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DMG Newsletter for Friday, March 22nd, 2019

Woodstock by Joni Mitchell

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him where are you going
And this he told me
I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm
I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm going to camp out on the land
I'm going to try an' get my soul free

We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe it's the time of man
I don't know who I am
But you know life is for learning

We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation

We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden

The end of August of this year will be the 50th Anniversary of The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival which took place in Bethel, near Woodstock, NY. I didn’t attend myself since I was up at Boy Scout Camp and thought that hitching there in my Boy Scout uniform wouldn’t be a good idea. Anyway, I had run away from home to attend the Atlantic City Rock Festival earlier that month. 1969 was a turning point in many ways, politically, socially, and most importantly for many of us, musically. It was the end of an era (the 1960’s) and the beginning of another era (the 1970’s & beyond). Tonight (3/21/19), I am attending a celebration of the Woodstock Fest, performed by & featuring a number of Downtown’s best guitarists: Nels Cline, Brandon Seabrook, Ben Monder, Anupam Shobhakar, Scott Metzger and Joel Harrison, who also organized this event, the Alternative Guitar Summit. It should be great and I am completely psyched!
I recently read a lengthy article on Joni Mitchell in Mojo Magazine and have been thinking about Joni, her songs, her albums and her legacy. I listened to her first two albums earlier this and just listened to ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ earlier today. This is where the song “Woodstock” first appeared although Ms. Mitchell’s friends, Crosby, Still, Nash & Young covered it as well. I am a longtime Joni Mitchell fan and still go back to many of her classic albums, ‘Hejira’ (my fave), ‘Mingus’ and ‘The Hissing of Summer Lawns’. I will drink a toast to Ms. Mitchell tonight and no, she hasn’t passed away. Check out the words to “Woodstock” above, they still ring true and capture a special moment in time. - BLG

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The Menu of Sonic Delights for This Week’s Newsletter Features:

Fred Frith Live at The Stone 3 CD Set: Evan Parker / Laurie Anderson / Sylvie Courvoisier..! Stephan Crump / Ingrid Laubrock / Cory Smythe! XOL with Peter Brotzmann & Harri Sjostrom! Keith & Julie Tippett Qt! Daniel Carter / Federico Ughi Qt!

William Hooker Trio! Ben Stapp / Joe Morris / Stephen Haynes! Shawn Persinger! Steve Dalachinsky & the Snobs! Markus Stockhausen! Akiko Yano! LP’s by Acid Mothers Temple! Phew/Oren Ambarchi/Jim O’Rourke! Alvin Curran! Two by Julius Eastman! And Much More..!

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The DMG FREE Music Series Continues Every Sunday at 6pm and Features:

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

Sunday, April 7th:
6pm: CHET DOXAS - Solo Tenor Sax
7pm: FERAL CHILDREN: NOAH BECKER / NICK DUNSTON / LESLEY MOK

 Sunday, April 14th:
6pm: DAVID GROLLMAN - Solo Snare
7pm: DREW WESELY / DAVE ZAKARIAN - Guitar and Alto Sax
8pm: VIV CORRINGHAM / MIA ZABELKA - Voice / Violin

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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Two DMG Recommended Gigs for This Week:

The Schlippenbach Trio Featuring:
Evan Parker — tenor & soprano saxes
Alexander von Schlippenbach — piano
Paul Lytton — drums
This Monday, March 25, 2019 @ 8:00 pm
At Roulette - 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Tickets: https: roulette.secure.force.com/ticket

JOHN ZORN'S STONE COMMISSIONING SERIES PRESENTS:
AVA MENDOZA - SOLOS AND DUOS WITH NELS CLINE
Wednesday, March 27th at 7pm
At National Sawdust - 80 North 6th St., Brooklyn, NY, 11249
646-779-8455 / info@nationalsawdust.org

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This Week’s Amazing Discs Begin with This Dynamic 3 CD Set:

FRED FRITH with LAURIE ANDERSON / EVAN PARKER / SYLVIE COURVOISIER / NATE WOOLEY / SHELLEY HIRSCH / IKUE MORI / PAULINE OLIVEROS / GYAN RILEY / et al - All Is Always Now (Live)(Intakt 320; Switzerland) Personnel: Laurie Anderson, Amma Ateria, Sylvie Courvoisier, Nava Dunkelman, Fred Frith; Jordan Glenn, Shelley Hirsch, Jason Hoopes, Annie Lewandowski, Jessica Lurie, Miya Masaoka, Ikue Mori, Pauline Oliveros, Evan Parker, Gyan Riley, Else Olsen Storesund, Sudhu Tewari, Clara Weil, Theresa Wong and Nate Wooley. Between 2006 and 2016, Fred Frith played 80 concerts at New York's unique space for experimental music, The Stone. A selection of his encounters with such powerful and creative personalities as Laurie Anderson, Pauline Oliveros, Sylvie Courvoisier, Evan Parker, Nate Wooley has been combined in this 3-album set comprising 23 fascinating tracks. It is a decade-long adventure in improvisation. The musician Theresa Wong writes: “I was struck by the musicality. What I mean by that is: there‘s this presence of songs and song forms – the music can be harmonic and melodic, there‘s noise, there‘s rhythm, a joyfulness, an exploration, a sensuality of sounds, but always underlining that is a musicality that feels to me like songs.“
There are handful of master musicians whose live sets in town I rarely miss: Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy, John Zorn and Fred Frith. I have checked out hundreds of sets from Mr. Zorn and Mr. Frith throughout the 40 years that I’ve know of these folks. I attended most of the sets that Fred Frith did at The Stone from the several sessions recorded between 2006 and 2016. This triple CD set has quite a bit of incredible, diverse improv. I am still working my way through it and it just keeps getting better. Beyond extraordinary! Fred Frith will return to The Stone for another weeks worth of sets from September 24th to September 28th, 2019. Don’t miss out! - BLG
3 CD Set $46

