Photo courtesy of Outer Limits Duo
Drummer Kim Zick and saxophonist Juli Wood have performed together over the years in many configurations. As the Outer Limits Duo, the Mrs. Fun drummer and onetime R&B Cadets saxophonist (living now in Chicago) ventures to places explored by jazz avant-gardists such as Archie Schepp and Max Roach in a relentless sonic assault.
Their new album, Carnival of Souls, was recorded last year at Milwaukee’s DV Studio with Zick’s partner in Mrs. Fun, Connie Grauer, producing. Carnival of Souls includes nine live improvisations by Zick and Wood plus renditions of three Grauer compositions, including “Judy,” “Cecil’s Waterfowl Ranch” and the melodically gorgeous “Zoila,” which suggests something Henry Mancini might have written for a film that audiences never saw.
Zick and Wood answered some questions about the project.
When did the two of you begin working together?
K.Z.: Juli and I first began playing together in the mid 1990s when the band Rhythm Club was formed. We played weekly for five years at the infamous Café Melange. That stint solidified our musically bond and friendship. Over the years and to date we play in the band Valley of The Dolls, French music with Robin Pluer and various jazz trio/quartets. Juli is often a guest on Mrs. Fun recordings. Often times in any of these musical settings the music naturally pairs down to Juli and I soloing together. That had been happening more frequently in recent years and it occurred to me that we needed to pay homage to the great improvisational drum and saxophone recordings of the ’70s-’80s.
Describe how Carnival of Souls was recorded.
K.Z.: On a few improvisations we would just begin playing but often we would start with just one or two words to point the improvisation in a certain direction. Connie Grauer produced this recording, and she was really was instrumental with ideas and direction for the music. We generally did all tracks with one or two takes.
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We recorded [Grauer’s] “Cecil’s Waterfowl Ranch” on [the Mrs. Fun album] They Are Not a Trio. Juli was a guest on that recording and we thought it would make perfect sense to reprise it. There are a few people that call Juli “Judy.” We thought that was funny and it inspired Connie to write the song “Judy.” It was written in Juli’s honor and has never been recorded so certainly now was the time! “Zoila” was written specifically for this recording and is named for my cat, who attends all rehearsals!
Mrs. Fun released Truth, our eighth recording, last year. Here’s an interesting though: Premonition or coincidence? The first track on Truth is titled “19” and the last track is titled “Calm Before the Storm.” And that leads us to the pandemic. Connie has been very prolific during this time, so we are working on lots of new music. We have short masked rehearsals giving us some inspiration during this ongoing nightmare.
J.W.: Kim , I second all your answers! I’ll just say that I have so enjoyed playing music with you and Connie over the years and I really value your friendship! Also, I was honored and challenged to play the music for Outer Limits with you. I’ve never recorded a CD like that before. I really liked doing it. Freedom!
You’ve been playing the jazz clubs in Chicago these last several years. What’s the scene like today?
J.W.: The scene in Chicago was already slowing down a bit and then COVID hit. So, I was just playing a church gig and an every-other-week Sunday night gig at Buddy Guy’s Legends. But somehow random gigs would come in to keep me afloat. I’m very thankful for a grant from the Jazz Institute of Chicago that is helping me stay focused on writing some original music and some lyrics to Monk tunes. Having this Monk project to look forward to has helped me keep my sanity !
Carnival of Souls is available on Bandcamp and Spotify.
