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Alister Spence / Tony Buck: Mythographer
by Dan McClenaghan
Duo recordings, no matter what the particular instrumentation, are able to showcase musical mind-melds. Two artists conversing, trading and extrapolating on each other's ideas. Pianist Alister Spence and drummer Tony Buck try the format on for size with Mythographer. This spontaneous, one-day-session recording opens with Dry Wood Talking." It sounds as if the talking is being done with sleigh bells in the beginning, in a tune that unfolds in a searching-for-the-center mode. And Yet She Turns," ...
read moreThe Alister Spence Trio with Ed Kuepper Plus Other New Releases
by Bob Osborne
On this weeks show there is a focus on recent releases. There is also an Australian jazz-rock supergroup just about to embark their first tour, some classic jazz stylings in a modern setting, brand new work from cutting edge duos and exciting releases from Ricardo Pinzon, Yaniv Taubenhouse and Tony Malaby. Playlist Alister Spence Trio with Ed Kuepper Not a Leaf in Any Forest" from Asteroid Ekosystem (Alister Spence Music) 00:00 Cooper-Moore and Stephen Gauci Improvisation Seven" ...
read moreAlister Spence Trio With Ed Kuepper: Asteroid Ekosystem
by Dan McClenaghan
Australian pianist/keyboardist Alister Spencewith his avant-garde credibility established via free-roaming work with his trio and collaborations with pianist/composer/bandleader Satoko Fujiitakes another let's-see-what-happens exploratory step in a collaboration with guitarist Ed Kuepper on the double CD outing, Asteroid Ekosystems, a sonic trek into the extraterrestrial area of space debris between Mars and Jupiter. Or not. Maybe the title was tagged on, after the two day recording sessions, after an off-the-cuff" show in Sydney in March of 2018. Nevertheless, that ...
read moreAlister Spence: Whirlpool
by Karl Ackermann
Australian jazz pianist and composer Alister Spence has led his own trio for twenty years, picking up regional ARIA best jazz album nominations for Flux (2003), and Mercury (2006), both on the Rufus label. Spence has led the ensembles Clarion Fracture Zone and Wanderlust and was an early member of the Australian Art Orchestra. He is best known in the U.S. as a member of Scottish saxophonist Raymond MacDonald's International Big Band, and for his adventurous work with Satoko Fujii. ...
read moreSensaround: Heart/Noise
by Karl Ackermann
Sensaround is an electro-acoustic trio of Australian and Scottish lineage, co-led by the familiar names of Alister Spence and Raymond MacDonald and the less recognized Shoeb Ahmed. Heart/Noise is the group's third release following the 2014 Isotropes (hellosQuare recordings). The music defies categorization, combining--as the musicians describe it--"jazz ambience, ghostly dub, and post-punk experiments...." It is not likely to conjure up associations with anything else in or around the periphery of jazz. A composer, keyboardist and effects artist, ...
read moreAlister Spence & Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe: Imagine Meeting You Here
by Alberto Bazzurro
Un bell'organico composto da musicisti in orbita-Satoko Fujii (a partire dal marito e compagno di mille battaglie musicali Natsuki Tamura) rilegge pagine orchestrali frutto della vis compositiva dell'australiano Alister Spence, con cui la pianista nipponica ha ripetutamente collaborato in tempi più o meno recenti (il loro primo incontro risale al 2007). L'impianto èper così diremisto, nel senso che a passaggi corali nitidamente predeterminati si alternano aree improvvisative piuttosto libere (non il classico assolo sopra un dato tessuto ...
read moreBurning Ghosts, Alister Spence and More
by Maurice Hogue
Expat bassist Mike Parker is living in Poland now and making great music with his Trio Theory. This episode kicks off with a pair of tunes from Shiny Objects, Dark Places, his latest album. You'll also hear Burning Ghosts with their musical expression of anger and distaste for the current state of American politics. The second hour features Australia's Alister Spence continued collaboration with the great Satoko Fujii, conducting her Orchestra Kobe through a set of distinctly original music. The ...
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