DMG Newsletter for Friday, April 19th, 2019

SUN RA - Lyrics & Chants:
I’ll Wait for You (from ‘Strange Celestial Road’)

In some far off place
Many light years in space
I'll wait for you

Where human feet have never trod
Where human eyes have never seen
I'll build a world of abstract dreams
And wait for you

In tomorrow's realm
We'll take the helm of a new ship
Like the lash of a whip
We'll start on the way
And safely journey
To a new shore

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Don’t give me that jive jack
Slip it in my pocket ’til we get back
I’m running out to space just as fast as I can
And I don’t have time to shake your hand
(clap & turn to you right side & repeat chant)

SUN RA, big band leader, keyboard ace, composer, philosopher and prophet was born on May 22 of 1914, which will make him 105 next month. He left the planet earth in 1993 to return to his home world, Saturn, where he still resides. I have been making my way through his large book, ‘The Immeasurable Equation”, for several years, considering his words deeply. I caught him live more than 40 times and still collect his many hundreds of recordings. My favorite gig took place at Soundscape in 1979 and was nearly six hours long (two sets). Similar to the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Duke Ellington Orchestra, Sun Ra’s Arkestra embraced many types of music, ritual, illustrating the history of creative music on many levels. His words & chants still ring true in my mind’s ear, whether I’m sleeping or awake or in between. Space is indeed the place! - BLG

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

Sunday, April 21st:
6pm: ARON NAMENWIRTH / DANIEL CARTER / ZACH SWANSON / JOE HERTENSTEIN - Guitar / Horns / Bass / Drums
7pm: BENJAMIN SCOTT - Drums Reeds / K. HANK JOST - Bass Reeds

Sunday April 28th:
6pm: OMAR and EMILIO TAMEZ - Tribute to Paul Motian
7pm: BLAISE SIWULA / LUCIANO TROJA / GIANCARLO MAZZU

Sunday, May 5th:
6pm: STUART POPEJOY / CHRIS PITSIOKOS - Electric Bass & Alto Sax!
7pm: ZACH SWANSON / AYAKO KANDA / DALIUS NAUJO / ROCCO JOHN IACOVONE!
8pm: JESSE DULMAN TRIO: DAVE SEWELSON / LEONID GALAGANOV!

Sunday, May 12th:
6pm: GUILLERMO GREGORIO ENSEMBLE!

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

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DMG/BLG Recommended Gigs of This Week:

ERIC’S HOUSE OF IMPROV PRESENTS
Saturday, April 20, 201
KEIR NEURINGER - Alto Sax
LOU GRASSI - Drums
SIMONE WEISSENFELS - Piano

MICHIKO REHEARSAL STUDIOS
PERFORMANCES START AT 8 PM | ADMISSION $20
149 W. 46TH STREET, 3RD FLOOR
B, D, F, M TRAINS TO 47TH-50TH STREETS / N, Q, W TRAINS TO 49th St

Tuesday, APRIL 23, 2019
REMPIS / LOPEZ / PACKARD
DAVE REMPIS - Saxes
BRANDON LOPEZ - Bass
RYAN PACKARD - Drums

244 REHEARSAL STUDIOS
PERFORMANCES START AT 8 PM | ADMISSION $20
244 W. 54TH STREET, 10TH FLOOR
C, E TRAINS TO 50TH STREET / N, Q, R, Q TRAINS TO 57TH STREET

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DAVEY WILLIAMS - 1952 - April 6, 2019 - Downtown/Birmingham Guitar Master Passes

Earlier this month, on April 6, Downtown/Birminham-based Guitar Great, DAVEY WILLIAMS passed away. In the early 1980’s, thanks to Fred Frith, I discovered an entire underground music scene that was based mostly in the East Village and often centered at a rehearsal/basement space known as Studio Henry. Being a longtime guitar freak (via Zappa, Hendrix, Fred Frith & others), I was checking out a number of guitarists from this relatively unknown scene: Eugene Chadbourne, Bill Horvitz, Elliott Sharp, Henry Kaiser, Davey Williams and many more. I also caught some of the older avant guitar greats as well during that era as well: Derek Bailey, Haino Keiji, Blood Ulmer and Sonny Sharrock.
Since I didn’t know most of these musicians before then, I thought they were all based in New York. I soon found out that Henry Kaiser was hailed from the Bay Area and Davey Williams came from Birmingham. I went to many improv gigs as well as John Zorn’s Game Piece gigs, discovering and often befriending new musicians all the time. I recall seeing this couple from down south, LaDonna Smith on violin & voice and Davey Williams on guitar, play several times and was always knocked out by their playing. Davey Williams had a unique way of playing the guitar, using a metal rod or a toy fish to coax sounds from his guitar. The duo were known as TransMuseq and went on to record 20 discs on their own label. Unfortunately, most if not all of what they released is long out-of-print.
One of the best of the dozen of Downtown bands were called CURLEW, they were founded by George Cartwright (tenor sax) and Tom Cora (cello). Mr. Cora left Curlew in the early 1990’s and was soon replaced by Davey Williams. When Mr. Williams joined Curlew, he added something special, something unique. His guitar solos in that bands were phenomenal! Sadly most of those late period Curlew discs are also out-of-print. I do recall a trio gig with Davey, Ikue Mori and Jim Staley at CBGB’s way back when that was organized by Thurston Moore. It was just incredible, so I must search for that cassette.
In June of 2015, I was invited to give a lecture at a music workshop known as Jyderup Acceodeontaef in Denmark. For this week-long music convention/camp, there were a half dozen musicians who were group leaders: William Parker, Alan Silva, Bennie Maupin and my old friends: Davey Williams & LaDonna Smith. I hadn’t seen either of them in many years and was overjoyed to renew our acquaintance. I sat in on all of their daily workshops with the musicians and watched them teach or inspire those who sought their knowledge. Both Davey and LaDonna still had that Downtown Improv Magic that I recalled fondly from 30 years earlier. Let’s have a toast to Davey Williams, one of the Downtown originals. R.I.P. - BLG/DMG

Short list of a few releases featuring Davey Williams still allegedly in print:

CURLEW - A Beautiful Western Saddle The Hardwood: Live At The Knitting Factory NYC 1991 Live In Washington 1991 (Cuneiform 303/304; USA) - CD/DVD Set

LaDONNA SMITH / DAVEY WILLIAMS / ANDREA CENTAZZO - The Complete Recordings Vol 3: Rituals - Live At The Stone (Ictus 169; USA)

LaDONNA SMITH/DAVEY WILLIAMS/ANDREA CENTAZZO - The Complete Recordings Vol 1: Velocities 1979 2010 (Ictus 157; USA) - CD

JIM STALEY With ZEENA PARKINS/DAVEY WILLIAMS/TENKO - Jim Staley's Don Giovanni (Einstein 06; USA) - CD

JOHN ZORN With EUGENE CHADBOURNE/HENRY KAISER/POLLY BRADFIELD/LaDONNA SMITH/DAVEY WILLIAMS/BRUCE ACKLEY/MARK ABBOTT - Lacrosse (Tzadik 7316; USA) - 2 CD Set

WHITE EARTH STREAK [GUNTER CHRISTMANN/TORSTEN MULLER/LaDONNA SMITH/DAVEY WILLIAMS]- White Earth Streak (UMS/Atavistic 228; USA) CD - 3 in stock at our distributor supposedly

* None of the above are currently in stock. We will do our best to get them back if & when any of you want to order them.

