Extraordinary music usually results when extraordinary musicians like Nels Cline and Ben Monder step out of their comfort zones and put themselves in challenging situations that gives them no other out but to lean on their innate sense of creativity.
Matthew Shipp and William Parker’s ‘Re-Union’ is a set of improv pieces that reveals the true extent of unity of purpose and direction that comes from more than three decades of playing together in nearly every imaginable setting.
Matt Mitchell and Kate Gentile’s “for teens,” “spinal thought” and “peripheral drome” are spare conceptions with rich detail filled in on the fly from the assembled collection of improvisation masters.
The Ivo Perelman Trio’s ‘Garden of Jewels’ is a feast of ear food delivered with passion, fearlessness and a unity of purpose.
Mat Walerian’s latest Okuden project is his most ambitious yet and when you understand the sweeping, cutting-edge careers of his sidemen, you see an artist whose ambitions matches theirs.
A meeting of artists who do not impose any rules on themselves is bound to produce music that dares to be dazzling in ways not previously heard, and that’s just what ‘Dust of Light/Ears Drawing Sounds’ by Ivo Perelman and Pascal Marzan delivers.
Tim Berne’s sax/piano duet with Matt Mitchell has a certain intimacy not quite felt on other projects.
Jason Stein and Adam Shead’s ‘Synaptic Atlas’ is not at all about notes and charts but rather, making a metaphysical connection and exchange through their instruments.
Michael Bisio has such a keen sense of intuition that he can improvise with anyone. Here, he seeks out a new challenge with an unlikely partner in Allen Shawn.
