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DMG Newsletter for March 23rd, 2018

If you Get the Blues
From Reading the News
Then Try and Rise Above the Daily Nonsense
Music is a Many Splendored Thing
So Raise Your Voices and Begin to Sing
Which is an Antidote to the BitterSweet Pills
That we all must Swallow Every Day

The Medicine or Treasure Chest of Sonic Sorcery Begins with:

Dan Weiss: Matt Mitchell / Craig Taborn / Ben Monder / Trevor Dunn! Karl Berger w/ Jason Hwang & Tomas Ulrich! Alex Von Schlippenbach & Rudi Mahall! Mark Nauseef: Bill Laswell / Sylvie Couvoisier / Tony Oxley..! Vinny Golia Sextet! Henry Kaiser & Ed Pettersen! Cornelius Cardew’s ‘Treatise’ by London Experimental Ensemble! Ab Baars & Ig Henneman!

Nick Mazzarella & Tomeka Reid! Thollem McDonas Trio on ESP! Frank Zappa & the Mothers at the Fillmore West, 1970! Gun Club! Heldon! Spiritual Jazz Volume 8! Live rarities from: Elvin Jones / Dizzy Gillespie / Freddie Hubbard / Woody Shaw! Plus Vinyl from Merzbow! Bruce Gilbert! Kevin Drumm! John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers! And Even More..!

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THE DMG 27TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES OF SONIC CELEBRATIONS Continue with:

Sunday, March 25th, 2018:
6pm: ROSS HAMMOND and ANDREW DRURY
7pm: BONNIE KANE and ADAM LANE
8pm: DENNIS REA - Solo Electric Guitar

Sunday, April 1st, 2018 / April Fool’s Day / Easter Sunday!
6pm: LOUISE D.E. JENSEN Birthday Celebration
7pm: JACK WRIGHT and ZACH DARRUP - Alto Sax and Guitar

Sunday, April 8th: CP Birthday 65 Celebration Gig: The Beyond Group:
6pm: CHERYL PYLE / DANIEL CARTER / MICHAEL EATON / CLAIRE de BRUNNER -
Flute / Reeds & Trumpet / Soprano Sax / Bassoon
7pm: ANDERS NILSSON / HAMPUS OHMAN-FROLUND CHARLES WATERS - Guitar/Drums/Alto Sax

Sunday, April 15th, 2018:
6pm: AARON SHRAGGE / ELI ASHER - Trumpet Duo
7pm: NICOLA HEIN / MIA ZABELKA Special Guest

Sunday, April 22nd:
6pm: NOAH BECKER and COLIN HINTON - Alto sax and Drums
7pm: SPEEDO: DAVID GROLLMAN and CORY O’BRIEN - Two Snare Drums

DMG is located at 13 Monroe St. (between Catherine & Market Sts) in a basement below a small gallery. Take the F train to East Broadway or the 6 train to Canal or the B or D to Grand, or the M-15 bus to Madison & Catherine. Come on Down, the Sunday Music Series is Always Free & the Vibes are Always Cosy

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This Week's Treasures begin with this Monumental Jewel:

DAN WEISS With MATT MITCHELL / CRAIG TABORN / BEN MONDER / TREVOR DUNN - Starebaby (Pi Recordings 74; USA) Featuring Matt Mitchell on piano, Prophet-6 & modular synths, Craig Taborn on piano, Fender Rhodes & synths, Ben Monder on guitars, Trevor Dunn on electric bass and Dan Weiss on drums, compositions & production. Word is that Downtown drum wizard, Dan Weiss, spent a great deal of time in the studio recording and in post-production to give this disc a sound closer to metal and progressive bands, than any of his previous jazz-like endeavors. It worked! This disc sounds nothing like any disc we’ve heard from any member of the Downtown Scene, except perhaps some of the metalish/math/prog rock discs from Tzadik’s Spotlight Series: Unnatural Ways, Shardik or Many Arms.
Similar to what John Zorn did in Naked City, Dan Weiss put together a seasoned quintet to play his music, with each member coming from a much different background. The only member here who has worked with metal type of bands in the past is Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas & Electric Masada). Each member of this quintet is open enough to turn this into a powerful metal/prog unit. Right from the gitgo, “A Puncher’s Chance”, we find ourselves in that dark, grandiose space, rather majestic as well. Why tow keyboards players? Mr. Weiss has each one playing a different part, with several lines interlocking, each synth seems to have a different timbre, a different character. The wild card here is guitarist Ben Monder, who known as a thoughtful jazz guitarist, is also a master of pedals and effects, coming up with the occasional dark, intense metal-like squall, used most selectively. I love the way, Mr. Weiss strips things down to a hypnotic repeating phrase which recalls the early progressive/classical sound of Procol Harum from the late sixties. For the final section, Mr. Monder hits the sustain on his guitar just right, giving the band a Crimson-like vibe. Rather than overdoing the prog drumming theatrics, Mr. Weiss keeps his ship steady and lets the music and vibe speak for itself. One of the things I like about this is how modest and stripped down things are at times, the mood is still harrowing at times but without too much unrelenting darkness going down. The final epic-length track, “Episode 8”, works its way through several complex sections with Mr. Weiss’ masterful drums navigating the tight, rapid changes. This piece is a tour-de-force, and is impressive on several levels. There was a time in the early seventies when progressive and early fusion bands sounded very similar. This quintet sounds like the best of both worlds by combining elements from both. If you are as open minded as your truly, than you should seeks this gem out: CD of the month! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15


KARL BERGER With JASON HWANG / LARRY PACKER / SANA NAGANO / TOMAS ULRICH / GARIELE DRESDALE / KEN FILIANO - In A Moment—Music For Piano And Strings (Tzadik 4022; USA) Founder of the Creative Music Studio and a close collaborator of Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Gato Barbieri, Anthony Braxton and so many more, Karl Berger is a master musician and one of the pioneers of creative music. The third and final CD in his trilogy for Tzadik features fourteen tracks spanning a wide variety of moods. Karl’s gorgeous string arrangements are highlighted here in this beautiful and soulful suite of music for piano and strings. TZADIK SPECTRUM SERIES
CD $14

ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH / RUDI MAHALL - So Far (Relative Pitch 1067; USA) Featuring Alexander Vpn Schlippenbach on piano and Rude Mahall on bass & regular clarinets. All jazz is free”: The origin of this statement - self evident or provocative, depending on one’s point of view - has proved very resistant to research thus far. The internet throws up many references to the phrase being used as a title for a solo piano piece by Alex von Schlippenbach. This gets us nowhere since Alex has for a good while - and mistakenly - attributed the assertion to me. I, in turn, am fairly sure that I read it in one of the interviews in Art Taylor’s “Notes and Tones” but, not owning the book myself, I asked Paul Lytton to track it down in his copy. So far no luck.
Thinking about the ways in which the statement can be interpreted and making the assumption that it was coined by a player of theme and variations changes based music, working backwards in time we come to the descriptor “Time, no Changes” - which can be used equally well for the music of the classic Ornette Coleman Quartet or to the Miles Davis Quintet with WS, HH, RC and TW, in which tempo is maintained, accent patterns and phrasing relate to the tempo, but note choice is open to the needs of a line in development. So called modal jazz is often clearly a species of “Time, no Changes”.
Classic playing with fixed choruses over changes has nevertheless the freedom to re-harmonise, to play chromatic extensions of the basic chord types; chord names themselves will have implications and freedoms in scale choice (Lydian concept etc)... Steve Coleman’s eloquent writing makes the case for the rhythmic constructions of bebop as being more significant stylistic markers than its harmonic language - note choice - citing Art Tatum, Louis Armstrong playing flat 9ths and so on.
“No Time, No Changes”, perhaps the final frontier, was ushered in by the Taylor/ Lyons/ Murray and Giuffre/Bley/Swallow trios in the early 60s of the 20th century. Earlier composer Arnold S. had said something to the effect that “atonal” was a nonsense term meaning simply no tone (pitch). By the same token, “No Time, No Changes” should be understood as a shorthand expression to describe playing without pre-given structuring devices in advance of the moment of performance, leading to an open field of variations on variations.
Having established that given this historical perspective “All Jazz is - and always has been - Free”, we are left with just the need to define what “jazz” is! Where exactly does this brief summary of evolutionary trends lead us in formulating such a definition?
AvS has retained an affection for the “j-word”, insisting that there remains some however hard to define attitude which distinguishes his approach from the totally open improvisation often associated with other European developments - reaching perhaps a definitional “terminus of the absurd” with negation of all nameable qualities in the notion of the “non idiomatic”. Listening to the music of Schlippenbach and Mahall there is clear use of all the aforementioned structuring devices and methods. Fragments of Monk and Dolphy come to the foreground and the melt back into in a stream of consciousness which privileges the last vestiges of the jazz tradition: a personal sound - each player being clearly a recognizable individual - and an urgency to forward momentum.
If “All Jazz is Free” it must be conceded that all freedom is relative. The discussion of the difference between “Relative” and “Absolute” must be left for another occasion. - Evan Parker October 2017
CD $14

MARK NAUSEEF With BILL LASWELL / SYLVIE COURVOISIER / PAT THOMAS / MIROSLAV TADIC / TONY OXLEY / ARTHUR JARVINEN / WALTER QUINTUS - All in All in All (Relative Pitch 1065; USA) Featuring Miroslav Tadic on guitars, Sylvie Courvoisier on piano & prepared piano, Pat Thomas on keyboards, electronics & tapes, Arthur Jarniven on chromatic harmonica, analogue electronics & glockenspiel, Bill Laswell on bass & field recordings, Mark Nauseef on percussion & compositions and Walter Quintus on conducting & processing. This disc was first recorded in Cologne, Germany in January of 2001 with additions made in Bill Laswell’s Orange Music Studio. This is certainly an odd cast of characters, some of whom hadn’t played with each other before this and would rarely work together again in the future. After starting off with hard rock bands like Elf, Ian Gillian Band and Gary Moore’s G-Force, American born drummer, Mark Nauseef, started working with Gamelan, Ghanaian & Indian music in the eighties. He worked with a wide variety of musicians like Jack Bruce, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Evan Parker and David Torn. Nauseef recorded several discs for the CMP label during this period and the many of those were recorded by Walter Quintus, a highly regarded engineer and sonic technician. The one name here you most likely don’t recognize is Arthur Jarvinen, modern classical composer who had a couple of discs on the long-gone OO Discs label.
Rather than be considered an all-star supersession, the music here sounds more carefully sculptured with short tightly written fragments. The overall sound is often sparse yet each sound perfectly placed within the space around it. The written parts often involve the glockenspiel, piano and percussion, with the other instruments (bass, guitar, electronics) added selectively, woven inside an enchanting tapestry which slowly evolves as things progress from one sonic scene to the next. The well-selective use of space gives this music a chance to breathe so that we get to focus on each sound or group of sounds. The resulting music sounds like the soundtrack to an inner movie which is projected inside out minds. There are some sounds which are most effective, a bowed cymbal, electronics, distant voices or scraping things inside the piano, hard to tell which is which, yet everything has its place. There are a couple things which occur time and again and seem to add an underlying theme: Mr. Laswell’s occasional dub bass lines and certain percussive eruptions. The great engineer, Walter Quintus, passed away a year ago last month (in February of 2017). His work here is especially well-crafted and balanced, as if every sound was magnified and selectively manipulated or used. This is one of the best sounding CD’s I’ve heard in recent memory, so take some time to listen closely on a good sound system sine the rewards are worthy. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

