DMG Newsletter for Friday, March 8th, 2019

“Space Hymn” by Lothar and the Hand People

Now, sit in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes and listen very closely to the sound of my voice.
Imagine that there is nothing but you and the sound.
Floating freely high above the Earth.
Now, as you listen you will begin to relax.
Every sound you hear relaxes you further.
Just you and the sound. Your arms and legs feel heavy.
Very heavy. Like lead.
Every sound takes you deeper and deeper.
Nothing can disturb you. Every muscle, every part of your
body is relaxing further and further as you drift
down deeper and deeper.
You are floating away from the sound of my voice but you can still hear it.
Imagine you are riding down an escalator.
Slowly going down farther and farther into deep relaxation.
Feels so good. Now, I'm going to count backwards
from five to zero and on every number you will go
another level deeper.
Relaxing more completely on every count until I reach zero.
On zero you go twice as deep. Backwards from five to zero.
Deeper on every count and on zero, twice as deep.
Five, so relaxed.
Four... Three... Two... down, down
one... zero... way, way down.
Imagine you are floating high above the Earth in deep space
looking out on the universe.
Floating free in Space. Uplifted and filled with a silent " Ahh"
Watching the movement of the stars.

(quiet contemplation)

Sung section:
Standing on the Moon, filled with thoughts of home,
Earth so slowly turning,
twenty thousand years, human hopes and fears,
Are we finally learning?
Riders together on a Starship of stone,
living together, trying together, dying alone.”

In the late sixties and early seventies, WNEW-FM & WABC-FM in New York were free form and adventurous in their musical tastes. I used to listen to Alison Steele, the Nightbird’s show very often as she would champion head music or space music, perfect for music freaks with & without altered minds. I really dug her show and used to carry around a small pad to jot down things I heard. “Space Hymn” by Lothar and the Hand People was one such late night staple. Lothar & the Hand People made two records for Capitol Records in the late sixties and are well worth checking out. The second one was called, ’Space Hymn’. I got to dusk off my copy and give it a listen now. I did catch this band at the Atlantic City Rock Festival in August of 1969, when I was 15 and had to run away from home to attend. That’s another story… BLG

Here is the Sonic List of Tasty Delights from This Week’s DMG Menu:

Joachim Badenhorst / Schmolinar / Niggenkemper Trio LTD ED CD! Three from Dr. Eugene Chadbourne! Zlatko Kaucic 5 CD Set: Evan Parker / Lotte Anker / Johannes Bauer..! 10-32K: Ku-umba Frank Lacy / Kevin Ray / Andrew Drury Roswell Rudd! Vinnie Sperrazza Apocryphal!

Blaise Siwula / Letman-Burtinovic / Panikkar! Metal Chaos Ensemble! Wrong Object Does Zappa! Waldorff / Kaufmann Qt! Trilok Gurtu Trumpet Choir! Current 93! Richard Pinhas! Klaus Schulze! And Even More..!

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

Sunday, March 10th:
6pm: JESSICA / TONY JONES / CHARLIE BURNHAM - CD Release 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
8pm: RANDI PONTOPPIDAN - Solo Vocals & Electronics

Sunday, March 24th:
6pm: ALEX WARD / AMI YAMASAKI / JOSH SINTON - Clarinet / Voice / Bass Clarinet!
7pm: OHMSLICE: MARTIN PHILADELPHY / BRADFORD REED / JANE LeCROY Guest

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 Our Weekly Journey of Sonic Selections of from These Fine Folks:

WATUSSI: JOACHIM BADENHORST / INGRID SCHMOLINAR / PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER - Stargazers (Klein 09; Netherlands) Featuring Joachim Badenhorst on clarinet, Ingrid Schmolinar on piano and Pascal Niggekemper on double bass. I didn’t realize how lucky we were when Dutch reeds wiz, Joachim Badenhorst, was living here a few years back and we had the opportunity to see & hear him live on a number of occasions. Since then, Mr. Badenhorst has been moving around and living in Chicago, Paris and now in Antwerp, Belgium. What makes Mr. Badenhorst so special is this: his playing is consistently inspired and he works hard on each and every release, especially on his own, self-produced Klein label. This disc is fascinating, strange, haunting, stripped down yet bristling with subtle intensity. Eerie, effective field recordings by Mr. Badenhorst. Pretty mesmerizing at times. Ghostlike, spirits being set free... ritualistic... the clarinet sounds like a wheezing baby with Gary Windo-like hair-raising bent-note weirdness. Creepy whispering softly poking through the bell of the clarinet. It sounds as if Ms. Schmolinar is tapping on the strings of the piano with something, giving it a steel drum-like sound. There is a great deal of suspense as things slowly unfold and create a strange dreamlike world. Music or sounds here cast a spell, similar to the way we calmly wait for something magical to occur when we are in the right circumstance. Without a doubt, my fave record of the week, hands down! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18 [LTD Edition Handmade Covers/Stamped & Wrapped in Stargazer Posters]


Three New Discs from the Creative Bizarre World of Dr. Eugene Chadbourne:

ARBE GARBE & EUGENE CHADBOURNE - We Shot Don Cherry (Chadula; USA) Featuring Eugene Chadbourne on banjo & balloons, Federico Galvani on accordion, Flavio Zanuttini on trumpet, Roberto Fabrizio on baritone guitar, Giacomo Zanuttini on tube and Marco Bianchini on drums. In the last batch of discs we got from Dr. Chad, there was a fine Monk tribute disc in which Dr. Chadbourne was backed by two f=different bands, one from Boston and one from Italy. The Italian band is a quintet whose name is Arbe Garbe, and here they again worth with Dr. Chadbourne and cover the great album by Don Cherry called ‘Complete Communion’ (released on Blue Note in 1965). The original alum had two songlike suites, one per album side. It is pretty rare to hear an ensemble cover this record in its entirety, although I did hear Dave Douglas cover this work live. The instrumentation here: banjo, bari el. guitar, accordion, trumpet, tuba & drums, helps transform these suites into something else entirely. You can tell that this unit has worked hard to learn this piece and then perform it in their own band. Thy actually rock out quite a bit with Dr. Chadbourne pushing things over the top with his frenzied banjo insertions. The written material is well-played by the guitar/accordion/tuba/drums rhythm with both horns riding tightly on top. Both trumpeter, Flavio Zanuttini (CD on Clean Feed) and Dr. Chad play tight, fractured lines throughout. There are even some surprising twists & turns like when the ensemble plays a dub/reggae bit with Chadbourne adding some Louie Armstrong like vocals on top. Besides playing mostly banjo, Chadbourne plays balloons at times, rubbing & twisting them into odd shapes. There is something jubilant, even infectious going on here, something that might piss off some jazz snobs but still a gem for those open to adventurous cover versions of rare classics of yesteryear. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

