HurdAudio Rotation: Sleepless Ghosts

Thomas Chapin: Alive [disc 3]: Insomnia. 1992. Knitting Factory Records.

If it has been a while since you gave this one a spin, do yourself a favor and go put it on right now.  This is a feast of texture that soars with the killer combination of Thomas Chapin's excellent trio of the early 1990s, Chapin's compositions and some jaw dropping horn arrangements added to the mix.  This set opens with one of Marcus Rojas' tuba solos and if that doesn't get you excited then we can't be friends anymore.  There is also the unmistakable presence of Curtis Fowlkes on trombone in yet another example of why his recorded output inspires so much awe and reverence for the music he has been involved with.  There is also Frank London on trumpet.  So this is a host of New York's heaviest hitters augmenting the chemistry of the classic Thomas Chapin, Mario Pavone and Michael Sarin trio.  The title track is just one of the Chapin originals that continue to live in my own DNA.  The brass arrangements using a mix of instruments and mouthpieces in cross-rhythmic bliss at the end of "Pantheon," the choral arrangement of tubas and flute in "Equatoria" or the rhythmic propulsion of "Coup D'Etat" are just a few of the shining moments on a varied journey through the Insomnia experience.  Fifteen years after the world lost this astonishing talent, Thomas Chapin remains very much "alive" through stellar recordings such as this one.  And this is one that reward repeated listening in a big way.

Anthony Braxton: Piano Quartet (Yoshi's) 1994 [disc 2]. 1994. Music & Arts.

I have a difficult relationship with this recording.  It starts with the fact that it is Anthony Braxton, who is a major figure in my musical world.  I regard him as a genius who has possibly ushered in more ideas, music and raw enthusiasm than any other individual in the history of music.  It's not exactly a shock that someone as prolific as Braxton would have more than a few recordings that don't exactly support how substantial he is.  This is one of those recordings.  And yet there are moments of brilliance buried within an otherwise plodding album.  Adding complexity to this impression is the outstanding contributions made by the supporting cast in this quartet.  Marty Ehrlich is fantastic throughout.  Joe Fonda and Arthur Fuller are an outstanding rhythm section.  The persistent, nagging issue here is Braxton's pianism.  There are moments where the interaction between piano and the other performers is exquisite.  But these are trace gems within a bombastic approach to the ivories couched within the language of jazz standards.  Without Braxton's accomplishments as a horn player and extraordinary composer this particular collection would not draw attention from these ears for long.  There's a fascination with hearing a genius missing the mark completely here.

Anthony Braxton: 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 [disc 1]. 2007. Firehouse 12.

Composition No. 350

On the other side of the Anthony Braxton coin, my relationship with this recording is far from difficult.  He is again surrounded by outstanding musicians (a good dozen plus one), many of them former students of the master.  And here we have a realization of one his own Ghost Trance compositions.  This one weaves a material of pulse structures over a 70-minute span, a duration that encourages and trance-like state for the attentive listener and for the improvising musician to work within.  The generous expanse leaving room for an unpredictable group sound being shaped in real time by Anthony Braxton at the helm.  The result is exquisite.  Listening to it is like taking a spectrogram of this relentlessly abstract work and wrapping one's ears in its pulsating shapes.  This entire box set is highly recommended as a clear example of Braxton's genius for group improvisation meshed with compositional structure.

HurdAudio Rotation: American Icons

Charles Ives: The Symphonies / Orchestral Sets 1 & 2. 2001. Decca: B00004TTIK

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
Cleveland Orchestra
Academy of St. Martins in the Fields

Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 4
Second Orchestral Set
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3
Three Places in New England

My ears were quick to tell me "it's been too long" as they drank in a concentrated helping of Ives' symphonic writing.  This truly is a cornerstone of orchestral aesthetic.  Ives had an ear for texture, for tightly weaving in a rich tapestry of Americana and the Symphony No. 4 adds an astonishing use of quarter tones smeared across multiple ensembles.  The similarities between the final movement of Symphony No. 2  and the "Putnam's Camp" movement of Three Places in New England struck a nerve on this time through.  These pieces have a sense of place even as they reach toward an impossible ideal.  The distance between the student work of Symphony No. 1 and the self-confidence of the Symphony No. 2 is astonishing.  Each one of these begs for repeated listening.

