Wolfgang Fuchs Six Fuchs CD

German reed player Wolfgang Fuchs has performed with many of the first-generation free improvisers, including Tony Oxley, Peter Brotzmann, Peter Kowald, Cecil Taylor and others. Joining him on this CD are five San Francisco-based musicians: John Shiurba

Personnel: Matthew Sperry (bass instrument); Gino Robair (drums, percussion); John Shiurba (guitar); Tim Perkis (electronics).
Recording information: Guerrilla Recording (05/16/2003).
Sharp, busy, focused, and intense, Six Fuchs is a very satisfying free improvisation session, the kind you will be inclined to come back to regularly, especially after stumbling over two or three mediocre CDs in a row. It offers a seemingly bottomless source of odd sounds, unexpected twists, and gripping passages. A regular host of the U.S. West Coast, bass clarinetist Wolfgang Fuchs (also heard on sopranino sax on this recording) had gathered a highly talented bunch of musicians for a studio session at Guerrilla Recording. Surrounding him are trumpeter Tom Djill (also playing pocket cornet, balloon, and a hog caller), bassist Matthew Sperry (one of his last sessions), electronician Tim Perkis, guitarist John Shiurba, and percussionist Gino Robair -- credited for "energized surfaces," but he is mainly doing his regular drumming, which means that it sounds far from any kind of "regular." These six musicians perform six pieces ranging from three to 18 minutes in duration. The contributions of Fuchs, Djill, and Sperry are relatively easy to pinpoint and they tend to engage each other as a subgroup trio focusing on short, phrased sound events. Sounds produced by Robair, Perkis, and Shiurba are slightly more difficult to identify, mainly because the electronician favors percussive attacks, Shiurba is switching back and forth between playing techniques and implements, and Robair's rubbings can often be mistaken for electronic sounds. They too form a subgroup, more textural and slippery. "Buttery Consort" and "Ingot (Teacup) Minstrelsy" provide the strongest highlights of the set, two pieces rich in changes and surprises, including the occasional moment of pure chaos. Wonderful. ~ François Couture

The Wire (p.59) - "Fuchs's multiphonics deftly counterpoints the wheezes of Djll's balloon and the intestinal rumblings of Robair's homemade daxophone..."