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Positive Knowledge
Positive Knowledge: Invisible Wisdom
by Marc Medwin
The duo of Oluyemi and Ijeoma Thomas continues to be a potent one on this, the long-running Positive Knowledge collaboration's release Invisible Wisdom. Recorded live at 2005's Vision Festival, it's a widely varied and ultimately rewarding set where the only problem is a slightly distant recording. That understood, the music is some of the most visceral and exciting the group has committed to tape. Audience presence is doubtless a factor in giving the group the extra edge ...
read morePositive Knowledge: First Ones
by Rex Butters
Live and on record, Oluyemi and Ijeoma Thomas cover a lot of musical ground with their Positive Knowledge projects. First Ones continues that trend, featuring the powerful reed player and the fearless vocalized word magic of Ms. Thomas, along with long time collaborator Spirit on percussion. Ike Levin comes aboard on this edition, engaging Oluyemi in reed-ripping exchanges.
Unexplained Reality/Events at the Edge opens with Ijeoma and the two horns improvising with Spirit's playful understated clatter. As Thomas commences her ...
read morePositive Knowledge: Live In New York
by Jerry D'Souza
The performance documented here was recorded at the 2001 Vision Festival, a stage that serves as a window for artists whose persuasion is the expression of free jazz. Sometimes when things are free, there is a price to pay. Does the musician communicate with the listener? Are the impulses strictly personal or do they also have the ability to let feeling flow to others? Sure, the intentions are honorable, but the bottom line has to be communication. If that is ...
read morePositive Knowledge: At the Center of the Threshold
by AAJ Staff
Improvisation has a fascinating potential to convey personality. The four personalities in Positive Knowledge shine through in amazing detail on the two-disc set At the Center of the Threshold.
Oluyemi Thomas, featured most prominently here on soprano saxophone and bass clarinet, delivers performances brimming over with a personal touch. His work on At the Center draws heavily from the offerings of the free jazz tradition: bird-like squawking and pointillist thrusts appear everywhere. But rather than using these tools as a ...
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