EUGENE CHADBOURNE ROB MAGILL / DANIEL MASIEL // HENRY COWELL - The Banshee: Henry Cowell Piano Music Adapted for Three Electric Guitars with Vincent Price (Chadula; USA) Very strange! This disc features an electric guitar trio of Eugene Chadbourne, Rob Magill and Daniel Masiel. This session was recorded in a garage in Ojia, CA in December of 2018. Dr. Chadbourne has long been covering or adapting the music many different composers from different eras and genres. Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was a pioneering American composer, his music often radical and challenging, especially his piano music. Dr. Chadbourne and his cohorts play an adapted version of of Mr. Cowell’s piano work, “The Banshee”. “The Banshee (1925), requiring numerous playing methods such as pizzicato and longitudinal sweeping and scraping of the strings.” - Wiki. Dr. Chad also uses the voice of sci-fi actor Vincent Price from the movie “The Cry of the Banshee”, to make things even weirder still, with snippets of the soundtrack music also floating in the mix. The scraping of the strings, the use slides and assorted devices (way way, fuzz, etc.) to alter the sound of the guitars, make for a disorienting yet mesmerizing experience. Vincent Price’s voice as well as some of the other actors in the film play a central role at centering the music. At times, the guitar(s) sound like a theremin, rather alien & other-worldly, like way theremins were used in those old sci-fi films in the fifties. I am unsure of how much of the music of “The Banshee” can be heard in this adaption so I will have to find that old LP I have of Doris Hayes performing the piano music of Mr. Cowell and compare. Either way, I found this disc to be successful at capturing a dark, elusive and compelling overall story or journey. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

EUGENE CHADBOURNE with CARRIE SHULL / DAVID DOYLE / LAURENT ESTOPPEY / JIMMY GILMORE / JOE WESTERLUND / DAVID MENESTRES / MOLLY, ELIZABETH & JENNY CHADBOURNE - IWW (Chadula; USA) “ The amazing sounds of the 2017 IWW Band are now here for the enjoyment of one and all, thanks to the folks who managed to limp down to Neptune’s for the January Monday night series, this gathering of performers including all three of my daughters and some of my longest-running cohorts pulled off a repertoire of pieces that should” - Dr. Chad
It is nearly impossible to keep up with the myriad of releases that Eugene Chadbourne unleashes of his unsuspecting audience. I just chose three for this week’s newsletter based on brief descriptions. This 2 CD sets captures a regular Monday night series at a place called Neptune’s. Fun and loose is what this sounds like. Dr. Chad works his way through a couple dozen covers and a handful of originals. The covers include: “Get Off My Cloud” (Rolling Stones), “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance” (Mothers of Invention) with an intro by Jimmy Carl Black (x-Mothers), “How Insensitive” (Astrud Gilberto), “Nazi Punks F*ck Off” (Dead Kennedys), “Song for Aging Children” (Joni Mitchell), “Just Dropped In” (1st Edition)… Doc Chad’s three daughters sit in on background vocals on several songs and sound as if they are having a blast. Some of my favorites here are Dr. Chadbourne’s origin songs, written over a long period of time and still timely since certain things rarely seem to change. This 2 CD set pretty long, more than 2 hours and it is uplifting, a fun free-for-all for the entire family. If laughter is indeed our medicine (as MC BruceLee says), than this release will help us all to feel better. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $15


ZLATKO KAUCIC With EVAN PARKER / LOTTE ANKER / JOHANNES BAUER / AGUSTI FERNANDEZ / PHIL MINTON / RAFAL MAZUR / et al - Diversity (Not Two MW 969; Poland) Featuring Zlako Kaucic on drums, percussion & electric zither with Evan Parker on tenor sax (duo & trio CDs), Agusti Fernandez on piano, Lotte Anker on alto, tenor & soprano saxes, Artur Majewski on trumpet, Rafal Mazur on acoustic bass guitar, Johannes Bauer on trombone and Phil Minton on voice. Over the last decade, Polish percussionist, Zlatko Kaucic, has recorded a dozen discs with an interesting cast: Barry Guy, Peter Brotzmann, Steve Lacy, Joelle Leandre and Stefano Battaglia. Not Two has done a splendid job of producing this fantastic five CD set of solo percussion, a duo Evan Parker, a trio with Parker & Fernandez, a trio with Johannes Bauer & Phil Minton and a quartet with Lotte Anker, Artur Majewski & Rafal Mazur. It you hadn’t hear much from Mr. Kaucic in the past, this 5 CD set captures him superbly in five greats settings. - BLG/DMG
5 CD Set $60


10 32K: KU-UMBA FRANK LACY / KEVIN RAY / ANDREW DRURY ROSWELL RUDD - The Law of Vibration (10-32K; USA) Featuring Ku-umba Frank Lacy on trombone, flumpet & percussion, Kevin Ray on bass and Andrew Drury on drums plus guest Roswell Rudd on trombone for one piece. I recall seeing trombonist Frank Lacy at playing more often during the loft jazz days of the 1970’s, especially in a variety of large ensembles: Carla Bley, Henry Threadgill, McCoy Tyner and the Mingus Big Band. More recently Mr. Lacy’s has been working with Salim Washington & Scott Robinson. His recordings as a leader seem to relatively rare and this seems to the second disc by the 10 32 trio. This is a formidable trio with bassist Kevin Ray (currently working with Matt Shipp in a new quartet) and drummer Andrew Drury (in demand & working with Jason Hwang, Yoni Kretzmer & Jessica Lurie). Mr. Lacy composed two of the six pieces here with two covers (Roswell Rudd & John Coltrane) and two pieces by the two deceased members of the Air: Fred Hopkins & Steve McCAll. Trombone-led trios are pretty rare and this one sounds especially strong. Opening with “1000 Years of Peace”, a great title with a sparkle of hope shining through. Mr. Lacy has a classic, compelling, old school/new school tone on trombone, which stretches from the ancient times (the fifties or so) until today. The piece is mostly written through with strong playing by all three members of the trio. Fred Hopkins’ “RB” starts off with just haunting bowed bass, suspense-filled metal percussion and low-end mallet work. Again, Mr. Lacy’s powerful tone and inspired playing make this a most engaging release. The late, great fellow trombonist, Roswell Rudd, joins the trio for a superb rendition of his own song, “Yankee No-How”. Both trombonists sounds especially inspired playing together, pushing each other and the rest of the trio into the stratosphere of energy. Even when the trombone(s) lay out, the bass and drums sound great on their own and create thoughtful drama, passion and intensity. What amazes me about this trio and this disc is that, the trio sounds so complete, focused, perfect just as they are. The last song is a cover of a far John Coltrane sound, called “Living Story”, and is a found only on a post-humous Trane album. It also sounds strong and it a great way to bring this superb release to a grand close. Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


