Ken Vandermark & The Resonance Ensemble - Head Above the Water / Feet Out of the Fire (2013)

The new Resonance Ensemble album, "Head Above Water, Feet Out Of The Fire," was released to coincide with the group's residency in Krakow from the 18th to the 24th of November this year. I returned home last week with a number of the recordings, and all the donors who directly backed the release of this double cd should be receiving their copies in the next week (depending a bit on what part of the world they live in). As originally indicated, the album includes the live performance from Hasselt, Belgium recorded in March of 2012, plus the studio session that took place before then band's performance at the Chicago Jazz Festival in August last year. The work on the part of the musicians, Bob Weston (who recorded the Chicago session and mixed all the music), and Michael Huon (who recorded the concert in Hasselt), ensured an incredible realization of the compositional ideas in the pieces through their interpretations of the music, and in the case of the players, their improvising skills. Hats off to Magnus Broo, Tim Daisy, Devin Hoff, Per-Ake Holmlander, Dave Rempis, Steve Swell, Mark Tokar, Mikolaj Trzaska, Michael Zerang, Waclaw Zimpel; and all the fans who supported this project through Kickstarter! Ken Vandermark

Tracklist:

CD 1 : Head Above Water
1. Creative Reconstruction Company [for Muhal Richard Abrams] 19:37
2. Elegy For Two Rooms [for Fred Anderson and Von Freeman] 10:29
3. Type A [for Michael Orlove] 21:22
Recorded at Strobe Recordings, Chicago, on August 29, 2012

CD 2: Feet Out Of The Fire
1. FSA Color [for Thomas Bernhard] 19:50
2. Lipstick in Hi-Fi [for Jean-Luc Godard] 15:54
3. The Other Shore [for Robert Irving] 10:55
4. Watch Repair [for Michael Haneke] 20:22
Recorded live in concert at the kunstencentrum BELGIE, Hasselt on March 17, 2012

Personnel:

Ken Vandermark - baritone saxophone & Bb clarinet
Waclaw Zimpel - Bb & alto clarinet
Dave Rempis - alto & tenor saxophone
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto saxophone & bass clarinet
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Per-Åke Holmlander - tuba
Steve Swell - trombone
Devin Hoff - bass VI (on CD1 only)
Mark Tokar - acoustic bass
Tim Daisy - drums
Michael Zerang - drums