Miles Davis: The Complete On the Corner Sessions [disc 5]. 1974-1975. Columbia Records.

These complete sessions are essentially a series of large jam sessions organized by Miles Davis.  The funk comes in large slabs of drums, congas and electric bass punctuated by Dave Liebman's soprano saxophone, Pete Cosey's electric guitar and smatterings of Miles Davis himself on trumpet.  The form can get fairly free and sprawling while the ears get lost in the groove.  And yet there is enormous beauty lurking in this generous expanse of material.  The start/stop textures of "What They Do" providing a nice contrast between density and individual parts for the ears this afternoon.  And the relatively short "Minnie" closing out this particular disc with a reminder of how tight Miles could make things when he wanted to.

Ornette Coleman: Beauty is a Rare Thing [disc 4]. 1959-1961. Rhino/Atlantic.

Free improvisation allows me to hear a musicians ears.  Hearing the same environment and stimulus that is feeding their own playing in the moment.  Their reactions often being a fluid balance between the internal and external sounds of a given occasion.  Free Jazz is the main attraction included on this fourth disc.  After a few tracks that sustain the raw energy of the quartet format from the first three discs of this collection we have a First Take with the Free Jazz double quartet followed by a 38-minute take on the record that helped propel an important discipline of full improvised freedom.  The collection of ears on this session is solid.  Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Scott LaFaro and Billy Higgins forming the quartet on the left channel while Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell hold down the right.  These are some impressive ears and a forceful statement that freedom can soar and freedom can swing.  Like with so much free improvisation, focused and attentive listening is enormously rewarding even if the music never explicitly demands that one pay attention.  Leaving the pleasure of hearing Free Jazz exclusively to those who make the effort to listen.  And Free Jazz is arguably more rewarding than most.

HurdAudio Rotation: Variations on Alone Together

Iannis Xenakis: Orchestral Works - Volume IV. 2004/2007. Timpani: 1C1136.

Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
Arturo Tamayo: conductor
Hiroaki Ooi: piano

Erikhton (1974)
Ata (1987)
Akrata (1965)
Kirnoidi (1991)

The first three volumes of this cycle leave the impression that Xenakis could wield a large orchestra like a massively dissonant, loud enterprise as he brings architecture to bear upon the musicianship of a mass of players.  On this set we find Akrata.  An early work for a relatively small chamber ensemble composed mostly of winds.  And that same forceful dissonance is there without the overwhelming means of producing it.  It is a completely riveting work, allowing the ears to hear deeper into Xenakis's language as it was still forming.  The remaining pieces are suitably large and beautifully bombastic.  A reminder of the force lurking within sound for a medium that is more often effete.  Also, the piano introduction of Erikhton is a fantastic explosion of activity that gives way to an ocean of glissando from the orchestra.  This is an important contribution toward documenting what Xenakis wrought for orchestra.

Elliott Sharp: Doing the Don't. (film) 2007. Pheasant's Eye.  Directed by Bert Shapiro.

This collection of three short documentaries about the music and persona of Elliott Sharp is a perfect example of New Yorkers taking it upon themselves to document their own cultural enterprise.  Few people have been as consistently given short shift by the music press as Elliott Sharp.  Interviews are often distorted by disinterested "journalists" and reviewers are often dismissing the sonic output of this wildly eclectic figure as being overly cerebral.  Almost clownishly downplaying the significance of the music that has poured out of Elliott Sharp over the years and decades.  While some of the verbal descriptions from Sharp himself in these documentaries reveal much of the reason behind the confusion and dismissal that the mainstream has afforded him, what comes out in spades is the level of respect his music deserves.  I had forgotten how many allies his music has built up on the New York scene and loved hearing the late Butch Morris speak so enthusiastically about this body of music.  The stubborn momentum that Sharp brings to his own projects was equally inspiring.  The inclusion of performances of Syndakit, Quarks Swim Free and the archival footage of Orchestra Carbon's 1987 performance of Larynx at BAM make this particular collection a treasured glimpse into a major figure in the HurdAudio constellation.

Lee Konitz: The Lee Konitz Duets. 1967.  Milestone: MS 9013.

