Remembering by William Hooker Trio w/ Ava Mendoza and Damon Smith

"Drummer William Hooker has been around since the 1970s and has played with everyone from saxophonists David Murray and David S. Ware (on his 1977 debut, …Is Eternal Life) to Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth (on multiple albums) to Donald Miller and Brian Doherty of Borbetomagus (on 1994’s Radiation). His duo album with saxophonist Liudas Mockunas, Live at Vilnius Jazz Festival, was one of Burning Ambulance’s best jazz releases of 2014.

On Remembering, he’s heard in a trio with guitarist Ava Mendoza and bassist Damon Smith. The 35-minute performance was recorded live at NYU on March 13, 2017... Mendoza’s guitar work is astonishing. Her ability to bear down on tightly compressed figures, obsessively working over variations on a phrase, is reminiscent of the work of Mick Barr (Orthrelm, Octis, Krallice), and just as breathtaking. She’s a perfect partner for Hooker, whose drumming has often been thunderous, but who’s just as capable of restraint and great beauty. Even in the quieter moments here, they generate tremendous power together... When the moment comes, the two are at each other like MMA fighters, Hooker laying down a rhythmic bed like molten rocks tumbling out of a volcano as the guitarist unleashes a wild post-blues blast wave.

Remembering is an excellent album that creates its own zone somewhere between hard rock and free jazz. Fans of high-energy music of any stripe will likely find something here that clicks with them."
-Burning Ambulance

"Downtown NY drummer William Hooker leads a trio with West Coast players, Damon Smith on double bass and Ava Mendoza on guitar, for a live album at New York University in 2017 that blends free jazz and avant rock forms to create something unique and powerful, yet filled with moments of intrinsic beauty and drama, a great amalgamation of free playing."- Squidco

"As “Inevitable Units” makes clear, while Hooker may effectively lead the trio, the group’s triangular arrangement is equilateral, with any one of the three as likely as the others to lay out a melodic line, provide rhythmic accompaniment or dazzle with technical displays. While this kind of fluidity can be exciting, it can also be unsettling — fortunately, the trio rewards brave listeners with some seriously satisfying nods to their conventional roles. Special mention goes to Mendoza, who when called on to take the lead doesn’t squander the opportunity: Check out her guitar-hero chops on “Never in Doubt” or her absorbing solo feature at the beginning of “Barriers to Good.” Even Smith, a restlessly inventive bassist, generally functions as a center of gravity throughout the album, keeping the group grounded. It’s Hooker’s roomy grooves — like his teasing Afro-Cuban feints on “Identical Natures” or the stomping pulse of “The Magistrate,” spilling over with toms — that may provide the best metaphor for the trio’s overall approach: It takes up boundaries only to delight in breaking them." -Spectrum Culture

AVA MENDOZA is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. Her guitar work has received acclaim for its technique and viscerality. She is best known as leader of experimental rock band Unnatural Ways, and as a solo performer on guitar/voice. Performing/recording credits include work with Carla Bozulich, Fred Frith, Malcolm Mooney, Mike Watt, Nels Cline, John Zorn, and Negativland.