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ESPDISK 5026CD
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Whit Dickey has been a quiet but brilliant presence on the New York avant-jazz scene since his discographical debut in 1991 on the legendary Matthew Shipp Trio album, Circular Temple (1992). In concert and on recordings in groups led by Shipp, David S. Ware, Ivo Perelman, Joe Morris, and Rob Brown, he built a reputation for distinctively space-filled, subtle rhythmic support, even as he was perfectly capable of muscling up when the music called for it. For some of the people he plays with, three decades yield dozens of releases as a leader, but the present release -- his first on ESP-Disk' -- is just Dickey's 13th at the helm after one in the '90s, seven in the '00s (including groups The Nommonsemble and Trio Ahxoloxha), and four in the recently concluded decade. The musician Dickey has most frequently teamed with is Shipp, and here they are again in a pair of contexts, the first disc a duo, the second a trio with the addition of Nate Wooley. ESP-Disk' quickly understood why Dickey has released relatively few albums as a leader: he is incredibly demanding of himself. There were multiple sessions by each configuration heard here, not to mention a quartet as well; Dickey kept going back into the studio, pushing himself to greater heights until he was finally satisfied. ESP-Disk' got so confused about it that the recording date of the first disc is incorrectly listed in the physical album's packaging; the correct date is listed above.
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ESPDISK 5032LP
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Painted Faces is the long (strange/trip) running voyage of weirdo David Drucker, which began in Florida in 2009 and decamped to NYC in 2011. It has sometimes been a loose band in the past with a revolving line-up of outsiders and interlopers (known as The Freak Band), but is usually a solo endeavor, and the bulk of the recordings have been done as such. PF has always been a home recording solo project, one-man-band style heavy on psychOdelic/outsider folk/noise/experimental vibes. He started self-releasing CD-Rs in the early days and quickly jumped to tapes on a variety of labels including Already Dead, Lava Church, J&C, Null Zone, Tall Tapes. A "legendary" CD compilation on Gulcher Records and an LP from Already Dead and Almost Halloween Time in Italy brings us to the here and now. Tales from the Skinny Apartment is somewhere around the 20th or so Painted Faces release... he has long lost count. Drucker runs/curates gigs (and records at) the Skinny Apartment, his dwelling place in Ridgewood Queens, which some folks have called the "realest DIY zone in NYC". He also rips in Dead River Company, Big Hiatus, Shecky, Canyon River Blues, and countless other unknown subterranean improv zoner outfits. "Ripping" involves keeping it freaky and weird and ripping sets wherever/whenever, i.e. always being down to perform whether in a kitchen or a packed ballroom. Ridgewood Rippers are the crew of artists that populate Ridgewood and the loose "scene" around the Skinny Apartment. Much of it is in jest, a self-inflated mythology of nonsense which is pervasive in all rock and roll "scene" histories. As a student of rock/pop history, Drucker is fascinated by the loose associations that connect folks from various zones together... i.e. Miles Davis and The Grateful Dead... it's all the same though, the labels and genre distinctions are completely arbitrary. Drucker is known for falling apart on "stage", with performances heavy on humor, horror, stoned digressions, and cathartic bouts of therapy, part performance art/part standup comedy.
All music written and recorded by David Drucker at The Skinny Apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, 2017. Featuring Mike Green (Mezzanine Swimmers) on guitars on "I Took Too Much Acid in 7th Grade", Cop Funeral on electronics on "Seafood Special", Chris "Mr Transylvania" Shields on background vocals on "Massachusetts Is a Magical Place", Eva "Nighttime" Goodman on violin and backing vocals on "The Ridgewood Ripper".
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ESPDISK 5038LP
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LP version. Gowanus Session II was seven years in the planning. Thollem McDonas, Nels Cline, and William Parker convened at Peter Karl Studios in Brooklyn on January 3rd, 2012 and recorded two complete albums. The first was Gowanus Session I, released by Porter Records in April of 2012. GS II was put aside to eventually complete the five-album palindromic cycle of trio albums Nels and Thollem ambitiously set out to realize. The albums in between include Radical Empathy with Michael Wimberly (Relative Pitch, 2015), Molecular Affinity with Pauline Oliveros (ROAR 042LP, 2016), and Reality and Other Imaginary Places, with Michael Wimberly (ESPDISK 5035CD/LP, 2019). William Parker debuted on ESP-Disk' in the mid-70s on Frank Lowe's classic album Black Beings (ESPDISK 3013CD) and has returned to the label this decade on the Black Beings sequel, The Loweski (ESPDISK 4066CD) and with Mat Walerian's group Toxic (ESPDISK 5011CD, 2017) and in a quartet with Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, and Bobby Kapp (ESPDISK 5036CD, 2019), while being highly prolific as a leader, notably with a series of brilliant albums on AUM Fidelity. Nels Cline has spent decades changing people's ideas about the role of the electric guitar in multiple contexts, ranging from Wilco to Anthony Braxton (think about that!) as well as many projects as a leader, earning a spot on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitarists list. Thollem is a perpetually traveling pianist, keyboardist, composer, improviser, singer-songwriter, activist, author, and teacher. He's spent most of his adult life living on the road throughout North America and Europe. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with hundreds of artists across idioms and disciplines. Thollem is known internationally as an acoustic piano player in the free jazz and post-classical worlds, as the lead vocalist for the Italian agit-punk band Tsigoti, and as an electronic keyboardist through a multitude of projects. Personnel: William Parker - bass; Nels Cline - electric guitar/effects; Thollem McDonas - piano. All compositions by Thollem McDonas, William Parker, Nels Cline.
