DMG Newsletter for Friday, November 30th, 2018

Words of Wisdom

“please take good care and stay strong
this is a time when we all need to send good energy out into the world
this is a war - against racism, anti-semitism, intolerance and stupidity
all of us are soldiers - and we need you (all) to be on the front lines 
sending love and strength always… in solidarity”

These words came in an e-mail recently from one of my closest friends.
They put into perspective some of things that many of us have been thinking about recently. I have been on a mission to not look at my phone so often and talk to my neighbors and other strangers so that I get to know who these folks really are. We are all in this together so stop pointing fingers and extend your hand in friendship. - BLG

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This Week’s New Music is from:

Mars Williams’ Ayler X-mas Tribute - Volume 2! Georg Graewe / Damon Smith /Michael Vatcher! Achim Kaufmann Solo! Ivo Perelman’s Bass Clarinet Duos: Jason Stein & Rudi Mahall! Martin Escalante & Weasel Walter! Alvin Curran! Alvin Lucier! Wolfgang Rihm!

Kaija Saariho! David Tudor! David Axelrod! Merzbow! Nurse with Wound! The Highwaymn! Ill Wind! Jade! Akiko Yano! Les Negresses Vertes! Plus Historic stuff from: Archie Shepp & Full Moon Ensemble! John Coltrane’s Live in Japan & Seattle! Dr. Chadbourne rarity!

Plus vinyl from Joe McPhee! Michael Snow! Evan Parker! Lard Free! Wendy Eisenberg! Cecil Taylor & Buell Neidlinger! The Fall and Wilson Pickett!

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Upcoming Sets at Downtown Music Gallery - FREE, every Sunday at 6pm

Sunday, December 2nd:
6pm: GUILLERMO GREGORIO & OMAR TAMEZ - Clarinet & Guitar
7pm: GUILLERMO GREGORIO / OMAR TAMEZ / RAYMON LOPEZ - Clarinet / Guitar / Drums

Rare Monday, December 3rd Gathering: Reading and Book Signing!
6:30pm: ELLIOTT SHARP will read from his new book: ‘IrRational Music’

Sunday, December 9th:
6pm: FACKPAMP: ANDERS NILSSON / HAMPUS OHMAN-FROLUND SARAH BERNSTEIN -
Guitar / Drums / Violin
7pm: AXIS: JON IRABAGON / JOHN HEGRE / NILS DRONEN - Saxes / Guitar / Etc.
8pm: GIACOMO MEREGA / KENT O’DOHERTY - Bass Guitar / Alto Sax

Sunday, December 16th:
6pm: HUMAN RITES TRIO: JASON KAO HWANG / KEN FILIANO / ANDREW DRURY - Strings/Bass/Drums

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

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DMG Recommended Concert of the Week:

ERIC STERN’S HOUSE OF IMPROV Presents:

Friday, November 30th at 8pm:

MARILYN LERNER / KEN FILIANO / LOU GRASSI!

At Michiko Studios, 149 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036

Check out video: www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=597&v=pqetAT0eV6A

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This Week’s Dynamite Discs begin with this:


* MARS WILLIAMS With JOSH BERMAN / FRED LONBERG-HOLM / JIM BAKER / KENT KESSLER CHRISTOF KURZMANN / et al - An Ayler Christmas - Volume 2 (ESP-Disk / Soul What 0004; USA) Now that Thanksgiving’s over, it is becoming Christmas time again. I know since I saw them selling Christmas trees on the streets on New York this week (last week of November 2018). To help us all celebrate the positive aspects of this joyous holiday, Chicago saxist, Mars Williams, has again organized another Albert Ayler/Christmas tribute disc. Like many of us Hipster/Scrooges, we find too many X-mas songs to be too corny to deal with now and for the next month. We gotta give Mars Williams some credit for finding a way to these age-old tunes in new ways, combining the melodies of the legendary Avant/Jazz sax hero, Albert Ayler. This disc consists of excerpts from two different bands and concerts: a Chicago sextet and a German quintet with Mars in both groups. The Chicago outfit, a/k/a Witches & Devils, includes Josh Berman on cornet, Jim Baker on piano & synth, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & special guest Jeb Bishop on trombone. Both sets are recorded live in Chicago (at the Hungry Brain) and Vienna, Austria (Porgy & Bess). The five medleys alter between the two location but the inner spirit remains true throughout the disc. Albert Ayler’s music & bands had a way taking these gospel, bluesy melodies and adding a New Orleans-like marching band (funeral procession) sort of groove. From the gitgo, the first medley of X-mas songs, erupts open with Brotzmann-like molten tenor blasting, Donald Ayler-esque bent cornet fractures, frenzied cello (go Fred, go!) and a quick spinning rhythm team blur underneath. Things actually calm down to a simmer midway through this piece as they play a somber version of another X-mas song. Much the way John Coltrane’s music had an uplifting, spiritual side, this music also a spirited, inspiring vibe. The two tracks recorded in Vienna, feature a quintet, the only member whose I recognize is Christof Kurzmann. After a short, touching vocal refrain (sung by Kurzmann) of “Oh Tannenbaum”, the quintet take off for parts unknown eventually working their way through Ayler’s “Spirits” melody. The quintet captures the same sort of drunken-sounding swagger that Ayler’s bands often specialized in. An often underrated saxist, Mars Williams, is at the center here, taking a number of incredible, brain blasting solos, providing a centering point for both ever exuberant bands. Number one on the current DMG Hitlist, a must to make your holiday season even better, you deserve a heaping helping of “An Ayler Xmas Volume 2”! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

* MARS WILLIAMS is currently on a US tour and playing this music with different personnel in each city! We caught him last Tuesday (11/27/18) at The Stone with Steve Swell, Nels Cline, Tomeka Reid, Hill Greene & Chris Corsano - it was amazing!!!


GEORG GRAEWE / DAMON SMITH / MICHAEL VATCHER - Unhesitating (Nuscope  1032; USA) Featuring Georg Graewe on Steinway D piano, Damon Smith on double bass and Michael Vatcher on drums. The ever-challenging Nuscope label is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and has released around 30 superb discs. The great German pianist, Georg Graewe, has had a longterm relationship with the Nuscope label, this being his 9th disc for the label. His first two discs for Nuscope featured a trio with Marcio Mattos on bass and Michael Vatcher on drums. For Nuscope’s 20th anniversary, Mr. Graewe returns with another trio which includes bassist Damon Smith (currently living in Boston) and his original drummer, Michael Vatcher (currently live in NYC). What makes this disc interesting is that it is not merely an all improvised session but includes a could of select covers by Carla Bley and Annette Peacock (both associated with Paul Bley), as well as originals by Mr. Graewe and some group improvs as well. On the opening piece, “Prelude”, the trio lurches forward together, as if balancing on raft on the sea, all three members of equal inertia. Carla Bley’s “Ictus”, is an early song from the mid-sixties and remains one of her most difficult to play. The trio here do an incredible version, creating a tight tapestry of several interconnected orbits. Mr. Graewe’s “Semaphore #04”, has a similar fractured quality to “Ictus”, with several lines spinning around one another in a near frenzied fashion. Although I don’t think that Mr. Smith and Mr. Vatcher have worked together very much in the past (ever?), they sound spirited and focused as they speed up, slow down and criss-cross varying currents. Annette Peacock’s “Nothing Ever was, Anyway”, was once covered by Marilyn Crispell, and it has a most haunting vibe, as if time has slowed down and is filled with subtle suspense. It is hard to believe that this is the first disc by this trio, they do sound splendid together throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


ACHIM KAUFMANN - Mnemon (Nuscope 1003; USA) With special attention to space and density, German pianist Achim Kauffman's solo piano album presents a set of 14 original compositions, from extremely active and technically astounding playing to inquisitive and beautifully contemplative work, a mature and fascinating reflection that includes 4 works inspired by the poetry of Gabriele D.R. Guenthler. "Unlike his previous solo recording, Later, Mnemon is an excursion into some dense but never busy music that reflects Kaufmann's tireless need to reinvent himself in varying contexts. From the glissando on the bracing opening track called "Lending Speech to Leaves" to the plaintiff closer titled "Night Air", Kaufmann has recorded a memorable, fascinating memoir of his work which indeed creates a whole new language."- Nuscope
Over the past few years, I’ve been checking out pianist Achim Kaufmann, who has been collaborating with a number of our favorite European musicians: Michael Moore (3 duo CD’s at once), Thomas Heberer, Axel Dorner and Gebhard Ullmann. This disc is Mr. Kaufmann’s second solo piano offering and again he has been expanding his palette of techniques and composing talents. Kaufmann is consistently stretching out, swirling waves of notes on “Bigger Tree”, playing different (related) themes with each hand. Kaufmann keeps alternating between several currents. Lighter, darker, busy, restrained, super-charged… On “Off Tessellation”, speeds up to an impossible tempo, cascading continuous waves, the water reaching boiling point. “Craquelure” is a tour-de-force of furious flurries, which are astonishing. There are too many incredible moments here to do this disc justice. It is one of the best solo piano discs in recent memory. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