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This weeks Great Sonic Treasures begin with one the Art Ensemble of Chicago:

THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO With ROSCOE MITCHELL / DON MOYE NICOLE MITCHELL / HUGH RAGIN / JEAN COOK / TOMEKA REID / JARIBU SHAHID / FRED BERRY / JEAN COOK/ et al - We are on the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration (Pi Recordings 80; USA) This colossal 2-CD set commemorates of a half-century of magical music making from The Art Ensemble of Chicago, a band that has been at the forefront of creative improvised music since forming in 1969. It has also long served as the flagship ensemble of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the august Chicago-based organization that also fostered the careers of members such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, and Wadada Leo Smith, among many others. Now led by the surviving members Roscoe Mitchell and drummer Famoudou Don Moye, the album is also a loving tribute to the band’s three original members who have passed: Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, and most recently, Joseph Jarman. The greatness of the Art Ensemble has always been the shared commitment of its original members to the total realm of African diasporic music: what they have long-termed “Great Black Music—Ancient to the Future.” Also important are the group’s disparate musical and artistic personalities, comprised of jazz, advanced compositional techniques, theatrical performance, poetry, Pan-African percussion, allied together with improvisational flair, a taste for the absurd, and the exploration of pure sound and space. It is this open-mindedness – absorbed from the basic tenets of the AACM – that has made the band one of the most important in the history of music. At 50 years, The Art Ensemble is probably the longest-running aggregation in jazz. Other combinations that come readily to mind, such as the Modern Jazz Quartet or Harry Carney’s involvement with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, fall short of this milestone. The band agreed long ago that as long as one member of the group is left standing, it will still be The Art Ensemble. This is in no way to say that the group will always have to sound like the original Art Ensemble – which is, of course, impossible to pigeonhole anyway since the band was always developing and growing – but that it is a philosophy of music-making, one that has been honed over its entire history, that will be passed on. Not content to rest on their laurels – it would have been far easier and more commercially-minded to assemble another quintet to attempt to create some caricature of the original band – Mitchell and Moye have recruited a diverse group of fifteen highly-individual talents who bring their own approaches to the Art Ensemble aesthetic. They range from trumpeters Fred Berry and Hugh Ragin, who have performed with Mitchell for over five and four decades, respectively, to bassist Jaribu Shahid, for about as long, to singer Rodolfo Cordova-Lebron, who is a current student of Mitchell’s at Mills College. For Moye, his relationships with percussionist Enoch Williamson and Titos Sompa date back to the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. Now residing in Marseilles, France, Moye regularly performs with the Senegalese Dudù Kouaté, a master of the Wolof griot tradition. With clear intent towards representation, Mitchell and Moye’s engagement of musicians such as Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa), Christina Wheeler, Silvia Bolognesi and Jean Cook – women who are without peer as improvisers and performers – help bring a whole new perspective to the music. We are on the Edge is comprised of two discs: a meticulous studio session and the capture of a rousing live set at the Edgefest, the annual experimental jazz and creative new music festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The group converged in Ann Arbo in October 16-20, 2018 for five days of rehearsals and recording, all culminating in their headlining performance. Many of these musicians had never met before, but they all came together under the aegis of Mitchell and Moye to help carry forth the powerful Art Ensemble ethos. The sheer breadth of the ensemble’s collective expression is staggering, ranging from Mitchell’s art songs and through-composed pieces, Moye’s percussion workouts, and, of course, collective improvisation. Particularly powerful is the contribution of Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa), who, to prepare for the recording, was given nothing more than some old Art Ensemble recordings to listen to and the directive from Mitchell to “just be you.” Working from just the kernel of some ideas that she scribbled down on her way to Ann Arbor, she largely improvised the rest over accompaniment from the band. Cellist Tomeka Reid observes: “Instead of counting in, Roscoe says before starting a set, ‘Ready! Go!’ He then trusts everyone on stage to listen and to contribute in their own way. No set is ever the same; you just meet on the other side.”
Mitchell and Moye are now 78 and 72, respectively, but one would never guess by their outlook. Mitchell, who was recently named to a prestigious United States Artist Fellowship, is about to retire from his teaching position at Mills College, is most excited when you ask him about his upcoming projects, gushing about a dizzying array of performances, commissions, collaborations, composition ideas, and musical studies and inventions. There is, of course some wistfulness when looking back, particularly with the passing of Joseph Jarman earlier this year, but the overwhelming feeling is anticipation of what is coming next or, as Moye always says, “focus and forward motion.” It’s a clarion statement that Mitchell and Moye are intent on ushering The Art Ensemble of Chicago forcefully into its sixth decade. As Moor Mother declares: “We are on the edge!”
2 CD Set $20


NUCLEUS & IAN CARR with CHRIS SPEDDING / KARL JENKINS / ALAN HOLDSWORTH / BRIAN SMITH / DAVE MacRAE / JEFF CLYNE / JOHN MARSHALL / et al - Torrid Zone - The Vertigo Recordings - 1970 - 1975 (Esoteric Recordings 62663; UK) This long awaited boxset includes the first six albums from the Ian Carr’s Nucleus, one the greatest of all Britsh jazz/rock (pre-fusion) outfits. Members included Chris Spedding, Alan Holdsworth, Karl Jenkins, Brian Smith, Jeff Clyne, John Marshall, Dave MacRae, Ron Mathewson, Clive Thacker… There is currently no Nucleus CD's in print and in my opinion, they never made a less than great album. Along with Soft Machine, If, Isotope and the Jeff Beck Group and Hatfield & the North/National Health, this was the best of British Jazz/Rock in the 70's. When Ian Carr (also an excellent author of several books) passed away a few years ago, it was the end of an important era. - BLG
6 CD Set $54


* THE OGJB QUARTET With OLIVER LAKE / GRAHAM HAYNES / JOE FONDA / BARRY ALTSCHUL - Bamako (TUM 50; Finland) “‘Bamako’ is the first recording of the OGJB Quartet, a cooperative group that features four long established leaders in modern improvised music, saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul. Each is also a composer and a master on his chosen instrument. Ever since its first performance at the Winter Jazz Festival in New York City in 2016, the OGJB Quartet has been hailed as one of the most creative cooperative groups working today. Two of its members, Lake and Altschul, are among the original creators of this music going back to the 1960s while even the other two, Haynes and Fonda, have been a strong presence ever since the 1970s. All four members of the group have contributed compositions to this recording that also features two collective improvisations.”
CD $18

* The OGJB QUARTET will be playing live next Tuesday, April 23rd at Roulette!


TREVOR DUNN with VICKY CHOW / JENNIFER CHOI / CARLA KIHLSTEDT / CORNELIUS DUFALO / LEV ZHURBIN / YVES DHARAMRAJ - Nocturnes (Tzadik 4028; USA) Tzadik is proud to present the first CD of classical chamber music by Downtown powerhouse Trevor Dunn. Bassist, composer, bandleader and arranger, Dunn has been a mainstay of dozens of high-profile ensembles for over thirty years. Nocturnes is a moody and brooding program of compositions featuring his first string quartet performed by The Secret Quartet, Six Nocturnes for piano, an early piece from 1989 for bass and string quartet, and a dynamic trio for piano, violin and bass featuring the remarkable Carla Kihlstedt and Vicky Chow. A stunning program of modern chamber music at its best by one of the most consistent and musical figures in the Downtown scene.
CD $14

Three Essential Discs for GUITAR Fan-Addicts:

JULIAN LAGE and GYAN RILEY - The Book Beri'ah Volume 4: Chesed (Tzadik 5104; USA) The duo of Julian Lage and Gyan Riley is now legendary. Featuring a high level of virtuosity tempered by elegance, love, respect and impeccable taste, their work with Zorn has produced a variety of masterpieces—a magical set of Bagatelles, the sweet midnight music of Midsummer Moons and the rocking new band Insurrection. Here they pour their soulful mastery into ten compositions from The Book Beri’ah and their magical interplay is at its most telepathic as they work every possible variation out of these lyrical and adventurous Zorn compositions. Intimate and imaginative, this is music that will appeal to guitar fans, jazz fans, Jewish music fans and more!
CD $16


