Ken Vandermark - Snapshots: Volume 4 | Poland (March 15, 2022 Catalytic-Sound)

All income generated from the sale of "Snapshots: Volume 4/Poland" will be sent to Marek (Mark) Tokar, Ukrainian bassist and friend living in Lviv, who has just joined the army to defend his country; as well as any Ukrainian humanitarian aid organizations he suggests.

Kilogram Records is excited to present “Snapshots: Volume 4/Poland,” the final installment of Ken Vandermark’s series of limited edition, 7-inch singles of improvised solo music, released during 2021 and the first part of 2022.

Each 45 contains four improvisations which use Ken’s full instrumentation: tenor & baritone sax, Bb & bass clarinet. The recordings have been issued by Kilogram at three-month intervals since March of 2021, include cover art from photographs that Ken has taken during his international touring schedule, and each single has been dedicated to countries that have had tremendous impact on his work: Japan, Austria, Brazil and, now, Poland. The music for the first three editions of the “Snapshots” project was created at Ken’s home in Chicago, on volume one by presenting four “micro-improvisations,” on the second installment by overdubbing improvisations to create duos, and on the third by extending the overdubbing principle to develop trios.

In late autumn of 2021, Ken was able to return to Poland to perform for the first time after a two year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea of recording the final edition of “Snapshots” in the country whose artists helped influence the material seemed ideal. After the five solo concerts that took place at the end of October, which utilized compositions written for his album, The Field Within A Line (Corbett vs. Dempsey), he spent a day recording in a country home outside of Gdansk. Ken realized that, in order to record quartets for “Snapshots: Volume 4/Poland,” all four improvised components would need total clarity, otherwise the superimposed results would sound like mud. The solution was to put each instrument into a different sonic register, while playing against expectations and conventions (for example, creating a baritone part for its highest range and a Bb clarinet part in its lowest). The strategy worked, and provided a fitting conclusion to a set of musical statements unlike any in Ken’s career, that are dedicated to the Polish artist Katarzyna Kobro, writer Stanisław Lem, composer Witold Lutosławski, and good friend and record/concert producer, Marek Winiarski.

Every volume in the series has been pressed in a hand numbered edition of 100 copies, at 40 PLN, or $10 each, with digital versions selling at 20 PLN, or $5. European fans can order copies of Snapshots 4 directly from Kilogram (www.serpent.pl), and from Catalytic Sound, which also represents North American distribution (catalyticsound.com). The entire project will be compiled on a CD, also to be released by Kilogram, that will collect all the material from each single, plus bonus tracks that did not fit onto the initial 45s, adding to the range of this unique set of recordings.

Kilogram Records will officially release “Snapshots: Volume 4/Poland” on March 15th. Each previous edition sold out almost immediately, and pre-orders of the final installment are being accepted now.

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The Snapshots series began in the spring of 2021 as a special solo music project proposed by Ola Trzaska for Kilogram records. During a good part of 2020, I had been developing a new system for the solo format, something that I had wanted to work on for several years and which I finally realized because there was little else possible due to the onset of Covid. That material was compositionally based and documented in September of 2020 on the album, The Field Within A Line, released by Corbett vs. Dempsey. To be honest, when Ola presented the idea of creating another set of solo music after a year of doing little else, I knew it was going to be a challenge.

Then, taking Man Ray’s phrase, “I have no problems, I only have solutions,” to heart, I started to look at the parameters of what Ola had proposed: a series of four 7” singles to be released at regular intervals over the course of a year. One of the creative difficulties was the time limitations presented by a 45. After the C vs. D album, with pieces designed to be reconfigured into longer compositions, writing new music that had to be within three to four minutes in order to fit on a side of a single seemed too restricting. By chance, Damon Locks introduced me to the Quakers recording, Supa K: Heavy Tremors, at the same time as I was trying to figure out what to do for the Snapshots project. The longest of fifty tracks on that Quakers album is 1:45, and the average tune length is about 60 seconds. It then struck me- why not approach a 45 of improvised music in a similar way, by creating two "micro-improvisations" of about a minute and a half each per side, every piece using a different instrument?