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ESPDISK 5038CD
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Gowanus Session II was seven years in the planning. Thollem McDonas, Nels Cline, and William Parker convened at Peter Karl Studios in Brooklyn on January 3rd, 2012 and recorded two complete albums. The first was Gowanus Session I, released by Porter Records in April of 2012. GS II was put aside to eventually complete the five-album palindromic cycle of trio albums Nels and Thollem ambitiously set out to realize. The albums in between include Radical Empathy with Michael Wimberly (Relative Pitch, 2015), Molecular Affinity with Pauline Oliveros (ROAR 042LP, 2016), and Reality and Other Imaginary Places, with Michael Wimberly (ESPDISK 5035CD/LP, 2019). William Parker debuted on ESP-Disk' in the mid-70s on Frank Lowe's classic album Black Beings (ESPDISK 3013CD) and has returned to the label this decade on the Black Beings sequel, The Loweski (ESPDISK 4066CD) and with Mat Walerian's group Toxic (ESPDISK 5011CD, 2017) and in a quartet with Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, and Bobby Kapp (ESPDISK 5036CD, 2019), while being highly prolific as a leader, notably with a series of brilliant albums on AUM Fidelity. Nels Cline has spent decades changing people's ideas about the role of the electric guitar in multiple contexts, ranging from Wilco to Anthony Braxton (think about that!) as well as many projects as a leader, earning a spot on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitarists list. Thollem is a perpetually traveling pianist, keyboardist, composer, improviser, singer-songwriter, activist, author, and teacher. He's spent most of his adult life living on the road throughout North America and Europe. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with hundreds of artists across idioms and disciplines. Thollem is known internationally as an acoustic piano player in the free jazz and post-classical worlds, as the lead vocalist for the Italian agit-punk band Tsigoti, and as an electronic keyboardist through a multitude of projects. Personnel: William Parker - bass; Nels Cline - electric guitar/effects; Thollem McDonas - piano. All compositions by Thollem McDonas, William Parker, Nels Cline.
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ESPDISK 5035LP
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LP version. This album was recorded during Thollem McDonas's 2017 residency at Brooklyn-based multi-discipline mecca Pioneer Works. It's the second by Radical Empathy, which combines three uncategorizable improvisors. Michael Wimberly has been astonishing folks since his days in Charles Gayle bands and Steve Coleman & Five Elements in the early '90s, and has gone on become a composer and educator of note. Nels Cline has spent decades changing people's ideas about the role of the electric guitar in multiple contexts, ranging from Wilco to Anthony Braxton (think about that!) as well as many projects as a leader; this is his fourth album in trio with Thollem, and a fifth will follow in 2020, also on ESP-Disk. Some people have given ESP-Disk' flak (and "flak" was not the first word choice here) about putting out Thollem McDonas albums. "He's not in the jazz tradition," they say, and even though their idea of the jazz tradition includes Albert Ayler; ESP-Disk' think that this album will make their little, closed minds explode. The heavy electronic sound of the first track, with its swathes of distortion, put it very much in noise territory, with Wimberly contributing coloristic accents and heavier flurries of rhythmic activity. After the twenty uncompromising minutes of "Collective Tunnels", for "Conscious Tunnels" Cline switches to a guitar tone John Abercrombie wouldn't shy away from and Thollem sits down at an acoustic piano (for a while) -- though their free improvisation is just as uncompromising. The timbres cease pacifying jazzers when blippy 1950s electronic sounds slinkily slither from the speakers. Then the piano comes back, but the guitar's tone gets dirty. Genre boundaries are crushed underfoot as the moods continue to vary wildly as "Conscious Tunnels" covers an amazing breadth of timbres and textures. Personnel: Thollem McDonas - keyboards; Nels Cline - electric guitars; Michael Wimberly - drums. Recorded by Justin Frye at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY Sept. 13, 2017.
