Rachel Beetz - Unofficial (January 21, 2022 Orenda Records)

Composer, sound artist, and flutist Rachel Beetz presents Unofficial, her first full-length album of improvisations exploring the electro-acoustic flute with texture, and noise.

“The sound of the acoustic flute was never satisfying enough for me. I would always push to the extremes of acceptability in both contemporary and bel canto playing. My performances are intensified by living on the edge - overblown louds and softs that you could barely hear. I was always wanting more out of my instrument and have had trouble ‘playing nice.’ This album is me exploring my instrumental voice by transforming it into synthesizers and layering those with noise and effects.”

Beetz’s flute playing has been described as “evoking the roar of prehistoric animals” by the San Diego Union Tribune and “soulfully elegant” by the Washington Post.

To create Unofficial, Rachel improvised with custom synthesizers made from samples of her acoustic flute playing (Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8) and also on the acoustic flute with effects pedals (Tracks 2 and 3). All of the tracks capture in-the-moment creations with some production in post. Other than the desire to transform the flute into the entire range of musical frequencies, there were no rules or systems employed in creating these tracks. Performed in the privacy of her home studio, these improvisations are an attempt at revealing the inner subconscious.

“Improvisation is also a challenging area for me. My desires for long, sustained lines and polyphony are difficult to explore on the flute. Even with a mastery of the instrument, the sounds I want to make require me to sustain the limits of my physicality. This often brings an undesired element of physical virtuosity into the work. No longer limited by my physical body with the flute synthesizers, I was able to be more in the moment. Listening back, I was surprised to hear such intense emotion. Hearing my true feelings reflected back at me, I was more able to process the world around me.”

As a composer and sound artist, Beetz’s works recreate physical atmospheres based on her deep listening adventures in the wild, exploring hidden worlds of nature and machines. Combining experimental field recordings and electronically modified flutes, her works examine community, environmentalism, and women’s work through sound, video, textiles, and lighting. Her projects have been featured in concert halls and galleries in Australia, Iceland, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As a flutist, she is dedicated to performing works by living composers, as well as pushing the boundaries of the instruments traditional roles and techniques.

“There has always been some cognitive dissonance for me in my identity as a musician who plays the flute, a somewhat gentle instrument. I’ve trained for decades to be able to play with that beautiful, resonant singing tone and can do it, but it is a challenge for me. I’ve come to enjoy adding some dirt and grit into my sound and have been exploring that in contemporary music for years. The first time I truly heard myself in my sound was in the creation of my tracks on Script – Rescript. Those were a reaction to drawings made by artist Nichole Speciale. I made them with strict rules, measuring every line and defining every color. Unofficial takes the opposite approach, leaving the door completely open to a moment in time. I am surprised that the outcome feels even more like my sound. It is very freeing as an artist to hear something you’ve been trying to make for decades come true and invigorating to find it through a completely different working approach.”

“This release needed a special place where it felt safe to be open and vulnerable. I am proud to have Unofficial on Orenda Records, a label that accepts and encourages sound makers of all kinds. To me, Unofficial is science fiction, representing a utopia where we are self-aware enough to know when to express our feelings and when to protect them. It is where we are free to be officially unofficial.” 

1. Behind

2. Undertow

3. Pressures

4. Hold

5. Vessels

6. Climb

7. Leaving

8. Dreams

Recorded and Produced by Rachel Beetz

Cover Art by STIGMA FOG SAINT

Design by Dan Rosenboom

© 2021 Rachel Beetz (ASCAP)

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Jacqueline Kerrod's fearless solo album '17 Days in December’ (December 3, 2021 via Orenda Records)

17 Days in December, due out December 3, 2021 via Orenda Records, features an expansive set of solo harp improvisations culled from daily explorations

 

Kerrod’s diverse credits include work with Anthony Braxton, serving as principal harpist with NY City Opera, and performances with Anohni, Rufus Wainwright and Kanye West

 

"Kerrod is a fearless improviser and experimentalist, using extended techniques in a fashion that would sound like mistakes in less sure hands."

– Mike Eisenberg, Avant Music News

 

“[The] exceptionally virtuosic and sensitive harpist Jacqueline Kerrod… drew many different tonal colors from her instrument. ” 

– Timothy Hutto, Classical Source

“I sometimes think I should have picked a different instrument,” jokes South African-born harpist Jacqueline Kerrod.

Classically trained from the age of 9, Kerrod has had a vibrant and varied career as a freelancer in New York City. She has played principal harp with top orchestras and performed with elite chamber groups, contemporary music ensembles, and pop superstars like Anohni, Rufus Wainwright and Kanye West. But although she consistently worked at a very high level, these opportunities failed to provide an outlet for her own creative voice.

 

“Although I had dabbled in improvisation and writing my own music, it took a back seat as I continued my studies in the US and began my professional career in NYC. Even so, that little voice in my head was there, reminding me of the music I was really drawn to and my desire to make it myself.”

 

Kerrod’s journey of personal sonic discovery has now yielded her debut solo album, 17 Days in December, due out December 3, 2021 via Los Angeles-based Orenda Records. The album results from a month-long series of daily improvisations on acoustic and electric harp that Kerrod undertook in the basement of her home in Princeton at the height of the Covid-19 quarantine. But its origins date back long before the pandemic, to a six-year journey in a pop duo and the inspiration of working with master composer/improviser Anthony Braxton.

