AN EAST MEETS WEST LEGENDARY AND MIND BLOWING LIVE SHOW OF JAPANESE ALTO SAXOPHONE FREE JAZZ EXTRAORDINAIRE: AKIRA SAKATA, MEMBERS OF THE BAND TORTOISE: JEFF PARKER & JOHN HERNDON, AND NATE MCBRIDE. RECORDED AT THE 2009 UMBRELLA MUSIC FESTIVAL IN CHICAGO, BROUGHT TO YOU AS 12" DOUBLE ANALOG.

Every year, cutting edge jazz and avant-garde musicians from all over the world gather together for a few days to participate in the Umbrella Music Festival. The Chicago Reader lavishes praise on the festival, calling it, "the most important jazz festival in Chicago." Its 4th festival in the year 2009 was held from November 5th to 8th where heated improvisation battles were seen one after the other. Among the best of them, the once-in-a-lifetime session between Jeff Parker and John Herndon from the renowned local post-rock band, Tortoise, Nate Mcbride, and the free jazz extraordinaire, Akira Sakata, received special attention. This session knocked out the wits of the Chicago music fans who have an ear for music, and aroused much interest. John McEntire (Soma Electronic Music Studios)who was completely enthralled by the world created by the rare quartet of "Sakata/ Parker/ McBride/ Herndon" worked on the mixing, and thus this album came into existence.

Artwork is by John Herndon and Jacket is hand letterpressed by Jeff Mueller (June of 44, Shipping News) of Dexterity Press.

ABOUT Akira Sakata
Every country has their Renaissance man: someone who seems to be able to reach unknown heights in whatever they turn their hand to; and if someone was to designate such a prize for Japan, he would be Akira Sakata. Sakata is stopped in the street by ladies of all ages: they know him as the host of daytime shows; they know him as a renowned scientist famed for his knowledge of water fleas; men of all ages stop him: they know him as the host of nighttime shows; they saw him in a recent film; he took on Grace Jones on a Seiko watch. But this happens out in the open, under the sunlight; but when night comes and the haunts visited become darker, and most likely underground, Sakata is revered as the most powerful alto saxophonist to ever come out of Japan. Starting with the Yosuke Yamashita trio in the 70's through journeys as far-out as Mongolia, Sakata's sax has been a blistering galvanizing force that has burned undimmed from the first explosion of free jazz through all it's permutations and back again. No matter how primed, how pumped, how ready for action a musician might feel they are, as soon as Sakata hits his first note, they are pummeled and thrown for a loop. Not many people can walk casually onstage while Peter Brotzmann, Ken Vandermark, and Mats Gustafsson are in full tilt, casually lift his sax to his mouth, and with his first note, knock those 3 pairs of eyes open wide in shock. But, Akira Sakata can.
by Jim O'Rourke

TRACK LISTINGS
VINYL ONE
A SIDE : Free Radical Sign/ Part 1 (12:35)
B SIDE : Free Radical Sign/ Part 2 (13:33)

VINYL TWO
C SIDE : Illusion from the Far East (18:21)
D SIDE : In a Babble (16:17)

Free Radical Sign/ ONE by presspop