Ken Vandermark

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35mm

Released by The Frame Quartet [view band]
Record Label Okkadisk
Year released 2009
Release format CD

Track list
1. Multi Chrome (for Peter Brotzmann, Han Bennink, Fred Van Hove) 14:59
2. Lens (for Ennio Moricone) 11:50
3. M.E.S. (for Merce Cunningham) 10:35
4. Theater Piece (For Jimmy Lyons) 18:42
5. Straw (for Steve Lacy) 15:19

Description and other notes:
Engineered by Bob Weston at Strobe Recording, Chicago on July 29, 2009. Mixed by Weston and Vandermark at Chicago Mastering Service.

Annular Gift

Released by Vandermark 5 [view band]
Record Label Not Two
Year released 2009
Release format CD

Track list
1. Spiel (For Bertolt Brecht And Kurt Weil) 20:33
2. Table, Skull And Bottles (For Bruno Johnson) 10:49
3. Early Color (For Saul Leiter) 11:48
4. Second Marker (For Ab Baars) 9:36
5. Cement (For Michael Haberz) 12:35
6. Cadmium Orange (For Francis Bacon) 9:11

Description and other notes:
Recorded live in concert at Alchemia, Krakow, Polan on March 14 & 15, 2009 by Michal Rosicki. Mixed by Bob Weston & Ken Vandermark.

Ken Vandermark / Barry Guy / Mark Sanders - Fox Fire

Released by VARIOUS COLLABORATIONS [view band]
Record Label Maya
Year released 2009
Release format 2CD

Track list
CD 1:

1. Katsina 11:56
2. Up North 12:00
3. Kwingyaw (For T.D-E) 22:38
4. Revontulet 9:10
5. Northern Lights 6:24

CD 2:

1. Fuggle 21:25
2. Aquila 7:18
3. Challenger 16:20
4. Omega 9:03
5. Nugget 3:57

Description and other notes:
Recorded live by Chris Trent, Calindronius Recordings, UK: Birmingham, CBSO Centre, November 11, 2008 (CD 1); Leeds, Seven Arts, November 12, 2008 (CD 2).

Call Before You Dig

Released by Sonore [view band]
Record Label Okkadisk
Year released 2009
Release format 2CD

Track list
CD 1:

1. The Cliff 2:07
2. Mountains Of Love 18:14
3. Shake-horn 14:11
4. Nurecognized Reflections 7:04
5. Charged by the Pound 15:10
6. Mailbox for an Attic 13:57
7. Call Before You Dig 3:36

CD 2:

1. The Ravens Cry at Dawn 4:53
2. Better a Bird than a Cow 3:02
3. Human Fact 2:24
4. Iranic / J. Giuffre 3:11
5. A Letter from the Past 3:06
6. The Bitter the Better 2:12
7. The Longer the Lieber 5:43
8. Birds of the Underworld 2:59
9. Waiting for the Dancing Bear 2:24
10. A Dyed String 3:25
11. Hellpig 3:19
12. Zipper Backwards 3:16
13. Dark Cloud Blues 3:39
14. Blue Stone 4:41
15. Hardline Drawing 2:04
16. Rat Bag 4:44
17. Hard to Believe But Good to Know 3:33

Description and other notes:
Recorded in concert December 12, 208, and in studio December 13, 2008 by Stefan Deistler.

Resonance

Released by Resonance Ensemble [view band]
Record Label NotTwo
Year released 2008
Release format LP

Track list
Side A - 1. Off-Set (for Olek Witynski & Jacek Zakowski)
Side B - 1. The Number 44 (for Anna Czarna Adamska)

All compositions by Ken Vandermark
Recorded in Lvov, Ukraine on November 17, 2007

Description and other notes:
When composing for a group, Ken Vandermark as a rule takes into account factors such as each musician's approach to improvisation, personal tastes and individual sound. So when he chose to compose for a tentet that included musicians who were virtually an unknown quantity to him – musicians such as Polish saxophonist/clarinetist, Mikołaj Trzaska and the Ukrainian duo, Yuriy Yaremczuk on reeds and Mark Tokar on bass – it could have been seen as a foray into relatively unknown territory. And it was to an extent, although the leader had already forged an intimate understanding with some of the musicians who were involved – percussionist Tim Daisy and saxophonist Dave Rempis are after all fully-fledged members of the Vandermark 5 and Ken has worked with Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo in the Four Corners project. He is also familiar with the work of tuba player Per-Âke Holmlander and percussionist Michael Zerang as they play together in Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet. But nobody in the tentet - extraordinarily, given his reputation and work ethic - had previously performed with New York-based trombonist, Steve Swell.

Vandermark completed the majority of the arrangements over the six day period before the group arrived. Some of the compositions had been sketched out previously and others were inspired by the atmosphere and people Ken associated with Krakow, the historic old city that has become his second home.

When the musicians arrived, they found themselves immersed in a punishing schedule that started with daily rehearsals that started at 10am – sharp. Although always open to musically justified new ideas, Vandermark called for extraordinary precision in these rehearsals. So it was unsurprising that many of the musicians really let off steam in the freely improvised evening sets that followed the rehearsals. But it didn't stop there. Many of the musicians espoused sleep after the evening sets in favour of bison-grass-vodka-fuelled discussions about music that lasted well into the night.

At the end of the week, music fans from all over the region flocked to the concerts in Lviv and Krakow that the musicians had been rehearsing for over the preceding five days, one group even chartering a jet from Georgia.

At the end of the week, when it was time to say goodbye, the bonds formed between some of the musicians were so strong that some couldn't contain their tears. But for many of these artists it was adieu rather than farewell as many intend to build on their Resonance experience by collaborating with each again in the future.

Philip Palmer, Jazzwise magazine