 

Kerrod was initially enlisted to play with the ensemble for Braxton’s opera “Trillium J.” That led to an invitation to join the saxophone innovator on the latest iteration of his musical system, ZIM Music – the results of which can be heard on his new 11-hour recording 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017. She later joined Braxton in duo performances in Europe and the US. Their performance from Bologna was released on the Italian label I dischi di Angelica in 2020. These opportunities became a plunge into the deep end of the improvised music realm for the harpist.

 

“I found it exciting and terrifying to be inside of those performances,” Kerrod recalls. “As a classical musician the process is so much about learning things perfectly and meticulously preparing so that you lessen the odds of messing up. I rarely felt free from needing to control the outcome. Playing with Braxton was such a shift because you have to be in the moment. That feeling of being able to move through unfamiliar territory and discover new things is such an adventure. I truly rediscovered my joy for music and my instrument.”

 

Prior to crossing paths with Braxton, Kerrod was immersed in the realm of new music with the likes of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Argento Chamber Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Wet Ink, Alarm Will Sound and Metropolis Chamber Ensemble; and she championed South African composers with more than a dozen works written for her. She also branched away from the classical world as half of the pop duo Addi & Jacq (with vocalist Addi McDaniel), where she developed her skills on the electric harp using guitar pedals and a looper, and with songwriting.

“Having all of these experiences with different genres and approaches opened up a whole new world of music to me,” Kerrod says. “Through them I started my listening journey into the world of free improvised music, free jazz, country blues, you name it! I realized that there are no boxes that one needs to climb into. You can and should always be yourself.”

 

Kerrod set up a basic studio at home to continue her evolution, but the lockdown accelerated the process and led to the experiments that comprise 17 Days in December. The harpist set out each day with no fixed agenda or any intention of releasing the results formally. She simply set a timer for 40 minutes, started recording, and let her ideas flow. There is no overdubbing or looping on the album, and no preparations on the harp. She used a screwdriver-like harp tool on one track (“December 5: Screwed”) a small glass bowl on another (“December 28: Glassy Fingers”) and a viola bow (December 29: Rust On Bow) and used delay, whammy and distortion/overdrive pedals on her electric harp. Two acoustic tracks (December 7: Gentle Jangle and December 2: Fluttering Alberti) use software effects in Ableton. Otherwise, the improvisations make use of the natural sounds possible with the unaltered harp..

 

The shimmering opening track, “December 1: Trill to Begin,” draws directly from one of Braxton’s twelve Language Musics. The trill was Kerrod’s solution to Braxton’s Long Sounds language, sustaining a drone despite the harp’s natural tendency for sonic decay. The warped menace of “December 21: Chatterbox” introduces the unusual sounds of her electric harp. Each day’s improv wrings rich discoveries from a different notion, from abstract memory of jazz on “December 9: An Impression” to agitated frenzy on “December 8: Sugar Up” to repurposed classical technique on “December 2: Fluttering Alberti.”

 

“In retrospect, these seventeen improvisations feel like a personal celebration,” Kerrod concludes. “At the time I felt like the top blew off and the music came tumbling out. I felt an incredible amount of joy, truth, warmth, clarity, and reverence for all the sounds – including those I was taught not to make! I want to continue reveling in that feeling, alone and with others, in whatever forms that may take.”

1. December 1: Trill to Begin

2. December 21: Chatterbox

3. December 7: Gentle Jangle

4. December 9: An Impression

5. December 8: Sugar Up

6. December 16: Glare

7. December 17: Strummed I

8. December 28: Glassy Fingers

9. December 14: Broken: In 3

10. December 2: Fluttering Alberti

11. December 4: Can-Can

12. December 29: Rust on Bow

13. December 30: Strummed II

14. December 5: Screwed

15. December 13: Sunday

16. December 22: Blips ‘n’ Blops

17. December 20: Sweet Dreams

Jacqueline Kerrod - Acoustic and Electric Harp

Recorded & produced by Jacqueline Kerrod

Mixed & additional sound production (tracks 2, 3, 7,12, 17) by Weston Olencki

Mastered by Ryan Streber

Cover Art by Eron Rauch

Design by Dan Rosenboom

Photo by Claudia Paul

Jacqueline Kerrod – 17 Days in December

Orenda Records – Orenda 0093 – Recorded Dec. 1-30, 2020

Release date December  3, 2021

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Jacqueline Kerrod '17 Days in December' (December 3 on Orenda Records)

Harpist Jacqueline Kerrod delves boldly into new territory

on her debut solo release

 

17 Days in December, due out December 3, 2021 via Orenda Records, features an expansive set of solo harp improvisations culled from daily explorations

 

Kerrod’s diverse credits include work with Anthony Braxton, serving as principal harpist with NY City Opera, and performances with Anohni, Rufus Wainwright and Kanye West

 

"Kerrod is a fearless improviser and experimentalist, using extended techniques in a fashion that would sound like mistakes in less sure hands."

– Mike Eisenberg, Avant Music News

 

“[The] exceptionally virtuosic and sensitive harpist Jacqueline Kerrod… drew many different tonal colors from her instrument. ”

– Timothy Hutto, Classical Source

 

“I sometimes think I should have picked a different instrument,” jokes South African-born harpist Jacqueline Kerrod

Classically trained from the age of 9, Kerrod has had a vibrant and varied career as a freelancer in New York City. She has played principal harp with top orchestras and performed with elite chamber groups, contemporary music ensembles, and pop superstars like Anohni, Rufus Wainwright and Kanye West. But although she consistently worked at a very high level, these opportunities failed to provide an outlet for her own creative voice.

