This piece opens 'Remnants', the record that Ken Aldcroft, Evan Shaw, and I recorded in 2003 and finally released in 2006. There are a few stories to tell about this one. The piece was written in 2001 when I was at the Banff Centre for the Arts for the first time. It remained untitled until we recorded it in 2003 on my second trip to Banff, this time with Ken and Evan. When it came time to give it a title, I named it after a memory from the first Banff trip when Michael Bates and I were attacked by a mother Elk who had been marked on the ear with a blue tag that meant something akin to: "particularly aggressive". We had inadvertently walked between the mother and her calf. I don't think either of us will make that mistake again. The second story is hopefully a correction of sorts. The font I chose to use for the design of the 'Remnants' CD package didn't, for some reason, have a dash in it. The album, therefore, pretends to begin with a track called "Man Eating Elk with Blue Earring"; an entirely different image than the one I was going for. I carry no hard feelings for that elk, nor do I have any interest in consuming her flesh in retribution for her understandable attack. Okay. Record straight.

ken aldcroft . guitar, effects
evan shaw . alto saxophone
joe sorbara . drums, percussion

recorded, mixed, and mastered by john sorensen in 2003.

Man-Eating Elk with Blue Earring (Aldcroft, Shaw, Sorbara) 2003

This recording was made on a gig we played opening for the Dave Rempis Percussion Quartet (with Tim Daisey, Frank Rosaly and Anton Hatwich) at the Leftover Daylight Series. Also visiting from Chicago that night was the wonderful flutist, Nicole Mitchell, who joined us in a long improvised piece right after we played "Left Right Left" to begin the night.

ken aldcroft . guitar, effects
evan shaw . alto saxophone
joe sorbara . drums, percussion

recorded live by blair langley @ the leftover daylight series in toronto, 07 april 2006

Left Right Left (Remnants Trio) 07iv2006

Jay Hay, Karen Ng, and I finished off the night that was Audiopollination #6 with this trio improvisation. It was documented by Michael Lynn for sharing in the extensive Audiopollination archive. I've played with the mix a little to share it here. I think we got up to something special...

jay hay . bass clarinet, soprano saxophone
karen ng . alto saxophone
joe sorbara . drums, percussion

recorded live by michael lynn @ the array space, 21 july 2013.

Jay Hay, Karen Ng, Joe Sorbara (trio) 21vi2013

As a part of their 'Jazz Avant Series' in September 2013, Paul Dutton and Joe Sorbara played a set of duo improvisations at the Music Gallery in Toronto on a bill with saxophonist Larry Ochs and drummer Don Robinson. This is an excerpt from their performance that evening.

paul dutton . sound singing, harmonica
joe sorbara . drums, percussion

recorded live by paul hodge @ the music gallery, 28 september, 2013
edited by joe sorbara more recently

copyright by paul dutton & joe sorbara 2013, SOCAN

Paul Dutton & Joe Sorbara: Mawcussion (excerpt) 28ix2013

The Imperative VIII / IX: 
Too tired to live----------- / For they had heard that sighing Is a way to ease a grief

Jay Hay & Karen Ng (tenor saxophones)
Joe Sorbara (drums)

recorded 18ix2015 at Silence in Guelph, Canada
Jay Hay & Karen Ng (tenor saxophones)
Joe Sorbara (drums)

The Imperative is a poem by Sun Ra. It appears in ‘Collected Works Vol. I: Immeasurable Equation’ edited by Adam Abraham, the son of Ra’s friend and partner in space travel, Alton. The Imperative is a suite composed by Joe Sorbara who created a piece of music for each line of the poem allowing the flow of Ra’s words to determine the flow of the music. The Imperative is also the unique trio of Sorbara playing drums and percussion alongside Jay Hay and Karen Ng who each wield a tenor saxophone when the three come together to perform this music.

The Imperative VIII / IX (Hay, Ng, Sorbara) 18ix2015

The Imperative IV: 
And they heard that laughter Is a way to song and joy.

Jay Hay & Karen Ng (tenor saxophones)
Joe Sorbara (drums)

recorded 18ix2015 at Silence in Guelph, Canada
Jay Hay & Karen Ng (tenor saxophones)
Joe Sorbara (drums)

The Imperative is a poem by Sun Ra. It appears in ‘Collected Works Vol. I: Immeasurable Equation’ edited by Adam Abraham, the son of Ra’s friend and partner in space travel, Alton. The Imperative is a suite composed by Joe Sorbara who created a piece of music for each line of the poem allowing the flow of Ra’s words to determine the flow of the music. The Imperative is also the unique trio of Sorbara playing drums and percussion alongside Jay Hay and Karen Ng who each wield a tenor saxophone when the three come together to perform this music.

The Imperative IV (Hay, Ng, Sorbara) 18ix2015

This is Ken Aldcroft's solo guitar interpretation of my large ensemble piece, To and From. Written for the Pickle Juice Orchestra in 2005, the piece begins with tonal improvisation, almost through a set of "changes": from the full chromatic scale through the c major scale, a c major 7 chord, a c triad and finally to the pitch "c" alone. There is then a list of instructions to follow before playing back through the intro in reverse from the lone pitch "c" back to the full chromatic scale where the ensemble finds an ending.

ken aldcroft . guitar

recorded live by blair langley @ the village playhouse in toronto, 13 february 2006

Live Recordings from All Over

To & From (Ken Aldcroft solo) 13ii2006

Jared Burrows . guitar
Clyde Reed . bass
Joe Sorbara . drums

*BONUS TRACK*
more @ https://ovalwindowrecords.bandcamp.com/album/reliable-parts

music composed in performance by Burrows, Reed, and Sorbara 
in North Vancouver at Capilano University, 04 May 2017

JoeSorbara

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