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DMG Newsletter for February 4th, 2022

“They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!”
By Napoleon XIV, released as a single in 1966

Remember when you ran away
And I got on my knees and begged you
Not to leave because I'd go beserk?
WELL

You left me anyhow and
Then the days got worse and worse
And now you see I've gone completely
Out of my mind AND

They're coming to take me away
Haha, they're coming to take me away
Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they're coming to take me AWAY
HA HAAAA

You thought it was a joke
And so you LAUGHED, YOU LAUGHED!
When I had said that losing you
Would make me flip my lid, RIGHT?

I know you laughed
I HEARD you laugh, you laughed
And laughed and laughed
And then you left
And now you see I'm utterly mad

AND

They're coming to take me away
Haha, they're coming to take me away
Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha
To the happy home with trees and flowers
And chirping birds and basket weavers
Who sit and smile and
Twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away
HAHAAAAAAAAA

I cooked your food
I cleaned your house
And this is how you pay me back
For all my kind unselfish loving deeds
HUH?!
Well, you just wait
They'll get you yet
And when they do, they'll put you in
The ASPCA, you mangy MUTT

AND - They're coming to take me away
Haha, they're coming to take me away
Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they're coming to take me AWAY
HA HAAAA

I’ve always been a sucker for novelty songs like the above bizarre gem. I remember when this song was released in 1966 and I heard it on AM radio over and over. It seemed completely ridiculous that someone would write a song about losing their mind because their girlfriend (or partner) had left them. It was written by a Jerry Samuels, who wrote jingles and pop songs. The story about how it was written and recorded is pretty interesting since Mr. Samuels had to invent a way to speed up his voice, as well as overdub some sound effects. Here’s the link about it: https://medium.com/the-riff/the-story-behind-theyre-coming-to-take-me-away-ha-haaa-936ebfcd724c. I like the way novelty songs poke fun at something in life and make us laugh at the absurdity of life or the absurdity of the song itself. They have a way of breaking up the flow of pop songs with some unexpected humor. I’m sure there are many more of these novelty songs than I can recall off the top of my head. There are some hilarious videos for most of these songs on YouTube so take a peek if you want to laugh. Here’s list of some of the novelty songs that I still dig:

“Yakety Yak” - The Coasters
“Witch Doctor” - David Seville & The Chipmunks
“Monster Mash” - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers (1962)
“The Name Game” - Shirley Ellis
“Winchester Cathedral” - New Vaudville Band
“Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead” - The 5th Estate
“Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport” - Rolf Harris
“Wooly Booly” - Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs
“The Intros and The Outros” - Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
“Motherly Love” - The Mother of Invention
“White and Nerdy” - “Weird Al” Yankovic

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THE DMG 31st ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE MUSIC SERIES CONTINUES with:

Tuesday, February 8th, 2022:
6:30: MATT MOTTEL / KEVIN SHEA - The Return from Moers: Hello NYC
7:30: PATRICK GOLDEN - Drums / CLAIRE DALY -Bari Sax / ARON NAMENWIRTH - Guitar

Saturday, February 12th: The GAUCI-MUSIC Series Continues with:
6:30pm: CD release concert for “KENNETH JIMENEZ / STEPHEN GAUCI, Pandemic Duets"
Kenneth Jimenez - bass / Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
7:15pm: CD release concert for “RAF VERTESSEN / STEPHEN GAUCI, Pandemic Duets"
Raf Vertessen - drums / Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
8pm: GAUCI / JIMENEZ / VERTESSEN Trio

Tuesday, February 15th, 2022
6:30: JOE McPHEE / HENRY FRASER / RAF VERTESSEN! Reeds or Brass / Double Bass / Drums

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THREE NEW RELEASES from OUR FRIENDS at The OGUN and CADILLAC LABELS:

EDQ with ELTON DEAN With KEITH TIPPETT / LOUIS MOHOLO / CHRIS LAURENCE - They All Be On This Road (Ogun 048; UK) Dean (alto sax, saxello), Keith Tippett (piano), Chris Laurence (bass), Louis Moholo (drums). Why is Paul Morley my favourite music writer? Might have something to do with the second review that he did for the NME, which was of the Elton Dean Quartet live at Manchester's Band On The Wall, back in early 1977. In his review he enthusiastically argued that the likes of Dean, Tippett, Trevor Watts, Derek Bailey, etc. were as punk as the punks, if not more so, in their quiet radicalism. As an extremely impressionable 13-year-old reader, I reckoned that if Morley could be so right about improv, then he must be equally right about the subject of his first review for NME - the Buzzcocks. Thus are new doors opened. This particular album was recorded at the Seven Dials pub in Covent Garden and might be subtitled The Popular Elton Dean. Side one is given over to a 20-minute take on Coltrane's then untouchable "Naima," with which the quartet manage to do remarkable things. But the wild card here is Chris Laurence, depping for Harry Miller, as he brings something of a new perspective to the group's music. Laurence really plays on career-peak form here, forever seeking out unexpected harmonies and accents, and the other three musicians are noticeably affected by his imagination. Side two sees the quartet tackling some standards, including "Easy Living" and "Nancy With The Laughing Face," but the highlight is a storming version of Dean's own "Dede-Bup-Bup" where Tippett plays with such intensity in his solo that it's a surprise that he didn't demolish the piano. Amazing stuff! - Marcello Carlin
CD $17

EVAN PARKER QUARTET with ALEXANDER HAWKINS / JOHN EDWARDS / PAUL LYTTON - All Knavery & Collusion (Cadillac 018; UK) For many years Evan Parker, one of the greatest post-Coltrane saxophonists, has played a monthly gig at the London club The Vortex. These gigs in part illustrate Evan’s close ties with the fragile ecosystem of clubs that support the jazz world; the small venues that allow an intimate and powerful connection between the artist and audience that is at the heart of jazz creativity. Evan called these events his ‘jazz’ gigs, the knowing hyphenation an indication of the problematic use of the J word, an acceptance of the Vortex as a ‘jazz’ club, and a nod to his origins in jazz history. I took a friend there one time and it seemed to me that the trio’s performance (Evan, John Edwards and the great and sadly departed Tony Marsh) came close to seeing Coltrane or Ayler playing at the 5 Spot or one of the other legendary New York venues. When we asked Evan if he would record an album for Cadillac, it was this aspect of his multifaceted talents that we had in mind. The quartet you hear on this album (with Paul Lytton, John Edwards and Alexander Hawkins) came together for a gig at the Vortex in Evan’s regular slot on June 20th 2019, and what a fine gig it was! Then the next day we relocated to the beautiful barn-like studio of Rimshot, deep in the Kent countryside to record the album. The location, close to Evan’s home, had other resonances which Chris Searle has described in his sleeve notes. The subsequent (and over long) process of mastering and producing the album coincided with the first Covid lockdown and the coincidence of Evan and I both reading Defoe’s “Journal of the Plague Year”, which provided context and some track titles. This put me in mind of Stephen Fowler’s brilliant rubber stamp artwork, and he has created a visual representation that expresses many of the themes of the album.” - Cadillac Records
CD $16 / LP $25

