DMG Newsletter for February 26th, 2021

MILFORD GRAVES - 20th Century Percussion Shaman Passes at Nearly 80 Years

Less than two weeks ago, I heard about the passing of Milford Graves, (8/20/1941-2/12/2021). Milford Graves was one of the greatest avant/jazz drummers of all time and one of the pioneers of what is known as “Free Jazz”. I discovered Mr. Graves in the early 1970’s when I used to take the bus to Philly from college in South Jersey and go to the Third Street Music record store. There I would find most of the records on the ESP label for $1.99 each, all cheap treasures to savor. I already owned records by Pearls before Swine & the Fugs, but after attending my first jazz history course (with Manny Albam) at Glassboro State, I soon discovered “Free Jazz”. The first records from ESP I bought were by Sun Ra Arkestra, Albert Ayler and the New York Art Quartet. It took me a while to appreciate this music since it was so weird and often devoid of recognizable melodies. Within a few years, I bought everything I could find on ESP. Milford Graves played drums with the New York Art Quartet, Albert Ayler, Paul Bley, Guiseppi Logan, Lowell Davidson and his own percussion duo effort, all on ESP. Although I attended dozens (hundreds?) of avant/jazz gigs in the seventies and eighties, Mr. Graves rarely played in NYC, although he was living in Queens and teaching at Bennington College in Vermont. I finally got a chance to check out Mr. Graves live with British guitarist Derek Bailey and Japanese dancer Min Tanaka in the 1982 at the Japan Society. This concert was a revelation for me on several levels: Mr. Graves had a unique, strange looking hand-painted drumset and played in his own distinctive way, unlike any drummer I had ever seen.

In the late sixties & seventies, Mr. Graves had recorded infrequently. He did play on Sonny Sharrock’s incredible/brutal ‘Black Woman’ album and then started his own relatively under-recognized label, releasing several of his own records with Don Pullen and a trio with Arthur Doyle & Hugh Glover. Those records were/are nearly impossible to find and finally reissued on CD through CorbettVsDempsey over the past few years. In 1973, Mr. Graves began teaching at Bennington College thanks to fellow musician & composer Bill Dixon, retiring just a few years ago.

From the late 1980’s onwards, Milford Graves seems to have come out of retirement, recording and performing with the reunited New York Art Quartet, a percussion quartet Andrew Cyrille, a duo with David Murray & with Peter Brotzmann and later several duo concerts with John Zorn. Mr. Zorn had become friendly with Mr. Graves and got them a series of duo gigs around 2003. I caught several of these duo concerts (In Victoriaville and at the Vision Fest), and each one was spectacular! Mr. Zorn eventually organized and produced three different discs of Mr. Graves for his own Tzadik label: two solo Graves’ offerings, ’Stories’ and ‘Grand Unification’ and an incredible all-star trio date with Anthony Braxton, William Parker & Graves, called ‘Beyond Quantum’. Mr. Zorn introduced me the Mr. Graves at a few of these concerts so we ended up talking at length on a coupe of occasions. What a gracious, inspiring and fascinating being he was! Super friendly and easy to talk to.

Mr. Graves was also a healer, herbalist and scientist of sorts, amongst his many talents. Too much for me to mention here so do some research yourself. There was a documentary about Mr. Graves called, “‘Milford Graves, Full Mantis’ released in 2018. I urge you to check it out if you can. Every time I caught Mr. Graves, he created his own special magic, not just by playing the drums, but also making sounds with his voice and talking to the audience in his own warm, inviting way. Check out any clip of Graves that you can find and you will see what all the fuss is about! Less than half of the recordings that Graves made are currently in print. Here is a short list of recommended discs:

1.NEW YORK ART QUARTET - self/titled (ESP-Disk)
2.MILFORD GRAVES - Percussion Ensemble (ESP-Disk)
3.PAUL BLEY - Barrage (ESP-Disk)
4.ALBERT AYLER - Love Cry (Impulse!) - possibly out-of-print
5.MILFORD GRAVES with ARTHUR DOYLE / HUGH GLOVER - Bäbi (CD reissue on CorbettVsDempsey)
6.MILFORD GRAVES & DON PULLEN - The Complete Yale Concert (CD reissue on CorbettVsDempsey 075)
7.MILFORD GRAVES / JOHN ZORN DUO - Vol. 2: Zorn 50th Birthday Celebration (Tzadik 5502)
8.MILFORD GRAVES - Grand Unification (Tzadik 7030)
9.MILFORD GRAVES - Stories (Tzadik 7062)
10.ANTHONY BRAXTON / WILLIAM PARKER / MILFORD GRAVES - Beyond Quantum (Tzadik 7626)
These are all CD only releases.

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DMG 30th ANNIVERSARY T-Shirts Now in Stock! $15 each, all sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL

Wow! Thirty years is quite a long time for a record store to survive and thrive, especially in New York City where inflated rents and greedy landlords have made it next to impossible for any stores involved in promoting Creative Music or The Arts have so much to deal with to stay afloat. Downtown Music Gallery has come a long way since May of 1991, when we opened at 211 East 5th St. on the Lower East Side, around the corner from Cooper Union and a few blocks from Tower Records and St. Marks Place where they were several record stores. Word is that there were over a hundred records in Manhattan alone when we opened in’91. Now there are just a handful left. Originally I was a third not-so-silent partner with David Yamner & Steve Popkin, but by 1997 I became the main/manager and eventually the owner. Over the long haul, there has been some 30 employees who have worked at DMG, which has included Emperor Mike, Craig Lopez, Kat, John Hall, Dean Roberts, Mikey “IQ” Jones, Chuck Bettis, Joe Merolla, Chris Pitsiokos, Dave Miller, Frank Meadows, John Mori & Charmaine Lee. Special thanks to all of them and anyone else I forgot who has worked for or helped out at DMG. We has been having weekly “free music” concerts for most of our history, a tradition started at Lunch for Your Ears, a record store I worked at with Manny Maris during 1988 & 1989. More than 1,200 performances by Creative Musicians have taken place here at DMG throughout our long history. In the late 1990’s we started the DMG Newsletter which was a monthly 1 or 2 page list of new releases, then it became biweekly and then weekly, being transmitted through email. Our subscriber list has grown over time and is now past the 8,000 mark! We have also sponsored annual DMG Anniversary concert events at performance places: Knitting Factory, Tonic, The Stone, Bowery Poetry Club, Bowery Electric, Roulette… Due to increasing rents, DMG has moved three times in 30 years: 211 East 5th St (1991-2003), 342 Bowery (2003-2009) and our current home at 13 Monroe St. (2010-?????). Since the Pandemic (Year of the Plague) started in March of 2020, we had to close up shop, stopped having concerts and moved to mail-order only for several months. In June of last year, we did open again for just 2-3 weekdays. Now we are open all five weekdays from noon til 6pm. Thanks to the many Creative Musicians, label folks and distributors who still inspire us and help to bring the music to you, our serious listeners. And special thanks to all of the many customers/friends that we have served throughout our long journey.

