The harp is a hefty instrument that comes loaded with baggage, which Jacqueline Kerrod lugged around for years. The South Africa-raised, New York-based harpist followed a conventional path from classical training to the versatile practice that a freelance musician must pursue in order to pay the rent. Classical, theatrical, and pop gigs filled her schedule. She championed South African composers when she could, and scratched an itch for making her own music by playing in the pop-informed vocal-harp duo, Addi & Jacqui.
And then she met Anthony Braxton, who needed a harpist for his opera, Trillium J. Kerrod negotiated the demands of that situation so well that the composer and saxophonist incorporated her into the ensemble that played his ZIM music.
Tag Archive: Joe Morris
This revolutionary collaboration between two creative minds, guitarists Joe Morris and Elliott Sharp, offers a vivid snapshot of their deep-seated commitment to free improvisation and disruptive innovation. Drawing from indecipherable yet hypnotic idioms, they construct and deconstruct in pursuit of musical evolution, making Realism a scrabbling provocation where their playing is often pushed to the very edge.
“Shapes Mentioned” emerges with a heady mix of dissonance, drones, percussive strikes, cleverly deployed electronics, and deceptively undemanding guitar noodling that immediately commands attention. The duo — whose artistic temperaments mesh seamlessly — venture into uncharted sonic realms, yielding compelling…
Saxophonist Larry Ochs teams up with Flow Trio’s rhythm section — bassist Joe Morris and drummer Charles Downs — for this fully improvised session. Despite the trio never having played together before, they generate moments of noisy frisson, though not enough to make the material truly memorable.
From the outset, they push toward the ‘outer’ limits, frequently skirting the aggressive edge of sound in a freewheeling display of musical camaraderie. The opening track, “Yay-Hidee-Yonk-Yoh”, is high-caliber, shifting from a layered blend of bowed bass, sweeping sopranino phrases, and fluid drumming into a more grounded interplay of bass pizzicato, low-pitched tenor, and awkwardly marching drum patterns.