Chad Fowler, Zoh Amba, Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Steve Hirsh - Alien Skin

On the last afternoon of Arts for Arts’ iconic Vision Festival in 2021, I found myself standing next to pianist Matthew Shipp and drummer Andrew Cyrille as William Parker’s closing group took the stage. Matthew and I were casually chatting as the stage filled with what would ultimately be the largest group of the festival that year.  The music started and the bandstand spouted fire from beneath as it lifted off toward the stars.  Every person in the venue floated in space together through almost an hour of spiritual, emotional, cathartic joy. It was music so raw and frenetic that, had I had a horn with me, It would have been difficult to fight the urge to join them uninvited.

Steve and I had already been planning a couple of studio dates later that year in Brooklyn at Jim Clouse’s Park West Studios.  After hearing this music, I wanted to recreate the feeling I got from listening to it.  The visceral experience.  Not the sound.  I can’t remember what it sounded like.  That wasn’t the point.  So as Steve and I started planning for our upcoming session, we set out to put together a group to generate that same kind of energy: The group: Zoh Amba (who had played on William’s Vision set), Ivo Perelman (who we asked at the last minute to come by for a day and he ended up on both days of the recording), Matthew Shipp, William, Steve, and me.

This was the first and probably last time this group of musicians will have ever come together in this configuration. As is our custom, we didn’t discuss much about what the music would be before Jim Clouse started recording. This record documents our second full day together, presented in order. From soulful balladry to demented rock music to an otherworldly march, the musical tension is palpable throughout. As is, I think, the pure joy of creation that animated our time together. - Chad Fowler