For over two decades Tim Brady has been creating orchestral works written specifically for ensembles of electric guitars. He is also a master guitarist, occasionally spotted running his fingers over a fretboard in less formal settings. His latest studio CD of notated material collects three works by three different composers, while the stellar improvising trioContinue reading “Tim Brady. Instruments of Happiness; Of Sound, Mind and Body. Concert #3 Le Gesù.”
Genre Archives
François Carrier / Steve Beresford / John Edwards / Michel Lambert. Outgoing.
Like a peripatetic Old West gunslinger, Montreal alto saxophonist François Carrier roams extensively to challenge himself alongside the planet’s best improvisers, and so far has gone head-to-head with players from Poland, Russia, France, and the United States. Now it’s the United Kingdom’s turn. This seventy-minute CD captures five friendly dustups involving Carrier, Montreal percussionist MichelContinue reading “François Carrier / Steve Beresford / John Edwards / Michel Lambert. Outgoing.”
Tenzier: History Outside the Margins
“There’s a group of students who used a term I really liked: countermemory,” Tenzier founder Eric Fillion tells me over Skype from Montreal. “I almost like that better than counterculture.” He’s talking about Tenzier, the avant-garde label which has put out five critically acclaimed vinyl releases in as many years, as well as Tenzier theContinue reading “Tenzier: History Outside the Margins”
In the Sea. Henry Crabapple Dissappear.
Vinyl releases are almost the norm now, as artists strive for added-value alternatives to free downloads or cheap streaming. But audiocassettes? The degree to which that trend might catch on remains to be seen, but in the meantime some excellent music is being released in that format. In the Sea is a quartet featuring aContinue reading “In the Sea. Henry Crabapple Dissappear.”
Hanoi New Music Festival Ensemble 2013. Being Together.
Although Hanoi is more closely associated in North American minds with 1960s Vietnam War designators like the Ho Chi Minh trail and the Hanoi Hilton, the city now has an improvised music scene, and this disc celebrates Hanoi’s first-ever New Music Festival. Being Together, a three-part piece based on a graphic score by Danish saxophonistContinue reading “Hanoi New Music Festival Ensemble 2013. Being Together.”
Philippe Battikha. Invisible Backgrounds.
Balance and variety are the keys to Montreal trumpet player Philippe Battikha’s latest release, on which he avoids the flashy displays of technical virtuosity evident on many solo instrumental albums. Best known for his work in noisy ensembles such as La Part Maudite and Corse and as a member of Nicolas Caloia’s Ratchet Orchestra, BattikhaContinue reading “Philippe Battikha. Invisible Backgrounds.”
Christine Duncan Unleashes the Elements
IT ALL CAME BACK SO FAST: the Whip, the Punch, the Elements. All those gestures unlocked my voice and made it respond exactly as it was supposed to—even after a five-year absence. Late last year, I embedded myself with the Element Choir, the world’s leading structured-improvisation choral group, as it prepared for one of itsContinue reading “Christine Duncan Unleashes the Elements”
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb’s Open-Heart Tunings
There’s a faint but persistent ringing coming from the southwest corner of Ayelet Rose Gottlieb’s Vancouver apartment. We discover one of her young twins picking purposefully at the keys of a brightly coloured toy piano. The other twin comes over, attracted by this large stranger’s curiosity, and contributes her own jangling notes. When I startContinue reading “Ayelet Rose Gottlieb’s Open-Heart Tunings”
Harris Eisenstadt. Old Growth Forest.
Away from his patriotically named band Canada Day, Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based drummer Harris Eisenstadt convenes a quartet to deal sturdily with his compositions, naming the band after a Canadian national resource—Trees. Trombonist Jeb Bishop, bassist Jason Roebke, and tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby are likely conservationists, but all—especially the first two—play with enough lumberjack brawniness that itContinue reading “Harris Eisenstadt. Old Growth Forest.”
Yves Bouliane. Champ (10 Opérations).
Tenzier’s hunt for the lost treasures of Quebec avant-garde music history is as relentless as the music on this album of Yves Bouliane cello solos, originally released in 1977 in an ultra-limited edition of ten cassettes. Aside from a brief stint in Le quatuor de jazz libre du Québec, Bouliane was a founding member ofContinue reading “Yves Bouliane. Champ (10 Opérations).”