DMG Newsletter for April 10th, 2020: Yo, Homeboys and Homegirls (Women, sorry) of the Universe!

“Hello in There”
By John Prine, from his first self-titled album in 1971

We had an apartment in the city

Me and Loretta liked living there

It'd been years since the kids had grown

A life of their own, left us alone

John and Linda live in Omaha

And Joe is somewhere on the road

We lost Davy in the Korean war

And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore

Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger

And old rivers grow wilder every day

Old people just grow lonesome

Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"

Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more

She sits and stares through the back door screen

And all the news just repeats itself

Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen

Someday I'll go and call up Rudy

We worked together at the factory

But what could I say if asks, "What's new?"
Nothing, what's with you?
Nothing much to do

Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger

And old rivers grow wilder every day

Old people just grow lonesome

Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"

So if you're walking down the street sometime

And spot some hollow ancient eyes

Please don't just pass 'em by and stare

As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"

Two of my favorite Music Heroes have passed this week:
JOHN PRINE and HAL WILNER

A couple of days ago, I heard the great singer/songwriter JOHN PRINE had passed away due to the corona virus. This made me very sad as I was longtime fan of Mr. Prine’s, getting that first album when it came out in 1971. Earlier that year I caught Kris Kristofferson play live at the Schaeffer Music Series in Central Park. During his set, he prefaced a song by saying that the press likes to toss around accolades like saying someone is the next Bob Dylan. Kristofferson said that he had heard the new guy in Chicago and that he was as close as it comes to a new Dylan. I have been going back to that first album over the past few years and it still sounds fresh to me, the lyrics, the music, his singing and the session man back-up still ring true. The above song, “Hello in There”, is one of Prine’s most poignant ones and I still shed a tear when I hear it. It reminds/us that there are still a lot of lonely people out there, so perhaps its time to reach out to touch one of those lost souls. Last night I listened to a couple of his later records, “The Missing Years” and “Lost Dogs Mixed Blessings” and they sounded pretty good, he was still writing great songs until the end. Tonight I will listen to a couple of his earlier records. I read a great article on John Prine yesterday on Rolling Stone on-line, do check it out: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/john-prine-obit-253684/

Yesterday, I heard about the passing of Producer/Event Organizer HAL WILNER, someone I’ve long admired and someone I was friends with for many years. I remember talking with Hal at the Old Knit(ting Factory) when John Zorn’s Spy vs. Spy band were there playing hardcore punk versions of Ornette Coleman songs. Along with Mr. Zorn, Tim Berne & David Sanborn, were also play their saxes up front. Mr. Sanborn had a TV show called Night Music which was broadcasted every Sunday night for a couple of years. Mr. Wilner was the music coordinator for that show. The combinations of musicians he put together from across many genres was just incredible and consistently surprising. Here’s a short list: John Zorn playing Naked City’s “Snaggle Puss” back by the Sanborn House Band (w/ Hiram Bullock, Marcus Miller…), Conway Twitty backed by the Residents (on vocals in their eyeball masks), the camera zooms in on Sonny Rollins taking a solo which pans out to reveal that Rollins is a part of the Leonard Cohn Band, the Indigo Girls with Sanborn sitting in morphs into a Sonic Youth closer dropping their guitars on the stage as the episode ends. Check out any of the 40 or so episodes and thank Hal for his great ideas.
Mr. Wilner was also one of the last Great Record Producers, he put together a series of tribute albums, each and every one a gem: Nina Rota, Kurt Weill, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and Walt Disney. The Mingus tribute “Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus” was my favorite. They used the Harry Partch instruments to back Elvis Costello plus contributions from Bill Frisell, Keith Richards, Henry Threadgill, Robert Quine and Diamanda Galas. As record companies stopped funding these projects, Mr. Wilner started producing/organizing tribute concerts with equally odd parings of musicians: There were many of these concerts throughout the years, many of which I attended: Tim Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Harry Smith, Randy Newman, Bill Withers and Lou Reed. Wilner also produced a bunch of great spoken word records with William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Edgar Allen Poe, Lenny Bruce and Bob Holman. I Attended several nights of Mr. Wilner’s residencies at the Old Stone which were always filled with strange surprises. The last one I recall featured Garth Hudson from The Band with Steve Bernstein and other great Downtowners. This was probably the only opportunity to see & hear the legendary Garth Hudson in a small room improvising and taking chances. Truly a night to remember for your truly. I urge you to check out some of those episodes of Night Music’ a/k/a ’Sunday Night’ and any of the wonderful tribute records. A toast to HAL WILNER for all of the great things he did! - BLG

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Yo, Homeboys and Homegirls (women, sorry) of the Universe!

Thanks again for all of those letters (e-mails) of support! We have been hearing from quite a bit from our friends/customers/DMG newsletters-getters from around the world over the past week or so and we know that everyone out there is feeling similar vibes: frustration, boredom, loneliness, anxiousness, fear, anxiety… even when the sun shines through, we still worry our current situation, the near and further future that surrounds us. I have been at home for two weeks and am feeling very restless. I have been keeping busy still reorganizing my collection, cleaning, eating better, writing and listening to dozens & dozens of albums. I am keeping a journal of my listening entitled ‘The Covid19HomeMusicDiary’, which I put at the end of the USED LP list we sent out on Tuesday evening. I still have so many LP’s, CD’s, cassettes and DVD’s that I have never listened to, so it is a great thing to finally catch up. Frank came by yesterday and picked up 100 LP’s of my doubles for that USED LP list. Response was better than we expected. We will be sending out a USED CD list next week. As for the new listings below, please be patient with deliveries & confirmations. Frank Meadows & Charmaine Lee are the only ones at the store taking care of mail-order and the post-office is now only open part-time.

