With his riveting performance in the inaugural Sequesterfest online festival in April 2020, Ken Vandermark inspired the Black Cross Solo Sessions. Already in the early days of lockdown, making good on the promise – or threat – of protracted off-road time, Vandermark had dedicated himself to the creation of a new book of works for solo reed instruments, which he debuted that day. The result of this watershed moment for the Chicago-based improvisor and composer was a body of works that reassert his seriousness and test his ability to reflect and reevaluate. The compositions, which are platforms for invention, are dealt with in relatively economical, almost stripped-down fashion, ringing with a kind of bell-like clarity and focus. Most tracks are on the shorter side, straight to the point, featuring the rippling intensity that is a Vandermark hallmark, but with an altogether reborn sense of purpose. Pieces are dedicated to filmmakers, photographers, and painters, musicians, choreographers, and writers, pointing outward from the hermetic situation of the pandemic to a network of creative icons. Recorded at home in the detailed chamber sonics of his living room, they offer a bulwark against adversity – the triumph of an endlessly questing mind over the terror of enforced stasis. Liner notes by Vandermark, cover art and design by Christopher Wool.
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Tracklist :
1. Feet On Main (For Robert Frank & Gordon Parks) 1:32
2. Imagine The Paper (For Philip Guston & Dieter Roth) 5:14
3. Arcade Of Persuasive Language (Samuel Beckett & Thomas Bernhard) 4:42
4. Portable Nowhere (For Robert Irwin & Richard Serra) 6:11
5. Shared Testament (For Joe McPhee & Stu Vandermark) 1:04
6. End The Giraffe Lottery (For Chris Marker & Agnes Varda) 4:57
7. Counter Space (For Francis Bacon & Kerry James Marshall) 4:33
8. Every Waiting Room (For Chantall Akerman & Pina Bausch) 1:17
9. No Other Suit (For Anthony Braxton & Coleman Hawkins) 3:47
10. Another Household Word (For Robert Bresson & Abbas Kiarostami) 6:15
11. Capture Chaos (For Tarsila Do Amaral & Hélio Oiticica) 0:43
12. Looking Back At Looking Forward (For Ola Trzaska & Marek Winiarski) 8:45
Credits :
Recorded, Reeds, Music By [All Music By], Liner Notes – Ken Vandermark