VINNIE SPERRAZZA APOCRYPHAL With LOREN STILLMAN / BRANDON SEABROOK / EIVIND OPSVIK - Hide Ye Idols (Loyal Label 021; USA) Featuring Loren Stillman on alto sax, Brandon Seabrook on guitar, Eivind Opsvik on bass and Vinnie Sperrazza on drums & compositions. There seems to a wealth of great drummers in the ever-evolving Downtown Scene with new blood popping up all the time. Over the past few years, I have had my eye on Vinnie Sperrazza, who works with many Downtown greats: Jacob Garchik, Jacob Sacks, Noah Baerman & Hank Roberts. Mr. Sperrazza has organized a strong quartet here with Loren Stillman on alto sax, Brandon Seabrook on guitar and Eivind Opsvik on bass. Each one of these players are leaders and diverse collaborators of note.
This disc begins with a song called “Sun Ra”, the visionary composer & big band leader. This piece has an odd, mysterious sound, with what sounds like disembodies voices (through the sax?) floating around the blend. “People’s History” has the sax & guitar playing a tight yet twisted theme together. The ever-unpredictable guitarist, Brandon Seabrook, plays a variety of bent-note, muted sounds, making it difficult to tell who is doing what?!? Most of the music here seems to be better at evoking moods, creating scenes from a film noir. There are few if any solos going on here, it is more like an eerie dreamlike soundscape. It takes some time to get used to the moody vibe here, closer to a soundtrack that any sort of of jazz blowing session. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


BLAISE SIWULA / NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC / JON PANIKKAR - Sedition (Setola Di Maiale ; Italy) Featuring Blaise Siwula on alto & soprano clarinets & tenor sax, Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic on contrabass and Jon Panikkar on drums. After running the ongoing COMA free music series at ABC-No Rio for several decades, local reeds wizard, Blaise Siwual, has continued collaborate with improvisers from the Downtown Scene as well as many world traveling musicians. In the last few years bassist Nico Letman-Burtinovic has played here at DMG on numerous occasions and left us with perhaps a dozen discs with assorted musicians like Guillermo Gregorio, Michael Lytle & his own groups like Split Cycle & Haleoscene. I don’t know much about the drummer here, Jon Pannikar, although he has worked with Erik Plaks (for CIMP) and Aron Namenwirth.
This disc is a studio session from July of 2017. It begins very relaxed with alto clarinet, acoustic bass and drums, calm, free, somber, a clean recording, thoughtful, exquisite… Since I’ve seen/heard Mr. Letman-Burtinovic on so many occasions, I have a good idea of his approach to playing bass. It sounds as if he rubbing the strings with an object or perhaps the back of the bow. When Mr. Siwula switches to tenor, the simmer starts to boil, the intensity increasing slowly yet steadily, the free vibration ascending higher and higher. At the center of this music is a relaxed vibe that makes this easy to listen to. Some folks complain that all or most “free music” is frenzied and/or too far out. This is certainly not the case here. All three members of this trio are integral to the focused group sound. This music is more like a understated conversation between old friends. At times the energy does ascend into more frenetic cascades yet it all feels most natural, completely organic in nature. It reminds me of many of the weekly sets at DMG, where I am proud to give an opportunity to those who deserve to be heard in a sympathetic setting. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10

ARON NAMENWIRTH / ERIC PLAKS / SEAN CONLY / JON PANNIKKAR - Hurricane (Culture of Waste 86202; USA) Featuring Aron Namemwirth on guitar, Eric Plaks on piano, Sean Conly on bass and Jon Pannikar on drums. Practically every Sunday here at DMG, we have 1 or 2 or 3 sets of FREE music, no admission and much of it is indeed ‘free’ stylistically. I am constantly meeting new musicians, both from the Downtown network as well as world travelers from everywhere else. Over the past few months, we had guitarist Aron Namenwirth play here on a couple occasions. He just left us with a recent quartet date/disc which includes pianist Eric Plaks, bassist Sean Conly and drummer Jon Pannikar. I know of Erik Plaks from his playing at the store & records with Blaise Siwula and the Shrine Big Band. Sean Conly can be hear on some two dozen discs from Mara Rosenbloom, Michael Attias and Darius Jones. I only know drummer Panikkar from a recent disc with Blaise Siwula.
This disc was recorded at Scholes St. Studio and mixed/mastered by Jon Rosenberg, one of Downtown’s finest recording specialists. The sound is extraordinary, superbly balanced, often cerebral. The interplay between the guitar and piano is something special, sounding as if they are completing each other’s lines. The rhythm team also listens closely and all participants are connected on different levels. On “Wild Wind”, Mr. Namemwirth uses a slide to coax some spaced out sounds, the quartet focusing on some mesmerizing free floating spirits. What I dig about this is that it reminds me of one of those Dead-like space jams where it all comes together and we are taken away on a journey or space trip. Modest yet outstanding! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


METAL CHAOS ENSEMBLE With PEK / BOB MOORES / ERIC WOODS / ALBEY (BALGOCHIAN?) / YURI ZBITNOV - Electric Sword Machine (Evil Clown 9202; USA) Featuring PEK on alto & bass saxes, clarinets, trombone, flute, dax, ARP synth, etc., Bob Moores on laptop, Moog Emulator, Korg, kracklebox, guitar & space trumpet; Eric Woods on analog synth, metal & wood; Albey (Balgochian) on upright electric bass & electronics and Yru Zbitnov on drums, percussion, bells, kazoo, etc. Recorded at Evil Clown HQ in December of 2018. Metal Chaos Ensemble are one of a half dozen different Leap of Faith offshoot ensembles. I’ve reviewed upwards of 100 Leap of Faith CD’s so far and am much impressed with their consistently engaging improv-based discs. This discs sounds somewhat different from many of the previous discs. It begins with mainly layers of analog electronics. Instead of being completely over the top and alienating, the soundscape here is rarely too dense, the electronics rather warm and inviting. The only other instruments heard in the first section are bells and subtle percussion. Folks who dig early Krautrock spacey electronics (i.e Tangerine Dream), would most likely dig this. When PEK comes in on a double reed, it fits well with the subtle pulsating electronics. It sounds as if Pek’s bent tone reed playing adds a more human touch, the reed being his voice amongst the more restrained electronic spacescape. I have been thinking about relistening to early electronic albums like Roger Powell’s ‘Cosmic Furnace’ or Tonto’s Expanding Headband, from the early 70’s and see how they hold up. It is rare to hear something like that from so long ago. Eventually they get into a great ritualistic, rhythmic groove due to Mr. Zbitnov’s drumming. Take me away and take me today, set me free and get out of the way. Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


