Recording: Bill Gilliam

Artist: Bill Gilliam

Song: The owl watches us swim naked

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #114), March 3, 2026.

Bill Gilliam - The owl watches us swim naked

Bill Gilliam is well known for his work on piano (with and without preparations), but taking to heart the series' invitation to experiment a little with gear/content/technique he brought a rare set of electronic and electroacoustic sounds. With some deep soundscapes courtesy of an MPC, he presented some "imaginary familiars" with prerecorded poetry, a wordless story of an owl with some excellent radiophonic sound design, and a spaceward search for future paths.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday, May 5th with sets from the rest (Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay), Wobbly + John Oswald, and Red Trillium (Andrew Finlay Stewart, Matt Nguyen and Justin Caporuscio).]

Recording: Roter/Constant/Gilliam

Artist: Raphael Roter/Sara Constant/Bill Gilliam

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Track Could Bend #100), February 16, 2025.

Raphael Roter/Sara Constant/Bill Gilliam - [excerpt]

Track Could Bend will be having its tenth anniversary in April — although given how time got weird for a while there and the series took fourteen months off, it seems like a slightly ambiguous mark for celebration. This big round number, however, felt like the right opportunity to mark a special occasion. In the beforetimes, TCB marked its anniversaries with special events, gathering the folks who had played over the previous year and drawing names from a hat to construct some spontaneous new combos. I had the notion to scale that up and duly invited back everyone who had ever played the series — over three hundred performers! — for an afternoon and evening of fun.

As fate would have it, the long-planned-for day came with a monumental snowstorm, so the inability to get around kept some folks at home. And yet, this event still saw twenty-one performers take the stage, duly selected from the hat and sorted into seven trios. As is often the case, these instant bands made some gorgeous sounds, showing off the ability of TCB's community to adapt, co-operate and thrive. A fun time was had by many — a fitting launch to the next ten years.

Wonderful stuff here, with the formalisms of Sara Constant's (MFS#71, 87, 95) flute and Bill Gilliam's (MFS#55) prepared piano riding along with Raphael Roter's (MFS#99) intuitive synth pads.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona Lodge, its usual home, on April 1st in a special co-presentation with Ministry of Phonic Services presenting sets from Mira Martin-Gray & Sierra Weston and Wilderness Adventure Ride.]

Recording: Counterstasis Duo

Artist: Counterstasis Duo

Song: [improvisation for Ted] [edit]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Ted Phillips Memorial Concert), September 17, 2023.

Counterstasis Duo - [improvisation for Ted] [edit]

As families and communities do, kinfolk and friends gathered together to mark the loss of Ted Phillips. There was a chance to share memories while a whole bunch of the local musicians that Ted enjoyed played short solo or duo sets.

Playing without percussionist Joe Sorbara, Bill Gilliam (piano) and Glen Hall (electronics, reeds) took a more sombre and elegaic path, but with a few sonic pokes in the shoulder.

You can check out footage of all the music from the event's second half over on youtube:

Bumping into... Bill Gilliam

Bumping Into... is a series of mini-chats with a variety of peeps that you might run into in some of our local music communities. (There's a bit of an intro and my thoughts behind the series here.)

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How are you? Where are you?

Overall pretty good thanks, still living in Toronto. Like most people I'm finding this period quite challenging especially when the weather got colder.

What have you been up to since March or so?

I did some remote online improv with Coexisdance, hosted by Rapheal Roter, with dancer Yvonne Ng which was great.

I performed online with Doug Van Nort, Glen Hall & Joe Sorbara as well as with Michael Palumbo in his Exit Points Series and also did some jamming online with Kayla Milmine & Ambrose Pottie and others.

In the summer I recorded my spoken word piece called “Vigil” online with Toronto Improvisors Orchestra players. These poems are about different people's perspectives on COVID and the recording is now on Bandcamp. One of these tracks was played on CIUT Electric Sense and BBC 3 heard it and played it later on a show called “Freeness”.

