DMG Newsletter for Friday, March 1st, 2019

“Universal Soldier” by Buffy Sainte-Marie

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of thirty-one and he's only seventeen
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jane
A Buddhist and a Baptist and Jew
And he knows he shouldn't kill and he knows he always will
You'll for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada, he's fighting for France
He's fighting for the usa
And he's fighting for the Russians and he's fighting for Japan
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for democracy he's fighting for the reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide who's to live and who's to die
And he never sees the writing on the wall

But without him how would Hitler have condemned him at Le Val
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body as the weapon of the war
And without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he really is to blame
But his orders come from far away no more
They come from him and you and me and brothers can't you see
This is not the way we put an end to war?

Written by Buffy Sainte-Marie and appearing on her debut album from 1964. Think about it, This song was written 55 years ago! Some things just don’t change. I have been thinking about “protest music” and how it affects us, unites us, inspires us and makes us think the world we are all living in. Questioning what we think we understand, our beliefs and the way we see the world. I have long believed in the power of music to motivate us.
I caught the band, the Ace of Cups, earlier this week at the Mercury Lounge. They are a bay area all-woman rock quartet who existed from 1967-1975, played with just about everyone, sang back-up vocals for Quicksilver & Jefferson Airplane, but sadly never recorded an album!?! They finally got back together in recent times, 50 years after their initial burst. These women are all in their seventies now and they rocked hard, blowing those of in attendance away. Do not miss them if they come to your town and check out their new 2 CD set. They rule!!! - There is hope for us old folks still! Put on your dancing shoes and get down! - BLG

This Week’s Groovy Gems Feature:

Sun of Goldfinger: David Torn / Tim Berne / Ches Smith! Matt Shipp Trio Nicole Mitchell! Two Barry Guy Duos: Peter Evans & Ramon Lopez! Trevor Watts’ Life & Music! Frank Carlberg / Joe Morris Quartet! Thomas Heberer/Terrence McManus Qt! Two from Jessica & Tony Jones!

Flying Luttenbachers Return: Brandon Seabrook & Matt Nelson! Michael Gregory Jackson! Leap of Faith! Miles Davis Septet 1973! Dizzy Gillespie/Hans Koller Units! Louis Hayes/Junior Cook Quintet! Pascal Dusapin! Alasdair Roberts! And Lots More Goodies..!

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

Sunday, March 3rd:
6pm: AVANT-GARDE WORKING CLASS: JOSEPH DALEY & JESSE DULMAN - Tuba Duet!
7pm: KAREN NG & HENRY FRASER - Sax & Clarinet / Bass!

Sunday, March 10th:
6pm: JESSICA / TONY JONES - Sax Duo - Two CD Releases Celebration
7pm: THOMAS HEBERER / JOE HERTENSTEIN - Trumpet and Drums

Sunday, March 17th:
6pm: SARAH BERNSTEIN VEER QUARTET: SANA NAGANO / LEONOR FALCON / NICK JOZWIAK
7pm: JARVIS EARNSHAW / DANIEL CARTER / ZACH SWANSON - Sitar & Loops / Woodwinds / Bass

Sunday, March 24th:
6pm: ALEX WARD / AMI YAMASAKI / JOSH SINTON - Clarinet / Voice / Bass Clarinet!
7pm: QUARTETT: MARTIN PHILADELPHY / DANIEL CARTER / JARVIS EARNSHAW!

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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Starting off with This Treasure!

* DAVID TORN / TIM BERNE / CHES SMITH CRAIG TABORN / MIKE BAGGETTA / RYAN FERREIRA / SCORCHIO QUARTET - Sun of Goldfinger (ECM 2613; Germany) Featuring David Torn on electric guitar, looping, electronics & compositions, Tim Berne on alto sax and Ches Smith on drums, tanbou & electronics plus Craig Taborn on piano & electronics, Mike Baggetta & Ryan Ferreira on guitars and Scorchio Quartet. This all-star Downtown trio is the culmination of several different projects, all related on varying levels. Besides being a well-regarded guitarist, Mr. Torn runs his own studio, doing engineering, production and sonic seasoning for a variety of local and visiting musicians. Mr. Torn’s last group release included Tim Berne & Craig Taborn (ECM in 2015). Torn has continued to work with Tim Berne in the studio, as well as be a guest on a Snakeoil CD. In demand drummer & percussionist, Ches Smith, is also a member of Mr. Berne’s band Snakeoil, which also includes guitarist Ryan Ferreira.
’Sun of Goldfinger’ consists of three long pieces (all 22 minutes), two of which are trio improvs and one which was written by Mr. Torn & accompanied by Mr. Taborn, guitarists Baggetta & Ferreira and a string quartet. “Eye Meddle” is the first trio track, it evolves in a similar way to much of what Mr. Berne has been doing with his quartet Snakeoil. Starting with a soft, hypnotic, repeating sample (guitar fragment?), slowly skeletal guitar, alto sax and percussion enter, all playing cyclic lines, around one another, building intensity and length (of each line). Mr. Berne is the master of the repeating phrase which slowly changes as it continues. Both the repeating sample and sax lines change as they evolve, the sax more quickly. Eventually Ches Smith kicks things into a great groove. From things go up a notch when Mr. Torn takes one of those amazing, Frippian guitar solos! “Spartan, Before It Hit” features several guests: Craig Taborn, guitarists Baggetta & Ferreira and the Scorchio String Quartet. Instead of just the trio, certain lines are doubled or tripled. Mr. Smith plays a tanbou, which is a Haitian barrel drum and has studied Haitian drumming. Mr. Smith’s ritualistic (Vodun?) drumming is at the center of this long, sprawling piece. The final trio piece, “Soften the Blow”, is bathed in atmospheric reverb, some strong interplay between the trio members. In the second half, Torn’s guitar erupts as he takes an especially dynamic (scary at times) solo, as does Mr. Berne. The drumming by Ches Smith is at the center of the storm, pushing the other trio members higher and higher throughout. This disc sounds to me like it might be one of the contenders one if the most mind-blowing efforts of the year, and yes, it is only the end of February (2019) as I write this! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16

* SUN OF GOLDFINGER on Tour Now:
March 12   San Francisco, CA (Freight and Salvage)
March 13   Los Angeles, CA (Zebulon)
March 14  Portland, OR (Holocene)
March 15   Seattle, WA (Earshot / Royal Room)
March 17   Denver, CO (Dazzle)
March 18   Minneapolis, MN (Icehouse)
March 19   Madison, WI (Arts and Literature Laboratory) 
March 20   Pittsburgh, PA (Spirit)
March 21 New York, NY (Nublu)


MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO Invites NICOLE MITCHELL - All Things Are (Rogue Art 0088; France) Featuring Matt Shipp on piano, Nicole Mitchell on flutes, Michael Bisio on double bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums. The current Matt Shipp Trio with longtime associate Michael Bisio and Newman Taylor Baker has been around for around five years, their third disc was released last month on ESP-Disk. This month (March of 2019), we have another offering from the same trio with a special guest added: flutist supreme Nicole Mitchell. Over the past decade plus, Ms. Mitchell has successfully soared as one of finest flutists we have as well as being a gifted composer, multi-bandleader and professor.
Mr. Shipp composed all of the pieces here so perhaps this is not just an all improvised session. This is also a studio recording and the sounds is superb. Starting with “Elements”, the trio plus flute plays majestically, casting a dream-like spell on all who are listening. The interplay between the flute and the trio is extraordinary. Ms. Mitchell shades her notes carefully, bending them so that the piano and flute come together as one moving sound, always connected on several levels. Ms. Mitchell is a virtuoso on the flute and gets a chance to stretch out at length on “It”, twisting her notes in a variety of distinctive ways while the contrabass and drums weave their web around her. Incredible! At one point it hard to tell the bowed bass apart from the note-bending flute sounds. There are sections of dark turbulence as well as sections of somber, reflective, dreaminess. Ms. Mitchell has a unique way of singing certain notes while she is playing which creates these mysterious chords. She does this at one point while Mr. Shipp plucks notes inside the piano, this creating this mesmerizing dreamworld. Consistently enchanting throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16


PETER EVANS / BARRY GUY - Syllogistic Moments (Maya Recordings MCD 1802; Switzerland) “From the first few seconds of the opening "Red Green" onwards, this live recording from trumpeter Peter Evans and bassist Barry Guy is a feat of death defying bravura. The two are among the most utterly distinctive practitioners on their instruments and they create a fast evolving kaleidoscope of preposterous sounds. Evans named his record label More Is More and that credo is amply reflected in the density of ideas which scroll past in swift succession. Both go way beyond their instruments' supposed capabilities, though such virtuosity is worn lightly, and indeed there is an almost playful feel to their high velocity exchanges.
Over a lengthy career, Guy has ranged from classical Early Music ensembles to composition at the interface of contemporary new music, jazz and improvisation for the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and the Barry Guy New Orchestra, but it is his prowess as an improviser which is on display here. For his part Evans has pitted himself against an ever-widening swathe of collaborators in both North America and Europe, while at the same time affectionately dismantling the jazz tradition with his own groups and formerly as part of Mostly Other People Do the Killing. As such, the beginning of "Red Black" where he moves from a spluttered amalgam of trumpet and voice to subterranean growls with simultaneous upper register squeals gives just the merest hint of his scope.
Striking blends of timbre prove commonplace, as when Evans' percussive plosives are matched by Guy's jittery col legno tapping on "Green White," and then later in the same cut when the bassist's bowed whistle interweaves with the trumpeter's falsetto whinnies. But such momentary convergences are just the starting point for further interplay as they spin off at rapidly diverging tangents. Contrasts abound too, as at the start of "White Red" where Evans cycles through explosive snorts, buzzing sustains and steam locomotive puffing in opposition to Guy's resonant slurs. There are reflective moments too amid the blur, exemplified by the collision of vocal overtones and harmonics which leads to one of the most consonant passages on the disc later in "Red Black."
While the titles and cover might contain echoes of Mark Rothko's monumental canvases, the realization is more evocative of the action paintings of Jackson Pollock. The two musicians share characteristics such as the constant switches between extremes, the use of extended techniques, the capacity for split second adjustments in trajectory and the depth of listening and speed of response. But the most important commonality is the sheer musicality with which they deploy the sounds. Astonishing! - John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz
CD $17

RAMON LOPEZ / BARRY GUY - Sidereus Nuncius - The Starry Messenger (Maya Recordings MCD 1801; Switzerland) Featuring Ramon Lopez on drums & percussion and Barry Gut on contrabass. Ramon Lopez is a Spanish-born drummer who has been living in France for a long while, both teaching and performing. Mr. Lopez is an extraordinary drummer who has worked with many greats: Paul Rogers, Harrison Bankhead, Jean-Luc Cappozzo and Joelle Leandre. Mr. Lopez has been working with contrabass master Barry Guy in several settings: a great trio with Agusti Fernandez and Mr. Guy’s Blue Shroud Band, whose recent 4 CD set on Not Two is something special. Mr. Lopez actually played here at DMG with Guillermo Gregorio & Omar Tamez just a few months ago (December of 2018). I recall Mr. Gregorio telling me that Ramon Lopez was his favorite drummer to work with and the in-store was fabulous. I’ve been lucky to have caught contrabass master Barry Guy play on numerous occasions: with Evan Parker, the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, the trio with Agusti Fernandez and a duo with Veryan Weston, all were outstanding!
I love the way this disc sounds, both instruments are closely mic’d, the balance is perfect, the sound warm, clean and most enchanting. The first few pieces are subtle, minimal plucked notes carefully crafted on the bass with equally minimal cymbals and rubbed drum heads. Mr. Guy stretches out on apiece called,”Interface“, strumming the strings, tapping on them and bending certain notes. On the next piece, “Extraterrestial”, it sounds as if Mr. Guy is playing a folk melody as he bows the strings in a most lush, majestic way. I kept waiting for some spoken words to tell an ancient story about the knights of the round table. Even with just bass and drums, these two masters evoke quite a bit of feelings, impressions, scenery and stories. You can that these two have worked a goo deal in the past since these consistently connect as one spirit/force, whether erupting intensely or crafting a nimble tapestry. There is some positive energy emanating throughout this disc, sections of ultra-subtle elegance, a refreshing folky quaintness at times that shines through in between the occasional eruptions. The sun is out today (2/28/19) for a change and a ray of sunshine is warming my kitchen. This music also radiates the same sort of warmth and spirit. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $17


TREVOR WATTS With JAMIE HARRIS / GEOFF SAPSFORD / ROGER CAREY / ROB LEAKE / AMY LEAKE - et al - Life & Music (Hi4Head Records 025; UK) Featuring Trevor Watts on alto sax & soprano saxes, wooden flute, piano, synth & mbira; Jamie Harris on percussion,Geoff Sapsford on guitar, Rob & Amy Keake on tenor saxes, Roger Carey on bass and Gimpaolo Scottoza on drums. Over the long course of more than fifty years, UK saxist Trevor Watts’ playing/music has moved from total freedom (SME), to Ornette influenced jazz/rock (Amalgam) to the tribal rhythm of the Moire Music Ensemble, which had upwards of four or five drummers at its largest version. Over the past decade or so, Mr. Watts often tours and in a variety of groupings, from duos with Jamie Harris (on conga), Veryan Weston (piano) to a trio with Alison Blunt and Hannah Marshall. Each release shows Mr. Watts exploring different trajectories of his long career.
‘Life & Music’ is a solo/group effort for some seven musicians, some known (Jamie Harris), but mostly little known players, a couple of whom are/were members of Watts’ Celebration Band. It is a studio effort in which Mr. Watts work his way through his different musical situations, each piece very different from the previous one. “Mexican Nights”, has Watts playing eerie synth in the background while Jamie Harris plays ritualistic congas supporting Watts’ great snake-charming sax solo. On each piece, Watts sets up different grooves with layers of synth, samples and drums/percussion. Watts like t0 overdub several instruments: piano, synth, mbira (thumb piano), synth and percussion. At times he writes these infectious groove songs, sometimes with a charming vocal chorus. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that this is Trevor Watts’ party record?!? There is still something charming about this date, the grooves are consistently enticing, the occasional solos rise above the grooves into some buried treasure. If this sessions was produced by a famous world-music personalty in an expensive studio, it might actually become a world-wide hit?!? Hmmmm. This is certainly some good tasting medicine for everyone who chooses to listen. - Bruce Lee Gallnater, DMG
CD $14


FRANK CARLBERG / JOE MORRIS / PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER / LUTHER GRAY - Cosmopolitan Greetings (Red Piano RPR 4419; USA) Featuring Joe Morris on guitar, Frank Carlberg on piano, Pascal Niggenkemper on bass and Luther Gray on drums. The majority of releases we’ve heard from guitarist Joe Morris for as long as I can remember have been mainly improv based dates. This session however was organized by pianist/composer Frank Carlberg, hence half of the pieces were written by Mr. Carlberg, who also runs this, the Red Piano label. Both Mr. Morris and Mr. Carlberg teach at NEC (New England Conservatory) in Boston. The rhythm team includes bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, a Downtown player who has worked with Thomas Heberer, Harris Eisenstedt and Baloni. Boston-based drummer, Luther Gray, has worked with Mr. Morris for many years as well as doing many Boston area sessions with Steve Lantner, Jim Hobbs and Lawnmower.
Aside from the fact that some of this disc is partially written, Joe Morris is playing with a pianist, something doesn’t do all that often outside of his longtime work with Matt Shipp, which hasn’t occurred in a long while. The title piece is first and free sounding with several layers of interaction going on at once. The music has an organic, free flowing vibe, with strong solos from Carlberg’s piano and Morris’ guitar. “Cadillac Squawk” has one of those tight, complex post-bop, third stream-like themes, similar to a Carla Bley song from the sixties. The quick interaction between the piano and guitar (and rest of the quartet) is extraordinary! While Mr. Morris takes a furious solo here, Mr. Carlberg provides an incredible cushion of pianistics underneath - turnarounds, written and free. As I focus on each member of the quartet, I hear some fascinating playing from each one. Considering that Mr. Morris and Mr. Carlberg had not recorded together before this session, their playing together is consistently engaging, even astonishing at times. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

FRANK CARLBERG LARGE ENSEMBLE with KIRK KNUFFKE / JOHN CARLSON / JONATHAN POWELL / ALAN FERBER / CHRIS WASHBURNE / JOHN O’GALLAGHER / JEREMY UDDEN / ADAM KOLKER / JOHANNES WEIDENMUELLER / MICHAEL SARIN / et al - Monks Dreams, Hallucinations and Nightmares (Red Piano RPR 4425; USA) The world of Monk has been so much explored in the last few decades that it is difficult to expect anything of original significance. With this orchestral album - the least used dimension in the revisits of the Monkian songbook - the pianist and composer Frank Carlberg has succeeded: even if each piece is inspired by a Thelonious theme, the elaboration is personal and should not astonish if Calberg has assumed full authorship. Only the final arrangement of "'Round Midnight," remains close to the original and retains its name.
Born in Helsinki but trained in the United States (he studied both at Berklee College and the New England Conservatory and remained both as a teacher) Calberg collaborated with Steve Lacy, Bob Brookmeyer and Kenny Wheeler, and made valuable trio albums, in quintet and with his big-band.
In this record he left the conduction to a respectable runner as JC Sanford and with an organ of valuable instrumentalists (among the best known the cornetist Kirk Knuffke, the trombonist Alan Ferber, the saxophonists / clarinetists Brian Landrus and John O'Gallagher) has made a splendid and unquestionably his album, although he defines it as "a tribute to the beauty and vitality of Monk's music."
The style is a modern mainstream with frequent openings towards free improvisation and the historical avant-garde: long exciting interventions stand on arrangements of palpable tension, full of rhythmic turns, dissonant collective, now seductive timbres screaming. Despite the many references (including precisely splinters from the Monkian universe) everything develops with mastery and admirable coherence, involving the listener from beginning to end.
In some tracks ("Always Night" for example) the influences of the electric Gil Evans are clear but it must be said that the lesson is fully metabolized: from the years of the Monday Night Orchestra we did not listen to such a compelling staff on these coordinates.
In addition to the soloists we have mentioned, it is worth mentioning others, less known to the Italian public but of a high thickness. Chris Washburne on the trombone and Jeremy Udden on the alto saxophone amplify the tension of "Sphere"; Michael Sarin on drums and Adam Kolker on tenor saxophone characterize the development of "No Fear My Dear"; the singer Christine Correa and Carlson Brown on the trumpet give a significant impression to "Aways Night." - Angelo Leonardi, AllAboutJazz, Italy
CD $14  


THOMAS HEBERER With TERRENCE McMANUS / MICHAEL BATES / JEFF DAVIS - X Marks the Spot (OutNow Records 037; USA) Featuring Thomas Heberer on trumpet & compositions, Terrence McManus on guitar, Michael Bates on bass and Jeff Davis on drums. Since moving here more than a decade ago, ICP trumpeter, Thomas Heberer, has kept busy working with a variety of Downtowners as well as the European musicians from past encounters. Mr. Heberer is a member of several bands like the Nu Band and the Yoni Kretzmer Quintet, as well as leading several of his own projects. Mr. Heberer has organized an interesting quartet here with guitarist Terrence McManus, whom he met at DMG when they played together on the same bill. The rhythm team of Michael Bates and Jeff Davis, are both former Canadians and have played together on several disc led by Mr. Bates.
Since every project by Mr. Heberer is so different, I didn’t quite know what to expect… Guitarist Terrence McManus has played several solo sets at DMG through the years, often more laid back but so much here. “The Ball is in Your Court” opens and is a strong example of jazz/rock at it best. Mr. McManus begins with some powerful chords churning away with Mr. Heberer soon joining him and soloing strongly on top. Mr. Heberer has a unique way of bending his notes and doesn’t quite sound like anyone else. The blend of Heberer’s bitter-sweet tone with McManus’s floating swirls is a strong combination, the quartet sounds as if the floating in space or moving in a current or stream together. Mr. Heberer also selectively uses a mute at times to punctuate certain notes. On “Night and Day Share the Same Clock”, both the trumpet and guitar play a sort of cosmic game of tag, a strong back & forth, or give & take exchange. Jeff Davis is one of Downtown’s finest (under-recognized) drummers, hence the rhythm team is excellent throughout. Before the term “fusion” was coined in the mid-seventies (before the cliches were more apparent), this sort of music was referred as jazz/rock.On “Bon Ton”, Mr. Heberer stretches out, slowly bending each note while McKenna also plays a series of fragments, together the combination works well. There is something both modest and yet engaging about this disc, magical yet still down to the Earth. It even ends with a reggae-like ditty which is charming in its own way. Hopefully we will get a chance to see this quartet live, where they will soar even more. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


* JESSICA JONES QUARTET With TONY JONES / STOMU TAKEISHI / KENNY WOLLESEN AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE / MAMDOU SIDIBE - Continuum (Reva Records RR-1001; USA) Featuring Jessica Jones on tenor sax & (most) compositions, Tony Jones on tenor sax, Stomu Takeishi on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums plus guests: Devante Dunbar on alto sax, Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, Mamadou Sidibe on kamali ngoni and Ed Reed on vocal. Saxist & composer, Jessica Jones and her husband, Tony Jones (also a tenor player), moved here a while back and have kept busy leading their own bands as well as playing together. Ms. Jones is also renown as a gifted teacher who continues to work with children. Ms. Jones has recorded five previous discs for the New Artists label and worked with the late Connie Crothers.
‘Continuum’ begins with Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence” (one of the two covers here) which sounds great even without a pianist being involved. Both saxists have warm, dry tones and play especially well together. There is something rather Old School about the way this disc sounds, an ancient, tasty, solemn, lovely gracefulness that is soothing and free on the angst we feel in everyday life once we read the news. The other cover song is Billy Eckstine’s “I Want to Talk About You”, which I remember being sung by Joe Lee Wilson in the late seventies when I used to go to gigs at Joe Lee’s loft space, the Ladies Fort. I always found this song to be touching and the quartet do a fine job of playing its lyricism. Longtime bassist for Henry Threadgill, Stomu Takeishi, is playing acoustic bass guitar and sounds wonderful here. One of the things I like most about this is that things seem to happen here in a more relaxed dream-like way. Tony Jones also contributed a song here, which kinda sounds like an old standard with some charming jazz vocals by Ed Reed. My favorite song is called, “Higher Than”, which has some enchanting interplay and harmonies from both saxes. The last song features Mamadou Sidibe on kamali dgoni, an African harp-like instrument that Don Cheery used to play. This song sublime, most charming and perfect way to brings things a close. The great young trumpeter, Ambrose Akinmusire, is featured and sounds swell. This entire disc left me with a warm glow and soft smile. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

* TONY JONES / CHARLIE BURNHAM / MARIKA HUGHES / KENNY WOLLESEN - Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness Quartet (Reva Records RR-1002; USA) Featuring Charlie Burnham on violin & voice, Tony Jones on tenor sax, Marika Hughes on cello and Kenny Wollesen on percussion. Former of the bay area, Tony Jones and his partner Jessica Jones both play tenor sax and have worked together for 25 years. Mr. Jones has worked with Don Cherry, Peter Apfelbaum, Joseph Jarman and Idris Ackamoor. The instrumentation here of tenor sax, two strings (violin & cello) and drums, makes this a unique quartet. Both string players bring a great deal of experience to this unit: Mr. Burnham worked with Blood Ulmer, Susie Ibarra and Joseph Daley, while Ms. Hughes has collaborated with Charming Hostess, Tin Hat & other Carla Kihlsedt projects. Another former West Coaster is percussionist extraordinaire Kenny Wollesen, who has worked with just about everyone in the Downtown scene.
“A Candlelight Salute” opens this disc with a fine solo tenor intro: haunting, thoughtful and Trane-like on tone. I’ve often got the feeling that Charlie Burnham is a folk musician at heat since he loves to strum and pluck his violin, creating ancient folk-like melodies. Mr. Burnham kicks of “In Theory” by strumming this quaint, hypnotic melody which works well with Ms. Hughes equally folky cello plucks and Mr. Wollesen’s subtle hand percussion. Kenny Wollesen sounds like he playing a balafon (African marimba) on “Older Now” which sounds like we are hanging out in an African village, ritualistic and calming. “Hurt Nobody” actually has a sly, reggae groove with charming vocals by Mr. Burnham. What record am I listening to? Each member of the quartet gets a chance to write a couple of pieces, which show the diversity and ancient/modern spirit that they embody. Mr. Burham’s “Gone” is a dazzling, heartfelt song with strong singing from Mr. Burnham, his voice is entwined with the cello & violin righteously so, a tenor solo by Mr. Jones towards the end is most stirring. At first, I thought that Tony Jones was the leader of this quartet but this is not the case, this is a completely democratic quartet with all members adding to the direction, execution and magical vibe. An unexpected delight on many levels. - Bruice Lee Gallnater, DMG
CD $14

* JESSICA and TONY JONES will play a special set together here at DMG on Sunday, March 10th at 6pm to help celebrate the release of the new CD by Jessica Jones.


THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS with WEASEL WALTER / BRANDON SEABROOK / TIM DAHL / MATT NELSON - ’Shattered Dimension’ (ugExplode 74; USA) Featuring Weasel Walter on drums, Brandon Seabrook on guitar, Matt Nelson on tenor sax and Tim Dahl on electric bass. The Flying Luttenbachers are Weasel Walter’s longest on&off project starting around 1992 with Hal Russell & Ken Vandermark amongst the early members. Over some 27 years and 20 releases, the Luttenbachers have evolved, possibly due to personnel changes over the many years. This is their first release since 2007, I caught them back them at Tonic (RIP), when they had 2 guitars & drums. This version features a strong line-up of Brandon Seabrook on guitar (from TripleDouble, Content Provider & Overseas); Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Unnatural Ways & CP Unit) on el. bass and Matt Nelson (Battle Trance, Talibam! & Premature Burial). A well-seasoned cast of loonies! “Goosesteppin’” erupts with a sort of Magma-meets-punk brain-blastin’ power! It is both tight, yet on the verge of spinning out of control. The ever-amazing Brandon Seabrook unleashes layers of shrapnel lines in his haywire way. “Cripple Walk” is an aptly titled song with a demented yet invigorating theme. Both Seabrook’s deadly guitar and Matt Nelson’s furiously tenor sax, spin their furious lines in tight orbits, Weasel Walter & Tim Dahl holding down the hurricane force rhythms in the center of the storm. What sets the Luttenbachers apart from any of Weasel’s other projects is that the majority of what they do is structure and tightly wound. This almost sounds like rock music with near-symphonic waves splashing over us like a thunderstorm of sh*t! When they repeat a pattern a long section, it is like meeting between Hawkwind and Philip Glass!?!. This disc is not meant for the light-hearted amongst us, it is the brutal truth of a throbbing, massive wall of sound. Even when the rhythm team drops out, the guitar and sax continue to erupt together with a blur of super-human velocity. Weasel Walter’s astonishing double bass drum pedal work is one of the many highlights buried here, so metal mutants take note! The only question that one might have is what to call this? If this is progressive music, than it doesn’t quite sound like any other type of prog. The final piece is an epic length (nearly 22 minutes) work called “Mutation”. Although it sounds as if it explode into total free blast, Weasel’s well-regarded production captures the massive beast in all of its giant glory! Totally over-the-top!?! Indeed. The best way to wake the dead is to force them to listen to this at a brain-melting volume! You’ve been warned! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON QUARTET - WHENUFINDITUWILLKNOW (MGJCQ 004; USA) Featuring: Michael Gregory Jackson – electric & acoustic guitars, vocals, harmonica, shakers, tambourine, Simon Spang-Hanssen – alto & soprano saxes, Niels Praestholm – bass & Matias Wolf Andreason – drums. “In WHENUFINDITUWILLKNOW, MGJ and the Danish Jazz Musicians in his Clarity Quartet Return to Avant Roots He Had Germinated Alongside Wadada Leo Smith and Oliver Lake in the ‘70s Jazz Loft Scene.
Michael Gregory Jackson is a six-string magician whose most stunning sleight of hand has been burning his name into the musical firmament, influencing countless musicians and reigning guitar icons, while residing mysteriously outside the mainstream. Take it from some trusted sources on the topic.
Pat Metheny said, "I have always considered him to be one of the most significantly original guitarists of our generation." While another guitar icon, Bill Frisell, noted "I first heard Michael Gregory Jackson in 1975 when I moved to Boston. He blew my mind and influenced me a lot. I believe he is one of the unsung innovators."
And legendary music critic Robert Palmer wrote of Jackson in Rolling Stone, "By the time he was twenty-one he was already the most original jazz guitarist to emerge since the Sixties."
On his new album, WHENUFINDITUWILLKNOW, Jackson reasserts his mastery in the avant-jazz realm that first earned him international attention four decades earlier. Jackson has gleefully disregarded the concept of musical boundaries throughout his career, which extends well beyond jazz to include elements of funk, R&B, blues, folk, rock, experimental music, and more.
In the course of his eclectic peregrinations, he has worked with a long string of giants in those genres, including Steve Winwood, Nile Rodgers, Carlos Santana, Vernon Reid, Oliver Lake, Anthony Braxton, Walter Becker, David Murray, Julius Hemphill, and Nona Hendryx, to name only a few.
It's important to note that this album is the work of a musician who has assimilated Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Son House, Igor Stravinsky, and John Coltrane in equal amounts. The breadth of Jackson's vision is such that even when he's ostensibly dedicated an album to a single genre, he seems capable of endless stylistic permutations. So simply calling his latest outing a jazz record is a bit like identifying Moby-Dick as a story about a whale.”
CD $16

More LEAP OF FAITH Offshoot Projects:

AXIOMS With PEK / JANE / ALBEY ONBASS - Manifestations (Evil Clown 9203; USA) Featuring Jane on spoken word, PEK on alto & bass saxes, clarinets, daxophone, gongs, bells, etc and Albey Onbass on electric upright bass. Recorded at Evil Clown Headquarters on December 13, 2018. Head honcho for Leap of Faith, Dave PEK, leads a half dozen or so offshoot projects like Metal Chaos, Turbulence or String Theory. The latest offshoot is called Axioms which is a mere trio with none of the regular members aside from PEK, and which features the spoken words of Jane (no last name) and Albey Onbass on bass. Could this be Albey Balgochian and his partner Jane ZenBeatz, both of whom worked with Cecil Taylor? The music here has a mysterious, eerie, drifting vibe with a subtle, selective amount of reverb added like seasoning. PEK takes his time on each instrument, while Albey adds another layer, spinning a web and Jane also takes her time, quietly adding her poetry in soft spurts.
CD $10

TURBULENCE with PEK / DAN O’BRIEN / ZACK BARTHOLOMEI / JIM WARSHAUER / ERIC DAHLMAN / BOB MOORES / YURI ZBITNOV - Flow Across Scales (Evil Clown 9189; USA) Turbulence features PEK on saxes, bamboo soprano, clarinets, double reeds, sheng, etc; Dan O’Brien alto & tenor saxes, clarinets & flutes; Zack Bartholomej on alto & soprano saxes, clarinet & flute; Jim Warshauer on curved soprano & alto saxes, Eric Dahlman on trumpets, flugel & game calls; Bob Moores on trumpet & shofar and Yuri Zbitnov on drums & percussion. Turbulence is one of the half dozen Leap of faith offshoot bands, it has just two constant members: PEK and Yuri Zbitnov, both longtime members of Leap of Faith. The instrumentation here consists mainly of four reeds players, two trumpeters and a drummer. As usual, everyone switches between a variety of reed & brass instruments & other oddities. In the first section, the horns all swirl together in a dream-like, somber way. Mr/ Zbitnov’s drums are central and keep things focused while the six horns swirl in and out of each others stream/flow. Things slowly get more dense as they unfold. The following section features a number of long, inspired solos for soprano sax, flute, trumpet(s), other reeds and/or double-reeds. Instead of going to a movie or a concert, Dave PEK does a fine job of gathering dozens of like-minded improvisers from the Boston area and organizing concerts and studio sessions, several times a week. And recording each and every one, as well as releasing everyone as well. How does he maintain such a strong batting average? Well over releases by now - early March 0f 2019. Another solid effort and with little or no vocal weirdness. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10

Historic & Archival Recordings:

MILES DAVIS SEPTET with PETE COSEY / REGGIE LUCAS / DAVE LIEBMAN / MICHAEL HENDERSON / MTUME / AL FOSTER - Vienna Stadhalle 1973 (Hobo 030; EEC) Featuring Miles Davis on trumpet & organ, Dave Liebman on tenor & soprano sax & flute, Pete Cosey & Reggie Lucas on guitars, Michael Henderson on bass, Mtume on percussion and Al Foster on drums. This set was an FM radio broadcast and was once released as an LP in a shorter version. The sound here is pretty strong, much better than expected for an illegitimate (radio) recording. The ever-incredible Al Foster kicks things off, like he always did with Miles, with a profound slamming groove. There is so much great things going on here: the blistering guitar work from the late, amazing Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas, both adding several layers of lines, wah-wah, distortion, Hendrix-like, Funkadelic-ish, building up to frenzy and then sailing back down to a cosmic simmer. At the center of storm/groove is Michael Henderson’s (stolen from the Stevie Wonder band) ultra funky electric bass. Miles’ wah-wah trumpet has never sounded better, the band keeps shifting throughout, certain members laying out while others solo or add their own sly, slinky lines. Everyone gets a chance to shine and stretch out. The entire set is 63 minutes long and it it indeed consistently enchanting throughout! - BLG/DMG
CD $15

JOHNNY HODGES with DUKE ELLINGTON / HARRY SWEETS EDISON / JOE WILDER / JOE NEWMAN / HANK JONES / SAM JONES / MILT HINTON / MEL LEWIS /JO JONES / et al - The Best Of The Verve Years (Enlightenment 9163; EEC) The defining saxophonist of his generation, Johnny Hodges rose to prominence during the big-band era with what Duke Ellington described as 'a tone so beautiful it sometimes bought tears to the eyes'. Perhaps an understated member of Ellington's big band initially, Hodges' deft tone and seductive style soon affirmed him as one of The Duke's most valuable soloists and a vital player in his orchestra. A subdued yet commanding presence in the big band format, Hodges' assured mastery of the alto-sax and his subtle nuance has left him regarded as one of the very best musicians to have worked alongside Ellington. Hodges' career-defining moment came in 1928 when he joined Duke Ellington's orchestra, and from 1937 he led his own studio group drawn from members of the group, with whom he released tracks co-written with Ellington, including 'Jeep's Blues', 'Hodge Podge' and 'Confab With Rab', each composed to complement Hodges' own seductive style of play. During the 1940s, Hodges dispelled with the soprano altogether, deciding to focus solely on the alto saxophone, following which he developed into a crucial member of the Ellington orchestra. After almost a quarter of a century under Ellington's leadership, Hodges split from the orchestra in 1951 to form his own group, who had an immediate and sizeable hit with 'Castle Rock', although thereafter the band struggled to maintain their celebrity. It was in this period, however, that Hodges recorded with John Coltrane and Ben Webster, each of whom held Johnny Hodges in great esteem and were avid fans of the great man's work. Featuring 8 albums, this 4 CD Box Set serves to highlight some of Johnny Hodges' finest ever full-length works as leader or co-leader. Faithfully remastered, this collection serves as both an enthralling introduction to an all-time great jazz musician and as an invigorating re-affirmation of Hodges' talents for those already familiar with his work.
4 CD Set $18

DIZZY GILLESPIE QUINTET / HANS KOLLER NEW JAZZ STARS with ALBERT MANGELSDORFF - NDR 60 Years Jazz Edition (Moosicus 1301; Germany) Dizzy Gillespie Quintet: Bill Graham on bari sax, Wade Legge on piano, Lou Hackney on bass & Al Jones on drums. Hans Koller New Jazz Stars: Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone, Jutta Hipp on piano, Shorty Roeder on bass and Karl Sanner on drums. 2 Studio recordings from March 9, 1953.
“The German record label Moosicus has a sense of humour — their corporate logo is a moose — but they also have great musical sense. With this album they’ve initiated a project of releasing, for the first time, classic jazz performances from the archives of Hamburg's public radio NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk).
Since 1953 NDR has been recording the greats of jazz in both a concert and studio context and now these amazing sessions are being made available both on CD and — what concerns us here — vinyl.
The first session in the series is a ‘split album’ with a different artist on each side. In this case side 1 features Dizzy Gillespie with Bill Graham on baritone sax, Wade Legge on piano, Lou Hackney on bass and Al Jones on drums. On side 2 is Austrian sax man Hans Koller and his New Jazz Stars. The group’s name is no mere hyperbole with high voltage support from at least two rising stars: Albert Mangelsdorff (then only 24) on trombone and Jutta Hipp (28, though the liner notes have her as a mere 18) on piano. Shorty Roeder is on bass and Karl Sanner plays drums.
Both groups were recorded on 9 March, 1953, which means that Gillespie and his merry men were rubbing shoulders in the studio with Germany’s most significant jazz quintet.
So, 60 years on, what does all this sound like? The 180 gram LP pressing is excellent, with immaculate noiseless vinyl on the run-in groove. And the recording is splendid. I don’t know what the NDR did to look after its tapes, but they sound magnificent. These studio sessions are treasures. The rich fullness of their sound will change your mind about listening to mono (high-end audiophiles often prefer it to stereo).
We start with the Gillespie Quintet. They Can’t Take that Away from Me is a deceptively leisurely groover. Dizzy is laid back and agile, blossoming to a huge sound, measured and assured, with deft support from Wade Legge on piano and Graham’s buzzing baritone. But the standout tracks are two Gillespie standards. Manteca, where Lou Hackney shines on strummed bass, Al Jones goes all Latin on percussion and the fat fullness of Bill Graham’s baritone sax begins to really make sense. And Tin Tin Deo where the leader is effortlessly soulful and adroit, enwrapped by Graham’s mournful tones, accompanied by virtuoso percussion from Jones and Wade Legge’s swirling, assertive piano.
The Hans Koller ssession is more cerebral, and cool (in a good way) where Dizzy was hot (also in a good way). But it swings like hell. The Way You Look Tonight, a showcase for Albert Mangelsdorff’s trombone, is taken at a pace which should be breakneck but is eloquent and engaging, with a dazzling, limpid solo from Jutta Hipp. Koller spirals and plunges nimbly. You Go To My Head is haunting, dreamy, yet precise with Karl Sanner on brushes. Jutta Hipp’s piano has a delicate, lovely quality: sliding, gliding and exploring while maintaining absolute precision, like a hip metronome. Koller is throaty, thoughtful and entreating here.
All the Things You Are has a Bach-like pulse from the rhythm section that calls to mind the Modern Jazz Quartet (then only a year old) with Koller gliding over it and Mangelsdorff providing the foundations.
The 1950s was the heyday of high quality analogue sound recording, before the purity and simplicity of the technology was compromised by multi-tracking and solid-state electronics. And Germany has always been a world leader in this area, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that this album sounds as good as it does. It’s wonderful that such fine music has been preserved so beautifully.” - London Jazz News.com
CD $17

LOUIS HAYES / JUNIOR COOK QUINTET With WOODY SHAW / RONNIE MATTHEWS / STAFFORD JAMES - At Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall Hamburg 1976 (Jazzline/PÖ 77062; Germany) “The series continues! Drummer Louis Hayes, best known from his work with Cannonball Adderley presented together with his co-leader, tenor-saxophonist Junior Cook, known from his work with Horace Silver, a fantastic hard bop quintet, which featured young Woody Shaw on trumpet. The trumpeter turned 32 in the year this recording was made and was already on track for a career, which would make him one of the most important representatives of contemporary jazz (silenced way too early!). Shaw died in 1989, not even 45 years old. Already almost completely blind, he lost an arm in a subway-accident. Shortly afterwards his body just gave up. Recordings of Shaw together with his own ensemble are among the highlights of the Onkel Pö-series and more will follow soon. Shaw is exemplary for the musician at the crossroad between tradition on the one side and change on the other. He was able to perform freely but still keep a close attachment to the masters who had influenced and formed him. Until today he is one of the great forbears and casts a long shadow on young musicians, who again and again explore the narrow path which separates tradition and progress. Recorded March 11, 1976 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany; Recorded by NDR Hamburg. Personnel: Woody Shaw - trumpet; Junior Cook - tenor sax; Ronnie Matthews - piano; Stafford James - bass; Louis Hayes - drums. Features extended liner notes in English and German by Michael Laages. Double-CD version includes 12-page booklet.”
2 CD Set $21

PASCAL DUSAPIN - Inside / Works for Viola (Sub Rosa 410; Belgium) Pascal Dusapin was born May 29, 1955 in Nancy, France. His music is marked by its microtonality, tension, and energy. A pupil of Iannis Xenakis and an admirer of Varèse, Dusapin studied at the University of Paris I and Paris VIII during the 1970s. His music is full of "romantic constraint", and he rejected the use of electronics, percussion (other than timpani), and, up until the late 1990s, piano. He wrote eight operas and important pieces for ensemble and solo instruments. Here is. for the first time, his complete work for viola. A unique artist, Pascal Dusapin continues his musical journey, formal and yet never dogmatic, offering his fiercely emotional music through a great range of diverse forms. Released in Sub Rosa's Unclassical collection.
CD $15

ARMIN LORENZ GEROLD - Scaffold Eyes (The Wormhole 011; UK) Armin Lorenz Gerold is a sound artist based in Berlin. His work mostly focuses on links between sound, voice, and intimacy. He works in different mediums -- sound installations, audio plays, and live performances. Since 2017, Gerold has collaborated with Irish filmmaker Doireann O'Malley, composing soundtracks for her Prototypes film series which won the Berlin Art Prize. "It is early September and dozens of days since we last saw each other. Our communication has been a hit and miss operation ever since. Last week you left me hanging at Krumme Lanke, texting back from Kantstrasse." Produced in November 2017 for KW Institute for Contemporary Art's Compound series, Armin Lorenz Gerold's Scaffold Eyes is a 45-minute audio play, first presented as a multi-channel installation and a live reading performance. It is narrated by Gerold alongside London-based art and architecture historian Miriam Stoney and Berlin-based artist and filmmaker Doireann O'Malley. "It is a Tuesday evening in late August. She wanders through various streets linked to a canal that divides the district in two halves. Her thoughts are diffuse and further interrupted by looking at her phone relentlessly." Scaffold Eyes traces the paths of four characters as they wander through the urban landscape of Berlin. You listen in to their meandering thoughts. The lines they walk are never straight, their narrated memories and observations oscillating between the diffuse and the precise. Berlin's cityscape echoes their psychological space, its dimensions distorted. The city's sounds blend into each other. Scaffold is everywhere. In juxtaposing the constant reshaping of this metropole with the transient lives of his characters, Gerold places you into a world seemingly in flux. "It is early September. I enter Kreuzberg 61's town hall through the main entrance passing by a porters' lodge a man is barely visible behind glass. Gently lit from the side by a small table lamp, half his shape disappears... " The compositions seem algorithmic, yet mood-driven and fluid. Gerold combines spoken word with a collage of field recordings, ambient compositions and song sketches. For example, the faux-jazz of "Love Theme of Scaffold Eyes" suggests a film noir theme while resonating with a characters' depiction of construction sites by night. As you follow a character into an uninhabited highway construction site, we listen to his voice shifting gradually into vocoder, glancing at the autobahn superstructures around us, cars streaming by.
CD $10

