The Squid's Ear Magazine


Lennon, Sean Ono: Asterisms [VINYL] (Tzadik)

The chameleonic styles of Sean Ono Lennon are in full force on this instrumental record, merging rock, jazz, experimental and cinematic styles in captivating ways, performed with the spectacular ensemble of Devon Hoff (bass), Yuka Honda (electronics), Johnny Mathar (drums), João Nogueira (Wurlitzer), Ches Smith (drums), Michael Leonhart (trumpet) & Mauro Refosco (percussion).
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Devon Hoff-bass

Yuka Honda-electronics

Sean Ono Lennon-guitar, Mini Moog

Johnny Mathar-drums

Joao Nogueira-Wurlitzer

Ches Smith-drums

Michael Leonhart-trumpet

Mauro Refosco-percussion


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UPC: 702397404620

Label: Tzadik
Catalog ID: LP-TZA-6012
Squidco Product Code: 34517

Format: LP
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: USA
Packaging: LP
Recorded at The Farm, by Scott Hollingsworth, Matthew Cullen; Acidalla Studio.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Refosco, Ches Smith, Johnny Mathar, Sean Ono Lennon. Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/producer/songwriters working today. Sean has written countless songs, composed film scores, produced, and performed on dozens of albums-and here he steps out as the leader of an all-star band of Downtown luminaries. Years in the making, the music is powerful, trippy, and intensely imaginative, blending rock, electronics, jazz, and more into an exciting new musical soundscape. With driving rhythms, a stunning lyricism, and a brilliant sense of orchestration, this album is sure to surprise and delight music fans the world 'round. Beautifully recorded, this is modern instrumental music at its very best-essential!"-Tzadik



"Sean Ono Lennon's music has never stuck to a single path. He's remained consistently active since the '90s, sometimes releasing light alternative rock with Bossa Nova undertones, sometimes composing dramatic film scores, and sometimes coming up with wiggly prog jams with Primus' Les Claypool in their Claypool Lennon Delirium project. Released on John Zorn's Tzadik label, Lennon's completely instrumental album Asterisms calls on pieces of all of the above, carrying his artistic vision forward while not sounding much like anything he's made before. Lennon is joined by a host of serious players on these five tracks, with Asterisms personnel including storied musicians Devon Hoff, Yuka C. Honda, Michael Leonhart, Mauro Refosco, Ches Smith, Johnny Mathar, and João Nogueira. It's a blend of cosmic jazz and ambient cinema-scapes with undercurrents of progressive and experimental rock structure throughout. The eerie, meandering modes of opening track "Starwater" and the electric piano and odd-metered time signature of "Thinking of M" are both indebted to Radiohead, but both grow into dense jazz workouts. Layers of trumpet, edgy guitar, synth countermelodies, and tense dynamic playing all add to the monolithic style that comes to define the album. Some tunes are more traditionally jazz-informed (as on the fusion-leaning "Acidalia") and others, like the circular space blues of "Heliopause," tie together elements of dub, noir exotica, and the kind of interstellar jazz that Sun Ra spent his career perfecting. The broad canopy of sounds Asterisms puts forth leaves its deeper intentions open to interpretation, but the album's yearning melodies and wistful tone bear more of Lennon's personal stamp than its woozy flow might first suggest."-Fred Thomas, All Music


Get additional information at All Music

Artist Biographies

"Devin Hoff is a musician and songwriter born in Colorado whose main instruments are double bass and bass guitar."

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/326722-Devin-Hoff)
4/24/2024

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

"Yuka Honda is a Japanese-American musician who resides in New York City. She is a multi-instrumentalist (mainly piano, synthesizer, sampler and other keyboards), composer, record producer, and co-founder of the band Cibo Matto. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with a diverse array of musicians, including Petra Haden, Sean Lennon, Mike Watt, Nels Cline, Tricky, Harper Simon, Beastie Boys, Los Lobos, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Mitchell Froom, Medeski Martin & Wood, Marc Ribot, Yoshimi P-We, Arto Lindsay, Edie Brickell, Vincent Gallo, Luscious Jackson, Dave Douglas, Bernie Worrell, and Caetano Veloso."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuka_Honda)
4/24/2024

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

"Sean Taro Ono Lennon (Japanese: 小野 太郎, Hepburn: Ono Tarō, born 9 October 1975) is an American-British musician, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, The Claypool Lennon Delirium and his parents' group Plastic Ono Band. [...] He has produced numerous albums for various artists, including Black Lips and the Plastic Ono Band. [...]"