IVO PERELMAN / JASON STEIN - Spiritual Players (Leo 842; UK) Featuring Ivo Perelman on tenor sax and Jason Stein on bass clarinet. Brazilian-born, Brooklyn-based saxist, Ivo Perelman, has been on a never-ending quest to record as many improv sessions as is possible over the past decade or so with some thirty discs now released by the Leo label. Often these sessions are released in groups of 5-7 CD’s. Over the last year, Mr. Perelman, has decided to do something different, so his last Leo release is a triple CD set (duos with Matt Shipp) and now two CD’s have been released and both are duos with great bass clarinetists. This disc features a duo with Chicago bass clarinet hero, Jason Stein. Like the other current Perelman CD, both Mr. Stein and Rudi Mahall both play bass clarinets exclusively. No doubt you recognize the name Jason Stein from his extensive catalogue with Hearts & Minds, Ken Vandermark or dozen discs as a leader. Hi most recent disc is a quartet with Keefe Jackson, Josh Abrams and Tom Rainey, is a particular fave of the DMG staff.
The duo of Ivo Perelman and Jason Stein seem to be extremely well-matched. From the beginning, they take off and start spinning several layers of lines together, creating a cosmic tapestry of intricate weaving. The title of this disc, ’Spiritual Players’, come from the an observation that both Mr. Perelman and Mr. Stein, come from Jewish backgrounds but are not really involved with any religious study. Both did feel an inexplicable bond which does seem to emanate from their collective improvising. This disc starts off slowly and quietly, a reflective sense of calm at the center. The intensity builds as these two get to know each other, their lines erupting and creating a connected web of activity. Aside from recognizing the distinctive dry tone of a bass clarinet, it is often hard to tell these two apart as they explore similar tonalities and timbres. When things speed up at times, criss-crossing lines have away of evoking restless spirits set free and soaring together. There is great section when both reedmen are bending & twisting their notes together and sound like two agitated birds having a fascinating discussion. Although the central vibe is one of calmness, these two master musicians continually dig deep into their vast vocabulary and keep pushing each, interacting and connecting on different levels. This disc is nearly an hour long and I found myself at the edge of my seat for the entire length. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $17


IVO PERELMAN / RUDI MAHALL - Kindred Spirits (Leo 840/841; UK) Featuring Ivo Perelman on tenor sax and Rudi Mahall on bass clarinet. Brazilian-born, Brooklyn-based saxist, Ivo Perelman, has been on a never-ending quest to record as many improv sessions as is possible over the past decade or so with some thirty discs now released by the Leo label. Often these sessions are released in groups of 5-7 CD’s. Over the last year, Mr. Perelman, has decided to do something different, so his last Leo release is a triple CD set (duos with Matt Shipp) and now two CD’s have been released and both are duos with great bass clarinetists: Jason Stein from Chicago and Rudi Mahall from Germany. Mr. Mahall is one of the few reeds players who works exclusively with the bass clarinet. He has become very visible over the past decade, working with Alex von Schlippenbach, Aki Takase and an ongoing band called Die Enttaeuschung.
What’s interesting about this session is that neither of these two reedman had played together before and Mr. Mahall was just in town for two days before returning to Germany. From the first piece, both of these musicians are digging in and exchanging ideas quickly, many fragments tightly woven… The pace (from slow to quick) and interaction is most often astonishing as both men toss off layers of connected lines. Both of these men are well-versed in extended techniques & multiphonics, hence they are continually testing one another with a wide variety of unique sounds. There is an ongoing spirit of adventure as these two work hard at combining their talents. Outstanding! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $28


NEW MONUMENTS With C. SPENCER YEH / DON DIETRICH / BEN HALL - New Earth (Pleasure of the Text 1302; USA) New Monuments features C. Spencer Yeh on violin & electronics, Don Dietrich on tenor sax & electronics and Ben Hall on drum set. This is an interesting line-up of three characters from very varied backgrounds. The eldest here is saxist Don Dietrich, who is a founding member of the legendary jazz/noise band Borbetomagus, nearing their four decade lifespan!?! I’ve been checking out C. Spencer Yeh for the past decade, since he works with so many creative musicians: Paul Flaherty, David Grubbs and Nate Wooley. Drummer Ben Hall, I don’t know as well but he has worked with Joe Morris & Graveyards and has a weird CD on the Relative Pitch label. This is the second release from New Monuments. The music here is explosive, riveting from the first note! Like his playing in Borbetomagus, Mr. Dietrich like to shred on his sax, ripping notes inside-out! This music is beyond intense, it is blur of frenzied activity, mind-blowing and almost too much! There are certain sounds where it hard to tell apart the violin from the electronics and at times the sax sounds as if it is being put through some devices. It takes some adjusting to at times yet the textures and dynamics are more varied than we might expect. The pulsating energy, screaming vocal sounds (somewhat buried), mutant electronics, propulsive drumming and ghost-like string weirdness make this immensely powerful force to be dealt with. It doesn’t get much more intense than this! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


MARTIN ESCALANTE WEASEL WALTER - ‘Lacerate’ (ugExplode 73; USA) Featuring Martin Escalante on saxes and Weasel Walter on drums & production. When Mexican saxist, Martin Escalante, played here at DMG last year, I referred to him as a ‘legend’ due to his reputation from Kevin Reilly, co-founder of the Relative Pitch label and like myself, someone who savors challenging music & extended technique(s). When I spoke with Mr. Escalante after the set here, he laughed and said he was too young to be a legend. What is interesting is this, Escalante has obviously studied and experimented with assorted extended sax techniques, like multiphonics and reed shredding… When this disc begins, it sounds as if Escalante is screaming through his sax while Mr. Walter provides some intense, over-the-top double-bass (pedal) insanity! Holy sh*t! Weasel is a wizard in the recording studio, hence the sounds is extremely clean and superbly captured. At times it is hard to tell what Mr. Escalante is playing: game calls? balloons? whistles? Martin has taken the innovations of Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, John Zorn and Chris Pitsiokos and pushed them even further out! Even at a quieter volume, this music bristles with extreme intensity! Some of this is brutal and scary yet the balance of more restrained moments is just right. Often unbelievable! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13


Contemporary Classical and Electronic Music Recordings:

ALVIN CURRAN - Endangered Species (New World Records 80804; USA)‘Endangered Species’ states, restates, correlates, instigates, inflates and deflates, elevates, formulates, disintegrates, interrogates, percolates, granulates, germinates, Kiss Me Kates, Tom Waits, Norman Bates and W.B. Yeats, horripilates, adumbrates, prestidigitates, sophisticates, enumerates, integrates and contraindicates songs from the standard repertoire, Standards they were called. Old French, Frankish, estendard “place of formation.” If you asked a jazz musician what he played, he’d probably say Standards and Originals. Standards being popular songs from Broadway or Hollywood, Originals being compositions written by the jazz players themselves. They became the catalysts for infinite extended play. . . . Alvin’s standards rise from an uncodified potential of all the sounds in the world.  Recognizable but reformed by what had been worked through the nameless sound fields into a strange new life, now audible here. — Clark Coolidge (from the liner notes)
The Yamaha Disklavier was the instrument I was waiting for . . . a grand piano which allowed me the luxury of playing not just its own hammers and strings but my entire archive of sound-files: a magic act where the whole world becomes audible directly from my finger tips—an 80-proof blend of analogue and digital. The selection of songs on this recording is mostly ballads, slow and easy, leaving me time to think, exit into unverified neighborhoods, begin a piece from the end, enter a spontaneous museum of dysfunctional harmonies, sneak out the back door into the cocktail mists looking for traces of MEV street music in a heap of Pistoletto’s rags.” — Alvin Curran
2 CD Set $28


