Radius | Witch of Agnesi | Plutonium Records

One of the exhilarating aspects of improvisation is that it occasionally gives musicians from divergent locations the freedom to get together and create instant compositions that sound as if they come from a working group. This is one of those instances. Recorded in concert at the aptly-named Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the disc combines the talents of local tuba explorer Mark Weaver with that of discriminating drummer Dave Wayne of nearby Santa Fe, plus multi-reedman Alan Lechusza from San Diego, California and young bass master Damon Smith of California’s Bay area.–Ken Waxman, Toronto, June 3, 2002 Continue reading

AMH Trio | Alan Lechusza | Mark Weaver | Harris Eisenstadt | Live at Field & Frame | Plutonium Records

Releases like “live at the Field & Frame” serve notice that free improvisation and outside jazz (…or whatever you want to call it) are alive and well outside of NYC, Chicago and San Francisco. Tuba-ist Mark Weaver encountered San Diego-based multi-woodwind player Alan Lechusza while playing in Portland Oregon, in groups led by trumpeter Rob Blakeslee and trombonist Michael Vlatkovich. To quote Weaver’s own liner note, he and Lechusza “immediately felt an affinity” for each others’ playing, and planned their own project. — Dave Wayne Continue reading