BEN MONDER With MATT BREWER / TED POOR - Day After Day (Sunnyside 1549; USA) Disc one features Ben Monder on electric & acoustic guitars, Disc Two Mr. Monder on guitars, Matt Brewer on electric & acoustic basses and Ted Poor on drums. “Creating a distinctive voice and approach on a musical instrument is as difficult as it is rare. Guitarist Ben Monder has long been admired for his personal sound, remarkable command of the guitar, and stylistic versatility. His new recording, Day After Day (a two disc set), provides a look at two distinct sides of his artistic nature, the highly analytical, structural side and the more freely improvisational side, through a series of interpretations of cover material.”
What has always amazed me about Ben Monder, is his ability to take a familiar song and recast in his own distinctive way and remain unpredictable with the results.For this 2 CD set, Mr. Monder has taken 15 songs, all covers and turned them inside-out. Disc One features just solo guitar(s), electric & acoustic. Monder picks mostly songs from his youth (1960’s or so), an electric bunch: Henry Mancini, Burt Bacharach, Quincy Jones, Olivier Messiaen and a few standards. Mr. Monder is a master of effects, often bathing his guitar with a shimmering, ethereal, dream-like haze. For the opening song, Mancini’s “Dreamsville”, he uses the haze like a cushion of strings, tender, sublime. Monder also uses that reverb to add rich, ghost-like harmonies to give these songs a subtle yet majestic vibe. I like the way Monder takes Burt Bacharach’s “The Windows of the World”, strips it down and then twists it into unlikely places.
For Disc Two, Monder plays with his trio with Matt Brewer on bass and Ted Poor on drums. He picks an odd bunch of songs: “Galveston” (Jimmy Webb), “Dust” (early Fleetwood Mac), “Day After Day” (Badfinger), “Goldfinger” (James Bond theme) and “Just Like a Woman” (Bob Dylan). Monder occasionally adds an unlikely twist like a psych guitar solo on Glenn Campbell’s hit, “Galveston” and George Harrison’s “Long Long Long” (from the White Album) and adding a harp-like angelic effect to the dream-like second half. Even a corny song like Bread’s “The Guitar Man”, gets a stripped down, yet elegant treatment. “Goldfinger” gets a dark, psych, almost metalish sound, which I really dig. My favorite cover is Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman”, a troubling love song which captures a its sad spirit just right. Let’s give it up for Ben Monder, one of NY’s finest guitarists. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $18


CHRISTY DORAN’S SOUND FOUNTAIN with FRANCO FONTANARROSA / LUKAS MANTEL - For the Kick of It (Between the Lines/Challenge 71247; Austria) “The music of SOUND FOUNTAIN is a mixture of diverse influences from jazz, rock and ethnic to new classical music and free improvised music. Taking advantage of the sound possibilities of the standard formation of guitar, bass and drums, the three musicians explore surprising musical landscapes. They use a method that has interested them for a long time: interpreting composed and improvised music as a unity. SOUND FOUNTAIN comes with a vast range of experiences from various musical situations – each of the three musicians could readily perform a solo concert. However, they play music in this trio that benefits their individual potential of interaction and surprise. The three personalities, who grew up in greatly different music environments, generate substantial magnetic attraction and together develop an unsuspected creative potential, which unloads in versatile musical information: haunting melodies, catchy grooves, spherical moods and abstract musical textures, but the intensity comes from each individual and the trio is more than the sum of the three individuals. An energetic SOUND FOUNTAIN!”
CD $16

Three More Avant Gems from RELATIVE PITCH Label:

Steve BACZKOWSKI / Brandon LOPEZ / Chris CORANO - Old Smoke (Relative Pitch 1087; USA) Featuring Steve Baczkowski on saxes, Brandon Lopez on bass and Chris Corsano on drums. There are a handful of free/music saxists out there who rarely get the recognition they deserve but continue to put out great discs no matter who is watching or listening. Saxist Steve Baczkowski is one of those under-recognized sax greats with just a handful of hard-to-find releases. He has worked with Robert Dick, Paul Flaherty and Bill Nace in the past. Downtown contrabassist, Brandon Lopez, has come into his own over the past few years playing many sessions as a soloist and with Dave Rempis, Guillermo Gregorio and Weasel Walter. There are a number of folks who agree that percussionist, Chris Corsano, might just be the best of the current crop of improvising drummers. He also has worked with an impressive cast: Bjork, Evan Parker, Rangda (w/ Sir Richard Bishop) and Akira Sakata.
Baczkowski is playing bari sax when this disc begins, the trio burning from the first note. The music is intense, throttling, vibrating, powerful, throbbing, tight and over-the-top! When things calm down on “Blast Furnace”, the simmering bari sax, bowed bass and bowed or rubbed cymbals sound similar, one united bristling sound, which builds from restrained to abrupt. Mr. Lopez’ bowed bass sounds especially dynamic here. The trio goes from strength to strength as they sail and soar upwards and onwards. Baczkowski switches to (what sounds like) sopranino sax for “Open Hearth”, the trio bringing things to a full boil,frenetic yet completely focused. When they brings things down again to a simmer, they remain focused, interweaving the pinched tone sopranino, with the elastic bowed & tapped on bass and explosive drums. Things soon escalate again into complete explosive mountain, the trio soaring higher with each crescendo. It is most exhilarating! It you need some free/jazz inspiration, then this is the disc for you! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


UDO SCHINDLER / JAAP BLONK - Hillside Talks (Relative Pitch 1089; USA) Featuring Jaap Blonk on vocal & electronics and Udo Schindler on brass & reeds. This disc was recorded live at two concerts in June of 2018 at Salon fur Klang Kunst. I am a longtime fan of experimental Dutch vocalist Jaap Blonk, who has collaborated with an impressive cast: The Ex, Maja Ratke, Mats Gustafsson and Ingar Zach. He was involved with the Dada movement and has done some unique performance pieces and sound-poetry. Reeds & brass player, Udo Schindler, has worked with Sebastiano Tramontana, Frank Paul Schubert and Marco Von Orelli. Mr. Schindler is playing a brass instrument (trumpet or trombone) when this disc begins which works well with Mr. Blonk’s unique voice. Since both are into extended techniques or sounds, it is difficult to tell them apart at times, especially when Mr. Blonk sounds like he is imitating some of Mr. Schindler’s sounds. Jaap sounds like he is singing in an invented language which may of may not have some Dutch thrown in. Although this music is relatively weird or avant-garde, I appreciate that these two never push things too far out. No screaming, no extreme or especially disorienting sounds. When Mr. Blonk plays electronics, he is very selective, just using using it as occasional sonic spice. It sounds to me that this duo was a good choice since they work so well together, complimenting each others sounds. There is a strong sense of calm at the center of these improvs, never going too far out. Mr. Blonk’s often childlike sense humor give this quite a bit of charm. I smile as I listen since this makes me laugh or at least giggle at times. I am also fascinated by the way those two work together, shadowing or subtly bending notes or other sounds closer together. Mr. Blonk sounds like he has sampled some everyday sounds like rubber bands or just uses the more restrained side of electronic sounds. This is most modest yet still most enchanting effort. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