MIKE WESTBROOK CONCERT BAND with JOHN SURMAN / MIKE OSBORNE/ BERNIE LIVING / GEORGE KHAN / PAUL RUTHERFORD / MALCOLM GRIFFITHS / DAVE HOLDSWORTH / HARRY MILLER / ALAN JACKSON - Last Night at The Old Place (Cadillac 016; UK) “So many good things were contained within the Mike Westbrook Concert Band of 1968 that it’s hard to know where to start. Its personnel included the components of a whole scene of young London-based jazz musicians, bursting with energy and the desire to express the sounds they were discovering collectively and as individuals.
For a time, this band gave them the ideal structure. And when they needed a setting, Ronnie Scott and Pete King were there to provide it. The gift of the remaining 18 months of the lease on the basement of 39 Gerrard Street handed young musicians the precious opportunity to perform regularly in the heart of the West End in a sympathetic environment, free from the usual commercial pressures.
What went on in that basement is crystallized in this historic and previously unheard recording of its very last night, during which the band performed Westbrook’s Release, a suite that drew together many of the composer’s own areas of interest while providing space for a selection of magnificent improvisers to display their distinctive and fast-evolving personalities. What Westbrook had learnt from Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus was the importance of treating an ensemble as a group of individual voices. The humanity of the music was never to be compromised by prioritizing a display of technical precision. Which is not to say that these guys couldn’t play. John Surman and Paul Rutherford were just two of the band’s members then engaged in extending the available vocabulary of their instruments. But this was never at the expense of the warmth and exuberance that delighted the band’s listeners, and never more clearly than on this night in May 1968 at the Old Place.” - Cadillac Records
CD $16

SKELETON CREW with FRED FRITH / TOM CORA / ZEENA PARKINS - Free Dirt (Klanggalerie 0113; Germany) Skeleton Crew was founded in the early 1980s by Fred Frith and Tom Cora. The original idea was to create a new group out of the ashes of Massacre, but medical issues of several potential members saw Frith & Cora end up as a duo. They started experimenting with what they could achieve by themselves, recorded the fantastic debut album Learn to Talk and finally decided to take the new project out on the road. Dave Newhouse of The Muffins joined them for these live shows which proved very successful. Back in the studio, Frith and Cora recorded their second and last album, The Country of Blinds, and afterwards went on tour again. This time, they were joined by multi-instrumentalist Zeena Parkins who had already played on the recent album. Fred Frith remembers the days of touring as very low-key affairs with incredibly exciting results, saying the songs they played sounded very differrent every single night, such was the energy that was created by the band on stage. Everybody who has seen them perform will agree that Skeleton Crew on stage was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. After several years of searching for recordings, mixing and mastering, and held up by the global pandemic, we are proud to finally offer you this double CD of live recordings, including songs that never ended up on any of their albums.
2 CD Set $24

MAX NAGL ENSEMBLE with PAMELIA STICKNEY / JOANNA LEWIS / CLEMENS SALESNY / PHIL YAEGER / et al - Live at Porgy & Bess Vienna Vol. 4 (Rude Noises 033CD; Austria) Personnel: Max Nagl - soprano, alto, tenor & bari saxes & compositions, Pamelia Stickney - theremin, Joanna Lewis & Anne Harvey-Nagl - violins, Clemens Salesny - clarinet, alto & tenor saxes, Martin Eberle - trumpet, Phil Yaeger - trombone, Clemens Wenger - keyboards, Gregor Aufmesser - bass and Herbert Pirker - drums. Every year, my old friend Max Nagl, Austian saxist & composer sends us a new disc or two of his current projects. After some three dozen discs for his own label Rude Noises and several for Hatology, I look forward to each & every release since I know something great is always in store. Perhaps, the most ambitious of Mr. Nagl’s projects is his large ensemble which has been around since at least 2014, when their first disc was released. Most of the players here have been working with Mr. Nagl for years and I am beginning to recognize some of their names from other projects: Pamelia Stickney (formerly Pamelia Kurston, 2 discs on Tzadik), Joanna Lewis (worked with Robin Holcomb & Wayne Horvitz) and Clemens Salesny (with Studio Dan).
“Strudel” kicks things off with a powerful, klezlike repeating phrase played by the strings, reeds & brass with the saxes & horns popping on top. That repeating riff has an infectious vibe. “Sualdo” has a slower, calm, haunting, majestic sound with the clarinet or soprano sax & strings playing some rich harmonies together. Max Nagl’s composing has evolved and matured further since each piece seems to have several layers of parts/lines connected and assembled. Nagl takes an extraordinary, inspired boppish alto sax solo on “Cago” while the rest of the ensemble swirls several lines tightly around him. Another highlight here is “Miss Hawaii”, which again has a klez-like melody at the center with some sublime harmonies/interplay by the horns & strings and a somewhat reggae-like groove at times. Each of the eight songs here has something special going on if you listen closely and more than once. What I like the best here is that Mr. Nagl’s alto sax playing & tone are will utilized and central to the way each song evolves without ever stepping on anyone’s toes since this is more a great group effort with numerous interlocking parts. CD of the week for yours truly…. Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

MILAN KNIZAK - Aktual Univerzita (Sub Rosa 518; Belgium) “Milan Knízak canonical text Aktual University, dating from 1967, contains ten short lectures outlining the university's character -- On Conflict, On Dreams, On Revolutions, On Love, On Belief, On Art, etc. These lectures were to serve as inspirational schemes for lectures, seminars and discussions held at an ideal university. In the first piece, Aktual University, Milan Knízak reads his own text, with Opening Performance Orchestra providing the musical accompaniment. It was performed live in October 2019 at the Movement-Sound-Space festival in Opava, where this recording was made. The second track, titled "Broken Suite", is a studio remix, in which Opening Performance Orchestra used fragments and quotations from Milan Knizák's compositions, conceived over the past fifty years, applying the "broken" method. The majority of them are made public for the very first time in the newly created "Broken Suite". The booklet features English translations of ten Aktual University lectures, as well as Milan Knizak's contemporary initiation text. Includes 12-page booklet.”
CD $17

