URUK - Ame (Live at Artacts) April 1, 2022 trost records

1. Ame

2. Enkidu

3. Gilgamesh

4. Ianna Ishtar

Isabelle Duthoit – clarinet, voice

Franz Hautzinger – quarter-tone trumpet

Hamid Drake – percussion, frame drum, voice

Michael Zerang – percussion, frame drum

Recorded live at Artacts, Alte Gerberei, St.Johann, March 7th 2020

Mastering by Martin Siewert

PRE-ORDER

Survival Unit III - The Art of Flight: For Alvin Fielder (March 2022 Catalytic-Sound)

"To rush at the wind and having caught it, to soar." - Unknown

Astral Spirits and the Instigation Festival are proud to announce the first release on Instigation Records: "The Art of Flight: For Alvin Fielder" by Survival Unit III (Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Joe McPhee (tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet), Michael Zerang (percussion).

This set finds the trio breaking new ground - Lonberg-Holm going sans electronics for the first time in Survival Unit III's storied discography - while displaying the mastery of sonic shade and deft interplay that's been their hallmark over the past sixteen plus years.

Beautifully recorded at the New Orleans Jazz Museum during the 2018 Instigation Festival, the night was fittingly historic: Survival Unit III performed the middle set of a three act bill featuring Ken Vandermark's Marker (released as Roadwork 1 on Vandermark's Audiographic imprint) and the final performance of McPhee (filling in last minute for an ill Kidd Jordan) with legendary drummer and beloved AACM elder Alvin Fielder to whom this album is dedicated. That set - with James Singleton on bass to round out the trio - will be released on LP in 2023 as the third title on Instigation Records.

With precious few recordings of Survival Unit III, every new release is a cause for celebration, and a perfect encapsulation of the spirit of the festival: honoring the history by crafting the future.

1. Part 1 13:37

2. Part 2 07:15

3. Part 3 10:46

4. Part 4 03:45

5. Part 5 04:23

Joe McPhee - tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet

Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello

Michael Zerang - percussion

Recorded by Danny Kadar and Joe Stolarick at The Mint during The Instigation Festival, New Orleans on January 25, 2018

Mixed and Mastered by Jeff Albert

Produced by The Instigation Festival and Astral Spirits

Desing and cover photo by Federico Peñalva & Band photo by Marc PoKempner.

PRE-ORDER

Dave Rempis / Elisabeth Harnik / Michael Zerang - Astragaloi (March 2022 Catalytic-Sound)

 

This trio didn’t know how lucky they had it. They were certainly happy to perform again when this concert was recorded at the ArtActs Festival in St Johan Austria in early March 2020. Although their first outing was back in 2013 in Harnik’s hometown of Graz - a live concert broadcast through the Austrian National Radio/ORF, the band has had a sporadic performance history. So the opportunity to reunite for this festival performance was already special. Little did they know what lay ahead though, with a pandemic that was actually breaking out right around them in the Alpine ski areas of Tirol, Austria, an epicenter that would soon be tied to COVID’s spread around Europe by international vacationers. This opening night of ArtActs ‘20 would be one of those last care-free times, when one could sit until the wee hours at the bar with friends, celebrating a night of music- making with laughter and cheer, and with no concern for a shared breath.

Thankfully, these three took advantage of the opportunity to produce a stellar document of their performance. Astragaloi is the third release by this trio formation, after the digital-only Wistfully which came out in 2016 on Aerophonic, and 2020’s Triple Tube issued on cd by Not Two. While some of those records have flown under the radar because of the trio’s sparse performance schedule, that doesn’t diminish the musical simpatico that these three have enjoyed for years. Ever since Harnik’s introduction to the Chicago scene at the 2008 Umbrella Music Festival when she was a featured visiting artist, she’s actively maintained the relationships she built there, including with Rempis and Zerang. Aside from their work as a trio, all three have worked together in duo contexts since that first meeting.

