HUNTER DIAMOND + MIKE REED

NILIA

CUR003 - second release in the Metal and Wood Series

Hunter Diamond // saxophone, clarinet, percussion.

Mike Reed // drums

Released November 2021

Captured just days after the national lockdown announcements in March 2020, NILIA (an invented word referring to the commonplace circle and line logo that indicates prohibited activity) animates the restless questioning and ambiguous stresses of standing on unstable ground looking into an uncertain future.

Plaintive mercy-ballads pre-nounce desolation’s doorstep. Anemic marches find courage in searching for a foothold. Scatterbrained onslaughts of noise-collage refuse to accept pattern or prose until only the simplest of themes provide a deconstructive exit strategy. Peripheral notions of bygone melodies and parade grandeur are wedded with the gravitational landing strip of the southern L-bend in the bar at the beloved Hungry Brain.

The Metal and Wood project is a series of live improvisations between woodwind artist Hunter Diamond and various drummers living in the United States. Captured in different locations in Chicago and New Orleans, these recordings document Diamond’s ongoing interest in the saxophone-drums pairing made historic by legendary collaborations between John Coltrane & Rashied Ali, Archie Shepp & Max Roach, Dewey Redman & Ed Blackwell, Charles Lloyd & Billy Higgins, Joe McPhee & Hamid Drake, and many others.

Available through Curio Records (CD) and Bandcamp (CD/digital/streaming)

Featured Track: “Courtside”