Burn the Plastic, Sell the Copper marks Ishmael Ali’s debut solo album, an expansive exploration of improvisation, electronics, and song. Across ten tracks, Ali moves seamlessly between raw solo cello, oblique beats, intimate duos, and multi-generational ensemble interplay, producing a record that is both daring and deeply personal.

“A breathtakingly open and warm record… one of the most soulful, searching, and imaginative jazz‑related releases of the year.” — Kill Yr Idols

The album’s title—borrowed from an offhand comment about old studio cables—reflects its central ethos: distillation, transformation, and keeping what is essential. The music unfolds like an interactive mosaic: solo passages dissolve into duos, grooves emerge and disintegrate, melodies appear almost unexpectedly, and ensemble voices constantly shift, overlapping yet distinct.

“intuitively crafts an avant‑garde aesthetic to illuminate the great filing cabinet of the subconscious.” — Outside Noise

“It is a mess – but a poetic, intelligent, and beautiful one.” — The Quietus

Featuring stalwarts of Chicago improvisation—Ed Wilkerson Jr., Corey Wilkes, Jim Baker, Brianna Tong, and Bill Harris—the album thrives on dialogue. Each track feels like a living structure, where textures, timbres, and rhythms coalesce into a cohesive sonic story.

“Jazz rhythms inflected with pointillist electronics create subdued but still infectious grooves.” — Foxy Digitalis

“Straddling the line between avant-garde and pop in a unique and exciting way, Burn the Plastic, Steal the Copper marks a bold step forward for Ali.” —Cast The Dice

Critics have noted Ali’s unique approach: blending experimental improvisation with song-like moments, producing “Windy City incongruities… a trip of an album… what’s most memorable is the songs that lie in between” (Star‑Revue). His music “explores quirky, communal sonic palettes” (I Care If You Listen).

“An arrival for the cellist and composer, and one of 2026’s best local releases so far.” — Chicago Tribune

Ishmael Ali is a dynamic cellist, guitarist, improviser, and composer based out of Chicago. His work centers on exploring sound through improvisation, experimentation, composition, and collaboration, focusing on a wide array of idiomatic approaches in an ever-changing, always-growing list of projects informed by diverse influences.

He currently performs with Kahil El Zabar and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and has performed and recorded with Avreeayl Ra, Josh Berman, Jim Baker, Fred Jackson, Ed Wilkerson, Angel Bat Dawid, Jason Stein, Tom Skinner, and many more.

In addition to performing, Mr. Ali is a co-curator of the Thursday night Improvised Music Series at Elastic Arts, a co-founder and audio engineer at Marmalade, a recording and rehearsal space in the West Loop, and along with close friend and collaborator Bill Harris, runs the co-operative record label Amalgam Music.