Lee Konitz: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone
Richie Kamuca: tenor saxophone
Marshall Brown: trombone
Dick Katz: piano
Karl Berger: vibes
Jim Hall: guitar
Eddie Gomez: bass
Elvin Jones: drums
Ray Nance: violin

The duet format for improvising musicians has become a more common expression since the appearance of this recorded.  So the timidity found here along with the retreat to the relative safety of a rhythm section by the end of this set is understandable.  But even with the longing to hear more excursion beyond the relative safety of improvising over phantom rhythm changes and standards this remains a collection of improvisations by outstanding musicians.  Lee Konitz's mind and ear for melodic development remains nearly unequaled (Joe Henderson is clearly a peer working along side Konitz in this regard).  "ERB," the duet with Jim Hall is the most rewarding listen on this set.  The one track that plays to the strengths of  the stripped down instrumentation that gives way to sonic exploration of the keypads on the saxophone and the sound of skin along strings of the guitar.  This was an important record both for what has followed in its wake as well as the expression of masters from its era.

HurdAudio Rotation: Festliches Praludium

Torturing Nurse & Vertonen: Torturing Nurse/Vertonen. 2012. Rococo: 6784937576-8.

Torturing Nurse: "txnxtxnxt"
Junky Cao: voice, noise
Youki: turntable, guitar

Vertonen: "Allegiance Variance"
Blake Edwards: devices

Even with an aesthetic bent toward sonic extremes and a willingness to plunge into saturated textures, noise music is actually about restraint and a deliberate sense of how one manages sonic density over time.  With this split release from Shanghai's Torturing Nurse and Chicago's Vertonen the ears are presented with two different takes on restraint versus saturation as a means of shaping form.

"txnxtxnxt" is a crafted sonic canvas that systematically adds new sonic sources and ideas with a deliberate effort to avoid thick layering of materials.  Leaving an interaction between two performers that is startling in its ability to allow new materials to bubble up into the foreground.  The constant sense that the textures of "txnxtxnxt" could come unhinged at any moment and give into the waves of harsh noise constantly hinted at around the edges adds a delicious tension to the piece as a whole.

"Allegiance Variance" takes more of an installation object approach to noise.  Short movements strung together, each offering up a sound logic that is set in motion and allowed to run itself out.  It becomes a measured study of noise materials and the nature of drones and mechanical devices artfully mixed and realized.  This is mechanics with a pulse and a sense of shading and perspective.

Kronos Quartet: Nuevo. 2002. Nonesuch: 79649-2.

David Harrington: violin
John Sherba: violin
Hank Dutt: viola
Jennifer Culp: cello

with:
Luanne Warner: marimba
Alejandro Flores: vocals
Efren Vargas: vocals
Carlos Garcia: musical leaf
Tambuco Percussion Ensemble - Ricardo Gallardo, Alfredo Bringas, Claudia Oliveira, Raul Tudon
Rominko Patixtan Patixtan: harp
Pegro Lunes Tak'il Bek'et: guitar
Carmen Gomez Oso: vocals
Xun Perez Hol Cotom: vocals
Rominko Mendez Xik: vocals
Luis Conte: percussion
Anonymous: organillo
Gustavo Santaolalla: toys, percussion
Ariel Guzik: plasmaht
Cafe Tacuba -
Ritacantalgua: electric guitar
Emmanuel: programming, keyboards, jarana
Quiqui: jarana, concha, programming
Joselo: electric guitar
Alejandro Flores: violin, requinto

El Sinaloense by Severiano Briseno (arr. Osvaldo Golijov)
Se Me Hizo Facil by Agustin Lara (arr. Osvaldo Golijov)
Mini Skirt by Juan Garcia Esquivel (arr. Osvaldo Golijov)
El Llorar - traditional arranged by Osvaldo Golijov
Perfidia by Alberto Dominguez (arr. by Stephen Prutsman)
Sensemaya by Silvestre Revueltas (arr. by Stephen Prutsman)
K'in Sventa Ch'ul Me'tik Kwadulupe by Osvaldo Golijov
Tabu by Margarita Lecuona (arr. by Osvaldo Golijov)
Cuatro Milpas by Belisario Garcia de Jesus and Jose Elizondo (arr. by Stephen Prutsman)
Chavosuite by Ricardo Gallardo
Plasmaht by Ariel Guzik (arr. by Kronos Quartet)
Nacho Verduzco by Chalino Sanchez (arr. by Osvaldo Golijov)
12/12 by Cafe Tacuba (Ruben Albarran, Emmanuel del Real, Enrique Rangel, Jose Alfredo Rangel) (arr. by Osvaldo Golijov)
El Sinaloense (Dance Mix) by Plankton Man

