3 CD Set - Brud: Volumes I-III (1995-2011)

*Incredible triple album showcasing the work of the multi-talented Andre Vida - ranging from free jazz to electroacoustic/electronic music to weird solo saxophone pieces to modern classical as well as deep/spiritual jazz, featuring a host of collaborators including jazz legend Anthony Braxton, to Rashad Becker (D&M) and improvisation master Axel Dörner to free psych/folk Tower Recordings (MV, Helen Rush, Steve Savoca, Tim Barnes) and a lot more* Even if you haven't come across the name Andre Vida before, there's a good chance you'll have heard his sounds. The Hungarian-American sax improviser has popped up on a whole plethora of records in the last fifteen years - everything from avant folk vanguards The Tower Recordings and MV&EE to free jazz legends Anthony Braxton and Ornette Coleman. Hell, he's even lent his jagged tones to Jamie Lidell, Tim Exile and Kevin Blechdom, so how's that for far reaching? All the while, Vida has been commiting his own solo recordings to tape, and this gigantic three-disc package collects up a good majority of them, spanning from 1995 all the way to 2011. It's a comprehensive collection and aptly gives a line in to Vida's genre-bumping style, showing him exploring woozy woodwind drones comparable to Colin Stetson, delirious synth-noise blast experiments and saturated outsider tape jams, before drifting into bar-room NY free jazz rollers on the third volume. This is an exemplary collection of work, and while Vida might not be as well known as some of his contemporaries this hefty 3CD package should do more than enough to give the man more reach. Looks like the blistering PAN label have done it again - and with a good three hours of music 'Brud' should keep you busy for many a cold night to come.