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ESPDISK 5036CD
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From the liner notes: "Prolific tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman wanted to be on ESP-Disk', because ESP's 1967 Gato Barbieri album In Search Of The Mystery (ESPDISK 1049CD) was an important record for Perelman, both being South American tenorists of an avant bent. So it is no coincidence that the drummer on In Search Of The Mystery, Bobby Kapp (who's also on Noah Howard's second ESP-Disk', At Judson Hall (1968)), mans the kit for the present album. For that matter, the bassist, William Parker, made his recorded debut on ESP as well, playing on Frank Lowe's Black Beings (1973). And Perelman has a twenty-three-year/thirty-three-and-counting-albums collaboration with pianist Matthew Shipp, who's been associated with ESP since 2015. Kapp and Shipp are on Perelman's 2017 Leo album Tarvos, Parker and Shipp have made multiple albums with Perelman, and this is even the second time out for this quartet, after 2017's Heptagon (Leo). Somehow, though, their interplay remains fresh. Of course, each player has particular gestures and general textures that recur from time to time, but like a kaleidoscope, each turn finds familiar elements recombing into new patterns. Parker, Perelman, and Shipp frequently interweave spontaneous melodies of dazzling complexity. The free-bop of the rhythm section introduction to 'Jubilation' is an unexpected delight. Kapp's skittering accents throughout are a lesson in setting a pulse without being obvious about it, with 'Bliss' being a prime example. 'Exuberance' crowns the album in particularly ecstatic fashion, the four players' unique and distinctive styles coming together in an exultant expression of creative freedom that's communicative and accessible."
Personnel: Ivo Perelman - tenor saxophone; Matthew Shipp - piano; William Parker - bass; Bobby Kapp - drums. Recorded April 21, 2018 at Park West Studio. Engineer: Jim Clouse.
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ESPDISK 5035CD
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This album was recorded during Thollem McDonas's 2017 residency at Brooklyn-based multi-discipline mecca Pioneer Works. It's the second by Radical Empathy, which combines three uncategorizable improvisors. Michael Wimberly has been astonishing folks since his days in Charles Gayle bands and Steve Coleman & Five Elements in the early '90s, and has gone on become a composer and educator of note. Nels Cline has spent decades changing people's ideas about the role of the electric guitar in multiple contexts, ranging from Wilco to Anthony Braxton (think about that!) as well as many projects as a leader; this is his fourth album in trio with Thollem, and a fifth will follow in 2020, also on ESP-Disk. Some people have given ESP-Disk' flak (and "flak" was not the first word choice here) about putting out Thollem McDonas albums. "He's not in the jazz tradition," they say, and even though their idea of the jazz tradition includes Albert Ayler; ESP-Disk' think that this album will make their little, closed minds explode. The heavy electronic sound of the first track, with its swathes of distortion, put it very much in noise territory, with Wimberly contributing coloristic accents and heavier flurries of rhythmic activity. After the twenty uncompromising minutes of "Collective Tunnels", for "Conscious Tunnels" Cline switches to a guitar tone John Abercrombie wouldn't shy away from and Thollem sits down at an acoustic piano (for a while) -- though their free improvisation is just as uncompromising. The timbres cease pacifying jazzers when blippy 1950s electronic sounds slinkily slither from the speakers. Then the piano comes back, but the guitar's tone gets dirty. Genre boundaries are crushed underfoot as the moods continue to vary wildly as "Conscious Tunnels" covers an amazing breadth of timbres and textures. Personnel: Thollem McDonas - keyboards; Nels Cline - electric guitars; Michael Wimberly - drums. Recorded by Justin Frye at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY Sept. 13, 2017.
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ESPDISK 5033CD
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ESP-Disk' has a little bit of history with Argentina -- the label issued Gato Barbieri's first international release (ESPDISK 1049CD), and their Steve Lacy album was recorded there -- so the label couldn't resist putting out this compilation of 2012-17 recordings (most previously unreleased) from the Buenos Aires scene.
In his liner notes, compiler Jason Weiss writes, "In June 1966, just as General Juan Carlos Onganía was leading a military coup d'état, Steve Lacy's quartet arrived in Buenos Aires: not exactly safe harbor for free jazz. Despite opposition the group gained a small following, appearing on television, at a museum, in private homes, but they couldn't earn enough for their return flights. When the quartet -- Lacy, Enrico Rava, Johnny Dyani, Louis Moholo, a supergroup in retrospect -- played at the venerable Instituto di Tella, whose experimental music center was directed by the composer Alberto Ginastera, Lacy instructed the group to do two free improvised sets of twenty minutes each; it proved to be their only document of the whole adventure, released by ESP the following year as The Forest and the Zoo (ESPDISK 1060CD)." And now? Weiss says, "As in European and American cities, the music survives on a DIY homemade spirit to subvert conventions and construct a kind of presence. But the struggle is waged against greater odds," not least because "in recent years the city government has cracked down on the modest cultural clubs found in most neighborhoods where a mix of artistic events would be held, regulating them instead on the same terms as larger, single-purpose venues. Many places couldn't afford to stay open, while others became more clandestine." It is not a scene that has managed to receive the international attention it deserves. Fortunately, Weiss provides plenty more context, biographical info, and quotes from scene stalwarts in his extensive essay in the album's 16-page booklet.
