DMG Newsletter for October 7th, 2022

Stick all the communists in one neighborhood
Terrorize their children, will make you feel real good
Down on the corner of 6th and Main Street

I belong to the KKK and the NAACP
I’m a Berkeley student in the John Birch Society
A missile director, propaganda collector
A women's elector, a Castro defector
A medical dissector, a states' rights protector
Professional soldier, a conscious objector
A Hell’s Angel member of the Black Panther Party
Communist member since in the early 1940’s
A digger, a hippie, an acidhead or a saint
Daughter of the revolution
A Minuteman in war paint

Divided we stand, multiplied we fall
Overpopulation is my only call
I’m black and white, I come in every color
A student, a teacher and a non-stop Lover
I’m a hawk and a dove, even a hate monger
Old as the hills but I’m feeling a little younger

Unrighteously righteous
Unjustly just
Faithful indeed to everyone’s trust
The Lord just came to my garage
Knows when they see you,
they begin to duck and dodge

Donate the chef to the charcoal barbecue
Transplanted heart sewed to the sole of my shoe
Might think I’m crazy
And you might think I’m insane
But you never know the secret hidden in my brain

I’m a hundred percent for Uncle Sam
A patriotic flag waver, that’s what I am
I wear a ten gallon hat and I carry a baseball bat
I wear a ten gallon hat and I carry a baseball bat
Down on the corner of Sixth and Main Street

Send all the draft card burners back to Vietnam
If they protest there, you know I won’t give a damn

Ever since hearing “Walk on Guilded Splinters” by Dr. John on FM radio in 1968, I’ve been a big fan. It is one of the spookiest songs I’ve ever heard. I caught Dr. John and his colorful crew at the Atlantic City Rock Fest in August of 1969 and even then they combined voodoo, New Orleans gumbo and psychedelic rock into its own unique blend. I’ve acquired every Dr. John album ever since and enjoy each & every one. Plus his autobiography is a hoot, gotta read it again soon. Dr. John wears many hats and has worked with many other kindred souls from across the spheres. His two solo piano efforts from the early eighties are both splendid, plus he has played on jazz sessions for Bennie Wallace, worked with Spiritualized and has ended up working with all sorts of other freaks! I remember hearing the above song on the radio when it was released in 1969 and cracking up, which I still do when I hear it today. Dr. John was poking fun at hippies, hipsters, friends & enemies of America, no matter which political party they belonged to. Please check out a version of this song if you want to laugh. - MC BruceLee

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Saturday October 8th: The GAUCI-MUSIC SERIES Continues with:
6pm: Igor Lumpert - tenor sax / Christopher Hoffman - cello / Billy Mintz - drums
7pm: Stephen Gauci- sax / Karl Evangelista - guitar / Colin Hinton - drums
8pm: Sana Nagano - violin / Trevor Dunn - bass / Danny Sher - drums

Tuesday, October 11th:
6:30: MAX JOHNSON / SAM NEWSOME - Contrabass / Soprano Sax!
7:30: KAREN NG / JARED STADDLER / PRIYA PURUSHOTHAMAN / BOOKER STARDRUM - Sax/Guitar/Voice/Drums!

Tuesday, October 18th:
6:30: NICK LYONS/ CHERYL RICHARDS / CLAIRE de BRUNNER / ADAM CAINE - Sax/Voice/Bassoon/Guitar
7:30: DANIEL GALOW / MATT HOLLENBERG - Sax / Guitar
8:30: KYLE MOTL / NICOLEE KUESTER / CARLO COSTA - Bass / French Horn / Percussion

The Independent Promoters Alliance, Downtown Music Gallery & Artists Space Presents:
On Friday, October 21st at Artist Space:
“Cosmic Music is the Healing Force of the Universe” - The DMG 31st Anniversary Big Gig!
7:30: FRANCISCO MORA CATLETT’S AFRO HORN!
9 pm: TISZIJI MUNOZ’s COSMIC ENSEMBLE Celebrates PHAROAH SANDERS!

Taking Place at Artists Space -
11 Cortlandt Alley, New York
212-226-3970 / https://artistsspace.org/
Tickets are FREE but you music sign up/RSVP at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tisziji-munoz-with-francisco-mora-catlett-and-afrohorn-tickets-432742623837

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NEW FROM FMR, 8 New Ones Just Dropped, We will list 4 this week and another 4 next week:

TRANSMAP with EVAN PARKER / MATT WRIGHT / ROBERT JARVIS - Grounded Abstraction (FMR  CD 647; UK) Featuring Evan Parker on soprano sax, Matt Wright on laptop processing and Robert Jarvis on trombone. Recorded live at The Jazz Centre in the UK in January of 2022. Transmap is the duo of Evan Parker and Matt Wright, both were/are members of Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. British trombonist Robert Jarvis has worked with Hugh Hopper, Paul Rutherford & Roland Ramanan, as well as being a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra. I was working at the store yesterday with employee John Mori and we listened to several new CD’s from the Mahakala label, which are mostly free jazz/fire music. As soon as we played this disc, we knew something else was going on.
   Evan Parker’s soprano sax and Robert Jarvis’s trombone sound closely aligned, both are carefully playing and stretching out their notes/lines. At times it is difficult to tell them apart outside of Mr. Parker’s high-end repeating circular lines which soon moves into as Mr. Jarvis also starts repeating certain lines. Mr. Wright seems to be sampling both the sax and trombone, slowly altering their sounds and adding occasional electronic blips, beeps, etc. It sounds as if there are electronic ghosts moving around the duo/trio matching their slowly shifting sounds. Soon Mr. Parker’s spiraling soprano lines speed up with Mr. Jarvis’ trombone also speeds up and both spinning their lines together and/or around one another. Eventually Mr. Parker’s soprano moves into those ricocheting lines, playing a fascinating series of patterns, the electronics adding some sly sounds which are  well interwoven with ever-shifting trombone lines. Evan Parker is a master of the circular streams and here he does that but in smaller doses while the trombone and electronics both add their own shifting sonorities. There are a series of sections here, each one somewhat different. Things quiet down to some more eerie restrained parts and then soon fade away before the second long piece begins. The second piece, “Abstraction” begins softly, sparsely and builds slowly. Robert Jarvis is most impressive throughout, he also works his way through a variety of sounds/techniques, repeating phrases, shifting his lines, using a mute to alter his tone, he is a perfect match for Evan Parker since they both focus hard on the way they shape their notes and lines. This entire 68 minute disc is most enchanting throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter        
CD $14

