[photo by acidjack]
We are very honored and excited to present our second experimental jazz recording for the site, the duo of Ryan Sawyer and Darius Jones opening for William Tyler at Union Pool. To quote my friend John Cook, a man much better educated on the scene than me, “both [Jones and Sawyer] are relentlessly experimental and quite diverse, leaving almost no stylistic or contextual stone unturned.” Indeed, these two have a recorded output and music history as diverse as the very bill they found themselves on this night.
Sawyer has played drums and otherwise collaborated across a range of genres, for artists as diverse as Boredoms, TV On the Radio, Rhys Chatham, Kid Millions, Gang Gang Dance, and Mekons, with current projects including Lonewolf & Cub and Oso Blanco, where he’s joined by local experimentalists C. Spencer Yeh, Colin Stetson and Nate Wooley).
Alto saxophonist Jones is an accomplished improviser who has joined projects ranging from the traditional to the wildly experimental. He participates in Gerald Cleaver’s Black Host, which released a record on Northern Spy in 2013, and found Jones veering ever-so-slightly toward a rock vibe. He has also released a series of three albums on the Aum Fidelity label that explore many sides of the jazz spectrum. As a player of the alto sax, Jones is able to wreak an almost unparalleled intensity from the instrument, as was in evidence at this short-but-powerful all-improvisational performance.
Jones and Sawyer collaborate periodically in addition to their other projects, making this set a welcome surprise. Clearly more than a few fans were in the know, as the club filled up the second the doors opened for this performance. What you will hear on this recording are three separate untitled improvisations that provide a good introduction to both players’ style. Though the pieces are abstract, Jones and Sawyer manage to establish a natural sense of flow and drive to them, suggesting that this is a pairing worth further repetition. We hope to continue featuring more performances of this kind in the future.
This set was recorded with an excellent stereo soundboard feed by Robert, the Union Pool engineer, together with Schoeps MK41 microphones. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!
Stream the full show and download individual tracks:
Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]
Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.
Ryan Sawyer and Darius Jones
2014-04-16
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA
Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Soundboard (engineer: Robert)+Schoeps MK41>KCY>Z-PFA>>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (compression, noise reduction, align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks [all songs are untitled]
01
02
03
Please support the work of Ryan Sawyer and Darius Jones — visit them on the web (Ryan is here, Darius is here), buy their music (Darius’ albums can be bought here; Ryan’s solo effort One Day Your Heart Will Be Your Skin, is coming soon), and watch for their upcoming shows.
Thanks for recording this. I do hope there’s a bit more of this sort of music reaching a wider audience. The thing I find in going to a lot of “jazz” performances is that if people who are unfamiliar with the music just go and listen they usually wind up hearing something they like. With nearly all players (who are basically doing this music solely because it’s so fundamental to who they are) there is an energy, purpose and sense of craft that draws anyone within hearing distance in. Admittedly a few players do take such radical approaches that casual listeners may not be well served to be totally unprepared for what will ensue, but the internet certainly provides the means to get a quick idea of what one might expect from nearly anyone. Regardless I’d urge those who haven’t to do themselves a favor and try something completely new.
Thanks and agree!