CD

Made to Break

2017

"The Made to Break template is, ironically enough, a very sturdy one. Take an assertive bassist who isn’t afraid to bring a bit of funk to the mix and a drummer who has been a continuous companion for about 20 years, and you’ve got a pretty perfect setting for the bar-walker grooving, Brötzman-esque barking and rippling, interval-leaping runs that constitute the more muscular side of Vandermark’s playing. But comfort isn’t part of the program here, and Vandermark isn’t satisfied with simply kicking some funky fire music ass. Made to Break is a statement of intent, not just a catchy name, and the fourth member of the band is there to make sure things don’t get too easy. http://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/170799767125/made-to-breaktrebuchet-trost -Bill Meyer, Dusted Magazine February 12, 2018 ----- 5 Star Review Vandermark, Daisy and Stadhouders alternate constantly between solidifying and deepening the powerful rhythmic envelope and contrasting and challenging each other’s role. Kurzmann, in his turn, alternates between opposing all three with his imaginative stream of alien, noisy and abstract sounds that charge the immediate, tight interplay with a strong sense of surprise and risk taking and soloing along Vandermark like an otherworldly reed instrument. -Eyal Hareuveni, The Free Jazz Collective, December 29, 2017 ----- "There comes a time in every extended piece from Made To Break where the ground drops out from beneath the song, and what remains is a simultaneous state of floating and falling, where the song doesn’t really seem to be proceeding in any one particular direction, but there exists, nonetheless, a heavy gravitational pull. On the quartet’s newest, it happens at the halfway mark of opening track “Hydroplane (for Shellac).” The dancing groove instigated by saxophonist Ken Vandermark and amplified by the rhythm-duo of bassist Jasper Stadhouders and drummer Tim Daisy suddenly gives way to the drifting electronics and effects of Christof Kurzmann. That’s when forward locomotion and melodic focus transforms into chaos and unpredictability. It’s as compelling as it’s startling, and as blunt as the transition can feel, it’s no less satisfying when the transformation comes full circle back to where it began. The effect is no more subtle on the blues-inflected “Contact Sheet (for Susan Sontag)” or the relentless volatility of “Slipping Words Against Silence (for Kerry James Marshall),” and that the results can vary so wildly from piece to piece is a source of intrigue that nicely complements the thrills." -Dave Sumner, The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: November 2017, Bandcamp Daily, December 4, 2017 "

Tim Daisy, Michael Thieke, Ken Vandermark

2017

"A triptych, 3 art panels (musicians) usually held together by hinges (common musical direction) or three musical works designed to be listened to together. This recording has indeed three musicians, Tim Daisy (Drums, radios, percussion and the composer of the three before mentioned tracks), Berlin based clarinetist and composer Michael Thieke and Ken Vandermark (tenor sax and bass clarinet) who are hinged together by Daisy’s compositions and by 5 interspersed, improvised pieces... The three composed pieces (At Argyle, Yellow Fern, and Tuesday at Noon) start as very listener friendly tunes that soon break away into each player’s deconstruction. The whistle-alongability is just a front and soon you delve into the non-melodic player (Philip Coombs, The Free Jazz Collective)"

ARASHI

2017

"recorded live at Fylkingen, Stockholm, 4th of may 2017 credits released September 5, 2017 akira sakata - alto saxophone, clarinet, voice johan berthling - bass paal nilssen-love - drums recorded, mixed, mastered by Mikael Werliin "

The Ex

2004

"The angular guitars, in-your-face drums, rock cello, and punk vocals are flawless, like a well-slicked machine, perfected through numerous live performances. After a surprising 25 years of existence, The Ex have no signs of becoming stale, tame, or rusty; challenging themselves to bring completely new ideas into the mix.’’ Jon Whitney - The Brainwashed Brain. "

Ken Vandermark

2002

"With these duos I think that we tried to be as free from musical categories and boundaries as we could, playing what the music suggested not what our preconceptions dictated. -Ken Vandermark"

