Entrances Two - Music

Entrances Two by Bill Dixon With Exploding Star Orchestra

Bill Dixon With Exploding Star Orchestra

Artist Biography For Bill Dixon With Exploding Star Orchestra

Back In September Of 2006 Both Rob Mazurek And Bill Dixon Were Performing At The Guelph International Jazz Festival In Ontario Canada Where The Two Horn Players Met For The First Time There At A Workshop The Latter Was Conducting. Mazurek And Dixon Spent Hours Talking Together At Guelph And The Latter Suggested They Do Some Music Together And He Invited Mazurek To Come Visit Him And His Wife Sharon In Vermont. Within A Few Weeks He Took Up The Offer Traveling To Bennington And Proposing What Eventually Became The Recording You Now Possess. Mazurek Wanted To Pair Dixon With His Exploding Star Orchestra Which He Formed Back In 2005 Drawing Upon A Broad Cross-Section Of Chicago's Most Exciting Young Improvisers For A Performance Presented By City's Department Of Cultural Affairs. Bill Dixon's Consistent Refusal To Compromise And A Lengthy Career In Education - He Taught At Bennington College From 1968-1996 - Prevented The Kind Of Widespread Acclaim Accorded To Contemporaries And/or Past Collaborators Like Archie Shepp Cecil Taylor Alan Silva Ornette Coleman And John Coltrane. In The Early 60s He Was A Crucial Figure On The Developing Free Jazz Or "new Thing" Happening In New York And In 1964 He Organized And Programmed The Highly Influential October Revolution In Jazz An Event That Practically Introduced Free Jazz To A Broad Public. He Also Co-Founded The Jazz Composers Guild A Highly Practical Organization To Sought To Function Like A Union Giving Cutting Edge Members Like Paul Bley Sun Ra And Shepp Increased Leverage With Record Labels And Concert Promoters. He Went On To Record A Couple Of Albums With Shepp And Worked As A Sideman On Recordings By Taylor Conquistador Blue Note 1966 But By The Time Dixon Recorded The Classic Intents And Purposes In 1966 It Was Clear That He Had Much More In Mind Than Free Jazz Creating One Of The Most Distinctive And Original Albums In The History Of The Music. Within Two Years He Was Essentially Missing From The Scene And Although He Never Stopped Playing And Writing Education Took Much Of His Time And He No Longer Performed As Much As He'd Done Earlier In The Decade. His Focus On Sound And Texture Presaged Developments In Free Improvisations By Decades And There's No Doubt That The Unconventional Abstractions Played By Trumpeters Like Axel Dörner Franz Hautzinger Greg Kelley And Peter Evans All Have Essential Roots In The Music Of Dixon. He Retired From Bennington In 1996 But He Remains In Vermont And Finally It Seems As Though Dixon Is Finally Be Recognized As The Genius He's Long Been. In 2007 He Was Chosen As The Vision Festival's Lifetime Recognition Recipient A Logical Honor As The October Revolution Was The Virtual Blueprint For It. Dixon Liked The Idea Of A Collaboration And Agreed To Proceed And Before Long The Prestigious Chicago Jazz Festival Had Signed On To Present The Concert. Toward The End Of August Dixon Arrived In Chicago Where He Led Open Rehearsals For The Concert At The Chicago Cultural Center Allowing Fans And Bystanders To Check Out The Navigations. Two Pieces One By Each Horn Player Were Developed. Mazurek's Piece "Constellation " Was Initially Envisioned To Revolve Around A Video Score Realized By Seven Laptop Musicians While Others Would Either Respond Spontaneously To Electronics Or Be Conducted By The Cornetist. The Video Score Would Also Provide The Audience With A Kind Of Narrative To Follow During The Performance But Once Mazurek Realized It Would Still Be Light Outside When The Concert Occurred. The Text Read By Damon Locks Of The Eternals Was Initially The Set Of Instructions Written For How To The Musicians Should Interpret The Video Score. There Are Two Distinct Versions Of Dixon's Piece "Second Of September " For Which Dixon Arranged His Written Material With Spontaneous Conducting. The Music Was All Recorded Live With No Overdubs. Personnel Bill Dixon Trumpet Composer Rob Mazurek Cornet Composer Nicole Mitchell Flute Matt Bauder Bass Clarinet Tenor Saxophone Jeb Bishop Trombone Josh Berman Cornet Jeff Parker Guitar Jim Baker Piano Jason Adesewicz Vibraphone Tubular Bells Matthew Lux Bass Guitar Jason Ajemian Double-Bass Mike Reed Drums Timpani John Herndon Drums Damon Locks Voice 2 .