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Kosmischstrasse [cosmic highway]

We intended this CD to be a series of explorations - a "collaborative improvisational mural."  

The disk is assembled as a single unit, like a movie, to take the listener on a journey through our collective musical mind.  A scary place, to be sure.

1. Hammerschlag (all)

Bart – trumpet; Paul D – misc. percussion; Hugh – alto sax; Dennis – violin; Woz – synthesizer; Michael – bass; Jon M – electric guitar; Ranji – accordion; Jon T – tenor sax; Scott – electric guitar

This was the last piece created for this project. I assembled it entirely from samples of outtakes from other cuts.  It’s the only piece on which all ten performers appear.  Jon Thompson’s sax work leads it off and finishes it in bombastic style.

2. Wolkenbrusch (Downie/Miltenberger/Woznicki)

Bart – trumpet; Paul D – doumbek; Woz – synthesizer

A minimalist trio, this piece typifies the successive collaboration method of composition. Working from Paul’s syncopated pulse, Bart added a freewheeling solo without a tonal center. Woz’s industrial ambient sounds radically changed its direction again, and the three extremes seem somehow comfortable with each other.

3. Jezihohana (Woznicki/Madof)

Jon M – electric guitar; Woz – synthesizer, vocorder

Coney Island on acid.

4. Rencontre (Schaffer/Downie/Woznicki)

Paul D – doumbek; Dennis – violin; Woz – samples, digital horn; Ranji – accordion; Scott – acoustic guitar

Uncharacteristically melodic, this piece is the first of four pieces resulting from spontaneous jams between Scott and Paul in October '01. Dennis, Woz and Ranji developed its eastern flavor with improvised additions.

5. Katzenmusik (Wattles/Miltenberger/Woznicki/Hertzog/Taylor)

Bart – trumpet; Hugh – alto sax; Dennis – violin; Woz – accordion; Michael – bass

Inspired by a massive convention of waterfowl at sea’s edge, Katzenmusik (i.e. cacophony) is an exercise in directed chaos.

6. Vexierspiegel (Schaffer/Downie/Hertzog)

Paul D – misc. percussion; Dennis – violin; Scott – electric guitar

Paul and Scott improvise interactively, with the addition of Dennis’ sampled violin, creating a spacious "distorting mirror" soundscape.

7. Sankteco (Madof/Taylor/Miltenberger)

Bart – trumpet; Michael – bass; Jon M – acoustic guitar

Michael and Jon recorded their parts live in the first Kosmishstrasse session in May, 2000. Five months later Bart added his thoughts, recording two very different takes independently. We ended up keeping both, forming a spiraling statement.

8. Tableaunoir (Hertzog/Taylor/Wattles)

Hugh – alto sax; Dennis – violin; Michael - bass

Michael’s sound-on-sound take is sandwiched by sampled segments from Dennis and Hugh. Played loud enough in a loop, this selection is guaranteed to bug the neighbors.

9. Solarena (Schaffer/Downie/Woznicki)

Bart – trumpet; Paul D – misc. percussion; Woz – synthesizers; Scott – electric guitar

The basic tracks – guitar and percussion – were recorded live, accidentally, with the machines queued up for another idea. We fleshed it out with Wozification and samples of Bart being Bart. The irregularly pulsating theme breaks up into chaos before coming back, in a sort of musical conceptualization of a gravity-fed slingshot around the sun.  But you already knew that.

10. Schnellflut (Kumar)

Ranji – accordion

A free-accordion snippet introduces Beledara...

11. Beledara (Downie/Schaffer/Woznicki/Madof)

Paul D – doumbek; Woz – accordion; Jon M – electric guitar; Scott – acoustic guitar

... which is a driving, Middle Eastern-based passage featuring Jon’s guitar ablaze.

