Alto
(Roaratorio - ROAR17) LP $16.50
Alto completes a discrete trilogy within Joe McPhee’s catalog of unaccompanied waxings (Tenor, 1977, and Soprano, 2007). Recorded live at a Lower East Side bar in 2009, McPhee’s explorations on alto saxophone and clarinet are alternately fiery and contemplative, imbued with the masterful intelligence that’s marked his work for over forty years. This is a limited edition of 525 copies on 180-gram vinyl, with a Judith Lindbloom silkscreen print on rice paper and liner notes by Hank Shteamer. Digital download coupon included.
Everything Happens for a Reason
(Roaratorio) LP $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
McPhee’s solo albums stand out as supreme ur-texts of his consummate improvising and compositional skills. Joining the ranks of such landmark records as Tenor, Graphics, and As Serious As Your Life, Everything Happens For A Reason features McPhee on pocket trumpet, soprano and alto saxophones, recorded live in Austria in November 2003. Limited edition of 500 copies on 180-gram vinyl, with a Judith Lindbloom silkscreen print on rice paper and liner notes by McPhee.
Soprano
(Roaratorio) LP $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
This document of McPhee’s first solo concert devoted exclusively to the straight horn is a companion to his critically lauded Everything Happens For A Reason LP, as well as an overdue follow-up to his classic album Tenor, which raised the bar for solo saxophone music over 30 years ago. Recorded live in St. George’s Church at the Guelph Jazz Festival in 1998, Soprano was inspired by Pauline Oliveros’s Deep Listening performance at the venue the previous year. The acoustics of the church provide a natural web of reverberation and delay. A thoughtful, passionate music from one of jazz’s most eloquent practitioners, pressed in a limited edition of 500 on 180-gram vinyl, with a Judith Lindbloom silkscreen print on rice paper and liner notes by McPhee and Oliveros.
Under A Double Moon
(Roaratorio - ROAR22) LP $16.00
With a career now spanning over forty years and more than one-hundred recordings, Joe McPhee has shown that in the world of creative improvised music, emotional content and theoretical underpinnings are thoroughly compatible — and, in fact, a critically important pairing. Since recording The Hated Music with Paul Flaherty in 2000, Chris Corsano has been active in far-reaching corners of the free improvised world. Recorded live in Paris during their spring 2010 tour of Europe, Under A Double Moon is McPhee and Corsano's first album together. Cover artwork by Judith Lindbloom. Liner notes by John Szwed. Includes download coupon.