Label Description: Waiting Music unfolds as a series of evolving musical environments. The opening title track establishes the album’s tone with a haunting two-chord guitar riff that gradually mutates before returning like a ghost at the end of the piece. Elsewhere, the anarchic punk energy of God’s Little Prefect sits alongside the gentle, sunlit circularity of From the Deck. Pieces such as Pocket Rocket, Travelling Home, and Prince of Spoons move fluidly between folk-like lyricism, driving grooves and dreamlike abstraction. Other tracks, like Egg on the Escalator explore the use of rhythmic unison and polytonality inspired by the music and musings of Captain Beefheart. Elsewhere, angular unison lines dissolve into psychedelic solos, delicate miniatures nod to Erik Satie, and extended pieces like Sumud use odd-meter rhythms and electro-acoustic textures to propel the listener through shifting musical terrains. With Waiting Music, Open Thread presents a work that reflects our current moment: restless, searching, and resilient, offering space to pause, attend, and move forward together.
Julien Wilson – tenor saxophone/electronics Peggy Lee – cello Theo Carbo – guitars Dylan van der Schyff – drums/percussion
Tracks 1,2,5 by Theo Carbo Tracks 3,4,8,9 by Peggy Lee (SOCAN) Tracks 7, 10, 11 by Julien Wilson Track 6 by van der Schyff, Carbo, Lee, Wilson
Artwork by Leigh van der Schyff
Recorded on June 30th, 2025, at the Warehouse Studio, Vancouver. Tracking by Sheldon Zaharko Mixing by Theo Carbo and Dylan van der Schyff. Mastering by Joe Talia Design by Brodie Mcallister
The music was recorded on the unceded ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people.
Thanks to Jeremy Rose at Earshift Music, The Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, and The Canada Council for the Arts.
Label Description: Two decades ago, an all-star assembly of Chicago improvisers started a new band, drawing its name from an 1841 book by Charles Mackay: Extraordinary Popular Delusions. With weekly gigs at a spot in Chicago called Hotti Biscotti, Jim Baker, Mars Williams, Brian Sandstrom, and Steve Hunt honed their sound, which could be ferocious or impressionistic or diffuse, as they moment required. After a couple years, the quartet moved to a regular Monday session at Beat Kitchen, where they have maintained their weekly residency for more than fifteen years. Williams was from time to time called away on tour, frequently enough that the band invited another horn player, the venerable Edward Wilkerson Jr., to substitute. This inevitably led to quintet convenings with both Williams and Wilkerson, the likes of which are now legend. Without question, although they have only released two previous records, EPD is one of the signal ensembles of Chicago creative music.
Mars Williams (1955-2023) had been diagnosed with late-stage cancer when EPD booked a concert at Elastic Arts Foundation at the end of August, 2023. Williams, who lived less than three months more, was on the bill. Nobody expected him to play the way he did. More than an honorary appearance, this was Mars at the top of his game, playing, as it were, for his life. With Sandstrom switching between bass, trumpet, and electric guitar, Wilkerson doubling on saxophone and clarinet as well as oud and didgeridoo, Baker on ARP synthesizer and piano as well as violin, and Hunt on all sorts of percussion, Williams’ table of toys and his blazing soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones were in perfect company – a band that could freely improvise open structures and instantly compose unforeseen suites, while maintaining a level of intensity and intrigue on par with the saxophonist’s mastery. Long term relationships extending outside this group, including those with NRG Ensemble, Mars Williams’ Ayler Xmas projects, as well as a variety of ad hoc and shorter lived amalgamations, made this one of the most fertile environments for these players, and this final quintet bore the marks of a classic concert. Which it was.
Fortunately, Dave Zuchowski was there to brilliantly document it in all its two-set glory. Corbett vs. Dempsey is pleased to present the entire concert on two CDs, as the fourth installment of CvsD’s Mars Archive series, with a cover painting by Timothy Howe.
Mars Williams: sopranino, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones; zither; whistles; electronic devices; toys Edward Wilkerson, Jr: tenor saxophone; clarinet and alto clarinet; didgeridoo; oud; voice Jim Baker: piano; analog synthesizer; viola Brian Sandstrom: bass; electric guitar; six-string electric bass; electronics Steve Hunt: drums and percussion; glockenspiel; miscellaneous paraphernalia
Recorded at Elastic Arts Foundation, August 29, 2023. Recorded and mixed by David Zuchowski (davidzuchowski.com). Mastered at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, by Alex Inglizian. Interior photograph by Mark Lind. Cover art by Timothy Howe. CD design by David Khan-Giordano.
All music improvised by Extraordinary Popular Delusions; copyright 2023; all rights reserved.
“Instante” is the debut recording by the trio formed by José Lencastre (saxophones), based in Lisbon, and Clara Lai (piano) and Àlex Reviriego (electronics), both based in Barcelona.
