colin fisher profile picture

colin fisher

ATARAXIA

About Me

Guitarist/Tenor Saxophonist/Multi-Instrumentalist/Composer/Improvisor.

- associated with improvised music community of toronto (which started with the infamous alto saxophonist Maury Coles whom i was in a band with near the end of his life called "Abstract" we recorded 2 albums one of which with Joe Mcphee) with people like Glen Hall, Jason Hammer, Evan Shaw, Mark Hundevad, Jean Martin, Nick Fraser, Scott Thompson, Ken Aldcroft, Joe Sorbara and many others.

- have also worked with musicians from outside canada including William Parker, Paul Hession, Dominic Duval, Gerry Hemingway, Sabir Mateen, recent performance @ the guelph jazz festival in an orchestra comprised of my good friends/members of AIMToronto playing with Anthony Braxton, I HAVE EATEN THE CITY colloborated with musician Francois Houle @ the 2007 Open Ears Festival, STYTS and IHETC have also colloborated with the infamous Damo Suzuki of Can, I had the opportunity to play David Daniells "Sunfish" @ X-Avant Festival in toronto with many other great local players, in 2007 was also part of the RYHS CHATTAM ensemble in toronto ontario playing his famous piece 'guitar trio', etc.

- had the opportunity to play shows with bands such as Nels Cline Singers, Time of Orchids, Trevor Dunn & Shelley Burgon, Don Caballero, Kayo Dot, Drums & Tuba, Nihilist Spasm Band, Hella, Koenjihyakkei, Pinback, and many others. I've recorded with The Constantines for their sub pop release "Shine a Light", the last Vermicious Knid release, the band Red Trakpants 'fear of castration' album, Insideaminds upcoming album, played a bit of sax on The Blankett's upcoming release, also some freakout sax on the track 'windmills' by a cool metal band from kitchener called Whats He Building In There, and many others

Bands/Projects - I HAVE EATEN THE CITY with Nick Storring - cello, laptop/electronics and Brandon Valdivia - percussion
- SING THAT YELL THAT SPELL with Lennie Haggerty - drums, Tim Nicholls - bass

- SANDBOX duo with Michael Keith - multi-instrumentalist (we have a monthly series @ tranzac club in toronto)

- a proud regular member of Dave Clark/Lewis Melvilles THE WOODCHOPPERS ASSOCIATION!!! (summer of 2007 the woodchoppers did a recording on the toronto island and played a few gigs, including one @ the guelph jazz festival, with the brilliant and beautiful malian musician JAH YOUSSOUF!! look for a recording in the near future!!)

- play guitar for ISLA CRAIG

- member of AIMToronto Orchestra

- duo with flautist Rob Piilonen, WHISPER, which has a CD available

- I am also a member of Nilan Perera's HOLYBLUEGHOST band

- I also colloborate with dancer (butoh, modern improvised) CLAUDIA WITTMAN

- band SATANIST DAYCARE featuring Michelangelo Iaffaldano, Michael Morse, Nick Storring and myself

- duo project NOT THE WIND, NOT THE FLAG with IHETC drummer BRANDON VALDIVIA which includes 2 recording projects to be released in 2008.

- Brandon and I have also been frequently conspiring with flautist ALIA O'BRIEN embracing our love for world folk trance musics and free jazz.

- playing guitar for the beautiful and talented ANNA LINDA SIDDALL!!

- collective improv project called ALLO CAVEMAN, featuring Justin Haynes, Jean Martin, Alex Lukashevsky and myself.

- COW TONGUE band with Michael Smith, Evan Shaw and Jean Martin

- new band, FANAA - Gable Levine - Clarinet, Alia O'Brien - Flute, Nick Storring - Cello, Lennie Haggerty - Drums, John Farah - Keyboards, Evan Shaw - Alto Sax, Colin Fisher - Guitar
- I play the occasional solo set *please contact me if interested in booking for such a thing.

- recently finished a studio project with fabulous engineer/producer/percussionist JEAN MARTIN!! its called LITTLE MAN ON THE BOAT. It is now available!!! available from the barnyard records website


- on the horizon.. a duo recording with myself and JOE SORBARA..

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/16/2005
Band Website: barnyardrecords.com
Band Members:

the tracks 'olive' & 'folk song' is from the recent release 'little man on the boat' on barnyard records. this album was played entirely by jean martin and myself (except for guests rob clutton - upright bass on 'folk song' and puff - voice on 'cat song'). it will be available for purchase online through the barnyard records website

the tracks 'cover both sides', 'walking stainlessly on rivers', 'pescado en azul' & 'zig zag' feature Nick Fraser on Drums. (Jason Hammer plays String Bass on the track "cover both sides") as well as myself on Guitar and Tenor Sax.