Features Pablo Díaz Quinteto, Rulemares, Luis Conde--Ramiro Molina Duo, Agustí Fernández--Pablo Ledesma--Mono Hurtado, Duquesa (Fabiana Galante--Luis Conde), Christof Kurzmann, Norris Trio, Paula Shocron, Data Peluda, Enrique Norris--Paula Shocron, Cinética, Leonel Kaplan--Pablo Ledesma--Mono Hurtado, and Fulgor al bies.
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ESPDISK 5031CD
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The core of this group -- John Surman, Alan Skidmore, Peter Lemer, Tony Reeves, and Jon Hiseman -- recorded an LP titled Local Colour for ESP-Disk' in 1966 (ESPDISK 1057CD/LP). The plan, conceived the year after the 50th anniversary of the recording session, was to reunite the original quintet, which had existed for six months back in '66, but unfortunately Nisar Ahmad (George) Khan, tenor saxophonist on the original album, came down with something and couldn't appear. Alan Skidmore (Lemer bandmate in SOS) was deputized and, as all familiar with his career would expect and you will hear, came through with flying local colors at the concert on February 20, 2018 at noted London jazz club Pizza Express. Four months later, Jon Hiseman passed away at age 73 after battling a brain tumor. Five of the original album's six compositions are reprised, but with more room to stretch out on them in the concert context. New to Lemer's ESP discography are Lemer's tribute to British saxophonist/frequent Lemer bandmate Dick Heckstall-Smith, "Big Dick"; Surman's "URH"; and a wild interpretation of Coltrane's "Impressions". Personnel: John Surman - baritone and soprano saxophones; Alan Skidmore - tenor saxophone; Peter Lemer - piano; Tony Reeves - double bass; Jon Hiseman - drums.
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8CD BOX
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ESPDISK 5034CD
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Saxophonist/guitarist/composer/music historian/ provocateur Allen Lowe spans the history of jazz in his music in a way that few besides Jaki Byard, Beaver Harris, Steven Bernstein, and Air have ever done, intertwining blues, early jazz, bebop, and the avant-garde. A prolific composer who was incorporating American roots music into his jazz decades before it was hip, he has led project bands featuring a broad array of jazz greats ranging from Doc Cheatham, Randy Sandke, Joe Albany, Don Byron, Ken Peplowski, and Percy France to Matthew Shipp, Julius Hemphill, Marc Ribot, Roswell Rudd, David Murray, Gary Bartz, Nels Cline, Ray Anderson, DJ Logic, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, and Hamiet Bluiett. With two notable but out-of-print exceptions, most of his work has been released on his own Constant Sorrow label. ESP-Disk' has long admired his work and is happy to partner with him on the career-spanning An Avant Garde Of Our Own: Disconnected Works 1980-2018, which consists of four CDs (3-6) of previously unreleased material and four thematically arranged CDs (1-2, 7-8) collecting a wide variety of material that was mostly previously -- but not widely -- available.
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ESPDISK 5029CD
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Matthew Shipp has established himself as the premier jazz pianist of his generation over the course of a three-decade career including many acclaimed albums under his own name plus his prominent tenure in the David S. Ware Quartet and a vast array of collaborations with the likes of Spring Heel Jack, Ivo Perelman, Sabir Mateen, Darius Jones, Joe Morris, Jemeel Moondoc, Mat Walerian, and many more. ESP-Disk' in its four-years-and-counting association with him has already presented Shipp in solo, duo, trio, and quartet projects. On the album Signature, ESP-Disk' will finally have an album with him in his primary setting, his piano trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker. Mr. Shipp says, "The piano trio is such a basic configuration in jazz, and it is an honor to take a well-explored area and apply my imagination to it to see where we can go -- it helps that my trio mates are great." Starting in the bebop era, the piano-bass-drums lineup has been the most classic jazz format in which the piano is featured, accumulating the weight of history and critical expectations. In this setting, a non-mainstream player such as Shipp can infiltrate Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and other establishment bastions in a familiar format and then unleash his ideas on audiences that might not normally be exposed to his style, but thanks to hearing it in the communal language of the piano trio, they can better understand the message the Matthew Shipp Trio has to deliver. Shipp, Bisio, and Baker convened at Shipp's favorite recording venue, engineer Jim Clouse's Park West Studio, on July 9th, 2018 and laid down the album in a series of first takes. It is a worthy successor both to the group's much-praised previous releases and to the iconic piano trios throughout jazz history. Produced by Steve Holtje. Engineered by Jim Clouse. Personnel: Matthew Shipp - piano; Michael Bisio - bass; Newman Taylor Baker - drums.
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ESPDISK 5013LP
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LP version. Chicago power-jazz trio Tiger Hatchery proudly comes out of the ESP-Disk' free jazz tradition, as Mike Forbes's playing makes clear, but there's an added noise-rock edge, especially in Ben Billington's aggressive drumming, that keeps the sound modern. Andrew Scott Young does much more than lay down the bottom, emerging as an equal member of their glorious cacophony. Their 2013 ESP release, Sun Worship (ESPDISK 5003CD/LP), earned huzzahs from press and free-jazz aficionados. Personnel: Mike Forbes - saxophones; Andrew Scott Young - basses; Ben Billington - drums. RIYL: Albert Ayler, Peter Brötzmann.