Their music transports us to new and unexpected sonic spaces. The more organic sounds of the piano and saxophone both contrast with and symbiotically merge with the artificiality of electronics. The electronics place the improvisational style of the piano and saxophone in new perspectives. As with the sound of these instruments, the breath, the spaces, the timbral landscapes, the harmonies, and the natural harmonics, among other elements, move the electronics away from more typical noise or electronic territories, inviting us to stylistically recontextualize each of them, individually and collectively.
Rooted in free improvisation and embedded in a continuously evolving contemporary language, the three instruments meet, diverge and explore, through attentive listening, how far this interaction can expand their respective instrumental possibilities, in the pursuit of a single and unique sound.
This album is dedicated to the ever-renewed experience of being present, in connection with each instant.
Àlex Reviriego – electronics Clara Lai – piano José Lencastre – alto and tenor saxophones
Clara Lai and José Lencastre recorded at Louva-a-Deus, Lisboa, by Afonso Cabral on May 31st 2024. Àlex Reviriego recorded at Premià de Mar on June 26th 2024
Mixed by Jan Valls Miralles Mastered by Ary at Toolate Studio
Graphic Design by Tània Gumbau Cover photo by José Lencastre
All music by Àlex Reviriego, Clara Lai and José Lencastre
I stood on top of the mountain and looked out over the landscape. It was so beautiful that my chest hurt. The light vibrated, time stood still, and the contours dissolved for a moment. Everything had changed; I felt it then. I took their little hands so as not to lose contact with the ground. Then we ran down the mountain, scraping our knees. Still, we didn’t make it. You had already put away all the nautical charts, loosened the moorings and steered out among the skerries. Mum stood waving from the jetty. You were alone, you wanted it that way. It was to be just you in the boat this time. I called out to you. I think you heard me and felt less lonely. We couldn’t carry each other anymore, no matter how hard we tried. We washed our wounds on the shore and scattered tears and rose petals in the bay. The children laughed and searched for treasures under water. We called to them that it was time to come up. They were cold, and we hugged them to warmth. One ran ahead, the other up on our shoulders. Up the mountain, our mountain. [1]
—
In 2020 Anna Högberg put her widely celebrated band Anna Högberg Attack on hold, retraining as a nurse whilst continuing a solo practice and playing in other groups. With Ensamseglaren she makes a spectacular return with her own ensemble — this time a double sextet — performing an album length suite of new music written in dedication to her late father — the titular ‘ensamseglaren’ pictured on the LP cover as a young boy. (ensam in Swedish can mean both alone and lonely, seglaren = the sailor).
Shot through with renewed energy and a brutally affective emotional punch, Högberg’s formal experimentation opens up vibrant possibilities for the assembled musicians to let loose with some of their wildest and most ecstatic playing on record.
Högberg’s contention with grief leans into collective joy as method of mourning — the big band as extended family; where bonds are made through a shared experience of being together. Where everyone gets to be themselves without expectations of who they should be or what they can do. It’s a radical commitment to care — of her self and others — that animates and unifies this suite of music’s radical dynamics and variations in colour: from whisper-quiet textural intensity to harrowing distortion and double drum chaos; raucous and solemn song.
—
Throughout history, humans have had different images of the transition between life and death. Imagine standing on the seashore on a summer evening and seeing a beautiful vessel being prepared for departure. The sails are hoisted. The evening breeze comes, the sails fill and the boat glides out onto the open sea. You follow it with your eyes as it heads towards the sunset. It gets smaller and smaller, until it finally disappears as a tiny dot on the horizon. Then you hear someone next to you say, ‘Now they have left us.’
Left us for what? The fact that they got smaller and smaller and finally disappeared is only how we see it. In reality, they are just as big and beautiful as when they were here, lying on the beach by our side.
Just as you hear that voice say ‘Now they have left us’, there may be someone on another beach who sees them appear on the horizon, someone waiting to welcome them when they reaches their new port. [2] credits released October 3, 2025
Anna Högberg Alto Saxophone Elin Forkelid Tenor Sax Niklas Barnö Trumpet Maria Bertel Trombone Per Åke Holmlander Tuba Dieb13 Turntables Alex Zethson Piano Finn Loxbo Guitar + Saw Gus Loxbo Double Bass + Saw Kansan Zetterberg Double Bass Anton Jonsson Drums Dennis Egberth Drums
All Music by Anna Högberg (ncb/Stim). Recorded by Niklas Lindström and Calle Gustavsson at Atlantis Studios, Stockholm: 15-16 October 2024. Mixed by Niklas Lindström at Atlantis Studios. Mastered by Andreas [Lupo] Lubich. Innersleeve Photos by Tina Axelsson. Cover Photographer Unknown. Design by John Chantler. This Release has Received Financial Support from Kulturrådet, the Swedish Arts Council. c + p 2025. This lp is Fönstret—16.