MICHAEL LEONHART with CAROLYN LEONHART / JOE MARTIN / BEN MONDER / WAYNE KRANTZ / JAY LEONHART /et al - Glub Glub vol. 11 (Sunnyside 1077D; USA) Ever since Nels Cline introduced me to Michael Leonhart as one of the best brass players and arrangers that Nels had worked with, I’ve been on a mission to check as much of Mr. Leonhart’s releases as is possible. ‘Glub Glub’ was released in 1997 and appears to be the second album for trumpeter/composer/arranger Michael Leonhart. I didn’t know about or even hear this 20 year old disc until very recently. I have hear around 3 or 4 of Mr. Leonhart’s back catalogue of a dozen plus releases, each one great in different ways. ‘Glub Glub’ was originally inspired by an obscure film whose soundtrack Mr. Leonhart recorded and listened to over & over. Although there are some 20plus musicians involved including Leonhart’s father Jay (renown bassist) and his sister Carolyn, this sounds more like a solo trumpet effort with other musicians used minimally. After listening to this gem several times I recognize the overall sound is like a movie for your mind with one scene/vibe/section following another. Mr. Leonhart’s trumpet is the central figure here, sometimes bathed in subtle echoes with minimal percussion, sultry voices and musical fragments (of piano, berimbau, thumb piano, guitars, etc.) floating in to add subtle backing harmonies to the trumpet. Leonhart keeps changing the sound of his trumpet with mutes or effects, consistently creating on ongoing story or series of short solos. At times Mr. Leonhart will stretch out his notes in a Jon Hassell-like way while using electric piano, eerie percussion or sound effects to give the music a more cinematic vibe. There are a few episodes/section when things get even more interesting: On “Seashell on Fire” the keyboard, sly guitar (Ben Monder?) and cymbal sound somewhat ominous, perhaps warning us to something coming up ahead. Sometimes Leonhart buses an organ, percussion and Brazilian-sounding backing vocals which bring to mind those wonderful Quincy Jones albums from the early seventies like “Walking in Space” or “Gula Matari”. Every time I listen to this disc, I am taken on a journey in my mind. It is time for me (and hopefully you) to check out another half dozen releases from Michael Leonhart, one at a time. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

STEFAN PASBORG with STALE STORLOKKEN / ANDERS BANKE / UMO HELSINKI JAZZ ORCHESTRA - Ritual Dances (Sunnyside 4118; USA) Featuring Stefan Pasborg on drums & directions, Anders Banke on tenor sax & clarinet, Stale Storlokken on Hammond B3… plus the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and Blood Sweat Drum Bass. I’ve been checking out Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg since the turn of the millenium through his work with Mikko Innanen, Carsten Dahl and Liudas Mockunas as well as great 3 CD set he did on ILK Music in 2007. Like myself, Stefan Pasborg has long been a great fan of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. Pasborg saw his mother dance in a ballet version of Stravinsky’s ‘Rites of Spring’. The first classical record I bought in the early seventies was ‘Rites of Spring’, after Frank Zappa mentioned Igor Stravinsky as an early influence of his. I caught a live version of the piece con and I conducted by Pierre Boulez for the NY Philharmonic in the mid seventies plus I own 40 or so versions on LP and CD. The piece still gives me goosebumps to this day.
This is Mr. Pasborg’s most ambitious project so far as he uses the talents of three different ensembles, his own, UMP Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and Blood Sweat Drum Bass. What I find most interesting is the way the themes (main melodies) have been expanded with a strong jazz/rock/prog band at the center. This disc was recorded both live and in the studio so we some of each. A number spirited soloists are featured: Seppo Kantonen on electric piano, Tero Saarti on trumpet and Anders Banke on tenor sax. The main band sounds like the Mothers live in 1973 at times, my fave live version of the Zappa seventies unit. Mr. Pasborg’s brilliant drumming sounds both relaxed and pushed to the edge of complexity and focus. Of the nearly fifty mostly (?) Danish musicians (from 3 ensembles), I recognize just a few names: Stale Storlokken from Supersilent, Krokofant & Elephant9, also Julie KJaer (worked w/ Djano Bates, Paul Dunmall & has her own disc out on Clean Feed) and keyboardist Seppo Kantonen (worked with Wadada Leo Smith & other projects for TUM). It seems odd at times to hear a jazz/rocking rhythm team holding this together yet it works just fine! “Adoration of the Earth” is especially wonderful with some cosmic mallet drumming by Pasborg and the continuing them on trumpet. The many layers of brass and reeds superbly blended, giving it a symphonic string-like sound. “Princess’ Game” has a sort-of Bonzo Dog Band-like sly brass band sense of humor. I love when they mutate into a short freer section on “Tableau”, keeping the powerful spirit at the center.
CD $14

CARLOS FRANZETTI with DAVID FINCK / BILLY DRUMMOND / CITY OF PRAGUE ORCHESTRA - In the Wee Small Hours (Sunnyside 1647; USA) “The world at large has experienced a life altering event throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of which have touched nearly everyone in some way. There hasn’t been as far-reaching an event since the Second World War in terms of emotional impact on the population. Carlos Franzetti has turned to the optimistic torch songs of the 1940s and 1950s to bring listeners out of their pandemic induced gloom on his new recording, In The Wee Small Hours. // The great Argentine-American pianist, composer, and arranger experienced the full brunt of COVID-19’s destructive energies during the pandemic. Franzetti contracted the COVID virus. One of the effects of his infection was a loss of coordination, leading to several falls. When he couldn’t remember the changes to “All the Things You Are”, he knew something was wrong. CAT scans showed a subdural hematoma. Three brain surgeries and months of physical rehabilitation brought Franzetti’s coordination back. He also saw firsthand what the solitude of quarantine meant, as he wasn’t allowed to see anybody, including his wife, for 10 days while he recovered in the hospital. // Once he was able, Franzetti felt motivated to not only prove his musical chops were still there, but he also wanted to make music emblematic of the struggles that people had gone through during this unforgettable time. Franzetti brought longtime collaborator, bassist David Finck, and the excellent drummer Billy Drummond in for a recording session at 360 Sound Studio in Orange, New Jersey in late May 2021.” - Sunnyside
CD $14

