Derek Bailey, Greg Goodman, Henry Kaiser, Toshinori Kondo, Evan Parker & Rova

The Science Set

Derek Bailey, Greg Goodman, Henry Kaiser, Toshinori Kondo, Evan Parker & Rova

8 SONGS • 51 MINUTES • JAN 01 1980

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℗© Henry Kaiser/Larry Ochs

Artist bios

At first glance, Derek Bailey possesses almost none of the qualities one expects from a jazz musician -- his music does not swing in any appreciable way, it lacks a discernible sense of blues feeling -- yet there's a strong connection between his amelodic, arhythmic, atonal, uncategorizable, free-improvisatory style, and much free jazz of the post-Coltrane era. His music draws upon a vast array of resources, including indeterminany, rock & roll, and various world musics. Indeed, this catholic acceptance of any and all musical influences is arguably what sets Bailey's art outside the strict bounds of "jazz." The essential element of his work, however, is the type of spontaneous musical interrelation that evolved from the '60s jazz avant-garde. Sound, not ideology, is Bailey's medium. He differs in approach to almost any other guitarist who preceded him. Bailey uses the guitar as a sound-making, rather than a "music"-making, device, meaning, he rarely plays melodies or harmonies in a conventional sense, but instead pulls out of his instrument every conceivable type of sound using every imaginable technique. His timbral range is quite broad. On electric guitar, Bailey is capable of the most gratingly harsh, distortion-laden heavy-metalisms; unamplified, he's as likely to mimic a set of wind chimes. Bailey's guitar is much like John Cage's prepared piano; both innovations enhanced the respective instrument's percussive possibilities. As a group player, Bailey is an exquisitely sensitive respondent to what goes on around him. He has the sort of quick reflexes and complementary character that can meld random musical events into a unified whole.

Bailey came from a musical family; his grandfather and uncle were musicians. As a youngster living in Sheffield in the '40s, Bailey studied music with C.H.C. Biltcliffe and guitar with George Wing and John Duarte. Bailey began playing conventional jazz and commercial music professionally in the '50s. In the early '60s, Bailey played in a trio called Joseph Holbrooke, with drummer Tony Oxley and bassist (and later renowned classical composer) Gavin Bryars. In the course of its existence, from 1963-1966, the group evolved from playing relatively traditional jazz with tempo and chord changes, to playing totally free. In 1966, Bailey moved to London; there, he formed a number of important musical associations with, among others, drummer John Stevens, saxophonist Evan Parker, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and bassist Dave Holland. This specific collection of players recorded as the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, which served as a crucible for the sort of egalitarian, collective improvisation that Bailey was to pursue from then on. In 1968, Bailey joined Oxley -- another musician interested in new possibilities of sound generation -- in whose sextet he remained until 1973. In 1970, Bailey formed the trio Iskra with bassist Barry Guy and trombonist Paul Rutherford. Also that year, Bailey started (with Parker and Oxley) the Incus record label, for which he would continue to record into the '90s. In 1976, Bailey founded Company, a long-lived free improv ensemble with ever-shifting personnel, which has included, at various times, Anthony Braxton, Han Bennink, Steve Lacy, and George Lewis, among others.

The '80s saw Bailey collaborating with many of the aforementioned, along with newer figures on the scene such as John Zorn and Joelle Leandre. Solo playing has always been a particular specialty, as have (especially in recent years, it seems) ad hoc duos with a variety of associates. Bailey later recorded an uncompromising three-disc set with a group that included the usually more pop-oriented guitarist Pat Metheny. Bailey's extreme radicalism makes for a difficult music, yet there's no doubting his influence; his methods, and aesthetic have significantly impacted the downtown New York free scene, though many (if not most) of his disciples are little known to the general public. In 1980, Bailey wrote Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice, an informative and undervalued volume on various traditions of improvised music. ~ Chris Kelsey

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Guitarist Henry Kaiser is a prolific member of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene, as well as being a globally recognized leader of the second generation of free improvisers who developed in the '70s. His earliest musical inspiration were the spiky sounds of English improvising guitarist Derek Bailey and the many guitarists in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band; later on, Kaiser absorbed the subtle string textures of American blues stylists and the traditional music of Asia (particularly India, Korea, and Vietnam). His initial recordings documented solo projects and spontaneous groupings with other energetic improvisers like Fred Frith, the Rova Saxophone Quartet, pianist Greg Goodman, and vocalist Diamanda Galas. Kaiser's restless creativity unearthed many unconventional electric-guitar techniques during these years, and he combined these innovations with a strong sense of logic and concise development, often aided by sophisticated sound-processing devices.

