Joe McPhee is one of the great multi-instrumentalists of contemporary improvised music. His instrumental battery has included saxophones, clarinets, valve trombone, pocket trumpet, sound-on-sound tape recorder, and space organ, but another arrow in his quiver is text. McPhee has been writing poems since the 1970s. He occasionally introduces one into performance, as an introduction or afterword to music, and in recent years he's been known to do full-on readings, text only, featuring his inimitable sense of dramatic timing intoned in his rich voice. The poems range from the observational to the political to the surreal. They're composed in rhyme or according to an internal rhythm, sometimes utterly prosaic, sometimes fantastic and flamboyant. A few of them capture the immediacy of improvised music more acutely than any critical writing on the subject, his half-century immersion in the craft of free music having given him a bottomless cup to draw on and his sensitivity to the nuances of language providing a host of palpable metaphors and metonyms, similes and strophes. The poems are marvels on the page, but they really take flight in McPhee's mouth. In 2021, during a flurry of pandemic-inspired poetic activity, he traveled to Chicago expressly to record a program of his poems. For the studio date, he invited saxophonist and clarinetist Ken Vandermark to play duets as interludes between groupings of the poems. Then Vandermark, engineer Alex Inglizian, and the CvsD team sat breathless in the Experimental Sound Studio control room as McPhee proceeded to perform his poetry nonstop and without repetition for nearly two hours. The result is Musings of a Bahamian Son, the first full-length release dedicated to McPhee's writing, with 27 poems interspersed with nine musical interludes and a postlude. This CD release anticipates the forthcoming McPhee memoir, Straight Up, Without Wings: The Musical Flight of Joe McPhee, written with Mike Faloon, a book that will be published in the fall by CvsD. oe McPhee, voice and soprano saxophone. Ken Vandermark plays clarinet and bass clarinet on Interludes and Postlude.

Recorded for the German FMP label in 1972, this is one of the landmark recordings of free jazz in Europe, a mind-blowing studio session featuring Carl on tenor saxophone, Günter Christmann on trombone, and the astonishing Detlef Schonenberg on drums. Volatile and precise, anticipating much of the future sound of free music in Europe but also paying homage to American antecedents like Roswell Rudd and Archie Shepp, King Alcohol is truly a lost jewel. This is its first time on CD, remastered from the original tapes, and featuring a full disc of newly discovered, previously unreleased bonus tracks. Reproducing the insanely rare first-pressing cover with its black and white line drawing by Carl himself. 1. King Alcohol (Carl/11:45) 2. Thrombose (Christmann/8:24) 3. Aeiou (Schönenberg/6:12) 4. a) Rush-Hour (Carl) b) Something? (Schönenberg) c) Triotrip (Christmann) (total time: 13:09) Unreleased tracks:1. KA Alt #1 (9:33)2. KA Alt #2 (12:24)3. KA Alt #3 (11:19)4. KA Alt #4 (6:40)5. KA Alt #5 (4:28)6. KA Alt #6 (9:56)7. KA Alt #7 (15:59)Rüdiger Carl, tenor saxophoneGünter Christmann, tromboneDetlef Schönenberg, drumsTracks 1-4c originally released on FMP (FMP 0060, 1973). All other tracks previously unreleased.Recorded by Eberhard Sengpiel at Akadamie der Künste, Berlin, on January 12, 1972.LP produced by Rüdiger Carl and Regina Schönenberg, supervised by Jost Gebers.LP design by Rüdiger Carl.Remastered by Alex Inglezian at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago.CD design by David Giordano. Publication editor, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Emily Letourneau. CD produced by John Corbett.

