Patrick Shiroishi – Forgetting is Violent

Patrick Shiroishi is a Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist and saxophone player whose work has reckoned with racism against Japanese Americans through improvisation, effects pedals, and field records. On his latest solo album, Shiroishi expands his world with a supporting cast that reads like a who’s-who of heavy music: Aaron Turner (SUMAC, ISIS), Gemma Thompson (Savages), Faith Coloccia (Mamiffer), otay::onii (Elizabeth Colour Wheel), and Mat Ball (BIG|BRAVE). “I’m always interested in pushing the horn,” Shiroishi says. “You’re not gonna sound sweeter than Paul Desmond. You’re not gonna write crazier melodies and harmonies than Ornette. So I’m trying to figure out: what can I do different, while being me, and expressing what I’ve gone through?”