At some point, Kronos Quartet releases became concept albums.  Which follows a certain logic as the string quartet that pioneered its identity as a chamber ensemble dedicated to contemporary works it soon broke that particular "niche" wide open.  And at some point Kronos Quartet releases broke loose from the confines of "string quartet" music in the formal sense and exploded into an expressive playlist that happens to involve the members of the quartet.  Here the sonic journey is unified by an exploration of the cultural vibrations of Mexico.  At times augmented by percussionists, voice and pre-rendered electronics, this is a rich sampling of the musical contours of Mexican culture.  And much to Kronos' credit, it is a vibrant mix of traditions both established and in flux.  But more than a sampler, this is a journey and a concept album that follows its own arc.  The vocals on El Llorar are astounding.  And the true gem of this collection is the riveting Silvestre Revueltas Sensemaya in the middle of the set.  The Cafe Tacuba collaboration loses me to a certain extent as a sequence of ideas of variable quality that don't always hang together for my ears.  The exuberant Plankton Man mix at the end ties everything back together to conclude the experience.  The focus on arrangements of music from various portions of Mexico's high and low-brow cultures almost leaves me wishing for string quartet compositions by Mexican composers.  But the sonic integrity of this experience snuffs out that fleeting criticism.  If anything, it's the brevity of these fleeting experiences that leave the ears breathless from so much breadth of experience without the satisfaction of depth.  Many of these pieces could stand to go longer at the risk of puncturing the pacing of the overall concept album.  But that is perhaps the takeaway of Nuevo.  As it serves as kindling for the curious to dig deeper into this realm.

Richard Strauss: Tone Poems. 1957. Deutsche Grammophon: 463-190-2.

Staatskapelle Dresden
Berliner Philharmoniker
Karl Bohm: conductor

Eine Alpensinfonie, op. 64
Don Juan, op. 20
Der Rosenkavalier: Waltzes from Act III
Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30
Festival Prelude, op. 61
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, op. 28
Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils
Ein Heldenleben, op. 40
Tod und Verklarung, op. 24

The music of the Romantic Era - particularly the late Romantic Era - leaves these ears cold with its excesses.  Music that emotes (and emotes, and emotes) through long-winded chromaticism and a tonal language that sounds dated feels about as remote as music can get.  Richard Strauss is often the exception, with traces of modernism creeping into his sound and helping to usher in the much more agreeable modern era.  Yet his tone poems possess very little that can be regarded as anything other than squarely Romantic.  And yet it simply blows this listener away.  This is not a sentimental attachment to this music (it was never part of my formative experience).  This is an appreciation of raw orchestration.  And an admiration of Strauss's ability to write music that was about something.  There's no abstraction here.  Eine Alpensinfonie is about the majestic Alps complete with stormy weather and breath taking altitude.  The Festliches Praludium strikes an irresistible majesty with its combination of pipe organ and orchestra.  Also sprach Zarathustra is a genuinely great orchestral work.  These Karl Bohm versions are a true indulgence and a reminder that not all Late Romantic works were over-indulgent.  Some hit the high marks that they aimed for.

HurdAudio Rotation: 500 Echoes

Terry Riley: The Book of Abbeyozzud. 1999. New Albion Records: NA 106 CD.

Terry Riley: composer
David Tanenbaum: guitar
William Winant: percussion
Tracy Silverman: violin
Gyan Riley: guitar

The amazing thing isn't that each Terry Riley record is its own, unique oddity as much as the unpredictable way each one has its own quirks.  Here we have the music of Terry Riley in the hands of extremely capable classical guitarists who play from deep inside this music.  Not to mention a resonating reason to mourn the passing of the New Albion label and its track record for documenting such incredible corridors of American composed music.  It's arrangements such as these that make the argument for re-evaluating Terry Riley's music for generations to come.  It endures.  And this disc is aging rather agreeably.

Ava Mendoza: Shadow Stories. 2010. Resipiscent: RSPT037.

