Jack Wright & Michael Taylor

Saxophonist, writer, painter and free improv icon Jack Wright does things his own way. Since the late 1970s, he’s made free music his life’s work. He’s toured relentlessly in North America, Europe and Japan for over four decades, helping to define an improvised music underground scene. He’s performed with over sixty improvising partners. Jack is self-taught on the saxophone, and known for making a wide range of nontraditional sounds from an instrument usually associated with jazz. A recovering academic, he’s also known as the author of the 2017 book, The Free Musics, a definitive historical-sociological study that puts both free improvisation and free jazz in context.

I met Jack in 2001. I was working on a recording project with Edge City Collective, and he was passing through Philadelphia. We were in the last stages of producing an album of improvised music called Kosmischstrasse (translation: cosmic road), featuring over a dozen musicians. I invited Jack to my studio for a last-minute session, and he accepted the offer. I wondered, who can I pair with Jack to get a unique and energized combination of sounds? Only one name came to mind…

Enter Michael Taylor, bassist extraordinaire, sideman to many and stylist with a definitive voice on an instrument often relegated to support duty. He was the perfect foil to Jack’s eclecticism. Best known for his longtime presence in Philadelphia’s jazz scene, Mike travels freely between jazz, rock, world, americana and, of course, free improvisation. His musical journey, which has accompanied vocations in the worlds of food, info technology and, allegedly, model canon building, is no less varied than Jack’s. It’s also a story that continues to be written.

But let’s go back to the innocent world of May 21, 2001. That’s the one moment these personages crossed paths. After a brief introduction, we set up and hit the record button. They laid down five otherworldly improvised pieces. One of them made it into Kosmischstrasse in abridged form and the others were socked away. I packed up my studio and moved shortly thereafter, and the recording masters were buried in the vault (i.e., an unlabeled box) until I accidentally stumbled across them in early 2020. And here they are: rediscovered, remixed and released for the first time.

The EP Kryptischgasse (translation: cryptic alley) is the only collaboration between these two distinct artists. It will be released in August, 2020. Over five tracks, we’re literally hearing them get acquainted and engage in a dialogue through music. It’s raw, expressive, playful and, well, free. This music defies explanation via words. So, take a trip back to that afternoon and immerse yourself in these sounds.

-Scott Schaffer

 


 
Buy Kryptischgasse on Bandcamp.

Buy Kryptischgasse on Bandcamp.

 
“Kryptischgasse is an intimate, beautifully recorded duet reminiscent of the ‘loft jazz’ scene in 1970s New York and the work of bassist Mario Pavone and saxophonist Thomas Chapin. Highly recommended!”
— Jon Madof, Chant Records
“The world of sound is so vibrant and so right there at your finger tips, let’s do it all, let abundance appear in its infinitude... This musical moment from 2001 is a message in a bottle we didn’t know we needed. It’s an enthralling recording.”
— Gregg Miller, Free Jazz Blog