Sometime in the late 1990’s I got a phone call from my good friend Henry Kaiser who asked if I could help out his friend/guru/cosmic guitarist Tisziji Munoz. I said of course I would try, so Mr. Munoz sends me a CD of his called ‘Present Without a Trace’. I was astonished! It featured some of the best, most intense, fastest/most furious avant/jazz/rock guitar that I had ever heard and I had heard of all of the other greats/contenders. After playing this CD over & over, I couldn’t believe that so few folks had ever heard of Tisziji Munoz. I decided to get Mr. Munoz a gig at the (2nd) Knitting Factory. A couple of weeks before the gig, Tisziji calls me and says that he needs to bring his pianist, Bernie Senensky (an incredible McCoy Tyner-like pianist!), down from Toronto and would I be willing to pay for his plane flight (cost: $200). I said OK because I wanted this gig to work. Bay Area-based guitarist Henry Kaiser, who often claimed to dislike NY, offered to fly in and introduce Munoz & his band. And he did. The night of the show, Munoz asked if one of his friends could sit in. I said no problem and that friend turned out to be Paul Shaffer, keyboardist for the Dave Letterman TV show?!? When the concert happened, the Knit had hired a new soundman who was still learning the ropes. Although the vibe in the room was one of cosmic/jubilation, we couldn’t really hear Munoz’ guitar very well. We could see the sparks flying but the sound was not right. Unknown to me at the time, Munoz’ son Mike who is a recording engineer was in the basement studio at The Knit recording the concert. And Mike knows what he is doing, thank the lord! Several months later, Tisziji comes to visit me at the store and gives me a new CD called ‘Great Sacrifice’, which was a concert recording of the gig I organized. At first, I was worried that it would sound like what I heard in the room that night but lo & behold, the recording was phenomenal!!! The title of that disc is the “Great Sacrifice†because both Tisziji and myself lost money at that gig in order to pay all of the musicians fairly. We still laugh about that whenever we get together. I’ve promoted several other for Tisziji Munoz at Tonic and The Old Stone thru the years and am currently working on our next one at Artist Space in Tribeca for Spring of next year with Ava Mendoza’s new band which is fronted by Abiodon Oyewole from the Last Poets and perhaps a new Nels Cline project. DMG gig of the year for 2022?!? No doubt!
The wonderful Munoz family is now moving to Virginia and recently donated quite a bit Munoz’s back-catalogue to us. So we are having a big sale and will do it in two parts, this week and next week. There are now upwards of 50 releases: LP’s, CD’s, cassettes and DVD’s. I have reviewed many of them so some of my reviews are listed below. If you want to know where to start, perhaps try ‘Great Sacrifice’ or ‘Present Without a Trace’ or ’Spirit World’. There are no cassettes listed below so I’m not sure if there are any left or not. The 3 DVD’s will be listed next week. I know that many of us are still dealing with the lock-down/anti-mask/anti-vax right-wing propaganda zombie blues so I urge to spend some dealing with some true ‘Healing Music’. This is what I believe that Tisziji Muñoz’s music always provides! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
Complete Sales List:
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Visiting This Planet (Anami Music 001; USA) w/ Paul Shaffer, Pharoah Sanders, Dave Liebman, John Hicks, Bernie Senensky, Idris Muhammed, Adam Nussbaum, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Guillerme Franco… 2 LP set rel in 1988 / reissued on CD
2 LP Set $15 / all copies are still sealed although due to storage the covers do stick together, vinyl is pristine, nonetheless
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Hearing Voices (Anami Music 003; USA) w/ Bernie Senensky, Hilton Ruiz, Michael Cochrane, Paul Shaffer, Art Davis, Cecil McBee, Dennis Irwin, Ratso Harris, Adam Nussbaum, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Guillermo Cantu, Idris Muhammad… - Rel on CD in 1994
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Heart-Sound (Anami Music 007; USA) w/ Greg Murphy, Don Pate & Toby Williams (drums). Rel on CD in 1995
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Spirit Man (Anami Music 008; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Bob Moses - Rec November 12, 1995 - rel on CD in 1995
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Death Is A Friend Of Mine (Anami Music 009; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Bob Moses - 2 CD Set released in 1996
2 CD Set $18
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Present Without A Trace (Anami Music 011; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Rashied Ali. Rec October 11, 1997 / rel on CD in 1997
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - River of Blood (Anami Music 010; USA) w/ Dave Liebman, John Hicks, Don Pate & Rashied Ali - rec March 10, 1997 at Survival Studio in Soho, NYC - rel on CD 1997
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Spirit World (Anami Music 012; USA) with Pharoah Sanders, Bernie Senensky, Don Pate & Rashied Ali - Rec November 3rd, 1997 at Ali’s Survival Studio in Soho, NYC / 2 CD set rel in 1997
2 CD Set $18
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Alpha-Nebula - The Prophecies (Anami Music 013; USA) with John Lockwood, Don Pate, Franklin Kiermyer & Bob Moses - Rec December 13, 1997 / Rel on CD in 1999
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Great Sacrifice (Maha-Yajna)(Anami Music 014; USA) with Bernie Senenesky, Paul Shaffer, Don Pate and Bob Ra Kalam Moses - rec March 3rd, 1999 at the Knitting Factory / Rel on CD in 1999
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Presence of Truth (Dharma-Kaya)(Anami Music 015; USA) with Hilton Ruiz, Don Pate and Rashied Ali. Rec January 29, 1999 at Ali’ Survival Studio / rel on CD in 1999
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Presence Of Joy (Anami Music 016; USA) with Dave Liebman, Cecil McBee, Don ‘Yaka’ Pate & Rashied Ali - Rec July 22nd, 1999 at Rashied Ali’s Survival Studio / Rel on CD in 1999
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Presence Of Mastery (Nirmana-Kaya) (Anami Music 017; USA) with Paul Shaffer, Don Pate and Rashied Ali. Rec September 24, 1999 / rel on CD in 1999
CD $10
BOB MOSES and TISZIJI MUNOZ - Love Everlasting (Amulet Records AMT 003; USA) with George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, John Medeski, Brad Hatfield, John Lockwood… - rel on CD in 1999
Currently in limbo & I just wrote to Amulet to see if there are any more copies. Stay tuned.