Ava Mendoza: guitar

A couple of things jump out when listening to Ava Mendoza's excellent Shadow Stories.  First there is this wonderfully elastic sense of time that stretches melodic materials across ever-shifting sonic surfaces (often with the help of some creative processing) that knows when to shatter a groove or when to snap into an unerring sense of swing.  The second is the remarkably fresh set of ears being brought to bear on this wonderful re-invention of the blues.  The intimacy of the performer and her sound is ever present even as she carves out expansive territories of raw sonic material.  The range of flights through relatively contained, composed materials and free improvisation gives this music its lungs and breath.  This is clearly an opening salvo from a significant talent.

Charity Chan: Somewhere the Sea and Salt. 2009. Actuelle: AM 188.

Charity Chan: extended piano, objects

Though transformed, the timbre of piano is never obscured in these explorations of the physical qualities of coiled strings, felt hammers and keyboard.  The acoustic presence of the instrument's body takes on a luminous role as the timbre field expands to reveal the sonic expanse of its interior explorations.  The "objects" skillfully draw out further resonant qualities of the instrument they are applied to.  Also contributing to the longer expression contained within Somewhere the sea and salt is the balance of improvisation informed by the history of innovation in solo, composed piano music.  The strummed strings of "J'ai manque son depart" reminding these ears of Henry Cowell's "Aeolian Harp" as a whisper of inspiration.  Yet this is music that breathes.  The vibrations of strings through striking and frictions is never far from the pulse and heartbeat of this music's energetic performer and composer.  Each gesture is carved out and carefully exposed without a hint of indulgence.  Indulgence is left to the listener.

HurdAudio Rotation: Lean, Loud and Lovely

Ursel Schlicht / Reuben Radding: Einstein's Dreams. 2005. Konnex: KCD 5165.

Ursel Schlicht: piano
Reuben Radding: double bass

Einstein's Dreams manages to paint a blurring line that dissolves the supposed divide between non-idiomatic free improvisation and jazz.  Providing an artful argument for the common roles that listening plays in improvised music of all persuasions.  Here it is the intimate dialog between piano and double bass shared between improvisers who instinctively know how to develop the tension and overlapping timbres of their respective instruments.  The sonic worlds explored within the piano pulling the sound of piano strings closer to the territory of extended techniques that Reuben Radding employs on the bass.  This duo then also takes flights that allow their independent sounds to flourish, feeding upon the energy of their conversant musicality.  The reverberations of jazz and European music that informs this dialog is readily felt as an animating force behind this music as Ursel Schlicht provides glimpses of harmonic changes that Reuben Radding seamlessly adapts to.  Giving this music a strong sense of hearing the spontaneity through these particular sets of ears.

Briggan Krauss: Descending to End. 1999. Knitting Factory Records: KFW-251.

Briggan Krauss: reeds, guitar, electronics

Descending to End plunges into a corner of temporal reality completely its own.  A place that balances the desolate with the wonder of having so many elements in constant flux.  The humanity of this sound stemming from the creative restlessness of Briggan Krauss's sensibilities.  This is a relentlessly challenging and musical experience that brings a much needed improviser's take on musique concrete.  The poetry of the pieces title offering an unusually descriptive insight into the forces at play in the sonic soup; "Last Gasp Extraction Of The World," "Lean Loud & Lovely," "Encumbrance Essence" and so on.  The timbral essence of saxophones and guitars blurred and processed into a blurred version of its sonic content.  These are stark landscapes done in sound and there aren't nearly enough of them on this collection.

Elliott Sharp & The Soldier String Quartet: Cryptid Fragments. 1993. Extreme: XCD: 020.

Elliott Sharp: computer processing, Thunder, sampler
Margaret Parkins: cello
Sara Parkins: violin
Michelle Kinney: cello
The Soldier String Quartet -
Laura Seaton: violin
David Soldier: violin
Ron Lawrence: viola
Mary Wooten: cello

Cryptid Fragments is a long-standing staple of HurdAudio aural consumption.  So many of the contours of this recording have entered into a rare familiarity as the initial shock of the jagged timbral edges have aged to reveal a solid collection of string-based chamber works featuring electronic manipulation or electronic accompaniment.  The four movement "Cryptid Fragments" is a study of digitally processed violin and cello samples.  The finite set of polished gestures providing a sense of unified structure that provides a compositional framework for the sequence of moments that pass by.  Following the delicately abrasive textures of this computer manipulated experience are three works for string quartet plus electronics: "Shapeshifters," "Twistmap" and "Umbra."  Each fashioned within the ir/rational aesthetic developed by Elliott Sharp.  A sound that is identifiable through its consistency and a sound that has become a point of fixation for a long time with these ears.  The contrast of relatively "unstable" textures set against a clearly structured form gives this music something worth coming back for.

