At a time when it’s possible to find cadres of improvisers almost everywhere, it comes as something of a surprise to learn that there are enough improvising musicians in Rimouski, Quebec to form an eleven-member ensemble, and more of a surprise still when one hears the group’s distinctive sonic makeup. If most large improvising ensemblesContinue reading “Le Grand Grouped Régional d’Improvisation Libérée & Evan Parker. Vivaces.”
Genre Archives
Peter Van Huffel’s Gorilla Mask. Howl!
Originally from Kingston, Ontario, saxophonist Peter van Huffel has been creating a growing body of work in New York and Berlin, much of it integrating improvised music, expanded jazz harmonies, and sometimes chamber music dynamics, like the subtle HuffLiGNoN with the Belgian singer Sophie Tassignon. His new group Gorilla Mask—Roland Fidezius, acoustic bass and noise,Continue reading “Peter Van Huffel’s Gorilla Mask. Howl!”
Peter Brötzmann. Solo + Trio Roma.
This two-CD set chronicles Brötzmann’s solo and Trio Roma concerts at 2011’s FIMAV on the approach of his seventieth birthday, a momentous occasion for an artist whose work combines titanic stamina and anarchic expressionism. The solo concert might stage existence, a musical performance as naked as a late Beckett play, Brötzmann roaring, braying, wailing, andContinue reading “Peter Brötzmann. Solo + Trio Roma.”
Anthony Braxton and Buell Neidlinger. 2 By 2.
Braxton and Neidlinger’s 2 By 2 is a resurrected set from 1989, recorded live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, which explains the sparse but polite applause, which is tentative, at times, at the end of solos. Braxton and Neidlinger convey a sense of urgency; they have something they need to get out, thickContinue reading “Anthony Braxton and Buell Neidlinger. 2 By 2.”
Colin Stetson and Mats Gustafsson. Stones
Stones showcases Gustafsson doing one of the things he does best: locking horns with another saxophonist. It also sees Stetson plunging into the loosest, freest material he’s yet committed to disc. This is, in fact, a recording of the pair’s very first meeting, at the Vancouver Jazz Festival in 2011. The twelve-minute opener is theContinue reading “Colin Stetson and Mats Gustafsson. Stones”
Akio Suzuki
This article was originally published in Spring 2013. The applause following the introduction of Akio Suzuki at his first Toronto performance since 1984 quickly died down to reveal an echo emerging from the concert-hall seats. It was a consistent pattering—not a true echo but a sonic answer to the applause. The source of the soundContinue reading “Akio Suzuki”
Erdem Helvacioglu
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY When you’re caught up in the thick of it, all those cute, clichéd little epithets about turning life’s lemons into lemonade, spinning grave fuck-ups into rapturous inspiration, and the like, hardly seem to hold any wisdom whatsoever. Things suddenly went awry for Turkish composer and performer Erdem Helvacioglu whileContinue reading “Erdem Helvacioglu”
The Ratchet Orchestra
In 1961, a virtually unknown African-American band was stranded in Montreal before going on to more promising territory. During their months in Montreal they would build up a local following, mostly musicians, who could hear that something different was going on. It’s a slight and unpromising story, but the band, Sun Ra and his SolarContinue reading “The Ratchet Orchestra”
Avatar Orchestra Metaverse
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY Avatar Orchestra Metaverse is a global collective making new music within the virtual-reality platform Second Life, an online three-dimensional program that allows users to interact through in-world avatars (users’ digital representations within a given online environment). The Orchestra had its beginnings in early 2007 with the coalescence in SecondContinue reading “Avatar Orchestra Metaverse”
loK8Tr
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY They weren’t going to speak with me. Maybe it was just a he or a she, rather than a they. I didn’t know. An e-mail exchange was possible, but I wanted to meet face to face. I tried cajoling the members of the online musical project with theContinue reading “loK8Tr”