Dave Rempis

Massachusetts-born prolific saxophonist Dave Rempis (1975) began his jazz career at 22. In 2004 he formed the Rempis Percussion Quartet, which in 2015 consisted of Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass), Frank Rosaly and Tim Daisy (both on drums). They are documented on Circular Logic (january 2005), Rip Tear Crunch (february 2005), Hunter-Gatherers (april 2006), The Disappointment Of Parsley (april 2008), Montreal Parade (january 2010), the double-disc Phalanx (april and june 2012), including the lengthy Algonquins, Cream City Stomp, Anti-goons and Croatalus Adamantooths, Cash And Carry (august 2014), including the lengthy pieces Water Foul Run Amok and Better Than Butter, and Sud Des Alpes (march 2019), containing three lengthy pieces, including a 23-minute reworking of Art Ensemble of Chicago’s Le Stances a Sophie titled Theme De Yoyo/Evacuation>

He also worked with several other projects, among which:

1) The Engines, trio comprising of bassist Nate McBride and drummer Tim Daisy, which with recorded a self-titled (july 2006), Wire And Brass (april 2008), and, with John Tchicai as guest, Other Violets (may 2011);

2) Ballister, a trio comprising of  celloist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, who recorded Bastard String (june 2010), containing three pieces including two colossal improvisations (Belt and Claw and Cocking Lugs), Mechanisms (november 2010), containing three improvisations including the colossal Roller Nuts, Mi Casa Es En Fuego (april 2012), containing three improvisations, Both Ends (february 2012), containing two untitled side-long improvisations, The Ballister Monologues (april 2014), containing two lengthy improvisations (The Woman Who Loved To Make Ballisters Happy and My Angry Ballister), and Worse For The Wear (march 2014), which contains the 21-minute Fornax and two other pieces, Slag (2017), which contains three lengthy improvisations (the 23-minute Fauchard, the 17-minute Guisarme, the 22-minute Glaive), and the live Low Level Stink (2017).

3) Wheelhouse, a trio with bassist Nate McBride and vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, that recorded Boss Of The Plains (october 2010);

4) Ken Vandermark's ensemble Territory Band, that recorded Transatlantic Bridge (february 2000), Atlas (february 2001), Map Theory (september 2002), Company Switch (september 2004), New Horse For The White House (october 2005) and Collide (august 2006);

5) Triage, a trio with bassist Jason Ajemian and drummer Tim Daisy, that recorded Premium Plastics (april 2001), Twenty Minute Cliff (october 2002), American Mythology (january 2004), and Stagger (november 2004);

6) The Dave Rempis Quartet, comprising of bassist Jason Roebke, drummer Tim Daisy and Jim Baker on piano, synthesizer and violin, that recorded Out Of Season (october 2003);

7) Vandermark 5, a quintet led by the reedist since 1996, along with Rempis recorded since 1998, playing in 13 albums. Let's remember also Western Automatic (june/august 2014), with the Chicago Reed Quartet, comprising of Nick Mazzarella, Ken Vandermark and Mars Williams; and From Wolves To Whales (february 2014), along with Pascal Niggenkemper (bass), Chris Corsano (drums) and Nate Wooley (trumpet).

Cochonnerie (october 2015) featured Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass), Frank Rosaly and Tim Daisy (both on drums) and contains the 33-minute improvisation Straggler.

Lattice (may 2017) was a solo album for alto sax.

Ithra (december 2017) features Tomeka Reid on cello and Joshua Abrams on double bass.

Icoci (december 2017) documents a live concert with Jasper Stadhouders on guitar & electric bass and Frank Rosaly on drums.

Rempis also launched the project Spectral with Larry Ochs (tenor and sopranino saxes) and Darren Johnston (trumpet) documented on Spectral (may 2012) and on Empty Castle (june 2017).