TARU ALEXANDER with ANTOINE RONEY / JAMES HURT / RASHAAN CARTER - Echoes of the Masters (Sunnyside 1645; USA) “On Echoes of the Masters, Taru Alexander creates an aural tribute to his father, the great Roland Alexander, and the tremendous musicians who passed the tradition down to him and the future generations through their impact on the bandstand and their examples off of it. Drummer Taru Alexander was endowed with music by his father, saxophonist Roland Alexander, and an extended family of professional musician mentors in his native Brooklyn, New York. The younger Alexander celebrates the legacy of his father and his father’s peers on Echoes of the Masters, a collection of pieces by well-known jazz composers performed by an outstanding group of musicians who came of age under the tutelage of legendary performers on the bandstand. // A lifetime of musical experience has imbued Alexander with the skills, the knowledge, and the swagger to play jazz as it should be played. His credentials spread from bands led by Roy Hargrove, Gary Bartz, Carlos Garnett, and many more, so when he was considering who should join him on his new recording, Alexander wanted to include other musicians who had truly paid their dues. Pianist James Hurt has been a focal part of the New York jazz scene since he arrived in 1994. Alexander met saxophonist Antoine Roney and bassist Rashaan Carter on a recording session led by saxophonist Michael Marcus in 2008. Roney has been a stalwart leader and sideman in New York alongside fantastic musicians like Jacky Terrasson, Donald Byrd, John Patton, and his brother, Wallace Roney. Carter carries the history of the jazz bass on his shoulders having studied with Buster Williams, Reggie Workman, and Ron Carter.” - Sunnyside
CD $14

ANTHROPODS with MARK HOLUB / CLEMENS SAINITZER / IRENE KEPL / SUSANNA GARTMAYER / JAKOB GNIGLER - Anthropods (Discus 117CD; UK) Anthropods is Mark Holub on drums & compositions, Clemens Sainitzer on cello, Irene Kepl on violin, Susanna Gartmayer on bass clarinet and Jakob Gnigler on tenor sax. Although I shouldn’t be too surprised, the Discus label continues to release new discs at an alarming rate, 1 or 2, per month, nearly every one is some sort of progressive/jazz/rock gem. Anthropods is a quintet with just members that I’ve heard of before: drummer Mark Holub from the great prog band Led Bib and violinist Irene Kepl, who has recorded with George Cremaschi and a duo CD with Mr. Holub on the Slam label. This is an all acoustic quartet with instrumentation of two strings, two reeds and drums. Starting with “Sea”, the quintet sounds free, focused and quite intense. While the strings & drums swirl freely, both reeds play a theme on top, stretching their notes out together. For “Forest Capers” the reeds again play a line together while the strings play odd freer lines underneath, the drums balancing between both forces. Irene Kepl has a unique tone/sound on her violin, bending her notes somewhere in between Leroy Jenkins & Mat Maneri. What I find most interesting is this: Mark Holub is also the leader for Led Bib, a spirited electric jazz/rock band with some seven releases out. Anthropods sounds nothing like Led Bib, showing a very different side to Mr. Holub’s composing and band-leading efforts. “The Bells” features some haunting cello and violin harmonies which move back & forth like slow moving waves, the reeds adding some bent harmonies as well. “For Charles” is the longest piece here and it moves through several sections. Starting off with the reeds & strings all bending their notes together in a most disorienting way, different duos or trios evolves throughout this piece, we never know which combination will morph into another section. It sounds to me like there are usually two currents or subgroups (duos or trios) going on at the same time or at least overlapping, hence we have to listen to the disc closely and more than once since there is more going on here than we might first think. Another strange delight from the fine folks at Discus Records. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

OGUN & CADILLAC Restocks & Reissues: Titles with Reviews listed further down…

BLUE NOTES with CHRIS McGREGOR / DUDU PUKWANA / JOHNNY DYANI / LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO - Before the Wind Changes, Live in Waregem 1979 (Ogun 037; UK)
CD $16

BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With DUDU PUKWANA / EVAN PARKER / MIKE OSBORNE / HARRY BECKETT / BRUCE GRANT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / JOHNNY DYANI / LOUIS MOHOLO - Procession - Live in Toulouse - Expanded Edition (Ogun 040; UK)
CD $16

BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With CHRIS McGREGOR / DUDU PUKWANA / MONGEZI FEZA / EVAN PARKER / GARY WINDO / HARRY BECKETT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO - Live at Willisau (Ogun 001; UK)
CD $16

MARC CHARIG with KEITH TIPPETT & ANN WINTER - Pipedream (Ogun 033; UK)
CD $16

JOHNNY DYANI / OKAY TEMIZ / MONGEZI FEZA WITCHDOCTOR'S SON With DUDU PUKWANA et al - Rejoice Together (Cadillac 12/13; UK)
2 CD Set $20

MIKE OSBORNE TRIO With HARRY MILLER / TONY LEVIN - The Birmingham Jazz Concert, November 7 1976 [2 CD set] (Cadillac 10/11; UK)
2 CD Set $20

STAN TRACEY With ANDREW CLEYNDERT / CLARK TRACEY - Solo:Trio (Cadillac 06; UK)
CD $16

STAN TRACY & MIKE OSBORNE - Alone & Together - Wigmore Hall 1974 (Cadillac 014/015; UK)
2 CD Set $20

We will list some more Ogun & Cadillac titles next week after we take a tally to see what we still have in stock and what is still available.

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Ogun & Cadillac Titles with Review or Blurbs:

BLUE NOTES with CHRIS McGREGOR / DUDU PUKWANA / JOHNNY DYANI / LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO - Before the Wind Changes, Live in Waregem 1979 (Ogun 037; UK) Ogun kicks off its 2012 release schedule with the second recording from the Blue Notes' 1979 tour of Belgium and Holland, taken from tour organiser Rob Sotemann's tape archive. Whereas the critically acclaimed first volume from this archive, Spiritual Knowledge And Grace (OGCD 035), featured an impromptu collaboration between Blue Notes members Louis Moholo-Moholo, Dudu Pukwana & Johnny Dyani and American tenor sax powerhouse Frank Wright, Before The Wind Changes focuses on the established quartet line-up with Chris McGregor at the piano and features an incendiary performance from Waregem.
CD $16

BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With DUDU PUKWANA / EVAN PARKER / MIKE OSBORNE / HARRY BECKETT / BRUCE GRANT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / JOHNNY DYANI / LOUIS MOHOLO - Procession - Live in Toulouse - Expanded Edition (Ogun 040; UK) Featuring Chris McGregor (piano), Harry Beckett, Marc Charig (trumpets), Radu Malfatti (trombone), Mike Osborne, Dudu Pukwana (alto saxes), Evan Parker (tenor sax), Bruce Grant (baritone sax, flute), Johnny Dyani, Harry Miller (basses), Louis Moholo (drums). CD features three BONUS TRACKS [23 minutes] not on the original album: "TBS", "Andromeda", and "You Ain't Gonna Know Me Cos You Think You Know Me". Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath may have had fairly conventional instrumentation for a small big band (four saxophonists, two trumpets, one trombone, two bassists, drums and the leader on piano) but the music was anything but safe and predictable. McGregor and three of his fellow Blue Notes (altoist Dudu Pukwana, bassist Johnny Dyani and drummer Louis Moholo) join some of England's more advanced players, including altoist Mike Osborne, Evan Parker on tenor, and trumpeter Harry Beckett, for three originals, including two which are quite lengthy. Although the themes are strong, the emphasis is on improvising, particularly by the full group together, and there are plenty of intense sections on this colorful LP. Recommended to open-eared listeners, this is one of the Brotherhood of Breath's best recordings. "Recorded live in Toulouse in May 1977, the absence of Feza from the line-up was palpably evident - though check the band's glorious freewheeling take on Feza's "Sonia," which you would like to go on forever - but, perhaps because of this, the band concentrate ferociously on the music at hand and deliver a blistering performance (Dyani finally agreed to play with the Brotherhood on this particular tour, and Miller kept his place in the band to provide a two-bass hit). Parker again provides some of the highlights - his passionate tenor outburst on "Sunrise On The Sun" (as Osborne's alto comments in tandem) and his sudden explosion in the midst of the systematically repeating motifs of "Kwhalo." Malfatti also performs his most passionate solo on record, multiphonics and all, on "Sunrise," while the 18 minutes of Pukwana's "Kwhalo" - a tune also known, and recorded, as "Diamond Express" - might be the band's finest moment on record. Is it pop? Is it minimalism? Is it kwela? It's all those things and far, far more. On his sleevenote Keith Beal observes how, by the track's end, every instrument in the band is a drum - it's astonishing, fiercely danceable and the finest of testaments to this greatest of all bands." - Marcello Carlin
CD $16

BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With CHRIS McGREGOR / DUDU PUKWANA / MONGEZI FEZA / EVAN PARKER / GARY WINDO / HARRY BECKETT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO - Live at Willisau (Ogun 001; UK) Featuring Chris McGregor (piano); Harry Beckett, Marc Charig, Mongezi Feza (trumpets); Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti (trombones); Dudu Pukwana (alto sax); Evan Parker, Gary Windo (tenor saxes); Harry Miller (bass); Louis Moholo (drums). The original derivation of the term "kwela" for the form of South African township music previously known as "penny whistle music" comes from the exclamations of the policemen who would periodically come to arrest, take away, beat up and/or kill various township residents who had the temerity to be black. As they were being rounded up and cattle-prodded into the police vans they would exclaim "Kwela! Kwela!" meaning "Get up! Move it!" Thus a symbol of oppression was turned into a symbol of defiant celebration - the words "Get up! Move it!" now meaning "let's dance." With the Brotherhood of Breath, Chris McGregor was able to marry his love of kwela music, the Protestant hymns with which he had grown up as a child and post-Ornette all-comers free jazz in a large, sprawling band with a South African core and involving, at various times, virtually everyone of consequence on the British modern jazz and improv scene. They were capable of producing the most atonal and demonic of improvisations, yet the imperturbable rhythm section of Louis Moholo and Harry Miller anchored their explorations at all times, such that you were dancing as you flew into post-Sun Ra outer space. Frequently, in concert the "traffic jam" syndrome would make itself apparent, with all of the dozen or so horn players queuing up to solo, or just storming in anyway; often musicians would wander around the stage at their own free will, or jam the bells of their horns into microphones to produce overtones. Somehow it all held together and gave us the most glorious group of musicians of any genre ever to exist, a band who seemed to provide everything I wanted in music, post-Ellington in make-up and yet also strangely proto-punk in attitude. Their two studio albums for RCA were generally well-behaved affairs, even if the second was somewhat looser than their Joe Boyd-produced debut. But their three live albums from the '70s - and there's another double CD package due shortly from Cuneiform Records, comprising more newly-found tapes of gigs from 1971 and 1975 - present a far more raucous and anarchic assemblage. Live In Willisau was recorded in Switzerland in January 1973 on the same tour which also produced the Radio Bremen broadcasts reissued in 2001 as Travelling Somewhere, and both should be heard in tandem if possible. The Radio Bremen gig has a slightly different line-up - Mike Osborne, who was too ill to perform at the Willisau gig, appears on second alto, and Malcolm Griffiths deps for Malfatti on second trombone - but both sets of music are equally wild. Live At Willisau, even with CD remastering, still sounds as though it were recorded at the back of a bus queue, and while this necessarily means that some of the finer details of the improvised ensembles are lost - the trumpets and saxes seem a distant blur, while the two trombonists are in your face - the rawness of the music seems to be a good match for the basic sonics. Those still trying to figure out what Evan Parker was doing in that duo with Paul Lytton would do well to listen to his contributions here - his tenor feature on "Do It" is, however abstract it becomes, still fundamentally relevant to the rhythmic and melodic momentum of the piece. The breakneck pace of the Brotherhood compels Parker towards emotional directness, and his retention of the latter while still utilising his jaw-dropping technique is brilliantly achieved. Malfatti provides a suitably droll commentary on the mock march of "Kongi's Theme" while Evans blows suitably mournfully on "Ismite Is Might." Hovering above all of this, however, is the ghost of Mongezi Feza, a musician who would have been a core regular on Ogun albums had he lived; as it turned out, this is the only Ogun album on which he appeared in his lifetime, and his main feature on "Tungi's Song" is perhaps the best solo he ever recorded, full of casually astonishing technical brilliance and a goodly portion of sheer cheek and deep emotion. Happily this album is one of the few which have been reissued on CD, in this case with over half an hour of extra material from the gig. Interestingly the performance of the ballad "Davashe's Dream" is more restrained than the explosive take recorded for the band's debut, while the version of "Andromeda" gets a little too messy (you can hear an audibly vexed McGregor trying to cue the horns back in halfway through), but nonetheless this is an absolutely vital record. - Marcello Carlin
CD $16

MARC CHARIG with KEITH TIPPETT & ANN WINTER - Pipedream (Ogun 033; UK) Charig (cornet, tenor horn), Keith Tippett (church organ, piano, zither, bell, voice), Ann Winter (voice, bell). Recorded at St Stephen's Church, Southmead, Bristol, just over a week after OG 310, this is perhaps the most sheerly beautiful record Ogun ever released, comparable with Beaver and Krause's Gandharva in terms of unhurried and deeply spiritual improvisation. Charig at his fieriest is a trumpet innovator to rival Lester Bowie, at his quietest conveys a gorgeous lyricism worthy of Miles. Here his cornet intertwines brilliantly with Tippett's ruminative, stately organ meditations - imagine the little duet coda which closes Centipede's Septober Energy extended and magnified to 40 minutes. If this had been on ECM everyone would hail it as a classic. This demands reissue, and here it is - with a CD-only Bonus Cut to boot! - Marcello Carlin
CD $16

JOHNNY DYANI / OKAY TEMIZ / MONGEZI FEZA WITCHDOCTOR'S SON With DUDU PUKWANA et al - Rejoice Together (Cadillac 12/13; UK) “Johnny Mbizo Dyani was a South African bassist and composer who came to London as an apartheid exile with his compatriots in the racially-mixed Blue Notes group in 1964, and played a key role in the creative impact they made on British jazz in that era, before his death in 1986. This double album, also celebrating the 40th birthday of London jazz label Cadillac, catches the nimble and dramatic Dyani in a scorching free-jazz trio with the likewise shortlived trumpeter Mongezi Feza and classically trained Turkish drummer Okay Temiz, and a hollering, joyous, township-grooves septet including the great Blue Notes saxophonist Dudu Pukwana. Feza, a fizzing blend of Miles Davis and Don Cherry, leads the trio set with his fast, impulsive, fearlessly haphazard attack, while Dyani fuses implacable walks, richly sombre chordwork and audacious free-jazz countermelody. But the septet tracks are this collection's most openly attractive features – featuring Dyani on electric keys and vocals, the robustly sublime Pukwana on alto sax and whistles, and a powerful electric lineup. It's mostly about catchy Dyani songs and a party vibe, but there's enough of the inimitable Pukwana's talkative, cajoling, and sometimes romantically smoky horn to keep the jazzers smiling.” - The Guardian, UK
2 CD Set $20

MIKE OSBORNE TRIO With HARRY MILLER / TONY LEVIN - The Birmingham Jazz Concert, November 7 1976 [2 CD set] (Cadillac 10/11; UK) NEVER PREVIOUSLY RELEASED! Osborne's is the great 'what-might-have-been' story of the UK scene - a brilliant and tempestuous player who blazed through the 60s and 70s in the Westbrook band, in Brotherhood of Breath, in S.O.S. with Alan Skidmore and John Surman, in Kenny Wheeler's Big Band and in multiple other line-ups; as well as on a small number of his own recordings. Yet his voice was silenced by illness in 1982 and he was never able to perform again until his death in 2007. So any new material is welcomed with open arms by the ever-growing audience for what is now rightfully acknowledged as a particularly fecund time and place for jazz. This 2CD live set is eagerly and gratefully received. From the sleeve notes - Founder George West reminisces thus: I founded Birmingham Jazz in 1976 with the help of six other enthusiasts; we each put L25 on my dining room table and said we would promote some concerts for as long as the money held out. Birmingham Jazz has promoted live jazz ever since - a remarkable achievement. Our first concert was with Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia; I'm not sure who were our second but Mike Osborne's trio with Harry Miller and Tony Levin was the third, on 7 November 1976. These concerts took place in the Warwick Suite of the Grand Hotel, Colmore Row, Birmingham that was our home base for the first five years. The musicians gave me permission to record the concert as a souvenir on my Maxwell C180 tape and Yamaha recorder, and it subsequently remained unplayed in my files until unearthed in 2009; amazingly the tape had not deteriorated in any way and gives a very high quality documentation of an outstanding evening's music making. As there had been no announcements of tune titles, several have proved slightly controversial despite being auditioned by a number of musicians who had known and played with Mike over the years he was active. But what is unquestioned is the creative quality of the Trio's performance.”
2 CD Set $20

STAN TRACEY With ANDREW CLEYNDERT/CLARK TRACEY - Solo:Trio (Cadillac 06; UK) “It would make an absorbing blindfold test to present a panel of interested listeners with a track from this disc and one from the same pianist’s Little Klunk trio session for Decca, 40 years ago, and invite them to decide which one’s played by the 71 year-old. Not that the early record didn’t sound as fresh, witty and jostling with clamorous harmonies and sidelong melody as Tracey has done for most of his life, but that the later one is, miraculously, fresher still. If there’s an obvious difference it’s that Tracey, striking out for an identity in the crowded piano-jazz world of the late 1950s, performed originals on Little Klunk and delivers moving tributes to absent heroes and personal guiding spirits like Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk here. But, as always, Stan Tracey is a restlessly exuberant embodiment of the axiom that his role as a jazz artist is to make a song sound, not like itself, but like himself. There’s enough evidence of that here to make confirmed Tracey fans stand up and cheer, and unconfirmed ones give the response some serious attention. His work has rarely sounded more positive, expansive, varied and open.
‘I could appreciate what was involved in all the rest of bebop piano playing’ Tracey said to this writer way back in 1973. ‘But it seemed so limited – once you’d got to the way of doing it, you knew what was coming. There was very little opportunity to bring into use the things that the piano can do better than anything else.’ If Stan Tracey has devoted his life to a single project in jazz, it’s the art of playing total piano – giving all the instrument’s inner voicings, percussive effects, orchestra-like shouts, quick horn-like runs and reverberant silences humming with overtones, an equal place in the rich tapestry of his music.” - Cadillac Records
CD $16

STAN TRACY & MIKE OSBORNE - Alone & Together - Wigmore Hall 1974 (Cadillac 014/015; UK) “This double album consists of, for the first time ever on CD, the Stan Tracey solo recording Live at Wigmore Hall, made for Cadillac Records in 1974. The re-release of this set is valuable enough in itself, but added golddust comes in the shape of the additional material – the previously unreleased second half of the evening – a duo recording with alto saxist Mike Osborne. Two of the greats of the English jazz scene – in fact two of the finest jazz improvisers of theirs or any time. This is not only highly charged, beautiful music performed by musicians at the top of their game, it’s a fascinating and irreplaceable historical snapshot of the jazz scene of the time.
‘There can’t have been too many duos in the history of jazz that have ever achieved such a rare understanding as Osborne and Tracey achieve here. And one that’s all the more gratifying in the light of the knowledge that the alto player was the man responsible for bringing newer forms of jazz to Stan’s ears, and dissuading the older musician from jacking it in altogether.’ - Steve Lake, 1974
2 CD Set $20

VINYL SECTION:

SUN RA - Angels and Demons at Play (Waxtime 771917; Earth) Sun Ra's ‘Angels & Demons at Play’ is a diptych created by merging two recording sessions. The first is a laid-back introspective affair ("angels?") recorded in 1960. Even frolicsome, these bouncy melodies follow the percolating rhythms with a gently leading reed, as Marshall Allen exemplifies on flute in "Tiny Pyramids." Also dating from before the truly experimental Sun Ra period, the last three tracks were recorded at RCA Studios in Chicago in 1956. Still very accessible, here several horns, among them reaching trumpets ("demons?"), trade briskly back and forth in solid and lively big band arrangements. 1956 was the first year that the Sun Ra Arkestra recorded music which was eventually released. The Arkestra at this point is a 9-piece band with the personnel including: John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Phil Cohran, Ronnie Boykins and Robert Barry. The music has a hypnotic, middle-eastern sort of sound with a number of short, inspired solos from Marshall Allen on flute, Nate Pryor & Julian Priester on trombones and John Gilmore on tenor sax. I really like the quirky arrangements that Sun Ra has written for this ensemble which don’t sound like any other jazz composers at this time. - BLG/DMG
LP $25

CONRAD SCHNITZLER - Filmmusik 2 (Bureau B 245LP; Germany) LP version. Bureau B present part two of their Filmmusik double release. In 1975, Conrad Schnitzler recorded various pieces of music to accompany films which had yet to be made. Fittingly, he labelled this collection of songs Filmmusik. Only one of the tracks - "Gute Fahrt" ("Nice Journey") - would ultimately be paired with a film, now traceable on the internet for all to see. The music is included on Part 1 of Bureau B's Filmmusik double release (BB 244CD/LP, 2016), erroneously entitled "02/1980". Why the incorrect title? The tapes, which served as source material for the label's two Filmmusik releases, were copied onto two data carriers then mislabeled. To be precise, one label was accurate - Filmmusik 1975 A - but the other, Filmmusik 1980 B, was not. All the tracks had been created in the same year, so it should have read "1975 B". In the absence of actual song titles, Bureau B simply gave them numbers. Not knowing of the above mentioned film at the time, the label called the track "02/1980", when they should have called it "02/1975 B" or, as they would later discover, "Gute Fahrt". Shortly after, Bureau B released Filmmusik 1 and Jin Kawai, curator of the official Schnitzler website, contacted the label with the information. In 2009, whilst sorting through reels of film (some shot by Schnitzler himself) and music to upload to the site, Kawai was particularly drawn to one piece entitled "Gute Fahrt". Were there any more tracks like this? Schnitzler told him there were and sent Kawai all of the other recordings. One half of Filmmusik 2 comprises tracks from the 1975 series, the other half is a 23-minute piece with the title "Lichtpunkte und schwarze Zeichen". This music was actually written for a film in 1978. The label was delighted to find it in 2015 and enthusiastically searched the Schnitzler archives for more of the same. This led the Bureau B to the 1975 recordings and the rest is history.”
LP $30

CLUSTER - Cluster 71 (Bureau B 058LP; Germany) “Cluster's self-titled debut was originally released by Philips in 1971; this edition is the first reissue to restore the track running order of the original Philips release. Includes liner notes by electronic avant-garde pioneer Asmus Tietchens. In 1998, The Wire listed Cluster's self-titled debut as one of "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. Cluster is a monster; it contains a mere three untitled tracks and was quite an ordeal for untrained ears when it was released. Yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio called Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from the group's third member, Conrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, in addition to playing live, they recorded their first album in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until Plank's death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new. New in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, embrace of near total aural abstraction, and confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation, and a positive mindset were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic." Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- a synthesis of pop music, stripped of embarrassing glamor, and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises, and structures to be heard on this album that would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future.”
LP $30

LEE 'SCRATCH' PERRY & THE UPSETTERS - Blackboard Jungle Dub (Clocktower 115LP; Canada) “Originally issued in 1973, Blackboard Jungle Dub is considered a milestone in the history of dub. On Blackboard Jungle Dub, Lee Perry and the Upsetters produce another fine example of their subversive brand of dub with a unique blend of murky rhythm tracks, warbling guitar effects and distant-sounding horns. Although it does not quite match the quality of the classic Upsetters album Super Ape, Blackboard nevertheless impresses with both the brevity of "strictly" drum and bass cuts such as "Dreamland Dub" and "Kasha Macka Dub," and expansive touches like the animated DJ toasting on "Cloak A Dagger (Ver. 3)." Living up to the "Upsetter" moniker, Perry wreaks his inimitable brand of mayhem during "Fever Grass Dub" with a half-baked MC intro, lion roars and air raid siren imitations; effects which blend in well with other eccentric features like the spastic trombone solo on "BlackBoard ver. 2" and reverb-heavy percussion on "Cloak a Dagger." Just standard technique for Perry really, and part of the sound which made his productions instantly recognizable amongst many '70s and '80s dub releases. Blackboard Jungle contains classic dub taken to the outer limits and is one of the highlights of the Lee Perry catalog.” - Stephen Cook, AMG
LP $17

KING TUBBY - Dub From The Roots (Clocktower 036LP; Canada) "There are very few individuals who command the respect of dub aficionados greater than 'The Dubmaster' himself, King Tubby. On Tubby's venerable 1974 release Dub from the Roots, he introduces us to the 'Shalom Dub', a method of mixing flying cymbals with horns in what he describes as 'going in and out in a dub way'. Borrowing from the forty fives of Johnny Clarke, Jackie Edwards, Cornell Campbell, John Holt, and Horace Andy, King Tubby takes the listener on a journey through a vast array of different emotions, rhythms and soundscapes. One of the standout cuts, 'Iyahta' explores Tubby's use of deep electric basslines to evoke a melodic calmness in the listener, while 'Mine Field' and 'Hijack the Barber' bring you back with the cavernous echoes of stabbing guitars, horns, and cymbals. Though previously released by different labels on a variety of dusty pressings and formats, Clocktower's reissue of Dub From The Roots is the definitive edition of this 'Dubmaster' classic, featuring audio mastered from the original analog tapes."
LP $17

CEDRIC MYTON & THE CONGOS - Image of Africa (Congo Ashanty 002LP; Canada) Cedric Myton: lead vocal; Watty Burnett & Dedric Myton: background vocals; Fabian Cooke: drums; Tony Allen: bass; Roy Johnson & Little David: rhythm guitar; Lennox Gordon & Little David: lead guitar; Harold Butler & Owen Stewart: organ, piano; Congo, Jones, Ras Melineck, Br. Joe: percussion; Phillipe Quilchini: bass "food for the day." Originally released in 1979.
LP $17