STEPHAN CRUMP / INGRID LAUBROCK / CORY SMYTHE - Channels (Intakt 319; Switzerland) “For me, free improvisation is nothing more than composing – spontaneous composing from the moment," says bassist Stephan Crump. In this trio, three ideal-typical partners come together who bring along thinking in compositional structures. Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock is active as a composer in her countless projects, always swinging playfully between composition and improvisation and moving light-footedly between harmonic and rhythmically bound jazz and free improvisation. The pianist Cory Smythe (decorated with a Grammy for the recording "In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores" 2015) originally comes from new serious music and, is a lust-walking border crosser between new music and jazz improvisation. With Stephan Crump, who, in addition to his engagement in the Vijay Iyer Trio, is also often on the road in chamber music formations, the three of them provided a festival highlight with their filigree art of improvisation: enjoy these sonic subtleties, most of which are drawn from tranquillity, and expansive arcs of tension in which, according to Crump, "every note becomes a planet".
CD $18


Last Summer, the great Underground, Free/Music label, Improvised Beings from France, released their last disc and quietly disappeared. Run by Julien Palermo, Improvised Beings was the quintessential Free/Music label which released 60 plus CD’s & CD-R’s of unique sessions from: Sonny Simmons, Alan Silva, Francois Tusques, Itaru Oki, Joe Rigby, Linda Sharrock, Eric Zinman, Mario Rechtern and many others, for the better part of a decade. Originally, Mr. Palermo ran earlier labels like Hello World which released exclusively rare discs from Sonny Simmons. Mr. Palermo was most discouraged when his label collapsed and returned all of his CD’s back to the musicians. I always thought that Improvised Beings was an important label of capturing various types of Free Music which so few others would take the time to promote. The below CD was their last release and it went sadly unnoticed at the time. It is indeed an incredible 2 CD Set and we have just 20 copies and that is it! Thanks to Julien Palermo for all of his efforts throughout the years!

XOL With GUY BETTINI / LUCA PISSAVINI / FRANCESCO MICCOLIS PETER BROTZMANN or HARRI SJOSTROM - Exit to Now (Improvised Beings 62; France) XOL features Guy Bettini on trumpet & flugelhorn, Luca Passavini on double bass and Francesco Miccolis on drums plus Harri Sjostrom on CD-1 and Peter Brotzmann on CD-2. I reviewed a newer disc yesterday by XOL, an Italian trio with special guest Harri Sjostrom on soprano sax. You should recognize the name, Harri Sjostrom, Finnish saxist from his various recordings with Cecil Taylor. Brassman, Guy Bettinin also worked with Gerry Hemingway for a recent quartet CD on Leo Record. The quartet session with Mr. Sjostrom was recorded at Sowieso in Berlin in June of 2016. The music on this disc is extraordinary, free, intense, focused, organic, superbly well-recorded, I’m not so sure how often this quartet got together but is disc is indeed inspired thoughout.
CD-2 features the unstoppable Peter Brotzmann on tenor sax & taragato, plus the XOL trio with Bettini on trumpets, Pissavini on double bass and Miccolis on drums. This disc/session was also recored at Sowieso in Berlin in June of 2015. Right from the opening salvo, the quartet takes off, burning, roaring intensely, the usual energy blast that Mr. Brotzmann specializes in. There is a great deal of intense back & forth action going on between the tenor sax and trumpet frontline and explosive rhythm team. The long opening track, “Xolomoto” is fire music at its best! Things calm down on the second piece, the intensity still bristling, the energy still churning below the surface. This is a colossal quartet, a perfect match for Mr. Brotzmann, who can match his inventiveness, power and unstoppable spirit no matter what level it rises to. The rhythm team here is also special, immensely inventive no matter what. If you need some inspiration to match the intensity of BS being thrown at us every day, go no further than this mighty fine 2 CD set. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD set $18

