{"product_id":"zhang-hungtai-alex-orion-mother-2xlp-new-lp","title":"Hungtai, Alex Zhang – Orion\/Mother [2xLP] - New LP","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eAlex Zhang Hungtai's new double album Orion\/Mother, a brave, gigantic burst of life, creativity, and abstract balladry, alchemizes the past and the present, sampling home recordings he made with some of New York’s finest improvisers while spontaneously composing on top of them with trumpet and other instruments. It’s the sound of an artist addressing unresolved fragments from his past, integrating them into the present, and building a new path.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2003611849\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/alexzhanghungtai.bandcamp.com\/album\/orion-mother\"\u003eOrion\/Mother by Alex Zhang Hungtai\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The major contributor to the completion of this double album,” Zhang says, “is the removal of doubt.” For two weeks, during a period of intense personal transition, Zhang wrote and recorded at a rehearsal space, working regimented, full days in the dead of a long brutal New York winter. Inspired by Butch Morris’ method of directing improvisation called conduction, Zhang revisited rehearsal recordings he’d made years before with various New York improvising musicians. He created an ad-hoc group - including percussionist Che Chen, Korean Gong resonator experimentalist Leo Chang, clarinetist Madison Greenstone, flautist Laura Cox, cellist Lester St. Louis, noise artist Kwami Winfield, and tap dancer Melissa Almaguer - using Ableton to cut and match all the different sessions together. Zhang improvised with trumpet over live samples of the\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003echopped sessions, bringing these past recordings to the present moment. You can hear overlapping snippets of his saxophone, drums and voice experimentations from the rehearsal recordings via sampling, whilst the trumpet had then become the “grounding force” and conceptual narrator of Orion\/Mother, allowing Zhang to decontextualize, process, and reconcile with the past through abstract lyricism in the present.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Orion\/Mother unfolds, Zhang’s trumpet flies above thrumming electronics (“Earth Orbit”), navigates percussion strikes (“Mother”), communes with explosive sounds (“Sidewinder”), or melts into silence (“Tannhäuser Gate”). Just as Zhang uncovered the album’s scope over those two weeks in New York, the album communicates discovery, friendship, community, and attunement. “The music,” he says, “sounds like something that was dormant is starting to awaken.” Here, indeed, is a new being, a new approach to making music, and a new music itself, borne of ingenuity and attention.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased July 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMOTHER\u003cbr\u003e1) Kali\u003cbr\u003eLaura Cocks (Flute), Madison Greenstone (Clarinet), Alex Zhang Hungtai (Alto Sax, Trumpet, bells)\u003cbr\u003e2) Mother\u003cbr\u003eLaura Cocks (Flute), Lester St. Louis (Cello), Alex Zhang Hungtai (Voice, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e3) Earth Orbit\u003cbr\u003eAlex Zhang Hungtai (Electronics, Voice, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e4) American Burial\u003cbr\u003eKwami Winfield (Electronics, Circuit Bending), Alex Zhang Hungtai (Synthesizer, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e5) Tuğçe\u003cbr\u003eAlex Zhang Hungtai (Electronics, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eORION\u003cbr\u003e1) Sidewinder\u003cbr\u003eChe Chen (Percussion), Leo Chang (Gongs), Alex Zhang Hungtai (Drum Machine, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e2) Nataraja\u003cbr\u003eKwami Winfield (Electronics, Circuit Bending), Melissa Almaguer (Tap Dance), Alex Zhang Hungtai (Drum Machine, Ableton, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e3) Shadow Integration\u003cbr\u003eAlex Zhang Hungtai (Drum Machine, Ableton, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e4) Orion\u003cbr\u003eKwami Winfield (Electronics, Circuit Bending), Melissa Almaguer (Tap Dance), Alex Zhang Hungtai (Drum Machine, Ableton)\u003cbr\u003e5) Tannhäuser Gate\u003cbr\u003eAlex Zhang Hungtai (Ableton, Trumpet)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThank You to the community of our scene in NYC and beyond who have inspired and nurtured me over the past 4 years. Thank you Che Chen, Tashi Dorji, Leo Chang, Chris Williams, Lester St. Louis, Thom Nguyen, Laura Cocks, Madison Greenstone, Kwami Winfield, and Melissa Almague. Playing with you all deeply informed my current understanding in improvisation, without you this album would not have existed. I am eternally grateful to you all. Special big thanks to Jordan Reyes and to American Dream Records in realizing the release of this personal record.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOrion cover photo by Alexander Epikhov\u003cbr\u003eMother cover photo by Alex Zhang Hungtai\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Rashad Becker and Felix Davis\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pt-2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"American Dreams Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46652854698145,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0635\/1427\/files\/zhangss.jpg?v=1783224678","url":"https:\/\/store.greennoiserecords.com\/products\/zhang-hungtai-alex-orion-mother-2xlp-new-lp","provider":"Green Noise Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}