KAMAL KEILA - Muslims And Christians (Habibi Funk 008LP; Germany) Double LP version. "Songs about the unity of Sudan, peace between Muslims and Christians and the fate of war orphans, backed by grooves equally taking influence from Arabic sounds, American funk as well as neighboring Ethiopia. Kamal Keila was among the first artist we met in Sudan during our two trips to Khartoum and Omdurman last year. He is one of the key figures of the Sudanese jazz scene that was a vital part of the musical culture in Sudan from the mid-1960s until the Islamist revolution in the late 1980s. When we meet Kamal he luckily presented us with two mold covered studio reels. Each tape included five tracks. One with English lyrics and another with Arabic ones. Musically you can hear the influence of neighboring Ethiopia much more than on other Sudanese recordings of the time, as well as references to Fela and American funk and soul. His lyrics, at least when he sings in English which gave him more freedom from censorship, are very political. A brave statement in the political climate of Sudan of the last decades, preaching for the unity of Sudan, peace between Muslims and Christians and singing the blues about the fate of war orphans called 'Shmasha'. A note inside one of the boxes specified the track titles, durations and the fact that the sessions were recorded on the 12th of August 1992. Both sessions stand as a hearable testament how Kamal Keila stuck to a sound aesthetic from decades ago, while incorporating current events into his lyrics. Kamal Keila's album is the first in a series of releases covering the Sudanese jazz scene on Habibi Funk. Be on the lookout for albums by The Scorpions and Sharhabeel coming soon."
2 LP Set $32

HAROLD McKINNEY - Voices & Rhythms Of The Creative Profile (Now-Again 5212LP; USA) "The influential Detroit pianist's sole 1970s album. Remastered and lacquered by Bernie Grundman. Now-Again presents the definitive Tribe Records reissues. Deep, spiritual jazz of the highest order. The Tribe label, one of the brightest lights of America's 1970s jazz underground, receives the Now-Again reissue treatment. This is your chance to indulge in the music and story of one of the most meaningful, local movements of the 20th Century Black American experience, one that expanded outwards towards the cosmos. In the words of the collective themselves, 'Music is the healing force of the universe.' Included in an extensive, oversized booklet, Larry Gabriel and Jeff 'Chairman' Mao take us through the history of the Tribe, in a compelling story that delves not just into the history of the label and its principals, but into the story of Black American empowerment in the latter half of the 20th Century. The booklet features never-before-seen archival photos and rare ephemera from Tribe's mid-1970

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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.

Live Performance at The Zürcher Gallery, NYC
Saturday, February 5th at 8:00 PM
 
Robert Dick & Dan Blake
 
Celebrating the release of their CD
Laugh and Lie Down

At Zürcher Gallery, NY
33 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012

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E#3  = Elliott Sharp Trio w/ Dave Hofstra - bass, Don McKenzie - drums

Featuring instrumental renditions of tunes by Howlin' Wolf, Wes Montgomery, Bob Dylan, Freddie King, Thelonious Monk, Robert Johnson, William Penn & Spooner Oldham, Roy Acuff, Sonny Rollins, Herb Remington, Charles Mingus, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Earl Hooker 

Thursday Feb 17th - Doors: 8:30 
STAGE 3 / Set time: 9 - 10pm 
21 and up  / Ticket price: $20 
Ticket Link: https://seetickets.us/ElliotSharp3Feb1722

ELLIOTT SHARP AGGREGAT TRIO at The Jazz Gallery
w/ E# - saxes & bass clarinet Brandon Lopez - bass, Don McKenzie - drums

Friday Feb 25th
Sets:  7:30, 9:30
Jazz Gallery
1160 Broadway (at 27th st), 5th fl
New York NY 10001 / info@jazzgallery.org
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/elliott-sharp-feb25

With his improvising trio Aggregat, E# on saxophones and bass clarinet reveals a deep familiarity with jazz history and practice but also dives headlong into a futuristic approach, shredding tradition while acknowledging it. Aggregat's rhythm section of Brandon Lopez on bass and Don McKenzie on drums is powerful and supple. The music that E# has composed for this formation is his most explicitly jazzy set to date with sounds ranging from solid swing to skittering high-velocity textures.

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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-312-auxiliaries

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

1990 video from WETLANDS in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfs5OuBfNxs
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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My good friend & guitar master GARY LUCAS is playing half hour sets at his apartment in the West village every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday at 3pm EST on Facebook. Different songs & improvisations on each episode. Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/gary.lucas.5836/
https://garylucas.com/www/streams/streams.shtml

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This clip just arrived in my email from British Sax Colossus PAUL DUNMALL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CpvCjR8tvs (YouTube)

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THE GAUCI-MUSIC SERIES CONTINUES WITH:

Monday March 7th
7pm Vinnie Sperrazza- drums
Caleb Curtis- alto sax
Noah Garabedian- bass
8pm Dafna Naphtali - vocals/synth
Ras Moshe - saxophones/flute - TBD
9pm Bushwick Series House Band
w/ Stephen Gauci - tenor sax
Adam Lane - bass
Kevin Shea - drums
10pm Santiago Leibson - keyboard
Michael Attias - alto saxophone
Tom Rainey - drums
11pm Patrick Golden - drums
Dave Sewelson - bari saxophone
Aron Namenwirth - guitar
https://www.facebook.com/events/971231257137469

gaucimusic presents:
Live at the Downtown Music Gallery

Saturday March 12th, 2022
6:30pm CD Release Performance for "Pandemic Duets, Eli Wallace/Stephen Gauci"
Eli Wallace - synth / Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
7:15pm CD Release Performance for "Pandemic Duets, Kevin Shea/Stephen Gauci"
Kevin Shea - drums / Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
8pm CD Release Performance for "Stephen Gauci/Eli Wallace/Kevin Shea, Live at the Bushwick Series"
Stephen Gauci - tenor sax / Eli Wallace - synth / Kevin Shea - drums
At the Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe St, New York, NY 
212-474-0043
Free concert!
gaucimusic presents:
Live at Scholes Street Studio
Saturday March 19th, 8pm & 9:15pm sets
Live recording/Live audience!
featuring:
Noa Fort - vocals
Sam Newsome - soprano saxophone
Sean Conly  - bass
$15 at the door, cash/venmo
https://www.facebook.com/events/1324484507977108
@Scholes Street Studio - 718-964-8763
375 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY (near Lorimer J/M, Montrose L)