DMG Newsletter for June 23rd, 2017

In there meantime, you can check out these Discs from:

David Sylvian / Rhodri Davies / Mark Wastell! Riverside: Dave Douglas/Steve Swallow/Chet & Jim Doxas! Ryan Keberle & Catharsis! Gato Libre: Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii/Yasuko Kaneko! From Cantaloupe: Bobby Previte Terminals Quartets!

John Luther Adams Canticles! David Lang / Molly Barth! Contact/Brian Eno’s ‘Discreet Music’! Arto Lindsay! Okkyung Lee & Christian Marclay! Dan Tepfer / Thomas Morgan / Nate Wood! Adam Kolker / Steve Cardenas / Billy Mintz!

Rhys Chatham & Oneida! Dominique Eade & Ran Blake! Invisible Guy: Michael Coleman & Ben Goldberg! Machine Mass Does Jimi Hendrix! Diego Barber! Amirtha Kidambi Elder Ones! Come On! Plus Rare Vinyl from Dorothy Ashby Roberto Musci, Maria Teresa Luciani & Ragnar Johnson!

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Special thanks to all of you who sent their best wishes to me for my birthday last Monday. The performances that night at The Stone were especially moving for all in attendance. Thanks to all of the musicians involved: Unbroken: Louie Belogenis, Shanir Blumenkranz and Kenny Wolleson and the Franklin Kiermyer Quartet: Jovan Alexandre, Davis Whitfield and Otto Gardner.

I am planning on more DMG 26 celebrations throughout the rest of 2017 so stay tuned..! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

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THE DMG 26TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES OF SONIC CELEBRATIONS Continue:

Sunday, June 25th:
6pm: THOMAS HEBERER / CHRISTOF KNOCHE - Trumpet and Bass Clarinet
7pm: JOHN McCOWEN - Solo B-flat and ContraBass Clarinet (from Wie Zhongle)

Sunday, July 2nd:
6pm: AUGMENTED TRIAD: AARON RUBINSTEIN / JONATHAN MILBERGER / MICHAEL LAROCCA

Sunday, July 9th:
6pm: VORKTIP TRIO: NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC /
ELIJAH SHIFFER / BRITT CIAMPA - Acoustic Bass / Sax / Drums!

Super Rare Night Saturday, July 15th Set:
6pm: HENRY KAISER - Solo Electric Guitar!

Sunday, July 23rd:
6pm: BILLY MINTZ QUINTET: TONY MALABY / JOHN GROSS / ROBERTA PIKET / HILLIARD GREENE!

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


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RHODRI DAVIES / DAVID SYLVIAN / MARK WASTELL - There is No Love (Confront Core 01; UK) Featuring David Sylvian on voice, electronics & treatments, Rhodri Davies on lap & table harps, vibes & radio and Mark Wastell tam tam, cracked cymbal, temple bells, singing bowls, tubular bell & concert bass drum. David Sylvian has come a long way since his early career, fronting the band Japan (1978-1981), originally a glam-rock band that evolved into a more progressive, Roxy Music-like combo. Sylvian has been making a variety of engaging solo efforts since 1984 and has had some interesting collaborations: Robert Fripp, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Holger Czukay, Arve Henriksen, Derek Bailey and Christian Fennesz.
More recently Mr. Sylvian has been experimenting by working with serious improvisers like Keith Rowe, Otomo Yoshihide and Evan Parker. For his new disc, Mr. Sylvian is collaborating with two members of IST, Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell, a London-based trio that once played at Tonic during a Derek Bailey Company Festival. IST originally started out with the instrumentation of Mr. Wastell on cello, Mr. Davies on harp and Simon H Fell on contrabass. Over the years both Mr. Wastell (who also runs this, the Confront label) and Mr. Davies have expanded their palette with extended techniques and other instruments than their main axes. Hence all three members of this trio play oddities like table harp, radio, unorthodox percussion, treatments and electronics. What’s interesting is that Sylvian’s voice was recorded in 2014 in L.A. and the instruments added in London in 2017. Every sound is carefully recorded so there is a most sublime sense of spaciousness and suspense. There is only one long piece here, clocking in at around 30 minutes. The text comes from Bernard Marie Koltes and begins with, “There is No Love”, which is repeated in the background. Soon, Mr. Sylvian’s voice speaks clearly upfront, telling a story or setting a scene, creating a film for our inner eyelid projection. Each sound evokes a vibe or transportation device, so we go along for the journey. The words describe a situation or observation between a dealer and someone who needs or wants his or her wares. The words are rather skeletal so that we can invent our own story to go along with the flow. All in all, this is a marvelous offering since every sound and word seems to part of a complete world/story that unfolds perfectly and just needs to be listened to without distraction. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


Two Fine New Discs from the Greenleaf label In Stock early Next Week:

* RIVERSIDE - DAVE DOUGLAS / STEVE SWALLOW / CHET DOXAS / JIM DOXAS - The New National Anthem (Greenleaf 1056; USA) Riverside is Dave Douglas on trumpet, Chet Doxas on clarinet & tenor sax, Steve Swallow on electric bass and Jim Doxas on drums. This is the second disc from Dave Douglas’ Riverside quartet, whose personnel has remained the same. Their first disc was a tribute to Jimmy Giuffre. This disc appears to be a tribute to composer Carla Bley with three of her songs covered here. Riverside bassist Steve Swallow is also the longtime partner of Ms. Bley and one of his songs is covered here as well. The ever prolific Dave Douglas composed most of the other songs himself. The title track is first and it is done briefly, mostly just stating the quaint, quirky theme without solos. Mr. Douglas’ “Old Country” has some rich harmonies for the trumpet and tenor to play through with some great crisscrossing solos from both horns. “King Conlon” (for composer Conlon Nancarrow?), has a unique Ornette-like bent swing groove that I find most charming. I dig the way the trumpet and clarinet share tight lines and then do some swell question & answer, back & forth interplay. “King Korn” is an old Carla Bley song from the sixties which seems to have it own logic, I recall a version by Paul Bley fro way back when. What I have always dug about Carla Bley is that her tunes have thoughtful melodies, seem simple yet are often not what they seem. You have to listen to them a few times to hear what is actually buried beneath the calm surface. “Enormous Tots”, another Carla Bley song, goes back and forth between drunken swagger and some fast/slow/fast/slow sections, it doesn’t quite sound like any other composer I could put me finger on. It took a few spins to actually hear how this disc holds together, I am still marveling at the unpredictable way things unfold unrushed. Mr. Douglas has done a good job of writing these folkish melodies which are quaint or charming, recalling an older period/style of traditional American folklore. It reminds me of a time when things were simpler or at least not nearly as stressful as they are today. I got to listen to this record again without any distraction, since there is something very tasty at the center, nut bitter but perhaps bittersweet. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

* Riverside will play two CD release sets on June 30th & July 1st at 8:30pm each night at The New Stone - Arnold Hall at the New School - 55 W 13th Street, NYC