During the '80s, Kaiser projects tended toward the rock sound of the '60s and '70s, with a special fascination for the music of the Grateful Dead and participation in a number of tribute albums for Imaginary Records. Just when people were starting to peg him as a "cover artist," Kaiser ditched his rock stylings, for the most part, and went back to more of a free improvising style. He recorded albums with Derek Bailey and Jim O'Rourke, and did new recordings with his old duo partner Fred Frith. The '90s also saw Kaiser increase his profile through his successful collaborations with David Lindley and local musicians from both Madagascar and Norway. He was also involved with a number of recordings made in Burma, also for the Shanachie label. The late '90s saw another stylistic shift, when Kaiser joined forces with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith for a tribute to the early-'70s sound of the electric Miles Davis bands. The project lasted for several years with a rotating lineup and produced several releases, including 1998's Yo Miles! on Shanachie and a pair of mid-2000s releases on Cuneiform, Sky Garden and Upriver. In late 2001/early 2002 Henry Kaiser joined a group of scientists for two and a half months in Antarctica, where he became the first musician to record on that continent (some of this music has been released digitally).

Kaiser appears to be constantly busy, recording in different settings, although his release schedule is sometimes not as active as his recording schedule, a case in point being the release in 2003 of Guitar Party with Glenn Phillips, which was actually recorded in 1990. However, Kaiser has remained active in performing and recording with a variety of projects (including and in addition to Yo Miles!) in the 21st century, including an avant improvising power trio with drummer Weasel Walter and drummer Damon Smith (releasing Plane Crash in 2009). Kaiser also collaborated on Richard Thompson’s original score to the 2005 Werner Herzog film Grizzly Man. In addition, Kaiser is a noted underwater photographer, and his photography has in fact served as an inspiration for Herzog's own film work. Herzog's 2005 sci-fi film The Wild Blue Yonder used some of Kaiser’s footage, and the German director’s 2007 Antarctica documentary, Encounters at the End of the World, featured more; Kaiser also produced the latter film and co-composed and performed the music of its original score with David Lindley.

His prolific recording activity continued unabated. In 2007, several of his key offerings were reissued and a handful of new offerings hit the street including No Way Back, Blue Water Ascent, Invincible Fantasy, and Indestructible Fantasy.

In 2008, Kaiser collaborated with noted shakuhachi flutist Kiku Day, and coordinated 13 musicians including Toshinori Kondo, Charles K. Noyes, Davey Williams, Larry Ochs, and John Oswald in his memorial tribute to Bailey entitled Domo Arigato Derek Sensei. Kaiser recorded in duo, trio, and solo settings in 2009. Plane Crash, with Damon Smith and Weasel Walter, was issued in May, followed by the solo guitar set Where Endless Meets Disappearing, and Ultraviolet Licorice, a duet recording with Bob Bralove. While issuing another solo guitar offering in 2010, he also took part in Electric Willie: A Tribute to Willie Dixon, along with Elliott Sharp, Queen Esther, Eric Mingus, and Melvin Gibbs. Two rock trio offerings appeared in 2011: Ninja Star Danger Rock (with Noyes and Walter) and Invisible Rays (with Trey Gunn and Morgan Ågren), as did two self-released solo guitar dates.

While only one physical release appeared from Kaiser in 2012 -- Kamüra with Torsten Müller and Randy Raine-Reusch -- a pair of multi-part digital releases also arrived, including Jazz Free with Nels Cline, Walter, Jim Thomas, and Allan Whitman.

Requia and Other Improvisations for Guitar was issued on Tzadik in 2013. Though its title references the Takoma releases of John Fahey and Robbie Basho, its various tracks pay tribute to them and other artists who influenced Kaiser, including Sun Ra, Masayuki Takayanagi, Hubert Sumlin, and Randy California. The same year, Encounters at the End of the World, his film score co-written and performed with Lindley, was released by Fractals. Kaiser didn't deliver a recording in 2014 precisely because he was so busy in the studio. He began 2015 with four albums from different labels issued during the same week of January. These include The Celestial Squid with guitarist Ray Russell on Cuneiform, Relations with Damon Smith, and Leaps with Scott Amendola. 2016 saw four releases from Kaiser, including Jazz Free (a collaboration with fellow guitarists Nels Cline and Jim Thomas), Starbreak Splatterlight, Nazca Lines, and Skip to the Solo. And 2017 brought two more collaborative albums -- Ocean of Storms (featuring Tania Chen, Wadada Leo Smith, and William Winant) and Positively Space Music (with Kaiser joined by Bob Bralove and Chris Muir). In 2019, Kaiser followed up Requia, his 2013 tribute to American Primitive guitar pioneer John Fahey, with a second volume entitled More Requia. ~ Myles Boisen & Sean Westergaard

