Tired of Burning, The Tides are Turning
For Fall’s Cooler Weather We are Yearning
The Cool Breeze Feels Great and Makes Us Feel Better
Time for that Weekly Disc-Filled Newsletter
Featuring a Frenzy of Treasures from these Folks:
Peter Brotzmann/Steve Noble/John Edwards! Weasel Walter Large Ensemble: Henry Kaiser/Steve Swell/Peter Evans/Chris Pitsiokos..! Eri Yamamoto Trio! Satoko Fujii & Joe Fonda! Two from Richard Pinhas: Tatsuya Yoshida & Merzbow/Barry Cleveland & Michael Manring! Gong’s Rejoice! I’m Dead! John Cage! Kevin Volans! Silver Apples!
Brand X Live 1977! Two from Albert Ayler/Don Cherry/Sonny Murray/Leroi Jones..! Fred Anderson QT - Vol 4! Thomas Brinkmann! Dorothy Ashby! Don Cherry Complete Communion Live LP! The Shaggs! Musique Concrete: Pierre Boulez/Luc Ferrari/Bernard Parmegiani/Pierre Schaefer..! Two from Jef Gilson! Paul Panhuysen & Maciunas Ensemble! Yes and Even More..!
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ATTENTION TO ALL DMG NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS:
A very special thanks to all of you who sent donations and to all of our loyal family who continue to read this newsletter and order from us weekly, monthly or even yearly. We really appreciate all who have stuck by us through thick and thin. Besides those much needed funds to help us survive, we have gotten a great deal of encouragement from those who tell us how important getting and reading the weekly newsletter is to them. These e-mails come from around the world and make us feel proud to be part of an international community of those who seek a wide variety of challenging music. Please keeps those words of encouragement coming.
Last week, I heard that a few of you subscribers did not receive Part One (or Part Two) of our weekly newsletter. My version of Part One ended up in my spam folder for some strange reason?!? If you don’t get either or both parts of the weekly newsletter, which usually is transmitted on Thursday in the mid-afternoon, please reply to whichever part you did get and ask for the part you didn’t get. As long as the store is open (noon to 6pm EST daily), one of us will send it you as soon as we can. Generally, an easy to read version is posted on our website within 24 hours of transmission. I know you don’t want to miss out on anything we list since all releases listed are important to those in the know. Thanks. Live Long & Prosper, Bruce Lee Gallanter
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The DMG FREE Weekly In-Store Concert Series Continues With:
Sunday, September 18th: DMG Welcomes Two New Tenor Saxists to Town:
6pm: ABRAHAM MENNEN & DAN KURFIRST - Tenor Sax & Drums
7pm: ALEC HARPER & ANDREW CLINKMAN - Tenor Sax & Guitar
Sunday, September 25th:
6pm: The Return of GHOSTS OF THE HOLY GHOST SPERMIC BROTHERHOOD:
ANDY HAAS / DAVID GROLLMAN / MICHAEL EVANS Return!
7pm: STEVE SWELL & DIDRIK INVALDSEN - Trombone & Trumpet Duo!
Sunday, October 2nd:
6pm: OMAR TAMEZ / GUILLERMO GREGORIO / ANGELICA SANCHEZ / MARIA GRAND
7pm: CARLOS QUEBRADA / VIOLETTA From SALES De BANO
Sunday, October 9th:
6pm: T A TRIO Plays STEVE LACY: TITUS ABBOTT - Soprano Sax / NICOLAS BETMAN-BURTINOVIC - Bass / PETER KRONREIF - Drums
Rare Thursday, October 13th:
6:30pm: NATE WOOLEY / JEREMIAH CYMERMAN - Trumpet / Clarinet Duo
Plus LOGAN HONE - Solo Alto Sax & Bass Clarinet
Sunday, October 16th:
6pm: HARVEY VALDES / MARCO OPPEDISANO / DARIO ISCARO - 3 Guitarists
7pm: JEREMY CARLSTEDT / ANDERS NILSSON / FRANCOIS GRILLOT
Sunday, October 23rd:
6pm: THOMAS HELTON / TONY MALABY / JOE HERTENSTEIN
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 Sunday Music Series is Always Free & the Vibes are Cosy!
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And Now for the New Things We’ve Been waiting for:
PETER BROTZMANN / STEVE NOBLE / JOHN EDWARDS - The Worse The Better (Otoroku 001; UK) Originally released on vinyl in 2012. Café OTO is a concert venue operating in Dalston, East London, specializing in various strains of avant-music: free-jazz, song, electronics, etc. OTO have been professionally recording various shows on and off since the venue opened in 2008. The Worse the Better is a recording of the stunning first set performed by the trio of Peter Brötzmann, Steve Noble and John Edwards at Café OTO in January 2010 during Brötzmann's first residency at the venue. It was also the first time this trio had played together. The concert was recorded at Café OTO by Shane Browne and mastered by Andrea "Lupo" Lubich at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
CD $17
WEASEL WALTER LARGE ENSEMBLE [Featuring HENRY KAISER + PETER EVANS/ALAN LICHT/CHRIS WELCOME/STEVE SWELL/DAN PECK/JIM SAUTER/CHRIS PITSIOKOS/ et al - Igneity: After the Fall of Civilization (UgExplode?; USA) This disc was recorded live at JACK in Brooklyn in April of 2015. Power-drummer, punk and free/music historian, Weasel Walter, has a long history of working with large ensembles and this appears to be his ninth disc as a leader of large units. Weasel always chooses the more spirited and strong players to work with, and here he has organized a powerful 12-piece ensemble: Henry Kaiser, Alan Licht & Chris Welcome on guitars, Peter Evans on trumpet, Steve Swell on trombone, Dan Peck on tuba, Jim Sauter (from Borbetomagus), Michael Foster, Chris Pitsiokos & Matt Nelson on saxes, Tim Dahl & Brandon Lopez on basses with Weasel Walter playing drums and directing. As frenetic as this sounds, there is an obvious directive going on. Stopping and starting with tight bursts different groupings. There are several densities involved: thicker and even more dense yet somehow the layered eruptions coalesce. At times Weasel lays out while a certain section (three brass) explode together, the three guitars wailing in the background. Weasel chose many of these players since they know how to stand out, push hard, go with the flow and still be picked out in the massive din. I recognize Steve Swell, Peter Evans, Chris Pitsiokos and Jim Sauter as they reach out and above: sailing, screaming pushing the temperature higher. I like some of the sections only parts when things break into subsets. I don’t recognize Mr. Kaiser’s usual tone, but I do hear some intense multiple guitar wailing. If you need a break from the more restrained side of music, then you best invest in this massive, cosmic jubilation. Just incredible and almost too much! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
WEASEL WALTER - Curses (Self-Released; USA) “Prolific cult composer/instrumentalist/producer Weasel Walter (of The Flying Luttenbachers, Cellular Chaos, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, et al.) returns with a mysterious solo offering called CURSES. The album consists of four long movements divided into 99 tracks. The 79 minute long program can be played either in sequence or random shuffle order, offering a virtually endless variety of listening experiences. Each movement utilizes a set of discrete structural means of organizing the sound sources. Based on Walter’s personal armory of extended percussion techniques and his use of crude modular synth-like electronic textures, the goal was to create a rich, coherent hierarchy with simple tools, methods and limited material. Essentially each of the four movements is a remix of itself, allowing a cohesive language to reveal itself over the duration of the release.” - Weasel Walter blurb
Weasel Walter often gets pegged as an extremist as far as his drumming and band leading goes since many of his projects are over the top. If, like myself, you’ve heard more than a handful of his (35+)releases, you know he has many sides to his playing. And like his friend and collaborator, Henry Kaiser, both men know the long and winding history of free or mainly improvised music. Hence, this disc sounds nothing like anything that Mr. Walter has done before. Weasel blends close mic’d percussion with subtle manipulation. Drums, cymbals, bells, rattles and assorted insect-like (Euro-improv) sounds are carefully spun into an ethereal web. Parts of this remind me of Jamie Muir (from Music Improv Company & King Crimson) or John Stevens (from SME), both of whom had their own distinctive approach to percussion. Humming, whirring, buzzing, almost machine-like in sound, this music seems to breathe… Is that sound sampled? Sped up or slowed down? Slowly, the sounds get more dense as the vibe intensifies. It sounds closer to electronic music as the samples are stretched out and mutated. In a blindfold test, I doubt anyone would guess Weasel Walter, perhaps Mani Neumeier (from Gurur Guru) or even Ikue Mori (on sampled percussion/laptop) might be a better guess. Mr. Walter claims that this disc is a suite in four parts, each one about 20 minutes long. I found the music to be consistently fascinating and unlike anything I’ve heard before. Excellent! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
* ERI YAMAMOTO TRIO - Life (Aum Fidelity 099; USA) Featuring Eri Yamamoto on piano & compositions,David Ambrosio on bass and Ikuo Takeuchi on drums. “Eri Yamamoto, her piano and her trio return with a nice new one simply entitled ‘Life’. David Ambrosio supplies the very fundamental bass playing that anchors the music fleetly and somewhat lightly, melodically and rock solid. Ikuo Takeuchi plays some swingingly busy drums with some subtle touches that set off Ms. Yamamoto's well-conceived and original pianism.
