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The Squid's Ear Magazine

Foster / Crawford / Sullivan
Against Proper Objects

Foster / Crawford / Sullivan: Against Proper Objects (Relative Pitch)

The debut of saxophonist Michael Foster, guitarist and banjo player Webb Crawford, and drummer Joey Sullivan, a free trio whose quirky yet technically impressive improvisations shift from sax shouts and overblown tones to frenetic banjo and guitar textures, driven by metallic percussion into a dense but dynamic interplay that combines raw energy with finely detailed, unpredictable explorations.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Michael Foster-tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

Webb Crawford-tenor banjo, electric guitar

Joey Sullivan-drums


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



UPC: 5904224874421

Label: Relative Pitch
Catalog ID: RPR1234
Squidco Product Code: 36626

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Tracks 1-5 recorded at Stevie Studios, in Philadelphia, PA, on November 8th, 2024, by Lucas Knapp.

Track 6 recorded St. Lydia's in Brooklyn, NY, on December 5th, 2024, by Zosha Warpetha.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

The debut of saxophonist Michael Foster, guitarist/banjoist Webb Crawford, and drummer Joey Sullivan captures the raw energy and unpredictable inventiveness of New York's free music scene. Foster's arsenal of extended techniques collides with Crawford's jagged shifts between banjo and guitar, while Sullivan drives the trio with metallic textures and fractured pulses. The result is quirky yet technically assured, balancing wild bursts of sound with precise detail, and marking the group as a distinctive new force in collective improvisation.



"On their debut release, Foster shifts fluidly between tongue slaps, overblown tones, and powerful tenor saxophone screams, while Crawford alternates between non-idiomatic splatter, frenzied banjo maneuvers, and dense, elusive bursts of tangled noise. Meanwhile, Sullivan crafts a metallic clatter that establishes its own expansive sonic territory."-Relative Pitch


Artist Biographies

"Michael Foster is a saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist working in the fields of free improvisation, noise, free jazz, graphic & video notation, performance art, and other forms of weird music.

Foster utilizes extensive preparations of his saxophone, augmenting it with amplification, objects, balloons, drum heads, vibrators, tapes, and samples as a method of subverting and queering the instrumentŐs history and traditional roles.

His current ensembles include duos with cellist Leila Bordreuil, percussionist Ben Bennett, poet/vocalist Lydia Lunch, vocalist Anais Maviel, Richard Kamerman, The Ghost (with Henry Fraser & Connor Baker), Barker Trio (with Tim Dahl, James Ilgenfritz, & Andrew Barker), While We Still Have Bodies (with Sean Ali, Ben Gerstein, & Flin van Hemmen), Weasel Walter Large Ensemble, and BDM (with Ben Bennett and David Grollman).

Selected notable venues he's performed at include Bowling Green State University (Ohio), The Stone (NYC), BimHuis (NL), Jazzfestival Groningen (NL), Fabrica Brao de Prata (PT), Death By Audio (NYC), Studio Loos (NL), Betalevel (Los Angeles), Webster Hall (NYC), XI20 (LT), Jazzclub Erfurt (DE), and many more."

-Michael Foster Website (http://michaelfostermusic.com/)
8/20/2025

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

"I'm a guitarist and instrument-builder. I like playing free-improvised music, Piedmont-style fingerpicking, and percussive/noisy stuff. I've built stringed instruments ranging from electric guitars, basses and mandolins to modern reconstructions of historical instruments and instruments made from repurposed materials or found objects. In 2017, I worked with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art to restore the instruments of Gunnar Schonbeck as part of an interactive exhibit. I built replicas of Schonbeck's "Triangular cellos" for Bennington College, and have taught instrument-building workshops at The Cooper Union, Connecticut College, and the Bennington Museum. I also work as a guitar repair technician."

-Webb Crawford Website (https://www.webbcrawford.com/bio)
8/20/2025

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

"Joey Sullivan is a drummer and organizer based in Philadelphia focusing on free improvisation. He plays drums in groups like Bark Culture, The Ghost, Florry, Violet Salon III, and often works with improvisers such as Victor Vieira-Branco, Brandon Lopez, TJ Borden, James McKain, Sandy Ewen, Michael Foster, and countless others."

-Joey Sullivan Website (https://www.instagram.com/racktom/)
8/20/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. Step 1 Grease the Hooks 05:44

2. Step 2 Tighten the Head 04:41

3. Step 3 Align Resonators 07:11

4. Step 4 Shift Brackets to Proper Scale 08:11

5. Step 5 Apply Shellac in Accordance 03:45

6. Step 6 Shave the Body 09:59

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Collective & Free Improvsation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Trio Recordings
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

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Relative Pitch.

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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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