* RYAN KEBERLE & CATHARSIS - Find the Common, Shine a Light (Greenleaf 1055; USA) "When was America actually “great”? We know the stories of the "good old days," but doesn’t the fact that those times, rife with severe racial prejudice, religious persecution, and homophobia, negate whatever simple or easier living some people might reminisce about? The real history of this country, especially for those less fortunate, is an ugly one. Yet, in 2016, rather than striving to move forward, building on real momentum of the past 8 years, 50 million Americans chose to move unarguably backwards. Forward progress is such a simple thing to attain when you boil things down. It’s about one thing - compassion for others and this song looks to make that point." - Ryan Keberle, January 2017
Featuring Ryan Keberle on trombone, Fender Rhodes & vocals, Camila Meza on guitar & vocals, Mike Rodriguez on trumpet, Jorge Roeder on acoustic & electric bass & effects, Eric Doob on drums plus the Catharsis Singers. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard that this was a “protest” disc plus I hadn’t heard the previous Keberle disc on Dave Douglas’ ever-growing Greenleaf label. I found all aspects of this disc to be most enchanting. Ms. Meza’s voice is warm, enticing, laid back and never takes over. She sounds as if she has stepped out that classic samba school/sound from Brazil in the early sixties, more than a half century ago. Her voice isn’t the lead instrument on all of the tracks. Instead Keberle’s trombone and Mike Rodriguez’ trumpet are often on top with lush harmonies and consistently superb / sublime soloing. The interplay between both horns is most magical, the secret ingredient that makes this much better than one might expect. The band simmers throughout with tasty electric piano, melodica, supported by an exquisite, slightly funky rhythm team. There are a couple of well-selected covers here: “Fool on the Hill” (Beatles) and “The Times They are a Changin’” (Bob Dylan). Both are done tastefully with delicious, elegant arrangements. What I like most about this disc is that it doesn’t hit you over the head with any excessive angst or drama. The lyrics are thoughtful but not accusatory. The final song, “I am a Stranger” is also a cover from a band called the Welcome Wagon. The way born horns swirl around Ms. Meza’s voice is most uplifting and brings this delightful, stirring disc to a fine conclusion. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

* Ryan Keberle and Catharsis will play a CD release set on July 5th at 7:30 & 9:30 at the Jazz Standard


GATO LIBRE [NATSUKI TAMURA / SATOKO FUJII / YASUKO KANEKO] - Neko (Libra 103-040; Japan) Gato Libre has been around since 2003 and has recorded six superfine CDs. The band has also had quite a bit of tragedy since two of the original members passed away, bassist Norikatsu Koreyasu (in 2011) and guitarist Kazuhiko Tsumura (in 2015). Both times bandleader Natsuki Tamura thought that the band shouldn’t continue but the widows of each member encouraged the band to continue. And so we have the new, reborn version of Gato Libre, a tribute to members past and present. This version features Natsuki Tamura on trumpet & compositions, Ms. Yasuko Kaneko on trombone and Satoko Fujii on accordion. “Tama” opens with a haunting, wheezing accordion drone with sublime, solemn trumpet and trombone harmonies floating on top like ghosts/spirits set free from the Planet Earth. While Ms. Fujii creates a series of drones or long tones, both trumpeter Tamura and trombonist Kaneko, take slow, thoughtful and often touching solos, as well as creating rich enchanting harmonies. Ms. Fujii’s accordion shimmers like waves in the ocean or like like tears running down our faces. Liquid memories that continue to haunt us. Naksuki’s sound on trumpet is deep and personal, like a soft voice in the distance crying out for help. Time is being slowed down here so we must slow down with it to adjust to what is going on. The sounds are carefully stretched out, patience is required and rewards are extraordinary. All of the parts in this puzzle are balanced just right, so come on down and take the slow train another world where we visit the loved ones that have moved on to another more peaceful place. Amen. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
LP $28 (LTD Edition of 100 copies) includes CD inside


New from the Cantaloupe Label:

BOBBY PREVITE//NYU PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE/SO PERCUSSION - Terminals Quartets (Cantaloupe 21123; USA) “Performed by the NYU Percussion Ensemble under the direction of Jonathan Haas with guest appearances by So Percussion, Bobby Previte’s new work ‘Terminals Quartets’ celebrates the subtle, the powerful and the serene in modern percussion-based music.
The piece is both a back story and a natural progression for Previte’s 2014 Cantaloupe release TERMINALS (Five Concertos for Percussion and Soloist). In that work, So Percussion played the role of a concerto orchestra behind soloists on harp, guitar, piano and sax; ‘Terminals Quartets’ re-calibrates exclusively for percussion and adds new music to create a work of vast space and melodic abstraction—an entirely new entity of percussive sound, with an eerie echo of its original source.”
Along with longtime Downtown composers like John Zorn, Elliott Sharp and Ned Rothenberg, Bobby Previte has consistently challenged himself by working in a wide variety of settings, whether playing, collaborating or composing, he is impossible to pin down. ‘Terminals Quartets’ consists of five different percussion quartets, named “Terminal A” through “Terminal E”. Starting with “Terminal A”, I notice that there is not just drums involved but steel drums, vibes, gongs, cymbals and more. Mr. Previte, being a drummer himself and composing for diverse ensembles for more than three decades, shows the endless possibilities of percussion (only) music. “Terminal A” is often calm and spacious with certain instruments, like steel drums and marimbas, resonating quietly. There are some repeating themes which do remind me of some similar melodic ideas I’ve heard from Mr. Previte in the past, as well as some spirited solos for the congas or bongos. Ever since hearing “Ionization” by Edgar Varese, I have been a longtime fan of percussion music and know how rich it can be. Each of the five terminals is around 15 minutes and covers an immense amount of colors, shades, textures with percussion sounds you will recognize and some you will not, especially when they are blended together and come up with a new combination of threads. Unlike some percussion music, very little of this is in any way bombastic. Mr. Previte takes his time to explore more restrained areas so that get to hear the subtle nuances of different percussive sounds. Although this disc is some 77 minutes long, I was transfixed and transported throughout with a great deal of the edge-of-your-seat excitement as well. It will take quite some time to fully absorb the wealth of riches found within so take your time with this one… - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


JOHN LUTHER ADAMS - Canticles of the Holy Wind (Cantaloupe 21131; USA) Lauded by the New York Times as a “...hypnotic and ethereally beautiful invocation of wind, sky and birdsong,” John Luther Adams’ “Canticles of the Holy Wind”, performed by the renowned chamber choir The Crossing, is his most technically challenging choral work, and yet the music’s mesmerizing aura of stillness encourages listening at its most elemental. The piece is composed for four choirs of eight singers each and moves through spaces that are as fantastical (“Sky with Four Suns”) as they are serene (“The Hour of the Doves”), always with a connection to our inner world, as well as the world around us.
“John allows us to interrupt our otherwise endlessly forward-tumbling lives,” notes Donald Nally, The Crossing’s conductor, “and experience these sounds as if we were sitting in the woods for an hour. An hour of wind and of sky and of birds. We are drawn to this music, not just for the beauty of its shimmering harmonies and the overwhelming climactic moments, but also for way it inspires a ‘hearing’ of nature, in real time, as we sing it.”
There are several layers of voices which make up this piece. I am reminded of what it might feel like to be floating or sailing through the heavens. The voices move in several waves, each one unique with different lines crisscrossing, swirling around one another, moving together like a flock of birds on the sky. The only other musician heard on this disc besides the large choir is percussionist Amy Garapic. The choir sounds as if they are singing in a church at times, their angelic voices bathed in spacious resonance at times. It is hard to believe that this disc is mostly voices as those voices keep changing and often sound orchestral or even symphonic. Transcendent! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15


DAVID LANG//MOLLY BARTH - Thorn (Cantaloupe 21132; USA) “‘thorn’ is flutist and eighth blackbird founding member Molly Barth's collection of short works by David Lang, and has been described as "...a varied yet consistent overview of Lang’s chamber music activities, a vital part of his output that deserves continued attention even as he moves into larger forms and more expansive concepts. The performances, by Barth and a small host of excellent associates (including fellow former blackbird Matt Albert on violin), strike just the right balance between nervous tension and technical security." (Steve Smith, The Log Journal)
About the title piece, David Lang writes: "My first idea for thorn was to embed a single spike somewhere in the middle of a long, slow, quiet melody. I thought that the listener would then spend the first part of the piece in fear and the second part in shock, and this would change the ways that the tune would be perceived. The problem was that the spike turned out to be the most interesting part of the piece, and, ultimately, I couldn’t resist the temptation to add many, many more of them."
CD $15


