Genre Archives

One of the joys of improvised music is its openness to unusual instruments and novel sounds. The pedal steel guitar, largely restricted to country music, has found new life in the creative vision of Susan Alcorn, whose practice extends to the works of Olivier Messiaen and Astor Piazzolla as well as spontaneous music. Manifesto documentsContinue reading “Susan Alcorn, José Lencastre, Hernâni Faustino. Manifesto. Clean Feed, CF637CD.”

In the past decade, Montreal-based alto saxophonist Yves Charuest has re-emerged as one of Canada’s most significant improvisers. The LP Montréal, 1985 documents a brilliant moment in Canadian jazz when bassist Peter Kowald, a founding figure of the German jazz avant garde, briefly lived in Montreal and worked with Charuest and drummer Michel Ratté. WhenContinue reading “Yves Charuest, Michel Ratté, and Peter Kowald. Montréal, 1985”

In the ’90s, London guitarist Derek Bailey would sit at home and improvise along with jungle and drum-and-bass music playing on underground radio stations. The DJs would repeat music, then suddenly drop off and talk aimlessly—it was all fodder for the anarchic genius of Bailey, who would supplement the chaos of the radio with hisContinue reading “Derek Bailey. Domestic Jungle.”