* VINNY GOLIA SEXTET With GAVIN TEMPLETON / DANIEL ROSENBOOM / ALEXANDER NOICE / MILLER WREN / ANDREW LESSMAN - Trajectory (Nine Winds 343/Orenda Records 050; USA) Personnel: Vinny Golia on sopranino, soprano, tenor & bari saxes, flutes, clarinets & ethnic percussion; Gavin Templeton on alto sax; Daniel Rosenboom on trumpet & flugel; Alexander Noice on el. guitar & pedals, Miller Wren on basses and Andrew Lessman on drums. For his last few CD’s, Vinny Golia has had the same frontline with Daniel Rosenboom, Gavin Templeton and Alexander Noice. Both Mr. Rosenboom and Mr. Templeton, have discs out under their own names (for Nine Winds), plus Rosenboom is a member is the great L.A. band Burning Ghosts. Considering that this band has been around for a while, Mr. Golia has written some diverse, challenging music for the sextet to play. “As Real as Any Hoax Can Be” has a strong, progressive sounding layered lines connecting different parts. Both the guitar (Mr. Noice) and the alto sax (Templeton) solo together with intricate lines, soon followed by Golia on soprano. Mr. Noice later takes a long, intense jazz/rock guitar solo with several effects to alter the sound of his guitar. Golia switches to some low-end grumbling from his contra-alto clarinet on “OK Doctor Xavier, I Guess Only Women Have Them”, playing a somber, cerebral chamber duo with Mr. Rosenboom on flugelhorn. The sextet play an almost normal jazz/rock approach on “Ugly Bags of Mostly Water” (a Star Trek reference), yet the song later evolves through several intricate sections, concluding with all three horns playing complex arrangements before it ends. Mr. Golia does a great job of using there strengths of his chosen musicians. “The Penabus”, is a laid back and dreamy work with lovely flugel, exquisite comping & spacy guitar superb bari sax from Golia and superfine mallet work from their drummer. The sextet even work their way through some great Zappa-like multi-layered sections on “Spaniard’s Dilemma”. While both saxes play there parts together, Rosenboom takes another inspired, modest, yet high flying solo. Disc One concludes with an incredible soprano sax solo backed by some powerful, inventive jazz/rock guitar. And that’s just Disc One!?! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $17

* There another Dozen previous CD’s from Vinny Golia back in stock and on sale listed far below:

HENRY KAISER / ED PETTERSEN - We Call All Times Soon - Guitar Duets (Split Rock Records 18002; USA) Featuring Henry Kaiser and Ed Pettersen on guitars. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been checking out a variety of guitarists, both live and on record, realizing how different each and every one of them are. Check out this list: Nels Cline, Joe Morris, John Schott and Will Bernard (live at either Stone’s), Nicola Hein & Nico Soffiato (here at DMG) and Derek Bailey, Ben Monder (on Dan Weiss new CD), Mary Halvorson & Alexander Noice (on CD’s). Each guitarist sounds very different and brings something new to whatever situation they are involved in.
West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser is one of the most diverse, ambitious and prolific musicians we know of, having released some two dozen discs in the past few years, a few solos and with varying music partners. Mr Kaiser has a way of discovering little known guitarists from around the world and then reaching out to collaborate with many of them. I knew almost nothing about Ed Pettersen, a Long Island born guitarist who now lives in Nashville and is a successful (Grammy nominated) songwriter. The only recordings I had heard previously with Mr. Pettersen’s playing were a record with Giuseppi Logan and an ESP concept record called ‘Happening’.
When Mr. Kaiser first mentioned this disc to me (last month), he said it is amongst his most challenging duo offerings. He wasn’t kidding. Although, the first thing we hear sounds like acoustic guitar, there are several layers of guitars going on simultaneously. Mr. Pettersen plays slide guitar, not in a blues-like way, but bending or sliding his notes one at a time. Both guitars play brittle, intense, sweeping, swirls and fractures. The effect is often most disorienting, yet there is a good deal of common ground or a bent sort-of bond which is difficult to describe. The music here is actually beyond or in between categories, drawing from free, jazz and folk musics, but not just any one genre style. I hear bits of the blues amongst the more noisy improvisations. It sounds as if there are several ghosts wandering around with some intense eruptions which are difficult to predict yet makes some sense in ways I can’t quite explain. Most self=produced CD’s by Mr. Kaiser are upwards of 70 to 80 minutes long. This is is just over 40 minutes yet feels long enough to have created a new world which is mesmerizing and just long enough to transport us somewhere else. Only for the brave of heart and sound of mind, otherwise you will end up in that quicksand you have been trying to avoid. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

CORNELIUS CARDEW // LONDON EXPERIMENTAL ENSEMBLE With OLIE BRICE / JOHN EYLES / ED PETTERSEN / et al - Treatise (Split Rock Records 18001; USA) Controversial/influential British composer, Cornelius Cardew, worked on his piece, “Treatise”from 1963 to 1967. The score itself was a 193 page book of graphic scores and was no doubt intimidating to many. Mr. Cardew was also a member of the legendary British ensemble AMM during this same period. Founding member of AMM, percussionist and author, Eddie Prevost, played in the premiere of ‘Treatise’ in April of 1967 and still is an active member of AMM. Mr. Prevost has also been running a weekly workshop for aspiring musicians since 1999. Mr. Prevost explains in the liner notes, the history and problems of performing this work. Excerpts of “Treatise” have only been recorded on rare occasion, you can check versions on the Hat Art, Mode and Matchless labels. American guitarist Ed Pettersen, who recorded a duo CD with Henry Kaiser, organized and produced this two hour-plus 2 CD Set version, while living in London in 2016 and 2017. The London Experimental Ensemble, who performed the piece here, are a 13-piece unit with musicians drawn from Mr. Prevost weekly workshops. I am note familiar with most of the names here except for bassist Olie Brice and Ken Ikeda (synthesizer), who has worked with David Toop.
The instrumentation for this ensemble includes two electric guitars, two synths, two pianos, sax, violin, trombone, two double basses, cumbus (Turkish banjo-like instrument) and 8-string Weisenborn (dobro-like). The ’Treatise’ score is of an “enormous scale, with labyrinthine rivers, craggy peaks and cavernous gorges and can be interpreted as including futuristic industrial complexes. The music has that magical, AMM-like, ultra-careful, organic way of evolving. The blend of eerie, suspense-filled sounds is consistently enchanting yet mildly disorienting. It often sounds like someone is conducting or directing the flow. It is difficult at times to figure out who is doing which sound: bowed guitar(s) or synthesizer(s), sax, distant ghost-like voices… a squeezy toy? Hard to tell but the results are most hypnotic. There is a certain magical ingredient that only happens in free music at are times, where we are transported somewhere else, forgetting everything else around us. Certain AMM sets, Mural, some recent Downtown improv during the final week at The Old Stone (Nels Cline, Joe Morris & Jad Atoui), all has those transcendent moments. It is always a joyous occasion to hear some of that magical improv from a newer scene of musicians (in London). Time for “Part 2”. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $16

NICK MAZZARELLA / TOMEKA REID - Signaling (Nessa 39; USA) “On this captivating, fully-improvised duo recording by alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella and cellist Tomeka Reid, we find a superlative example of two leading-edge musicians who continue to draw vital inspiration from their forbears. Reid, a contributing member of the hugely influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), has previously paid tribute to some of the titans of that organization—figures such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Leroy Jenkins, Roscoe Mitchell, and Fred Anderson—with Artifacts, her superb 2015 trio release with Nicole Mitchell and Mike Reed. Mazzarella, whose work has included stints with Ken Vandermark's Chicago Reed Quartet and Audio One projects, has similarly acknowledged his debt to pivotal altoists such as Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, and Julius Hemphill. Indeed, from the opening track of Signaling, "Blues for Julius and Abdul," their dedicatory homage to Hemphill and his long-standing musical partner, cellist Abdul Wadud, it's clear that Mazzarella and Reid have immersed themselves in the waters of 1970s and 1980s avant-garde jazz. The results are invigorating and inspiring.
Both players have impeccable technique: Reid is equally proficient at stirring arco phrases and dynamic pizzicato attacks, while Mazzarella can deliver frenzied upper-register passages at astonishing speed. But on this release it's the melodic contours of their playing that really stand out. Listening to Mazzarella's yearning phrases on "Blues for Julius and Abdul," one is reminded of Hemphill's own steadfast dedication to melody and groove—an enduring feature of even his most outward-bound playing. Even when pushing himself to the limit, as on the impassioned, rapid-fire dialogue on "Interstices," or his strenuous overblowing on "Rediscovery of an Age," Mazzarella's strong musical core is never far from the surface.
Ms. Reid brings the same sensibility to her playing throughout the record. With exceptional command over her instrument, her generosity enables her to sustain the rapport that characterizes the most transcendent tracks on the record, like the mysterious, pulsing "Like So Many Drops of Water," or "Invoking a Spirit," the ethereal closer. Just listen to the spare accompaniment she provides on the hypnotic "The Ancestors Speak": as Mazzarella teases out agonizingly slow, languorous notes, Reid's understated yet insistent pizzicato offers the perfect support, helping to build a gradual intensity until the piece reaches its culmination and Mazzarella's alto finally diminishes and subsides.
It is a delight to hear the spirit of the some of the most formative years of avant-garde jazz advanced with such skill and reverence by these two outstanding improvisers. Both do justice to their musical forerunners' legacy with music that is both beautiful and expertly played.” - Troy Dostert
CD $16

Two Great New Discs from Our Favorite Dutch Couple: Ig Henneman & Ab Baars:

DUO AB BAARS - IG HENNEMAN - Canzoni Di Primavera (Wig 28; Netherlands) Featuring Ab Baars on tenor sax, clarinet and shakuhachi and Ig Henneman on viola. The Wig label has been around since 1991 and features the music of Ms. Henneman, Mr. Baars and the varied collaborators (like Misha Mengelberg & Ken Vandermark). Ms. Henneman and Mr. Baars are also married and often work with each other in duo and in group situations. The title of this disc, ‘Canzoni di Primavera’ means the ‘Song of Spring’, which makes sense since an earlier duo disc by the couple was called ‘Autumn Songs’. Each piece was inspired by a different writer, poet or composer: Emily Dickinson, William Blake and Wallace Stevens. Today, it has snowed all day (3/21/18) so I can’t go anywhere. I am tired of the Winter and can’t wait for Spring to arrive. I am not sure how much this music reminds me of Spring but I find it most inspiring nonetheless. Right from the very first note, there is something special going on here. The clarinet and viola erupt in tight phrases, dancing around one another in intense orbits. Although all of most of this is freely improvised, there are some skeletal structures or lines which sound tight or at least partially written. Mr. Baars plays somber, haunting tenor on “The Trees” with Ms. Henneman also playing warm, slightly bent harmonies on her viola. “Hugels Hang” features a poignant yet slightly bent tenor sax phrase a solemn string cushion underneath. On “A Light Exists in Spring” (inspired by Emily Dickinson), the duo push each other further out, bending their notes into sharp fractures. Another piece inspired by Ms. Dickinson is called, “That Magical Frontier”, a soft, sad, haunting, sort of ballad for distant viola wisps with some barbed clarinet fragments on top. After a long, hard Winter, these poems and this music remind us of the darkness we are trying to escape as Spring approaches. Mr. Baars does a swell job of cutting loose on “Turmuhr”, raising his tenor to the heavens and turning his phrases inside out, bellowing like a foghorn at times while Ms. Henneman also provides an intense bent note counterpoint. No matter how far the duo goes out at times, there is a sense that they’ve been working together for a long time, bending notes together or around one another in a most organic, human way. Often sublime but rarely too much so, - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

