Welcome to Squidco!
Edit Your Shopping Cart

   Squidco Home
   About Squidco
   My Account
      Log Out
   Checkout

   Artist List
   Label List
   eMail List
   Rewards
   Staff Picks
   Current Email Update
   Used Albums
   Top Sellers
   Gift Certificates
   The Squidco Blog
   Contact Us

Release Formats    ∇
Featured Genres    ∇
Instrumental Forms    ∇
Orchestration    ∇
Miscellaneous    ∇




The Squid's Ear Magazine

Grimal, Alexandra

Refuge

Grimal, Alexandra: Refuge (Relative Pitch)

Recorded using the natural resonance from the base of a stone double spiral staircase in the Castle of Chambord, France, improvising soprano saxophonist Alexandra Grimal explores her own personal language and the affect the ambience brings to her adept playing, through beautifully melodic lines, long arpeggiations, or short bursts of penetrating utterance.
 

Price: $13.95

Quantity:

In Stock
Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units

EU & UK Customers:
Discogs.com can handle your VAT payments
So please order through Discogs

Sample The Album:





Product Information:

Personnel:



Alexandra Grimal-soprano saxophone

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


UPC: 5904224870621

Label: Relative Pitch
Catalog ID: RPRSS017
Squidco Product Code: 32096

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded in the Chambord castle on September 11th, 12th, and 13th, 2020, by Celine Grangey.
Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Artist Biographies

"Alexandra Grimal, born in Egypt in 1980, studied classical piano from five years old. Master's Degree in jazz saxophone under the guidance of John Ruocco at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague in the Netherlands (2005), she also studied in the "Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique" in Paris, and as an exchange student at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki in Finland. She currently lives between New York and Paris."

-Alexandra Grimal Website (http://www.alexandragrimal.com/dropbox/cveng4.pdf)
12/9/2025

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


Track Listing:
Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Solo Artist Recordings
Recordings Utilizing the Natural Resonance of a Space
New in Improvised Music

Search for other titles on the label:
Relative Pitch.