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A sonically bold Japanese trumpeter, Toshinori Kondo was a creative maverick whose conceptual music straddled avant-garde jazz, electro-industrial rock, and ambient improvisation. Kondo first emerged as a key exponent of the experimental downtown New York scene of the late 1970s, playing with artists like Eugene Chadbourne, John Zorn, William Parker, Fred Frith, and Bill Laswell. He gained notoriety in the '80s leading his IMA group and releasing ambitious albums like 1984's Taihen, 1986's Konton, and 1989's Kamikaze Blow, which found him blending metallic funk, jazz, DJ turntablism, and industrial grooves. Along with regularly returning to Japan to work with artists like Ryiuchi Sakamoto, he also spent much of his life living in Amsterdam, where he was a member of saxophonist Peter Brötzmann's Die Like a Dog ensemble and collaborated with equally boundary-pushing artists like guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Han Bennink. Although he continued to skirt convention, prior to his passing in 2020 his style softened as he explored more ambient, spiritual, and ecologically minded sounds, a direction reflected in records like 2002's Life Space Death with Laswell, 2014's solo electric trumpet album Deeply Dreamed, and 2020's Born of the Blue Planet.

Kondo was born in 1948 in the city of Imabari on the island of Shikoku, part of Ehime Prefecture, where his father worked as a shipbuilder. He first started playing trumpet at age 12 in the school band, and later studied engineering at Kyoto University. It was there that he befriended percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki and began pursuing his interest in jazz. Initially influenced by artists like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie, he played in a hard bop style group called the Funky Beaters. However, he soon discovered avant-garde jazz, especially the work of Ornette Coleman, and by 1976 had joined free-jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita's ensemble. Other formative experiences included working with guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Steve Lacy, and Milford Graves, among others.

In 1978, he moved to New York City, following the lead of other Japanese ex-patriots, including Sadao Watanabe and Terumasa Hino. He quickly ensconced himself in the vibrant downtown scene of the Lower East Side, playing with artists like John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne, Henry Kaiser, and others. It was during this period that he made his recorded debut with 1978's Moose and Salmon, featuring his trio with guitarist Kaiser and saxophonist John Oswald. There were also recording sessions with Chadbourne, Andrea Centazzo, and others.

As a leader, Kondo debuted in 1982 with Death Is Our Eternal Friend, an abstract live album recorded at Osaka Simanouci Church with percussionists Paul Lovens and Paul Lytton. He followed a year later with What Are You Talking About?, which found him mixing traditional jazz with free improvisation alongside Italian vocalist Tiziana Simona. It was around the same time that he met Herbie Hancock via his work with Laswell, and ended up contributing vocals to a track on the keyboardist's landmark 1983 electronic album Future Shock.

In the early 1980s, Kondo moved back to Japan, where he formed his noise rock and electro-funk ensemble International Music Activities or IMA. Combining his heavily effects-laden trumpet with keyboards, electric guitars, funk bass lines, and sundry analog and electronic percussion instruments, Kondo released a string of well-received albums that significantly elevated his profile in Japan and Europe, garnering him attention across jazz and pop idioms. The first of his IMA albums, Taihen, arrived in 1984 and featured contributions by Laswell. Kondo followed with equally cross-pollinated efforts, including 1985's Metal Position, 1986's Konton, and 1989's Kamikaze Blow. He continued to expand his sound with IMA in the early '90s, releasing albums like 1990's Tokyo Rose, 1991's Brain War, and 1993's Red City Smoke. These records found him further embracing a dance-oriented pop/rock style, along with heavy metal sounds and synth-funk, drawing upon the work of artists like Miles Davis, David Bowie, Don Cherry, and Prince.

It was also in the early '90s that Kondo relocated to Amsterdam, where he would stay for the remainder of his career, returning often to Japan. He joined saxophonist Peter Brötzmann's explosive free-improvisation outfit Die Like a Dog, appearing alongside bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake on 1993's Fragments of Music, Life & Death of Albert Ayler. He would continue to work with ensemble over the next two decades, contributing to albums like 1998's Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 1 and 2002's Aoyama Crows.