AB BAARS - Solo: And She Speaks - A Collection of Ballads (Wig 27; Netherlands) Featuring Ab Baars on solo tenor sax, clarinet and shakuhachi. Reeds player Ab Baars is a longtime member of the ICP Orchestra, as well as having some 20 discs as a collaborator (with Ig Henneman, Ken Vandermark & Terrie Ex). Although Mr. Baars has con be found on some two dozen discs in duos, trios and quartets, his solo efforts are pretty rare. There is just one previous to this one in print. Mr. Baars calls this disc “A Collection of Ballads”, not picking well-known standards but composing his own pieces. Commencing with a lush, soft and haunting song called, “Saji”, which Baars plays on his shakuhachi (traditional Japanese bamboo flute). Mr. Baars plays two pieces on clarinet next, his sound: warm, sad, thoughtful, hypnotic, pure, elegant. The title piece has a singular, solemn, restrained sound, with Mr. Baars concentrating on each note and carefully stretching each one out, balancing them them upon the silence surrounding then. Mr. Baars seems to be weighing the effect of each note or phrase, switching to tenor, his tone is austere yet dark, carving out each mote like a sculpture in the air, even levitating at some point with some Trane or Ayler-like note-bending blasts for a piece called, “Solitude”. When one plays solo, they are in control of every sound, hence they have to balance the notes with the space around them. It takes some time to adjust to the naked, lone sound of just one reed being played at a time. Ab Baars does a wonderful of making every note or sound count. Once your pulse and/or expectations calm down to a more reflective state, you will feel the way this music works its way into good graces. Watching it snow all day here in Rahway, NJ (3/21/18), this disc feels like a modest soundtrack to a day where time is slowing down to a more contemplative level. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

DUO AB BAARS / IG HENNENMAN & DAVE BURRELL - Trandans (Wig 25; Netherlands) Sometimes it is better not to react, or, to be more precise, to react with silence. Listening to this delightful record by Ab Baars, Dave Burrell and Ig Henneman will help you to remember why. There are many great examples of silence as a suitable answer to be found on Trandans. My favourite episode in this adventure is the part where pianist Dave Burrell lays out for a long time, letting the viola of Ig Henneman and the shakuhachi and tenorsax of Ab Baars do the powerful and sometimes even frantic talking. I remember seeing Burrell sitting at the Bimhuis piano, hands in his lap, just listening, but listening with an almost manifest eagerness. It is only when Henneman and Baars end the wonderful pieces titled Regn segel (Rain sail) and Rassel runt brunnen (Jangle around the well) that Burrell starts to play, at another pulse and adding ideas from a different source like some stride piano, but still as an obvious reaction to what is happening. Henneman and Baars now prove their excellence by keeping their calm and staying collected till their turn comes. No, it is wrong to say it comes, they catch it, or rather, find it, create it, bringing it to life by being loving, attentive and determined. Their quiet re-entrance into the music is perfectly timed, we can hear that, but the brilliance of this trio is proved most powerful when we start to think about all the other moments they could have uttered a note and most certainly would have changed the direction of the music, maybe would even have ruined it. There are no ruins on Trandans, from beginning to end this is marvellous, improvised music. A music so marvellous that we tend to forget that it did not exist before Ab Baars, Dave Burrell and Ig Henneman stepped on the stage of the Bimhuis that one night in September. And which after that intriguing concert did exist only as a memory. Until now. - Mischa Andriessen
CD $16

THOLLEM McDONAS / TIM DUROCHE / ANDRE ST JAMES TRIO - Live In Our Time (ESP-Disk 50520;
USA) Through the wood, sinew, skins, metal, and fingers, one hears the years of experiential exploration, responsive nuances, and overwhelming power in the trio's joyfully intense playing. They cover a lot of territory in this recording, conjuring epochs and eras, terrains and cultures. This is improvised music composed spontaneously out of the breadth of experiences. André Stjames is a cornerstone of the rich, thriving Pacific Northwest jazz scene and works regularly with his own ensemble, Mel Brown, The Kin Trio, Gordon Lee, Renato Caranto, and many others. Over the last three decades, Stjames has worked with Sonny Rollins, the Harold Land-Blue Mitchell Quintet, Andrew Hill Trio and large bands, Bobby Hutcherson, Charlie Rouse, Pharoah Sanders, and more. Stjames's strong sense of lyricism, buoyancy, and surging momentum, as well as a deep respect for both tradition and innovation, have taken him to both ends of the jazz spectrum -- from torch songs and two-beat to bop and beyond. Tim DuRoche works regularly with the collective ensemble Battle Hymns & Gardens and The Kin Trio, and has logged extensive time with an array of US and European avant-garde jazz innovators, including Dominic Duval, Burton Greene, Matana Roberts, Paul Plimley, Lisle Ellis, Wally Shoup, Gust Burns, Bert Wilson, and Urs Leimgruber, among others. Tim is the host of "The New Thing", a weekly radio jazz radio show on KMHD 89.1 FM, and is the author of the book Occasional Jazz Conjectures (2011). Thollem's spent his life skirting and erasing the edges of boundaries musically, culturally, geographically. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with hundreds of artists across idioms and disciplines including William Parker, Susie Ibarra, Nels Cline, Amy Denio, Faruq Z. Bey, Michael Wimberly, John Butcher, Gino Robair, Pauline Oliveros, and Hafez Modirzadeh, among many, many others. "He inhabits a world uniquely his own, rhythmically, harmonically and formally." --Terry Riley This is Thollem's third appearance on ESP-Disk', following The Naked Future's Gigantomachia (ESPDISK 4053CD, 2009) and TSIGOTI's Private Poverty Speaks To The People Of The Party (ESPDISK 4057CD, 2009). Personnel: Thollem McDonas - piano; Tim DuRoche - drums André Stjames - bass.
CD $12

BUCK CURRAN - Morning Haikus, Afternoon Ragas (ESP-Disk 5028; USA) On Buck Curran's second solo album, Morning Haikus, Afternoon Ragas, the emphasis switches to acoustic guitar, as compared to his first solo album, Immortal Light (ESPDISK 5014CD/LP, 2016). Side A, all solo acoustic instrumentals, seems to have fallen out of a wormhole emanating from Takoma Records in the 1970s. There's some of that on side B as well, but there are also vocals and other instruments, sometimes overdubbed, and the dedication of "Taurus" to Peter Green, guitarist extraordinaire of the original lineup of Fleetwood Mac (when they were a blues band), hinting at the breadth of Curran's influences. The introduction of other timbres and textures doesn't diminish the intimate, almost meditational mood, though. Co-released by ESP-Disk' and Curran's own Obsolete Recordings. Personnel: Buck Curran - vocals, guitars, harmonium, flute, banjo; Adele Pappalardo - vocals on "Dirt Floor"; Nicolò Melocchi - Bansuri flute on "Bhairavi Rovelli". Mastering by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering. CD version includes five additional tracks. "Crucible" is an archival recording made in the Summer of 2000, showing the development of Curran's musical style.
CD $12

JAMES ROMIG // ASHLEE MACK - Still (New World Records 80802; USA) James Romig (b. 1971) endeavors to create music that reflects the intricate complexity of the natural world, where fundamental structures exert influence on both small-scale iteration and large-scale design, obscuring boundaries between form and content.
“Still, for solo piano (2016), inspired by the paintings of Clyfford Still, comprises 43 individual “Iterations” that may be performed in a continuous unbroken strand of music that lasts approximately 55 minutes, or it may be divided into smaller segments or suites. As the work unfolds, a strand of 24 notes (a contiguous string of 8 unique trichords) is gradually revealed in groups of three, four, five, or six pitches at a time. This results in a slow-moving alternation of sparse and dense textures over the course of the entire work.
Music exists in time, and time moves in only one direction. A listener’s attention is temporally directed by the composer, and one is only able to revisit moments of music as much and as often as memory allows. Because of this, many works of music provide a listener with a relatively narrow aesthetic path, and the intention is for all listeners to have more or less the same experience. A viewer of visual art, on the other hand, is usually free to choose which artwork to observe, where to stand in relation to that artwork, where to look within the boundaries of the image, and for how long.
When visiting the Clyfford Still Museum, one wanders intuitively from work to work, making connections between different paintings. Each visitor has a unique experience, but because all the works come from a single creator a Big Picture eventually emerges. The goal of this piano piece is to create a “museum of sound,” allowing a listener to develop a notion of the work’s entirety by listening to multiple iterative variations of harmony (color) and rhythm (form). Though an audience will of course be bound by temporality as the music unfolds over the course of an hour or so, it is hoped that the inner repetitions and variations within the 43 sections of music might provide each listener with a unique experience, determined by whichever musical features are noted and remembered from iteration to iteration.” — James Romig
CD $15

CHRIS CORSANO & MICK FLOWER DUO - The Radiant Mirror (Textile Records 011; France) Featuring Chris Corsano plays drums in a duo with Mick Flower on shahi baaja (a Japanese electric dulcimer/auto-harp). The result is one of the most mesmerizing, auto-propelled outfits around, mixing Eastern mystic vibes with bottom end power. Recorded in Paris, 2006 after just less than a year of doing shows together following Chris's move to the UK. It was recorded in a live setting and thus documents their live sets and is the only available recording. Chris Corsano has gained a well-earned reputation as one of the hardest-working drummers around. Equally at home with intense kinetic explosions of energy and concentrated near-silence, he effortlessly flows from one idea to the next, always sympatico with his fellow musicians. He has recorded and gigged with, among others, Paul Flaherty, Thurston Moore, Jessica Rylan, Jim O'Rourke, Nels Cline, Jandek, Greg Kelly, Daniel Carter, Six Organs of Admittance, Evan Parker, amongst others. Mick is the founding member of the British avant-garde collective Vibracathedral Orchestra, one of the most seminal UK acts in the free music scene pioneering an approach that has influenced a tribe of other outsiders.
CD $15

