IN THE SEA - Tristan Honsinger started improvising in Montreal more than forty years ago, prior to his decisive move to Europe, where he's been at the centre of improvised music activity ever since.  So this group represents an oblique sort of homecoming. Their rapport is obvious, the results a satisfying mixture of musical empathy and creative conflict.  Tristan plays with characteristic daring from his reserves of readymade tune fragments and shards of poetry and into the protean unknown that is the foundation for the best group improvising.  Josh Zubot,and Nicolas Caloia don't merely follow him there, but provoke him – and each other – in ways that are, by turns, subtle, assertive, and irreverent.  A superb encounter.

Tristan Honsinger (cello & voice) is perhaps best known for his long running collaborations with Cecil Taylor, Derek Bailey and the ICP orchestra. Born in Burlington, Vermont, USA, he studied classical cello at the New England Conservatory in Boston before moving to Montreal in 1969 to avoid the draft. Honsinger moved to Europe in 1974 and is active throughout the continent.

Joshua Zubot (violin) has come to age in the avant-garde scene in Montreal leading the groups: Subtle Lip Can, Mendham, and Land of Marigold. Some collaborations were with Chad VanGaalen, Lori Freedman, Patrick Watson, William Parker, Pierre-Yves Martel, Michael Blake, Bernard Falaise, Rainer Wiens, Michel F Coté, Sam Shalabi, Miles Perkin, Myra Melford, Marshall Allen, Fred Frith, Matana Roberts, Jean Derome, Malcom Goldstein, Pierre Tanguay, Martha Wainwright, and John Butcher.

Nicolas Caloia (double bass) has worked the last 25 years at creating a music that erases the lines between improvised and composed, pop and avant-garde, good and bad. He hopes this music will satisfy the body, the mind and, above all, the heart. He has been a performer and organizer in Montreal since the early 1990s and has toured in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has worked with musicians like Marshall Allen, John Butcher, Joe McPhee, Steve Lacy, Hassan Hakmoun, Tristan Honsinger, the ICP Orchestra, Agusti Fernandez, Matana Roberts and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.

 

CMW PLAYERS - Creative Music Workshop Players is an evolving collective of improvisers convened in early 2015 and comprised of some of the leading members of D.C.’s experimental music, dance, and visual art scene. https://soundcloud.com/boxwallastan/sets/creative-music-workshop/