| Represencing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2012 | |||
| Recorded | Summer 2011 | |||
| Studio | Joshua Abram's home studio, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Free jazz, minimalism | |||
| Length | 1:01:36 | |||
| Label | Eremite MTE-58 (LP) MTE-62 (CD) | |||
| Producer | Joshua Abrams, Michael Ehlers | |||
| Natural Information Society chronology | ||||
| ||||
Represencing is a 2012 album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams, on which he is joined by members of the Natural Information Society.
The album was recorded during the summer of 2011 at Abram's home studio in Chicago, and was initially released on vinyl in 2012 by Eremite Records. In 2014, it was reissued on CD by Eremite with an additional live track, and in 2020, it was reissued on vinyl in remastered form by the Belgian label Aguirre Records. Led by Joshua Abrams on guimbri, the group features flutist Nicole Mitchell, saxophonist David Boykin, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, electric guitarists Emmett Kelly and Jeff Parker, cellist Tomeka Reid, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, drummers Chad Taylor and Mikel Avery, and percussionist Michael Zerang. Autoharpist Ben Boye and drummer Frank Rosaly appear on the bonus track. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| DownBeat |   [7] |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | [8] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | B+ [9] |
In an article for The New York Times , Nate Chinen noted the album's "earthy intelligence," describing it as "seductive, invested in the mysterious power of the drone," and writing: "It's music that hints at the ceremonial without losing its modern bearings." [10]
DownBeat's Peter Margasak stated that Abrams' "savvy choice in collaborators, varied rhythms and effectively lean arrangements leaves little doubt that on Represencing he's carved out his own sonic world... It's a terrific collection that stands easily on its own, but it's all the more stunning that Abrams is able to borrow from far-flung musical cultures without ever infringing upon any of them." [7]
Grayson Haver Currin of Pitchfork commented: "As Abrams and his crew of Chicago cohorts gain steam without abandoning their simple, looping structures, it feels like we're catching a glimpse of a potentially eternal performance... Represencing rarely sounds overloaded or messy. Much of it could even be called minimal, more about small parts and subtle changes than loud, broad turns." [11]
Writing for Tiny Mix Tapes , Clifford Allen described the album as "a fascinating and evocative set of transient contemporary improvisation that renders boundaries of time, place, and subculture only obliquely relevant." He remarked: "Represencing is not about specific representation or reference, instead conjuring vibrations of personalized otherness. It is music built through traveling, listening, and collaborating... it is work of open minds and open hearts, drawing from collective experience." [8]
In a review for Consequence , Adam Kivel wrote: "Abrams assembles some of the city's best improvisers to work over the guimbri, but that droning beauty always lies at the core... Represencing is the kind of album that effaces the reality that you know exists outside of it, returning you to a time and place in which this sort of ritual trance focuses life." [12]
Bill Meyer of Magnet Magazine included the album in his "Best of 2012: Jazz/Improv" list. [13]
Composed by Joshua Abrams.
Nicole Mitchell is an American jazz flautist and composer who teaches jazz at the University of Virginia. She is a former chairwoman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).
Jeff Parker is an American guitarist and composer based in Los Angeles. Born in Connecticut and raised in Hampton, Virginia, Parker is best known as an experimental musician, working with jazz, electronic, rock, and improvisational groups. Parker studied at Berklee College of Music and then moved to Chicago in 1991.
Tomeka Reid is an American composer, improviser, cellist, curator, and teacher.
Eremite Records is an independent American jazz record label founded in 1995 by Michael Ehlers, with early involvement from music writer Byron Coley. Ehlers was a student of Archie Shepp's at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After college, he began producing concerts in the Amherst area, and Eremite evolved from those events. The label name came from an alternate title to the Thelonious Monk tune "Reflections": "Portrait of an Eremite". The label's logo, designed by Savage Pencil, is an image of a robed Joe McPhee playing soprano saxophone. Eremite organized a concert series in Western Massachusetts that ran through 2008 and produced roughly 100 concerts, including five Fire in the Valley festivals. From 1998–2018, Eremite managed a touring organization that arranged hundreds of concerts across North America for its artists.
