Asher Wolf, Jazziz

Throughout his four-decade recording career, woodwinds palyer Vinny Golia has collaborated with the likes of Anthony Braxton, John Zorn and Wadada Leo Smith. Dark Tree Records’ recent release of the Vinny Golia Wind Quartet Live at the Century City Playhouse – Los Angeles, 1979 captures the intensity and experimental fervor that first established him as a mainstay of the West Coast avant-garde scene. Five original compositions conjure spectral and volatile landscapes, combining a free-jazz methodology with an instrumental and harmonic palette that borrows from 20th-century chamber music. Ranging from delicate to thrillingly abrasive, each piece defines an otherwordly space of its own for the musicians to explore – often resulting in ferocious twisting gestures and intrepid flights of extended techniques.