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ESPDISK 5013CD
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Chicago power-jazz trio Tiger Hatchery proudly comes out of the ESP-Disk' free jazz tradition, as Mike Forbes's playing makes clear, but there's an added noise-rock edge, especially in Ben Billington's aggressive drumming, that keeps the sound modern. Andrew Scott Young does much more than lay down the bottom, emerging as an equal member of their glorious cacophony. Their 2013 ESP release, Sun Worship (ESPDISK 5003CD/LP), earned huzzahs from press and free-jazz aficionados. Personnel: Mike Forbes - saxophones; Andrew Scott Young - basses; Ben Billington - drums. RIYL: Albert Ayler, Peter Brötzmann.
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ESPDISK 5030CD
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A product of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians who studied with AACM founders Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, saxophonist Mars Williams is most famous as a member of The Psychedelic Furs but has proven his jazz bona fides with Peter Brötzmann and Ken Vandermark and while guiding Liquid Soul and Hal Russell's NRG Ensemble, to name just a few. His rock CV is also varied, including many years in Akron new wave band The Waitresses and work with Billy Idol, Ministry, Massacre, and many more. He also leads the Albert Ayler tribute band Witches & Devils, and out of their holiday concerts grew a unique tradition. One look at this album's track titles and you'll understand the concept here. One listen and you'll hear that, as odd as that concept may seem, it's brilliantly effective, with the disparate melodies working together in their common projection of joy and celebration. And it's worth noting that Williams's worlds collide on track three here, featuring The Waitresses's biggest hit, "Christmas Wrapping", as he played on their original recording. After enjoying An Ayler Xmas Vol. 1 (2017) last year, ESP-Disk' invited him to make Vol. 2 a co-release of Williams's Soul What Records and ESP-Disk', the top Ayler label. Personnel: Mars Williams - saxes, toy instruments; Josh Berman - cornet; Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello; Jim Baker - piano, ARP synthesizer, viola; Kent Kessler - bass; Brian Sandstrom - bass, guitar, trumpet; Steve Hunt - drums, percussion; Jeb Bishop - trombone; Thomas Berghammer - trumpet; Hermann Stangassinger - bass; Didi Kern - drums, percussion; Christof Kurzmann - lloopp, vocals.
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ESPDISK 5027CD
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Gabriel Zucker's first ESP-Disk' album, Evergreen (Canceled World) (ESPDISK 5017CD, 2016), was made with his big band, The Delegation. His second, Weighting is a quartet, with Delegation members Adam O'Farrill and Eric Trudel joined by acclaimed drummer Tyshawn Sorey. A suite inspired by Rachel Kushner's novel The Flamethrowers (2013), Weighting is a spacious mix of composition and improvisation, frequently intimate -- sometimes consisting of just intertwined sax and trumpet lines -- but occasionally punctuated with rowdy outbursts or densely-woven passages. Personnel: Gabriel Zucker - piano, compositions; Tyshawn Sorey - drums; Adam O'Farrill - trumpet; Eric Trudel - saxophone.
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ESPDISK 5010CD
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Matt Lavelle (trumpet, flugelhorn, alto clarinet) and Reggie Sylvester (drums), New York avant-jazz veterans and longtime cohorts in the Bern Nix Quartet, perform in duo here on Retrograde, their debut on ESP-Disk'. Visiting destinations overlooked on John Coltrane's tour of the solar system, they craft their own space suite of earthier delights. This album was recorded live at Andrea Wolper's WhyNot Experiment? series. Matt and Reggie played two sets; the second set, with Bern Nix in the audience, is what you hear on this album, which is dedicated to the late Mr. Nix. This is the sixth album as a leader from Matt Lavelle (b. 1970), and his first on ESP-Disk'. He has studied with Ornette Coleman and swing-era veteran Hildred Humphries, has worked with William Parker, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, Jemeel Moondoc, Mat Maneri, Matana Roberts, Rashid Bakr, and folk/improv ensemble Stars Like Fleas. He collaborated with ESP fave Giuseppi Logan on the latter's 2010 comeback and worked extensively with Sabir Mateen. Currently, Lavelle leads a variety of groups, most notably The 12 Houses, an all-star avant big band. Drummer Reggie Sylvester (b. 1957) was a member of the early Black Rock Coalition of the mid-1980s and played with the BRC Orchestra and its instrumental offshoot Trio From Beyond, he opened for Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, Ginger Baker's Middle Passage Band (album produced by Bill Laswell) (2016), and Raging Slab at Wetlands. In 1995, he recorded with experimental guitarist/vibist/bassist Paul Steven Ray, producing a three-song EP produced by John Snyder. In 2001, Sylvester joined metal/hard rock trio Rock Diesel, which recorded the independent CD Feedback. In April 2012, he became a member of the Bern Nix Quartet, playing all their shows until Nix's death in 2017 and on their 2013 album Negative Capability. Sylvester currently co-leads avant-pop/folk group the Human Hearts Trio with Lindsey Wilson and bassist Michael Trotman, a band that sometimes includes Daniel Carter. Sylvester was commissioned by Patricia Nicholson Parker to compose and perform I Know Your Face with Wilson, Carter, Nix, and bassist Francois Grillot at the Arts for Art festival Justice Is Compassion. Sylvester has also performed with Charles Gayle, Jemeel Moondoc, James Brandon Lewis, Ava Mendoza, J.D. Parran, Ann Waldman, and Charles Waters. James McLean, original sound man at the Knitting Factory, recorded and carefully engineered a full sound as good as that of a studio album.
