Josh Sinton: baritone saxophone and bass clarinet (tracks 2, 3 and 4)
"Anomic Aphasia" is the third SLAM CD by Han-earl Park (following SLAMCD 528 "Mathilde 253" with Charles Hayward, Ian Smith and guest Lol Coxhill, and SLAM CD 531 "io 0.0.1 beta++" with Bruce Coates, Franziska Schroeder and the eponymous machine improviser) and traces his developing project of the intervening 3 years.
Of this he writes:
"Anomic Aphasia documents two New York-based projects: the noisy,unruly complexity of the ensemble Eris 136199; and the interactive playbook Metis 9, a collection of improvisative tactics. GuitaristsHan-earlPark (Mathilde 253) and Nick Didkovsky (Doctor Nerve), and reedists Catherine Sikora (Clockwork Mercury) and Josh Sinton (Ideal Bread) render a space of unexpected collisions, weaving orbital paths, and playful discord."
Guitarist Han-earl Park joins those improvisers who
conceive of a playbook for interactive tactics—his is
called Metis 9. He uses what he calls "focused
complexity" to formulate strategies alongside tenor
and soprano saxophonist Catherine Sikora throughout
Anomic Aphasia, as well as baritone saxophonist/bass
clarinetist Josh Sinton on three tracks and guitarist
Nick Didkovsky on two others.
Like a plucky heroine faced with rebellious robots
in a sci-fi flick, Sikora’s vocally inflected timbres,
especially on the nearly 27½ minute "Monopod", add
necessary human-sourced harmony to the complex
jangles and static interference from the guitars. As the
guitarists clip staccato whines with ingot-like density
from below the bridges and along the necks, her wistful
soprano saxophone variations preserve the linear form,
eventually making common cause with offbeat folksy
strums from one string player. Hear Sikora’s final
unaccompanied cadenza as potential human triumph
over, or coexistence with, the widening machineproduced
tremolo pumps. A folk-like overlay also
makes its appearance on the concluding "Stopcock",
although the tenor saxophonist’s concentrated
upwards snarls and magnetic near-string-tearing pops
from guitar strings make the track so atmospheric as to
become almost frightening.
The wailing vigor of Sinton’s bottom-pitched horns
adds to the reeds’ aleatoric strategies on the other three
tracks. Nearly verbalized reed tones are so euphonious
on "Flying Rods" that the subsequent layered lines
nearly move into songbook territory. But Park’s parallel
flanges and hard thumping keeps the results
electronically plugged in as well as pointedly blended.
Sardonically printing a faux questionnaire about
Metis 9 application in the CD booklet shows that Park
champions music over theory. With associates like
Sikora, Didkovsky and Sinton, it appears he can have it
both ways. Ken Waxmanfile:///C:/Users/me/Downloads/32.pdf
This disc consists of a series of trios recorded at Douglas Street Collective in June of 2013 and at Harvestworks in October of 2013.
Originally Han-Earl Park was based in the UK and worked with Paul Dunmall, Lol Coxhill and Charles Hayward. Mr. Park moved
here for a few years not too long ago and worked with a number of Downtown musicians before moving back to the UK. This is
Mr. Park's first disc with those Downtowners, an interesting cast from different scenes. Nick Didkovsky you no doubt know from
his long tenure with Dr. Nerve as well as Vomit Fist. Catherine Sikora is a bit more elusive although she played at DMG on several
occasions and works with Francois Grillot, Ross Hammond and Eric Mingus. Josh Sinton co-leads Ideal Bread (Steve Lacy tribute)
as well as working with Harris Eisenstadt, Nate Wooley and Ingrid Laubrock. Mr. Park wrote
or provided directions for each piece.
After recently reviewing a Sonny Sharrock tribute CD with Mr. Didkovsky as a guest, it is easier to pick out his guitar sound here.
The first trio is for two guitars and Ms. Sikora on saxes.
It is very long and both guitars sound well-integrated, Mr. Park played those fractured notes similar to Derek Bailey and Mr. Didkovsky
using some sustain or other devices to thicken up his tone or provide alien textures. Ms. Sikora, who is not so well recorded, is on all
five pieces here and works well in the two guitars or two saxes context here. This is a strong, long and spirited disc of challenging
music where all of the players help determine the
direction and interaction. Another great thing about this disc is getting to hear bari sax great Josh Sinton stretching out at length.
