aacm

Free-Jazz newbie Roger travels down to London from Sheffield with three serious Jazz buffs. Their destination, the Lyric Theatre in West London to witness a rare UK gig by Chicago improvised-music titans Air.  

Lots of stuff about being under the enthusiastic tutelage of one of my key musical mentors Charlie Collins.

The trip also takes in a studio visit to hang out with US new-wave sprites The Bongos.

Intro and outro music: Simon Elliott-Kemp.
Artwork: Rionagh.

Sound FX courtesy of Freesound.org

With particular thanks to:
Allh - train interior.
Kerri - flute.
Stomachache - double bass.
Ben Davis Drums - bowed cymbals.
Jim RS Bjorklund - jazz drums.
Colton T Brown - mystery sax.
Primesteka - theatre lobby ambience.
Lchapman1980 - theatre applause.
Esares - drum loop.
Annerie - background TV.
Yap Audio Production - pub ambience.

Never miss an episode.
Follow me at:
https://twitter.com/rogerquail
https://www.instagram.com/rogerquail/
RSS feed - https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/289673.rss

Support the Burning Ambulance podcast on Patreon: http://patreon.com/burningambulance

Episode 23 of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell. Mitchell is originally from Syracuse, New York, but she grew up in California and eventually went to college in the Midwest, where she became an important figure on the Chicago jazz scene. In fact, she eventually became the first female president of the AACM there. Her primary group is called the Black Earth Ensemble, which has a fluctuating membership but Tomeka Reid is one of the core members – Tomeka was featured on episode 7 of this podcast, back in January, and spoke about working with Nicole and how important it was to her development as an artist, so we’re getting the other side of the story in this episode.

In addition to the Black Earth Ensemble, Mitchell has led a lot of one-off groups, and been a part of other people’s projects – she’s in some of Anthony Braxton’s large ensembles, she’s been part of several of Rob Mazurek’s groups including the Exploding Star Orchestra and its offshoot projects, she’s in the Indigo Trio with Harrison Bankhead and Hamid Drake. But she’s really made a tremendous impact as a leader, creating music that covers a broad spectrum from jazz to modern composition to theatrical pieces and multimedia presentations, collaborating with and paying tribute to writers – as you’ll hear in this conversation, texts are hugely important to her, even when the music itself is instrumental. Last year, her album Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds got a tremendous amount of critical acclaim – it combines violin, cello, guitar and percussion with traditional Japanese instruments to create a sound that’s both ancient and modern at once, and really is unlike anything else I’ve ever heard.

We don't agree about everything, and you'll hear some interesting back-and-forth in this conversation about a variety of issues, from the audience for hardcore improvised music to how young artists should navigate the industry. I really enjoyed speaking with her, and I hope you'll enjoy this episode.

The seventh episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with cellist Tomeka Reid. She’s been on the avant-garde/free jazz scene since 2002, but has really begun to make her mark in the last few years. She’s got long-standing artistic relationships with flautist Nicole Mitchell, drummer Mike Reed, saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton, and the AACM. She leads her own quartet with guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tomas Fujiwara; is a member of the string trio Hear In Now with violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi; and recorded a duo album, Signaling, with saxophonist Nick Mazzarella in 2017. She also performed on trumpeter Jaimie Branch's Fly Or Die, two Nicole Mitchell albums, and Hear In Now's Not Living In Fear, and became a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In our interview, Reid discusses her creative relationships, her recent recordings, and much more. It’s a really interesting conversation I’ve been wanting to have for quite a while—she was one of the first artists I approached about appearing on the podcast—and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

The third episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with pianist Myra Melford. Melford has been a prominent figure on the jazz avant-garde since the late 1980s, having worked with numerous figures affiliated with the AACM, including Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Nicole Mitchell, and Leroy Jenkins. She’s also led several of her own groups, including Trio M with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson; the Myra Melford Trio with bassist Lindsey Horner and drummer Reggie Nicholson, which later became the Myra Melford Expanded Ensemble with the addition of trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Marty Ehrlich; Be Bread, which explored a blend of jazz and traditional Indian music, which Melford has studied extensively; and Snowy Egret, which includes guitarist Liberty Ellman, cornet player Ron Miles, bassist Stomu Takeishi, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and with whom she just recorded a new album, due out in 2018. She’s got many other projects going as well, many of which are explored in this interview.

Melford also discusses her early studies and her path to becoming a professional musician; her exploration of Indian music; her role as a professor at UC Berkeley; her participation in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's “Handful of Keys” salute to jazz piano history; and much more. It’s a fascinating, nearly hour-long conversation I hope you’ll enjoy.