XOL With HARRI SJOSTROM / GUY BETTINI / LUCA PISSAVINI / FRANCESCO MICCOLIS - XOL Plays X.En (Chant Records CR 1808XO; USA) Featuring Guy Bettini on cornet, trumpet & flugel, Harri Sjostrom on soprano sax, Luca Pissavini on double bass and Francesco Miccolis on drums & percussion. The vast Italian jazz scene has expanded at an astonishing rate with dozens of great labels and hundreds of creative musicians. Last month, I reviewed a quartet CD called Exodus on Leo with Gerry Hemingway and Guy Bettini. I didn’t quite know of the three Italian musicians here, but it turns out that Luca Passavini has worked with Ken Vandermark (on Rara Avis) and other discs on the Not Two label. I do know of Finnish saxist Harri Sjostrom from his ongoing collaborations with Cecil Taylor and Quintet Moderns (w/ Paul Rutherfprd & Phillip Wachsmann).
Right from the opening eruption, there is something strong and spirited going on here. The balance and overall recording is superb, whether soft or busy or in between. The energy on “To Receive the Image” is exhilarating, explosive. There is a great deal of criss-crossing interactions going on here. If you dig free music at its best, this disc is for you! What often makes this special is the consistently spirited interaction between Mr. Bettini and Mr. Sjostrom, no matter where they go, the dialogue is tight and intense. The rhythm team here is also excellent, focused and ever-evolving, keeping the quartet a consistent, edge-of-your-seat treasure. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

KEITH & JULIE TIPPETT / LINO CAPRA VACCINA / PAOLO TOFANI - A Mid Autumn Night's Dream (Dark Companion 006; DCLP 006; Italy) “Another true masterpiece. A Mid Autumn Night's Dream faithfully report a one-shot concert that took place at Conservatorio Nicolini in Piacenza on October 1st, 2016. The four giants of new music never played together before: Keith Tippett, Julie Tippetts, Lino Capra Vaccina, and Paolo Tofani. As the lights turned off something magic started. A spontaneous interplay, an amazing flowing of notes. The subject was the night, its mystic flavors. Paolo Tofani, now a Hindi monk, is a living legend in Italian avantgarde music having been the driving force of the band Area in the seventies. He worked and recorded with many musicians including John Cage, Alvin Curran, Steve Lacy, just to mention a few. His last album, Real Essence (2015), an acoustic solo album, impressed the late Greg Lake who eventually wrote the liner notes. Lino Capra Vaccina provided the visionary sound of the seminal Italian ensemble Aktuala then formed the legendary Telaio Magnetico with Franco Battiato and Juri Camisasca, and later played percussion in La Scala Orchestra with Claudio Abbado. In Italy he is a true legend and a respected musician. His first solo album, Antico Adagio (DS 027-1LP/027CD) along with his last one Metafisiche del Suono (DCLP 002CD/LP), are considered amongst the very best avant garde albums ever. Keith Tippett is another living legend in British jazz music -- band leader, composer, and visionary pianist -- with an uncompromising career full of outstanding gems. A larger audience knows him as a member of King Crimson or the leader of Centipede. His skills go from contemporary jazz to larger compositions for orchestra and classical music as well. One of his latest piano solo album, Mujician IV live in Piacenza, has been critically acclaimed all over the world. Julie Tippetts lent her fantastic voice to various situations, many times side by side with her husband Keith. The team called one of their duo album, Couple in Spirit (1988), as they are in life and art. Julie is a fantastic musician who added a magic touch, a siren call to this masterpiece.”
CD $18 [In stock early next week]

DANIEL CARTER / TOBIAS WILNER / DJIBRIL / FEDERICO UGHI - New York United (577 Records 5803; USA) Featuring Daniel Carter on alto & tenor saxes, flute & trumpet, Tobias Wilner on electronics, synth & beats, Djibril Toure on bass and Federico Ughi on drums. Even as CD sales continue to dwindle, several local label (Relative Pitch, Chant & Greenleaf) have become more prolific, releasing one gem after the other. The 577 Records label was founded by Italian-born, Brooklyn-based drummer Federico Ughi and has released nearly a dozen LP’s & CD’s over the past year or two. Many of these releases feature Mr. Ughi on drums and the ubiquitous hornman, Daniel Carter on reeds & trumpet. Mr. Ughi recently left us with three new LP’s and one CD. He says he wants to release an LP a month for as long as if possible so we got to give him credit for his ambitious endeavor.
’New York United’ does feature the usual dynamic duo of Daniel Carter & Fedrico Ughi with two musicians with whom I wasn’t familiar as of now: Tobias Wilner on electronics & beats and Djibril Toure on bass. Most of the other discs on 577 have been free/jazz sessions with revolving personnel, all interesting and different depending on who is involved. This session however,is very different as it features quite a bit of beats and grooves. The first piece, “Canal Street” (which is a few blocks from our store), starts with a fine, laid back, looped groove, spacey samples and haunting flute. Soon, a strong, drum n’bass-like beat kicks in, somber yet still infectious. Daniel Carter plays some hypnotic muted trumpet on top while the inner groove pulsates. “125th Street” (the center of Harlem), has another swell, slamming groove with some strong fuzz-bass (samples?) in the center of the groove. It is surprising to hear Mr. Ughi playing a great, throbbing, somewhat funky groove on the drums, something he has rarely if ever recorded before this. The vibe is rather Electric Miles-like and Mr. Carter does a fine job of adding his subtly echoplexed trumpet to the swirling waves underneath. “Nostrand Avenue” (in Bushwick where HappyLucky No. 1 is), is long and has another infectious, mesmerizing groove. There are several layers of dreamy samples, all spun together to create a cerebral web. The overall vibe here is a laid-back, slow groove, chillin’ sort of dance music vibe. Over the last few years, the ever-gigging Daniel Carter, has been laying back on certain sessions. Here, he plays with a lovely sense of restraint and poignancy, never wasting a note. The last piece, “East Flatbush”, sounds particularly mellow, Mr. Carter’s tone, so sad and lovely. This CD and LP release is pleasant, enchanting surprise and completely different from anything else on the label. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
LP $20