Recommended & Related Releases:
Grimal, Alexandra / Giovanni Di Domenico
Shakkei
(Relative Pitch)
Five duets inspired by the Japanese concept of borrowed scenery (Shakkei (借景)) — integrating background landscapes into the design of a garden — are exquisitely realized in these spiritual and introspective performances, from the 20-year collaboration between French saxophonist Alexandra Grimal (tenor and soprano) and Italian pianist-organist Giovanni Di Domenico.
Birge, Jean-Jacques
Pique-nique Au Labo [2 CDs]
(GRRR)
Jean-Jacques Birgé invited 28 improvising musicians to the studio to perform in duos and trios, the theme for each of the 22 recordings chosen just before each recording, with noted performers including Birgé himself, Sophie Bernado, Pascal Contet, Julien Desprez, Jean-Brice Godet, Alexandra Grimal, Sylvain Kassap, Edward Perraud, Eve Risser, &c.
Grimal, Alexandra / Benjamin Duboc / Valentin Ceccaldi
Bambu
(Ayler)
An unusual and captivating work from the trio of saxophonist Alexandra Grimal, double bassist Benjaim Duboc, and cellist Valentin Ceccaldi, leading their album with tracks from "Respirer l'ombre" by Giuseppe Penone "spontaneously used without permission but with great admiration," leading to powerful and unpredictable directions in free improvisation; excellent.
Marc, Lemuel
Replace The Population
(Relative Pitch)
Boston-based trumpeter Lemuel Marc's solo album explores the physicality of breath and the mechanics of the trumpet in ten free improvisations recorded in New York between 2023 and 2024, embracing buzzing, flutter tonguing, and whisper tones in a non-idiomatic approach inspired by Wadada Leo Smith's notion that the trumpet is "really made out of air."
Kawashima, Makoto
arteria
(Relative Pitch)
A wild solo performance recorded at GOKsound in Tokyo by Japanese alto saxophonist Makoto Kawashima, whose intense and introspective improvisations balance fierce tonal expression with fragile silences, drawing from the lineage of Abe and Shiraishi while establishing his own haunting and highly individual voice in the realm of free improvisation.
Flaherty, Paul
A Willing Passenger
(Relative Pitch)
A solo saxophone album from legendary free improviser Paul Flaherty, recorded at Pete's Basement Studio in Massachusetts in 2021, presenting a deeply personal and expressive journey through alto and tenor saxophone explorations that juxtapose raw turbulence and lyrical beauty, continuing Flaherty's legacy of shaping sound into emotionally resonant sonic narratives
Noulet, Ornella
Promise Of Faithfulness
(Relative Pitch)
The debut solo album from French saxophonist Ornella Noulet, based in Brussels, performing on alto and soprano saxophones and bells, as she draws inspiration from Albert Camus as a commitment to artistic integrity, exploring new sounds and the spiritual dimensions of music through seven energetically introspective and experimentally rich solo improvisations.
Ono, Ryoko
The Days
(Relative Pitch)
Known for her ensemble Ryorchestra and as half of SaxRuins with Yoshida Tatsuya, Nagoya-based saxophonist, flutist, and composer Ryoko Ono steps out on her own with a solo album featuring saxophone, mouthpiece, duck whistle, and voice, capturing the dramatic contrasts of life through her dynamic, genre-defying improvisations and emotionally resonant compositions.
Williams, Jamison
The Lesser Key of Solomon-Bael
(Relative Pitch)
Appropriately recorded at Le Sauvage Cathedral in France, the region name dating to the legend of a wild woman who only ate raw meat, had a double row of teeth, lived under a rocky promontory and was buried by a landslide, as baritone saxophonist Jamison Williams darkly burns in an extended improvisation of outside technique while referencing the Lemegeton, a 17th century book of magic.
Rave, Ada
In Search Of A Real World
(Relative Pitch)
A collection of sonic poems & images that are inspired by her search for a 'real world' — more tangible and less virtual — presented by Argentinian saxophonist based in Amsterdam, Ada Rave, performing on tenor, soprano & sopranino saxophones with differing preparations for each improvisation, while also being influenced by the native music of the Mapuche people and Argentinian folk music.
Salvo, Sofia
ROTAROTA
(Relative Pitch)
Berlin-based, Buenos Aires-born saxophonist Sofia Savlo takes listeners on a tour of eight improvisations performed on the low pitched baritone saxophone, using great control & tone augmented by multiphonics and extended techniques, "rotating" through unusual approaches while engaging listeners through expressive narratives, including emulating a drunken revery.
Gibson, Yedo
Conic Tube
(Relative Pitch)
Born in São Paulo, Brazil and working in Amsterdam and Lisbon, and also part of the London Improvisers Orchestra, Yedo Gibson unleashes an album of solo improvisation on the soprano and tenor saxophones, his "conic tubes" which he uses to express the potential to change environment and energy through technically impressive, expressive playing.
Wright, Jack
What Is What
(Relative Pitch)
Improviser, influencer and world traveler performing with exceptional players in interesting situations, saxophonist Jack Wright is heard in four solo improvisations that support the description of his wide vocabulary on the horn: "leaping pitches, punchy, precise timing, sharp and intrusive multiphonics, surprising gaps of silence, and obscene animalistic sounds".
Valencia, Maria
Compendio de Alofonias Abisales