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ESPDISK 5025CD
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Wet Robots is Fay Victor's first album as a leader released on an American label other than her own Greene Street Music, but she is already a star on the New York avant-jazz scene. From Bradley Bambarger's liner notes: "Few vocalists have the sheer boldness -- the outright fearlessness -- of Fay Victor as an improviser. The New York native has long been a creative force on the avant-jazz scene, as a singer, bandleader, composer, arranger, and teacher. She has worked on both sides of the Atlantic with the likes of Misha Mengelberg, Roswell Rudd, and Anthony Braxton, along with recording several distinctive albums as a leader. Reviewing her recent disc Absinthe & Vermouth (2013), NPR declared evocatively that Fay's original songs sound 'as if Joni Mitchell wrote lyrics for a lost Betty Carter prog-rock album -- and it totally works.' Fay has also recorded edgy blues in a duo with guitarist Anders Nilsson, and she is an inspired re-animator of vintage instrumentals as vocal material, in the spirit of Carmen McRae in Monk ; to this end, Fay has performed with her In Praise of Ornette group and with her house-rocking Herbie Nichols Sung band. Now we have on record Fay's SoundNoiseFUNK quartet, featuring Joe Morris, Sam Newsome, and Reggie Nicholson -- each an exceptional maker of music in the moment. Although Fay enjoyed a rapport with each of these players in various combinations, this foursome had never played together as a unit before the single summer day last year when Wet Robots was captured in a Brooklyn studio. If jazz is the sound of surprise, this album startles -- a sonic funhouse of left turns. The band floats in its own space, untethered by a bass. Morris's guitar moves like a snake. Newhouse keens, taps, sighs on the straight horn. Nicholson makes his percussion set-up a skittering, rattling thing. Then there is Fay -- her voice primal and wild, as attuned to unfettered expression as Albert Ayler's tenor."
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ESPDISK 5028LP
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LP version. On Buck Curran's second solo album, Morning Haikus, Afternoon Ragas, the emphasis switches to acoustic guitar, as compared to his first solo album, Immortal Light (ESPDISK 5014CD/LP, 2016). Side A, all solo acoustic instrumentals, seems to have fallen out of a wormhole emanating from Takoma Records in the 1970s. There's some of that on side B as well, but there are also vocals and other instruments, sometimes overdubbed, and the dedication of "Taurus" to Peter Green, guitarist extraordinaire of the original lineup of Fleetwood Mac (when they were a blues band), hinting at the breadth of Curran's influences. The introduction of other timbres and textures doesn't diminish the intimate, almost meditational mood, though. Co-released by ESP-Disk' and Curran's own Obsolete Recordings. Personnel: Buck Curran - vocals, guitars, harmonium, flute, banjo; Adele Pappalardo - vocals on "Dirt Floor". Mastering by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering.
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ESPDISK 5024LP
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LP version. Robbie Basho (1940-86), who died young after a stroke, never got his due in the culture at large, but steel-string guitar enthusiasts have known for decades that he was one of the greats of "American Primitivism". Technically adept and compositionally imaginative, fusing the music of many cultures into a mesmerizing solo style, he has been an inspiration for many; his music has generated a surge of interest in recent years. This 1982 concert was part of a four-show Italian tour. It took place at the 18th-century Palazzo Gaddi that housed the local music high school and was mostly used for classical concerts, in an intimate space co-organizer Mario Calvitti (whose memories of the events surrounding this concert make up the bulk of the liner notes) says Basho called it "one lovely little room where I could play all night." Only previously released incompletely as a download, this show can now be heard in its full glory. This release is in cooperation with the Official Robbie Basho Archives. No. 2 in the RB-Archives-Live series. Produced by Buck Curran; Co-released with Obsolete Recordings.