WILLIAM HOOKER With MARK KIRSCHENMANN / JOEL PETERSON - “Revolutionary drummer William Hooker leads a new trio with Mark Kirschenman non trumpet, and Joel Peterson on bass. Recorded live in one take at Trinosphes in Detroit, ‘Cycle of Restoration’ starts at the bottom with no apparent leverage, in an hour of constant upheaval overturning the possibilities of music. Deceptively serene out of the zero code, you soon realize that your mind has been re-tuned to a new understanding of reality: reach into the part that psilocybin touches, without acid, and see the same tables, the same trees, the same windows and walls but now knowing that while these endure the human structures that imprison the self will fall away. Leading from the kit with long streams of felted cymbals, Hooker reveals a new chapter of his eternal unfolding, one that will surprise even those who have followed him these 40-some years. Cycle of Restoration is a revelation of renewal with SE MI pillars Kirschenmann and Peterson filling peals, clangs and scrapes. We ascend. Climb. We keep on walking this way up, realizing this progress. Where do we go when we reach the top? How do we entertain the idea of a reality that moves in a circle? Not gone, just unfolded. Cycle of Restoration. Revolutionary, for the mind, means we revolve. These sounds bring us full circle.”
CD $12

BEN STAPP / JOE MORRIS STEPHEN HAYNES - Mind Creature Sound Dasein (Listen! Foundation! FSR 03-2019; Poland) Featuring Ben Stapp on acoustic tuba, euphonium & objects, Joe Morris on electric guitar & pedals plus Stephen Haynes on cornet(s). I recall the olden days when folks used to make fun of the tuba, an unwieldy, oversized instrument, the elephant amongst the great brass family. In the late sixties & seventies, a number of tuba players broke out of the mold: Howard Johnson, Joseph Daley & Bob Stewart. More recently we have some younger, equally bold tuba specialists: Marcus Rojas, Jesse Dulman and Ben Stapp. Young tuba master, Ben Stapp, is pretty ambitious, doing improv sessions with Tony Malaby & Satoshi Takeishi as well as composing, arranging & releasing an opera called, “Myrrha’s Red Book” - “Act 1” and “Act 2”. Mr. Stapp worked on an earlier record with Stephen Haynes & Joe Morris called ‘Pomegranate’. Guitar great, Joe Morris, is both a professor, an author and inspiration to many younger musicians whom he both teaches and collaborates with consistently. Multiple brass specialist, Stephen Haynes is yet restless, creative spirit who has worked with many musical giants: Bill Dixon, Joseph Daley and Tyshawn Sorey.
I caught this trio last Saturday (3/16/19) at I-Beam and they were mostly marvelous. Mr. Stapp used quite a bit of electronics & effects which tends to blur the sound of his tuba or euphonium. For this studio effort, Mr. Stapp plays acoustically pushing him to explore sounds and textures without any effects. Although Joe Morris does use effects on his guitar, he is selective about using them. This disc begins with both horns playing a drone which expands & contracts as it evolves, with fractured flourishes on the semi-acoustic guitar interwoven carefully. The first three pieces are just the duo of tuba or euphonium and guitar, they do sound especially fine, focused, quick, intense interaction, the overall sound ever-evolving. When Mr. Haynes joins them midway through this disc on cornet, the sound expands, adding shades & textures to this moving stream. There is often several (three) layers going on simultaneously, which often shifting in direction or flow. I really dig when Mr. Morris starts to rub and bend his strings with a pic or some utensil, creating odd sounds, making it more of a challenge to improvise with. There is also some quiet, contemplative moments as well, which gives us pause from the fractured interaction. An all acoustic session and superb throughout! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

SHAWN PERSINGER / PRESTER JOHN - Halloween Baptizm (Quixotic Music; USA) Featuring Shawn Persinger (a/k/a Prester John) on 6 & 12 string acoustic & nylon guitars and 4-string Mini Bass. It has been several years (2015) since Mr. Persinger came to visit, played at the store and left us with his discs. If you recall, Mr. Persinger was once a member of DC prog band called Boud Deun (2 discs on Cuneiform long OP), followed by four discs on Innova under the name Prester John (a solo & duo with David Miller on mandolin). So its been a while since I last saw Mr. Persinger, but he did just drop by and left us with this EP.
Mr. Persinger layers several acoustic guitars, with tight, spinning lines, well woven together. Although the pieces here are pretty short, they are filled with dazzling twists and turns, numerous guitars interlocking in modest yet astonishing ways at times. Similar to the California Guitar Trio or the League of Crafty Guitarists but played by just one picker, overdubbed. The several layers of guitars, sound like (a) harpsichord(s) on occasion, the sound here is effervescent, the flow has a positive vibe. Even with so many short tracks and clocking in at 22 minutes, this disc sounds complete, all of the tracks worthy of consternation for lovers of complex guitar music. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $6 [22 minute EP]

