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Artist
Grosse Abfahrt
6+ albums
improvambientAvant-Gardeimprovisationtextural
about
Personnel: Tom Djll-trumpet, preparations, electronics Matt Ingalls-clarinet, bass clarinet John Shiurba-electric guitar Matthieu Werchowski-violin, viola Theresa Wong-cello David Chiesa-double bass Tim Perkis-electronics Gino Robair-energised surfaces & voltage made audible "Grosse Abfahrt is a project I started to explore a number of problems in freely improvised music. The first and most obvious of these is the problem of ensemble size, which I wanted to tackle head-on: GA ensembles are always of eight to ten players. This range seems to settle in a locale where there is a strong opportunity for individual sound-agents to emerge and make a statement against the ensemble backdrop, and also for the entire ensemble to cohere into long-form structures that transcend the productions of conventional improvised-music sociality (another problem addressed). How these ensembles are collected takes up another problem: that of the conflict between fluency and comfort among improvising compadres. Fluency between players' languages and approaches is desirable, of course; however, it can lead to complacency. Grosse Abfahrt is made up of a core group of five players which does not vary. These people are all very familiar with each other's strengths, preferences, and foibles, yet they do not play as a quintet (well, on one occasion we did). To this core I add musicians who have not played with any of the core members. Often, these outsiders come from far away, and are playing as duos or
