DMG Newsletter for October 1st, 2021:

KEITH TIPPETT MEMORIAL CELEBRATION in Bristol, UK on October 1st & 2nd, 2021!

This coming weekend The KEITH TIPPETT MEMORIAL FESTIVAL will take place in Bristol, England and will feature 10 concerts over 2 days, Friday & Saturday, October 1st & 2nd. Participants will include Julie Tippetts, Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, Matthew Bourne, Theo May, Maggie Nichols and many others. Originally DMG writer Darren Bergstein and myself were supposed to attend but due to too many restrictions & snafus, we had to cancel our trip. Very sad for us! This notice comes from Janinka Diverio and Keith Tippetts’ family:

We are hoping to livestream the Saturday event direct from Bristol all around the world on the 2nd October but we need help raising the final few hundred dollars needed to make this viable. Therefore can we appeal to you to spread the word… We would appreciate it so much.

https://www.keithtippett.co.uk/gofundme

The venues and organizers are all doing this for free as are most musicians with the exception of a handful of expenses so please join us in this celebration of one of the pioneers of British jazz and ALL monies raised will be gifted to the Tippett family.

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IN CELEBRATION OF THE KEITH TIPPETT MEMORIAL FESTIVAL, We start the DMG Newsletter off with two new Keith Tippett CD’s:

KEITH TIPPETT & MATTHEW BOURNE - Aeolian - Studio and Concert - 2019 (Discus 120CD; UK) Featuring Keith Tippett and Matthew Bourne both on pianos. One disc was recorded live and one disc recorded in a studio. Thanks to the ever-prolific UK sax colossus, Paul Dunmall, for turning us all onto a long list British musicians, known and often little-known. I first became aware of UK pianist Matthew Bourne through a couple of excellent trio CD’s on the Edition & Foghorn labels beginning around 2011. That trio (with Steve Davis & Dave Kane) soon started to work with Paul Dunmall for a couple of discs for FMR. Mr. Bourne also recorded a couple of fine duo CD’s with Frank Vigroux (French avant guitarist) and Dave Stapleton (British pianist & head of Edition Records). Matt Bourne also came to NYC and visited the store quite a while back. It turned out that Mr. Bourne was also a John Zorn freak and had studied Zorn’s music in great depth. Bourne and I attended a Zorn duo gig at the old Stone so I introduced Bourne to Zorn in the basement of the Stone. Mr. Zorn was so much impressed with Mr. Bourne’s knowledge & questions about Zorn’s composing & playing, he invited Mr. Bourne to sit in with the duo that night. Hence the one & only trio performance by Andrea Centazzo on percussion, John Zorn on alto sax and Matt Bourne on piano. A spur of the moment idea that worked out quite well.
Mr. Tippett and Mr. Bourne both played at the Herts Jazz Fest in 2016, met backstage and talked, Mr. Tippett asking if Mr. Bourne wanted to do a piano duo sometime. Bourne happily agreed and their first performance took place at the London Jazz Festival in 2017. Both the studio date (at The Venue in Leeds) and the live date (Union Chapel in London) were recorded in 2019. I’ve been fortunate to have caught Mr. Tippett live around 10 times (in London in late ’75, at the old Knit in the 90’s, at the Victo Fest 3 times & in London in 2016). Mr. Tippett likes to use small percussive utensils inside the piano as we can see in the inclosed picture, as well as hanging a small collection of bells from the piano lid. I especially like the these two gifted pianists from different generations play together. They listen closely, take their time and work together magically, giving each other space to be themselves while weaving their lines around one another. Most of the pieces on the studio disc are not too long hence they sound more concise. Mr. Tippett has a distinctive way of muting notes by placing his hand or an object on the strings inside the piano. The second piece, “Bise”, sounds like both pianists are muting their strings together, the overall effect is striking. Midway through “Buran”, the tempo escaltes and we find ourselves in the distinctive Tippett Terrain, where there a number of furious lines spinning quickly together. Both pianists are playing so the lines are crisscrossing, the excitement factor increases higher. There are number of moments/segments that are astonishing where both musicians are tossing lines back and forth and adding unexpected punctuation here and there. I’ve heard a number of piano duo records in the past but nothing really compares to this one. Just incredible! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $18

MUJICIAN with KEITH TIPPETT / PAUL DUNMALL / PAUL ROGERS / TONY LEVIN - 10 10 10 (Cuneiform Rune 492; USA) For over 20 years, Mujician set a gold standard for intuitive, highly spiritual, and near-clairvoyant communication within an improvising ensemble. Composed of four of the biggest names in the European jazz and improvised music community - Paul Dunmall, Tony Levin, Paul Rogers, and Keith Tippett – this “super group” was nonetheless a true cooperative, a collective critically praised for its sensitive interplay and coherent voice.
’10 10 10’ is their final studio recording, finally released a decade after it was recorded. Whether on record or in performance, the quartet always worked within the simple-yet-vast idea of completely free improvisation, always adhering to their one ground rule of never discussing music prior to playing it.
“In 2010 Mujician did a short tour to celebrate Tony Levin's 70th year. Whilst on tour, on 10th October, Mujician were recorded in the Victoria Room at the University of Bristol Music Studios by the great engineer Jonathan Scott. Little did we know this would be the last time we would record, as Tony Levin passed away a few months later.
Mujician were together for 22 years, and in that time we played throughout Europe, Canada, Russia, South Africa and many concerts in the UK. In 2020 Keith Tippett died after a long illness. I believe that Mujician was one of the great groups in jazz history. It wasn't just a free jazz group; it covered so many areas that I think all we can say is it played outstanding music.” – Paul Dunmall
CD $15

AMIR ElSAFFAR’ RIVERS OF SOUND with MILES OKAZAKI / JOHN ESCREET / OLE MATHISON / NASHEET WAITS / et al - The Other Shore (Outnote Records 640; USA) Iraqi-American trumpeter, santur player, vocalist, and composer Amir ElSaffar is a visionary and a pioneer of cross-cultural musical exploration. His six-piece Two Rivers Ensemble, formed in 2006, was among the first projects to combine jazz with Iraqi Maqams. In 2015, ElSaffar expanded the group to form the 17 member Rivers of Sound. The orchestra’s 2017 release Not Two (New Amsterdam) was described by the New York Times as ‘an arresting debut album... full of momentum, but not in the way of a single moving thing. Instead, it seems to flow and spill across bounds’ and Pitchfork Magazine called it ‘... a towering statement of purpose—wise to many traditions, even while it remains accessible to anyone.’ With The Other Shore, Rivers of Sound’s second release, ElSaffar expands the group’s musical palette, exploring new territories, with complex rhythmic cells and microtonal melodies melding together in lush, improvised textures created by the unique timbres of instruments and chemistry between the all-star musicians that make up this orchestra. Featured musicians include Fabrizio Cassol (alto saxophone), Nasheet Waits (drums), Miles Okazaki (guitar), Zafer Tawil (oud, percussion), Tareq Abboushi (buzuq), John Escreet (piano), and Ole Mathisen (tenor sax).
I’ve been a big fan of Iraqi-American trumpeter/composer since hearing his first album as a leader of the Two Rivers Ensemble, whose first album was released in 2017. His vision/sound has evolved over his half dozen discs some of which feature his Two Rivers Ensemble. Mr. ElSaffar has expanded his ensemble to 17 members and is now calling it the Rivers of Sound Orchestra. This large ensemble features musicians varied backgrounds and cultures. Some of the bigger names include: Jason Adasiewicz on vibes, John Escreet on piano, Miles Okazaki on guitar, JD Parran on bass sax & clarinet and Nasheet Waits on drums. The exotic instrumentation includes: oud, buzuq, santur, dumbek, ney and mridangam. The music combines several cultures and is ever expanding in the way it unfolds. Called the ensemble, the Rivers of Sound Orchestra seems most appropriate since the music does flow like an ongoing river. The music also consists in a series of cycles with several repeating patterns which slowly metamorphose into another cycle. I like the way the varied layers flow with different lines moving together and around one another, expanding, contracting, buzzing and droning. Although there are some occasional solos (for flute, trumpet, sax or oud), the music is more about the way certain instruments enter and leave, combine forces and interact that make this so compelling. In some ways this music reminds me of early Terry Riley like his classic, “In C” but broken into smaller sections. Although the overall repeating patterns seem simple in sound, it is that way they evolve with different musicians jumping into the flow, solo or just add their part of the thread which keeps things interesting. This is very long at 79 minutes and I’ve listened to it several times. Each time I listen I surf in my mind on the groove or inner rhythmic flow, marvelous at the way a certain instrument will rise to the top, expand, erupt and then blend back into the (cosmic) flow. The more I listen, the more my mind is blown away. I do hope I get a chance to hear this epic work performed live, until then this masterful CD will do the trick. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18