STATION 17 With JEAN-HERVE PERON / ZAPPI DIERMAIER / GUNTER SCHIKERT / ULRICH SCHNAUSS / et al - Blick (Bureau B 285; Germany) Station 17 present their tenth album Blick. From the liner notes by Julian Bätz: "If their preceding album Alles Für Alle (2014) represented the band's first pure pop creation, Blick is a triple backwards somersault in style. This will come as no surprise to anybody who has followed their progress over the past 30 years, crossing musical boundaries as they go. Experimentation is in the DNA of the band founded by musicians with and without disabilities. For the Blick recording sessions, they decided to shake off the dust of the town and the modern world, ensconcing themselves in the Watt'n Sound Studio on the North Sea. Three weeks in the summery seclusion of this coastal idyll enabled the band to cast off the pop restraints of their previous album and enter the realms of free improvisation. No predetermined structures, no preconceived lyrics, the music should exist in the moment, live in the present -- not even a basic key was set as a point of reference. Thanks to this creative freedom, Blick developed into a work which, on the one hand, relates to some of the greatest exponents of krautrock like Popol Vuh and, on the other, is a more relaxed, warmer, less vocals-focused cousin of Die Entstehung Der Nacht (2009) by the Goldenen Zitronen. Allusions to the legends of experimental, improvisation-friendly electro-krautrockers are quite reasonable, given the roll call of collaborators featured on this album. Step forward Andreas Dorau, Jean-Hervé Péron and Zappi Diermaier of faUSt, Andreas Spechtl (Ja, Panik), Pyrolator, Grosskopf Kranemann, Datashock, Günter Schickert and none other than Ulrich Schnauss, now a member of German electronic powerhouse Tangerine Dream. Emulating the modus operandi of the aforementioned, Blick documents the immediate, unfiltered and unalloyed interaction between the Station 17 musicians. The spectrum of this 'dialogue' is extended through the musical guests -- and captured sonically by Dirk Dresselhaus alias Schneider TM in the engineering room. . . . Once you have opened yourself up to the positive magic of the nine tracks on Blick, you are sure to discover the honest power lurking in the music of Station 17."
CD $17 / LP CD $24

LEONORE BOULANGER & MAAM-LI MERATI - La Maison d'Amour (Okraina 009; Belgium) Léonore Boulanger and Maam-Li Merati met each other in Paris in 2011 at a concert of Azerbaijani master-musician Alim Qasimov and his daughter Ferghana Qasimova. Maam-Li Merati is an Iranian musician that was born in Kermanshah, near the Iraqi border. In addition to having a doctorate in Musicology, he has worked with artists such as Iranian singer Shahram Nazeri and French novelist Luis Bunuel's screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière (for a project devoted to 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Rumi). Shortly after their meeting, Maam-Li Merati started to teach the art of Persian classical music to Léonore Boulanger, a young French musician that released three albums on the multi-faceted label Le Saule. During the spring of 2015, they recorded some first lyrical odes, some dastgāhs for two voices, and traditional string instruments that would later become the "Dastgah-e Nava", "Dastgah-e Shur" "Avaz-e Abu Ata", and "Avaz-e Bayat-e Tork" portions of La Maison d'Amour. Later, Matthieu Ferrandez, church organist and researcher in electronic music, joined the "Dastgah-e Mahur", "Avaz-e Bayat-e Esfahan", and "Dastgah-e Homayun" pieces, weaving a cosmic lace with the sighs of harmonium and acoustic organs. “You, you traded me for nothing Me, I still choose that I wouldn't trade a single hair yours for the entire world" - Saadi Shirazi (13th century).
CD $15

More from Vinny Golia Just Restocked: Take 3 or more and get $1 off of each one!

VINNY GOLIA With STEVE ADAMS / KEN FILIANO / TINA RAYMOND - Syncquistic Linear Expositions and their Geopolitical Outcomes (…we are all still here…)(Nine Winds 342/pfMentum 109; USA) Featuring Bobby Bradford on trumpet, Vinny Golia on reeds, Ken Filiano on bass and Alex Cline on drums. Texas-raised trumpeter Bobby Bradford has long been associated with idiosyncratic reed players. Most people know him as the brass-man in an important -- but little recorded -- version of Ornette Coleman's Quartet in the early 1960s; others recall his long partnership with the late clarinetist John Carter with whom he recorded a series of memorable, interrelated LPs in the 1970s and 1980s. Just as noteworthy however has been his decades-long collaboration with multi-woodwind player Vinny Golia, live and on record, the most recent of which is displayed in glorious fashion on this CD. Like Bradford, with whom he hooked up with in Los Angeles, Golia is a non-Californian who has adopted the Golden State as his home. Bronx, N.Y.-born Golia, who is also a visual artist, is famed for his impressive command of nearly every member of the reed family -- more than two dozen and counting when last heard. He's also a doer, who from his base in Beverly Hills -- an address known for anything but musical innovation -- has nurtured, employed and recorded scores of young and/or under-appreciated creative improvisers from all parts of the North American West Coast. Drummer Alex Cline and Angelo-turned-Brooklynite bassist Ken Filiano, featured on this CD, are two of those musicians. Besides impressive work in other contexts, both have been part of various Golia groups, ranging from combos to big bands, for at least two decades. 'Sfumato', the CD, named for a painting technique coined by Leonardo da Vinci and used in his master works such as the Mona Lisa, is a particularly fine example of this mature quartet's interactive art. The disc was recorded in Lisbon, just before the band participated in Jazz ao Centro - Encontros Internacionais de Coimbra - 2003, a festival that takes place in a location two hours drive north of the Portuguese capital. Obviously pumped for what proved to be an enthusiastically received performance, the band members give their all on Sfumato, which features nine of Golia's distinctive compositions. It also provides the composer with a peerless showcase in which to demonstrate his prowess on sopranino and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, G piccolo and contrabass flute. Sfumato, the visual arts term, is mutated from the Italian words for smoke and blended. The procedure overlays translucent layers of color to create perceptions of depth, volume and form -- blending these attributes so subtly that there's no perceptible transition between one and another. - Ken Waxman
CD $14

VINNY GOLIA WIND QUARTET With JOHN CARTER / BOBBY BRADFORD / GLENN FERRIS - Live at the Century City Playhouse, Los Angeles, 1979 (Dark Tree 08; France) Featuring Vinny Golia on woodwinds, John Carter on clarinet, Bobby Bradford on cornet and Glenn Ferris on trombone. This was the early days in Vinny Golia’s long and winding music career, after having moved to LA in the early seventies from the Bronx. Mr. Golia came to LA as a painter and slowly worked on being a musician, starting his own Nine Winds label in the late seventies. Mr. Golia was initially inspired by the LA underground musicians like Horace Tapscott, John Carter and Bobby Bradford, as well as touring with Anthony Braxton 1978. Soon enough Golia had become friends with a new generation of LA musicians like Alex & Nels Cline, Roberto Miranda, his label documenting an ever-evolving New Music scene. This disc documents a rare, unreleased live set from the Century City Playhouse in 1979 where Mr. Golia had organized a strong quartet of mentors/fellow musicians: the legendary John Carter (his first concert on clarinet only) and cornetist Bobby Bradford, both of whom had worked with Ornette Coleman in LA in the late fifties and for the ‘Science Fiction’ album in the early seventies. Another underground legend was/is trombonist Glenn Ferris, who was soon to move to Paris for good. This disc includes both sets and already we can tell that Mr. Golia is serious about his writing, arranging and playing. The music is closer to modern chamber music than any sort of free/jazz. Thoughtfully composed, well executed, cerebral, with several layers of interaction going on. Golia starts off on flute spinning out his lines while the clarinet, cornet and trombone, work their way through a kaleidoscopic web of ideas. It takes some time and concentration to hear the way things shift together with several threads creating a complex tapestry to marvel at. What’s interesting is this: nearly 40 years later, Mr. Golia is writing equally fascinating music and switching off between many reeds, each section featuring him on another reed. Some of the writing and playing here recalls early Anthony Braxton music which is certainly not so odd since Golia toured with Mr. Braxton in the year previous to this concert. An outstanding effort on all counts! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16

VINNY GOLIA OCTET With GAVIN TEMPELTON/DAN ROSENBOOM/GEORGE McMULLEN/ALEX NOICE/KEN FILIANO/MATT MAYHALL - Low And Inside (Close Call Anyway..): Music For Baritone Saxophone (Nine Winds 299; USA)
CD $15

VINNY GOLIA SEXTET With DAN ROSENBOOM/GAVIN TEMPLETON/ALEX NOICE/JON ARMSTRONG/ANDREW LESSMAN - Abstractions and Retrocausalities (Nine Winds 309)
CD $15

VINNY GOLIA LARGE ENSEMBLE With JOHN RAPSON/MICHAEL VLATKOVICH/STEVE FOWLER/KEN FILIANO/ALEX CLINE et al - Pilgrimage to Obscurity (Nine Winds 130 ,USA)
CD $15

VINNY GOLIA LARGE ENSEMBLE With BRAD DUTZ/WAYNE PEET/MICHAEL VLATKOVICH/JEFF GAUTHIER/KEN FILIANO/ALEX CLINE et al - Decennium Dans Axlan (Nine Winds 140 ,USA)
CD $15

VINNY GOLIA LARGE ENSEMBLE With ROB BLAKESLEE/STEVE ADAMS/BRAD DUTZ/WAYNE PEET/KEN FILIANO/ALEX CLINE et al - Tutto Contare (Everything Counts) (Nine Winds 170 ,USA)
CD $15

VINNY GOLIA LARGE ENSEMBLE With ROB BLAKESLEE/STEVE ADAMS/JEFF GAUTHIER/BRAD DUTZ/MICHAEL VLATKOVICH/WAYNE PEET/ALEX CLINE et al - Portland 1996 (Nine Winds 180; USA)
CD $15

VINNY GOLIA LARGE ENSEMBLE With ROB BLAKESLEE/JEFF GAUTHIER/JEFF KAISER/BRAD DUTZ/MICHAEL VLATKOVICH/SARA SCHOENBECK/ALEX CLINE et al - The Other Bridge: Oakland 1999 [2 CD set] (Nine Winds 210 220; USA)
2 CD Set $20

Archival Recordings:

FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - Live... San Francisco (Rox Vox 2131; UK) Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention, live at the Fillmore West, San Francisco on November 6th, 1970. In late 1970s Frank Zappa resumed touring with a reformed Mothers, including former Turtles Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, and a stage show involving provocative comedy routines alongside typically complex music. Originally broadcast on KSAN-FM, this superb show performed at the Fillmore West, San Francisco on November 6th, 1970, features material from the forthcoming 200 Motels (1971), older songs, jazz fusion, touches of Zappa's beloved doo-wop, and much more. With plenty of ingenious musical flourishes, and rabble-rousing audience interactions, this historic gig is a must for Zappa fans. The entire KSAN-FM broadcast is presented here with background notes and images.
CD $17

THE GUN CLUB - In My Room (Bang! Records 107; Spain) Yes! It exists! Here are the unreleased recordings of what would have been the very last album of The Gun Club. Recorded in the very last period of the band, between 1991 and 1993, here are the studio recordings that Jeffrey Lee Pierce did with The Gun Club, with maximum quality and excellence of sound and presentation. Jeffrey Lee Pierce exposes his highest vocal and guitar performing, from sounds reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix and Television, to truly intimate heart-breaking blues, going through soul and rock. Includes covers of The Who, Wilson Pickett, and more. Including lyrics, this release is a dream come true for all Jeffrey Lee Pierce/The Gun Club fans all over the world. Absolutely necessary.
CD $21

