Realism

Joe Morris's recording career began in 1983 and has made him one of the most revered avant-garde jazz guitarists. Down Beat magazine dubbed him "the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation, " while The Wire magazine called him "one of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S." His revelatory 2012 book Perpetual Frontier/The Properties of Free Music (Riti Publishing) is a detailed and rewarding accounting of his approach to improvisation. He has been on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory of Music since 2000. This is his fifth album as guitarist on ESP-Disk': two as leader, two in Fay Victor's SoundNoiseFUNK, and now this unique duo. Elliott Sharp began recording in 1979 and has continued prolifically adding to his discography ever since, working fluently in genres ranging from blues and jazz to free improvisation and modern classical composition. A cornerstone of the downtown NYC music scene and collaborator with musicians from around the world, he has extended the vocabulary of the guitar in ways that led Guitar Player magazine to include him in it's 30th anniversary issue's list of "The Dirty Thirty: Pioneers and Trailblazers." (He also plays saxophone.) His 2019 book IrRational Music (TerraNova Press) is a crucial document of his work that goes beyond biography into musical philosophy. Realism is his first album released on ESP. Recorded and mastered by Jim Clouse, Park West Studios, Brooklyn, NY on July 17, 2023. Mixed by Elliott Sharp and Jim Clouse at Park West Studios on August 1, 2023. Produced by Steve Holtje for ESP-Disk'.