WITH JOHN Edwards,  STEVE Noble, JASON Adasiewicz

• DOUBLE LP GATEFOLD EDITION

The Quartet with double bassist John Edwards, drummer Steve Noble, and vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz was recorded at London’s Cafe Oto in February 2023, just a few months before Peter Brötzmann’s passing. The stark finality of this sentence is hard to swallow. The German free jazz saxophonist and clarinettist was one of those larger than life characters – and, yes, true legends – that felt as if they would go on forever, privy to some arcane ways of cheating death.

While he ultimately couldn’t escape the reality of what expects us all, The Quartet is as remarkable of a coda as anyone could wish for. Since first hearing him play in 2005 with Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler, and Michael Zerang, my every encounter with Brötzmann’s music was a minor epiphany, whether he was blasting jazz metal with Marino Pliakas and Michael Wertmüller or exploring the blues with Heather Leigh. The four sets presented on this album are no exception, even as they capture Brötzmann at his most tuneful and introspective.

PERSONNEL:
Peter Brötzmann - (reed)
Jason Adasiewicz - (vibraphone)
Steve Noble - (drums)
John  Edwards - (double bass)

Live at Cafe OTO, on February 10 & 11, 2023

LP ONE:
SIDE A: 19:32 min.
SIDE B: 21:26 min.

LP TWO:
SIDE C: 21:49 min.
SIDE D: 21:11 min.