The Squid's Ear Magazine

Hatcher, Gerrit

Good Weight [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]

Hatcher, Gerrit: Good Weight [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD] (Amalgam)

Chicago tenor saxophonist Gerrit Hatcher, known for his duos with Anton Hatwich and with Julian Kirshner, the improvising trio Devouring the Guilt with Eli Namay & Bill Harris and a trio with Mars Williams & Lia Kohl, is heard here in three extended solo improvisations, with strong tone riffing on grooves, exuding warm melodies, and running demanding technical passages on his horn.
 

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Gerrit Hatcher-tenor saxophone


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Label: Amalgam
Catalog ID: AMA011
Squidco Product Code: 30583

Format: CASSETTE
Condition: New
Country: USA
Packaging: Cassette
Recorded at the Music Garage, in Chicago, Illinois, on April 3rd, and May 7th, 2017, by Bill Harris.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Improvised solo saxophone performance isn't the kind of thing you'd expect a 26-year-old newcomer to the scene to jump into with both feet. But Gerrit Hatcher makes a convincing case that he's ready on his new cassette, Good Weight (Amalgam), a succinct offering that keeps the focus on basic ideas.

The album begins with a pair of dedications to two often overlooked heavies of the free-jazz era-fellow tenor saxophonists Frank Lowe and Frank Wright-on which Hatcher reveals a flair for motific improvisation, uncorking a richly marbled tone spiked with leaps into his instrument's extreme upper register. The pieces reflect the way their dedicatees bridged the gap between postbop propulsion and outward-bound exploration.

The elliptical array of themes on the final piece, "Libido Farce (9 Brief Movements)," may raise questions about Hatcher's ability to sustain more weighty explorations over the long haul, but it sure doesn't come off as jumpy or erratic. Each little melodic, rhythmic, or coloristic scheme flows naturally into the next, with the saxophonist moving into more tender passages as easily as he blows down walls."-Peter Margasak, The Chicago Reader


Artist Biographies

"Gerrit Hatcher is a Chicago-based tenor saxophonist, improviser, and composer. Born in Boston and raised in Normal, Illinois, Hatcher grew up studying trombone, and switched to tenor saxophone at 20 while attending the University of Illinois. Hatcher graduated from UIUC in 2013 and received a Masters in Arts and Politics at Sciences Po the following year. He moved to Chicago in 2015, and, inspired by Chicago's rich improvising music scene, soon began to make music with Chicago musicians, forging new improvising collaborations, and leading ensembles of his own.

Hatcher's own work typically engages with free jazz both as a set of experimental practices, and as an idiom with a history unto itself. He also participates across the diverse spectrum of experimental and improvised music being made in Chicago today. Gerrit has many active projects including his duo with Anton Hatwich, as well as a duo with Julian Kirshner, a solo saxophone practice, the improvising trio Devouring the Guilt with Eli Namay and Bill Harris, a trio with Mars Williams and Lia Kohl, and his organ quartet Refunction."

-Experimental Sound Studio (https://ess.org/esscalendar/2018/3/15/option-gerrit-hatcher-and-anton-hatwich)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



SIDE A



1. For Tenorist Frank Lowe 6:48

2. For Tenorist Frank Wright 11:38

SIDE B



1. Libido Farce (9 Brief Movements) 13:24

Related Categories of Interest:


Cassettes
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Solo Artist Recordings
Physical Releases that include Download Codes
Friends of Squid

Search for other titles on the label:
Amalgam.


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