Joe Morris Quartet. Graffiti in Two Parts. Graffiti in Two Parts documents an exceptional moment in improvised music—a one-time performance by a loosely assembled band in 1985. In 1981 Boston guitarist Joe Morris met Lowell Davidson, an elusive figure in the history of free jazz, who had recorded a single CD as a pianist for the[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 114

Aaron Lumley. Wilderness. Aaron Lumley is a string bassist who recently moved to Montreal after some years of activity in the Toronto improvising community. Wilderness presents eight highly organic solo improvisations. In an accompanying note, Lumley compares his approach to wandering off a forest path for the chance to[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 114

John Butcher and Mark Sanders. Daylight. The saxophone–drum duo has a long history in free jazz—a primal pairing that achieved an early high in the 1967 John Coltrane and Rashied Ali recording called Interstellar Space. Such fire-breathing antecedents might seem distant from the music of English saxophonist John Butcher,[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 114

300 BASSES. Sei Ritornelli. There’s something wonderful about first hearing an instrument transformed, such as Eric Glick Rieman preparing a Fender-Rhodes electric piano or Seymour Wright playing a saxophone by tapping and amplifying it, not blowing it for long stretches of time. As fine as those experiences might be[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 114

Stone Quartet. Live at Vision Festival. The great French bassist Joëlle Léandre first assembled the Stone Quartet for a single performance in 2006. Heard here four years later, the free improvising quartet includes pianist Marilyn Crispell, violist Mat Maneri, and wind player Roy Campbell, who plays both flute and[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 113

Parker, Lee, Evans. The Bleeding Edge. The Bleeding Edge brings together three brilliant acoustic improvisers of different continents and generations in a program of trios and duos: English saxophonist Evan Parker, Korean cellist Okkyung Lee and American trumpeter Peter Evans. There is a special empathy between Parker and Evans,[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 113

Lama. Oneiros. Based in Rotterdam, Lama offers an unusual mix of sensibilities, a trio of Portuguese and Canadian musicians that works at the intersections of film noir, cool jazz, electronica, and free improvisation. Gonçalo Almeida plays bass, effects, and loops, and is the principal composer;[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 113

Ion Zoo. Venus Looks Good. Vancouver-based Ion Zoo has released one previous CD, Set Free at the Cellar (on the NOW Orchestra label), a fine live performance that introduced the quartet, which comprises singer Carol Sawyer; Steve Bagnell on reeds, from baritone saxophone to clarinet, as well as percussion; Lisa[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 113

Joe Hertenstein/Thomas Heberer/Joachim Badenhorst/Pascal Niggenkemper. Polylemma. Drummer Joe Hertenstein defines polylemma as “a choice from multiple options, each of which is (or appears) equally (un-)acceptable or (un-)favourable.” He then applies the term to one of his compositions here and also to the group, a quartet of European musicians—Germans[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 112

Kris Davis. Aeriol Piano. Kris Davis is a Calgary-born pianist who has followed a path from the University of Toronto to the Banff Centre, eventually to settle in New York in 2001. There she has gradually established herself as a musician who happily resides in the special terrain that has arisen between free jazz and[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer

Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville 27 Edition. Victoriaville, Quebec. May 19–22, 2011. FIMAV has a distinctive character, from its unlikely location in rustic Victoriaville, an hour’s drive from Quebec City, to its insistence on celebrating so many musical frontiers: free jazz, rock, electroacoustic improvisation, DJs, and sound-art installations. Despite its rich[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Stuart Broomer Issue 111