Roger Kleier : "Klangenbang"

(Rift)

Born in 1958, Roger Kleier is a composer, guitarist, and improviser who began playing electric guitar at age thirteen after discovering Captain Beefheart and Jimi Hendrix on the radio airwaves of Los Angeles. He studied composition at North Texas State University and the University of Southern California, and has developed an unique style that draws equally from improvisation, contemporary classical music, and the American guitar traditions of blues, jazz, and rock. Much of his compositional work involves the development of a broader vocabulary for the electric guitar through the use of extended techniques and creating new works with digital technology.
Roger has performed and/or recorded with Annie Gosfield, Marc Ribot’s Shrek, Elliott Sharp, Fred Frith, Joan Jeanrenaud, Davey Williams, Ikue Mori, Carl Stone, Phil Niblock, Alan Licht, Samm Bennett, Tom Cora, David Moss, Kato Hideki, Chris Cutler, David Krakauer, Chris Brown, Sim Cain, Jim Pugliese and many others.


Yes, a number of these compositions have a NY–underground feel, that combination of jazzy technicality and No Wave or rock–inspired intensity. But others, like Only the Dust Moans are unusual: that one is an ambient piece constructed of overlapping guitar tones and chimings, with minimal keyboards supplied by Annie Gosfield. Kato Hideki's bass guesting on Crabmeat Shag makes a highlight here, as do Christine Bard's strong drumming and Kleier's intricate guitar breaks. Take a Picture––It'll Last Longer is the final track, a sprawling fourteen minute piece that's the only truly solo performance on the CD. Recorded live, it moves from a fairly harsh opening to calmer plucking and scraping sounds, then through strumming into nicely interwoven feedback tones, and odd, ultra–vibratoed notes. An impressive work to conclude an intriguing CD.

Mason Jones

HERE

The Same : "Doing the don't"

(Rift, 1993)

About Chris Cochrane

Chris Cochrane is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, improvisor and producer. He has performed regularly in bands and improvised with hundreds of players. In addition to his rare solo recordings and work with a number of bands, including the legendary groundbreaking unit No Safety (which he co-founded with harpist Zeena Parkins) and Curlew (alongside George Cartwright), he has played live and/or recorded with an array of musicians : Tom Cora, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Mike Patton, Marc Ribot, Eszter Balint, Kato Hideki, Ikue Mori… and visual artists or choreographers.
Chris and Paul Hoskin did guitar/bass clarinet duos, NYC in 1983. Then, they formed a trio with Zeena Parkins--doing improvisation land. Later that decade, Cochrane and Hoskin join with Ruth Peyser and Evan Gallagher to create The Same--a beyond-tune-improv quartet...

About Evan Gallagher

Evan is born in Jackson, Mississippi, long, long ago in a much less free (music) period. Went to school at University of Southern Mississippi. He met George Cartwright, Bruce Golden, Jeb Stuart with whom he'd work on freeing up Jackson's music scene. Evan did meet the MEV at this time, as he continued his Jackson "freeing-up" project. Travelled to New York City with Davey Williams and LaDonna Smith, met Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn to record The English Channel. Evan decides that NYC is "more free" musically. In 1987/8, he falls into the Amica Bunker (a NYC improvised music space...weekly performances. Booked by Doug Henderson, Fred Lonberg-Holm, & Paul Hoskin--in its early stages). He falls quite hard. Later, he meets Cochrane, Hoskin and Ruth Peyser--and The Same is formed. A seminal noise/jazz unit. And Evan continues to improvise...

About Paul Hoskin

Paul Hoskin began his musical work with a program of self-education, playing the bass clarinet exclusively. A native of Seattle, Paul lived on both coasts and traveled globally. An accomplished solo performer, Hoskin extends the form both in terms of duration and sonority. Performances take place in venues ranging from jazz festivals in Czechoslovakia to oyster bars in Jackson, Mississippi.
As a New Yorker (1987-1995), Hoskin worked in innumerable ensemble settings as well as developing his skills as a solo performer. This work included the ensemble The Same (Chris Cochrane, Evan Gallagher, Ruth Peyser) and trio Trigger (Fred Lonberg-Holm-cello, Leslie Ross-bassoon). Though improvisation informs the work of these ensembles, compositional form (“language”) is an explicit element.
Returning to Seattle, Paul involved himself with ensembles as well as countless ad hoc formations. After moving to rurality (Clallam Bay and the Olympic Peninsula), Paul “vacates” from urban music life, as he re/hears to re/begin, from 2002 till July 2005. Then, he relocates to Astoria : re/enters land of organizing and presenting exciting music as his own playing develops.
And, Seattle perfomance life also returns...

About Ruth Peyser

Born in Sydney, Australia, Ruth Peyser works as a graphic designer and illustrator in New York City where she has lived since 1978. In her early years, she designed record covers, theater programs, catalogues, logos and more (she's realized cover design and illustration on this disc). And she has been making animated films since her arrival in The Big Apple : her award-winning films have been screened on public television and at hundreds of festivals in the United States and throughout the world.
Ruth Peyser also played guitar in New York's downtown music scene, but after the birth of her second child, she decided something had to give. She now devotes most of her energies to her children and her artwork...

HERE

Phil Haynes : "4 horns & what ?"

(Open Minds, 1991)

When I first considered forming a second band in late 1986, I was trying to reconcile an interesting set of aesthetics: I wanted a band that could play most situations without amplification, a band that would whisper one moment and raise the roof the next, an ensemble built around the intimate dialogue of a good duet, a small group with wide instrumental color, a big band inspired contrapuntal ability, and a format where I would be challenged to assume equality with the front line. The prospect of combining two brass players with two saxophonists and drums became the irresistible solution.
4 Horns & What? utilizes the African concept of direct conversational interplay between rhythm and melody. By excluding other rhythm section players, the intimacy of the drum/horn dialogue becomes the norm. In this format, harmony returns to its polyphonic roots as an extension of the collective blowing. The result is a wide-open, acoustic, improviser's band, where everyone shares equal responsibility for solos, accompaniment, and time keeping.

Phil Haynes

HERE