CONTACT//BRIAN ENO - Discreet Music (Cantaloupe 21114; USA) “On the 40th anniversary of the release of Brian Eno’s electronic ambient masterpiece Discreet Music, Toronto’s classical Contact ensemble, led by artistic director and percussionist Jerry Pergolesi, weighs in with a modern arrangement that harks back to the adventurous experimentalism of the original.
In Contact’s version, acoustic and electric instruments (cello, violin, soprano saxophone, guitar, double bass, vibraphone, piano, flute and gongs) take the place of Eno’s EMS synthesizer, channeling the underlying melodies of the piece until the ensemble itself becomes a kind of “looping apparatus,” as Pergolesi describes it. “My hope is that this recording pays homage to an influential piece of music and fulfills its own purpose as, in Eno’s words, ‘not something intrinsic to certain arrangements of things – to [a] certain way of organizing sounds – but actually a process of apprehending that we, as listeners, could choose to conduct. Music is something your mind does.’”
I recall when I first listened to Eno’s ‘Discreet Music’ album, I didn’t take it seriously at first or listen very closely. It seemed as though Eno was taunting us since it was meant to be listened to from a distance and not closely at that. It wasn’t until I heard his ‘Music for Airports’ album with Robert Wyatt as a guest that I began to understand and appreciate his term “ambient music” and the ways in which it effects us. Hence, when someone actually covered ‘Discreet Music’, some 40 years later, I had my doubts at first. The original ‘Discreet Music’ was subtle, looped electronic sounds. Here we have Contact, a seven piece new music ensemble from Toronto, with a couple of guests added. This version is actually quite beautiful, consistently enchanting, some sort of quaint chamber music not so distant from Penguin Cafe Orchestra who shared the same label (EG Records) with Eno around the same time. The same phrase or line is repeated over and over, yet different parts are carefully manipulated, different instruments (strings, flute, soprano sax, electric guitar, vibes, piano and gongs) come in and this disappear, being replaced by other instruments, one or two at a time. Unlike the distant electronic sounds, these instruments resonate, vibrate and expand, their sound is richer, deeper and more nuanced. That same sense of calm is still at the center and it still feels great to embrace that inner peaceful state. Again, as were Eno’s original intentions, one can listen closely or not. Either way, the rewards are even better when you do listen and let the music way over and forget about that which makes life more stressful. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

Just Reissued After being Out of Print for Several Years:

JULIA WOLFE // ETHEL / LARK QUARTET / CASSATT STRING QUARTET - The String Quartets (Cantaloupe 21011; USA) Bang on a Can Co-Founder Julia Wolfe has turned the string quartet world upside down with these hip and innovative quartets. Her ferociously fresh works, played by three of America's finest young groups, have been exciting audiences and critics for the last ten years. Heard on the stages of the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Other MindsFestival, and in the repertoires of the Kronos, Smith, and Mondrian quartets (among others), her quartets are some of the most celebrated and performed in the world. Wolfe's music conveys an intensity and intimacy, a virtuosity and joy of sound that turns the string quartet into a relentless high voltage vehicle of expression.
"Intriguing and tag-resistant, Wolfe demonstrates her ability to inject new energy into old forms and avoid easy categorization via volatile creative firepower." - Josef Woodward, Los Angeles Times
"Her powerful one-movement works, which combine the violent forward drive of rock music with an aura of minimalist serenity, use the four instruments as a big guitar, whipping psychedelic states of mind into frenzied and ecstatic climaxes." - Russell Platt, The New Yorker
CD $15


CRASH ENSEMBLE//NICO MUHLY/DONNACHA DENNEHY / VALGEIR SIGUROSSON - Ghosts (Bedroom Community 027; Iceland) Crash Ensemble are one of Ireland and Europe's most acclaimed contemporary classical music ensembles. They perform a wide breadth of contemporary music from the work of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, to up-and-coming, younger Irish composers. Crash are also known to perform with contemporary indie rock and pop artists such as Sam Amidon, Lisa Hannigan, Adrian Crowley, Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) and many more. Crash have worked extensively in the fields of contemporary opera and have started working with theater. Ghosts is a record of four pieces specifically written/arranged for the group by some of the leading and most exciting contemporary composers - Nico Muhly (USA), Donnacha Dennehy (Ireland) and Valgeir Sigurðsson (Iceland). It is a document of a lot of what Crash have performed in the past and is a taste of what is to come from the group. Crash Ensemble will appeal to fans of new, adventurous music played with energy and originality. Example of composers frequently performed: Steve Reich, Andrew Hamilton, Linda Buckley, Bryce Dessner, Donnacha Dennehy, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, David Lang, Deirdre Gribbin.
CD $15


MACHINE MASS [MICHEL DELVILLE / ANTOINE GUENET / TONY BIANCO] - Plays Hendrix (MoonJune 084; USA) When I first heard The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Purple Haze” on FM radio, perhaps fifty years ago in the early Summer of 1967, I was shocked. It was as if an alien spaceman had landed and was speaking in a new language. The psychedelic era had just begun. As a longtime Jimi Hendrix fanatic, I still collect all of those unofficial discs, no matter what. I have also searched high & low for Jimi Hendrix covers and have more than a dozen albums of these. Check out Gil Evans or Christy Doran’s versions if you don’t own them originally. This is the third disc from Machine Mass, a progressive trio featuring Michel Delville on guitar, synth, loops & electronics, Antoine Guenet on keyboards, synth & piano and Tony Bianco on drums. Michel Delville also a member of Belgian jazz/rock/prog band Wrong Object, who collaborated with Elton Dean in 2005. Mr. Delville and drummer Tony Bianco are also members of a fine trio called douBt, plus Bianco has also worked with Paul Dunmall and Dave Liebman. This disc begins with “Third Stone from the Sun”, a rare instrumental piece from the first Hendrix album, ‘Are You Experienced?’. The original song actually had a great, jazzy, repeating bass line which is at the heart of this version as well, locked in with Tony Bianco’s fast, swinging space groove. Mr. Delville adds sly layers of guitars & synth, his sustained tone most hypnotic, softly psychedelic. There are no vocals on this disc, instead Delville plays those parts on his guitar and does a great job of capturing the psych spirit just right. “Little Wing” comes from the second Hendrix album, ‘Axis: Bolad as Love’ and has been covered many times, perhaps most famously by Derek & the Dominoes. The version here features some fine, laid back semi-acoustic guitar with spacey effects and sampled spoken word vocals (like a news report) in the background. I recall listening to the first Hendrix album in its entirety in the summer of 1967 and being somewhat overwhelmed by its intoxicating psychedelic sound. I like how Machine Mass capture that spirit but don’t go to far overboard, adding tasty arrangements and selective sonic effects. The versions of “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” and “The Wind Cries Mary” are done especially well, but the real high point is a long, frenzied version of “You Got Me Floatin’”. We gotta give some credit to keyboardist Antoine Guenet from Universe Zero who adds a great deal of nifty piano, organ and synth parts. Remember: listening is the best way to travel. Go for it! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14 (In stock early next week)


INVISIBLE GUY [BEN GOLDBERG / MICHAEL COLEMAN / JOHN SHIFFLETT / HAMIR ATWAL] - A Sibling Mystery [Soundtrack](Self-Produced; USA) Invisible Guy is Michael Coleman on piano, keyboards & synth, Ben Goldberg on clarinet, John Shifflett on bass and Hamir Atwal on drums. ‘A Sibling Mystery’ is a feature film directed by Dan Erickson & Rachel Wortell. This is the second disc by Invisible Guy, one of several Bay Area-based groups that clarinet wiz Ben Goldberg is involved in. Since there are some 31 tracks here, most are relatively short, each one seems to evoke a certain vibe or feeling like the many scenes from a movie. “Mysterious” does sound like the title suggests, somber and suspense filled. Many of the shorter pieces are good for just creating a mood while the longer pieces are more interesting when they evolve through different sections. I love the skeletal yet spooky electric piano and quaint clarinet on “Dumpling’s Revenge”. Even some of the shorter pieces have a way of showing inventiveness with the keyboards and clarinet creating so many hypnotic moods. Even without the film itself to gaze at, this music works well and is consistently captivating. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10


