Another Dynamite List Great Discs from All Over:
Four from Relative Pitch: Ab Baars/Ig Henneman/Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey! Joe Morris Power Trio! Jessica Pavone & Catherine Sikora Solo CDs! Three from Henry Kaiser: Paul Plimley/Nels Cline/Weasel Walter/Jim Thomas..! Two from Tisziji Munoz: CD + DVD!
Ivo Perelman Qt! Nine from Clean Feed: Lotte Anker/Sten Sandell/Susan Santos Silva/Whit Dickey & Kirk Knuffke/Fred Lonberg-Holm/Carate Urio Orchestra/Cortex & More..! Alchemy Sound Project with Salim Washington! Four from Leap of Faith! Three from Blaise Siwula! Pansonic! Ash Ra Temple! Nurse With Wound! Iannis Xenakis! John Cage and Much More..!
*******************
The DMG FREE Weekly In-Store Concert Series Continues With:
Sunday, July 17th:
6pm: PAULA SHOCRON / DANIEL CARTER / PABLO DIAZ!
7pm: TOM BLANCARTE / LOUISE DE JENSEN / LEILA B. LOVELL - Bass / Alto Sax / Cello!
Sunday, July 24th:
6pm: ROCCO JOHN IACOVONE/RICH ROSENTHAL/FRANCOIS GRILLOT/TOM CABRERA!
7pm: JEFF LEDERER & BROOKLYN BLOWHARDS!
Sunday, July 31st:
6pm: ALAN BJORKLAND / KIM CASS / SAM OSPOVAT - Trumpet/Bass/Drums!
Sunday, August 7th - Rare Triple Bill:
6pm: NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC & KEN-YA KAWAGUCHI - Contrabass & Shakuhachi!
7pm: NICO's SPLIT CYCLE!
8pm: X. Y. / SEAN ALI / J. D. - Voice & Electronics / Contrabass / Laptop!
Rare Monday, August 8th:
6pm: SUSAN ALCORN & TOTO ALVAREZ!
DMG is located at 13 Monroe St. (between Catherine & Market Sts) in a basement below a former Buddhist temple & beauty salon. 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 Music Always Free & the Vibes are Quite Cosy!
******
The BURNT SUGAR CHAMBER ARKESTRA played at amazing set at the DMG 25 Celebration at Roulette a couple of weeks back, so please vote for them in this contest:
As many of you already know … Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber have entered in a contest to expose the band to the Live Nation promoters.
Please vote for us (twice if you want, just use different browsers) and relay to associates & friends who you think would like us.
Here’s a direct link: https://voodoogallery.hvnln.com/?search=Burnt+sugar
There’s a video folks who've never heard of us before can watch and here’s a few tunes so they know what we sound like.
*********
Four from Relative Pitch:
AB BAARS / IG HENNEMAN / INGRID LAUBROCK / TOM RAINEY - Perch Hen Brock & Rain - Live @ The Jazz Happening Tampere (Relative Pitch 1051; USA) Featuring Ab Baars on tenor sax, clarinet & shakuhachi, Ig Henneman on viola, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor & soprano saxes and Tom Rainey on drums. Last year we received a great quartet disc from Luc Ex/Ingrid Laubrock/Ab Baars/Hamid Drake called ‘Assemblee’. Around the same time another quartet emerged, playing gigs in Europe and featuring two couples: Ig Henneman & Ab Baars (Netherlands-based) and Ingrid Laubrock & Tom Rainey (NY-based). Ms. Hennenman plays viola, composes and runs the Wig label while Mr. Baars is a longtime member of the ICP Orchestra & leads several of his own bands. Ms. Laubrock is the current rising star saxist of the Downtown Scene, also leads several bands of her own and is an fine ever-evolving composer. I caught Ms. Laubrock three nights in a row last week (early July, 2016) in the solo, duo & trio settings and was knocked by each performance. Mr. Rainey reigns as one of the finest & most distinctive drummers in NY, his trio (with Ingrid & Mary Halvorson) are consistently incredible!
This disc was recorded at the Tampere Jazz Happening (festival) in Finland in November of 2014 and the sound is superb. Since both couples have worked together in duos and larger settings for so long, we can hear the way they converse in a most engaging dialogue, exchanging ideas, lines flowing back and forth throughout. There are sections when both Ms. Laubrock and Mr. Baars play some multiphonic high note interaction which are breathtaking. Ms. Laubrock has been playing more soprano sax in recent years and her playing gets better each time I hear her play. The interaction between her soprano and Ms. Henneman’s viola is especially riveting. There are a number of great viola players currently performing (like Jessica Pavone & Charlotte Hug), but Ig Henneman remains one of the best. She is in especially fine form here, weaving her lines superbly amongst the two spirited reeds and organic, distinctive drumming of Mr. Rainey. With each listening session, I hear more & more extraordinary playing, surprising combinations. This is a most extraordinary quartet, one of the finest improvising units of the year. We can only hope that this fine quartet will find their way here in the near future. In the meantime, check this dynamite disc! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
*Tom Rainey will play his first ever solo drums set at I-Beam on July, 30th, 2016!
*Ingrid Laubrock will play in a duo with Kris Davis at the Owl Parlor on July 21 & play solo at Gallery 440 (both in Brooklyn) on Sunday, July 31st
JOE MORRIS With CHRIS CRETELLA/DAVE PARMELEE - Shock Axis [LTD Edition of 250] (Relative Pitch 1050; USA) Featuring a new Joe Morris trio with Joe on electric guitar, Chris Cretella on electric bass and Dave Parmelee on drums. Mr. Morris has been teaching at New England Conservatory for quite a while (16 years), inspiring and instructing a wealth of young musicians. In order to keep his playing fresh and engaging, Mr. Morris has been playing with many younger musicians, exposing them to those who seek out new musicians to get excited about. In the past few years, I’ve heard Mr. Morris play with Chris Pitsiokos, Dre Hocevar, Abraham Mennen and many others. Keyboard ace, Jamie Saft, has also been working with Mr. Morris over the past few years, which seems to bring out another side more rock-oriented side to Joe’s playing. Check out Spanish Donkey and/or Slobber Pup for a surprising departure.
This is here is Joe Morris’ new trio and I hadn’t heard of either rhythm team member before this. Speaking of jazz/rock, this disc begins with in incredibly powerful opening salvo, wow! Blistering, over-the-top, furiously paced, an eruption which keeps reaching higher and higher! Is this Cream at 78 rpm?!?! The title of this disc, ’Shock Axis’ seems most appropriate since it is a shock to hear such ferocious pummeling. The pace slows down a bit on “Giant Eye”, which features Morris with a more Frippish, sustained tone pushing things into a somewhat Crimson-like toxic prog/rock stew. Very intense, indeed! “Skera” starts off with some mind-blowing electric bass & drums, blowing up a storm, soon Mr. Morris’ equally blistering guitar enters as the storm-front builds, the centrifugal force expanding as the winds or waves increase. The medium pace gives this piece a sort of psych/blues-like vibe. I can’t recall the last time I heard a power trio like this but it is certainly a blast or breath of fresh air. Mr. Morris does use a certain amount of distortion to thicken his sound and give the music a heavier vibe. What I dig most about this trio is that they are tight and erupt together as one dynamic force. Holy sh*t! And you thought those jazz/rock dinosaurs were extinct!?!? No way, Jose’! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 (LTD Edition of 250 Only)
* JESSICA PAVONE - Silent Spills (Relative Pitch 1038; USA) Featuring Jessica Pavone on viola, effects & composition. Ms. Pavone is a consummate Downtown musician/composer who thrives in a variety of unique situations. Her longtime duo with Mary Halvorson (4 CDs, 1 in print) just played their first set in a long while at the Fridman Gallery. Ms. Pavone has worked with Anthony Braxton, Eugene Chadbourne and Mike Pride, as well as being a member of Thirteenth Assembly and Normal Love (now debunked?). Ms. Pavone has also released a solo efforts, each one very different from the previous one. ’Silent Spills’ is her latest solo offering and it something quite rare and mysterious. The title track is first and consists of a somewhat disorienting see-sawing line, repeated but somehow slowly changing. The repeating phrases increases in tempo as well as becoming more distorted. Ms. Pavone seems to be focusing on how the way each bowed note or phrase effects us. On “Shred the Themes of Broken Records”, she takes simple phrases and slowly bends them into odd shapes. It sounds like a wheezing accordion pumping (or breathing) slowly in & out, in & out. There is a certain poignancy or solemnness to this music which is at the center and seems kind of sad. Jessica sings softly on “Dawn to Dark” which also features some strange bent notes, which seem to float in from somewhere else, like ghosts gathering around a campfire. Ms. Pavone strums her strings softly on “Seeded and Seated”, which sounds like an old folk song. An eerie drone enters and calmly takes over leaving us with a soft, haunting ending. This disc is rather short yet still modest and magical in its own quirky way. It seems as if Jessica Pavone is showing us how to make enchanting music for a viola without very much extended techniques or needless tricks. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
* Jessica Pavone will have a six night residency at The Stone from July 26th - 31st, 2016
CATHERINE SIKORA - Jersey (Relative Pitch 1049; USA) Featuring Catherine Sikora on tenor sax. Whenever I want to find out about a new and often under-recognized musician, I contact Kevin Reilly to keep me informed. Kevin does a great job of supporting and quietly promoting dozens of musicians deserving of more recognition. He also co-runs this, the Relative Pitch label, where can & does release discs by many a gifted musician. Mr. Reilly turned me on the Catherine Sikora, a mighty fine tenor saxist, who played at DMG on a couple of occasions (once with Vinny Golia & Ross Hammond), but has very few recordings. A half dozen as a duo or group member.
