CREDITS/INFO

Cello dynamo Ishmael Ali's debut solo album, Burn the Plastic, Sell the Copper features a remarkable crew of distinguished Chicagoans in various configurations in addition to solo performances interspersed throughout. The record on the whole highlights a wide array of Ali's unique language and propensity for collaboration, taking the listener through an eclectic but cohesive mix of music. Raw solo cello explorations, intimate duo improvisations, interactive electronics, rhythmic grooves, and singable (and sung!) melodies populate the record like characters whose voices interact, whose stories unfold over time.

The record's title originally came from a passing comment that Ali's friend made about some old, faulty XLR cables laying on the studio floor. "Burn the plastic, sell the copper," she said. "The phrase," Ali says, "kind of stuck with me. I've been trying to finish a solo record for a long time and have a lot of music in a lot of different conceptual worlds." Eventually, he says, he realized that it was ok to burn some and keep the elemental threads running through it all.

And of course, the phrase rings with a sardonic commentary on capitalist mentality, which is not lost on Ishmael Ali in all of his embracing of a kind of trickster spirit. But there is a resounding tenderness that props up this set as well. On "Stars in My Pocket," Ali sings plaintively but soulfully over a skittering groove. It is avant garde, yes, but it is loving and generous. "Everness" reflects on memory and its sometimes tragic deterioration -- recontextualizing the words of Jorge Luis Borges.

The multi-generational crew of Ed Wilkerson Jr., Jim Baker, Corey Wilkes, Bill Harris, and Brianna Tong and Ishmael Ali, appear on a wild and wide-ranging assortment of compositions and improvisations; they interact playfully and shift skillfully through diverse modalities over the course of the 10 track album. The music here is experimental but memorable, verging at times on a strange form of pop. It never sounds like Arthur Russell but it sounds like something he might have been charmed by -- while at other times there are echoes of the Art Ensemble of Chicago or Kahil El Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, a group that in fact counts Ali among its numbers and which has deeply influence Ali's playing and composing.

Ishmael Ali - cello, voice, electronics, compositions

Ed Wilkerson Jr. - tenor saxophone, alto clarinet
Corey Wilkes - trumpet
Jim Baker - piano, ARP
Brianna Tong - voice
Bill Harris - drum set, percussion

Recorded by Ishmael Ali at Marmalade in Chicago from 2023-2025
Mixed by Bill Harris and Ishmael Ali
Mastered by Bill Harris
Artwork by Jordan Martins