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Auspicious Healing! (Anami Music 018; USA) with Henry Kaiser, Marilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser & Lukas Ligeti. Recorded on March 18, 2000 / Rel on CD in 2000
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Breaking The Wheel Of Life And Death (Anami Music 019; USA) with Marilyn Crispell, Don ‘Yaka’ Pate and Rashied Ali. - Rec June 11, 2000 at Cotton Hill Studio in Latham, NY / rel on CD 2000
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - The Hu-Man Spirit (Anami Music 021; USA) with Dave Liebman, Bernie Senensky, Don Pate, John Lockwood and Rashied Ali - 2 CD Set rel in 2000
2 CD Set $18
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Parallel Reality (Anami Music 020; USA) with Ravi Coltrane, Don Pate & Rashied Ali. Rec December 9, 2000 / rel on CD 2001
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Shaman-Bala (Anami Music 022; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Rashied Ali / rec at Tonic on May 12 of 2001 / 2 CD Set released in 2002
2 CD Set $18
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Divine Radiance (Dreyfus Jazz/Anami Music FDM 36706; USA) with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Paul Shaffer, Cecil McBee, Don Pate and Rashied Ali - Recorded October 30, 2001, Right Track Recording, NYC / rel on CD in 2003 - now out-of-print and down to last few copies.
CD $20
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Divine Radiance Live! (Anami Music 030; USA) with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Paul Shaffer, Don Pate and Rashied Ali - Rec live at the Village Underground on June 10th, 2013 / rel on CD
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ With BOB MOSES / JOHN LOCKWOOD / JUSTIN PURTILL - Love At First Sound (Anami Music 023; USA) rel on CD in 2005
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ & JOHN MEDESKI With BOB MOSES / DON PATE / JOHN LOCKWOOD - Beauty As Ugly (Anami Music 025; USA) Rel on CD in 2013
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ & JOHN MEDESKI With BOB MOSES / JOHN LOCKWOOD / TUPOAC MANTILLA-GOMEZ / JOHN LOCKWOOD/TONY FALCO - Ugly As Ugliest (Anami Music 026; USA) rec December 14, 2009
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ With STEVE KUHN / DAVID FINCK / RA-KALAM BOB MOSES - Incomprehensibly Gone (Anami Music 027; USA) rel 2010 on CD
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ With RA-KALAM BOB MOSES / DON PATE / JOHN LOCKWOOD / REBAZAR MUNOZ / KARIN WALSH - Omega Nebula: The Afterlife (Anami Music 028; USA) 2 CD set rel in 2013
2 CD Set $18
TISZIJI MUNOZ With RA-KALAM BOB MOSES / DON PATE / JOHN LOCKWOOD / TUPAC MANTILLA / TONY FALCO - Parasamgate Nebula: The Death Of Death (Anami Music 029; USA)
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Divine Radiance Live! (Anami Music 030; USA) with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Paul Shaffer, Don Pate and Rashied Ali - Rec live at the Village Underground on June 10th, 2013 / rel on CD in 2013
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ QUARTET With BERNIE SENENSKY / DON PATE / BOB MOSES PHAROAH SANDERS - Mountain Peak - Featuring Pharoah Sanders: Live At The Van Dyke, Schenectady NY 1998 (Anami Music 037; USA) 2 CD Set rel in October, 2014
2 CD Set $18
TISZIJI MUNOZ & PAUL SHAFFER With RA-KALAM BOB MOSES / JOHN LOCKWOOD / DON PATE - Taking You Out There! Live at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca Cola February 7 2011 (Anami Music 040; USA) Rel as a 2 CD set in October, 2014
2 CD Set $18
TISZIJI MUNOZ With LAM SOBO JOHN MEDESKI / RA-KALAM BOB MOSES / DON PATE / DAVID FINCK / TUPAC MANTILLA - Realization of Paradox: Melting the Mind of Logic (Anami Music 041; USA) Rec February 5, 2012 at Anami Music / Rel on CD in 2014