The pieces here are relatively short so that nothing goes on for very long and all pieces sound succinct. “Ripped from the Headlines” is a lovely, calm sort of ballad, which opens and sets up a certain restrained mood. I like the way Ms. Cikora takes a note and stretches it carefully, never losing balance or the theme she has already set up. Ms. Sikora was a warm, enticing tone and slowly works her way into quicker cascading lines. It sounds like Catherine is telling stories or spinning modest tales, never screaming or erupting too forcefully. Ms. Sikora plays carefully and uses space just right. While listening to this disc I could hear the sound of a distant train and the fan in my kitchen window whirring, making the sax sound even better on top of that soft cushion of background sounds. Ms. Sikora’s often lush tone reaches back to an older time/style which she occasionally pushed forward by bending certain notes, but never too much. There is something immensely charming about this disc which takes its time and warms our souls like fireplace on a cold winter’s day. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
If you want to check out samples of any go these four discs go here:
https://www.relativepitchrecords.com
Three New Ones from Guitar Monster Henry Kaiser; Bruce’s reviews next week
HENRY KAISER / PAUL PLIMLEY / LUKAS LIGETI / WEASEL WALTER - The Starbreak Splatterlight (Fractal Music; USA) Personnel: Henry Kaiser - guitar & bass, Paul Plimley piano & guitar, Lukas Ligeti & Weasel Walter - drums. "This is among the most unusual and personally best-loved of my recordings from the 21st century. If you asked me to describe what it sounds like, I might say that it sounds like a Decals' era Magic Band of Beefheart’s playing with Cecil Taylor, Blood Ulmer, Vince Guaraldi, and one of Ornette’s Prime Time rhythm sections. If that’s not unusual enough, we have here the first commercial release of master Canadian pianist Paul Plimley playing electric guitar. Few know that Paul is a terrific and highly personal guitarist. He can follow any Cecil Taylor school piano playing on guitar and fit perfectly with whatever notes are being played. Paul and I are both big fans of Beefheart’s Magic Bands and we get to explore that area most thoroughly here. Paul and I have played together since the late 70’s and this is the most fully realized document of what we have to say to each other. The monster drum section of Lukas Ligeti and Weasel Walter takes no prisoners here, total destruction of all conservative ways of thinking about music and rhythms is left in their entangled and glowing, twin musical wakes." - Henry Kaiser
CD $10
NEL CLINE / HENRY KAISER / JIM THOMAS / ALLEN WHITMAN / WEASEL WALTER - Jazz Free (Fractal Music; USA) Featuring Nels Cine, Henry Kaiser & Jim Thomas on guitars, Allen Whitman on bass and Weasel Walter on drums. “With a cover and title that reflects Ornette’s classic Free Jazz album, we have here a free rock album that is certified 100% jazz-free. Old pals Cline and Kaiser have been playing together since the late 70’s, but have seldom recorded together. The first Yo Miles! album and their Art of the Stompbox DVD being previous musically cooperative highlights of their friendship. Joined on this album by two thirds of The Mermen and the amazing Weasel Walter on drums, they explore their rock improvisation roots and are constantly challenged by the amazing sounds and ideas of Merman guitarist Jim Thomas, creating a triple guitar threat. Sheets of sound feedback and one crazy idea after another will lead listeners out of their minds and off into the the great beyond.” - HK
CD $10
HENRY KAISER / KOBE DUPREE / JACK THOMPSON / ALEXEI PLIOUSININE - Talk to Me About Invisible People (Fractal Music; USA) Personnel: Henry Kaiser - guitar, fretless bass, Kobe Dupree - synth, turntable, Jack Thompson - fretted bass, turntable and Alexei Pliousnine - lap steel guitar. Henry Kaiser and frequent collaborator Richard Thompson have something in-common that most fans don’t know about. And that is Richard’s youngest son Jack Thompson, whom Henry has known since the day he was born. Henry taught Jack to SCUBA dive years ago and they have had many travel and SCUBA adventures together. In recent years, as Jack grew up as a musician, he has become to come over to the musically dark side of things and he and Henry have been exploring that unknown set of territories together. When they planned this recording together, the great Russian guitar explorer, Alex Pliousnine happened to visiting and he joined HK and JT, along with Jack’s musical colleague Kobe Bryant in one of those albums that just seemed to record itself without the players having anything conscious to say or plan about it. It’s a “Slipstream” genre album that is in an unknown space that combines electronica with subtle turntable work that is nearly unidentifiable as turntables, and is just a much of 60’s Swedish tape/synth music and British free improvisation and extended technique guitar-playing. Lots of mystery, lots of space, dark drones, and a glimpse of the edge of Sigur Ros territory are some of the things to find here. If you know who 01 Boxer is, or if you have seen the bathroom fight in Charlie Jade (something that you might search for on youtube), or if you like the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, or the Soviet Science Fiction of the Strugatsky brothers, then you might discover some musical equivalents of those things here. - HK
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ With DON PATE / TONY FALCO / RA-KALAM BOB MOSES - Tathagata Guitar: Whisperings of Peace (Anami 067; USA) Featuring Tisziji Munoz on guitar & compositions, Don Pate on acoustic bass and Tony Falco & RaKalam Bob Moses on drums. Guitar god & spirit-man, Tisziji Munoz has released nearly a dozen discs (CDs & DVDs) in the past couple of years, often with a revolving cast of players. Most of these discs features keyboard players: John Medeski, Paul Shaffer or Marilyn Crispell. On rare occasion, Mr. Munoz will play with just a bass and (2) drummers, like he does here. Contrabass great, Don Pate, has been on most of Munoz’ 50 or so discs going back many years while master drummer (RaKalam) Bob Moses can be found on nearly half of that amount. More recently Munoz has added another fine young drummer named Tony Falco.
This is a studio effort recorded in June of 2011, but not released until now. “Thus” opens at a medium tempo and builds slowly. Tisziji’s soars slowly on top, making every note count. In the center is Don Pate’s monster bass, holding things together, providing the bottom/glue. The two drummers are on either side, spinning webs of rhythm together, stirring up a cosmic cushion. Rather than speeding up and casting off those lightning speed lines, Munoz takes his time to get to that breakneck speed. Finally getting there but balancing the speed with occasional slower cascades. The two drummers work very well together both organically spinning the lines faster/slower/faster/slower as one connected spirit. Munoz long solo erupt,build and tell lengthy stories. Only calming down at the end for a soft landing. On the second piece, Munoz moves into a somewhat different terrain with some odd dancing figures which seem out of the ordinary, slowing down to a more calm section, giving things a chance to breathe and slowly build again without any lightning licks this time around. The third and last piece is also played at a medium tempo and reminds me of the melody from the Allman Brothers “Mountain Jam”. It seems as if Munoz has slowed down his lightning licks to a more moderate tempo so we see and hear those lines more clearly. The trio take their time and slowly increase the tempo as the piece evolves. Eventually Mr. Munoz gets into that frenzied dancing fractured note flurry without speeding up to his usual blur. Munoz bittersweet, somewhat jagged tone approaches some almost tender moments here which brightens those more bent-note over-the-top passage. A surprising change of pace for guitar master, Tisziji Munoz. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12
TISZIJI MUNOZ With PAUL SHAFFER / DON PATE / RA-KALAM BOB MOSES - Burning the Bed - Live at the Tonic (Anami 069; USA) Featuring Tisziji Munoz on guitar & compositions, Paul Shaffer on piano, Don Pate on contrabass and RaKalam Bob Moses on drums. Deep, spiritual, strong, powerful, well captured, like wow! Starting out slowly yet intensely, building, Trane-like cosmic, spirit jazz connection. Tisziji looks great in his white suit with a small round ball of hair on the top of his head.The two camera shoot captures the entire quartet superbly. Hard to believe how quickly the intensity increases and erupts... too much, too soon?!?!? Great to see and hear the rest of the band so clearly. Munoz inspires Paul Shaffer to play in a more McCoy Tyner-like way, casting wave upon wave at the piano. Mr. Shaffer takes a beautiful, spirit-filled solo with the able support of Don Pate's bass and RaKalam Bob Moses distinctive drums. The great Don Pate also takes a fine bass solo with Moses stirring up strong support underneath. It seems hard to believe at times that Mr. Munoz is actually playing those furious, dizzying lines but we can watch as he pulls off those superhuman licks. Midway, he slows way down and rubs the strings in a most unusual way. The three original songs here have enchanting, oddly lyrical themes which sound somewhat familiar. The first long piece, "Ode to the Mother" is dedicated to Munoz's mother, who was there that night and has since passed away. The second piece is called "Fatherhood" and it is another powerful, excursion with waves of cascading lines by the entire quartet together. The interplay between Munoz and RaKalam is especially amazing since they sound locked into the same storm-like force. The sight and sound of this set will astonish those who have never witnessed the unique presence / power of this quartet. Utterly jaw-dropping. It doesn't get any better thank this so enjoy it while it lasts. It does seem sad that Tonic, where this took place, has been closed for more than a decade now. This DVD makes a perfect souvenir from the special place and time. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
DVD $12
IVO PERELMAN / MATTHEW SHIPP / MICHAEL BISIO / WHIT DICKEY - Soul (Leo 739; UK) “Many paths led to this album. It can be seen as the duo of Ivo Perelman (tenor saxophone) and Matthew Shipp (piano), who recorded the majestic Corpo a week before, plus the rhythm section of Michael Bisio (double bass) and Whit Dickey (drums); or the most recent Shipp trio with Bisio and Dickey, responsible for four outstanding releases, plus Perelman; the trio of Perelman, Shipp and Bisio, who’ve made one recording, plus Dickey, as has the trio of Perelman, Shipp and Dickey, plus Bisio; or the trio of Perelman, Bisio and Dickey, which have performed but not recorded, plus Shipp; or the combined duos of Perelman and Dickey, and Shipp and Bisio, both of which have released albums. There’s also the two previous outings by this quartet: The Edge (Leo Records, 2013) and The Other Edge (Leo Records, 2014).