All but one of the compositions on the set are hers, with one by Ikuo. They have a great variety, from a jazz waltz to a jagged figure to improvise off of to a sort of zombie rocker, there is whimsicality but understandably a definite seriousness of purpose in all of this. Eri's piano style has harmonic and melodic complexity - she may have been influenced by, say, Bley and Tyner, yet there is a great deal of originality on display, even a bit of humor. Altogether a winner of an album! Bravo Ms. Yamamoto!” - Grego Applegate Edwards
CD $14
* The Eri Yamamoto Trio will play a couple of CD release sets at Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC on Sunday, September 25th at 8:30
SATOKO FUIJI / JOE FONDA + NATSUKI TAMURA - Duet (Long Song Records 140; Italy) Featuring Satoko Fujii on piano and Joe Fonda on contrabass plus Natsuki Tamura on trumpet. This disc was recorded at Woodfords Church in Portland, Maine in November of 2015. The ever-ambitious pianist, Satoko Fujii, usually has some three discs a year released on the Libra label, out of Japan. In the past year, Ms. Fujii has had a couple of discs out on two Italian labels: Rudi Records and Long Song. Ms. Fujii has several working bands, recording sin ooo, duos, trios, quartet and several large ensembles. For this disc, Ms Fujii gets together with contrabassist supreme Joe Fonda for the first time. The first piece is long (37+ minutes) and it features the duo of Ms. Fujii and Mr. Fonda. The piece is called, “Paul Bley”, named after the great pianist with whom Ms. Fujii studied with in Boston and with whom she recorded a duo CD. The first thing I noticed is how well this disc is recorded: superbly, warm, spacious and thoroughly enchanting. The duo take their time and build from a subtle beginning, weaving their goods around one another, eventually moving into more turbulent waters. A long spirited and thoughtful dialogue between to strong players. For the second piece, the duo is joined by Saktoko’s longtime musical partner Natsuki Tamura on trumpet. Someone seems to be playing little bells at the beginning of the piece. Ms. Fujii starts rubbing strings inside the piano while Natsuki adds equally mysterious sounds, creating a marvelous transformative vibe, like entering an elegant dreamworld. When it finally fades away, I wish it going on and on. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
RICHARD PINHAS / TATSUYA YOSHIDA / MASAMI AKITA [MERZBOW] - Process and Reality (Cuneiform 432; USA) Featuring: Tatsuya Yoshida – drums, Masami Akita – noise electronics and Richard Pinhas – guitars and analog synth guitars. Three founding fathers of experimental music join forces to conjure an unholy serenade for a society on the verge of collapse on ‘Process and Reality’, an hourlong whirlwind of pessimistic prophecy transformed into a heady monolith of sound.
Boundary-stretching guitarist Richard Pinhas, founder of the influential French electronic-rock band Heldon, teams with two icons of the Japanese avant-garde – drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, mastermind of warped-prog legends Ruins, Koenjihyakkei and Korekyojinn, and Masami Akita, a.k.a. noise guru Merzbow – to summon a brutally honest, politically potent, sonically tumultuous reflection of the last gasps of the industrial age.
Process and Reality marks the first recorded convergence of these three avant-rock giants, though Pinhas has recorded with both Yoshida and Merzbow in the past and all three have toured extensively together in Japan. The album, recorded in Tokyo during a recent high-profile tour, captures the fevered intensity and violently textured depth of the trio’s collaborative improvisations.
Pinhas' aggressive, combustible music has always been honed to a keen edge by its philosophical bent. Process and Reality takes its name from an influential 1929 book by English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, which posits reality as a continual process of becoming. That’s an apt summation of the music made by Pinhas, Yoshida and Akita, which seethes and roils in a constant state of both turbulent flux and visceral realization. The guitarist says of his collaborators, “They explore 100% of their possibility. We have the same kind of spirit.”
The bleak outlook embodied by the music on Process and Reality is stunningly pictured in cover art worthy of a cyberpunk novel, rendering an oil tanker as a surrogate for the decaying post-industrial future. It was created by Patrick Jelin, the gifted designer also responsible for the covers for classic Heldon albums Interface (1977) and Stand By (1979), as well as Pinhas’ 1979 solo effort Iceland.
If that’s all too downbeat for an evening’s listening, Pinhas also sees the album as a celebration of his cherished friendship with these Japanese artists. “Japan is the best scene in the world,” he asserts, and while he foresees a radical change in his sound approaching in 2017, he continues that, “Always I will work with my forever friends.”
CD $15
RICHAR PIHNAS / BARRY CLEVELAND With MICHAEL MANRING/CELSO ALBERTI - Mu (Cuneiform 426; USA) Featuring: Richard Pinhas – guitar synthesizer, Metatronics; Barry Cleveland – guitars, Moog guitar, EBow, M-Tron, Vocalizer 1000, kalimba, zither, percussion, programming, samples; Michael Manring – bass, EBow bass and Celso Alberti – drums, electronic drums, percussion. I am a longtime fan of French guitarist/sonic explorer, Richard Pinhas, whose career stretches back to the mid-seventies with his band Heldon, through some thirty recordings and with many unique collaborations. I only know Bay area guitarist Barry Cleveland from a fine solo effort on Moonjune from 2010. Two other members of Mr. Cleveland’s band, Hologramaton, include the incredible bassist Michael Manring, who you should know from his work with Henry Kaiser and Brazilian drummer Celso Alberti. The Hologramaton trio opened for Mr. Pianhas in the past and decided to do this collaboration as a quartet.
One could say that this quartet is a progressive supergroup, but terms like that are often misleading. The music is something else entirely. “Forgotten Man”, starts with hypnotic, tribal sounding drums and Frippish sustained guitars, which give off a dreamy Melloton-like aura. Not too distant from one of those charming passages from King Crimson’s ‘Discipline’ era. “I Wish I Could Talk in Technicolor” is a wonderful epic length (nearly 26 minutes) which starts with some superb, distinctive fretless bass from Mr. Manring. Both guitarists take their time, interweaving several lines in a most magical way. One of the guitars featured here (by Mr. Pinhas) has that tone the Robert Fripp favored on those two original Fripp & Eno records. Both Pinhas and Cleveland, selectively use assorted guitars, sitar, zither and synths, creating a charming, pulsating, kaleidoscopic web that seems to evolve organically. One of the special ingredients here is the consistently solid rhythm team action of Manring and Alberti. ‘Mu’ sounds like the penultimate work for Cuneiform records, the ultimate progressive quartet that fit perfectly amongst the other prog giants. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
GONG + STEVE HILLAGE / DIDIER MAHLHERBE - Rejoice! I’m Dead! (Madfish 1049; UK) Featuring Kavus Torabi & Fabio Golfetti on guitars & vocals, Ian East on sax & flute, Dave Sturt on bass and Cheb Nettles on drums plus guests Daevid Allen on vocals (2 songs) Steve Hillage on guitar & Didier Mahlherbe on duduk (1 song each).
“Rejoice! I’m Dead! came together over several weeks in an East London rehearsal studio. In terms of the writing, the songs became very elastic, what may have been brought to the band as a fixed idea, through experimenting, discarding, expanding and mutating evolved into the songs as you hear them now. Every member was key in the development of each song,” closes Kavus. Thus, Kavus (vocals/guitar), Fabio Golfetti (guitar/vocals), Dave Sturt (bass/vocals), Ian East (sax/flute) and Cheb Nettles (drums/vocals) took on the mantle of steering the Teapot further into outer space and the inner ear. On the album you’ll also notice the voice of Daevid in an early song idea rehearsal, along with Gong alumni Steve Hillage, Didier Malherbe and Graham Clark. Fans of the “Virgin trilogy” won’t be let down!
It depends on your knowledge of Gong history and what constitutes as a Gong record, but if Rejoice! I’m Dead! is classified as their 28th album the Gong legacy is the strongest it has been since 1974. Consider the differences between Angel’s Egg, Gazeuse!, Floating Anarchy and I See You, the various splinter projects and collectives… what is it that make Gong who they are? Their spontaneity and numerous Phoenix-like rebirths – this is just the latest installment. Nothing more, nothing less. New members and old coalesce, the sound unmistakably Gong. Even without Daevid Allen Gong will continue… And long may it do so.” - Progzilla.com
CD $15
BRAND X - Live in Rochester 1977 (Gonzo 355; UK) Personnel: John Goodsall - guitar, Robin Lumley - keyboards, Percy Jones - electric bass, Morris Pert - percussion and Kenwood Dennard - drums. Brand X are unfairly best known as Phil Collins’s side project when he wasn’t singing and playing drums for Genesis. This is of course true but they were so much more than that. The interplay between bassist Percy Jones and guitar player John Goodsall has seldom been surpassed, which is why the band have become synonymous with the concept of jazz fusion. This record catches them one evening in Kent. While the rest of the music industry was paying lip service to punk rock, Brand X were doing what they did best; playing a blistering set in front of a rabidly enthusiastic audience.
