The Squid's Ear Magazine

Williams, Mars / Vasco Trilla

Awakening Nature From Her Dream (Live In Barcelona)

Williams, Mars / Vasco Trilla: Awakening Nature From Her Dream (Live In Barcelona) (Not Two)

A powerful 2019 live performance from Barcelona between legendary multi-reedist Mars Williams and boundary-pushing percussionist Vasco Trilla, unfolding from introspective explorations into bursts of intricate and energetic free jazz, as Williams' array of saxophones and toys meets Trilla's rich palette of percussion in an electrifying exchange.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Mars Williams-reeds, toys

Vasco Trilla-drums, percussion


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Label: Not Two
Catalog ID: MW1039
Squidco Product Code: 35736

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: Poland
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded live at Robadors 23, in Barcelona, Spain, on July 11th, 2019, by Rafa Lopez.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"An oft-quoted proverb says that when an elder dies, a library burns down. That certainly applies to Mars Williams. Beginning with his childhood study of the clarinet, he accumulated a vast amount of knowledge about music of all sorts. He did a Bb version of The Real Book, exchanged lessons for transcription services from Roscoe Mitchell and was Anthony Braxton's copyist. When Hal Russell died, he became the keeper of the NRG Ensemble's charts. He shared that knowledge freely with a vast array of musicians across genres and scenes. He played post-punk rock with the Psychedelic Furs, contemporary groove music with Liquid Soul, little instrument explorations in Toy Story, multi-disciplinary cross-collaboration with Devil's Whistle, total improv with Extraordinary Popular Delusions, tight new wave with the Waitresses, savage rock with Wayne Kramer, the Albert Ayler songbook with Witches & Devils, and of course the Ayler Xmas program of seasonal that he tour around the USA and Europe. He was a founding member of Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet, and toured doggedly with contemporary and younger free music players including Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen-Love, Tollef Østvang and Vasco Trilla. To play with him or hear him play was to find out something new about music, and have a blast doing it. He did it all with absolute commitment, giving as much to an audience barely bigger than the band at a pass-the-hat gig as he did to stadium crowds with the Furs.

Mars was just 68 when cancer took him near the end of 2023, and while you might know folks who act like life is over when they get to that age, he was not one of them. The acquisitions department of the Williams library was open right up until his diagnosis; I saw him debut a new band in Chicago in 2022, and Vasco Trilla, his partner on Robadors, was set to play in another European project with Mars that never got off the ground. Mars still had plans, things to do, things worth doing. He died with gigs still written into his calendar, and if he had lived longer, this duo would have played a few more. As this recording that you possess will reveal, the two musicians are well matched. Both could be maximalists when it comes to instrumentation. Mars typically brought several horns to a gig (he plays sopranino, soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone on Robadors) as well as a case full of toys, recognizable percussion instruments and maybe an autoharp. Trilla often augments his drumkit with as much extra percussion as can fit into the room. Both men may play a lot in order to make a point, but if you closely follow their progress across this concert recording (which was made the night before their first studio album) you will find that there's nothing extra and nothing missing. Charging full-on or diffusing a soft mist of tiny chimes, the music is never excessive, but always complete."-Bill Meyer, from the liner notes


Artist Biographies

"Mars Williams is an open-minded musician, composer and educator who commutes easily between free jazz, funk, hip-hop and rock, Mars has played and recorded with The Psychedelic Furs, Billy Idol, Massacre, Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Ministry, Power Station, Die Warzau, The Waitresses, Kiki Dee, Pete Cosey, Billy Squier, DJ Logic, Wayne Kramer, John Scoffield, Charlie Hunter, Kurt Elling, Swollen Monkeys, Mike Clark, Jerry Garcia, Naked Raygun, Friendly Fires, The Untouchables, Blow Monkeys and virtually every leading figure of Chicago's and New York City's "downtown" scene.

John Zorn credits Mars as "one of the true saxophone players--someone who takes pleasure in the sheer act of blowing the horn. This tremendous enthusiasm is an essential part of his sound, and it comes through each note every time he plays. Whatever the situation, Mars plays exciting music. In many ways he has succeeded in redefining what versatility means to the modern saxophone player."