That idea was realized on Snapshots: Volume 1/Japan. The initial strategy quickly evolved on Volume 2/Austria, by overdubbing my improvisations to create duos, a concept inspired by the album I did with Nate Wooley in the summer of 2021, The Chicago Manual of Style (Superpang), where we developed material by sharing music files and layering the parts. The next edition, Volume 3/Brazil, extended the overdubbing principle to trios. Surprisingly, I found that the process was not an additive one (like on the second edition, where 1+1=2), but was much more similar to Sergei Eisenstein’s concept of montage (where A+B=C). When the first two improvisations were layered together they created a unique, single artifact that the third needed to respond to. Understanding that principle prepared me for Snapshots: Volume 4/Poland, and helped me organize an effective recording strategy that incorporated 4 components on every piece.

The music for the first three editions of the Snapshots series was created at my home in Chicago. In late autumn of 2021, I was able to return to Poland to play concerts for the first time in two years . The idea of recording the final volume of the series in the country whose artists inspired the material seemed like an ideal way to complete the project. After a series of five solo performances that took place at the end of October, where I worked with compositions written for The Field Within A Line, I borrowed Mikołaj Trzaska’s baritone sax and bass clarinet, and spent a day recording at the Trzaska’s country home outside of Gdansk. In addition to what had been learned from working on the third edition of the series, I realized that all four improvised components needed for each piece would demand total clarity, otherwise the results could sound like mud. The solution to this problem was to focus on “range” and put each instrument into a different sonic register, while also playing against expectations and conventions (for example, creating a baritone part for its highest range and a Bb clarinet part in its lowest). The strategy worked, and gave a fitting conclusion to a set of musical statements that are unlike any I’ve made.

I’d like to thank Ola Trzaska for the opportunity to create the Snapshots project for Kilogram. It will conclude with a CD compilation of all the singles, along with a number of bonus tracks that would not fit on the original albums. It’s also important for me to state how important Poland has been for me as a source of inspiration for many years, as a place to work and to meet so many creative and generous individuals. The pieces on Snapshots: Volume 4/Poland are dedicated to just a few of them.

-Ken Vandermark, Chicago

1. Doskonała próżnia [A Perfect Vacuum] (for Stanisław Lem) / Gry zamiast łańcuchów [Games Not Chains] (for Witold Lutosławski) 03:12

2. Tancerz i taniec [The Dancer And The Dance] (for Marek Winiarski) / Koniec [The End] (for Katarzyna Kobro) 03:16

All music by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP-Cien Fuegos)

Performed on tenor sax, bass clarinet, Bb clarinet, and baritone sax

Recorded by Ken Vandermark at the Trzaska’s country home outside of Gdansk on November 2nd, 2021.  Mixed by Ken Vandermark with assistance from Ola Trzaska. Mastered by Dave Zuchowski at One Room Studio.  

Design by Iwona and Paweł Duczmal

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Ken Vandermark - Momentum 5: Stammer (triptych) December 10, 2021 Catalytic-Sound

Taking Pre-Orders Now! Composer and reedist Ken Vandermark premiers an ambitious new large ensemble project featuring musicians drawn from across a wide swath of the current improvised and experimental music scenes. Called, "Momentum 5: Stammer (triptych)," it is the fifth installment in his ongoing Momentum series, and the first specifically organized to utilize visual materials. The composition is inspired in part by Alvin Lucier's piece, "I Am Sitting in a Room," and Tony Conrad's, "Film Feedback."

In addition to Vandermark, the ensemble features contributions from some of the most exciting musicians and artists working today: Kim Alpert (visuals), Tim Barnes (percussion), Katinka Kleijn (cello), Damon Locks (samples/electronics), Nick Macri (basses), Lou Mallozzi (recordings/electronics), claire rousay (percussion), and Mars Williams (saxophones/little instruments). "Stammer (triptych)" will be officially released in a limited edition by Audiographic Records on December 10th.

1. Track 1

2. Track 2

3. Track 3

4. Track 4

5. Track 5

Composition by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP-Cien Fuegos)

Music performed and improvised by:

Kim Alpert – visuals

Tim Barnes – percussion (left channel)

Katinka Kleijn – cello

Damon Locks – samples/electonics (right channel)

Nick Macri – basses

Lou Mallozzi – recordings/electronics (left channel)

Claire Rousay – percussion (right channel)

Ken Vandermark – reeds (right channel)

Mars Williams – saxophones/little instruments (left channel)

Recorded by Dave Zuchowski at Elastic Arts, Chicago on November 14th, 2019.