Michael Zerang is an American jazz percussionist and drummer.
Joshua Abrams is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays the double bass and guimbri.
Natural Information Society is a music ensemble described as “ecstatic minimalism”. The group formed in 2010 and is led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams. NPR called the group a "staple" of the underground music scene in Chicago. Their performances often include the paintings of Lisa Alvarado.
Chad Taylor is an American drummer, percussionist, and composer. Taylor leads both the Chad Taylor Trio with Brian Settles and Neil Podgurski and Circle Down with Angelica Sanchez and Chris Lightcap. He is a founding member of the Chicago Underground along with Jeff Parker and Rob Mazurek.
Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is a live album by Natural Information Society, featuring guimbri player Joshua Abrams, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, drummer Mikel Patrick Avery, and special guest soprano saxophonist Evan Parker. It was recorded on July 9, 2019, at Cafe Oto in London, and was released in 2021 by both Eremite Records, based in the United States, and Aguirre Records, a Belgian label.
Since Time Is Gravity is an album by the Natural Information Society Community Ensemble, led by double bassist and guimbri player Joshua Abrams. It was recorded on May 18, 2021, at the Graham Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, and on August 24, 2021, at Electrical Audio in Chicago, and was released in 2023 as a double-LP set by both Eremite Records, based in the United States, and Aguirre Records, a Belgian label. On the album, Abrams is joined by alto saxophonists Nick Mazzarella and Mai Sugimoto, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, cornetists Josh Berman and Ben Lamar Gay, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, harpist Kara Bershad, percussionists Mikel Patrick Avery and Hamid Drake, and a guest artist, tenor saxophonist Ari Brown.
Father of Origin is a box set album by multi-instrumentalist Juma Sultan and his open-ended ensemble the Aboriginal Music Society. Drawn from Sultan's archive of recorded material, and released by Eremite Records in 2011, it consists of two vinyl LPs, a CD, and a book containing photos and an extensive essay by jazz scholar Michael Heller, all of which help to document aspects of the loft jazz era of the early 1970s.
Mandatory Reality is a 2019 album by guimbri player Joshua Abrams and the Natural Information Society.
Simultonality is a 2017 album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams and the Natural Information Society.
Tomeka Reid Quartet is an album by the jazz ensemble of the same name, led by cellist and composer Tomeka Reid, and featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson, double bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. It was recorded on September 1, 2014, at Strobe Recording in Chicago, Illinois, and was released in 2015 by Thirsty Ear Recordings as part of their Blue Series.
Unknown Known is an album by the Joshua Abrams Quartet, led by double bassist and composer Abrams, and featuring tenor saxophonist David Boykin, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and drummer Frank Rosaly. Consisting of six original compositions by Abrams, it was recorded on December 12, 2010, at Engine Studios in Chicago, and was released on CD in 2013 by the Rogueart label.
Cipher is an album by double bassist and composer Joshua Abrams. It was recorded at two Chicago locations, Riverside Studios and the Empty Bottle, and was released in 2003 by Delmark Records. On the album, Abrams is joined by saxophonist and clarinetist Guillermo Gregorio, trumpeter Axel Dörner, and guitarist Jeff Parker.
Magnetoception is a 2015 album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams, on which he is joined by members of the Natural Information Society.
Automaginary is a 2015 collaborative album by the Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas.
Ithra is an album by saxophonist Dave Rempis, cellist Tomeka Reid, and double bassist Joshua Abrams. Consisting of eight improvised tracks, it was recorded on December 18th, 2017, at Elastic Arts in Chicago, and was released in 2018 by Aerophonic Records.
Shards and Constellations is an album by pianist Alexander Hawkins and cellist Tomeka Reid. It was recorded on April 13, 2019, at Challow Park Studios in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, and was released in 2020 by Intakt Records. While eight of the album's ten tracks were collectively conceived, the recording also features versions of "Peace on You" by Muhal Richard Abrams, originally heard on the album Afrisong, and "Albert Ayler " by Leroy Jenkins, which first appeared on The Legend of Ai Glatson.