Mark Whitecage

The great reedman Mark Whitecage is a player who never fully got his due – a really unique talent in terms of phrasing and rhythm, finally given one last chance at the spotlight here on this final recording with The Nu Band, a group in which he played for many years!

All four players here are great – Thomas Heberer on quarter tone trumpet, Joe Fonda on bass, and Lou Grassi on drums and percussion – but it also feels as if there's a special sort of focus on the very personal, very expressive sounds that Whitecage can create – as he plays here on alto, flute, and clarinet. There's a mixture of modern structure and free improvisation here – that great legacy of the group, which is there way of bringing forward some of the new thing ideas of the 60s with more personal contemporary improv modes.

PERSONNEL:

• Mark Whitecage (alto saxophone, clarinet, Diné flute)
• Thomas Heberer (quarter-tone trumpet)
• Joe Fonda (bass & flute)
• Lou Grassi (drums & percussion)

Recorded on January 18, 2018 at The BopShop in Rochester, New York

TRACKS:

• 01. Prayer for the Water Protectors
• 02. Five O'Clock Follies
• 03. One for Roy
• 04. The Closer You Are, the Further It Gets
• 05. Christophe and Ornette
• 06. Minor Madness
• 07. Dark Dawn in Aurora