{"product_id":"realism-cd-joe-morris-and-elliot-sharp","title":"Realism CD | Joe Morris and Elliot Sharp","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eProducer's notes:\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003ePairing my two favorite guitarists, Joe Morris and Elliott Sharp, succeeded—pardon the cliché—beyond my wildest dreams. Their contrasts and their commonalities came together in the studio in ways I’d never even imagined. The old ESP slogan “You never heard such sounds in your life” seemed as apt as it had ever been. Engineer Jim Clouse and I could barely believe what we were hearing, or even seeing—there were wave forms on the monitor we’d never witnessed before: instead of the usual spiky soundwaves of peaks and valleys, there were squiggles that looked like alien scripts imagined for a science-fiction movie!\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eEach track on Realism is kind of like three tracks: acoustic, effects, and the combination. Thus, in a way, the players are dueting not only with each other but also with themselves. (Morris is on the left, Sharp is on the right.) There is intentionality but also openness to the unplanned. Sometimes this kind of music is called “abstract” because it’s not made up of just simple melodies, harmonies, and rhythmic beats (and this session reminded me that the guitar is inherently a percussive instrument, though of course great players have ways of sometimes making us forget that). Everything is\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e“abstract” on some level, but that doesn’t mean its impact on listeners is solely abstract. As Albert Ayler demonstrated vividly, the sound of the notes is an integral part of how music is received by listeners, timbres mattering as much or even more than the pitches chosen in the heat of improvisation— the gestural shapes of the players’ lines and the way they intertwine create complex textures that reach our brains on both emotional and abstract levels that are greater than the sum of their parts.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEver since this session, I’ve been telling people it’ll be the most far-out album in ESP’s storied history—and that’s saying something when the label brought you Albert Ayler, The Godz, Sun Ra, and MIJ. And now, here it is.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003ecredits\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased May 30, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJoe Morris - guitars and effects\u003cbr\u003eElliott Sharp - guitars and electronics\u003cbr\u003eRecorded and mastered by Jim Clouse, Park West Studios, Brooklyn, NY on July 17, 2023.\u003cbr\u003eMixed by Elliott Sharp and Jim Clouse at Park West Studios on August 1, 2023.\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Steve Holtje for ESP-Disk’.\u003cbr\u003eFront cover photo by Joe Morris.\u003cbr\u003eBack cover photo by Elliott Sharp.\u003cbr\u003eSession photos by Toto Alvarez.\u003cbr\u003eDesign and layout by Janene Higgins.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"loove labs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51862142681395,"sku":"RLSM_LVLB_1834","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0703\/8032\/3123\/files\/IMG_0799.heic?v=1754163679","url":"https:\/\/theloove.com\/products\/realism-cd-joe-morris-and-elliot-sharp","provider":"loove labs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}