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BY PIOTR MICHALOWSKIThe new improvised music scene is stronger than ever in Michigan; new venues and concert series abound and graduates from local ensembles have been invigorating the musical environments of places such as San Francisco and Chicago. There has also been a flurry of recording activity; most young artists have preferred to issue their own CDs but small new record labels have also taken advantage of new technology to establish their presence. Most of these are run by musicians and among these one should mention violin and electric bass player Mike Khoury. Khoury has been active in many different contexts in recent years, including the Archipenko Duo, specializing in Eastern European folk music, and The Little Siege Ensemble which is a larger improvisational group working with alternative notations and scores. His most recent project is a free improvisation trio with Jason Shearer on reeds and Ben Hall on percussion. They have been performing together quite often, most recently at the Illuminations New Art and Music Festival. In addition, in 1998 Khoury started an excellent small recording label that is probably better known abroad than it is locally.Entropy Stereo has an Ann Arbor mailing address, although its headquarters change as Khoury moves around. This is definitely a labor of love. Khoury runs the label, but stresses that the artists have control over the music and the artwork. He also notes that Mike Johnston from the Northwoods Improvisers, and Ben Bracken of the Remote Viewing Ensemble have contributed much to getting the work done.
Of
the six currently available CDs, two are by local groups and the rest
are by well-known improvisers from this country and from Europe and even
from Australia (violinist Jon Rose). The Michigan artists on releases
3 and 5 are by the venerable Northwoods Improvisers and friends (these
are reviewed elsewhere in this issue).
The names speak for themselves; I am particularly impressed by number
4 (Dynamics of the Impromptu), the first ever US release by saxophonist
Trevor Watts, one of the pioneers the British improvised music movement.
In 1973 and 1974, when these recordings were made, he and percussionist
John Stevens made up the Spontaneous Music Ensemble; they were united
with guitarist Derek Bailey for three concerts at the legendary Little
Theatre Club, a Soho venue which played a crucial role in the development
of the independent British improvisational movement. The most recent Entropy
release is by Dutch saxophonist Luc Houtcamp, a master of extended techniques.
This is his first recording in a trio format with members of the Chicago
improvising community and will undoubtedly be very different from all
his other CDs. Even a quick listen has convinced me that this is going
to be one of my favorites of the year.
The current catalog is as follows:
