Paul Flaherty by Stefano Giovannini
photo by Stefano Giovannini
www.stefanogiovannini.com

PAUL FLAHERTY-
CHRIS CORSANO DUO

PLAY

THE HATED MUSIC
Chris Corsano by Stefano Giovannini
photo by Stefano Giovannini
www.stefanogiovannini.com

"While buckleheaded fascists continue to try and stop the progressive roiling of the essential ecstatic impulse that lurks in us all, Flaherty and Corsano negate their every thrust w/ gorgeous parries of sheer emotional intellect." - Byron Coley
 

Saxophonist Paul Flaherty and drummer Chris Corsano are New England-based musicians dedicated to the promise and purpose of free improvisation. Paul has released over 35 recordings since the late 70's, while Chris first appeared on record in 1997 (see discography). For the past 8 years, the two have operated together in duo format as well as in collaborations with some of the finest freedom thinkers around such as C. Spencer Yeh (aka Burning Star Core), Nmperign's Greg Kelly, Thurston Moore and Jim O'Rourke of Sonic Youth, Tony Conrad, Matt Heyner of Test and the No Neck Blues Band, Daniel Carter, Christina Carter and Heather Murray of Charalambides/Scorces, Wally Shoup, and Steve Swell. Together, Flaherty & Corsano seek to champion the cause of total free improvisation, an often misunderstood, underestimated, and sometimes even hated artform.

 

UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS - BOTH TOGETHER AND SOLO

corsano only Michael Flower-Chris Corsano Duo - 4/12/08 at Hare & Hounds in Birmingham, England. Kings Heath. 8pm. £7. With The Far Park.
corsano only Chris Corsano Solo - 4/15/08 at Prince Albert in Brighton, England. 8pm. With Blood Stereo, Jettatura, Boldie Awkwardstra.
corsano only Michael Flower-Chris Corsano Duo - 4/18/08 at The Croft in Bristol, England. 7pm. £10 advance. With Merzbow, Carlos Giffoni, Totton Glass.
corsano only Michael Flower-Chris Corsano Duo - 4/19/08 at St. Giles in the Fields in London, England. WC2H 8LG. With Ben Reynolds, Hanna Tuulikki.
corsano only Paul Dunmall-Chris Corsano Duo - 4/23/08 Slak Bar in Cheltenham, England. 8pm doors. £6 advance, £4 concessions. With Men Diamler.
corsano only Michael Flower-Chris Corsano Duo - 4/26/08 at Murray's in Dublin, Ireland. Murray's (formerly Fraziers), 35/36 O'Connell St. 8pm. 13 euro. With Magnetize, Thread Pulls.
corsano only Chris Corsano Solo - 4/27/08 at The Black Box in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
flaherty only Weasel Walter-Paul Flaherty Duo - 5/2/08 at New Grass Center For Underground Culture in Florence, MA.
corsano only Michael Flower-Chris Corsano Duo - 5/3/08 at Heeley Institute in Sheffield, England. Hartley St., Heeley, Sheffield S2 4QP.
corsano only Chris Corsano Solo - 5/6/08 at Sacred Trinity Church in Salford, England. 5pm. £8 advance. With Denis Jones.
corsano only C. Spencer Yeh-Chris Corsano Duo - 5/10/08 at Sound Forest/Skanu Mezs Festival in Riga, Latvia.
Open Circuit: Interact (Sven-Ake Johansson, Christine Sehnaoui, John Edwards, Helena Espvall, Evan Parker, Wally Shoup, Paul Flaherty, Chris Corsano, John Olson, Hans Buetow, Ben Hall, C. Spencer Yeh) - 5/23/08 at Kunstencentrum Belgie in Hasselt, Belgium.
Open Circuit: Interact - 5/24/08 at Kunstencentrum Belgie in Hasselt, Belgium.
flaherty only Paul Flaherty - 6/21/08 at Casa del Popolo in Montreal, Quebec.

