Taking the dual role of soaring guitar lines and savagely deep string foundations, Susan Alcorn joins clarinetist Patrick Holmes and drummer Ryan Sawyer for this invigorating 2022 concert at Union Pool in Brooklyn, their unique instrumentation providing clarity to each performer's contribution through their dynamic and often wildly energetic collective interplay.

The second outing for trumpeter and composer Nate Wooley's Columbia Icefield band with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar, Ryan Sawyer on drums, plus violist Mat Maneri and bassist Trevor Dunn joining for one track; an album of sublime and subtly complex sondscapes in beautiful abstractions that evolve to exceptional group and solo interplay.

The boisterous and wonderfully controlled Downtown NY trio of Zeena Parkins on electric harp & objects, Mette Rasmussen on alto saxophone & objects, and Ryan Sawyer on percussion burn through six free improvisations of enthusiastic drive and incredible interaction using "string, breath and bell, harp, horn and drum" in a great example of modern creative improv.

An innovator in integrating pedal steel guitar into modern improvised music, Cleveland-born, Baltimore-based pedal steel guitar player Susan Alcorn's quintet enlists a superb set of New York players--Mark Feldman on violin, Michael Formanek on double bass, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Ryan Sawyer on drums--taking on a diverse set of Alcorn compositions.

Composer Andrew Lafkas' large ensemble piece with performers including C. Spencer Yah, Ron Stabinsky, Barry Weisblat, Sean Meehan, Ben Owen, &c. is a meditative work intended for live performance, this album the 2nd of 3 performances, a brooding and resonant rendering of rich and subtle detail that evolves over 70 minutes, carrying its listeners in a profound revery.

Composer & trumpeter Nate Wooley presents the 6th composition of his SSM series exploring music's ability to bring catharsis and ecstatic release to the performers and listeners, in a large ensemble of 11 musicians and voice, in a stunningly sophisticated large work of modern orchestration through acoustic and electronic/amplified instruments; a masterwork.

The New York free improvising trio of Matthew Heyner (Test, Malkuth) on bass, Matt Lavelle on trumpet and clarinet and Ryan Sawyer (Tall Firs, Stars Like Fleas) on drums in the follow-up to their 2005 Utech double CD "Embracing The Tide / Making Eye Contact With God", an impressive release of expressive technique and ritualistic drive.

The 5th of 7 large and inspiring works that began with a Festival of New Trumpet commission in 2007, here in an ensemble of 19 players including C. Spencer Yeh, Ben Vida, Ben Hall, Matt Moran, Chris Dingman, Dan Peck, Josh Sinton, Colin Stetson, the TILT brass octet, &c.