Gratkowski / Brown / Winant "wake"

Frank Gratkowski (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone)
Chris Brown (piano, live electronics)
William Winant (vibraphone, percussion)

1 Slide (25:00)
2 Ambitus (11:50)
3 Scrabble (10:35)
4 Parallax (10:59)
5 Archipelago (14:38)

All compositions by Gratkowski (GEMA), Brown (BMI), Winant
Recorded live at Mills College, Oakland, California, USA on March 23, 2007 by Zachary Watkins
Mixed by Chris Brown and Frank Gratkowski, mastered by Frank Gratkowski


Red Toucan Records, RT 9336

"I'm very glad about this first release of our new Trio. It was actually Chris, who had the idea to add William to our Duo and I have to thank him for that, because William is the perfect match. For me it is a very special trio and I hope there will be many concerts and further releases in the future. I hope you'll enjoy listening to the music as much as we do and we'll see you sometime in a performance."
- Frank Gratkowski

"The trio lets their music take manifold shapes. They can command the mood through a finely honed solo or fragmented construction just as they can lock lines with tensile tautness and ferocious phrases. The sound is their own and gives them a pertinent presence."
- Jerry D'Souza in All about Jazz

"Multi-woodwind ace Frank Gratkowski renders an aggregation of off-kilter phrasings atop pianist Chris Brown's live electronics treatments and drummer/percussionist Willie Winant's kaleidoscopic attack. With verbose dialogues and fleeting waves of sound across divergent storylines, the trio generates a confederation of highly emotive aspects."
- Glenn Astarita Jazzrecord.com

"...a somewhat warped sense of logic is constantly at play. The interjection of silence at certain periods constructs a tension that's graciously toppled by the forcefulness of the music that follows. Wake flows like rough seas - choppy but vigorous."
- Bryon Hayes in exclaim.ca

"With gentle and judicious use of electronics, Brown is able to shade Gratkowski no matter how intensely the impish reeds master gets intervallic, channeling his inner Elliott Carter."
- Jason Bivins in Bagatellen

"The combination of Gratkowski's bass clarinet and Winant's vibraphone has a pleasing, swaddled sound. Brown also carries a percussive touch that compliments Winant. As tension builds, the introduction of electronics moves away from any sense of security. Odd sounds, repetition, and some welcome fuzz joins the mix. These three musicians never allow the electronics to dominate the affair, and throughout democracy reigns."
- Mark Corroto in All about jazz

"If it is the case that music as a means for organizing time is a plausible one, than these three individuals are appreciative of the idea that music is far greater than the sum of its parts."
- Nic Jones in All about jazz