Recordings
Linda Catlin Smith. Thought and Desire. In his “Sonnet 45” William Shakespeare muses on thought and desire as “present-absent” qualities. Both testify to a bond with the loved one, but they speak also of distance. Pianist Eve Egoyan sings the words of this sonnet as she plays Linda Catlin Smith’s[...] Read more
Jerusalem In My Heart. If He Dies, If If If If If If. Jerusalem In My Heart’s second album bristles with all the forward momentum that was lurking just below the surface of its debut release. Noted producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh is in charge of the sonic aspect of the Montreal-based[...] Read more
Yves Bouliane. Champ (10 Opérations). Tenzier’s hunt for the lost treasures of Quebec avant-garde music history is as relentless as the music on this album of Yves Bouliane cello solos, originally released in 1977 in an ultra-limited edition of ten cassettes. Aside from a brief stint in Le quatuor de jazz libre du Qu[...] Read more
Manticore. Universal Time / Nebulous Pink Cloud. On its second EP, Toronto duo Manticore continues its exploration of song on the cusp of improvisation and utterances verging on language. The duo’s rather commonplace instrumentation (you guessed it: guitar and voice) may offer a certain familiarity, but its[...] Read more
Ken Aldcroft. Mister, Mister. There’s something special about fully realized solo improvisation. Layers of consciousness, kinds of memory, and impulses of intent impinge on one another, revealing fresh possibilities and meaning, as if improvisation, in the absence of an immediate community of players, begins to[...] Read more
Tony Wilson. A Day's Life; A Bowl of Sixty Taxidermists. Tony Wilson is both a versatile and distinctive guitarist. While he’s played across a spectrum of idioms—from jazz-rock fusion to folk and free improvisation—he’s maintained his own voice, a forceful, lyrical style filled with subtle nuances. As a composer, he’s[...] Read more
Anna Webber’s Percussive Mechanics. Refraction. Audaciously extending her conceptual chops, avant-jazz reedist and composer Anna Webber creates a suite, of sorts, with Refraction, bookending the program with a prelude and postlude sonically coordinated but not copied, all seven tracks on the album subtly reflecting motifs that swirl[...] Read more
Ulrich Krieger / Trio Kobayashi. Winters in the Abyss. From George Frideric Handel’s Water Music to Beach Boy Brian Wilson’s “Surf’s Up,” water and its properties have long fascinated prominent composers and been reflected in their work. In Winters in the Abyss, German-born, Los Angeles-based Ulrich Krieger has[...] Read more
FAT and the Masters of Haha. Formed in 1982 in Montreal, FAT features Eric Rosenzveig on guitar, Jeff Noble on bass guitar, and Phil Giborski on drums and samples. The trio was influenced by the era’s DIY-punk aesthetic, as well as the musics of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor, but remained distant from both[...] Read more
JOYFULTALK. Muuixx. Muuixx recalls that fecund period during the 1990s when some notable electronic music was celebrated for its eccentric intrepid quality. But JOYFULTALK, the latest project of Nova Scotia resident Jay Crocker, isn’t nostalgic; rather, it leans toward creating something indelible. What[...] Read more
Hard Rubber Orchestra. Crush. Like bears awakening refreshed after an extended hibernation, the members of Vancouver trumpeter John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra (HRO) have come forth with a rousing CD after a dozen years of silence. Although mostly devoted to Korsrud’s jazz-influenced compositions for the[...] Read more
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