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It's Possible

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Label: VoxLox
Released: 2008
Views: 1,698

Tracks

It's Possible; Frogs; Lonely Woman; Steve Lacy Suite: Drips, Rips, IPS bug on a stick), P.S.; Eclipse; Around the Block; Deep River; Highway; Double Quarter; Secret Love; Sirens; Peace Prayer.

Personnel

Alex Coke

woodwinds

Tina Marsh

vocals

Steven Feld

bass, acoustic

Additional Personnel / Information

Alex Coke: flute, bass flute, piccolo, tenor saxophone, kaen, toys; Tina Marsh: voice, toys; Steve Feld: ashiwa bass box, toys.

Album Description

It's Possible is a CD of duos and trios featuring Alex Coke on flute, bass flute, piccolo, tenor sax, kaen, and toys, with Tina Marsh, voice, toys and Steve Feld, ashiwa bass box, and toys. Alex is an original member of Austin's Creative Opportunity Orchestra, and Tina was, until her untimely passing, its vocalist and Artistic Director. Alex and Tina collaborated in the large group setting with CO2 for many years, and also recorded in smaller groups formats, most recently as New Texas Swing. Here they are heard for the first time in intimate duos on classic tunes like Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman, Harry T.Burleigh's spiritual Deep River, and Charles Mingus‚ Eclipse. The CD also features Alex playing duos with Steve Feld, who performs on a West African bass mbira called ashiwa. In addition to the duos with Tina and Steve, there are several trio pieces, some involving innovative studio techniques, recordings of improvisations to playback of ambient tracks, like African frogs, a Japanese water zither, rainforest birds, and the tolling of the World Peace Bell. A special feature is a suite of four pieces dedicated to the late soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, an inspiring friend and model of integrity in the arena of musical improvisation and collaboration. A note from Alex Coke about IT'S POSSIBLE Since moving back to Austin from Amsterdam in 2000 Tina and I have been getting together on a weekly basis. I felt it was time to have a CD that represented what we'd been exploring. Our wide ranging eclectic tastes are represented on the CD by pieces like Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman, Harry T.Burleigh's classic spiritual Deep River as well as a suite dedicated to Steve Lacy and Peace Prayer (an improvisation accompanied by the tolling of the World Peace Bell). The tile track, It's Possible, is an improvisation with text adapted by Tina from a poem of Antonio Machado. Last year a trip to the National Flute Association in Albuquerque coincided with a recording session with our friend Steve Feld and Accra Train Station. Steve had recently begun studying ashiwa (something like a bass kalimba) and I thought it would be a great addition to what Tina and I were doing. The ashiwa functions both melodically and percussively. It's also able to simultaneously evoke ancient and modern feelings. For the CD we use various formations of duos and trios. The CD is dedicated to Bob Paredes. Bob was part of a regular improvisational circle in Austin in the late 1980's that also included me, Tina and Steve, and recorded with us on Leadbelly Legacy Band's Out On The Western Plains. (Originally released in 1988, on vinyl and cassette, as Daagnim17 and reissued on CD as Postout 1999 A.) In those years Bob and I had several discussions about recording while listening to and then removing ambient sounds. I loved his compositional ideas about the nature and usage of overdubs and studio headphone monitoring. I've used some of his techniques throughout the recording. The CD also reunites us with original CO2 member Rock Savage who has done the artwork and design.

Review

• It's Possible by Elliott Simon

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