HENRY KAISER / JOHN OSWALD / PAUL PLIMLEY SCOTT AMENDOLA / TRACY SILVERMAN - at one time - improvisations for Cecil Taylor (Metalanguage ML-2021-61; USA) Featuring Henry Kaiser on electric & acoustic guitars & bass, John Oswald on alto sax and Paul Plimley on vibes plus guests Scott Amendola on drums and Tracy Silverman on 6-string violin (1 track each). All three leaders here, Mr. Kaiser, Mr. Oswald and Mr. Plimley have worked with and long admired the work of master-pianist Cecil Taylor who passed away in April of 2018. All three leaders have worked together in different formations for some 40 years. I recall hearing pianist Paul Plimley and John Oswald play a duo at the Victo Fest opening for Cecil Taylor, who was held up at the border. One of the odd things about this date that Mr. Plimley, who is a formidable pianist on his own, has decided to play vibes instead on this disc. I recently listened to a live gig I have on DAT of Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley playing a duo set at Tonic from November of 2000. The set is extraordinary and the duo work extremely well together. As I listen to this current trio tribute offering, I can hear some of the Cecil Taylor like Free/Music/Magic within the trio as well.
The first piece, “anagram ritz rewarding”, has a calm vibe at the center although there is some strong, intense, circular interplay. Things pick up becoming more intense on “oceans felons salad” when Mr. Kaiser switches to his signature electric guitar w/ that bent-tone/sustained/psych-like sound. Mr. Plimley is a thoughtful vibes player, often taking his time to counter-balance the more frenzied extrapolations by Kaiser and Oswald. Mr. Kaiser and Mr. Oswald have obviously worked together for many years as we can hear them connecting on different levels no matter how far out they go. John Oswald, who is a longtime member CCMC (with Michael Snow) and is also known as ‘Plunderphonics’, is a great free saxist who rarely seems to record. Oswald is in extremely fine form here and is digging deeply into diverse vocabulary. There are some great moments of hair-raising intensity when all three players let go and push things into the stratosphere. On the final piece, the trio are joined by ace drummer Scott Amendola who adds a strong percussive undertow while Mr. Kaiser appears to be playing some impressive electric bass. Things really take off here especially the frenzied vibes-work by Paul Plimley. This entire disc is a powerful concoction of focused free/spirit music at it best. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10

ELAINE RADIGUE // DEBORAH WALKER / SILVIA TAROZZI / JULIA ECKHARDT - V3: Occam Ocean (Shiin Neer3; France) "There is no artist, working in the contemporary field of experimental sound, that is more important than the French composer Eliane Radigue. She is a shining light, who, for more than half a century, has quietly blazed trails with a body of work that is as creatively visionary as it is sublime. Her latest release on Shiiin Records - the third installment of her astounding Occam Ocean series - is easily among her most important to date. Recorded in collaboration with three string instrumentalists, Julia Eckhardt, Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker, working in different configurations across three individual pieces - solo, duo, trio - the scale of its totality stretches far beyond the humbleness of its material means. An overwhelmingly beautiful body of sound, built from durational tones, infused with a mesmerizing sense of intellectual and creative optimism, once again Radigue has subtly redefined the terms of minimal music on deeply personal and intimate premises."
OCCAM OCEAN 3 is an exceptional project, the result of collaboration between Eliane Radigue, French composer, pioneer of the exclusive use of continuous sounds, and three string instrumentalists, Julia Eckhardt, Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker. Composed in Paris, the three pieces featured on this record were recorded in September 2019 at the Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta, Monteveglio (Bologna) in Italy. The present album is released on Shiiin Records, along with a beautiful 32 pages booklet, which is a testimony of this great adventure.”
CD $18

CHRISTIAN WOLFF // TRIO ACCANTO - trio IX and exercises (Wergo 74002; Germany) The American composer Christian Wolff (b. 1934) is the last living representative of the New York School (Rauschenberg, Rothko, etc.). Wolff was not even an adult when he studied with Grete Sultan and John Cage. Wolff’s music was much more politically motivated than that of Feldman and Cage, which is evident on this new WERGO album by Trio Accanto. The album features first recordings made in close collaboration with Wolff in the studios of Deutschlandfunk Cologne/Germany. Wolff's great “Trio IX – Accanto” (2017) is a testament to his long-standing friendship with the musicians. Peculiarly serene and unobtrusively narrative, the piece features many reminiscences and hidden quotations from music by J. S. Bach to union songs. There are also tributes to Wolff's own “Exercises”, whose more recent numbers can be heard on the album as well. These “Exercises” sound lucid and atmospheric, yet complex. Each player has to decide for himself/herself on the course of the musical thoughts and spontaneously put them together in the group as an exercise. Collective agreement for individual positions as a musical and social task. This music by Wolff “still sings a longer modernism”, writes Seth Brodsky. “You can hear the historical horizon in it, not as some grandiose prophecy, but like an outline full of white space. The music is interested in the grace of presentness, of being-here, but it doesn’t lack desire.”
CD $18

THEA FARHADIAN - Tectonic Shifts (Creative Sources 365; Portugal) Featuring Thea Farhadain on violin & interactive electronics, compositions & improvisations. Recently Shelley Hirsch introduced to Bay Area violinist/composer Thea Farhadain who I wasn’t familiar with. The solo effort was recorded at different places in the Bay Area and in Berlin, live and in a studio between 2010 and 2013. It turns out that Ms. Farhadian played with the Berkeley Symphony for a decade and studied electronic music at Mills College. There seems to be several layers of violin lines stretched out and layered in different ways. Each layer is carefully selected, certain notes or sounds manipulated with selective electronic seasoning added. The recognizable sound of the violin is often at the center while varied manipulated sounds with & without electronics add another more mysterious element. On a piece called “Splinter”, it sounds like sped up tape, an ancient way of creating electronic music. Something that both Pierre Henry and Frank Zappa excelled at using. Hence, I actually felt nostalgic for that sound. Ms. Farhadian layers and stretches her violin into a more orchestral sound at times but also letting the electronics take over or just balance out the acoustic side of the violin’s sound. “transfer” sounds closer to that 50’s music concrete than anything I’ve more recently. Myles Boisen/Boison (Splatter Trio & mucho recording/engineering/mixing for Fred Frith & others) does the mixing here and a great job with that. There is a section on the final piece, “silverplate” where the string part on top sounds like some droning, shimmering brass. Mmmmmmmmm, so nice. Sort of like an ancient Mellotron with haunting, mutated strings. A great way to bring things to an enchanting close. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10

