John Carter | Echoes from Rudolph’s | No Business Records

Echoes from Rudolph’s has topped my list of Albums Most in Need of Reissuing for the longest time. Not only is it one of clarinetist-composer John Carter’s greatest performances on record, it is also the only documentation of a critical period in the evolution of his art. It is the only album he made as a leader or co-leader between Secrets in 1972 and Variations in 1979. And it comes from the period in which he decided to discard his other horns and to focus exclusively on the clarinet. — Ed Hazell Continue reading

Rodrigo Amado | Joe McPhee | Kent Kessler | Chris Corsano | This Is Our Language | Not Two Records

Ornette Coleman released This Is Our Music in 1960, that title an assertion of achievement in making what was in many ways a much maligned music, the almost private practice of an excluded sub-group – free jazz musicians – within the already marginalized world of jazz. Perhaps above all, it was an assertion of rights to an original voice and musical speech. Declaring “This Is Our Language,” Rodrigo Amado marks both his kinship to Coleman and the rich tradition that has developed in free jazz since then, the intense sense of a still close-knit discourse community that has somehow expanded around the world. — Stuart Broomer Continue reading

Steve Swell | Kanreki | Reflection & Renewal | Not Two Records

In Japanese culture KANREKI is the celebration of one’s 60th birthday. It is a time of reflection of one’s past experiences and renewal of one’s energies while moving forward into a new chapter of one’s life with clarity and determination. This CD would not have been possible without all the musicians here, Marek Winiarski and the love of Barbara Manes. — Steve Swell Continue reading

The Resonance Ensemble | Double Arc | Not Two Records

The work of composing rehearsing, and performing Double Arc took place in November, 2013. Now, more than a year and a half later, I am writing the liner notes to complete the last aspect of the project. The extended distance in time between the recording and mixing/mastering of the musi gave me a different perspective toward the material than I have for most albums. Working on now — 19 months after the performance was documented at the Manggha Culture Center in Krakow — what strikes me most is that this piece seems to be my Pierrot le Fou. No insult intende toward Jean-Luc Godard by comparing his work to mine but, as that film can be seen as a such motion of ideas and filmic strategies that he had developed up until that point, Double Arc can be heard as taking similar place within my own creative development. — Ken Vandermark Continue reading