12. Shiefegeist (Miltenberger/Taylor)

Bart – trumpet; Michael – bass

What you think you hear is not always what you hear. While this may appear to be a trumpet duet, it is in fact a single take of a single improvised line. It appears twice, delayed by some 13 seconds, long enough to alter the overall perception. Notice how the context-altered harmonies change as the piece moves forward. Bart’s emotion is supported by Michael’s open and unpredictable bass line.

13. Phasengranze (Wattles/Woznicki/Downie)

Paul D – misc. percussion; Hugh – alto sax; Woz – synthesizer

A glimpse into the collective mind of an unexpected trio.

14. Rimbombare (Schaffer/Thompson/Hertzog)

Hugh – alto sax; Dennis – violin, viola; Michael – bass; Ranji – accordion; Jon T - tenor sax

This is another piece without sound-on-sound recording, an experiment in twisted perception. It is composed of stitched-together samples of reeds and strings recorded independently. The piece has four superimposed tonal centers, creating a variety of ways to hear it. Jon’s screaming tenor takes over as the piece progresses.

15. Kosmischstrasse (Kumar/Taylor/Thompson)

Michael – bass; Ranji – accordion; Jon T - soprano sax; Charlotte Marr – voice

Successive collaboration between Ranji, Michael and Jon, in that order. A typical trip down the cosmic highway.

16. Sonderbar (Taylor/Madof/Miltenberger)

Bart – trumpet; Michael – bass; Jon M – electric guitar

Grafted from a live, spontaneous trio.

17. Bumsten (Taylor)

Michael – bass

Exactly.

18. Unapieda (Woznicki/Taylor/Miltenberger/Schaffer)

Bart – trumpet; Woz – accordion; Michael – bass; Scott - mandolin

Another example of successive collaboration, and a piece which changed radically with each addition.

19. Cavell (Schaffer)

Scott – electric guitar

A spontaneous solo, using a repeating delay to create a subtle rhythm. In tribute to the glacier, mountain and person both were named for.

20. Libera (Taylor/Wright)

Jack – soprano sax; Michael - bass

Jack Wright, master improviser and a leader of the free improvisation movement, appeared in our fair city in May 2001. He recorded this spontaneous duet with Mike.

21. Gegenwinker (Hertzog/Schaffer/Miltenberger)

Bart – trumpet; Dennis – violin; Jon T – tenor sax; Scott – acoustic guitar

In Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut coined the term "unstuck in time," which describes this piece. The violin and guitar tracks move in retrograde motion, while the horns – both recorded sound-on-sound to the forward-moving original – now sit far from their original context. (The sax is also reversed, removing it a step further.) The result is mournful ballad, perhaps the fleeting cries of sounds that are together, yet cosmically lost.

22. Zauberbann (Woznicki/Downie/Schaffer)

Paul D – doumbek; Woz – synthesizer; Scott – electric guitar

Spontaneous jam recorded as an afterthought at the end of a long session. Two guitar takes, recorded independently, ended up supporting each other in the mix.

23. Ausfahrt (Downie/Wattles/Miltenberger)

Bart – trumpet; Hugh - alto sax

A raw atonal duet, far removed from its original context, which had a multi-percussive, Sub-Saharan base. Removal of the foundation, to my ear, leaves a spacious, haunting feeling.

24. Basaresono* (Woznicki/Wattles)

Hugh – flute; Woz – accordion

This is a bonus track from the 2001 Rootsworld Free Reed Festival, one of several ECC pieces featured in this unique online event. On this piece you hear only the reverb signal of accordion and flute lines. It’s a digital ghost, creating an effect that seems otherworldly.

25. Mwendo (Schaffer/Downie/Hertzog/Woznicki/Miltenberger/Madof)

This is an excerpt from an evolving jam, recorded early in the Kosmischstrasse sessions.

26. Trikatos (Madof/Schaffer)

In a flashback to Guitarrasalto, JM and I play a raw acoustic duet. Jon recorded his track in his New York kitchen, and I finished it off at the lab.

I hope these notes have helped your experience of the album. Drop me a line if you have any other questions or comments.  Thanks for your interest in our music!

- Scott