Luke Stewart – Works for Upright Bass and Amplifier (Astral Spirits) Stephanie Richards – Fullmoon (Relative Pitch) Mary Halvorson – Code Girl (Firehouse 12) Weasel Walter – Skhiizm (ugEXPLODE) Sarah Bernstein’s Unearthish – Crazy Lights Shining (Phase Frame Music) Jeremiah Cymerman – Decay of the Angel (5049) Fay Victor’s SoundNoiseFUNK – Wet Robots (ESP-Disk’) Andrew Barker
(Chronological Order) VAX: Patrick Breiner, Liz Kosack, Devin Gray – Brooklyn Conservatory, January 21 Mary Halvorson Trio – The Stone, February 2 Patrick Shiroishi Nonet – Ham & Eggs (Los Angeles), March 12 Don Dietrich & Camille Dietrich – JACK, April 13 Viv Corringham & Nicola Hein – Outskirts, May 6 Anais Maviel & Luke
John McCowen – Solo Contra (International Anthem, 2017) Francois Houle, Alexander Hawkins, Harris Eisenstadt – You Have Options (Songlines, 2018) Kyle Bruckmann’s Wrack – … Awaits Silent Tristero’s Empire (Singlespeed Music, 2014) Maxime de la Rochefoucauld – Automates Ki (Plastique Records, 1997) Dustin Carlson – Air Ceremony (Out of Your Head Records, 2018) Vibrating Skull Trio – self-titled (unknown, n.d.)
While We Still Have Bodies is one of the most developed freely improvised ensembles to emerge in Brooklyn over the past decade. This band is comprised of Michael Foster (saxophones), Ben Gerstein (trombone), Sean Ali (bass), and Flin van Hemmen (drums). As stated, their music is entirely improvised and each time I have seen them
I have been familiar with trumpeter Aquiles Navarro and Tcheser Holmes for several years now. Their work in Irreversible Entanglements, a quintet featuring Moor Mother, Keir Neuringer, and Luke Stewart, has seen them touring internationally since 2016 and releasing one of the foremost records of 2017. Navarro and Holmes have been working on their duo
Don & Camille Dietrich – Dietrichs (Pica Disk, 2017) Cecil Taylor Segments II (Orchestra of Two Continents) – Winged Serpent (Sliding Quadrants) (Soul Note, 1985) Cecil Taylor – In Florescence (A&M Records, 1990) No-Neck Blues Band – Qvaris (5 Rue Christine, 2005) Glenn Branca – Lesson no. 1 (Superior Viaduct, 1980) Brad Whiteley – Presence (Destiny Records, 2018) Talibam! – Endgame of
Cataclysmic Commentary – Audience Participation (Eschatology, 2018) Carlo Costa – Oblio (Neither/Nor, 2018) Jamie Saft Quartet – Blue Dream (Rare Noise, 2018) Various – Sub Rosa: An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music, vol. 3 (Sub Rosa, 2004) [3 LPs]
On September 5, 2018, violist Joanna Mattrey convened a quintet of superb improvisers that included trombonist Ben Gerstein, trumpeter Joe Moffett, bass clarinetist John McCowen, and vocalist Nina Dante. Their set was an exploration of the possibilities of minimalist improvisations in a collective context. The music began with small sounds, as if emerging from all
Originally from Maine, drummer Devin Gray has been active in New York City for over a dozen years. His two main projects as a leader have been Dirigo Rataplan, a quartet with saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, trumpeter Dave Ballou, and bassist Michael Formanek, and RelativE ResonancE, a quartet with reedist Chris Speed, pianist Kris Davis, and
Colombian electric bassist, Carlos Quebrada, based in Buenos Aires, joined New York drummer Weasel Walter and saxophonist Sam Weinberg for an intense, visceral performance at Wonders of Nature on Wednesday, September 5. This trio presented a set of jagged-edged, high-energy improvised music that really pushed the boundaries. Saxophonic squeaks, rapid, percussive bass lines, and hard,