THE DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY 30th Anniversary t-shirt was originally designed by David Goldin in the mid-1990’s, a friend of Bob Musso & founder of MuWorks Records. We actually had a series of DMG t-shirts which were designed by JD King, the Village Voice illustrator. We put Sun Ra, Jerry Garcia and Frank Zappa on the front of our t-shirts. Oddly enough, all three of those legendary figures passed away within 6 months of when the t-shirts came out. Hmmmm, the curse of the t-shirt?!?! Help us celebrate our 30th anniversary which will occur on May 1st of 2021. We are working on some special events to take place in May, but we will have to figure out how to do this safely for all. The DMG 30 Anniversary t-shirts are $15 each and we have all sizes: S, M, L, XL & XXL. The color is called Heather/Grey with black print. Orders your today and be the coolest kid, young adult, grandma or grandpa on your block!

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DMG IS ACTIVELY SEEKING USED RECORD COLLECTIONS IN THE TRI STATE AREA (NYC, PA, NJ, CT) and BEYOND! $$ for USED VINYL IN DECENT CONDITION
INTERESTED SELLERS GET IN TOUCH at dmg-real@downtownmusicgallery.com

CHECK OUT OUR DISCOGS SELLER PAGE FOR OUR MOST UP TO DATE LISTINGS ON USED RARITIES COSMIC GOODIES: https://www.discogs.com/seller/DowntownMusicGallery/profile

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THIS WEEK’S GROOVY GOODIES STARTS OFF WITH A Great Book:

JOHN ZORN - Arcana IX (Tzadik 9788337-1-8; USA) “Initiated in 1997 and now in its ninth installment John Zorn’s ARCANA series is a major source of new music theory and practice in the 21st century. To date close to 300 musicians spanning three generations have contributed, addressing the inner workings of composing, improvising, teaching, living, touring and thinking about music via essays, manifestoes, interviews, notebook entries, critical papers and more. ARCANA illuminates via personal vision and experience through the undiluted words and thoughts of the practitioners themselves. This ninth volume is perhaps the most varied and imaginative installment yet, with contributions from classical masters John Luther Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, Ann Cleare and Aaron Jay Kernis, jazz virtuosos Christian McBride, Chris Potter, Tomeka Reid and Joel Ross, soundtrack composers Danny Elfman and Carter Burwell, vocalist Ganavya Doraiswami, recording engineer Ryan Streber plus Jim Black, Kate Gentile, Ingrid Laubrock, Tomeka Reid, Mile Okazaki, Cory Smythe, Daniel Rosenboom and much, much more. Essential for composers, musicians, students and fans alike, this challenging and original collection provides deep insight into the work, mind and methodologies of some of the most remarkable creative minds of our time.”
BOOK $35

THUMBSCREW with TOMAS FUJIWARA / MARY HALVORSON / MICHAEL FORMANEK - Never is Enough (Cuneiform Rune 478; USA) Currently one of the most exciting and active groups in boundary-pushing jazz, is the collective trio Thumbscrew, who release their sixth album in seven years with Never Is Enough. Constantly taking the simple, ‘guitar trio’ line-up into new territories, their music is a masterclass of musical interplay and focused forward momentum.
Late in the summer of 2019 Thumbscrew hunkered down at City of Asylum, the Pittsburgh arts organization that has served as a creative hotbed for the trio via a series of residencies. The immediate plan was for them to rehearse and record a disparate program of Anthony Braxton compositions they’d gleaned from his Tri-Centric Foundation archives, pieces released last year on The Anthony Braxton Project, an album celebrating his 75th birthday. At the same time, the triumvirate brought in a batch of original compositions that they also spent time refining and recording, resulting in Never Is Enough.
While not intentional, The Anthony Braxton Project and Never Is Enough do seem to speak eloquently (if cryptically) to each other. “Braxton’s presence was very strong in this period, spending time with his music, reading some of the composition notes” Formanek says. “I think and hope the influence was there. It was definitely in our minds. I don’t know if there’s a direct influence, but definitely inspiration.”
CD $15 [Due in stock shortly]

ZEENA PARKINS / METTE RASMUSSEN / RYAN SAWYER - Glass Triangle (Relative Pitch 1118; USA) Featuring Zeena Parkins on electric harp & objects, Mette Rasmussen on alto sax & objects and Ryan Sawyer on drums & percussion. Original Downtown sonic sorceress, Zeena Parkins, has been playing acoustic & handmade electric harps & keyboards ever since moving to NY in the early 1980’s. Aside from being a prominent member of several seminal Downtown bands: Skeleton Crew, No Safety, Carbon & Phantom Orchard, Ms. Parkins is a gifted & diverse composer, leading a number of her own bands. It is when Ms. Parkins is playing her electric harp, that defines her unique sound & approach. Danish saxist, Mette Rasmussen, has come a long way in short amount of time playing with other free music giants like Chris Corsano, Paul Flaherty & Tashi Dorji. I have long admired drummer, Ryan Sawyer, who is not bound by any genre, hence he has worked with Louie Belogenis, Nate Wooley, Matana Roberts Susan Alcorn.
Things begin with some squawky sax which is soon joined by intense eruptions from the electric harp and tight, focused drums. Zeena sounds like an ocean liner passing closely, her sound thick, heavy, brutal. Ms. Parkins has a whammy bar built into her harp so that she can bend notes like a powerful guitarist. “Hendrix of the harp?!?” Perhaps. Mr. Sawyer sounds like he is playing some small pieces of metal on “Nat Bygone, just Bigonne”, but maybe it is something unexpected coming form the electric harp, now manipulated with devices. At times, Ms. Parkins’ harp sounds larger than life, dense and somewhat scary. Ryan Swayer sounds especially engaged throughout, a consistently powerful rhythmic force spinning webs about his colleagues. There are some especially spirited moments when the trio comes together as one sonic force, molten and nearly spinning out-of-control. Unless you are lucky enough to haven seen Ms. Parkins play live, it is hard to imagine what see is doing since there are so few harp-like sounds. More like some strange sampler or ancient (Sun Ra-like) synth. Ms. Rasmussen, who often plays more fierce and free, lays back a bit here, sounds warmer than usual, spinning lines which connect well within the trio, rarely screaming or bending new notes out of shape. On occasion Ms. Rassmussen does whip up that Zorn-like alto sax blasting, she chooses just when to insert it at the right moments. I really like the way this trio works together, they sound like a solid electro-acoustic triangle, with all members of equal importance. This disc is one of the best, most intense and most astounding improvised efforts to come down the cosmic pike in a while. You best grab some of the Audial Medicine ASAP! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