wo hardcore proponents of free improvisation from different generations meet for a granular explosion. Born in Poland, based outside Hannover, Germany, Günter Christmann hails back to the origins of European improvised music, when he played trombone in Rüdiger Carl Inc., the raucous trio that issued King Alcohol on FMP in 1972, as well as groups let by Peter Kowald, Alex Schlippenbach, and others. Christmann's personal arc drew him away from free jazz and deeper into a kind of improvised chamber music, which he explored in great detail with his many-versioned ensemble Vario and as a member of King Übü Örchestrü, as well as in an extensive discography of solo and duo records on the Moers label. Marshalling incredibly acute listening with lightning quick response time and an endless well of extended techniques not only on trombone but also bass and cello, Christmann remained true to his own very particular vision, championing the most personal kind of absolutely free play. On insisting, he combines forces with Niklas Fite, a young Swedish guitarist who's equally committed to spontaneous music. Fite is the son of beloved Stockholm guitarist Andy Fite and was a student of British guitarist John Russell, with whom Christmann worked extensively. On this recording, Fite makes crystal clear his ability to pack gargantuan impact into the tiniest of sounds, manipulating time by placing ample space between sounds and allowing the mutuality to unfold in an unforced way. Christmann plays cello exclusively here, the two stringed instruments combining with intensity and grace. A gorgeous, intimate recording, packaged with ink drawing by Christmann on the cover and notes by Fite.  Niklas Fite - guitar Günter Christmann - cello

From a night of music in Holland that's become legendary among NRG Ensemble enthusiasts, Hold That Thought presents a blazing concert of the quintet's unique sound. With Mars Williams and Ken Vandermark on reeds, Kent Kessler and Brian Sandstrom on basses (the latter doubling on trumpet and electric guitar), and Steve Hunt on drums, this incarnation of the band was arguably its tightest and mightiest, taking the inspiration of founder Hal Russell (1926-1992) and running with it. All the way. The quirkiness and eccentricity of Russell's vision remained a lasting part of the fabric of NRG, but the level of discipline and craftsmanship achieved by this version of the combo is arguably taken to a whole other level. Working with original material, mostly by Williams and Vandermark, NRG Ensemble had its signature pugilistic feel, with lots of time changes and dynamic shifts, quick starts and hard stops. Williams certainly knew how to push up the energy/NRG with a strangulated solo or a sudden burst of beautiful melody; all his years in creative music, from time spent as Roscoe Mitchell's copyist to countless weeks on the road kicking ass with the Psychedelic Furs, led him to a core understanding that linked many kinds of noise-making – rock, funk, soul, free jazz, squeaky-bonk improvised music. Those tributaries meet in NRG Ensemble, with his long standing colleagues gathered to joyfully up the ante. Williams chose this beautiful recording as one of three archival tapes he wanted released as soon as possible, and he approached CvsD with the job of shepherding them into the world just before his tragically early death from cancer in November, 2023. 

At the tail end of 1996, saxophonist Mars Williams and drummer Hamid Drake took the tall corner stage at Chicago's Empty Bottle for two sets of duets. The rock club had just started a weekly Jazz & Improvised Music Series, curated by Ken Vandemark and John Corbett, which would run for nearly a decade. This rare pairing brought together two pivotal figures in the city's creative music scene, both of whom had extensive experience in diverse areas of music, from the free jazz focus of this intimate encounter to Mars's stints in rock with the Waitresses and the Psychedelic Furs and Hamid's work in Mandingo Griot Society, playing in reggae house bands, and lending rhythms to hits by Herbie Hancock. As eclectic as these inputs were, in the deep souls of Williams and Drake they added to the players' burgeoning inventive resources, rather than urging the players to pastichery. In the venerable dialogical lineage of saxophone and drum kit, these two contemporary ninjas indeed invented their own approach, very different, for instance, from other such duo settings for Drake, like those with Fred Anderson, Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, or Ken Vandermark. Here, the fiery reedwork of Williams lends the concert a special urgency and punch, Drake's funk trap imbued with G-force, his cymbals ringing with nuance, his toms speaking like a whole West African drum choir. Williams responds to this positive energy with one of his most commanding performances, starting with his composition "The Worm" (written for Dennis Rodman of the Bulls), and continuing through a series of phenomenal improvisations. Released by CvsD as part of a series of archival Mars Williams CDs, hand selected by Williams shortly before his untimely death in 2023, I Know You Are But What Am I? goes on the record proclaiming the lasting power of Mars Williams, especially in the company of a master like Hamid Drake.  Mars Williams, reeds Hamid Drake, drums Recorded by Malachi Ritscher, live at the Empty Bottle, Chicago, December 11, 1996.

