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Jazz Articles about Rachel Musson
About Rachel Musson
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar ToOlie Brice / Rachel Musson / Mark Sanders: Immense Blue
by John Sharpe
Even given today's abundance of new issues in whatever genre, there are still bands which travel beneath the radar. One such is the trio of established UK improvisers comprising bassist Olie Brice, saxophonist Rachel Musson and drummer Mark Sanders which releases Immense Blue as its debut album. As a unit it has been around for a while, but the connections go deeper still. Brice and Musson have a duet nearing fifteen years old, while the saxophonist and drummer are two ...
read moreMoss Freed / Union Division: Micromotives
by John Sharpe
A question any composer for improvisers must face is whether they can create something more worthwhile than what they might come up with if left to themselves. It can be a tough call. For some, such as Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra or Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet, the ultimate conclusion was no, while for others such as Anthony Braxton and Barry Guy the answer has been far less clear cut. British guitarist Moss Freed falls somewhere between the two ...
read moreRachel Musson: Dreamsing
by John Sharpe
If the solo album is a rite of passage for a woodwind player, then adventurous British saxophonist Rachel Musson passes with flying colors. Musson has found a mentor in 577 Records label boss Federico Ughi, a collaborator during his sojourn in London in the early 2000s. Consequently, the imprint has issued a stream of strong releases showcasing her talents, including Shifa -Live At Cafe Oto (2019) and Shifa -Live In Oslo (2020) with the titular collective completed by pianist Pat ...
read moreAlexander Hawkins: Togetherness Music (For Sixteen Musicians)
by Giuseppe Segala
Con questo lavoro, Alexander Hawkins aggiunge una tessera significativa al proprio originale percorso artistico, qui in particolare nella dialettica tra improvvisazione e musica scritta, dimostrando una maturazione consapevole e in costante sviluppo. Attento, curioso, audace, guidato da un sicuro istinto e da lucidità progettuale, il pianista di Oxford rappresenta la punta di diamante della propria generazione, quella sulla soglia dei quarant'anni. Il suo itinerario e la sua personalità sono in grado di confrontarsi e interagire efficacemente con i grandi protagonisti ...
read moreAlexander Hawkins Feat. Evan Parker + Riot Ensemble: Togetherness Music (For Sixteen Musicians)
by Mark Corroto
It is obvious from the outset that this is a significant recording. Evan Parker launches into his trademark soprano saxophone circular breathing, setting the stage for things to come. An exemplar of all things free improvisation, his virtuosity never fails to amaze. Although Parker is the marquee soloist here, the composer and organizer of this session, Alexander Hawkins, created the six movements of this suite to pioneer an intersection between free improvisation and contemporary chamber music. Certainly not an easy ...
read moreRachel Musson: I Went This Way
by Mike Jurkovic
Let's agree that, by a consensus of one, Debbie Sanders recital of saxophonist Rachel Musson's thought-through and through-read play-by- metaphoric-play/lecture on improvisation gets annoying as all hell so quickly that one may find oneself searching madly for a bonus instrumental version. But the music on saxophonist Musson's I Went This Way is an ambitious, teasingly ambiguous album, all shift, riddle, and hijinks. And that's a really good thing because it takes a lot for anyone to be so sure of ...
read moreShifa: Live in Oslo
by Mike Jurkovic
A spectrum of subversive, seemingly sinister ambitions erupt upon entering the very vigorous other-world proposed on Live In Oslo, a true mind-meld of London's free-jazz highest order, led by saxophonist Rachel Musson, pianist Pat Thomas and drummer Mark Sanders known collectively as Shifa. Recorded at Oslo's Blow Out Festival in August 2019, the trio finds no trouble breaking space to its atomic bits and telling time to take a holiday, setting apace a restless, anxious investigation into the ...
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