REUT REGEV / IGAL FONI - Two Much Never Enough (Relative Pitch 1115; USA) Featuring Reut Regev on trombone & electronics and Igal Foni on drums & other things. Recorded in two studios in Rahway, NJ where I still live. I’ve known the Israeli-born, NJ-based couple, Reut Regev & Igal Foni for quite a while now, which is no surprise since we are neighbors and we are both committed to promoting Creative Music. I’ve seen both of them in separate projects, as well as with their own quartet & trio. Ms. Regev’s last two discs with her own R*Time band are both long lost gems of the past decade. Most of the 20 pieces on this disc are relatively short and each one captures a different vibe, groove or scene. “Keep Steppin’” has an infectious, somewhat funky groove with Reut’s sly trombone licks on top. Mr. Foni varies the groove on each piece, keeping Ms. Regev on her toes with appropriate response. As this disc evolves both musicians start to stretch out on their instruments, Regev coaxing odd sounds while Foni rubs his drums heads or taps on other objects. Ms. Regev sounds like she is reaching deep for a distant sounding melody on “Rising Up”, which sounds like something I’ve heard from somewhere else but can’t place where. An ancient Jewish melody, perhaps?!? Reut and Igal had a daughter several years ago and while I was listening to this disc, a few of the pieces had a nursery rhyme-like sound amongst the many gifts here. There are several explosive moments here which are transcendent, both players reaching for those high and intense points. They often sound larger than a duo as they fill the frame with varied sonic densities. Ms. Regev uses minimal electronics on a few pieces to alter the sound of her trombone or just add some selective sonic seasoning. Mr. Foni sounds like he is playing a thumb piano on a couple of these pieces which gives things a lovely, organic, enchanting sound. Each piece here works and expresses a varied of interesting ideas and combinations. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

ROBERT DICK / DAN BLAKE - Laugh & Lie Down (Chant Records; USA) Featuring Robert Dick on glissando & bass flutes & piccolo and Dan Blake on soprano sax. While I’ve known master flutist, Robert Dick, for nearly forty years, I know quite a bit less about reeds player Dan Blake. I have heard a few of Mr. Blake’s discs for the BJU and Sunnyside labels. Over the last few years, I’ve heard Mr. Dick do a number of duos with: Adam Caine (guitar), Tiffany Chang (drums), Cheryl Pyle and Ulrike Lentz (both on flutes). The first thing I noticed here is that the flute and soprano sax are both in a similar range, hard to tell them apart at times, especially when they stretch out their notes or tones. Mr. Dick is playing his glissando or slide flute for the first, long piece, bending his notes up or down, very close to the sound of the soprano sax. Both reeds players take their time to stretch out, bent or twist certain notes and add different amounts of fractured sounds. Robert Dick has worked long & hard on inventing his own way of playing the flute with varied techniques. I recognize a number of these sounds like when he vocalizes at the same time or mutes or shapes his certain notes in unique ways. As this disc evolves, both players stretch out, sailing, soaring and making their way through a variety of related sounds. What these two have in common is that both are playing wind instruments which are shaped by the way they blow air into their instruments and the way they shape the sound with their lips, tongues and acoustic manipulation. I can hear a heated dialogue taking place with sounds being exchanged both quickly and slowly, often creating unique wind-blown chords. I have been listening to quite a bit of African records for the past month or so, both acoustic (field recordings) and electric (studio recordings). At times, throughout this disc, both players get busy at exchanging, condensing and expanding their lines together. I am reminded of the sounds of birds, insects and humans, all co-existing in the jungle. The central vibe here is very organic and makes perfect sense to me. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

MARSHALL ALLEN / DANNY RAY THOMPSON / JAMIE SAFT / ROSWELL RUDD / TREVOR DUNN / BALAZS PANDI - Ceremonial Healing (RareNoise 0107; Earth) Featuring Marshall Allen on alto sax & EWI, Danny Ray Thompson on bari sax, flute & percussion, special guest Roswell Rudd on trombone, Jamie Saft on Fender Rhodes, synths, organs & mellotron, Trevor Dunn on acoustic bass and Balazs Pandi on drums. Over the past couple of decades keyboard wiz, Jamie saft, has kept a high profile as the go-to guy for many different sessions. After playing piano & other keyboards in various John Zorn projects, (Electric Masada), Mr. Saft ran sessions as his house in Brooklyn as an engineer & producer, recording dozens of Zorn Filmworks records and other projects of his own. Since moving with his family up to Bearsville, he continued to records lost more sessions with assorted casts: Mary Halvorson, Joe Morris, Nels Cline, Bobby Previte, etc. Aside from setting up his own label and forming his own reggae/dub band, Mr. Saft has been recording for the Rare Noise label, mostly with Downtown heavies in jamband-like outfits. Jamming freely at length with Saft producing and editing the final projects and most often with great results.
Jamie Saft decides to do something special and gathered an incredible all-star sextet for this long session. In the frontline, he chose two longtime members of the Legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, currently leader and out-alto sax giant, Marshall Allen and bar sax great Danny Ray Thompson. Saft also asked a neighbor os his from the Woodstock area, the late Roswell Rudd on trombone plus another Electric Masada alumni, Trevor Dunn, on acoustic bass and Polish free/music drum meister, Balazs Pandi, who has worked with Saft on occasion. The results are long and winding and take up six sides of three LP’s. What this reminds me of the most is a superbly produced Sun Ra-like free/electric jazz session. The first piece, “Loa” features some haunting bari sax and flute byDanny Ray Thompson, eerie Sun Ra-like electric keyboard (synth or organ) weirdness form Mr. Saft and superb free-wheeling, supportive drumming from Mr. Pandi. The best records by Sun Ra often had certain (written) themes written by Mr. Ra and then played by different Arkestra members. The sextet seem to come up with occasional themes or licks which emerge out of nowhere, other join in before the rest of the sextet sail out to space for those freer sections. Baritone saxist, Danny Ray Thompson, who rarely-if-ever wins any polls, is in especially fine form here with his dark warm tone and blustery playing. Each of the six sides here gives each musician a chance to stretch out, solo and interact on several different plains. I still have two more sides to go and already my mind has been blown again and again. The music here sounds especially great on well pressed vinyl and the cover art is also well done. A winner on all sides. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
3 LP Set $45 [Very LTD LP Only Record Store Day Release / Red Vinyl / Deluxe Hard-Cardboard `Cover]