 

“Although I had dabbled in improvisation and writing my own music, it took a back seat as I continued my studies in the US and began my professional career in NYC. Even so, that little voice in my head was there, reminding me of the music I was really drawn to and my desire to make it myself.”

 

Kerrod’s journey of personal sonic discovery has now yielded her debut solo album, 17 Days in December, due out December 3, 2021 via Los Angeles-based Orenda Records. The album results from a month-long series of daily improvisations on acoustic and electric harp that Kerrod undertook in the basement of her home in Princeton at the height of the Covid-19 quarantine. But its origins date back long before the pandemic, to a six-year journey in a pop duo and the inspiration of working with master composer/improviser Anthony Braxton.

 

Kerrod was initially enlisted to play with the ensemble for Braxton’s opera “Trillium J.” That led to an invitation to join the saxophone innovator on the latest iteration of his musical system, ZIM Music – the results of which can be heard on his new 11-hour recording 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017. She later joined Braxton in duo performances in Europe and the US. Their performance from Bologna was released on the Italian label I dischi di Angelica in 2020. These opportunities became a plunge into the deep end of the improvised music realm for the harpist.

 

“I found it exciting and terrifying to be inside of those performances,” Kerrod recalls. “As a classical musician the process is so much about learning things perfectly and meticulously preparing so that you lessen the odds of messing up. I rarely felt free from needing to control the outcome. Playing with Braxton was such a shift because you have to be in the moment. That feeling of being able to move through unfamiliar territory and discover new things is such an adventure. I truly rediscovered my joy for music and my instrument.”

Prior to crossing paths with Braxton, Kerrod was immersed in the realm of new music with the likes of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Argento Chamber Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Wet Ink, Alarm Will Sound and Metropolis Chamber Ensemble; and she championed South African composers with more than a dozen works written for her. She also branched away from the classical world as half of the pop duo Addi & Jacq (with vocalist Addi McDaniel), where she developed her skills on the electric harp using guitar pedals and a looper, and with songwriting.

 

“Having all of these experiences with different genres and approaches opened up a whole new world of music to me,” Kerrod says. “Through them I started my listening journey into the world of free improvised music, free jazz, country blues, you name it! I realized that there are no boxes that one needs to climb into. You can and should always be yourself.”

 

Kerrod set up a basic studio at home to continue her evolution, but the lockdown accelerated the process and led to the experiments that comprise 17 Days in December. The harpist set out each day with no fixed agenda or any intention of releasing the results formally. She simply set a timer for 40 minutes, started recording, and let her ideas flow. There is no overdubbing or looping on the album, and no preparations on the harp. She used a screwdriver-like harp tool on one track (“December 5: Screwed”) a small glass bowl on another (“December 28: Glassy Fingers”) and a viola bow (December 29: Rust On Bow) and used delay, whammy and distortion/overdrive pedals on her electric harp. Two acoustic tracks (December 7: Gentle Jangle and December 2: Fluttering Alberti) use software effects in Ableton. Otherwise, the improvisations make use of the natural sounds possible with the unaltered harp..

 

The shimmering opening track, “December 1: Trill to Begin,” draws directly from one of Braxton’s twelve Language Musics. The trill was Kerrod’s solution to Braxton’s Long Sounds language, sustaining a drone despite the harp’s natural tendency for sonic decay. The warped menace of “December 21: Chatterbox” introduces the unusual sounds of her electric harp. Each day’s improv wrings rich discoveries from a different notion, from abstract memory of jazz on “December 9: An Impression” to agitated frenzy on “December 8: Sugar Up” to repurposed classical technique on “December 2: Fluttering Alberti.”

 

“In retrospect, these seventeen improvisations feel like a personal celebration,” Kerrod concludes. “At the time I felt like the top blew off and the music came tumbling out. I felt an incredible amount of joy, truth, warmth, clarity, and reverence for all the sounds – including those I was taught not to make! I want to continue reveling in that feeling, alone and with others, in whatever forms that may take.”

1. December 1: Trill to Begin

2. December 21: Chatterbox

3. December 7: Gentle Jangle

4. December 9: An Impression

5. December 8: Sugar Up

6. December 16: Glare

7. December 17: Strummed I

8. December 28: Glassy Fingers

9. December 14: Broken: In 3

10. December 2: Fluttering Alberti

11. December 4: Can-Can

12. December 29: Rust on Bow

13. December 30: Strummed II

14. December 5: Screwed

15. December 13: Sunday

16. December 22: Blips ‘n’ Blops

17. December 20: Sweet Dreams

Jacqueline Kerrod - Acoustic and Electric Harp

Recorded & produced by Jacqueline Kerrod

Mixed & additional sound production (tracks 2, 3, 7,12, 17) by Weston Olencki

Mastered by Ryan Streber

Cover Art by Eron Rauch

Design by Dan Rosenboom

Photo by Claudia Paul

Jacqueline Kerrod – 17 Days in December

Orenda Records – Orenda 0093 – Recorded Dec. 1-30, 2020

Release date December  3, 2021

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Zane Carney Quartet - Alter Ego (2021 Orenda Records)

Guitarist Zane Carney today announced the debut of “Alter Ego,” a bold and bombastic improvised jazz quartet record featuring Jerry Watts Jr. on bass, Gene Coye on drums, and Katisse Buckingham on woodwinds, to be released on April 30 on Orenda Records.

