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Jordina Millà and Barry Guy: Live In Munich
by Mike Jurkovic
There is an elusive, impossible logic to Live In Munich, an album that could sound so much like so many before it. But it does not. Because the music that roils tidal between Catalan pianist Jordina Millà and British bassist Barry Guy on their debut concert performance may be more the sound of creation than music as listeners have come to comfortably conceive it. Categorically ECM recordings contain creative fire and brimstone, symphonic contours, minimalist patina, and concepts ...
Continue ReadingIzumi Kimura, Barry Guy, Gerry Hemingway: Six Hands Open As One
by Ian Patterson
It should come as no surprise that three of contemporary music's great improvisers should obliterate the boundaries between composed and improvised music. This is the second collaboration between pianist Izumi Kimura, double bassist Barry Guy and drummer/percussionist Gerry Hemingway following Illuminated Silence (Fundacja Sluchaj, 2019), a visceral live document where improvisation played out within conceptual compositional frameworks. Six Hands As One charts a similar course, the trio responding to a range of stimuli including the natural elements, poetry and war. ...
Continue ReadingOliver Schwerdt: Fucking Ballads
by Glenn Astarita
Pianist Oliver Schwerdt's Fucking Ballads is not just an album title; it is a declaration of sonic defiance, a rallying cry for those who dare to challenge the status quo. The juxtaposition of the genteel term “ballads" with the bold expletive “fucking" sets the stage for a musical escapade that is as cheeky as it is profound. From the opening notes of the album, Schwerdt and his ensemble are on a mission to disrupt the conventions of jazz. ...
Continue ReadingEvan Parker - Barry Guy: So It Goes
by John Sharpe
Two masters who have invented a (the?) lexicon for their instruments meet on So It Goes. British saxophonist Evan Parker and his compatriot bassist Barry Guy should need no introduction to anyone interested in European free improvisation. Both active since the 1970s, they remain vital forces even with as they both move into their eighth decade. Their association was formalized in 1980 with the inception of the long running trio completed by drummer Paul Lytton. But they have also appeared ...
Continue ReadingBarry Guy Blue Shroud Band: all this this here
by John Sharpe
Bassist and composer Barry Guy combines a number of his passions on All This This Here in a stunning act of synthesis. For the third major work for his Blue Shroud Band, following its eponymous debut (Intakt, 2016) and Odes And Meditations For Cecil Taylor (Not Two, 2018), Guy sets to music Nobel winning playwright Samuel Beckett's last poem What Is The Word (in two versions, both the original French and the English translation, which bookend the program).
Continue ReadingGenius Loci 2023
by Neri Pollastri
Genius Loci 2023 Firenze Complesso Monumentale di Santa Croce 28-30.9.2023 Come ormai accade da sei anni, gli splendidi e suggestivi spazi che circondano la Chiesa fiorentina di Santa Croce --nella quale, come noto, si trovano le spoglie di numerosi artisti e personaggi storici--si sono aperti per ospitare Genius Loci, due giorni di incontri, attività e spettacoli aperti al pubblico, con il contributo, oltre che dell'Opera di Santa Croce, del Comune di Firenze, di associazioni ...
Continue ReadingBarry Guy: Irvin's Comet
by John Sharpe
Unaccompanied might just be the best format in which to appreciate British bassist Barry Guy's playing. This way there are no distractions, no other virtuosi vying for attention. That is often an issue. Although his discography contains occasional solo dates, they are far outnumbered by the entries for the trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lytton, other groups and ad hoc meetings. Irvin's Comet, available as an LP or download, helps reduce the deficit by presenting six solo ...
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