May 10th 2009

The Vandermark 5 recorded two versions of “Early Color,” “Table, Skull, and Bottles,” Cadmium Orange,” “Latitude,” “Cement,” “Second Marker,” and “Spiel,” for Not Two Records during two nights of concerts at Alchemia in Krakow, on March 14th and 15th. The best selections will be featured on a autumn release to coincide with the band’s European tour in September.

One new piece by Ken Vandermark, called, “Seven Over Five Is Twelve,” was added to the quartet book performed by the Ab Baars Trio during their North American tour during April. Baars added a composition entitled, “Song.” Many of the band’s performances were recorded, and the older material was so thoroughly re-worked that with the addition of the new music there is a chance that an album may be released by the group from one of their American concerts.

A preview of the upcoming documentary, “Strade d’Acqua,” directed by Augusto Contento, can be seen at the website: www.cineacqua.com. Several compositions written specifically for the soundtrack can also be heard there.

Ten of Joe McPhee’s compositions were arranged by Ken Vandermark and performed with the addition of Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, and Dave Rempis, at the openning night of the Okka Disk Festival, held in Milwaukee on May 1st-3rd. The pieces included “Astral Spirits,” “Age,” “Future Retrospective,” “Good-Bye Tom B.,” “Sweet Dragon,” “Old Eyes,” “Violets For Pia,” “Knox,” “Pablo,” and “Erol Tinu.” There are plans for future concerts by the group, and perhaps a large ensemble re-working of the material to feature McPhee as a primary soloist.

Several albums of recorded material are nearing the finishing stages of their production, and will be released in the fall of this year. These include recordings by Sonore (for Okka Disk), Lean Left (for smalltownsupersound), Daisy/Vandermark (for Laurence Family Records), The Vandermark 5 (for Not Two Records), The Resonance Project boxset (for Not Two Records), and Nilssen-Love/Vandermark (for smalltownsupersound). In addition, recording schedules have been organized for the Vandermark 5 “Special Edition” (adding Haavard Wiik and Magnus Broo to the ensemble) [to take place live at the Green Mill, Chicago, in June], and The Frame Quartet [to take place in at Strobe Studio, Chicago, in July].