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Jazz Articles about Dave Rempis
Rempis / Abrams / Ra + Jim Baker: Scylla
by Mark Corroto
Avreeayl Ra sets the tone for this entire live set as his voice and mbira open Scylla, “this is for all the survivors." According to Greek mythology Scylla was a beautiful woman who turned into a monster with four eyes and six long snaky necks with heads, each containing three rows of shark's teeth and 12 tentacle legs plus six dog's heads wrapped her waist. Recorded deep into the Covid-19 pandemic, in July 2021, at Chicago's Elastic Arts, one would ...
Continue ReadingDave Rempis: Chrysopoeia
by John Sharpe
Recorded at Krakow's legendary Alchemia just two days before Znachki Stilyag (Aerophonic Records, 2020), on the same European tour, the power trio Ballister comprising saxophonist Dave Rempis, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, demonstrates an astonishing level of consistency in terms of both energy and excellence. Chrysopoeia constitutes the triumvirate's tenth release over some dozen years of existence, one which confirms that time and familiarity yield multiple benefits. While two pieces well in excess of the 20-minute ...
Continue ReadingThe Gathering—Roots & Branches of Los Angeles Jazz, Survival Unit II & Hot Heroes
by Maurice Hogue
With only one opportunity left to program some music to recognize Black History Month, I decided to dedicate the last hour music by some of the great Black musicians making their own history (Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, Wadada Leo Smith and Graham Haynes & Oliver Lake of OGJB) and The Gathering: Roots And Branches of Los Angeles Jazz, an organization carrying on the work and ideas of Horace Tapscott and creating an outlet in L.A. for Black music and community. ...
Continue ReadingDave Rempis / Elizabeth Harnik / Michael Zerang: Astragaloi
by Mark Corroto
Sometimes listening to free improvisational music is, truth be told, an act of social anthropology. Who is making music? How is the combination of individual instruments configured? Where are the musicians from? Maybe more significant, how has this musical society developed? Astragaloi from the trio of Dave Rempis, Elizabeth Harnik, and Michael Zerang could be a perfect study for scholars. It is Chicago (Rempis and Zerang) meets Graz, Austria (Harnik), but maybe more important, it is the evolution of the ...
Continue ReadingDave Rempis' Percussion Quartet: Sud Des Alpes
by John Sharpe
Recorded live in Geneva during the group's 15th Anniversary tour, Sud Des Alpes is the tenth outing from Chicago-based saxophonist Dave Rempis' Percussion Quartet. The band is one of his longest established outlets, boasting a consistent membership, with the drum stools occupied by Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly since the first album in 2005, and just one bassist prior to current incumbent Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. More to the point, they continue to find new avenues to explore within their preferred ...
Continue ReadingDave Rempis: The Covid Tapes
by John Sharpe
Like many during the pandemic, Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis turned to novel outlets for his artistic expression. Some fine examples of that output are captured on the double album The Covid Tapes, which pleasingly alternates six unaccompanied performances from the practice room (of between 3 and 7 minutes), with four outdoor live outings (of between 16 and 22 minutes) in trio or duet with a range of regular Windy City collaborators, dating from May to September 2020. ...
Continue ReadingKUZU: All Your Ghosts In One Corner
by Mark Corroto
The edge in which the trio Kuzu lays down the five live tracks on All Your Ghosts In One Corner is sharpened by an impending sense of foreboding that accompanied (and still accompanies) the COVID-19 pandemic. Recorded at the end of a tour in March 2020, on the eve of our social isolation with clubs and concert venues soon shuttered, the trio delivers a truly Herculean set of music. Formed in 2017, Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis invited the ...
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