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Jennifer Lucy Allan presents an adventurous mix of music, including a Late Junction session between two artists who have never worked together before: Chicago jazz bassist Joshua Abrams and Japanese avant-garde vocalist Phew.

Joshua Abrams is a multi-instrumentalist and improviser, working as a key figure in Chicago’s experimental music scene since the mid-90s in bands including Tortoise and an early incarnation of The Roots. Primarily known as a bassist, Abrams has appeared on over 100 recordings and has performed with the likes of Toumani Diabaté and Kurt Vonnegut, as well as scoring numerous feature films. In 2010 he formed the exploratory music ensemble Natural Information Society, often described as ‘ecstatic minimalism’, and on their latest album Abrams performs on guimbri and flute.

An experimental pioneer and avant-garde vocalist, Phew began her musical career as the front-member of Aunt Sally, one of Osaka’s earliest punk groups. Since the band’s split in 1979, Phew’s work has ranged from post-punk to experimental pop, with her own celebrated solo albums as well as collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto, The Raincoats and Jim O'Rourke. In 1995 she took a twenty year break from recording solo material before releasing two full-length albums in 2015, and her most recent work combines her voice with an array of vintage hardware to create compelling electronic soundscapes.

Elsewhere in the show there is lofi DIY synth-pop excavated from the Australian underground, some raw emotional processing of the last year channelled through the cello of Okkyung Lee and a new interpretation of Julius Eastman’s work by LA collective Wild Up.

Produced by Katie Callin
A Reduced Listening Production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3