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Album Review

Stephen Gauci: Live At Sowieso, Berlin

Read "Live At Sowieso, Berlin" reviewed by John Sharpe


Tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci cuts a busy figure in his native New York City. But with Live At Sowieso, Berlin he brings his brand of unbridled energy to the hotbed of free improv which is the titular German city with striking results. He retains one familiar face for the journey in the shape of drummer Kevin Shea, a longstanding member of the reedman's trio, who is still best known for his tenure in the anarchic Mostly Other People Do The ...

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Album Review

Stephen Gauci / Michael Bisio / Whit Dickey: Live At Scholes Street Studio

Read "Live At Scholes Street Studio" reviewed by John Sharpe


Tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci sends another vital missive from the Brooklyn coal face, titled like several of its predecessors Live At Scholes Street Studio. Gauci has the knack of surrounding himself with top notch company and this is no exception. Joining him are two of the more seasoned avant jazz practitioners on the New York scene, bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey. Bisio himself holds the bass chair in pianist Matthew Shipp's Trio, a high profile outfit which Dickey ...

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Album Review

Stephen Gauci / Francisco Mela / William Parker / Matthew Shipp: Live at Scholes Street Studio

Read "Live at Scholes Street Studio" reviewed by John Sharpe


Tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci provokes blistering unfettered performances from the starry cast on another installment of Live At Scholes Street Studio. Gauci embodies a fierce DIY ethos which manifests in producing multiple concert series in NYC as well as releasing consequent material on his own label and posting video documentation on his website. On this occasion, he is joined by three storied veterans of the avant-jazz scene in pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker and drummer Francisco Mela who bring ...

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Album Review

Gauci Leibson Parker Sorey: Live at Scholes Street Studio

Read "Live at Scholes Street Studio" reviewed by John Sharpe


Tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci certainly knows how to pick a band. On another of his regular bulletins which go under the title Live At Scholes Street Studio, he has assembled a line-up to die for, notable for the appearance of Tyshawn Sorey on drums and William Parker on bass. Although Argentinian pianist Santiago Leibson may be less feted, he is a trusted collaborator who combined effectively with Gauci on Pandemic Duets (Gaucimusic, 2021), and he plays a full role on ...

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Album Review

Vijay Anderson Trio: Studio Sessions Vol. 10

Read "Studio Sessions Vol. 10" reviewed by John Sharpe


Brooklyn-based Californian drummer Vijay Anderson leads an impressively cohesive trio on Studio Sessions Vol .10. In this case cohesion is a product of shared experience. Anderson's career has been intertwined with bassist Adam Lane's since 2003, and can be heard on Zero Degree Music (CIMP, 2005), New Magical Kingdom (Clean Feed, 2006),and Absolute Horizon (NoBusiness, 2013). Likewise, clarinetist Ben Goldberg has been a long-time colleague of the drummer, as evidenced by his appearances on Hard-Boiled Wonderland (Not Two, 2010) and ...

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Album Review

Stephen Gauci / Santiago Leibson / Shawn Lovato / Colin Hinton: Live at Scholes Street Studio

Read "Live at Scholes Street Studio" reviewed by John Sharpe


When tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci was offered a set at Brooklyn's Scholes Street Studio performance space in December 2019 he leapt at the chance. At short notice he pulled together three former duet partners in the classic jazz quartet formation, though they had never previously performed as a single unit. So this is both the group's first recording and its first appearance. Safe to say, it probably won't be the last. Argentinian pianist Santiago Leibson gives the ...

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Album Review

Stephen Gauci / Eli Wallace / Kevin Shea: Live At The Bushwick Series!

Read "Live At The Bushwick Series!" reviewed by John Sharpe


Tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci presents another bulletin from the front line of the Brooklyn underground on Live At The Bushwick Series! Literally so when considering the windowless basement room in the Bushwick Public House where this performance was recorded in November 2019. Alongside Gauci sits the regular drummer from his trio/quartet Kevin Shea, best known for his tenure with Mostly Other People Do The Killing, and keyboardist Eli Wallace, a 2015 transplant from Oakland, California, who has worked with Daniel ...

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Album Review

Stephen Gauci / Sandy Ewen: Studio Sessions Vol. 6

Read "Studio Sessions Vol. 6" reviewed by John Sharpe


One of reasons label boss and tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci appreciates performing with Texan guitarist Sandy Ewen so much is that she doesn't play anything which demands a rote response. Ewen forms one quarter of Gauci's regular quartet, which appears on Live At The Bushwick Series (Gaucimusic, 2019) and Studio Sessions Volume 5 (Gaucimusic, 2020), but on Studio Sessions Volume 6, she claims equal billing with the reedman on a program of eight seat-of-the-pants journeys into the unknown.

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Album Review

Morris / Gauci / Lane: Studio Sessions Vol. 3

Read "Studio Sessions Vol. 3" reviewed by John Sharpe


There is a surprise in store on Brooklyn tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci's Studio Sessions Volume 3. Not only is celebrated erstwhile guitarist and bassist Joe Morris an unexpected face alongside the reedman, but this time out he features on an unfamiliar instrument, seated behind the drum kit for the two lengthy excursions into uncharted territory. However, it is not all new; bassist Adam Lane, one of Gauci's most regular collaborators who regularly anchors the hornman's quartet, completes the line up. ...

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Album Review

Mendoza / Anderson / Gauci: Studio Sessions Vol. 4

Read "Studio Sessions Vol. 4" reviewed by John Sharpe


If you want to avoid compromise, then starting your own label appears a sound strategy. That's the road traveled by NYC-native saxophonist Stephen Gauci with his eponymous imprint. Since its inception in 2019, releases have been split between live recordings from the Bushwick Improvisers Series which Gauci runs and studio sessions, all of which so far have featured the reedman in a variety of settings, from his quartet with Sandy Ewen, Adam Lane and Kevin Shea, to his duo with ...


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