EAR & NOW | Eclipse | Amirani Records

Eclipse is a wind, opening and moving the pages of a book, hidden to our attention because too important, too inexorable. It’s a music that soon leaves its first aesthetical dimension to begin to dig up, as a drop, as a bedded narration,a choir. A same story we pass through, we listen as told in different places, with different shadings, from different sides. As if the possibility to come across a time, through scenes that freeze themselves in a sort of tableau vivant, animated by dense symbols. Great and overwhelming, ritual and evocative, the Eclpise still retains the power of admonition, of calling to re-consider our single perspectives as parts of a pulsing complexity, we can’t properly describe.

EAR&NOW delivers a perfected work where it is easier to feel the harshness of lives moving there, like sharpnesses of a tide, darkened by a lunar Eclipse. Eclipse is each one’s other side. Continue reading

Halfpipe | Open Curtain | Mudoks Record

A handful of children on the way to all aspects of their sound. So you can call a company to confront young people with new and improvised music, so that they can do in this rather unusual profession her musical experience. Other hand, the most original field from which they just develop and will hopefully grow even more. The unbiased natural play with the possibilities that the moment offers. Similar to the “Godfather” of this recording Giacinto Scelsi, the young people draw from the reservoir which feeds them from the improvisation making it reflective tho their vocabulary to apply and further develop awareness. Continue reading

Derek Bailey | John Stevens | Trevor Watts | Dynamics of the Impromptu | Entropy Stereo Recordings

“These pieces run the gamut from whispery low key musings through enraging or boisterous call and response. The moods constantly shift and evolve as Watts, Bailey and Stevens purvey musical structures that defy logic. Emotions flare up as in “Impromptu Dynamics #6″. Arguments or debates are imminent. The sensibilities of unity and collaboration resurface as the music seems to transcend conventional ideology or acceptable agendas.” — Glenn Astarita Continue reading

Wendell Harrison | The 8th House: Riding with Pluto | Entropy Stereo Recordings

The 8th House is a disc of solo clarinet and saxophone improvisations with a few duets with Juma Santos thrown in. Wendell Harrison and the Tribe were pioneers along with BAG in St. Louis and the AACM in Chicago. Here Wendell recalls some of the freedom and soul from his early work with the Tribe in Detroit. He is joined by percussionist Juma Santos on a few tracks. You may recall Juma from his work with Miles Davis on the Bitches Brew record, or some of his work with Marion Brown. Continue reading

Jon Rose | Fringe Benefits 1977 – 1985 | Entropy Stereo Recordings

Chopped up and sorted at Steim Studios, Amsterdam, July 1998. © copyright Jon Rose and all musicians. Photographs – Kristin Rose, Konstanze Binder. Two CD’s (almost 150 minutes) worth of archival material from the 70’s and 80’s handpicked by Jon Rose with detailed liner notes. The music constitutes his experimental work in Australia with many home made instruments. Continue reading

Faruq Z. Bey with the Northwoods Improvisers featuring Mike Carey and Skeeter Shelton | AUZAR | Entropy Stereo Recordings

Faruq Z. Bey returns with his third effort on Entropy Stereo, Auzar. Auzar features the three horn lineup of Bey, Michael Carey and Skeeter Shelton, representing the first time Bey has recorded with the three horn line up since his days with his seminal Detroit group Griot Galaxy. Representing a clear evolution from Bey’s last two efforts 19 Moons and Ashirai Pattern, Auzar features a unified ensemble sound with an emphasis on unique rhythmic and harmonic possibilities. Bey contributes three compositions to the disc. Faruq Z. Bey and the Northwoods Improvisers comprise a natural joining of mind and soul on Auzar in their strongest effort yet. Featuring the composition Zycron by Tani Tabbal. Continue reading