HELDON - Electronique Guerilla (Heldon I) (Bureau B 280; Germany) Bureau B present a reissue of Heldon's debut album Electronique Guerilla, originally released on Disjuncta in 1974. In 1973, 22-year old Richard Pinhas was well on his way to becoming a full-time philosopher. He had almost finished his PhD and begun teaching at the University of Paris. But he also had a hobby: writing music and recording it himself. When he submitted a few tracks to British label E.G. (home of King Crimson and Roxy Music), the imprint was interested, but Pinhas was frustrated to find out he'd have to wait a year for them to release anything. So Pinhas put out his first album on his own label, Disjuncta. He called the project Heldon (from a location in Norman Spinrad's 1972 sci-fi novel The Iron Dream). It might have been the first self-released rock record in France. "Or at least the first one that worked," says Pinhas. "It was like a musical and political event in France. Musical because there were few artists using synthesizers here, or even in the world. And political because we tried to say that the big companies make everything bad and their records are too expensive." Most of Electronique Guerilla was made by Pinhas alone, but "Ouais, Marchais, Mieux Qu'en 68" featured five collaborators, including one of his mentors, Gilles Deleuze. Over winding guitars and pointed percussion, the French philosopher reads lyrics taken from Friedrich Nietzsche's "The Voyager and His Shadow" (1880). Despite being self-released -- with Pinhas himself delivering some stock directly to record stores -- Electronique Guerilla quickly sold over 19,000 copies. That convinced Pinhas he should make and release more music by himself -- but he would have little time for philosophy. "I had to make a decision, because at that point in France, you couldn't do two jobs," he remembers. "So I made this very bad choice to be a rock 'n' roll musician." It's a choice he's stuck to for four decades, and the fiery Electronique Guerilla provided a potent spark. 2018 remaster by Willem Makkee.
CD $17

HELDON - Allez-Teia (Heldon II)(Bureau B 281; Germany) Bureau B present a reissue of Heldon's second album Allez-Teia, originally released on Disjuncta in 1975. Before making his own music in the early '70s, Richard Pinhas was a King Crimson fan. The British group has buzzed in Pinhas's mind for decades, but their greatest impact came early. When he first saw them play, Pinhas was struck by music played during intermission. "When I saw (King Crimson guitarist) Robert Fripp and Brian Eno perform in Paris later, I realized that the intermission music was their work," Pinhas said. "I didn't know that when I first heard it, but I was very impressed by it. It was the most important influence on Heldon." That influence is clear on Allez- Teia, originally released in 1975 on Pinhas's own Disjuncta label. "In The Wake Of King Fripp" is a soaring mix of string-like electronics and smeared guitar, a reference both to the guitarist and King Crimson's second album In The Wake Of Poseidon (1970). The meditative "Omar Diop Blondin", in which free tones float above a repetitive guitar figure, is dedicated to Fripp and Eno. A strong influence also comes from The Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt, who was slated to record some tracks with Pinhas for Allez-Teia until the expense of his travel from London to Paris proved prohibitive. Yet Allez-Teia -- the title a nod to the ancient Greek term for philosophical truth, "aletheia" -- is hardly a tribute album. The pieces Pinhas crafts with partner Georges Grunblatt -- guitar, Mellotron, ARP synths -- are beatific on the surface but infused with undercurrents of tension. Over four decades after he made Allez-Teia, Pinhas's admiration for King Crimson remains profound. He actually met Fripp in 1974, and the two still stay in touch. "We have a great friendship; he has been very helpful," says Pinhas. "Fripp has always been my Hendrix." Some artists might balk at admitting such strong influence over their own work, but for Pinhas it's all about respect. "In the academic world in France, you list your sources," says Pinhas, who received a PhD in philosophy before launching his music career. "So I thought it was good to say, 'Yes, we are influenced by this, and we are proud of it, and people have to know it.' The work of King Crimson at that time was very important. It's not a secret." 2018 remaster by Willem Makkee.
CD $17

SPIRITUAL JAZZ With SADAO WATANABE / CHARLIE MARIANO / TOSHIKO AKIYOSHI / TAKE MORIYAMA - 8: Japan Parts One & Two (Jazzman Records 096; UK) Jazzman Record's latest examination of esoteric, modal, and progressive jazz of the 20th century has taken them to Japan. The liberating force of jazz has been created and felt all around the world, but few nations on earth embraced the jazz message with the passion and intensity of Japan. From the dawn of the jazz age to the present day, Japanese audiences have been renowned tastemakers, enthusiasts, and champions of the music -- in the 1980s, Japan was the biggest per capita market in the world for jazz records, and it has even been said that Japanese jazz fans kept the jazz record industry alive through the lean years of the 1970s, when the music fell from commercial favor in the land of its birth. But while the jazz aficionados of Japan are celebrated as sophisticated fans and consumers of the music, comparatively little is known outside Japan of the remarkable and abundant music produced by generations of Japanese jazz musicians. Numerous Japanese jazzers have found enormous success on the international stage - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Sadao Watanabe, Teramasu Hino, and many others are household names among jazz listeners all over the world, and with good reason. But if such global figures are put aside, the stunning heritage of Japanese jazz remains poorly understood outside Japan. As a result, the work of many celebrated Japanese jazzmen has remained largely unknown to international audiences, and the extraordinary scope and depth of Japanese jazz has not been widely recognized. Compiled for the Spiritual Jazz series in collaboration with the celebrated collector and DJ Yusuke Ogawa (Deep Jazz Reality, Tokyo), this set aims to correct that omission by uncovering the uniquely deep sound of esoteric, modal and progressive jazz from Japan -- music of the heart, soul, and Japanese spirit.
Part One features: Mitsuaki Kanno, Tadao Hayashi, Minoru Muraoka, Takeo Moriyama, Koichi Matsukaze, Sadao Watanabe & Charlie Mariano, Shungo Sawada, New Direction For The Arts. Part Two features: Four Units, Tohru Aizawa, Keitaro Miho, Tee & Company, Takeo Moriyama, Kiyoshi Sugimoto, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Yoshio Ikeda.
2 CD Set $22

CORNFLAKE ZOO - Episode Twelve "The Original Psychedelic Dream" (Particles 4082; UK) From the minds behind the ears of Piccadilly Sunshine, Mixed Up Minds, Electric Sound Show, and Upside Down, Particles is disturbingly disposed to present the twelfth grizzly episode of Cornflake Zoo. Twenty fizzy pop sensations with fuzzy interludes and furry outbursts, all released between 1966 and 1969. Dive into yesterday for a delicious taste of the European mod pop scene 1966-1969. Hysterical, loud, audacious and absurd? Absolutely! Features Boudewijn De Groot, Wonderland, Empty Vessels, Atlantic Ocean Would, Lyn La Salle, The Five Travellers, Outsiders, Dragonfly, Young Flowers, Golden Earring, The Shanes, Zen, New Inspiration, Brian, Lord Nelson & His Crew, The Wizards, Science Poption, and Los Brincos. Includes 20-page full-color booklet with comprehensive liner notes and rare color photographs.
CD $17

BURIED ALIVE!! - Part 7: Demented Teenage Fuzz From Down Under 1965-1967 (Particles 4087; UK) The world down under produced some of the most ferocious and truly demented sounds to have emerged from the 1960s. Crammed full of fuzz, distortion, feedback, and screaming, this uncompromising sound was the precursor to punk rock. Buried Alive!! Part 7 conjures up another stunning collection of rampant amphetamine fury, jammed tight with the most vile and repulsive '60s delinquency ever put together. 25 tracks released between 1965-1967. Following on from the ground-breaking six-disc anthology released in 2017 (PartBOX 005CD), Part 7 makes for an essential and exciting addition to your boxed collection. Features The Breakaways, Barrington Davis, Russ Kruger, The Marksmen, The Blue Beats, The Fabulous Blue Jays, The Showmen, The Lost Souls, The Librettos, The Others, The Sunsets, The Rayders, Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays, Ward Austin with Python Lee Jackson, The Pink Finks, The Morloch, The Bluestars, Johnny Chester, Toni Mccann & The Blue Jays, The Clique, Laurie Wade's Cavaliers, Marty Rhone & The Soul Agents, The Feel Goods, and The Groop. Professionally re-mastered original sound recordings; includes a full-color, 20-page booklet with expansive liners containing group biographies, archival imagery, and previously unreleased recordings with original audio artifacts.
CD $17

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS - At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Copasetic 003; Italy) Copacetic present a reissue of At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins, originally released in 1958. By far one of the most outrageous performers of the early years of rock, prone to emerging from coffins on stage, with a flaming skull named Henry as his constant companion, Screamin' Jay was an insanely theatrical figure long before it was even remotely acceptable. His 1958 debut, At Home, featuring his legendary "I Put A Spell On You," along with surreal hits like "Hong Kong," "Take Me Back To The Boot And Saddle," or his wild-ass reinventions of old standards like "I Love Paris" and "Deep Purple" is a carefully arranged yet gritty, Ray Charles-gone-crazy styled, full band rhythm, and blues masterpiece, filled with enough howls and groans to send chills down your spine. Includes 13 bonus tracks, including several alternate takes.
CD $14

CORNELL CAMPBELL - Boxing (Kingston Sounds 072; UK) Kingston Sounds present a reissue of Cornell Campbell's Boxing, originally released in 1982. What we have here is one of Cornell Campbell's great dancehall, early '80s set of songs. Dancehall was when the beat slowed down to that classic one-drop style that suited his voice so well. The album includes the title "Boxing" which was a massive hit for Cornell on its initial release in 1982. It also includes a dancehall reworking of "Queen Of The Minstrel" and a fantastic dancehall cut to Bob Marley's "Natty Dread". This was a new chapter in reggae's sound that saw the rhythm slowed down and seemed to add even more emphasis to the songs meanings. A reissue of Cornell's early '80s Boxing set is complete here. CD version includes four bonus tracks, a few more Cornell classics from the same period. Be sure to play it in full -- Cornell Campbell at his finest.
CD $15

ELVIN JONES JAZZ MACHINE With CARTER JEFFERSON / MARVIN HORNE / DWAYNE ARMSTRONG / ANDY McCLOUD - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall Hamburg 1981 (JAZZLINE/PÖ 77041; Germany) Recorded September 22nd, 1981 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany. Personnel: Elvin Jones - drums; Carter Jefferson - saxophone; Dwayne Armstrong - saxophone; Fumio Karashima - piano; Marvin Horne - guitar; Andy McCloud - bass.
"... Elvin Ray Jones was born in Pontiac in 1927 as the youngest of ten children and brother of pianist Hank and trumpeter Thad Jones. In 1981 his formative years were long gone -- about one and a half decades earlier the percussionist had left the quartet of charismatic saxophonist John Coltrane, after having been part of it for five years; Elvin Jones was involved in milestone-productions such as A Love Supreme (1965). Already during and especially after his time with Coltrane, the percussionist enriched various modern jazz ensembles; for instance, he attended the German jazz festival at Frankfurt in 1978 as a member of the European-American formation Concert Jazz Band of the Swiss pianist, arranger and composer George Gruntz. Elvin Jones called his own ensemble Jazz Machine; the name was not due to a somewhat mechanical and cold sound of the drums -- on the contrary. The orchestration of this 'machine' was rather unconventional -- Jones had invited two tenor-saxophonists, Carter Jefferson (who passed away already in the mid-90s) and Dwayne Armstrong; also in this way he cemented the staggering sound of the group. Opposite of the bugles performed, surprisingly enough, the guitarist Marvin Horne; and with the Japanese pianist Fumio Karashima the Jones-'Machine' had at its command a particularly non-mechanical melodist, especially when it concerned the ballads; in this case 'In A Sentimental Mood' and 'My One And Only Love'. Karashima also added a noteworthy dosage of far-east melodics and harmony to the concert. Together with Karashima and the well-tried bassist Andy McCloud, Elvin Jones had recorded a trio-LP just previously to the European tour documented here. The material for the recording from Onkel Pö feeds on concise themes and motives from all established sources of the hard bop era; often and readily the blues elements prevail. Right in the middle of it all Elvin Jones proves his mastery again and again -- even after more than three decades (and long after Elvin Jones passing away in 2004) his performance remains an object-lesson, or better: an audio-lesson for everybody, who is looking for orientation and guidance through the history of the emancipation of the drums in jazz; until today." --Michael Laages
2 CD Set $22

