Argentinean clarinetist and alto saxophonist Guillermo Gregorio (1941) grew up
among the Buenos Aires avantgarde, as documented on
Otra Musica Collection (Atavistic, 2000), that collects works composed
between 1963 and 1970.
In 1969 he co-founded the Fluxus-influenced collective Movimiento Musica Mas.
In 1985 he fled Argentina and settled in Chicago in the late 1980s.
He then switched to jazz and achieved cult status as one of the
few improvisers who basically played classical avantgarde in a jazz context
in a series of milestone recordings that rank among the most daring of his
generation:
Approximately (june 1995 - Hat Art, 1996),
featuring Eric Pakula on saxophones, Mat Maneri on violin, Pendelis Karayorgis on piano, John Lockwood on bass,
Ellipsis (february 1997 - Hat Art, 1997), featuring Gene Coleman on bass clarinet, Jim O'Rourke on acoustic guitar and accordion, Carrie Biolo on vibes, and Michael Cameron on acoustic bass,
Background Music (january 1998 - Hat Art, 1998), featuring Mats Gustafsson on saxophones and Kjell Nordeson on percussion,
Red Cubed (march 1998 - Hat Art, 1999), featuring Pandelis Karayorgis on piano and Mat Maneri on electric violin,
Degrees of Iconicity (february 1999 - Hat Art, 2000), featuring Carrie Biolo on vibes, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and cornet, Michael Cameron and Kent Kessler on acoustic basses,
The first two are the most innovative and, at the same time, most lyrical.
The highlights of Faktura (december 2000), namely the five-movement Rodchenko Suite and the Systems and Variations for Piano, roam an even vaster and more unstable territory (Francois Houle on clarinet, Robbie Lynn Hunsinger on English horn, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Kyle Bruckmann on oboe, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Jen Paulson on viola, Jim Baker on piano, Jeff Parker on guitar, Michael Cameron on bass, Carrie Biolo on percussion).
Chicago Approach (october 2005) featured
Gregorio on clarinet, Pandelis Karayorgis on grand piano and
Nate McBride on double-bass.
Credited to trombonist Sebi Tramontana, Night People (july 2001) featured Terri Kapsalis on violin, John Corbett on guitar, Kent Kessler on bass, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Guillermo Gregorio on clarinet.
Guillermo Gregorio (clarinet), Jason Roebke (contrabass), Brian Labycz (electronics) collaborated on Colectivos (2010 - Peira, 2012) and
Without Titles
Multiverse (february 2012) was a duo collaboration between Guillermo
Gregorio and pianist Paul Giallorenzo.
Window And Doorway (june 2011 - Driff, 2013) documents the trio
of Guillermo
Gregorio (clarinet), Steve Swell (trombone) and Pandelis
Karayorgis (piano).
Gregorio's Sack Of Rice
(Peira, 2013) documents a live performance with Michael Thieke
on second clarinet, Jim Baker on synth and Michael Zerang on
percussion.
Multiverse (february 2015) was a collaboration with pianist
Paul Giallorenzo.
He relocated to New York in 2015.
Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic (contrabass & effects) and Todd Capp (drums) played on
Futura Spartan Suite (Chap Chap, 2018).
Wandering The Sounds (june 2018) documents a trio
with Rafal Mazur (bass) and Ramon Lopez (drums).
Gregorio (clarinet) and Brandon Lopez (contrabass) recorded
12 Episodes (june 2017).
Dialogos (august 2017) featured
Paula Shocron (piano) and Pablo Diaz (drums).
The trio of
Guillermo Gregorio on clarinet, Joe Fonda on contrabass and Ramon Lopez on drums recorded
Intersecting Lines (december 2018).
Room Of The Present (Fundacja Sluchaj!, 2021) collects two studio sessions of 2007 and 2008 with Damon Smith (double bass) and Jerome Bryerton (percussion, selected cymbals, drums).
Wandering The Sounds was expanded to a quintet with the addition of Satoko Fujii and her husband Natsuki Tamura (piano and trumpet) on the live
What Isa?
(november 2019) that contains
a 44-minute Sound.
Two Trios (ESP, 2023) documents
two trios recorded about two years apart:
one with Carrie Biolo on vibes and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello
(2018) and the other one
with Ivan Barenboim on contralto clarinet and Nicholas Jozwiak on cello (february 2020).
The trio with Damon Smith (double bass) and Jerome Bryerton (gongs, selected metal and cymbals) returned with The Cold Arrow (september 2022).
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