“Alter Ego” embodies an adventurous new wave of free improvisation, along with modal jazz in its most electric, high-octane form. The album features a series of improvised compositions, experiments, and sketches, as well as two rearranged standards. It consists mostly of first takes, with no editing, and aims to subvert convention. In addition, all tracks were mixed from the drummer’s perspective, placing the listener in the middle of the live action, on stage with the group.

“I wanted this record to feel alive,” said Zane Carney. “This is the first time my actual improvisational spirit is being expressed in recorded format. I wanted to capture the sparks that fly when Jerry, Gene, Katisse and I improvise together, and document the untamed, almost manic spirit that LA’s late night jazz scene has produced: there is a certain energy and freedom that transcends genre. West Coast jazz is genreless, it’s reckless, it’s audacious, and it pushes boundaries. In order to summon that ferocity, we approached this session as one might approach an unmoderated debate: no judgement or rules, freely exploring new lands harmonically whenever a member felt like leading the charge.

I wanted us to be as nimble and agile as possible so we could access that core flow state more readily. Every one of us served as a conversation-leader at different points on the record, and I think you hear that especially on songs like ‘Alter’ and ‘Lost.’”

Listeners will find a compelling melding of modern jazz performance that’s been balanced by a fully analog, straight-to-tape vintage recording process. Carney is playing a custom, modified Fender, which he built using a Broadcaster neck and a Telecaster bridge pick-up, to create his signature sound. He used old-world and new-world guitar pedals and played them through a custom Siegmund Sound King, powered by a 1940s pair of 300B television tubes. “The goal was to contrast our current jazz vocabulary with old technology, and see what happens when modern jazz is played with rare, modified instruments and recorded in a fully analog process” Carney added.

The album opens with “Brain Freeze,” drawing listeners in with a meditative, haunting melody before bursting into an explosion of textures, patterns and colors, then promptly clearing the canvas for a flute/guitar battle. This sets the stage for a stream of multilayered experiments, provocative inquiries, and jarring juxtapositions, from “Alter” to “Lost,” “Found,” and finally, “Ego.” The two standards on the record showcase distinct choices: “Oleo” revisits the classic melody with an absurdist chromatic twist, while “Minority” is turned on its head as a new-wave samba.

Throughout the record, listeners may recognize guitar tones that Carney developed over the years with his various solo and group projects and collaborations, now applied in an improvisational jazz setting. As the record unfolds, tape crackling and hissing, it leads to “Things You Aren’t,” a vulnerable, intimate solo guitar piece, continuing the conversation between past and future.

At its core, “Alter Ego” revels in tensions and the new possibilities they open up. It calls for a full immersion in the present moment and seeks to expose a side of West Coast jazz that’s mostly unchronicled. Zane Carney’s quartet prompts the listener to probe and question jazz norms while investigating what creates those perceptions as the album shape-shifts from track to track. Fittingly, it mirrors the bandleader’s mission: throughout his career, Carney has made a point to defy genre expectations and refuse all stylistic affiliations, his playing standing out on its own.

1. Brain Freeze 03:49

2. Alter 05:45

3. Oleo 03:06

4. Lost 06:48

5. Pitchfork 07:54

6. Minority (feat. Katisse Buckingham) 07:57

7. Things You Aren't 02:42

8. Found 06:46

9. Ego (feat. Jerry Watts Jr. and Gene Coye) 05:13

Guitar - Zane Carney

Bass - Jerry Watts Jr.

Drums - Gene Coye

Woodwinds - Katisse Buckingham

Tracks 1, 2, 4, and 8 written by Zane Carney, Katisse Buckingham, Jerry Watts Jr. and Gene Coye

“Oleo” written by Sonny Rollins

“Pitchfork” written by Zane Carney, Mark Foster, Katisse Buckingham, Jerry Watts Jr. and Gene Coye

“Minority” written by Gigi Gryce

“Things You Aren’t” written by Zane Carney

“Ego” written by Zane Carney, Jerry Watts Jr. and Gene Coye

Produced by Zane Carney, Chris Rondinella and Adriana Stan

Mixed and mastered by Reeve Carney

Recorded live to tape at Heritage Record Co. in Burbank, CA

Album Cover Art by Marshall Roemen

Katisse is a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist, Jerry Watts Jr. uses D’Addario Strings and Kala U-Basses, Gene Coye plays Yamaha Drums and Ufip Cymbals

Pre-order

David Dominique - Mask (ORENDA RECORDS November 9, 2018)

David Dominique's forthcoming album, Mask, is a surrealist, cross-genre expression of angst and catharsis, an exploration of Dominique’s diverse heritage and musical interests, from 60s jazz to avant-rock to contemporary classical. 

Written over eight years, Dominique's new Orenda Records release bounds between styles, strategies, attitudes and textures. Somehow, the project furthers the language Dominique developed on his enthralling 2013 album, Ritual, while offering a perpetual sense of surprise. 

Mask’s aesthetic is one of upheaval; during the period in which he composed this music, Dominique, a Ph.D. with a thriving academic career, moved across the U.S. three times. He also endured tremendous loss, with his father, grandmother and uncle passing away within a span of 18 months. A cycle of grief followed, during which Dominique grasped at the fractured pieces of his personal and family history, in hopes of reassembling them into a cohesive identity. 