CHRISTINE ABDELNOUR / CHRIS CORSANO - Quand Fond La Neige Ou Va Le Blanc? (Relative Pitch 1088; USA) Featuring Christine Abdelnour on alto sax and Chris Corsano on drums & slide clarinet. Lebanese-born, French-based saxist, Christine Abdelnour, is another one of those relatively obscure musicians who Kevin Reilly from the Relative Pitch label sought out, knowing that she deserves wider recognition. Although the DMG database only lists Ms. Abdelnour on a couple of other discs (trio w/ Bonnie Jones & Andrea Neumann), no doubt that Mr. Reilly has several discs from her which are not so easy to find. For this disc, Ms. Abdelnour is joined by percussionist extraordinaire, Chris Corsano. Anyone who has caught Mr. Corsano live (with Paul Flaherty, Rangda or Joe McPhee) or even listened to him closely on recordings, knows that he is in a class of his own, one of the best improvising percussionists anywhere. This disc was recorded in Berlin in August of 2017.
When I first put this disc on, I looked at the cover to make sure I was listening to a saxist and a drummer. Hmmmmm. Fascinating, but what is this?!? Mr. Corsano sounds as if he is rubbing or scraping cymbals & drums while Ms. Abdelnour sounds like she has taken off her mouthpiece and is just playing the sax without it. Muting the drums cloth, bowing the cymbals and bending notes on the sax inside-out and upside down, has become standard procedure in recent years. The results here are no less captivating, this is work of master improvisers at work and experimenting. This is one of the most engaging and confounding discs I’ve heard in recent memory, most folks would have no clue as to what they were listening to and probably think that many of these sounds have been electronically altered but I think not. The title, “Sitting Still While the House Next Door Burns”, reminds me of when the building across from me (20 feet) was burning down while I watched before the firemen made me leave. I saw my life, my collection pass in front of my mind’s eye. There are sounds that Ms. Abdelnour makes on her sax which sound more like balloons (being stretched or rubbed), hissing radiators, boiling water or other not very sax-like sounds. If the music is meant to affect our consciousness, then this music does a great job of altering us in ways which are difficult to explain but no doubt impossible to not being affected by. This disc could only released on the Reltive Pitch label, accept no substitutes. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


AMIRTHA KIDAMBI / ELDER ONES With MATT NELSON / NICK DUNSTON / MAX JAFFE - From UnTruth (Northern Spy 113; USA) Featuring Amirtha Kidambi on vocals, words, harmonium & synth, Matt Nelson on soprano sax & Moog, Nick Dunston on acoustic bass and Max Jaffe on drums. The first time I heard Amirtha Kidambi sing with Mary Halvorson’s ‘Codegirl’ project, I wasn’t so sure about whether I dug her singing or not. A year later, I caught the same ensemble at the Vision Fest and was blown away by their performance. The difference was that Ms. Kidambi had a year to live and works with Ms. Halvosrson’s words and for the second time around, she sounded completely convincing. Also, I had seen/heard Ms. Kidambi do several improv sets with Darius Jones and Sam Newsome, watching her push herself and become a better, more intense improviser.
This is the second disc by Ms. Kidambi’s band, the Elder Ones and the personnel has changed a bit, with Nick Dunston taking the place of Brandon Lopez. The rest of the quartet remains: Matt Nelson (from Battle Trance & Flying Luttenbachers) on sax and Max Jaffe (from Unnatural Ways & Killer Bob) on drums. There are those who can’t deal with (jazz) vocals, but that is not the case with yours truly. On the opener, someone is playing a keyboard, which sounds like a harmonium. The words, “Eat the rich, or die starving” do seem most appropriate at this time and Ms. Kidambi sounds most convincing when she sings them. Ms. Kidambi works her voice like an instrument, bending and twisting her voice in distinctive, emotive ways. There is a tradition of singing tabla (percussion) lines with our voice. Ms Kidambi has obviously studied this and pulls off a strong solo in the last part of this song/suite, interacting with Mr. Nelson’s inspired soprano sax work. The piece ends with a bent-noter synth solo which sounds more like a harmonium than anything else. On “Dance of the Subaltern”, Ms. Kidambi songs, “My rights are the leaves, trampled on by armies”. There is a synth/harmonium at the center of this piece, whose bent notes are both intoxicating and disorienting. The “We will rise, we will drown” chorus is most anthemic, and ends in an explosion of emotion. “Decolonize the Mind” has a hypnotic, repeating note line, which has the Indian-sounding bent-note intonation. Ms. Kidambi does a swell job of using a small number of words to tell the truth as she sees it. “You taught us your tongue and your God, the heel of your boot on our necks”. Amen! Amirtha has assembled a strong quartet to match her words, voice and passion. Saxist Matt Nelson is a strong choice and a great saxist, perfect to match the spirits set free throughout. This disc is one of current favorites since the vibe, passion is heartfelt. Amirtha Kidambi and the Elder Ones mean business, so open up and listen closely to their powerful, spirit-world music. The heavens are parting so dive in right now! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


STEPHEN HAYNES / DAMON SMITH / MATT CRANE / JEFF PLATZ - Search Versus Re-Search (Setola Di Maiale 3790; Italy) Featuring Stephen Haynes on cornet, Jeff Platz on guitar, Damon Smith on double bass and Matt Crane on drums & percussion. This is a New England-based quartet with members from different places. Recently I caught a trio with Stephen Haynes, Ben Stapp & Joe Morris which was strong but pretty out! Former Bay area bassist Damon Smith moved to Texas and recently relocated to Boston. No Doubt you recognize his name from his work with Henry Kaiser (Plane Crash Trio & Quintet), Sandy Ewen and John Butcher. Guitarist Jeff Platz generally plays here at DMG at least once a year and sends us discs from different sessions: mostly Boston-based players plus Daniel Carter & Blaise Siwula. Drummer Matt Crane is the one name here I don’t recognize readily although he has worked with Rich Rosenthal.
The music here sounds free yet focused. The quartet does a good job of bending their notes together, stretching certain notes in swirls and tight fragments. Mr. Platz rarely if ever plays his guitar with very few recognizable jazz licks. The quartet sounds like they are starting to rock out on “Gather and Knit”, which has a sort-of tribal beat midway through. What I like about this date is this: it is cerebral, never very loud, almost like a dream in which things float by but never abruptly. As this disc evolves, the quartet slowly become more familiar with each others playing, different combinations of the players weave in and out of each others way. On the first half, Mr. Haynes works with some lower-case, breath like sounds, while later on he erupts in occasional bursts as the Mr. Platz weaves layers of lines or fractured sounds around the other members of the quartet. This is a solid (group effort) date with little or no grandstanding. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


JEFF PLATZ / DIRK MARWEDEL / GEORG WOLF / JORG FISCHER - Pebbles & Pearls (Setola Di Maiale 3800; Italy) Featuring Jeff Platz on guitar, Dirk Marwedel on sax, Georg Wolf on bass and Jorg Fischer on drums. Around once or twice a year, New England guitarist Jeff Platz sends us a couple a new discs, each with different improvisers from around the world. Mr. Platz has worked with Daniel Carter and Blaise Siwula, two Downtowners who also love to work with musicians from different scenes. I recognize the names of the other players here a little and had to do some research to see where I knew them from before: Georg Wolf: work with Marc Charig, Hans Tammen & Marianne Schuppe while Jorg Fischer worked with: Peter Brotzmann, Uwe Oberg & Frank Gratkowski. This disc was recorded at Kunthaus Wiesbaden in Germnay in November of 2018.
This is an all improvised session, tightly focused and free-flowing. When it starts, it sounds as if Mr. Marwedel is playing soprano sax while Mr. Platz plays spidery web of lines. I like the underlying sense of mystery going on here, suspense, restrained, focused. Marwedel’s sax stands out as he weaves a stream of slightly bent notes n the soprano. As this disc evolves, the tempo and interaction often increases in part, speeding up and slowing down in a most organic way. The overall subdued nature makes this easy to deal with since there is a strong balance of the many elements with few eruptions. Things pick up as the quartet starts to soar, the saxist bending and twisting out notes in a steady stream as the guitar & rhythm team provide a stream underneath. Things calm down on “II-3”, skeletal guitar and sax note fragments on top, spirited rubbed strings on the bass and European style free drums (Paul Lytton-like) underneath. On the last piece, “II-2”, the quartet calms down to a soft and cerebral space, things beginning spinning faster & faster, although the vibe is still restrained, the twisted notes of the sax and quick fractured guitar working closely while the rhythm team spins a furious spiral, yet still sounding somehow relaxed. This piece achieves true lift-off and takes off for points unknown, higher & higher into the stratosphere before finally gliding down in slow motion to a soft landing. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


Nearly every Sunday here at DMG we have a free concert with 1 or 2 or even 3 sets. Last Sunday, was particularly memorable. The first two sets were superfine, David Grollman on snare & jockstrap (check it out on Instagram) and Drew Wesely & Dave Zakarian (guitar & sax). For the third set, Mia Zebelka had to cancel due to illness so I asked the previous players to work with vocalist, Viv Corringham. It was a first time meeting for all four and the results were bizarre, dynamic, an unexpected delight. Sometimes improv works and it is magical and sometimes it doesn’t.