Joe Morris

2017

"I’m glad that Ultra demanded revision. I am the now the organizer not the composer. The music was made with equal contributions from all of us. To me, Ultra is free of the contrivance that often plagues this kind of attempt, and that allows the listener to determine its meaning and value. I speak for the group when I say that we hope the music surprises and inspires you. Joe Morris June 2017 "

FME

2004

""What is here, though, is beyond these landmarks of traditional jazz. The world is not flat and neither is jazz, and if you can place some faith in that, you can get into this. FME pays tribute to four innovators of free jazz and improvised music: saxophonist and trumpeter Joe McPhee, percussionist Paul Lytton, guitarist Joe Morris and saxophonist Peter Brötzmann." -All About Jazz"

Deep Listening Band / Joe McPhee Quartet

2003

Francisco Lopez

2011

"The second release on UNSOUNDS by the sound artist Francisco López. It is a two part work based on a radical reconception of the piano. Movement 1 is a composition created for Reinier van Houdt that utilises some extreme preparations, it is a 20 minute tour de force. Movement 2 is a studio sound transformation of the initial piano part, where one hears the exploded and recombined sonorities of the piano taking on an immersive sonic dimension as one has come to expect of López’s work in the last years. The collaboration with Ensemble MAE musician Reinier van Houdt has produced an intriuging and original work of instrumental music, a highlight in López’s oeuvre."

Joe McPhee

2012

"Variations on a Blue Line/'Round Midnight was recorded in October, 1977, during a highly significant period in Poughkeespie, NY, multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee's work, as he was pioneering the transatlantic, collaborative spirit that has helped to define the last three decades of his career. BlueLine comes from a concert in Rouen, France, when McPhee played on a double bill with the Peter Brötzmann/Han Bennink duo. It features the side-length tenor excursion "Beanstalk" (dedicated to Coleman Hawkins), an alternate version of "Knox" (known from his beloved LP Tenor), and two soprano pieces, "Motian Studies" and Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight.""

Vario-34

1993

Ab Baars + Mariëtte Rouppe van der Voort

2003

"…Rouppe van der Voort performs miracles in dexterity on the piccolo in "E si fussi pisci", turning it into a penny whistle sliding out of control. Stopping on a dime 45 seconds before the end of the piece, she prompts a quiet and fragile coda that is so perfect you'll go back to the booklet to make sure it was not scored. Other highlights include the busy and playful title track, the tender "Duet for John and Bob" and "Bells," where Baars launches into a soulful non-idiomatic tenor sax solo. Veer and Haul is a title that evokes big ships performing clumsy maneuvers, but Baars and Rouppe van der Voort's lines are sketching a fascinating dance".
--François Couture, All Music Guide "

Ken Vandermark & Mats Gustafsson

2013

""Verses is a paean to instantaneity. Quite surprisingly, this is the first time that longtime confederates Vandermark and Mats Gustafsson have played as a duo. But what comes across from the first note is the utter certitude of their playing. There's never any question that each can make sense ofwhatever the other plays, and from this security comes the confidence to take some thrilling individual risks." —Bill Meyer, review in Downbeat"

Spaceways Inc.

2002

Joe McPhee & John Heward

2008

Lean Left

2010

"Fist two volumes from this powerful punk-rock-free jazz-improvised music quartet integrated by Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen-Love, Andy Moor & Terrie Hessels."

Lean Left

2010

"Fist two volumes from this powerful punk-rock-free jazz-improvised music quartet integrated by Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen-Love, Andy Moor & Terrie Hessels."

Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet

2012

Elisabeth Harnik

2018

"Ways Of My Hand suggests another side of Harnik. Her improvisations transform instantly into compositions that reflect her intimate and deep knowledge of the many histories of jazz, avant-garde, art rock and improvised music of the last century and distill her strong, idiosyncratic voice. The five compositions were recorded in September and December 2015. "

Diskaholics Anonymous Trio

2006