home catalog news contact otwo Generate Records 1999-2009 gen 13
Track Listing
1) Generations Duo in sink (6:09) gen 01
Philip Wofford - tenor saxophone, Jeff Arnal - percussion
2) Live at the Red Room downtown deal (3:30) gen 02
John Dierker – bass clarinet, Jeff Arnal - percussion
3) On the Way Out yucatán (3:55) gen 04
Jeff Arnal - percussion, John Dierker – bass clarinet,
Jonathan Vincent - piano, Philip Wofford – trumpet & trombone
4) Bodies Of Water i dip my hands once again in the ocean (5:27) gen 05
Gordon Beeferman - piano, Jeff Arnal - percussion
5) Spy Satellite getaway car (4:25) gen 06
John Dierker - tenor saxophone, Jonathan Vincent - piano, Jeff Arnal - percussion
6) Tripwire oaksmus studio - berlin 2001 (5:14) gen 07
Lars Scherzberg - alto saxophone, John Hughes - double bass, Jeff Arnal - percussion
7) Propele di Katsa lemniskate (3:37) gen 08
Barbara Fuchsberger - clarinets, Joerg Hochapfel - piano, John Hughes - double bass
8) Rara Avis paraphernalia (6:12) gen 09
Seth Misterka - saxophones, Gordon Beeferman - piano, Jeff Arnal - percussion
9) Red (15:27) gen 10
Seth Misterka - alto saxophone, Chris Dahlgren - bass, Jeff Arnal - percussion
10-11) Rogue States pirouette on a pin (1:29) in white haze (1:32) gen 11
Gordon Beeferman - piano, Jeff Arnal - percussion
12) Fulminate Trio floater by Carla Bley (4:43) gen 12
Michael Evans – drumset, Ken Filiano - double bass, Anders Nilsson - guitarBonus Tracks – unreleased projects
13) sextet - NY 2002 (1:57)
Jeff Arnal - percussion, Arto Artinian - flute, Dietrich Eichmann - piano, John Hughes - bass,
Lars Scherzberg - alto saxophone, Astrid Weins - bass
14) newsonic - NY 2007 (2:02)
Brian Drye - trombone, Terry McManus - guitar, Jeff Arnal - percussion
15) wombat - NY 2008 (5:58)
John Dierker - tenor saxophone, Gordon Beeferman - piano, Jeff Arnal - percussion
16) live at CIM - NY 2007 (4:39) Ernesto Diaz-Infante - 12-string bajo sexto guitar,
Philip Gayle - acoustic guitar, Jeff Arnal - percussionFormat: Limted edition CDr
Release date: August 2009
Recordings from 1999-2009Generate Records 1999-2009 is now available!
• in NYC / online at Downtown Music Gallery
• Online at Squidco
• Online in Europe at OaksmusVideo: Brian Drye - trombone, Terry McManus - guitar, Jeff Arnal - percussion
Selected Press
"It all began with a duo CDR, now out of print, featuring Arnal's percussion and Philip Wofford's tenor saxophone in one of his two appearances in the Generate catalogue. "We'd been working together for a couple of years and we both thought the duo recordings were successful. I sent a fair amount of material to record labels and grew tired of their refusals, however valid the reasons were; we just decided to take matters into our own hands." This initial foray is represented on the new compilation by the harrowing "In Sink." It's a rollercoaster ride through the New Thing aesthetics in which Arnal was immersed during his graduate studies at Bennington College, with both Milford Graves and Charles Gayle. "I improvised with Gayle every Thursday morning and we did several concerts together; it was a real pleasure. Graves really got me exploring issues relating to advanced drum set technique—can you play five in your feet against three in your hands?" Working with these two established masters shaped the visceral and technical command evident in Arnal's playing. Just listen to another duo track, "Downtown Deal," from the second Generate release. In collaboration with clarinetist John Dierker, Arnal demonstrates the essence of sublimated energy by transferring the scronk and clatter of the '60s to translucent brushes. The density of the performance is counterbalanced by a sense of timbral transparency, reducing the volume and allowing for each motific gesture to be heard with clarity, even with the brightly reverberant acoustics.
Contrast these high-voltage explorations with the label's more introspective recordings, those including pianist and composer Gordon Beeferman being standout examples. The duo disc Bodies of Water is represented on the anniversary compilation by the slowly morphing "I Dip My Hands Once Again in the Ocean." Beeferman's pianism does not usually reflect the clustered percussives of free improvisation pioneers such as Cecil Taylor or Don Pullen; rather, he explores small scalar ideas, repeating them and then drawing chords from them. Arnal's playing is a model of contained support, reactive and propulsive by turn but always incorporating enough space and measured silences for Beeferman's ideas to build naturally and freely. In these performances, Arnal exhibits a startling sense of melody, countering the pianistic ideas with pitched material of his own. He relates this aspect of his playing to studies with composer Stuart Saunders Smith. "He really changed my life," smiles Arnal. "His compositions are quite complex and his percussion writing is very melodic—I learned a lot from that." Marc Medwin, All About Jazz - New York
" The only CD featured in this review is a lovely compilation. Usually this is a format that I pretty much dislike, given the practical impossibility of a true analysis (unless one really wants to waste some precious time by dissecting single tracks) and the customary extreme heterogeneity of the artistic levels implied. Yet this collection of improvisations contains materials so fine that, for once, immunity is granted and an invitation to listening carefully assured, especially if you want to have a precise idea of what this imprint is up to (always at very high standards of musicianship, for good measure). Label honcho Jeff Arnal is obviously present in the majority of contexts, his approach to anything percussive characteristically peerless. The disc's musical scope links the qualities of the best contemporary free jazz and the radical derivations of chamber-influenced music, the (positive) exception being the previously unreleased "Live at CIM" by the trio of Arnal, Ernesto Diaz-Infante and Philip Gayle which ends the program with an entrancing vibe quite similar to the above reviewed Brooklyn Mantra's. Other noteworthy affairs come from the grouping Bodies Of Water (Arnal with pianist Gordon Beeferman) and the two consecutive trios Tripwire (Lars Scherzberg on alto sax, John Hughes on double bass — Jeff Arnal on percussion) and Propele di Katsa (Barbara Fuchsberger, Joerg Hochapfel and again Hughes in a wonderful clarinet-piano-bass setting). A highly recommended sampler, no question about it." Massimo Ricci, Squid's Ear
"An engaging 16 track compilation of NY-based label featuring: Jeff Arnal, Gordon Beeferman, John Dierker, Seth Misterka, Michael Evans, Ken Filiano, Anders Nilsson, Brian Drye, Philip Gayle, Ernesto Diaz-Infante, Terry McManus & many others. Besides being a gifted drummer who has worked with Dan DeChellis, Dietrich Eichmann, Blaise Siwula, Transit & Tripwire, Jeff Arnal ran the Improvised & Otherwise Festival for a number of years in Brooklyn. This disc captures another burgeoning underground scene made up of fine players known & not so well known. At an hour & 20 minutes long, there is too much here to describe quickly but I was most impressed with the depth and diversity of collaborations found throughout this long & provocative disc." Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
