Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra - GIOpoetics

(Creative Sources)

The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra continue their determined exploration of the complex dynamics of free improvisation using a very large ensemble. For this latest chapter, the regular GIO line-up is augmented by Portuguese musicians Ernesto Rodrigues (viola) and Guilherme Rodrigues (cello). The resulting music has more of a string-driven bias in the timbres and textures than usual.

Three of the four selections are completely free improvisations, and the fourth is what saxophonist Raymond MacDonald describes as a ‘discretely structured piece’. In each case, the 20 players delve into new variants on their customary range of imaginative abstractions and off-the-scale sonic explorations. The usual caveats apply – if you are looking for swing and conventional big band playing, head elsewhere.

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