Joe Giardullo is a free jazz reed player whose improvisations are microtonal, which means that they prominently feature notes other than the twelve to the octave used in most Western music. Like fellow microtonal saxophonist Joe Maneri, Giardullo's music often sounds intentionally sparse and unsure. He released his first album, Gravity -- Music for Creative Chamber Group, in 1979, but both the album and Giardullo vanished into obscurity soon after. In 1991, however, Giardullo met saxophonist Joe McPhee, and the two men recorded several albums together, including the duo album Specific Gravity and the mournful quartet date Shadow and Light. Since meeting McPhee, Giardullo has also participated in performances of music by composer Pauline Oliveros, and Oliveros' foundation has commissioned his works. Since 1999, Giardullo has recorded for underground jazz labels like CIMP and Drimala. ~ Charlie Wilmoth