The Abenaki Voices in Mali Obomsawin’s Jazz
The bassist and composer discusses ‘Automatic,’ the mid-century language recordings at its core, her work with turntablist Andrew Broder, and the malleable harmony of folk music.
Ka Baird and Chris Ryan Williams, Through the Fractal Smog
On ‘Enthalpy,’ bass flute and amplified trumpet push against their own electronics until the lid starts to rattle.
Olaf Rupp Slaughters the Sound for the Greater Good
On ‘Fuzzy Logic,’ Olaf Rupp pushes a small amplifier past its limit and captures the wreckage at what he calls “the volume of a kitchen radio.”
Nocturnal Animals — Inside Bill Nace and David Watson's 'On Bats'
Bill Nace and David Watson discuss improvising 'On Bats' on taishōgoto and Highland bagpipes, their shared fascination with Lou Reed's 'Metal Machine Music,' and why neither of them enjoys naming a finished piece.
Golden Mandible — The Feral Minimalism of Chik White
Rooted in a fundamentalist household on the South Side of Nova Scotia and sharpened by crust punk and free jazz, Chik White arrives at 'face across the door' after years of tightening the distance between art and noise.
A Monument in Plain Sight — Charles Joseph Smith's Chicago
Dr. Charles Joseph Smith has been one of Chicago's most recognized faces and least-known composers—a paradox that Sooper Records' reissue 'Collected Works and the War of the Martian Ghosts' is now, belatedly, beginning to resolve.
Fury Built to Last — Dälek's Politics of Noise
Newark noise-rap duo Dälek discuss the stripped-down political fury of their tenth album 'Brilliance of a Falling Moon,' their full-circle collaboration with This Heat's Charles Hayward, and thirty years of creative freedom maintained on their own terms.
Into Entropy, Together — Dunkelman and Koketsu's 'Veins of Rain'
'Veins of Rain' was recorded the day percussionist Nava Dunkelman and alto saxophonist Masayo Koketsu first met, and their conversation about the album's friction, negative space, and a surprise session with Tim Berne reveals a shared indifference to scenes, lineage, and the past.
Juanma Trujillo — A Cantaclaro in Barcelona
'Música Para Quinteto: Live at Jazz Cava' captures Juanma Trujillo's Barcelona quintet at full burn, following a prolific decade of recordings and a deliberate exit from New York for a life the Venezuelan guitarist believes feeds the music.
Singing Through Damage — Marija Kovačević's Broken Violin Series
The Serbian-born violinist discusses her 'Music for Broken Violins' series, her ongoing duo BUKA with Aimée Niemann, and the honesty of instruments that fall apart in one's hands.
The Last American Elegance — Christopher Hoffman's 'REX'
The acclaimed cellist discusses his move from Manhattan to Rex Brasher's Wassaic farm, where he recorded his first solo album, 'REX,' finding the space between pristine composition and unpredictable improvisation.