On his own, Kondo began shifting away from his work with IMA, focusing on more ambient, meditative projects. He launched Blow the Earth, a series of environmental performances recorded at such places as the Negev Desert in Israel, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Himalayas, and Japan. In 1996, he released This, That and the Other with cellist Tristan Honsinger. Life Space Death arrived in 2002 and found Kondo again collaborating with Bill Laswell, crafting soundscapes around spoken-word fragments by the Dalai Lama. The album was released in correlation with an international peace festival the trumpeter helped organize on the Dalai Lama's behalf in Hiroshima.

Kondo returned to electronic funk with 2003's Nerve Tripper, working on several tracks with DJ Sahib. In 2005, he released Fukyo, a series of solo trumpet pieces on John Zorn's Tzadik label. More equally ambient and avant-garde albums followed, including 2007's Silent Melodies and 2014's Deeply Dreamed. The trumpeter continued his live work as well, even tackling jazz standards in his own minimalist way utilizing drone tones and ambient effects. He also launched his own TKRecordings, releasing a bevy of albums online. Kondo died on October 17, 2020, in Kawasaki, Japan. He was 71 years old. ~ Matt Collar

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Among Europe's most innovative, intriguing, and truly prolific saxophonists, Britain's Evan Parker's playing style is distinguished by creative use of circular breathing, false fingering, tongue slapping, and other extended improv techniques. He generates furious bursts, screeches, bleats, honks, and spiraling lines and phrases for extremely long periods of time. Later experiments with electronics and ensembles of all sizes helped expand his sonic field. Parker's massive discography contains more than 200 offerings under his own name and nearly 1,000 credits. The 1970 trio outing Topography of the Lungs set off a revolution in European avant music circles. 1976's Saxophone Solos proved equally influential. Parker has worked with virtually every major avant figure to emerge from Great Britain, Europe, Asia, and the African continent, as well as prominent Americans including Cecil Taylor and Steve Lacy. 1997's the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble issued Toward the Margins, the first of five celebrated albums for ECM, concluding with The Moment's Energy in 2009. In 2013, Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp worked a partnership with Rex, Wrecks & XXX for Rogue Art, followed by Leonine Aspects in 2021, the same year the saxophonist guested with Natural Information Society on Descension (Out of Our Constrictions). 2022's Sweet Nothings was a 2003 live duo with Joe McPhee. 2023 saw Intakt issue Etching the Ether by Trance Magic+, an electro-acoustic ensemble founded by Parker and sound designer Matthew Wright with guests.

Parker was born in Bristol in 1944 and began playing saxophone at age 14. He chose the alto due to his deference for the playing of Paul Desmond. By 1960, he was playing both tenor and soprano, following the influence of John Coltrane, who determined "my choice of everything," he later stated.

In 1965, he moved to London and began playing with drummer Tony Oxley's group. He met like-minded vanguard artists including guitarist Derek Bailey, bassist Dave Holland, drummer John Stevens, and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. Despite Coltrane's example, Parker and his colleagues sought to foster a distinctly European approach to free jazz and improvisation. After joining drummer Tony Oxley's various groups, Parker joined drummer John Stevens' the Spontaneous Music Ensemble for Karyōbin in 1968. That same year, he joined Peter Brötzmann's free jazz octet for the now-legendary Machine Gun sessions, and followed with Nipples a year later.

In 1970, Parker, with Oxley and Bailey, formed the Incus label. They kicked off an avant music revolution in Europe with Topography of the Lungs, featuring the saxist, guitarist, and drummer Han Bennink. That same year Parker and Bailey, alongside King Crimson drummer/ percussionist Jamie Muir and live electronicist Hugh Davies, released The Music Improvisation Company on ECM, catching the attention of vanguard players the world over. Parker spent the next several years working with Oxley's various groups, composer Basil Kirchin, and the London Jazz Composer's Orchestra, and performing and recording in duos and trios. Parker also joined the cross-European Globe Unity Orchestra for 1973's critically regarded Live at Wuppertal. That same year he appeared with Wheeler's big band on Song for Someone.