ALASDAIR ROBERTS, NEIL MCDERMOTT & TARTINE DE CLOUS - Au Cube (Okraina 012; Belgium) Alasdair Roberts has worked with Drag City Records for some 20 years, releasing more than ten records featuring both interpretations of traditional songs and his own songwriting. He has played with Will Oldham, Jason Molina, and many others, and is now part of The Furrow Collective. In addition to being a fine fiddler in the Scottish traditional style, Neil McDermott is currently researching the musical and political engagement of the 1960s Scottish folk scene with the anti-nuclear movement. Tartine de Clous (Geoffroy Dudouit, Thomas Georget, and Guillaume Maupin) is a singing trio originally from the department of Charente in western France. Following in the footsteps of some of the great French groups of the late 20th century folk revival (such as Mélusine and La Bamboche), they sing largely unaccompanied three-part harmony arrangements of the traditional songs of France... and Scotland! In early 2016, Alasdair Roberts spoke of his admiration for Tartine de Clous' first LP, Sans Folklore (2015), in an article in English folk magazine, fRoots. After a first musical encounter in Glasgow in January 2017, alongside local fiddler Neil McDermott, the five of them reunited in December 2017. They explored a common set of songs, French, Scottish, and Roberts originals, and recorded them live, with an audience, at the Cube Microplex, an amazing arts venue and progressive social wellbeing enterprise in central Bristol. Recorded live by Neil McDermott at Cube Cinema, Bristol on December 8th and 9th 2017; "Rosie Anderson" recorded at the Old Dentist, London. Artwork by Gwénola Carrère (Brussels). Mastered by Sam Smith, SJS Mastering, Glasgow.
CD $15

THIGHPAULSANDRA - Practical Electronics with Thighpaulsandra (Editions Mego 285; Austria) As audacious as the sleeve it comes housed in, the UK's most eccentric audio malefactor returns with his eighth studio album, Practical Electronics with Thighpaulsandra. Unique in the Thighpaulsandra oeuvre, this one eschews the usual group-based recordings, consisting of electronics and vocals only. Hovering between haunted narratives and extended instrumental sequences, Practical Electronics is an eccentric excursion into playful pop and fearless electronic experimentation. Simultaneously intimidating and accessible, the energy of this untamed mind unleashes an artifact where high art unfolds as an oblique electronic cabaret. Having cut his teeth amongst such legendary outfits such as Coil and Spiritualized, Thighpaulsandra has constantly catapulted himself further and further into a musical landscape utterly of his own devising. Practical Electronics is the latest exemplary installment of a voice that is uncompromising as it is outlandish. Cover design by Liam Thonas; Photography by Siôn Oegon. Recorded and mixed by Thighpaulsandra at Aeriel Studios, Brechfa between 2017 and 2018. Mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering, London.
CD $17

DZJENGHIS KHAN - Dzjenghis Khan (Heavy Psych Sounds 089; Italy) Heavy Psych Sounds presents a reissue of Dzjenghis Khan's self-titled album, originally issued in 2007. Dzjenghis Khan is one of the most important psych-acid rock albums of the new millennium. The San Francisco-based band Dzjenghis Khan featured bassist Carson Binks (also in Wild Eyes and Saviours). This record reflects the musical scene of that era and it's still a raw acid rock pearl. Heavy Psych Sounds Records brings back to the current audience a piece of real acid rock; Dzjenghis Khan was one of the first bands to bring back the psych sound, in a time where there was not a real audience; one can say they were pioneers after the pioneers! Dzjenghis Khan is ten killer tracks; the sound is dirty, fuzzy, raw - the atmosphere is nearly lo-fi but the riffing will melt your face.
CD $17

TAPPER ZUKIE - Black Man (Kingston Sounds 078; UK) Kingston Sounds present a reissue of Tapper Zukie's Black Man, originally released in 1978 as a Jamaican-only release on Tapper's Stars imprint. Long deleted, it has become a classic in Mr. Zukie's vast canon of musical biscuits and is well overdue this worldwide release for the first time. Tapper Zukie (b 1956. David Sinclair, Kingston, Jamaica) was raised in the rough and tough West Kingston area of Jamaica, between the districts of Trench Town and Greenwich Farm. Living pretty much on the streets from an early age, the youths including the young Tapper had no choice but to fall into the hands of the political parties that controlled various ghetto areas of the town. Music seemed like the only way out of a life of crime and gang culture. A path that Tapper Zukie found by the mid-1970s was establishing himself as a named star on the DJ Roots circuit. Back home in Jamaica he was also getting a name for his production work for other local singers such as Prince Allah and the group Knowledge. To release these productions and his own material in Jamaica, Tapper started up his own label called Stars. It's this label that saw the initial release of this album Black Man. A great collection of Tapper tunes such as his biblical cut "My God Is Real", "Revolution", the title track, and some work overs of some of his fellow Jamaican artists like "Poor Man Problem", a work over of Johnny Clarke's "Blood Dunza" and also Mr Clarke's "Leggo Violence". "Yaga Yaga" is a re-working Horace Andy and Tapper's big hit "Natty Dread Ah She Want", and "Gather Them" is a reworking of Knowledge's tune of the same name with the help from bands like Jah Wisdom and Delroy Fielding. A great collection of tunes and reworkings that will hopefully find a wider audience with this reissue. CD version includes four bonus tracks, tracks from Tapper Zukie's back catalog that sit well and follow the theme and meanings of Black Man: "Liberation Struggle", "Get Ready", "Prophecy", and "Fire Bun".
CD $14

Back in Stock:

BRIGHT MOMENTS with JOSEPH JARMAN / KALAPARUSHA MAURICE McINTYRE / MALACHI FAVORS / KAHIL EL ZABAR - Return of the Lost Tribe (Delmark 507; USA) Joseph Jarman, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Adegoke Steve Colson, Malachi Favors, Kahil El'Zabar. On Return of The Lost Tribe, Kahil El'Zabar has assembled several leading lights from the early days of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). The result is an explosive and swinging reunion of the Chicago avant-garde. Their music glows with an authority not duplicated by those who came after; it speaks from their original era, but with a stirring presence eagerly welcomed some 25 years later. Kalaparusha makes a long-awaited return with this recording - the first to feature his clarion tone and soul-wrenching improvisations in almost twenty years. Contains all original compositions by members of the group. "This is a reunion of old-school AACMers and an important gathering of older &wiser spirits. Both front-person sax players-Joseph Jarman on alto & flute and Kalaparusha on tenor-had both retired from music making for a period of time. So it was a good idea to team them up with other AACM greats-Jarman's former cohort in the Art Ensemble-Malachi Favors on bass, Steve Colson on piano and Kahil El'Zabar on drums. Like all great AACM offerings, this one also encompasses the wide world & history of jazz. The opener & title tune consists of an older, slower, more swinging type of bounce with both saxes playing in slightly odd harmonies. While Kalaparusha and occasionally Jarman don't play with the fire or abandon of their earlier careers, their tones are much richer, more compelling. Kahil also gets the rhythmic rivers and hypnotic chants of the natives flowing. Pianist-Steve Colson is also a wonder-from quiet to majestic to a full-out storm of activity! Many of these pieces have lovely, calming, afterglow. A most impressive return of ancient spirits! " - BLG
CD $15
 