If you want more details on these shows or to be on an upcoming show mailing list, email chris @ yod . com (without spaces)

Click here for a complete history of all Flaherty-Corsano shows.

FLAHERTY-CORSANO RECORDINGS

Thurston Moore Quartet - The Roadhouse Session Vol. 1 CD

Same line up as Live At Tonic (Wally Shoup, Paul Flaherty, Thurston Moore & Chris Corsano). This is a studio recording from Sept. 2002, unintentionally aged for 5 years in the incapable hands of the drummer and then rescued from obscurity by Jim O'Rourke for Japanese Columbia.

 Cover of Roadhouse Session Vol. 1 CD
Cover of Blank Check LP

Shoup/Corsano/Flaherty - Blank Check LP
The Finnish half of the 2nd twin-release of the Tyyfus and Records labels. The first time around was the Flaherty-Corsano Last Eyes/Steel Sleet LPs. This time out it's recordings from a live set of the Wally Shoup, Corsano & Flaherty trio at Gallery 1412 in Seattle, WA in October 2005.

Shoup/Corsano/Flaherty - Bounced Check LP
The Records half of the Blank/Bounced Check sister releases. Again, recorded Oct 2005 at Seattle's Gallery 1412. Shoup on alto, Corsano on drums, Flaherty on alto & tenor.

 Cover of Bounced Check LP
Cover of Simitu CD

Cold Bleak Heat - Simitu CD
Second Cold Bleak Heat (Flaherty/Corsano/Matt Heyner/Greg Kelley) release and the lucky number 13th full length release for Flaherty/Corsano. As with the first Cold Bleak Heat, on the Family Vineyard label.

mp3 of Pound Cake

Dream/Aktion Unit - Blood Shadow Rampage CD
First release by the Dream/Aktion Unit. This line-up features Thurston Moore, Count Hejnowski, Heather Leigh Murray, Flaherty and Corsano. Recorded live at Le Weekend, May 2004. Artwork by the great Karen Constance.


 Cover of Blood Shadow Rampage CD
Cover of Slow Blind Avalanche LP

Flaherty/Corsano/Yeh - Slow Blind Avalanche LP
Vinyl only release, limited to 1000 copies with the first 200 on snow-white vinyl. Recorded at the same session as A Rock In The Snow (but totally different cuts than that CD). Artwork by C. Spencer Yeh. Liner notes by John Olson.

Flaherty/Corsano/Yeh - A Rock In The Snow CD
Recorded in Hartford as part of the session with C. Spencer Yeh on violin and vocals that also birthed the Slow Blind Avalanche LP, both on Important Records. Artwork by Spencer, liners by John Olson.

mp3 clip of We Have To Check Your Equipment For Bombs

 Cover of A Rock In the Snow CD
Cover of Full Bottle LP

Flaherty/Corsano Duo - Full Bottle LP
Another live one from Louisville, this one from 2005. Fifth duo recording (third on vinyl) by Flaherty/Corsano. Artwork by Dennis Tyfus and released by his estimable Ultra Eczema label. Limited to 400 copies. There is a commercial for this record here, done by a couple of Belgium's finest thespians.

Flaherty/Corsano Duo - The Beloved Music CD
Recorded live in Louisville, KY in 2004 and released in '06 by Family Vineyard, with liner notes by David Keenan. "Like biting in to the skin of free-creature and having the swarm attack your feeble body." - John Olson.

mp3 clip of The Great Pine Tar Scandal

 Cover of The Beloved Music CD
Cover of Steel Sleet LP

Flaherty/Corsano Duo - Steel Sleet LP
Issued by the Finnish label, Tyyfus, Steel Sleet is the all-tenor (minus a little bit of alto mouth-piece on one track) corollary to the Last Eyes LP.