Mixed by Dave Zuchowski at One Room Studio.

Mastered by Dave Zuchowski at One Room Studio.

Design by Fede Peñalva

Photographs by Ricardo Adame

Thanks to the musicians; to Dave Rempis and the staff at Elastic Arts; to Fede Peñalva his assistance at Audiographic Records; to Dave Zuchowski for engineering work above and beyond; to Mark Rigley for keeping time; to Sam Clapp for the proofreading skills, to Nate Wooley’s driving, discussion, and DJ skills; and to the listeners.

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Ken Vandermark / István Grencsó / Róbert Benkő - Burning River Melting Sea (Égő Folyó Olvadó Tenger) 2021 Catalytic Sound

As I write these words in Chicago during May of 2020 and look back on the week of activity in January that led to these recordings with István Grencsó and Róbert Benkő, it’s hard for me to comprehend that the tour scheduled at that time would most likely be the last series of concerts that I play in 2020. Without warning the world changed for everyone between those months, and it’s very hard to predict how things will look in the future, for music and for everything else.

My work with István began exactly two years earlier, when he invited me to collaborate with his ensemble, the Grencsó Collective. We both composed music for the project, performed in Hungary, and recorded the album Do Not Slam The Door for BMC Records. I learned a lot about improvised music in Hungary during that week, particularly the history connected to György Szabados. It was a great starting point, and I knew that there would be more work to do with István in the future. In March of 2019 my group Marker did a night of collaborative performances with musicians in Budapest, and István was an important part of that evening.

Then an invitation came from Mario Steidl, director of the Saalfelden Jazz Festival, for the Grencsó Collective to come with me as a guest to participate on the 3 Tage Jazz 2020, which would be held in the middle of January. It was clear to all of us that we should take advantage of this opportunity to arrange some additional shows, and Mario graciously agreed to enable this. In addition to that concert, and with the help of Benedek Kruchió, who has been central to the success of all the plans that have involved István and me, the Collective also played again in Hungary, at the BMC/Opus Jazz Club in Budapest and at the Grand Café in Szeged. A recording session and duo concert (which took place at Meseház, in Békéscsaba) were also scheduled. István and I composed new music for this project and rehearsed together in the gaps between the other performances.

The SuperSize Studio was located on the outskirts of Budapest, in Törökbálint, and both it and the sound engineers were excellent. We recorded all the new duo pieces and a series of trio improvisations that included Róbert Benkő on double bass; those were performed in front of an audience brought in by the label, Hunnia Records. Though it was a pleasure to return to the material that the Collective performed, working on the new compositions was really exhilarating and displayed how far the level of communication between István and me had come. Though our collaborations had been occasional over the two years since first meeting, the creative process we’ve shared has kept accelerating.

The evidence of that progress is documented on this album. Both the compositions and the improvisations, whether duo or trio, exhibit a depth of creative understanding that was impossible on our initial encounter. This communication transcended the music, and it transcended language as well. It’s in all we’ve shared as István and I view the world and encounter music together, laughing in the car as we drove from Saalfelden to Budapest with his band, across the Hungarian countryside, sitting in the bar outside of Meseház, eating lunch in his home with Benedek and Denise (István’s wife). This shared enthusiasm for music, art, and life is projected into plans we’ve made to put a quartet project together that would expand this new duo material. Originally the idea was to meet in the autumn of 2020. As I sit here now in Chicago, considering the landscape for concerts and touring as it may exist several months in the future, I am doubtful. But I do know this - István and I will get together again, we will bring this new ensemble on the road, and the music we make will be better than ever. -Ken Vandermark, Chicago, May 12, 2020

