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Phillip Golub / Lesley Mok: Dream Brigade
by John Sharpe
Pianist Phillip Golub and drummer Lesley Mok explore the porous boundaries between form and freedom on their exploratory debut as Dream Brigade, blending spontaneous composition with intuitive interplay in a wide-ranging program of six spontaneous inventions and two dives into the Great American Songbook. An in-demand side person, Mok can be heard in the blue chip ensembles of pianist Myra Melford and reedist Anna Webber, as well as leading the group The Living Collection. Golub's resume includes principals ...
Continue ReadingMyra Melford's Fire And Water Quintet: Hear The Light Singing
by John Sharpe
Pianist Myra Melford's blue chip Fire And Water quintet assuredly sidesteps second album syndrome. Hear The Light Singing stands very much the equal of the band's superlative eponymous debut. The only change is that Lesley Mok takes Susie Ibarra's place behind the trapset, otherwise the triumvirate completing the starry squad remains Ingrid Laubrock on saxophones, Tomeka Reid on cello and Mary Halvorson on guitar. In the liners Melford explains that the five pieces titled “Insertions" here were ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Shimmer Wince
by John Sharpe
There is often an underlying rigor to the work of Canadian saxophonist and flautist Anna Webber, be that inspiration from the digital world on Binary (Skirl, 2016), her investigation of multiphonic intervals on Idiom (Pi, 2021) or contemporary classical percussion repertoire on Clockwise (Pi, 2020). On Shimmer Wince, she derives her compositions from her study of Just Intonation, a system which many believe offers a more “pure" way of tuning and allows greater timbral and sonic possibilities ...
Continue ReadingExciting New Releases From Looty Trio, Mok, Brennan, And More
by Bob Osborne
On this edition of the show we hear contemporary sounds from Looty Trio, Lesley Mok, Patrick Brennan, Rodrigo Amado, Richard Nelson Makrokosmos Orchestra, Wendell Harrison Tribe, Christoph Stiefel, Sumo, and Marmota, In addition there are classic tracks from Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Looty Trio “Boxer Rebellion" from Boxer Rebellion (Aut Records) 00:54 Lesley Mok “quite a spectacular dusk" from The Living Collection (American Dreams) 06:41 patrick brennan s0nic 0penings “tilting curvaceous ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Shimmer Wince
by Mark Corroto
Some mechanical wristwatches have clear faces which allow the owner to observe the inner workings of the marvelous object. It is a wonder just how the timepiece utilizes its mainspring and gear train to drive the harmonic oscillator which keeps near perfect time. The same can be said of composer, saxophonist and flautist Anna Webber's investigation into unique tunings using the overtone series known as Just Intonation (JI). It is an ancient system based on the natural vibration of physical ...
Continue ReadingLesley Mok, M.E.B., Gebhard Ullmann & Andre Carvalho
by Maurice Hogue
This edition could be compared to a tasting menu at some hip London restaurant--a taste of this, a taste of that. Sampled this time around are new releases from Portuguese label Clean Feed guitarist Andre Carvalho and the Space Quartet), Italian band Mr. Noe, new English ensemble Uroboro, saxophonist Kevin Sun's The Depths Of Memory, German multi-reedist Gebhard Ullmann & Das Kondensat, guitarist Marc Ducret & Quartet , drummer Lesley Mok with a fascinating ensemble, the Danny Fox Trio, and ...
Continue ReadingLesley Mok: The Living Collection
by Hrayr Attarian
Percussionist and composer Lesley Mok is a restless explorer who has also been called a sound artist. However, that designation does not give a full picture of her creative vision. Mok deftly maintains the singular balance between the notated and the improvised as well as abstraction and accessibility, thus breaking out of narrow genreist designations, to make music which is urgently relevant. All this and more is clearly demonstrated on her debut as a leader, the provocative The Living Collection. ...
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