5. vilevilevilevilevilevilevile 4:48
6. como el filo del machete 3:18
7. PonceNewYork 5:41
8. The Real Bad Vibe 7:11
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
Stringed Instruments
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Solo Artist Recordings
New in Improvised Music
Search for other titles on the label:
Tao Forms.
 | Ughi, Federico (w / Leo Genovese / Brandon Lopez) Infinite Cosmos Calling You You You, Vol. 1 [VINYL] (577 Records) |
| The first album under 577 label leader and drummer Federico Ughi's name in five years brings together the incredible bass skills of Brandon Lopez and expansive Argentinean keyboard sonics of Leo Genovese, the first of two planned volumes recorded in the studio for a boundary-less album of acoustic and electric improv influenced by the music and philosophy of Sun Ra. | |
 | 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. | |
 | Lopez, Brandon vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile [VINYL] (Tao Forms) |
| Extremely active in the Downtown NY scene as a versatile double bassist in a wide variety of settings, Brandon Lopez presents a tour de force album of solo improvisations, developed to illuminate his abilities as a powerful string player but also as a mischief-maker on the strings through unexpected technique and the application of "RealBadVibes". | |
 | Lopez Trio (Brandon Lopez / Steve Baczkowski / Gerald Cleaver) Matanzas (Relative Pitch) |
| "Matanzas" translates to "Killings", an apt description of this fiercely dark and propulsive free improv album from the NY trio led by bassist Brandon Lopez with saxophonist Steve Baczkowski and drummer/percussionist Gerald Cleaver, drawing unexpected and often malevolent sound from their instruments, particularly on the extended "Dithyramb, Sodomy, Salt". | |
 | Cleaver, Gerald / Brandon Lopez / Hprizm In The Wilderness [VINYL] (Positive Elevation / 577 Records) |
| Drawn from an experimental improv performance by drummer Gerald Cleaver and bassist Brandon Lopez at 577 Records' 2019 Forward Festival, electronic artist and producer Hprizm of the Antipop Consortium took those recording to reconstruct twelve works of illusory and often surreal music, from active beat-based electronica to hazy dreamlike ambience. | |
 | Cleaver, Gerald / Brandon Lopez / Hprizm In The Wilderness (Positive Elevation / 577 Records) |
| Drawn from an experimental improv performance by drummer Gerald Cleaver and bassist Brandon Lopez at 577 Records' 2019 Forward Festival, electronic artist and producer Hprizm of the Antipop Consortium took those recording to reconstruct twelve works of illusory and often surreal music, from active beat-based electronica to hazy dreamlike ambience. | |
 | Moten, Fred / Brandon Lopez / Gerald Cleaver S/T (Relative Pitch) |
| Fred Moten, prolific poet, theorist, critic, English Professor and 2020 MacArthur Fellow, provides the insightful and incisive text fueling the improvisation of New York drummer Gerald Cleaver and contrabass player Brandon Lopez, the synergy of Moten's words reminding of Gil Scott-Heron or Amiri Baraka; issued on LP by Reading Group, this CD edition adds two tracks. | |
| Graham, Forbes (Forbes / Lopez / Lopez) Another Day, Another Vector (Relative Pitch) |
| 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. | |
 | Baker, Jim / Brandon Lopez / Bill Harris Dura (Amalgam) |
| Recorded while double bassist Brandon Lopez was in Chicago, frequent collaborators from two generations--keyboardist Jim Baker on piano and Arp Synth and drummer/percussionist Bill Harris--joined together to record this live-in-the-studio album of highly interactive, explorative, propulsive and often cathartic free improvisation. | |
 | Lopez, Brandon Trio Live at Roulette (Relative Pitch) |
| Calling his music jazz and not jazz, bassist Brandon Lopez demands of his listeners to dance, as the quartet of Lopez, Steve Baczkowski on saxophones, Gerald Cleaver on percussion and Cecilia Lopez on synthesizer are heard in this energetic live concert at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, blurring free jazz with experimental sound that never loses its strong grooves. | |