THE WRONG OBJECT - Zappa Jawaka (Broken Silence OCD 042; EEC) “Belgian group The Wrong Object are adept at mixing Canterbury styled prog rock with Zappa-esque jazz fusion and Frippertronics to produce a beat that has elements of the past and the future thundering through it. Stories from the Shed cleverly fuses all of these various musical elements together, expertly twisting various world music styles into the mix to produce a varied and unpredictable set of original material.”—Edwin Pouncey, Jazzwise
“Blending the cosmic energies of Nu-jazz with modern rock sensibilities and live electronic devices, the music of the Wrong Object is influenced by a vast array of artists ranging from Canterbury Scene prog rock à la Soft Machine and Gong to Squarepusher, Béla Bartok, Amon Tobin, Aka Moon, Sun Ra, Charlie Mingus and Frank Zappa.
With their aesthetics still rooted in an array of storied inspirational models, Belgian prog jazz heavyweights The Wrong Object ventures further into hybrid musical territories - pushing the boundaries of progressive jazz, rock and contemporary music.
After more than fifteen years of an existence marked by extensive touring, recording and numerous collaborations with international jazz and rock luminaries (Elton Dean, Harry Beckett , Annie Whitehead, Alex Maguire, Robin Verheyen, Ed Mann, ...) and a recent collaboration with the Brussels Philharmonic and the Vlaams Radio Koor (200 Motels – The Suites) Zappa Jawaka marks the band’s first tribute release to the Grand Zazou, one which contains/idiosyncratic, fiery version of such favorites as “I’m the Slime” alongside lesser-known and rarely performed works. This album is sure to please hardcore FZ geeks as well as the uninitiated with a fresh ear for alternative popular entertainment.”
CD $16


HENRIK WALDORFF / ACHIM KAUFMANN / ANTONIO BORGHINI / CHRISTIAN LILLINGER - Coming Up for Air (Trouble in the East 008; EEC) Featuring Henrik Walsdorff on alto sax, Achim Kaufmann on piano, Antonio Borghini on bass and Christian Lillinger on drums. Although this quartet is currently based in Berlin (and recorded there in March of 2018), they are made of members from diverse backgrounds: Waldsdorff (12 discs with Soko Steidle, Sven-Ake Johansson & Ulrich Gumpert; Kaufmann: (2 dozen discs w/ Axel Dorner, Thomas Heberer & Michael Moore); Borghini: (w/ Schlippenbach & a leader date on El Gallo Rojo) and Lillinger (2 dozen discs w/ Rudi Mahall, Rolf Kuhn & Peter Evans).
I recall seeing Mr. Waldsdorff & Mr. Lillinger together at the JazzWerkStatt Fest (in 2010), and thinking what odd looking/acting characters they were. Mr. Waldsdorff danced around with his sax close to the ground and looked like a crab walking. This quartet is feisty and on fire, swirling freely, furiously yet tight & focused. It sounds as if Walsdorff on alto sax, Kaufmann on piano and Lillinger’s drums are speaking in some sort of uptempo morse code language. The energy, the sprawling free spirit and intense, tight connected interplay are extraordinary throughout! - Bruce Lee Gallanter at DMG
CD $15


TRILOK GURTU With PAOLO FRESU / NILS PETTER MOLVAER / IBRAHIM MAALOUF / et al - Spellbound (Moosicus M 1206; Germany) "With Spellbound Gurtu once again underlines the fact that jazz still forms the basis for his musical oeuvre. With his band he takes a surprising leap into the history of swing music in the USA and also plays pieces by style-forming trumpeters who have long been a part of the jazz canon: Dizzy Gillespie's Afro-Cuban classic 'Manteca', or a tribute to the extraordinary fusion sound of Miles Davis from the 1970s, 'Jack Johnson/Black Saint', as well as his 'All Blues' from the masterpiece Kind Of Blue and, of course, Don Cherry's 'Universal Mother' which, with its genre-crossing flow in the version by Gurtu, is almost like a further motto for Spellbound. With the music on his new album the percussionist succeeds in something that nowadays is unusual and indeed rare: building a bridge between the continents and cultures. With 'old' Europe as the geographical basis which, with its multi-layered cultural and musical history, has become Gurtu's second home."
CD $17

Back in stock & on Sale:

BARRY GUY BLUE SHROUD BAND With MICHEL GODARD / PERCY PURSGLOVE / JURG WICKIHALDER / et al - Odes and Meditations for Cecil Taylor (Not Two 980; Poland) The new Barry Guy 5 CD set of The Blue Shroud Band in Small Formations is the most exciting release of the new year called “Intensegrity” (previous 4 CD box was called “Tensegrity” from 2014, I think. The new box is also described as “Odes & Meditations for Cecil Taylor”. the DKV box is recorded live from November 2017 at concerts in France, Poland & Czech Republic and then in late December 2017 at a show @ Sugar Maple in Milwaukee and then 2 homecoming shows @ Elastic Arts in Chicago. I’m so fired up about this one as I’ve been waiting to hear the trio with a foil for Vandermark and I think McPhee is playing at as creative a level as anyone on the planet these days. Looks like we have a few different new members of the Barry Guy band including Percy Pursglove (no Peter Evans this time) & Jurg Wickihalder. Another exciting aspect is that we get the full band on disc 5 with what is called the “Ode & Meditations to Cecil Taylor”. This could be a composed Guy piece. Discs 1 through 4 recorded live @ Alchemia in Kraków, Poland (11/27-29, 2016) and Disc 5 recorded 11/30/2016 @ Radio Kraków. - Steve Reynolds
5 CD Set $60