In 1975, American soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy enlisted Parker and Bailey for Saxophone Special. He also recruited altoist Steve Potts and tenorist Trevor Watts. It marked the first of several collaborations between the soprano players over the next two decades. By 1976, Parker was well established as one of the new music's bravest practitioners. He issued Saxophone Solos in 1976, showcasing his many extended and innovative techniques, influencing players on both sides of the Atlantic. It is regarded as one of the most important solo saxophone outings of the 20th century. In addition to Globe Unity, Parker also played in Schlippenbach's groups, and gigged with Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath. He recorded duo and trio sessions with John Stevens and Paul Lytton. In 1978, after a string of solo concerts, he recorded Monoceros solo in the studio. He also joined Wheeler for 1979's acclaimed Around 6, and recorded regularly for his newly formed PSI label, delivering albums such as 1980's Six of One, and 1983's Hook, Drift and Shuffle. In 1984, Parker appeared on Scott Walker's comeback album Climate of Hunter. (The singer/songwriter wouldn't enter the studio until Parker agreed.) Two years later, the saxist issued his classic solo soprano saxophone outing, The Snake Decides.

Increasingly prolific, Parker released a bevy of albums over the next several decades, including 1991's solo Process and Reality, 1995's Breaths and Heartbeats, 1997's Toward the Margins, the ECM debut album by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. They followed with the widely acclaimed Drawn Inward two years later. Parker, bassist Barre Phillips, and pianist Paul Bley collaborated on 2000's Sankt Gerald Variations for ECM, and the saxophonist also appeared in an improvising quartet with Cecil Taylor, Oxley, and Barry Guy on FMP, and in a duo with AMM guitarist Keith Rowe on Dark Rags. The following year, Parker issued the triple-length Strings with Evan Parker on Emanem. He also appeared with British electronic duo Spring Heel Jack on Masses. In 2003, the seminal Alder Brook by Evan Parker and September Winds appeared on Leo Records.

Parker released Time Lapse, his debut for John Zorn’s Tzadik label in 2006, along with Crossing the River on his own PSI. 2007 was equally prolific, with three albums on three different labels including A Glancing Blow on Cleanfeed. Further, Parker collaborated with Roscoe Mitchell on Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 issued by ECM, and recorded his first collaboration with American pianist Matthew Shipp on Abbey Road Duos.

Parker made his debut for the Smalltown Superjazz label with Brewery Tap in 2009, as well as releasing A Moment’s Energy, the fifth and final Electro-Acoustic Ensemble date on ECM. He also released his sophomore Tzadik outing House Full of Floors; the trio recording included John Edwards on bass and John Russell on acoustic guitar. They enlisted Aleks Kolkowski on a couple of tracks; he utilized a wax cylinder recorder and played the saw. The saxophonist also appeared on David Sylvian's Manafon.

Among the many albums that featured Parker's name as a leader or co-leader in 2010, Two Chapters and an Epilogue, with pianist John Tilbury, was especially noteworthy, as were Twine with saxophonist Urs Leimgruber, and Scenes in the House of Music with Barry Guy, Lytton, and Peter Evans. In 2011, he appeared as part of a quartet with Mark Nauseef, Ikue Mori, and Bill Laswell on Near Nadir for Tzadik and in duo with Misha Mengelberg on It Won't Be Called Broken Chair. Meetings with Remarkable Saxophonists, Vol. 1, with John Edwards and Eddie Prévost, was released on Matchless in the spring of 2012, followed by two Psi recordings: Hasselt by the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, and a reissue of The Topography of the Lungs.

In 2013, Parker and Shipp released the half-live/half-studio effort, Rex, Wrecks & XXX, on France's Rogue Art label. The saxist also released the concert recording Live at Maya Recordings Festival in a trio with Guy and Lytton on Lithuania's NoBusiness label, followed by What/If/They Both Could Fly, a duo album with Joe McPhee on Rune Grammophon. Parker joined Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M, John Edwards, Tony Marsh, and John Butcher for 2014's Quintet/Sextet/Duos, and issued Either or And with Sylvie Courvoisier. Parker teamed with Americans Joe Morris and Nate Wooley for Ninth Square. 2015's Hello, I Must Be Going was cut in association with Fred Frith, and Title Goes Here with AMM, while Filu 'E Ferru was issued by the Sant'Anna Arresi Quintet by Evan Parker. 2016's Miller's Tale was recorded by a quartet that included Courvoisier, Mark Feldman, and Ikue Mori.

