Alcorn / McPhee / Vandermark
Invitation to a Dream
Astral Spirits
“There’s nothing ephemeral or hesitant about this session. McPhee sings through his soprano saxophone, creating a hyper-emotional display that transcends language over a backdrop of radiant, droning strings. Alcorn similarly reaches beyond her instrument’s known vocabulary, fashioning an eerie tableau from abstract, plucked shapes and abrupt scrapes. Then McPhee switches to pocket trumpet, and Vandermark steps in on tenor saxophone for a brief tangle, which resolves into a coda full of longing and dignity. - Bill Meyer, Magnet”
Mats Gustafsson and Jason Adasiewicz
Timeless
Corbett vs. Dempsey
“"From the very beginning the atmosphere brings to mind the soundtracks of French film noir classics. Most of the pieces are incredibly slow, quiet, even tender and surprisingly tuneful. ... At the end of the day the music evokes an alternative kind of tension, one with a different kind of energy, one with less volume, one with a bigger focus on restraint. Gustafsson and Adasiewicz explore more subtle dynamics and moods, which are still full of passion and intensity." - Martin Schray”
Mats Gustafsson
Torturing the Saxophone
Corbett vs. Dempsey
“"The title of the CD comes from Robert Crumb, the famous comics artist and collector of old shellacs. Gustafsson sent the CD to him and Crumb’s puzzled response are the liner notes for the album. (“I was kind of shocked at what a negative, unpleasant experience it was, listening to it. I had to take it off long before it reached the end”). Poor Mr Crumb, how could you listen so hard the wrong way? How could you miss the beauty underneath? But reading his lines notes in which he expresses his confused feelings are just the icing on the cake of a great album." - Martin Schray”
James Blood Ulmer and The Thing
Baby Talk
Trost
“This is not a James Blood Ulmer album. This is not a The Thing Album. If that’s only what you’re after I can highly recommend the magnificent Blood’ album ‘Tales of Captain Black’ from 1979, or The Thing’s ‘BOOT! from 2013. Furthermore, one simply cannot say what James Blood Ulmer is, as far as genres go. Is he jazz? Is he funk? Is he rock or blues? Is he ‘someone-who-took-Jimi-Hendrix-playing-to-the-next-level’? I’m just going to leave it at this: he’s James Blood Ulmer. He’s a living legend as far as breaking boundaries in cross-genre guitar playing goes. - Gustav Lindqvist”