Two historical heavyweights of European free music, clarinetist Rüdiger Carl and drummer Sven-Åke Johansson, join forces with younger bassist Joel Grip for a night of incredible trios. Recorded a few months before the pandemic clampdown, in November of 2019, at Berlin's Au Topsi Pohl, the music is exploratory and swinging, with Carl's viscous clarinet and a brilliant rhythm team steeped in time-based feel but loose and sometimes oblique. Johansson was part of the first Peter Brötzmann Trio to commit music to wax, on For Adolphe Sax (BRÖ/FMP, 1967), and he was on the legendary Brötzmann Octet date Machine Gun (BRÖ/FMP, 1968); the drummer's 1972 solo outing Schlingerland kicked off the SAJ sub-label of FMP, so named for Johansson's initials, and he has made a slew of great records for his own label, also called SÅJ.  Playing tenor saxophone, Carl led a fiery group called Rüdiger Carl Inc., which recorded the classic King Alcohol (FMP, 1972); he was part of important groups with pianist Irene Schweizer, also playing clarinet and accordion, and has recorded with many of the leading improvisors in Europe.  Johansson and Carl have recorded together numerous times, including Fünfunddreissigvierzig (FMP, 1986) and Djungelmusik met Sång (Hapna, 2000).  This sparkling live set features three longer pieces, beautifully recorded, with a cover photo by Johansson and liner notes by Peter Margasak. --- Rüdiger Carl, clarinet Joel Grip, double bass Sven-Åke Johansson, drum --- Recorded November 8/9, 2019 at Au Topsi Pohl, Berlin, by Alexis Baskind. Mixed by SÅJand Alexis Baskind. Mastered by Alex Inglizian. All rights retained by the artists/GEMA. Cover photo by SÅJ (West Berlin, 1970). CD design by SÅJ and David Khan-Giordano. Produced by SÅJ and John Corbett. --- Released: Corbett vs Dempsey

Two masters of wind instruments blowing in from the Windy City. In 2003, as part of the seventh annual Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music, Joe McPhee and Evan Parker squared off for a round of intimate dialogues. The resulting recording is just the second time they had played as a duet, the previous also being in Chicago, at a studio in 1998, where the limited their instrumentarium to tenor saxophones, resulting in the Okka Disc classic Chicago Tenor Duets. In this case, they expanded their arsenal to include tenor and soprano saxophones, as well as McPhee’s trusty pocket cornet. Held in a beautiful hall at the Chicago Cultural Center, the concert was unforgettable. Fortunately, it was documented by the legendary mobile recordist Malachi Ritscher, who recorded most of the Bottle Fests with his usual rough-and-ready style. From the opening notes, Sweet Nothings was notable for the musicians’ intuitive connection. Freely improvised in seven parts, these are duets of the highest caliber performed by two musicians who are constantly seeking common ground –what you might call “agree-to-agree” improvisors. But there’s no lack of tension or productive dissonance; on the contrary, that’s part of their unity of vision, the shared ability to diverge and reconnect. SWEET NOTHING 1 (07:23) SWEET NOTHING 2 (06:32) SWEET NOTHING 3 (11:49) SWEET NOTHING 4 (6:50) SWEET NOTHING 5 (09:54) SWEET NOTHING 6 (09:32) SWEET NOTHING 7 (03:30) Joe McPhee, soprano and tenor saxophone, pocket cornetEvan Parker, soprano and tenor saxophone Recorded by Malachi Ritscher at the Chicago Cultural Center, 26 April, 2003, as part of the seventh Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music.

British percussionist Tony Oxley returned to his piece "Angular Apron" multiple times after debuting it in the early 1970s. Drawing equally on his interest in contemporary composed music by folks like Xenakis and Ligeti and on his long tenure as one of the central figures in European improvised music, Oxley assembled a quintet to play the work in Bochum, Germany, in 1992. The one-time ensemble consisted of five players from varied backgrounds. Trumpeter and flugelhornist Manfred Schoof, who delivers one of his last performances before turning exclusively to composition, is one of the pioneers of free music in Germany, a somewhat understated figure of immense power and authority whose 1969 FMP LP European Echoes stands as one of the great documents of orchestral improvisation, and whose own quintet helped define the transitional forms of new jazz a few years earlier in the decade. American bassist Sirone is best known for his work in the Revolutionary Ensemble, with violinist Leroy Jenkins and drummer Jerome Cooper. Sirone's presence in Oxley's group confirms the drummer's commitment to a transatlantic aesthetic, one he explored extensively with Cecil Taylor and William Parker in the Feel Trio. Saxophonist Larry Stabbins brings his incredible versatility to the band, adding the mix of ferocity and buoyancy that he added to diverse projects from Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Peter Brötzmann to Weekend and Working Week. On piano and electronics, Pat Thomas was at the time a relative newcomer to the British scene, rapidly becoming one of its leading lights and most sought-after collaborators. Oxley drew on this crew's wide range of orientations for this "Angular Apron," exploiting their extremes of timbre and register, calling on their acuity as listeners, and prodding them with his finely-honed junkshop of metal percussion, with which he detonates the hour-long piece. Presenting the never-before-released music in its complete glory, mastered from the original tapes, the Angular Apron CD design features images of two of Oxley's paintings.  Larry Stabbins, soprano and tenor saxophone Manfred Schoof, trumpet and flugelhorn Pat Thomas, piano and electronics Sirone, bass Tony Oxley, percussion and electronics Recorded October 2, 1992, at the Ruhr Jazz Festival, Bochum,