On Astragaloi, it may be Harnik’s wide-ranging abilities that tie things together in such an astounding way. At one moment her preparations inside the piano turn the instrument into a quietly percussive zither, while at another her full- throated insistence at the keyboard draws out the resonance of a full orchestra. Skittering, plucking, pounding, caressing. And while she has the sheer energy to keep up with Rempis’ firebreathing tendencies, she also knows how to rein him in to quieter, more abstract spaces that explore breathy nuance and pinpoint texture. Zerang meanwhile displays the singular approach that he’s developed on the drum kit, rooted in his Middle Eastern upbringing and the significant abilities as a hand percussionist that he developed early on. That approach frees him as an improviser from so many of the tropes common to “drummers,” as he pushes the instrument beyond groove to focus on color, density, articulation, dynamics, and drive, in a way that creates an uncommon unity within the group. There are no specialized duties here, all three of these improvisers roll up their sleeves to keep the narrative momentum moving forward using every tool at their disposal.

Astragaloi is a joint release between Aerophonic and Idyllic Noise in Austria, which releases the same material on vinyl later this spring!! 

1. Milkvetch 09:55

2. Macateta 05:07

3. Locoweed 04:16

4. Lafo Litupa 14:44

5. Goats-thorn 07:39

Recorded at ArtActs Festival in Sankt Johan in Tirol, Austria, March 6th, 2020

Dave Rempis – alto/tenor saxophone

Elisabeth Harnik – piano

Michael Zerang – drums/percussion

Recorded and mixed by Markus Massinger

Mastered by Dave Zuchowski

Design by Make Amazing

Produced by Dave Rempis

PRE-ORDER

Survival Unit III - The Art of Flight: For Alvin Fielder (March 18, 2022 Astral Spirits)

"To rush at the wind and having caught it, to soar." - Unknown

Astral Spirits and the Instigation Festival are proud to announce the first release on Instigation Records: "The Art of Flight: For Alvin Fielder" by Survival Unit III (Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Joe McPhee (tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet), Michael Zerang (percussion).

This set finds the trio breaking new ground - Lonberg-Holm going sans electronics for the first time in Survival Unit III's storied discography - while displaying the mastery of sonic shade and deft interplay that's been their hallmark over the past sixteen plus years.

Beautifully recorded at the New Orleans Jazz Museum during the 2018 Instigation Festival, the night was fittingly historic: Survival Unit III performed the middle set of a three act bill featuring Ken Vandermark's Marker (released as Roadwork 1 on Vandermark's Audiographic imprint) and the final performance of McPhee (filling in last minute for an ill Kidd Jordan) with legendary drummer and beloved AACM elder Alvin Fielder to whom this album is dedicated. That set - with James Singleton on bass to round out the trio - will be released on LP in 2023 as the third title on Instigation Records.

With precious few recordings of Survival Unit III, every new release is a cause for celebration, and a perfect encapsulation of the spirit of the festival: honoring the history by crafting the future.

ABOUT INSTIGATION RECORDS:

Instigation Records serves to release historic documents from the Instigation Festival archive and highlight new work by members of the festival's expansive community. Founded in 2016 by guitarist & improviser Steve Marquette and movement artist Marie Casimir, the Instigation Festival hosts a biannual week of interdisciplinary performance between the Chicago and New Orleans improvised music, movement and video arts communities. 

1. Part I

2. Part II

3. Part III

4. Part IV

5. Part V

Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello)

Joe McPhee (tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet)

Michael Zerang (percussion)

PRE-ORDER

Swell / Ullmann / Fred Lonberg-Holm / Zerang - The Chicago Plan (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2016)

The Chicago Plan is Gebhard Ullmann (DE) – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, octaver; Steve Swell (USA) – trombone; Fred Lonberg-Holm (USA) – cello, electronics; Michael Zerang (USA) – drums, percussion | Label: Clean Feed Records, 2016

Celebrating over ten years of collaborating together, Berlin saxophonist/composer, Gebhard Ullmann and NYC trombonist/composer Steve Swell join two of Chicago's finest improvising musicians; Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello/electronics and percussionist Michael Zerang for this new configuration. Building on the strength and ideals of those three cities the quartet creates enough fireworks to light up the night sky with their brilliant sound imagery. The Chicago Plan thoroughly breaks new ground for what Jazz and New Music ensembles' approach to what creative music should be.

