The film of the 2012 Guelph performance is a major event in the documentation of free improvisation

At the 2012 Guelph Jazz Fest, the ROVA Saxophone Quartet (Bruce Ackley - soprano saxophone, Steve Adams - alto saxophone, Larry Ochs - tenor saxophone, Jon Raskin - baritone saxophone) performed an arrangement of John Coltrane's seminal Ascension album. For this performance, Rova was joined by eight extraordinary musicians: Nels Cline (electric guitar), Fred Frith (electric bass), Carla Kihlstedt (violin and electronics) and Jenny Scheinman (violins), Chris Brown (electronics) and Ikue Mori (laptop electronics), Rob Mazurek (cornet and electronics) and Hamid Drake (drums).

On January 7, 2016, French record label RogueArt will release Rova Channeling Coltrane featuring a DVD & Blu-ray of a five-camera live shoot of Electric Ascension from 2012 in Guelph as well as a documentary, Cleaning the Mirror, by Bay Area documentarian John Rogers telling the story of ROVA's adaptation of John Coltrane's Ascension for a 21st century ensemble plus a brief history of Coltrane's original recording in 1965. Cleaning the Mirror also contains notable interviews with past Electric Ascension participants such as Cline, Andrew Cyrille, Eyvind Kang and Scheinman; and a specially recorded and mixed CD of the same 2012 performance. The package will also contain extensive liner notes by noted Canadian jazz critic Stuart Broomer, who was present at the concert. All three discs will be packaged in the classic RogueArt design.

Additional Details

Label: RogueArt

Genre: Jazz

Language: English

Run Time: 182:00 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 01/15/16

UPC: 3760131270655