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Susan Alcorn

One of the world’s premiere exponents of her instrument, Susan Alcorn has taken the pedal steel guitar far beyond its traditional role in country music. Having first paid her dues in Texas country & western bands, she began to expand the vocabulary of her instrument through her study of 20th century classical music, visionary jazz, and world musics.

Though known as for her solo work, she has collaborated with numerous artists including Pauline Oliveros, Chris Cutler, the London Improvisors Orchestra, the Glasgow Improvisors Orchestra, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ingrid Laubrock and Leila Bourdreuil, George Burtm Evan Parker, Michael Formanek, Zane Campbell, and Mary Halvorson among others.

In 2016, she was voted "Best Other Instrument" by the International Critics Poll. In 2017 she received the Baker Artist Award, and in 2018, along with saxophonist Joe McPhee, she was the recipient of the Instant Award in Improvised Music.

The UK Guardian writes, “As an improvisor and composer, Alcorn has proven to be visionary. Her pieces reveal the complexity of her instrument and her musical experience while never straying from a very direct, intense, and personal musical expression.”

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Radio & Podcasts

Susan Alcorn: Nueva Canción on Pedal Steel

Read "Susan Alcorn: Nueva Canción on Pedal Steel" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


Today, the Spotlight shines On the innovative pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn.While Susan got her start playing in country & western bands in Texas, she has taken the pedal steel into new and uncharted territories, exploring 20th-century classical music, improvisational jazz, and various world musics.On her latest project, CANTO (Relative Pitch Records), Susan explored Chilean folk music and nueva canción, which translates as “new song" and refers to an intertwined musical and leftist social movement so ...

7
Album Review

Susan Alcorn, Patrick Holmes and Ryan Sawyer: From Union Pool

Read "From Union Pool" reviewed by Troy Dostert


The inimitable pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn seemingly knows no bounds when it comes to the range of textures, tones and timbres she can coax out of her instrument. She is also a consummate improvisational partner, whether working in free or composed contexts. And she has forged a terrific partnership with Relative Pitch Records, which has now released four albums with Alcorn featured prominently—the most recent being her outstanding Pedernal, from 2020. Here she is part of a free-improv trio, ...

3
Radio & Podcasts

From Sergio Mendes to Susan Alcorn

Read "From Sergio Mendes to Susan Alcorn" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


This show covers a wide swath of creative music, going from Sergio Mendes and Julie Driscoll to June Tyson and Susan Alcorn. Don Byron and Ryan Keberle are among the others who appear on the program. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from he Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Record Label) 00:00 David Hazeltine “Face to Face" from The Classic Trio Vol. II (Sharp Nine) 00:56 Danilo Perez ...

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Album Review

Columbia Icefield: Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes

Read "Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Trumpeter Nate Wooley can create impressive large-scale compositions. His Seven Storey Mountain VI, (Pyroclastic, 2021) is a massive work, dealing with the rights of women, that used fourteen musicians and singers. His group, Columbia Icefield, achieves similar results with just four members, Wooley himself on trumpet and amplifier, Mary Halvorson on electric guitar, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar and Ryan Sawyer on drums plus Mat Maneri and Trevor Dunn guesting on some tracks. This music moves at a glacial ...

3
Album Review

Columbia Icefield: Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes

Read "Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Nate Wooley refuses to make trivial music. Whether the endlessly creative trumpeter and composer is rethinking the relationship between artistic production and community, as on Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text, 2021), or pursuing ways to re-envision music's spiritual potential, seen most recently on 2020's Seven Storey Mountain VI (Pyroclastic Records), he always provides his listeners with a lot to ponder. This is no less evident with his Columbia Icefield project, which dives headlong into humankind's fraught relationship with ...

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Catching Up With

Susan Alcorn: Another Way

Read "Susan Alcorn: Another Way" reviewed by Dom Minasi


If you are not into improvised music, you may not know Susan Alcorn. Take it from someone who has listened and played with her, she is a giant I never heard of Susan till one Sunday night at the legendary CBGB's Sunday Night Avant-Garde series where she performed with tenor saxophonist, Joe Giardullo. I have never heard pedal steel guitar played like that. I thought you only heard them in country bands. That night, Susan proved me wrong. ...

6
Album Review

Susan Alcorn / Leila Bordreuil / Ingrid Laubrock: Bird Meets Wire

Read "Bird Meets Wire" reviewed by John Sharpe


Three accomplished improvisers of different generations meet in the studio on All Fools Day 2018 to explore some common and not so common ground. Although pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn started out in C&W, she takes her instrument to realms never envisioned by its originators. One could make the same claim for Brooklyn-based French-born cellist Leila Bordreuil, though here the precedents are more numerous, while the similarly domiciled German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, one of the brightest stars in the New ...

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Website

All About Jazz Top 10 Tracks: March 2021

All About Jazz Top 10 Tracks: March 2021

Source: All About Jazz

All About Jazz features a free song every day spanning all genres of jazz, and of the 31 tracks featured in March, these ten represent our personal favorites. We also included the top ten reader favorites as indicated by total listens. Musicians and record labels can submit full length MP3s for consideration here. Enjoy! Top Tracks Pedernal Susan Alcorn From: Pedernal 5:47 Do You Still Helen Gillet From: Let It ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Warren Wolf, Susan Alcorn & Frank Rosaly, Bonerama, and more

Jazz this week: Warren Wolf, Susan Alcorn & Frank Rosaly, Bonerama, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

While the winter weather may have taken a turn for the worse this week in St. Louis, the jazz and creative music touring activity here is heating up, with three (or four, depending on you count) visiting headliners in town over the next few days, plus an eclectic assortment of shows from local performers. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, January 20 Vibraphonist Warren Wolf and his band Wolfpack will begin a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at ...

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Performance / Tour

Evan Parker with Susan Alcorn and Michael Formanek at The WindUp Space in Bailtimore on April 18th

Evan Parker with Susan Alcorn and Michael Formanek at The WindUp Space in Bailtimore on April 18th

Source: Michael Ricci

CREATIVE DIFFERENCES presents EVAN PARKER - solo saxophone plus SUSAN ALCORN - pedal steel guitar MICHAEL FORMANEK - double bass EVAN PARKER - saxophones SUNDAY APRIL 18 AT 6PM @ The WindUp Space 12 W.North Ave Baltimore MD thewindupspace.com 410 244 8855 THIS CONCERT WILL BEGIN AT 6PM. DOORS OPEN AT 5PM Admission is $10 on the door Evan Parker is widely regarding as ...

Jonatan Piña Duluc
saxophone, tenor

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

From Union Pool

Relative Pitch Records
2023

buy

Canto

Relative Pitch Records
2023

buy

Ancient Songs of...

Pyroclastic Records
2022

buy

Bird Meets Wire

Relative Pitch Records
2021

buy

Seven Storey Mountain...

Pyroclastic Records
2020

buy

Pedernal

Relative Pitch Records
2020

buy

Suite Para Todos

From: Canto
By Susan Alcorn

Returning to Drown Myself, Finally

From: Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes
By Susan Alcorn

Pedernal

From: Pedernal
By Susan Alcorn

Videos

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