DKV & JOE McPHEE - The Fire Each Time (Not Two 982; Poland) “Not Two Records presents The Fire Each Time, a 6 CD boxset of recordings from the DKV Trio with Joe McPhee as a guest, and dedicated to James Baldwin. The music was recorded during the quartet's tour in Europe which took place in November of 2017, and at shows in Chicago and Milwaukee from December of that year. These performances are historic in many respects: the DKV Trio – with Hamid Drake [drums], Kent Kessler [bass], and Ken Vandermark [reeds] – has only recorded with other musicians on four occasions in it's two decade career (with Fred Anderson, [Okka Disk, 1997]; Joe Morris on "Deep Telling" [Okka Disk, 1999]; with Mats Gustafsson, Paal Nilssen-Love and Massimo Pupillo on "Schl8hof" [Trost, 2013], and with The Thing ["Collider," Not Two, 2016]); also, this is the first time all four musicians have worked together as a band; and the material documented over the six concerts included in the collection features performances of Joe McPhee's compositions – like his classic "Nation Time" (listen below) as well as completely improvised music generated by the participants.”
6 CD Set $66

JEFF PARKER / JEB BISHOP / PANDELIS KARAYORGIS / NATE McBRIDE / LUTHER GRAY - The Diagonal Filter (Not Two 978; Poland) Featuring: Jeff Parker – guitar, electric guitar, Jeb Bishop – trombone, Pandelis Karayorgis – piano, Fender Rhodes, Nate McBride – bass and Luther Gray – drums. Former Chicago-based jazz guitar hero, Jeff Parker (currently living in LA), is back with a solid Boston-based quintet which includes a couple of other former Chicago-to-Boston transplants: Jeb Bishop and Nate McBride. “Recorded in two sessions across a weekend in late April 2017, and the sessions alternate regularly across the tracklist. Pianist Pandelis Karayorgis plays fender rhodes on session 1, and piano on session 2. Bassist McBride plays electric and upright respectively as well. The blend between the rhodes and Jeff Parker’s electric guitar on session 1 (tracks 1,4, 5, and 9) feels almost like one synthesizer sound in the quiet sections. In general these players blend together very well. This is very composed music, some of the tracks are written like straightforward charts ala Mingus/Monk, but embrace an “out” vocabulary in the classic sense of post-bop atonality. Solos are taken in turn, fours are traded, and very bop-oriented heads are played in unison Jeb Bishop is as precise and adaptive of an ensemble player as ever and is the standout soloist. There is a solo on track 3 (a composition by Karayorgis) where it is just trombone and upright. Jeb shreds but leaves room for alot of tasty accents by McBride. In general, the "electric" session is at times more free and bombastic and reminds me of many Chicago groups of the last decade that i’ve heard. At other times it dips into classic Miles Davis style fusion grooves. The acoustic session tracks (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10) tend to fall into the format of classic adventurous small combo music of the 60s and 70s. It all still feels very original though!” - Frank Meadows, DMG
CD $17

CONCURRENCES: HAVARD WIIK / MICHAEL THIEKE / ANTONIO BORGHINI - Der Lange Schatten (Trouble in East 007; EEC)Concurrences is a unique international trio consisting of Havard Wiik (from Norway) on piano, Michael Thieke (Germany) on clarinet and Antonio Borghini (Italy) on bass. Pianist, Havard Wiik’s name should be familiar since he is a longtime member of Atomic, as well as with several projects with Ken Vandermark and a duo with Francois Houle. Clarinetist Michael Thieke can be heard on some 2 dozen discs with Gebhard Ullmann’s Clarinet Trio plus bands like the International Nothing and the Magic I.D. Bassist, Antonio Borghini, has worked with Wadada Leo Smith, Gunter ‘Baby’ Summer, Alex Von Schlippenbach and Anthony Braxton. A varied lot, indeed. Each of the three members contributed two pieces. This is the second disc in a week with the same instrumentation: clarinet, piano & bass (Ab Baars Trio on RP was last week). This one sounds much more like the Jimmy Giuffre Trio, whose recordings from the early 1960’s showed a rare side of what would become known as chamber jazz or third stream. “Serenata Maledetta” begins quietly before it takes off with the piano and clarinet interweaving several tight orbital lines together, the bass keeping the central pulse. On, “Drunk Octopus wants to Fight”, the music solidifies,become more spirited and wonderfully written (Tristano-like), even swinging in a more ebullient way. On “Stendahl Syndromes”, the bassist keeps busy while the piano and clarinet erupt abruptly around him, extraordinary! The piece evolves into a spacious work with different sparse and explosive episodes. What I like most about this trio is that they seem to jump between freer and tightly sketched sections with ease, hard to tell where one begins and the other ends outside a few obvious themes. This is a most incredible trio, in which all three exchange roles time and again, tossing off bursts of notes and then switching direction at a moments notice. Although all three members of the trio are integral to its brilliance, this is the second disc this month to show off the many talents of clarinetist Michael Thieke. Check out the recent duo disc with Biliana Voutchkova & Thieke on the Elsewhere label, it also rules! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

TILT: OTIS SANDSJO / ALBERTO CAVENATI / TILO WEBER - Zou No Jouro (Trouble in the East 004; EEC) Featuring Otis Sandsjo on tenor sax, Alberto Cavenati on electric guitar and Tilo Weber on drums. Italian guitarist Alberto Cavenati just left us with a half dozen discs from the Trouble in the East label, which is run by German trombonist Gerhard Gschloessl. I hadn’t heard any member of this trio before getting this disc. It sounds as if the trio are getting to know each other better as the disc unfolds. Although it appears to be an all improvised affair, there are some shrew sounding, intricate moments which occur and sound directed. What I find interesting here is that as with many improvised sessions, we never know which direction they will take. Hence there are a number of unexpected twists and turns, song fragments which appear out of nowhere, bring the trio to another surprising place. I got to do some more close listening to hear everything that goes on here. - BLG/DMG
CD Sale $6