Notes
Fönstret is a division of the Edition Festival for Other Music, the annual festival initiated and organised by John Chantler which ran from 2016—2024. Across its history the edition festival has presented work by, among many many others: Okkyung Lee, Ellen Fullman, Peter Brötzmann, Sarah Hennies, Terre Thaemlitz, Marginal Consort, Anthony Braxton, Annea Lockwood, Ellen Arkbro, Dewa Alit & Gamelan Salukat and Catherine Christer Hennix.
Fönstret is the festival’s outlet for publishing new work and surfacing material from the festival archives across books, cds, LPs and digital media and includes releases by Marja Ahti, [Ahmed], Lisa Ullén, Daniel M Karlsson, Isak Hedtjärn, Finn Loxbo and Kommun.
[1] Anna Högberg’s original Swedish: “Jag stod på toppen av berget och såg ut över landskapet som var så vackert att det gjorde ont i bröstet. Ljuset vibrerade, tiden stannade och konturerna var för en stund upplösta. Allting var förändrat, jag kände det då. Jag tog era små händer för att inte mista kontakten med marken. Sen sprang vi nedför berget, skrubbsår på knäna. Ändå hann vi inte fram. Du hade redan lagt undan alla sjökort, lossat förtöjningarna och styrt ut bland kobbarna. Mamma stod och vinkade från bryggan. Du var ensam, du ville ha det så, det skulle bara vara du i båten den här gången. Jag ropade efter dig, jag tror att du hörde och att du kände dig mindre ensam. Vi kunde inte bära varandra längre. Hur mycket vi än försökte. Vi tvättade våra skrubbsår i strandkanten och strödde tårar och rosenblad i viken. Barnen skrattade och letade efter skatter under vattenytan. Vi ropade på dem att det var dags att komma upp. De frös och vi värmde dem i våra famnar. Den ena sprang i förväg, den andra upp på axlarna. Uppför berget, vårat berg.”
[2] This text is adapted from a translation of a text ‘Det Sista Steget’ (the last stage) read by Anna’s aunt (a priest within the Swedish Church) at her father’s funeral:
Vi människor har i alla tider haft olika bilder av övergången mellan liv och död. Många beskriver den som en resa över en flod eller ett hav till det land vi ännu inte känner.
Tänk dig att du står vid havsstranden en sommarkväll och ser en vacker farkost som förbereds för avfärd. Seglen hissas. När kvällsbrisen kommer fylls seglen och båten glider ut på det öppna havet. Du följer den med blicken när den far mot solnedgången. Den blir mindre och mindre, för att till slut försvinna som en liten prick vid horisonten. Då hör du någon vid din sida säga: “Nu har hon lämnat oss”.
Lämnat oss for vad? Detta att hon blivit allt mindre och till slut försvunnit är ju bara som du ser det. I själva verket är hon lika stor och vacker som när hon låg vid stranden.
Just när du hör rösten som säger att hon lämnat oss, finns det kanske någon på en annan strand som ser henne dyka upp vid horisonten, någon som väntar på att få ta emot just henne när hon når sin nya hamn.
The music of this trio is an ongoing conversation between three women about life as it unfolds between artistic practice and daily routines. Compassioned conversations about being someone’s mother, someone’s daughter, someone’s partner, someone’s friend seamlessly float into the musical sphere, where words and emotions are transformed into pitches, harmonies, rhythms and artistic gestures.
Three strong artists from the creative music scene of northern Europe has formed a trio that feeds from the compassioned relationship between its members. Danish Anne Efternøler is a desired trumpet player on the Scandinavian scene, while German Johanna Borchert´s distinct approach to the prepared piano has given her a prominent place between the heaviest pianoplayers(sic) of her generation. For more than 25 years vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Maria Laurette Friis has been pushing the musical borders leaving a remarkable contribution to the field of abstract music.
Maria Laurette Friis – vocals Johanna Borchert – prepared piano and vocals Anne Efternøler – trumpet, flute and objects
Track 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 Recorded at Hobby Horse Studio, Copenhagen, January 10. 2022 By Simon Mariagaard. Track 2, 4, 7, 8 Recorded live at KoncertKirken, Copenhagen, July 5 2023 By Mads Madsen. All music By Anne Efternøler, Maria Laurette Friis, Johanna Borchert.
Thoughts of Trio was recorded live at Morphine Raum in Berlin, Germany on February 21, 2024 by Canadian guitarist Aidan Baker, Korean-American guitarist Han-earl Park, & German drummer/percussionist Katharina Schmidt. The group brings together their respective, disparate musical backgrounds to explore the intersections of ambient music, improvisational (free) jazz, and musique-concrète.
releases December 6, 2024
Recorded live at Morphine Raum in Berlin, Germany on February 21, 2024 by Rabih Beaini.
Music For The Rest Of Us 