ROB MAZUREK EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA with NICOLE MITCHELL / TOMEKA REID / JOEL ROSS / JAIMIE BRANCH / DAMON LOCKS / JEFF PARKER / ANGELICA SANCHEZ / INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN / CHAD TAYLOR / et al - Dimensional Stardust (Nonesuch 0036; USA) Dimensional Stardust from Rob Mazurek's evolutionary Exploding Star Orchestra is easily his most complex, ambitious, and detailed offering in a nearly three-decade career. It defies easy categorization as it weaves through contrapuntal episodes in avant-garde jazz and contemporary classical music, engaging tenets from electronic and pop musics, spoken word, and contemporary art. Mazurek created the then-14-piece Exploding Star Orchestra in 2007 for We Are All from Somewhere Else, a manifesto of musical otherness. Its signature, like much of Mazurek's work after that, was one of polyphonic contrapuntal conversation and dialogue. The polyphonous project shifted his aesthetic worldview. His recording projects grew more involved, abstract, and at times, exotic -- à la the exploration of avant-futurist tribalism with São Paulo Underground and Black Cube SP, as well as the ESO's own recordings with Bill Dixon and Roscoe Mitchell, and on 2015's Galactic Parables: Volume 1.
Dimensional Stardust was recorded in five studio sessions between August 2019 and March 2020. Mazurek recorded 11 musicians responding to and improvising on his compositions separately. He then overdubbed and edited the entire proceeding together over three arduous, painstaking months. This version of ESO includes flutist Nicole Mitchell, guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Joel Ross, drummers/percussionists Chad Taylor and Mikel Patrick Avery, cellist Tomeka Reid, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, trumpeter Jaimie Branch, violinist Macie Stewart, pianist Angelica Sanchez, and Damon Locks, who wrote lyrics and provided narration. Opener "Sun Core Tet (Parable 99)" weds pulsing chamber strings and flute to organic and synthetic rhythms; its flow is conversational, careening across dynamic and textural shifts before opening onto structured group improvisation ushered in by Ross. The single "A Wrinkle in Time Sets Concentric Circles Reeling" offers Locks' disembodied narration of eternal dislocation atop contrapuntal strings, flowing guitars, and elliptical vibes. Its pulsing cadence eventually admits statements from the other musicians, as drums, horns, and flute entwine in elegant, Zappa-esque combinations. "The Careening Prism Within (Parable 43)" sets a punchy upright bass and trap-kit groove, appending striated string counterpoint and electronic percussion before they all lock in as an ensemble amid distorted industrial and organic percussion and screaming electric guitar. While the electronic keys, sweeping strings, trumpets, flutes, and vibes in "Galaxy 1000" offer a mutant impression of a pop tune, "Parable 3000 (We All Come from Somewhere Else)" is redolent with enormous drums, searing horns, and sensually undulating bass in interlocking grooves. Nothing on Dimensional Stardust regards abstraction as its own end. Instead, Mazurek's musical landscapes are deeply emotional. This is music developed for perceiving the heretofore unseen and feeling from an interior landscape that words cannot describe. There are no seams here, ragged or otherwise. No matter how strange these compositions appear initially, each contains an intimate, nonspecific part of an indefinable whole. Mazurek's music is a labyrinth that reveals canny perceptions of sound and meaning via expert compositional technique and relational trust among musicians. Dimensional Stardust illuminates the murky depths of Mazurek's visionary sound world even as it evokes strong, benevolent emotions in the listener.” - Thom Jurek, AllMusicGuide
CD $16

SQUINTALOO - Uber Bord! (Made in Germany MIG 70102; Germany) Tough to collect your thoughts about this superb recording as it ricochets around your room; there’s just so much going on in any given moment that its overall effect is dizzying and disorienting, in a good way. This quartet of German dynamos seem to have drunk deep of large chunks of the King Crimson, Henry Cow, Zappa, and numerous other unidentifiable catalogs, but the enveloping soundwaves, dazzling musicianship, breathtakingly complex arrangements, and real visceral fortitude erupting from the speakers suggests a more far-reaching method behind the band’s madness. One can easily get lost in pat terminology or kneejerk journalistic shorthand when summarizing Squintaloo—genre nerds might think ’technical metal’ or ‘math-rock’ in addition to the wide open spaces of ‘fusion’, but it’s reasonable to assume the band could care less. After three previous releases of undergrad prog colored eclectic in the extreme, Uber Bord! is Squintaloo’s math-rock master thesis; these guys push, even explode, through the proverbial envelope, contemporary savants authoring a whole new playbook where category definitions become meaningless and rules are rewritten. From the opening, tentative bars of “Animal Privateer”, the twin guitar attacks of Heinrich Schiffers and Enrico Antico soon erupt in a stunning tour de force of arpeggiated electricity, propelled into the ether thanks to drummer Daniel Eichholz and bassist Klemens Klarhorst, whose Godzilla-like roar feels like the bastard child of John Wetton and Magma’s Jannick Top. Successive tracks offer peaks across rock’s broad stylistic contours—bursts of thrash punctuate “Nigeraurak’s Dream”, while the batshit guitar screechfest of the title track could be Mahavishnu Orchestra by way of Opeth—but Squintaloo don’t simply trade in power for power’s sake, nor do they indulge in faceless soloing; there’s enough surprises, invention, sheer compositional force, and performative moxie throughout to make you want to play this sucker again and again. This is a band who absorb their influences up into their own vortex and spit out a music not easy to intellectualize or codify—and isn’t that what ‘progressive’ rock is really supposed to do? - Darren Bergstein, DMG
CD $17

WU MAN & KOJIRO UMEZAKI - Flow (In a Circle Records 019; USA) "At The Huntington, not far from downtown Los Angeles, is the spectacular 流芳園/Liu Fang Yuan, a 15-acre classical-style garden, inspired by those in Suzhou, China. In 2019, The Huntington commissioned visual artist 唐慶年/Tang Qingnian to create a video installation to commemorate the garden's latest phase of expansion. The 40-minute video celebrates scenes from all four seasons at the garden, plus its subtly ever-present landscaping of bamboo. With contrasts of richness in sound color between the instruments, this album features original solo and duo works by 吴蛮/Wu Man (琵琶/pipa) and 梅崎康二郎/Kojiro Umezaki (尺八/shakuhachi). Initially composed to partner Tang Qingnian's video, the works are re-produced here as an album of music under the title 流芳/Flow. The hope is to share a musical experience of the garden and its changes through each year."
CD $14

ROY MONTGOMERY - Island Of Lost Souls (Grapefruit 001; USA) "Island Of Lost Souls is the first of four new albums by Roy Montgomery coming out in 2021 to commemorate Montgomery's forty years in music. His debut release was also Flying Nun's first, the Pin Group 7-inch from 1981. Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest album for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. Island Of Lost Souls follows his acclaimed 2018 LP Suffuse -- novel departure in which he consigned all vocal duties to ambient/experimental peers Liz Harris (of Grouper), Julianna Barwick, Purple Pilgrims, Haley Fohr (of Circuit des Yeux), Katie von Schleicher, and She Keeps Bees. But the veteran evolves again. On this release Montgomery creates resounding, aerial compositions for guitar. Where some might be inclined to relax and lean into their legacy at this stage in a sprawling career, Montgomery's new music continues to seek and challenge, moving like the eye of a storm. This latest album cries out like a chorus, though there are no vocals on the record. Its tracklist instead builds upon the lonesome and polyphonic dimensions of guitar in order to express universal feelings of communion and isolation, resisting conclusion but never resorting to fatalism. Life is all about navigating these contradictions and everyone is with Montgomery on this island whether they'd like to admit it or not. Here, the artist has created a work of wisdom and grit, a searing beauty, a new masterpiece for an uncertain and restless time."
CD $12

