When Susan Alcorn passed away unexpectedly last year, it came as a shock to
the free jazz scene. At the age of 71, she still had plenty of plans,
including trio albums with Lori Freedman and Mat Maneri on the one hand, and
with Ingrid Laubrock and Leila Bordreuil on the other. But obviously there
were other projects as well, such as her collaboration with Nomad War
Machine, the Philadelphian improvisational metal duo consisting of drummer
Julius Masri and guitarist James Reichard. Alcorn’s roots lie in the Texas
Western swing scene of the 1960s and 1970s, which she repeatedly combined
with new classical music and free improvised music. So, in retrospect, it’s
not surprising that she was constantly looking for new challenges and that
metal could be an appealing starting point for her to explore new musical
territory. Apart from the fact that Masri and Reichard have also been
interested in country music, there was another intersection: Alcorn was
enthusiastic about oriental music (she had studied the oud and the maqam)
and Julius Masri, who comes from Lebanon, is also deeply rooted in Arabic
musical traditions. Also, James Reichard has always been interested in
xenharmonic music and open guitar tunings, which are more at home in the
music of the Middle East.
The music on Contra Madre cannot deny metal influences, however the
atmosphere presented is rather gloomy rock. It’s primarily Masri whose
driving rhythms are responsible for this rock element, while Reichard throws
in hard power chords or atonal arpeggios, over which Alcorn then lets her
pedal steel float lightly. The alternative to these rather quiet parts are
those when the pedal steel and the guitar start fighting. It sounds as if Ry
Cooder was jamming with Earth and at some point they throw tonality
overboard. This can be heard exemplarily in “Boiling Vortex”. The piece
begins almost idyllically, as if it wanted to describe a picturesque
landscape, before an alienated blues riff quickly emerges, foreshadowing
evil. The vortex is by no means a gently swirling pool of water. The
musicians take their time to build up this dark atmosphere. After about four
minutes, violence reigns supreme, the tempo increases, the music seethes,
howls, crashes and screams from all corners until the improvisation
literally threatens to boil over. Even as a listener, it takes your breath
away – and the tension doesn’t cool down until the end of the piece.
In the liner notes Lee Gardner of VG+ Records says of Alcorn and the album:
“I started the label because of Susan. (…) All throughout 2024, she kept
talking about this record that she’d made with these “metal guys” from
Philly. (…) I texted with her on a Thursday in late January of 2025 about
meeting the following Monday to make plans to talk about the new record. She
suddenly, shockingly died the following day. I would eventually hear the
record she made with Julius and James, and would meet them for the first
time at a memorial concert for Susan in Philadelphia. I’m honored and
humbled that they have trusted me to put this one more bit of Susan’s music
out in the world.“
We, the listeners, are glad that VG+ made this wonderful recording available
for us. Certainly one of the highlights in 2026 – even if it’s only March.
Contra Madre is available on Vinyl and as a digital download. On bandcamp
you can listen to “Boiling Vortex“ and buy the album.