I have been hearing from a good deal of my musician friends from around the world so I would like to give a shout out to John Zorn, Joelle Leandre, Thomas Heberer, Raoul Bjorkenheim, Moppa Elliott (who is doing an on-line blind fold test), Ingrid Laubrock, Ben Goldberg, Henry Kaiser, Gary Lucas and so many more. Since there are no gigs to recommend, I have put together a section at the end of the newsletter which has links from musicians who want you to hear what they are doing. I listen to some of these each night and have included a couple of new songs from pop icons like Bob Dylan & Randy Newman, as well as transmissions or links from Henry Kaiser, Ingrid Laubrock & Tom Rainey, Ben Goldberg, Jesse Dulman. Please give them a listen. PLEASE do take care of yourself, be safe, wear a mask, don’t shake hands and keep your distance. Remember, we are never really alone, we will meet again in this world or the next. Peace, Love and a Cosmic Hug from across the Great Divide. - Bruce Lee Gallanter at DMG - 4/9/20

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This Week’s Sonic Treasures Begin with This Cosmic Guitars & Bass Quartet:

JOHN RUSSELL / OLIE BRICE / HENRY KAISER / RAY RUSSELL - The Dukes of Bedford (Fractal Music 2020-B/Balance Point Acoustics 909; USA) Featuring John Russell, Henry Kaiser & Ray Russell on acoustic & electric guitars and Ollie Brice on double bass. When Henry e-mailed about this release a month ago, he was extremely excited about how it came out. Getting together with not one, but two of legendary British avant/jazz guitarists was a dream come true for Mr. Kaiser. Both Russell’s come from much different scenes/backgrounds/sessions and have not worked together before. I had thought that John Russell is the elder here, at age 66, but this is not the case. He is known for playing mainly acoustic guitar and has worked with Evan Parker, John Butcher, Paul Lovens & Roger Turner. Over the past few years Mr. Russell started to play electric guitar in live situations with Thurston Moore. Mr. Russell has had some serious health issues over the past few years and is supposed to pass away from cancer in the near future. The real elder here is Ray Russell, who just turned 73 last Saturday (April 4th). Ray Russell is mainly an electric guitarist, whose long career (1st album in 1968) has embraced mainstream, progress and free/jazz, fusion, tone of session work, production and engineering. Ray Russell has worked with a diverse cast of musicians & composers: John Barry, Georgie Fame, Bill Fay, Nucleus and Gil Evans. If you can find a copy, you should check out ‘Live at the ICA / Retrospective’ (on Mokai from 2000). Mr. Kaiser has been a longtime friend of Ray Russell and finally got a chance to record with him in 2015 for the album, ‘The Celestial Squid’ (Cuneiform & still in print!). Mr. Kaiser has been wanting to work with Ray Russell ever since and finally got the chance to organize this session, along with another hero of his John Russell in March of this year (2020). To complete the line-up, acoustic bassist, Olie Brice was added. DMG regulars should recognize MR. Brice name from more recent discs with Paul Dunmall, Ingrid Laubrock and Alex Ward.
Each piece on this disc features a quartet (1), trio (6) or duo (1). The opening piece is the quartet and it is an intense, free blast of UK insect improv music at its best. The second piece is a trio of John Russell, Kaiser & Brice. The intensity increases here, with Mr. Brice doing a great job of bridging the two guitars, holding down the central throb while the guitars push each other further out while tossing back lines in a fascinating, heated conversation. Each trio has different personnel so that we get to hear the different combinations with their distinctive sounds. The third track is both Russell’s & Mr. Brice. What’s interesting is the way Ray on electric and John on acoustic work together with Brice’s low-end bowed bass at the bottom, providing a cosmic ghost-like presence. Both Russell’s take their time, bending and twisting their notes slowly weaving their lines around one another. It sounds as if John Russell has switched to electric on track 4 in a trio with Kaiser & Bruce. This one goes out even further with that bristling bowed bass interweaving with two scary electric guitars. Wow, truly brutal, also somehow beautiful like the awesome power of Mother Nature at her most inspiring. I really dig the spaciousness on track 5 (JR/OB/RR), it sounds as if each member of the trio is playing in a different time zone yet they are still connected somehow. Henry Kaiser, who has done hundreds of improvised sessions, always seems to find a way to reach and engage everyone he works with. I can hear some extraordinary interaction going on on track 6, both he and John Russell are on acoustic guitars and are creating a web of activity with Mr. Brice’s bass finding its way into the superb blend. The final piece is an incredible duo with John Russell and Henry Kaiser on electric guitars. Although the piece starts quietly, it just keeps going into some strange, alien world with all kinds of bent notes, some of which are manipulated by the select devices that both players use. It is a great way of bringing this challenging, awe-inspiring disc to a grand close. A special toast to the great John Russell! -Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


KIDD JORDAN / JOEL FUTTERMAN / ALVIN FIELDER - Spirits (Silkheart SHCD 162; Sweden) Featuring Kidd Jordan on tenor sax, Joel Futterman on piano, curved soprano sax & Indian flute and Alvin Fielder on drums & percussion. This disc was recorded at Sound Services Studio in New Orleans in April of 1997. I have caught all three of these gifted improvisers on several occasions at the Vision Festival, sometimes with William Parker and/or Steve Swell sitting in. Both Mr. Jordan and Mr. Futterman played together in last year’s (2019) Vision fest in a tribute to the late Alvin Fielder, who passed away just a few months earlier in January of 2019. All three of these gentlemen are master improvisers, who have worked together for many years. New Orleans sax legend Kidd Jordan has been playing the Vision Fest since its third year in 1998 and has been coming back every year, always a highlight of that festival. The secret weapon here is pianist/multi-instrumentalist, Joel Futterman, one of the few contenders for the throne left by the late Cecil Taylor. All free/jazz aficionados who have hear Mr. Futterman live or even on record will tell you that he loves to push things all the way out! This disc comes out this week so I haven’t heard it yet. No doubt it is will be one of the best free/jazz freak-out treasures of the year! The Silkheart label, which has been laying low for the past few years is the perfect home for this disc. - BLG/DMG
CD $16


DOPOLARIANS with KIDD JORDAN / WILLIAM PARKER / ALVIN FIELDER / KELLEY HURT / CHRISTOPHER PARKER / CHAD FOWLER - Garden Party (Mahakala Music 190-001; USA) Featuring Kidd Jordan on tenor sax, Chad Fowler on alto sax & saxello, Christopher Parker on piano, William Parker on contrabass, Alvin Fielder on drums and Kelley Hurt on vocals. This session was recorded in a studio in New Orleans in June of 2018. This is a mostly southern crew with three elders, Kidd Jordan, William Parker (NYC) and Alvin Fielder (original AACM musician and longtime Mississippi musician). The session organizer is Chad Fowler, whose name I recall very much. Pianist Chris Parker’s name I recall from his work with George Cartwright & his band called Curlew as well as a CD from saxist Henry Warner, who is an old friend of William Parker’s. All of the songs were written by Mr. Fowler, Ms. Hurt and Chris Parker with one free improvisation piece at the beginning. The free piece opens and is called, “C-Melody”. It has a lovely, relaxed, dreamy, free sound with some superb mallet-work from Mr. Fielder. So nice to hear both saxes play with such sublime, calm, spaciousness. The sextet stretches out even more on “Dopolaria”, another laid back, organic, free flowing jam with some incredible piano from Chris Parker, who keeps each hand going in different directions simultaneously. On “Father Dies, Son Dies”, Fowler has written a theme that reminds me of Soft Machine ‘Four’, my favorite record by the Softs. The sound of the saxello and tenor sax blend together into a dream-like haze. Most enchanting. Mr. Fowler plays the immensely rare saxello on this piece, an instrument make popular by Elton Dean who is featured on that very Soft Machine album. Ms. Hurt wrote the equally enchanting, playful song, “Garden Party”, which has a child-like melody with lovely vocals from Ms. Hurt. Mr. Fowler takes off on saxello once again, spinning out quick daredevil lines while Ms. Hurt sings like a ghost floating around the session, her voice most angelic and uplifting. Mr. Fowler also wrote “Guilty Happy” which features some inspired, bittersweet sounds from his alto sax, reminding me somewhat of Thomas Chapin who could spin those lines outside and inside at the same time. The thing I like most about this disc is that it is mostly free music in which no one screams or blasts or plays too loudly. It casts a spell on all who will listen that tree is some calm in the eye of the storm. 4 stars! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


