GORDON BEEFERMAN
composer & pianist


Organ Trio: SECOND BEING

Gordon Beeferman’s ORGAN TRIO, with guitarist Anders Nilsson and drummer/percussionist Kate Gentile, riffs on the classic jazz organ trio through a 21st-century lens. Each piece is an intricately structured mix of written and free-improvised aesthetics, turning on a dime between precise ensemble passages and freewheeling solos. SECOND BEING includes five very different pieces that take ballad, blues, big band, minimalism, and modernism to subversive and unexpected ends

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GLOW

GLOW offers eleven improvised pieces from a quartet of uniquely inventive virtuosos: Shelley Hirsch (voice), Michael Foster (saxophones), Gordon Beeferman (piano, electric piano, and Hammond organ), and the late Michael Evans (drums and percussion). A mind-meld of far-out jazz, noise, and spoken word, among other influences, and featuring improvised texts by Hirsch, the pieces range from intricate sonic landscapes to deadpan comedy. Hardly your average album of improvised music, the album could be described at times as “Anton Webern at the Café Carlyle.” Recorded in New York City in June 2021, this is the last studio recording Michael Evans made before his sudden and untimely death two months later.

“It’s music – and, why not, theatre – of top quality and class… Likely the most rewarding release of spontaneous compositions I heard in the first half of 2023. Compelling action, individual talent galore and unarguable intelligence are on display across the entire program. You have no excuses to miss this one.” – Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

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THE IN-BETWEEN: NINE POEMS OF JANE BARNES

Gordon Beeferman’s setting of Jane Barnes’s dark, sorrowful, mysterious, erotic, manic poems in search of the elusive “in-between” for voice and piano, with the extraordinary mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin. Composed in 2009-10 and released in the fall of 2020.

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ALPHAWHORE

ALPHAWHORE, the trio of Chris Cochrane (guitar), Kevin Shea (drums) and Gordon Beeferman (organ), performs fiery, sexy, often brutal, and always compelling improvised music, which they have collectively developed out of their experiences in avant-garde jazz, rock, noise, new-music, and other scenes. This is their first album, a 30-minute EP recorded in the summer of 2016, available exclusively on Bandcamp.

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ORGAN TRIO

Gordon Beeferman, on his first full album playing Hammond organ, is joined by two remarkable collaborators, guitarist Anders Nilsson and drummer/percussionist Ches Smith. Beeferman’s set of compositions riff on the classic jazz organ trio through a 21st-century lens. Completed at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming in the fall of 2016, these intricate and extended pieces traverse unusual moods, forms, rhythms, and sound-worlds, opening up to feature each member of the trio, each unique virtuoso improvisers in their own right. The album is produced by guitarist Chris Cochrane (No Safety, THEM, Collapsible Shoulder).

“Beeferman splatters and smashes his way through a cosmic and complex set of psychedelic jazz and rock fusion-minded freak-outs, invoking Sun Ra and electric Miles.” –Brooklyn Rail

“Intricate interplay revealing impressive themes and variations.” –Jazzweekly.com

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Other Life Forms

OTHER LIFE FORMS is an innovative avant-jazz quartet led by composer Gordon Beeferman (piano & organ), with Stephanie Griffin (viola), Pascal Niggenkemper (bass) and Andrew Drury (drums). Virtuosic, intense, and quirky, Beeferman’s compositions have a unique approach to integrating complex written charts with collective improvisation. The members of O.L.F. are among the forefront of the creative contemporary music scene, and bring a wide array of experience and sensibility to the music. This is their debut album, released November 2018 on Different Track Recordings.

“Beeferman’s musical world is a very special place that should not go unnoticed.” — Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz

“Idiosyncratic compositional strategy… thoughtful structure but with an unmistakable spirit of uncanny exploration… This is music that isn’t afraid to take its time; Beeferman prefers patient, devious statements to overt, brash ones… an imaginative set of music…more than enough to keep Beeferman on the radar when it comes to forward-thinking, creative approaches to jazz and improvised music.” — Troy Dostert, All About Jazz

“The ‘jazz’ root in Beeferman’s music is indisputable. But so are the modern classical, advanced improvisation, non-committable-to-memory atonal whatchamacallit roots. The scores may look complex on paper but, for some miracle, the acoustic outcome sounds as natural as spring water.” — Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

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DAFNA NAPHTALI and GORDON BEEFERMAN: PULSING DOT

Dafna Naphtali and Gordon Beeferman perform duet pieces for voice and piano with kinetic sound processing, fractal rhythms, and general polyphonic/kaleidophonic disturbances. Beeferman fleshes out protean fragments into strikingly visceral structures and landscapes that take the piano to its limit. Naphtali augments her high-energy live Max/MSP processing of Beeferman’s piano with extended vocal techniques/sounds/multi-modal singing and her custom take on hand and voice-activated electronics. Not just manipulation of live sound, this is a feedback loop of seamless interaction between two remarkable musicians. These pieces are improvised and were created entirely in the moment without overdubs or edits.