ALVIN LUCIER - So You ... (Hermes, Orpheus, Eurydice)(Black Truffle 044; Australia) ‘So You ... (Hermes, Orpheus, Eurydice)’ is a major new work by legendary experimental composer Alvin Lucier. It is an hour-long epic that tracks the familiar Orpheus myth from a less familiar perspective: that of Eurydice as imagined by poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle); a Eurydice who rails at Orpheus for his hubris in attempting to rescue her. So You ... (Hermes, Orpheus, Eurydice) was originally commissioned by Documenta 14 and first performed as part of Documenta in Athens in 2017. Two key, and formerly distinct, aspects of Lucier's practice come together in this piece: the exploration of interference patterns in closely tuned intervals, and the exploration of resonant chambers. From speakers mounted inside amphorae a constantly turning braid of beating sine waves trace the descent into the depths of hell, and then the doomed attempt to climb back into life. Singer Jessika Kenney and long-time Lucier collaborators Anthony Burr and Charles Curtis embody the three title characters in deeply focused performances that assert themselves against the process of the sweep, or become enfolded in it. The electronics were mixed in real time by programmer and equipment designer Tom Erbe. This record has all of the mind-bending acoustic effects expected from a Lucier piece, but also features a strong sense of narrative drama and flashes of raw emotion that are unexpected and deeply affecting. Design by Lasse Marhaug. Mastered by Doug Henderson at micro-moose, Berlin. Presented in a deluxe digipak with a booklet featuring the original poem and extensive notes by Lucier, Burr and Cathy Gere.
CD $15


WOLFGANG RIHM - Lichtzwang / Music for Violin & Orchestra, Vol. 1 (Naxos 8573812; Earth) The violin works of the leading German composer Wolfgang Rihm encompass almost his entire career and reflect the variety of his stylistic thinking. ‘Lichtzwang,’ the earliest of his concertos, draws on chorale-like sequences and piercing outbursts alike in its memorializing of the writer Paul Celan. ‘Dritte Musik’ begins almost imperceptibly before growing in intensity and eventually slipping beyond audibility. Defter and more subtle than the preceding pieces, ‘Gedicht des Malers’ (Poem of the Painter) was inspired by an imagined painting of the great Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye. As Rihm has written: “The soloist virtually embodies the painter’s brush as it moves over the canvas in sometimes faster and sometimes more deliberate ways.”
CD $14


KAIJA SAARIAHO // JENNIFER KOH / SMITH CURTIS 20/21 ENSEMBLE - Saariaho X Koh (Cedille CDR 183) Jennifer Koh, a “brilliant violinist” (The New Yorker) who performs with “conviction, ferocity, and an irresistible sense of play”, showcases works by Kaija Saariaho, the visionary and influential Finnish composer with whom Koh has closely collaborated and feels a deep personal bond. The album offers the world-premiere recording of Saariaho’s Light and Matter for violin, cello, and piano, inspired by sunlit colors and shadows in a city park outside the composer’s window. Also receiving its first recording is the violin and cello version of Aure, meaning a gentle breeze, created for and dedicated to Koh and cellist Anssi Karttunen, another champion of Saariaho’s music. The album’s largest work is the one that first attracted Koh to the composer: the violin concerto Graal Théâtre, written for Gidon Kremer, which Koh has performed many times and performs here in the composer’s chamber-orchestra version. Grove Music Online notes that the work illustrates “Saariaho’s rich and expansive string style, but places greater emphasis on melody than earlier works.” Tocar, Spanish for “to touch,” explores the playful and tactile aspects of the word through violin and piano. Cloud Trio for violin, viola, and cello was prompted by shape-shifting clouds in the French Alps. Saariaho X Koh is the violinist’s twelfth Cedille Records album in a discography that includes the Grammy-nominated String Poetic.
CD $17


DAVID TUDOR - Three Works For Live Electronics (Lovely Music 1601; USA) 1996 release. Originally released on Lovely Music as Pulsers / Untitled in 1984. This re-release includes an additional piece from David Tudor, Phonemes. Pulsers explores the world of rhythms created electronically by analog, rather than digital, circuitry. With analog circuitry, the time-base common to the rhythms can be varied in many different ways by a performer, and can eventually become unstable. Untitled is a part of a series of works composed in the 1970s that were developed through experiments in generating electronic sound without the use of oscillators, tone generators, or recorded natural sound materials. Composed in 1972, it was designed for simultaneous performance with John Cage's vocalization of his Mesostics Re Merce Cunningham. The work was revived in 1982, and performed with improvised vocals by Takehisa Kosugi. Phonemes was commissioned by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for Cunningham's dance Channels/Inserts (1981), a work made both as a "filmdance" and for the stage. Phonemes employs two discrete processes which provide input source material for an array of sound modifying electronics, thus creating a multitude of outputs. David Tudor, electronics, with Takehisa Kosugi, electronic violin and vocals; produced and recorded by David Tudor, Nicolas Collins, and John D.S. Adams.
CD $14


DAVID AXELROD - Earth Rot (Now-Again NA 5167; USA) "Includes never before issued instrumentals! Comes with a 32-page booklet! New audiophile transfer directly from Axelrod's original EQ'ed master tapes. Earth Rot is visionary composer/arranger/producer David Axelrod's third album, and the last of his Capitol trilogy. Recorded as a concept album about the decrepit state of the environment in 1970 Los Angeles, and scheduled for release on the first Earth Day, it features choral vocals and marks a departure for Axelrod's signature sound, which would take on a jazzier feel in the 1970s. This definitive version of Earth Rot, overseen by Now-Again's Eothen Alapatt in conjunction with Axelrod's Estate, fulfills a request Axelrod made while alive -- to see the instrumentals of this album, never before released, issued. They see release here as the second half of a deluxe CD reissue. This is an audiophile reissue, with the vocal version transferred directly from Axelrod's original master tapes at Capitol Records by Ron McMaster. The master was approved by Axelrod's son Michael, who adapted ancient lyrics for the album in one of three collaborative projects he did with his father. Contains a 32 page booklet that delves into Axelrod's incredible life and music, replete with never before published photos and an interview."
CD $17


MERZBOW OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA - Merzopo (Sub Rosa 472; Belgium) Merzopo is a collaborative two CD album of Japanese noise legend Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) and the Czech seven member ensemble Opening Performance Orchestra, based in Prague. The first CD contains four compositions by Merzbow. "Futaomote" means 'double face' and it was originally titled 'Janus'. "Yasugibushi" is a Japanese old folk song which was sampled. The second CD contains two live tracks from Opening Performance Orchestra which were played live in Tokyo and Prague in 2017 and studio edited at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. No melody, no rhythm, no harmony; this is fraction music. Opening Performance Orchestra is a seven-member ensemble encompassing a wide genre span, from the 20th-century electronic thrusts of the musical avant-garde as far as contemporary Japanese noise music. Its own creations are based on fraction music, with the initial sound being digitally destroyed, fractured, and uncompromisingly rid of all its original attributes within the spirit of the credo "no melodies, no rhythms, no harmonies."
2 CD Set $18


NURSE WITH WOUND - NWW Play 'Changez Les Blockeurs’(Dirter Promotions Dprom 138; UK) “In 1982 The New Blockaders self-released their debut LP Changez Les Blockeurs, an edition of only 100. Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) was the very first person to purchase/hear the album and subsequently distributed copies via United Dairies. The LP has since attained a somewhat mythical/legendary status and 2017 was the 35th anniversary of its original release. In celebration of this, The New Blockaders invited Stapleton to rework the original, which is now available in all its glory as NWW Play 'Changez Les Blockeurs'. Includes a bonus track not on the LP and new artwork by Babs Santini.”
CD $16


Historic, Archival and Restocked Items:

THE HIGHWAYMEN With JOHNNY CASH / WAYLON JENNINGS / WILLIE NELSON / KRIS KRISTOFFERSON - Live Battle Creek, Michigan '93 (Hotspur 1035; UK) The Highwaymen live at the Kellogg Center, Battle Creek, MI on April 15th, 1993. With a powerhouse lineup of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson, the Highwaymen were country music's ultimate supergroup. Broadcast on local station WBCK-FM, this two-disc set presents two hours of music from their April 15, 1993 concert at the Kellogg Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. Besides a few songs from their first album, the quartet also performed many of the hits from their solo careers, including such country classics as "I Walk the Line", "Me and Bobby McGee", "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", and "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way". The entire WBCK-FM broadcast is presented here, digitally remastered, with background liners.
2 CD Set $24


ILL WIND - Flashes... Expanded (Sunbeam SBDP 1015; UK) Sunbeam Records presents an expanded reissue of Ill Wind's Flashes, originally released in 1968. From Boston, but light years away from the excesses of the notorious "Bosstown sound", Ill Wind are revered as one of America's best late '60s underground bands. Mixing taut acid rock with gorgeous ballads, and featuring outstanding guitar interplay and the beautiful vocals of Connie Devanney, Flashes is rightly regarded as one of the key artifacts of US psychedelia. Originally issued in the summer of 1968, and much bootlegged since, Sunbeam is delighted to announce this music's first proper reissue, prepared with the band's full participation. The original album is accompanied by a second disc containing a plethora of superb contemporary bonus material, as well as a booklet featuring rare photographs and historical notes by the band's founder and lead guitarist Ken Frankel, making the package truly essential for psych fans.
2 CD Set $22