GUIDED BY VOICES - Styles We Paid For (GBV Inc. 101; USA) "Styles We Paid For is Guided By Voices' third album of 2020 and it stands as a testament to this Year In Isolation, reflecting these dark days through Robert Pollard's prism, with the band sounding as confident and authoritative as ever. The fifteen tracks were recorded remotely during quarantine from five states (Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Tennessee) to comprise GBV's ninth album since 2017. Pollard's searing vocals hold center stage, with endless melodic invention and impeccable phrasing. The massively crescendoing opening track 'Megaphone Riley' seems to be inspired by a diabolical politician-in-chief, and like an indie-rock Nostradamus, presciently highlights the 'Jumbo Virus', while in the final couplet of the album closer 'When Growing Was Simple' Pollard urges 'Don't drink and drive / stay at home and eat'. Other album highlights include Big Rock standouts like the incredibly hooky 'Mr. Child' with the band in full arena rock power swing, while the titular protagonist is mentioned by name no less than sixteen times; the touching beauty and lyrical relevance of 'Stops' and the majestically elegant 'In Calculus Stratagem', a bubbly pop rock joyride in 'Crash at Lake Placebo'; the subtle current-day technological observations of 'They Don't Play The Drums Anymore' and the sleek 'Electronic Windows To Nowhere' (written by a man who owns neither a smart phone or a computer). It's notably heavy in it's worldliness, lyrical content, texture, and approach -- and rides out like a cinematic journey of the bizarro world one find oneself in. While other bands have been napping, GBV have achieved their second consecutive hat-trick (three albums per annum), and have further cemented their status as rock legends for achieving more in this bleak year then most bands do across their entire careers."
CD $17

JOHN RENBOURN GROUP with JACQUI McSHEE / TONY ROBERTS / SANDY SPENCER / KESHAV SATHE / et al - A Maid In Bremen (Live At Roemer, Bremen Feb. 14th 1978 (Made in Germany 02392; Germany) In 1967 the British guitarist and songwriter John Renbourn together with his friend Bert Jansch founded the British folk rock band Pentangle. Like Jansch, Renbourn was considered an outstanding representative of the British "Folk Baroque" and fingerpicking playing technique. Since 1968 Renbourn successfully recorded several albums with Pentangle for the well-known UK folk/folk rock label Transatlantic. After the release of the album "Solomon's Seal" in 1973, the band members went separate ways. From then on Bert Jansch and John Renbourn realized solo plans. Albums like "The Lady And The Unicorn" and "The Hermit" by John Renbourn are still considered milestones today of British folk rock. In 1977 John founded the John Renbourn Group, recorded two studio albums and a live album with them and was busy touring again around the world. A 1978 live-recording by Radio Bremen from the Roemer in Bremen/Germany also bears witness to these live activities. Again with John on stage: the former Pentangle singer Jaqui McShee. Multi-instrumentalist Tony Roberts, the well-known Indian tabla player Keshav Sathe (among others: John Mayer, Julie Felix) and the American cellist Sandy Spencer (member of the French based Prog. Folk-rock band Mormos, later also with the well-known Trevor Watts String Ensemble) completed the line-up of the John Renbourn Group in Bremen that night. Jacqui McShee, who also wrote the liner notes for the booklet to this album, still remembers the Bremen concert: “ To my knowledge this is the only recording of Sandy with the group, she left soon afterwards to return to America." And goes on: "I have been chatting to Tony recently (we laughed a lot) and of course we both miss John and Kesh, but we have these wonderful recordings and the albums that we made and we have a sense of pride in the music we played together."
CD $22

CHARLIE PARKER with DIZZY GILLESPIE / MILES DAVIS / J.J. JOHNSON / THELONIOUS MONK / AL HAIG / DUKE JORDAN / CURLEY RUSSELL / TOMMY POTTER / MAX ROACH / BUDDY RICH - His Finest Recordings (Enlightenment 9193; EEC) “Charles "Charlie" Parker Jr, nicknamed "Bird" and "Yardbird", was perhaps the best remembered and important American jazz saxophonist of all. A highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, Parker was a blazingly fast virtuoso and introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas into jazz, including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords, and chord substitutions. Primarily a player of the alto saxophone, Bird's tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and sombre. Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career on the road with Jay McShann. This, and the shortened form "Bird", continued to be used for the rest of his life, inspiring the titles of a number of Parker compositions, such as 'Yardbird Suite', 'Ornithology', 'Bird Gets the Worm', and 'Bird of Paradise'. Parker was an icon for the hipster subculture and later the Beat Generation, personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual rather than just an entertainer. This 4CD Collection features the very best of Charlie Parker's recordings made during his short life, many of which were originally released as 78RPM 'singles' or on 10" albums. During his career Parker recorded largely for the Dial, Savoy and Verve labels, and this collection features selections from each of these tenures. Comprising eight albums largely released during his lifetime as collections from the various, legendary sessions and concerts in which he performed as leader or co-leader, this collection will satisfy any Charlie Parker fan, whether a new convert to the fold or a long-termer who's been flying the flag for decades.”
4 CD Set $18

SPIRITUAL JAZZ 13 with STEVE REID / IDRIS ACKAMOOR & THE PYRAMIDS / SHABAKA & THE ANCESTORS / MAKAYA McCRAVEN / et al - NOW Part 1 (Jazzman 126; UK) “Modern sounds for the 21st century featuring modal, progressive and esoteric contemporary jazz from the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, USA, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Germany, and Italy. The first 12 volumes of Jazzman Records' hugely popular Spiritual Jazz series have unearthed a wealth of historic recordings in the genre, collating a variety of works from the '50s to the '80s by artists from all around the world. And so, with Volume 13, the label turn their attention to what's happening NOW. Over the course of 24 tracks and spanning two sets, Jazzman Records present an overview of the contemporary exponents of spiritual jazz; musicians who are intent on bringing something personal to the table, as much as they recognize the importance of those who have paved the way for them. We feature music recorded within the past 20 years and from 15 different countries, including modern classics from veterans Steve Reid and Idris Ackamoor, providing a vital link between the past masters and the enlightened new generation. It's pioneers such as John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, et al, with their innovations in reaching another plane of consciousness that was and remains uppermost in the minds of exponents of spiritual jazz. Fittingly, several of the artists featured on this compilation, such as Cat Toren and David Boykin, are practitioners of the art of music therapy and sound healing, and have absolute conviction in the role of song as solace. The pioneers may no longer be with us, but their saintly selves loom large, shining a light in the darkness, inspiring many a brave new disciple today, as this album will testify: the new wave of jazz is gathering pace and still sounds fresh, vibrant and as relevant as ever. Extensive liners with pictures. Features Benjamin Herman, Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, Nat Birchall, Chip Wickham, Jimi Tenor And Kabukabu, Black Flower, Darryl Yokley, Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, Oiro Pena, Cat Toren, Shabaka & The Ancestors, and Makaya McCraven.”
CD $15