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ With RAVI COLTRANE / RASHIED ALI / BERNIE SENENSKY / DON PATE - Sky Worlds - Heaven Born (Anami Music 042; USA) rel on CD in 2014
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ & MARILYN CRISPELL - Beautiful Empty Fullness (Anami Music 048; USA) Rec April 2001 & July 2002 / rel on CD in 2014
CD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ & MARILYN CRISPELL with YAKA DON PATE / RA-KALAM BOB MOSES / BHAV TONY FALCO - The Paradox Of Independence (Anami Music 049; USA) Recorded live at The Falcon - July 4, 2014 / rel on CD in 2015

CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ / LAM-SOBO JOHN MEDESKI / RA-KALAM BOB MOSES / DAVID FINCK - Songs Of Soundlessness (Anami Music 050; USA) Rel on CD in March, 2015 
CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ with GREG MURPHY / YAKA DON PATE / RA KALAM BOB MOSES / TONY FALCO - Spirit First and Last - Dedicated to Rashied Ali (Anami Music 052; USA) rec at Tonic March 5, 2004 / rel on CD in 2015 
CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ with PAUL SHAFFER / DON PATE / TONY FALCO / ADAM BENHAM - The Paradox of Friendship (Anami Music 053; USA) rec at The Falcon, NY September 6th, 2014 
CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ / LAM-SOBO JOHN MEDESKI / DON PATE / TONY FALCO / RA-KALAM BOB MOSES - The Paradox Of Perfection (Anami 055; USA) Rel on CD in 2015
CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ / PAUL SHAFFER / LEW SOLOFF / DON PATE / TONY FALCO / RAKALM BOB MOSES - The Paradox of Completion (Anami Music 057; USA) rec October 18, 2013 at the Falcone, 2 CD Set rel in 2015
 - 2 CD Set $18


TISZIJI MUNOZ / LAM SOBO JOHN MEDESKI with YAKA DON PATE / SADHU BHAV TONY FALCO - Creating Silence - Live at The Stone, NYC (Anami Music 059; USA) rel on CD in 2021
- CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ / LAM SOBO JOHN MEDESKI JOHN BENITEZ / GEORGE KOLLER / DON PATE / RA KALAM BOB MOSES / TONY FALCO - When Coltrane Calls! - Session 1: Fierce Compassion (Anami Music 063; USA) rec August 27, 2015 / rel on CD in 2016
 - CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ with PAUL SHAFFER GEORGE KOLLER / DON ‘YAKA’ PATE / RA KALAM BOB MOSES / TONY FALCO - When Coltrane Calls! - Session 2: Liberation First! (Anami Music 064; USA) rec August 27th, 2015 / rel on CD in 2016 - CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ / LAM SOBO JOHN MEDESKI GEORGE KOLLER / DON PATE / RA KALAM BOB MOSES / TONY FALCO - When Coltrane Calls! - Session 3: Living Immortality (Anami Music 065; USA) rec Aug 28 & October 27, 2015 / rel on CD in 2015
CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ with DON ‘YAKA’ PATE / RA KALAM BOB MOSES / TONY SADHU BHAV FALCO - Tathagata Guitar: Whispers of Peace (Anami Music AM067; USA) rec June 21, 2011 / rel on CD in 2016 
CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ featuring DAVE LIEBMAN / JOHN MEDESKI / DON PATE / DAVID FINCK / RAKALAM BOB MOSES / TONY FALCO / ADAM BENHAM - Atoms of Supersoul (Anami Music 070; USA) rel in 2017
 - CD $10


TISZIJI MUNOZ With DAVE LIEBMAN / JOHN MEDESKI / DON PATE / DAVID FINCK / RAKALAM BOB MOSES / TONY FALCO / ADAM BENHAM - Scream of Ensoundment (Anami Music 071; USA) rel on CD in 2017
 - CD $10
3 Munoz/Anami DVD’s:
TISZIJI MUNOZ / PAUL SCHAFFER with LAM-SOBO JOHN MEDESKI / DON APTE / BOB MOSES / TONY FALCO / ADAM BENHAM - The Anniversary Concert - Live at the Falcon in Marlboro, New York (Anami Music 044; USA)
DVD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ / LAM-SOBO JOHN MEDESKI DON PATE / TONY FALCO / ADAM BENHAM - The Heart Is The Universe / Live at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, NY (Anami Music 047; USA)
DVD $10
TISZIJI MUNOZ with PAUL SHAFFER / DON PATE / RA KALAM BOB MOSES - Burning The Bed! Live at The Tonic (Anami Music 069; USA)