JADE - Fly On Strangewings (Sunbeam Records SBDP 1016; UK) “Sunbeam Records presents a reissue of Jade's Fly On Strangewings, originally issued in 1970. Sunbeam announces the fullest edition of this folk-rock classic ever assembled. Boasting the talents of Rod Edwards (Picadilly Line, Edwards Hand), John Wetton (Family), Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship), Terry Cox (Pentangle), and others, Fly On Strangewings first appeared in July 1970, and is presented here complete with previously unavailable bonus tracks and a full booklet including copious notes and rare photos. Put together with the full involvement of leader and songwriter Marian Segal, it's simply essential for all fans of acid folk and folk-rock. Includes an entire disc of bonus material and a full-color 12 page booklet.”
2 CD Set $22


AKIKO YANO With RYUICHI SAKAMOTO / HARUOMI HOSONO - Tadaima. (WeWantSounds 016; UK) Wewantsounds present a reissue of Akiko Yano's Tadaima., originally released in 1981. The first release Wewantsounds' ambitious program to release Akiko Yano's albums outside of Japan Tadaima. ("I'm home" in Japanese) is Yano's fifth studio album and a synth-pop masterpiece, co-produced by her then husband Ryuichi Sakamoto and featuring all the musicians from Yellow Magic Orchestra (Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Sakamoto), the group she was touring with at the time. Japan's best kept secret, Akiko Yano is one of the most ground-breaking artists to come out of the '70s Japanese music scene along with Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto. A piano child prodigy, Yano started her solo recording career in 1976 at just 21, recording her debut album Japanese Girl with no less than Little Feat as the backing band. This album created a stir on the Japanese scene and Yano was on the map. She went on to record a series of superb albums mixing funk, electro, and city pop featuring the cream of Japanese (and sometimes American and English) musicians; The fact she was producing, writing and composing herself made her a true maverick in a very male-dominated industry. These albums, incredibly, have never been released outside of Japan to this day. Tadaima. is Yano's first attempt to leave the acoustic piano aside and delve into the synth sounds of the early '80s. The result is a fascinating electro pop masterpiece showcasing her talent as a writer, musician, and singer, creating her own unique universe. Mixing Japanese and English lyrics, Yano crafts perfect pop songs such as "Tadaima.", "I Sing", "Harusaki Kobeni" (which became one of her most famous songs after its use in a Japanese cosmetics ad), while "Taiyo No Onara" is a suite composed of nine short stories written by children. Contributors on Tadaima. also include Shigesato Itoi, one of Japan's most famous copywriters (for Studio Ghibli among others) who wrote two tracks on the album and his friend legendary illustrator Teruhiko Yumura -- aka King Terry -- who revolutionized underground manga in the '70s with his "heta-uma" (bad-good) style, as showcased on the album's striking artwork. Tadaima. is the perfect entry point to Akiko Yano's unique body or work. This reissue includes original artwork by cult illustrator King Terry and a new introduction by renowned DJ Joakim.
CD $18


A NEW LIFE, VOL. 2 - Independent and Regional Jazz in Great Britain 1968 - 1988 (Jazzman Records Jman 101; UK) Jazzman Records deliver A New Life, Vol. II: Independent and Regional Jazz in Great Britain 1968-1988, continuing their series of under-heard jazz from the UK. It's been three years since Jazzman's A New Life (JMAN 075CD/LP, 2015) alerted jazz heads to the existence of an unknown world of British jazz private pressings and indie obscurities. Back for a second round, compilers Francis Gooding and Duncan Brooker have dug deep into the archives to assemble another ground-breaking collection of Brit jazz anomalies and outliers from the 1970s and 1980s. A New Life, Vol. II picks up the story where A New Life left off, searching out overlooked jazz gems from across the length and breadth of the British Isles. When the major labels and the record industry left jazz out in the cold, musicians and jazz enthusiasts took the initiative. Indie labels made space for established artists and experimental outsiders alike, while local groups and youth bands turned to private pressings to document their music and build their own scenes. From London blues renegade Billy Jenkins's spiritual tribute to Pharoah Sanders and the swinging vocal artistry of Belfast-born Gerry McClelland, to the thunderous big band sound of Leicester's Music Explosion and the modal drama of the Don Rendell Five, A New Life, Vol. II reveals another fascinating layer of forgotten Brit jazz history. Fully researched and presented with in depth liner notes, Jazzman Records again brings you the unheard, unorthodox and under-rated sound of the British jazz underground! Also features: Frank Evans, Hotpoints, Inner Ear, RedBrass, Big Sun, Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, Robert Shaw & the Dick Hawdon Quintet, Big Baffle, and Pat Crumly Sextet. CD with liners and photos.
CD $15


LES NEGRESSES VERTES - C’est Pas La Mer A Boire (1987-1993) (Deluxe Edition)(Because Music 5543812; France) Les Negresses Vertes' retrospective C'est Pas La Mer A Boire (1987-1993) features the tracks "Voilà l'Eté", "Zobi La Mouche", "Sous Le Soleil De Bodega", "Face À La Mer, and more. Taking a punk-like approach to a mixture of Latin, rai, and folk music, Les Negresses Vertes create an infectious dance music. Initially comprised of family members, friends and lovers, Les Negresses Vertes have come a long way since their earliest performances. Although most members of the band didn't play an instrument until coming together in late 1987, the group evolved into a very exciting ensemble. Les Negresses Vertes' climb to world-wide success has not come easy. On January 22, 1993, the group's lyricist, Noel Rota, best known as "Helno" and "Helno Rota De Lourcqua," died while attempting to overcome a serious drug addiction. Rota's twin brother, Ritter/Thierry, continues to perform with Haine Et Ses Amours. Since Rota's death, guitarist/vocalist Stefane Mellino and accordionist/vocalist Matthias Canavese, also known as Canavese and Matias, have assumed his role in the front line of Les Negresses Vertes. A native of Algeria, Mellino has lived in Paris since the early 1980s. During the six years before the band was formed, he spent his summers working in his parent s' fishing net business and played with bands in Paris the rest of the year. The youngest member of Les Negresses Vertes, Canavese inherited much of his talent from his father, a laborer who became an entertainment promoter at the age of forty and now directs a circus school. Although he trained as an acrobat, he was forced to seek other avenues of expression following an accident. Other members of Les Negresses Vertes include guitarist, bassist and vocalist Jean-Marie Paulus, trumpet/trombone player and vocalist Abraham Sirinix, and pianist, guitarist and vocalist Jo Roz. Deluxe three CD DVD edition includes 120-page book on the band's history with pictures, commentary texts, notes and sketches from the band's archives, a bonus disc with exclusive B-sides, demos and live versions, and a DVD with two previously unseen concerts, and their music videos from 1987 to 1993.
3 CD/DVD/Book Set $50


THE SCORPIONS & SAIF ABU BAKR - Jazz, Jazz, Jazz (Habibi Funk HAB 009; Germany) "Incredibly unique modernized adaptations of traditional rhythms of the diverse regions of Sudan, recorded in Kuwait 1980. The 'holy grail' album from Sudan. 'I heard about Seif Abu Bakr and The Scorpions maybe 3-4 years ago. Their album Jazz, Jazz Jazz ended up on my radar because of an eBay auction with the bids eventually rising daily up to a staggering 1000$. The music is a unique combination of incredible horn arrangements powerfully performed, a vigorous drummer contributing a funky backbone and Seif's vocals uniting those elements. The results range from instrumental tracks awaking memories of 1970s crime thriller soundtracks to more Sudanese-rooted tracks, a lot of them modernized versions traditional rhythms of the diverse regions of Sudan and even an excursion into Congolese Soukouss. The jazz scene started to perish after president Nimeiry's turn away from his socialist policies, that he was widely associated with in the first decade of his rule, towards the implementation of Sharia law in 1983. During the first decade of his rule he had actively supported various artists of the Jazz scene, taking some of them on trips throughout Africa. The 1989 coup of Bashir and his generals then caused the final blow to a once thriving scene. Both of these political events within 6 years lead to significant drawbacks for the Sudanese jazz scene resulting into hardly no gig opportunities left and parties and concerts being critically observed. A number of musicians faced prosecution, most of the time for their political views; some left Sudan for good. Music never completely vanished from public life and even the regime kept selected artists close, but for a majority of those bands affiliated to the jazz scene life and making ends became a lot harder. The Scorpions dissolved as a group around the same time. The re-release was produced with a clean copy of the vinyl version as a source. The original reel tape of the album stayed with Saif Abu Bakr along with another reel with other recordings that were never released. Unfortunately it was lost when Saif Abu Bakr had to flee to Kuwait temporarily during the second gulf war when Iraq raided Kuwait. Both the CD and vinyl version come with extensive booklets with photos, interviews, liner notes. The vinyl version also has a DLL code. (Jannis Stuerz / Habibi Funk Records, 2018)."
CD $17