MZYLKYPOP - Kiedy Wilki Zawyja? (Discus 118CD; UK) Wild, wacky, wonderful, and so, so, out there. The utterly uncategorizable and strangely coiffed Mzylkypop isn’t just one of the more idiosyncratic releases in the Discus catalog, it’s one of the most richly rewarding pieces of warpmusic you’re likely to hear this year. Ostensibly a duo, the pair of Michael Somerset Ward (ex-Clock DVA and Was (Not Was)) and Sylwia Anna Drwal have drafted some additional heavy hitters to help in actualizing the maximum density of sound and vision that oozes out of every millimeter of this recording. Pianist Matthew Bourne, drummer and mellotronist Jarrod Gosling, percussionist Charlie Collins, and a gaggle of others provide key contributions to the album’s ever-kinetic momentum. From the opening breathless minutes, when Drwal ushers us in with the sinister whisper “This story was born in my imagination…”, you’re sent plunging into the heart of the rabbit hole that is “Witch Drones/The State”, a rough-and-tumble tussle of careening electronics and amassed percussion moaning like the whimper of whipped dogs. From there things get, well, twisted in the extreme. Ward’s deft electronics, achieving the kind of symphonic lift-off unseen in his ‘dayjob’ as part of synth-dance outfit Crooked Man, smack up against his own corral of electric and acoustic woodwinds, breezeways of tornadic ferocity embodied in Drwal as she vents her inner Dagmar Krause with demented glee. In rapid succession, the collective traipse through a forest perilous of mutant, Transylvanian prog, faux Gentle Giant-isms, chamber music as envisioned by the likes of Steven Stapleton’s Nurse With Wound, et al, a veritable storming of the studio by any and all devilish means imaginable. Echoes of music occupying the outer limits of the rock spectrum—the likes of Art Bears or Tuxedomoon spring to mind—flit conspicuously throughout, but Ward and Drwal are too inventive to summon any of those ancestral spirits wholeheartedly; they act more like particle accelerators buttressing the firmament, a fulcrum upon which this dynamic duo pivot. In the end, descriptors become meaningless, influences get lost in the mayhem, and you’re left to your own devices, exhausted, exhilarated, and punchdrunk from this lot’s sonic brandywine. - Darren Bergstein, DMG
CD $14

HARMONIOUS THELONIOUS - Instrumentals! (A Collection Of Outernational Music Studies)(Bureau B 385; Germany) "Outer-national dance discourses, that strive for no country and obey to no flag: when Düsseldorf based producer, Stefan Schwander creates music as Harmonious Thelonious, highly percussive rhythms, dissonances and melodic twists tango chatoyant virtuosic. Since 2008 he releases music, that unites Detroit techno districts, widescreen minimalistic structures and African rhythm patterns into a wide dynamic scale. All eight musical objects collected on Instrumentals! document a chapter in Harmonious Thelonious's work, that left the noisy background drones behind in favor for a signature sound full of echoes of ancient rituals and ecstatic ceremonies. Eight growing outlaw music studies crammed with living, deeply haunting entities. They all came to life in different cities like Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, London or Paris, first published on labels like Asafa, Disk, The Trilogy Tapes, or Versatile. United under one roof, they unfold their magical groove symbolism, notable hypnotic harmony and agitating rhythm archetypes in a total overpowering coalition. Tunes like 'Beiläufige Muziek' or 'Yusuf' embark with a new breed of psychic leftfield Motor City techno, perfect for an electric drive on a multicultural utopian future highway. In contrast, tracks like 'Abel', 'Ayranman', 'Apakapa', or 'Halb Ding' perform tricky snake dances enlarged with Ghanaian highlife tones, Senegalese guitar folk and manic serpentine Moroccan flute wizardry. Intense buzzing voodoo music, driven by swinging bass pulses, sequencing looniness, moving up somewhere on a polyrhythmic horizon between Occident and Orient, end-to-end danceable, thoroughly transcending space and time." - Michael Leuffen
CD $18

REISSUES & ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS:

KEVIN AYERS with MIKE OLDFIELD / LOL COXHILL / DAVID BEDFORD / Mick Fincher - Shooting At the Moon (Water 189CD; USA) This was the second album by the once brilliant Kevin Ayers, original bassist/guitarist/singer/songwriter for Soft Machine (Volume One only). After leaving Soft Machine on their 1968 US tour, Kevin Ayers was signed up by Harvest and recorded a half dozen or so records. The first three are absolutely amazing/bizarre/strange yet cool! Mr. Ayers deep, enchanting voice and quirky lyrics are of mythic proportions. There sections of this album when things go completely into outer space and you will forget what record you are actually listening to. Too weird to describe in few words. You need to hear this disc unless you already have a copy buried in your collection somewhere. - BLG
CD $16

KEVIN AYERS with MIKE OLDFIELD / DAVID BEDFORD / DIDIER MAHLHERBE / ROBERT WYATT - Whatevershebringswesing (Water 190CD; USA) The original blurb I almost used was complete BS/nonsense. This was Kevin Ayers’ third and perhaps best album of his long, strange career. The great British modern classical composer David Bedford plays piano here, as well as composing some wonderfully weird string arrangements for the opening medley which has to be heard to be believed: “Everything you know is true, as long as you believe it…” sings Kevin in his pataphysical introduction. “Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes” is absolutely hilarious, poking fun at country music and the way hippies were treated in redneck bars in the 1960’s plus it sounds like the Velvet Underground. Robert Wyatt adds some delightful background vocal harmonies to the title track, “So let’s drink some wine and have a good time..”. You must hear “Song from a Bottom of a Well” which is one the most disturbing songs I’ve ever heard with some truly scary lead guitar! If you dig progressive/avant/rock music in all of its grand glory, I urge to check out Kevin Ayers’ first three albums! - BLG
CD $16

LP SECTION:

HENK BADINGS / DICK RAAIJMAKERS - Evolutions, Contrasts & Electronic Music (Fantome Phonographique 1029LP: Italy) One of the most prolific composers of contemporary music in The Netherlands, Henk Badings was born in Indonesia in 1907, the son of an East Indies Company army officer, and orphaned at an early age. Back in Holland, Badings worked as a mining engineer and paleontologist, but abandoned this career to devote his life to music, making an impact in 1930 with the performance of his first cello concerto. The composer of various symphonies that made use of unusual music scales and uncommon harmonic structures, Badings began experimenting with electronic music in the 1950s, composing the first side of the Electronic Music LP in 1952 for a performance at the Gravesano Music Festival, using 12 oscillators and a violin, the second side in 1958 for a ballet performed by the Hannover Opera Ballet; recorded at Philips's studio in Eindhoven, it utilizes various sound generators, the final track featuring Dick Raaijmakers, a composer and electronic music specialist then employed by Philips in the field of electro-acoustics.”
LP $16