1. Extracted color (Megszűrt szín) 03:12

2. How good it would be … (De jó lenne …) 03:55

3. A question of rate (Sebesség kérdése) 02:25

4. Letters in any order (Betűk bármilyen sorrendben) 01:05

5. Rise lonesome (Magányosan kelni) 05:14

6. Engarian-Hunglish 02:33

7. Woven paper (Szőtt papír) 03:28

8. Like a jaguar loves its spots (Ahogyan a jaguár a foltjait szereti) 05:20

9. Object 2020 03:49

10. 2128 ½ South Indiana Avenue 03:24

11. Ode to women (Ajánlás asszonyainknak) 04:35

12. Anagram or acronym (Anagramma vagy akroníma) 02:02

13. At a table of togetherness (Az összetartozás asztalánál) 03:54

14. Triple braid (Hármas fonás) 06:04

Róbert Benkő: Double Bass

István Grencsó: Tenor & alto saxophones, Bb & bass clarinet, flute – Left side

Ken Vandermark: Tenor saxophone, Bb clarinet – Right side

Tracks 1, 5, 8, 9, 12 & 14 by Róbert Benkő, István Grencsó (BIEM – Artisjus) & Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music / ASCAP – Cien Fuegos)

Track 4 by István Grencsó (BIEM – Artisjus) & Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music / ASCAP – Cien Fuegos) Tracks 2, 6 & 13 by István Grencsó (BIEM – Artisjus)

Tracks 3, 7 & 10 by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music / ASCAP – Cien Fuegos)

Track 11 by György Szabados (BIEM – Artisjus)

Recorded by Andás Makay at SuperSize Recording, Törökbálint, on January 19, 2020. Mixed and mastered by Gábor Halász.

Recorded audio formats: Native DSD 256, Piramix, Merging Hapi.

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Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Sylvie Courvoisier and Tom Rainey - Noise Of Our Time (INTAKT RECORDS 2018)

It was only during Ken Vandermark's residency at the Jazz club 

The Stone in January 2016 that Vandermark found himself in the 

same vicinity as Nate Wooley, Sylvie Courvoisier and Tom Rainey. 

A year later they went into the studio with nine compositions – 

three each by Courvoisier, Vandermark and Wooley. 

These four musicians have well-documented, distinct personalities 

which, in this context, results in performances full of surprises, 

rich contrasts and shared responsibilities. The music sounds 

thoughtful, but never over-wrought. They play by in tuition, yet 

retain a vivid complexity. Their composing is transparent and 

un-clichéd; their improvising provided with a remarkable coherence 

and openness. And perhaps it is exactly this – a fresh collective 

unity that keeps their respective personalities and idiosyncrasies 

intact – that brings them success in this bold and collaborative 

performance. Art needs to pique and renew your interest, take 

you on inspiring and surprising journeys and sometimes even 

confront your own biases. Creating, not reviving as a way to 

evolve and to keep going forward in all directions.

Ken Vandermark: Saxophone, Clarinet

Nate Wooley: Trumpet

Sylvie Courvoisier: Piano

Tom Rainey: Drums Percussion

1. Checkpoint 05:03

2. Track and Field 06:39

3. Sparks 03:44

4. The Space Between the Teeth 06:12

5. Tag 04:32

6. Songs of Innocence 04:17

7. VWCR 04:00

8. Truth Through Mass Individuation 04:03

9. Simple Cut 05:41

Recorded August 17, 2017, at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon,

New York, USA, by Ryan Streber.

Mixed and mastered by Ryan Streber.

Cover art and graphic design: Jonas Schoder.

Liner notes: Guy Peters.

Photos: Christophe Alary, Daniel Sheehan, Cristina Marx, Denis Dalby. Produced and published by Patrik Landolt, Intakt Records.

Ken Vandermark / Klaus Kugel / Mark Tokar - No​-​Exit Corner (CATALYTIC SOUND 2018)

No-Exit Corner, the second CD by the trio featuring the tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Ken Vandermark, the drummer Klaus Kugel, and the bassist Mark Tokar, recorded during a 2016 Krakow club date, is a brilliant example of what I suppose might still be best categorized as free jazz—if only because no one has yet come up with a better name after almost sixty years of trying.

But free jazz of what specific variety? Following the mid-1960s, when free was taking shape in New York City and was sometimes also pegged “the new black music” (it was a musical analogue to that era’s black anger—at least to hear the most militant of its players and literary proponents), we’ve tended to classify its various offshoots more by point of origin than by race or ethnicity.

But despite the recording location, the label, and what it says on Kugel and Tokar’s passports (Germany and [Ukraine?], respectively), No-Exit Corner can hardly be tagged “Eastern European” or even the hopelessly amorphous “European.” 