That’s the process in play throughout Mask: an artist in the midst of profound, sometimes painful change, inhabiting and discarding one stylistic or cultural veil after another. The music feels like a surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness dreamscape where any part of Dominique’s imagination or memory can suddenly emerge in full color, without warning or musical transition. While often rollicking and joyous on the surface, these sonic collages are the composer’s attempt to heal his inner strife—a continuing catharsis rooted not only in the feeling of loss but in Dominique’s lifelong effort to communicate through multiple heritages. 

In the end, however, Mask’s seemingly incompatible parts are embraced and normalized into a fluid listening experience that remains compelling even when the music’s backstory goes untold. A multi-hyphenate artist with wide-ranging tastes and curiosities, Dominique’s inside-outside take on the avant-garde is as entertaining as it is cerebral, with points of entry for those coming from jazz, the rock underground or the contemporary classical scene. 

The brilliantly raucous small-group music of Charles Mingus with Eric Dolphy might be a good touchstone - Dominique names Mingus at Antibes as an all-time favorite - but there’s so much more in the mix, built up and then refracted in cubist fashion. “Licks and rhythms are reimagined and warped from multiple perspectives, techniques I’ve learned from Stravinsky - especially the ballet Petrushka,” Dominique writes. “In many of these cases, a particular lick or groove is repeated obsessively, in the mode of American minimalists like Steve Reich - in my case representing fixation on a particular thought and the return to that thought again and again.” He has immersed himself in the art of two renowned Austrian composers, and throughout Mask you can hear the sharp experimentalism of Beat Furrer as well as the electronic and avant-rock leanings of Bernhard Lang. 

Joining Dominique is a powerful cast of collaborators up to the tasks set by his visionary music. Shaping potent, direct sound and performances as the album’s producer is jazz trumpet great Nolan Shaheed, a former lead player for the Count Basie Orchestra who’s also shared stages and studios with Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Smith, Phil Collins, David Byrne, Tom Waits and others. Dominique’s cohorts include some of Los Angeles’ brightest rising musicians, all of them sharing his love for composing and his stylistic wanderlust. In addition to Dominique on his trademark flugabone, a compressed valve trombone most often used in marching bands, Mask features Brian Walsh (tenor saxophone, clarinets, co-producer); Joe Santa Maria (alto saxophone, flute); Sam Robles (alto and baritone saxophones); Lauren Baba (viola); Alexander Noice (guitar and electronics); Michael Alvidrez (basses); and Andrew Lessman (drums and drumKAT). Their credits cover a vast range of forward-looking artists, including Eugene Chadbourne, Vampire Weekend, Solange, Niia, Vinny Golia and Wadada Leo Smith.

Raised in New York City and Long Island, Dominique lived on and off in Los Angeles for a decade, and his time in daring L.A. ensembles like Killsonic proved a robust influence on his current music. He is now based in Richmond, Virginia, and works as a professor of music composition and theory at the College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg. In 2013 he conducted his score for Starcrosser’s Cut, Joseph Tepperman’s innovative theatre piece about the disgraced astronaut Lisa Nowak. 

“The musical composition by David Dominique never merely backs or underscores the action,” the Hollywood Reporter said, “but instead comprises an integral component of the overall expression.” Dominique garnered equally effusive praise for his Ritual album, a striking showcase for his ingenious blend of divergent sounds, evoking everything from Mingus and Ellington to Ligeti and Furrer and on to Blonde Redhead and Flying Lotus. “A maximalist inspired by minimalists, composer David Dominique practices a rowdy, muscular brand of modernism. Picture Charles Mingus staging a hostile takeover of the Sun Ra Arkestra with arrangements by Sonic Youth,” DownBeat said. “Dominique’s band teeters on the fulcrum where discipline crumbles into anarchy.” 

Dominique will tour with an octet in support of Mask this fall, hitting Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, the Philadelphia area and three cities in Virginia: Richmond, Charlottesville and Williamsburg. He will direct the ensemble and play flugabone, and the band will feature cornetist Victor Haskins, the director of the Kennedy Center’s Jazz Outreach Program, and Ian McColm, acclaimed DC-based drummer and composer. 

Steuart Liebig Men-Tot Six: Last Call (ORENDA RECORDS 2018)

The idea for this project started back in 2008. I would take two related bands that I’d been writing for—The Mentones (Tony Atherton, Bill Barrett, Joe Berardi, me) and the Tee-Tot Quartet (Dan Clucas, Scot Ray, Joe Berardi, me)—and combine them. I started to write the music, I started the artwork, I had the album title—but life and the world intervened. 

Then in 2017, I had the opportunity to play a fairly high-profile gig and I asked to do this, my deferred dream band. The presenter put faith in me (thank you, Lisa Mezzacappa!) and Men-Tot Six was back. 

I reworked the two and half tunes I had already started and then got to work on some other preliminary sketches. As usual, original ideas can start changing once the music starts coming out. For example, the plan was to write seven tunes, but after a couple of rehearsals, an eighth emerged (which ended up being the title tune, nine years after the fact). And the writing itself changed. Some of it became quite a bit more contrapuntal then I had anticipated . . . what had started as an extension of the skewed American music I’d done for the two bands became something a bit different—something (perhaps) a bit more skewed—once we got into it. 

The guys in the band . . . they’ve put their talents and hard work into this project. They really supported and encouraged me (even when I wasn’t so great to be around), which is incredibly important in the creative world. (I’m grateful!) 