CD $16
Still in stock and highly recommended to Brand X, Percy Jones and modern day fusion (jazz/rock) fans:
PERCY JONES With DAVID PHELPS/CHRIS BACAS/STEPHEN MOSES - MJ12 (Gonzo 402; UK)Featuring Percy Jones on fretless bass, David Phelps on guitar, Chris Bacas on soprano & tenor sax and Stephen Moses on drums. Says Percy, "We took the name from Majestik 12, which was supposedly a group of 12 scientists and engineers assembled in the late 40's to investigate UFO's. There is an ongoing debate as to whether this group actually existed or not. Fretless bass legend, Percy Jones, has been living in the New York area for some three decades after his time as an in-demand UK bassist and founding member of Brand X & the Liverpool Scene, as well as his work with Brian Eno and Jon Hassell. Since moving here in the eighties, Mr. Jones has kept more of low profile, working with Bill Frisell, Elliott Sharp and later in a band called Tunnels. Percy does have a couple of solo recordings, but they are pretty rare. This is Percy Jones first disc as a leader in a long while and he has chosen an inspired cast: none very well known but each just right for this session. I do recognize their names from a handful of previous collaborations: Mr. Phelps from Reut Regev’s R*Time, Mr. Bacas from Pete Davenport’s Bolide and Stephen Moses from his work with Eugene Chadbourne, Philip Johnston and Gary Windo. As someone who was weaned on the inspired jazz/rock (later fusion) of the early seventies, this quartet and disc breathes fire and life into what used to be a tired sound. Percy Jones’ distinctive fretless bass is at the center of these pieces and he still sounds great, nimble, crafty and filled with ideas. Unlike some of the more ego-leaden fusion of the late seventies, this music retains that earlier jazz/rock spirit at its best. Percy Jones always had his own, distinctive sound on his fretless bass, similar in there way the Jaco Pastorious’ tone/sound inspired many of his contemporaries. Listening to this fine disc reminds me of just how much I’ve missed that sound and his playing. On “Talk Time” Percy’s bass leads the way, outlining the structure of the piece with a long, superb soprano solo winding its way throughout. Although this disc has a certain looseness to it, it sounds as if this quartet has been playing together for a long while since they move from section to section effortlessly. I know that this band plays in Brooklyn from time to time, so I will have to check them out live at the next opportunity. In the meantime, this is the best electric jazz/rock effort I’ve heard in recent memory. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
* SONNY MURRAY With ALBERT AYLER / DON CHERRY / HENRY GRIMES / LOUIS WORRELL /LEROI JONES [AMIRI BARAKA] - Sonny's Time Now (Skokiaan 005; Germany) Skokiaan present a reissue of Sonny Murray's Sonny's Time Now, originally released in 1965. Only a few months after recording Ghosts (SKOK 001CD, 1965) with Albert Ayler, Sonny Murray released his first album as a leader. Sonny's Time Now is one of the holy grails for collectors and aficionados of free avant garde jazz music from the 1960s. This 2016 vinyl reissue is the first vinyl reissue of the album in 30 years. The last CD reissue was in 1991. Albert Ayler and his Ghosts album from 1965 was already a hard thing to swallow, except for the most adventurous explorers of the furthest corners of the border districts of music. An unconventional view on onomatopoeia is necessary to enter this world and drummer Sonny Murray went another step ahead on Sonny's Time Now. The lengthy piece "Virtue" presents an ever pulsating wall of rhythm that sounds like a wuthering ocean with the horn section going nuts on top. The saxes and trumpets are constantly erupting and it is a challenge for the listener to find the melodies among their output of sound. "Justice", another lengthy piece divided into two parts, continues the quest "Virtue" began. The atmosphere of these free improvisations slowly swallows the listener and the shrieks of the saxophones and trumpets, frees souls from physical bodies. What feels like an impenetrable thicket of sound at first is soon enlightening and a memorable structure within all the chaos. The same year that John Coltrane took the last step away from traditional jazz and music in general, this album was equally as radical but seems to have disappeared within the depths of music history. The most radical piece on this record comes with the shorter "Black Art", a writing by activist and controversial poet Amiri Baraka, aka LeRoy Jones, is underlined with freak-out eruptions from Sonny Murray and his mates. This is the right soundtrack for a cathartic meditation. For a must have for fans of Coltrane. "The Lie" is not featured on the original release.
CD $15
* ALBERT AYLER QUARTET With DON CHERRY / GARY PEACOCK / SONNY MURRAY - Ghosts (Skokiaan 001; Germany) Skokiaan presents a reissue of Albert Ayler Quartet's Ghosts, originally released in 1965. Ghosts, by free jazz master Albert Ayler and his quartet, is a classic. Ghosts is some of the most intriguing and wicked music ever experienced. Ayler and his mates, Don Cherry on trumpet, Sonny Murray on drums and Gary Peacock on bass guitar, are definitely on par with the other free jazz gods like John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. From a pop music perspective, this may be only screeching and overblown saxes and some non-structured fiddling on drums and bass, so that it's far different than the average mainstream. But if the listener has a fondness for soundscapes, improvisations and music that creates more of an atmosphere rather than fluffy melodies, this is a great record. From time to time, Ayler and his band start with straight melody lines and soon let it all run free before partly returning to recognizable and memorable melodies. On the title track, Ayler plays some sweet and swinging sax harmonies while drums and bass still rumble and blast completely improvised lines in the back. The composition named "Vibrations" is another of these outbursts of insanity. Ayler and Cherry duel each other for the most free and twisted player. Murray pounds the kettles and cymbals like a maniac and Peacock joins in on standing bass. Ghosts is an ongoing rumbling and definitely strange. Free jazz fanatics will surely love Ghosts. For fans of Coltrane and Coleman, this is a must have.
CD $15
* ALBERT AYLER - Spirits Rejoice - T-Shirts (ESP-Disk; USA) Black & white, all sizes available. We just got these in last week and they look great! There is a picture of yours truly wearing one on the website so check it out. The b&w picture is taken from the original version Ayler’s classic ’Spirits Rejoice’ album cover with two great images of Mr. Ayler playing his sax. If you google that album title, you will see that picture. We have sold a few dozen already and the orders keep coming in so don’t hesitate. Order yours copy today & look cool soon! We are trying to keep all sizes in stock for the immediate future so come on down. You may want to call or e-mail us first to make sure we do have your size in stock. - BLG
T-Shirt $18 (all sizes available)
FRED ANDERSON QUARTET With TIM O’DELL / TATSU AOKI / AVREEAYL RA] - Live Volume IV (Asian Improv 090 - not 87; USA) Featuring: Fred Anderson on tenor sax, Tim O'Dell alto & soprano saxes, Tatsu Aoki on bass and Avreeayl Ra on drums. This just arrived as we went to press. I will review it next week when I have more time although it will mostly be another great blast of free/jazz at it best!
CD $14
NICOLE MITCHELL BLACK EARTH ENSEMBLE / ENSEMBLE LABORINTUS - Moments of Fatherhood (Rogue Art 0068; France) Featuring Nicole Mitchell on flutes & compositions, David Boykin on tenor sax & clarinet, Sylvain Kassap on clarinets, Renee Baker on violin, Anais Moreau on cello, Aruan Ortiz on piano, Helene Breschand on harp, Benjamin Duboc on double bass and Cesar Carcipino on drums & vibes. Like everything Nicole Mitchell does, a great deal of time, preparation and thought goes into every project/band/release. This is the fifth release from her Black Earth Ensemble, a Chicago-based all-star ensemble with core members and guests. This is an expanded version with members of Ensemble Laborintus, a French quintet which includes Helene Breschand (who has worked with Marc Ducret & Jean-Francois Pauvros) and Benjamin Duboc (member of Afterfall, The Fish & The Turbine!). The music is a celebration of Fatherhood and inspired by a photography exhibition by W.E.B. Dubois from1900. This is a studio recording, made in France in early 2015 and the sound is superb. The opening blend of harp, cello, piano, glockenspeil, flute and clarinet is a marvel of acoustic magic. The first solo is from Ms. Mitchell on flute and it is long and inspired with some incredible interplay from the clarinet, harp, cello and piano. Eventually the entire ensemble swirls together tightly, spinning a hypnotic web around all listeners. As Ms. Mitchell’s composing, arranging and band leading continues to evolves, I hear the way solos and subgroups rise and submerge yet are always part of an overall plan which connects all of the members. The music here is in-between modern jazz and chamber music and nearly impossible to pin down to any one category. Newest member of the Black Earth Ensemble is pianist Aruan Ortiz, who is also a member of Afro Horn and has several great discs on Fresh Sound, Sunnyside & Intakt. Mr. Ortiz is a strong team player and fits just right, taking the occasional strong solo. Besides a number of amazing flute solos from Ms. Mitchell, her old musical partner, David Boykin, a great yet under-recorded saxist from Chicago, Mr. Boykin’s solos also stand out like gems on a richly sewn pillowcase. Highly recommended like everything that Nicole Mitchell works on. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
SILVER APPLES - Clinging To A Dream (Chickencoop 006; USA) Clinging To A Dream is the Silver Apples first album since 1998. It features 11 new songs recorded at the ChickenCoop studios in Fairhope, Alabama, USA. Produced by Graham Sutton in London, UK. The new songs on Clinging To A Dream carry on the tradition begun in 1967 by Silver Apples of merging pure, raw electronic sounds with melodic poetic content; this album represents 40 years of polishing and refining this experiment.
