The MacroQuarktet - The Complete Night: Live at The Stone NYC (OOYH 006) OUT NOW!
The day is here! This is a huge release for us at OOYH Records, and we are thrilled to announce that The MacroQuarktet - The Complete Night: Live at The Stone NYC is out today. There is a lot of backstory that comes along with this incredible 2CD album, but keeping it brief I (Adam) was obsessed with the original issue of disc one (Each Part The Whole) when it was released a decade ago. Sometime in 2019, in a conversation with Dave Ballou, he mentioned that there was an entire second set from that night (the very first night that The MacroQuarktet every performed) and the idea for a double disc of the complete night came together quickly. While we are super sad that the release shows were cancelled for this, we are positive they will be rescheduled for a more appropriate time. And we already have plans to document and share a new MacroQuarktet album with the world down the line. Check out this cover art by our guy TJ Huff (huffart.com). It is absolutely nuts in the best way, and I feel like it so perfectly captures the vibe of the album. The CD comes with even more original art, so we highly recommend picking it up! We hope you enjoy this music as much as we have enjoyed working with these incredible musicians to help get it out into the world.
Dave Ballou - trumpet
Herb Robertson - trumpet
Drew Gress - bass
Tom Rainey - drums
The MacroQuarktet: To those familiar with the NYC downtown music scene of the 80s and 90s, trumpeters Herb Robertson and Dave Ballou need no introduction. Having collaborated with the likes of Tim Berne, John Zorn, Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Dewey Redman, and countless others, both were at the center of what was one of the most formative eras for experimental and improvised music to date. In performance, the most common meeting place for trumpet players is within the section of a big band or large ensemble, and together Robertson and Ballou have performed in the Satoko Fuji Orchestra and Orange Then Blue. However, after the recording session for Satoko Fuji’s Undulation Herb and Dave identified it as essential to play together in a smaller format. In a quartet (with the addition of Drew Gress on bass and Tom Rainey on drums) each of their unique approaches to both improvisation and the trumpet would be the central focus, and highlighted in a way not possible in a large ensemble. Thus The MacroQuarktet (a portmanteau combining both the whole view as well as the detailed) was formed. The Complete Night: Live at The Stone NYC documents their first performance from June 30, 2007, available here in its entirety for the first time ever.