Edge City Collective

Edge City Collective formed in Philadelphia in the late-1990s as a guerrilla response to relentless homogenation and commercialization of the music “industry.” Using newly emerging technology to collaborate, the group created a series of fresh and bold indie recordings using improvisation, forging many influences into a unique sound. The group released three themed CDs (the Edge City Trilogy) in the early years of the new century: Guitarrasalto (2000) focused on guitar improvising. Kosmischstrasse (2001) was a freeform romp through different instrumental combinations and moods. Activavoco (2007) introduced voice as instrument, creating radically new possibilities. It’s fair to say that this series was the precursor to Right Brain Records, and all that’s happened here since..

The music is, at turns, playful, jarring, dissonant, sweet, soulful and meditative. It's all about being in the moment, but also about the contrasts between moments. Though the Collective did perform free improv concerts on occasion, this was not a band—instead, the recordings explored the full range of combinations with many duets, trios, quartets and more. The members often worked together without direct verbal communication, overdubbing tracks on each others’ work spontaneously. The results were usually unexpected, always unplanned and often remarkable. Despite thumbing their collective nose at the establishment, Edge City received overwhelming acclaim from music critics (see examples below).

Edge City musicians include: Michael Taylor (bass); Jon Thompson (winds); Bart Miltenberger (trumpet); Jon Madof (guitar), Paul Woznicki (keys/synths); Paul Downie (percussion); Ranji Kumar (accordion); Scott MacDonald (drums); Hugh Wattles (winds); Kevin Hertzog (violin); and Scott Schaffer (guitars and production). Several vocalists made guest appearances on Activavoco: Vickie Dodd, Devan Miller, Judith-Kate Friedman, Jim Couture.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the early recordings, Right Brain Records has reworked the originals with 2021 releases:

• Guitarrasalto SE is a new take on the original theme, a tightly focused program that includes remasters and three pieces not on the original CD. The most melodic and tonal off ECC’s work, this album highlights the guitarring of Jon Madof, later with Rashanim (Tzadik label) and Zion80 (Chant label).

• Kosmischstrasse is perhaps the signature ECC album, a wild ride through strange musical territories with round-robin contributions from the instrumentalists. The anniversary edition includes remasters optimized for digital consumption.

• Cosmosongs is a singularly mysterious new program of avant-garde jazz featuring ECC’s work with vocal improviser Vickie Dodd. Remixing recordings from the 2007 sessions, this collection includes polished versions and previously unreleased material.

Audio:

Digital album Cosmosongs

Digital album Kosmischstrasse

Digital album Guitarrasalto SE

Reviews of Kosmischstrasse:

"Cutting a dream-like montage of membranous sounds... a chain-linked stream of tone poems, the program is at once absorbing and confounding and offers a consistent sense of surprise. Pieces of genuine lyric beauty, such as the folk-tinged "Rencontre" contend with more abstract, rambunctious entries like the playfully transitory "Sonderbar" in a manner that keeps things fresh and vital."
- Cadence

"Out of Philadelphia’s musical underground comes Edge City Collective... On Edge City’s second release, the 10-piece unit shifts arrangements, pairings and instruments to create a creepy, ambient esoteric mix of styles and traditions fusing classical, European folk and jazz... The band has doubled in size since its first recording and so has its potential, merging the album’s 24 tracks into a seamless path of exploration, capturing the band in great form."
- Daniel Piotrowsky, Signal to Noise

"As part two in a trilogy of improvisational music, Kosmischstrasse has the musicians in Edge City Collective exploring an even more far-out world than in part one... ECC is definitely comfortable with taking chances, and the creation that emerges seems to take on a life of its own. The improvisation here is surely alive, breathing, speaking and crying out in a fashion that is sorely absent in the mainstream."
- Mish Mash Indie Music Reviews

"Kosmischstrasse is a challenging and diverse album that gives no quarter to casual or inattentive listeners... Those who enjoy vigorous musical experimentation and inventive style-melding are in for a treat."
- Matthew Pollesel, Splendid E-Zine

"[Kosmischstrasse is] raging creativity and normalcy-be-damned inventiveness... Jezihohana" is like being in the darkness behind the tent of a possibly malevolent circus while lovely "Rencontre" is much warmer with rootsy jangles and violin strands. Crowded and discordant "Katzenmusik" sounds like several random street minstrels, Italian restaurant musicians and a jazz combo or two converged into one small room to simultaneously play their own song. Traces of assorted ethnicities surge through entrancing reel-along, "Beledara," followed by dimly-lit avant-jazz. If you enjoy the sounds of normal instruments being transcendentally abused into surreal performances, you'll hear almost 69 minutes of animalistic squawking, plinky strings, cartoony effects, inexplicable outbursts and even some relatively traditional sounds too."
- David Opdyke, Ambientrance

