The Squid's Ear Magazine


Ghost, The Michael Foster's (Foster / Radichel / Sullivan): Vanished Pleasures (Relative Pitch)

Following NY saxophonist Michael Foster's interest in free jazz, noise and the pre-AIDS era of sexual freedom in the gay community, expressed in a sax-bass-drums trio with Philadelphia double bassist Jared Radichel and drummer Joey Sullivan, drawing on pre-composed structures, melodies, samples, and improvisation to reflect both the joy and anxiety of the queer experience.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Michael Foster-tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, composition

Jared Radichel-double bass

Joey Sullivan-drums, percussion


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UPC: 5904224872151

Label: Relative Pitch
Catalog ID: RPR1178
Squidco Product Code: 33537

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Pioneer Works, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York, in January, 2023, by Michael Foster and Justin Frye.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Michael Foster's The Ghost is a free jazz trio consisting of Michael Foster on saxophone, John Moran on bass, and Joey Sullivan on percussion. The Ghost uses pre-composed structures, melodies, samples, and improvisation to bring a queer perspective to the sax-bass-drums tradition."



"The Ghost was formed as both a tribute to my disparate influences in free jazz, harsh noise, and the gay underground community, and as a middle finger to the suffocating heteronormative establishment of improvised music. Vanished Pleasures stands as a new direction for this project, utilizing overt compositional frameworks to convey the anxieties of aging, sexual freedom, and the power relations inherent in the sax-bass-drums format. The title comes from Derek Jarman's The Garden, referring to the vanished pleasures of untethered, youthful sexuality and the friends whose lives were cut short."-Michael Foster


Artist Biographies

"Michael Foster is a saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist working in the fields of free improvisation, noise, free jazz, graphic & video notation, performance art, and other forms of weird music.

Foster utilizes extensive preparations of his saxophone, augmenting it with amplification, objects, balloons, drum heads, vibrators, tapes, and samples as a method of subverting and queering the instrumentÕs history and traditional roles.

His current ensembles include duos with cellist Leila Bordreuil, percussionist Ben Bennett, poet/vocalist Lydia Lunch, vocalist Anais Maviel, Richard Kamerman, The Ghost (with Henry Fraser & Connor Baker), Barker Trio (with Tim Dahl, James Ilgenfritz, & Andrew Barker), While We Still Have Bodies (with Sean Ali, Ben Gerstein, & Flin van Hemmen), Weasel Walter Large Ensemble, and BDM (with Ben Bennett and David Grollman).

Selected notable venues he's performed at include Bowling Green State University (Ohio), The Stone (NYC), BimHuis (NL), Jazzfestival Groningen (NL), Fabrica Bra¨o de Prata (PT), Death By Audio (NYC), Studio Loos (NL), Betalevel (Los Angeles), Webster Hall (NYC), XI20 (LT), Jazzclub Erfurt (DE), and many more."

-Michael Foster Website (http://michaelfostermusic.com/)
3/26/2025

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

"Jared Radichel is a Philadelphia-based bass player working in a variety of settings from free improvisation, jazz, and country music. He often works with James McKain, Joey Sullivan, and many others. Current projects include The Ghost, Florry, and Violet Salon III."

-Arcane City (https://arcane.city/events/4107)
3/26/2025

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

"Joey Sullivan is a drummer and organizer based in Philadelphia focusing on free improvisation. He plays drums in groups like Bark Culture, The Ghost, Florry, Violet Salon III, and often works with improvisers such as Victor Vieira-Branco, Brandon Lopez, TJ Borden, James McKain, Sandy Ewen, Michael Foster, and countless others."

-Joey Sullivan Website (https://www.instagram.com/racktom/)
3/26/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. Is this How Long the Pleasure Lasts 06:53

2. PsychoTwink 04:29

3. The Invisible Prick 05:08

4. Mr. Mineshaft 07:53

5. Tadzio at the Beach 05:12

6. Vibrator Torture 05:34

7. The Wounded Man 09:58

8. La Touche 11:20

9. Sweet Garden of Vanished Pleasures 09:24

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Trio Recordings
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The Squid's Ear Magazine

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