The trio of Toronto-based drummer Mike Gennaro and UK improvisers John Edwards (bass) and Alex Ward (clarinet and guitar) first played together in 2023, in a meeting subsequently released as their debut CD “ACTIVITY” (Copepod Records POD20).
Following this release, the trio embarked on two tours in 2025 with concerts in Germany, Poland and the UK. Live concert recordings from these performances are featured on the newly released "25 LIVES" on Silver Set Records.
NEW RELEASE:
LIVE VIDEO:
REVIEW OF "ACTIVITY" - Free Jazz Blog
https://www.freejazzblog.org/2025/06/john-edwards-mike-gennaro-alex-ward.html
John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, Peter Brötzmann, Mulatu Astatke and many others.
Alex Ward is a composer, improviser, and performing musician, working primarily with clarinet and guitar. His involvement in freely improvised music dates back to 1986, when he met the guitarist Derek Bailey. He subsequently took part regularly in Bailey's Company events, and has gone on to become a major figure in British improvised music.
His current work includes the avant-rock duo Dead Days Beyond Help in which he plays guitar, sings and co-writes the material; various groups which perform his compositions-for-improvisers including Forebrace, the Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet and improvising collaborations both regular and ad-hoc with musicians including Steve Noble, Dominic Lash, Kay Grant, Joe Morris and Weasel Walter. Besides his own groups and improvisational work, he also performs in ensembles including the Duck Baker Trio/Quartet, Thurston Moore’s recent multi-guitar projects Galaxies and New Noise Guitar Explorations, and Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward’s This Is Not This Heat.
https://alexward.bandcamp.com/album/activity
Drummer Mike Gennaro burst into improvised music circles in 1999 with the release Port Huron Picnic (Spool), a disc with lauded Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Then still in his early twenties, Gennaro also made two appearances at the Toronto Jazz Festival, duetting with another trailblazing saxophonist — the inimitable John Butcher. Subsequent concert collaborations have included internationally acclaimed improvisers such as Juini Booth, Wilbert de Joode, Veryan Weston, Trevor Watts and Tobi Delius.
In 2022 a short German tour saw him performing in duo settings with Eric Boeren, Frank Gratkowski, and Matthias Schubert. Later that year, a week of recording sessions in Berlin produced the newly released INITIALS with Brad Henkel on trumpet and a trio recording with bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall and bassist Ben Lehmann entitled SECOND TAKE.
John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, he has played with Evan Parker, Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, Lol Coxhill, Peter Brötzmann, Mulatu Astatke and many others.
Alex Ward is a composer, improviser, and performing musician, working primarily with clarinet and guitar. His involvement in freely improvised music dates back to 1986, when he met the guitarist Derek Bailey. He subsequently took part regularly in Bailey's Company events, and has gone on to become a major figure in British improvised music.
His current work includes the avant-rock duo Dead Days Beyond Help in which he plays guitar, sings and co-writes the material; various groups which perform his compositions-for-improvisers including Forebrace, the Alex Ward Quintet/Sextet and improvising collaborations both regular and ad-hoc with musicians including Steve Noble, Dominic Lash, Kay Grant, Joe Morris and Weasel Walter. Besides his own groups and improvisational work, he also performs in ensembles including the Duck Baker Trio/Quartet, Thurston Moore’s recent multi-guitar projects Galaxies and New Noise Guitar Explorations, and Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward’s This Is Not This Heat.
https://alexward.bandcamp.com/album/activity
Drummer Mike Gennaro burst into improvised music circles in 1999 with the release Port Huron Picnic (Spool), a disc with lauded Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. Then still in his early twenties, Gennaro also made two appearances at the Toronto Jazz Festival, duetting with another trailblazing saxophonist — the inimitable John Butcher. Subsequent concert collaborations have included internationally acclaimed improvisers such as Juini Booth, Wilbert de Joode, Veryan Weston, Trevor Watts and Tobi Delius.
In 2022 a short German tour saw him performing in duo settings with Eric Boeren, Frank Gratkowski, and Matthias Schubert. Later that year, a week of recording sessions in Berlin produced the newly released INITIALS with Brad Henkel on trumpet and a trio recording with bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall and bassist Ben Lehmann entitled SECOND TAKE.