"American musician Robbie Basho (1940-1986) is without doubt one of the greatest pioneers of world guitar music. To this day, his songs and compositions for the acoustic guitar remain wholly unique, contemporary, and otherworldy. Though largely unknown in Italy when he toured there in 1982 (in the company of Italian acoustic guitarist Maurizio Angeletti), the small to medium size audiences who attended his performances were overwhelmingly sympathetic to his musical vision and deeply entranced in the glow of his musical presence. From what is documented on this recording from Forlì, we are given witness to Basho's idiosyncratic spirit and musical artistry. Wielding only a six and twelve-string guitar and his powerful voice, we hear rapturous fingerpicking and singing. As the concert evolves, Basho's spirit rises high above terra firma as he transforms into a wild mythical winged stallion, riding waves of colour and sound ... charging across plains of cosmic light towards the outer regions of space and time." --Buck Curran, September 11, 2017, Bergamo, Italy
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ESPDISK 5020CD
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Through the wood, sinew, skins, metal, and fingers, one hears the years of experiential exploration, responsive nuances, and overwhelming power in the trio's joyfully intense playing. They cover a lot of territory in this recording, conjuring epochs and eras, terrains and cultures. This is improvised music composed spontaneously out of the breadth of experiences. André Stjames is a cornerstone of the rich, thriving Pacific Northwest jazz scene and works regularly with his own ensemble, Mel Brown, The Kin Trio, Gordon Lee, Renato Caranto, and many others. Over the last three decades, Stjames has worked with Sonny Rollins, the Harold Land-Blue Mitchell Quintet, Andrew Hill Trio and large bands, Bobby Hutcherson, Charlie Rouse, Pharoah Sanders, and more. Stjames's strong sense of lyricism, buoyancy, and surging momentum, as well as a deep respect for both tradition and innovation, have taken him to both ends of the jazz spectrum -- from torch songs and two-beat to bop and beyond. Tim DuRoche works regularly with the collective ensemble Battle Hymns & Gardens and The Kin Trio, and has logged extensive time with an array of US and European avant-garde jazz innovators, including Dominic Duval, Burton Greene, Matana Roberts, Paul Plimley, Lisle Ellis, Wally Shoup, Gust Burns, Bert Wilson, and Urs Leimgruber, among others. Tim is the host of "The New Thing", a weekly radio jazz radio show on KMHD 89.1 FM, and is the author of the book Occasional Jazz Conjectures (2011). Thollem's spent his life skirting and erasing the edges of boundaries musically, culturally, geographically. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with hundreds of artists across idioms and disciplines including William Parker, Susie Ibarra, Nels Cline, Amy Denio, Faruq Z. Bey, Michael Wimberly, John Butcher, Gino Robair, Pauline Oliveros, and Hafez Modirzadeh, among many, many others. "He inhabits a world uniquely his own, rhythmically, harmonically and formally." --Terry Riley This is Thollem's third appearance on ESP-Disk', following The Naked Future's Gigantomachia (ESPDISK 4053CD, 2009) and TSIGOTI's Private Poverty Speaks To The People Of The Party (ESPDISK 4057CD, 2009). Personnel: Thollem McDonas - piano; Tim DuRoche - drums André Stjames - bass.
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ESPDISK 5028CD
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On Buck Curran's second solo album, Morning Haikus, Afternoon Ragas, the emphasis switches to acoustic guitar, as compared to his first solo album, Immortal Light (ESPDISK 5014CD/LP, 2016). Side A, all solo acoustic instrumentals, seems to have fallen out of a wormhole emanating from Takoma Records in the 1970s. There's some of that on side B as well, but there are also vocals and other instruments, sometimes overdubbed, and the dedication of "Taurus" to Peter Green, guitarist extraordinaire of the original lineup of Fleetwood Mac (when they were a blues band), hinting at the breadth of Curran's influences. The introduction of other timbres and textures doesn't diminish the intimate, almost meditational mood, though. Co-released by ESP-Disk' and Curran's own Obsolete Recordings. Personnel: Buck Curran - vocals, guitars, harmonium, flute, banjo; Adele Pappalardo - vocals on "Dirt Floor"; Nicolò Melocchi - Bansuri flute on "Bhairavi Rovelli". Mastering by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering. CD version includes five additional tracks. "Crucible" is an archival recording made in the Summer of 2000, showing the development of Curran's musical style.
"Guitar tones linger and reverberate with a mystical translucence" --Dusted.