Now that Han-Earl Park is back in the UK, it is good to hear a documentation of what he did when he lived here.
Bruce Lee Gallanter, https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/suite
Votato all'improvvisazione basata su macro tattiche, artefice di un impiego ritmico molto personale — della chitarra, e fautore di sonorità comunque aliene e trascinanti al tempo stesso, Han-earl Park è musicista conscio dei propri limiti, che cerca di superare con un approccio "alternativo", umile e di ricerca.
A beneficiarne, innanzitutto, la voce della sassofonista Catherine Sikora, sonora, multicolore e sfaccettata. Ed è lei, insieme allo stesso Park, il vero filo conduttore di
questo album, che, come risulta dall'intervista, mette in campo due diverse formazioni: la prima, stridente, discordante, rumorosa e sperimentale, con il chitarrista Nick Didkovsky, ossia l'Eris trio, l'altra, più dinamica, articolata e meno dissonante, invece, insieme al sassofonista — anche lui sui generis — Josh Sinton, ossia Metis 9. Tutte e due, in effetti, ciascuna a modo suo, molto narrative: in Eris sono per lo più le chitarre a scontrarsi, con il sax a fare da collante, come nel brano d'inizio, Monopod, nervosa la chitarra di Park, articolata quella di Didkovsky, proteiforme il soprano della Sikora; in Metis 9 le ance danno vita ad interessanti alterchi acustici, su gamme diverse o anche sovrapposte, e la chitarra irrompe continuamente con magmatici brontolii. In evidenza il dialogo fra il baritone di Sinton e il tenore della Sikora in Pleonasm, titolo che rende solo parzialmente giustizia all'intreccio delle voci nel brano. E non da meno è Flying Rods, il sax della Sikora punteggiato dalle perifrastiche di Park, sottolineate dalle vibranti ance del clarinetto basso di Sinton, sul finale quasi sussurrato. In Hydraphon, invece, percorsi del tutto indipendenti danno vita ad un pezzo piuttosto cameristico. Le sonorità di Eris 136199 — questo il nome per esteso — si apprezzano in StopCock, l'arpeggio "sitaristico" di Didkovsky, le intromissioni noisy di Park e le intrepide frasi della Sikora. Han-earl Park lo dice chiaramente: il terreno è, specie per Metis 9, quello della sperimentazione, e dal punto
di vista pratico, siamo certo molto lontani da quel che si intende per jazz. Ma è anche vero che essere pratici spesso impedisce di vedere il possibile. E, soprattutto in arte, uccide la fantasia._An.Rig.&An.Te. JazzColours | August 2015.
TRANSLATION
Rated improvisation based on macro tactics, creator of employment rhythmic - very personal - guitar, and advocate however alien sounds and catchy to same time, Han-earl Park is conscious musician of his own limitations, trying to overcome with an "alternative", humble and research. To benefit from it, first of all, the voice the saxophonist Catherine Sikora, sound, multicolored and multifaceted. And it is she, along at the same Park, the real theme of this album, that it is clear from the interview, fielding two different formations: the first, jarring, discordant, loud and experimental, with guitarist Nick Didkovsky, namely Eris trio, the other, more dynamic, articulated and less dissonant, instead, together saxophonist - he sui generis – Josh Sinton, namely Metis 9. Both, in fact, each in its own way, very narrative: in Eris They are mostly guitars to collide, with the sax to make the glue, as in the first track of, Monopod, nervous guitar Park, articulated to Didkovsky, the protean soprano Sikora; in Metis 9 reeds damage life to interesting acoustic altercations on several ranges or even overlapping, and the guitar breaks constantly with magmatic rumblings. Highlights dialogue between baritone Sinton and content of Sikora in pleonasm, title that makes only partially Justice interweaving of voices in song. And not Flying Rods is less, the sax of Sikora dotted by periphrastic Park, underlined by vibrating reeds bass clarinet Sinton, the latter almost whispered. In Hydraphon,
Instead, paths completely independent they create a piece rather chamber. The sounds of Eris 136199 - This is the full name - you appreciate Stopcock, the arpeggio "sitaristico" of Didkovsky, the noisy interference of Park and fearless sentences of Sikora. Han-earl Park says clearly: the ground is, especially for Metis 9, that of experimentation, and from the point In practical terms, we are certainly a long way from what we are meant to jazz. But it is also true that practice often be unable to see
GuitaristHan-Earl Park'sAnomic Aphasiafeatures two different trios, revolving around the duo of the himself and saxophonist Catherine Sikora. One configuration features the work of guitarist Nick Didkovsky, a distinctly different guitarist than Park, and the other the deep register woodwinds of Josh Sinton.