CD $15
JOHN CAGE - Darmstadt Aural Documents - Box 2 (Neos 11213; Germany) "Late summer, 1958. For the first time the American composer John Cage attended the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. As so often in those years, he was accompanied by the pianist David Tudor, and together they gave the European premieres of his Music for Two Pianos, Winter Music and Variations I. John Cage's first appearance in Darmstadt, in 1958, was a red-letter event in the history of music (his second and last appearance there would not take place until 1990, two years before his death). With his three lectures in particular he cracked open the little world of contemporary music, sowing the seeds for a rich, burgeoning, heterogeneous landscape of sound with many different concepts of what music is and can be. The 'Communication' lecture of 1958 is, by the way, the only one of Cage's three Darmstadt lectures that exists in the archive of the Darmstadt International Institute of Music in the form of an audio document, minus the opening minutes. There is no way of knowing today why the other two lectures, 'Changes' and 'Indeterminacy,' were not tape-recorded, or whether the recordings later disappeared." Performed by John Cage, voice and piano; David Tudor, piano.
CD $15
KEVIN VOLANS - Violin: Piano (Ergodos 020; Ireland) An album of chamber music by South Africa-born composer Kevin Volans, Violin:Piano features luminous, absorbing performances from violinist Waldo Alexander and pianist Jill Richards. Violin:Piano features premiere recordings of three major duos from 2009 - "Violin:Piano", "Etude 9" for piano and electronics, and "Viola:Piano" - as well as the violin solo "Passi Leggieri", originally composed for Norwegian hardanger fiddle in 2003. Sensitively performed by two experienced interpreters of Volans's music, this music is all about the contour of the moment. From its first sumptuous gesture, each piece absorbs completely, promising an adventure of luminous beauty. "Collaboration with Kronos Quartet boosted the public profile of Kevin Volans. That level of exposure doesn't suit a composer who is too flexible to be locked into expectations. On this absorbing release violinist Waldo Alexander and pianist Jill Richards interpret relatively new pieces." -- The Wire, December 2015.
CD $15
CHRISTOPHER FOX & ANTON LUKOSZEVIEZE - The Feeling Of Remembering (Ergodos 018; Ireland) Christopher Fox and Anton Lukoszevieze present The Feeling Of Remembering. Along with the vinyl release Re:play (ERGODOS 018LP, 2015), this release presents beautifully introspective music for cello by English composer Christopher Fox, performed by Anton Lukoszevieze. Both formats share much of the same music - but each format frames the material in its own unique way, making for a beautiful, mutually enriching, collectable pair. "a distinct flavour of distilled Elizabethan melancholia." -- Philip Clark, The Wire.
CD $15
THOMAS BRINKMANN - A 1000 Keys (Editions Mego 224; Austria) "How many can get a personal sound out of a fucking piano?!" - Lee Konitz. Thomas Brinkmann takes his seductive reductionism to the next level with A 1000 Keys, a harsh meditation on the expressive qualities of digital sound production. In translating the timbre of a grand piano into binary codes, thus rebuilding its corpus with "0 and 1s", Brinkmann subverts the sensual qualities of this proto-romantic instrument in a sardonic way. Replacing the musician with a mathematically precise series of frenetic repetition and intriguingly dissonant difference, the result sounds at times like a violent ride through the brains of Schönberg or Webern, drained in amphetamines, at others like Feldman's ephemeral sketches or Russolo's futurist outburst. Brinkmann's conceptual framework is resonating in the track titles. Using shortcuts of international airports, he refers to non-places that establish their own space-and-time continuum, while lacking individual identity and history. These functional scenarios are sterile passages for anonymous, objectified masses, at the same time there's hardly a better place to grasp the very subjective character of time. A 1000 Keys is a fatal homage to minimalism and a consequent denial of virtuosity and the idea of creative genius. Paraphrasing the romantic idea of human perfection, Brinkmann found a way to create sonic algorithms of tenderness and brutality, establishing dramatic expressiveness in his constructivist analytics. The result is of radical beauty. Dedicated to Conlon Nancarrow.
CD $15
MASAYOSHI FUJITA & JAN JELINEK - Schaum (Faitiche 013; Germany) Faitiche presents the release of Schaum by Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek. Since their debut Bird, Lake, Objects (FAITICHE 003CD, 2010), they have played improvised concerts around the world. Japanese vibraphonist Masayoshi Fujita prepares his instrument with various percussion elements as well as metal objects and toys, while Jan Jelinek layers loops made using small-scale electronic devices. Schaum (German for froth or foam) is the duo's second album. Jelinek writing to Fujita about the album: "Dear Masayoshi Fujita, many thanks for the audio files. Your additional vibraphone recordings go wonderfully with the material we have already. Preparing the vibraphone with more percussion instruments was the right decision. Combined with my tightly woven synthesizer and sample loops, the result is a fragmented sense of space. I have taken the liberty of manipulating certain recordings. While listening through our improvisations, I noticed a tendency towards atmospheric sounds. I am almost tempted to call them tropical. This has strengthened my resolve to work with dense background textures - among others, I'm using material produced in connection with my radio pieces 'Kennen Sie Otahiti?' (2012) and 'Dialoge zur Anthropologie' (2013): artificial field recordings, jungle and rain forest settings that do not hide their staged, fictional character. As you know, I have long been obsessed with the tropics. This obsession involves a mental image of a specific quality of landscape: deliriously extravagant unstructuredness, hostile to life but also excessively productive. I am fascinated by the idea of installing clear minimalist forms amid such luxuriant tropical growth. Perhaps my image of the city of Brasilia is a good example. Corresponding to this, I would like to expand our liner notes to include a quotation from Robert Müller's novel Tropics, an expressionist travelogue published in Germany in 1915. It goes without saying that this work cannot be wholeheartedly embraced: its imperialistic fantasies of omnipotence and its 'master race' posturing, characteristic of that time and place, are, of course, intolerable. Tropics is fascinating as a nervous jungle phantasm that openly indulges in exoticism at the same time as deconstructing it. In this way, the main character's adventure becomes a journey into the subjective. It resembles a feverish inner delirium, exposing exoticism as a simulated, utopian perspective. What it boils down to is insubstantial, nothing but foam and froth. With best regards, Jan Jelinek" Comes in hard-cover book-style packaging.
CD $21
Historic & Archival Recordings:
THE SHAGGS - Philosophy Of The World (Light in the Attic 51; USA) "In 1968, three sisters from Fremont, New Hampshire strapped on their instruments and declared themselves The Shaggs. At that moment begun a peculiar tale that would last far beyond the group's five-year run. Dot, Betty and Helen (and occasionally Rachel, the fourth sister) played in the group on the insistence of their father, Austin Wiggin Jr., who was convinced they were going to be big. Years earlier, Austin's mother gave him a palm reading, predicting that her son would marry a strawberry blonde woman, that he would have two sons after his mother died, and that his daughters would form a popular music outfit. The first two became reality, so Austin was certain the third would follow suit. With pure confidence and his mother's bold prediction, Austin decided that his daughters would forgo attending the local high school in favor of home schooling interspersed with a strict regiment of instrumental and vocal practice, along with jumping jacks and sit-ups. Soon after The Shaggs would enter Fleetwood Recording studios in Revere, Massachusetts to record their sole album, Philosophy Of The World, a collection of garage rock tunes that balanced charm and discordance in equal measure. Austin would spend most of his savings not only on the session but also on the manufacturing costs to press up 1,000 copies of the album (900 of which mysteriously vanished upon completion). Throughout Philosophy Of The World simple truths are revealed through the pen of sister Dot, the songwriter of the band. The rich people want what the poor people got, just as the poor people want what the rich people got. Your parents love you. There is happiness in nearness and sadness in the farness. The album failed to fulfill Austin's expectations of rock stardom, though the group remained together until their father's death, performing frequently at the Fremont town hall and a local nursing home, no further albums were released. That might have been the end of it, until rock band NRBQ discovered a copy at a Massachusetts radio station and re-released it in 1980. Rolling Stone's reviewer at the time described it as 'the most stunningly awful wonderful record I've heard in ages'. Nearly 50 years later, the album ranks among the most polarizing LPs of all time. Some said it was the worst thing ever made. Others felt it was one of the great long players of the 20th century. Frank Zappa famously dubbed the band 'better than The Beatles', while Kurt Cobain placed the album at #5 on his list of Top 50 favorite albums. Original copies of the album fetch for $10,000. Decades later and one could argue that maybe Austin was right all along. We're all here, still enthralled by the purity of The Shaggs. Liner notes by legendary musician, writer and compiler, Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith, Nuggets). Book features unseen photos and ephemera. Artwork restored and expanded to a gatefold jacket. Newly remastered."