ALBERTO CAVENATI With RALPH ALESSI - Lo Spazio Ai Margini (Unit 4394; Switzerland) Featuring Alberto Cavenati on electric & acoustic guitars & electronics, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Guido Bombardieri on alto sax & clarinets, Matteo Lorito on double bass and Vittorio Marinoni on drums. It turns that Italian guitarist, Alberto Cavenati, currently lives in East Berlin and is involved with the Trouble in the East label. This disc, perhaps his only one as a leader, was released in 2013 and features mostly Italian musicians, most of whom I previously know little about. The drummer, Vittorio Martinoni, did work with the great pianist Giorgio Gaslini. The guest here is Downtown trumpeter Ralph Alessi, who has kept a high profile in recent years working with Tim Berne, Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double, Tom Rainey Obbligato plus a couple of great discs on ECM. Mr. Cavenati wrote all but two pieces here. The opening is Aa somber duo for trumpet and quietly fractured acoustic guitar, the vibe is uneasy. The muted mood continues with some superb, sublime soloing from Mr. Alessi while Mr. Cavenati plays in soft, spastic flourishes underneath. Cavenati does a great job of leading the tight, complex rhythm team while the trumpet or reeds (clarinets or alto sax) swirl tightly together up front. Cavenati’s guitar keeps shifting rhythmically, dynamically, adding tasty spice with different yet minimal effects. Both horns take separate strong solos or even solo together at times. Mr. Cavenati plays acoustic on several songs, often strumming moody melodies underneath the waves created by the horn players above. One of the things that makes this music special is that it is often stripped down & spacious without anyone ever playing too many notes. While the rhythm team plays skeletally underneath, both horns take their time to play quirky, inventive solos at a low volume. There are a number of unexpected surprises here, like when the guitar plays those spiky, jazz/rock lines in the middle of “Margen” or the M-Base-like way that the quintet often has two lines or themes moving together at the same time, connected by a central rhythmic scheme. According to Mr. Cavenati, this quintet no longer exists which is unfortunate but they did leave this superb disc which we can dig into time and again. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD Sale $6

GERHARD GSCHLOBBL / ALBERTO CAVENATI / SUNK POSCHL - Bittei (Trouble in the East 001; EEC) Featuring Gerhard Gschloessl on trombone & sousaphone, Alberto Cavenati on guitars and Sunk Poschl on drums & percussion. Italian guitarist Alberto Cavenati recently left us with a half dozen discs from the Trouble in the East label, run by German trombonist Gerhard Gschloessl. Thanks to the JazzWerkStatt & El Gallo Rojo labels, we’ve been introduced to this fine trombone player. The other two members of this trio are new names for me. This session was recorded in a Berlin studio in September of 2014 and appears to be an all improvised affair. Although this disc starts off quietly, by the second piece, the trio erupts: intense, free and filled with frantic interplay. On each piece the trio find a way of weaving their lines together, the interaction moves from tight to loose to explosive to contemplative, blurring any lines that keep it from staying in any one place for very long. This is high end improv at it best so dig in now! - BLG/DMG
CD Sale $6

CURRENT 93 - The Light Is Leaving Us All (The Spheres 022; UK) "The Light Is Leaving Us All is more music from Current 93, everyone's favorite hallucinatory cuneiform super-group. Three years in the making, The Light Is Leaving Us All contains spells within its eleven tracks. C93 are possibly, probably, certainly perhaps: Alasdair Roberts, Aloma Ruiz Boada, Andrew Liles, Ben Chasny, David Tibet, Michael J. York, Ossian Brown, Reinier van Houdt, Rita Knuistingh Neven, and Thomas Ligotti. Remember, remember, your future cartoon is as soft as the tarot!"
$17

PETER THOEGERSEN - Three Pieces In Polytempic Polymicrotonality (New World Records 80812; USA) "The author of these notes has spent his life explaining radical music, and the music on this disc may be the most radical I've ever written about. Peter Thoegersen (b. 1967) is not yet a name known to the music world; not for any lack of connection to other famous musicians, but because he came to composition late, and because his artistic aims are so broad and complex that they have taken years to evolve. His aesthetic is well defined, and he is upfront about having a name for it: 'Polytempic Polymicrotonal Music.' That means he has musical layers simultaneously moving in different tempos, plus, even more radically, that he has different microtonal scales playing at the same time. Few composers have aimed at such fervent and heterogeneous multidimensionality. And yet, while Thoegersen's music can seem overwhelming at first, running through it is a level of charm and simplicity that belies the initial impression. In total, these three pieces emphasize a particular side of Thoegersen's output. The image his music creates of ornately mathematical structures filled with intuitively friendly melodies maps on to the personality of the man himself: outspoken and acerbically ruthless in his musical opinions, Thoegersen is also marked by a jolly sense of humor and an inexhaustible love of cats and other animals that make him ultimately less imposing and more personable than he might seem at first. The same can be said for his music. And by going further than anyone else has gone in terms of this particularly American concept of fusing the polytempic with the polymicrotonal -- extending and combining the conceptual worlds of Ives, Cowell, Nancarrow, Partch, Carter, even Frank Zappa, and many others -- he has created a special place for himself within American music. --Kyle Gann (from the liner notes)"
CD $15

ROBERT FORSTER - Inferno (Tapete 429; Germany) "The jungle is coming up to the door, The birds that are calling are hard to ignore" Inferno is acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Robert Forster's first solo album since 2015 -- his second album over the last eleven years. Forster only makes records when he feels he has the songs -- on Inferno, he has nine he totally believes in. They range from the exhilarating top-ten pop of "Inferno (Brisbane In Summer)", the beach shack groove of "Life Has Turned A Page", via the 1977 New York strut of "Remain", to finish in a way that this concise, brilliant, drama- and wit-filled album only can -- on the big build epic "One Bird In The Sky". Inferno was made in Berlin in 2018, during the hottest German summer in decades. Noted producer/engineer Victor Van Vugt -- Beth Orton Trailer Park (1996), PJ Harvey's Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000) -- recorded the album; the first time he and Forster had worked together since Van Vugt engineered Forster's debut solo album classic Danger In The Past in Berlin in 1990. Inferno in its making is a perfect mix of the familiar and the new. Also working with Forster again, are Brisbane based multi-instrumentalists Scott Bromley and Karin Bãumler from Songs to Play (TR 324CD/LP, 2015), while new recruits are drummer Earl Havin (Tindersticks, Mary J. Blige) and keyboardist Michael Muhlhaus (Blumfeld, Kante). Four musicians from the corners of the world, who, with Van Vugt's bold and beautiful production, sound like a band of the ages. In front of them, Forster delivers the best vocal performances of his career over the last four years Forster has been busy. He curated the acclaimed, Domino Records released, Anthology Volume 1 1978-1984 on his old band The Go-Betweens. His memoir Grant & I was Mojo and Uncut's "Book Of The Year". He continues to publish music journalism, play concerts, and he never stops writing beautiful songs.
CD $17

Historic Recordings & Reissues:

RICHARD PINHAS - L’Ethique (Bureau B 293; Germany) Bureau B present a reissue of Richard Pinhas's L'Ethique, originally released in 1982. Following the vaguely poppy shapes of 1980's album East West (BB 292CD/LP), his fifth album L'Ethique saw the ex-Heldon guitarist and synth wizard return to bigger and bolder band-like methods. After the release he disappeared from the limelight for nearly a decade and returned in the 1990s. Interviewed by the Electronics & Music Maker magazine in 1982, Pinhas spoke in buoyant terms about the future of his recording career. Having just unveiled his fifth solo album, L'Ethique, he was already scheming towards its follow-up. It would see him shift from analog-based methods to digital systems. He expected the album to arrive in 1984. Little did anybody know that the mooted record would not actually materialize. The year after that interview took place, Pinhas was plunged into a long period of depression. "I stopped everything and didn't think I would ever come back to music," he remembers. "I decided music was no longer for me. I'd said what I had to wanted to say, and it was done. It was out of my head and out of my life." Thus, he sold all his synthesizers and tried to survive on their profits along with royalties from his back catalog. L'Ethique now looked as though it was Pinhas's final artistic statement. It saw Pinhas return to bigger and bolder band-like methods. His collaborators included bassist Bernard Paganotti and Clément Bailly, both of whom performed in Magma. Moog player Patrick Gauthier made a reappearance too. The line-up brought a phat and forceful feel to the crunching jazz-rock fusion of "Belfast" and "Dedicated To K.C.", a vibrant space-rock stomper that lurks on some distant planet between the extraterrestrial habitats of King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Hawkwind. Part 1 of "The Western Wall" has a particularly fast tempo. Interspersing these rockers sit some mellower moments. The title of the gorgeous synth rumination "Melodic Simple Transition" seems far too modest. Despite its dark and brooding synth chords, the second instalment of "The Western Wall" has a strangely calming effect on the senses. Pinhas disappeared from the limelight for nearly a decade under the weight of his depression, but he eventually returned in the 1990s. "The real miracle is that I reconnected with the musicmaking process," says Pinhas on overcoming his reclusive years. "It is easy to fall, but very difficult to come back."
CD $17

KLAUS SCHULZE'S WAHNFRIED - Trancelation (Made in Germany MIG 1732; Germany) "Not quite a normal Schulze-Album. This album is one of Klaus' sideline ideas, a "Wahnfried" release. And certainly not exactly a genuine and typical 'Schulze', if such a character does exist at all. In the '90s there was a new musical dance fashion, called Techno, Trance, Ambient or Chillout, and most of its champions called Klaus and Kraftwerk respectfully the 'Fathers of Trance and Techno'. Parts of former Schulze discs were being played in dance halls, and Techno producers used Klaus' music for their own creations. Fashionable groups such as The Irresistable Force, Future Sound of London or The Orb asked for their use of Klaus Schulze samples, plenty of others just used them. New musical heroes such as Sven Väth or William Orbit talked with Klaus about a maybe musical cooperation... Klaus seemed to like it, or at least some of it. The situation was curious. Klaus Schulze was once described as 'pioneering, single-minded and influential, a musician with taste for adventure.' No one else can claim to have been so important a force behind the music that becomes known as 'New Age' or the later subcultural 'Ambient-House'. His greatest triumph as a musician is the almost single-handed creation of synth-sequencer music and the related genres 'Cosmic Music' or 'Teutonic Synth', which later composers and musicians all over the world have latched on to 'Sure enough!' After doing his own crazy innovative music for a quarter of a century, suddenly some young pop musicians use freely what he did all those years, and sell it as their new invention. And people enjoy and dance to it. The obvious idea for Klaus Schulze was, to do a 'Trance' album himself. It promised some fun. Because this is a bit apart from his own musical direction, Klaus did it under his alter ego Wahnfried, as always not as the only driving force as in any Schulze production, but just one artist among others."
CD $22

SPIRITUAL JAZZ 9 - Blue Notes Parts One & Two (Jazzman 103; UK) The Blue Note Record label needs little introduction. Musically, graphically and sonically iconic, the label created and defined the golden age of modern jazz on record. Founded in 1939 by German émigré Alfred Lion, the label's roster of artists is a litany of giants -- Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, and many more. With peerless musicians in the grooves, the legendary Rudy Van Gelder behind the boards, and graphic design genius Reid Miles creating emblematic artwork for every release, Blue Note -- "the Cadillac of the jazz lines" -- was outstanding in every way. Volume 9 of Jazzman's ground-breaking Spiritual Jazz series takes a close look at the deeper side of Blue Note -- from the experimental avant-garde explored by younger musicians such as Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, and Pete La Roca, to the exciting new developments in modal sounds put forward by stalwarts Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, and Duke Pearson. The music we have selected shows how musicians working with the label responded to a period of dramatic social and sonic change, charting the route toward the esoteric and spiritualized sounds that would dominate the deepest jazz of the 1970s. As ever, Blue Note had lit the path, and this new Spiritual Jazz collection shows that the progressive and underground jazz sound of the 1960s was not only the preserve of obscure artists and private pressings. Blue spirits and heavy sounds on Blue Note -- the finest in jazz since 1939, brought to you by Jazzman.
Available as a double-CD set, Parts One & Two (JMAN 103CD). Part One features: Bobby Hutcherson, Pete Laroca, Wayne Shorter, Elvin Jones, Andrew Hill, Eddie Gale, Duke Pearson, Bobby Hutcherson, Duke Pearson, and Freddie Hubbard. Part Two features: Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, Duke Pearson, Wayne Shorter, Hank Mobley, Pete La Roca, Freddie Hubbard, Booker Ervin, and Solomon Ilori.
2 CD Set $18

LP Section:

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
LP $25 [LP version contains two of the three longs tracks from the CD version]