VARIOUS: FUGAZI / MINOR THREAT / GOVERNMENT ISSUE / VOID / SCREAM / FAITH / et al - 20 Years Of Dischord (1980-2000)(Dischord 125; USA) "Three CDs, two of previously released material, one of previously unreleased material. 20 Years Of Dischord is a concise but representative musical chronicle of the first two decades of the label originally created by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson as teenagers in 1980."
3 CD Set $18

BACK IN STOCK:

CECIL TAYLOR & TONY OXLEY - Conversation with Tony Oxley (JazzWerkStatt 420480; Germany) “Cecil Taylor said that Oxley‘s playing excited him like no drummer since Sunny Murray, perhaps even more so. His shift to a more European sound first became evident in his choice of Oxley as his drummer for the Feel Trio. In the late 80s and early 90s he became Taylor’s preferred drummer and - after a break - this continued until his death. They performed in Taylor’s last official recording Ailanthus / Altissima: Bilateral Dimensions Of 2 Root Songs , and when he toured Europe, it was often with Oxley as a duo (I saw them twice, in Moers in 2008 and in Neuburg/Donau in 2011). This album was recorded at the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic in February, 2008. Taylor was attracted to Oxley’s playing because of his unique sound, centered on a selection of different cymbals. His more fine-grained approach combined with Taylor’s supersonic technique resembles a musical shower of shooting stars. Oxley uses a highly original drum set consisting of regular (but higher pitched) drums and cymbals to create “intricate soundscapes” giving the music more of a vertical than horizontal sound. Taylor’s choice of Oxley also tells us much about Taylor’s musical philosophy since 1988. Oxley’s aesthetic is based more on modernist classical timbres than Sunny Murray’s, whose style is - in spite of his free approach - still rooted in a jazz tradition. Oxley’s background puts him closer to the percussive works of Edgar Varèse, particularly with his complex and imaginative micro-divisions. Taylor’s playing has almost always had a strict on-the-spot, definite, forward-looking phrasing, and by choosing Oxley he became the connection between modern jazz/blues and European classical traditions. All this can be heard on Conversations with Tony Oxley. Again, Taylor uses small riffs which he reconstructs and expands, processed in his runs and shifting them to different registers. In the second part of the piece there are many staccato chords, again the basis for the development of certain riffs, but now more aggressive, and as they escalate the typical clusters come into play. Taylor needs some time before he reaches full intensity but as soon as he’s there he’s able to keep the improvisation at an incredible level. Yet there’s also a softness, a more romantic side to his playing that became more pronounced since playing with Oxley, especially towards the end of his life. On this album Oxley foils Taylor’s runs and staccato chords with short drum rolls, but when it comes to dynamics he follows the pianist’s guidelines. Oxley dances around Taylor’s clusters tenderly and puts them even more to the center, cutting through them at once. Especially in the more intense parts of the piece, Oxley uses his whole lower array of plastic, woodblocks, mutant cowbells, little bongos, the snare drum and the hi-pitched toms, creating a metallic mist and symphony of crispy clicking, a poetic and subtle means of communication. As to volume, Oxley is a more subdued drummer when he plays with Taylor (unlike Murray), but his timing is excellent, knowing when to set priorities without pushing himself to the fore. In this performance as elsewhere they are complimentary, which is why their cooperation worked over so many years. Their music is about the exchange of cultural experiences and the sensitivity of sound – different musical languages, but mutually inspiring. Oxley often anticipates what Taylor plans (particularly as to dynamics) and is able to react immediately. Kaja Draksler has noted that Taylor’s “sensibility in terms of dynamics is an important aspect of his playing. By using its extremes within a split second, he is creating rhythmic illusions and simultaneously unfolding a vast color palette”. No other drummer except Tony Oxley was able to match that range in such a sympathetic way.” - Martin Schray, FreeJazzBlog
CD $16

ALAN BRAUFMAN with COOPER-MOORE / JAMES BRANDON LEWIS / KEN FILIANO / ANDREW DRURY - The Fire Still Burns (Valley of Search 004; USA) Featuring Alan Braufman on alto sax & flute, James Brandon Lewis on tenor sax, Cooper-Moore on piano, Ken Filiano on contrabass and Andrew Drury on drums. Amongst the hundreds of records that I’ve gone through since the pandemic started in March of 2020, is a record by Alan Braufman called ‘Valley of Search’, which was released in 1975. I listened to my copy earlier this year and was knocked out by, only vaguely recalling the name Alan Braufman. The personnel on it included a young Cooper-Moore, before he changed his name (from Gene Ashton), bassist Cecil McBee and drummer David Lee. It turned out that Braufman had recorded with Carla Bley (‘Musique Mecanique’ in 1979) and with William Hooker around the same time. I had lost track of Alan Braufman after that although he did play at the Vision Fest in 2016. Fast forward to 45 years since he first & only leader album, Mr. Braufman is back with a stunning new effort featuring his old cohort & best friend Cooper-Moore plus three members of the ongoing Downtown Network: James Brandon Lewis, Ken Filiano and Andrew Drury. Mr. Braufman composed all of the songs here and this disc was recorded in Hudson Valley, NY in September of 2019. The first thing I noticed about this disc is that it sounds timeless, all acoustic instruments, which could’ve been recorded between 1960’s and today, 60 years later. There are two suites here: “Morning Suite” and “Evening Suite”. “Sunrise” kicks things off with Mr. Braufman’s searing alto sax at the center, playing an ancient sounding spirit jazz/gospelish melody. The next part of the suite is called “Morning Bazaar”, and it features a tasty, older-and somewhat familiar sounding melody with Braufman’s flute and Brandon Lewis’ tenor sax perfectly aligned on top. The melody had me whistling along immediately, a rare occurrence. On “No Floor No Ceiling”, the ever-amazing Cooper-Moore takes an incredible piano solo which inspires JB Lewis to take an equally explosive tenor solo and Braufman to conclude with a great solo of his own - Whoa! It makes sense that Braufman would use the Filiano/Drury rhythm team since they’ve worked with Jason Hwang on many previous discs and sound righteously good together. This music makes me feel great since it balances compelling thoughtful melodies with strong, spirited playing. Although I’m pretty sure that outside of Braufman and Cooper-Moore, none of the other musicians have played together before this session, the quintet sounds like they have been working together for many eons. I dig the way the group lays back for “Alone Again”, a slow, bluesy sort of ballad where both saxes simmer together playing a righteous-sounding old melody that sounds like it has some gospel-like vibes within. All in all, this is one of the best discs of the year, if you want some inspiration, then you best get this disc and put it in your player. Cosmic medicine for better days. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