I also had a chance to record some improv tracks for an album together with Bill McBirnie (flute) & Eugene Martynec (laptop) in a studio in September which we are now working on to release sometime next year which we are excited about.

Have you found any new ways to do old things? How are you feeling about the shifts in how music is being made/shared/listened to?

In 2020 I've been more focused on writing graphic scores as a new way for me to do old things (such as structured improv). My piece “Vigil” was a fun way to explore this type of score by arranging my poems spoken text as a guide to be accompanied by players using written instructions and some notation to improvise.

I'm working on some new pieces that use more graphic score type notations, symbols and images to be performed by improvising ensembles.

Any works of art that have been a light for you in these times? Anything that's just been a good diversion?

Kris Davis is a pianist who really stood out for me in recent months. I saw her perform with Ingrid Laubrock (sax) at the Women From Space Festival in Toronto just before the lockdown in March. It was one of the most inspiring performances I've seen in many years. I've been listening and following her performances online. She is such a wonderful Canadian talent who plays with top level international musicians.

For diversions this summer I visited the outdoor Zim Art collection near Rice Lake, Ontario which had wonderful soapstone sculptures by artists from Zimbabwe and also visited a number of conservation areas around Toronto in the summer to relax in nature.

How are you feeling about 2021?

More optimistic now than earlier in 2020. Despite all the challenges and tragedy, so many people are doing interesting and creative things to cope and adjust to the pandemic. With the virus vaccines now starting to be rolled out I think people will start to feel more encouraged about meeting and going out to concerts and we'll all have a chance to perform again. It'll be great to experience live music again when it is safe.

Anything else we'd chat about if we bumped into each other?

I'd like to say how great it is we had a chance to catch up and hear what you are doing and how much I appreciate all the work you've been doing to support our Toronto improv scene. Thanks Joe!

Recording: Bill Gilliam & Kayla Milmine

Artist: Bill Gilliam & Kayla Milmine

Song: Creek Listening [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #55), October 1, 2019.

Bill Gilliam & Kayla Milmine - Creek Listening [excerpt]

Originally slated as a trio alongside percussionist Ambrose Pottie, the latter's absence opened up some additional space in this already-open composition, revealing some beautiful textures for piano and soprano saxophone.

[Kayla Milmine will be back at Wenona tonight (Tuesday, November 26th), playing a solo set for soprano saxophone and celebrating her new solo album. Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona on Tuesday, December 3rd, with sets from Daniel Pencer, No Angels Dancing, and Patrick O'Reilly.]

Recording: Gilliam-Milmine-Pottie

Artist: Bill Gilliam/Kayla Milmine/Ambrose Pottie

Songs: Improvisation + Creek Listening

Recorded at Array Space, October 18, 2017.

Bill Gilliam/Kayla Milmine/Ambrose Pottie - Improvisation

Bill Gilliam/Kayla Milmine/Ambrose Pottie - Creek Listening

A night of celebration for the Entangled Pathways album, this trio moved easily between through-composed and more loosely structured pieces as well as some guided duo improvisations and the "open" encounter leading off here. That's fitting as these three first connected through the Toronto Improvisors Orchestra. The night featured most of the album's pieces over two sets, ranging from stately textures to choppier sonic waters, with extended techniques from all three wending their way into the music.

Recording: Gilliam-Hall-Sorbara

Artist: Bill Gilliam/Glen Hall/Joe Sorbara

Songs: [excerpts from two improvisations]

Recorded at Array Space, July 23, 2017.

Bill Gilliam/Glen Hall/Joe Sorbara - [excerpt from first piece]

Bill Gilliam/Glen Hall/Joe Sorbara - [excerpt from second piece]

This cozy Sunday night of "Over the Edge" improvisations was convened by Bill Gilliam to give five players each a couple chances to combine in different duos and trios. The night closed with this grouping, with Joe Sorbara's percussive negotiations holding the middle ground between Hall and Gilliam, each moving from more outside/manipulated sounds (the former's laptop processing, the latter's prepared piano percussion) to moments of acoustic clarity.