ITIBERE ORQUESTRA FAMILIA - Pedra do Espia (Far Out Recordings 206; UK) Far Out Recordings presents a reissue of Itibere Orquestra Familia's Pedra do Espia, originally released in 2001. Itiberê Zwarg is an award-winning Brazilian bassist and the longest-serving member of Hermeto Pascoal's ground-breaking ensemble O Grupo. Since their first meeting in 1977, the two have been closely collaborating to create a unique musical language: a genre-defying polyharmonic, polyrhythmic music, now widely studied by musicians and musicologists alike, known as "Universal Music". Back in 2001, Itiberê led a workshop at Villa Lobos School of Music, with twenty-nine of Rio de Janeiro's most exceptionally talented young musicians. Employing the principles of Universal Music alongside his long-held belief in the powers of listening and intuition, Itiberê composed and arranged in real time, transcribing the improvisations of the prodigious orchestra while allowing the players total freedom to experiment. The result was Pedra do Espia, an Amazonian orchestral masterpiece which is as difficult to categorize as it is fun to listen to. Named after the beachside viewing point which translates as 'Spy's Rock', where Itiberê would sit as a child, daydreaming and gazing out over the Brazilian coast, the record harnesses the pure creativity of youth and nature, creating a magical sense of innocence amongst the striking compositions and astonishing musicianship. On the original liner notes from the 2001 CD release, Itiberê guarantees the record to be "surprising in its uniqueness, it's harmonic richness, it's exuberant melodies and rhythmic variations like nothing heard before." Presented here as a 16-track double CD, Far Out Recordings are honored to present this overlooked masterpiece from one of the greatest minds in Brazilian instrumental music.
2 CD Set $16


Limited Seasonal Sale CD’s:

STATE OF THE UNION 2.001 [V.A. curated by ELLIOTT SHARP] - State Of The Union 2.001 [3 CD set](EMF 28/128; USA) This set does NOT include any materials from the previous '80s-'90s State Of The Union compilations - It's all BRAND NEW material from 2001! This amazing 3-CD set of contemporary sound and text-based music may be just what you need to live a full life. Elliott Sharp set aside his sax and guitar to collect one-minute music and sound works by 171 leading lights of the international avant-garde, both famous and unknown, that represent a vast array of approaches, attitudes, aesthetics, ethnicities, musical styles, and social persuasions. He describes the collection as "concrete, abstract, enraged, objective, caustic, soulful, sardonic, provocative -- all unfiltered, all clear." It's more than that. It's totally enjoyable. Unmissable. A bandwagon you should get on without missing a beat. Play State of the Union 2.001 on Random Shuffle!
The composers on CD 1 include: Alfred Harth, Alan Licht, Alvin Curran, Annie Gosfield, Benjamin Chadabe, Blaise Siwula, Bob Holman, Carl Stone, Charles K. Noyes, Chop Shop, Chris Haskett, Christian Marclay, Chris Mann, Chris Rael, Dafna Naphtali, Dave Soldier and Richard Lair, David First, David Fulton, David Gans, David Greenberger, David Taylor, Deaf Mute, Doug Henderson, Donald Knaack, Don Ritter, Dorgon, Duck Baker, Emily XYZ, Virgil Moorefield, Eric Mingus, Eszter Balint, Foetus.
The composers on CD 2 include: Fred Frith, Freight Elevator Quartet, GenKen Montgomery, Gert Jan Prins, Hans Tammen, Harriet Tubman, Harry Smith, Henry Kaiser, Ikue Mori, Jad Fair, Jean-Marc Montera, Joel Chadabe, Joey Baron, John Duncan, John Hudak, Johnny Reinhard, Jonathan Bepler, Jon Rose, Jorge Mancini and Andrea Fasani, Judy Nylon and Brian Foster, Kasper Toeplitz, Katie O'Looney, Kato Hideki, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Keisuke Oki, Koji Asano, Lauren Weinger, Leon Gruenbaum, Ligeti/Ritchford, Lloop, Lo Galluccio, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Luciano Margorani, Marc C, Marc Ribot, Marianne Nowottny, Marie Goyette, Mark Dagley, Mark Howell and Tom Hamilton, Mark Trayle, Martha Mooke, Matthew Shipp, Merry Fortune w/FAT, Merzbow, Michael J. Schumacher, Mike Cooper and Max Nagl.
The composers on CD 3 include: Misha Feigin, Ned Rothenberg, Nicolas Collins, Norman Yamada, Ori Kaplan and Geoff Mann, PAK, Particle Data Group, Pete Missing, Phill Niblock, Phillip Johnston Transparent Quartet, Queen Esther, Roberto Zorzi , Roger Kleier, Hard Time', Satoko Fujii, Saturnalia, Stephen Vitiello, Steve Dalachinsky, Steve Goldberger, Steve Piccolo, Tape Beatles, Ted Reichman, Telectu (Jorge Lima Barreto and Vitor Rua), Thomas Dimuzio, Toni Dove (with Paul Geluso), Tracie Morris, Ut Gret , Viv Corringham and Gareth Williams, Vivian Sisters, Voice Crack, White Out, Zeena Parkins, Z'ev, Zbigniew Karkowski, Zoot Horn Rollo.
3 CD Set $15 [Last copies donated by a mysterious unnamed lady)


ARCHIE SHEPP & THE FULL MOON ENSEMBLE with CLAUDE DELCLOO / BEB GUERIN] ALAN SHORTER / CLIFFORD THORNTON - Live at Antibes (Actuel 39; Sunspots; Italy) "Superb live recordings (dated July 18 and July 20, 1970) captured in France at the Antibes-Juan Le Pen Jazz Festival. Archie Shepp and the Full Moon Ensemble (including Allen Shorter, Clifford Thornton, Joseph DeJean, Beb Guerin and Claude Delcloo) playing four long and really intense tracks."
CD $12


JOHN COLTRANE With PHAROAH SANDERS / ALICE COLTRANE / JIMMY GARRISON / RASHIED ALI - Live in Japan (Impulse! 15955; USA) “Live broadcast from Shinjuku Koseinenkin Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan, July 22, 1966. These tracks were originally released only in Japan under the name 'Coltrane In Japan’. Most of the music had not been released in the United States until 1991. Coltrane (heard on tenor, soprano, and alto) engages in some ferocious interplay with Pharoah Sanders (on tenor, alto, and bass clarinet), pianist Alice Coltrane, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Rashied Ali; Listeners who enjoy avant-garde jazz will find many stirring moments among the very lengthy performances. Bliss!” - Scott Yanow
CD $14


JOHN COLTRANE With PHAROAH SANDERS / McCOY TYNER / DONALD RAFAEL GARRETT / JIMMY GARRISON / ELVIN JONES - Live in Seattle (Impulse! 15951; USA) "Coltrane experts know that 1965 was the year that his music became quite atonal and, with the addition of Sanders, often very violent. This music, therefore, is not for fans of Coltrane's earlier sheets of sound period or for those who prefer jazz as melodic background music... This is innovative and difficult music that makes today's young lions sound very old-fashioned in comparison". - Scott Yanow
CD $14


EUGENE CHADBOURNE & VERTREK ENSEMBLE - Dinsum Dogers (Volatile 003; Canada) Featuring Eugene Chadbourne on guitar, Vadim Budman on guitar & reeds and Ron De Jong on drums & percussion. “The Vertrek ensemble have a great sense of humor, and an inclination towards fast sputtering movements - sounding at times like an askew gamelan, and at others sounding as splattered and unhinged as 2 drunken infants doing the washing up.” - Dean Roberts. Doc Chadbourne lived in Canada in the seventies and has worked with a handful of spirited musicians from up north through the years. We just found a handful of these discs in yet another buried (treasure) box in the back of DMG. They won’t last long. - BLG
CD $17 [last copies found buried in the back of the store!]