QUINSIN NACHOFF With JOHN TAYLOR & ERNST REIJSEGER - Horizons Ensemble (Quinsin; Canada) Featuring Quinsin Nachoff on tenor & soprano saxes, John Taylor on piano, Ernst Reijseger on cello, Nathalie Bonin & Parmela Attariwala on violins. Formerly Toronto-based saxist, Quinsin Nachoff, now lives here and has just released his second splendid disc as a leader. His first fine disc featured him with Mark Helias, Jim Black and a string quartet and was on Songlines. Quinsin can also be heard on both discs from bassist Michael Bates, another Canadian now living here. For Quinsin's second date he has put together another extraordinary group with British pianist John Taylor, whose career stretches back more than forty years and Dutch cellist, Ernst Reijseger who used to play with the ICP Orchestra, Clusone Trio and now has some half dozen discs on W&W. "Bogardus Place" opens with sublime soprano sax backed by elegant piano and strings. On "Desert Landscape" the strings are rich in sound and evoke a handful of ghost-like images, the piano and soprano are both exquisite, austere and have a lovely auburn hue. I dig the way the strings and sax blend and enhance each other's sound while the piano plays swirling lines around them superbly. Although this is a quintet, their sound is like a well-integrated string quartet as each member is a part of their luscious tapestry. What truly stands out is Quinsin's composing, he has a knack for placing his sax within the fabric of the strings and piano in a way that makes the quintet one whole(some) endeavor. This disc reminds me of some of the better ECM dates I've heard in recent years without the unnecessary fiord-like reverb that is too often over-used. "A River Remembers Rain," sounds like parts of it are played backwards or that sections are fragmented, yet it seems to be connected on a more subliminal level. "Cartoon-Scape" starts with some intense free interplay but soon hits it charted stride with more challenging interplay. I love the way the strings start a line which is soon answered by the piano or sax, the musical/magical idea or flow remains continuous. "Glacial Lake" is an appropriately titled piece which is stark and most haunting. Quinsin's tone on tenor is warm and lush and even touching at times. John Taylor is also most lyrical here, playing so few notes, yet letting each note ring true. The final piece is called "African Skies" and it is a strong final work. Solos by Quinsin on tenor and Ernst on cello are particularly inspired and John Taylor keeps a keeps a stimulating conversation going on throughout on piano. The strings here are woven just right with tenor and piano playing tag and the quintet being balanced perfectly. The Horizons Ensemble is one of the more serious sounding and successful units to emerge from the underground fully (in)formed. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

LP Section:

ANTOLOGIA DE MUSICA ATIPICA PORTUGESA VOL. 2 - Regioes (Discrepant Crep 016; UK) In 1959, Michel Giacometti moved to Portugal and dedicated the following thirty years of his life recording traditional music all over the country. In the present decade, Portuguese music has been thriving and finally travelling abroad, long gone are the days those hidden gems were kept in secret in this distant corner of Europe. The discovery of current Portuguese music sparked an interest to Portuguese music, past and present. With both of those ideas in mind, Giacometti and the interest in Portuguese music, Antologia De Música Atípica Portuguesa creates an anthology of current sounds to the future. You can see it as history being made or a broad catalog of sounds that live and breathe the experimental and electronic that is happening in Portugal. The first step happened in 2017 with the releasing of the first volume on this anthology, O Trabalho ("The Labour") (CREP 035LP), and Discrepant now move onto Vol. 2, Regiões ("Regions"), with each track connecting with a different province from Portugal. Some names return to this volume, like Live Low with the beautifully haunting "Montemor" or Gonzo (Discrepant's own Gonçalo F. Cardoso), affirming his path in building detailed and processed field recordings music. More than a list of names, or songs, this second volume of Antologia De Música Atípica Portuguesa recreates a passage throughout different landscapes of Portugal, constantly leaving a trail of past, present, and future. The trail doesn't limit itself to the music, but to the traditions contained in the sounds and the stories spelled by the words. The beautifully slowed haunting-waltz "Por Riba", by Síria (Diana Combo), sets everything in motion and builds the way to Random Gods' upbeat march "Gazulo à Estronca da Santosa". "Malta Inquieta" (Ondness) embraces the most modern/contemporary side of this volume, proving that Regiões goes beyond the idea of catalog or even its own concept of "anthology" and provides music that's hard to categorize or even judge by modern standards. "Malta Inquieta" is an experimental jazz-electronic modern gem. It's followed by the guitar of Rui Carvalho, aka Filho da Mãe, with "Manta". "Montemor", opener on side B, sets the tone for a different trip, building up on more abstract and freeform music by Banha da Cobra ("Asylo"), Fantama ("Lamento das Beiras"), and the track by Gonzo. Regiões finishes with the right tone, fields recordings worked by Luís Antero, that tie the connection between Giacometti and the now.
LP $22

JON COLLIN - Water and Rock Music Volume II (Feeding Tube Records 418; USA) "The second volume of Water and Rock Music by British guitarist Jon Collin is another solid gambol in the outdoors. For much of this it sounds almost as though Mr. Collin is wearing a pair of hip waders and is up to his ass in a stream, casting for notes the way Hemingway casted for trout. His string bending recalls Loren Connorsat points, but he has a manual approach to filigree Loren has never displayed. Notes bend and hover, but they also flutter, and the combination of sounds is not quite like anything that's preceded it. Some listeners have noted that the environmental sounds put them in mind of new age string pluckers, but Collin's compositions do not fall into the trap of needing to resolve melodic quandaries, or making gestures that chase after standard forms of beauty. Jon's music works as a series of comments on sound and questions about the physical space in which it's created, but like any good philosopher he knows when to leave a sense of mystery hanging in the air. There is plenty of sweetness to the playing here, whether he's strolling through a playground, standing in the middle of a busy street, or sitting the flight path of an airport. The music never seems dictated by the background sounds, so much as it encourages us to consider every part of the sonic construction to be heard as music (in the Cage-ian sense). The elements become a part of the greater whole in a seamless way. And the closer you listen the more that becomes clear. I am still most struck by (at least what sounds like) the 'stream' sequences. But that's just because I really like the visuals it conjures up. You may find different personal sweet spots. But find them you will. Water and Rock Music Volume II is a truly ear-opening spin." --Byron Coley, 2019 Edition of 250.
LP $19

TOM PHILLIPS - Words And Music (Recital 055; USA) Recital label head Sean McCann on Tom Phillips's Words And Music (January 2019): "Words And Music is a rare and sought-after album by artist Tom Phillips (b. 1937). Fueled by painting, opera, and concrete poetry, this LP was originally published by the king, Hansjörg Mayer, in 1975 (this LP has never been repressed). Most are familiar with Tom Phillips' 'After Raphael' painting used on the cover of Brian Eno's Another Green World LP (1975), along with the television series he made with director Peter Greenaway, A TV Dante (1990). However, Tom's crowning achievement is his art-book A Humument: A Treated Victorian Novel (1970). A reworked version of the obscure book, A Human Document, by W.H. Mallock, each page laboriously painted and collaged over. Spools of text are re-discovered from the original book, stitching together a new story surrounding the protagonist, Toge. Six editions have been published from between 1970 and 2017, each with different texts and paintings imagined. Phillips' work has the air of forlorn fantasy to it -- a designed romance. The first side of Words And Music contains four chamber works grown from impressionistic and graphic scores. A lovely flavor of British experimental composition à la Cornelius Cardew (with whom Phillips collaborated in the Scratch Orchestra). Tom's music incorporates touchstones of visual art: in his Irma opera, a band of voice colors wash over slides of chamber melodies; in 'Ornamentik,' (commissioned by Stuart Dempster) acoustic and electronic instruments are played as extended shapes along a piece of paper. The piano piece 'Lesbia Waltz' augments sheet music, cut-up measure by measure, placed and replaced. The second side of the LP holds readings from his famed book, A Humument. Recited by Tom, whose chestnut voice perfectly carries the stanzas of bizarre, romantic poetry. Dancing between meanings with gentle blood and ink soaking on each word." 7"x9" 12-page color pamphlet with scores and program notes; Includes CD; Edition of 215.
LP CD $30

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Bruce Lee Gallanter’s Recommended Gig List for February of 2019:

THE NEW STONE
Is Located at the New School’s Glass Box Theatre
55 West 13th street - just east of 6th ave

GRAND OPENING OF THE STONE BROOKLYN SERIES AT HAPPYLUCKY NO.1!
TWO BENEFIT IMPROV CONCERTS - MARCH 1 and 2 AT 8PM—734 Nostrand Avenue in Bushwick - John Zorn (sax) Michael Nicolas (cello) Ikue Mori (electronics) Mary Halvorson (guitar) Brian Marsella (keyboards) Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Ned Rothenberg (sax) Ches Smith (drums) Tomas Fujiwara (drums) Jim Staley (trombone) Jon Irabagon (sax) Chris Tordini (bass) Brandon Lopez (bass) Miles Okazaki (guitar) and special guests!

TWO classic Stone Improv Nights to celebrate the opening of The Stone Series at HappyLucky No.1 in Brooklyn! Located at 734 Nostrand Avenue near Sterling the beautiful gallery space is easily accessible on the 2, 3, 4, 5 or the A and C trains.