(Relative Pitch)
Part of Relative Pitch's extraordinary solo series, fascinatingly creative improviser from Bogota, Colombia, multi-reedist Maria Valencia, was inspired by old naturalist manuals, imagining these 16 succinct improvisations where each piece reveals moments of nature in locations between the town of Sutatausa (Colombia) and the mountains of Banff (Canada).
Greenstone, Madison
Resonance Studies in Ecstatic Consciousness
(Relative Pitch)
Exploring the resonant properties inside a Bb clarinet caused by overtones, overblowing and other unusual reed techniques, Switch~ Ensemble clarinetist Madison Greenstone generates ten studies of extreme yet tremendously controlled anomalies on the single reed, each piece a masterwork of control in the extremities of unexpected sonic expression.
Nebbia, Camila
Una Ofrenda A La Ausencia
(Relative Pitch)
Working in her native Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Berlin, tenor saxophonist Camila Nebbia (Habitable Records) presents sixteen succint, diverse and authoritative solo recordings captured in the studio in Bueno Aires, a mix of assertive harmonic statements and lyrical, often introspective works, at times narrating over her playing or adding effects.
Jessen, Kyle
Primitive
(Relative Pitch)
An album of cathartic release in five solo saxophone improvisations from Omaha, Nebraska reedist Kyle Jessen, aggressive and angst-filled expositions that reflect anger and isolation, but also powerful statements of technical skill and personal expression, from the brutal "Death Trap" to the more introspective explorations of "Poltergeist"; exactingly purgative.
Malfon, Don
Mutable
(Relative Pitch)
Using multiphonics, extended techniques and an intuitive sense of drama and narrative, Barcelona alto and baritone saxophonist Don Malfon takes his listeners on an 8-part journey of "Mutable" solo performances, using every inch of his horn (including inserting resonant objects), his body, tongue and breath to investigate the outer limits of his instruments.
Abdou, Sakina
Goodbye Ground
(Relative Pitch)
An incredibly well-rounded musician on sax and flute, performing in both improvised and contemporary settings including Dedalus Ensemble and work with Etron Foun drummer Guigou Chenevier, here Sakina Abdou presents a series of solo saxophone improvisations recorded at her home in Lille, France, drawing on all of her influences in eight informed performances.
Shiraishi, Tamio
Moon
(Relative Pitch)
Known for his resonant solo alto saxophone work, often recording with the New York City subways, this album presents ten unusual duos between Tamio Shiraishi and improvisers on piano, voice, cello, electronics, bass, guitar and sax, with Tim Dahl, Steve Baczkowski, Mico, Mike Sidnam, Austin Sley Julian, Nina Dante, Tara Fenamore, Leila Bordreuil, Chris Libutti, and Ami Yamasaki.
Magill, Rob
Blues Etudes
(Kettle Hole Records)
A series of reed and wind improvisations, including two pieces with electronics, from Southern California composer and improviser Rob Magill, each of the 9 tracks on this album focusing on a different instrument: alto saxophone, soprano saxpohone, clarinet, flute, bass clarinet, bass recorder, sheng and tenor saxophone, plus a multi-instrumental "misc".
Foster, Michael
The Industrious Tongue
(Relative Pitch)
It's not just the tongue that drives these compellingly irascible and unexpected sounds from the saxophone, augmented at times by samples and oscillators, as NY saxophonist Michael Foster applies technique beyond extended to a tenor and soprano saxophone, in two multi-part works of solo utterance: "Libidinal Fragments" in seven parts, and "Celluloid Nightmares" in two.
Roberts, Cath / Olie Brice
Conduits
(Relative Pitch)
Recording in real-time during the pandemic, UK improvisers, baritone saxophonist Cath Roberts (Favourite Animals, Madwort Sax Quartet) and double bassist Olie Brice (Olie Brice Quintet, Tobias Delius, &c) recorded these extended improvisations simulateously at their homes, beautifully paced and intently listening as they keep the conversation going despite a world of restrictions.
Warelis, Marta
A Grain of Earth
(Relative Pitch)
Working inside and out of the piano and sometime evoking wild sounds that seem to have no relationship to the instrument, Polish-born and Amsterdam-based pianist Marta Warelis explores the concepts of realities beyond our perception, and a thought that we are a part of a big organism where everything goes endlessly bigger and smaller in scale of size, time and speed.
Burnett, Aaron
Correspondence
(Relative Pitch)
Known for his ensemble The Big Machine with Peter Evans, Carlos Homs, &c., NYC saxophonist Aaron Burnett steps out for a solo album of intense improvisatory exploration, demonstrating his background in classical saxophone studies that fuels an ardent intensity in personal expression, a tremendous balance between technique and passion.
Lee, Robbie
Prismatist
(Relative Pitch)
With a history of both improvisation and rock, NY saxophonist and sound artist (Creature Automatic, Love As Laughter) concentrates on the sopranino saxophone in this solo album, performing acoustic feats of impressive technical skill, and on many tracks performing with tuning forks and live electronics, sequenced in a compelling journey of contrasts and wonder.




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC

New In:
Recent Releases
Improvisation
Electro/Experimental
Compositional
Rock & Related