Gary Joseph Hassay, Sonkei

If you do not know the music of Gary Joseph Hassay, you probably should. He plays alto sax, sings quasi-Tibetan chant on occasion and has a conceptual view of avant jazz/improv that marks him out as distinct and original.

I've covered his music in my blogs and on Cadence and I was happy to hear a 30-plus minute live improv he did with drummer-percussion Tatsuya Nakatani live at a gallery in Easton, Pennsylvania some time ago. Sonkei brings together two Asian-sonic-sounding adepts in some pretty profound music.

What sounds like a bowed gong, somber drum beats, vocal and alto sax--with sonically rich timbres--make for what is a very fascinating, ritualistic kind of avant. Things get more busy and turbulent towards the middle and then subside back into gong sounds and cosmic quietude.

You can stream this improvisation, a part of an official release on re:Konstrukt, right here:

Sonkei by Gary Joseph Hassay on Mixcloud

Paul Kikuchi, Portable Sanctuary Volume One

Percussionist Paul Kikuchi has been making some very interesting ambient-avant-cosmic improvisatory music of late and I have reviewed many of them across the blogs. There's a new one, Portable Sanctuary, Volume 1 (Present Sounds 1102) and it continues the development of his style. It's Paul on drums, percussion and electronics; the ageless trombone master Stuart Dempster; Bill Horist on guitar; Jesse Olsen Bay on percussion and guitar; and Alex Vittum on percussion and electronics.

This is music with and IN space. There are sparsely accompanied solos, more dense passages of electronics-enhanced sound sculptures, bell-gong percussion atmospherics, new music excursions of ambient tone-noise and group improvisatory essays.

Something like this works well if there is a group dedication to realizing a particular atmosphere and a keen attention to characteristic sound production at any particular point in an aural space. All that is very much in play on Portable Sanctuary, Volume 1. Bring on Volume Two! Recommended.