Newer Northern Spy New Releases Out Shortly:

ARTO LINDSAY With MELVIN GIBBS / KASSA OVERALL / PAUL WILSON / PATRICK HIGGINS / RYU TAKAHASHI / et al - Cuidado Madame (Northern Spy 090; USA) The album is titled after an infamous 1970 Julio Bressane film about oppressed housemaids revolting against and brutally murdering their mistresses. The literal • Candomblé (spiritual rhythms revolving around possession and trance) served as the foundation for the record. The process began with recordings of atabaques in Brazil. Lindsay wrote melodies and lyrics over the rhythms in the studio in Brooklyn. The album is an exploration of the cultural nexus of Afro-Brazilian spirituality and western modernity.
When people talk about Arto Lindsay’s body of work, they often project a reductive dichotomy. There is Scary Arto and Sexy Arto. Scary Arto’s music is stormy and serrated and ruthless and almost deranged; evoking perhaps the glare and noise of New York City. Sexy Arto’s music is seductive and warm and textured and ethereal; evoking perhaps the dappled sunlight of Brazil. Both musics seem dreamlike. In the sense that there are many kinds of dreams.
In 2014, Northern Spy issued a unique and conceptually provocative double-disc anthology of Arto’s solo work, called ‘Encyclopedia Of Arto’. Disc 1 was a “best of Arto Lindsay” survey of his solo albums. Disc 2 was something much more unusual: many of the same songs from disc one, performed live with Arto’s signature haywire noise guitar (Scary Arto) juxtaposed against his lilting, slyly erotic, post-Caetano vocal style (Sexy Arto).
The choice to marry Sexy and Scary into a single performance was striking and bold. I cannot speak for Arto, but my read of the statement was that it rebuked the notion that his vision is somehow binary. It felt like fresh terrain.
This brings us to Cuidado Madame, the long awaited new album, where Arto’s mastery is in full bloom. Though the album certainly favors Sexy Arto, its fearlessness makes us let go of our boring, dichotomous ideas. On offer is the full, inimitable Arto Lindsay range of texture, noise, technology, ensemble playing, melody and poetry, sensuality and intellect. You will find that you stop analyzing and parsing. You will find that you surrender. In the sense that there are many kinds of dreams. – Chad Clark, Beauty Pill
CD $14


OKKYUNG LEE / CHRISTIAN MARCLAY - Amalgam (Northern Spy 082; USA) Featuring Christian Marclay on turntables & cover images and Okkyung Lee on cello. This disc was recorded live at Cafe Oto in London in April of 2014. Ever since moving here from Boston in the early aughts, Okkyung Lee has mastered the art of networking and has played with many of Downtown’s most creative musicians. Ms. Lee quickly worked her way into John Zorn’s close-knit cast of crafty musicians and soon had two fine disc out the Tzadik label. Her networking skills paid off as she has been working with a cast of international players: Steve Beresford, John Edwards, Phil Minton and Evan Parker. Turntablist Christian Marclay is one of the original Downtown players, an integral part of the DT scene for more than three decades. Mr. Marclay has also been successful for doing exhibitions in revered galleries and museums around the world. He seems have moved more into the museum circuit over the past decade and playing less musical performances. He finally left New York a few years back and has relocated to London which is where this set was recorded. Cafe Oto and the Vortex have become to places to play in London for creative musicians over the past decade.
This disc consists of one long set and it well recorded. Both of these musicians are gifted improvers and this disc captures them at their best: intense, explosive, firework like eruptions… Mr. Marclay does a great job of sampling a diverse array of sounds and then manipulating them by slowing down and speeding up his turntables. Scratchy records, static, hums and many unidentifiable sounds which keep changing. Ms. Lee is a dazzling improvisers, bending and twisting and working her bow into a wide variety of strange sounds on her trusty cello. This duo bristles with focused tension, pushing each other higher and tighter as they evolve. At one point Ms. Lee plays a series of drones, bowing the string in different combinations, some strings resonate in one way while others vibrate in different ways. Marclay is a great match, also altering his spunds in different ways, the combination both focused and confusing simultaneously. I’ve been to many a Downtown improv set over the past forty years. This set captures that spirit in a strong rather intoxicating way, keeping us off-balance yet unable to get off of the roller coaster once it starts to ascend. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


ONEIDA & RHYS CHATHAM - What’s Your Sign? (Northern Spy 080; USA) NYC-bred, Paris-based avant-garde guitar legend and minimalist composer Rhys Chatham and long-running psychedelic free-rock juggernaut and Brooklyn institution Oneida—have joined forces on their first collaborative album proper titled What’s Your Sign?, due November 11th, 2016 via Northern Spy Records. With pedigrees carved in hall-of-fame-caliber collaboration and ever-expanding symphonic ensembles (a Chatham touchstone is A Crimson Grail (For 400 Electric Guitars) while Oneida’s twelve hour long free-improvisational drone-fests is stuff of legend), it’s no revelation the legendary composer and No Wave veteran and the left-field freethinking noisemakers would make for kindred spirits.
“Collaborating with Rhys was a way for Oneida to connect with the legacy of NYC experimental rock,” explains Kid Millions. “It was gratifying and exciting that Rhys was completely wide open. No hesitation as he stepped into the O.”
As it turns out, Chatham stepping into the O—a sonically deep and sprawling mind-fry of triptastic psych-stoner dirges and marathon-length organ-splattered space-jazz noisescapes—was a match made in drone, noise and Motorik groove heaven. But even Chatham had jitters upon entering the hypnotic sound-world that would ultimately serve as the foundation for What’s Your Sign?
“When I first met up with the merry men of Oneida at their rehearsal studio in Brooklyn, I was a little nervous about how things were going to go, because I was thinking of them as basically a rock group, perhaps with a bit of an edge and a bit of noise, but essentially rock,” recalls Chatham. “I was nervous about it because I was coming to the session with my Outdoor Spell loop/delay setup, and I wasn’t too sure about how that would work with straight ahead rock. So you can imagine my surprise when the drummer, Kid Millions, started playing in a style that owed more to free music and noise than it did to rock. And so did what the other guys were playing. It worked just fine, and the music sounded great!”
With six compositions credited to Oneida and Rhys Chatham, What’s Your Sign?—Oneida’s first set of original material since 2012’s A List of the Burning Mountains and Chatham’s second LP in 2016 (Pythagorean Dream the first) and third overall for Northern Spy—is an exercise in freethinking sonic explorations from an uncompromising, genre-defying group whose collective output has shaped the experimental music landscape extending over the last four decades.
Recorded and mixed at Menegroth The Thousand Caves by Colin Marston, Oneida and Rhys Chatham and mastered by James Plotkin, What’s Your Sign?’s six shapeshifters are ecstatic journeys into a psych-rock future-world. Warped, alien jam action like the jet engine-drone roar of “Well Tuned Guitar” and the in-your-face noise-rock screams of “You Get Brighter” harken back to the legendary free-improv all-nighters that took place at The Ocropolis, Oneida’s former studio/performance space in Williamsburg.
Even with Chatham thrust deep into Oneida’s sound-deconstructing fray, the songwriting process didn’t stray too far from the norm of past efforts. What’s Your Sign? was born out of playing together, jamming on monolithic riffs and squelching electronics, discussing and editing. Both “Civil Weather” and “A. Philip Randolph and Back Bay Station” approach firebreathing 60’s free jazz vibes driven by Millions’ rolling and manic beats and ear bleeding double-horn-fueled drone, thanks to a Hanoi Jane-Chatham trumpet duet.
From its drums-bashing, cacophonous beginning to its skronky trumpet-loaded conclusion, the instant chemistry betwixt Rhys Chatham and Oneida is what makes What’s Your Sign? such a seamless and natural partnership: ageless vanguards of minimalism, free-improvisation and noise banding together in a holier than thou union of NYC experimental.
CD $14