THE FREE DESIGN - Heaven/Earth (Bonfire Records 001LP; Italy) “Bonfire Records present a reissue of The Free Design's Heaven/Earth, originally released in 1969. A vocal band that made it through, the Free Design have been more than an exception in the glittering world of the psychedelic circus. That was the Age of Aquarius in the end, but in the long run the four-piece had an enormous impact on the younger generation. Released in 1969 Heaven/Earth is a cornerstone on its own and 30 years later the band had a sort of epiphany, thanks to the spanning interest of artists such as Cornelius, Beck, Stereolab, and crate digger master Madlib. By now the Free Design are considered in the same league of The Beach Boys and The Carpenters. Under the influence of the Hi-Lo's and Peter, Paul and Mary, the Free Design rose through the folk scene of the Greenwich Village coffee houses, achieving national prominence with the enchanting "Kites Are Fun". They would prove to be at least the artistic equals of such popular contemporaries as The Association, The Mamas and the Papas, The Fifth Dimension, and Harper's Bizarre, but without quite matching their commercial success. Rather than be dictated to and diluted by the majors, they chose to commit to the artistic freedom and potential to develop offered them by the producer Enoch Light through his independent set up Project 3 Total Sound. Licensed by Cherry Red. 180 gram vinyl.”
LP $34

MOEBIUS - Tonspuren (Bureau B 040LP; Germany) “LP version, pressed on 180 gram vinyl. This is the first solo album by Dieter Moebius, recorded at Conny Plank's studio and originally released in 1983 on Sky Records. By 1969 at the latest, Dieter Moebius was synonymous with the avant-garde electronic music scene in Germany. He and Hans-Joachim Roedelius formed Cluster, a seminal electronic/ambient duo, while Moebius was also a member of the so-called Krautrock supergroup Harmonia (with Michael Rother and Roedelius), as well as collaborating on various other projects with the likes of Brian Eno and Mani Neumeier from Guru Guru. Somehow, it took Moebius until 1983 to release his own solo debut album. Tonspuren is an album of minimalisms, miniatures and stringent form -- 10 consistently concise and precise pieces. Moebius develops tonal variations out of minimalistic, rhythmic, harmonic basic tracks, sometimes coming close to tangible melodies. Yet this is exactly the point at which he purposely steers clear of electronic pop criteria. Nevertheless, Tonspuren is a pop album, its radically stripped-down contents replenished with harmonious elements of prevalent popular music. Echoes of Cluster notwithstanding, the music of Tonspuren is a separate entity altogether. Moebius seems to be avoiding improvisation as the devil keeps his distance from holy water. Each piece is thoughtfully composed, as Moebius crafts his miniatures layer by layer. Spontaneous inaccuracies have no place here; noise escapades are nipped in the bud. Baroque, folklore and frivolity are not admitted into the studio when the red light is on. Thanks to Tonspuren, the keen listener now has the opportunity of direct comparison in his appraisal of the solo albums of Moebius, Roedelius and Rother. Tonspuren thus represents a vital piece of the Harmonia puzzle. Full color inner sleeve with liner notes by Asmus Tietchens.”
LP $24

LAZY MAGNET - Make It Fun Again (Feeding Tube Records 605; USA) "Here is the first Lazy Magnet LP since 2019's Mahogany. And it's a beautiful instrumental album which has known many iterations since it was first conceived. Lazy Magnet has long been the home recording project of Jeremy Harris. Over the course of its long arc the actual music has taken many forms -- this time he has chosen to dedicate an entire body of work on a single instrument: the acoustic piano. The initial idea for Make It Fun Again dates to 2007, when Harris and his buddy Robert Parker (depicted on the cover) were screwing around recording anti-melodies on a cheap monophonic keyboard. This goof was too good to let go of, and Harris revisited his tape of the 'sessions' as he traveled. He taught himself how to notate the music and agonized for 13 years over how it might be presented. Harris says, 'The style that I finally decided on was a recreation of a time in Amiens, France while I was on tour in 2009 where I was in an old barn in the middle of the night playing a fucked-up piano while it rained heavily outside. I was gently playing the themes and slowly piecing together chords based on the made-up scales that the toy keyboard had struggled to play back...' Fast forward to the summer of 2020... 'I opened up Logic Pro and started composing the music within its midi programming environment. It took a couple months for me to finally get all ten pieces to where they felt finished, but it ended up being well beyond my ability to sight read or play. I sent the automatically generated score to my friend Sakiko Mori. She told me it was all incorrect and impossible to read. I went back and basically taught myself how to properly write scores and corrected the pieces so that she could read and perform them. 'We booked time at machines with magnets and she recorded all of it in about four hours.' The result is these ten instrumental pieces, played on piano by Mori. To my ear the feel of the program is very much in the vein of early 20th Century French pianists -- Satie, Debussy, Poulenc -- stately, melodically complex and simple at the same time, possessing many depths. The title track is a bit different -- seemingly an example of extended pedal treatment and reel to reel manipulation. Regardless, the music on Make It Fun Again is of a piece, and a deeply pleasurable one. Almost like a massive return to a previously unknown form. Gotta dig that. Eh?" --Byron Coley, 2021
LP $24

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TISZIJI MUNOZ DISCOGRAPHY & BIG SALE:

Sometime in the late 1990’s I got a phone call from my good friend Henry Kaiser who asked if I could help out his friend/guru/cosmic guitarist Tisziji Munoz. I said of course I would try, so Mr. Munoz sends me a CD of his called ‘Present Without a Trace’. I was astonished! It featured some of the best, most intense, fastest/most furious avant/jazz/rock guitar that I had ever heard and I had heard of all of the other greats/contenders. After playing this CD over & over, I couldn’t believe that so few folks had ever heard of Tisziji Munoz. I decided to get Mr. Munoz a gig at the (2nd) Knitting Factory. A couple of weeks before the gig, Tisziji calls me and says that he needs to bring his pianist, Bernie Senensky (an incredible McCoy Tyner-like pianist!), down from Toronto and would I be willing to pay for his plane flight (cost: $200). I said OK because I wanted this gig to work. Bay Area-based guitarist Henry Kaiser, who often claimed to dislike NY, offered to fly in and introduce Munoz & his band. And he did. The night of the show, Munoz asked if one of his friends could sit in. I said no problem and that friend turned out to be Paul Shaffer, keyboardist for the Dave Letterman TV show?!? When the concert happened, the Knit had hired a new soundman who was still learning the ropes. Although the vibe in the room was one of cosmic/jubilation, we couldn’t really hear Munoz’ guitar very well. We could see the sparks flying but the sound was not right. Unknown to me at the time, Munoz’ son Mike who is a recording engineer was in the basement studio at The Knit recording the concert. And Mike knows what he is doing, thank the lord! Several months later, Tisziji comes to visit me at the store and gives me a new CD called ‘Great Sacrifice’, which was a concert recording of the gig I organized. At first, I was worried that it would sound like what I heard in the room that night but lo & behold, the recording was phenomenal!!! The title of that disc is the “Great Sacrifice” because both Tisziji and myself lost money at that gig in order to pay all of the musicians fairly. We still laugh about that whenever we get together. I’ve promoted several other for Tisziji Munoz at Tonic and The Old Stone thru the years and am currently working on our next one at Artist Space in Tribeca for Spring of next year with Ava Mendoza’s new band which is fronted by Abiodon Oyewole from the Last Poets and perhaps a new Nels Cline project. DMG gig of the year for 2022?!? No doubt!

