muzycy:
Aram Shelton-alto saxophone
Henry Kaiser-electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Fred Frith-electric guitar, piano
Bruce Ackley-soprano saxophone
Editor's info:
This album celebrates the 1977 band TWINS, that consisted of Bruce Ackley, Eugene Chadbourne, Henry Kaiser, and John Zorn. Featuring the usual instrumentation of two reeds and two guitars, it pre-dated they New York Downtown scene that was to follow. Ackley and Kaiser wanted to re-visit the original repertoire and approach of this quartet, but found it unlikely that the original members could be reunited for such a project. Grabbing their pals Fred Frith and Aram Shelton, they entered the studio to record pieces by the original Twins, as well as Fred and Aram. To reflect the first Twins interest in its ancestors, a gorgeous Steve Lacy piece was also recorded. This album definitely captures the spirits of fun, surprise, and youthful exploration, that was manifest in the original Twins. It's been quite a while since Kaiser and Frith and preformed and recorded together and this project is also a celebration and renewal of their musical partnership that began over 40 years ago, back in the days of the original Twins.
freejazzblog.org * * * * 1/2:
Now here is a record with a very interesting premise that is also very, very good. It harkens back to a formative time in creative music when Dr. Eugene Chadbourne moved from Calgary to New York City in 1977 in order to work in the artistic foundry of New Yorks downtown scene, eventually befriending and working with John Zorn and later releasing Zorns first recordings as a leader on his Parachute label. According to Duck Bakers notes, late in 1977 Zorn and Chadbourne traveled out to the bay area to play some gigs with Henry Kaiser and Bruce Ackley (Kaiser who had recorded with Chadbourne on his first Guitar Trios record and Ackley who Chadbourne had met at Aquarius Records in San Francisco), under the Twins moniker (a pair of guitars and a pair of saxes). Together they produced the first studio session led by Zorn which yielded recordings of his game pieces Lacrosse, which was release....... more