Guitarheads rejoice! Henry Kaiser and Ray Russell, tried and convicted fretboard-abusers, have announced a joint album: The Celestial Squid. These veritable guitar titans came together in April last year to record 80 minutes of improvisational music joined by a large ensemble — two drummers, electric and upright bass, and a four-piece wind section. The result is a face-melting invocation of Russell’s signature electric free jazz style, a path he had not revisited since the early 70s; but it also happens to be the first time Russell has ever played with another lead guitarist. It might not exactly be groundbreaking, but damn sure there’s lots of funky skronk in there. You can stream “guKTen LIMPo,” the LP’s opening track, below.
Perhaps best known in avant-jazz circles, Ray Russell’s career stretches back to the early 60s, combining jazz and experimental music with session work including several unexpected turns (he was a studio musician for John Barry’s James Bond soundtracks, and he played in Tina Turner’s and Scott Walker’s supporting bands). Nevertheless, the peak of the English guitarist’s career might be registered in 1971’s double-punch June 11th 1971: Live at the ICA and Rites & Rituals, two trailblazing electric jazz albums.
A couple of years younger, the US-born Kaiser is a notable guitar experimentalist of his own and has made a point of playing alongside his idols, stacking up collaborative albums with Fred Frith, David Lindley, Elliot Ingber, Richard Thompson, and Derek Bailey, a list whose latest addition is Russell himself. Always one to try and mix things up, and a fan of Russell’s heady days, Kaiser suggested to record The Celestial Squid in the frantic electric jazz trail the Englishman had long stopped traversing. Hence the LP’s forceful, radically plugged sound.
The Celestial Squid is out now via Cuneiform Records.
The Celestial Squid tracklisting:
01. guKTen LIMPo
02. In Another Life
03. That Darn Squid
04. The Enumeration
05. Victims
06. Disinterested Bystander
07. Construction #14
• Henry Kaiser: http://www.henrykaiserguitar.com
• Ray Russell: http://rayrussell.co.uk
• Cuneiform: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com
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