For one thing, Vandermark—the trio’s only horn, to whom one’s ears turn first, sheerly out of habit, because that’s how we’ve been taught to listen to jazz—is a Chicagoan, the prime mover in that midwestern American city’s post-AACM ferment. But notwithstanding a few delayed thematic delineations and the frequent chime of Kugel’s cymbals, this music in no way resembles that of the AACM’s first and second waves.

It’s not marked by discontinuity, like the music of Evan Parker, the late Derek Bailey, and other early British from-scratch improvisers. Nor does it call to mind Han Bennink or other Dutch dadaists. Peter Brôtzmann might be closer to it, especially on the fast and furious “Left Sided Driver” and the convulsive final few minutes of “Message to the Past,” but not quite. You’ll hear echoes of all these approaches, but only because they’re all part of a common vernacular by this point, and these three musicians are serious students of the jazz past, able to draw from it whatever and whenever they feel need to.

Ken Vandermark

Along with being the form of jazz that most prizes individualism, free has also become the most international form of jazz—a beneficial consequence of being the style most independent of the blues (if that’s what a player or group of players choose). And witness their far-flung discographies, Vandermark, Kugel, and Tokar are committed internationalists. Vandermark, for instance, leads bands based throughout Eastern Europe as well in Chicago, and has lately been collaborating in New York with Jason Moran, another player who doesn’t believe in putting himself or jazz in a box. 

Tokar has played in Vandermark’s Resonance ensemble, and his and Kugel’s combined discographies include dates with Bobby Few, Roberta Piket, and Charles Gayle, as well as a good number of Eastern Europe’s leading improvisers.

Can there be such a thing as straight-ahead free? If so, this disk’s five as-it-happens improvisations would be it. Each achieves something remarkable, a seldom-realized free jazz ideal: the more these players achieve something remarkable, the more these players sacrifice themselves in support of one another, the more our attention is drawn to each’s individual merits.

Teasing his solos to climax on the album’s two longest performances, Vandermark shows he knows the difference between repetition and repetitiveness. This might be some of his best playing on records; it’s definitely among his lustiest. Tokar’s “extended” bass technique is astonishing, and worthy of special notice is the way he matches tones with Vandermark when the latter explores the lower reaches of his horn. Kugel is a model drummer, supplying both motion and combustion without so much as implying a steady beat. Only one modifier will do in further categorizing this free jazz: classic. - Francis Davis

1. Left Sided Driver 19:22

2. Everyday Fabric 13:59

3. Objective 49 04:51

4. Split Hinge 03:43

5. Message To The Past 14:42

All Compositions by Ken Vandermark [Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP-Cien Fuegos], Mark Tokar, Klaus Kugel [GEMA]. 

Recorded at The Alchemia Club in Krakow on December 12th, 2016. 

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Rafał Drewinany [dts studio] 

Design by Małgorzata Linińska

Ken Vandermark - Homework 1: (For Muhal Richard Abrams, Curtis Mayfield & Dinah Washington) CATALYTIC SOUND 2018

1. B Movie 23:05

2. Series B 13:45

3. Película B 14:24

4. B Eiga 19:18

Music performed and improvised by

Andrew Clinkman: guitar (left)

Steve Marquette: guitar (right)

Macie Stewart: keyboard and violin

Phil Sudderberg: drums

Ken Vandermark: reeds

As part of the special edition Marker live box set "Roadwork 1 / Roadwork 2 / Homework 1", we are happy to release Systems vs. Artifacts digital album of Homework 1.

Recorded by Dave Zuchowski at The Hungry Brain, Chicago on February 18, 2018. Mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski at One Room Studio.

Marker - Roadwork 1 / Roadwork 2 / Homework 1 (3CD Box Set) CATALYTIC SOUND 2018

On July 16th, Audiographic Records will officially release its first Special Edition: 140 copies of a 3 CD boxset by the band Marker, called "Roadwork 1 & 2/Homework 1." The material was recorded at three concerts during the group's tour of the Southeast, in New Orleans, Atlanta, and Chicago. Catalytic Sound is now taking advance orders for this $30 collection, which will also be on sale at the shows held on Marker's upcoming Midwest tour, from July 6th to 13th (see kenvandermark.com for listings).

These recordings will be made available through Audiographic's Systems vs. Artifacts imprint as digital download albums, also on July 16th. The ensemble's first album, "Wired For Sound," received 5 stars from the Free Jazz Collective, as well as other accolades. With this new collection from Marker listeners will be able to hear how far the band has come since that initial album was released."

