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Kuzu: Hiljaisuus
Chicago-based saxophonist Dave Rempis' openness to collaboration yields new partnerships at an astounding rate. He played in separate duos with both guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer Tyler Damon during his 2017 solo tour of the USA. The drummer and guitarist are already an established pairing, so perhaps it was inevitable that Rempis would reunite with both, the resultant threesome being given the name Kuzu. Raised in Bhutan, but based in North Carolina, Dorji has shown a determination to ...
read moreDave Rempis / Brandon Lopez / Ryan Packard: The Early Bird Gets
The trio of saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drummer Ryan Packard have released their debut recording The Early Bird Gets without devising a name for the trio. Packard, like his fellow Chicagoan Tim Daisy, is a percussionist, composer, and sound artist. He is a member of Rempis' Chicago-based Gunwale, along with Albert Wildeman. With the addition of Lopez, one of the brightest stars in New York's free jazz today (John Dikeman, Ivo Perelman, Nate Wooley, Gerald Cleaver), the ...
read moreDave Rempis: Icoci
In avant jazz, as in other artistic endeavors, talent alone isn't enough. Success requires a large slice of luck too. Chicago-based reedman Dave Rempis knows that as well as anyone. As a consequence he works hard at making his own luck: he concentrates on running a string of regular outfits; assembles a network of supportive venues; makes connections between players across the States and abroad; and documents the resulting outcomes. Icoci represents the scorching debut of a ...
read moreDave Rempis: Lattice
Since the AACM pioneered solo instrumental performance it has become a rite of passage for most creative musicians. In some ways the surprise is that saxophonist Dave Rempis, as one of the most fluent improvisers of his generation, has waited until now to record his first unaccompanied recital. That he rises to the challenge should be less of a surprise. Rempis initially came to prominence in the Vandermark 5 serving as a compelling foil to the leader, but ...
read moreThe Rempis Percussion Quartet: Cochonnerie
An unchanged line up on the eighth release from saxophonist Dave Rempis' Percussion Quartet signals a generous helping of rowdy energy and inspired oratory. As the name implies, the drums loom large with two distinctive practitioners in Tim Daisy on the left and Frank Rosaly on the right well separated in the mix (from information supplied by Rempis, not on the sleeve), fuelling the leader's stratospheric flights. Bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, well-known as one third of The Thing and a ...
read moreDave Rempis: Lattice
I recall an interview with a lionized baby boomer saxophonist, who told the story of listening to side one, and only side one, of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1965). He was reluctant to turn the LP over (this was in the pre-digital era), thinking side two could never match the majesty of “Acknowledgement" and “Resolution." One could have a similar experience with track one of saxophonist Dave Rempis' Lattice. His six-minute take on Billy Strayhorn's “A Flower Is ...
read moreDave Rempis/Joshua Abrams/Avreeayl Ra + Jim Baker: Perihelion
These days, it's a luxury to have a working jazz band. It's funny to think in those terms, isn't it? Sure, that was a nice record, you think. But modern musicians, particularly jazz musician often play in multiple ensembles, in theatre productions, teach music lessons privately, and curate local music series. These things are often accomplished after their day jobs. So, yes, it is a luxury to have a working jazz band. Saxophonist Dave Rempis has several working ...
read moreChicago Reed Quartet: Western Automatic
After a heyday in the late 1970s which saw the World Saxophone Quartet, ROVA and the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, to list but three of the more celebrated, strutting their stuff, the format has undergone a hiatus more recently. However it remains firmly established as an instrumental configuration and perhaps the only surprise is that it has taken so long for a Chicago version to emerge. That deficit has been filled by saxophonist Dave Rempis, who has convened a foursome ...
read moreDave Rempis: Zen Master
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The best application of philosophy to improvised music is the Chinese concept of “wu-wei." The best translation of this is “no trying." Many listeners have the false impression that it takes a sophisticated ear or at least years of listening to “get" improvised music. Actually, the opposite is true. The key is wu-wei or the art of trying not to try. That's why children effortlessly absorb and assimilate free jazz; they simply have no blocks to the spontaneity of the ...
read moreWooley - Rempis - Niggenkemper - Corsano: From Wolves To Whales
Heavy-duty improvisers, saxophonist Dave Rempis and trumpeter Nate Wooley comprise a union of Chicago and New York artists who share a similar vision. Thus, From Wolves To Whales marks the quartet's debut album. As anticipated, the musicians delve deep into the outside schema of jazz amid a largely aggressive mode of attack. With hustling cadences, energized soloing and all the customary trimmings, the band acutely morphs the improv platform with semi-structured song-forms. And while the free jazz connotations are intact, ...
read moreRempis - Johnston - Ochs: Spectral
For this nascent record label's sixth offering, Chicago-based saxophonist Dave Rempis unites with West Coast modernists, saxophonist Larry Ochs (The Rova Saxophone Quartet) and trumpeter Darren Johnston who has been all over the jazz map these days. Here, the trio hunkers down and prepares for battle via cyclonic three-way flurries, dappled with polytonal hues and expansive horizons, occasionally throttled with subversive dialogues and a few tetchy conversations. Moreover, the press notes intimate the group's initial comfort zone, but their ensuing ...
read moreDave Rempis/Joshue Abrams/Avreeayl Ra: Aphelion
The blossoming of an artist is a beautiful thing. In order for a musician to thrive in today's jazz world, he must be willing to operate in multiple lineups, go on book tours, organize other musicians' shows, and record and promote his own music. A tall task, but saxophonist Dave Rempis has made the jump from sideman to entrepreneur with applause. The trio recording Aphelion and duo Second Spring are the third and fourth releases on his artist-run ...
read moreShowcase
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Greene Street Vol.1 by Will Sellenraad
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The Haywain by Hashima
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e.s.t. live in Gothenburg by Esbjorn Svensson
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Munich 2016 by Keith Jarrett
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MonkTime by Leon Lee Dorsey
