The Squid's Ear Magazine


Rempis / Karayorgis / Heinemann / Harris: Truss (Driff Records & Aerophonics)

Three label leaders come together for this extraordinary 2023 concert at Elastic Arts in Chicago--Aerophonic's Dave Rempis on alto, tenor & baritone saxophones; Driff Records' Pandelis Karayorgis on piano; Amalgam Records' Bill Harris on drums--along with bassist Jakob Heinmann, this exceptional free jazz performance cementing the bond between Boston and Chicago with a hope for more!
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Dave Rempis-alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone

Pandelis Karayorgis-piano

Jakob Heinemann-bass

Bill Harris-drums


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




UPC: 769947425177

Label: Driff Records & Aerophonics
Catalog ID: CD2401 / AR042
Squidco Product Code: 34602

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Elastic Arts, in Chicago, Illinois, on June 29th, 2023, by Dave Zuchowski.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"It's not often that Aerophonic Records has put out recordings by bands that are first-time groupings. There are a few notable ones, including AR024 and 026 - Of Things Beyond Thule Volume 1 and 2 featuring Joe McPhee, Tomeka Reid, Brandon Lopez, and Paal Nilssen-Love. Another one was AR029 Stringers and Struts with Jeff Parker, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and Jeremy Cunningham. Those lineups and performances were just too stellar to let them pass without being documented (and those records are all long sold out!). But most of the time we focus our efforts on working groups, a decision that's both artistic and financial in nature. So the fact that this quartet grouping made the cut already speaks volumes about the music they produced together on their first meeting.

In June 2023, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis paid one of his first visits back to Chicago since the pandemic. Prior to that time, the Boston-based pianist had a deep relationship to the city through work with reedist Ken Vandermark and bassist Nate McBride in the late 90's, which blossomed into many other artistic relationships in the decades to come. Rempis and Karayorgis first connected in Boston on a tour Rempis did with The Vandermark Five in 1999, and have maintained an important working relationship since that time. Rempis is a native Bostonian, whose father is Greek, so there were already cultural connections that bind them. Musically, their work in the longstanding Boston-based quartet Construction Party with Forbes Graham and Luther Gray has been a key focal point of their collaborations. Another was the Chicago-based quintet Karayorgis assembled in the early 2010's featuring Rempis alongside Keefe Jackson, Nate McBride, and Frank Rosaly. That band put out a pair of fantastic recordings of Karayorgis' compositions on Driff Records in 2013 and 2014.

For the start of this new era of Karayorgis' relationship to Chicago, Rempis assembled a quartet featuring a pair of younger musicians who by all accounts are among the best improvisers and instrumentalists of their generation on the Chicago scene - Jakob Heinemann on bass, and Bill Harris on drums. And the interplay of this band was spot on from the first downbeat, showing off a sensitivity to pacing, dynamics, and space on this recording that would be a rare feat even for a group that's worked together for years. While Karayorgis spins off circuitous lines that traipse through a yellow-brick road of possibilities before alighting on ingenious endings with a cagy wink to show he knew the path right from the start, Rempis hones in on specific intervals drawn from those lines, using them to construct larger scales and structures that serve as an uncommonly specific sort of counterpoint to Karayorgis' linearity. Meanwhile Heinemann and Harris produce some of the most sensitive and creative rhythm section accompaniment imaginable across the two pieces presented here. Let's hope this band becomes a more regular occurrence since this auspicious debut truly begs for it!"-Aerophonic"


Artist Biographies

"Dave Rempis was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts on March 24th, 1975. He began his musical studies at the age of 8, inspired by a family friend who played clarinet in local Greek bands, and by Zoot, of the Muppets Band, to pick up saxophone. During high school he performed in his town, district, and all-state bands and wind ensembles, as well as in a jazz combo at a local music school.

In 1993, Rempis began a degree in classical saxophone at Northwestern University with Frederick Hemke. Finding this environment stifling, Rempis quickly ditched the music degree to pursue studies in anthropology and ethnomusicology. As part of these studies, he spent a year at the International Centre for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana, Legon, studying African music and ethnomusicology. He also continued to perform with many different types of groups, ranging from highlife and reggae bands while in Ghana, to jazz, free jazz, funk, and contemporary music ensembles at home. He graduated from Northwestern in 1997.

Upon graduating, Rempis decided to focus on performing, and in March of 1998 at the age of 22 was asked to replace veteran saxophonist Mars Williams in the well-known Chicago jazz outfit The Vandermark Five. This opportunity catapulted him to notoriety as he began to tour regularly throughout the US and Europe playing clubs, concert halls, and festivals on both continents.

During his tenure with The Vandermark Five, Rempis also began to develop the many Chicago-based groups and international collaborations for which he's currently known, including The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Ballister, Rempis/Abrams/Ra, Wheelhouse, The Rempis/Rosaly Duo, and The Rempis/Daisy Duo. Many of these groups have been documented on the Okkadisk, 482 Music, Not Two, Clean Feed, Solitaire, and Utech record labels. Past collaborations have included performances with Paul Lytton, Axel Dörner, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Steve Swell, John Tchicai, Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Anderson, Kevin Drumm, Paal Nilssen-Love, Nels Cline, Tony Buck, and Joe McPhee. Rempis has been named regularly since 2006 in the annual Downbeat Critics's Poll as a "rising star" on alto saxophone, and as a "rising star" and "established talent" on baritone saxophone.

