Tag Archives: jazz

Peggy Lee, Julien Wilson, Theo Carbo, Dylan van der Schyff – Waiting Music (Open Thread)

Posted by John Lithium on

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.

Julien Wilson is a D’Addario artist.

Extraordinary Popular Delusions – The Last Quintet (Corbett Vs. Dempsey)

Posted by John Lithium on

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. 

CD available via found.ee/EPD

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.

Mammal Hands – Circadia (ACT)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

Nick Smart – Piano
Jordan Smart – Saxophone
Rob Turner – Drums

Recorded March 20th to March 24th 2025 at Giant Wafer Studios, Wales
Recorded by Ben Capp
Mixed by Ben Capp
Mastered by Shawn Joseph
Composed by Mammal Hands
Produced by Mammal Hands and Ben Capp
Portrait photos by Tania Blanco Rubio
Cover art by Cecily Eno

Anne Efternøler With Maria Laurette Friis And Johanna Borchert – We are. Profoundly. Predisposed. To drowning. (Relative Pitch Records)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

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.

JG Thirlwell – Archer Original Soundtrack Volume 1 (Iam8bit)

Posted by John Lithium on

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Label Description:

Archer Volume 1 is the long-awaited soundtrack album of JG Thirlwell‘s scores for the animated FX series Archer . Thirlwell created the musical score for season 7-14 of the series , from 2015-2023.

The album comprises 27 tracks and is drawn from seasons 7-9 of the show. It is released on maraschino red vinyl. The digital version of the album comprises 30 tracks.

Thirlwell joined the show in 2015 and was able to expand and build on the Archer universe with his musical stylings. The show won an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Animated Program for season 7.