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - JIM BLACK - FEB 26–MAR 2

3/1 Friday
8:30 pm - Jim Black BunkySwirl - Elias Stemeseder (piano, keys) Jim Black

3/2 Saturday (VP)
8:30 pm - EYEBONE - Nels Cline (guitar) Elias Stemeseder (synths) Jim Black (drums)

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - CHES SMITH - MAR 5–9

3/5 Tuesday
8:30 pm - Nels Cline, Val Jeanty and Ches Smith - Nels Cline (guitar) Val Jeanty (electronics) Shahzad Ismaily (bass) Ches Smith (drums, percussion)

3/6 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Mary Halvorson, Liberty Ellman (guitars) Nick Dunston (bass) Ches Smith (drums)

3/7 Thursday
8:30 pm - James Brandon Lewis (sax) Nels Cline (guitar) Nick Dunston (bass) Ches Smith

3/8 Friday
8:30 pm - Kris Davis (piano), Marc Ribot (guitar), Leon Boykins, Devin Hoff (bass), Ches Smith (drums)

3/9 Saturday
8:30 pm - Laugh Ash - Jennifer Choi (violin) Davy Lazar (trumpet) Anna Webber (flutes) Oscar Noriega (clarinets) Michael Nicolas (cello) Ches Smith (drums, vibraphone, electronics)

THE (NEW) STONE is located in The New School’s Glass Box Theatre  
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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Bushwick Improvised Music Series Continues:

Monday March 4th
7pm Blaise Siwula - woodwinds
Jesse Dulman - tuba
Stan Nishimura - trombone
Brian King - drums

8pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Adam Lane - bass
Kevin Shea - drums

9pm Kazuki Yamanaka - saxophones
Todd Neufeld - guitar
Billy Mintz - drums

9:45pm Rodney Chapman - tenor saxophone
Aron Namenwirth - guitar
Zach Swanson - bass
Jeremy Carlstedt - drums

10:45pm Adam Caine - guitar/electronics
Nick Lyons - alto saxophone
Dan Kurfirst - drums

11:30pm Hampus Öhman-Frölund - drums
Robbie Lee - woodwinds

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

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Jazz Habitat (at El Barrio Artspace, 215 E 99th St)

A Music Series presenting Improvised Music and more

Continues this Sunday 3/3:
7pm - William Hooker (dr), On Ka'a Davis (g), Eriq Robinson (tr)
8pm - Santiago Leibson (p), Hery Paz (ts), Juan Pablo Carletti (dr)

upcoming performances:
3/17 Vadim Pevzner, Dmitry Ishenko
Welf Dorr, Dmitry Ishenko, Joe Hertenstein
CP Unit: Chris Pitsiokos, Sam Lisabeth, Henry Fraser, Jason Nazary

3/31
Hans Tammen
Colin Hinton, Cat Toren, Yuma Uesaka
Dafna Naphtali, Gordon Beeferman

$10 suggested donation - closest subway : Q & 6 trains to 96th St
Please check out previous shows on our YouTube channel.

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Saturday, March 2nd at 9pm
at Muchmores
2 Havemeyer St.
Williamsburg 11211 / Muchmoresnyc.com

Michael Schumacher & Tom Chiu
Dafna Naphtali & Chuck Bettis
Briggan Krauss/Hans Tammen/Eli Rojas

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EXPERIMENTAL INTERMEDIA MARCH 2019 PERFORMANCE SERIES

The Forty-fifth Anniversary of EI performances at 224 Centre Street, The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of Experimental Intermedia, the Fiftieth Anniversary of the 224 Centre Street loft, and, not least, The Twenty-eighth Annual Festival with no fancy name, Part Two (or B)- Phill Niblock, curator

Monday 11
Peer Bode, Andrew Deutsch and Rebekkah Palov - A Video Event
Carrier Band: Bode, Deutsch and Palov, with historical recordings by Harald Bode,1949-1986, and Pauline Oliveros,1970-2002; the video "Uber Organ" was made at the Experimental Television Center in Owego, NY and at Peer Bode's home studio on his hand-built, custom Dave Jones Design, digital frame buffer - experimental video instrument; much as life moves forward and back, so do the frames of the video frame buffer with its 48 frame digital-memory-chamber used for looking and considering nearly fifty years of Harald Bode's notebooks; spanning the years 1937 to 1986, the notebooks of pioneering electronic instrument designer Harald Bode are spaces where a new thinking about sound and future electronic instruments evolved and percolated.; a number of new videos as well as "Uber Organ" will be accompanied by the live electroacoustic music of Carrier Band with Peer Bode performing vocoder/language, Rebekkah Palov DJ and real-time processed samples from the Harald Bode Archive and Andrew Deutsch with live mix featuring the unpublished recordings of Pauline Oliveros

Tuesday 12
Chuck Bettis and Dave Grant (New York)
SNAKE UNION is Chuck Bettis (electronics) & David Grant (modular synth). a duo that works in improvisational rhythmic explorations that match analog synths and digital sound processing, modular wires and max patches. By turns psychedelic, delicate, and fuzzed out, the sequenced collides with the freeform as these two soundmakers push into new realms With live video projections by Katherine Liberovskaya

Wednesday 13
James Fei (Oakland) and Kato Hideki (New York)
James (analog electronics) and Kato (bass, electronics) have been working together since 2002; with a shared interest in translating studio recording techniques to live performance and vice versa, the duo’s release Sieves was created with multiple processes where live electronic improvisations were subjected to radical mixing and reverberation in an echo chamber; their performance practice continued to shift over the years through the investigation of feedback, speaker-room interaction and analog circuitry

Thursday 14
Shalom Gorewitz (New Jersey)
The poet Wallace Stevens said that art should be abstract, change, and give pleasure; with the addition of risk, this describes recent work by pioneer video artist Shalom Gorewitz; the screening will include Gorewitz’ infamous strip tease to the national anthem from the early 1970s; a new 360 video Goat’s Head recorded on one of the most dangerous beaches in California; DTTV (dystrumpia television) which explores the causes and possible antidotes for this psycho-traumatic disorder; and collaborations with the poet Rachel Hadas; one of their projects, Elegy for Stivenson Magloire, celebrates the work of an extraordinary Haitian artist Gorewitz met in Port au Prince in 1992 who was assassinated shortly after; Arcade Fire member Richard Parry gave permission to use his music for the soundtrack

Friday 15
Shelly Silver (New York) A Video Event
In Shelly Silver’s frog spider hand horse house, the effort of all things to keep existing has been observed by someone with a camera who seems, as far as personality goes, to be no one; this acutely neutral watcher—curious and patient, pushing very close and holding steady there registers the super-focused effort of all creatures toward the expression of vitality, the stubborn going-on in time of particularly shaped and textured bodies; the first in Silver’s trilogy on our current moment of destabilization, where the animal, vegetable and mineral are jolting into reconfiguration; animals and children are being placed on the frontline of this change and they are the soft and hard focus of frog spider hand horse house

Sunday 17
Bull.Miletic (Oslo) A Video Event
PROXISTANT VISION – a selection of three videos from the body of work created along Bull.Miletic’s ongoing artistic research project focused on the proliferation of new aerial moving imaging technologies and the emergence of a visual modality they call proxistance; the videos are single-channel versions of the three multi-media artworks realized in collaboration with Holly L. Aaron, Mark Boswell, Tom Gunning, Danielle Jorgens, Christopher Myers, Jan C. Schacher and Phill Niblock, whose music features in one of the videos; the production of the artworks was generously supported by Arts Council Norway, Arts Research Center and Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, & Society at University of California, Berkeley, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Media and Communication at University of Oslo, and Department of Cinema and Media Studies at University of Chicago

Monday 18
SCREEN COMPOSITIONS 15 - curated by Katherine Liberovskaya
A Video Event
In tide wave, a quadraphonic video installation, each change from mud flats to high tide and back is transformed into corresponding and overlapping sound waves; this preset will open an evening of new pieces for multi-mic'ed bassoon, quadraphonic speakers and other peripherals; the crossover terrain of timbre and pitch, the inherent dissonance between harmonics of any two consonances, and the tensions between lunar and solar cycles all play a part in the performance, the whole interspersed with miniature acoustic improvisations

Tuesday 19
Biliana Voutchkova and Al Margolis (If Bwana) (Berlin, New York)
A first encounter of bi and al will occur publicly tonight; a phenomena of reaching far beyond the trivia of a first meeting, they will go straight (and deeply) into a musical communication based on devotion, long experience and trust; using strings, reeds, objects, contact mics (or all of the above), listening, responding, conversing; Al describes his most recent work as "quiet wall" or the search for the sounds between: bi's work focuses on detail and slowly developing textures, but still allowing unexpected surprises; they'll merge with the flow of the current moment, or perhaps with the edge of nothing

Thursday 21
Catherine Lamb and Phill Niblock
Ensemble neoN visits Experimental Intermedia on the occasion of the release of the group's new album NEON: NIBLOCK/LAMB on Hubro; in addition to Niblock's Two Tea Roses, the group will give the American premiere of Catherine Lamb's Parallaxis Forma; Ensemble neoN is a Norwegian contemporary music group working across artistic forms, collaborating with visual artists and performers such as Susanna, Phill Niblock, Alvin Lucier, Johannes Kreidler, Oren Ambarchi, Marina Rosenfeld, Jan St. Werner; neoN strives to listen to a world that is constantly changing. It is this attitude that keeps challenging and expanding the ensemble’s musical language