The Shaking Ray Levis is an ongoing collaboration of musicians with a common interest in

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in it ...

. The project was conceived and led by the

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

-based team of

Dennis Palmer Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Saint Dionysius (disambiguation), Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Classical mythology, Greek god of ecstatic states, ...

and

Bob Stagner Bob Stagner (born July 13, 1957 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is an American drummer and percussionist who has worked with a wide range of artists in every discipline, froBlueground Undergrassto Derek Bailey and Howard Finster. Stagner and Dennis P ...

. They use storytelling, synthesizers, samplers and percussion to achieve their distinctive sound. They are the first American group to have recorded for

Incus Records Incus Records is a British record company and label founded by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley, Evan Parker and Michael Walters that specializes in free jazz and improvised music. The first release on the label was Incus Number 0 (zero), a 7 “ re ...

, the record label of British free improvisational

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist Derek Bailey. Additionally, they have performed and recorded with

Borbetomagus Borbetomagus are a free jazz/noise rock group. They are cited by critics as pioneers of aggressive improvised noise music. Biography Borbetomagus formed in 1979 when saxophone players Jim Sauter and Don Dietrich joined with electric guitari ...

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jazz ...

David Greenberger David Greenberger (born June 26, 1954, in Pennsylvania) is an American artist, writer and radio commentator best known for his ''Duplex Planet'' series of zines, comic books, CDs, and spoken word performances and radio plays. From 1996 to 2009, he ...

Killick Erik Hinds Killick Hinds (born 1972) of Athens, Georgia is a composer and performer of a wide range of music. He plays quartertone electric guitar, as well as Big Red harp guitar and the h'arpeggione, an 18-stringed upright acoustic instrument with sympathe ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

Min Tanaka is a Japanese dancer and actor. Biography Tanaka was trained in ballet and modern dance, but in 1974, turned his back on these forms. He began his solo career with a series of nearly-naked primarily outdoor improvisational dances that took place ...

Amy Denio Amy Denio (born June 9, 1961) is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Her inspirations include world music, and is mainly known as a vocal ...

, and Derek Bailey, as well as with many other critically acclaimed artists. Dennis Palmer died in Chattanooga on February 15, 2013.Dennis Palmer, Shaking Ray founder, dies
''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' website. Retrieved 2013-02-20.

References

External links

The Shaking Ray Levi SocietyShaking Ray Levi Society MySpace pageShaking Ray Levis MySpace page''Do lak ah sez'' sample
1997
''thank the knife'' sample
''Boss Witch'',

JD Parran J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvisation. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophone, as well as the E-flat clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet ...

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, such ...

Davey Williams David Carlous Williams (November 2, 1927 – August 17, 2009) was an American professional baseball player and coach. During his Major League Baseball career, spent entirely with the New York Giants of the National League, the second baseman app ...

Frank Pahl Frank Pahl is a Michigan-based musician/composer, working in several styles including "toy pop", or music made with toys. He works primarily in Wyandotte and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and has exhibited his work in Canada, Europe and Japan, as well as ...

Mary Richards Mary Richards, portrayed by Mary Tyler Moore, is the main character of the television sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Character biography Mary Richards, born in Roseburg, Minnesota, is the only child of Walter and Dottie Richards. Prior ...

and the Shaking Ray Levis, 1997. {{Authority control Free improvisation Incus Records artists