RANDI PONTOPPIDAN - Rooms (Chant Record CR 1902; EEC) Featuring Randi Pontoppidan on vocals and electronics. I caught Danish experimental vocalist, Randi Pontoppidan, performing with the Theatre of Voices doing Stockhausen’s “Stimmung” at Zankel Hall in 2015. It was an incredible performance! Ms. Pontoppian also performed here solo back and then and Chant Records released a duo CD with Masada bassist Greg Cohen last year. Just released is Randi Pontoppidan’s first solo effort, ‘Rooms’ for solo voice & electronics. Ms. Pontoppidan came back and played at DMG last Sunday (3/17/19), a third set of a special, diverse night. This disc was actually recorded live in the studio with Randi singing through and with electronic sounds & effects. On “Hush of Expectation”, she has several layers of voices moving together simultaneously: a repeating bassline underneath, shimmering voices floating on top. There are sections of pieces which don’t sound like voices but more like keyboard or percussion samples which have been subtly manipulated. Both experimental vocals and electronics are often misunderstood and under-appreciated which I find unfortunate. This disc is a fine example of both of these elements done right and complementing each other. There is something most enchanting going on here, a certain joyous, a lost innocent vibe. The voice & electronics often evoke both ancient and modern spirits or ghosts. Considering there is only voices (no words, just sounds) and electronics, this sounds like an instrumental record, it is nonetheless, absolutely magical. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14  
LP $16

STEVE DALACHINSKY & THE SNOBS - ec(H)o - system (Bam Balam 031; France) “Four years after Massive Liquidity (BBCD 014CD), New York poet Steve Dalachinsky and French duo The Snobs are coming back with a second collaborative record called ec(H)o - system on Bam Balam Records. Since the eighties, Dalachinsky has published poems inspired by William Blake, Antonin Artaud, and the beat generation. Using some of them on stage, he often performs with jazz musicians. Words become material for improvisation -- both sonic (onomatopoeias, theatrical intonations) and narrative -- mixing the poems and structuring them instinctively. Founded near Paris by Mad Rabbit (singer and producer) and Duck Feeling (multi-instrumentalist), the Snobs have self-produced experimental rock records since 2003 under the influence of Can's instant compositions, David Bowie and Brian Eno's synthetic textures and electric-era Miles Davis grooves. ec(H)o - system takes Massive Liquidity's creative process a step further. The Snobs recorded some riffs and beats for Dalachinsky to hear and perform some poems over them, while in Paris in September 2014. In one afternoon -- first-takes only -- he added his voice to the music ("near death in a concrete plant / language is an organism" and "the rape / particle fever") and performed a series of other poems without music that inspired new instrumental pieces to Rabbit and Feeling during the next months. Lots of overdubs helped shaping the pieces, accompanying the voice and interplaying. The result is a mix between the poet's spontaneity and The Snobs' psychedelic postproduction. From crazy onomatopoeias on "Near Death In A Concrete Plant" to the restrained elegance of "A Promise Is A Promise", Dalachinsky shows great expressiveness -- serious, ecstatic, mad -- and influences the music's ambitious developments. Choosing electronic sounds to compose -- beats programming, synthesizers sequences and chords -- The Snobs are willing to add some noisy guitar, romantic piano, free saxophone, and funky bass here and there. With three musical suites divided in eight poetic segments, ec(H)o - system is the sound of mutual listening and trust between Steve Dalachinsky and The Snobs. Cover art by poet and painter Yuko Otomo. Includes 44-page booklet containing all Dalachinsky's poems used for the record and a selection of his collages.”
CD $12

THE SNOBS - A Life Aglow (Bam Balam Records 056; France) Founded near Paris by Mad Rabbit (singer and producer) and Duck Feeling (multi-instrumentalist), The Snobs have produced experimental rock records since 2003. After two collaborative albums with New York poet Steve Dalachinsky (BBCD 031CD, 2019) the French duo is coming back with A Life Aglow. Full of analog synthesizers, Rickenbackers, pianos, sitars, and Mellotrons, this new album is a psychedelic journey loaded with colorful influence.
CD $12

MARKUS STOCKHAUSEN / ALIREZA MORTAZAVI - Hamdelaneh Intimate Dialogues (Dark Companion 009; Italy) Dark Companion label head Max Marchini on Hamdelaneh Intimate Dialogues (January 2019): "Another true masterpiece from Dark Companion Records. I met Markus Stockhausen after inviting him and his wife to 'Musiche Nuove In Piacenza' festival in autumn 2018. Immediately I felt a strong empathy towards him. That doesn't happen very often. I knew his work and had always admired it, especially the spontaneous compositions he performs and the way his unique talent blossoms in these situations. We talked at lunch and I dared propose to him to record an album for our small Dark Companion label. The dream came true when Markus, after a few minutes in silence, phoned Alireza and suggested he be a special guest at our concert that very same evening. After some thought he kindly agreed. Alireza soon arrived in Piacenza and I had the opportunity to get to know one of the most charming and kind persons in the world. And an extraordinary musician -- a master of the old Persian santoor, an instrument of many voices that sings like an angelic choir under Alireza's hammers. When they performed the third and last movement of the concert, the audience was mesmerized, and so was I. Once more, the Magic Fairy was with us. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not. I saw someone in tears when Markus started to sing a sort of mystic, ancestral chorus with the audience. The music in this album is absolutely new but within it breathes a very ancient, sunken soul, a hidden root. Alireza and Markus were so kind as to give me this beautiful recording they made in Italy three years ago. I also have to thank Simon Stockhausen, Markus's brother, who mixed and mastered this album with a state-of-the-art quality. I am very proud to now have Markus and Alireza in our catalog and I hope this album may give you the same intimate, graceful, peaceful atmosphere these musicians have given me. The meaning of Hamdelaneh is 'with the same heart'." Personnel: Markus Stockhausen - trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, voice; Alireza Mortazavi - santoor. CD version comes in a gold paper sleeve; Edition of 500 (hand-numbered).
CD $18 [In stock early next week]

