Gianni Mimmo | Xabier Iriondo | Your Very Eyes | Amirani Records

Performance recorded early on a sunny dawn, June the 24th, 2007, in an ancient 10th century cave-church in a magic stone town named Matera, South of Italy. The church is named Santa Lucia alle Malve. Summer solstice is a holy moment in so many and various traditions. We chose there because of the sound of these alveolar stones. Not only we had beautiful reverbes and resonant echoes but the sound seemed to go into the stones themselves.
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Gianni Mimmo | Angelo Contini | Two’s Days / Tuesdays | Amirani Records

The duo is translucent and light formula, first communication nucleus, distance to live, exploration of a moment-built spaces. Duo is a pure modality, where catching inner voices, subtle tones moves. Sanding tones, sculpted light, earthquake’s delight. Dialogical to welcome and fuse the silences with sounds. Two instruments, a soprano sax and a trombone, without any rhythmic or harmonic support, played with a contemporary attitude, in a composed and improvised score, including originals and a couple of tunes by Steve Lacy two sounds, friends & enemies, two sides: instinctive & direct vs elegant & mindy, really blade runners. Continue reading

Gianni Mimmo | One Way Ticket | Amirani Records

One way ticket is a compendium of Gianni’s quest on the soprano sax. Besides those already mentioned, there are compositions by Monk, S.Lacy, and D.Ellington. A varied and unusual repertory tackled with innovativeness and inventiveness. The use of extended techniques, the result of intense hard work on the instrument, is never “encyclopaedic”, but a function of an aesthetics that looks carefully at the relationship between monodic sound and silence. 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

Trevor Watts and Jamie Harris | Ancestry | Entropy Stereo Recordings

On Ancestry, Trevor approaches improvisation in a more stripped down approach with percussionist Jamie Harris. Both Watts and Harris combine an incredible sense of rhythm with exploration and subtlety. The recordings were culled from live performances and more intimate settings at Trevor’s home studio to give a balance of the high energy of performance and relaxed musical exploration between friends. The end result is a stunning document of duo interplay on various hand percussion and reed instruments. Continue reading