'A Dance That Empties' now streaming!
Stream my new record A Dance That Empties HERE as a part of a special feature via LPR. The record comes out on Friday 2/23! Tour dates are posted in the 'shows' page!
Vandoren Interview
Vandoren recently interviewed me about saxophone extended techniques.If you're interested the interview can be found HERE.
Moers Festival
I'm happy to be included in the program of this year's Moers Festival in Germany on June 5th.Battle Trance will also perform in Rotterdam on June 6th and in Amsterdam at the Bimhuis on June 8th. Here is an interview for the Moers Festival website.
Victoriaville
Very much looking forward to performing this weekend with Battle Trance at The Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. Also on the festival is Terry Riley, Anthony Braxton, and many other greats. We perform Saturday, May 20th @ 1pm.
A Dance That Empties
Wednesday, March 1st will be the premiere of my newest long-form composition entitled A Dance That Empties at Roulette in Brooklyn, NY. The piece features Gerald Cleaver on drums and myself on tenor saxophone. Also on the evening is Battle Trance (TL, Patrick Breiner, Matt Nelson, Jeremy Viner- tenor saxophones) performing Blade of Love. If there was only one concert of my music that you can attend this year, I would recommend this one. Here is the facebook invite.
Travis Laplante (L) and Gerald Cleaver (R).
End of the Year
Some recent press/end of the year lists that include 'Blade of Love':
Rolling Stone: '20 Best Avant Albums of 2016'
Stereogum: '10 Best Jazz Albums of 2016'
Bandcamp Daily: 'New Directions in Sax'
Uncanned Music: 'Favorite albums of 2016'
'Blade of Love' is out today!
It is with joy and intense vulnerability that I announce that Battle Trance's Blade of Love is now available. As most of you know, Battle Trance is my tenor saxophone quartet with Patrick Breiner, Matt Nelson, and Jeremy Viner, and has been a primary musical focus of mine for the past few years. Blade of Love is the culmination of 2+ years of writing, rigorous rehearsals, many tears, and a little laughter.
CD/digital download/free stream available via New Amsterdam Records:http://battletrance.bandcamp.com/album/blade-of-love
Vinyl version available via NNA Tapes:http://nnatapes.com/available-releases/battle-trance-blade-of-love/
@ Roulette
The first 100 people who pre-order Battle Trance’s upcoming vinyl LP Blade of Love from NNA Tapes will receive a FREE limited edition cassette tape, @ Roulette, a beautifully recorded Battle Trance live performance.@ Roulette is strictly limited edition with no digital release. It contains full color artwork featuring the art of Daniel Seiders, housed in metallic gold cassette tapes. @ Roulette will not be sold separately, it is only available with the first 100 orders from nnatapes.com and will not be re-pressed.
Dusted List
I recently contributed to Dusted Magazine's "Listed" feature where I wrote about music, books, etc. that I love. Here it is.
Announcing 'Blade of Love'
Battle Trance's 2nd record, entitled Blade of Love will be released on August 26th via New Amsterdam Records/ NNA Tapes.Pre-order the CD/DigitalPre-order the Vinyl Watch the official trailer for the record:[embed]https://youtu.be/QIOrLn9YMjI[/embed]
I can't hear your breath loud enough- full video
The full version of I can't hear your breath loud enough, my collaboration with the great Montreal-based choreographer Susan Paulson is now up online. Thanks so much to Charlie Birns for doing such a beautiful job directing the video.
Release Day
My new duo record with trumpet great Peter Evans entitled Secret Meeting is now available via NNA Tapes! You can listen/purchase Here.
Upcoming release!
My upcoming duo CD with the great Peter Evans (trumpet) entitled Secret Meeting is off to the press. It's due out on February 5th, 2016 via NNA Tapes. I'm very much looking forward to sharing this music with everyone. Our NYC record release concert is on Feb. 6th. More details soon!
Guelph Jazz Festival
Battle Trance will open the 2015 Guelph Jazz Festival on September 15th. It looks like an amazing lineup this year. I will also be giving a talk as a part of the GJF colloquium on September 17th. My talk is entitled "Wisdom, Love, and Vitality: the aspects of the great improviser."More info HERE
Spring Update
Hello friends,Here is a quick update of what I have been working on:I recently recorded a duo with Peter Evans (trumpet).I am nearing the completion of my next set of solo saxophone music which will most likely be recorded this fall.The next piece of music for Battle Trance is in the process of being composed and rehearsed.Some other very exciting news to be announced soon!
early reactions
Here are some links to some early words on Palace of Wind:The Talkhouse (review by the great Roger C. Miller from Mission of Burma!)PopMatters (Live review of our recent concert in Chicago)The New York Times Classical PlaylistTiny Mix TapesChicago ReaderWing Walker Music (Audio Interview)The Whole NoteWondering Sound
Palace of Wind is out today!!!!
Hello friends,Today marks the official release of Battle Trance's Palace of Wind!!!You can stream, download, or purchase a CD via New Amsterdam Records HERE.Vinyl is available via NNA Tapes HEREOur record release concert is on September 24th @ Roulette and we were touring quite a lot this fall so I hope to see some of you out there!HERE is a review by the great Roger C. Miller (Mission of Burma) that came out yesterday via The Talkhouse: .
Listen to the first track off of 'Palace of Wind'
I'm happy to announce that the A.V. Club just premiered the first track off of Palace of Wind, my tenor saxophone quartet Battle Trance's debut record that comes out August 26th via New Amsterdam Records and NNA Tapes. Battle Trance features Patrick Breiner, Matt Nelson, Jeremy Viner, and myself. You can LISTEN HERE to "Palace of Wind I" which is the first movement from the album-length composition. .Pre-order the CD HERE.