Such a multiplicity of relations is reflected in the album as a whole – ceaseless activity but never crowded; four musicians entirely at ease with each other and comfortable with their own space and fit, sensitive to even slight changes in energy, mood and focus. There’s a relaxed feel to the date and an assurance which allows thinking in paragraphs rather than sentences, each piece a self-contained drama, from the cinematic scope of the opening ‘Metaphysical’ to Shipp’s intimate prelude which opens the title track and Perelman’s gorgeous lyric line later in the same piece, full of subtle inflections. There’s much to enjoy: the duo of bass and sax which opens ‘Joy’, later joined by piano and drums, the shifting balances of ‘Eyound’ and the pounding dance in ‘Crossing’ which resurfaces throughout the piece, a thought that can’t be shaken off.
A word about the recording. Like all the releases reviewed this week and many of Perelman’s recent albums, Soul was recorded at Park West Studios, Brooklyn, engineered by Jim Clouse. The acoustic is intimate, revealing the full range of instrumental textures: the sparkle and luscious resonance of Shipp’s fine piano, the delicate hues of Perelman’s tenor, Bisio’s weighty registers and the clatter of Dickey’s drums and soft decay of his cymbals. Such sound aids appreciation of the organic flow of a piece like ‘Fragments’ (a popular title among improvisers) in which an assemblage of darting phrases gradually coalesce and from which Perelman’s intensely expressive saxophone emerges.
What about the album title? Perelman’s recording prior to this was Corpo (Body) – do the albums form a complimentary pair, a rendition in music of Cartesian Dualism perhaps, or joined together, an allusion to the great jazz standard famously recorded by Coleman Hawkins? Probably not: as noted by Neil Tesser in his liner notes, each album has both body and soul, and the tune doesn’t put in an appearance on either. Maybe the title, and album cover, simply reflect the deep-rooted community of purpose shared by these musicians and the fluid discourse and free flow of ideas this enables. I’d be happy with five albums of just this quartet – a reasonable enough request.” - Colin Green, FreeJazzBlog
CD $17 (In stock shortly)
Nine New Not-To-Missed CDs from the Great Folks at Clean Feed & Shhpuma!
SUSAN SANTOS SILVA / LOTTE ANKER / STEN SANDELL / TORBJORN ZETTERBERG / JON FALT - Life and Other Storms (Clean Feed 379; Portugal) Trumpeter Susana Santos Silva became one of the most important ambassadors of Portuguese jazz in the world, and in this new opus we find her in notable company – a quartet of amazing musicians picked among the many with whom she’s playing with these days, like Joe Morris, Mats Gustafsson, Fred Frith, Christine Wodrascka, Mat Maneri, Craig Taborn, Thomas Morgan and Tom Chant, to name just a few. The first impression you have when grabbing this CD is that you’re going to hear a dream band. Santos Silva with Lotte Anker, Sten Sandell, Torbjorn Zetterberg and Jon Falt? No way! But it’s true and that is the kind of truth which transforms something into a gem. More special even when the music reflects a spiritual discovery, in this case «the blessing and beauty of impermanence in my life, in the world and in all the things that are», as Susana puts it herself on the liner notes. How does that mirror effect happen? Giving you a only apparently contradiction, a “peaceful state of being” manifesting in a «restless and resilient» way. To play life means to play urgently, intensely and honestly, and that’s precisely the peace of mind Susana Santos Silva need to create a map of sounds. You don’t want to miss this.
CD $15
WHIT DICKEY / KIRK KNUFFKE - Fierce Silence (Clean Feed 376; Portugal) If you tend to imagine the music of a new CD, before listening to it, by what you heard before coming from the musicians involved, “Fierce Silence” is going to astonish you. Few connections to the past works of Whit Dickey and Kirk Knuffke you’ll find in this beautiful recording. There’s more: if you understand the free jazz sub-genre as fast and aggressive music, this is miles away from that approach. Why? Well, because the duo formed by the drummer and the cornetist play ballads here exclusively, very slow and meditative ballads, full of blank spaces, respirations and self-wonderings. The absolute contrary of what you know about Dickey with the David S. Ware Quartet and the Matthew Shipp Trio, and about Knuffke with Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom and the Matt Wilson Quartet. But be warned: this isn’t smooth jazz, ambient music to do something else. The immersive quality of the assembled pieces demands your full attention. Only with an active and participative listening you can notice all the nuances and subtle elements. Forget the world for some time and give yourself a treat.
CD $15
STIRRUP [FRED LONBERG-HOLM / NICK MACRI / CHARLES RUMBACK] - Cut (Clean Feed 378; Portugal) Stirrup, the Chicago based Collaborative trio, continues to explore the interstitial space on this, their third commercial release. Cellist (and in “Cut” also a guitar player) Fred Lonberg-Holm is one of the top references of the Chicago creative music scene, covering genres going from jazz to rock, to pop, to free improvisation and to experimental music. Stirrup is his new band and reflects Lonberg-Holm’s eclecticism in a particular way. After all, he met double bassist Nick Macri and drummer Charles Rumback in the psychedelic folk band, Horse’s Ha. The idea is to do in trio what they couldn’t in that context: to explore deep grooves, moody harmonies and extended structures. The accomplice of Ken Vandermark and Joe McPhee in several projects found in this rhythm section similar-oriented souls. Macri’s previous collaborations include Laetitia Sadier, from Stereolab, and the keyboardist / composer Hector Zazou as well as involvement with the indie pop-rock groups Heroic Doses and The Zincs. Rumback played with the chamber rock combo L’Altra and the singer Via Tania and other of his current dedications is the experimental psych band Leaf Bird. Curiously enough, he is the one here closest to the jazz tradition, and you notice that. With all this mixed and you have refreshing music, always with an element of surprise, combining pastoral melodies with heavy beats and noisy harmonics. Give it a try...
CD $15
CARATE URIO ORCHESTRA [With JOACHIM BADENHORST / FRANTZ LORIOT / PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER / SEAN CAPRIO / et al] - Ljubljana (Clean Feed 382; Portugal) Personnel: Joachim Badenhorst - clarinet, bass clarinet & tenor sax, Eirikur Orri Olaffson - trumpet, electronics, Sean Caprio - drums, guitar, lead vocal on track 5, Brice Soniano - double bass, Pascal Niggenkemper - double bass, Frantz Loriot - viola, Nico Roig - guitar, vocal. Recorded live in the Ljubljana Jazz Festival (Slovenia), the Carate Urio Orchestra isn’t really a big band – and indeed it can sound like one – but a septet. One piece can go from the most sweet pop song format (all the musicians sing) to extreme noise music, with several shades in between, covering a multitude of trans-idiomatic situations, be it psychedelic rock ambiances, Mingus-like orchestrations or something else yet to define. Coming from different European origins, the musicians involved – Joachim Badenhorst, Eirikur Orri Olafsson, Sean Carpio, Brice Soniano, Pascal Niggenkemper, Frantz Loriot and Nico Roig – go through all those metamorphosis with the same naturalness and savoir-faire. The message is self-evident: in today’s creative music, every vocabulary and process is not only permissible but also desirable. If jazz is an inclusive music genre since its start, that’s what you have here, taking that principle to the last consequences.