AMIRTHA KIDAMBI ELDER ONES - Holy Science (Northern Spy 085; USA) As Ben Ratliff wrote in the New York Times, “the aggressive and sublime first album by the band Elder Ones, Holy Science, is a kind of gauge for how strong and flexible the scene of young musicians in New York’s improvised and experimental music world can be. At the center of it are drones and phonemes. The group’s leader, the 30-year-old composer and singer Amirtha Kidambi, holds forth behind a harmonium, the small keyboard instrument with hand-pumped bellows; it’s commonly used in bhajan, the Indian devotional-singing tradition that was central to her musical experience while growing up in a South Indian family.”
Kidambi formally trained in classical music, singing works by avant-garde composers: Luigi Nono and Karlheinz Stockhausen, but the pull of free jazz and Alice Coltrane drew her toward a different path. The influence of both Alice and John Coltrane is especially apparent on the new album, as is her work with composer and saxophonist Darius Jones, and her study of Carnatic music.
While in Darius Jones’s a cappella group, Kidambi developed a language for wordless vocals, freeing her from being tied to syntax, a technique she uses through most of Holy Science. The music is anchored by bass-lines and drones on the harmonium, often doubled on the bass by Brandon Lopez. Matt Nelson on the soprano saxophone evokes the sound of the Indian double-reed nadhaswaram, and the playing of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, blending with and harmonizing her voice and the reeds of the harmonium. Drummer Max Jaffe’s ability to seamlessly pivot between complex grooves and timbrally explorative free-playing, completes the equation. Each musician was chosen for their unique improvisatory language on their instrument, ultimately informing Kidambi’s compositional approach.
Reflecting on her various influences, Kidambi explained, “I grew up Hindu, but with a pantheist universalist bent, the idea that all religions are different paths to the same God or Truth. Not only is the music of John and Alice Coltrane so influential, they both practiced universalism. Alice’s primary guru was the same one that my family followed, and she participated in the bhajan singing tradition. I grew up singing with the harmonium, and I know all the tunes on her Huntington Ashram records. She looms large for me as a figure who blended so many different styles and traditions, uncompromising in her vision and authentic to herself. She was, in a way, a universalist in her music, blending her influences of Stravinsky, gospel, free jazz, the avant-garde, world music, and her spiritual practice into a totally individual sound. I really relate to that way of thinking about music and the universe.”
The first piece composed in the suite was “Dvapara Yoga,” which began as a meditation on the death of Eric Garner. The album title derives from a 19th century text written by Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, which scientifically explains the yugas, or eons of cosmic time in Hindu mythology. The four movements Sathya-Yuga, Treta-Yuga, Dvapara-Yuga and Kali-Yuga, explore themes of creation, destruction, and rebirth, with the final movement pivoting on the Vishnu Sahasranam Vedic chant, and ending with an apocalyptic reset of the time cycle.”
CD $14


New on Sunnyside Records, All Due in Stock Next Monday:

DAN TEPFER With THOMAS MORGAN / NATE WOOD - Eleven Cages (Sunnyside 1442; USA) ‘Eleven Cages’ features Dan Tepfer returning to the jazz piano trio format for the first time since the 2010 album ‘Five Pedals Deep’ (a Sunnyside release with Thomas Morgan and Ted Poor). For Eleven Cages, Tepfer sought to explore the concept of freedom within boundaries, as well as the malleability of time in music. The pianist — bred to blend his right brain and left brain with rare parity — began classical piano studies at age 6 at the Paris Conservatoire-Paul Dukas. But he took a circuitous route to a jazz career, first earning a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics from Scotland’s University of Edinburgh (with his thesis on “Numerical Simulations of Galactic Superwinds”). After playing extensively on the jazz scene in college and even enjoying a brief stint as an opera conductor, he graduated in 2005 from Boston’s New England Conservatory, completing his masters under the guidance of Danilo Perez. The acclaimed recordings, prize-winning performances and adventurous collaborations that have followed only underscore the fact that Tepfer is an ambitious thinker in music.
In his liner notes to Eleven Cages, Tepfer says: “There’s something about cages that magnifies freedom… Constraints surround freedom and give it a frame, be they physical cages or a formal structure we choose to create within. They challenge us to ask: How free I can be inside this particular cage? How much wiggle room is there? At the end of the day, we are all encaged in some way — by the limits of our bodies, of our minds, of the political system we find ourselves in. The best we can do is find the wiggle room, and use it.” Relating this to the album’s two interpretive pieces, Tepfer writes: “In both ‘I Loves You Porgy’ and ‘Single Ladies,’ the two covers on this record, relationships are cages, too. In the first, written by men, Porgy wants to settle down, but Bess needs to fly; in the second, co-written by Beyoncé, a woman chides a man for not taking the chance to commit when he could have. Both songs portray love as something of a brutal business: You’re either in a cage or breaking out of it.”
Discussing his original pieces for the trio, Tepfer says: “The common thread of my own compositions here is the malleability of time, the possibility of stretching and fracturing it. In ‘Roadrunner,’ a cliché rock groove is subtly fractured, beats added, then taken away, like looking at a known object through refracting glass. In ‘Little Princess,’ a chromatic descending bass line is ceaselessly compressed and expanded, ultimately to a near breaking point. ‘Hindi Hex’ uses a tihai, a traditional North Indian form in which an intricate rhythmic pattern is repeated three times, and displaces it over a shifting background of major and minor triads. In ‘547,’ four beats are alternately stretched over five and seven, and later over six, nine and eleven. I find the cross-rhythms this creates fascinating. Beyond the appeal of the sound of these transformations, the challenges these tunes present — the particular cages they put us in — focus our attention as players when we’re improvising over them, forcing us to fight for our freedom. There’s something about high-wire acts that engages both the mind and the heart.”
CD $15


ADAM KOLKER With STEVE CARDENAS / BILLY MINTZ / et al - Beckon (Sunnyside 1486; USA) Woodwind master and composer Adam Kolker has experimented with ensembles of various sizes, musicians of differing approach, creative studio work and eclectic genre blending to create his oeuvre, one that is highly distinctive in its communicability and artful expression. For the past couple of years, Kolker has led a dynamic and wide-ranging trio featuring Billy Mintz, an outstanding drummer and composer with whom Kolker has played with regularly for years, and the brilliant guitarist Steve Cardenas. The empathetic interaction between the three musicians makes for fascinating, moving music.
For his latest recording, Beckon, Kolker presents the trio along with a number of pieces featuring a woodwind ensemble. Kolker’s overdubbing of woodwinds has been an important element of his recorded output. With this new project Kolker wanted to more fully integrate the wind ensemble with the trio, and he assembled a fantastic group of professional woodwind players, namely flautist Lawrence Feldman, clarinetist David Gould, and bassoonist Jackie Henderson.
It was after the recording sessions that the album really began to take shape. Kolker whittled down the playlist from the many tunes that were recorded, fitting the right pieces into a program that he felt fit a cohesive esthetic, one that focused on strong compositions with focused melodic statements and lush harmonic sensibilities.
The recording begins with the trio piece “Millersville,” a dedication to Kolker’s friend and teacher Ron Miller from the University of Miami. The title track is introduced by the three woodwinds as Kolker’s tenor floats over a gentle harmonic bed. Mintz’s energetic “Cannonball” is a grooving, bluesy change of pace with a jaunty rhythmic pulse and Cardenas’s forceful guitar, which was written for the beloved saxophonist Julian Adderley.
The lovely “Slow Dance” takes inspiration from Toru Takemitsu’s score for Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, utilizing simultaneous major and minor tonalities in a meditative tone poem. “Cycles” evolved from a circle of fifths exercise with the melody and harmonies derived from that cycle of resolutions creating an Americana inspired tune that seems both complex and direct. Harry Warren’s “I Wish I Knew” is performed in a warm, stripped down arrangement by the trio. The program concludes with a haunting flute-led “Beautiful You” composed by Mintz, which leads to a lovely tenor feature closing the disc.
Adam Kolker’s beautiful Beckon is a culmination of two musical streams coming together: Kolker’s new trio of Billy Mintz and Steve Cardenas and woodwind ensemble. The results allure listeners with gorgeously poignant music mixing elements of jazz, classical, and Americana.”
CD $15