LP Section:

JOE McPHEE - One Day… A Lightning Storm (Sound American SA 006; USA) Originally recorded as an interview with Corbett vs. Dempsey's John Corbett over two days at Chicago's Experimental Sound Studio, this limited interview P is a profound documentation of one artist's path through discovering their voice while negotiating one of the most profoundly disturbing periods in American history; includes a 20 page booklet.
Joe McPhee has long been one of my favorite musicians. He seems to fit in just about every situation he finds himself with, no matter who he is collaborating with. He is a genuinely positive free spirit and wonderful human being, whose playing exudes that same positive force. This 10” LP features a fascinating interview with Mr. McPhee on record as well as the rest of the long interview found in the 20 page large booklet found inside the LP. A definitive thumbs up to all of us who treasure the music messengers who consistently inspire us on several levels. - BLG at DMG
10”  $17  [LTD Edition]


EVAN PARKER - The Snake Decides (Otoroku 003; UK) Otoroku presents a reissue of Evan Parker's The Snake Decides, originally released in 1986. One of the final Incus releases and one that was written up in The Penguin Guide to Jazz as an essential document of modern music, Otoroku releases it as a first ever vinyl re-issue. Featuring four solos recorded in 1986 in St. Paul's Church, Oxford by the late Michael Gerzon, The Snake Decides is a groundbreaking example how far the language of a particular instrument can be taken. From Brian Morton's new liner notes: "The Snake Decides attracts a certain array of adjectives: intense, radical, fearsome, hypnotic, virtuosic, and occasionally allows a more ambitious reviewer to avoid platitude by talking more specifically about 32nd harmonics, circular breathing, multiphonics and Gerson's exact choice and placement of microphones. But this misses a point, too. Listening to this record, either for the first or the fortieth time, is an arousing experience." Remastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and housed in a reverse board sleeve, this is the ultimate document of one of the most important recordings in all Parker's extensive and exploratory catalog. Edition of 500.
LP $30


MICHAEL SNOW - The Last LP: Unique Last Recordings of the Music of Ancient Cultures (Song Cycle Records CY 991; UK) Song Cycle Records present a reissue of Michael Snow's The Last LP: Unique Last Recordings of the Music of Ancient Cultures, originally issued in 1987. The album is an extraordinary collection of tracks "of rare music derived from threatened, obsolete, or now-extinct cultures from around the world" that although the claiming of being field recordings of ancient musical experiences, are in fact pieces played, conceived and recorded by the artist himself. As it was for Musics For Piano, Whistling, Microphone And Tape Recorder (CY 999LP, 2016), with this issue the Canadian artist further developed his conceptual investigation around the object-LP where the single elements (the record, the music, the text and the jacket) are so indissolubly intertwined to create what the artist calls a "sonics-sculpture-text". Partly motivated by the announced obsolescence of the vinyl format, The Last LP is also a critical reflection on the impact of new technologies on the relationship between played and recorded music. Presented with remastered sound from the original tapes and a faithful reproduction of the original artwork. Gatefold sleeve, 180 gram virgin vinyl. Edition of 500.
LP $35


STEVE BACZKOWSKI / CHRIS CORSANO / BILL NACE - Mystic Beings (Open Mouth OM 057; USA) "'My first listen to these four extraordinary pieces by Chris Corsano, Bill Nace, and Steve Baczkowski was over a very rough ferry crossing from Cairnryan to Belfast. It's hard not to think of the ghosts of impossible crossings, victories, loses, harbors in such rough waters. Why would anyone venture out here? Finding something new or an overdue visit? Ending all of the wars? For me, for my first listen to Mystic Beings instantly cured all motion sickness. It was probably just the very welcome adrenalin shots from their performance, but all the crashing and pitching over the waves became a joy. I was braver from listening in. Sometimes they hovered like a three-headed beacon -- a soaring vision to follow out on the horizon. Sometimes they seemed pulled into action and attack. Detonations and radio calls. Sometimes the spines of their own instruments cried out on the power of their own cores, their bodies having been left elsewhere. They drifted apart like a search party, skies clouded over, a spreading landscape streaked with transparent layers over layers. Or they joined together in quiet and unsparing ceremony, the kind usually reserved passing back through the place by which you've entered. All the while there was no scratching or banging at hard enclosed corners. These three players created a world of open space and flexible membrane, where any violence would only come from an outside imposition. Each of the songs read like movements in a larger work. As an eavesdropper, I added my own abstract, personal story over the whole album. I could repopulate new stories over and over again over this framework. The arc is that strong, and the conversation is that good. And even if just overheard, Mystic Beings generously called me out to where I needed to be. The shallows and the shores are where the worst dangers can find us, and our best chance of survival is sometimes out in the rolling depths. Deafen out the sirens and stay onward in the deep waters. Thank you, Bill and Chris and Steve, for sharing this kind of wild captain's safety with us.' -- Meg Baird, Cairnryan and San Francisco, Nov 2018"
LP $24


CAMIZOLE / LARD FREE - Camizole Lard Free (Souffle Continu Records 030; France) Souffle Continu presents Camizole Lard Free, unreleased 1978 recordings from both groups performing as a collaborative. The ranks of Camizole included some of the most essential personalities of the French underground, notably Dominique Grimaud (Vidéo-Aventures), Chris Chanet (Etron Fou Leloublan), and Bernard Filipetti (Art & Technique). Their idea of music, if we look further than the pair Dominique Grimaud and Bernard Filipetti, and a style of music influenced by Klaus Schulze, is inspired by the liberty of free jazz. This is nonetheless modified by a cathartic approach close to the esthetic preoccupations of Julian Beck and Judith Malina's Living Theatre. The result is a musical happening, where the important thing is to improvise in the urgency of the moment in front of a not-always receptive public. Before exploring constructed repetitive forms which would be perfected by Urban Sax, Lard Free were more in the domain of noise improvisation, or even a kind of jazz rock similar to that of Soft Machine, as can be heard on a late retrospective album, from which the track "À chacun son Boulez" emerged. There was logically great complicity between Camizole and Lard Free, which would lead to the two groups finally merging. This was the case for four concerts in May before the two groups disbanded in order to finally get to grips with the free rock in the style of Faust that they liked so much. As an ode to anarchy, a record now bears witness to those communal experiences. Edition of 500 with obi strip.
LP $21


BENOIT WIDEMANN - Tsunami (Sommor Records 043; Spain) Sommor Records presents a reissue of Benoit Widemann's second album, Tsunami, originally released in 1979. French keyboard wizard Widemann's (ex-Magma) Tsunami is an incredible mix of electronics and jazz-fusion with prog/avant-garde/minimal elements, along with treated Minimoog, Oberheim synths, Rhodes, early computer sequencing plus bass, drums, guitar, sax. Featuring Jean-Pierre Fouquey (ex-Magma), Jean-Pierre Grasset (Verto), and Jean-Paul Ceccarelli among others. Widemann on the music: "Digital computer-based sound in 1979! We were the avant-garde!" Remastered sound, insert with liner notes/interview by Halfway Ritmo and photos.
LP $26


NU CREATIVE METHODS - Nu Jungle Dances (Souffle Continu Records 042; France) Souffle Continu presents a reissue of Nu Creative Methods' Nu Jungle Dances, originally released in 1978. When the second Nu Creative Methods album was released, New And Rediscovered Musical Instruments (1975) by Max Eastley and David Toop had already been available for almost three years. Without being able to say that there was a direct, real-time influence, the direction taken by the British and French duos was however the same, combining research and tradition in a quest for a new imaginary folklore. The name chosen by the pair was anything but innocent, linking them to both the track "Nu Creative Love" by Don Cherry (from Symphony For Improvisers(1966)) and the book My Creative Method (1949) by Francis Ponge. Because the first outlines the route of a free jazz the boundaries of which have constantly been demolished and through which Pierre Bastien and Bernard Pruvost traced their own path, while the second, an anarchist creating a bomb with the irrational as gunpowder, is close to providing an intellectual method. Close, because even this is undermined by other essential routes taken by Nu Creative Methods. The Oulipo, for example, encouraged all sorts of creativity; or perhaps pataphysics, according to which a banal saucepan is equivalent to the Mona Lisa! To get closer to the source of their imagination, the following names would have to be added to the list, Locus Solus (1914) by Raymond Roussel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Harry Partch, New Phonic Art and Zwei Mann Orchester (1971-3) by Maurizio Kagel. That shows, in broad strokes, the creative wheels in motion behind Nu Creative Methods and Nu Jungle Dances offers a taste of the pathways offered by chance, following improvisations using instruments from the five continents. By proceeding thus, that is to say entering an esthetic zone where popular and esoteric music come together at last, an infinite palette of sounds opens up, offering fantastic perspectives. Between free jazz and ancestral music, Nu Jungle Dances makes it happen without pretense but with a rare and luminous extravagance, but also with the willingness to take on board unexpected surprises, and with a natural charm combating for the craft of sound creation. First ever vinyl reissue of this French underground treasure. Edition of 500 with four page booklet and obi strip.
LP $24