CD $15
CORTEX [THOMAS JOHANSSON/KRISTOFFER ALBERTS/OLA HOYER/GARD NILSSON] - Live in New York (Clean Feed 381; Portugal) Personnel: Thomas Johansson - trumpet, Kristoffer Alberts - saxophones, Ola Høyer - double bass & Gard Nilssen drums. On Cortex second release with Clean Feed Records you’ll find them again in the best context possible: in concert. Considering that the band works in the tradition pioneered by Ornette Coleman, this concert recording has a special significance, because it took place in the world capital of jazz, New York.
The approach may be somewhat European, but the music registered here seemed (and seems) at home. Critics wrote at the occasion that Cortex is walking the same routes where we can find John Zorn’s Masada. This means the music is energetic and robust, with a frenetic rhythm section and a trumpet / sax frontline very exact when delivering unisons and counterpoints and free in the improvised solos. The music is simultaneously heavy and agile, flowing as a bird of prey in open air, and defying gravity. A must have, must listen!
CD $15
LUME - Xabregas - 10 (Clean Feed 371; Portugal) Personnel: Marco Barroso direction and piano, Manuel Luís Cochofel - flute, Paulo Gaspar - clarinet, Jorge Reis soprano sax, João Pedro Silva, Ricardo Toscano (on track 1) alto sax, José Menezes tenor saxophone, Elmano Coelho baritone sax, Sérgio Charrinho, Pedro Monteiro, Gonçalo Marques trumpets, Luís Cunha, Eduardo Lála, Mário Vicente - trombones. Miguel Amado electric bass and André Sousa Machado drums. A live recording of the concert presented by the very peculiar big band LUME (acronym of Lisbon Underground Music Ensemble) in the 2014 edition of the festival Jazz em Agosto, “Xabregas 10” documents a particularly successful gig with the participation of the recently deceased saxophonist Jorge Reis, to whom the CD is dedicated. And peculiar because, being a jazz orchestra, its leader and composer Marco Barroso comes from contemporary classical music and has a strong devotion for rock and funk, two factors immediately recognized in the groovy and heavy, but very complex, pieces here assembled – beginning immediately with “Astromassa”, a metal-like composition in which the 12 blowing instruments (four saxophones, a clarinet, a flute, three trumpets, three trombones) can be more powerful than a couple of over-amplified and distorted electric guitars. This same piece includes an alto sax solo by Ricardo Toscano, a young wonder player who recorded it in the post-production process: he was invited for the project after Reis death, and his inclusion here is somewhat symbolical. LUME has a post-modernist attitude, mixing elements from distinct origins in an unprejudiced way and doing it with a statement («we’re here and we’re not going anywhere; deal with us»), not very common before in the Portuguese jazz scene. And if the collective behaves with that mood, very affirmatively, it also defines the solos by Eduardo Lála (trombone), José Menezes (tenor saxophone) and Gonçalo Marques (trumpet). In one word: stratospheric.
CD $15
MOUNT MEANDER - Mount Meander (Clean Feed 375; Portugal) Personnel: Karlis Auzins - tenor & soprano sax, Lucas Leidinger piano, Tomo Jacobson - double-bass and Thomas Sauerborn - drums. Confirming that jazz is an universal language, here is a trans-national quartet featuring musicians from Germany, Latvia and Poland, in the two last cases living in Copenhagen. If you don’t recognize the names of these four representatives of a new generation of European musicians, namely Karlis Auzins, Lucas Leidinger, Tomo Jacobson and Thomas Sauerborn, certainly you’ll know some of those with whom they already established exciting partnerships: John Tchicai, Mat Maneri, Lotte Anker, Andrew D’Angelo, Adam Rudolph, Randy Peterson, Kresten Osgood, Sidsel Endresen and Frank Gratkowski. This gives you an idea of what to expect: music with an attitude, and the attitude is to function as one organism. Not a simple gathering of four individuals, but a complete being committed to intuitive and collective free improvisation. Does it mean this is non-idiomatic improvised music, to use the label invented by Derek Bailey? Not quite: the band Mount Meander uses musical idioms to tear down the borders between jazz, the avant-garde, world music, rock and pop, and precisely because this CD isn’t about genres. It’s all about unity, equality, trust and communication. Are you ready for them?
CD $15
MODULAR STRING TRIO - Ant Bees and Butterflies (Clean Feed 377; Portugal) Personnel: Sergiy Okhrimchuk - violin, Robert Jędrzejewski - cello, Jacek Mazurkiewicz on contrabass, electronics, Łukasz Kacperczyk modular synth. The title “Ants, Bees and Butterflies” may seem descriptive, but there are enough elements here to puzzle you. First of all, the Modular String Trio is not a trio, but a quartet. You can either accept it as an arithmetic incongruence or understand what’s in stake: that there’s a real string trio in this band, with a violin (Sergiy Okhrimchuck), a cello (Robert Jedrzejewski) and a double bass (Jacek Mazurkiewicz) defining the procedures, and the complement of a modular synthesizer (by Lukasz Kacperczyk), reinforcing the electroacoustic parameters introduced by Mazurkiewicz (the mentor of this project) when he electronically processes his instrument in real time. Based in Poland and Ukraine, these musicians could be from any other part of the world where the definition “chamber music of the modern day” means that improvisation can be a creative method and that the use of analog and digital technology a tool so obvious than the secular ones adopted in this recording – the bowed strings. In consequence, jazz and classical music are present in equal amounts (no wonder, considering Mazurkiewicz partnerships with the likes of Daniel Levin, Rob Brown, Waclaw Zimpel, Michael Zerang and Miya Masaoka, among others), but also bits and pieces of the East European folk traditions. The result is a marvelous equation of past and future, the kind that makes the present of creative music so intriguing.
CD $15
GONCALO - The Hundred Headed Woman (Shhpuma 023; Portugal) Personnel: Gonçalo Almeida bass and loops, Jörg A. Schneider drums + Guests: Susana Santos Silva - trumpet and Colin Webster baritone sax. Project-oriented bassist, Gonçalo Almeida debuts with “The Hundred Headed Women” one more amongst the several he is involved with, simply presented as Roji, the Japanese word for “dewy ground”. Being a duo with a drummer (Jörg A. Schneider), we start the listening with the idea that a rhythmic and textural approach to improvisation waits us, not very far from the one developed together by John Edwards and Mark Sanders. That mistakes vanishes very rapidly, and not only because there's just one “song” without a guest playing a melodic instrument, either trumpeter Susana Santos Silva and baritone saxophonist Colin Webster. It happens that Almeida's electric bass is wildly processed, functioning many times as a noise generator or, thanks to all the electronics used, as an orchestral conductor. And as if it wasn't enough, the coordinates of the proposed music come from metal, with the attitude picked from punk To simplify, we can say that this recording sounds almost like an encounter between Bill Laswell and Mick Harris (Napalm Death), but simultaneously more trashy and more jazzy, more Public Image Limited and more Sunn 00))). We can compare Roji with the Italian band Zu, but there's a fundamental difference: this isn't fun. It's amazing, in a very dark, frightening way. The movie “Antichrist” by Lars von Triers found a better soundtrack.
CD $15
ALCHEMY SOUND PROJECT [With SALIM WASHINGTON/ERICA LINDSAY/SAMANTHA BOSHNACK/ et al] - Further Explorations (ARC 2666; USA) Featuring Erica Lindsay & Salim Washington on tenor saxes & other reeds, Samantha Boshnack on trumpet & flugelhorn, Willem de Koch on trombone, Sumi Tonooka on piano, David Arend on double bass and Max Wood on drums & percussion. Every week a several promo discs shows up and there are at least one or tow unknown gems amongst the batch. This week’s winner is this disc by a local septet called Alchemy Sound Project. The only member I know much about is saxist Salim Washington who has several discs on the CIMP, Cadence & Accurate labels as well as working with Afro Horn, Fred Ho and for Ahmed Abdullah. I recall hearing Erica Lindsay once playing with Baikida Carroll and Jeff Siegel. It turns out that a couple of these players, Ms. Tonooka & Mr. de Koch, have worked with Wayne Horvitz.
