John Butcher & Michael Duch – Fjordgata

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

John Butcher

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 artists – including Derek Bailey, Rhodri Davies, Andy Moor, Phil Minton, Christian Marclay, Eddie Prévost, Magda Mayas, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Sophie Agnel, Gino Robair, Mark Sanders, John Tilbury, Okkyung Lee, John Edwards, Chris Corsano, Polwechsel and Steve Beresford.

Alongside long term projects he values occasional encounters; from large groups such as the WDR Sinfonieorchester & Butch Morris’ “London Skyscraper”, to duo concerts with Joe McPhee, Fred Frith, Akio Suzuki, Paal Nilssen-Love, Keiji Haino, David Toop, Angharad Davies, Otomo Yoshihide and Matthew Shipp.

Recent compositions include “Penny Wands” for Futurist Intonarumori, three 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 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 Duch

Michael Francis Duch (1978) was born and raised in Trondheim, Norway, and plays the double bass. He completed his project “Free Improvisation – Method and Genre” as research-fellow at the University of Trondheim (NTNU) late October 2010, where he has been doing research on Free Improvisation and the use of Improvisation in Experimental Music. Duch has been involved in around 70 recordings released in various formats, and has played solo-concerts various places in Norway and Sweden, and also Reykjavik, Athens, Madrid, Vienna, Glasgow, Huddersfield and London. Michael Francis Duch plays in a trio with Rhodri Davies and John Tilbury, the improvquartet LEMUR with Bjørnar Habbestad, Hild Sofie Tafjord and Lene Grenager and various other constellations. Other collaborations include Pauline Oliveros, Mats Gustafsson, AMM, Christian Wolff, Tony Conrad, Joëlle Léandre, amongst others.