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Lennon)
4/24/2024

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

João Nogueira" is a pianist, keyboardist, composer, arranger based in Boston, Massachusetts. He earned a degree at Berklee College of Music.

-Squidco 4/24/2024

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

"Born in San Diego, CA and raised in Sacramento, Ches Smith came up in a scene of punks and metal musicians who were listening to and experimenting with jazz and free improvisation. He studied philosophy at the University of Oregon before relocating to the San Francisco Bay area in 1995. After a few years of playing with obscure bands and intensive study with drummer / educator Peter Magadini, he enrolled in the graduate program at Mills College in Oakland at the suggestion of percussionist William Winant. There he studied percussion, improvisation, and composition with Winant, Fred Frith, Pauline Oliveros and Alvin Curran. One of Winant's first "assignments" for Ches was to sub in his touring gig at the time, Mr. Bungle (here he met bassist / composer Trevor Dunn who would later hire him for the second incarnation of his Trio-Convulsant). During his time at Mills, Ches co-founded two bands: Theory of Ruin (with Fudgetunnel / Nailbomb frontman Alex Newport), and Good for Cows (w/ Nels Cline Singers' Devin Hoff). He currently performs and records with Xiu Xiu, and Secret Chiefs 3. He has also performed with Ben Goldberg, Annie Gosfield, Wadada Leo Smith, John Tchicai, Fred Frith, and Trevor Dunn. In addition to Ceramic Dog, he also leads his two of his own projects, Congs for Brums and These Arches. He currently spends his time between Los Angeles, San Francisco and Brooklyn."

-Ches Smith Website (http://www.chessmith.com/)
4/24/2024

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

"Michael Leonhart is a New York-based trumpeter, composer, producer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. In Leonhart's work, one can hear the fluency in the multiple genres he has deeply immersed himself in over the years. Whether composing for his Orchestra or for film, his sound is unmistakable. At age 17, Michael was honored as the youngest Grammy recipient in history, cited as the most outstanding musician in a U.S. high school. That same year ABC World News named him "Person of the Week". He has since gone on to collaborate with artists as diverse as Questlove and Wu-tang Clan to Meryl Streep & David Byrne."

-Michael Leonhart Website (https://www.michaelleonhart.org/)
4/24/2024

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

"Mauro Refosco is a professional percussionist and noisemaker who performs and records with artists such as David Byrne, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Thom Yorke's Atoms for Peace. After beginning his touring career in 1994 as Byrne's percussionist, he returned to NYC and joined cult creative ensemble The Lounge Lizards, playing experimental punk jazz and more with bandleader John Lurie. In between stints with Byrne and several other in demand projects he formed his band, Forro in the Dark, which has recorded four full-length albums and performed at major domestic and international festivals.

Mauro's studio, SuperLegal (pron. "Super-leh-GOW"), located in Bushwick, Brooklyn houses his vast arsenal of instruments and is fully equipped with the latest versions of Pro Tools, Live, and an array of high-end mics and pre-amps. Artists and producers that have worked at SuperLegal include David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, They Might Be Giants, Blonde Redhead, Martha Wainwright, Cibo Matto, Madeline Peyroux, Pat Dillet, Mario Caldato Jr, Andres Levin, Kassin, Craig Street and many others.

He has also composed music and soundtracks for movies, television, fashion shows and Off-Broadway plays."

-Mauro Refosco Website (https://www.maurorefosco.com/)
4/24/2024

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


Track Listing:



SIDE A

br>
1. Starwater 7:43

2. Thinking Of M 4:40

3. Acidalia 7:02

SIDE B

br>
1. Asterisms 10:52

2. Heliopause 6:19

Related Categories of Interest:


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Improvised Music
Electro-Acoustic
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