Influences: toumani diabate, d'gary, voivod, ali farke toure, steve tibbetts, supersilent, pharoah sanders, nana vasconcelos, mats gustafsson, john butcher, anthony braxton, bill frisell, morton feldman, sanjo music, joe maneri, sun ra, ivo perelman, dewey redman, indonesian music, lightning bolt, sabir mateen, kayo dot, hella (duo), gnawa trance music, steve reich, ed blackwell, john mclaughlin, tony williams, rashied ali, kora music, john coltrane, albert ayler, charles lloyd, vishwa mohan bhatt, minor threat, charles mingus, william parker, joseph spence, miles davis, archie shepp, eric dolphy, alice coltrane, jimmy giuffre, mick barr, malian music, olivier messiaen, konono, black flag, jeff buckley, bonnie prince billy, arthur russell, marc ducret, wayne krantz, tim buckley, leon thomas, james blood ulmer, mbuti pygmies of the ituri rainforest, ornette coleman, charles gayle, cecil taylor, allan holdsworth, ben goldberg, joe morris, jimmy lyons, fela kuti, anton webern, nels cline, marc ribot, giacinto scelsi, derek bailey, krishnamurti, shudder to think, slint, don caballero, sonny sharrock and many others.people whom i'm owe deep inspiration and gratitude - Maury Coles, Jason Hammer, Mark Hundevad, Nick Storring, Brandon Valdivia, Nick Fraser, Jean Martin, Michael Keith, Nilan Perera, Evan Shaw, Ellery Eskelin, Tim Berne, Ben Monder and many other local and international musicians.
Sounds Like: With his involvement in the math-jazz trio Sing That Yell That Spell, I HAVE EATEN THE CITY and in the local improv scene, there is no doubt that Colin Fisher is one of the best musicians in Ontario. An unfairly skilled saxophonist and guitar player, Fisher's hands dart around his instruments with amazing precision and creativity, showing off the Stratford, Ont.,-based virtuoso's obviously varied musical tastes. Fisher has a way with strange chord shapes and menacing loops that fold into one another to make slightly creepy and altogether exceptional jazz compositions. Fisher will play any club that will have him and will help out any band that needs him, proving to be a truly versatile musician who is only happy when an instrument is in his hands.Neil Haverty-Dose magazine
Record Label: http://www.barnyardrecords.com/
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

NEW TRACK! ALLO CAVEMAN

hey there.. this track is also from the latest jean martin/colin fisher album, little man on the boat.  enjoy!!  
Posted by colin fisher on Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:36:00 PST

new myspace band profile NOT THE WIND, NOT THE FLAG

brandon and myself have set up a page for our duo project.. not the wind, not the flag www.myspace.com/notthewindnottheflag check it out!!!!! xoxo...
Posted by colin fisher on Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:50:00 PST

BUY ’LITTLE MAN ON THE BOAT’ ONLINE

http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0304/
Posted by colin fisher on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:17:00 PST

EXCLAIM MAGAZINE REVIEW FOR ’LITTLE MAN ON THE BOAT’

http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1= 118&csid2=847&fid1=29330 DESTINATION OUT  /  Exclaim Magazine - February 2008 Jean Martin / Colin Fisher Little Man on the...
Posted by colin fisher on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:44:00 PST

OCEAN FLOOR INSTALLATION by LIAM CROCKARD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_xES2dcBZA Liam asked me to play sax to these beautiful ocean vids and he made an installation in which the vids eventually went out of synch so i was accompanying myse...
Posted by colin fisher on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:24:00 PST

NEW TRACKS UP FROM BRAND NEW ALBUM!!! JEAN MARTIN/COLIN FISHER - LITTLE MAN ON THE BOAT!

So ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! excited! i put 2 songs, olive and folk song, from the new album up here.  so feel free to tell me whatcha think.  the album should be available through http://barnyard...
Posted by colin fisher on Sat, 08 Dec 2007 12:05:00 PST

claudia wittman/colin fisher @ coexisdance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE-dPcpKaYM
Posted by colin fisher on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:57:00 PST

GOOD THINGS GROW IN ONTARIO!

All i wanted to say was... we're so lucky to have such a high quality of musicians/improvisors in the southern ontario/greater toronto area.  I think we're all fostering something incre...
Posted by colin fisher on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 09:13:00 PST

I HAVE EATEN THE CITY - exclaim

By David DacksFebruary 10, 2006 Sometimes musicians, especially younger ones, don't know when to quit when it comes to free improv. Seventy minutes of continuous improv? Sure, if Cecil Taylor can do i...
Posted by colin fisher on Tue, 07 Mar 2006 01:28:00 PST

dose

*i'm adding this because coming from Neil Haverty this is a HUGE compliment because i love and respect him and the music he makes.. thanks for the love bro!!!! With his involvement in the math-jazz tr...
Posted by colin fisher on Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:40:00 PST