MIKE WESTBROOK with JOHN SURMAN / ARNE DOMNERUS / LENNART ABERG / RUNE GUSTAFSSON / Et Al - Love and Understanding / Citadel / Room 315 - Sweden '74 (My Only Desire Records 003; USA) Featuring Mike Westbrook - composer, conductor & electric piano, John Surman - baritone & soprano saxes & bass clarinet and the Swedish Radio Jazz Group which includes Arne Domnerus on alto sax & clarinet, Lennart Aberg on tenor & soprano saxes & flute, Rune Gustafsson on guitar, Georg Riedel on bass, etc. I have long been fascinated by a number of British jazz composers & large ensemble leaders like: Neil Ardley (New Jazz Orchestra), Michael Garrick, Michael Gibbs, Graham Collier, Chris MacGregor (Brotherhood of Breath), Keith Tippett (Centipede, The Ark), Barry Guy (LJCO) and Mike Westbrook. Each of these men started in the 1960’s and have had long & winding Creative Music careers ever since. I bought my first Mike Westbrook album, ‘Marching Song’ (2 LP set from 1969, his first effort), when I was attending college in London in late 1975. I hadn’t heard of Mr. Westbrook as of yet but I read a chapter about him in Ian Carr’s essential book about modern British jazz called “Music Outside”. I bought the record mostly based on the personnel which included a number of my favorite British saxists: John Surman, Mike Osborne, Bernie Living, Alan Skidmore, Nisar Ahmed Khan and Brian Smith. The record turned out to be a classic of modern British avant/jazz large ensemble music, I still go back to it from time to time and marvel. Mr. Westbrook has had quite a long career with more than 2 dozen records under his belt, each one with varying personnel from solo piano to duos to some great fusion bands and large ensembles. I collect everything of Mr. Westbrook’s that I can lay my hands on. Recently, a customer of ours from England, sent us a package of signed items and a newly released CD by Mike Westbrook. The new Westbrook offering is called, ‘Love and Understand, Citadel/Room 315 - Sweden ’74’ and it was indeed recorded in Sweden in 1974. What has long been fascinating about Westbrook is that although he has written for and employed the cream of British modern jazz musicians, his music is never tied to any one genre, drawing from rock, modern classical, opera and whatever he feels might work. Mr. Westbrook and Mr. Surman actually started out working together in Plymouth, UK, in 1958 and both eventually moved to London in 1962, still working together. Surman left Westbrook’s band in 1968 in order to work on his own solo career. Westbrook soon formed a sort of fusion/jazz/rock outfit called Solid Gold Cadillac. Out of the blue, Westbrook got a commission to write for the Swedish Radio Jazz Group and that is how this concert/recording came to be. Thanks to old customer & friend of DMG’s named Jan Elvsen, who sent a box of modern Sweden jazz albums to the store a few years ago, I’ve been getting appreciate Swedish jazz legends like: Georg Reidel, Jan Johansson, Arne Domnerus & Lennart Aberg. Mr. Westbrook went to record these same songs with an all-star British ensemble in 1975 for RCA, which is considered to be his first masterwork. The first thing I noticed about this disc is how well it is recorded: superbly! After the introduction, the large ensemble launches into “Construction” which features some inspired solos by Swedish guitar great Rune Gustafsson and an amazing spirited soprano sax from Mr. Surman backed by a powerful, tight orchestra with Westbrook’s electric piano holding down the fort. On “View from the Drawbridge”, it is Westbrook’s arranging of that solemn, haunting music that really runs deep and somewhat majestic in sound. “Love and Understanding” has a great infectious riff which you will not soon forget plus a few great solos from Lars Olofsson on trombone and Lennart Aberg on soprano sax. “Pastorale” is an aptly titles piece with some lovely harmonies for the horns and a splendid solo from Bertil Lovgren on trumpet. This entire hour long plus suite flows nicely in waves and is enchanting throughout. Although the Swedish Jazz Group is a 17 piece large ensemble, the group sound smaller, more modest yet still rich in harmonic ideas. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18

RON MILES with BILL FRISELL / JASON MORAN / THOMAS MORGAN / BRIAN BLADE - Rainbow Sign (Blue Note B003239502; USA) “‘Rainbow Sign’ is trumpeter/composer Ron Miles' debut recording for Blue Note. He re-enlists the same intuitive quintet who played on 2017's I Am a Man. It features guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Jason Moran, bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Brian Blade. Written during the summer of 2018 while caring for his dying father, these nine compositions were intended to provide empathy, peace, love, and reassurance to his transitioning parent and his family. Clocking in at over 71 minutes, Rainbow Sign bridges polytonal modal music, blues, gospel, post-bop, and pop. The long opener "Like Those Who Dream" commences with sparse, seemingly unrelated piano and bass notes, droning trumpet tones, and guitar harmonics, with Blade's syncopated snare offering skeletal rhythmic miniatures. A pulse emerges from the front line at two minutes in, and Miles moves into deep blues. He and Frisell twin through gorgeously scripted lyric lines as the rhythm section floats atop and around his modal blues. The trumpeter's solo sings with pain and resonance as Moran's expansive comping is colored by Frisell's intelligent chord voicings before embarking on his own break. Single "Queen of the South" was inspired by Ethiopian pop, and is so songlike it's hummable. The lyric and textural interaction between Miles, Morgan, and Frisell entwines then separates for Moran who grounds the harmony in a majestic cadence as Blade plays around the beat before stretching it. The drummer employs muted tom-toms to introduce the haunting, minor-key ballad "Average." Its impressionist melodic center assumes a dominant role even as it shifts to allow for tonal variances from Frisell and Moran. "The Rumor" is infused with a drifting Americana melody from the guitarist. In a stately 4/4, Moran embellishes and extrapolates the harmony while Blade's dialogues with him intimately before Miles opens the circle thematically with muted blues lines and phrases before delivering an artfully rendered solo. "Custodian of the New" is a post-bop number with intersecting rhythms. Moran, with Miles and Frisell in tow, interrogate a layered, labyrinthine lyric as Morgan and Blade drive it with almost rockist force. "A Kind Word" closes with dramatic harmonic ideas amid multivalent rhythmic interplay. Its six-note boogaloo riff offers Moran room for chordal extrapolation while Frisell and Miles travel the lyric's outer reaches with gorgeous sonic effects as they inquire about its nuances and sense impressions. Rainbow Sign is a deeply personal album for Miles. It's a work rife with dignity and emotional and spiritual power, performed with grace and taste by this gifted quintet. It builds on I Am a Man with song-like compositions, and more intimate and intuitive dialogue, resulting in a very different, yet equally compelling listening experience.” - Thom Jurek, AllMusicGuide
CD $15

