From Jazz Right Now:
Groundbreaking avant garde alto saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos is making waves in New York. At only 24 years of age, Pitsiokos has already developed his own vocabulary with his instrument and through his compositions. During the first half of 2015, he has been very active releasing three new records. The first, with avant metal drummer Weasel Walter, Drawn & Quartered was released February 1 on One Hand Records, featuring some fierce, raw improvised pieces. On March 1, Pitsiokos released Paroxysm on Carrier Records, a duo with experimental electronicist Philip White. Pitsiokos described this record as “the clearest crystallization of the saxophone-noise vocabulary I had been developing in the two years prior.” It is a showcase of violent, abstract noise improvisation. In mid-July, Pitsiokos will release his first trio record, Gordion Twine (New Atlantis, 2015). For the first time in his career as a musician, the leader says, he is moving toward “composing jazz” bringing his experimental techniques and aesthetic vision to a melody-improvisation-melody structure familiar to more traditional jazz performers. If anything, this is exactly what Pitsiokos’ music needs—a melodic turn with more linear improvisations that nevertheless scream with uniqueness. It has been a pleasure to watch the Chris Pitsiokos Trio emerge over the past year as an increasingly cohesive unit and one to watch as its develops in the years to come.
Avant Music News 