THING - Thing (Culture of Soul Records 023; USA) "In 2016, Cultures of Soul Records released Boston Creative Jazz Scene 1970-1983, a groundbreaking compilation spotlighting the often-overlooked progressive jazz environment that thrived in Beantown through the seventies into the eighties. Now, following up on this groundbreaking work, Cultures of Soul is proud to present a crisp reissue of the eponymous (and sole) album by the Boston jazz-fusion outfit Thing. Formed by confederates who met at the Berklee School of Music and led by the creatively restless saxophonist and jazz educator Arni Cheatham, Thing were a regular fixture in Boston clubs in the seventies, as comfortable plying the rock and funk idioms as they were in jazz. Their 1972 album documents two of their live sets, showcasing their simmering, funky and spiritual freeform jazz, very much in the vein of early seventies jazz-rock experiments by Miles Davis, Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The two suites featured on the album are fully improvised, featuring the musicians spontaneously generating and developing musical motifs in real time, bouncing ideas off each other in a communion that is equally suitable for meditating...or dancing like tomorrow will never arrive. Thing is a worthy glimpse into the experimentation and adventurousness that made the seemingly uptight city of Boston a magnet for musical mavericks."
LP $24


YORUBA SINGERS - Fighting For Survival (COS 025; USA) "Having remained continuously active since 1971, the Yoruba Singers are the longest-running musical group in Guyana. Emerging from a music scene mostly dominated by slick, commercial entertainment, the Yoruba Singers brought a new dimension to Guyana popular music, cooking up a potent stew of afrocentric vibes, steeped in a committed invocation of the country's African heritage. The Yoruba Singers released several recordings during their imperial period in the nineteen seventies and eighties, but what is broadly regarded as the group's magnum opus is the 1981 album Fighting For Survival. The album sums up the group's first decade of operation, serving up a heavy mix of calypso, jazzy funk, reggae and afrobeat. Initially released on the short-lived Interculture label and later reissued on a Guyana-only compact disk, the album has long been more talked about than actually heard. But thanks to Cultures of Soul a new edition is now available in wide release, and with it comes the opportunity to experience some of the deepest grooves the Caribbean has to offer!"
LP $24


WENDY EISENBERG - Its Shape Is Your Touch (Vin Du Select Qualitite VDSQ 023; USA) "Wendy Eisenberg is an extraordinary guitarist dedicated to the completely unconstrained exploration of music, language and time. Her work has taken her from conservatory to DIY space to concert hall, from performing improvised music and punk-metal to writing the quietest of songs. On Its Shape is Your Touch, Eisenberg turns her gaze to the guitar in its most absolute, essential form. Having traversed musical genres as she has, the intricate improvisations she weaves on this record have as much to do with the vast history and musical conventions that she chooses to leave out as the sounds she chooses to play. In the process Eisenberg invents a vibrant, fiercely unique language all her own. The artist in her own words: The title Its Shape is Your Touch, from the final line the Richard Brautigan poem 'Here is something beautiful,' is one-half of the thesis of this record. The other, the absent antithesis, comes from the William Gaddis novel The Recognitions: 'you can change a line without touching it.' The shape of the guitar is the context for the sounds it makes; your touch activates this machine, alters, creates and transforms its possibilities. The shape is created and outlined by the touch, but it contains absence, undefined space. In my music, the lines change with and without physical touch: my touch creates the sound, but those sounds expand, contract, rotate, and dance as I re-establish and constantly evolve the contexts and boundaries of this world. This record has to do with absence, the spaces and movements implied by the lines of a sketch and the other worlds that choice of representation chooses to ignore. I want to let linearity be not a crutch but a device for intelligent travel through musical space. I like to think of these recordings as a gentle exorcism. Recorded in a year of significant, deep loss, it is hard for me not to hear this record as a kind of metamorphosis, a blood-letting, a culling and casting of musical and personal values. This music is reflection on loss and implication: a bluessless blues."
LP $19


CECIL TAYLOR / BUELL NEIDLINGER With ARCHIE SHEPP / STEVE LACY / CLARK TERRY / ROSWELL RUDD / BILLY HIGGINS - New York City R&B (Doxy 2106; Russia) Doxy presents a reissue of Cecil Taylor and Buell Neidlinger's New York City R&B originally issued in 1972, recorded in 1961. Two nights in January, 1961, high up on West 57th St. A fantastic line-up. Nat Hentoff, in the original liner notes: "I asked Buell Neidlinger about the title of the album: New York City R&B. 'That's what it is', he answered. 'We were all based in New York City then. The session, moreover, has two blues ('O.P.' and 'Things Ain't What They Used To Be') and one of the songs, 'Cindy's Main Mood', has an l-got-rhythm set up. 'Cell Walk'? Well, that's Cecil.' It would be difficult, as well as pointless, to label the music on this Neidlinger/Taylor album. It is of itself, and is so strongly original that it has not dated in the least. Taylor and Neidlinger, to be sure, have gone on and beyond; but what they did on those nights in January is going to last forever." Personnel: Cecil Taylor - piano; Buell Neidlinger - bass; Billy Higgins - drums and tympani; Archie Shepp - tenor saxophone; Denis Charles - drums; Clark Terry - trumpet; Roswell Rudd -trombone; Steve Lacy - soprano saxophone; Charles Davis - baritone saxophone. Numbered edition of 500.
LP $22


THE FALL - Totale's Turns (Superior Viaduct 146; USA) "Given The Fall's penchant for iconoclasm, it's no surprise that they decided to say goodbye to the '70s with a series of gigs at Northern England's gruffest halls. The band's formidable live show was met with even more derision and disorder than customary during these late '79 and early '80 performances, and they skillfully amplified such sentiments back at the crowd. Totale's Turns, The Fall's first live album, was released on Rough Trade just prior to their pivotal third album, 1980's Grotesque. 'The difference between you and us is that we have brains,' shouts Mark E. Smith to open Totale's Turns as the band breaks into the rollicking 'Fiery Jack,' their latest single at the time. Each player is at their jagged best: Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon's splintering guitars, Steve Hanley's thunderous bass and Smith's combative sneer reverberate over 'Rowche Rumble,' 'Choc-Stock,' and 'Spectre Vs. Rector' more than any studio would ever allow. Totale's Turns never panders to live-record conventions, serving instead as a gripping exhibit of The Fall en masse and arguably the most accurate document of the group to date. Superior Viaduct's edition is the first time that Totale's Turns has been available on vinyl domestically. Liner notes by Brian Turner."
LP $24


WILSON PICKETT - Feels Good! The Early Years Of The Wicked Pickett (Wax Love 82078; Italy) Wilson Pickett's Feels Good! The Early Years Of The Wicked Pickett features some of his earliest recordings out of Detroit with The Falcons, and very early solo material; this collection shows the legend of soul music when he was just getting started. Though these are early recordings, Pickett's voice is fully formed and some of these tracks are the equals of later hits like "In The Midnight Hour", and "Ninety-Nine and a Half". For any fan of American soul music, this collection is absolutely necessary.”
LP $17


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Bruce Lee Gallanter’s Recommended Gig List for November & December of 2018:

12/1 Saturday
8:30 pm - The Angelica Sanchez Big Band - Herbie Robertson, Nolan Tsang, Tom Killacky, Kenny Warren (trumpets) Mike McGuiness (tenor sax) Andrew Bishop (tenor sax) Gideon Forbes (alto sax) Caroline Davis (alto sax) Josh Sinton (bari sax) Ben Gerstein, Brian Drye, Matt De Leon, Jacob Garchik (trombones) Angelica Sanchez (piano) Omar Tamez (guitar) Ramon Lopez (drums) Steve LaSpina (bass)

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - THURSTON MOORE - DEC 4–8

12/4 Tuesday
8:30 pm - Thurston Moore (guitar) Bill Nace (guitar) & Samara Lubelski (violin)

12/5 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Thurston Moore (guitar) Luke Stewart (bass) Leila Bordreuil (cello)

12/6 Thursday
8:30 - Thurston Moore with White Out and Gene Moore - Thurston Moore (guitar) Lin Culbertson (electronics) Tom Surgal (drums) Gene Moore (guitar)

12/7 Friday
8:30 pm - Thurston Moore (guitar) Tom Surgal (percussion) & William Winant (percussion)

12/8 Saturday
8:30 pm - Thurston Moore (guitar), John Zorn (sax), William Winant (percussion) and Tom Surgal (percussion)

THE (NEW) STONE is located in The New School’s Glass Box Theatre 
55 West 13th street - near 6th ave
All Sets at The New Stone start at 8:30pm Tickets: $20
There are no refreshments or merchandise at The Stone.
Only music. All ages are welcome. Cash Only at the door.
A serious listening environment.
The Stone is booked purely on a curatorial basis


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

Friday Nov 30
6:00PM THREE POETS: FASANO, MONTILLA, CERPA: Fasano, Montilla, Cerpa image

Saturday Dec 01
8:35PM JOE MORRIS TRIO - Joe Morris - guitar; Dezron Douglas - bass; Gerald Cleaver,

