From Houston’s Nameless Sound:
Mats Gustafsson (Sweden) – baritone and tenor saxophone
Joe McPhee (Poughkeepsie NY) – tenor saxophone, trumpet
Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (Norway) – bass
Paal Nilssen-Love (Norway) – drumsSaturday, June 16, 2012, 8pm
at: Studio 101 at Spring Street Studios
1824 Spring Street
Houston, TX 77007Nameless Sound presents the return of our perennial favorites, the legendary multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee and the rip-roaring free jazz trio The Thing.
The Thing burn with the fire, spirit, and inspiration of the hottest free jazz, streamlined with the razor-sharp blade of the fiercest hard rock. With acoustic jazz instrumentation, the three young Scandinavians stir up a rallying wail that can blow out any stack of amplifiers. The repertoire is a combination of ‘60s era new-jazz (Don Cherry, James Blood Ulmer) and transformations of hard rock throw-downs (PJ Harvey, White Stripes, Sonics). Their latest CD, The Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound) is a collaboration with the vocalist Nenah Cherry, Don’s daughter (and the performer and co-writer of the 1989 electro-hop smash “Buffalo Stance“). This is no watered down jazz-rock. The Thing take the most uncompromising aspects of both genres … and turn up the heat.
As if that weren’t enough, The Thing are joined by living legend Joe McPhee, a true messenger of jazz’s radical avant-garde. A musical storyteller at heart, Joe McPhee plays every note with the cry of the blues. Yet, the emotional content of the music is fully compatible with a theoretical approach informed by the “deep listening” aesthetic of Pauline Oliveros, as well as by Dr. Edward de Bono’s “lateral thinking” problem-solving techniques. McPhee’s recorded legacy extends back to 1967; since then, he’s participated in dozens of recordings in an astonishing array of formats, including solo albums, duos, small groups, and large ensembles. He’ll arrive in Houston fresh off a week’s worth of concerts in New York, where he’ll be feted as the recipient of the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Vision Festival, the country’s most important festival for avant-garde jazz. A musician of unlimited depth, sincerity and soul, McPhee is truly one of jazz’s greatest living artists.
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