Grid Mesh drummer Willi Kellers Quartet with the dual saxophone lineup of Paul Dunmall and Frank Paul Schubert and bassist Clayton Thomas (BassX3, Ames Room) performing live at Black box/CUBA, in Muenster, DE; powerful and innovative improv.
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Willi Kellers-drums, percussion
Paul Dunmall-tenor saxophone, bagpipes
Frank Paul Schubert-alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Clayton Thomas-bass
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UPC: 0617629603453
Label: FMR
Catalog ID: FMRCD382
Squidco Product Code: 19744
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2014
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded live at Black box/CUBA, in Muenster, Germany on Feburary 14th, 2014 by Erhard Hirtmastered and Olaf Rupp.
"In a recent batch of releases from the prolific FMR Records, the one that caught my eye was Life in a Black Box by the Willi Kellers Quartet, featuring (together with Frank Paul Schubert) half of the Grid Mesh quartet, whose album Live in Madrid I have enjoyed. Together with Kellers & Schubert, Life in a Black Box includes Paul Dunmall (who has a huge discography, including on FMR) & Clayton Thomas (featured in this space with The Ames Room, plus various other German releases), two other prominent musicians. It's a very long album with a lot happening, free blowing (and other playing) reminiscent of the Ornette Coleman standard with two horns, bass & drums. There is a lot of soloing, although with some overlap, producing a fairly conventional album that differs more in detail (e.g. bagpipes) than in approach, at least for most of its length. It's a lot of activity, with some different interaction (more into tonal coloring) only with the bass solo opening "Second Box" invoking a slow battle with the frenetic style, leaving a residual pointillism that is eventually dominated by a layered atmosphere. With that track, the album does seem contemporary. The final track features quick motion again, but quieter & more fractured, almost "free jazz" as a background. [...]"-Todd McComb
Get additional information at Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Willi Kellers "Willi Kellers, b. 1951 in Münster Studied music at the colleges Münster and Detmold Theater work as a composer in Bochum and Cologne, Basel, Hamburg, Burgtheater Vienna Numerous concerts and tours with Peter Brötzmann, Tony Oxley, Frank Whright, Willem Breuker, Albert Mangelsdorff, Peter Kowald, Keith Tippet, Lol Coxhill, Marylin Crispel, Manfred Schoof, Fred Frith, Charles Gayle, Cecil Taylor, Luten Petrowsky, Barre Phillips u.v.a. Willi Kellers played at all European festivals and many festivals worldwide." ^ Hide Bio for Willi Kellers • Show Bio for Paul Dunmall "Paul Dunmall was born 1953, Welling, Kent; saxophones, clarinets, bagpipes, miscellaneous wind instruments. As told to Watson (1989), Paul Dunmall was a working class lad from Welling who left school at 15 and spent two years repairing instruments at Bill Lewington's shop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. He turned professional at 17 and, following two years touring Europe with a progressive rock band (Marsupilami), joined the Divine Light Mission, a spiritual movement led by Guru Maharaj Ji and moved from London to an ashram in America. He told Isham (1997), 'I moved to an ashram full of musicians - a music ashram - but it was still spiritual practice. That gave me a spiritual understanding through meditation, Coltrane's music, and all the rest of it, led me to that, and that's been a fundament in my life ever since - that I can actually sit down and meditate and forget my body. I realise how important meditation is in my life... but I don't do it so much these days.' During the three years he lived in America, Dunmall played with Alice Coltrane (in a big band with the Divine Light Mission) and toured for twelve months with Johnny 'Guitar' Watson. Back in England, he played with Danny Thompson and John Stevens as well as folk musicians Kevin Dempsey, Martin Jenkins and Polly Bolton and then, in 1979 he became a founder member of Spirit Level (Tim Richards, piano; Paul Anstey, bass; Tony Orrell, drums), staying with the group until 1989. During his time with Spirit Level, Dunmall joined the two-tenor front line group Tenor Tonic with Alan Skidmore (1985), played and broadcast with Dave Alexander and Tony Moore in the DAM trio (1986) and formed the Paul Dunmall Quartet with Alex Maguire, Tony Moore and Steve Noble (1986). In 1987 Paul Dunmall joined the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, being a constant member and appearing on all their recorded output from that date onward. The following year the improvising collective quartet Mujician was formed by Keith Tippett, Dunmall, Paul Rogers and Tony Levin and has continued to be a regular performing, touring and recording group, sometimes augmented by other musicians. Dunmall has also played in a trio with Keith and Julie