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Ivo Perelman, Chad Fowler, Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille: Embracing the Unknown
by Troy Dostert
Since founding Mahakala Music in 2019, saxophonist Chad Fowler has done as much as anyone to continue the spirit of unfettered free jazz, drawing on an illustrious roster which includes veterans such as William Parker, Matthew Shipp, Joe McPhee, Ivo Perelman and many others, with Fowler himself frequently appearing alongside them. The label is also doing a superb job of bringing together cross-generational assemblages of musicians, as on 2022's Alien Skin, which brought Shipp, Parker and Perelman together with Fowler, ...
read moreIvo Perelman / Chad Fowler / Reggie Workman / Andrew Cyrille: Embracing the Unknown
by Mark Corroto
Let's explore the title of saxophonist Ivo Perelman's latest release, Embracing the Unknown. His quartet with fellow saxophonist Chad Fowler, plus jazz legends Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille embrace, or welcome, adopt, and maybe better stated, champion the unknown. This exercise in instant composing guides listeners through the mysterious, the new, the novel, the undiscovered, i.e. the unknown. But then again, doesn't every Ivo Perelman recording embrace the unknown? With his one hundred plus (and counting) discography, the ...
read moreChad Fowler: Alien Skin
by John Sharpe
Although the group responsible for Alien Skin might be a one-off, unlikely to meet again in this exact configuration, it contains sufficient prior connections to vouchsafe cohesion, to go with the undoubted quality. Bassist William Parker furnishes the common denominator, having previously recorded with all of the participants, even relative newcomer, reed player Zoh Amba, while pianist Matthew Shipp's releases with saxophonist Ivo Perelman are legendary and abundant. Label boss reedman Chad Fowler hooks up regularly with drummer Steve Hirsh, ...
read moreChad Fowler: Alien Skin
by Mike Jurkovic
Just from the paperwork alone, it was duly expected that Alien Skin would be unruly, raw, and cathartic. That is just the nature of the beast. That is just the way the big man planned it. But even with all that said, no one (including the players) saw Alien Skin coming down the runway. A bayou bebop rave-up of the highest order, the album's madcap namesake rips the veil, drops the mic, and makes subversive a badge of ...
read moreChad Fowler: Alien Skin
by Mark Corroto
Freely improvised music, saxophonist Paul Flaherty dubbed it the hated music." Experiencing Alien Skin brings to mind another quote, this one from a shampoo commercial from the late 1980s: Don't hate me because I'm beautiful." A beautiful alchemy is this session captured in the fall of 2021. It contains a three-horn front line of Chad Fowler, Ivo Perelman and Zoh Amba, plus pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Steve Hirsh. I reference alchemy because the quintet ...
read moreJoel Futterman, William Parker, Chad Fowler, Steve Hirsh: The Deep
by Karl Ackermann
The Deep brings together the quartet of pianist Joel Futterman, bassist William Parker, saxophonist Chad Fowler, and drummer Steve Hirsh. Individuallyand collectivelythey have been the catalysts for many who wander to the farther bounds of jazz. This leaderless group has recorded in distinct member formations, with Futterman and Parker dating back to Authenticity (Kali Records, 1998). Fowler, on his Mahakala label, has issued post-2020 releases with each of his bandmates. The Deep comprises a single title track drawing on many ...
read moreSteve Hirsh: Sparks
by Mark Corroto
Listeners are inclined to classify music into categories. There's trad jazz, bebop, hard bop, post bop, avant-garde, free jazz, third stream, free improvisation, fusion, and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, pigeonholes are for the birds. One might agree after listening to Sparks by Eri Yamamoto, Chad Fowler, William Parker, and Steve Hirsh. The quartet characterizes this two disc set of feel good (actually, extra feel good) music as spontaneous folk music." This in not ...
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In The Garden
From: SparksBy Chad Fowler