Ken Vandermark

CD 1: ROADWORK New Orleans (for Ed Blackwell, Irma Thomas, and Allen Toussaint) 

Track listing: 

1. Accordéon (15:47) 

2. French Dress (20:51) 

Recorded by Danny Kadar and Joe Stolarick at The Mint during The Instigation Festival, New Orleans on January 25, 2018. Mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski at One Room Studio. 

CD 2: ROADWORK Atlanta (for James Brown, Marion Brown, and Mary Lou Williams) 

Track listing: 

1. Shunpike (15:50) 

2. Deguchi (21.04) 

3. Salida (19:39) 

4. Detour (15:58) 

Recorded by Andrew Wiggins at The Earl, Atlanta on January 31, 2018. Mastered by Dave Zuchowski at One Room Studio. 

CD 3: HOMEWORK Chicago (for Muhal Richard Abrams, Curtis Mayfield, and Dinah Washington) 

Track listing: 

1. B Movie (23:16) 

2. Series B (13.47) 

3. Película B (14:24) 

4. B Eiga (19:45) 

Recorded by Dave Zuchowski at The Hungry Brain, Chicago on February 18, 2018. Mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski at One Room Studio. 

Compositions by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP-Cien Fuegos)

AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark - Hidden in the Stomach (SILKHEART RECORDS 2018)

Recorded in an excellent Stockholm studio during December 1996, AALY TRIO + KEN VANDERMARK features Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark on reeds, together with bassist Peter Janson and drummer Kjell Nordeson. AALY TRIO has been in existence for a number of years, consistently playing exciting music. This is their debut on disc and it is quite a major event, particularly since they are joined by another significant contributor to new jazz improvisation in the shape of Ken Vandermark. The music played by the quartet is free improvisation but their control is no empathic and cohesive that the music almost sounds arranged. Extraordinary. 

"Paul Valéry said poetry is hidden in the stomach, you're obsessed by it, never quite sure of it, but know it's there and want to bring it out." 
William Baziotes 

In a debate with a friend over the relative qualities of Chaim Soutine and Piet Mondrian, William Baziotes argued that "...looseness of execution [is] no virtue in itself...." This statement actually says a good bit about Baziotes, a painter often grouped with the abstract expressionists, but out of step with them, preferring orderly forms - never straying completely from figuration - over the drizzled, slashed and flung pigments of action-painters like Jackson...  more

1. Structure à la Mallé 13:34

2. Why I Don't Go Back 10:14

3. Song for Che 09:00

4. Unknown Title 08:27

5. Albumblatt Again 01:47

6. Ghosts / Spirits 11:56

Mats Gustafsson tenor sax, baritone sax (right channel)

Ken Vandermark tenor sax, clarinet, bass-clarinet (left channel)

Peter Janson bass

Kjell Nordeson drums, percussion

Vandermark & Snow - DUOL (CATALYTIC SOUND 2018)

Although he is best known as a groundbreaking experimental filmmaker, one of the architects of structural cinema, and visual artist, Michael Snow has been active as a musician since the 1950s. In Greenwich Village of the 1960s, his loft was the site of concerts by Cecil Taylor and other paragons of free jazz, and Snow’s film New York Eye and Ear featured a soundtrack by Albert Ayler’s group and starred its members. A brilliant keyboardist and occasional trumpeter, Snow was a key figure in Toronto’s improvised music scene, performing and recording with the ensemble CCMC, and as an improvising pianist he’s worked in myriad contexts with many of the world’s leading free players. Saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Ken Vandermark first learned about Snow as a film student in Montreal, where the classic work Wavelength confounded and fascinated him. In 2015, Vandermark and Snow performed together for the first time as a duet, resulting in three astounding long-form improvisations. Snow dug in hard at the piano, with clusters and repeated figures, while Vandermark was explosive on tenor and surgical on clarinet, opting often for the latter. The entire evening’s music is released here, an early painting by Snow adorning the cover, and a still from the concert’s videotaped footage spanning the gatefold interior.

