Ken Long

The music on this excellent album was created by a highly combustible trio consisting of Ken Vandermark on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Mark Tokar on bass and Klaus Kugel on drums and percussion. This album was recorded at the Alchemia Club in Krakow in May of 2016 and begins with "13 Lines" which blasts hard right out of the gate, with Vandermark's expressive saxophone holding court with the elastic bass and drums. They proceed into an epic blowout of collective improvisation, moving massive slabs of sound and developing a hypnotic gaze.

Ken McIntyre, a very underrated multi-reedist, developed fairly original styles on alto, flute, bass clarinet, oboe and bassoon. He made two fairly well-known sessions for New Jazz in 1960 and recorded for SteepleChase from 1974-78. However, McIntyre's pair of United Artists records from 1962-63 (his only dates as a leader during 1961-73) have been long overlooked. This double CD from 1997 has all of the music from the original LPs, plus eight previously unreleased cuts. All of the selections except "Laura" and "Speak Low" are McIntyre compositions.