Aside from performing, Rempis is also active as a presenter. Since 2002, he's curated a weekly Thursday-night concert series for the Elastic Arts Foundation. The series has featured over 500 concerts by some of the best improvisers from around the world, while maintaining a focus on up-and-coming local musicians. In late 2005, Rempis helped form the presenters' collective Umbrella Music, working with a small group of musicians and presenters in Chicago to provide better playing opportunities for creative and improvising musicians. As part of this group, he organized the annual Umbrella Music Festival from 2006-2014.

Rempis is also one of the main organizers of the indie-rock Pitchfork Music Festival, a 60,000-person event which takes place in Chicago's Union Park every July."

-Dave Rempis Website (http://daverempis.com/bio/)
10/2/2024

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

"Pandelis Karayorgis is a Boston based jazz/improvised music pianist, composer and educator.

In the last twenty years mostly led or co-led numerous groups in performances at festivals and clubs in Europe and the United States and Canada. Recordings appear on labels such as Hat Art, HatOLOGY, Clean Feed, Not Two, Leo Records, Nuscope, Boxholder, Okkadisk, Cadence, Accurate, Leo Lab, Ayler and more recently on Driff Records, a new artist-run label co-founded by Pandelis Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra.

Some of the most extensive recording/performing collaborations have been with Nate McBride, Curt Newton, Ken Vandermark, Mat Maneri, Guillermo Gregorio, Jorrit Dijkstra, Luther Gray, Jef Charland, Randy Peterson and Dave Rempis.Pandelis Karayorgis performed and recorded with Joe Maneri, Han Bennink, Mary Oliver, Jeb Bishop, Steve Swell, Frank Rosaly, Jason Roebke, Keefe Jackson, Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek, Forbes Graham, Matt Langley, Jeff Galindo, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Lockwood and Eric Rosenthal.

Also performed with Josh Abrams, Chad Taylor, Jason Adasciewicz, Jacob William, Laurence Cook, Eric Hofbauer, Jeff Parker, Tim Daisy, Jason Stein, Mike Reed, Josh Berman, Charles Waters, James Falzone, Nori Tanaka, Daniel Levin, Kresten Osgood, Jeff Platz and Charlie Kohlase.

Notable projects include The Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet, The Whammies, The Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (whose first trio CD "Heart And Sack" was featured on National Public Radio's program Fresh Air), the mi3, Construction Party, System of 5, the quartet Matchbox, the large group Bathysphere and more recently, the quintet Cutout.

Born in Athens, Greece in 1962, moved to Boston in 1985. Prior to that, studied piano and performed in various jazz groups in Athens while pursuing a degree in Economics. Earned BM and MM degrees in music from Boston's New England Conservatory while studying with Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Dave Holland and Joe Maneri (composition). Studied and performed extensively Thelonious Monk's and Lennie Tristano's music and in 1991 compiled a collection of all of Monk's compositions."

-Pandelis Karayorgis Website (http://karayorgis.com/Pages/bio.html)
10/2/2024

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

"Jakob Heinemann is a double bassist, composer, improviser and sound artist working between Chicago and Madison, WI. My interests are wide-ranging, but tend to center on close listening, environmental composition, and open collaborations with other artists. As a bass player, I frequently perform freely improvised music, and count myself as a member of the rich and varied community of creative musicians in Chicago. As a composer and sound artist, I utilize field recordings, spectral analysis, and traditional scoring to sonify my local community, seeking to document and understand a sense of place in a radically changing environment. I have been fortunate to work with some incredible artists over the years including Roscoe Mitchell, Tomeika Reid, Mike Reed, Jim Baker, and Dave Rempis."

-Jakob Heinemann Website (https://jakobheinemann.com/)
10/2/2024

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

"Bill Harris is a percussionist, composer, improviser, and audio engineer from Pittsburgh currently based in Chicago. He also operates and produces for Amalgam, a Chicago-based collective.

(B. 1987, Pittsburgh, PA)

Bill has been active in Chicago's music communities since 2011, working at the intersection of free improvisation, jazz, noise, rock, and country. His music has been presented at Constellation, Elastic Arts, The Bop Stop, The Hungry Brain, The Hideout, Experimental Sound Studios, Spot Tavern, Beat Kitchen, Empty Bottle, and Comfort Station.

Bill is humbled to have played or recorded with Jim Baker, Dave Rempis, Kent Kessler, Brian Sandstrom, Ed Wilkerson, Carol Genetti, Angel Bat Dawid, Jeb Bishop, Peter Maunu, Josh Berman, Brandon Lopez, Keefe Jackson, and Jason Roebke, among many other experimental and improvisatory musicians and artists.

Bill is constantly inspired by and thankful to work with his frequent collaborators: Ishmael Ali, Jake Wark, Timothee Quost, PT Bell, Gerrit Hatcher, Eli Namay, Matt Piet, Brianna Tong, Wills McKenna, David Fletcher, Jess McIntosh, Aaron Smith, Jeff Kimmel, Adam Shead, Molly Jones, Jakob Heinemann, and many others...

In 2015 he started Amalgam, a 100% artist-run collective and label dedicated to showcasing works of improvised and experimental music in Chicago. Bill is also an audio engineer working in both studio and live situations, and operates an independent studio in Chicago with engineering, mixing, mastering, and production credits on labels such as Amalgam, Astral Spirits, No Index, 577 Records and Ears&Eyes."

-Bill Harris Website (http://www.billyharris.net/bio)
10/2/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Stone Fruit 43:23

2. Burning Bush 10:01

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Boston Area Improvisers
Quartet Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

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Driff Records & Aerophonics.


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