Flaherty/Corsano Duo - Last Eyes LP
4 years after the The Hated Music, the Flaherty-Corsano Duo makes another appearance on record, this time a vinyl full length of all-alto & drums material. Released by Records in conjunction with it's tenor-heavy sister record, Steel Sleet on the Tyyfus label.

mp3

 Cover of Last Eyes LP
Cover of The Dim Bulb CD

Steve Baczkowski/Chris Corsano/Paul Flaherty - The Dim Bulb CD
Baritone player Steve Baczkoski hails from Buffalo, rides his bike to gigs with his horn on his back (it's a baritone for Christ's sake!), and wails harder than most sax players either 1/2 or double his age or anywhere in between. This is a live recording of a this trio's first show, May 31st, 2003.

Cold Bleak Heat - It's Magnificent, But It Isn't War CD
Flaherty, Corsano, Greg Kelley (trumpet - nmperign, Heathen Shame, BSC) and Matt Heyner (bass -TEST, No Neck Blues Band, Izitiitz). On Family Vineyard. Liner notes by Dredd Foole.

mp3 clips from It's Magnificent, But It Isn't War:
Raising The Dead (Freezer Fight)
The Blue Dabs Of Varicose Veins

Cover of It's Magnificent, But It Isn't War CD
Cover of Live at Tonic CD

Wally Shoup/Paul Flaherty/Thurston Moore/Chris Corsano - Live at Tonic CD
On Leo Records. A live set recorded at Tonic in NYC on September 14th, 2002. Cover art by Wally Shoup.

mp3 clip: Live at Tonic

Paul Flaherty/Greg Kelley/Chris Corsano - Sannyasi CD
The second offering from Flaherty & Corsano is a trio disc with Boston-based trumpeter Greg Kelley. Released in July, 2002, on Flaherty's new imprint Wet Paint, with Paul's artwork gracing the front cover.

mp3 clip from Wayless Way

 Cover of Sannyasi CD
Cover of The Hated Music CD

Flaherty/Corsano Duo - The Hated Music CD
This is the debut CD from the Paul Flaherty-Chris Corsano Duo, released by Ecstatic Yod, the combination of Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace & Byron Coley's Father Yod labels. With cover art by the great Gary Panter and liner notes by Byron "power kuk" Coley.

mp3 clips from The Hated Music:
Hat City Fire Truck
Tom Wilson's Dream
Rut One

See Flaherty & Corsano's full discographies here or view video footage.


SOME WORDS FROM THE PRESS

"Flaherty and his saxophones are a subterranean legend in the kingdoms of the north. Since the 'In the Midst of Chaos' LP was recorded, back in the mid '70s, Paul has been a persistent roar in the distance - pervading the aura of the region's improvisational underground, whilst eschewing its spotlights. Chris Corsano is one of the most immensely talented drummers to have emerged from the recent past. Those who have witnessed the giganticism of his formal leaps in the jaws of post-avant-garde power surging, have been left slack w/ the wonder & hilarity of it all." - Byron Coley

"If the duo situation is all about communication, then Flaherty and Corsano are clearly an ideal musical partnership." - Robert Iannapollo, Cadence Magazine

"The Hated Music is an absolute tour de force, superbly recorded and positively spitting fire from beginning to end. Taking its place in the canon of magnificent sax/drums collaborations starting with Coltrane's Interstellar Space and Frank Lowe's Duo Exchange (both with Rashied Ali on percussives), The Hated Music can stand its ground against these two classics without fear." - Dan Warburton, Paris Transatlantic/Signal To Noise

"It's the focused flashes of pure white light that'll keep you coming back, from the strangulated beauty of 'Incident At Powder Ridge' through the duo assault of 'Closing The Tea Party', Flaherty and Corsano make an infernal tag team." - David Keenan, The Wire on The Hated Music

"More than thirty years after the death of Albert Ayler, Flaherty and Corsano's music is the most compelling evidence I've heard in some time that music like this still needs to be played." Charlie Wilmoth, Dusted Magazine

More press quotes here.

Picture from Stone For Don Conka. Photo by Stephanie Pollnac
photo by Stephanie Pollnac

 

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