"[Kosmischstrasse is] highly varied, with quiet introspective acoustic tracks, as well as ones that are on the border of complete freakout... "Rencontre" mixes some light tribal percussion in with beautiful violin and acoustic guitar for a soothing and captivating track... "Phasengranze" sounds like a drunken street-corner band heard layered through reeling effects... The group is at its best [on] tracks like the excellent "Beledara"... there are definitely shining moments in some of the experimental tracks as well.
- Almostcool Music Reviews

"Kosmischstrasse... brings the Collective from six players to 11, significantly broadening not only the possibilities but the results"... "Solarena"... would keep Wim Wenders and David Lynch good company... "Beledara," [is] cast in mythical Eastern shadow... "Rimbombare"... gets embellished... to excellent effect.
- Liz Spikol, Philadelphia Weekly

"Through an amalgam of styles and recording techniques, the fearless musicians of Edge City take the intrepid listener on an awe-inspiring ride through musical consciousness. Not for the complacent."
- Tropia.com

Reviews of Guitarrasalto:

"The moment I received [Guitarrasalto] and put it on my CD player, I knew that I had found a treasure... This delicacy is a feast for the ear where intricate tangos mix freely with avant-garde fluidity and jazzy intaglios to create a magnificent tableaux of fresh verve and exuberant vitality. Surprisingly classical but, at the same time, audaciously new. This is a great recording from these five independent, improvisational artists, to be had and savoured all summer long!"
- Stavros Moschopoulos, FAO Casa Gazette, Roma

"This collection... is all about emotion. At times reminiscent of Paulinho Noguira and other great Brazilian jazz artists... "Upekuzi" is as pretty as anything Henry Kaiser and Donald Lindley have discovered on their journeys through Mozambique. Those who love every aspect of the guitar will love this... The Collective's focus... is very broad and diverse, appealing to fans of guitar work understated as Guy Clark or as complex as Steve Reich."
- Theodore Defosse, Splendid E-Zine

"The variety of sounds they get with acoustic guitars, basses, sax, melodica, accordion and a touch of mandolin is astounding... creating a palette of emotional soundscapes that is at once soothing and unsettling, urban with an occasional touch of country roots. All instrumental, heady, and full of feeling, [Guitarrasalto] is a fascinating collection."
- da Flower Punk, PauseRecord

"Who says music has to be formulaic and structured? The musicians that make up the Edge City Collective make it a point to take risks and explore the unknown possibilities of music... The Dixieland jive of "Osweetmoses" merges into the experimental flamenco of "Nippon Theme." The experimentation keeps the music alive and enjoyable from beginning to end."
- Mish Mash Indie Music Reviews

"What is remarkable is that on most tracks you may be hearing the first and only performance of a piece — truly the act of creation captured for the listener's enjoyment... be sure to check out Guitarrasalto and give the Collective a critical listen."
- Guitar Nine Records Magazine

"The players are all fine musicians, with chops a-plenty and the wherewithal to apply them... Each title sounds very different from the one before or after it [yet] the group does seem to maintain an identity. If your taste in listening runs toward the sweet and tonal, pick this up."
- Jeph Jerman, The Improvisor

"Four stars... an experiment in theme-based free improvisation and guerilla aesthetics... "Osweetmoses" has both Madof and Schaffer earning wows all around... "
- Jeff Morris, 52nd St. Jazz

"[Guitarrasalto] dips into multiple cultural themes and offer up twists at each turn... Opener "Citron" is a rather atmospheric guitar and bass contemplation; "Osweetmoses" a Les Paul-ian rag;
- Brian Howard, Philadelphia City Paper

"An eclectic, creative, improvisational product... of course calling it a product is exactly what the artists are set against... nuanced, melodious... avant-garde, experimental... the melding of genres and instruments comes off well."
- Armand Canales, The Critical Review

Reviews of Activavoco:

"Edge City Collective is a coalition of like-minded creative musicians who seem determined to defy musical categorization... While some of the pieces are intended as deliberate reflections on the absurdities of society, others evoke satire, diversity and optimism... The musicians involved are all strongly adept, yet the focus is not on musical virtuosity, but rather on the imaginative and spontaneous reactions to sound. The vocalizations are all unique and integrate with the core instrumentation to create fresh textures. Dodd, who has performed with Anthony Braxton, and Miller, with mesmerizing Tuvan throat-singing, bring an abundance of creativity to the proceedings... The sounds of Edge City Collective are fresh, bold and challenging. Aktivavoco is the perfect remedy to cure one’s displeasure for the mundane and trivial."
- John Barron, JazzReview

"Aktivavoco is an example of what can happen when a large ensemble of diversely talented musicians get together to improvise without boundaries, drawing on a huge range of Western and Eastern spiritual/musical traditions and throwing in some poetry and political satire too."
- Nate Dorward, Cadence

“Dodd exudes a spiritual energy that is at turns meditative and frenetic... “Metamorfozo” builds to peak intensity... Aktivavoco is Edge City Collective’s most challenging work to date. Inventive, spontaneous and rewarding, it is a fitting end to the trilogy.”
- Sam Mitchell, The Improvisor