The wonderful Munoz family is now moving to Virginia and recently donated quite a bit Munoz’s back-catalogue to us. So we are having a big sale and will do it in two parts, this week and next week. There are now upwards of 50 releases: LP’s, CD’s, cassettes and DVD’s. I have reviewed many of them so some of my reviews are listed below. If you want to know where to start, perhaps try ‘Great Sacrifice’ or ‘Present Without a Trace’ or ’Spirit World’. There are no cassettes listed below so I’m not sure if there are any left or not. The 3 DVD’s will be listed next week. I know that many of us are still dealing with the lock-down/anti-mask/anti-vax right-wing propaganda zombie blues so I urge to spend some dealing with some true ‘Healing Music’. This is what I believe that Tisziji Muñoz’s music always provides! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG

Here’s the First list:

PHAROAH SANDERS - Pharoah (India Navigation 1027; USA) with Tisziji Muñoz, Clifton “Jiggs” Chase, Steve Neil & Greg Bandy - rel on LP in 1977 - very rare indeed! Try Discogs or Ebay for a copy

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Rendezvous With Now (India Navigation 1034; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Cecil McBee, Claude Ranger & Clayton Johnston - rel on LP in 1998 - Super rare! You can get a copy thru the Tisziji Munoz/Anami Music website found here: https://www.tisziji.com/music/rendezvous-with-now-lp

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Visiting This Planet (Anami Music 001; USA) w/ Paul Shaffer, Pharoah Sanders, Dave Liebman, John Hicks, Bernie Senensky, Idris Muhammed, Adam Nussbaum, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Guillerme Franco… 2 LP set rel in 1988 / reissued on CD
2 LP Set $15 / all copies are still sealed although due to storage the covers do stick together, vinyl is pristine, nonetheless
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Hearing Voices (Anami Music 003; USA) w/ Bernie Senensky, Hilton Ruiz, Michael Cochrane, Paul Shaffer, Art Davis, Cecil McBee, Dennis Irwin, Ratso Harris, Adam Nussbaum, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Guillermo Cantu, Idris Muhammad… - Rel on CD in 1994
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Heart-Sound (Anami Music 007; USA) w/ Greg Murphy, Don Pate & Toby Williams (drums). Rel on CD in 1995
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Spirit Man (Anami Music 008; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Bob Moses - Rec November 12, 1995 - rel on CD in 1995
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Death Is A Friend Of Mine (Anami Music 009; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Bob Moses - 2 CD Set released in 1996
2 CD Set $18

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Present Without A Trace (Anami Music 011; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Rashied Ali. Rec October 11, 1997 / rel on CD in 1997
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - River of Blood (Anami Music 010; USA) w/ Dave Liebman, John Hicks, Don Pate & Rashied Ali - rec March 10, 1997 at Survival Studio in Soho, NYC - rel on CD 1997
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Spirit World (Anami Music 012; USA) with Pharoah Sanders, Bernie Senensky, Don Pate & Rashied Ali - Rec November 3rd, 1997 at Ali’s Survival Studio in Soho, NYC / 2 CD set rel in 1997
2 CD Set $18

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Alpha-Nebula - The Prophecies (Anami Music 013; USA) with John Lockwood, Don Pate, Franklin Kiermyer & Bob Moses - Rec December 13, 1997 / Rel on CD in 1999
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Great Sacrifice (Maha-Yajna)(Anami Music 014; USA) with Bernie Senenesky, Paul Shaffer, Don Pate and Bob Ra Kalam Moses - rec March 3rd, 1999 at the Knitting Factory / Rel on CD in 1999
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Presence of Truth (Dharma-Kaya)(Anami Music 015; USA) with Hilton Ruiz, Don Pate and Rashied Ali. Rec January 29, 1999 at Ali’ Survival Studio / rel on CD in 1999
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Presence Of Joy (Anami Music 016; USA) with Dave Liebman, Cecil McBee, Don ‘Yaka’ Pate & Rashied Ali - Rec July 22nd, 1999 at Rashied Ali’s Survival Studio / Rel on CD in 1999
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Presence Of Mastery (Nirmana-Kaya) (Anami Music 017; USA) with Paul Shaffer, Don Pate and Rashied Ali. Rec September 24, 1999 / rel on CD in 1999
CD $10

BOB MOSES and TISZIJI MUNOZ - Love Everlasting (Amulet Records AMT 003; USA) with George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, John Medeski, Brad Hatfield, John Lockwood… - rel on CD in 1999
Currently in limbo & I just wrote to Amulet to see if there are any more copies. Stay tuned.

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Auspicious Healing! (Anami Music 018; USA) with Henry Kaiser, Marilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser & Lukas Ligeti. Recorded on March 18, 2000 / Rel on CD in 2000
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Breaking The Wheel Of Life And Death (Anami Music 019; USA) with Marilyn Crispell, Don ‘Yaka’ Pate and Rashied Ali. - Rec June 11, 2000 at Cotton Hill Studio in Latham, NY / rel on CD 2000
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - The Hu-Man Spirit (Anami Music 021; USA) with Dave Liebman, Bernie Senensky, Don Pate, John Lockwood and Rashied Ali - 2 CD Set rel in 2000
2 CD Set $18

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Parallel Reality (Anami Music 020; USA) with Ravi Coltrane, Don Pate & Rashied Ali. Rec December 9, 2000 / rel on CD 2001
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Shaman-Bala (Anami Music 022; USA) with Bernie Senensky, Don Pate and Rashied Ali / rec at Tonic on May 12 of 2001 / 2 CD Set released in 2002
2 CD Set $18

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Divine Radiance (Dreyfus Jazz/Anami Music FDM 36706; USA) with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Paul Shaffer, Cecil McBee, Don Pate and Rashied Ali - Recorded October 30, 2001, Right Track Recording, NYC / rel on CD in 2003 - now out-of-print and down to last few copies.
CD $20

TISZIJI MUNOZ - Divine Radiance Live! (Anami Music 030; USA) with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Paul Shaffer, Don Pate and Rashied Ali - Rec live at the Village Underground on June 10th, 2013 / rel on CD
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ RELEASES with Blurbs/Reviews added:

TISZIJI MUNOZ With PHAROAH SANDERS / DAVE LIEBMAN / JOHN HICKS - Visiting This Planet (Anami Music 01; USA) Second fabulous solo effort with Pharoah Sanders, Dave Liebman, Bob Moses, Bernie Senensky, John Hicks & Paul Schaffer! Visiting this Planet is a celestial work that propels us through and beyond the limits of musical space with Tisziji's original recordings from the 1980's plus two rearranged interpretations of John Coltrane's compositions. Tisziji Muoz on guitar, synth guitar, keyboard, synth keyboard, shenai, congas, flutes and percussion; Paul Shaffer on piano and synth keyboard; John Hicks, Bernie Senensky, Michael Cochrane and Jon Weiss on piano; Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone; Dave Liebman on soprano saxophone; Art Davis, Dennis Irwin, Cecil McBee, Don Pate and Ratso Harris on bass; Bob Moses, Idris Muhammed, Adam Nussbaum and Guillermo Cantu on drums; Guillerme Franco on percussion. " 'Visiting This Planet" is his first release. It was recorded from '81 thru '84 and features Pharoah, Cecil McBee, Bob Moses, Dave Liebman, John Hicks and an old Toronto college buddy of his-Paul Shaffer?! Munoz composed most of these long spirited journeys, save for Coltrane's "Equinox" and "To Be", an obvious inspiration. This release seems to consist of many lovely melodies that glide over layers of percussion, saxes & keyboards. Tisziji's guitar continually cuts through, at times like the Santana/McLaughlin wailing of 'Welcome'! Both Coltrane pieces push the limits outwards, exploding in joyous release, high points of this journey." - BLG
2 LP Set $15 / all copies still sealed although due to storage the covers do stick together
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ With DON PATE/JOHN LOCKWOOD or JOE MORRIS/BOB MOSES/FRANKLIN KIERMYER - Alpha-Nebula: The Prophecies (Anami Music 013; USA) In this unique mix of soundscapes and band sequences, Tisziji weaves together a psychic experience of Sound and music. It is a journey through states of consciousness and energy fields, some of which correspond to primordial, even galaxial, cosmic energies. This project demonstrates some of Tisziji's most bliss-tering and original guitar playing to date. Tisziji also plays all the keyboard sounds, outside of, and accompanying, the band sequences. A truly ground breaking and occasionally disturbing work, Alpha-Nebula represents a total renunciational celebration, releasing all associations with traditional forms of jazz, classical, popular and electronic music. Definitely for bold Sound travelers. "Very much different in various ways than the above live date, but just as amazing!! On this unbelievable studio date, Tisziji assembles an incredibly inspired and throttling double rhythm team - John Lockwood (for Joe Morris) & Don Pate on double basses and Bob Moses & Franklin Kiermyer on double drums fury! Franklin is an incredible Elvin Jones-like thunder-force drummer, great composer and bandleader . 'Alpha-Nebula' is one long continuous and cosmic suite in which every other track is a cosmic synth salad by Munoz himself, giving us time to rest from the guitar soloing onslaught of every other track - that builds to more of a frenzy as the suite unfolds. There are many moments when the spew of guitar notes is just too much, so hold on for dear life! Tisziji wrote the spiritual explanations of this music on the inside booklet and our friend Henry Kaiser wrote the illuminating liner notes for this outstanding treasure of potent spirits! " - BLG
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ With DAVE LIEBMAN / CECIL McBEE / BOB MOSES / et al - Hearing Voices (Anami Music 003; USA) Hearing Voices documents Tisziji's high creative output during the early 1980's, with additional archival recordings from the original Visiting This Planet project. Tisziji MuNoz on guitar, synth guitar, synth keyboard, shenai, bells, gong and chanting; Paul Shaffer on piano and synth keyboard; Hilton Ruiz, Bernie Senensky and Michael Cochrane on piano; Dave Liebman on soprano saxophone; Art Davis, Dennis Irwin, Cecil McBee and Ratso Harris on bass; Bob Moses, Idris Muhammed, Adam Nussbaum and Guillermo Cantu on drums; Jerry Gonzales on congas and Guillerme Franco on percussion. This is not Tisziji's favorite recording and was not originally considered for release. In fact, these recordings, many of which were warm-up tunes for Visiting This Planet, were mastered and released only after the insistence of Tisziji's sons. ""Hearing Voices" was recorded during the same era and also includes many of the same players-Liebman & McBee, but also includes Art Davis, Idris Muhammed, Hilton Ruiz, Jerry Gonzales & Adam Nussbaum. On this cd, Tisziji shows how even the corniest of standards ("Climb Every Mountain" & "Somewhere") can be turned into burning, impassioned songs of great force. The spirits continue to soar, all musicians present seem to be a part of the cosmic proceedings. Munoz's originals also show a source of joyous melodies and rambling, hypnotic grooves" - BLG
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ With GREG MURPHY/DON PATE/TOBY WILLIAMS - Heart-Sound (Anami Music 007; USA) "An audition tape from '95 with relatively unknown players - Greg Murphy on piano (didn't he once play with Charles Gayle?), Toby Williams on drums and Don Pate once again on bass. This is one also pretty great and consists of three popular standards and two more originals. Miles' "All Blues" is done with care, so nice to hear Tisziji playing this delightful melody without getting too carried away. "My Favorite Things" may appear to an ultra-corny tune, but Coltrane's version on soprano sax made this tune a classic and Munoz also does a beautiful job of caressing this lovely melody in his own slightly twisted way, before the streams of notes finally erupt all over us again. What Munoz offering wouldn't be complete without a Trane cover, so here we get "Lonnie's Lament" - another laid back gem with nice mallads rolling from the bottom on upwards, quite Elvin Jones-like! The closing benediction is an extra-long Munoz original & early lp title called "Visiting This Planet", which also helps us complete our long journey through mountains and valleys, through the skies and seas, with its hypnotic, bouncing bass-line to sooth our troubled souls. Tisziji continues to whip these newcomers into shape, nothing hold him or them back, he inspires all who get the opportunity to play with him. So, it should come as no surprise that each of these four simultaneous releases has brilliant moments to be reckoned with, no matter much you know or don't know about any or all of these partners that Munoz shares the vibration with. They are worthy of your attention!" - BLG
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ With BERNIE SENENSKY / PAUL SHAFFER / DON PATE / RASHIED ALI - Great Sacrifice: Maha Yajna (Anami Music 014; USA) Tisziji Munoz Live! Great Sacrifice Finally! Monster electric jazz guitar god Tisziji Munoz returns with three completely mind blowing, spiritually invigorating releases in one short blast of time!! First, there is this astounding live set from the Knit from March 5th of this year presented by DMG; second there is a new studio date with a double rhythm team pounding the spirits behind our man Munoz and soon there will be a Bob Moses' Coltrane tribute called 'Love Everlasting' on Billy Martin's Amulet label. The live cd is completely transcendent - no doubt the electric jazz release of 1999! It was Henry Kaiser who introduced me to Tisziji's music and who introduced Munoz's phenomenal quintet from the stage that night. What I find odd is that the that the sound in the room of that set was just not right, but the sound, balance and playing on this cd is just incredible. Tisziji's firey ensemble features the extraordinary playing of Bernie Senensky on piano, Don Pate on contrabass, Bob Moses on drums & special guest synth seasoning from Paul Shaffer. The quintet explode the spirits on each of the eight pieces - four of Tisziji's originals and four standards, including two Coltrane tunes. Tisziji's originals are fueled by possessed, haunting melodies - that same cosmic vibe found in Pharoah's "The Creator has a Master Plan." Munoz has special way of taking a standard - corny ("So Near, So Far") or cool (Jobim's "Dindi") and torturing the melody with distortion & speed that still sounds possessed. Lesser known Canadian piano wiz - Bernie Senensky is amazing throughout, with his McCoy-like thunderous solos, he deserves more credit. Paul Shaffer has also been a long-time friend, supporter & musical cohort for Munoz and is often not taken seriously because of his long-term gig as band-leader on the David Letterman Show, but his sonic synth seasoning on this cd is great spice - oft sparse with that Sun Ra-like cosmo-ambiance. Both Don Pate's bass & Bob Moses' drums continually join forces and weave power & rhythmic energy from the bottom on up - they too are gods! What really pushes this over the top is each massive electric jazz guitar solo that Tisziji unleashes - going for the jugular, where the heavens part - notes exploding at lightning speed, torrential rains, overwhelming us all. Munoz claims Coltrane as a main inspiration, this makes perfect sense with same level of intensity, devotion of spirits, sheets of sound - It's all too much! Witness the powerful force of the 'Great Sacrifice'! This live cd captures his quartet plus guest in perfect balance - electric jazz that runs the voodoo down. Each member of the core quartet has a strong sound - Bernie Senensky's McCoy-ish powerful piano playing, Don Pate's delightful elastic support on contrabass, Bob Moses' massive, earth shaking, uplifting propulsion on drums. Even special guest Paul Shaffer's synth playing adds just the right amount of (Sun Ra-like) spacey seasoning to this delectable stew. This band sounds completely possessed - burning spirits, pushing each other & us up to the heavens! There is a relaxed vibe at the beginning of most of these tunes, but it soon erupts with every incredible solo! Munoz' solos are a marvel of high speed lines beyond belief, but with a grittier and more spiritual tone than most fusion guitarists would ever use. This music is filled with torrential energy! There are those pieces where his solos just keep going higher & higher... and the set ends with Tisziji (and everyone at the gig) howling to unleash the pent-up exploding spirits inside each of us and set them free! This entire set & release flows like a force of nature, peaceful at first before a distant storm builds until the guitar's lightning-sheets of sound overwhelm us once again. And then it's back to that burnin' acoustic piano jazz trio that also dazzles us with it's swinging storm force. This release sounds to me like the gig of the year (century?)! - Bruce Gallanter
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ With HENRY KAISER / MARILYN CRISPELL / MARK DRESSER / LUKAS LIGETI - Auspicious Healing (Anami Music 018; USA) Great Coltrane inspired guitarist's quintet w/ Kaiser, Crispell, Dresser, and L Ligeti! Wait'll you hear their take on Brahm's Lullaby! "The phenomena of Tisziji. Hey, he's the real thing! A musical master and a wise and compassionate man. As a leader, he got the group to transcend itself. As a guitarist, I watched and heard him create incredible music through his instrument as if the guitar were invisible. When Tisziji plays he invokes new lines and ideas of that moment. He does not play licks or prepared ideas, he reaches out there and grabs new things and lays them out for us to hear, with humor, passion, severity, playfulness and warmth. He is one of a handful of jazz players who is not afraid to play the truth as it comes to him. When you see and hear him play you can feel that the walls between this world and other worlds are just a bit thinner for you, the listener. The music from this session illuminates for me a bit more of that intangible, spiritual side of music-making than many other projects I have been involved with. I point it out so explicitly here because I hope that you will enjoy it in that context." - Henry Kaiser "This wonderful release features an all-star quintet of Tisziji and Henry Kaiser on guitars, Marilyn Crispell on piano, Mark Dresser on contrabass and Lukas Ligeti on drums. This first time quintet of five kindred spirits was organized by our pal and West coast guitar god - Henry Kaiser and he chose these players extremely well. This powerful cd begins and ends with a glowing, lovely duo of Marilyn and Tisziji on piano and guitar, although they had never heard each other's music, they work as a perfect duo - both heavily inspired by John Coltrane's heavy vibrations. "Auspicious!" the opener, is a touching ballad - somber and elegant, just the right way to begin our journey. The flood gates open wide on "Shenia Letticia Munoz" with a powerful trio erupting out of Trane-land, Marilyn building in harp-like waves, Mark's dense thumping, throbbing, slapping bass and Lukas' fierce rhythmic storm ever expanding as Munoz begins them spiraling, cascading lines reaching up higher and higher into the clouds and beyond. Eventually Marilyn takes over soloing also in McCoy-like waves with devastating results! This must be the most lyrical and most jazz-like of many Munoz cds, the pace is more calm than usual. On "Teardrop" the quartet once again begin with a slower pulse as Tisziji's guitar starts to build and levitate, the notes quickening to lightning-like flashes. Henry doesn't enter our journey until the fourth piece - "Prayer for Tolerance" in which Tisziji opens with a strange reed sound or sample, once more that calming vibe is at the center of this tune and Munoz takes the first tale-spinning solo as the heavens part, Henry continues the same vibration with his own distinctive (processed) sound as group winds down to more peaceful terrain, another work of luscious warmth and beauty. Both guitars and even some synth by Munoz weave frenetic bliss on "Orange Chocolate Mint Medicine in G Humor". The high point here is "Brahms' Lullaby" which has a gorgeous, old fashioned melody to start and reminds me of what Coltrane did to "My Favorite Things" or "Chim Chim Cheree". Tisziji takes the first mind-blowing solo - fragments of lines burning, blurring, buzzing and ascending ever upwards! Both Henry and Marilyn also take astounding solos as the heavens open up and the sun shines through. The final piece "Healing " is another piano and guitar duo and it is a refreshing, rare and precious lullaby to help us glide into a somber, peaceful dream-like world. " - BLG
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ With PAUL SHAFFER/RASHIED ALI/DON PATE - Presence Of Mastery: Nirmana-Kaya (Anami Music 017; USA) "Featuring Paul Shaffer on organ & piano, Don Pate on bass and Rashied Ali on drums. Contrary to what many of you jazz snobs might think, Paul Shaffer (from the David Letterman show) is actually a fine keyboard player and plays perfectly well with our favorite cosmic guitar hero on this mind-blowing cd! This is actually the third time they've recorded together in their 30 year friendship. All seven pieces here are written by Tisziji and each takes us on a cosmic journey through Coltrane-like inspired modal grooves with never-ending streams of notes from the Munoz lightning flash string eruptions. It is no easy feat, but each member of this inspired quartet must keep up with the endless stream of notes that fall from the heavens! Take another unforgettable trip with this amazing Munoz Quartet!" - BLG
"Presence of Mastery is a musical demonstration of the field of power of the master warrior. Here the effortless effort expresses through sound the field of spiritual sanity. One must embody the field of mastery, rise up to the level at whatever cost to the self and operate, function and live as the Way Itself... "Special thanks to this closing chord with my very dear friend in Sound and Spirit, and great musician, Paul Shaffer. This great date completes much of the work we began 29 years ago in Toronto, Canada. Special thanks to my beloved and ever-great accompanists Don Pate and Rashied Ali who make it easier every time we enter that wonderful Sound Current. Thank you all great spirits!" Tisziji MuNoz "It was astonishing to hear how much Tisziji's playing has advanced from the last time I played with him. I have played with all the great guitar players, from Eric Clapton to Van Halen to Santana to Jeff Beck, and nobody plays guitar the way Tisziji Munoz does. He is very spiritual, and as a guitar player he swings wild". - Paul Shaffer
CD $10