CD $16
SPACEMEN 3 - Recurring (Space Age Orbit 055; UK) Space Age present a limited edition reissue of the fourth and final Spacemen 3 studio album, Recurring, originally released in 1990. By the time the album was recorded, relations between the band had soured to the extent that the record is essentially in two parts. The first seven tracks were written and performed by Sonic Boom, aka Pete Kember, and the last seven tracks were written and performed by Jason Pierce punctuated by the cover version of Mudhoney's "When Tomorrow Hits", the only track on which both Kember and Pierce appear together. Comes in a six panel fold out card wallet featuring the original vibrant cover artwork used on the original US release.
CD $15
BLUE MITCHELL & SONNY RED With JOHN HICKS/GENE TAYLOR/JOE CHAMBERS - Baltimore 1966 (Uptown 2783; USA) “If trumpeter Clifford Brown had a musical doppelgänger, it would probably be Blue Mitchell. Like Brown, Mitchell had a forceful, fleshy trumpet tone and a lyrical sophistication. There was a bouncy beauty and grace to Mitchell's runs and improvisation, but he also could turn up the heat to make a point.
On March 20, 1966, Mitchell performed in Baltimore with alto saxophonist Sonny Red at the city's Crystal Ballroom. The concert was produced by the Left Bank Jazz Society, which had been founded two years earlier by a barge dispatcher and a car dealer, both of whom were jazz fans. The society's performances were family-friendly, with concerts starting at 4 p.m. on Sundays. Upward of 47 jazz performances a year were held, and for the next 20 years many of them were taped by the society's founders. [Photo above of Sonny Red]
At the start of 1966, the society's concerts were held at Baltimore's Madison Club. But a fire early that year forced the weekly performances to move to the Crystal Ballroom and then to the Famous Ballroom, where they remained. One of those taped Crystal Ballroom concerts has been released as Blue Mitchell & Sonny Red: Baltimore 1966 by Uptown Records. Mitchell and Red were backed by John Hicks (p) Gene Taylor (b) and Joe Chambers (d), a strong, competitive rhythm section.
The album is terrific. The sound quality is excellent, the playing robust and the material smart. The pairing of Mitchell and Red was both interesting and odd. Mitchell had a warm, round tone while Red's tended to be hard and pitchy. I've never been a big Sonny Red fan, but his dry, scrappy sound on alto did make for an interesting contrast with Mitchell's more open approach.
The six tracks on the album have never before been released and include a dynamic If I Should Lose You, Jimmy Heath's hard-bop All Members, Mitchell's calypso-soaked Fungi Mama, Kenny Dorham's march-time Blue Spring Variation, I Can't Get Started and A Portrait of Jenny. My only wish is that Red had sat out the last two ballads.
The year 1966 was a busy one for Mitchell. He recorded on 11 sessions, most of them as a sideman. His two leadership dates were Bring It Home to Me and Boss Horn, both for Blue Note. Mitchell died in 1979 and Red died in 1981. The only surviving member of the rhythm section is Joe Chambers.” - Marc Myers, JazzWax
CD $15
DOROTHY ASHBY - The Fantastic Jazz Harp Of Dorothy Ashby - (Spellbound Music 4001; Germany) Spellbound Music present a reissue of Dorothy Ashby's sixth album, The Fantastic Jazz Harp Of Dorothy Ashby, originally released in 1965. Ashby was a Detroit born jazz harpist who passed away in her early 50s in 1986. She left a rich legacy of music with The Fantastic Jazz Harp Of Dorothy Ashby being one of her milestones. The music is purely bright and swinging with a joyful mood. Dorothy Ashby is always there upfront while the brass section mostly fills the background with color. Typical for the ancient jazz, there are no vocals on this record but this only adds to the depth and intriguing atmosphere of the music. Ashby starts where Coltrane left the field of real song-oriented albums for his experimental efforts and she really pulls it off. The Fantastic Jazz Harp Of Dorothy Ashby is haunting but with a rather relaxed approach to this style. For the time it was released, this album was an utterly progressive effort and the pop sensibility of many tracks make it a great joy to spin. Jazz fans will dig it and open minded people who love the music of the '60s will also develop a fondness for this beauty.
CD $15
BLACK SOLIDARITY - Dance Inna Delamare Avenue (Black Solidarity BSCD 003; UK) Dance Inna Delamare Avenue is a compilation based on Ossie Thomas's Black Solidarity label. During the '80s dancehall era a number of record producers claimed to be the real authentic sound of downtown Kingston but Ossie Thomas's Black Solidarity label, operating out of Delamare Avenue in the heart of the ghetto, was the real deal. Ossie: "This was the start of the '70s when the political rivalry got heated between JLP and the PNP and the shots start fire... I said to myself if you're going die you're going die... from that me not scared of Kingston." This album provides an insightful glimpse into life in these unforgiving Kingston neighborhoods, describing not only the poverty and desperation but also how at times, styles, fashions and the cathartic joys of music and the dancehall could transform this harsh environment into one of joyous celebration. Features: U Roy, Linval Thompson, Triston Palma, Robert French, 3t 1f, Little Kirk, Al Campbell, Early B, Jolly Stewart, Lover Boy, Phillip Frazer, Sassafras, Sammy Dread. CD version features tracks from: Tony Chin, Frankie Paul and Little John.
CD $14
OSAMU KITAJIMA - Benzaiten (PSI 004-1; Germany) Psychedelic Sounds International present a reissue of Osamu Kitajima's Benzaiten, originally released in 1976. Benzaiten is world music and ethno sounds with an obvious Japanese origin, meeting progressive rock and psych rock. The result is a captivating piece of melodic and deeply atmospheric music that paints pictures of life in ancient Japan. If Pink Floyd were Japanese, their music might have sounded like this album. The frequency of the arrangements on Benzaiten is reminiscent of what English prog bands created in the early to mid '70s, just with a different ethnical approach. Benzaiten is even a more progressive effort than anything most British bands have ever managed to fabricate and is still utterly natural and vivid concerning the flow of the music. All participating musicians here are professionals and their performances are tight and still passionate. The sound is warm and vivid and the song structures are wide open and welcoming. Electronic elements in the percussion section add some oddity to the whole musical picture. The cool aspect of Benzaiten is the rocking guitar which keeps the whole album together. Must be the Japanese equivalent to German acts like Amon Düül II, Embryo and Guru Guru.
CD $15
MICHAEL BUNDT - Electri City (Bureau B 225; Germany) Bureau B present a reissue of Michael Bundt's Electri City, originally released in 1980. Having played his way through the 1970s in various rock combos (Medusa, Nine Days' Wonder), Michael Bundt embarked on a solo career in the latter part of the decade, releasing three albums which saw him explore the vast potential of electronic music. Delightfully varied and typical of his willingness to experiment, his music orbits around krautrock, Berlin School electronica, space-futurism and synth pop. Electri City, his last album, was created in Bundt's own studio using a PPG synthesizer and a Teac four-track tape recorder. He worked on the mixes with a Revox tape machine, cutting and splicing by hand. Whereas he had enlisted guest musicians on the predecessor Neon (1979), this time around he did everything himself, except for two tracks which featured keyboarder Steve Robison (Reiner Geyer) who had played with Bundt in the krautrock band Nine Days' Wonder. The resulting LP is replete with experimental electronic music, psychedelic in places. Music which leaves the Krautrock of Neon far behind. Electri City is like a science fiction story: inquisitive, playful, energetic, willing to take the fantastic on board. Step sequencer miniatures flow easily through the music as it conjures up electrifying escapades of synth FX and distorted field recording fragments, laced with melodies heavy on portamento - all coming together in a complex, expressive musical structure that would not be out of place in a Captain Future film. Michael Bundt dedicated Electri City to the fictitious character Kilgore Trout who was created by the author Kurt Vonnegut. Trout appears in a number of Vonnegut's novels, usually described as an unsuccessful science fiction writer whose stories at best make it into pulp fiction comic books or the pages of men's magazines. Synthesizer music at that time was generally considered suspect, purportedly trivial, in contrast to the pure playing techniques so freely exhibited in progressive rock. Perhaps Bundt felt that this mirrored the fate of Trout's eminently readable works, Vonnegut's intradiegetic stories. But Michael Bundt was not going on the defensive with Electri City having already offered proof enough of his virtuosity. Michael Bundt cast aside his instruments and stepped away from krautrock, purposefully striving for a purely synthetic analog sound.
