Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He has performed and recorded with several ensembles: Air, Aggregation Orb, Make a Move, the seven-piece Henry Threadgill Sextett, the twenty-piece Society Situation Dance Band, Very Very Circus, X-75, and Zooid.
The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devoted "to nurturing, performing, and recording serious, original music," according to its charter. It supports and encourages jazz performers, composers and educators. Although founded in the jazz tradition, the group's outreach and influence has, according to Larry Blumenfeld, "touched nearly all corners of modern music."
Matana Roberts is an American sound experimentalist, visual artist, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, composer and improviser based in New York City. They have previously been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and a member of the B.R.C. Black Rock Coalition.
Fred Anderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago, Illinois. Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but he also incorporated innovations from free jazz. Anderson was also noted for having mentored numerous young musicians. Critic Ben Ratliff called him "a father figure of experimental jazz in Chicago". Writer John Corbett referred to him as "scene caretaker, underground booster, indefatigable cultural worker, quiet force for good." In 2001, author John Litweiler called Anderson "the finest tenor saxophonist in free jazz/underground jazz/outside jazz today."
Birdhouse is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, released in 1996 on Okka Disk.
Birthmark is an album by Danish jazz saxophonist Lotte Anker with two Portuguese members of the RED Trio, pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro and double bassist Hernani Faustino. Anker played at Lisbon in 2012 with Fred Frith and Ikue Mori, and Pinheiro invited her to play on this record session. The album was released on the Portuguese Clean Feed label.
Alien Huddle is an album by a free improvisation trio consisting of Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker, Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and Japanese electronic artist Ikue Mori, which was recorded in 2006 and released by Intakt Records. It takes its title from a large wooden sculpture by Martin Puryear. The eleven improvisations are inspired by bird songs. Courvoisier and Mori collaborated in two projects previously: Courvoisier's Lonelyville and the improvising trio Mephista with Susie Ibarra.
Sleepthief is the eponymous debut album by German jazz saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock's free improvisation trio with British pianist Liam Noble and American drummer Tom Rainey. It was recorded in 2007 and released on the Swiss Intakt label. Laubrock and Noble played together since 2005 and recorded the duo Let's Call This.... While Rainey was visiting the UK they decided to get together and Sleepthief was born.
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.
Joshua Abrams is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays the double bass and guimbri.
Jaimie Breezy Branch was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile is a studio album by Matana Roberts. It is the second installment of the 12-part Coin Coin series. It was released by Constellation Records October 1, 2013.
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.
3 Nights in Oslo is a five-disc live box set album by the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet + 1, led by saxophonist Brötzmann, and featuring an eleven-piece ensemble. It was recorded during February 19–21, 2009, at Victoria, Nasjonal Jazzscene in Oslo, Norway, and was released on CD in 2010 by the Norwegian Smalltown Superjazzz label. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark, trumpeter and saxophonist Joe McPhee, trombonists Jeb Bishop and Johannes Bauer, tubist Per Åke Holmlander, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassist Kent Kessler, and drummers Paal Nilssen-Love and Michael Zerang. The entire ensemble is heard on discs 1 and 5, while the remaining discs feature duo, trio, and quartet combinations.
Live in London is a live album by saxophonist and composer Matana Roberts. It was recorded during 2009 at the Vortex Jazz Club in London, and was released in 2011 by Central Control International. On the album, Roberts is joined by pianist Robert Mitchell, double bassist Tom Mason, and drummer Chris Vatalaro.
Shed Grace is the second album by the collaborative free jazz trio Sticks and Stones, featuring saxophonist Matana Roberts, double bassist Josh Abrams, and drummer Chad Taylor. It was recorded during 2003, with no overdubs or edits, at Semaphore Recording in Chicago, Illinois, and was released in 2004 by the Thrill Jockey label. The music consists of original compositions by each player, plus three covers.
The Truth is a live album by saxophonist Matana Roberts and pianist Pat Thomas. Consisting of four improvised tracks, it was recorded on December 8, 2018, at Cafe Oto in London, and was released on vinyl in 2020 by the Otoroku label.
Circle Down is an album by drummer Chad Taylor. It was recorded on December 20, 2008, at Systems Two in Brooklyn, New York, and was released in 2009 by 482 Music. On the album, Taylor is joined by pianist Angelica Sanchez and double bassist Chris Lightcap.
Blissful is the second album by drummer Hamid Drake and his group Bindu. It was recorded on July 12 and 13, 2007, at Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago, Illinois, and was issued on CD in 2008 by Rogueart. On the album, Drake is joined by vocalist Dee Alexander, guitarists Joe Morris and Jeff Parker, and double bassists Josh Abrams and William Parker. Lyrics were written by the 18th-century poet Ramprasad Sen, and were excerpted from Mother of the Universe: Visions of the Goddess and Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment by Lex Hixon.
Reggaeology is the third album by drummer Hamid Drake and his group Bindu. Tracks 1 through 6 were recorded during May 6–8, 2009, at Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago, Illinois, while the remaining track was recorded on July 28, 2009, at Sape Shoppe Studio in Chicago. The recording, which blends jazz and reggae, was released on CD in 2010 by Rogueart. On the album, Drake is joined by vocalist Napoléon Maddox, who also provided most of the lyrics, trombonists Jeff Albert and Jeb Bishop, guitarist Jeff Parker, and double bassist Josh Abrams.