VINCENZO RAMAGLIA - Atomic City (Dark Companion 008’ Italy) Vincenzo Ramaglia is a Roman composer active in contemporary music experimentation and in what he calls PEM ("popular experimental music"). After the academic training -- at the end of which he won the TIM (Tournoi International de Musique) with an orchestral work -- his music research insinuates itself into the alchemy between score and improvisation, between electronics, acoustic instruments (often investigated in their extended techniques) and voice. Atomic City is the fourth album by Vincenzo Ramaglia, landing of a long research path that begins more than ten years earlier and it is marked by the three recording projects before this unexpected electronic turn. In 2007, Michele Coralli of Blow Up defined his first CD, Formaldeide as a "place of impossible meeting between Coleman Hawkins and Salvatore Sciarrino." Regarding the second CD, Chimera (2008), Max Marchini of Rockerilla called the album "an admirable interface at the zenith of the starry sky of intelligent and improvised jazz and new contemporary music." PVC Smoking (2011), his third CD, is an IDM score with improvisations, combining electronics and acoustic instruments. After seven years of reflection, silence, construction, and deepening of an electronic setup without a computer, Atomic City is a surprise, an album finally naked, devoid of any score, but with an intricate maze of analog sequences, composed on the machines as on a pentagram, almost in a thoughtful orchestral counterpoint, and manipulated in real time by the author, to which Renato Ciunfrini reacts to with clarinet improvisations. In a sense, Atomic City is the promised land of all the peregrinations and breaks that precede it. The synthesis - unexpectedly coherent and explosive in his unprecedented language - of a vast collection of seemingly contradictory urgencies. And it is, in fact, popular experimental music.
CD $18

AKIKO YANO - Japanese Girl (WeWantSounds 017; UK) Wewantsounds continues their Akiko Yano reissue program with the release of Japanese Girl, her landmark debut album from 1976. Backed by Little Feat with Lowell George and by top Japanese musicians (including Haruomi Hosono), Japanese Girl is one of the most important Japanese albums of the '70s, mixing pop, rock, and Japanese folk together with Little Feat's superb classic sound. After a marriage with musician/producer Makoto Yano and the birth of her son (Fuuta), Yano and her team resumed the recording of the album and decided to pitch Little Feat for a collaboration as she loved the group. Against all odds they said yes and Yano left Tokyo for Los Angeles in March 1976 to record a full side with them. The legend has it they found it so difficult to keep up with Yano's compositions they returned some of their fee. The session was nevertheless stunning and Lowell George even compared Yano to Stevie Wonder. The Little Feat blend of New Orleans groove matched Yano's melodies perfectly, as witnessed on "Funamachi-Uta Part ". Originally a traditional song from The Nebuta Festival in her hometown of Aomori, the Little Feat version is a formidable slow-funk workout not dissimilar to their classic, "Spanish Moon", serving Yano's beautiful vocals and sense of groove to perfection. The whole side is a match made in heaven, showcasing the classic Little Feat line up at their funkiest with Yano's unique Japanese twist. The Japanese side on the album gives a great snapshot of the Tokyo music scene of the '70s with many musicians gravitating around Haruomi Hosono and also several musicians from Japanese band, The Moonriders. Recorded at the legendary Onkyo Haus studio in Tokyo, the sessions mix singer-songwriter sensitivity and pop with traditional Japanese sounds and instruments like the shinobue transverse flute, the koto string instrument, or the Tsuzumi hand drum as played on "Hekoriputaa" by the legendary percussionist Kisaku Katada who was appointed Living National Treasure by the Japanese state in 1999; together they create a beautiful east-meets-west mix masterfully driven by Yano's creativity and unique talent. First international release. Remastered sound.
CD $18

LP Section:

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. - Sacred And Inviolable Phase Shift (Bam Balam Records 061; France) One of the greatest Japanese psychedelic bands, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. Sacred And Inviolable Phase Shift is in another league from the others. There's a distinct Canterbury/Gong/Can feel about it, with everything that you'd hope from AMT. Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. as of 2019: Kawabata Makoto - guitar, synthesizer, speed guru; HIgashi Hiroshi - synthesizer, noodle god; Jyonson Tsu - vocal, guitar, bouzouki; Satoshima Nani - drums, another dimension; Wolf - bass, space & time.
LP $24

