Origami Cosmos by James Ilgenfritz

Bassist James Ilgenfritz offers his second solo CD, again exploring the fertile territory between composition and improvisation. Following his debut solo recording Compositions (Braxton) 2011 (dedicated entirely to the music of composer Anthony Braxton), this record features works by four composers who have each contributed to the distinctive musical community in New York over the last few decades. Each composer worked closely with James Ilgenfritz to write music that was a hybrid of their own creative vision and James’s unusual approach to the bass.

From hypnotic drone works involving Just Intonation and use of multiple bows to astounding feats of technical virtuosity, this collection of works brings hyper- complexity, improvisation, and lyrical beauty together into a deeply personal tour-de-force of musical invention.

Annie Gosfield wrote a piece based on re-arranging James’s unusual vocabulary of extended techniques into a virtuosic hyper-industrial treatise on texture and rhythm.

Miya Masaoka wrote a delicate, drone-based work built on sustained harmonics and microtonal tunings.

JG Thirlwell (Foteus, Steroid Maximus, Venture Brothers, Archer) created a work that constantly careens from lyricism to ferocity, from precision to frenetic abandon.

Elliott Sharp wrote a work that employs unusual bows and objects, from using multiple bows at once to using springs and ball chains to get bizarre, other-worldly textures from the bass.

Composer/bassist James Ilgenfritz is recognized in The Wire & The New Yorker for his “characteristic magnanimity” and "glint of mischief.” James had residencies at John Zorn’s The Stone in 2015 & 2017. He’s worked with Anthony Braxton, Thomas Buckner, David First, Pauline Oliveros, & Roscoe Mitchell. He directs Infrequent Seams & has recorded for Cuneiform, Clean Feed, Important Records, & Tzadik.