Martin Archer
Private View
A meticulously crafted set of songs, instrumentals and abstracts recorded over a couple of years by Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere’s principal composer / arranger / multi instrumentalists Archer and Todd.
Practical Dreamers
This fifth AXIS recording once again brings in a different approach to the music. With the exception of the group’s first album, Les Oiseaux De Matisse, which was largely recorded live in the studio, subsequent albums (Dream Feathers, Port Of Saints, Blutopia) have been built from Ron upwards – Ron recording with a small core of players and then arranged for larger groups via subsequent overdubs. This time round, Ron requested that he respond to completed tracks as the last player to record – to…
Biyartabiyu
"Because I make records in a number of different styles, I often filter and change my saxophone playing to match the style of the record I’m making. But when I make a work like this, you hear my playing in my natural, unfiltered style, and that style is determined by the many AACM records which were most influential in forming my own playing. That’s especially true in this duo setting with Walt Shaw, where the music is stripped down to its essence of blues + abstraction. It’s really simple - I’m…
Hi Res Heart
When I proposed this trio it was intentional to create an instrumentation which closely matched that of the classic Leo Smith Trio of the 1970s – a line up which allows space and fire to co-exist. Of course, the fact that Martin Pyne doubles on both vibraphone and drums gives us a few extra sonic possibilities, and these have all been exploited by the suite of 12 compositions which the 3 of us have created together. While my own music output veers off into a wide range of bands and territories, …
Provenance
Martin Archer and John Jasnoch have a musical relationship which goes all the way back to the early 1980s when they were both a part of jazz-punk pell mellers Bass Tone Trap. Over the subsequent years they have played and recorded together occasionally, previously as ASK, and now as this no frills improvised music duo which allows both musicians to utilise the full range of their respective instrumentation. This new work was recorded in the same place at the same time, one day in July 2021. The …
Port of Saints
Port Of Saints is the third collaboration between Archer and Caines - all compositions by Caines with arrangements and production by Archer. This time around the 14 pieces have been edited into three long suites, and a careful listener will hear thematic links running all the way through the album. Caines takes centre stage throughout with the other musicians arranged to provide a shifting and sometimes almost orchestral setting. Breaking with the group's tradition, whereas previous albums have …