About
Iluso Records is an independent record label founded in 2013 by Michael Caratti and Álvaro Domene.
Our catalogue focuses on exploratory creative new music derived and informed by the fertile traditions of jazz, avant-garde metal, free-improvisation, western contemporary classical, and experimental electronic music.
We have featured works by artists who are dedicated to exploring the endless sonic possibilities that can be found within and beyond said genres:
Briggan Krauss, Colin Marston, Matthew Shipp, Elliott Sharp, Henry Kaiser, Mike Pride, Álvaro Pérez, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Colin Fisher, Lotte Anker, Pat Thomas, Eliane Gazzard, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Frode Gjerstad, Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke, Harvey Valdés, Ståle Liavik Solberg, Max Kutner, Terry Day, Sam Newsome, John Butcher, Dane Johnson, John Russell, Tom Rainey, Killick Hinds, Josh Sinton, Jason Ajemian, Chad Taylor, Rachel Musson, Chris Hoffman, Steve Beresford, Eli Wallace, Devin Gray, Brandon López, Aaron Quinn, Jason Nazary, Dominic Lash, Alex Ward, Ricardo Tejero, Javier Carmona, Rick Parker, Jeremy Carlstedt, Luke Barlow, Roberto Sassi, Santiago Horro, Sergio Mena, and Andrew Bassett.
Contact
For all enquiries including artist bookings and purchase requests please contact the team at info@ilusorecords.com.
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Briggan KraussArt of the Saxophone: The Lethe Lounge Sessions
Iluso Records is delighted to present arguably the most unique and searching solo alto saxophone album to be released in recent memory. Art of the Saxophone: The Lethe Lounge Sessions by Briggan Krauss is a masterclass on how extended technique and dedication to the sonic potential of the instrument can completely change perceptions of what a saxophone should sound like.
Rejecting unconscious ornamentation or electronic effects, Krauss recorded this completely acoustic album in two days at The Lethe Lounge in New York City. Each of the album’s twenty-two improvised pieces features one of three signature approaches to performance—all of which are noted in the titles “Open”, “Towel”, or “Study”.
Featuring quiet long tones and multiphonics, each “Study” arose as an experimental extension of Krauss’s practice regime. Both impeccable and blemished, each piece is a dialogue between his vision and the physics of the saxophone.
The “Open” and “Towel” pieces are improvisations exploring hidden density. These pieces feature an overall arc or shape while at the same time any individual phrase can exist as a standalone composition. Distinguished by fast and intricate passages when viewed as discrete moments in time, the improvisations become gestural, flowing, and even conversational when taken as a whole.
“Open” pieces are improvisations without any physical alteration to the saxophone with the exception of Lethe Open No. 4 (Leg), during which Krauss uses the inside of his left leg as a mute in a manner similar to how a plunger mute is used by a trumpet or trombone player.
“Towel” pieces incorporate the use of Krauss’s distinctive towel mute, a disk of dense cotton fabric placed in the bell that he invented shortly after he arrived in New York City in 1994. Over twenty-five years of use, he has developed a wide array of towel techniques that drastically change the saxophone’s operation and sound, and are an important feature of his voice.
Art of the Saxophone: The Lethe Lounge Sessions deconstructs the idiosyncratic and singularly personal sound of an iconic performer, offering listeners an intimate experience of the depth of musical expression possible when boundaries between instrument and artist disappear.