In 1981, British percussionist Paul Lytton and German guitarist Erhard Hirt met and recorded for a couple of days in Belgium. This explosive, ahead-of-its-time first encounter, which had been planned as a release on the legendary Po Torch label, has remained dormant for over four decades. In that period, Lytton and Hirt teamed up often, joining forces with saxophonist/clarinetist Wolfgang Fuchs and bassist Hans Schneider as the quartet X-Pact, a group that has recently reformed – several years after the untimely death of Fuchs – with Stefan Keune in the saxophone chair. Lytton and Hirt were key participants in the Aachen (Germany) improvised music scene, also key members of King Übü Örchestrü, one of the most radical improvising large ensembles. Lytton's legacy hearkens back to his time in the London jazz scene of the late 1960s, where he played with a who's who of heavies, and he's perhaps best known for his long standing collaboration with saxophonist Evan Parker, in duet settings and their collective trio with bassist Barry Guy. He is one of the great innovators of European improvised music, both as a percussionist and with his unique electronics rig. Hirt's super-resourceful guitar work – here both on electric guitar (with active whammy bar) and acoustic dobro – deserves to be more widely heard. Along with his own solo music, which started with a killer record called Zwischen den Pausen on Uhlklang in 1983, he's worked intensively with musicians such as Axel Dörner, Phil Minton, Thomas Lehn, Phil Wachsmann, and John Butcher. For its debut voyage, Borne on a Whim was lovingly transferred (for the first time) from the original reels by Ken Christianson, preserving every crispy, crackling noise.The cover features a stencil used to make a poster for them back in the period that Lytton and Hirt first began their work together. Borne on a Whim is the first release drawn from the Paul Lytton Archives at Corbett vs. Dempsey. Paul Lytton, percussion & live electronics Erhard Hirt, electric guitars & dobro Recording PLo/PLy, Plombieres, Belgium, 17/18 April, 1981.

It's easy to be cynical these days, maybe difficult to imagine that music can change the world, but not for Joe McPhee and Hamid Drake. With Keep Going, they will make the planet a better place for humanity, a place to be humane, to preserve humankind. At 78-years-old, Poughkeepsie multi-instrumentalist McPhee is a national treasure, and he's making more music than ever before, pushing himself to tour incessantly, issuing astonishing new records at a fierce rate. But this release, with legendary Chicago percussionist Drake, is something extremely special in the midst of many special records. The duo first recorded together in 1999, having only played together a limited number of times; the resulting music was issued as Emancipation Proclamation on the Okka Disk label. When the opportunity arose to hit the studio for a second time, McPhee and Drake had two more decades of extensive work together under their belts, as members of the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet and in many other contexts. But the session somehow consolidated their shared energy in an unexpected way – the drummer's incredible warmth and sense of buoyancy, the saxophonist and trumpeter's preternatural musicality and quest for social justice. The recording started with McPhee reciting words by Harriett Tubman, resulting in the title track; Drake's support was an achingly slow Max Roach-like beat. From this inspired, inspiring starting point, the twosome frolicked through a rich program, McPhee donning tenor and alto saxes, and pocket trumpet, Drake turning momentarily to the frame drum. Each musician contributes an introspective solo track. McPhee at one point plays trumpet into an open gong, which gives him otherworldly overtones, a sort of acoustic version of electric Miles. Drake makes too few records, so anything of his is mandatory; McPhee's been on a roll lately, releasing lots of music, but Keep Going is one not to be missed. --- Corbett vs Dempsey, 2021