All of the songs here are originals and were written by one of the five members of the septet. This disc begins with “Charcoal, Clear and Beautiful All Over”, which is somber and most elegant with sublime, hushed horns simmering on top and a tasty bass clarinet solo from Mr. Washington. On “Further Explorations” both Ms. Lindsay’s haunting tenor and Mr. Washington’s warm, lush flute are featured, both taking superb solos. After two lush ballads, we moved into some thoughtful chamber jazz for Ms. Tonooka’s “Waiting”, which features an excellent piano solo from Sumi, as well as rich harmonies for the four horns. “Her Name is Love” was written by bassist David Arend and inspired by composer Leos Janacek. Although the rhythm team plays it like a medium tempo jazz song, there are some striking interplay from Mr. Washington on oboe, Ms. Tonooka’s piano and Ms. Lindsay’s tenor, as well as rich, complex harmonies written for the horns. What makes this disc so impressive is that each composer knows how to write for this fine seven piece band, using all the members to make this sound like a small big band. I hope that this disc gets a number of reviews since I would think that it would do well in Downbeat (4 stars!). The final piece, “The Call”, keeps shifting between well written and freer sections in a most balanced way, back and forth effortlessly or so it seems, speeding up and slowing down and never losing its way. The final tenor solo takes the cake and leaves us wanting for more and more! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12
Four More Sonic Gems from the Evil Clown Empire:
LEAP OF FAITH ORCHESTRA [With PEK / GLYNIS LOMON / STEVE NORTON / YURI ZBITNOV / et al - The Expanding Universe (Evil Clown 9110; USA) The Leap of Faith (LoF) ensemble, which usually has 4 or 5 members, has been expanding over the past year. Often LoF play double bills with another sympathetic ensemble, each group playing their own set which is followed by a combined group set. This set by the Leap of Faith Orchestra took place just last month, June 4th of 2016. The usual Leap of faith cast was there: PEK (multiple reeds), Glynis Lomon (cello), Steve Norton (reeds) and Yuri Zbitnov (drums) was joined by 11 more part-time members: Syd Smart (drums), Charlie Kohlhase (saxes) and Andria Nicodemou (vibes). Rather than be totally chaotic, LoF leader Dave Peck, actually wrote a score which is described here: “The orchestra work (The Expanding Universe) uses a score which is simultaneously a Density and Sonority map prescribing the improvised development of the work. Written English descriptions of the overall sonority desired are given durations for each player on their part along with direction on when to play and when not to play. Players track the elapsed time with a large digital sports clock. This system allows me to compose detailed events without having to notate pitches or rhythms which would require significant rehearsal to accurately achieve. Skilled improvisers, like the ones I have recruited, can easily follow these instructions to create a highly structured improvisation without the need for specific rehearsal even when the ensemble is quite large as it is here.”
The results are pretty extraordinary. The work is very long, nearly 77 minutes and goes through different sections. The music sounds directed since it moves in precise waves with different subsections rising and falling back into the often turbulent sea of sounds. A number of different things stand out: an intense free piano solo (Peter Cassino), a layer of brass waves sailing with another layer of twisted reeds, sporadic double rhythm teams (tablas?), erupting and then disappearing. The balance of more sparse sections with occasional dense outbursts sounds tightly directed. Considering that the Evil Clown label which documents all of the Leap of Faith and their offshoot projects, is closing in at nearly a 100 releases, this disc might just be the best one I’ve reviewed. A completely outstanding effort all the way around. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
METAL CHAOS ENSEMBLE [PEK / ANDRIA NICODEMOU / YURI ZBITNOV] - Intermetallic Compounds (Evil Clown 9091; USA) Featuring Dave PEK on tenor & alto sax, contra-alto clarinet, sheng, saxophone, aquasonic, etc., Andria Nicodemou on vibes, percussion, gushing, yanqin and Yuri Zbitnov on drums, assorted percussion, dax, etc. The Metal Chaos Ensemble (MCE) is the prolific of all of the Leap of Faith offshoot units with some ten discs that we’ve listed. This disc features the smallest version of MCE, a trio with PEK & Yuri Zbitnov, both longtime members of LoF and newcomer, Andria Nicodemou, on vibes. This disc was recorded at Evil Clown home/studio in January of 2016. The band name refers to the fact that each member plays metal percussion of some sort. The music unfolds slowly and mysteriously with the eerie sounds of bowed percussion, gongs, vibes, creating a hypnotic, floating world. The music here has a rather ritualistic, near-spiritual sound, which does occasionally erupt but never too much. At one point, there are some spooky vocal sounds which seem to push into some darker waters. Very effective. Overall, the music is quite like a ceremony, perhaps even wake up the dead from a deep slumber. Spirits rejoice! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
STRING THEORY [With PEK / GLYNIS LOMON / JANE WANG / MIMI RABSON] - Condensed Phases of Matter (Evil Clown 9111; USA) String Theory features Dave PEK on clarinets, sopranino & tenor saxes, double reeds, game calls, etc., Glynis Lomon on cello & aquasonic, Mimi Rabson on violin and Jane Wang on cello. String Theory is a quartet off-shoot of Leap of faith with two core members: PEK and Glynis Lomon. I hadn’t heard of Ms. Rapson before this but I do know Jane Wang from her work with Sabir Mateen. This disc was recorded live at Mobius in Cambridge, MA in June of 2016, just last month. As with all or most Leap of Faith sets, this sounds mainly improvised and is one long 70 minute set. String Theory sounds like a modern string quartet with PEK’s various reeds replacing the viola. It is always nice to hear an aquasonic or waterphone, a sort of bowed vase with water inside which changes the tonality. It works well with the other strings and reeds. There are some especially magical sections where the three strings and double reed (oboe or bassoon) sound especially strong together, creating odd slight off-balance vibes, like drifting on a calm ocean which slowly becomes more turbulent as times goes on. PEK usually works on one of dozens of reeds at a time, concentrating on each one as he solos or interacts. Both cellos sound great when they deal with those deep, lower tones. This disc contains some of the best, most engaging strings and reeds quartet music I’ve heard. Most often quite mesmerizing. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
TURBULENCE [With PEK / BOB MOORES / DAVID HARRIS / YURI ZBITNOV] -Viscous Friction (Evil Clown 9106; USA) Turbulence feature Dave PEK on tenor & bari saxes, clarinets, double-reeds, sheng, game calls…, Bob Moores on trumpets, foghorn & electronics, David Harris on trombone, tuba & foghorn and Yuri Zbitnov on drums. As David Peck and Leap of Faith continue to add members, a number of satellite groups have emerged: Metal Chaos Ensemble, String Theory and now Turbulence. Mr. Peck and drummer Yuri Zbitnov and both consistent members of LoF while the other two players here, Mr. Moores and Mr. Harris are more occasional members of Leap of faith and their offshoot projects. Recorded at the Evil Clown home-studio in April of 2016. Although the instrumentation here is mainly reeds, brass and percussion, the results are still mysterious, strange, occasionally disorienting and often enchanting. It sounds as if time is being slowed down and we are submerged in a vat of jello at times. The music calms down to a more skeletal , spacious for a long stretch. Mr. Zbitnov is gifted percussionist who always know when to add to or lay out from the flow of events. He barely plays for the first 15 minutes and finally enters with some excellent mallet work as the set becomes more intense, eventually getting into a spirited groove. There are some wonderful, strange, low-end improv going on featuring tuba, trumpet, contra-alto clarinet (?) and percussion. Things grow more weird when PEK switches some of those double-reeds like oboe or bassoon. The music here is clearly recorded, warm and well-balanced. Once again Mr. PEK & Co. do a fine job of creating their own fascinating world. Much less extreme than most of the Leap of Faith discs. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
Saxist Blaise Siwula has been running a Sunday night free music series at ABC NoRio (156 Rivington St. NYC) for more than a decade (since 2004?). Hundreds of improvisors from around the world have played there during that time. The series has just come to an end since the building is being torn down soon. Mr. Siwula has played many of musicians from around the world and started his own label recently, No Frills Music. He just left of with five discs…
Three Discs from Blaise Siwula, Two More Listed & Reviewed Next Week
* CARSTEN RADTKE / BLAISE SIWULA / JOE HERTENSTEIN - Past the Future (NoFrills 0008; USA) Featuring Carsten Radtke on guitar, Blaise Siwula on tenor & soprano sax and Joe Hertenstein on drums. I very little about guitarist Carston Radtke, although it turns out that has performed written works by: Luciano Berio, Mario Davidovsky, and Olivier Messiaen. Drummer Joe Hertenstein currently lives here and has played with Baloni, The Corp Trio & Jon Irabagon as well as a number of leading some of his own projects. Mr. Siwula has learned to play with a large and diverse bunch of improvisers and approaches each situation differently. This disc starts of with a more streamlined trio, thoughtfully constructed with trio. Rather than going all the way outside, this trio play with some restraint and somewhat melodic abandon. At times Mr. Radtke sounds like John McLaughlin on his first album, ‘Extrapolation’ (from 1968). Although the music is often free and intense, there is little or no screaming going on. The trio sounds as if they are about to break into a song but never really do. This is an excellent trio who never seem to got too far out yet remain spirited and crafty throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
Blaise Siwula & Carsten Radtke will play here at DMG on Sunday, August 14th at 7pm.