DIEGO BARBER With ALEJANDRO COELLO / BEN WILLIAMS / ERIC HARLAND - One Minute Later (Sunnyside 1481; USA) Barber’s work utilizes his dual affinities for classical music and jazz. Having come from a strict classical guitar background, Barber’s jazz playing has really blossomed since moving to New York. His composing bears witness to passions, as he writes in a classical style with jazz elements, creating a poetic blend of highly composed lyrical pieces that open up for the expressionism of jazz improvisation. For One Minute Later, Barber recruited an incredible rhythm section in bassist Ben Williams and drummer Eric Harland. Both musicians are incredible technicians and fantastic accompanists. Harland has made a name for himself as one 21131 -

DOMINIQUE EADE / RAN BLAKE - Town and Country (Sunnyside 1484; USA) Plainspoken but poetic, timely and timeless, poignant yet pointed: the American folk song tradition has a long history of confronting specific injustices while embracing a universal humanity. On the starkly moving Town and Country (out June 9 on Sunnyside), vocalist Dominique Eade and pianist Ran Blake take the long view of our own tumultuous moment in history with a wide-ranging collection of folk tunes that examine the travails of Americans from Main Street to the mountains.
With the varied repertoire on Town and Country, Eade and Blake – long-time colleagues both on the stage and as educators at Boston’s New England Conservatory – present a broad notion of folk song that’s as diverse as the nation itself. There are the expected classic tunes and country ballads, the ill-fated coalminers, the tragic romantics grasping out their last breaths, the cries of faith and determination sent heavenward. But in the agile imaginations of these two inventive artists, who share a love for skewing the traditional through a modernist lens, the folk idea is broad enough to include film noir laments and TV-scaled road songs, moonlit love and Third Stream austerity.
“During the election season I was thinking a lot about the planet,” Eade explains. “Usually Ran and I draw material from the Great American Songbook because we both have a love for that, but in this case I really wanted to say something different. Many of these folk songs deal with things like the prison system and poverty and wealth disparity, different parts of our country coming through this music. The nature of folk music is that there’s a lot of history in the words, but that history felt very relevant to making a statement in and of our time.”
The material here ranges from Bob Dylan’s scathing attack on consumer culture, “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” to “Give My Love to Rose,” Johnny Cash’s bitter ode to those abandoned by the prison system; Charles Ives’ poetic portrait of “Thoreau,” the founding father of the New England Transcendentalists, to a pair of shadow-shrouded nursery rhymes (“Lullaby” and “Pretty Fly”) from Charles Laughton’s children-in-peril noir classic The Night of the Hunter; the English lynching protest “The Easter Tree,” which presages Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” to the gospel plea of “Elijah Rock,” best known from Mahalia Jackson’s unforgettable rendition.
All these songs are unified and transformed by Eade and Blake’s stunning treatments, which render them all with unvarnished lyrical force combined with strikingly unique harmonies, unpredictable phrasing and evocative atmospheres. Though Town and Country is only the duo’s second recording together – following Whirlpool from 2011 – it reveals a singular, focused chemistry forged over decades of playing together.
CD $15


DJ OLIVE / JP DESSY / DAVID NUNEZ / MUSIQUES NOUVELLES - DJ Olive/JP Dessy/David Nunez/Musiques Nouvelles (Sub Rosa SR 417; Belgium) Luminous electro-contemporary collaboration between New York master DJ Gregor Asch (aka DJ Olive) and Jean-Paul Dessy (and his Musiques Nouvelles Ensemble), with David Nunez on violin. A new musical travelogue mixing sensitive strings with the records and sounds subtly sculptured by Gregor Asch taking the audience into their whirling love. Some magical moments vanish after the fact, but the thrill of listening to this untouched recording a few years later confirms that its delights are constantly renewed. DJ Olive is an American disc jockey and turntablist. He is known for producing music generally in the electronic genre, with strong influences of dub and free improvisation styles. He is widely credited with coining of the term "Illbient" in 1994. He was a founding member of the immersionist group Lalalandia Entertainment Research Corporation in 1991. DJ Olive was a member of We, Lunchbox, and Liminal. He has also collaborated with Kim Gordon, Ikue Mori, William Hooker, Zeena Parkins, Uri Caine, Medeski Martin & Wood, Dave Douglas, and various others.
2 CD Set $16


COME ON - Come On (1979-1980)(Manufactured Recordings 047; USA) "A regular fixture on New York's downtown scene in the late 70's, Come On released just two singles in their short but fruitful existence -- the self-released 'Don't Walk On The Kitchen Floor/ A Kitchen In The Clouds' single in 1978 and the mysterious 'Housewives Play Tennis / Howard After 6' single in 1980 (the band was unaware it had ever been released until a copy showed up on eBay 20 years later). Typical of the time, Come On was comprised of a ragtag group of artists and scenesters -- seasoned musician George Elliott (guitar), conceptual guru Ralf Mann (bass), illustrator Page Wood (drums), teenager Elena Glasberg (guitar) who would study for class between gigs, and Jamie Kaufman (vocals) who had never sung before (or since) fronting Come On. With a unified egalitarian look of white button down shirts and black pants and Kaufman's arresting stage presence the band embodied what they called 'Nervous Rock Music.' Stripped down and tense, Come On's brand of minimalist rock teemed with agitation, sexual frustration, and a wry, dark humor. Compiling the band's two singles, unreleased tracks, live material from the late 70's, and including a 20-page booklet full of archival images and liner notes by noted biographer Chris O'Leary, Come On is recommended for fans of early Talking Heads, DNA, Pere Ubu, and Half Japanese."
CD $12


LP Section:

DOROTHY ASHBY - Hip Harp / On A Minor Groove (Doxy 4009; Russian Federation)
“Doxy present a combined reissue of legendary jazz harpist and poly-instrumentalist Dorothy Ashby's Hip Harp and In A Minor Groove, both released separately in 1958. Both albums feature Frank Wess. Dorothy Ashby had a unique soul jazz harp sound, and although the instrument she used is probably more thought of in terms of bedtime lullabies, she actually makes it swing nicely, and with a soulful sound that draws back to traditions of African stringed instruments. Ashby was part of the same scene as Yusef Lateef, and like Lateef, she managed to use odd instrumentation in new contexts, to get a very unique jazz sound. 140 gram clear vinyl; First pressing comes in an edition of 500 (numbered).
From the original liner notes for Hip Harp: "In Hip Harp in addition to the interpretations of standards like 'Moonlight In Vermont', 'Dancing In The Dark', 'Charmaine' and 'There's A Small Hotel', Dorothy and Frank work out on three Ashby tunes: 'Pawky', a minor-key blues, 'Back Talk', major-key blues and 'Jollity', a medium-up original. Dorothy Ashby has added to the basic territory that the harp previously occupied. In fusing her sometimes guitar-like, swinging line to the expected harp effects, she has added another step to the instrument-scope of jazz.”
2 LP Set $27


