Sonic Eel - Live in Brooklyn (September 2021)

1. Theme 37 - Chasinesque 05:58

2. Theme 38 - Six Bar Blues 06:30

3. Theme 39 - For Vaughn Benjamin 06:03

4. Theme 40 - Sarcasm 06:42

5. Theme 41 - For Cooper-Moore 06:55

6. All of Me and Mario 06:21

7. Recap 03:50

This is a live set from Scholes Street Studio in Brooklyn in October 2019.

Theme 37 - Chasinesque - An 8 bar head with a heart of 12 and some free time too as we keep Chasin' after Trane. I originally wrote this to be performed by Ras Moshe, Matt Lavelle, Rodney Chapman, Evan, Tcheser Holmes, and me at Muchmore's in December 2018.

Theme 38 - Six Bar Blues - Some 6 bars and some vamping on a piece originally written for Jon Panikkar's blues band during its January 2019 performance at Bushwick Public House.

Theme 39 - For Vaughn Benjamin - based on a riff by the reggae band Midnite which featured Benjamin as lead singer. He was a brilliant vocalist and wordsmith who died young at 50 in 2019.

Theme 40 - Sarcasm - written by my daughter Ariella, age 7 at the time. She carefully wrote out the stacked five-note clusters in each hand of the A section, which showed me how serious she was about the piece.

Theme 41 - For Cooper-Moore - dedicated to the gorgeously inventive pianist, legend of NYC free jazz from the loft scene down to today. He has blessed me with his example and also the generosity of kind words in support of my journey on piano.

We ended our set with an improvised piece which I subsequently titled All of Me and Mario for audible reasons.

The last track on the album is a solo piano improv I recorded during a February 2019 session at the City College of New York. This studio improv seemed to me to recap and condense some of the preceding sonic ideas heard on this live album.

Sonic Eel is:

Eric Plaks - piano

Evan Crane - bass

Leonid Galaganov - drums

Tracks 1-6 recorded October 27, 2019 by René Alain live at Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn, as part of John Loggia's SonicXchange series.

Track 7 recorded in the City College of New York recording studio by Trevor Schlam.

Tracks 1-6 mixed and mastered by Jon Rosenberg

Track 7 mixed and mastered by Yoni Kretzmer (with additional mastering by Jon Rosenberg)

Production and design by E. Plaks

All music © Plaks - Crane - Galaganov, 2019

PREORDER

Zack Clarke - Mesophase (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2018)

Mesophase is a term used in physics describing a state of matter that is neither liquid nor solid, sharing properties of both while defining a state unique unto itself. By extension, the concept can also apply to a reconciliation of emotional polarities or conflicting ideas. Zack Clarke leverages the idea of a mesophase as a vehicle for musical expression through the synthesis of disparate musical forces. His album “Mesophase” unites the natural and the human-made, bringing together acoustic and electronic elements in profound and unusual ways. The result is a music that is not defined by genre, taking essential elements from improvisation, electronic music and through-composed writing. With this combination of approaches, the pianist and composer from New York creates harmonic and melodic forms that translate through multiple mediums. Clarke refers to the process of creating the album as “feeling less like construction and more like a discovery and translation of something that is already there.” After the initial success and critical acclaim of his first Clean Feed release, “Random Acts of Order,” Clarke takes a bold and significant step forward with this record, as he expands his previous approach to electro-acoustic music through the incorporation of a score for an ensemble of musicians. Performed by some of New York City’s finest up-and-coming improvisors, the outcome is a vibrant palette of unique instrumentation and modern synthetic sound that delivers a powerful and thought-provoking listening experience.

Zack Clarke  piano and electronics

Chris Irvine  cello

Charlotte Greve  saxophone, clarinet, flute

Nick Dunston  double bass

Leonid Galaganov  percussion, waterphone, shakuhachi

1 Curtain 06:24 

2 Generative 08:14

3 Infiltration 02:00

4 Beggar 04:41

5 Tilted 04:48

6 Reticence 05:35

7 Frontier 04:14

8 Assimilate 05:48

9 Bridge 05:40

10 Bravery 05:37

All compositions by Zack Clarke

Recorded April 25th 2017 by Jim Clouse at Park West Studios, Brooklyn, NY | Mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington, Bass Hit Studios, New York, NY

Produced by Zack Clarke | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos

Eric Plaks - Chrysalis (OutNow Recordings 2018)

Album contains 9 full tracks.

On his tenth and most recent album, Chrysalis, on Out Now Recordings, Plaks offers a program featuring 6 written themes (including two which honor David S. Ware and Cecil Taylor) alongside three sumptuous and spontaneous group compositions. In addition to Plaks' provocative piano, listeners will be thrilled by the huge and gorgeous sound of Andrew Hadro on baritone sax, bass clarinet, and b-flat clarinet, the earthy bass of Evan Crane, and the supple and gem-like drumming of Leonid Galaganov. 

Pianist Eric Plaks was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and attended Harvard College. A student of the entire history of jazz, from the most traditional forms to the most modern styles of creative improvisation, Eric began his performing and recording career when he moved to Harlem in 1996. He has appeared in various formats and venues in New York City and the wider world. Eric is known for his distinctive form of pianism, in which listeners have heard the accents of Taylor, Shipp, Crothers, Abrams, Waldron, Hill, Monk, Ra, and Ellington.