One of the towering creative musicians of our time, a master drummer and multiple percussionist, Hamid Drake has anchored inumerable bands. As a hard working player, constantly touring the globe, he's collaborated with most of the major figures in improvised music and contemporary jazz, from David Murray and Peter Brötzmann to Pharoah Sanders and Don Cherry. Along the way, Drake has never had an opportunity to stop and make a solo record. Indeed, he's only performed solo on a few occasions. John Corbett began petitioning Drake to record an unaccompanied session twenty years ago. At last, after the pandemic had (just slightly) slowed down Drake's incessant travel itinerary, a plan was hatched and he entered Experimental Sound Studio during the cold, hard month of December, 2020. With Corbett, Jim Dempsey, and engineer Alex Inglizian as his audience, Drake worked through a vaguely plotted-out blueprint, however after a few months had passed, the drummer was unsatisfied with the result. He returned to the studio in July, 2021, with no pre-planned notion, and this time the Hamid Drake magic was everywhere – perched on his drum-throne, working exclusively at the kit, sometimes plying metallic percussion atop the snare, Drake recorded nine tracks, a cornucopia of rhythms and textures that touch on his love of reggae and funk but retain the openness and buoyancy that have made him such a go-to figure among his peers. In the CD's liner notes, he says: "A dedication in spirit to all those who have influenced, helped, opened, nurtured, shown love for, and cared for me along the way." These include Brötzmann's band Die Like a Dog, longterm percussion pal Adam Rudolph and mentor Fred Anderson, fellow drummers Paul Lovens and Milford Graves, Don and Moki Cherry, Big Black, and others. The record, precisely and soulfully recorded by Inglizian, has the beauty and warmth that always radiate from Drake's sticks, from his person and spirit – deep humanity in the form of an unstoppable engine room. Cover art by Christopher Wool. 1. Dedicated to Die Like a Dog [8:25]2. Dedicated to Adam Rudolph [13:21]3. Dedicated to Don & Moki Cherry [6:06]4. Dedicated to Milford Graves [8:29]5. Dedicated to Paul Lovens [9:14]6. Dedicated to Big Black [7:43]7. Dedicated to Fred Anderson and to the beauty and diversity of Chicago [5:28]8. Dedicated to Lex Hixon (Shaykh Nur) and Shaykha Fariha [8:45]9. Dedicated to Lenn Keller, Brenda Jones, and Calvin Gantt [3:56]Hamid Drake – drum set and percussion Recorded by Alex Inglizian at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, on July 12, 2020. Mixed and mastered by Alex Inglizian with Hamid Drake, Jim Dempsey, and John Corbett at ESS. Cover design and artwork by Christopher Wool. CD design by David Khan-Giordano. Produced by John Corbett and Christopher Wool.CvsDCD088

A grand reunion of sorts in Berlin on the first day of November, 1996. Under the auspices of Free Music Production, Cecil Taylor, the great pianist and one of the premier musical minds of the 20th century, joined forces with his early comrade, drummer Sunny Murray, for a set of improvised duets. Murray was part of Taylor’s important groups starting in 1959, including the trio with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, with which Taylor toured Europe in 1962 and 1963, recording the seminal Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come and Live at the Café Montmartre. On the latter tour, Murray met Albert Ayler when the saxophonist joined Taylor’s group for some concerts; they would go on to record one of the greatest free jazz records in history, Ayler’s Spiritual Unity. Thirty-six years later, Taylor and Murray were back together and better than ever. Never to do things a straightforward manner, Taylor began the concert by inviting eight members of his band to kick things off with an intonation choir, the master himself leading the sound poetry incantation. Taylor and Murray then moved into a 48-minute exchange of energies, peaks and valleys of expressive intensity rolling along, the two veteran improvisors slipping back into sync as if the decades had simply vanished. This extraordinary music has never been publicly released on CD. Gorgeously recorded, with action photos by Dagmar Gebers and a cover painting by Jacqueline Humphries, the music is issued under license from FMP. And yes, the title was all Taylor’s, as if he knew his music would be released during a virus of the same name.   All composition by Cecil Taylor. Recorded in Berlin on November 1, 1996, by Holger Sheuermann. Cover Image: Jacqueline Humphries, Pile, 2008, oil on linen, 80 x 87 inches (Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York). Photographs: Dagmar Gerbers. CD design: David Giordano-Khan. Production: Jost Gerbers. Under licnense from FMP. Exectuive production, CvsD: John Corbett.

