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Ned Rothenberg / Catherine Jauniaux / Barre Phillips: While You Were Out

By Nic Jones

One of the most consistently intriguing things about freely improvised music is the degree to which it can transcend the moment. While on the surface of it that moment might be something the free improviser has only to reach an accommodation with, on a deeper level such practitioners are arguably more subject to its vagaries than musicians who work in more deliberate and preconceived areas.

This is an indirect way of getting around to the fact that While You Were ...

Ned Rothenberg / Catherine Jauniaux / Barre Phillips: While You Were Out

By Kurt Gottschalk

Belgian vocalist Catherine Jauniaux is one the most underappreciated of a generation of free improv vocalists. Less a storyteller than Shelley Hirsch, more overtly musical than Phil Minton or Jaap Blonk, she falls somewhere between their spontaneous explorations and the avant art songs of Joan La Barbara. She has released only a handful of records with bands still loved by the few who recall (The Hat Shoes, Aksak Maboul and Vibraslaps, her duo with Ikue Mori) and is, perhaps, best ...

Ned Rothenberg

By Sean Patrick Fitzell

Twisting alto and tenor saxophone lines gradually coalesced then dispersed, tacking between consonance and dissonance as Ned Rothenberg and Evan Parker launched their recent duo gig at Issue Project Room. Long circular-breathed patterns were punctuated with overblown tones before the two exchanged almost bluesy lines, complementing and responding in a taut dialogue of fluent masters. “This sonic vocabulary had more potential than just a set of techniques--there was really a music there," says Rothenberg, recalling the first time ...

Ned Rothenberg's Sync Live at Tonic

By Sean Patrick Fitzell

Ned Rothenberg's SyncTonicNew York, New York February 8, 2007

When musician-producer John Zorn proposed recording for his Tzadik label's Radical Jewish Culture series, multi-reedist Ned Rothenberg was hesitant at first. Not one to force inspiration, he let the idea marinate for several years. It surfaced as he composed for a planned incorporation of cellist Erik Friedlander and violinist Mark Feldman with his trio Sync, which includes bassist/guitarist Jerome Harris and tablaist Samir Chatterjee in addition to ...

Ned Rothenberg: The Lumina Recordings

By Kurt Gottschalk

Reed and wind instrumentalist Ned Rothenberg is an almost frighteningly talented musician and composer. Without the charismatic approach of other downtown players--people like John Zorn and Elliott Sharp, who borrowed from different genres to define their sound--Rothenberg's focus has been on mastering his instrument. And despite his humble statement of hearing a “not yet fully formed voice, included in the liner notes [applicable only to “Trials of Argo" to this collection of self-released recordings from 1980 to 1985, what is ...

Ned Rothenberg: El Nino and The Fell Clutch

By Tom Greenland

Ned Rothenberg, Matthias Ziegler, Peter Schmid El Nino Creative Works 2006 Ned Rothenberg, Tony Buck, Stomu Takeishi, Dave Tronzo The Fell Clutch Animul 2006

“Unvorherhorbar," Meinrad Buholzer writes in the liner notes to El Nino, describing a new trio release by Ned Rothenberg, Matthias Ziegler and Peter Schmid. Roughly translated as ...

Ned Rothenberg: Solo Works - The Lumina Recordings

By Alex T.

Despite the landmark work of Sonny Rollins, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker and Steve Lacy, solo saxophone performance represents an exception rather than the norm in jazz and improvisation. Because of the instrumental limitations, solo reed players need to develop complex multiphonic techniques or make use of electronic overdubbing in order to go beyond mere single-note playing.

The Lumina Recordings, recorded between 1980 and 1985, represent the entire spectrum of solo improvisation on reed instruments. The two-disc set contains music from ...

Ned Rothenberg: Parting & Harbinger

By Kurt Gottschalk

Ned Rothenberg's Double Band was a force of the early '90s, a powerful pairing of horns, percussionists and electric bass and guitar historically made all the more potent by being one of the strongest sideman jobs performed by the late saxophonist Thomas Chapin. The group's two records on the German Moers Music label perhaps haven't aged as well as one might have hoped, but they're still excellent documents of the energy jazz of the era: intelligent compositions, ...

Ned Rothenberg & Denman Maroney: Tools of the Trade

By Derek Taylor

Capitalizing on a healthy work ethic on their collection of CIMP duets reedman Rothenberg and pianist Maroney meet the challenges of their chosen instrumentation head-on. The no frills titles of the pieces stand directly at odds with the amount of preparation and planning that went into their respective birthings. Maroney’s manipulations to his rented instrument were so extensive and ‘potentially damaging’ in the opinion of the instrument’s owner that he was asked to secure a letter from Steinway stating his ...

Ned Rothenberg: Sync

By Glenn Astarita

The great saxophonist Evan Parker wouldn’t embark on a tour with someone of lesser or diminutive talents. Recently, Parker and saxophonist Ned Rothenberg joined forces for a series of live performances at selected venues. Yet on Sync, Rothenberg performs with bassist-guitarist Jerome Harris and percussionist Samir Chatterjee for a jubilant set of sprightly works marked by an overall air of contentment and joy! Pieces such as “Gamalong” and “Dad Can Dig” combine sharp, punchy rhythms with North Indian motifs as ...

Ned Rothenberg: Power Lines

By Derek Taylor

As these words are being written Ned Rothenberg is gearing up for a truncated tour of parts of the Mid West and East Coast with none other than Evan Parker. If his ability to keep confident company with the player regarded by many as the most technically proficient saxophonist of the post-Coltrane era doesn’t pique your interest in checking this disc out I know not what will. Though several years old this release is timely for several reasons. Most prominently ...