"Here now was jazz energy. Here was meticulous virtuosity. Here was wild, driving rhythm and horns in a front-line part. Stopping on a dime, returning to the previous mood. Finding a way to end. The ebb and flow of formal composition and instantaneous improvisation is what makes this approach to music making so exciting" — Lazaro Vega, Jazz Director, Blue Lake Radio

1. Variations on a Master Plan, Pt 3. 6:02

2. Composite #10  18:45

3. Variations on a Master Plan, Pt 2 6:40

4. Rule #1 Make Sure You Can Play Your Own Tune 8:37

5. Déjà Vu 7:45

6. For Henry 7:46

Steve Swell  trombone

Gebhard Ullmann  tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Fred Lonberg-Holm  cello, electronics

Michael Zerang  drums

Tracks 1, 3, 5 and 6 by Gebhard Ullmann (GEMA), 2 and 4 by by Steve Swell (Steve Swell Music, BMI)

Recorded on September 22nd, 2015 at Kingsize Sound Labs, Chicago, IL, by John Abbey | Mixed by Walter Quintus | Mastered by Walter Quintus

Produced by Steve Swell and Gebhard Ullman | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos

Dave Rempis / Elisabeth Harnik / Michael Zerang - Wistfully (2016) AEROPHONIC RECORDS

PRESENT

Dave Rempis / Elisabeth Harnik / Michael Zerang - Wistfully (2016)

This live trio recording was made in the late fall of 2013, and features a first-time grouping of improvisers that had never performed as a unit before, despite their interweaving musical paths. Pianist Harnik first came into contact with her Chicago counterparts at the 2008 Umbrella Music Festival, when both audiences and musicians in the city became immediately enamored with her unique and wide-ranging approach to her instrument based on her Chicago Cultural Center performance. In the years after, she began ongoing collaborations with Rempis and Zerang, performing separately with them in both the U.S. and Europe. 

In the fall of 2013, Rempis and Zerang had just finished a week in Krakow, Poland, working with Ken Vandermark’s Resonance Ensemble. They continued on to perform as a duo at concerts in Warsaw and Vienna, before meeting Harnik in her hometown of Graz, Austria to explore this first-time trio grouping at a well-known concert venue called WIST. Happily, Austrian National Radio (ORF) got wind of the occasion, and decided to make a recording for live broadcast, a document presented here. 

While fans of the music might imagine that all three of these strong voices contribute equally to the proceedings, they wouldn’t be incorrect. However it’s Harnik’s jaw-dropping ability to reconfigure the entire sound of her piano from one piece to the next that shapes each of these six improvisations into individual alien landscapes all their own. Deploying an incredible range of timbres from full-throated, lush chords, to the clanging, metallic tones of an Indonesian gamelan, Harnik deftly manipulates her instrument to paint the backgrounds on which Rempis and Zerang then build.

01. Wistful 1 09:23

02. Wistful 2 12:34

03. Wistful 3 10:29

04. Wistful 4 06:12

05. Wistful 5 07:59

06. Wistful 6 06:00

Dave Rempis – alto/tenor saxophone 

Elisabeth Harnik – piano 

Michael Zerang – percussion 

All compositions by Rempis/Harnik/Zerang 

Recorded live at WIST in Graz, Austria, November 29th, 2013 

by Norbert Stadlhofer and Franz Josef Kerstinger. Originally used for live broadcast on Austrian National Radio (ORF) 

Mastered by Dave Zuchowski 

Design by Johnathan Crawford 

Produced by Dave Rempis 

Special thanks to the staff and crew of ORF, and to Ludwig Sik.

Released January 12, 2016

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