CD $17
KATANGA! - Ahbe Casabe: Exotic Blues & Rhythm Vol. 1 & 2 (Captain High Records 4808; Austria) Katanga! Ahbe Casabe: Exotic Blues & Rhythm Vol. 1 & 2 combines the first two volumes from the Exotic Blues & Rhythm compilation series named Katanga! (2013) and Ahbe Casabe! (2013) with two additional bonus tracks (CD only). This album is a colorful garden of delights consisting of R'n'B and rock'n'roll based songs from the 1940s to the early 1960s that all have this slightly exotic, dark and mystical feeling from the melody structures and instrumentation. Eddie Cole & Three Peppers with their hypnotizing groover "Police" for example present a Caribbean mento with a mambo and rhythm'n'blues feel. This piece finds its roots in the late 1940s and demonstrates how far even the predecessors of rock music already got in their development. It is only one out of 26 rare gems. The collection starts with the recognizable, gloomy bluesy tune named "Green Onions" played the Claus Ogermann Orchestra. The Ahbe Casabe portion is where the strange and quirky charm of exotica music captures souls even more. The title track for example is a song from the late '50s written by proto hippie Ehden Ahbez and combines a Latin groove with a vocal melody speaking of dark backstreets in oriental cities. The backing vocal effects here are more than strange somewhere between a deep gnarling and chipmunk-style squeaking while the lead vocals on the other hand are soulful and striking as expected. Kip Tyler's "Shadow Street" leaves the listener somewhere in between the jungle and a haunted oriental café in a town near the desert plains of Egypt. Next to master Ike Turner & His Kings Of Rhythm with his exotic surf instrumental "Katanga" from the first part, good old rock'n'roll pioneer Bill Haley And His Comets should be the most famous contributor to this musical treasure chest. A nice little oddity bonus track is "The Riddle Of The Papawhos" by Danny Staton, based on old spirituals and gospels with a 1950s pop music base. The other bonus track by Elena Madera named "Pu-Chun-Ga", is another outstanding mad Latin tune with wild female vocals. Also features: Artie Barsamin & Orchestra, Prince Conley, Joe Valino, Chance Halladay, The Chiefs, Jimmy Rushing, Sonny Til And The Orioles, Emmet Davis, Classie Ballou, Jack La Forge, Marti Barris, Steve Arlen, Bruce Cloud, Dickie Thompson, Rene Hall And His Band, Machito And His Orchestra, Mamie Perry, Lord Kitchener and Jamie Coe.
CD $15
LP Only Department/Section:
DON CHERRY COMPLETE COMMUNION With GATO BARBIERI / KARL BERGER / BO STIEF / ALDO ROMANO - Live at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, May 12th 1966 (Modern Silence OI 013; Malta) The legendary Don Cherry with his great 1966 quintet featuring Gato Barbieri on tenor sax, Karl Berger on piano, Bo Stief on bass and Aldo Romano on drums. This quintet can also be heard on three releases on ESP-Disk, three volumes titled Live at Café Monmartre 1966 (ESPDISK 4032CD, 4043CD and 4051CD) and with the New York Total Music Company in 1968. This recording is taken from an excellent radio broadcast, presented here for the first time in a glorious vinyl release.
LP $26
PIERRE BOULEZ / KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN / PIERRE SCHAEFER / LUC FERRARI / BERNARD PARMEGIANI/ et al - Musique Concrete (Modern Silence OI 019; Malta) Le Groupe de Recherches Musicales (The Group of Musical Research) of the O.R.T.F. (Office of the French Radio-Television) is known in the world principally as the promoter of an original technique of realization as well as reflection: Musique concrète. For more than fifty years, Le Groupe de Recherches Musicales has founded its experience, its methods of research and particular techniques, upon a confrontation between the musical act, reflection upon its elements, experimentation on sound sources, and the electro-acoustical means. Grouped around Pierre Schaeffer and François Bayle, composers and researchers try to give new direction to musical activity through the conjugated action of a program of "Fundamental Research" on the languages of music (concrete, electronic, but also instrumental and oriental) and a program of "Expression", resulting in original compositions as well as essays for the ballet, theater, cinema, or television. In this LP, there are some great examples of the incredible production of many of the most celebrated composers of the movement: Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Bernard Parmegiani, Ernst Krenek, Luc Ferrari and Ivo Malec along with Pierre Schaeffer and François Bayle.
LP $26
JEF GILSON/JEAN LUC PONTY/JEAN LOUIS CHAUTEMPS - Oeil Vision (Modern Silence OI 012; Malta) Modern Silence present a reissue of Oeil Vision, originally released in 1964. One of the best albums by legendary French pianist Jef Gilson, recorded in 1963 with Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, Daniel Humair on drums, Jean-Louis Chautemps and Pierre Caron on tenor sax, Guy Pedersen and Henri Texier on bass. A superb line up for this beautiful album including two splendid versions of "Chant-Inca" (a hidden cover of Pharoah Sanders "Creator Has A Masterplan"). Essential French spirit/avant jazz. Gilson was the brilliant mind behind a number of incredible, yet over-looked recordings during the late sixties and early seventies. His music spanned from big band and large led ensemble work to his later explorations with African influenced spiritual jazz. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Edition of 500.
LP $26
JEF GILSON - Enfin! (Modern Silence OI 020; Malta) Modern Silence present a reissue of Jef Gilson's Enfin!, originally released in 1963. French pianist Jef Gilson came up in the '60s and played in a straight-ahead hard bop style and also made forays into Afro-jazz and free jazz, including a noteworthy version of Pharoah Sanders's "The Creator Has a Master Plan". He featured the young violinist Jean Luc Ponty on some early recordings, and also appeared on Magma drummer Christian Vander's Vander Et Les Trois Jeffs (1973). The pianist led numerous ensembles ranging from trios to creative big bands during his career, including the Jef Gilson Nonet, Jef Gilson et Malagasy, and the Jef Gilson Orchestra. Enfin! is a French modal jazz classic featuring some of the best musicians at the time: Portal, Pontu, Tholot, Jean Claude Petit, Francois Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Henri Texier, Jean Louis Chautemps.
LP $26
MACIUNAS ENSEMBLE - 1976 (Edition Telemark 314-07; Germany) The Maciunas Ensemble was founded in 1968 by Dutch musicians and sound artists Paul Panhuysen, Remko Scha and Jan van Riet. It has existed ever since, though having gone through a number of membership changes until today. The group's intention was to realize the piece "Music for Everyman" by Fluxus initiator George Maciunas which they interpreted as allowing boundless freedom in the sounds being produced. The group met at a regular basis, usually improvising on a number of instruments that were at hand. Every session was recorded. Before playing, they listened to the recording of the previous session and discussed it. No rehearsing or fine-tuning of pre-conceived material took place. To the view of Paul Panhuysen, their method of making music is closely linked with the oral tradition of folk music. This LP edition features two pieces, both recorded on December 19, 1976, and never released before on any format. Here, the group comprised Paul Panhuysen, Remko Scha, Jan van Riet, Leon van Noorden and Hans Schuurman. "This music is literally polyphonic - a composition of multiple voices. The members of the ensemble do not engage in virtuoso playing. Although each may go down his individual path, no one attempts to outdo the others in exuberant soloing. Their approach to improvisation bears none of the hallmarks of jazz. It is a group effort. They operate as a band in the anthropological sense: a small, mobile, and fluid social formation without clear-cut leadership." (from the liner notes by René van Peer) Edition of 250.
LP $24
PAUL PANHUYSEN - Pendulum Change Ringing (Edition Telemark ET 314-03; Germany) First vinyl LP edition by Dutch sound and visual artist Paul Panhuysen since 1986. In terms of sound art, Paul Panhuysen is well-known for his long string installations, yet he has produced a vast amount of other sound installations using different materials and sound sources ranging from various instruments to animals such as birds. This LP contains a recording of the installation "Pendulum Change Ringing", displayed at Pand Koloniale Waren in Hasselt (Belgium) in 2012. The installation consists of twelve engraved Turkish metal platters, each mounted onto a black plastic bin, and placed in a 20-meter long row. The rim of each platter is hit by a metal pendulum operated by a tiny electromotor. Each hit causes the platter to resonate with a rich sound texture full of dissonant overtones. During the recording, the twelve pendulums are activated one after the other. The paces at which they swing differ due to their rods having different lengths. This causes interlocking rhythmic patterns to emerge that become more complex with each step and never stay the same. Hits aggregate into clusters, then thin out again. The sound is not chaotic, yet its regularity is hard to comprehend. "You might call 'Pendulum Change Ringing' a typical Paul Panhuysen piece: it works according to a system, quite a simple one in fact, but its effect surpasses that apparent simplicity by far." - René van Peer. Edition of 300. Full-color sleeve with photos of the installation and liner notes by René van Peer. Black poly-lined inner sleeve.
LP $24
HANS RUDOLPH ZELLER - Hans Rudolf Zeller (Edition Telemark ET 314-04; Germany)
Hans Rudolf Zeller (b. 1934 in Berlin) is best-known for being a music theorist, essayist and writer on contemporary music. His essays on Dieter Schnebel, Iannis Xenakis, micro-tonality etc., often published in the German journal Musik-Konzepte, are deemed being among the best ever written on new music. Apart from that, he has since the 1960s maintained his own artistic work, most of which has not been published or only seen the light of day in private micro-editions. Zeller's work often involves combining multiple dimensions (texts, vocals, visual projections) into one cinematological literature. This LP edition is an attempt at collecting various elements of Zeller's work. All recordings have been made between 2006 and 2016, yet many of the underlying concepts date back to the 1960s or 1970s. Contained are two scriptophonies (works combining writing and vocals, with the notion of writing being extended in ways not unlike those Carlfriedrich Claus and Gerhard Rühm have shown), two vocal improvisations, one piece of Tesa sounds (sounds produced by adhesive tape), and one piece for horn. The full-color sleeve and inner sleeve show Tesa pictures made between 1961 and 1970, and one collage from 2010. There is one insert with detailed liner notes by Zeller in German and English, and another insert showing a relic of a scriptophony. Edition of 300.