In 2017 Parker released Sounding Tears with pianist Lucian Ban and violist Mat Maneri; and joined saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd on their widely celebrated double-length offering Journey to the Mountain of Forever. In 2018, the saxophonist played with old friend Dave Holland for his cross-generational quartet project Uncharted Territories, which also included Craig Taborn and Ches Smith. That year Parker re-teamed with longtime collaborators Barry Guy and Paul Lytton on Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London. He and Prévost issued Tools of Imagination, while Parker and then-recent collaborator Joe Morris released The Village. After Concert in Vilnius with Guy and Lytton in 2019, Parker issued Chiasm on Clean Feed leading Eastern European improv trio Kinetics, and joined dark ambient and electronics producer Daona on The Secret Assembly. The year closed with a pair of digital collaborations with Dublin-based pianist Paul G. Smyth: The Dogs of Nile EP and the full-length Calenture and Light.

Parker kicked off 2020 with Collective Calls with Lytton and appeared alongside tenor saxophonists Ingrid Laubrock and Louise Elliott on Crass founder Penny Rimbaud's Arthur Rimbaud in Verdun. QW3 consisted of unreleased improvisations from Holland's 2018 Uncharted Territories recording project. In 2021, Parker issued his own quartet project All Knavery and Collusion, with Edwards, Lytton, and pianist Alexander Hawkins, and was a featured soloist on the latter's Togetherness Music (For Sixteen Musicians). Other releases included Leonine Aspects with Shipp on Rouge Art, an archival performance of the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble entitled Warszawa 2019, and his 2021 guest collaboration with Josh Abrams' Natural Information Society on Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) on Eremite.

In 2022, Sweet Nothings appeared on Chicago's Corbett vs. Dempsey. The live improvised duo set between Parker and Joe McPhee was drawn from the pair's performance at 2003's seventh annual Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music. It marked only the second time they'd played together in a live duet setting. In June the following year, Relative Pitch released NYC 1978, documenting his first-ever solo concert in New York City. In August, Intakt released Etching the Ether by Trance Magic, an electro-acoustic duo founded by Parker and sound designer Matthew Wright. The artists enlisted trumpeter Peter Evans and percussionist Mark Nauseef, consequently crediting the date to Trance Magic+. ~ Ron Wynn & Thom Jurek

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The experimental jazz zeitgeist of the 1960s and 1970s made possible any number of unconventional instrumental groupings. The basic horn-piano-bass-drums lineup of the modern jazz era lost its mandate, as more musicians searched for fresh and unusual sonorities. Ornette Coleman's bands did away with the piano; Cecil Taylor's trio with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray eliminated the bass. Musicians associated with the Chicago-based AACM occasionally did away with one or more (or all) elements of the rhythm section; for example, in its first incarnation the Art Ensemble of Chicago had no drummer.

It was perhaps inevitable that ensembles comprised of like instruments should appear. With the advent of the World Saxophone Quartet in the late '70s, the all-saxophone band came into vogue. The San Francisco-based Rova Saxophone Quartet was formed at virtually the same time as the WSQ. While it never attained that band's degree of popularity, Rova became the second most famous ensemble of its kind, and probably the most adventurous. Rova was founded in October 1977 by Jon Raskin, Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt, and Bruce Ackley. Its first concert was held at Mills College in Oakland in February of the next year. From the beginning, Rova was unique. While at heart a free jazz-based unit, the group's members had a manifest love and interest in 20th century art music of all kinds; Charles Ives, Olivier Messiaen, John Cage, and Edgard Varèse were acknowledged influences, along with jazz greats like John Coltrane, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton, and Ornette Coleman. The group recorded its first album, Cinema Rovaté, in 1978 for Ochs' Metalanguage label. Since then the band released more than two dozen recordings on labels such as Black Saint, New Albion, Sound Aspects, and hatART.

The band has performed all over the world. In 1983, it became the first new music ensemble from the United States to tour the then-Soviet Union; a film documenting the experience was subsequently aired on PBS. In 1986, the Ganelin Trio became the first Soviet jazz group to play the U.S. as guests of Rova, performing at the group's Pre-Echoes series of collaborative events. The series would in later years include such musicians as John Zorn, Braxton, and Terry Riley. Voigt left Rova in 1988, to be replaced by Steve Adams. Rova has been a registered not-for-profit entity since 1985, thus enabling it to commission new works and generally promote themselves and the cause of new music. Rova's music embraces a variety of contemporary techniques, from serialism and cue card-based game pieces to rock and free improvisation. The only constant in their music is the avoidance of cliché. ~ Chris Kelsey

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Language of performance
English
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