TISZIJI MUNOZ With MARILYN CRISPELL / RASHIED ALI / DON PATE - Breaking The Wheel Of Life And Death!(Anami Music 019; USA) Great Coltrane inspired guitarist's quartet with Marilyn Crispell, Don Pate, Rashied Ali "I want to extend my deepest gratitude and spiritual grace to Rashied Ali, Don Pate, and Marilyn Crispell, who have professionally and psychically supported this creative effort from the beginning. Their sympathetic and joyous playing on this project made it easy for me to sustain the level of consciousness expressed and implied by this transcendent music." Tisziji Munoz "Featuring Marilyn Crispell on piano, Don Pate on bass, Rashied Ali on drums and Tisziji Munoz on guitar, bells and compositions. Henry Kaiser put together a session for his guru and guitar-god Tisziji Munoz last year with a hand picked group that Henry chose for both guitarists to play with - this astonishing encounter was released a few months ago as "Auspicious Healing" and featured Marilyn Crispell on piano. The cosmic Coltrane vibe that Tisziji and Marilyn both share was brought together again a few months later for a powerful quartet date with Munoz' often regular rhythm team of Don Pate and former Coltrane-collaborator Rashied Ali. I just witnessed Marilyn playing in a trio with Barry Guy and Gerry Hemingway the other night at Tonic and she consistently blows mind with her ultra-deep playing. From the very first piece on this CD "Divine Urgancy" Munoz opens with that tone which gets the spirits flowing and trio around him float in cosmic space as time stands still. The title track comes next - a slow and mysterious Trane-like modal thing which takes its time to ascend higher and higher spiraling upwards as Tisziji lets those notes cascade like waves of energy flowing. Marilyn's solo comes next and it ever so elegant and beautiful, hushed and graceful that Munoz slows down the vibe to almost a standstill. Marilyn opens "Lemuria" with one of her superb harp-like solos which transcends up into the heavens as the tune itself grows from the innocent intro melody into another stellar region amongst the stars. The longest piece is "The Elder of the Mysteries" another tune in which the quartet sounds as if it is playing in slow motion as Tisziji starts to bend those notes upwards higher and higher one level at a time - Marilyn also taking a dream-inducing solo as well and a fine solo as well from Don Pate on acoustic bass. On this piece in particular there is some amazing call and response between the guitar and piano - notes that caress each other and us as well. The pulse picks up on the final long piece "God-Fire (Pyramid)" where Tisziji unleashes swarms of notes which crash over us in waves of urgent force. Marilyn also takes a spectacular piano solo - the forces of the gods to be reckoned with as she also spins notes in crashing waves, like a torrential rainstorm. Eventually the guitar also answers the call and explodes together with the piano as one cosmic force. Almost too much for us mere mortals! " - BLG
CD $10