LP $25
DELIA DERBYSHIRE AND ELSA STANSFIELD - Circle Of Light (Trunk 061; UK) A highly important previously unreleased soundtrack for Circle Of Life, created in 1972 by musician Delia Derbyshire and artist Elsa Stansfield. The soundtrack is a mix of concrete ideas, sound design, tape manipulation, natural environmental sounds and birdsong. The recording was originally commissioned by director, producer and art collector Anthony Roland for his 1972 film about the slides of radical stills photographer Pamela Bone. The film has been rarely seen and the soundtrack has never been released until now. This is the longest known work by Delia Derbyshire - either alone or in association with anyone else - and has been licensed by Trunk Records exclusively worldwide from the Anthony Roland archive/collection. Mastered by Jon Brooks, AKA The Advisory Circle. Full color single LP sleeve. Single LP on standard black wax.
LP $26
VITOR ASSIS BRASIL - Desenhos (Mad About Records 1017; Portugal) First time worldwide vinyl reissue of the Brazilian jazz holy grail Desenhos by Vitor Assis Brasil, originally released in 1966. This is the incredibly rare and Coltrane influenced debut of Brazilian sax great Victor Assis Brasil (1945-1981) for Roberto Quartin's cult label Forma. Vitor Assis Brasil led this session on January 11th, 1966 with his quartet which featured the legendary pianist Tenório Jr, double-bassist Edison Lôbo and drummer Chico Batera. Desenhos is one of the greatest jazz albums ever recorded in Brazil and the highlights go to the originals and the wonderful João Donato tracks.
LP $30
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Bruce Lee Gallanter’s Recommended Gig List for September of 2016:
THE STONE is located at the NW corner of Avenue C & East 2nd Sts.
THE STONE RESIDENCIES - STEVE COLEMAN 60TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
AUG 30 – SEPT 25 - A full month of performances in celebration of Steve Coleman’s 60th birthday!
9/16 Friday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Miles Okazaki (guitar) Anthony Tidd (bass) Sean Rickman (drums)
9/17 Saturday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Miles Okazaki (guitar) Thomas Morgan (bass) Neeraj Mehta (percussion)
9/18 Sunday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Thomas Morgan (bass) Matt Mitchell (piano) Neeraj Mehta (perc)
9/20 Tuesday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman’s Natal Eclipse - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Vasko Dukovski (clarinet) Jen Shyu (vocals) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Kristin Lee (violin) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Greg Chudzik (bass) Matt Mitchell (piano) Neeraj Mehta (percussion)
9/21 Wednesday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman’s Natal Eclipse - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Rane Moore (clarinet) Jen Shyu (vocals) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Kristin Lee (violin) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Greg Chudzik (bass) Matt Mitchell (piano) Neeraj Mehta (percussion)
9/22 Thursday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman’s Natal Eclipse - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Rane Moore (clarinet) Jen Shyu (vocals) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Kristin Lee (violin) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Greg Chudzik (bass) Matt Mitchell (piano) Neeraj Mehta (percussion)
9/23 Friday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Miles Okazaki (guitar) Anthony Tidd (bass) Sean Rickman (drums)
9/24 Saturday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Miles Okazaki (guitar) Anthony Tidd (bass) Sean Rickman (drums)
9/25 Sunday
8 and 10 pm - Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Steve Coleman (alto sax) Maria Grand (tenor sax) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) Miles Okazaki (guitar) Anthony Tidd (bass) Marcus Gilmore (drums)
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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Music Dance Poetry Justice - In GARDENS Series 2016
Children's Magical Garden - Raza y Resistencia
129 Stanton east of Essex Street.
Saturday 09/17 at Children’s Magical Garden “Raza y Resistencia”
2 pm: The SewelSonics Sextet - Dave Sewelson baritone sax, Nabate Isles trumpet, William Parker - bass, Dave Hofstra - tuba, Jake Sokolov-Gonzalez - cello, TA Thompson - drums
2:30: Musicians lead an Open Music Workshop for All Children
3 pm: Sewelsonics with All Magical Children Workshop Ensemble
3:45 pm: Steve Swell Trio - Steve Swell - trombone / Michael Foster - bari, tenor sax / Weasel Walter - drums
4:45: Bill Cole’s UnTempered Trio - Bill Cole - double reeds / Ras Moshe - reeds / Lisette Santiago - percussion
Sunday 09/18 at Children’s Magical Garden “Raza y Resistencia”
2 pm: JP Carletti "Xul" Trio - Ingrid Laubrock - sax / William Parker - bass / Juan Pablo Carletti - drums
3 pm: Poetry Reading: Paul Harding | Steve Dalachinsky
3:45: CMW: Ben Cohen - saxophone / Dave Miller - drums / Eli Wallace - piano
4:45: Tony Malaby Trio: Tony Malaby - tenor sax / Hilliard Greene - bass / Billy Mintz - drums
Saturday 09/24 at Children’s Magical Garden “Raza y Resistencia”
2pm: LathanFlinAli: Lathan Hardy - winds / Sean Ali - bass / Flin Van Hemmen-drums
3 pm: Larry Roland Duo: Larry Roland - bass & poetry / Michael Moss - reeds
3:45: Avram Fefer Trio - Fefer - tenor sax / Michael Bisio - bass
4:45: Jaimie Branch Group
Sunday 09/25 at 6BC Garden “Race & Resistance”
2 pm: Karen Borca TRIO: Karen Borca - bassoon / Warren Smith - vibes / Jackson Krall - drums
3 pm: Poetry Reading: Yuko Otomo | Patricia Spears Jones
3:45: Duo: Ingrid Laubrock - tenor sax / Tom Rainey - drums
4:45: Dickey / Knuffke - Whit Dickey - drums / Kirk Knuffke - cornet
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The CORNELIA STREET CAFE - 212-989-9319
29 Cornelia St in the heart of the West Greenwich Village, NYC
Friday Sep 16
6:00PM TRAVEL DIARIES - Edith Lettner, alto, soprano sax; Beate Reiermann, guitar
9:00PM TOM RAINEY'S POOL SCHOOL - Tom Rainey, drums; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor sax
10:30PM SEAN CONLY'S TRUE NORTH - Jacob Sacks, piano; Sean Conly, bass; Tom Rainey, drums
Saturday Sep 17
9:00PM & 10:30PM JACOB SACKS QUINTET - Jacob Sacks, piano; Jacob Garchik, trombone; Ben Gerstein, trombone; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Dan Weiss, drums
Sunday Sep 18
8:30PM ISRAELI JAZZ SPOTLIGHT: OFRI NEHEMYA GROUP - Shachar Elnatan, guitar; Gadi Lehavi, piano; Tal Mashiach, bass; Ofri Nehemya, drums, comp.
10:00PM ISRAELI JAZZ SPOTLIGHT: URI GURVICH QUARTET - Uri Gurvich, saxes;
Mon Sept 19th:
8:30PM FOR TREES & BIRDS - Jasper Dutz, alto sax/bass clarinet; Lee Meadvin, guitar; Chris Gaskell, bass; Connor Parks, drums
Tuesday Sep 20
8:01PM NEW BRAZILIAN PERSPECTIVES: TULIO ARAUJO - Tulio Araujo, pandeiro; Jorge Continentino, sax, flute; Helio Alves, piano; Edward Perez, bass; Cesar Garabini, guitar
Wed, Sept 21st:
6:00PM MICHA GILAD TRIO - "SERIOUSLY SARCASTIC" - Micha Gilad, piano; Gal Shaya, bass; Ben Silashi, drums
8:01PM DAN WEISS TRIO - Dan Weiss, drums; Jacob Sacks, piano; Thomas Morgan, bass
Thursday Sep 22
8:01PM THE LORIN COHEN GROUP - Lorin Cohen, bass; Victor Provost, steel pan; Yvonnick Prene, chromatic harmonica; Jeremy Manasia, piano; Mark Whitfield Jr., drums
Friday Sep 23
9:00PM & 10:30PM JON IRABAGON QUINTET - Jon Irabagon, tenor sax; Tim Hagans, trumpet; Luis Perdomo, piano; Matt Clohesy, bass; Dan Weiss, drums
Saturday Sep 24
9:00PM & 10:30PM LUCIAN BAN & ELEVATION – “SONGS FROM AFAR” CD RELEASE - Lucian Ban, piano, comp.; Abraham Burton, tenor sax; Mat Maneri, viola; John Hebert, bass; Eric McPherson, drums
Sunday Sep 25
8:35PM ERI YAMAMOTO TRIO, CD RELEASE: LIFE - Eri Yamamoto, piano; David Ambrosio, bass; Ikuo Takeuchi, drums
*****
I-Beam Presents - September, 2016 Schedule:
Friday, September 16th 8:30 PM
Past Present – Night 1
The Norwegian duo Past Present + Andrew D’Angelo
Saturday, September 17th 8:30 PM
Past Present – Night 2
Duo15 - The Norwegian Duo Past Present + Andrew D’Angelo
Sunday, September 18th 8:30 PM
Susan Alcorn Quartet:
Nate Wooley – Trumpet
Susan Alcorn – Pedal Steel
Mary Halvorson – Guitar
Ryan Sawyer – Drums
Wednesday, September 21st 8:30 PM
Gordon Grdina Quartet
Gordon Grdina – Guitar
Russ Lossing – Piano
Oscar Noriega – Alto + Clarinet
Satoshi Takeishi – Drums
Thursday, September 22nd 8:30 PM
Stew Roux (in residency + live recording)
STEW – Vocals
Mike McGinnis – Woodwinds
Jeff Hermanson – Trumpet
Brian Drye – Trombone / Piano
Dan Fabricatore – Bass
Vinnie Sperrazza – Drums
Urbano Sanchez – 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 September Schedule:
Sept 18
7-9:30pm - The Diverse Comedy Show
Shane Morrison
Martha Cipolla
Sam Haft
Andrew Castertano
Mercer Morrison
Stewie Vill
Sept 19
8:15p: Regards to You II CD Release
Julphan Tilapornputt's Quartet
Julphan Tilapornputt - Guitar
Joe Wagner - Tenor Sax
Jeong Hwan Park - Bass
Ken Ychicawa - Drums
Sept 21
7:00p Sveti
8:15p - SS+ Sound Underground Quiet Spaces CD Release
9:30p Take Off Collective
Sept 22
ShapeShifter+ Presents: Italian Surf Academy and Bright Dog Red
7pm: Italian Surf Academy
8:15 PM - Bright Dog Red
Sept 24
11am - Lucy Kalantari's Big Things Album Release Concert (Family and children concert)
$10 advance // $15 at door // Under 2 for free
Shapeshifter is located at
18 Whitwell Place in Brooklyn, NY
R train to Union stop
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Sound It Out series @ Greenwich House
Concerts, Sept-Dec 2016
Friday, September 16, 8:00 p.m. – New All-Star Ensemble!
