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Kevin Ray
For ten years he played regularly with Hill and continued to expand his horizons by performing and recording with other outstanding artists such as John Hicks, Oliver Lake, Greg Osby, John Stubblefield, Ray Anderson, Elliott Sharp, Hamiet Bluiett, Nels Cline, Ursula Oppens, Ken Peplowski, J.D. Allen, and Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre. At the present time, he is a member of several cooperative ensembles, such as 10³²K, with Frank Lacy and Andrew Drury; BLRZ, with Bobby Zankel, Kelvyn Bell and Tony Lewis; and Shipp/Lowe/Cleaver/Ray with Matthew Shipp, Allen Lowe and Gerald Cleaver.
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East Axis: No Subject
by Karl Ackermann
Pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist Kevin Ray, and drummer Gerald Cleaver return for No Subject, the sophomore release from the quartet East Axis. One point on the axis has changed with the journeyman, multi-reedist Scott Robinson replacing saxophonist Allen Lowe. Robinson is a veteran of many prestigious and diverse groups including the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, Maria Schneider's orchestra, Ron Carter's Great Big Band, and the Joe Lovano Nonet. While not an obvious choice in the company of top-tier avant-gardists, Robinson ...
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by Mike Jurkovic
As multi-reedist Scott Robinson, (Maria Schneider, Roscoe Mitchell) takes the horn chair from Allen Lowe, all is delivered and then some on No Subject, the second, reason-defying release from chameleonic improvisers pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist Kevin Ray, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Turning to shorter forms and themes than the three lengthy group-thinks which determined 2021's restless narrative Cool With That (ESP), each member of East Axis integrally steers the protean charge to creation via his own curious instinct and will. ...
read moreEast Axis: Cool With That
by Karl Ackermann
Free improvisation has a special place in a polarized world. It accepts and rejects jazz culture in an ebb and flow of unprompted ideas. On the album Cool With That we get the essence of the music's history from the inside, out. The quartet East Axis is new in name but the unit has been in place for several years and its members are well-known. Pianist Matthew Shipp, saxophonist Allen Lowe, bassist Kevin Ray and drummer Gerald Cleaver are at ...
read moreFrom Aimless to Activist, Bassist Kevin Ray Lands on Higher Ground
by Karl Ackermann
Bassist Kevin Ray has recorded or played with John Stubblefield, Oliver Lake, Greg Osby, Andrew Hill, Marty Ehrlich, Elliott Sharp, John Hicks, Hamiet Bluiett and Nels Cline. Ray has performed in the premieres of works by Joe McPhee, Leroy Jenkins and others. The bassist co-leads the adventurous trio 10³²K's with trombonist/trumpeter Frank Lacy, percussionist Andrew Drury and briefly, the late Roswell Rudd. The group, to date, has issued two releases, That Which is Planted (Passin' Thru Records, 2014) The Law ...
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