STEVE SWELL QUINTET SOUL TRAVELERS with JEMEEL MOONDOC / DAVE BURRELL / WILLIAM PARKER / GERALD CLEAVER LEENA CONQUEST - Astonishments (Rogue Art 0091; France) Featuring Steve Swell (trombone), Jemeel Mondoc (alto saxophone), Dave Burrell (piano), William Parker (double bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) and Leena Conquest (vocal). “Second album of these five incredible musicians; with two Swell’s poems magnificently sung by guest Leena Conquest”.
CD $16


CHICAGO UNDERGROUND QUARTET with RONMAZUREK / JEFF PARKER / JOSH JOHNSON / CHAD TAYLOR - Good Days Opaque Blue (Astral Spirits; USA) “On May 13, 2000 the Chicago Underground Quartet played one of the most searing and transcendent sets of music I’ve ever witnessed, as part of the Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music. Cornetist Rob Mazurek, guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Chad Taylor, and bassist Noel Kupersmith performed with a fiery singularity of purpose, ripping through its set like a bulldozer, albeit a machine marked by nuance and soulfulness. The following year the same line-up—which had previously made two albums for Delmark as the Chicago Underground Trio despite, with Parker nominally billed as a guest—dropped its eponymous debut on Thrill Jockey, serving up one of the strongest entries in the city’s modern history. Little did anyone know it would be nineteen years for the follow-up to surface. While Mazurek and Taylor continued to work together as the Chicago Underground Duo, and those two and Parker would occasionally collaborate in other contexts, it took a savvy maneuver by the Los Angeles producer, guitarist, and songwriter Chris Schlarb to bring all three together again for the first time in nearly two decades. Parker also enlisted saxophonist and keyboardist Josh Johnson—a Chicago native now based in LA, who plays in the guitarist’s New Breed band—to hold down the bass function, using a Rheem Kee Bass as well as adding depth with various keyboards.
Working on a recording for his long-running Psychic Temple project that featured four diverse bands and artists in collaboration (Cherry Glazerr, the Dream Syndicate and rapper Xololanxinco), he gathered the erstwhile core of the Chicago Underground Quartet at his BIG EGO studio to participate. In exchange he offered to produce a new session by the band, nonchalantly fomenting a low-key reunion. Unlike the previous recordings by the band, which had been preceded by rigorous rehearsals and steady gigging by a working combo, this time the musicians site-read tunes each player brought in, ran through some arrangements, and recorded the album in a single day. “It sounds cohesive in the same way as when we were actually a working band,” says Parker. “You can hear it, we’re a lot better now.”
While only Taylor’s loping, funky “Batida” was composed specifically for the session, older tunes Parker and Mazurek contributed were composed with one another in mind. The guitarist originally wrote the smolderingly beautiful “Good Days” for Mazurek, although the horn player wasn’t available for the session that produced his sublime 2012 trio album Bright Light in Winter, while the latter realized he envisioned a role for Parker on his “Strange Wing” when he wrote it as part of a commission for the Novara Jazz Festival. Still, the group injects something new and distinctive into every piece, including the opener “Orgasm,” an Alan Shorter tune from 1969 that Taylor first arranged for a 2018 project in Philadelphia, which toggles between groovy hypnosis and spacey yet tumultuous exploration. “Unique Spiral” by Mazurek takes on a very different vibe than the version featured on his 2019 acoustic quartet album Desert Encrypts Vol. 1, where it was titled “Encrypts 37.” He plays piccolo trumpet across the entire session, transmitting a new timbre for the group. “On Jeff’s ballad it fits on the horn so well, it feels like a bird singing,” he says. “It’s papery.” Indeed, even at his most ferocious there’s something delicate, even vulnerable, about his sound on this record.
The album also features a couple of solo pieces, including Mazurek’s haunting invocation “All the Bells,” where tart smears and sputters infect a brittle melody voiced over meditative chimes and metallic clatter, while Taylor’s solo log drum piece “Lomé” taps into the same sort of African roots excursions he so deftly revealed on his 2018 solo album Myths and Morals. In fact, what becomes clear as the album progresses is how many tools, ideas, and abilities each musician has acquired since they last all worked together. “We all grew musically and everyone was super active in their own things,” says Mazurek. “It didn’t feel like any time had passed. The only thing different is that maybe everyone’s concept of making music is stronger after twenty years, but still similar, at least for this thing. I’ve ventured into some real crazy shit, but I love playing melodies and doing song structures as much as making the noisiest non-structured thing ever.”
“Those dudes are still some of my favorite musicians on the planet,” says Parker. “Every time I see them it’s like we’re just picking up where we left off. We’re all very good friends and it’s very easy. It didn’t feel any different to me.”
credits
CD $12


ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE with GEOFF LEIGH - Reverse Of Rebirth Reprise (Nod and Smile Records 3472A; Earth) This is a change of pace for Acid Mothers Temple with the mellow folk approach but is likely due to the influence of Jyonson Tsu who has added a cosmic troubadour element to the band which I personally love. Its a Acid folk music that is in a genre all its own but at this point Acid Mothers Temple is genre in and of itself. The electric guitar makes its presence known before the end of each song in true Kawabata style and we also have the special treat of hearing Kawabata Makoto on synthesizer solo!
Reverse in Rebirth Reprise features band leader and legendary guitarist Kawabata Makoto, long time AMT member Higashi Hiroshi on synth, Jyonson Tsu on voice guitar and bouzouki, Satoshima Nani on drums, Wolf on Bass and special guest Geoff Leigh on Flute.
The addition of Geoff Leigh on flute adds to the acid folk vibes and gives the music a new mysterious dimension. His former projects include Henry Cow, Univers Zero. The addition of the flute reminds me of some of the acid rock music from the 1970’s krautrock and progressive rock movements.
Reverse of Rebirth Reprise was recorded in London on July 25th 2018 and at Acid Mothers Temple Studio in September 2019. Limited Edition of 500.
CD $15