DIZZY GILLESPIE QUARTET With RODNEY JONES / LEO WRIGHT / BENJAMIN BROWN / MICKEY ROKER - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall Hamburg 1978 (Jazzline 78037; Germany) Triple LP version. Recorded March 23rd, 1978 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany; Recorded by NDR Hamburg. Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie - trumpet & vocal; Rodney Jones - guitar; Benjamin Brown - bass; Mickey Roker - drums; and special guest Leo Wright - alto saxophone.
"Considering the current developments on the market for Presidents of the United States one should probably remind the public, that even this strange bird - John Birks Gillespie from Cheraw, South Carolina, born in October 1917, nicknamed 'Dizzy' since the start of his professional career and thus declared a bit crazy -- once wanted to become President of the United States. Seriously? Most probably not. But back in 1964, the year after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in a country marked by traumatised resignation also in view of Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's deputy who had taken over the top job, there was a small-scale but inventive campaign: 'Vote Dizzy!' . . . In March 1978, fourteen years on from this political super-joke, Dizzy's quartet was back in Hamburg. Of course they also stopped by at Onkel Pö. By then the musician was 60 years old and had reached cult-status long before. The previous years he had toured from festival to festival together with the squad of impresario Norman Granz. On one of the recordings made at Montreux on the shore of Lake Geneva, the star trumpeter fought a 'battle' with the upcoming star Jon Faddis, who was at least technically already his equal. Those were years in which the quirky master, who had initiated a be-bop-fashion trend with his small beard and beret in his early years, aimed at new goals and strategies. The quartet performing at Onkel Pö was exemplary for this new orientation. Dizzy was on tour with a rather small team: the solos were divided between him and the only 22-year-old guitarist Rodney Jones; the equally youthful Ben Brown was the man on the electric bass. However, when it came to drummer Mickey Roker, Dizzy relied on his own, the bebop-tradition. In the second part of the Pö-concert Dizzy invited the saxophonist Leo Wright onto the stage. . . . [Wright] was -- together with Phil Woods -- one of Charlie Parker's legitimate heirs and since 1959 Dizzy's permanent quintet-partner for two years..." - Michael Laages
2 CD Set $22 / 3 LP Set $32

FREDDIE HUBBARD QUINTET With HADLEY CALIMAN - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall/Hamburg '79 (Jazzline 78044; Germany) Recorded October 30, 1979 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany; Recorded by NDR Hamburg. Personnel: Freddie Hubbard - trumpet, flugelhorn; Hadley Caliman - saxophone, flute; Billy Childs - piano; Larry Klein - bass; Carl Burnett - drums.
"When Freddie Hubbard came to Hamburg to get on the tiny stage of Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, he was right at the centre of the world of jazz, probably more than ever before or after in his career -- together with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams the trumpet player had set-up the quintet 'V.S.O.P.' three years earlier; as the other four people of the group had previously formed the legendary second quintet of Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard could be considered to be his direct successor. . . . The concert in Hamburg with his own quintet was exemplary for the artistic standard Hubbard set in those days almost four decades ago. Together with the 'V.S.O.P.'-legend, this was basically the prologue to the evening at Onkel Pö; Furthermore, at that time the album The Love Connection (1979) had just been released and its title song also starts off the live recording made by the NDR broadcasting station on location at Lehmweg in Hamburg-Eppendorf. Hubbard's band adopted some aspects of Blakey's 'Messengers'-strategy: appearing on stage together with the young up-and-coming saxophonist Hadley Caliman (who sometimes also played the flute), the then 23-year-old bassist Larry Klein -- who would later develop into a surprisingly versatile artist [...] and with the drummer Carl Burnett. Above all, the pianist Billy Childs performed brilliantly that evening at Onkel Pö -- he was only 22 years old. Apropos, also the exceptional singer Leon Thomas was on stage in Hamburg that day. . . . Freddie Hubbard's career suffered a severe setback in 1993; or to be more precise: not a setback but a split with dramatic consequences. His lips could not cope with the high pressure of playing the trumpet any longer. It took Hubbard several years to heal and regenerate (his lips as well as himself!). These were very difficult times for him. Basically, he had to completely reinvent himself as a musician -- and he started (as he sometimes had already done in the past) to perform on the softer, more gentle sounding flugelhorn, an instrument which is less physically demanding on the lips." --Michael Laages’
CD $16

WOODY SHAW QUINTET - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall/Hamburg '82 (Jazzline 78045; Includes bonus track "Diane". Recorded January 13, 1982 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany; Recorded by NDR Hamburg. Personnel: Woody Shaw - trumpet. flugelhorn; Steve Turre - trombone; Mulgrew Miller - piano; Stafford James - bass; Tony Reedus - drums.
"It is a positive sensation and pure joy to be reminded of an extraordinary and very special musician by this current release -- as Woody Shaw disappeared from the personal jazz-universe of way too many people after his early and tragic death in May 1989. Unjustly of course -- Shaw represents a position in the recent history of the jazz trumpet, which hardly ever before nor after was painted so clearly, so precisely and with so much energy: as the quivering and delicate virtuosity of a coeval, who has absorbed virtually all earlier traditions -- modernity and awareness for history as the spirit of jazz. Furthermore, Woody Shaw was at the zenith of his personal development as an artist at the time of the performance at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall on 13 January 1982; just imagine what he might have achieved had he lived longer than for just seven more years... He was accompanied by a sensational group of musicians. All of them subsequently made news as artists in their own right: the drummer Tony Reedus as well as the bassist Stafford James, the pianist Mulgrew Miller and especially the young trombonist Steve Turre, who alongside Lester Bowie became the new young voice of the jazz-trombone shortly afterwards and who gave orientation to a whole generation. Band leader Woody might have guessed it, when he (unlike many other band leaders in this CD series Live aus dem Onkel Pö) introduced the members of his band right after the opening song: modest, friendly and appealing as always. Woody Shaw was a true master of his trade; People like him are missed in this business, which is usually characterized by hubris, not the spirit of humanity. . . . His music -- as documented here in this recording of a very intensive concert, as they could be experienced at Onkel Pö, besides the passion-driven, delirious performances by entertainers such as Dizzy Gillespie or blues-fireworks by the likes of Albert Collins -- is a huge and important heritage of contemporary jazz. This heritage is now enriched by another sparkling facet. Those who listen, will learn to inherit." - Michael Laages
CD $16

JOHNNY GRIFFIN-EDDIE "LOCKJAW" DAVIS QUINTET With TETE MONTOLIU / NHO PEDERSEN / ART TAYLOR - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall/Hamburg '75 (Jazzline/PÖ 77046; Germany) Recorded August 8, 1975 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany; Recorded by NDR Hamburg. Personnel: Johnny Griffin - saxophone; Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - saxophone; Tete Montoliu - piano; Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen - bass; Art Taylor - drums.
"... One of the most fascinating chapters in jazz history has been written by the 'Americans in Europe' -- masters of jazz from the homeland of this genre of music, who for different reasons did not feel at ease in their fatherland, the USA; most of the time there were just not enough jobs and even less appreciation for their work. The latent racism also played a role and some wanted to protest against the hubris of their home country, which wanted to police the world and again and again stumbled into armed conflicts. Furthermore, already in the 50s some big bands disintegrated while being on tour in the 'Old World' -- and Paris, London, Stockholm or Copenhagen -- in some rarer cases also Berlin, Munich or Frankfurt -- became a new home for high-profile jazz stars. The first recording under his own name was released in 1956 and four years later he was together with 'Lockjaw'-Davis in a rather successful and popular band. In this respect the concert in Hamburg fifteen years later was also a sort of revival. When Davis starts off the second part of the NDR-recording with the master-standard 'I Can't Started', followed by 'Stompin' At The Savoy' with Griffin and Davis alternating, then it becomes clear what these two musicians appreciated in each other: the partnership in the creative rivalry and cooperation of their voices. Pleasantly and with a lot of air Davis filled the room with sound, crisp and robust was Griffin's reaction. Together they were almost unbeatable. Furthermore, the Pö-concert was a typical Griffin-evening. 'Little Giant' (as the community called him) was never really interested in a clear structure -- the pure energy of exuberant storytelling was his element. With one small motive (e.g. 'Funky Fluke' towards the finale) he could easily fill one side of an LP; he always had something more to tell. This was in a way the motto of these seemingly never-ending story: always give more, always find more." - Michael Laages
2 CD Set $22

ALBERT COLLINS & THE ICEBREAKERS - At Onkel PO's Carnegie Hall Hamburg 1980 (Jazzline/PÖ 77040; Germany) Recorded December 1st, 1980 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany. Personnel: Albert Collins - guitar, vocals; A. C. Reed - tenor sax, vocals; Jackson Marvin - guitar; Johnny B. Gayden - bass; Casey Jones - drums, vocals. "... Already the music made by the young Collins, born 1932 in Leona/Texas, was praised to be especially 'cool'; and of course, when he performed on the tiny stage of Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall on Eppendorfer Lehmweg in Hamburg, he was joined by his band called The Icebreakers. Naturally, on this winter evening no cold barrier needed to be overcome, certainly not in the overcrowded Pö, where most probably (as so often) tropical temperatures will have prevailed. . . . His name adorned the star line-up at the Montreux Jazz Festival and at the Paleo-Festival in Nyon, just around the corner on Lake Geneva. It was also in Nyon that his terminal illness first broke out. The recording from Onkel Pö really covers the entire concert; including the 20-minutes long opening of the Icebreakers, led by saxophonist A.C. Reed and percussionist Casey Jones (both of them also sing) -- only as of 'Listen here' is Albert Collins master of the house, scat-singing and playing the guitar in parallel runs. At the very end he performs his popular circus act, the instrument "talking' with two different voices... The first part of the concert ends after about one hour and the second part starts again with four intro-pieces, especially to feature saxophonist A.C. Reed and again featuring, as at the very beginning of the evening, classics such as 'Stand By Me', before Mister Collins himself takes over once more (with 'Mustang Sally'). By the way, always at the moment of the first sounds from Collins, unexpected shifts of harmony occur -- maybe the master on the 'Telecaster' has tuned it 'open' with the capo tasto again: this was one of his trademarks at the onset of his career. A very independent and original blues-master can be experienced once more on this recording. The exceptionally atmospheric Onkel Pö with its passionate Hamburg audience turns the encounter, even after three decades, into a true event -- into 'showtime'..." - Michael Laages
2 CD Set $22