MERIDA ENCUENTRO [With BLASIE SIWULA]- Songs of Deception (Setola Di Maiale 3030; Italy) Featuring Blaise Siwula on clarinets, soprano & alto sax & wood flutes, Armando Merid Martin on acoustic guitar and Edgar Caamal on drums. Besides the unstoppable Blaise Siwula, the other two musicians on this disc are from Mexico where Mr. Siuwla has been spending time over the past few years. This is the second disc with this particular trio. Mr. Siwula often switches between a half dozen different reeds depending on who is playing with. He begins here on soft wooden flute with Mr. Martin’s quiet (nylon string) acoustic guitar. Siwula soon switches to clarinet, the music remains most subdued with some strong interplay, never becoming too intense. Mr. Martin seems to be attaching something to his strings at times (paper clips or aluminum foil?), giving them a more percussive sound. Much of the music is often laid back, all acoustic and at times solemn. Eventually the intensity increases as things get more busy, several lines criss-crossing in different ways. I like the fact that a good deal of spirited interaction takes place at a quiet level keeps us at the edge of our seats if we are patient enough. There are rich rewards if you are willing to let go… - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
BLAISE SIWULA / SHIRO ONUMA - Songs for Albert (NoFrills Music 007; USA) Featuring Blaise Siwula on tenor & alto saxes and Shiro Onuma on drums. World-traveling improviser, Blaise Siwula, needs no introduction here, although the drummer, Shiro Onuma, is someone I know little about. Mr. Onuma does have two discs out with fellow drummer Heinz Geiser. Siwula and Onuma have known each other since they met in Japan in 2005. This disc is dedicated to the late, legendary saxist Albert Ayler. Mr. Siwula doesn’t quite sound like Mr. Ayler but does bend or slur certain notes in a rather Ayler-esque way. Te duo sound wonderful together as if the have been playing for many years: tight, intense, a powerful riveting dialogue. The music here is more like ‘Interstellar Space’ by John Coltrane and Rashied Ali. A summer rain storm just hit my neighborhood which seems to fit this burning music perfectly. This is one of the best sax and drums duos I’ve heard in a long while! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
PAN SONIC - Atomin Paluu (Blast First Petite 086; UK) Atomin Paluu features the final studio recordings made under the name Pan Sonic (Mika Vainio & Ilpo Vaisanen). Recorded per their usual working methods at Mika's home studio in Berlin from 2005 to 2011 and subsequently edited into this album format by Mika in 2015. The film, Atomin Paluu (2015) is a Finnish production, created by Jussi Eerola and Mika Taanila, documents the building of the first nuclear power plant since the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986 - a project that fell foul of much bureaucratic wrangling and control which manifested itself in the need for over forty cuts of the film. Atomin Paluu, the soundtrack, shows Pan Sonic uniquely using selected third-party field recordings from filming at the building site. As the film's soundtrack, these recordings were also bound up in a complex series of delays in the release of the film. The pre-release screenings of the film it won the highly coveted 2015 Nordic Dox Award at the world renowned CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. The soundtrack itself brought the greatest recognition and went on to win Best Soundtrack at the Jussi Awards Festival (known as the Finland's Oscars). In typical Pan Sonic style neither member bothered to attend the awards to collect their statuettes.
CD $15
OVERTONE ENSEMBLE - Overtone Ensemble (Important 441; USA) Tim Catlin formed the Overtone Ensemble in 2012 in order to perform works using his self-made "vibrissa" instruments. Each instrument consists of 12 vertically mounted aluminum rods that are longitudinally stroked by hand to produce ethereal singing tones. The long sustaining nature of the rods' sound and microtonal tunings allow players a sonic palette of complex textures and harmonic complexity. Other instruments used include massed hand-bells, quarter-tone bells, EBowed acoustic guitars, re-tuned glockenspiels, wine glasses, and long wire instruments. The ensemble's compositions use acoustic phenomena arising from microtonal tuning such as phasing, combination tones, and sympathetic vibrations, as well the effects of room resonance. All sounds are acoustic in origin without effects or sound processing. The results are works of shimmering intensity and pulsating beauty. The Overtone Ensemble consists of Tim Catlin, Atticus Bastow, Philip Brophy, and David Brown. Since forming in 2012 the group has been well-received at festivals such as Slow Music, NOW now, Sound Out, Light in Winter, and Liquid Architecture as well as various galleries and clubs within Australia. Group members have a long history of involvement in experimental music, sound art, and improvised music both within Australia and internationally.
CD $15
ASH RA TEMPEL - Le Berceau de Cristal (MG.Art 132; Germany) "In 1975 I was doing a series of concerts in France with Lutz Ulbrich, where we were presenting 'Inventions for Electric Guitar' and other compositions, which we developed together that year. In August, we were invited for two concerts in the South of France, one in the wonderful Roman theater in Arles, the other at the Festival Palace in Cannes. This is where we met the musicians of the German band CAN and the singer Nico, who also played at the festival. After the concerts we stayed together a few days in the beautiful city of Arles. Nico's friend, the French director Philippe Garrel, was working at that time on a film starring Nico, Anita Pallenberg and Dominique Sanda and was looking for music to make you dream. I always recorded most of our concerts, that's how we were able to offer him the piece that we had performed as 'encore' in Cannes. It became the main theme of the film. Other parts were recorded during several sessions throughout 1975 in my studio in Berlin. Instruments and electronic devices were relatively simple compared to today's technology: four-track tape recorder, an old Farfisa organ, the beautiful EKO Rhythm Computer (Italian machines controlled by punched cards), the EMS superb guitar-Synthi HiFli and, of course, our 'usual' guitars. All this combined with the patching, the filtering and echo has produced its own unique sound to 'electronic dreams' of the 70s." - Manuel Göttsching.
Recorded in 1975 at Studio Roma, Berlin, with the exception of "Le Berceau de Cristal," recorded in concert on August 7, 1975, at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. Mixed and produced by Manuel Göttsching.
CD $17
NURSE WITH WOUND - Dark Fat [2 CD Set](United Jnana 008; UK) "...a celebration and documentation of 10 years of NWW shows but to call Dark Fat a live album is far too simplistic. It is an entirely new recording constructed by combining the most interesting moments of the past decade into unique tracks. We have M.S. Waldron to thank as he is archival commandant of the NWW oeuvre and since 2006 has recorded everything and we mean EVERYTHING. He has recorded all the live shows, sound-checks, rehearsals, off-stage events and even covertly recorded the private conversations of the band. These recordings have been studiously and lovingly crafted into a unique sonic tapestry by Waldron and Stapleton with delicate embroidery and filigree added by Liles and Potter. Listen in the Dark and soak up the Fat."
2 CD Set $23
RAY CHARLES - Live Austin Texas '79 (Hi Hat 3059; UK) Ray Charles, live in Austin Texas, on October 23rd, 1979. Backed by his Orchestra and, of course the Raelettes, Ray Charles made a historic appearance on the long-running PBS TV series, Austin Limits, becoming not only the first black artist to play on it, but also the first major pop artist. He performed several of his best-loved standards, before closing with "Deep In The Heart Of Texas", an affectionate nod to the state in which the show was made. The full PBS TV broadcast is presented here. Digitally remastered for enhanced sound quality. Includes background notes and images.
LP $17
THE GARBAGE & THE FLOWERS - The Deep Niche (Grapefruit 002; USA) "If you were a certain type of music fan in the mid-'90s, you may have heard tell of an incredible, incredibly hard-to-find double-album by The Garbage & The Flowers, Eyes Rind As If Beggars. Each jacket was hand-painted, and all 300 copies sold out in a flash. Thankfully, the great Bo' Weavil label reissued it in 2013. If you haven't heard it, please do listen? OK, you heard it now? You're welcome! The group was Helen Johnstone, Yuri Frusin and Paul Yates - an inspired trio who emphasized lyrical collaboration and sound manipulation as part and parcel to their melodies. They didn't last long as a group, but luckily, they got a lot of their songs recorded. The Deep Niche is music they made before Eyes Rind and it is every bit as revelatory. Johnstone sings over raucous and raw instrumentation. It's real rock, the real real thing. Torben Tilly joined just in time to contribute some keyboard to the track "29 Years," although he mostly was their guitarist. Just in time, too, because The Deep Niche presents a band fresh to playing with some massive tools - The Tools Of Rock, natch. These songs are every bit as powerful as what you hear on Eyes Rind As If Beggars. Believe it."
CD $11
LP Section:
IANNIS XENAKIS - La Legende d'Eer (Karl Records 024; Germany) The second release in the Perihel series is one of the most famous electroacoustic compositions by Iannis Xenakis. When Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), who had fought against the occupation as part of the communist resistance, moved to Paris in 1947 it was the start of a highly creative and impressive career. Xenakis not only studied composition with Olivier Messiaen and became one of the most innovative composers of the 20th century, he also worked as assistant to Le Corbusier and realized a.o. the Philips Pavilion for the World Exhibition in Brussels, 1958. His compositions often are based on mathematical principles (in 1966 he founded the CEMAMu - Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales), which give his music an unprecedented aesthetic and as The Guardian would say, a "shocking otherness". The most famous works of Xenakis, who won the Polar Music Prize (considered the unofficial Nobel Prize for music) in 1999, are his compositions for orchestra Metastasis, Pithoprakta and Terretektorh (where the 88 musicians are spread within the audience) and the electroacoustic compositions Persepolis, Concret PH, Bohor and La Légende d'Eer where Xenakis integrated his stochastic synthesis sounds for the first time. As legendary as this piece is, there is an impenetrable thicket of versions and stories around La Légende d'Eer, it exists in different releases, with wrong sample rates or digitized backwards. This version uses the 8-track-version that Xenakis himself presented at Darmstädter Ferienkurse in August of 1978. As the automatic spatialization is lost, this became the only original version of this composition and is presented here (mixed down to stereo by Martin Wurmnest who tried to preserve the spatial movements as perceptible as possible. La Légende d'Eer not only became a milestone of electroacoustic music but is also an important reference for noise and industrial musicians up to the present day. Mixed by Martin Wurmnest, mastered & cut by Rashad Becker, La Légende d'Eer is available here as 180 gram vinyl. Includes download code. Includes insert with liner notes by Reinhold Friedl.