Recording: Bill Gilliam & Nicole Rampersaud

Artist: Bill Gilliam & Nicole Rampersaud

Song: [improvisation]

Recorded at Array Space, July 23, 2017.

Bill Gilliam & Nicole Rampersaud - [improvisation]

This cozy Sunday night of "Over the Edge" improvisations was convened by Bill Gilliam to give five players each a couple chances to combine in different duos and trios. Between the bookending trios that started and ended the night, there were a pair of duo encounters, including this short volley of ideas between Bill Gilliam's prepared piano calls and Rampersaud's trumpet responses.

Recording: Counterstasis

Artist: Counterstasis

Song: 11:30

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 12, 2016.

Counterstasis - 11:30

En route to another gig, I only managed to do a brief stop in to say hello and check out the first chunk of the set from this combo of Bill Gilliam (piano, keyb), Joe Sorbara (perc) and Glen Hall (reeds, laptop). But I did manage to catch this engagingly goofy start to things, with a dude at the bar initiating a loud phone conversation just as the musicians were about to start. They picked up on his energy, tossing a couple overheard phrases back and forth as they got going — the opposite of stasis indeed.

Recording: Gilliam-Milmine-Pottie

Artist: Bill Gilliam/Kayla Milmine/Ambrose Pottie

Songs: [two improvisations]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), May 29, 2016.

Gilliam-Milmine-Pottie - [second piece]

Gilliam-Milmine-Pottie - [fourth piece]

Subcontracted to fill in on a Sunday night for Steve Ward, this was a sort of FASTER presents side-projects kind of night. Kayla Milmine brought her soprano sax and was joined by Bill Gilliam (piano) and Ambrose Pottie (drums) for a series of explorations that saw tuneful jaunts prodded at the edges with some clamourous forays. The latter came especially from Pottie's percussive asides which gave some push/pull energy to the even-handed musical exchanges.

Recording: 416 Festival Spoken Word Band

Artist: 416 Festival Spoken Word Band feat. Brent Peers / John Oughton / John Evans

Songs: unknown^* / Elegy for Larry Dubin / A Thanksgiving Prayer [composer: William S. Burroughs]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival – Night 1), November 4, 2015.

Brent Peers + 416 Festival Spoken Word Band - [track 3]

John Oughton + 416 Festival Spoken Word Band - Elegy for Larry Dubin

John Evans + 416 Festival Spoken Word Band - A Thanksgiving Prayer

This year's edition of the 416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival lead off by tacking a form of collective improvisation it had never attempted before, with a house band (Bill Gilliam, Ambrose Pottie, Michael Lynn, Glen Hall) playing behind a series of poets and spoken word artists. They quickly picked up on the vibe of each piece, whether meditative or frightening (or anywhere in between), effortlessly complementing the speakers' words. Though the night's performers were a little unbalanced, there was definitely a lot of range in the speakers' techniques and tones.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Bill Gilliam & Glen Hall

Artist: Bill Gilliam & Glen Hall

Song: [fourth piece]

Recorded at Array Space ("Audiopollination 28.1"), March 1, 2015.

Bill Gilliam & Glen Hall - [fourth piece]

Bill Gilliam (prepared piano) and Glen Hall (laptop, saxophone, flutes, clarinet) played a quartet of miniatures, with Hall switching to a different instrument on each, and usually processing his sounds through Kyma X. Gilliam responded by playing with nearly as much variety, occasionally standing up to thwack at the strings from inside the housing. That they managed to express such a range of musical ideas with such succinctness made it all the more admirable.

[As always, you can revisit the whole night with a sterling recording over at the series' bandcamp. A busy month for Audiopollination wraps up on Monday (March 16th) at Array Space, with a special night of improvisations from visitors Aalborggroup plus local guests.]