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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.

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Live at the Downtown Music Gallery
Double CD Release Concert!
Saturday October 9, 2021

6:30pm CD release concert for
"Jeff Davis/Stephen Gauci, Pandemic Duets"
Jeff Davis - drums
Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
7:15pm CD release concert for "Jon Goldberger/Stephen Gauci, Pandemic Duets"
Jon Goldberger - guitar
Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
8pm The Trio
w/ Jon Goldberger - guitar
Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Jeff Davis - drums
**Proof of vaccination and masks required inside store**

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ESP-Disk’ Solo Piano Extravaganza
Saturday October 2nd
at Michiko Studios
149 West 46th Street, New York, NY

Featuring:
6:30pm - Rose Tang
7:30pm - Gabriel Zucker
8:30pm - Eunhye Jeong

Admission fee: $15

This concert will serve as a release party for Eunhye Jeong’s remarkable new solo piano album NOLDA, coming out this Friday, September 24 from ESP-Disk’. The always stimulating Gabriel Zucker also has an ESP album coming out on September 24; that’s a full band album, and the official release concert is 10/5 at Roulette. Furthermore, the multi-talented Rose Tang’s band ATTITUDE! has an ESP debut album due out in November. 

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ROBERT DICK - URSEL SCHLICHT DUO

Flutes and Piano Redefined — Again!!

At ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 6, 2021 at 8pm

Also Livestreamed at Roulette.org

Roulette
509 Atlantic Avenue
(Corner of Third Avenue)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
box office: (917) 267-0368

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This one is from CHRIS CUTLER, original member of Henry Cow, Art Bears, News from Babel, respected author and founder of Recommended Records. This is Chris’ wonderful podcast and I urge you all to give it a listen… https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-30

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Guitarist and DMG-pal HENRY KAISER has a monthly Video Solo Series on Cuneiform’s Youtube page:

Here’s HENRY KAISER’s Halloween show that goes up tomorrow:

A Halloween EXTRAVAGANZA with a cavalcade of luminary guests: Buckethead, Jim Clark, Scott Colby, Sandy Ewen, Ed DeGenaro, Danielle DeGruttola, Brandy Gale, Vanessa Gould, Marco Minnemann, ChrIs Muir, Wayne Peet, Prairie PrInce, Jill Sobule, The Big Kitty, Trip Wamsley, and Vince Welnick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yeOIVqGLKY

https://www.youtube.com/c/CuneiformRecords/videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGc9OI16hcE

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gaucimusic presents:

Live at Scholes Street Studio
Saturday October 16th, 2021

Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Matt Mitchell - piano
Eivind Opsvik - bass
Billy Mintz - drums
8pm & 9:30pm sets
Live recording/Live audience!
$15 at the door
**vaccination & masks required inside venue**

@ Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn
718-964-8763

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This comes from my good pal GWENOLEE ZURCHER - Curator of The Zurcher Gallery

ON THE BOWERY
Curator’s Statement
 
Art history is a complex, ever expanding tapestry composed of countless threads.  To aid in the understanding of this phenomena, periods and boundaries are imposed. Though arbitrary, these divisions attempt to map the parameters, changes and evolution within art’s historic fields.
 
Since the end of World War II, the cultural community of New York City has moved into a pivotal position in the worldwide evolution of visual culture.  These developments have been facilitated by the collaborations and associations of individuals, groups and institutions.
 
About fifteen years ago, following the recommendations of Walter Robinson, I picked up a copy of “The Field of Cultural Production” by Pierre Bourdieu.  Bourdieu, through his extensively documented research, confirmed many of my intuitive notions regarding art as a social practice, the accumulation of “cultural capital”, and the importance of the structure of our creative community.
  
The Bowery/Lower East Side neighborhood is a unique stretch of Manhattan real estate with a cast of extraordinary characters, and a turbulent cycle of ebbs and flows.  ON THE BOWERY is conceived as an investigation into the chronological, and geographic nature of art’s production and evolution within this milieu.  The period of interest focused on in this exhibition (roughly the mid 1960’ to 2020), provides an outstanding opportunity to study how shifts in living/working space, economic ups and downs, and gentrification effect generations of artistic aesthetics and production.  Furthermore, I believe the current crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the fragile nature of these relationships and encourages a deeper awareness of how important maintaining our cultural connections and legacies are.
 
Loren Munk
August, 2021

List of artists in the On the Bowery Group-show: starting with 94 Bowery ending with 356 Bowery: Vito Acconci, Lynda Benglis, Jake Berthot, Regina Bogat, James Brooks, William Burroughs, David Diao, Martha Diamond, Tom Doyle, Robert Frank, Eva Hesse, Max Gimblet, Michael Goldberg, Nan Goldin, Brenda Goodman, Wade Guyton, Bryon Gysin, Gerald Jackson, Valerie Jaudon, Lester Johnson, June Leaf, Fernand Leger, Sol LeWitt, Maya Lin, Lucy Lippard, Al Loving, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plymack Mangold, Brice Marden, Kazuko Miyamoto, Elizabeth Murray, Joe Overstreet, Harvey Quaytman, James Rosenquist, Mark Rothko, Robert Ryman, Archie Shepp, Billy Sullivan, Lynn Umlauf, Stanley Whitney.