The album clocks in at a generous 71 minutes, and none of it is wasted. Starting with the 20 minute 'Monopod' with the cast of Sikora, Park and Didkovsky, things are off to a (briefly) squeaky start, then track begins in earnest, with the tenor sax's free form melody cutting through the slashing tones of the guitars. What starts brittle, grows tough and dense. The 'conversation' between the sax and the guitars is intense at times, and at other times tender. Generally speaking, Park tends to be more atmospheric while Didkovsky is more biting.
The track 'Pleonasm' features the trio of Sinton, Sikora and Park. The rich tones of Sinton's baritone sax and bass clarinet contrast nicely with Sikora's vivacious playing on the tenor and soprano saxes. The track begins with Park's minimalist approach - he employs a vocabulary of textures and taut phrases as the saxes reply with staccato bursts of melodic runs. The song, like the others, is abstract but there is something at the nexus of the trio's playing that remains accessible and captivating.
'Stopcock' is the long burning closer to the album. Back to Sikora, Park and Didkovsky, the trio delivers a fascinating performance that starts with arpeggios and rhythmic picking lending a somewhat metal feel to the introduction. The two guitars play in parallel for a while - some time reaching agreement, other times in friendly competition. When Sikora joins, she delivers a vigorous melody that pulls the track together.
Between the four musicians,Anomic Aphasiais a great set of free jazz trio work. Every twist and turn, scrape, squeak and melodic idea contributes to this adventurous and exciting recording.
Be teased here ...
Han-earl Park on guitar. Catherine Sikora on tenor and soprano saxophone. Nick Didkovsky on guitar. Josh Sinton on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet. Five pieces totaling 70 minutes. Each piece is a trio. Park and Sikora play on all five pieces. The work is titled "Anomic Aphasia" which is a disorder which cause problems recalling words or names. Okay. So this is actually Park’s project but actually two jazz improvisation projects. The opening and closing tracks are his trio Eris 136199.
It’s all about guitars versus sax. Sax versus guitars. Sax and guitars together. They are challenging and phenomenal works with the musicians playing off of each others ideas. The guitars are each unique in approach and Sakora goes for it with her sax taking them on note for note.
There is pause and space, much needed allowing the listener to appreciate it all. Cacophony to melody.
The middle tracks are from an unnamed project which is the "interactive playbook Metis 9″.
This may be some type of software designed to show improvisational tactics which the performers attempt.
Or maybe not. It is unclear. What is clear is the stunning trio work. Now just one guitar (Park), sax and clarinet, the feeling is different but still crazy, intertwining each others notes, letting them stand,
then facing off, blending, melding, challenging each other. A beautiful noise. Free jazz continuing to experiment.
One of the most interesting recent releases is Anomic Aphasia (SLAM
Productions), led by guitarist Han-earlPark, including music from two
different trios. The first is Eris 136199 with guitarist Nick
Didkovsky and saxophonist Catherine Sikora and the latter is Metis 9
with Sikora and reeds-player Josh Sinton. Released on February 19,
this record features Park with his signature percussive approach to
guitar in five improvisations. The album is bookended by jagged,
angular pieces by Eris surrounding the more wholesome, fluid
numbers by Metis. The record is a product of Park’s two-year stint in New
York during which time he built working relationships with the above groups
As well as figures such as saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, vocal artist Viv
Corringham, and electronics master Andrea Parkins. On this record,
Park paints a sparse canvas with his sound and inspires his bandmates
to do likewise.
Together, they dot, occasionally splash, and, at times, tear their collective
portrait as they momentarily build, then cut, rearrange, dismember. After his
return to Cork, Ireland in late 2013, Park has been sorely missed here in New
York.
This CD is from two sessions: tracks 1 and 5 and then tracks 2,3,4. Tracks 1 1nd 5 are just a trio with the two guitars and Catherine Sikora on sax, and the other tracks feature the full quartet.
This group plays on the borders of free jazz and noise music. I say this as I play in both contexts, and, at times, the border is hard to define, as free jazz can approach noise, especially when the instruments in question lend themselves to noise, as do the electric guitars.