PHEW / OREN AMBARCHI / JIM O'ROURKE - Patience Soup (Black Truffle 046; Australia) Patience Soup presents the entirety of a live performance from the trio of Oren Ambarchi, Jim O'Rourke, and Japanese underground legend Phew that took place at the Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center on November 4th, 2015. Known to many listeners outside Japan primarily for her early collaborations with members of Can, Phew has been undergoing something of a creative renaissance in the last few years, prolifically recording and releasing a body of work that strips away the band arrangements present on most of her past releases to focus solely on her raw DIY electronics and possessed vocal stylings. Forming a perfect companion to 2017's well-received Voice Hardcore, a series of pieces composed of only her processed voice that saw Phew push her work into the most abstract terrain yet, Patience Soup finds the trio inhabiting an uneasy landscape of moans, howls, and smeared electronic sonorities. Presented in atmosphere-enhancing room fidelity, the set begins in crunching textural abstraction and Phew's vocal asides, set against a backdrop of Ambarchi's shimmering Leslie-cabinet guitar tones and O'Rourke's synthetic slivers. A testament to the risk-taking prowess of these three master improvisers, the performance moves organically from ecstatic crescendos powered by Phew's processed wails to moments of near-silence in which a translucent veil of lingering electronic tones is gently punctuated by O'Rourke's chiming piano chords. Constantly shifting, both harmonically and dynamically, Patience Soup is suffused throughout with a haunted energy and shows these three established figures continuing to venture out into uncharted territory. Presented in a deluxe sleeve with stunning images by Traianos Pakioufakis and an inner sleeve with live pics from Mike Kubeck. Design by Stephen O'Malley. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
LP $26

ALVIN CURRAN - Canti Illuminati (Blume 013; Italy) Blume present the first vinyl reissue of Alvin Curran's Canti Illuminati, originally released in 1982. Between diverse polarities of experimental practice, from free improvisation and modern classical composition, to primitivism, electronic music, and extended techniques, for more than half a century Alvin Curran has stood as beacon in the landscape of organized sound. From his efforts within Musica Elettronica Viva, the collective which he helped found in 1966 with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, to those as a solo-performer and composer, his sounds and ideas have effected immeasurable change. Canti Illuminati, composed and recorded between 1973 and 1977, stands as one of the great documents from the golden era of Curran's singular brand of creative radicalism -- combining a deep sense of social and political consciousness, with creative humanism and visionary compositional ideas. A bridge between the American and European traditions of experimental music, Canti Illuminati is Curran's tribute to the human voice, "the most natural source of music", and it delves toward the very origins of music itself. In lyrical and poetic form, it rethinks the possibilities and potential of organized sound, seeking something fundamentally human. Standing apart from canonical definition, it contributes to a more complex and nuanced understanding of minimalism. Consciously conceived by Curran for the format of the LP, the album takes form as a single work in two parts: "Canti Illuminati [For Choir, Synthesizer, Piano And Tape]", a structured choral improvisation, built from the contributions and voices of Alessandro Bruno, Antonella Talamonti, Antonio Cesareni, David Thorner, Elisabetta Bordes-Page, Giorgio Caruano, Luca Miti, Manuela Garroni, Nicola Bernardini, Pierluigi Castellano, and Sista Carandini; and "Canti Illuminati [For Voice, Synthesizer, Tape]", which Curran realized as a solo performer with his own voice, tape-delayed feedback, and a Serge synthesizer and sequencer. Sinfully under celebrated and all too rarely heard since its initial release, Canti Illuminati remains a profoundly compelling and moving body of sound. a landscape of sustained tone, rippling texture, and structural intervention. Necessity stripped to the elemental, while challenging, endlessly surprising, and complex. Brand new, expanded liner text written by Bradford Bailey. Fully remastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
LP $24

JULIUS EASTMAN - Crazy Nigger (Blume 014; Italy) It's little wonder that Julius Eastman (who died in 1990 under unexplained circumstances), remained the supreme underground composer. He was Afro-American and gay, a composer who rocked the cerebral world of process music with his explosions of free improvisation. Crazy Nigger is the first time any of Eastman's music has been available on vinyl, and is one of three extended pieces for four pianos, along with Gay Guerrilla and Evil Nigger, written and performed around 1980. All three works generate their epic soundscapes through adamantly restated patterns and interlocking canons, not fragmenting, but preaching urgent truths. To quote the brilliant Mary Jane Leach liners: "He wrote what can be categorized as minimal music, but also wrote 'post-minimal' music -- before minimal music was fully established." His pieces straddle both styles of minimal music; rhythmic/pulse-driven music (Steve Reich and Philip Glass) and spectral drone music (La Monte Young and Phill Niblock). There is a flexibility that lends an organic feel to his music, a muscularity missing in a lot of other music from that time; with the re-emergence of this powerful music, a missing gap in the history of contemporary music has been filled. Not released commercially upon their recording, they were instead shared on cassettes, copied and passed from one admirer to another. Unlike today's instant access to music, at that time each new copy represented a time commitment, since it took as long to copy as its playing time, while also removing itself further from the original recording with a resultant deterioration in sound quality. The three pieces occupy a high point in Eastman's oeuvre, the culmination of his mature style. Crazy Nigger is a sprawling sonic study, the last section exploring canonic form both harmonically and rhythmically, using the same process as James Tenney's Spectral Canon, but notated in a more intuitive way. Offering extensive liner notes by Leach and Bradford Bailey, this is a seminal work by one of the most important, but neglected, American composers of the 1970s and '80s, returning to the light once more. Not only is Crazy Nigger an entire rethinking of minimalism, but it ferociously blows the doors of what classical music can be seen to be. Mastering by Giuseppe Ielasi. Includes printed inner sleeve housing a Nagaoka anti-static record sleeve, plus obi-style original insert in a fold-out outer sleeve. 180 gram, color vinyl.
LP $24