SEVEN MORE GEMS FROM THE CLEAN FEED & SHHPUMA LABELS:

TONED with TOM WEEKS / NATHAN CORDER / LEO SUAREZ - The Private Sector (Shhpuma 058; Portugal) Toned features Tom Weeks on alto sax, Nathan Corder on electronics and Leo Suarez on drums plus guests Matt Robidoux on guitar and Timothy Russell on percussion. Toned are/is brutal trio from Oakland, CA and they played here at DMG on March 15th, the very set last time we have had live music before the corona virus hit and we were forced to close down our shop to customers. The trio was booked a couple of months in advance since they were on a cross country tour which was cut short. The only thing I knew about the members of the was that their saxist Tom Weeks was in a trio with drummer Kevin Murray, who now lives here and is a volunteer at The Stone. Doing some research, I found out that Toned did a collaboration with free/music sax legend Jack Wright which was released on cassette and is now out-of-print. Their set at DMG was way intense and you can check out a short clip on our Instagram stream.
This disc was recorded in Philly, Oakland & Tijuana, Mexico in 2018 & 2019. The sound of the trio is hard hitting, almost post-punk in their focused intensity. Tight, throttling, often erupting and bursting with energy. We can tell that these lads have been at this for a while since they have worked out some ultra tight zigzagging lines. Saxist Weeks often has that early Zorn, jagged, bent-note sound and often at the center of the storm. Guest guitarist, Robidoux sounds more like he is playing el. bass in punk band adding some interlocking lines with the drummer on occasion. There is also some hilarious vocal sounds (appropriate maniacal laughter) which could be samples of some sort. Electronics are a strange thing, sometimes brutal, sometimes like an alien transmission, hard to figure out what is exactly going on. They either work or they don’t and I know they do get on some folks nerves. I like the way they are used here although the overall sound is somewhat disorienting or even disturbing at times. Not for the faint of heart but the serious listener who likes to be challenged with some extremes. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

JEAN D.L. with LEE RANALDO / MARGARET HERMANT / JEREMY YOUNG - Forays (Shpumma 058; Portugal) Featuring: JEAN D. L. or Jean De Lacoste is simultaneously a musician and a video artist, but the approach he has to organized sounds and organized images seems reversed – his music, either when he plays the guitar or when he uses field recordings, is an imagetic and somewhat hazy soundscape, while is musically structured films try to provoque abstract emotions through the titillation of memories and fantasies. With a dreamy quality, seeming to suspend time, “Forays” is a journey to the inner self more than to the cosmos, and sometimes it gets noisy because there’s nothing in this record of the new age / neo-hippie myth that states the inside of our minds as the place where peace sleeps. Jean D.L. knows very well how to handle the two aspects – after all he had partnerships with Zbigniew Karkowski and Julia Kent, with one creating the most harsh sounds provided by electronic instruments, and with the other finding beauty in the volatile acoustic world. There’s subliminar agitations in these apparently quiet pieces, as in life itself when we wrongly think that a forest walk can clean our minds.
CD $13

TIM STINE QUARTET with NICK MAZZARELLA / QUIN KIRCHNER / MATT ULERY - "Knots" (Clean Feed 542; Portugal) ”At Clean Feed we like distinctive voices and more like looking for avant-garde music we look for identity or authenticity through music that can only be made today. Tim Stine is the perfect example of someone that plays his instrument (the acoustic guitar) with a totally classic approach without any fireworks or extended techniques but reaching what one can call original music. As he Tim points out "Acoustic guitar is hard to play. Like physically hard. I like that it’s hard." Surely Tim reached out his uniqueness the hardest way using nothing but his acoustic guitar and his way of being himself on it. The other three members of this band are nothing but the perfect match to the leader's vision. I find this record as a fantastic example of how to build new music in a traditional outfit like accommodating Chet Atkins, Tal Farlow and Derek Bailey in the same music room.”
CD $15

GONCALO ALMEIDA / MARTIN VAN DUYNHOVEN / TOBIAS KLEIN - "Live at the Bimhuis" (Clean Feed 544; Portugal) This is the second opus of this trio and the second one of Clean Feed (the first in 2015). What Tobias Klein (alto sax, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), Gonçalo Almeida (double bass) and Martin van Duynhoven (drums) deliver on this record it's not about breaking out with the past as it is about finding new ways to play Ornette/Dolphy inspired music in the 21st century.
Although I know little about saxist Tobias Klein, both rhythm team players have busy resumes. Bassist Goncalo Almeida is on a number of discs from Clean Feed & Shhpuma in the bands: Albatre and Lama, while drummer Martin van Duynhoven is a longtime member of the Ab Baars Trio as well as a number of great Dutch musicians: Nedley Elstack (in 1968 for ESP!), Frank Van Bommel and Leo Cuypers. Each of the three members of the trio have contributed songs to this disc with three covers, two by Ornette Coleman and one by Portuguese composer/guitarist Carlos Paredes. The opening song is Ornette’s “Sleep Talk” (from “Of Human Feelings”), which has that inspiring spiritual jazz sound with haunting bowed bass and the ancient crying tone of Mr. Klein’s tasty alto sax. The song by Carlos Paredes is called, “Verdes Anos” and starts with haunting bass solo and is followed by some touching bass clarinet and sublime mallet work. The melody recalls “Summertime” and captures a similar solemn vibe. What I really like about this trio is the elastic way they stretch their rhythms out. You can tell that they have been playing together for a long while since they always move together in a most organic fashion. Ornette Coleman once had a trio in the mid sixties with David Izenzon & Charles Moffett. This trio doesn’t quite sound like them but they do sound like they have taken their influence and expanded upon it. When Mr. Klein switches to bass clarinet, he brings a different sound to the trio. He often strips things down and writes slow, moody lines for the bowed bass and bass clarinet to play together. The final tune is another Ornette song called, “Mob Job”, from the same record as the earlier Ornette cover. The trio keep that ebullient free-flowing joyous spirit at the center, swinging hard at times and freaking out at other times, the balance just right. Another gift from the Clean Feed treasure chest. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

