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Rachel Musson
Moss 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 ...
read moreMusson - Noble - Sanders: Tatterdemalion
by Glenn Astarita
Tatterdemalion: the album title refers to someone who wears tattered clothing, a simile that may parallel the unadorned and rather raucous proceedings enacted by this trio's thoroughly free" approach to jazz improvisation. You won't find pieces that intimate a sea of tranquility. It's more about an in-your-face type workout featuring saxophonist Rachel Musson's hardcore expressionism. However, veteran improvisers, keyboardist Liam Noble and drummer Mark Sanders, oblige Musson's rambunctious and serrated lines with contrapuntal responses and guileful treatments on this wildly ...
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