Angelica Sanchez Nonet : Angelica Sanchez, piano; Thomas Heberer, trumpet; Kirk Knuffke, cornet; Chris Speed, tenor saxophone; Michael Attias, alto saxophone; Ben Goldberg, clarinets; Omar Tamez, guitar; John Hébert, double-bass; Sam Ospovat, drums
Thursday, October 6, 8:00 p.m. – Altoissimo!
Roman Filiu Quartet: Roman Filiu, alto saxophone; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Thomas Morgan, double-bass; Billy Hart, drums
Saturday, October 15, 8:00 p.m. – Strings and Things!
Hank Roberts Sextet: Hank Roberts, cello; Dana Lyn, violin; Mike McGinnis; reeds; Brian Drye, trombone; Jacob Sacks, piano; Vinnie Sperrazza, drums
Wednesday, October 19, 8:00 p.m. – From the Windy City Scene!
Jason Stein’s Hearts & Minds: Jason Stein, bass clarinet; Paul Giallorenzo, synthesizer, pianet; Chad Taylor drums
Thursday, November 3, 8:00 p.m. – Hot New Trio!
Anna Webber’s Simple Trio - Anna Webber, saxophones; Matt Mitchell, piano; John Hollenbeck, drums
Friday, November 4, 8:00 p.m. – Beautiful New Ensemble!
Oded Lev-Ari Group: Oded Lev-Ari, conductor; full band lineup, TBA
Saturday, November 12, 8:00 p.m. – In Praise of Ornette!
Fay Victor’s In Praise of Ornette: Fay Victor, voice, arrangements, text; Darius Jones, alto saxophone; Kenny Wessel, electric guitar; Sean Conly, double-bass
Wednesday, November 30, 7:30 p.m. – Guitar Double-Bill!
Mike Baggetta Trio + Anders Nilsson Trio: Mike Baggetta, guitar; Jerome Harris, bass; Billy Mintz, drums; Anders Nilsson, guitar; Michaël Attias, alto saxophone; Ken Filiano, double-bass
Friday, December 2, 8:00 p.m. – Great Quintet!
Dave Scott Quintet: Dave Scott, trumpet; Rich Perry, tenor saxophone; Gary Versace, piano; John Hébert, double-bass; Satoshi Takeishi, drums
Thursday, December 15, 8:00 p.m. – Powerhouse Double-Bill!
Mara Rosenbloom Trio + Sean Conly’s Re: Action+1
Mara Rosenbloom, piano; Sean Conly, double-bass; Chad Taylor, drums
Sean Conly, double-bass; Michaël Attias & Tony Malaby, saxes; Kris Davis, piano; Gerald Cleaver, drums
Greenwich House Music School:
46 Barrow Street, just west of 7th Avenue South in New York City’s West Village; / www.greenwichhouse.org, 212-242-4770
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Spectrum Presents:
Friday 16 September
7 PM - Second Night: Bob Morris Festival
Bob Morris Discussion
8 PM - Bob Morris Festival,
Robert Morris Festival, Presented by Augustus Arnone
Concert II - Music For Solo Piano
Augustus Arnone and Margaret Kampmeier, pianos
39 Webern Variations (2010)
Sabi (1998)
Night Vapors (1967)
Wabi (1996)
Lake (2016)
14 Little Piano Pieces (2002)
Foray (2016) ** World Premiere
(pre-concert discussion with Morris at 7pm)
Saturday 17 September
7 PM - Julia Den Boer (Piano) in Contemporary Insights
Contemporary Insights 2016 Concert Series
- presenting - JULIA DEN BOER - New Music for Piano
PROGRAM:
Erin Gee: Mouthpiece XIV (2010)
Michael Finnissy: Folklore I (1994)
Rebecca Saunders: Crimson (2004)
Ashkan Behzadi: Cronistoria Plastico (2014) for piano and electronics
8:30 PM - Robert Morris Festival, Presented by Augustus Arnone
Concert III - Music For Mixed Ensemble
Collide-O-Scope Music
Traces (1990)
Raudra (1976)
Along A Rocky Path (1993)
Out and Out (1989)
Drawn Onward (2014)
Yugen (1998)
Sunday 18 September
2 PM - Bob Morris Festival: Conversation
3 PM - Robert Morris Festival, Presented by Augustus Arnone
Concert IV - Music For String Quartet
JACK Quartet
Robert Morris, Arc (1988)
Robert Morris, Allegro Appassionata (2009)
Robert Morris, Quattro per Quattro (2011)
Sunday 18 September
7 PM - Guy Barash / Eavesdropping & HIP Lit present: HEXENTEXTE
Friday 23 September
7 PM - Special Event - Agah Bahari (Toronto): "What the Hell is Going on in America? - Photos and thoughts from 2016 Democratic National Convention
Saturday 24 September
7 PM - José Menor - Solo Piano "Marathon-Recital"
A Recital of Premieres: The Complete Works by Hèctor Parra
PROGRAM:
Sam Hayden (1968 - ): "Becomings (Das Werden)" (2016). First part. *World premiere.
Hèctor Parra (1976 - ):
"Cinq études d'art" (2012-2016): "Cos de Matèria" (2012), "Carícies cap al Blanc" (2013), "Haus Ur / Office Baroque" (2014), "Cell (Arch of Hysteria)" (2016), "Una pregunta (a Jaume Plensa)" (2015).
INTERMISSION
José Menor (1977 - ):
"Fragments for Clare" (2016).
"New Crossroads" (2016).
*World premieres.
Hèctor Parra (1976 - ):
"Tres Peces per a Piano" (1999)
"Impromptu pour Equinox" (2010)
"Impromptu" (2005)
"Quatre Miniatures" (2007)
"La Dona d'Aigua" (2009)
BRIEF INTERMISSION
Hèctor Parra (1976 - ): "Sonata" (2010)
Sunday 25 September
3 PM - Reinterpretations with Ramin Arjomand
7 PM - Title Pending – Co-Hosted by Stuart Breczinski and Laura Weiner
Spectrum NYC
121 Ludlow #2
New York, NY 10002
*******
Al Margolis and the Making of Cassette Culture
Solo Performance & Book Signing
Saturday, September 17th at 7pm
At Academy Records - 12 West 18th St (west of 5th Ave), NYC
Please join us for a free performance and book-signing by Al Margolis whose experimental tape label Sound of Pig did much to promote the nascent cassette network of home-grown avant-gardism in the 1980s. Al will perform a solo set for violin and contact mic and sign copies of a new book cataloging the cut-and-paste aesthetics of SOP cassette art being published by C&B Productions. Call 212-242-3000 or e-mail: academyrecords@yahoo.com for further info
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New Revolution Arts Monthly Gathering:
This, Saturday, September 17
8 pm - Jason Rigby Double Drums: Jason Rigby (reeds), Jeff Davis & Mark Ferber - drums
9 pm - Kyoko Kitamura's Tidepool Fauna: Kitamura (voice), Ingrid Laubrock (saxes), Ken Filiano (bass)
10 pm - Velocity Duo: Lauren Lee (voice), Charley Sabatino (bass)
New Revolution Arts
7 Stanhope Street
Brooklyn (Bushwick)
J/M/L Trains / B38/B52/B54/B60/Q24 Buses
$15 suggested donation