DANIEL BERNARDES & DRUMMING GP - "Liturgy of the Birds – in memoriam Olivier Messiaen" (Clean Feed 534; Portugal) This features the trio: Daniel Bernardes on piano, Antonio Augusto Aguiar on bass and Mario Costa on bass with a percussion quartet: Jeff Davis, Miquel Bernat, Joao Dias & Pedro Gois on marimba, vibes, glockenspiel & percussion. For the past decade, two Portuguese labels, Clean Feed (& their offshoot Shhpuma) and Creative Sources, have been documenting an ever-growing number of musicians from Portugal, some known (Rodrigo Almado, Red Trio & Luis Lopes) and some not so well-known. I can’t say that I had heard much about any of the musicians on this disc, except for drummer Mario Costa who played for Hugo Carvalhais (2 discs on Clean Feed) and percussionist Miquel Bernat, whose appears on two discs on the Neos & Edition RZ modern classical labels. All of the music here was written by pianist Daniel Bernardes and inspired by the great French composer Olivier Messiaen.
Commencing with “19”, the percussion quartet is featured and playing some extraordinary interlocking patterns. The piano trio soon enters as an extension of what has gone before but slowing things down to lush, dream-like, slower pace, elegant and cerebral. This piece is suite-like, going back and forth between the percussion quartet and piano trio, somehow the music works since there is a flow that runs through everything. Occasionally vibesman, Jeff Davis (not the NY-based drummer?), will take short, spirited solos, parts of which are written out in that Frank Zappa (for Ruth Underwood) style. There is an interesting balancing act going on throughout, especially well illustrated on “Sobra Kieslowski I”, which keeps shifting back and forth between slow, dreamy trio sections and nervous spurts of percussion freak-outs. I must admit that I am a freak for that Zappa-esque vibes or marimba ensemble playing/writing so it does make me smile when that occurs here. The trio is wonderful on their own playing some spacious, elegant sections which feel like a great way to calm things down. Sometimes the contrasts between to the two extremes doesn’t work but here it is well thought out, well-integrated and consistently connected. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

JOSE LENCASTRE NAU QUARTET QUARTET With RODRIGO PINHEIRO / HERNANI FAUSTINO / JOAO LENCASTRE - "Live in Moscow" (Clean Feed 541; Portugal) José Lencastre found in this quartet a perfect ground to explore his ideas as an improviser. What José plays and projects into the music is what I can describe as a pragmatic spiritual one. He can bring in a call to the gods and a sense of direction at the same time as the music here can be wide open in form without ever losing the sense of the path that is always at sight. Using two thirds of RED Trio plus his brother João on drums, Lencastre shows his ability to bring the best out of both worlds, the ever present tension and singularity of the first and the linear propulsive force of the second Lencastre in the band. Brilliant I would say.
CD $15

KIMCHI MOCCASIN TANGO with KARL-HJALMAR / KARL BJORA / DAG KNEDAL ANDERSEN - Kimchi Moccasin Tango (Clean Feed 536; Portugal) “Featuring: Karl-Hjalmar Nyberg (tenor saxophone), Karl Bjorå (guitar) and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums) bring as Kimchi Moccasin Tango what we can call free jazz for the XXI century. This is music that can only be done today. With a very unique sense of direction the trio explores improvisation within a universe of their own as a group. One can say that the achieved results here are much different than the sum of the three parts. As opposite to the freedom used in the 60's by the great free jazz masters of the time, these guys "invented" a sound for the band and stick with it exploring every sound detail inside of it.”
CD $15


TWO NEW DISCS FROM THE VAST EVIL CLOWN CATALOGUE:

LEAP OF FAITH with PEK / GLYNIS LOMON - Phenomena (Evil Clown 9239; USA) Featuring PEK on clarinets, alto & tenor saxes, contrabassoon, sheng, daxophone, aquasonic & assorted percussion and Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice. Recently longtime Leap of Faith drummer Yuri Zbitnov retired from the various Evil Clown projects, leaving just two founding members, PEK and Glynis Lomon. This disc features the ever evolving Leap of Faith crew as just this duo, an immensely rare occurrence amongst the more than 100 Evil Clown catalogue. Ms. Lomon is an amazing cellist who has worked with Bill Dixon, Chris Chalfant, Blaise Siwula, Masashi Harada and Raqib Hassan, as well as more than 3/4 of all Leap of Faith discs.
This was recorded at Evil Clown Headquarters/Studio, hence it has superb, well balanced sound. Ms. Lomon’s cello is mic’d close so we hear every nuance of her expressive, diverse sound. PEK starts off on a double reed of some sort (sheng?), slowly bending his notes in a similar way to Ms. Lomon bent bowed strings. The duo seem relaxed and take their time. Ms. Lomon continues to concentrate, bowed low notes haunting the bottom end. PEK switches to one instrument at a time, later picking up his contrabass bassoon, which sounds like a foghorn in the distance or mutant sci-fi monster of some sort. Lomon switches to aquasonic (a bowed metal vase) with an eerie, disorienting sound which matches Pek’s switch to sax. The second half of this disc was recorded around 3 weeks later and again the duo take their time to explore their sounds in focused slow motion. There is some strong dialogue going on here when things increase in tempo and intensity midway. PEK always sounds great on whatever double reed he is playing hence the duo in the later part of this piece with frenetic cello is one of the highlights here. It is nice to hear this duo take their time to explore some new worlds without going too far out. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10

TURBULENCE with PEK / BONNIE KANE / BOB MOORES / ERIC DAHLMAN / MIKE CAGILIANONE / JOHN LOGGIA - Friction Coefficients (Evil Clown 9243; USA) Turbulence features PEK on clarinets, alto & tenor saxes, contrabassoon, sheng, flute, game calls, malletkat, dax, etc; Bonnie Kane on tenor sax & flute; Bob Moores on space trumpet, synth, laptop, percussion; Eric Dahlman on trumpet & voice; Michael Gaglianone on soprano & alto saxes, game calls & percussion and John Loggia on drums & percussive guitar and practically everyone doubling on electronics. Turbulence is one of several Leap of Faith offshoot projects with some 10 discs out under their name. The personnel changes from disc to disc depending on who is around. Besides PEK, longtime Leap of Faith drummer, Yuri Zbitnov is now retired from the various Evil Clown (label) ensembles. There are tow new members on this disc, saxist Bonnie Kane, who used to be a downtowner and who has played with W.O.O. and World of Tomorrow, as well as working with Kevin Shea, Federico Ughi and Jeff Shurdut. I hadn’t heard much about the new drummer here, John Loggia, other than a trio disc I once reviewed with Blaise Siwula and Aron Namenwirth.
This session was live streamed to Youtube and recorded at Evil Clown Headquarters in February of 2020. This session sounds different from others from the Evil Clown vast catalogue. It is not just one continuous flow but more episodic. The sextet sounds a bit hesitant which makes sense since there are two new members. One one point it sounds as if both trumpet players are playing a slower, more solemn jazz-like thing. Turbulence sounds like the wrong band name for this particular disc since their is quite a bit of recurring silence or space in between the occasional eruptions. Even in there short episodes, interesting combinations take place. Trumpet(s), percussion & electronics take off at one point then reeds, trumpet, percussion (bells & gongs) & electronics. This is relatively strong improv session but it doesn’t sound like the Turbulence of the past. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