VIV CORRINGHAM - On the Hour in the Woods (Farpoint Recordings; USA) British experimental vocalist Viv Corringham, moved to New York in recent times and has played several times here at DMG. With different personnel on each visit. Last Sunday (4/14/19), Ms. Corringham , due to the late cancelation of her musical partner (Mia Zabelka), was part of a quickly organized quartet with David Grollman on snare, cymbals & balloon, Drew Wesely on guitar and Dave Zakarian on alto sax. It was much better than anyone might’ve imagined.
Ms. Corringham left us with her new solo CD, ‘On the Hour, In the Woods’. Ms. Corringham stayed at the Byrdcliffe Art Colony in a cabin in the woods in the summer of 2018. She went outside every day and recorded herself singing with the sounds of the outdoors at different hours of each day. When she has covered every hour in the day, she stopped and this disc is the result. I, myself, am a fan of field recordings and like the way certain artists capture (and frame) this phenomena. I can hear layers of birds, crickets or other insects and perhaps animals together on this disc, perhaps a plane and/or the sound of the wind. The sound of rain, dense, intense, like a sped up fire burning. Distant thunder, the rain gets more dense as it comes down. Sometimes we hear Viv’s voice, warm and enchanting, along with the quick, shimmering sounds of… insects or birds, hard to tell. Each of the 24 segments sounds different, sometimes sparse, with the voice being featured, sometimes the environment is too loud or dense to work with. Ms. Corringham also does some of her own bird-like sounds, although the real birds are louder and not as musical, but have than own natural beauty.
CD $10

More Recent Releases from the SUNNYSIDE label:

ANAT FORT TRIO with GARY WANG / ROLAND SCHNEIDER - Colour (Sunnyside 1550; USA) The beauty of long musical relationships can be the culmination of many things. The familial bond that is created from sharing and living together, the influence of bandmates on one another and welcome surprises can keep these bonds fresh and enervating. Pianist Anat Fort and her trio mates have been making music together for twenty years and continue to grow and share in new ways, as is evinced on their new recording, Colour. Not long after establishing herself in New York City, Fort found a musical partnership in the rhythmic duo of German drummer Roland Schneider and bassist Gary Wang. The trio emerged in 1999 and it was apparent to Schneider that the band was more than just a temporary project. He confided this to Fort over a lunch meeting and suggested that the trio rehearse on a weekly basis, which deeply moved the pianist. Thus began their regular schedule of rehearsing at a basement space in New York’s East Village, organically honing their special musical identity. All of the sounds captured here work together well, Ms. Cooringham’s quirky, never too insistent voice is most often fascinating, always changing as she expresses different sounds with just her voice. She sounds almost as obnoxious as a nearby barking dog, but obviously has a (better) sense of humor.
CD $14

ALEJANDRO COELLO With SIMON PHILLIPS / DIEGO BARBER / XABIER CASAL - Percussion Theory (Sunnyside 1548; USA) “Mallet master Coello is one of these spirited explorers aiming to broaden musical horizons for future percussionists. Hailing from Léon, Spain, Coello has come a long way in a short time. He became percussion instructor at the famed University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany at 23 years old and has written and arranged for ensembles of all stripes and for film. He has also performed and taught all over the world. Coello’s enthusiasm for music of fantastic breadth has led him to collaborate and write for musicians involved in music of all sorts, most notably classical, jazz and electronic, having pieces performed by the Berliner Philharmonie and in Carnegie Hall.”
The only musician here that I most familiar with is master-drummer, Simon Phillips, who used to played with Phil Manzanera & 801, Jack Bruce and the Jeff Beck Group (in 1980). I’ve lost track of Mr. Phillips and his work after the 1970’s were over. We were recently introduced to the guitar playing of Diego Barber, from his duo with Craig Taborn and his own project/band on Sunnyside. I hadn’t heard of the leader here, Alejandro Coello, aside from his work with Diego Barber. Coello also utilizes the Art Government Percussions, a nine piece percussion ensemble. “9th Street Percussion” is mostly just percussion featuring Mr. Phillips, the Art Govt Percussion and Xabier Casal on reeds. Strong, autumn sounding, slowed down Steve Reich-like trance percussion. Mr. Casal plays soprano sax on “Xochitl”, fitting nicely with the rest of the warm percussion (vibes & marimba on top), rarely soloing, more just a part of the ensemble sound. Coello does a fine job of creating a shimmering, spacious, environment with just stripped down percussion, often letting the vibes & gongs reverberate with dream-like grace. On “Switch”, it sounds like vibes player is triggering synth of some sort, giving the piece a ghost-like, subtle electronic vibe. This could be a soundtrack for an animated movie with dancing robots.
CD $14

Four More New CD’s from the CLEAN FEED & SHHPUMA Labels:

MATTHIAS SPILLMANN TRIO - Live at Bird’s Eye Jazz Club (Clean Feed 516; Portugal) Personnel: Matthias Spillmann - trumpet, flugelhorn, Andreas Lang - double bass and Moritz Baumgärtner - drums. Getting to the core of the matter is what drives trumpeter Matthias Spillmann and his stage companions, Andreas Lang and Moritz Baumgärtner, in this CD recorded live. And this means to find the essence of this music genre we call jazz, using the repertory of its history, namely songs written by William C. Handy (“St. Louis Blues”), Billy Strayhorn (“A Flower is a Lovesome Thing”), Ornette Coleman (“Peace”
and “Una Muy Bonita”) and Joe Lovano (“Fort Worth”). Spillmann himself contributes only with one piece, “Kinderlied #1”, but not because he isn’t a remarkable composer. After all, he has composed for his long time working band MAST - UP for more than twenty years and he’s one of the score contributors – in the domains of chamber music – for the Zurich’s Ensemble fur Neue Musik. Here, he prefers the position of the arranger and the soloist. But if you understand the word “arrangement” as orchestration be aware: to arrange, in this collection of interpretations, is to keep everything raw and uncut. That’s the concept in cause: jazz as the most authentic music expression possible, without artífices and complications. The task needed instrumentalists who like to get to the point, and Spillmann found them in a Danish double bassist (Lang) known for his ability to react immediately to any given situation and a German drummer (Baumgärtner) cap
able of pushing things ahead with his uncommon energy, at the same time being able to mix detailed colors and textures. Yes, the result of such endevour takes out the breath of you. There’s indeed life for jazz after its so wrongly announced death.”
CD $15