BYRON COLEY - Father Yod's Kitchen (Hungry Yurt Books 001; USA) “Naomi Yang has been threatening to get this book together for years, but the Trump Virus shutdown finally goaded her onto action. Inspired by oddball community cookbooks through the ages, this is a heavily annotated collection of recipes involving simple techniques and common ingredients. In this instance, the community represented is the musical sub-underground of Western Massachusetts and beyond. Mr. Coley is a home cook, whose professional restaurant experience mostly involves dishwashing. But over the last quarter century he has fed family, friends, traveling musicians and large events at his house, the Yod Space, Feeding Tube Records/Rox Art, and various other places. Accompanied by his own commentary, as well as that of those who have et his vittles, this book should be as useful as reading material in the bathroom, as it is for instruction in the kitchen. Designed by Naomi Yang, contributors include Steve Albini, Elisa Ambrogio, Kristin Anderson, Alan Bishop, Julie Cafritz, Benoit Chaput, Ben Chasny, Addie Coley, Hud Coley, Chris Corsano, Beth Crawford, Dave Crouch, Alison Darrow, Abby Drake, Lauren Dunn, Lili Dwight, Valle Dwight, Ilene Gerhardt, Tom Givan, Jim Glaspole, Kim Gordon, Emily Hubley, Georgia Hubley, Michael Hurley, Dan Ireton, Pat Ireton, Glenn Jones, Elaine Kahn, Heather Kaplow, Andrew Kesin, Maria Kozic, Matt Krefting, Damon Krukowski, Michio Kurihara, Willie Lane, Ted Lee, Tom Leonard, Lida Lewis, J Mascis, Cynthia Meadows, Amy Mehaffey, Roger Miller, John Moloney, Coco Gordon Moore, Thurston Moore, Bill Nace, Alden O'Donaghue, Kerstin Park-Labella, Charles Plymell, Lauisa Reichenheim, Wayne Rogers, Aaron Rosenblum, Kevin Sahagian, Dave Schramm, John Shaw, Jacqueline Sheridan, Nora Smith, Jack Tieleman, Matt Valentine, Kate Village, Naomi Yang. Ringbound;
BOOK $20 [194 pages / ringbound edition]

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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.

MORE THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU ARE WAITING AROUND FOR THE WORLD TO END OR GET BETTER: STILL STIR CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!

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THIS IS FROM MY GOOD FRIEND JESSICA HALLOCK,

This is from Jessica Hallock, please do check it out, there is so much to explore here and I know some of you are bored and need some inspiration/distraction:

Livestreams are obviously no replacement for live shows, but they're all the community we have right now––so experimental music calendar NYC-Noise.com now provides links to livestreams (with artist / curator donation info); a roundup of local musicians' releases; COVID-19-related resources, including links to grants, petitions, & a local venue donation list; & an Instagram account (@NYC_Noise) promoting artists and releases. Please let me know about your livestreams &/or new records at www.nyc-noise.com/submit.

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THIS COMES FROM Flute Player CHERYL PYLE:

join us online this Sunday for music,
covid 19 has redefined call and response, improvisations and music at 4:00 .

healing wishes , and thank you for listening,

Beyond Flute Group
Cheryl Pyle , Michael Eaton, Judi Silvano, Sam Newsome,
Haruna Fukazawa, Claire de Brunner, Gene Coleman

Here's the meeting ID, passcode, and link :

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5727978491?pwd=cGxqVDk3MFpoc2tIU1hBZ1dlMGU0Zz09

Meeting ID: 572 797 8491
Passcode: 072936

please mute your audio and video on zoom during the music , thank you

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This one comes from experimental vocalist Viv Corringham:

Remembering John Russell:
February 21st 2 pm GMT
https://tv.mopomoso.com/

We have all been all deeply saddened by the loss of John Russell, excellent musician and founder of long-running London music series Mopomoso, who passed away on the 19th of January. Our February online episode will be devoted to celebrating the musical life and legacy of the man who started this wonderful Mopomoso community. Mopomoso TV is the sister project of the live Mopomoso events, which can be found at Mopomoso.com.

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This post comes from HEROES ARE GANG LEADERS, Poetry/Jazz/Funk/Creative Music Ensemble. They sponsor other poets well worth checking out: RICHARD LEACH:

https://heroesaregangleaders.wordpress.com/2021/02/09/gianthology-richard-leach/?fbclid=IwAR0snAc8vWw-6-90EuxRdNQQGR3-qgBqqFRLdISm8cyPGmH2ZMbBq4KG7OI

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This comes from SCOTT ROBINSON - multi-instrumentalist and head of ScienSonic Records. Scott’s recent quartet disc with Milford Graves, Marshall Allen & Roscoe Mitchell is one of the best discs of the year! Get your copy soon!

https://www.facebook.com/ScienSonic/videos/203498301480452

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJxpA9oULhI

https://www.facebook.com/ScienSonic/videos/702767920374668

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This one comes from WILL GLASS who once played here at DMG in a trio with Kurt Gottschalk and Miguel Frasconi.

Lexiglass is a duo, myself on drums and Alexis Marcelo on keys. (Alexis is known in creative music for his work with Yusef Lateef, JD Parran, Malcolm Mooney, Mike Pride and Adam Rudolph). We have been around since 2014, often as a backing band for hip hop artists uptown, and sometimes as an improvising, instrumental hip hop band. We have released three tapes of mostly covers of artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Mobb Deep and Madlib. This EP is archival picks, including a memorable show at Resonance Cafe in Montreal--a rare moment for us with Alexis on a nice piano.

https://lexiglass.bandcamp.com/album/pad-ep

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This comes from CHRIS CUTLER (Henry Cow, Art Bears & REcommended Records)

Chris has a podcast called Probes and this is Episode #28.2

https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-282-auxiliaries

During the earlier part of the pandemic/lockdown when I started going back to work at DMG in June, I listened to all of the Probes podcast series and on the train coming and going to NYC. Each one is fascinating as Mr. Cutler Probes the many aspects of Creative Music, unique instrumentation, the history of recordings and lots more. Please take some time and listen to these, they are most enlightening.

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From INGRID LAUBROCK & TOM RAINEY:

Every Week for the entirety of this pandemic/lockdown INGRID LAUBROCK & TOM RAINEY have been posting a new duo offering. I have listened to every one of these as they were sent out and am much impressed by the way this duo continues to evolve and work their way through many ideas. You can check out each one here:

https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-46
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-45
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-44
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-43
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-42
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-41
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-40

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HENRY KAISER Continues with his Weekly Solo Series on Cuneiform’s Youtube page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-qbKTem9o - Tribute to Milford Graves
#45 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlkVBCOMu4E
#44 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afG82qVOEmg
#43 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUUVOjZ6Bc
#42 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgVSkDLAQp4&pbjreload=101