JAC BERROCAL & DAVID FENECH & VINCENT EPPLAY - Ice Exposure (Klanggalerie 326; Austria) Jac Berrocal is a 1946-born musician, poet and film actor who came of age in the '70s Paris improv scene, where the boundaries between music, art and theatre were porous and begging to be breached. Inspired by bebop, chanson, free jazz, beat poetry, early rock 'n roll and myriad Eastern influences, and with an iconoclastic, anything-goes approach to instrumentation and technique that would later align him with post-punk sensibilities, Berrocal blazed an eccentric and unstoppable trail across the underground throughout the '70s and '80s, both solo and as part of the Catalogue group he co-founded. During this time his uproarious performances routinely wound up jazz and rock audiences alike, but earned the admiration of many musicians: Steven Stapleton invited him to perform on two Nurse With Wound albums, and other notable collaborators in his career include Sunny Murray, Lol Coxhill and James Chance. Now Berrocal has found the perfect foil in David Fenech and Vincent Epplay, two fearlessly inventive improvisers, composers and catalysts who create challenging, acutely modernist yet historically aware settings - wrought out of synthesis, guitars, computer processing, field recordings and unorthodox percussions. Fenech cut his teeth in the mail-art scene of the early '90s, leading the Peu Importe collective in Grenoble. Epplay is a highly regarded sonic and visual artist with a particular interest in aleatory composition and autonomous pieces, concrète. Ice exposure is the sequel and companion piece to 2015's Antigravity, its title couldn't be more apt: sonically it is both colder, and more exposed - in the sense of rawer, more volatile, more vulnerable - than its predecessor, capturing the combustible energy and barely suppressed violence of the trio's celebrated live performances with aspects of noir jazz, musique concrète, no wave art-rock, sound poetry and spectral electronics all interpenetrating in unpredictable and exhilarating ways.
CD $18


ELEPHANT CHATEAU - Dreamings & Offshore Drilling - Pearls And Turtles Bureau B 328; Germany) “Dreamings by Elephant Château has infected quite a few music diggers. And Veith Stauffer already wrote in 1998 on Offshore Drilling, "One of the most underrated albums in the history of experimental rock music in Switzerland." After a 30-year delay, the productions of Elephant Château are now available again. With the title Dreamings & Offshore Drilling - Pearls And Turtles" Bureau B combine the 12" maxi released in 1985 and the CD/LP Offshore Drilling released in 1990. The recordings show the work of Elephant Château in a variety of different formations with various guest musicians, recorded between 1982 and 1989. Well-sounding film music ("Le Fin"), free jazz experiments ("J'aime Rien") and ambient electronics ("Nebellied") up to the showpiece "Wir Fangen Mit Der Arbeit Anfangen", a German monolog spoken by the American artist Marlene McCarthy, accompanied by a sensual crackling sound backdrop. Elephant Château emerged from this collaboration with Marlene McCarthy, as a loose formation for a performative publication of texts. The core consisting of Max Spielmann (guitar, keyboard), Johannes Vetsch (bass, vocals, keyboard) and until 1986, Christian Schaffner (guitar, vocals, percussion) continued working afterwards. With Franziska Strebel (drums, percussion), it became something like a band, with the claim to record credible intellectual rock music. They exploited the sound spectrum of the '80s, from analog synthesizers and rhythm machines to samplers and digital effects units without technoid coldness, but full of emotion, melancholy and unacademic joy of experimentation. Analog songs like "We Start With Work" and "J'aime Rien" stand besides rhythm and sequencer tracks like "Dreamings" or "Fog Song", which often brought the available technology to its knees. Veit Stauffer's description of Offshore Drilling's songs probably remains unsurpassed even today: "'She Had Hair' was immediately covered by Sky Bird, 'Semmelweiss' tells the tragic story of the discoverer of childbed fever 100 years ago and sounds like a This Heat outtake, 'Strange Days' turns the Doors title into a charmingly underexposed hymn, 'J'aime Rien' sounds like the meeting of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago with Catalogue and The Government. 'La Fin' on the other hand is reminiscent of the credits of a German TV crime thriller. 'Not All The Day' celebrates pure Can magic, the climax of the record with real Damo Suzuki groove and strong lyrics, 'Wir Fangen Mit Arbeit An' sets the crazy everyday lyrics of a German-speaking American to music." Features Marlene McCarthy, Franziska Strebel, Christian Schaffner, Baschi Baumgartner, Christoph Gallio, Cornelia Melian, and others.”
CD $17