They also played their asses off. There are too many moments, great solos, bits of interaction, etc., to go into detail. One of the great joys for me is the way this band can be fluid with the material (and there is a bunch of written music)—we can go skittering off the page. Just take a listen. 

Tony Atherton - Alto Saxophone

Bill Barrett - Chromatic Harmonica

Scot Ray - Slide Guitar

Dan Clucas - Cornet

Joseph Berardi - Drumset, Percussion

Steuart Liebig - Contrabass Guitars

Recorded 4-5 November 2017 by Wayne Peet at Newzone Studios, LA

Mixed by Wayne Peet and Steuart Liebig

Mastered by Wayne Peet

All music by Steuart Liebig

© sisong music (ASCAP) 2018

1. Crescent Limited 07:36

2. 7-06-71 10:07

3. Trouble By The Toe 07:07

4. Smokey Valley Lament 11:21

5. All Lit Up & Nothing To Do 07:08

6. No Picture No You 09:56

7. Honeysuckle Bounce 11:11

8. Last Call 08:24

Twin Whales - Watt Doom (ORENDA RECORDS 2018)

On their debut album Watt Doom, the instrumental group Twin Whales synthesizes disparate landscapes, divergent sonic backgrounds, and a shifting musical direction. Think improvisation, think modularity, think inspiration. Formed in 2015, the group has found a voice in music that they refer to as “pure survival mode” – frenetic and complex stuff that allows for unpredictable stylistic shifts and moments of quiet beauty. 

Watt Doom has an accomplished sound, especially considering the entire album was self-produced and recorded on a low budget using the bands rehearsal studio by drummer Caleb Dolister, and later mastered by Sam Minaie at Birdfood Studios, NY. Joining the band for the recording is guest-keyboardist Kevin Lum–who shared a common background with Ty Williams and Caleb Dolister who are both formerly from Reno’s music scene. 

Twin Whales’ members bring a musical sensibility to the group. “It's probably obvious that at least some of us really like Black Sabbath a lot,” Hill notes. “That being said, we've always just let the songs go where they wanted to go, and if we have moments where it sounds like Carlos Santana playing in a Krautrock band with a jazz drummer, we're absolutely, totally fine with that.” 

Over the course Watt Doom’s ten songs, Twin Whales explore a host of musical and tonal dynamics. This can range from the rhythmically complex breakdown in "No College" to the atmospheric, drone-influenced “Science and Sorcery.” The slow build of opener “Everyone in a Womb" makes for a particular showcase for Williams’s chiming guitars, while the subtler melodies heard on “Eggs” demonstrate the band’s more restrained side. 

As for the name of the album, that arose after Hill saw a particularly memorable set from Mike Watt. “When we started out we didn't have names for any of the songs and we'd just call them ‘the pretty juan,’ ‘the doomy juan,’ etc,” he recalls. The latter of those evolved into “Watt Doom,” which eventually gave the album its name. 

It’s a perfect encapsulation of what this band does best: they’re aware of the musical history that informs them but aren’t bound to it, and they’ve found their own way to inform their compositions with plenty of mood and emotion. Whether you’re seeking instrumental virtuosity or a sense of ominous depth, there’s plenty of both to be found in the music of Twin Whales. 

Ty Williams, guitar and compositions

Bradford Hill, bass and compositions

Kevin Lum, keyboards

Caleb Dolister, drums

Production and engineering by Caleb Dolister 

Mastered by Sam Minaie at Bird Food Studio, New York

1. Everyone in a Womb 04:57

2. Limited Vocabulary 03:16

3. No College 03:38

4. Eggs 07:20

5. Happy Yellow 01:46

6. Lower Cunning 05:03

7. Can't Get There from Here 03:26

8. Science and Sorcery 03:56

9. Are We a Good Person 02:57

10. Watt Doom 07:23

Daniel Corral - Polytope (ORENDA RECORDS 2018)

On September 28, 2018, Orenda Records will release Polytope by Los Angeles composer Daniel Corral. Polytope will be available on all major streaming platforms, as a digital download, and on CD. The Los Angeles Exchange (LAX) Festival will present 2 album release shows on October 17 and 19 at the Think Tank Gallery in Los Angeles. 

Polytope is an aural vortex of electronic minimalism and alternate tuning that recalls classic experimental electronic albums like Terry Riley’s Shri Camel, Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II, Laurie Spiegel’s The Expanding Universe, or Eliane Radigue’s Trilogie de la Mort. Sequenza 21 praised Polytope as “an extraordinary piece of musical and visual art… that is both accessible and compelling,” SF Gate hailed it as “a mesmerizing visual and musical spectacle,” and The Stranger described it as “gamelan from Pluto—or maybe ’70s Philip Glass as interpreted by Harry Partch on his Cloud-Chamber Bowls.”

“An extraordinary piece of musical and visual art… that is both accessible and compelling.” 

–Sequenza 21 

“A mesmerizing visual and musical spectacle.”

–SF Gate 

“gamelan from Pluto—or maybe ’70s Philip Glass as interpreted by Harry Partch on his Cloud-Chamber Bowls.”