 | Lopez, Cecilia Red (DB) (Relative Pitch) |
| Argentinian sound artist based in NYC Cecilia Lopez engages fellow Brandon Lopez Trio double bassist Lopez and drummer Gerald Cleaver for a performance of improvisation, installation and architecture, using woven wire nets filled with instruments and hung from Roulette Intermedia's ceiling to act as a complex feedback organism with which the trio interacts. | |
 | Jooklo Trio (Genta / Vanzan / Lopez) It Is What It Is (Relative Pitch) |
| A raucous blast of free jazz, electrifyingly extending the Italian improv unit Jooklo Duo of drummer/percussionist David Vanzan and saxophonist Virginia Genta, here on amplified tenor & sopranino saxophones, with New York improviser Brandon Lopez on electric bass, burning six hair-raising pieces of aggressive free improv of exemplary relentlessness. | |
 | Fisher, Colin Quartet Living Midnight (Astral Spirits) |
| Toronto-area saxophonist Colin Fisher, best known for his group I Have Eaten The City, with his collective quartet of NY players Daniel Carter on tenor, alto & soprano saxophones + clarinet & flute, Brandon Lopez on upright bass, and Marc Edwards on drums & percussion, for three extended and exploratory improvisations of exemplary creative insight. | |
 | Baczkowski / Lopez / Corsano Old Smoke (Relative Pitch) |
| This smoking album of free jazz leads the New York trio of Steve Baczkowski on saxophone, Brandon Lopez on bass, and Chris Corsano on drums to fiery playing as they burn up the stage at Hallwall, in Buffalo, New York in 2018, over seven concise collective conversations expressing both passion, restraint, and profoundly masterful skill. | |
 | Gregorio, Guillermo / Brandon Lopez 12 Episodes (Relative Pitch) |
| Known best for his Chicago trios, Argentinian born clarinetist Guillermo Gregorio joins forces with New York contrabassist Brandon Lopez for 12 "episodes" of free improvisation that never loses track of a jazz basis, both players using an arsenal of techniques, from circular breathing to extracting sound from the physical forms of their instruments. | |
 | Lopez / Nelson / Nicodemou / Cleaver The Industry Of Entropy (Relative Pitch) |
| A great example of Downtown New York modern improvisation that takes unexpected twists and turns, from the collective quartet of bassist Brandon Lopez, a frequent collaborator with Nate Wooley and Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophonist Matt Nelson ( tUnE-yArDs), vibraphonist Andria Nicodemou (Thread Ensemble, Taylor Ho Bynum), and Gerald Cleaver (Veil of Names, Uncle June, &c). | |
 | Wooley, Nate Knknighgh (Minimal Poetry for Aram Saroyan) (Clean Feed) |
| Pronounced as "knife", this new project from NY trumpeter Nate Wooley brings together Chris Pitsiokos on alto sax, Brandon Lopez on bass, and Dre Hocevar on drums in a fresh take on the concepts of free jazz, using short material composed by Wooley and based on the poetry of Aram Saroyan, used in looping and repeating structures that never sound as such. | |
 | Ughi, Federico (w / Leo Genovese / Brandon Lopez) Infinite Cosmos Calling You You You, Vol. 1 (577 Records) |
| The first album under 577 label leader and drummer Federico Ughi's name in five years brings together the incredible bass skills of Brandon Lopez and expansive Argentinean keyboard sonics of Leo Genovese, the first of two planned volumes recorded in the studio for a boundary-less album of acoustic and electric improv influenced by the music and philosophy of Sun Ra. | |
 | Sharp / Lopez / Kaiser / Amendola Minus X - A Tribute to Iannis Xenakis (Erototox) |
| A tribute to the music of composer Iannis Xenakis through 12 new works referencing and reconstructing the original works of Xenakis, the title of each piece an anagram that reflects the elements of its source, realized by Elliott Sharp on bass, guitars & synth, Brandon Lopez on bass guitars and mandocello, Henry Kaiser on guitars and Scott Amendola on drums & percussion. | |
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