Rempis also recorded the double-disc Dodecahedron with Tim Daisy & guests, i.e. Tim Daisy (drums), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Jim Baker (piano, electronics), Fred Lonberg Holm (cello), Steve Swell (trombone), Katie Young (bassoon, electronics) and Aaron Zarzutzki (electronics), an album containing a live performance (october 2017) of the 28-minute Eikosi and a studio recording (september 2017).

Dave Rempis recruited Bhutan guitarist Tashi Dorji and percussionist Tyler Damon for a new project, Kuzu, that debuted with Hiljaisuus (september 2017), containing the 30-minute Fontanelles I. Kuzu returned with Purple Dark Opal (october 2018) that contains the 56-minute suite To The Quick, and The Glass Delusion (october 2018), documenting two live performances, notably the 31-minute Simply Becomes Jammed.

The Early Bird Gets (june 2018) featured Brandon Lopez on bass and Ryan Packard on drums & electronics.

Apsis (december 2018) featured Rempis on alto, tenor & baritone saxes, Jim Baker on piano & electronics, Joshua Abrams on bass and Avreeayl Ra on drums, and contained the 25-minute Exedra and the 36-minute Mithrab.

From Wolves to Whales (the quartet with Nate Wooley, Pascal Niggenkemper and Chris Corsano) was documented on the live double-disc Strandwal (november 2017), including the 29-minute Hook and Cod and the 28-minute Spaarne.

The double-disc Codes/Myths (january 2018) was a collaboration with drummer Frank Rosaly, including the 30-minute Patterns In Distance and the 32-minute Aletheia.

A trio with Elisabeth Harnik (piano) and Michael Zerang (drums) is documented on the live Triple Tube (march 2019).

Ballister returned with Znachki Stilyag (october 2019), featuring Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, and containing 38-minute F*ck the Money Changers.

Kuzu returned with its third album, Purple Dark Opal (october 2018), featuring Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Tyler Damon (drums), and containing the 56-minute To The Quick.

The double-disc Codes/Myths (january 2018) delivers four duets with Frank Rosaly (drums and percussion) , notably the 32-minute Aletheia and the 29-minute Patterns In Distance.

Stringers And Struts (august 2019) contains three improvisations with Jeff Parker on guitar, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass and Jeremy Cunningham on drums.

The double-disc set The Covid Tapes - Solos, Duos & Trios (may to september 2020) features Tomeka Reid on cello, Joshua Abrams on contrabass and Tim Daisy & Tyler Damon on drums, and contains three lengthy compositions (the 19-minute In The Wild, the 17-minute Glitch, and the 17-minute Toron) besides covers.

Kuzu's cassette Lift To Drag (2019) contains two colossal improvisations for a total of 80 minutes.

All Your Ghosts In One Corner (march 2020) documents live performances by the Kuzu trio, including a three-movement suite titled Scythe.

Bennu (february 2021) contains three lengthy duets with Avreeayl Ra (drums, percussion, vocals), notably the 21-minute Division Of Time.

Ballister returned with Chrysopoeia (october 2019), containing the 28-minute Strapling and the 23-minute Muffit.

The trio of Dave Rempis (alto and tenor saxes), Elisabeth Harnik (prepared piano) and Michael Zerang (drums, percussion) is documented live on Astragaloi (march 2020).

SCYLLA (july 2021), the fourth release by the quartet with Jim Baker (piano, synthesizer), Joshua Abrams (bass) and Avreeayl Ra (drums, percussion), contains the 35-minute Between A Rock and the 27-minute Viscosity,

The trio with Tomeka Reid (cello) and Joshua Abrams (bass) returned with Allium (january 2022).

The quartet Earscratcher was formed in 2019 with Elisabeth Harnik (piano), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello) and Tim Daisy (drums and percussion) and was first documented on Earscratcher (may 2022), containing three lengthy pieces: the 20-minute Ohrenkratzer, the 16-minute Mimikaki and the 19-minute Penggaruk Telinga.