DIE WILDE JAGD - Haut (Bureau B 343; Germany) “Die Wilde Jagd is the music project of producer and songwriter Sebastian Lee Philipp. With the aid of his coproducer Ralf Beck and various guest musicians, he created a self-titled debut album in 2015 (BB 203CD/LP) and a highly-praised follow-up disc, Uhrwald Orange, in 2018 (BB 290CD/LP). The band's third album, Haut, is now set for release on Bureau B. Die Wilde Jagd regularly tour throughout Europe and beyond as a live duo comprising Sebastian Lee Philipp on guitar, electronics and vocals and Ran Levari on drums.
"Ich war's" sagt die Eule. ("It was I", said the owl.) "Ich war's" sagt der Wind. ("It was I", said the wind.) "Ich war's" sagt der Räuber. ("It was I", said the robber.) "Ich war's" sagt der Prinz. ("It was I", said the prince.) These are the words which lead us into Die Wilde Jagd's latest journey. Ethereal voices, low murmurs and distant noises from a world slowly emerging from slumbers meet the listener in an intermediate dimension of memory and premonition, from whence Uhrwald Orange, the previous album, came in 2018. A birth into a different world begins with the first track, "Empfang", a constant departure which progresses into hypnotic rhythm before ultimately flowing into "Himmelfahrten". The first Die Wilde Jagd duet with guest vocalist Nina Siegler blossoms into a ritualistic canon celebrating memory and togetherness, the urge to leave one's own body versus the trepidation at setting out on the imminent journey. A sense of "I don't want to go on my own" anticipates the song's final section which announces the inevitable farewell. "Gondel" is a pulsating, repetitive mantra to mark the crossing to the other side. From the distant, faint knocking discernible at the outset of the album, the gateway to the other world is now well and truly being hammered upon as its door finally opens in "Sankt Damin". Fear mixes with Kriegeslust, a resolute desire to experience this new existence. And so the album ends as it began in a state of rapture. Sebastian Lee Philipp wrote, produced and recorded Haut in the band's own studio at the Rockhaus in Berlin. Artwork comes courtesy of Brazilian multidisciplinary artist Caroline Barrueco, whose prismatic illustrations impressively encapsulate Die Wilde Jagd's sonic voyages. Haut is a consistent, forceful listening experience in every sense, defying standard formats as it challenges and astounds the listener. Can you feel the colourful gifts?”
CD $17


HISTORIC & ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS, REISSUES and/or RESTOCKS:

FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS with NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK / GEORGE DUKE / RUTH UNDERWOOD / TOM FOWLER / CHESTER THOMPSON - Austin 1973 (Zip City 099; EEC) Released in September 1973, Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention's Over-Nite Sensation was initially met with mixed reviews; Rolling Stone magazine called the lyrical content puerile, and Robert Christgau from Village Voice asked, "where's the serious stuff?" In retrospect however, the album has fared much better and is now the subject of one of the esteemed Classic Rock documentaries. In the wake of the record, Zappa and the then current MOI line up went out on the road for a short North American Tour. With George Duke on keys, Tom Fowler on bass, Chester Thompson on drums, Ruth Underwood on percussion and Napoleon Murphy Brock on sax, the group performed at Austin, Texas' Armadillo World Headquarters on 26th October '73, where they put on an extraordinary show which was recorded for live FM radio broadcast. In true Zappa style however, the band did not perform a single cut from their new album. Previously unreleased, the full Austin '73 concert is now available for the first time on this CD package.
CD $15

JAZZ MESSENGERS with ART BLAKEY / HORACE SILVER / THELONIOUS MONK / HANK MOBLEY / JOHNNY GRIFFIN / WAYNE SHORTER / LEE MORGAN / DONALD BYRD / BILL HARDMAN / FREDDIE HUBBARD / CURTIS FULLER / SAM DOCKERY / SPANKY DeBREST - Classic Albums 1956-1963 (Enlightenment 9180; EEC) “The origin of the Jazz Messengers goes back to 1954 or 1955, when the first recordings credited to the band appeared. The Jazz Messengers formed as a collective, nominally led by Horace Silver or Art Blakey on various studio dates. Blakey credits Silver with reviving the Messengers name. Blakey formed a new line-up in 1956 that would prove to be somewhat more stable. The most notable name at the time was Jackie McLean. At just 25 he had already recorded with Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. Bill Hardman, Sam Dockery and Jimmy "Spanky" DeBrest filled out the band. They recorded another record for Columbia, Hard Bop, then went on to work for several different labels including RCA subsidiary Vik Records, Pacific Jazz, Elektra, Cadet, Jubilee, Bethlehem and a date on Atlantic featuring Thelonious Monk. Over this time the band's moniker evolved to include Blakey's name, starting with The Jazz Messengers featuring Art Blakey, then, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers on several other releases and, for Cu-Bop (Jubilee, 1957), Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers The Jazz Messengers remained a major jazz collective right through until Art Blakey's death in 1990, but the group's golden years were, by that juncture, long past, and it remains this seminal act's records from the mid-1950s through the mid-1960s for which the Jazz Messengers remain so fondly remembered. This superb collection features eight of the Jazz Messengers' finest records from this era, which feature, alongside maniman Art Blakey, the cream and most renowned players of the time.”
The albums included are: ‘The Jazz Messengers’, ‘Hard Bop’, ‘Selections from Lerner and Loewe’s…’, ‘Cu-Bop’, ‘Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk’, ‘Art Blakey!!!!! Jazz Messengers!!!!!’, ‘Buhaina's Delight’ and ‘Caravan’.
4 CD Set $18


LP SECTION:

MAKO SICA & HAMID DRAKE - Balancing Tear (Feeding Tube 513/ Astral Spirits; USA) "A glorious re-match for Chicago's superb free-rock trio, Mako Sica, and the jazz world's percussionist of choice, Hamid Drake. Their last collaboration, Ronda (FTR 409LP, 2018) was a glorious, open-ended studio conversation spread across two LPs. Balancing Tear is a mix of studio and live recordings, awash with calmly oceanic passages, interspersed with compressed and feverish form-blurts. As with Ronda, the heft of the material is dynamically advanced. The album begins with passages worthy of Morricone's western soundtracks, but the action mutates with rapid surety. There's a track that will make you think of a micro-dosed Vic Damone singing ballad for the Sephardic Justice Society with chunky, obtuse piano accompaniment recalling the work of Chris Abrahams (Necks). There are stretches of proggy soundtrack-y expansion with muted trumpet and deep bass roiling that make me think of Mark Cunningham's superb electro-jazz combo, Blood Quartet. There are even shadows of tango that emerge in places like sharks' fins breaching. Having played together as much as they have over the intervening years, Hamid's presence inside the overall gestalt of the sound is a natural fit. Mako Sica's sound expands without making it seem like there's a new element grafted to it. It's just bigger and better. As all freedom should be." - Byron Coley, 2020
LP $18