TOMAS FUJIWARA With MARY HALVORSON / BRANDON SEABROOK / RALPH ALESSI / TAYLOR HO BYNUM / GERALD CLEAVER - Triple Double (Firehouse12 04-01-026; USA) Featuring Mary Halvorson & Brandon Seabrook on guitars, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, Thomas Fujiwara on drums & compositions and Gerald Cleaver on drums. With each of Tomas Fujiwara’s previous discs as a leader, he has expanded the personnel and his palette as a composer. From duos through trios through his quintet (The Hook Up) until this, now his sextet or perhaps a double trio. Since both quitters and both brass players are so different in their approach, Fujiwara works hard to utilize their distinctive styles. “Diving for Quarters” starts with both guitars playing these bent lines together, fractured yet somehow interlocking just right. The back gets into a great, somewhat twisted groove, repeating over and over, with the trumpets sailing/soloing one at a time over the top. The last section of this piece features both drummers playing the spinning lines together in a tight communion. Mr. Fujiwara does a good job of creating these intricate patterns or grooves and then having them shift into something else entirely midway through a piece. Another great device is having the drums and guitar(s) locking into to one another while one of the brass men solos on top. Since both Mr. Seabrook and Ms. Halvorson can shred when need be, they both employ some furious, spiky lines both together and apart. Tomas uses the voice (spoken word from a drum lesson?) of his former teacher & legendary drummer, Alan Dawson, for a piece called, “For Alan” which features some wonderful double drum interplay, a tour-de-force by both drummers who work so well together. Like the guitarists, both horn players have their own unique voices and get a chance to stretch out with several inspired solos. I dig near the end of “Decisive Shadow”, when one of the guitarist kicks in the distortion pedal to give this piece more of a sort of punk or no wave edge, an unexpected delight. Every time I listen to this disc, I hear more intricate interaction and arrangements that might go unnoticed until we have time to listen closer for a second or third time. I have caught this band twice and appreciate that they are one of the best of Downtown’s most demanding units. Looking forward to listening to this again to hear even more buried treasure. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 LP Set $45 [This 2 LP Set contains two bonus tracks not found on the CD version]


PHILIP GLASS - Music in Twelve Parts (Live in Paris, 1975)(Transvers Disques 009; France) Lost Philip Glass recordings from 1975, from Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF). The newly discovered and unreleased concert from 1975 recorded by the Philip Glass Sextet at La Maison de la Radio, Paris. The sextet was composed of Philip Glass, Jon Gibson, Dickie Landry, Michael Riesman, Joan La Barbara, and Richard Peck. Music in Twelve Parts is a set of twelve pieces written between 1971 and 1974. This performance in France includes "Part 1", "2", "3", "11", and "12" on a double LP. Also included on side D is a rare Philip Glass interview from 1974 in his New York City loft during the rehearsals of this piece, produced for the French radio by Daniel Caux, musicologist and co-founder of Shandar Records. Released in partnership with the National Audiovisual Institute -- INA. "A new sound and a new chord suddenly break in, with an effect as if one wall of a room has suddenly disappeared, to reveal a completely new view." --Andrew Porter, New Yorker, 1978 Gatefold sleeve.
2 LP Set $32

WERNER DAFELDECKER With BURKHARD BEINS/MARTIN BRANDLMAYR/JOHN TILBURY/ et al - Small Worlds (Edition Telemark ET 864-04; Germany) Small Worlds (2004) is a 42-minute composition for improvising sextet by Austrian double bassist, composer and improviser Werner Dafeldecker. The score is written for any instrument and divides the players into two virtual trios whose constellations change every three minutes. No restrictions are made regarding material or playing techniques, the only specification is that in each three-minute trio, one player has the role of the "dynamic leader" which means that no other player within the trio should play louder than the one on that leading position. Apart from that, the only other restriction concerns how pauses are to be made when two players interchange their positions within the trios. According to Dafeldecker, the object of the piece is to provide a structure that doesn't curtail the qualities of the musicians, yet forces them to listen very closely to each other and make focused decisions about parameters that are often overlooked in completely free improvisation. Especially, the given structure avoids the emergence of certain clichés that are often present in free improvisation, while retaining a very high level of openness with regard to how the piece is performed. The first published recording of Small Worlds, by Australian ensemble Quiver, was released in 2017 on CDr by Tone List. This LP contains a recording made in 2004 at Taktlos Festival in Basel, Switzerland, that features the line-up that Dafeldecker originally had in mind when he wrote the piece: Burkhard Beins (percussion), Martin Brandlmayr (percussion), Werner Dafeldecker (double bass), Klaus Lang (organ), Michael Moser (cello), and John Tilbury (piano). Partly, this constellation later also played together in the long-running avant-garde group Polwechsel. Comes in sleeve with three inserts: two featuring an extensive conversation between Werner Dafeldecker and Matthias Haenisch discussing Small Worlds, Polwechsel and free improvisation in general (German and English), the third reproducing the score of the piece; Edition of 300.
LP $28

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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

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - CHES SMITH - MAR 5–9

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 STONE RESIDENCIES - TALEA - An intimate series of solo and duo concerts by members of the Talea Ensemble featuring contemporary compositions and a few world premieres.
MAR 12–16

3/12 Tuesday
8:30 pm - SPECIAL SHOW—LILY MAASE: The Suite Unraveling - Lily Maase (guitar, electronics) Jeff Tobias (saxophone, synth) Nick Millevoi (electric bass) Tyshawn Sorey (drums)

3/13 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Marianne Gythfeldt (clarinet) Adrian Morejon (bassoon); Works by Edward Jacobs, Mikel Kuehn, Eun Young Lee, Georges Aperghis, Filippo Santoro, Marc Mellits

3/14 Thursday
8:30 pm - Hannah Levinson (viola)
Works by Marcello Messina, Lucia Ronchetti, Marco Momi, Franco Donatoni

FRIDAY MARCH 15 AT 630 PM!
THE MUSIC OF LEE HYLA
DONT MISS THIS SPECIAL TRIBUTE CONCERT TO ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS!
A rare performance of works for cello by the fabulous Lee Hyla, featuring Mother Popcorn Revisited, Amore Scaduto, How Was Your Weekend, Winter/Fall, Dream of Innocent III, and Amnesia Redux

3/15 Friday
6:30 pm - THE MUSIC OF LEE HYLA - Bryan Hayslett (cello) Marilyn Nonken, Tristan McKay (piano) Jessica Tsang (percussion) Michiko Theurer, Paul Hauer (violins) Hannah Levinson (viola); Repertoire: Mother Popcorn Revisited, Amore Scaduto, How Was Your Weekend, Winter/Fall, Dream of Innocent III, and Amnesia Redux
8:30 pm - Chris Gross Solo (cello); Works by Alvin Lucier, Giacinto Scelsi, Salvatore Sciarrino, Mario Diaz de Leon, Eva-Maria Houben

3/16 Saturday
8:30 pm - Greg Chudzik (double bass) Tristan Kasten-Kraus (double bass) Evan Runyon (double bass) Pat Swoboda (double bass) - Works by Greg Chudzik

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

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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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