 

“An extraordinary and stunning release…extended and multidimensional..almost of orchestral and theatrical proportions to use an inadequate comparison. The music really breathes and is full of energy, not losing itself in meaningless experimentalism and stays focused and very together.” (Vital Weekly)
“live interaction between the collaborators makes for some truly groundbreaking improvisation” (Peter Thelen, Exposé)
“The well-thought-out evolution…slowly unfolds into something more like a sonic daylight.” (Chain D.L.K.)
“Naphtali & Beeferman have hit the nail on the head with this release.. a feedback loop of seamless interaction” (Sigil of Brass)
“Quirky & playful… unpredictable, yet constantly active … balances scuttling tension with slurred alien tribal-ness.” (Musique Machine)

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FOUR PARTS FIVE

Four Parts Five is a quintet tour de force that takes virtuosic rhythmic ensemble playing to a new level. It’s a densely harmonious, frequently hair-raising, and deeply groovy piece of music: imagine György Ligeti, Philip Glass, Igor Stravinsky, Steve Coleman and Conlon Nancarrow having a dance party – with Morton Feldman and Count Basie watching wryly from the corner. Performed by an ensemble consisting of Beeferman (on piano and Hammond B3 organ), Peter Hess (woodwinds), Anders Nilsson (electric guitar), James Ilgenfritz (bass), and Adam Gold (drums), the album’s four pieces showcase tight, disciplined ensemble playing that spans the sparse, punctuated spaces of “1” and the spiraling, expansive curls of “4” with equal facility.

“Packed with humour, mischief, and an urge to dance.” –The Wire

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GORDON BEEFERMAN TRIO: OUT IN HERE

Pianist/composer Gordon Beeferman turns the traditional piano trio inside out with these nine completely improvised pieces. “Out in Here” documents a subversive and elegant mind-meld with two exceptionally creative collaborators, bassist James Ilgenfritz and drummer/percussionist Michael Evans. This entirely acoustic record conjures up electronica, noise, free jazz, and new-complexity, in a sublimely creative fashion. Disquieting, occasionally absurdist, and beautiful, this is music for our surreal age of unpredictability and unrest.

Buy now from OutNow Records




STATE OF THE ART: THE ABQ AT 50

In celebration of their 50th anniversary, the American Brass Quintet released this 2-CD set of music written for them since the year 2000. All eleven works epitomize the work of this legendary ensemble in promoting serious brass music for half a century.

The album includes Gordon Beeferman’s BRASS QUINTET (2007), commissioned by ABQ with funds from the Jerome Foundation.

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QUARTET NEW GENERATION – IN VAIN

Hailed as “Four Recorder Virtuosos” by The New York Times, QNG—Quartet New Generation mesmerizes its audiences through innovative programming that juxtaposes contemporary and early music, presented with a dynamic and often theatrical stage presence. On this, their first recording, they perform Gordon Beeferman’s Passages, written for them in 2006.

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ROGUE STATES

Jeff Arnal (percussion) and Gordon Beeferman (piano) synthesize avant-garde jazz/improv and contemporary classical traditions of the 20th century into a unique “energized ritual of free expression…music with muscle and appeal” (Cadence Magazine). For more information, visit Generate Records, or click here.

“A collection of concise yet substantial duo improvisations that demonstrate substantial power and an impressive range of expression.” -Time Out New York

Jeff Arnal (percussion) and Gordon Beeferman (piano) synthesize avant-garde jazz/improv and contemporary classical traditions into a unique “energized ritual of free expression…music with muscle and appeal” (Cadence Magazine). Since forming their duo in 2000, Arnal and Beeferman have become an integral part of the creative music scene in New York and beyond. Their duo has performed at the Knitting Factory, Music at the Anthology, Improvised and Otherwise (Brooklyn), San Francisco Alternative Music Festival, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the Tremont Theater and Zeitgeist Gallery (Boston/Cambridge), and other venues for experimental and improvised music. Their first recording Bodies of Water (2001) was praised for its “near-perfect synchronicity… these two have talent to burn” (All Music Guide). In addition to working as a duet, they have collaborated with many other musicians and dancers, including choreographer Estelle Woodward (in the dance/music ensemble Loophole) and saxophonist Seth Misterka (as Rara Avis).

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MUSIC FOR AN IMAGINARY BAND

Limited edition 7″ released by Generate Records on its 10th anniversary. Pressed on green vinyl with a cover by Ian Crowther.

Gordon Beeferman’s IMAGINARY BAND is a (real) 7-piece group that explores the territory where classical ‘new-music,’ jazz and free improvisation intersect. Beeferman’s compositions range from the gnarly to the operatic, and are both incredibly detailed and very free; the band’s improvisational explorations are tethered to highly structured frameworks.

“[A] commanding avant-jazz ensemble…” Time Out New York

Read more about “The Imaginary Band.”

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RARA AVIS

The debut album of RARA AVIS, a trio joining the fiery and focused talents of Gordon Beeferman, Jeff Arnal, and Seth Misterka. A highly structured but entirely improvised tour de force for electric piano, percussion, and saxophones, the recording traverses a rich musical territory from fierce and highly rhythmic complexity to evocative long-lined lyricism. For more information, visit Generate Records.

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BODIES OF WATER

Expressive and virtuosic, the music of New York composer-improvisers Jeff Arnal (percussion) and Gordon Beeferman (piano) springs from avant-garde traditions, both classical and jazz. Their work is a synthesis of the highly defined compositional elements of contemporary classical music and the spontaneity and energy of free-improvisation. “Bodies of Water”, their debut recording, was released in November, 2001 on Generate Records.

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More information: Generate Records