1. Duol One (14:17)

2. Duol Two (09:12)

3. Duol Three (10:10)

Ken Vandermark, reeds

Michael Snow, piano

All music by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP-Cien Fuegos) and Michael Snow (SOCAN) Recorded on June 20th, 2015 by Ted Phillips at Array Space, Toronto. Edited and mastered by Alex Inglizian with assistance from Ken Vandermark at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago. Thanks to Ron Gaskin for the invitation and idea; to Ted Phillips, John Creson and Adam Rosen, Alex Inglizian and ESS for their assistance with the recording; to Rick Sacks and Array Space; to John Oswald who also performed that night; to Shannin Porter and Billions for their help with my logistics; and to John Corbett and Jim Dempsey for making this album possible. Painting by Michael Snow, Duol, 1960, oil on canvas, 70.2 x 45.1 inches, Collection of the estate of Signy Eaton. Photo by Laurie Kwasnik. Design by David Khan-Giordano. Publication editor, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Emily Letourneau. Executive producers John Corbett and Jim Dempsey.

Aaly Trio - I Wonder If I Was Screaming (2018)

Recorded at Soundtrade Studios, Stockholm, March 30 & 31, 2000. 

Mixed at Nordstudios in Stockholm, September 18 & 19, 2000. 

Mastered at Cosmos Studios in Stockhom, September 20, 2000. 

This music is dedicated to Bengt "Frippe" Nordström (1937-2000) and Åke Hodell (1919-2000), two great Swedish pioneers and innovators. 

Released on Crazy Wisdom , 2000

1. 3 On 2 06:30

2. There Is A Balm In Gilead 08:12

3. In Between Films (for Bruce Conner) 10:09

4. Left To Right [for Henry Grimes] 07:55

5. Send (for Lucky Thompson) 09:10

6. Würzburg 10:39

Mats Gustafsson - tenor & alto saxophone (right channel)

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone ,clarinet (right channel)

Peter Janson - bass

Kjell Nordeson - drums

Aaly Trio & Ken Vandermark - Live at the Glenn Miller Café (2018)

Recorded live at the Glenn Miller Café, Stockholm on March 10, 1999

Edited and mastered at Airwave Studios, Chicago on May 18, 1999

1. Unit Character (for Jimmy Lyons) 09:00

2. Ghosts 17:47

3. Alva Jo 12:24

4. Idioms 11:55

Mats Gustafsson - alto, tenor saxophone

Peter Janson - bass

Kjell Nordeson - drums

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, clarinet

Aaly Trio & Ken Vandermark - Stumble (2018)

Recorded live at Unity Temple January 17, 1998 

Released by Wobbly Rail 1998

1. Stumble (For Pee Wee Russell) 11:54

2. Umea 11:27

3. Hommage à Lillen 06:24

4. Song For Che 14:31

5. Why I Don't Go Back 13:37

Mats Gustafsson - tenor saxophone, fluteophone, flute

Peter Janson - bass

Kjell Nordeson - drums

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

Aaly Trio / DKV Trio - Double or Nothing (2018)

AALY Trio (Gustafsson, Nordeson, Flaten) on left channel.

DKV Trio (Vandermark, Kessler, Drake) on right channel.

Recorded September 23, 1999 at Airwave Studios, Chicago.

Released by Okka Disk, 2002

1. Left to Right (for Henry Grimes) 13:17

2. Angels 21:11

3. Awake Nu 17:07

Mats Gustafsson - Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone

Ken Vandermark - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Kent Kessler - Double Bass

Hamid Drake, Kjell Nordeson - drums

DKV Trio (Hamid Drake / Kent Kessler / Ken Vandermark) - Latitutde 41.88 (NOT TWO RECORDS 2017)

The DKV Trio is one of the most exciting ensembles working in contemporary improvised music. Featuring Hamid Drake (drums), Kent Kessler (bass), and Ken Vandermark, the band has been active since the mid 1990s and has released eleven recordings, including their most recent album, which came out in the autumn of 2016: Collider (that features the trio paired with the Scandinavian group, The Thing).

Their 2014 five CD box set, Sound in Motion in Sound, was reviewed by the Free Jazz Collective as follows, “They are tighter, more explosive, and ingenious than ever. Imagine every DKV Trio’s signature element coming together in a remarkably dazzling, fiery display of musical prowess. There’s an almost palpable quality to the way that the musicians meld their ideas and approaches together. There’s groove propelled by Drake’s funky, loose drumming, there’s melody in the bass lines, there’s dissonance and conflict in Vandermark’s fluid, mercurial playing.

