Superb extended live recording made at the Jazzfest Trondheim - incredible reed technique and concept from Butcher, anchored by Duch's flexible bass work.
"I first heard John Butcher in 2001 playing duos with Rhodri Davies and Derek Bailey on the CD Vortices and Angels. I was completely mesmerized, particularly by the two tracks in the end with John and Rhodri playing together. Vortices and Angels is still among my favourite albums. Trinity, AMM with John Butcher, being another one. Needless to say, playing with John at Trondelag Senter for Samtidskunst in my hometown Trondheim in May 2015 during Jazzfest, was a special occasion for me. This is a recording from that concert and apart from omitting some noises in the beginning, it is unedited."- Michael Duch
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John Butcher / saxophones
Michael Duch / contrabass
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Recorded live at the Jazzfest Trondheim, Trondelag Senter for Samtidskunst Jonas Krossli on May 9th, 2015.
Available as 320k MP3 or 24bit FLAC
Tracklisting:
1. Fjordgata - 44:34
Butcher is well known as a saxophonist who attempts to engage with the uniqueness of time and place. His music ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and unusual acoustics. Since the early 80s he has collaborated with hundreds of musicians – including Derek Bailey, Rhodri Davies, Andy Moor (EX), Phil Minton, Christian Marclay, Eddie Prevost, John Stevens’ SME, Gino Robair, Polwechsel, Mark Sanders, John Tilbury, and Okkyung Lee.
Alongside long term projects he values occasional encounters; from large groups such as the EX Orkestra & Butch Morris’ “London Skyscraper”, to duo concerts with Fred Frith, Akio Suzuki, Paal Nilssen-Love, Keiji Haino, David Toop, Otomo Yoshihide, Sophie Agnel and Matthew Shipp.
Recent compositions include “Penny Wands” for Futurist Intonarumori, two HCMF commissions for his own groups, “Good Liquor Caused my Heart for to Sing” for the London Sinfonietta and “Tarab Cuts”, a response to recordings of early Arabic classical music which was shortlisted for a 2014 British Composer’s Award.
“English saxophonist John Butcher may be among the world’s most influential musicians, operating at the cutting-edge of improvisatory practice since the ‘80s. Whenever an acoustic musician starts to sound like a bank of oscillators, a tropical forest, a brook or an insect factory, Butcher’s influence is likely nearby.” – New York City Jazz Record.
Michael Francis Duch (Trondheim, 1978) is a Norwegian bass player and Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He has been involved in more than 50 recordings released in various formats, including two solo albums, and has played concerts in Europe, Asia and North America.
Michael Francis Duch plays in a trio with Rhodri Davies and John Tilbury, the rockband Dog & Sky, the improvquartet LEMUR with Bjørnar Habbestad, Hild Sofie Tafjord and Lene Grenager and various other constellations. Ad Hoc collaborations include Pauline Oliveros, Mats Gustafsson, Christian Wolff, Tony Conrad, Joëlle Léandre, amongst others.
He completed his project “Free Improvisation – Method and Genre: Artistic Research in Free Improvisation and Improvisation in Experimental Music” as a research-fellow at NTNU late October 2010.
