Bennu, the first duo recording by saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Avreeayl Ra, takes its name from an avian Egyptian divinity that created itself and also helped bring the world into being. It’s a fitting title for a completely improvised performance, especially one that ended the longest stretch without a gig that either had endured […]
Tag: free-jazz
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Chicago squares off against New York City on the fourth volume of Mars Williams’s Ayler Xmas project
Among the myriad injuries inflicted upon Americans by COVID-19 (though admittedly one of the mildest) is the impossibility of attending your favorite holiday concert. For the past dozen years, Chicago-based saxophonist Mars Williams has hosted a unique variation on that seasonal tradition. Each December he convenes Witches & Devils, his combo devoted to the music […]
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With Swirling, the Sun Ra Arkestra wills a better world into existence
“The satellites are spinning / A better day is breaking / Great happiness is pending / The planet Earth’s awakening.” The first lyrics on the Sun Ra Arkestra’s long-awaited Swirling (Strut), sung by Tara Middleton, sound like a dispatch from a world infinitely more promising than our own. That dogged optimism carries the entire studio […]
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D.C. progressive jazz duo Blacks’ Myths find the light in harsh noise
Long before drummer Warren G. “Trae” Crudup III and bassist Luke Stewart launched noisy free-jazz duo Blacks’ Myths in 2018, they backed celebrated saxophonist James Brandon Lewis as the rhythm section in his trio. They’ve also enmeshed themselves in D.C.’s jazz scene individually: Crudup performs with a slew of scene fixtures, including saxophonist Brian Settles […]
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The 29th annual solstice concerts offer a yearly return or a new annual tradition
I have to admit, I literally slept on going to Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake’s winter solstice concerts for the first 27 years (though granted, I was only 17 when the first one happened). Out-of-town friends even crashed at my pad to attend the early-morning shows, but as a former night owl, I always thought […]
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Saxophonist Joe Daley helped pioneer free jazz in the late 50s
Joe Daley cut a live trio album at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1963 that became an early entry in the free-jazz canon.
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Veteran multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee sounds as fresh as ever with Universal Indians
“Wanted” is a simmering dose of free improv from their recent collaborative album Skullduggery.
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The debut album of brilliant tenor saxophonist David S. Ware is back in print
Birth of a Being, David S. Ware’s blazing 1977 recording with Apogee, has been reissued by Aum Fidelity.
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Aggressive sax-drum duos Dead Neanderthals and Burning Tree play Elastic
Spill-off from the Utech Records Fest in Milwaukee benefits Chicago Sunday evening
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An early recording of Europe’s mighty improvising group the Schlippenbach Trio emerges
A new release presents the group’s earliest recordings from April of 1972.
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He’s back: Weasel Walter plays Chicago/RIP Kenny Wheeler
The former Chicagoan plays Township with his band Cellular Chaos.
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Robin Thicke’s morbidly fascinating Paula and 15 more record reviews
This month’s release roundup includes White Lung’s witchy two-minute mantras, Monarch’s crawling tectonic doom, and Sir Michael Rocks’s bleakly sunny party rap.
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Reader’s Agenda Tue 5/6: Stages, Sights & Sounds, First Tuesdays with Mick and Ben, and Nels Cline Singers
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Tuesday, May 6
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Earl Sweatshirt’s humane, heartbreaking Doris and 14 more record reviews
Earl Sweatshirt’s humane, heartbreaking Doris and 14 more record reviews
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Delmark salvages a classic album from Roscoe Mitchell
Delmark Records’ acquisition of the Sackville label begins to bear fruit with the reissue of a classic Roscoe Mitchell album.