Noah Rosen / Alan Siva: O.I.L. (Orchestrated Improvised Lives)

Alan Silva is one of the last true heroes of free jazz and improvised music. He was at the right place, at the right time with his own powerful sound. He played, while still playing the double bass, on some of the formative recordings of the forefathers of the sixties free jazz as Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, {[Andrew Hill}} and many others. Later on his own Celestrial Communication Orchestra and Sound Visions Orchestra, when he began to explore the sound of synthesizers, he assembled and united many of the leading figures in today's music—Anthony Braxton, William Parker, members of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Joe Morris and others.

Silva will celebrate his 75th anniversary on January 2014. The album O.I.L. (Orchestrated Improvised Lives) marks the beginning of this celebration. It is a recording of Silva on orchestral synthesizer improvising with pianist Noah Rosen / Alan Siva, Brooklyn-native and a long- time resident of Paris (as Silva), a former student of Hill And Dixon.

The live, free improvised recording was done in November 2011 and April 2012. Rosen and Silva act as abstract painters, laying broad sweeps of concrete sounds, playing with massive orchestral textures, sudden changes of energy, colors, pulses and timbral depth. There are no clear structures in the three free-form improvisations tough the improvisations eventually gravitate unto distinct yet loose form and atmosphere. The focus is on deep listening, tight and supportive interplay, intense and nuanced exploration, the orchestral options, and patient and organic sound-oriented progression.

The two create their own highly personal sonic universe. Silva's sonic vocabulary is always deep and fresh, accessible even with its otherworldly sounds and his playing is opinionated but free from any sonic attachments. Rosen's piano playing highlights the sense of space that Silva's synthesizer radiates but at times anchors Silva's flights with almost blues-based lines.

Impressive demonstration of two free-minded masters in direct action.