It was first announced on Monday, but in case you haven’t heard, we’re releasing a gigantic, miraculous, digital-only set of music on July 3. At Iridium 2004 contains 14 complete sets, each running between 53 and 80 minutes, by Cecil Taylor’s Orchestra Humane. They were all recorded between March 23 and 28, 2004, including two sets performed on Taylor’s 75th birthday, March 25. You can hear the first of those below.
This ensemble, which numbered 14 players in addition to Taylor, created some of the most beautiful and head-spinning music I’ve ever heard from him. Some passages are raucous and explosive, while others are so soft and serene, you’ll find yourself holding your breath, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere. There are four trumpet players (Taylor Ho Bynum, Amir ElSaffar, Stephen Haynes and Tobias Netta); two trombones (Jeff Hoyer and Steve Swell); Bill Lowe on tuba; five saxophonists (Will Connell Jr., Elliott Levin, Sabir Mateen, JD Parran and Bobby Zankel) on alto, tenor, or bass, and frequently doubling on flute; plus Dominic Duval on bass and Jackson Krall on drums.
The original recordings, by Robert O’Haire, were beautiful already, and engineer and friend of BA Kurt Gluck did a tremendous job polishing them even more. This set contains over 16 hours of music, and I recommend soaking it in slowly, one or maybe two sets per day at most. It also comes with a digital booklet including memories of his time in the orchestra from Taylor Ho Bynum and a new essay from me. Like our previous digital-only set, Anthony Braxton’s Quartet (England) 1985, it is only available on Bandcamp and will never be on any streaming service.
Pre-order your copy of At Iridium 2004 now. You’ll be glad you did.
Have you heard our other two recent releases yet?
Ava Mendoza’s Alive Alone, Alive Together is a scorching live set that the Quietus calls “A stunning set, perfectly executed” and Salt Peanuts describes as “Mendoza in top form… totally possessed by the urgent power of a live performance.”
Joel Futterman & William Parker’s Transcendent Universe is a powerhouse piano/bass duo session; this Instagram review calls it “a singular monument to a profound telepathy and unedited, highly kinetic spontaneous composition.”
Buy them both! You’ll be glad you did.
The Leo Records Bandcamp page has 20 new titles posted today. These include two albums by saxophonist Frank Gratkowski’s quartet, Spectral Reflections and Facio; Twelve Improvisations by the Fonda/Stevens Group; Wet Map by Carolyn Hume and Paul May; and two fascinating releases by wildman guitarist Eugene Chadbourne.
The first, Guitar Festival Summer 1999/Greetings Fellow Pickers, documents a festival Chadbourne put on at Tonic in NYC, where he was joined for duos and trios by a stunning array of guests including Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Jim O’Rourke, and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth; Alan Licht; Elliott Sharp; Loren Mazzacane Connors; Joe Morris; and more. The final track, “Greetings Fellow Pickers,” is a 68-minute jam featuring Licht, O’Rourke, Ranaldo, Don Fleming, Moore, Kenta Nagai, and Connors taking turns in the spotlight.
The second, Honky-Tonk Im Nachtlokal, is a collection of live performances with various Chadbourne groups recorded between 1996 and 2002, and features a slew of warped country covers as well as a medley of tunes by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Who could possibly say no to that?
Behind the paywall, you’ll find articles on a new literary journal; the eugenic roots of algorithmic recommendation; Sonny Rollins; and digital clutter.
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