In the liner notes for Provoke (Clean Feed), last year's debut album by his quartet Made to Break, reedist Ken Vandermark writes that the band emerged from two impulses or threads he'd been exploring over the years with other projects. He first cites FME and Frame Quartet as ensembles that explored modular forms—compositions with multiple moving parts that can be reordered on the fly by participants; then he cites Spaceways Inc. and Powerhouse Sound as groups exploring his interest in funk, reggae, and the early-70s electric music of Miles Davis.…
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