What could possibly happen when two ultimate masters of soprano saxophone square off for their only recording of duets?Chirps is the only place to find out. Steve Lacy – the one who planted the flag for soprano saxophone in the ground of modern jazz, who established its iconic status, who devoted himself to the axe with monkish devotion, who brought shakuhachi breath and stairstep melody into its upper-register antics. Evan Parker – arguably the one who pushed the instrument the furthest post-Coltrane, the technical marvel, the polyphonist, the one willing to immerse in the instrument’s harshest environs and find things of radiant beauty. Performed in Berlin at the Haus am Waldsee in July, 1985, it was every bit the chamber concert – super intimate and interactive, gorgeously recorded by FMP’s Jost Gebers in an ideal acoustic room. Rather than alternate between one and the other, Lacy and Parker explore middle-terrain the whole time, perhaps skewing a tad more Lacy’s funky-tuneful direction, becoming a single soprano entity made of fragments of sound sometimes accreting into perfectly imperfect lines. Two long tracks, “Full Scale” and “Relations,” are completed by a final four-minute coda aptly titled “Twittering.” Indeed, the whole program has the joyous interactivity of Paul Klee’s painting “Twittering Machine,” birds aligned on a line, proposing and picking up lines, nothing cruel or mean-spirited, free play all a graceful twitter. This CD reissue restores the original Tomas Schmit design from the initial release on SAJ Records. Licensed directly from FMP. Limited edition of 500 copies. Full Scale (21:01 minutes) Relations (16:30 minutes) Twittering (4:10 minutes) Steve Lacy (soprano saxophone)Evan Parker (soprano saxophone)All music by Steve Lacy and Evan Parker.

Originally released in 1979 as a double-LP on Hat Hut, Stamps was Steve Lacy’s first for the legendary Swiss label, and it remains one of the strongest statements of what he termed the “scratchy seventies.” With the classic lineup of Lacy’s soprano saxophone, Steve Potts on soprano and alto sax, Irene Aebi on cello (and singing on one track), Kent Carter on bass, and Oliver Johnson on drums, the recording catches the band live, performing Lacy’s angular, intervallic compositions, using arrangements that leave the rough patina, rather than buffing things to a smooth shine. This is the first time the important music has been reissued on CD, adding a bonus track, all remastered from the original tapes. The double-disc package sports a facsimile reproduction of the gorgeous artwork by Klaus Baumgärtner, with action photographs from the concerts on the interior. A must for Lacy fans and for anyone interested in creative music. Steve Lacy, soprano saxophone and Japanese bird whistle Steve Potts, alto and soprano saxophone Irene Aebi, cello, violin, voice, bells Kent Carter, bass Oliver Johnson, drums Originally released on hat Hut Records (hat Hut K/L, 1979). Track 4 is previously unreleased. CD 1 recorded by Walter Troxler, August 27, 1977, at Jazz Festival Willisau, Switzerland. CD 2 recorded by Philippe Quinsac, February 22, 1978, at Jazz Au Totem, Paris. Production coordination by Craig Johnson, CjR Productions. Mastered by David Crawford at Masterdisk, New York. Cover art by Klaus Baumgärtner.

A special 2-CD reissue of the hyper-rare El Saturn LP, recorded in 1963, early in the Arkestra's NY period, paired with a full disc of extra material. Loaded with John Gilmore, one of the greatest & rarest slabs of Sun Ra vinyl, on disc for the first time! Recorded March 10, 1963, Choreographer's Workshop, New York City. Remastered from the original tapes by Michael D. Anderson. Design by Sonnenzimmer. Reissue produced by John Corbett and Adam Abraham. 2CD, released 2013 cvsdcd009