LP Section:

GROUPE DE RECHERCHES MUSICALES With LUC FERARRI/ANDRE BOUCOURECHILEV/ et al - Musique Experimentale (Cacophonic 021; UK) Cacophonic present a reissue of Musique Expérimentale, originally released in 1962. Further concrète explorations from the second generation of forward-thinking sonic auteurs that would push the boundaries of experimental music known collectively as the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, founded by Pierre Schaeffer. Having found a job in 1936 at Radiodiffusion Française (later Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, or RTF) as an engineer, Schaeffer developed a newly found interest in music and with the blessing of his superiors made the most of his access to the Radiodiffusion Française studios. In 1942 Schaeffer and influential theater director, producer, and actor Jacques Copeau founded the Studio d'Essai (renamed Club d'Essai in 1946) as part of RTF in order to experiment with radiophonic techniques. Drawing on the works of French filmmaker, critic, and novelist Jean Epstein, Schaeffer would occupy his time with the manner in which sound recordings "revealed what was hidden in the act of basic acoustic listening" and in 1948 formally set about his research in earnest. With word of his theories and experiments spreading, Schaeffer was able to press the RTF management to further finance and in doing so expand his research. He recruited a previous collaborator for help, the young classically-trained composer Pierre Henry. By adding sound engineer Jacques Poullin as well, Schaeffer was able to complete a powerhouse, which he renamed the Groupe de Musique Concrète. In 1951, RTF handed the trio the keys to one of the earliest purpose-build electroacoustic studios (the other being the WDR Studio in Germany), furnishing it with state of the art bespoke equipment such as a Morphophone (designed by Poullin; capable of tape loop-delay) and a Phonogène (designed by Poullin; a multi-headed tape instrument). As Schaeffer's notoriety grew and Pierre Henry pursued other projects, RTF underwent a different direction. In 1957, following a particularly prolonged absence on RTF duties, Schaeffer returned unhappy with the direction the group had taken and tabled an idea to revitalize both their approach as well as personnel. As a result, Henry and several other key members left the group the following year leaving Schaeffer to lay the foundations in 1958 for a new collective called Groupe de Recherches Musicales, and recruited new members including Iannis Xenakis, Henri Sauguet, Luc Ferrari, and Michel Philippot. Features works by François-Bernard Mâche, Romuald Vandelle, Michel Philippot, Luc Ferrari, and André Boucourechliev. Remastered; Includes original liners notes translated here for the first time.
LP $25

MERZBOW - Noisembryo (Hospital Productions 594; USA) Hospital Productions present a vinyl reissue of Merzbow's Noisembryo, originally released on CD by The Releasing Eskimo in 1994. Noisembryo is a holy grail, not only of Merzbow's obsessive discography, but of the entire '90s noise movement. You've heard the stories surrounding the infamy of this release, but beyond that stands the depth and wild energy that Noisembryo encapsulates over two decades later. High-speed loops, roving automotive bass, and cacophonic drum machines gel together with the surprising inclusion of a sound rarely heard within Merzbow's many years... Masami Akita's own voice. Akita's surrealism of the past stands prominently relevant to this day. Includes the bonus track "Travelling" from the equally as infamous Noise Forest compilation (1992), appearing here for the first time on vinyl. Edited and remastered for vinyl by Masami Akita. Includes insert featuring unseen classic paintings and collages of Masami from the original Noisembryo sessions. Deluxe foil-stamp gatefold sleeve.
2 LP Set $36

BRUCE GILBERT - Ex Nihilo (editions Mego 250; Austria) Editions Mego's 250th release continues its ongoing legacy of cross-pollinating and perverting various threads of radical 20th century music whilst concocting and propelling further ideas into the nebulous region where we all currently reside. With Ex Nihilo, Editions Mego resumes its enduring relationship with long-term collaborator and stalwart representative of the label's aesthetic with a new release from London's most charming deviant occupant, Bruce Gilbert (formerly of Wire, Dome, etc.) Gilbert's peculiar approach to sound over four decades has seen him engage with a wide variety of practice and performance always hovering amongst the grey area between his mind and the surrounding architecture. Ex Nihilo is another significant entry into Gilbert's outer sound-book. Inhabiting a murky zone between interference and trauma, Ex Nihilo is a daring and dark audio ride through a contemporary ketamine haze, one which haunts identifiable parameters whilst remaining too oblique to be truly quantified. "Change And Not" teases discomfort, "Black Mirrors" embraces disorder, "Nomad" skirts the unsettling. Whilst never quite resolving its own logic, Ex Nihilo invites the casual listener to privy a devastating peculiar and somewhat paranoid fantasy (reality?). Another effortless Gilbert classic. Design: David Coppenhall; front image/concept: Bruce Gilbert. Mastered by Russell Haswell. Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin.
LP $22

KEVIN DRUMM - Inexplicable Hours (Sonoris 003LP; France) Six-panel, double gatefold sleeve; Includes CD. Inexplicable Hours is the sequel of the successful six-CD boxset Elapsed Time, also released by Sonoris in 2017 (SNS 013CD). The material on the first LP of Inexplicable Hours documents a new direction in his music, with some of his last electroacoustic experimentations with audio generators, field recordings, and various electronic devices. The material on the second LP explores the same ambient/drone territories as the boxset, but there is less static and it is more complex than it appears on the first listen. And as always with recent Kevin Drumm's music there's a sense of majesty, of mystery and a melancholic beauty that is uniquely his own. Some words about the boxset are also appropriate for this record: "Despite Drumm's noisy reputation, his music can be overwhelmingly sensual even at its loudest, providing a form of minimalism replete with a delicate, melancholic motion. How wildly divergent emotions rise, hover, and fall using so little is a mystery that only Kevin Drumm can provide." Mastering by Giuseppe Ielasi. CD version comes in cardboard cover.
Acclaim for Elapsed Time (2017): "The vast array of styles and works to be had here makes it an engaging challenge, one that can differ widely from disc to disc, but never lacks the cohesion and touch of a master craftsman and composer working at the top of his game." --Brainwashed
"These pieces, despite their length, are like perfect miniatures, timeless puzzles that you try and unravel through close listening. And their sense of place, of home, of sanctuary, fee
2 LP CD Set $36

JOHN MAYALL & THE BLUESBREAKERS - Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (Vinyl Lovers 900020; Italy) This seminal British blues album gave Clapton the chance to finally show his chops, not surprisingly, launching Clapton into stardom. Recorded in 1966 during Clapton's short stint with the Bluesbreakers, just after leaving the Yardbirds (the birth place of other legendary guitar players like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck) and before he joined Cream. Includes 4 bonus tracks.
LP $24

DHARMA QUINTET - Mr Robinson (Souffle Continu 038; France) Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Dharma Quintet's Mr Robinson, originally released in 1970. In an interview with Jazz Magazine in the early 1970s, Dharma, as a collective voice, outlined their method: "we try to reach, within free jazz, the same sort of rhythmic cohesion as in bop, a cohesion based not exactly on tempo, but something which feels like tempo. A kind of underlying pulse." Evidence of these ideas can be heard immediately on listening to Mr Robinson, the first album by the Dharma Quintet, for whom community living seemed obvious, in order to add to the aforementioned cohesion. Through this, the group members played together on a daily basis, trying out things which were worked on day in, day out. They also listened to a lot of records, with of course a preference for free jazz, but not forgetting Miles Davis in his electric period, notably for the keyboards of Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. To which should be added esthetical-political concerns based on a refusal of hierarchy, and a desire to escape from a restrictive academic approach... It was within this framework that Jef Sicard and Gérard Coppéré (saxophones, flute, bass clarinet), Patricio Villarroel (electric and acoustic piano), Michel Gladieux (bass), and Jacques Mahieux (drums) formed the first version of a collective united by structured intentions. The result is a beneficial cohesion, and moments of great beauty born of a collective excitement and giving rise to ambiances which seemed almost possessed. The use of modes could seem to link Mr Robinson to the spiritual jazz of the past but that is without taking into account the fact that the benevolent spirit of Eric Dolphy seems to watch over this album. In France, a similar desire for cohesion could be found in the Cohelmec Ensemble, who had parallel preoccupations, to the point where their bassist, François Méchali, ended up by joining Dharma. As a quintet, with however some personnel changes, Dharma recorded three albums (one as a trio, under the name of Dharma Trio), which are all of fundamental importance (Dharma also accompanied the songs of Jean-Marie Vivier and Colette Magny). Individually, the members would record with musicians passing through (notably Anthony Ortega, Dave Burrell) and participated in other key groups including Machi Oul and Full Moon Ensemble. Licensed from Dharma. Obi strip; Includes 12-page booklet; Edition of 700.
LP $26

DHARMA TRIO - Snoopy's Time (Souffle FFL 039; France) Presenting the first ever reissue of Dharma Trio's Snoopy's Time, originally released in 1970. Dharma as they were simply known, at the time when they were still playing, englobed all the incarnations of the group, trio, quartet (essentially as a live band), and quintet built around the stable core of pianist and bassist Patricio Villarroel and Michel Gladieux. Snoopy's Time is their second album, concentrated on the rhythm section including the ever-faithful Jacques Mahieux on drums, and recorded three months after Mr Robinson (FFL 038LP), the first album, made as a quintet including Jef Sicard and Gérard Coppéré, both at the time saxophonists with Claude Delcloo's Full Moon Ensemble. It is the most classic album in their discography, marked by the influence on Patricio Villarroel of the electric explorations of Miles Davis's pianists from 1968, that is to say Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, and Keith Jarrett. Indeed, the use of echo, reverb and saturation by Patricio Villarroel is similar to that of his famous counterparts. It would be a year later in France, but with a sound all his own, that Siegfried Kessler would undertake similar experiments playing with Perception, a group similar in spirit to Dharma. Specialists may also evoke Paul Bley, notably on Scorpio (1973) and Sweet Earth Flying (1974), or even Richard Beirach with Dave Liebman on Drum Ode (1975), but these albums came out a few years after the innovative Snoopy's Time, surprisingly released in 1970. Even amongst all the instrumental funky music of the time, it is rare to find such a communicative energy, magnified all the more by the subtle use of effects and an innate sense of groove. Licensed from Dharma Obi strip; 12-page booklet; Edition of 700.
LP $26

THE NOMADS - Showdown! (1981-1993) (Bang! Records 112; Spain) The Nomads, the best rock n' roll band ever from Sweden! Their reputation is worldwide known with fans in Europe, USA, and Australia. This record, full of singles and rarities from 1981-1993, was released in 1994 as a double-CD, and now it finally sees the light as remastered deluxe triple-LP edition. Here you'll find their own tracks as well as amazing covers from such a wide range of artists. It even includes the track Jeffrey Lee Pierce (The Gun Club) wrote for The Nomads, as a track recorded with Johnny Thunders in the studio with them. A brutal exposure of the various and extreme sound of this legendary and seminal band. Don´t miss it, you have been warned. 150 gram vinyl; trifold cover with photos and interviews; Edition of 500.
3 LP Set $75

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Bruce Lee Gallanter’s Recommended Gig List for March of 2018:

CLOSED FOR SPRING BREAK (March 18th - 27th) - HAPPY SPRING!