Sunday Dec 02
6:00PM ENTERTAINING SCIENCE: POLYPHONIC MINDS: NEUROSCIENCE AND CUBIST JAZZ - Peter Pesic, author; Denman Maroney, piano; Ratzo Harris, bass; Bob Meyer, drums; Lisa Karrer, vocalist; 8:30PM DJANGO FEST: ANOUMAN - Peter Sparacino, saxophones; Koran Agan, guitar; Josh Kaye, guitar; Eduardo Belo, bass

Mon Dec 3rd:
8:30PM AMRAM & CO - David Amram, piano, french horn, flutes, composition & surprises; Kevin Twigg, drums, glockenspiel; Rene Hart, bass; Elliot Peper, bongos; Jose Pacheco, poet

Tues Dec 4th:
6:00PM NICK BRUST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION - Nick Brust, sax; Katya, vocals; Glenn Zaleski, piano; Josh Allen, bass; Colin Stranahan, drums

Thursday Dec 06
8:01PM DAN WEISS & MILES OKAZAKI - Dan Weiss, drums; Miles Okazaki, guitar

Friday Dec 07
8:35PM MICHAEL BLANCO QUARTET - John Ellis, tenor sax; Mike Moreno, guitar; Michael Blanco, bass; Clarence Penn, drums

Sunday Dec 09
6:00PM IMPETUS TRIO - Maria Tegzes, vocals; Geoffrey Burleson, piano, keyboards; Dave “Knife” Fabris, guitars

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I-Beam Presents:

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2018
MARA ROSENBLOOM PRESENTS FLYWAYS
8:00 PM 9:30 PM
Anais Maviel - Voice & Surdo Drum
Adam Lane - Bass
Mara Rosenbloom - Piano & Composition

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018 - 8:30 PM 11:00 PM
CHRIS COCHRANE'S COLLAPSIBLE SHOULDER
Chris Cochrane - Guitar
Kato Hideki - Bass
Kevin Bud Jones
Brian Chase - Drums

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2018 - 8:00 PM 10:00 PM
DERIC DICKENS PRESENTS
Set 1
Erica Dicker, violin
Eli Wallace, piano
Deric Dickens, drums
Set 2
Phillip Greenlief, tenor saxophone
Angelica Sanchez, piano
Michael Vatcher, drums

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2018 - 8:30 PM 10:30 PM
LENA BLOCH'S FEATHERY
Lena Bloch - Saxophone
Russ Lossing - Piano
Cameron Brown - Bass
Billy Mintz - Drums

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2018 - 8:00 PM 10:00 PM
KAZUKI YAMANAKA QUARTET
Kazuki Yamanaka (alto saxophone)
Russ Lossing (piano)
Cameron Brown (bass)
Gerald Cleaver (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.

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Sound It Out Series @ Greenwich House — Concerts, September-December 2018
COMING ATTRACTIONS — 7th Season!

Saturday Dec 1, 8pm — Devin Gray’s Dirigo Rataplan - Devin Gray, drums; Dave Ballou, trumpet; Ellery Eskelin, tenor sax; Michael Formanek, double-bass

Thursday Dec 6, 7:30pm — “The Afro-Cubism of Aruán Ortiz, from Avant-Jazz to Contemporary Chamber Music” - Aruán Ortiz, piano/composer

At the 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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Bill Laswell concerts

Dec. 14, 2018 (fri) @ Nublu, NYC
Peter Apfelbaum (keys, sax) Brandon Seabrook (gt)
Bill Laswell (b), Mark Guiliana (ds)

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The Bushwick Improvised Music Series
Continues on November 12th @ Bushwick Public House!

Monday December 3rd

7pm Marco Cappelli - guitar, 
Matteo Liberatore - guitar, 
Ethan Meyer - drums
8pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Adam Lane - bass
Kevin Shea - drums
9pm Guillermo Gregorio - clarinets
Leonor Falcon - viola
Juanma Trujillo - guitar
Nicholas Jozwiak - cello
9:45pm Adam Caine - guitar/electronics
, Robert Dick - flutes, 
Tiffany Weitien - drums

10:45pm Danny Kammins - tenor saxophone
David Leon - alto sax, 
Joe Hertenstein - drums
11:30pm  Xander Naylor - guitar/electronics
Michael Wilbur - tenor saxophone
Dave Treut - drums

Monday December 10th

7pm David Meier - drums
John McCowen - contrabass clarinet
Dave Scanlon - guitar
Frank Meadows - bass
8pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Adam Lane - bass
Kevin Shea - drums
9pm Nick Sanders - keyboard
Hery Paz - saxophones
, Raf Vertessen - drums

9:45pm Brad Faberman - guitar, 
Dave Sewelson - baritone saxophone

10:45pm Daniel Blake - saxes
, Josh Sinton - saxes, 
Phillip White - electronics
 Special Guest - guitar

11:30pm  Hans Tammen - Buchla
Dafna Naphtali - vocals/electronics
Joe Hertenstein - drums

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

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URGENT MUSIC UNIT
Free show at the Rotunda on the campus of
The University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia on Wednesday 12/5 at 8:00pm.

Bob Musso- Guitar
Elliott Levin - Sax, Flute, Poetry
Mark Hennen- Keyboards
Jackson Krall- Percussion

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The Jazz Gallery Presents:

Saturday, December 8th:
BORDERLANDS TRIO
Borderlands TrioStephan Crump – acoustic bass
Kris Davis – piano
Eric McPherson – drums
sets at 7.30pm 9.30pm

Tues Dec 11th:
Harish Raghavan – bass
Joel Ross – vibraphone
Immanuel Wilkins – saxophone
Micah Thomas – piano
sets at 7.30pm 9.30pm

Tues Dec 11th:
ERIC REVIS GROUP FEATURING JULIUS RODRIGUEZ
AT THE NATIONAL JAZZ MUSEUM IN HARLEM
THE JAZZ GALLERY MENTORING SERIES VOL.5, ED.3
Eric Revis – bass
Julius Rodriguez – piano
Andrew D’Angelo – saxophone
Nasheet Waits – drums

The Jazz Gallery is Located at:
1160 Broadway, 5th fl
between 27th 28th streets
New York, NY 10001 USA

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DECEMBER SHOWS for Eli Wallace - Keyboard Wiz & Composer:

Monday 12/3 Arete Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
7pm: Tania Chen, piano and objects 
8:30pm: Ali/Costa/Wallace
Eli Wallace, piano
Sean Ali, bass
Carlo Costa, percussion

Sunday 12/16 Outskirts Piano Series II, Brooklyn NY (I’m curating this one)
7pm: Sam Yulsman, solo piano
8pm: Mara Rosenbloom, solo piano

Friday 12/21 Vamp, Oakland CA
8pm: Rob Pumpelly - Drums
Rent Romus - Saxophones
Eli Wallace - Piano
9pm: Ero Guro
Tom Weeks - Alto Saxophone and Compositions
Mike Srouji - Bass
Robbie Pruett - Drums
Patrick Talesfore, Jr. - Drums 

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THE LOST GENERATION: OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM:
 
During the first week of December the Podcast THE LOST GENERATION: OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM will be launched.  Hosted by exemplar free jazz drummer, composer, and poet William Hooker, each episode will be an in-depth interview with the various artists, producers, and supporters who have made significant contributions to the cultural landscape of the free jazz movement.
 
William Hooker, a musician at the forefront of this movement, will provide his listeners an opportunity to hear from a broad spectrum of participants who are the creators of this unique art form.
 
Each interview will engage a single individual in conversation with respect to how they came to this music, how they, along with their peers embraced free jazz, and dedicated their lives to creating outside the mainstream.  Principally focusing on the generation of musicians who came up in the 70s, the series will also pay homage to the progenitors of the free jazz movement, as well as explore the impact and challenges faced by today’s torch bearers.

The hope is that the listener will seek out this music that has made significant changes to the cultural landscape and will support its continual growth. Each podcast will be available through YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCOmK2As1pXpp0qCUV-JZCgg
And, through William Hooker’s website: https://www.williamhooker.com/
 
Each month will bring two new podcasts beginning in December with multi-instrumentalist / composer / poet, On Ka’a Davis and free jazz activist / poet, Steve Dalachinsky. Kicking off 2019 will be interviews with free jazz drummer, Marc Edwards and free jazz producer / dancer, Patricia Nicholson Parker.
  Airing in subsequent months will be William Hooker’s interviews with such luminaries as: Ted Daniel, Hilliard Greene, Giovanni Russonello, Kevin Ramsey, Dick Griffin, Warren Smith, Craig Harris, Richard Keene, Mark Hennen, Andrew Lamb, William Parker, Barry Altschul, Steve Swell, and many more.
  Included in each interview will be artist photographs by R.I. Sutherland- Cohen, as well as links to representative videos / musical passages of selected musicians. *Please do not share until the launch on Dec. 2 to be held at 61 Local, 61 Bergen St., Brooklyn.