JULIUS EASTMAN - Evil Nigger/Gay Guerrilla (Blume 015; Italy) Julius Eastman's seminal classics are now reissued on vinyl for the first time ever. Gay Guerrilla and Evil Nigger, both composed in 1979 with a third work Crazy Nigger, make up what Eastman called The Nigger Series. Some of the most challenging and beautiful works composed for piano during their era, they double as a window into the intricate thought process and contentiousness of their creator. When the composer was asked to perform the series at Northwestern University in 1980, due to protests by African American students, their titles were censored in the event's program. His response was a flamboyant foreshadowing of the sentiments toward bigoted language which later arose within hip-hop culture -- to publicly take back these words, assert ownership of them, and deploy their power for positive change. What Eastman was early to recognize, was that there is a fundamental difference in what happens when these words are spoken by white people toward people of color, and when people of color deploy them toward a white audience. The balance of power shifts. Eastman's audience was largely heterosexual and white. He knew exactly what he was doing, and to whom he spoke. The object in your hands contains some of the most striking and important music composed during the later decades of the 20th century -- music which remained lost and unheard for years, not because of what it is, but because of who its composer was. It is music, doubling as the voice of a man, which, because it refused to be oppressed, was suppressed or ignored. Eastman's work is a conscious act of intervention, plowing into a context defined by heterosexual whiteness, attacking its unjust demands from within. It is Christ-like -- metaphor and beauty which is impossible to separate from the evils of the world. It is a music which carries the body of a man. As it speaks to our hearts, as it offers a glimpse of the freedoms implied by the sublime, a shackle is bound -- a consciousness of our complicity with unforgivable sin. Mastering by Giuseppe Ielasi. Includes printed inner sleeve housing a Nagaoka anti-static record sleeve, plus an original insert that functions as obi; Housed in a fold-out outer sleeve. 180 gram, color vinyl.
LP $24

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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 will be closed between 3/16 & 3/26

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - PETER APFELBAUM - MAR 26–MAR 30

3/26 Tuesday
8:30 pm - Apfelbaum, Rojas, Baptista Trio - Peter Apfelbaum (woodwinds, organ, piano, percussion) Marcus Rojas (tuba, percussion) Cyro Baptista (percussion, vocals)

3/27 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Peter Apfelbaum (sax, organ, piano) Will Bernard (guitar) Bill Laswell (bass, electronics) Aaron Johnston (drums, electronics)

3/28 Thursday
8:30 pm - Peter Apfelbaum (saxes, piano) Dafnis Prieto (drums)

3/29 Friday
8:30 pm - Peter Apfelbaum & Sparkler - Peter Apfelbaum (keyboards, sax, vocals) Natalie Cressman (trombone, bass, vocals) Jill Ryan (sax, flute, vocals) Kyle Sanna (synth, electronics) Charlie Ferguson (drums, sampler)

3/30 Saturday
8:30 pm - Peter Apfelbaum & the New York Hieroglyphics: Peter Apfelbaum (sax, piano, percussion) Peck Allmond (trumpet, reeds) Natalie Cressman (trombone) Jessica Jones (tenor sax) Tony Jones (tenor sax) Norbert Stachel (baritone sax/flute) Charlie Burnham (violin) David Phelps (guitar) Viva De Concini (guitar/percussion) Brad Jones (bass) Aaron Johnston (drums)

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 25th
7pm John Melendez - keyboard
Annie Nikunen - flute
Danny Stagnitta - alto saxophone
Gui Duvignau - bass
Rishav Acharya -drums

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

9pm Elinor Speirs - violin
Wendy Eisenberg - guitar
Max Ridley - bass

9:45pm Noa Fort - vocals
Yuma Uesaka - tenor saxophone
Keisuke Matsuno - guitar

10:45pm Vijay Anderson - drums
Jon Irabagon - tenor saxophones
Nick Lyons - alto saxophone
Adam Lane - bass

11:30pm Aaron Rubinstein - guitar
Michael Larocca - drums

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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Wednesday, MARCH 27  
At Brooklyn Bazaar

The Doors Open at 8pm
Controlled Bleeding (9:00 set)
Also on the bill:
Child Abuse
Psychic Graveyard (members of arab on radar)
PC Worship
ConDuit

Brooklyn Bazaar Located at
150 Greenpoint Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11222

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

A Music Series presenting Improvised Music and more

Upcoming performances:
3/31
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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Shapeshifter April Gig Pick:

April 2 - Friends & Neighbors Brandon Lopez 
7p: Friends & Neighbors:
André Roligheten - reeds
Thomas Johansson - trumpet
Oscar Grönberg - piano
Jon Rune Strøm - double bass
Tollef Østvang - drums
8:15p - Brandon Lopez - double bass