ROBERTO MUSCI - The Loa Of Music (The Complete Sessions)(Soave 003-4LP; Italy) Soave present the first vinyl reissue of Roberto Musci's The Loa Of Music, originally released in 1984. The Loa Of Music is the debut recording project of Milanese composer and musician Roberto Musci, inspired by voodoo religion, Vever (the magical voodoo paintings), and Loas, the dark and magic spirits. The deep charm of non-western music led Musci to travel for many years across Africa, India, and Asia, studying rhythms, scales, performance, and interpretation of the most varied traditional and indigenous music. He made many field recordings and collected ethnic instruments that would then be combined with synthesizers and electronics in The Loa Of Music. Recorded in 1983, the project originally had 80 minutes of music, but only half was released on the original LP. For the first time, Soave have pressed the complete recording sessions from the original tapes of this phenomenally ambitious masterpiece that entirely refuses the well-trod path -- distilling a remarkable range of sonic reference and reality. A work of field recording, musique concrète, electronics, synthesis, and instrumentation, pulling from countless musics from across the globe, the result is nothing short of brilliant and stunningly beautiful. A near perfect work -- an egoless gesture, which rather than attempting to find consensus, offers every voice equity and cohabitation -- harnessing the history music, with all of its cultural diversity, as a vision for a more ideal future. Geographies and their sounds intertwine, while Musci's interventions and instrumentation thread a path. Ambiences ripple, sounds and voices converse in a vision of unity that may only exist within sonic realms. Unquestionably seminal, and one of the most important works to emerge from Italy in the last 50 years. Never before issued on vinyl since its original release, this will surely not to be around for long.
2 LP Set $40

MARIA TERESA LUCIANI - Sounds Of The City (Finders Keepers FKR 093; UK) Finders Keepers present a reissue of Maria Teresa Luciani's Sounds Of The City, originally released under the Italian name Suoni Di Una Città in 1972. Welcome to the parallel musical universe of Miss Maria Teresa Luciani, a landscape of sonic architecture and theoretical composition constructed by a family of engineers that reinvented the wheel before the vehicle even began the journey. Imagine, if you will, the musical equivalent of Peter Cook's Archigram group or the soundtrack to Charles and Ray Eames's private sketchbooks, hinting at a new municipal, utopian metropolis, just hours before the blueprints are suspiciously misplaced by the courier and mainstream pop building regulations piss on our asbestos bonfire. These 1972 constructions of progressive, cyclic, proto-industrial color music were never intended for public habitation. These are the Sounds Of The City in a galaxy far, far beneath our radar and above your expectations that was never built. Pseudo-futurist pop music, cubic folk, tape-op-art. Before the needle hits the first groove, the story of Maria Teresa Luciani reads like an Alphaville caper full of foreign intrigue, low intensity identification fraud, secret codes, family bonds, mistrust and wanderlust... Naturally, you are holding a genuine Finders Keepers article. To say this rare Italian concept album is "unbelievable" is justified on multiple levels. This multi-story storage facility of found sounds, radiophonic samples, tape loops, early electronic music experiments, mechanical folk, cinematic vision, sound design, educated music theory, political pop, and high concept art-as-noise successfully layers more musical ideas within its unique structure than one would think possible for a solo artist within any musical genre. This is why Sounds Of The City presents a brand new genre defying compositional framework, pre-dating sampling culture, cut-and-paste plunderism, and industrial music in the process. Pre-digital, indefinable and genuinely unbelievable. But who is Maria Teresa Luciani? On hearing this record, respected collectors and enthusiasts have suggested "the female answer to Basil Kirchin", or "the Italian Daphne Oram", both with justified cause. Mystery, myth, legend, teacher, artist, inventor, author, musician, psychologist, daughter, and (possibly most importantly) sister.
LP $26

RAGNAR JOHNSON - Ethiopian Urban And Tribal Music: Mindanoo Mistiru/Gold From Wax (Sub Rosa 434; Belgium) Double LP version. Includes color insert. Sub Rosa present a reissue of volume one (Mindanoo Mistiru) and two (Gold From Wax) of Ethiopian Urban And Tribal Music, both originally released as two distinct LPs on Lyrichord in 1972. Mindanoo Mistiru and Gold From Wax were recorded by Ragnar Johnson. Ethiopia contains many diverse peoples and many styles of music. It was still an empire in July and August of 1971 when these recordings were made. Over 70 languages and 200 dialects are spoken in Ethiopia. In much of the music, lyrics are more important than instrumentation, and the transmission is oral. The urban musicians, the bagana, and Mary Armeede, were recorded in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian urban musicians come from many parts of the country and are familiar with, and adapt to, styles of regions other than their own. The Afar divination chants and flutes were recorded in the Danakil desert. The Anuak toum and Nuer harp, lament and dance were recorded near the Sudan border. The Konso dance and the Gidole Fila flute dance were recorded near the Kenya border. Mindanoo Mistiru means "What is the Unknown?". Gold From Wax refers to the two layers of meaning in Amharic poetry. File under: Le Coeur du Monde.
2 LP $25

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Bruce Lee Gallanter’s Recommended Gig List for June of 2017


THE STONE RESIDENCIES - CHRIS BROWN—Six Nights of Microtonal Electroacoustic Music - JUNE 20-25

THE STONE AT THE NEW SCHOOL — 55 WEST 13TH STREET
WADADA LEO SMITH - FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS JUNE 23-24 AT 830PM


6/23 Friday
830 pm - Six Primes (2014)(NYC premiere) - Chris Brown (piano) - Six Primes is a suite of six pieces that use the six prime numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, and 13 to govern both the tuning and rhythmic structure of the music, including the harmony and rhythmic subdivisions. The piano is retuned in a just intonation in which the notes are tuned to one ratio with the highest prime factor of 2, three ratios with highest prime of 3, and two ratios each with highest primes of 5, 7, 11 and 13. It rigorously explores the 75 intervals thus created in rhythmic structures that mirror in time the proportions given by the notes employed.

6/24 Saturday
830 pm - The Thorn (2017) Miguel Frasconi (glass objects, analog electronics) Chris Brown (piano, computer) John McCowen (contrabass clarinet); The trio improvises within pulsing harmonic and rhythmic sequences generated in real-time by SuperCollider computer code

6/25 Sunday
830 pm - John Zorn, William Winant, Chris Brown Trio; John Zorn (sax) William Winant (percussion) Chris Brown (piano, computer processing); Three old friends—all virtuosos—come together for a fabulous concert of improvisation!

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - KARL BERGER - JUNE 27 - JULY 2

6/27 Tuesday
8:30 pm - Voice, Vibes & Bass - Ken Filiano (bass) Ingrid Sertso (vocals, poetry) Karl Berger (vibes, piano, composition)

THE STONE COMMISSIONS - WEDNESDAY JUNE 28: JULIAN LAGE
In collaboration with National Sawdust The Stone presents a series of World Premieres the last Wednesday of every month through 2017.
7pm at National Sawdust in Williamsburg. For details check https://nationalsawdust.org/event/jazz-stone-commissioning-series/TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS

6/28 Wednesday
8:30 pm Hustling Raindrops
Billy Martin (percussion) Peter Apfelbaum (flutes, reeds) Jay Rodrigues (flutes, reeds) Dana Lyn (violin) Falu (vocals)

THE STONE AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS CAFE!
THURSDAY JUNE 29: GYAN RILEY AND TIMBA HARRIS
ONE SET AT 8PM—ADMISSION FREE!
The Stone is proud to present music at Russ and Daughters Cafe at 127 Orchard Street the last Thursday of every month! Drop by for smoked fish, pickles and great music!

