Union Division Publicity collage

Peter Bacon reports:

It seems that guitarist and composer Moss Freed has been a busy man in the past few months. His latest e-newsletter has landed so if you don’t subscribe to that, let me update you.

Firstly, there’s a new band, called Union Division. Mr Freed writes: “I have formed a new ensemble! It’s big. Between 7 – 18 improvisers at any point, and I’ve developed an approach over the last year that breaks open enshrined ideas of musical power dynamics and allows individual players to coordinate each other and to structure pieces in real time. It’s a kind of hive-mind composing that seems to have not been done before quite like this. I’m really excited that it’s finally ready to launch.”

Playing with Moss Freed (guitar) will be Elliot Galvin (piano), Otto Willberg (double bass), Rachel Musson (tenor sax), Chris Williams (alto sax), Sam Eastmond (trumpet), Laura Jurd (trumpet), Rosanna Ter-Berg (flutes), PA Tremblay (electronics), Tullis Rennie (trombone), Brice Catherin (cello), James Maddren (drums) and Will Glaser (drums).

Here is a taster:



The leader says: “That’s a line up that makes me very happy.”

And where can we hear this many-splendored thing in the flesh?

“We debut at City, University of London on 11 September 2018 at 7pm. It’s FREE (I do love universities…) but you’ll need to reserve seats.”

And, in other Moss Freed news:

The Book Beriah:  “A huge moment for me in recent weeks was seeing my name in the credits on the back of the new John Zorn vinyl, alongside Bill Frisell. The record is a kind of ‘best of’ Masada Book 3, the final instalment of Zorn’s 25-year Masada project, and features one track from each of the records that comprise this third book, including our Spike Orchestra contribution, Binah. Apparently the Beriah box set is now ready so you can order all 11 records. Check out the PledgeMusic page and hear some sample tracks (including Levushim from our record).”

Let Spin: “The new record is in the very final stages of mixing now and is sounding massive. We recorded this at the University of Hull and have been working closely with engineer/mixer/producer Alex Killpartrick throughout the process. We all took more risks with the writing, challenging habits and taking the group sound to new territory. A couple of dates for your diaries – Lancaster Jazz Festival on 15 September and the Vortex in London on 16 September, both with Liran Donin on bass.”

LINK: Moss Freed’s website