Recorded in 1977, the Instant Composers Pool’s Tetterettet is the first classic of the band’s larger incarnations. Assembled out of elements recorded live in Uithoorn, Utrecht, and the band’s home base of Amsterdam, with Misha Mengelberg using a cut-and-paste collage method akin to Teo Macero’swork with Miles Davis, the record features an all star lineup that added three leading lights of free music: bassist Alan Silva and saxophonists John Tchicai and Peter Brötzmann. In this period, Brötzmann made the long train trip from Wuppertal, Germany, to A’dam on a weekly basis to rehearse with ICP, bassist Silva coming in from Paris. Well known for his work in pioneer creative music ensembles such as the New York Art Quartet and the New York Contemporary Five and on John Coltrane’s Ascention, Tchicai was the Paul Desmond of free jazz, with a softer, more subtle phraseology than many of his peers. These international figures joined pianist Mengelberg and drummer Han Bennink – whose ICP co-founder Willem Breuker had broken off to form what would be come his long-time working band, the Kollektief – and their outrageous, hyper-inventive big band. Michel Waiswicz, who invented the crackle box, a user-friendly, portable electronic instrument, is a defining presence on Mengelberg’s multipart “Tetterettet,” and along with the heavyweight outta towners the band includes composer, oboist, and saxophonist Gilius Van Bergeyk, whose sequence of compositions nestle perfectly into Misha’s, Han’s gifted brother Peter Bennink on saxes, trombonist Bert Koppelaar, and cellist Tristan Honsinger, who has continued to work with the ensemble even after Misha’s death in 2017. One of the landmark records of Mengelberg tunes, with classics like “Rumboon” and “Alexander’s Marschbefehel,” Tetterettet presents a program full of musical surprises, intelligence, and ICP’s own brand of uproarious humor. A shaggy masterpiece, available here for the first time as a stand-alone CD, remastered from the original tapes, with Han Bennink’s original cover design and a contemporaneous photo from the archives of Gérard Rouy. 

Okkyung Lee’s is perhaps the most harrowing of the Black Cross Solo Sessions stories.  At the onset of COVID, the cellist was called to travel to Korea to be with her dying father.  The trip was sudden and didn’t allow her to bring her instrument, but once there she was unable to return to New York because of the stringent lockdown.  For months she was stranded without her cello, unable to practice or make any music.  This intense alienation took a long time to lift.  Indeed, even after she made it back to the States, Lee found it impossible to reconnect with the music for a period.  The invitation to make a new solo CD for BCSS inspired her to jump-start her playing and in the process, she has made one of the most profound and beautiful CDs in recent memory, an almost impossible to describe amalgam of string and wood and voice and magic.  Lee does not release many records, so each one is a major event.  A stunning studio production, Na-Reul is that and more, its nine tracks, as Lee puts it, a “raw and direct” response to the traumatic events of 2020 and the turbulent emotions that accompanied it. With liner notes by the artist and artwork and design by Christopher Wool.   Ari [04:00] Drifting [05:08] Mountains [04:11] Mirage [05:00] Burning [03:54] Lorelei [04:08] Wings [03:06] Pisces [03:03] Grey [05:29] Okkyung Lee, cello Cover design and artwork by Christopher Wool. CD design by David Khan-Giordano. Produced by John Corbett and Christopher Wool. CvsDCD082

Recorded at the ICP Jubileum, a festival in Uithoorn, Holland, in 1978, Yi Yole brings together the core of the Instant Composers Pool – pianist Misha Mengelberg and drummer Han Bennink – with legendary South African alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana. Longtime member of the Blue Notes, Pukwana was a beloved figure in European free music after he left South Africa in the mid-sixties and settled in London. There he worked with all of the leading lights of free improvised music, recording extensively with the Brotherhood of Breath and eventually releasing LPs under his own leadership before his untimely passing in 1990 at the age of 51. What the three tracks on Yi Yole make clear is how surprisingly well the Dutch and South African sensibilities fit together, an overall relaxed vibe leading to unforeseen directions in the music. Han Bennink ranges far beyond his drum kit and its metallic add-ons, playing trombone, clarinet, and viola; his collage design for the record, as with all ICP productions, is brilliant and perfectly matched to the music. This is the only time these three prime movers of free music would record as a trio, hitting just at the moment when the Instant Composers Pool was gaining momentum and South African jazz was growing in international stature. Released on ICP, Mengelberg/Bennink’s self-produced label, Yi Yole saw limited distribution and attention in its time, but it remains an absolute classic of improvised music, presented here in all its glory with Bennink’s design, remastered from original tapes, the box of which is reproduced on the interior spread, replete with never-seen hand notations.