6/29 Thursday
8:30 pm - Apfelbaum/Rojas/Baptista - Peter Apfelbaum (woodwinds, keyboards, percussion) Marcus Rojas (tuba, percussion) Cyro Baptista (percussion, vocals)

THE STONE AT THE NEW SCHOOL—55 WEST 13TH STREET
DAVE DOUGLAS: RIVERSIDE: The New National Anthem
Dedicated to the music of CARLA BLEY—Greenleaf Music CD release.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS JUNE 30-JULY 1 AT 830 - Dave Douglas (trumpet) Chet Doxas (reeds) Steve Swallow (bass) Jim Doxas (drums)

6/30 Friday
8:30 pm - Sertso/Berger Quintet - Kenny Wessel (guitar) Ken Filiano (bass) Warren Smith (drums) Ingrid Sertso (vocals, poetry) Karl Berger (vibes, piano)

7/1 Saturday
8:30 pm - The Directors; Steven Bernstein (trumpet) Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax, flute) Billy Martin (drums) Ingrid Sertso (vocals, poetry) Karl Berger (piano, vibes) Ken Filiano

7/2 Sunday
8:30 pm - Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra - Steven Bernstein (trumpet) Curtis Fowlkes (trombone) Charlie Burnham (violin) Doug Wieselman (clarinet) Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax) Erik Lawrence (baritone sax) Matt Munisteri (guitar) Ben Allison (bass) Ben Perowsky (drums)

All Sets start at 8:30pm Tickets: $20
There are no refreshments or merchandise at The Stone.
Only music. All ages are welcome.
Cash Only at the door. There is no phone.
There is no food or beverage served or allowed
just a serious listening environment.
The Stone is booked purely on a curatorial basis

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The CORNELIA STREET CAFE - 212-989-9319
29 Cornelia St in the heart of the West Greenwich Village, NYC

Friday Jun 23
9:00PM & 10:30PM GILAD HEKSELMAN ZUPEROCTAVE - Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Aaron Parks, keyboards; Kush Abaday, drums

Saturday Jun 24
9:00PM & 10:30PM GILAD HEKSELMAN ZUPEROCTAVE - Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Aaron Parks, keyboards; Kush Abaday, drums

Sunday Jun 25
Jen Lap & Jimmy Schatz, hosts
Justin Herman; Jesse Roth; Alex Papiccio; Jon Fisch
8:30PM ISRAELI JAZZ SPOTLIGHT: ROTEM SIVAN TRIO
10:00PM ISRAELI JAZZ SPOTLIGHT: TAL RONEN DUO

Monday, June 26th:
8:30PM SARAH BERNSTEIN QUARTET - Sarah Bernstein; Ron Stabinsky, piano; Stuart Popejoy, electric bass; Satoshi Takeishi, drums

Tuesday - Jun 27
8:01PM JOHN RAYMOND & REAL FEELS CD RELEASE - John Raymond, flugelhorn; Gilad Hekselman, guitar; Colin Stranahan, drums

Wednesday Jun 28
8:01PM ATLANTICO - Dave Schroeder, sop. sax, clarinet, flute; Sébastien Paindestre, piano, comp.; Martin Wind, bass; Billy Drummond , drums

Thursday Jun 29
8:01PM OR BAREKET QUARTET - Charles Altura, guitar; Vitor Gonçalves, piano, accordion; Or Bareket, bass; Daniel Dor - drums

Friday Jun 30
9:00PM & 10:30PM RUSS JOHNSON QUARTET - Russ Johnson, trumpet, comp.; Aruan Ortiz, piano; Michael Formanek, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums


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Shapeshifter June, 2017:

Jun 23
7p - Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann
Joseph Branciforte (fender rhodes, electronics, tape loops, & objects)
Theo Bleckmann (voice electronics)
8:15p - IKONOSTASIS - Ikonen/Moses/Mathisen (FIN/USA/NOR)
Kari Ikonen - piano and Moog synthesizer
Ra-Kalam Bob Moses - drums
Ole Mathisen - saxophones

Jun 26 -
8:15p - JKXCM Vol. 1 Release Party
JKXCM (Jongkuk Kim, Chris McCarthy)
9:30p - Navin Chettri “GOONJ"
Navin Chettri/ Jamie Baum, flute , Matt Moran, vibes/ Manu Koch, piano /Kenny Warren, trumpet / Pawan Benjamin, saxophone/ Trifon Dimitrov, bass
www.navinchettri.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvThxqf4Xok

Jun 27
8:15p - Torrey Newhart's Obsidian Animals - Hashem Assadullahi - Alto/Flute, Josh Deutsch - Tpt, Peter Brendler - Bs., Adam Carlson - Dr., Chris Gillette - Tenor/Clarinet, Kyle Sanna - Gt. and Torrey Newhart - Pno.

Jun 28
7pm: Maureen Choi Quartet
8:15p - Michael Cain: Solo Friends - Michael Cain piano and electronics, with special guests Mike McGinnis clarinet and Tondrae Kemp vocals.

Jun 29
Moppa Elliott's "Mostly Other People Do the Killing" & Charles Evans/Ron Stabinsky duo
7p Mostly Other People Do the Killing
8:15p Charles Evans/Ron Stabinsky duo
MOPTK is Moppa Elliott-bass, Ron Stabinsky-piano, Kevin Shea-drums.
The duo is Charles Evans - baritone saxophone, Ron Stabinsky - piano

Jun 30
7pm: The Toby Tobias Ensemble / A Musical Perspective in Black and White
8:15p - The Recess Bureau

Shapeshifter is located at
18 Whitwell Place in Brooklyn, NY
R train to Union stop

*****

I-Beam Presents:

Friday, June 23rd 8:30 PM
Satoko Fujii KAZE
Kappa Maki – trumpet
Christian Bezos - trumpet
Satoko Fujii – piano
Peter Ménard – drums

Thursday, June 29th 8:30 PM
Aaron Irwin Trio / New Nemesis Trio
Aaron Irwin Trio
Aaron Irwin – Saxophone
Mike Baggetta – guitar
Jeff Hirshfield – drums
New Nemesis Trio
Brian Drye – trombone
Justin Carroll – piano/synths
Jeff Davis – drums

I-Beam is located at 168 7th Street in Brooklyn, NY 11215 - Directions: SUBWAY: Take the F or R trains to 4th Ave & 9th Street. Walk down 4th ave to 7th street. Make a left on 7th and walk past 3rd ave. We are located on the ground floor, the grey doors to the right of the stairs of #168.

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From Drummer Jeff Davis:

Saturday, June 24th at 8pm
“Live at Seaglass Music Festival - June 2017”
Banda de Los Muertos
with Jacob Garchik/Oscar Noriega and the band
Seagleass Carousel at the Battery
(Battery Park) State St & Water St

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Monday, June 26th at 9pm set
Bushwick Improvised Music Series
Downstairs @ Bushwick Public House
curated by Stephen Gauci

Jonathan Goldberger - guitar
Shoko Nagai - synth
Jeff - drums

1288 Myrtle Avenue , Bushwick
(Across the street from M train Central Ave stop)
$10 music cover / gaucimusic.com/bushwick-series

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Tuesday, June 27th - double header!
1) Sean Conly Trio at Barbès 7-9pm
Barbès 376 9th St, Brooklyn, NY
Sean Conly - bass
Michaël Attias - alto saxophone
Jeff - drums

2) Carney/O'Gallagher/Bates/Davis at Korzo 9:15pm
Konceptions Music Series
Korzo 667 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
James Carney - piano
John O'Gallagher - alto saxophone
Michael Bates - bass
Jeff - drums

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Wednesday, June 28th at 8pm set
A.E. Randolph Presents @ Balboa
Balboa (same great series/new spot)
1655 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY

Jeff Davis Trio
Jason Rigby - tenor sax
Adam Hopkins - bass
Jeff Davis - drums
Attachments area
Preview YouTube video Navin Chettri, "Goonj"- Aisha's Dream- NYC Shape Shifter Lab, 2014

Navin Chettri, "Goonj"- Aisha's Dream- NYC Shape Shifter Lab, 2014