Jazz Articles

James Choice Orchestra: Live At Moers

by Nic Jones
February 27, 2008

Arguably one of the first concerns arising from any 23-piece ensemble is the sheer number of participants. In the case of the James Choice Orchestra, however, the issue of unwieldiness doesn't arise. The depth of compositional touch is such that it surmounts such a problem and the result is music of great variety and timbre.

These points are arguably best exemplified by Frank Gratkowski's “Choice III" where the impression is of the ensemble being broken down into small, ...

Wolfgang Fuchs - Thomas Lehn - Fabrizio Spera: Lingua

by Glenn Astarita
September 1, 2001

This newly released production features a compilation of live material recorded by multi-woodwind ace, Wolfgang Fuchs and notable proponent of the analogue synthesizer, Thomas Lehn along with Italian drummer/electronics performer, Fabrizio Spera. Essentially, these revered experimentalists embark upon a series of slippery themes, that weave in and out of existence amid multi-layered three-way dialogue consisting of Fuch’s micro-passages, Spera’s rumbling, odd-metered percussion work and Lehn’s subtly executed 70’s Sci-Fi like subliminal backdrops. At times, the trio engages in verbose expressionism, ...