LP $21
JOHN CAGE - The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage [2 LP Box Set] (Modern Silence 011; Malta) Recorded live in Town Hall of New York City on May 15, 1958, this historic concert (organized by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg) was a retrospective of Cage's work from 1934 to 1958. Here Cage's interest in technology, Eastern philosophies, and the concept of "silence" and "chance" as related to composition come to the fore as Cage performs some of the most significant and controversial pieces of his career, several of which ("Six Short Inventions for Seven Instruments," "She Is Asleep," "Music for Carillon," and "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra") were performed here for the first time ever. Box includes two 180-gram LPs and a 12-page book containing comments by John Cage himself. Limited numbered edition of 500.
2 LP Box Set $45
K. LEIMER, - Closed System Potentials (Palace of Lights 003; USA) "Following the RVNG reissues of A Period Of Review (ranked the #7 reissue of 2014 by The Wire) and Artificial Dance (ranked the #2 reissue of 2015 by The Wire), Closed System Potentials, recorded in 1979 and originally released in 1980, finds its way back to vinyl in a completely remastered and expanded edition. The LP includes two previously unreleased tracks, and the download card includes an additional two unreleased tracks, all taken from the original Closed System Potentials sessions. In their review of A Period of Review, Pitchfork said, 'These pieces most closely evoke the work of Roedelius and Moebius in Cluster: meditative, wistful, lovely, giving off gentle glimmers of light. In trying to think if the closest American corollary for this set, the possibility emerges that Kerry Leimer is one of the lone examples of American kosmische music, that elegant hybrid that falls somewhere between the Velvets-style mesmerism of Can in the early '70s and the placid tones of new age music that arose in the next decade. It's a sound that applies to mid-'70s Cluster, Ash Ra Tempel, Popul Vuh, the second side of Kraftwerk's Autobahn, and others.' K. Leimer founded the Palace of Lights label in 1979. Leimer's early work was reissued by Autumn and RVNG in 2014 and 2015, and his early cassette work is in the critically acclaimed Vinyl On Demand box set American Cassette Culture. He has been actively producing music since the mid 1970s - his current catalog includes 16 still-in-print albums plus two collaborative albums with Marc Barreca."
LP $18
MARC BARRECA - Twilight (Palace of Lights 005; USA) "Marc Barreca has been creating and performing electronic music since the mid 1970s. Following recent vinyl reissues of Barreca's 1983 cassette Music Works for Industry via the RVNG spin-off Freedom To Spend, and a compilation of early cassette tracks on Vinyl On Demand's acclaimed American Cassette Culture, Palace of Lights has reissued the artist's first album for the label. 1980's Twilight was one of the earliest releases on Palace of Light, and is part of an ongoing program of documenting the roots of the Pacific Northwest independent impulse. This remastered and expanded edition includes one previously unreleased track on the LP and an additional six bonus tracks via the enclosed download card. Twilight struck out in a distinct direction, taking steps into the ambient and industrial while carrying along a phonographic sensibility. Using sounds derived from a variety of acoustic as well as electronic sources, Twilight foreshadowed the diversity and pliability of sampled, industrial and lowercase musics, ensuring the album was remarkably prescient and remains resiliently fresh to this day. Textura (reviewing Tremble) said 'Barreca's lava-like soundworlds are heady constructions whose sounds spill forth in thick clusters and collectively present themselves as heaving conglomerations of shape-shifting sound... a word like organic is less applicable than geologic, given the immense tectonic force with which its material convulses.'"
LP $18
PASCAL COMELADE & ARMAND MIRALLES - Carre Noir Sur Fond Noir (Cougouyou 001EP; France) Pascal Comelade and Armand "Frigico" Miralles (member of Heratius) recorded the four tracks on Carré Noir Sur Fond Noir as a duo in 1980. Three test pressings were made, but the EP was never released - until now. French-Catalan musician Pascal Comelade, born June 30, 1955 in Montpellier, began making strange cover songs of rock and easy listening standards with such instruments as the singing saw, toy piano etc. He later developed an un-confoundable style, co-operated with artists like Robert Wyatt or Faust, and even counts with a follower band in Japan, the Pascals.
7” EP Record $10
PASCAL COMELADE With RICHARD PINHAS - Wings On Rocks (Cougouyou 002EP; France) Pascal Comelade's Wings On Rocks EP includes three tracks: an extract of the soundtrack for Bob Wilson's ballet Wings On Rocks (1999) featuring Richard Pinhas on guitar, a previously unreleased track from 2009 and a new version of "The Nothing Twist", recorded with The Liminanas, featuring Xarim Aresté on guitar. French-Catalan musician Pascal Comelade, born in 1955, began making strange cover songs of rock and easy listening standards with such instruments as singing saw, toy piano etc. He later developed an un-confoundable style, co-operated with artists like Robert Wyatt or Faust, and even counts with the Japanese band, the Pascals.
7” EP Record $10
BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - Live at the Record Plant '73 (Rox Vox 1019LP; UK) Broadcast live on KSAN-FM in the wake of The Wailers' ill-fated 1973 tour with Sly & the Family Stone, this superb live set, recorded at the Record Plant in California on October 31, 1973, features the classic line-up of Bob Marley (vocals, guitar), Peter Tosh (vocals, guitar), Aston "Family Man" Barrett (bass), Carlton "Carly" Barrett (drums, percussion), Earl "Wire" Lindo (keyboards), and Joe Higgs (vocals, percussion). It offers several classics from the landmark 1973 Burnin' LP, which had just been released, and finds Peter Tosh contributing some memorable vocals. The complete broadcast is presented here in digitally remastered sound on 180-gram vinyl with background liner notes and images.
LP $24
*************
Bruce Lee Gallanter’s Recommended Gig List for July of 2016:
THE STONE is located at the NW corner of Avenue C & East 2nd Sts.
THE STONE RESIDENCIES - MATTHEW SHIPP - JULY 12–17
7/15 Friday
8 pm - Steve Dalachinsky (poetry) & Matthew Shipp (piano)
10 pm - Darius Jones (sax) & Matthew Shipp (piano)
7/16 Saturday
8 pm - Michael Bisio (bass), Mat Maneri (viola) & Matthew Shipp (piano)
10 pm - Charles Waters (reeds) Andrew Barker (drums) Matthew Shipp (piano)
7/17 Sunday
8 and 10 pm - Matthew Shipp Trio
Matthew Shipp (piano) Michael Bisio (bass) Newman Taylor Baker (drums)
THE STONE RESIDENCIES - SOFIA REI - JULY 19–24
7/19 Tuesday
8 pm - Umbral - Sofía Rei (vocals, loops, efx, charango, caja vidalera)
10 pm - Umbral +1 - Jorge Roeder (bass, loops, efx), Sofía Rei (vocals, loops, efx, charango, caja)
7/20 Wednesday
8 pm - Footprints of Mercedes/La huella de Mercedes - Roxana Amed, Claudia Acuña, Sofía Tosello, Sofía Rei (vocals) Juancho Herrera (guitar) Silvano Monasterios (piano) Jorge Roeder (bass) Franco Pinna (drums, percussion) Yayo Serka (cajón); Four duos with artists that have been influenced by Mercedes Sosa’s repertoire and sound.
10 pm - The Trio - JC Maillard (saz bass, guitar) Franco Pinna (drums, percussion) Sofía Rei (vocals, charango)
7/21 Thursday
8 pm - The Sextet - Sofía Rei (vocals, loops, charango) Josh Deutsch (trumpet) Eric Kurimski (acoustic guitar) JC Maillard (electric guitar) Jorge Roeder (bass) Franco Pinna (drums, percussion)
10 pm - Slides, Stills & Snapshots - Kyoko Kitamura, JD Walter, Monika Heidemann, Aubrey Johnson, Sofia Rei (vocals) Adam Matta (beatbox)
Short free improv excerpts a cappella.
7/22 Friday
8 pm - Hidden Tales/Coplas escondidas - Jorge Roeder (bass) Sofía Rei (vocals); A new collection of unknown songs from every corner of the American continent, North and South.