The two guitarists have different styles and complement each other, and the horns sometimes contrast ad sometimes blend in with the guitars.
Having said that I must admit to not being a fan of the electric guitar. Indeed, I am not much of a fan of the guitar, period, though I do not mind an amplified acoustic guitar as much as an electric guitar. This is from a listening standpoint. Playing with them is another story, as I love working with Murray Favro of the Nihilist Spasm Band. So this record did not do much for me. But to be fair, people who do like the guitar will find much to like here.
As mentioned, Park and Didkovsky work well together with their contrasting styles, and both horn players listen carefully and fit in well. I especially liked Sikora’s soprano as it worked with the guitars, and Sinton’s bass clarinet provides some nice contrast.
Not for everyone, but guitar lovers take notice.
Bernie Koenig
CD review from Volume 41, No. 3, 2015 www.cadencemagazine.com
This recording involves a variable supergroup of sorts.GuitaristHan-EarlPark has been improvising throughout the U.S. and Europe, working with awho’s who of creative music. Reedist Catherine Sikora recently relocated from Ireland to New York, and is playing in various free improv ensembles.Guitarist Nick Didkovsky, appearing on two tracks, is best known as the mastermind behind Doctor Nerve, and more recently has been playing extreme metal.Josh Sinton, appearing on the three tracks not featuring Didkovsky, specializes in playing the baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, and has teamed up with notable figures of the Chicago and New York creative music scenes.
A pair of trios rather than a true quartet, putting this unlikely lineup together was almost as brilliant as the recording they have produced. The Didkovsky-Park-Sikora tracks were recorded in June of 2013 at Brooklyn’s Douglass Street Music Collective, while the Park-Sikora-Sinton tracks came from an October 2013 date at New York’s Harvestworks.
As a two-guitar, one-reed or a one-guitar, two-reed attack, it is often impossible to determine who is responsible for the sounds found herein. Park and Didkovsky lay down high-speed harmonics, loose chording, and rattle their fretwork, while Sikora and Sinton provide both background drones and foreground voices. "Free" is a barely sufficient to describe this approach, as the trios explore various angular constructs and effects. The vocabulary of sounds here is as broad as it is unconventional. Park and/or Didkovsky might strum or pick a string or two, then spend time rubbing it with their fingertips. Sikora and/or Sinton might blast percussively between more discernable notes.While an occasional interlocking harmony might emerge from all of this innovation, it is quickly shattered by unexpected Möbius twists.
Anomic aphasia is a disorder in which a patient exhibits difficulty recalling words, names, and numbers. It is accordingly ironic that it is difficult finding the expressive language to describe this recording.An exercise in texture as much as it is in melody, Park, Sikora, Didkovsky, and Sinton don’t just break moulds here – they disintegrate anything that resembles the ordinary with authority and prejudice.
Seltene Post von der grünen Insel, gesandt vom GitarristenHan-earlPark aus Cork, und auch die Saxophonistin Catherine Sikora ist irisch. Publiziert auf George Haslams Label in Oxfordshire, mache ich allerdings Bekanntschaft mit zwei New Yorker Trios, ja, vier Leute, zwei Trios, und das ist noch das Einfache dabei. Park, bekannt mit Mathilde 253, einem Trio mit Charles Hayward und dem Trompeter Ian Smith, und Sikora, die mit Eric Mingus als Clockwork Mercury tickt und mit Ziv Ravitz als Beasts at Play die Zähne zeigt, bilden zusammen mit Doctor Nerves Nick Didkovsky Eris 136199 und spielen hier die beiden Ecktracks. Dazwischen gesandwicht sind drei Stücke, die Park und Sikora improvisierten als Metis 9 mit Josh Sinton an Baritonsaxophon oder Bassklarinette, den ich mit dem Nate Woole Quintet vom W 71 her kenne und der mit Ideal Bread auf Cuneiform zu hören ist. Letztlich ganz einfach: 2 Gitarren + 1 Saxophon, 1 Gitarre + 2 Saxophone. Einmal Musik als discordia concors, Kollisionen in zwieträchtiger Eintracht. Oder als Grenzverletzungen mit merkurialem Scharfsinn. So oder