Tippetts and in Keith Tippett's big band Tapestry. Two other duos have also sprung out of Mujician: Dunmall with Tony Levin (two CD releases) and Dunmall in folk-influenced outings with Paul Rogers. Another regular playing partner throughout this period and up until the present includes Elton Dean. In 1995, two trios were formed, the first with Oren Marshall, tuba and Steve Noble, percussion, the second with John Adams, guitar and Mark Sanders, percussion, these sometimes coming together as a quintet. More recently, Dunmall has played in another reeds/guitar/drums trio with Philip Gibbs and Tony Marsh and there appears to be regular crossover between all these players. The Paul Dunmall Octet was founded in 1997." Dunmall also has released a large number of albums and a box set on the UK FMR label, in various configurations and instrumentation. ^ Hide Bio for Paul Dunmall • Show Bio for Frank Paul Schubert "Frank Paul Schubert is a saxophone player in the realms of Improvised Music and Contemporary Jazz. Born in Neuss/Germany in 1965, he began to play the saxophone self-taught in 1982, took lessons with Lajos Dudas from 1988 to 1992, studied at Musikhochschule Aachen (classical saxophone repertoire as well as jazz) with Prof. Hugo Read from 1992 to 1996, and, after a short interlude in Aschaffenburg/Bavaria, moved to Berlin in 1999. Schubert works regularly with Willi Kellers, Andreas Willers, Johannes Bauer, Matthias Müller, John Edwards, Mark Sanders, Uwe Oberg, Paul Dunmall, Alexander von Schlippenbach and many more (more detailed list see below). Besides his main project GRID MESH (see "projects"), he also collaborated with drummer Günter Baby Sommer from 2006 on. Also in 2006 he started to work with trombonist Matthias Müller in several small group settings and finally in the duo FOILS, which since 2012 is expanded to the FOILS QUARTET with John Edwards and Mark Sanders.With Antonis Anissegos he has been playing since 2002. They released their duo CD "Phoobsering" in 2005. Frank Paul Schubert is member of the Willi Kellers Trio (with Clayton Thomas) as well as the Willi Kellers Quartet feat. Paul Dunmall.Since 2009 he has been playing a series of duo concerts with pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach (in Amsterdam, Leipzig, Münster, Berlin) as well as frequent local small group gigs featuring Mr. von Schlippenbach. Festival appearances include Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen, Ulrichsberg Kaleidophon, Sibiu Jazz&More, Madrid Hurta Cordel, Lisbon Jazz im Goethe Garten, Wiesbaden Just Music, Hamburg ElbJazz, JAZZDOR (Jazz d'Or) Offenburg, Greiz JazzWerk#9, Nordhäuser Jazzfest, Stuttgart Saxophonfestival and some more.Tours led him to Poland, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, UK, USA and Canada.He released several recordings on labels including Leo Records, NoBusiness Records, Red Toucan Records, FMR, Creative Sources, gligg, JazzHausMusik, KONNEX, farai-NRW. Frank Paul had the pleasure to collaborate with many fine musicians including the following (in alphabetical order):Liz Allbee, Antonis Anissegos, Johannes Bauer, Simon Camatta, Anat Cohavi, Yorgos Dimitriadis, Paul Dunmall, John Edwards, Jörg Fischer, Rudi Fischerlehner, Gerhard Gschlössl, Paul Hubweber, Peter van Huffel, John Hughes, Klaus Janek, Hilary Jeffery, Kalle Kalima, Achim Kaufmann, Willi Kellers, Jan Klare, Meinrad Kneer, Andreas Krennerich, Burkard Kunkel, Klaus Kürvers, Lömsch Lehmann, Björn Lücker, Mike Majkowski, Christian Marien, Matthias Müller, Uwe Oberg, Olaf Rupp, Mark Sanders, Julie Sassoon, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Harri Sjöström, Günter Baby Sommer, Ricardo Tejero, Christof Thewes, Clayton Thomas, Andreas Willers." ^ Hide Bio for Frank Paul Schubert • Show Bio for Clayton Thomas "Double Bassist Clayton Thomas was born 1976, in Hobart, Australia. Inspired by the sound, velocity and social movements of jazz, Clayton has dedicated his musical life to finding a personal truth that links his own cultural life as a white Australian, with the radical, far reaching pursuits found within the creative music. What he can't find as a bass player, he searches for in the organisation of unreasonably large ensembles. Clayton Thomas relocated in Sydney, Australia, in 2014. Clayton is currently not a regular member of the Splitter Orchester, but he was part of the 2014 concert @ MaerzMusik and he'll also take part in the 2015 concerts in Berlin and Huddersfield." ^ Hide Bio for Clayton Thomas
1/27/2025
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1/27/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
1/27/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
1/27/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. First Box 33:02
2. Interlude 9:26
3. Second Box 23:59
4. Burlesque 7:11
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improv, Free Jazz & Related
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
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