10 pm - Pianos for Cuchi/Pianos para el Cuchi - Leo Genovese (piano, keys) Sofía Rei (vocals) A tribute to Cuchi Leguizamón, a revolutionary musician in Argentine folk music.
7/23 Saturday
8 pm - Five Cynical Poems & Other Selections - Tupac Mantilla (body percussion, drums) Sofía Rei (vocals, loops, efx, charango)
10 pm - The Sextet & Special Guests - Sofía Rei (vocals, loops, charango) Eric Kurimski (acoustic guitar) JC Maillard (electric guitar) Jorge Roeder (bass) Franco Pinna (drums, percussion) Tupac Mantilla (percussion) Ryan Keberle (trombone)
7/24 Sunday
8 pm - Cursed Heavens/Maldigo del Alto Cielo - Leo Genovese (piano) Dan Blake (soprano sax) Sofia Rei (vocals, loops, efx, charango, caja vidalera) Roxana Amed (vocals) Songs of Violeta Parra
10 pm - Portable Songs - Jason Lindner (piano, keys) Abe Seiferth (modular synthesis) Sofía Rei
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.
*********
The CORNELIA STREET CAFE - 212-989-9319
29 Cornelia St in the heart of the West Greenwich Village, NYC
Friday Jul 15
6:00PM SOLOFEST: ARTURO O’FARRILL - SOLO PIANO - Solofest: Arturo O’Farrill - Solo Piano
9:00PM & 10:30PM VENADO TUERTO TRIO - Leo Genovese, piano; Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Francisco Mela, drums
Saturday Jul 16
6:00PM SINGER SONGWRITER ALEXANDRA LEFF - Alexandra Leff, vocals, guitar; Luke Marantz, piano; Alex Feldman, drums; Rus Wimbish, bass
9:00PM & 10:30PM - PETER BRENDLER QUARTET, CD RELEASE: MESSAGE IN MOTION -Peter Brendler, bass, comp.; Rich Perry, tenor sax; Ben Monder, guitar; Vinnie Sperrazza, drums
Sunday Jul 17
8:35PM NEW BRAZILIAN PERSPECTIVES: HELIO ALVES QUARTET - Helio Alves, piano; Vic Juris, guitar; Edward Perez, bass; Alex Kautz, drums
Monday, July 18th:
8:30PM FOR TREES & BIRDS ALBUM RELEASE SHOW - Jasper Dutz, alto saxophone, bass clarinet; Lee Meadvin, guitar; Chris Gaskell, upright bass; Connor Parks, drums
Tues, July 19th:
8:00PM BEN WINKELMAN TRIO - Ben Winkelman, piano; Desmond White, bass; Eric Doob, drums
9:30PM PABLO MASIS QUINTET - Pablo Masis, trumpet; Andrew Gould, alto sax; Broc Hempel, piano; Lauren Falls, bass; Austin Walker, drums
Wednesday Jul 20
8:01PM MITCH MARCUS QUARTET - Mitch Marcus, tenor sax; Tom Chang, guitar; Peter Brendler, bass; Jesse Simpson, drums
Thursday Jul 21
8:00PM IO- 5 - Jonathan Powell, trumpet; Jeremy Powell, tenor sax; Billy Test, piano; Iris Ornig, bass; Allan Mednard , drums
9:30PM JESSE FISCHER ACOUSTIC TRIO - Jesse Fischer, piano; Luques Curtis, bass; Keita Ogawa, drums
Friday Jul 22
9:00PM & 10:30PM STEPHAN CRUMP/KRIS DAVIS/ERIC MCPHERSON - Stephan Crump, bass; Kris Davis, piano; Eric McPherson, drums
Saturday Jul 23
9:00PM & 10:30PM STEPHAN CRUMP/KRIS DAVIS/ERIC MCPHERSON
Stephan Crump, bass; Kris Davis, piano; Eric McPherson, drums
Sunday Jul 24
8:30PM CHET DOXAS TRIO - Chet Doxas, tenor sax; Jacob Sacks, piano; Vinnie Sperrazza, drums
10:00PM CHARLOTTE GREVE QUARTET - Charlotte Greve, alto sax, comp.; Manuel Schmiedel, piano; Chris Tordini, bass; Craig Weibrib, drums
*****
I-Beam Presents - July 2016 Schedule:
Tuesday, July 19th 8:30 PM
Jooklo Duo & Friends: Duos and Trios
Virginia Genta – Tenor Saxophone
David Vanzan – Drums
with Bill Nace, Jaimie Branch, Michael Foster, Leila Bordreuil
Friday, July 29th 8:30 PM
Eva Novoa Ditmas Quartet Live Recording!
Michael Attias – Alto Saxophone
Eva Novoa – Piano
Max Johnson – Bass
Jeff Davis – Drums
Friday, August 12th 8:30 PM
Nick Fraser Trio feat. Tony Malaby and Kris Davis
Nick Fraser: drums, compositions
Tony Malaby: tenor and soprano saxophones
Chris Hoffman: cello
Eivind Opsvik: bass
Thursday, August 25th 8:30 PM
Billy Mintz Quintet
John Gross – tenor saxophone
Tony Malaby – tenor saxophone
Roberta Piket – piano
Hilliard Greene – bass
Billy Mintz – drums
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.
******
Shapeshifter July Schedule:
July 15th:
Fabian Almazan & Rhizome
Fabian Almazan - Piano
May Han Oh - Bass
Henry Cole - Drums
Camila Meza - Voice/Guitar
Megan Gould - Violin
Tomoko Omura - Violin
Karen Waltuch - Viola
Noah Hoffeld - Cello
July 16
7pm Keys to the Moon
Casey Richards - Vocals Jeremiah Mahoney - Guitar, Piano Russell Hartman - Tenor Sax Jared Nelson - Drums Jon Francke - Upright Bass
8:15pm Kevin Quinn Quintet
Kevin Quinn - Guitar, David Savistky - Alto sax, Vinnie Martucci - Piano, Jon Francke - bass, John Luther - Drums
9:30pm Interplay - Dylan McCarthy - Guitar, Dan Davis - reeds, Elliot Steele - piano, Nick Telesca - bass, Jared Nelson - drums - $10 Cover Charge
July 17
sets at 7:30pm, 8:30pm & 9:30pm
Stephen Flinn/Jason Maer Duo
Stephen Flinn - percussion
Jason Maer - sax
July 18th
The Jazzfakers
Raphael Zwyer – bass/electronics
David Tamura – sax/keys
Robert Pepper – violin/electronics
Matt Luczak – drums
- While We Still Have Bodies
Michael Foster - sax
Sean Ali - bass
Flin van Hemmen - drums
Ben Gerstein - trombone
July 19 -
8:15p - Nellen Dryden
July 20
9:30 - Ed Neumeister Solo Trombone
Pieces by Ellington, Monk, Strayhorn & Neumeister
July 21
Chamber Music
8:15p - Stelios Mihas - nylon guitar & Zach Swanson - double bass
July 22
7pm: Jeremy Warren & The Rudiment
Jeremy Warren-Drums
Dermel Warren-Vocals
Gil Defay-Trumpet
Joel Desroches-Piano
Jake Leckie-Bass
July 23
"NOT TWO"
7pm - showing of the film "Not Two"
7:45 - The Citizens play a music set
"Not Two" is a short (34 minute) film by Mark Lesseraux.
The Citizens are a 4 piece art-rock band from Brooklyn
July 24
ShapeShifter+ PresentsL Digital + Acoustic Sessions Part IV
Free/Open Workshop Featuring: Ableton Certified Trainer Dan Freeman (CØm1x), Ableton Certified Trainer Adriano Clemente and Matthew Wang.
Live Performances: Johnny Butler, Dan Freeman (CØm1x) and Adriano Clemente
Workshop: 6:30p-8p;
Live Performances: 8:30 – 11:30 - Cover charge: Free
Shapeshifter is located at
18 Whitwell Place in Brooklyn, NY
R train to Union stop
*******
The Owl Parlor: Presents:
FRI July 15
Dana Lyn's Mother Octopus
Ben Perowsky, Tim Berne and Matt Mitchell
SAT July 16
Ned Rothenberg // Karen Mantler Trio
7:30 Doors $10.00 Suggested Donation
WED July 20
Elysian Fields
7:30 Doors $15.00 in adv / $18 at door
THU July 21
Kris Davis and Ingrid Laubrock Thursday
7:30 Doors $10.00 Suggested Donation
FRI July 22
Tanya Kalmanovitch, Anthony Coleman & Ted Reichman Trio / The By and Bys
7:30 Doors $10.00 Suggested Donation
THU July 28
Ted Reichman Trio // Birthing Hips Thursday, July 28
7:30 Doors $10.00 Suggested Donation
FRI July 29
Sue Garner // Sue Garner and Ted Reichman Duo Friday, July 29
7:30 Doors $10.00 Suggested Donation
The Owl Parlor is located at:
497 Rogers Ave. (@ Midwood St.) in Brooklyn, NY 11225
(718) 774-0042