"Curran's music invokes swarming natural forces, looking for the borderline between the real and the sublime and, maybe, the supernatural." --Jesse Jarnow, Relix
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ESPDISK 1057LP
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ESP-Disk' present a vinyl reissue of Peter Lemer Quintet's Local Colour, originally released in 1968. British pianist Peter Lemer studied with Jaki Byard, Paul Bley, and Bill Dixon. His lengthy and distinguished career has found him in a wide variety of settings. As an avant-garde jazz pianist, he recorded with Spontaneous Music Ensemble; in the jazz fusion realm, he was a member of Gilgamesh and Paraphernalia; as a progressive rock keyboardist, he played with Gong, Baker Gurvitz Army, the Mike Oldfield Group, Seventh Wave, and In Cahoots. Sideman credits include work with Annette Peacock, Harry Beckett, and more. Surprisingly, Local Colour -- his debut recording -- is Lemer's only album as a leader. Recorded in London in 1966, it belongs in the collection of anyone who cares about the British jazz scene, and not only because of Lemer's talents. Everyone in this quintet went on to notable achievements. This was sax great John Surman's recording debut; he is now arguably the premiere British jazz saxophonist. Chances to hear the also scintillating sax sound of the more obscure Nisar Ahmad Khan (AKA George Khan) in a jazz context are much rarer, though near the end of 2017, Emanem released an excellent two-disc compilation of concert recordings, and some may remember his appearance on Robert Wyatt's Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard (1975) and his work with Cream lyricist Pete Brown and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Drummer Jon (then going by John) Hiseman had already established himself on the British jazz scene by co-founding the New Jazz Orchestra in 1964; two years after the Local Colour session he started jazz-rock band Colosseum, and he even collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the musical Cats. Bassist Tony Reeves had had a hit single in 1965 with Sounds Orchestral ("Cast Your Fate to the Wind"); after a brief stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Reeves joined Hiseman in Colosseum; he was also a member of Greenslade and Curved Air. Together, they make a sort of inside/outside jazz that doesn't abandon themes and harmony but is still quite freewheeling when it wants to be. A seminal album of British avant-jazz. Personnel: Nisar Ahmad (George) Khan - tenor saxophone; John Surman - baritone and soprano saxophones , bass clarinet; Peter Lemer - piano; Tony Reeves - bass; Jon Hiseman - drums. Opaque red, 180 gram vinyl.
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ESPDISK 5023CD
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Japanese musicians Megumi Yonezawa, Masa Kamaguchi, and Ken Kobayashi present Boundary. The pianist and drummer live in New York City and often collaborate; the bassist lives in Madrid but comes to New York City twice a year for a month each time. The producer heard them at Manhattan jazz bar Tomi Jazz and immediately booked a session to capture their magic before Masa Kamaguchi left town. Megumi Yonezawa, from Hokkaido, earned multiple awards while studying performance and composition at Berklee, then joined Greg Osby's group on Jason Moran's recommendation and can be heard with him on the Blue Note album Public (2003). Other credits include work with David Liebman, George Garzone, Sam Newsome, and many more. In 2016 the Fresh Sound New Talent label released her debut album, A Result Of The Colors. But none of these credits reflect the freedom with which she plays on Boundary. Kamaguchi, also from Hokkaido, has the most recording credits (upwards of 30) in the trio, ranging from Ahmed Abdullah's Actual Proof (CIMP, 1999) to a series of tribute albums with Vinnie Sperrazza and Jacob Sacks. Inspired to play bass after hearing Jaco Pastorius albums, he studied with Gary Peacock student Yoshio Ikeda, then moved to Boston to attend Berklee, followed by a dozen years in New York City performing and recording with ESP star Sonny Simmons, David Murray, Charles Gayle, Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Frank Kimbrough, and even Toots Thielemans. Kobayashi, who put the trio together, hails from Tokyo, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in art criticism and art history from Tama Art University. After moving to New York, he expanded his knowledge at the Drummer's Collective. He can also be heard on Jan (2014) with bassist Jochem van Dijk and Nine Stories (2016) with Takeshi Asai. Recorded at Park West Studios on June 4, 2017 by Jim Clouse. Personnel: Megumi Yonezawa - piano; Masa Kamaguchi - bass; Ken Kobayashi - drums. Cover art by Kiichiro Adachi. Liner notes by Matthew Shipp.
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ESPDISK 5018CD
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After a duo album -- Live at Okuden (ESPDISK 5007CD, 2015) -- and two trio albums -- Live at Okuden (ESPDISK 5009CD,2016) and This Is Beautiful Because We Are Beautiful People (ESPDISK 5011CD, 2017) -- by Matthew Shipp and Mat Walerian, all for ESP-Disk', they offer a quartet album that continues their strategy of working with different musicians each time out. Michael Bisio and Whit Dickey are long-time collaborators with Shipp, but the addition of Walerian's Zen style changes the dynamics of their interactions. Walerian and Dickey, masters of restraint, were a match waiting to be made, and their instant rapport is one of the attractions of this album. Personnel: Matthew Shipp - piano; Mat Walerian - alto saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet; Michael Bisio - bass; Whit Dickey - drums.
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2CD
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ESPDISK 5022CD
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In the first part of his career, Matthew Shipp avoided solo recordings, saying he wasn't ready -- and the first solo album he made, Symbol Systems (1995), happened by accident when the other player on the session didn't show up. Since then, his style expanded and matured and he recorded prolifically, including a number of solo albums, but they have remained special events, distinct statements of purpose. Zero continues in this tradition; its philosophical basis can be gleaned from the lecture on the bonus CD. But, of course, it is the music itself which speaks most eloquently. Please note that the tune titled "Zero" is not the same as a previous Shipp composition of the same title. Only the first of this album (an edition of 1000) will include the bonus CD containing the talk Mr. Shipp gave at The Stone. Liner notes by Steve Dalachinsky.
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