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - THERESA WONG - MAR 27–MAR 31

All Sets at The New Stone start at 8:30pm Tickets: $20
There are no refreshments or merchandise at The Stone.
Only music. All ages are welcome.
Cash Only at the door. There is no phone.
There is no food or beverage served or allowed
just a serious listening environment.
The Stone is booked purely on a curatorial basis

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The CORNELIA STREET CAFE - 212-989-9319
29 Cornelia St in the heart of the West Greenwich Village, NYC

Friday Mar 23
6:00PM NICK BRUST QUINTET - Nick Brust, sax; Ben Eunson, guitar; Tuomo Uusitalo, piano; Josh Allen, bass; Jay Sawyer, drums
8:35PM DAN WEISS TRIO - Dan Weiss, drums; Jacob Sacks, piano; Ben Street, bass

Saturday Mar 24
6:00PM NIGHT IN THE NAKED CITY 6 - Eric Alter ; Steve Dalachinsky ; Thomas Fucaloro; Aimee Herman; Jane Lecroy; Obsidian; Puma Perl; George Wallace8:35PM SEBASTIAN NOELLE'S SHELTER - Sebastian Noelle, guitar; Marc Mommaas, tenor sax; Matt Mitchell, piano; Thomson Kneeland, bass; Dan Weiss

Sunday Mar 25
6:00PM AKDUO: CD RELEASE! - Tomoya Aomori, cello; Julia Kang, cello; Hyungjin Choi, piano; Kuriko Tsugawa, bass
8:00PM ISRAELI JAZZ SPOTLIGHT: GREENPOINT - Sagi Kaufman, alto sax; Eitan Gofman, tenor sax; Alex Levin, tenor sax; Itai Kriss, flute; Yoav Eshed, guitar; Tamir Shmerling, bass; Eviatar Slivnik , drums
9:30PM ISRAELI JAZZ SPOTLIGHT: IDAN MORIM QUINTET - Idan Morim, guitar,; Adam O'Farill, trumpet; Micha Gilad, piano; Almog Sharvit, bass; Colin Stranahan, drums

Mon March 26:
8:30PM  OSCAR PEREZ QUINTET - Oscar Perez, piano;  Ted Chubb, trumpet;  Bruce Williams, saxophone;  Anthony Perez, bass;  Vince Ector, drums

Tues March 27
8:01PM HARISH RAGHAVAN QUINTET - Harish Raghavan, bass; Immanuel Wilkins, alto sax; Joel Ross, vibraphone; Micah Thomas, piano; Jeremy Dutton, drums
Wednesday Mar 28
8:00PM NITZAN GAVRIELI TRIO - Nitzan Gavrieli, piano; Rick Rosato, bass; Francisco Mela, drums
9:30PM JOHANNES FELSCHER'S IMMIGRATION BOOTH - Johannes Felscher, bass; Lucas Pino, bass clarinet; Johannes Ludwig, alto sax; Peter Kronreif, drums

Thursday Mar 29
8:01PM GILAD HEKSELMAN TRIO - Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Becca Stevens - voice

Friday Mar 30
6:00PM ANNIE CHEN QUARTET - Annie Chen, voice, composition; Marius Duboule, guitar; Mat Muntz, bass; Deric Dickens, drums
8:35PM JASON RIGBY'S DETROIT-CLEVELAND TRIO - Jason Rigby, tenor sax; Cameron Brown, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums

Saturday Mar 31
6:00PM AN EVENING OF BAD TIMES WITH BAD TIES: BEAT POETRY - Garland Wells, poet; Jacob Moran, producer; Billy Reed, bass; Jason Chrisman, sax, winds
8:35PM MATT ARONOFF QUARTET - Jason Rigby, tenor sax; Fabian Almazan, piano; Matt Aronoff, bass; Henry Cole, drums

Sunday Apr 01
8:01PM DJANGO AT CORNELIA STREET: SARA L'ABRIOLA TRIO - Sara L'Abriola, guitar; Roy Williams, guitar; Sammy Weissberg, bass


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I-Beam Presents:

Friday, March 23rd 8:30 PM
The Astral Pines Henry Raker
Shawn Russell – Electric Guitar
Keegan Arnold – Bass
Liam Stride – Drums
Kellen Radulski – Organ
Ryan Gleason – Vocals
Henry Raker – Tenor Saxophone

Friday, March 30th 8:00 PM
Louise D.E. Jensen / Tom Blancarte / Carol Liebowitz / John Wagner
Louise D.E. Jensen - alto saxophone
Tom Blancarte - bass
Carol Liebowitz - piano
John Wagner - drums

Saturday, March 31st 8:30 PM
Novoa / Attias Duo Arturo Garcia’s FENIX
8:30-9:15 Novoa / Attias Duo
Michaël Attias, alto sax
Eva Novoa, piano & Chinese gongs
9:30-10:15 Arturo Garcia’s FENIX: The music of Santa Sangre.
Arturo García, conductor/percussion
Hery Paz, woodwinds
Ali Bello, violin
Liz Taub, violin
Leonor Falcon, viola
Stephanie Jaimes, cello
Patricia Brennan, vibraphone
Juanma Trujillo, electric guitar
Brian Tate, acoustic bass
Daniel Vargas, percussion

I-Beam is located at 168 7th Street in Brooklyn, NY 11215 - Directions: SUBWAY: Take the F or R trains to 4th Ave & 9th Street. Walk down 4th ave to 7th street. Make a left on 7th and walk past 3rd ave. We are located on the ground floor, the grey doors to the right of the stairs of #168.

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Shapeshifter Lab Presents:

Mar 23: Michael Fahie
7p - Mike Fahie Jazz Orchestra
Winds: Aaron Irwin / Anton Denner / Rich Perry /
Quinsin Nachoff Carl Maraghi
Trumpets:
Brian Pareschi
Phil Dizack
Rich Johnson
Marty Bound
Trombones:
Matthew McDonald
Nick Grinder
Jacob Garchik
Jennifer Wharton
Guitar:Jeff Miles
Piano: Randy Ingram
Bass: Pedro Giraudo
Drums: Jeff Davis

Mar 26: Broko Mas
Electro-Acoustic Festival: Sonic Arts
Brooklyn College
Free for students

Mar 27, 28 Aaron Parks Double bill
Aaron Parks & Little Big
Aaron Parks, piano & keyboards
Greg Tuohey, guitar
DJ Ginyard, electric bass
Tommy Crane, drums

Mar 29: Jes Wittig:
The Bone Mother
Choreographed by: Jes Wittig
Dancers: Alexis Murphy, Mariah Davis, Alex Bittner

Mar 30:
7pm: Michael Whalen
8:15p - David Acevedo
David Acevedo's Eyehear
David Acevedo - Trumpet
Joseph Freund - Guitar
Sean Kim - Keyboards
Conner Duke - Electric Bass
Daniel Mesko - Drums
$10

Shapeshifter is located at
18 Whitwell Place in Brooklyn, NY
R train to Union stop

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Friday, March 23rd

7pm - Music Now! Unit-"Sound and Movement"
with Ras Moshe Burnett-Reeds
Kyoko Kitamura-Voice
Ken Filiano-Bass
Anders Nilsson-Guitar
Andrew Drury-Percussion

8pm
Dan Kurfirst-Percussion
Leonid Galaganov-Percussion
Alex Marcelo-Piano
Avram Fefer-Reeds
On Ka'a Davis-Guitar

9pm
Music Now!Re:Collective
with Ras Moshe Burnett-Reeds
Jason Hwang-Violin
Larry Roland-Bass
Charles Downs-Drums
John Pietaro-Congas
Dave Ross-Guitar

10pm Matt Lavelle 12 Houses Orchestra
with Matt Lavelle-Trumpet
Charles Waters-Alto Sax
Alex Hamburger-Baritone Sax
Claire Daly-Baritone Sax
Ras Moshe Burnett-Tenor Sax
Linda Sikhakhane-Tenor Sax
Art Baron-Trombone
Stephanie Griffin-Viola
Anais Maviel-Voice
Nicole Davis-Trumpet
Anders Nilsson-Guitar
Francois Grillot-Bass
Chris Forbes-Piano
Jack DeSalvo-Guitar,Cello

Saturday, March 24th
7pm Earth Music Now!
with Ras Moshe Burnett-Reeds
Lisette Santiago-Percussion
Lee Odom-Reeds
Melanie Dyer-Viola
Judith Insell-Viola
Fay Victor-Voice
Larry Roland-Bass
8pm - Lindsey Wilson's Human Hearts Trio
with Lindsey Wilson-Voice and guitar
Ed Keller- Guitar
Michael Trotman-Bass
Reggie Sylvester-Drums
9pm: Music Now! Re:Cousins
with Ras Moshe Burnett-Reeds
Adam Power-Guitar
Eriq Robinson-Electric Bass
Sean Conly-Bass
Dave Miller-Drums

10pm: Open Jam
$20 per night - refreshments and light snacks available

At Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer St.(corner of Scholes St) Brooklyn NY
L,G, J,M,Z trains to Lorimer St.

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This Saturday, March 24th:

At Bene’s Record Store
360 Van Brunt Street
Red Hook, Brooklyn

8pm: Charmaine Lee Solo
830pm: CP Unit (Chris Pitsiokos, Sam Lisabeth, Henry Fraser, Jason Nazary)
930pm: Sandy Ewen/Sam Weinberg duo
10pm: Jaimie Branch Solo

Accessible by the Smith-9th street F/G train stop or the B61 Bus.

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The Bushwick Improvised Music Series Continues:

Monday March 26th

7pm Aron Namenwirth - guitar
Yutaka Takahashi - guitar
Eric Plaks - piano
Sean Conly - bass
Jon Panikkar - drums
8pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Sandy Ewen - guitar/electronics
Adam Lane - bass
Kevin Shea - drums
9pm Keisuke Matsuno - guitar/electronics
Songyi Jeon - vocals
Dayeon Seok - drums
9:30pm Hans Tammen - buchla
David Rothenberg - bass clarinet/electronics
Nicola Hein - guitar
10:30pm Bonnie Kane - sax/flute/electronics
Sandra Sprecher - prepared piano/electronics
Dave Miller - drums
11:15pm Brian Drye - trombone
Jonathan Goldberger - guitar/electronics

Monday April 2nd
7pm Joe Ravo - guitar
Ed Keller -  guitar
Reggie Sylvester - drums
8pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Sandy Ewen - guitar/electronics
Kevin Shea - drums
9pm Guillermo Gregorio - clarinet
Omar Tamez - guitar
Joe Fonda - bass
9:30pm Dierk Peters - vibraphone
Nick Dunston - bass
Stephen Boegehold - drums
10:30pm Juanma Trujillo - guitar
Hery Paz - tenor saxophone
Andrew Schiller - bass
Robin Baytas - drums
11:15pm John Loggia - drums
Eric Plaks - piano

Downstairs @ Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick
(Across the street from M train Central Ave stop)
bushwickpublichouse.com