THE SELVA With RICARDO JACINTO / GINCALO ALMEIDA / NUNO MORAO - Canicula Rosa (Clean Feed 518; Portugal) Personnel: Ricardo Jacinto cello, Gonçalo Almeidan - double bass and Nuno Morão - drums. At their second opus, the Portuguese trio The Selva use their previous trans-idiomatic concept to cover new ground. Instead of crossing classical chamber music atmospheres with African rhythmic motives inside an acoustic configuration, you’ll find now a strangely seductive electro-acoustic (via effect pedals and noise-interfering electronic devices) mix of folk melodies, abstract textural workouts and post-rock organizing cells, without loosing the free jazz versus free improvised music ambiguity chosen from the day one by cellist Ricardo Jacinto, double bassist Gonçalo Almeida and drummer Nuno Morão. The new The Selva presented by “Canícula Rosa” is characterized by the minimalist and repetitive use of groovy patterns, sometimes seeming what we could hear from the likes of Dawn of Midi, The Necks and even the krautrock luminaries Can. When a melody takes form you imagine yourself in a mountain forest, but then comes a very metropolitan metal riff or an industrial smoke cloud of white electrical uproar: it’s puzzling, it’s insane, it’s wrong, but the sense and the beauty of it is overwhelming. One thing is for sure: you’ve never heard a bowed string-based group do something like this. Here is one proof that the instruments don’t define the music – it’s the music that dictates what the instruments should do. Once again, you have reason to ask: «What the heck is happening in Portugal?”
CD $15

LUIS VICENTE / VASCO TRILLA - A Brighter Side of Darkness (Clean Feed 520; Portugal) Personnel: Luis Vicente - trumpet and Vasco Trilla - drums & percussion. When does a duet means that the music is thinner than with a bigger ensemble? Well, when the duo in question isn’t the one formed by the Portuguese trumpeter Luís Vicente and the Luso-Catalan drummer Vasco Trilla, both known for their endless resources, sound wise and in terms of the grammars they use to turn the technical procedure we call improvisation to the aesthetics of improvised music. At the beginning of each piece reunited in “A Brighter Side of Darkness” it’s obvious we’re listening to a duo, but the music has an ascensional motion: it slowly builds from almost nothing to a huge, dense, complex construction, with walls, corners and furniture, growing in height, in walking space and in countenance. Suddenly, without realizing it, we testify just by listening an out-of-body experience. It’s when the music gets more physical that these two spontaneous composers leave their bodies, and the bodies of their instruments, to give us what is one of the most fulfilling works of spiritual music in present times. As such, you have here a brilliant companion for those transcendental albums you love since you discovered the devotional music of John Coltrane, even though Vicente’s and Trilla’s adhesion to “the musical subjectivity” do not have a religious motivation. They found the Absolute, the invisible Other, in the music itself, the same way Aldous Huxley did and made this novelist write that «after silence, that which comes nearest to express the inexpressible is music». You don’t want to miss this.
CD $15

NAO With ALEXANDRE VAZ / JOAO SILVA / VASCO MARQUES - Arcana (Shhuma 051; Portugal) Formed by three of the most active protagonists of the new generation of experimental musicians in Portugal, the trio Não (“No” in English, a term chosen precisely because it should be used more often) proposes in “Arcana” a musical vision born in the crossroads of what
seems to be industrial rock and what seems to be free jazz (it’s never clear). Poly-instrumental in its nature, with keyboards, synthesizers and a drum machine inhabiting the saturated sound spectrum with a tenor saxophone and an electric guitar, the music here proposed is the syncretic next step of several styles and tendencies in urban music today: you can relate it either to exploratory electronic music or to progressive groove, but they do it in the same exact compositions. If your understanding of these parameters is what you hear from Supersilent, forget it – what distinguishes Não is the crude way they get to the point. There’s no cosmic trips or psychedelic introspections over a beat line, but a very honest, in-your-face, almost punk-ish, dramatization of a nightmare, each minute coming with a surprise. When you expect something to follow, Alexandre Vaz, João Silva and Vasco Marques trick you and choose some other path. Are you prepared for this dark kind of aural beauty?
CD $13


DANIEL SCHMIDT - In My Arms, Many Flowers (Recital 017; USA) Fourth edition of 200; Glass-mastered CD; Includes a 12-page booklet of program notes and photography. Includes additional track "And the Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn". Recital present the first album of American Gamelan composer Daniel Schmidt (b. 1942). Schmidt, who emerged in the Bay Area music scene in the 1970s, wove the threads of traditional Eastern Gamelan music together with American minimalism (repetitive music). Schmidt was (and is still) a prime figure in the development of American Gamelan music -- studying and collaborating with Lou Harrison, Jody Diamond, and Paul Dresher. He currently is a teacher at Mills College, teaching instrument building. The recordings on Flowers date from 1978-1982, selected directly from Schmidt's personal cassette archive. It holds two studio tracks, along with two live performances. The first track, "Dawn" (commissioned by composer John Adams), employs an early digital sampler provided by Pauline Oliveros. It holds the sound of a string quartet. The nature of this piece is breathtaking, an ocean of strings pulsing beneath the gliding bells of the gamelan -- such a lovely interplay. Furthermore, the title track, "Flowers", features the addition of a rebab, a traditional bowed instrument, which reels through the piece, netted and taught. The final two works are strictly gamelan compositions. "Ghosts" is a dynamic piece; rife with dexterous euphoria, it well displays the skillset of the percussionists heard on the LP. The closing work, "Faint Impressions", is a somber elegy. Demonstrating the fragility and grace possible with the gamelan; sounding almost as an evening piano sonata. In My Arms, Many Flowers is a unique document from an under-represented movement of American new music. An account of the curious beauty and woven emotions hidden within resonating pieces of metal.
CD $17

Reissues, Restocks & Archival Recordings:

JUMA SULTAN'S ABORIGINAL MUSIC SOCIETY With EARL CROSS / GENE DINWIDDIE / JULIUS HEMPHILL / ABDUL WADUD / FRANK LOWE / ALI ABUWI / PHILLIP WILSON /CHARLES 'BOBO' SHAW / et al - Father of Origin (Eremite 54/55/56; USA) recorded 11 September 1970, Intermedia Sound Studios, Boston MA. Ali Abuwi hand drums & percussion, flutes; Earl Cross trumpet, mellophone, piano; Gene Dinwiddie tenor & soprano saxophone, flute; Juma Sultan bass, hand drums & percussion, ahoudt, wooden flutes; Ralph Walsh electric guitar; Philip Wilson drum kit; possible unidentified additional hand drummer/percussionist (1-3); unidentified background vocalists (4). LP [MTE-55] recorded 2 April, 1971, AMS studio, NYC. Abuwi hand drums & percussion; Frank Lowe tenor saxophone & percussion; Sultan bass, hand drums & percussion, alto saxophone CD [MTE-56] recorded post 1969, probable location Tinker Street Cinema, Woodstock NY. Abuwi hand drums & percussion, oboe; Dinwiddie flute; Julius Hemphill alto saxophone; Rod Hicks bass; Charles "Bobo" Shaw hand drums & percussion ; Sultan bass, hand drums & percussion; Abdul Wadud cello; Wilson drum kit. Deep archeology into a long buried & previously undocumented chapter in the history of the early '70s loft era brings forth the revelatory Father of Origin (MTE-54/55/56), Eremite's box set retrospective of percussionist/bassist Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Society. Drawn from Sultan's mammoth private archive of recordings, this ground-breaking set includes two audiophile LPs & a CD, a 28 page 12x12" book featuring previously unpublished photographs & ephemera & a detailed historical essay by jazz scholar Michael Heller, all manufactured to highest quality-freak standards. This old-school multi-media extravaganza exposes some of the most extraordinary & explosive free jazz of the period to the light of day for the first time. Established by Sultan & percussionist Ali Abuwi in Woodstock in 1968, Aboriginal Music Society was both a radical arts presenting organization & a killer band. Dedicated to musician self-sufficiency and stubbornly non-commercial, AMS waged guerrilla cultural warfare against mainstream America from strongholds in rural Woodstock & from lofts on New York's Lower East Side. For ten years, Sultan & the loose alliance of like-minded musicians in AMS produced independent concerts, owned & operated its own recording studio, & collaborated with legendary artist-run New York loft space Studio We on performances & educational programs. But during that whole time, they never released a record. Inspired by an emerging understanding of African cultures & the political ideas of the black power movement, AMS synthesized an African approach to percussion and collective performance with the revolutionary jazz of its day. In open-ended free improvisations they played an incendiary mix of massive trap kit & hand drum grooves & heaven-storming free jazz. The music was a cry of freedom, a declaration of black cultural artistic & political independence; & until now it has not been heard since the day it was made. Father of Origin for the first time reveals the cross fertilization between the New York loft scene & an extremely rich Woodstock music scene, a powerful confluence of artists & sensibilities that has long gone unacknowledged. In Woodstock Sultan & Abuwi were tight with members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, including saxophonist Gene Dinwiddie, guitarist Ralph Walsh, bassist Rod Hicks, & the late, great AACM drummer Philip Wilson, all of whom crop up on different sessions in Father of Origin. Sultan himself easily bridged musical genres. He was a member of Jimi Hendrix's Gypsy Sun & Rainbows & performed in the band's legendary Woodstock Festival concert. In New York, AMS worked with a huge cross section of the wildly fertile & creative loft scene, including saxophonists Frank Lowe & Julius Hemphill, trumpeter Earl Cross, cellist Abdul Wadud, & drummer Charles Bobo Shaw, who are all heard from on Father of Origin. The first of the set's two LPs, a 1970 Boston studio date, features a New York-Woodstock sextet - including Sultan, Abuwi, Dinwiddie, Wilson, Walsh, & Cross - engaged in a characteristically percussion-heavy improvisation. The African-to-free percussion maintains a relentless rhythmic pressure on the band, and Dinwiddie responds with a powerful performance whose genuine free-jazz fire will completely re-write the book on the late saxophonist. The fourteen minute "Ode to a Gypsy Son," Sultan's meditation on Hendrix, finds Sultan, Abuwi & Cross over-dubbing flutes, home-made wind instruments, chanting & percussion into a startlingly original & deeply psychedelic veneration. The other vinyl disc features a private jam session by Sultan, Abuwi, & saxophonist Frank Lowe at the Broadway headquarters of AMS. Recorded in April 1971, it predates by several months Lowe's recording debut on Alice Coltrane's World Galaxy & by over two years his debut recording as a leader, the classic ESP side Black Beings, making it the earliest example of the free jazz titan's music currently available. The circumstances were casual, but definitely not the music. Lowe was reaching a coruscating early career peak & the percussionists goad him to some very intense playing. The session is the best illustration we have of Lowe's stated early ambition to fuse Pharaoh Sanders & John Coltrane into a single cosmic cry. The CD features yet another historic meeting - an undated concert with the Woodstock crew & a trio of Midwesterners recently relocated to New York - saxophonist Julius Hemphill, cellist Abdul Wadud, & drummer Charles 'Bobo' Shaw, all members of the St. Louis music & arts collective, Black Artists Group. Wadud & Hemphill are outstanding in this sprawling Aboriginal Music Society collective improvisation with soloists weaving in & out of the teeming drums & percussion. Whenever they performed - whether in the studio, the bandstand, in private jam sessions or on the Woodstock village green - Juma Sultan & the Aboriginal Music Society played with a full sense of the occasion. Every opportunity to make music was an event and they knew it, throwing everything they had into the music every time. Father of Origin presents three of the most memorable of those events, played by a band previously lost to history. Father of Origin is presented in a heavyweight telescoping box in paper wraps screen-printed by Alan Sherry at Siwa, who also screen-printed the LP sleeves, CD jacket & additional loose memorabilia. Audio restoration & mastering from the original analog tapes by Michael King at Reel Recordings. LPs cut by Steve Fallone at Sterling & manufactured by RTI.
2 LP CD Book - 12” x 12” Box Set [Ltd Ed Of 600]

MARVIN PONTIAC With JOHN LURIE / JAIME SCOTT / MICHAEL BLAKE / JOHN MEDESKI / KENNY WOLLESEN / CALVIN WESTON / et al - Marvin Pontiac’s Greatest Hits (Northern Spy 097; USA)“A bunch of us purchased Marvin Pontiac’s Greatest Hits back in 1999 on CD, and some of us totally bought into the story: Marvin Pontiac was an enigmatic genius of modern music. He was the son of an African father from Mali and a white Jewish mother from New York. Having been killed by a bus, this was a posthumous collection. Jackson Pollock listened solely to Marvin. Flea, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, Beck, Angelique Kidjo, Mike Gordon and Michael Stipe were fans. John Lurie’s story was deeply amusing and his music was extraordinary. The whole thing was characteristically ahead of its time and guaranteed to leave a permanent mark on your consciousness. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it still is and still does! We’re blissfully psyched to bring this music to vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day and to compact disc for a one-time pressing. Check out the music if you haven’t already and please help spread the word. The package, co-designed by John Lurie and Adam Downey, features a detail of Lurie's painting The sky is falling. I am learning to live with it.” Personnel: Marc Ribot, Evan Lurie, John Medeski, Doug Weiselman, Jane Scarpantoni, Michael Blake, Steve Bernstein, Art Baron, Tony Scherr, Calvin Weston, Billy Martin and Marvin Pontiac A/K/A John Lurie.”
CD $14

HATFIELD & THE NORTH - The Rotter’s Club 3 bonus tracks (Esoteric 2140; UK) Recorded for Virgin Records in 1974, The Rotters Club was the second album by the band comprising former Caravan member Richard Sinclair, keyboard player Dave Stewart from Egg, guitarist Phil Miller from Matching Mole and drummer Pip Pyle from early Gong. Regarded as one of the finest albums in the Canterbury genre, the album also featured guest appearances by such luminaries as Jimmy Hastings and Mont Campbell. This Esoteric Recordings reissue adds THREE BONUS CUTS from the 1980 compilation Afters and from the Over The Rainbow live album from 1975. The re-mastered reissue also includes a booklet featuring restored artwork and notes by Sid Smith. Bonus Tracks - Halfway Between Heaven And Earth [live; from the ‘Over The Rainbow’ live V.A. album 1975] / “Oh, Len's Nature!” / “Lything And Gracing” [both live from the 1980 Afters album].
CD $18

ROLLING STONES - The Early Years - The 60’s FM Recordings (Laser Media 8799; EEC) In June of 1967 I bought my first albums with some of my Bar Mitzvah money. The first album I bought was the Rolling Stones 1st great hits LP, ‘High Tide & Green Grass’ in mono. I played it over & over, throughout the summer of love. The Stones soon became my favorite rock band. I bought each single as it came out starting with “Satisfaction”, still my favorite. I went back and bought all of the early records, as well as ‘Aftermath’, ‘Between the Buttons’ and ’Their Satanic Majesties Request’ (the day it was released). I flet and still feel that The Stones put the best record of the year in 1968 (‘Beggars Banquet’) and 1969 (‘Let it Bleed’). This 2 CD set features some 27 songs, a hand of which were not on any of their official records. These are early live dates taken from the FM radio. It is a revelation for me to hear this material since I didn’t catch the Stones live until 1969. I dig the way the 2 guitars work together, Jagger’s harmonica playing and singing. The Stones, the Animals and the Yardbirds opened the door for me to embrace and study blues/rock. From there it was Butterfield Blues Band, Canned Heat, Blues Project, John Mayall & Bluesbreakers, Cream, Fleetwood Mac… And then back to originators Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Lightnin’ Hopkins. More than fifty years later, this still sounds great to me! - BLG/DMG
2 CD Set $16

Last copies of these:

MICHAEL MARCUS / THEO JORGENSMANN / KRZYSZTOF DYS / et al - Elements of Candor (ForTune 056; Poland) Featuring Krzysztof Dys on piano, Michael Marcus on B-flat & A clarinets, Theo Jorgensmann on B-flat clarinet, Andrzej Swies on bass and Krzysztof Szmanda on drums. Downtown multi-reeds wiz, Michael Marcus, keeps busy in a variety of projects and is well known for his work with Sonny Simmons in the Cosmosmatics and duo with Ted Daniel. The Cosmosamatics toured Europe several times and for this disc, Mr. Marcus works with a mostly Polish quintet. The other frontline player here is German clarinetist, Theo Jorgensmann, who has worked with John Fischer, Franz Koglmann and Albrecht Maurer. The other members of the quintet are Polish and have worked with Waclaw Zimpel for the ForTune label. All members of the group wrote music for this disc as well having a handful of collective improvisations. “Sunsets Falling in the Mirrors” was written by Mr. Marcus and both clarinetists sound great together, playing rich and thoughtful harmonies, with some inspired solos from both clarinets. The group improv are equally focused and spirited, with some marvelous interplay between both clarinets, the piano and the rest of the rhythm team. “Short Sellers’ Squeeze” has a rather Monkish bent melody that made me smile with another fabulous twisted clarinet solo. “Lightfalls” is a group improv with some incredible fast yet calm piano/bass/drums and clarinet (by Mr. Marcus) interaction - wow! There are a few duos here which are equally strong, especially a clarinets duo called, “Vianden’s Viand” and a piano & bass duo. Jorgensmann wrote a piece called, “Clarinet Madness” which is a charming chamber-like work for both clarinets and piano to play together. All in all, this is an excellent quintet date, it is nearly impossible to tell which pieces are written and which are improvised as all are superb. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16

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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 - SYLVIE COURVOISIER - APR 16–20

4/19 Friday
8:30 pm - QUARTET - Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Mark Feldman (violin) Ingrid Laubrock (sax) Tom Rainey (drums)

4/20 Saturday
8:30 pm - Sylvie Courvoisier TRIO with special guest Jonathan Finlayson - Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Drew Gress (bass) Kenny Wollesen (drums) Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet)

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - OKKYUNG LEE - APR 23–27

4/23 Tuesday
8:30 pm - QUINTET - Cory Smythe (piano) Jeanann Dara (viola) Brandon Lopez (bass) Okkyung Lee (cello) Ches Smith (drums)

4/24 Wednesday
8:30 pm - QUARTET - Sara Serpa (voice) Ches Smith (percussion) Cory Smythe (piano) Okkyung Lee (cello)

4/25 Thursday
8:30 pm - QUARTET - Maeve Gilchrist (harp) Jeanann Dara (viola) Okkyung Lee (cello) Ches Smith (percussion)

4/26 Friday
8:30 pm - TRIO - Sara Serpa (voice) Ches Smith (vibes) Okkyung Lee (cello)

4/27 Saturday (HTM)
8:30 pm - QUARTET - Ches Smith (drums) Ganavya Doraiswamy (voice) Brandon Lopez (bass) Okkyung Lee (cello)

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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JOHN ZORN Presents The STONE SERIES at Happy Lucky No. 1:

Saturday, April 20, 2019 - 8:00 PM 9:00 PM
DAVE DOUGLAS - ENGAGE (Anna Webber, Tomeka Reid, Miles Okazaki, Nick Dunston, Kate Gentile)

Happy Lucky No. 1: 734 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216
646 623 0414 / www.happyluckyno1.com
by subway: Take 2, 4, or 5 trains to Franklin ; Take 3 train to Nostrand Ave.
Take A or C to Nostrand Ave.

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Bushwick Improvised Music Series Continues:

Monday April 22nd
7pm Brad Faberman - guitar
Daniel Carter - woodwinds
Dave Miller- drums

8pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Kevin Shea - drums

9pm Lisanne Tremblay - violin/electronics
Lesely Mok - drums
Santiago Leibson - keyboard

9:45pm Ras Moshe Burnett - tenor saxophone/flute
James Keepnews - electric bass/guitar
Dave Miller - drums

10:45pm Dave Treut - tenor saxophone/guitar
Nicholas James Jozwiak - cello
Rick Parker - trombone
Ari Folman-Cohen - bass
Conor C Local Elmes - drums

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

Monday April 29th
7pm Amir Segall - piano
Omri Kochavi - guitar

8pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Sandy Ewen - guitar/electronics
Adam Lane - bass
Kevin Shea - drums

9pm Lisanne Tremblay -violin/electronics
Shawn Lovato - bass
Colin Avery Hinton - drums

9:45pm Alejandro Flórez - guitar
Sarah Bernstein - violin/electronics
James Ilgenfritz - bass
Andrew Drury - drums

10:45pm Jessie Cox - drums
Sam Yulsman - keyboard
Roman Filiu - alto saxophone

11:30pm Stelios Mihas - guitar
Ayako Kanda - vocals
Zach Swanson - bass
Michael Sutton - drums

Downstairs @ Bushwick Public House
https://bushwickpublichouse.com/ gaucimusic.com
1288 Myrtle Avenue , Bushwick
(Across the street from M train Central Ave stop)
$10 suggested donation

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Shapeshifter April, 2019:

Apr 19:
7pm: Dimitrije Vasiljević Quartet
Dimitrije Vasiljević - piano
Ricardo Grilli - guitar
Ben Tiberio - bass
Raphael Pannier - drums

Apr 25
Jonathan Gardener Quartet and the Process Big Band
7pm: Jonathan Gardener Group
8:15pm: Process Big Band

Apr 28
7pm: Berta Moreno Afro-Jazz Soul Project
Berta Moreno- Tenor Sax/compositions
Manuel Valera- Piano
Maksim Perepelica- Bass
Raphael Pannier- Drums
8:15pm:Arctic Circle
John Melendez/piano
Annie Nikunen/flute
Danny Stagnitta/alto sax
Kelly Oja/bass
Rishav Archaya/drums

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I-BEAM Presents:

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2019
OMAR TAMEZ & MILO TAMEZ CROSSPATH
8:00PM - Omar Tamez & Milo Tamez : The Music of Paul Motian
Omar Tamez - Guitar
Milo Tamez - Drums
9:00PM - Tamez / Tamez / Rosenbloom : Crosspath
Omar Tamez - Guitar
Milo Tamez - Drums
Mara Rosenbloom - Piano

IBEAM in BROOKLYN, NYC
168 7TH STREET
BROOKLYN, NY, 11215

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ERIC’S HOUSE OF IMPROV PRESENTS

Saturday, April 20, 201
KEIR NEURINGER - Alto Sax
LOU GRASSI - Drums
SIMONE WEISSENFELS - Piano

MICHIKO REHEARSAL STUDIOS
PERFORMANCES START AT 8 PM | ADMISSION $20
149 W. 46TH STREET, 3RD FLOOR
B, D, F, M TRAINS TO 47TH-50TH STREETS / N, Q, W TRAINS TO 49TH STREET

Tuesday, APRIL 23, 2019
REMPIS / LOPEZ / PACKARD
DAVE REMPIS - Saxes
BRANDON LOPEZ - Bass
RYAN PACKARD - Drums

244 REHEARSAL STUDIOS
PERFORMANCES START AT 8 PM | ADMISSION $20
244 W. 54TH STREET, 10TH FLOOR
C, E TRAINS TO 50TH STREET / N, Q, R, Q TRAINS TO 57TH STREET

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Sunday, April 21 8PM
at Scholes St. Studio 375 Lorimer St., Bklyn. (718) 964-3805
Inverted Smokestack*
Ken Filiano, bass
Lou Grassi, drums
Todd Capp, drums
Simone Weissenfels - piano
* Inspired by Andrew Hill's 1963 Blue Note Lp with two bassists and Roy Haynes on drums.