The fourth X Avant Festival at Toronto’s Music Gallery was entitled Convergence and Collaboration. As noted in gallery artistic director Johathan Bunce’s program notes, the theme was “inspired by ambient music forefather Brian Eno’s idea of ‘scenius,’ . . . the notion of co-operation in modern music making, as opposed to the glorification of individual genius.” TheContinue reading “X Avant Festival. The Music Gallery, Toronto. October 21–25, 2009.”
Genre Archives
Rainer Wiens. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.
More frequently heard playing guitar and prepared guitar in the context of jazz and improvised music, Rainer Wiens performs here on kalimbas—African thumb pianos possessing a distinctive metallic resonance—which are heard prominently at the beginning and end of this unusual series of compositions. While Wiens uses five other musicians here, the music’s dominant quality isContinue reading “Rainer Wiens. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.”
Birgit Ulher. Radio Silence No More.
Hamburg-based trumpeter Birgit Ulher uses her improvisational prowess to shape this program, treating as full partners the extended drones and blurry hisses that emanate from a stand-alone radio and its speaker. On the nine mid-length tracks here—all with the suffixes ‑welle or ‑wave—buzzing mouthpiece growls, and prolonged, strident whines enliven, wrap up, or complement theContinue reading “Birgit Ulher. Radio Silence No More.”
Quatuor Qwat Reum Six. Live at Festival NPAI 2007.
With textures and timbres often as inscrutable as the band’s name, four of France’s most accomplished improvisers explore non-idiomatic sounds. This continuous, though segmented, performance is not only tonally mesmerizing, it also negates, through the use of extensions and techniques, the differences between acoustic and electronic instruments. A self-described “outlaw in jazz,” baritone saxophonist DaunikContinue reading “Quatuor Qwat Reum Six. Live at Festival NPAI 2007.”
Olga Neuwirth and the ICI Ensemble. Who am I? No More.
Animated with sonic jump-cuts and unexpected timbral juxtapositions, these compositions—described as two audio films—by Austrian Olga Neuwirth, demonstrate that she is young enough to be influenced by John Zorn-styled musical pastiches, as well as by conventional music. That the results are congenial is a tribute both to her and to the versatility of the twelve-piece,Continue reading “Olga Neuwirth and the ICI Ensemble. Who am I? No More.”
Marteau Rouge and Evan Parker. Live.
Devoting more than forty years to the painstaking development of an individual style doesn’t mean that British tenor saxophonist Evan Parker eschews new challenges and collaborations. Live is notable, however, because Parker manages, without altering his distinctive reed patterns, to seamlessly match his contributions to those of the Paris-based trio Marteau Rouge. And Parker doesContinue reading “Marteau Rouge and Evan Parker. Live.”
Ganesh Anandan and Hans Reichel. Self Made.
Ganesh Anandan and Hans Reichel are instrument inventors as well as musicians, and this CD consists largely of duets between the two, recorded during a meeting in Wuppertal, Germany. Anandan, born in Bangalore, Southern India, and long resident in Montreal, performs on two different instruments. One, the shruti stick, is a twelve-string zither with preparedContinue reading “Ganesh Anandan and Hans Reichel. Self Made.”
Spring 2010
Toshimaru Nakamura and Mark Trayle. Stationary. Miguel A. Garcia. Armiarmak.
A pure representative of what can be done with less, Toshimaru Nakamura has got an incredible amount of mileage out of the simple innovation of plugging a mixer into itself. Much of that is due to his ability to find complementary collaborators with whom to improvise. This recording with Los Angeles-based sound artist Mark TrayleContinue reading “Toshimaru Nakamura and Mark Trayle. Stationary. Miguel A. Garcia. Armiarmak.”
Gen Ken Montgomery. Drilling Holes in The Wall. Gen Ken Montgomery. Balls (3″ CD-R)
Drilling Holes in the Wall and Balls are the first releases of sound artist Ken Montgomery’s work since Pondfloorsample. The sounds on Drilling derive mostly from modified toy synthesizers, hooked to a variety of electronic devices such as a film projector or a lamination machine. With these, he constructs pieces that move freely between theContinue reading “Gen Ken Montgomery. Drilling Holes in The Wall. Gen Ken Montgomery. Balls (3″ CD-R)”