Recording: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Artist: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Song: [3rd piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Musica Universalis), September 9, 2022.

Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro - [3rd piece]

Having been a fair few years since seeing this pair celebrating a mutual album release, it was a treat to see them jam out in celebration of the new Tactile Stories. As always, Genenaro brought energetic volume on the drumkit, which Fisher complemented on sax and guitar. The night closed with "a little light jazz" in quartet formation with gusts Andrew Furlong and Patrick Smith, who had opened up the evening.

You can also watch some footage from this set over on youtube:

Recording: Colin Fisher and Mike Gennaro

Artist: Colin Fisher and Mike Gennaro - [improvisation]

Song: [improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tribute to the Life of Ken Aldcroft), October 7, 2016.

Colin Fisher and Mike Gennaro - [improvisation]

Taken shockingly suddenly and entirely too soon, Ken Aldcroft's passing left a heavy mark on many groups: family, friends, neighbours, students as well as musical collaborators and appreciators. All of these were gathered together to share their sorrow and find some joy through fellowship and music in an evening of remembrances and sounds at The Tranzac, where Aldcroft had played so often. After some fellowship over food from the heavily-laden potluck and the first of many reminiscences from the stage came this pairing, driven by drummer Mike Gennaro — a frequent duo partner with Aldcroft — and saxophonist Colin Fisher, bringing to mind in a short ascension blast the music the three had made together.

Image collaged from photographs taken by Matthew Fava.

Recording: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Artist: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Song: [excerpt from third piece]

Recorded at Array Space ("Somewhere There's Second Sundays"), November 8, 2015.

Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro - [excerpt from third piece]

No surprise that this pairing's set contained a lot of high-octane interchanges, with Fisher blasting through the walls (mostly on on tenor) and Gennaro hitting like a battering ram. (He'd eventually lean over and pull the floor tom from a nearby drumkit to augment his own.) But there were also interchanges like this where things slowed down a bit — but still pretty dense with musical ideas and energy.

Recording: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Artist: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at Ratio, April 8, 2015.

Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro - [second piece]

This night at Ratio was centred around Sir Richard Bishop's set on his nineteenth-century parlour guitar, but instead of taking the easy road to match that with someone in a similar musical vein, Invocation TO's Jay Pollard instead made a smart lateral move to bring in this duo who instead related in the intensity and craftiness of their improvising spirit. For those keeping track at home, Fisher is playing tenor on this track.

[This duo will be playing again on Friday night in the cozy Musideum space.]

Recording: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Artist: Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at Smiling Buddha ("Blü Print: An Arachnidiscs Showcase"), November 4, 2014.

Colin Fisher & Mike Gennaro - [second piece]

Drummer Mike Gennaro can bring a light touch when required, but he's known as a guy that can drive a combo with his propulsive style. When he first started playing sets with saxophonist Colin Fisher, that led to some face-melting shred-offs. That was still hinted at in this set, but what's been far more surprising as this duo has gelled is how Fisher has used Gennaro's rhythmic sensibility to push him into deeper melodic territory, crafting a new and more interestingly subtle chemistry. The development of this sound can be tracked on the new Arachnidiscs tape the pair were releasing at this gig.

Recording: Mike Gennaro + Colin Fisher

Artist: Mike Gennaro + Colin Fisher

Song: [last piece]

Recorded at Musideum, March 12, 2014.

Mike Gennaro + Colin Fisher - [last piece]

Full review to follow. This musical pairing seems to be powerful enough to evoke extreme weather whenever they join forces, whether an ice storm the last time I saw 'em or an unseasonal visit from a polar vortex this time out. Fisher brought his alto for this set, and seemed to have a lot of notes to get out. Gennarro obliged with some rapid-fire drumming, making the bulk of the set a frenetic experience, little melodies exploding like pop rocks. This short coda to the set — still rather peppy — was as restrained as they got this time out.

Recording: Aldcroft-Fisher-Gennaro

Artist: Ken Aldcroft/Colin Fisher/Mike Gennaro

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, December 21, 2013.

Aldcroft-Fisher-Gennaro - [excerpt from first piece]

Full review to follow. As the ice storm moved in outside, all was cozy in the Imperial's back room, host to a casual night of no-holds-barred free improvisation, guitar, sax and drums bouncing off each other in rolling swells.