In 2001 Mars received a Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Record with his group Liquid Soul.

Despite his busy touring schedule with Liquid Soul and The Psychedelic Furs, Mars manages to stay active on the Chicago underground improvising scene. In recent years he has toured and recorded with the Peter Brötzmann Tentet, Switchback, Full Blast, Scorch Trio, the Vandermark 5, Boneshaker, Chicago Reed Quartet and Cinghiale, teaming him with such musicians as Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, William Parker, Ikue Mori, Kent Kessler, Fredric Lonberg Holm, Peter Brotzmann, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love, Ab Baars, Mike Reed, Jeb Bishop, Harrison Bankhead, Dave Rempis, Kidd Jordan and Matts Gustafson.

He performs weekly in Chicago along with Jim Baker, Steve Hunt, and Brian Sandstrom in the improvising quartet "Extraordinary Popular Delusions". As a bandleader, he continues to perform and record CDs with his own free-jazz groups, the NRG Ensemble, Witches & Devils, Slam, XmarsX, Mars Trio, Boneshaker and The Soul Sonic Sirkus which features improvising musicians and aerial circus performers. Along with Die Warsau's Van Christie, Mars has started Ratking Music, a production company focusing on music for film and television.

In addition to performing and creating music, Mars has been an educator in the field of woodwinds and jazz improvisation for over thirty years. Mars held the position of Woodwind Instructor at Bard College for two years. In the last few years Mars has presented Master classes and clinics to a number of private and public institutions including, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the University of Chicago, Roosevelt University (Chicago, IL), and June Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art (Auburn, AL)."

-Mars Williams Website (http://www.marswilliams.com/about/)
2/19/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Born in Barcelona, Vasco Trilla started playing drums at the age of nineteen. His first influences were progressive rock and metal, but gradually he developed an interest in a variety of different genres such as jazz, Indian music, African music, klezmer, free improvisation, etc.

Since then he has collaborated, toured and recorded with many different bands and projects such as Boi Akih (an ethno-jazz band from the Netherlands), Planeta Imaginario (progressive jazz-rock) October Equus (avant-rock), The Oddvisers (pop-avant), Fine! (indie pop-rock), Mundo Flotante (ethno-jazz-rock), Kaulakau/Cobla Sant Jordi (an ethno-jazz Catalan orchestra), Filthy Habits Ensemble (a jazz octet playing Zappa's and Stravinsky's repertoire), Cows On Trees (a jazz-improv quartet with Susana Santos Silva and Kaja Draksler), Balimonster (an impro-ethno duo with Angel Ontalva), Yedo Gibson-Vasco Trilla duo (an improv sax & drums duo), Outerzone (jazz-core), Reptilian Mambo (mambo free rock), Liba's Traum, etc.

In the last years he has been playing and experimenting on the free-improv scene, applying extended techniques to the kit and treating it as a textural-melodic instrument. Blowing, bowing, scratching, playing with hands and all kinds of objects, all is valid to expand the vocabulary of this innovative percussionist. He played with improvisers, such as: Lotte Anker, Marshall Allen, Yedo Gibson, Susana Santos Silva, Kaja Draksler, Jasper Stadhouders, Mikloaj Trzaska, Martin Kuchen, Richard Barrett, Jorma Tapio, Christher Bothen, Marc Stucki, Luc Ex. etc...

He has released around 30 CDs in labels such as Cuneiform Records (USA), Altrock Records (Italy), Leo Records (UK) Discordian Records (Barcelona, Spain), Audition Records (Mexico), El Negocito Records (Belgium), Jacc Records (Portugal), Fmr Records (UK)."

-Vasco Trilla Website (http://vascotrilla.com/)
2/19/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Awakening #1 13:52

2. Awakening #2 7:49

3. Awakening #3 15:46

4. Awakening #4 6:34

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
Duo Recordings
Saxophone & Drummer / Percussionist Duos
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

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Not Two.


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