HurdAudio Rotation: Even Birds Have Homes (To Return To)

Dave Douglas Quintet: Live at the Bimhuis: October 24, 2002. 2003. Greenleaf Music: GRE-P-011/012

Dave Douglas: trumpet
Rick Margitza: tenor saxophone
Uri Caine: fender rhodes
James Genus: bass
Clarence Penn: drums

It is just a few days past the ten year anniversary of this live recording and it still sounds like lightning captured in a bottle.  This particular vintage of the Dave Douglas Quintet (which has evolved into other amazing things since) is a body of music that inspires enormous enthusiasm with each listening.  And these "paperback series" collections offer incredible insight into the live manifestation of this fusing together of absurdly intelligent musicians.  Only on these live sets can one hear the sprawling, 20+ minute versions of "Penelope" and "Deluge."  It also gives the ears a chance to hear the brilliant segues between "Unison" by Bjork, "Ramshackle" by Beck and "Deluge."  The slide into each piece, often with elements of the previous and next overlapping, is fantastic.  The quotations of other great jazz tunes and sudden appearance of other forms within forms makes for rewarding listening for the alert ears.  I especially enjoyed the emergence of "Giant Steps" for a brief moment in the middle of "Deluge."  And the quick, thoughtfully realized interpretation of Douglas' thorny "Caterwaul" was a particularly engaging moment.  This is one of the great quintets operating at the top of their game and these Dave Douglas compositions are pieces to be savored and reckoned with.

Trio M: The Guest House. 2011. Enja: yeb-7721-2.

Myra Melford: piano
Mark Dresser: bass
Matt Wilson: drums

One of the unique things about Trio M is the role and stature of collaboration in realizing this music.  Each individual in this trio brings such a strong personality and presence that the sense of "shared leadership" takes on a tangible quality rarely found in piano trio projects.  One could easily regard this as a piano/bass/drums trio given the pedigree behind the collaborators involved.  Which is not to say that this music takes on a static quality.  Leaders emerge as the individual composers behind each piece and part of the fun of listening to The Guest House is hearing the clear personality that emerges as the composer for a given piece.  Even so, these players climb deep inside the music regardless of the penmanship behind the sounds.

In the linear notes, Myra Melford describes the composition of this music as a collaboration with chef Paul Canales.  Alluding to the creative impulse that is shared between concocting music and food.  Which is a fair analogy given the spice and flavor that wafts through so much of this set.  The biggest treat of all turns out to be the dessert course of Mark Dresser's "Ekoneni" realized by this ensemble.  With plenty of clarity in the unique amplification of Dresser's bass and the spirited performance that explodes as the full ensemble joins together into an infectious groove.

The Guest House is a solid jazz album first and foremost and the presence of such distinct players in rare form is hardly subtle.  Each brings a deep, mature voice and a strong sense of their own musical identity into this mix and the combination that forms is astonishing.  The mix of serious thematic materials and levity makes for a recording of rare scope that combines immediacy with lasting appeal.  Highly recommended.

The Peter Brötzmann Trio: For Adolphe Sax. 1967. FMP: UMS/ALP230CD.

Peter Brötzmann: tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
Peter Kowald: drums
Sven-ake Johansson: drums
plus:
Fred van Hove: piano

When confronted with the music of Peter Brötzmann for the first time (and "confrontation" is certainly a word that travels well with his sound) I was immediately in the thrall of its visceral, uncompromising quality and needed to know where this sound came from.  For Adolphe Sax is Brötzmann's first record.  And it appears that this sound arrived fully formed.  This is a trio of improvisers leaving angry splashes of color along a grand canvas.  And it's the spontaneity of their brash strokes of color that allows for unexpected details to emerge between the layers of dense materials.  Brötzmann's music comes with a surprising range of contrast and it's often the canyons just between his blistering sheets of sound that are the most attractive moments of his performance.  On For Adolphe Sax it's the quiet moments where Peter Kowald's bass comes through that are incredible.  Kowald and Johansson were a rhythm section capable of holding their own within this music and bringing plenty of creative energy to match.  This one is a forceful argument for why the European improvisation scene became a phenomenon that continues to influence players internationally.