SEAHAWKS - Island Visions (KPM)(Be With Records 077; UK) “Jon Tye and Pete Fowler have been making music as Seahawks for a decade now. Given the sounds they've been exploring over those ten years it was a cosmic inevitability that they would be asked to contribute to the catalog of the legendary library label KPM. They replied with Island Visions, an exploration of sound for vision where they construct "audio micro-worlds to explore and inhabit," a way to transport the listener away from the everyday without the bother of getting on an airplane. Mostly recorded at The Centre Of Sound in Cornwall, with additional recording at Studio 34 in London, Jon and Pete's traveling companions on this particular trip were boogie wunderkind Sven Atterton on fretless bass and keys, Nick Mackrory on percussion, and the Seahawks live team of Dan Hillman and Alik Peters-Deacon. From the grooves of Brian Bennett to the moog vibrations of Mike Vickers, the lush textures of Les Baxter to the experimental sounds of Delia Derbyshire and David Vorhaus, this new music channels sounds and moods from across the KPM universe. Like many KPM suites, this is a record of two distinct sides. The sunrise of side A brings a deep meditation, a journey within to renew the jaded self. Side B refreshes with cocktails by the pool and a chance to groove away the evening at some sunset beach party before dancing under the stars in the house of dreams. Pete's cover for the LP is part map, part postcard; the track descriptions on the back help guide the way. 2020 marks ten years since Ocean Trippin', the first Seahawks release, and Island Visions is the perfect distillation of the sounds, sights, textures, and moods that Jon and Pete have been exploring over the last decade -- sunrise to sunset condensed to two sides of an LP. The normal rules of space and time don't apply here. This is the first time Be With has worked with Seahawks, but individually Jon and Pete have been members of the extended Be With family since forever (Pete did those posters for our Ned Doheny tour and worked with Jon on the vinyl version of Hatchback's Colors Of The Sun). Mastered by Balearic engineer of choice Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry, the sonic frequencies of these Island Visions have been precision tuned and encoded for optimum traveling conditions.”
LP $30

****************

ATTENTION ALL CREATIVE MUSICIANS OUT THERE, Around the world.

If you have a link, for some music that you are working on and want to share it with the folks who read the DMG Newsletter, please send the link to DMG at DMG@Downtownmusicgallery.com. Many of us are going stir crazy staying at home so if you want to inspire us and help us get through these difficult times, please show us what you got. I listed some these last week but have also a few more.

STILL STIR CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!

This is the section where I usually recommend upcoming concerts in the NYC area. As far as I can tell there are no upcoming shows anywhere around here, except perhaps on-line. All places I usually frequent are now closed for the foreseeable future. And everyone is worried about the near future, their health and their sanity for their friends and family. I am trying to come up with something inspirational to put out there but I am also very worried about myself, the store, all of the creative musicians that we need and support, as well as everyone else who has lost their jobs.  

 I have been at home at my old apartment in New Jersey, cleaning, reorganizing my collection, finding lots of doubles, listening to dozens of records, CD’s,cassettes and DVD’s. And working on my ongoing series of discographies and assorted music lists.

   Over the past week or so a number of musicians have been putting up some music on-line for anyone to check out. I know that many of us are going a bit stir crazy so it is time to do some soul searching and serious listening. Here is a list of some music links to check out:

My good friend & guitar master GARY LUCAS is playing half hour sets at his apartment in the West village every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday at 3pm EST on Facebook. Different songs on each episode. This afternoon he is doing a tribute to the great Hal Wilner at 3pm.
Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/gary.lucas.5836


From BOB DYLAN - New Song “Murder Most Foul” nearly 17 minutes long! Outstanding!
https://bobdylan.lnk.to/MurderMostFoulAY


From RANDY NEWMAN: Stay Away - new song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Hk2L2G_W0


From Tuba Master JESSE DULMAN - This is a 24 minute documentary
Much of this takes place at Downtown Music Gallery and it really made me feel good!
https://youtu.be/hzWT50TMwIQ


From INGRID LAUBROCK:
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-1
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-2
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-3


From HENRY KAISER:
Outdoor Festival in Toronto, June 1971
Tisziji Muñoz featuring Lenny Breau on guitar
Lenny’s solo opens the piece, Tisziji’s solo closes the piece.
Bernie Senensky, piano, Michael Malone, trumpet
Michel Donato, bass & Clayton Johnson, drums
Check it out here: https://www.tisziji.com/treasure
nice article with many good points about music docs
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/an-extraordinary-documentary-about-the-art-of-sun-ra


This One is from German Saxist GEBHARD ULLMANN - It is his first String Quartet
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/geb@gebhard-ullmann.com/WhctKJVqsscwKZkjkKcZWLKVZZGzCPLKbjFrXBZDpFdSGMmZNVqGJPcfRhGGXMSndNxlDCl?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1


From JOSH SINTON, Wonderful Baritone Saxist & Bass Clarinetist:
“Stone Cold Classics of 21st Century Saxophone Repertoire.”
https://youtu.be/wnPkyRYN9OI


From MATT HANNAFIN: currently living in Portland, OR
From the Extradition Series (Portland, OR) and A Place to Listen (Victoria, BC):
www.extradition-series.com/archive


From BOB DOWNES, amazing UK flutist, currently living in Germany:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPmgc0gVxgc
 

JOHN RUSSELL & ROSS LAMBERT: A Duet (for the Hundred Years Gallery)
To support the Hundred Years Gallery (in London) during the covid-19 crisis we are releasing this guitar duet recording from Ross Lambert and John Russell.
https://earshots.bandcamp.com/album/a-duet


The MICHAEL MUSILLAMI TRIO 2 just did a quick European tour.
Here is the personnel:
Michael Musillami guitar
Jason Robinson saxophone
Thomas Heberer trumpet
Joe Fonda bass
George Schuller drums
Here are 2 live clips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXzrpR-t9fI&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr_D1gWuKJc&feature=youtu.be


This is from LEN 37 SIEGFRIED, former with Suburban Bohemia & Ecstasy Mule, one of my oldest friends from the early Knitting Factory days:
”Corona Jitterbug” shorter version
https://www.dropbox.com/s/keaew11hz74qzqu/CORONA JITTERBUG.mp3?dl=0


From Clarinetist Extraordinaire BEN GOLDBERG: Tomorrow Never Knows.
Something tells me art will be fine, even though humans are in trouble at the moment. But right now art is precluded from its important work of gathering us together. So musicians are in a weird situation. Concerts, tours, festivals, and in-person teaching disappeared quickly. In the initial shock my thought was, I don't know what to do but I can record music at home. So on March 19 I began recording a new song every day. I made an album on Bandcamp where you can listen to the songs for free. It's called PLAGUE DIARY. The philosophy here is "use what you've got" (is there ever another option?) -- for me that means clarinets, a synthesizer I can't figure out, and rudimentary recording ability. Because it's a diary I am trying to use the recording process as a sketchbook, and an opportunity to mess around. ("Don't forget to mess around." -- Steve Lacy, as quoted by Kirk Knuffke.)
PLAGUE DIARY is now sixteen songs and I hope it has something that can be of use to you. A link to the album is at the bottom of this email, under the mysterious photo of my parents. Here’s the link:
https://ben-goldberg--bag-production-records.bandcamp.com/album/plague-diary