Schanzer/Speach with Guests: Live in Brooklyn 1992-2002

Recorded between 1992 and 2002 at Brooklyn landmarks like the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Live in Brooklyn 1992—2002 serves as a crucial historical document of a fertile, pre-gentrification avant-garde movement. The sprawling two-CD retrospective captures guitarist Jeffrey Schanzer and pianist Bernadette Speach acting as host-collaborators, juxtaposing intimate duo work with expansive ensemble explorations alongside an extraordinary lineup of improvisational icons.

Recorded in June 1992, "Rain Flowers, Vertical Spears and Diamond Sunrays" is a 24-minute centerpiece featuring guest visionary Wadada Leo Smith. Moving fluidly between trumpet, koto, mbira, harmonica, and wooden flute, Smith crafts a meditative, multi-instrumental ecosystem. Rather than leaning on standard duo accompaniment, Schanzer and Speach shape dynamic, spatial architecture around his ideas. Speach's unexpected inclusion of toy piano brings a delicate, ethereal contrast to Smith's austere brass lines, while Schanzer's guitar work floats between abstract textures and grounding harmony to give the improvisation a patient narrative arc. It is a stunning, ancient-meets-futuristic sonic ritual that stands out as an absolute highlight of Disc 1.