so, man muss sich einhören auf einen Gitarristen, der Schlagzeuger und die Bläser Wadada Leo Smith und Paul Dunmall als maßgebend für sein Spiel nennt, ein Spiel, das er mit 'weirderation' charakterisiert als etwas, das bei jeder Wiederholung nur sonderbarer und eigenartiger wird. Simpler gesagt: Statt Plinkplonking gibt es pleomorphe Cockophonien mit krätzigem Gepixel und schartigem Gebröckel und Geprickel der Gitarristen im Kontrast mit immer wieder sonorem Sinnieren seitens Sikoras. Aber dann lässt Didkovsky auch die Finger fliegen und die Töne Dudelsack trillern oder entgleisen wie bei seinen heißen Doctor Nerve-Solos. Wobei er freilich seine Partner einlädt, ihm den Buckel rauf zu rutschen oder sich wimmernd in seine Arme zu kuscheln. Sikora spinnt Sopranolyrismen, die Didkovsky fuzzy überrauscht. Und so ad infinitum, ein glorioser Bastard aus Noise und süßer Träumerei. Metis 9 klingt daneben ploppiger (Sinton) und knurpsiger, pluckriger (Park), Sikora züngelt und spotzt tenoristisch angeraut. Die impulsive Logogrammatik wird ab und an flüssiger, sprudelnder, aber nicht glatter. Schon gar nicht wenn die Bassklarinette knarrt, schnarrt oder schrillt. Flinkes Wechselspiel wechselt mit Sikoraschem Musing von Hochzeitsglocken oder von Einsamkeit, an dem sie auch festhält, wenn sie in die Zange genommen wird. Auch bei Metis 9 geht es ganz schön diskordianisch zu. Didkovsky kehrt wieder mit plinkendem Strumming, das sich schnell in Fuzzing verwandelt, zu dem Sikora hymnisch ins Horn stößt, währendPark anomisch die Saiten traktiert. Egal ob er oder Didkovsky krasser oder lakonischer zugreifen, Sikora bleibt unbeeindruckt das Zünglein an der Waage.
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy [BA 84, rbd]
Translation: Rare mail from the emerald Isle, sent by the guitarist Han-earlPark from Cork, and also the saxophonist Catherine Sikora is Irish.Promoted on George Haslam's label in Oxfordshire, I, however, make the acquaintance of two New York trios.Yes, four people, two trios and that is the simple part. Park, known from Mathilde 253, a trio with Charles Hayward and the trumpeter Ian Smith, and Sikora, who with Eric Mingus ticks as Clockwork Mercury and with Ziv Ravitz bears her teeth as Beasts at Play, together with Doctor Nerve's Nick Didkovsky form Eris 136199, and here play the book-end tracks. Sandwiched in between are three tracks improvised by Parks and Sikora as Metis 9 with Josh Sinton on baritone saxophone or bass clarinet, whom I know from W71 with the Nate Woole quintet and who can be heard with Ideal Bread on Cuneiform. In the end it is very simple: 2 guitars + 1 saxophone, 1 guitar + 2 saxophones. Either music as discordia concors, collisions in dual unity or as border infringements with mercurial acuity.Either way one has to get ones ear in with the guitarist who calls drummers and the brass players Wadada Leo Smith and Paul Dunmall as defining for his playing.Playing that he characterises as weirderation, that becomes evermore strange and singular with every repetition. More simply: instead of plinkplonking there are pleomorphic 'cocophonies' with scabious pixelations and notched crumblings and tingling of the guitarists contrasted with the sonorous musings on the part of Sikora.But then Didkovsky also lets his fingers fly and the notes bag-pipe trill or derail like in his Doctor Nerve solos.Of course he invites his partners to get lost or cuddle whimpering in his arms.Sikora weaves soprano-lyrisisms, that Didovsky washes over fuzzily.And so on ad infinitum, a glorious bastard of noise and sweet reveries. Metis 9, in comparison, sounds more ploppy (Sinton) and 'dwarfish', more plucking (Park), Sikora tongues and stutters tenorously roughened.The impulsive logogramatics occasionally become more fluid, effervescent but no smoother. Especially not when the bass clarinet creaks, buzzes or shrills.Quick interchanges swap with Sikorian musing of wedding bells or lonliness that she still clings to when she is taken into a scissor grip. Metis 9 is also pretty discordant. Didkovsky returns with plinking strumming that quickly turns to fuzzing, to which Sikora blows hymnaly into her horn, whilst Park anomically lashes the strings.No matter whether he or Didkovsky play more crassly or laconically, Sikora stays unimpressed, the finger on the balance.