–The Stranger 

Recorded and Produced by Daniel Corral 

Mastered by Daniel Rosenboom 

Design by Eron Rauch 

The live Polytope Ensemble is Erin Barnes, Cory Beers, Daniel Corral, and Andrew Lessman 

1. Red Swells 03:54

2. Square 06:34

3. Red Pulses 03:46

4. Circles 05:31

5. Orange Swells 02:43

6. Arrows 04:06

7. Orange Pulses 02:25

8. Purple Swells 03:14

9. Yellow Pulses 03:05

10. Square 2 05:20

11. Blue Pulses and Green Swells 02:28

12. Green Line 01:59

13. Red Line 05:07

14. Coda 05:21

15. White Swells 04:47

Quoan - Fine Dining (feat. Brian Walsh, Daniel Rosenboom, Sam Minaie & Mark Ferber) ORENDA RECORDS 2018

Brimming with cheeky humor and fearless creativity, Quoan tips its hat to the historic lineage of the modern, chord-less jazz quartet with an album that feels classic yet new, biting yet sweet, and that overflows with virtuosity and character.

Two prominent Los Angeles's wind/brass improvisers join forces with a formidable New York rhythm section to deliver Fine Dining under the band name Quoan. Though clarinetist Brian Walsh and trumpeter Daniel Rosenboom have collaborated in numerous bands and projects for more than a decade, this is their first co-led ensemble, and the results are as nuanced and engaging as such a union would suggest. Bassist Sam Minaie and drummer Mark Ferber ground and drive the group with a remarkably nimble approach, ranging from elegant to burly, as the bi-coastal group navigates the timbral landscapes of the modern chord-less quartet. With a fearless approach to composition and improvisation, Quoan steps into the lineage of this classic avant-garde jazz format with grace, creativity, and a cheeky sense of humor that is downright infectious.

Brian Walsh and Daniel Rosenboom are two of the most sought after voices in the Los Angeles creative music scene and have appeared on dozens of recordings in jazz, pop, classical, experimental and other genres. Walsh is a member of the contemporary classical groups wild Up and gnarwhallaby and has previously worked alongside figures as diverse as Gavin Bryars, Meredith Monk and Nels Cline. In addition to leading his own bands Burning Ghosts and the Daniel Rosenboom Quintet, Rosenboom has worked in the groups of Vinny Golia, Josh Groban and Anthony Wilson and works frequently in the storied Hollywood film-scoring community for such notable titles as the recent Star Wars films. Sam Minaie has worked with many of today's leading jazz musicians, including Tigran Hamasyan, Donny McCaslin, and Ravi Coltrane, and Mark Ferber has performs regularly with such notable artists as Gary Peacock, Ralph Alessi, and Brad Shepik. 

This wealth of performance experience is on full display in the expansive stylistic ground covered throughout the duration of Quoan's Fine Dining. Beginning with the brooding groove of “The Last,” Walsh and Rosenboom carve out their own distinct sonic spaces while exploring the shifting colors of microtonal improvisation. This group has moments of unabashed jazz as well, such as the hard-swinging “Capitol Absurdity” and slippery groove that anchors “Demicolon.” The group plays cleverly with structure, as in the rhythmic palindrome of "216" or the aleatoric “Fist," and plays with ironic sound painting in "Legislation" and the title track "Fine Dining." Several miniatures pepper the record, where the group breaks into factions of duos and trios (“Gnomish”, “Shunyata” and “Witch's Butter”), as well as a couple moments of profound lyrical respite in the waltz “Moon Cage” and the elegiac closer “Braids and Brooms.” 

History is not lost on these musicians. Recorded live, all together in the same room at 64 Sound in Highland Park, CA, using a total of 9 microphones, the group embraces an old-school sound that places the listener in the room with palpable energetic interplay between band mates. This marriage of history and innovation extends even to Eron Rauch's cover art, which presents a wonderfully "kill-your-idols" style homage to Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. With Fine Dining Quoan presents an album that feels classic yet new, biting yet sweet, and overflowing with light-hearted virtuosity.

1. The Last 07:44

2. Shunyata 01:34

3. Demicolon 06:25

4. Fine Dining 03:20

5. Moon Cage 07:26

6. Gnomish 01:26

7. Fist 02:14

8. 216 09:51

9. Witch's Butter 01:17

10. Legislation 00:22

11. Capitol Absurdity 06:06

12. Braids and Brooms 08:42

Tracks 1, 5, 7, 12 composed by Brian Walsh (ASCAP)

Published by Walsh Set Music (ASCAP)

Tracks 3, 8, 11 composed by Daniel Rosenboom (ASCAP)

Published by Daniel Rosenboom Music (ASCAP)

Tracks 2, 4, 6, 9, 10 improvised by Quoan

Brian Walsh - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet

Daniel Rosenboom - Trumpet, Piccolo Trumpet, Flugelhorn

Sam Minaie - Bass

Mark Ferber - Drums

Recorded October 19, 2017

64 Sound, Highland Park, CA

Sound Engineered by Theo Karon

Mixed by Daniel Rosenboom

Orenda Sound, Los Angeles, CA

Mastered by Sam Minaie

Bird Food Studio, New York, NY

Art and Design by Eron Rauch

Dr. Mint - Voices in the Void (ORENDA RECORDS 2017)

Voices in the Void, the fifth release by LA/NYC electronic jazz-rock outfit DR. MINT presents the band’s most evolved and exciting work to date. Each tune is spontaneously conceived, as the band employs a potent combination of skeletal composition, extensive improvisation, and rhythmic themes from a multitude of genres; improvisation, electronica, and heavy rock influences lay the foundation for the horns to shape winding melodies and dynamic solos. As a whole, the album’s arc weaves a rich musical-tapestry born of the band’s decade-long association and collective musical experience. 