This is a great recording by an unmistakable, intense group of musicians with a sound and feeling of their own. That much is clear now. I would even dare to call this album their best to date. Inspired, full of energy, harmonically, rhythmically, and even melodically rich, capable of wonderfully recreating the joy of listening to DKV Trio live.” 5 stars

2017 promises to be an exceptional year for the band: they will be releasing a new album on the label Not Two, have concerts scheduled in Canada during June, and will tour in Europe with Joe McPhee as a guest for the first time in their career.

01. Faster Than It Would Be (Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler, Ken Vandermark) 20:25

02. 20th Century Myth (Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler, Ken Vandermark) 17:33

03. Uncontrolled Writer (Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler, Ken Vandermark) 21:56

Ken Vandermark: reeds

Kent Kessler: bass

Hamid Drake: drums

Eric Revis - Sing Me Some Cry (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2017)

Whether frontier his own ensembles with colleagues like Orrin Evans, Nasheet Waits, Kris Davis, Andrew Cyrille, Darius Jones and Jason Moran, double bassist Eric Revis has established himself as much for his experimentations into the unknown as with mainstream jazz forms (Branford Marsalis Quartet, Betty Carter). On his newest album as a leader, “Sing Me Some Cry” (Clean Feed), he goes a long way beyond anything he’s achieved before. “Sing” is the next step beyond 2013’s “Parallax” (Clean Feed), his first recorded pairing with multi-reedist and MacArthur Fellow Ken Vandermark, the Chicago experimental scion. It shows Revis’ astoundingly flexible range with a huge grounded sound.

Vandermark returns to this session in a quartet with Kris Davis (Revis’ frequent trio partner in a handful of recorded dates with drummer Andrew Cyrille), and a former Chicagoan, Chad Taylor, whom the bassist employed on his acclaimed 2014 quartet session “In Memory of Things Yet Seen.”  Together, they reinforce the idea that the identity of the music is relative to context and shared experience.

The various points of departure sprouting from each player’s unique identity fit within the same context because of a shared willingness to experiment with sound and form. Modern creative music is invariably composed of multiple sensibilities. This recording explores these qualities, confirming what has already been said about Revis’ personal aesthetic — one committed to the “stretching the jazz fabric without ripping it apart.”  So, in “Sing Me Some Cry” you have traditional vocabulary, free-bop and more, with a continued indifference to established aesthetic ideologies.

2. Good Company 8:01

3. Pt 44 5:29

4. Solstice....The Girls (For Max & Xixi) 5:40

5. Obliogo 5:08

6. Rye Eclipse 9:29

7. Rumples 5:45

8. Drunkard's Lullaby 4:49

9. Glyph 5:49

Eric Revis  double bass

Ken Vandermark  tenor saxophone and clarinet

Kris Davis  piano

Chad Taylor  drums

Tim Daisy / Ken Vandermark / Michael Thieke- Triptych (RELAY RECORDINGS 2017)

Triptych documents a first time meeting between three stalwarts from the international improvised music scene: Berlin-based clarinetist and composer Michael Thieke, Multi-reedist extraordinaire Ken Vandermark, and Chicago-based drummer and composer Tim Daisy. These three compositions and five improvisations document multiple approaches to the art of composition and improvisation utilizing an unconventional trio line-up of clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, and percussion.

1. At Argyle 04:08

2. KV - MT 02:34

3. Yellow Fern 06:26

4. TD 04:04

5. Tuesday At Noon 06:56

6. KV 02:59

7. MT-TD 04:16

8. MT 01:49

3 Compositions & 5 Improvisations by

Michael Thieke: clarinet

Ken Vandermark: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Tim Daisy: drums,percussion,radios  

Recorded on December 6th, 2016 at Experimental Sound Studio Chicago, IL 

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Alex Inglizian 

Tracks 1,3 and 5 composed by Tim Daisy (Split Music/ASCAP) 

Tracks 2,4,6,7 and 8 by Daisy (ASCAP) Thieke (GEMA) and Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP-Cien Fuegos) 

Artwork by Federico Peñalva

www.michael-thieke.de 

www.kenvandermark.com 

www.timdaisy.com