“I’d rather be a human being / than to be avant-garde,” intones William Parker towards the conclusion of his solo bass performance at the 2018 Guelph Jazz Festival. Fittingly, the performance of his piece—which is excerpted and adapted from Flower In A Stained-Glass Window, his multifarious homage to Martin Luther King, Jr.—takes place at ten-thirtyContinue reading “2018 Guelph Jazz Festival.”
Genre Archives
Ida Toninato / Jennifer Thiessen. The Space Between Us.
The debut duo album of rising improvising stars Ida Toninato and Jennifer Thiessen, The Space Between Us, is an intimate, nuanced dialogue between baritone sax and viola d’amore. The players weave around each other in a sophisticated conversation, often overlapping, in agreement, disagreement, or adding ideas. The main drama of this album stems from theContinue reading “Ida Toninato / Jennifer Thiessen. The Space Between Us.”
The Cluttertones with Lee Pui Ming. Leeways.
Bassist Rob Clutton has been composing for his group the Cluttertones for over a decade, modelling his work for a quartet that includes trumpeter Lina Allemano and guitarist–banjoist Tim Posgate, with Ryan Driver playing analog synthesizer and singing. The approach is unusual, combining occasional folk-like melodies and lyrics with electronica and frequent freely improvised solos.Continue reading “The Cluttertones with Lee Pui Ming. Leeways.”
Wow & Flutter make breathing room
The phrase “wow and flutter” typically refers to flawed analog recordings—ones with imperfections that cause the pitch to oscillate, either slowly or quickly. When Toronto-based wind players Bea Labikova, Kayla Milmine, and Sarah Peebles decided to form an improvising trio together in late 2017, Wow & Flutter felt like the natural name choice: it’s exactlyContinue reading “Wow & Flutter make breathing room”
Suoni per il Popolo Festival: 18th Edition
Like the accordion played in the large improvising ensemble GGRIL, this year’s Suoni per il Popolo expanded in some dimensions and contracted in others, while continuously bellowing out fascinating sounds. Some years the festival has unfolded over a full month, but the 2018 edition ran just under three weeks; while the first festival was presentedContinue reading “Suoni per il Popolo Festival: 18th Edition”
Ken Vandermark and Michael Snow. Duol.
Recorded in Toronto, this brief program of slashing, staccato improvisations by Toronto visual artist and pianist Michael Snow and visiting Chicago multireedist Ken Vandermark shows that a first-time meeting can engender fresh impetus. Vandermark, who has a university film degree, and Snow, who is as renowned for his experimental films as for paintings, together produceContinue reading “Ken Vandermark and Michael Snow. Duol.”
Brian Olewnick. “Keith Rowe: The Room Extended.”
At some point during the 1960s (the exact date is unclear, but happenings were starting and the Fab Four were still singing “yeah yeah yeah” on their radio hits) a young art-school graduate began to do horrible and wondrous things to a guitar. He took a vow to eschew tuning, for instance, leading to pitchesContinue reading “Brian Olewnick. “Keith Rowe: The Room Extended.””
Bug Incision: Calgary’s Cross-Pollination Buzz
The world of free improvisation is like a parallel universe, a global underground community of nonidiomatic soundmakers, recording with each other in every imaginable permutation, connected via a proliferation of text- and link-heavy Web 1.0 sites, DIY venues, and CD-R labels, with a passionately devoted audience consisting of— in large part, if not exclusively—improvisers themselves,Continue reading “Bug Incision: Calgary’s Cross-Pollination Buzz”
Fall 2018
Bonneau / Heward / Thomson. 4 X 3.
This is a trio of Montreal improvisers with an unusual configuration of instruments and a rich, if not that well-known, backstory. John Heward has a long history as a drummer—including partnerships with saxophonists Joe McPhee, Glenn Spearman, and Joe Giardullo—as well as a distinguished career as a visual artist; his drumming possesses the same qualitiesContinue reading “Bonneau / Heward / Thomson. 4 X 3.”