DR.MiNT formed in 2007 when Los Angeles musicians Daniel Rosenboom (trumpets), Gavin Templeton (saxophones), and Alexander Noice (guitar and electronics), joined New York City rhythm section Sam Minaie (bass and electronics) and Caleb Dolister (drums). They instantly forged a signature sound through their collective synergy towards pure long-form improvisation. In fact, their first album, Visions and Nightmares (pfMentum), was recorded in two complete, unedited takes just moments after Rosenboom and Noice were introduced to Dolister, a long time friend of Templeton and Minaie. A few short months later, the band quickly followed up with 2008’s A New Symphony (SNP Records), recorded as a single, continuous improvisation in a five-movement symphonic form. 

The project later evolved with their next release, Ritual (ORENDA), as frontmen Daniel Rosenboom and Gavin Templeton integrated a series of hand cues and started writing melodic material in real time while performing and recording. This new strategy opened up an unexpected gateway to produce a much more intelligent recording as new and repeating thematic ideas propelled the music. 

With their 2013 follow-up, Kingsize Sessions (ORENDA), the band experimented for the first time with short-form improvisations. It was also the first album that the band did not record in a live concert setting, opting instead to discover a different kind of creativity in a studio environment. Read more...

01. Kingdom in the Middle

02. Spacerobot[Dance]

03. Down To One

04. The (Two)(Three) Sun Erupts

05. Fanfare Mécanique

06. A Bird, An Assassin

07. Nymbists

08. Empyrean

09. N-Drift

10. Anathema

Daniel Rosenboom: trumpet

Gavin Templeton: saxophones

Alexander Noice: electric guitar & FX

Sam Minaie: electric Bass & FX

Caleb Dolister: drums

A Conrad Trio - Screaming While Playing (2016) ORENDA RECORDS

A Conrad Trio's "Screaming While Playing" out Oct 14!

SCREAMING WHILE PLAYING, the bold debut album by vibrant Los Angeles saxophonist and composer, Andrew Conrad, is an immediately honest glimpse into the mind of an uncompromising artist who does not segregate art and life. Raw and visceral, this record presents a deeply intertwined musical dialogue rarely encountered in an age that favors technology and sheen over unfiltered expression.

A Conrad Trio was formed in 2014, although Conrad, bassist Emilio Terranova and drummer Michael Lockwood have been playing together in various configurations for close to a decade. Each has an extensive musical background and while the trio setting and veneer of Conrad’s compositions may recall certain Jazz idioms, the most striking aspect of Screaming While Playing (SWP) is its personalized, intimate and often gritty realization, eschewing tradition and reframing this iconic instrumentation.

“Often times we as listeners get the feeling that our musicians need to make the sound they are making. We are left with a sense that there might be some disastrous or at least unfortunate consequence if that release were not allowed to occur in that moment. Herein lies the power of organized sound. When this sense of urgency lands on you it’s difficult to ignore. Not only does it give you a window into the artist’s character and intentions, it shows you something about your own.” — Matt Mayhall, author of SWP liner notes.

Concept often follows inception in the pecking order of composing. While Conrad acknowledges the personal events and people who inspired each of SWP’s nine originals, he also encourages listeners to adopt their own unique personal relationship to the music free of that influence:

“This recording was an exercise in composing, editing, and documenting music and improvisation in a way that I heard in my head.  It is inspired by countless improvisers and musicians too many to name here.  The goal I had was only to complete the project without judgment, for I believe this music is really about whatever you hear it to be about.  That is the beauty of art, its meaning comes from the consumer; whether you are looking at it, listening to it, feeling it, eating it, or absorbing it in any other way, its meaning and its worth is ultimately up to you.” — Andrew Conrad


The music featured here is carefully considered sonically, though not especially concerned with common artificial constructs typically employed when making modern albums. SWP was recorded live in a Studio City bedroom. Trio performances are juxtaposed by three compelling solo improvisations, which provide the album with an intriguing, chaptered structure. But the true heart of this project is the documented relationship of three friends, colleagues, and compatriots making unadorned music that is both ephemeral and everlasting. The result is a rich, inclusive listening experience with layers of depth and significance revealed play after play. Orenda Records is proud to present A Conrad Trio’s Screaming While Playing, an album that represents the kind of adventurous spirit, thoughtful conception, and intimate humanity that lies at the foundation of everything we love about music.

1. Harvest Your Blend 04:21

2. Amsterdam 04:46

3. 1604 02:54

4. Hour Time 03:52

5. Graham For Martha 04:55

6. Someday you will die and Somehow Something's Gonna steal your Carbon 05:13

7. Barbara 05:43

8. String 9 03:22

9. All Unblocked Up 05:49

An excerpt from the liner notes by Matt Mayhall: 

Andrew Conrad - Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Voice 

Emilio Terranova - Double Bass, Voice 

Mike Lockwood - Drums, Voice

Recorded by Greg Hartunian at Studio City, CA on March 17, 2015. 

Mixed and Mastered by Daniel Rosenboom, Orenda Sound, Los Angeles 

Album Artwork and Design by Eron Rauch 

All music composed by Mr. Andrew Gabriel Conrad (ASCAP) 

© Andrew Conrad Music (ASCAP) 

All rights Reserved. 

©(P) Orenda Records, 2016

Andrew Conrad Website

ORENDA RECORDS WEBSITE