Alter Ego

"Alter Ego" ensemble performs two of Philip Glass's minimalistic works: "Music in the Shape of Square and "600 Lines". The works on this disc are reissues of two CDs originally put out on the Italian Stradivarius label, so the Orange Mountain Label deserves credit for re-releasing them so they can find a wider audience.

Italian ensemble Alter Ego have made their name playing the post-minimalism of composers as diverse as Louis Andriessen, David Lang and Frederic Rzewski. Now they turn their attention to pre-, or perhaps more accurately, prototype minimalism in this fine two-disc survey of early Philip Glass. Rejecting the seamless cross-stitching and salamander slither of Glass’s own ensemble, Alter Ego opt for a brassier and more strident approach. This strategy proposes a subtly alternative view about which the composer obviously approves – Orange Mountain Music is his own label.

Alter Ego (1994). Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke came together as a production team in the late 80s after both collecting valuable music experience from previously being in various bands. The first Alter Ego LP appeared 1994 on Sven Vath's Harthouse label, which was at that time, one the most pioneering labels from Germany. The impact of this LP on the British music scene was headlined by remixes from Black Dog, Luke Slater & David Holmes…

Myriam Alter received classical music training starting from the age of 8. Being very involved with her studies (graduating from high school, then getting a licence for psychology at the University of Brussels), she stopped practising her instrument at the age of 15. After her studies first she worked in an advertising agency for seven years. After that, without really being aware of it, she went back to music by opening a dancing school that she managed for another seven years. This was when she really felt the need to start studying the piano again. Her innate attraction to improvised music brought her very naturally to jazz. She started to study on her own and then later with two Americans, the saxophonist John Ruocco and pianist Denis Luxion. Finally it was Dutch bass player Hein van de Geyn, who had been following her career closely, who became the producer of her first three records…

Pianist James Williams learned a great deal from his stint with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and when he emerged from the group he was perfectly qualified to be a bandleader. His Sunnyside session features such up-and-coming players as guitarist Kevin Eubanks, the reeds of Billy Pierce and Bill Easley, bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Tony Reedus on a set of original material…

An alter ego (second or different self) is both a close companion to the individual as well as an additional personality. David Orlowsky and David Bergmüller are companions, however, they could hardly be more different. They hail from different musical traditions and the combination of these two instruments have no historical references. When David Orlowsky first discovered a video of David Bergmüller on the internet, he was not aware that he had encountered his musical alter ego. The two met in Berlin and mutually agreed to make music together after just a few shared notes. They became companions, which then became a duo, the duo ultimately becoming an organism. Within this organism, David and David function as opposing and complementary personalities. Together they embark on a journey into unexplored worlds of sound. The clarinet is the voice of bygone times while the lute joins to create polyrhythmic structures allowing both new and old times to flow together in their original compositions.