PAUL DUNMALL / PHILIP GIBBS / ANDREW BALL / NEIL METCALFE / HILARY JEFFREY - News Agents - A Tribute to Andrew Ball 1950-2022 (FMR CD 635; UK) Recorded on 4 May 2003 in the Victoria Rooms, Bristol. Featuring Dunmall on tenor & soprano saxes, Philip Gibbs on guitar, Andrew Ball on piano & celeste, Neil Metcalfe on flute and Hilary Jeffreys on trombone. Since Mujician sax legend Paul Dunmall started the great Duns label in the mid-nineties, he has consistently presented (over a dozen) great yet little known improvisers to his fans worldwide. More recently some of these fine players (like Mr. Jeffreys) have turned up on other (non-Dunmall) sessions on the Emanem and FMR labels. All members of this quintet, except for pianist Andrew Ball, have been on a number of previous Duns discs, so we are becoming more familiar with their abilities. Since 'Newsagents' has no rhythm section, it deals with highly focused improv that doesn't necessarily have to swing or rely on a constant pulse. The title track is 46 minutes of restrained, yet intricate interaction. Often the three horns (sax, flute & 'bone) will swirl slowly as they create hypnotic long-tones, bending and blending slowly into a cautious dream-world. Philip Gibbs plays acoustic guitar and has been on many Duns discs so far, often plays with a sublime and fragile beauty, delicately weaving his lines with breathtaking resources as Andrew Ball plays dark chords underneath the ghost-like horns flutters. As on all Duns discs recorded at the Victoria Room in Bristol, Jonathan Scott's recording is warm and perfectly balanced. There is a section where the celeste, acoustic guitar and flute play with such restraint that it is like walking on eggshells. Superb, sublime and filled with elegance. Need we say more, I think not. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14 [This is a reissue of an early Duns Limited CD-R from 2013)

RICK COUNTRYMAN / CHRISTIAN BUCHER / YONG YANDSEN - The Malaysia Live Fact Session (FMR CD 644; UK) Featuring Rick Countryman on alto sax, Yong Yandsen on tenor sax and Christian Bucher on drums. Recorded in July of 2022 in Kuala Lumpur and in Selangor in Malaysia. Earlier this week (on 10/4/22), we had two sets of Free Music here at DMG, a trio and then a quartet. It was the first time that all of the musicians in both bands had played together for this formation and both sets were great and quite different. Over sixty-plus years, Free Jazz/Music has evolved and become an international language which bridges musicians from all over the world. There seems to be ongoing scenes in large cities as well as the suburbs and rural areas since musicians everywhere have the need to express themselves.
American born saxist, Rick Countyman, has been living in the Philippines for around a decade and playing with a variety of Asian musicians as well as other travelers from different places. Mr. Countryman can be found on more than a dozen discs over the past few years with a revolving cast of players, two of whom are in this trio. Although Mr. Yandsen looks much younger than Mr. Countryman, all three members of the trio sound like well-seasoned improvisers. This disc begins with just the two saxes, both wailing together, weaving their terse, intense lines in spiraling fireworks-like blasts. Both saxists work well together, there is a constant dialogue, back & forth, bending their notes together, carefully blending their fractured lines. Drummer Christian Bucher enters on “Gratitude”, being the central character at first with both saxes soon coming in as well, the balance between all three members is just right. “Message to Sabu” is mostly dedicated to Sabu Toyozumi, the legendary Japanese Free Jazz drum wizard who has worked with Mr. Countryman on several occasions. It starts with just the drums which are sparse yet most effective with the saxes coming in quietly later on in the piece. One of the things I like most about this disc is that it often calms down to some spacious, sparse yet always-inspired free improv. No matter how free or intense things get, there is a constant connection between all three members of the trio. This is a most organic, connected, free-wheeling trio. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

MUC CHAMBER ART TRIO with UDO SCHINDLER / SEBASTIAN GRAMMS / GUNNAR GEISSE - Resilient Perspectives (FMR CD 634; UK) The MUC ChamberArtTrio feature Udo Schindler on alto & sopranino saxes & bass clarinet, Sebastian Gramms on double bass and Gunnar Geisse on laptop guitar. This set was recorded live at Galerie arToxin in Munich in December of 2021. German saxist Udo Schindler is indeed most prolific with more than 60 releases in the past decade or so. I’ve heard bassist Sebastian Gramms on several discs with Fred Frith, OIR Trio and The Remedy. Laptop guitarist Gunnar Geisse is a member of the ICI Ensemble, who’ve worked with Phil Minton & William Parker, plus he has a couple of discs out on the Neos label as a composer. A unique resume for all three members indeed.
The music starts off sparse, dark and simmering nicely. Gunnar Geisse plays laptop guitar which refers to him playing his electric guitar through a computer to alter its sounds. The music seems to move in waves, the bowed bass and saxes cover similar textures or areas with the laptop/guitar providing other odd sounds, electronic swirls & other shifting sounds. Mr. Schindler switches to bass clarinet for the second long piece, slowing things down for a more cerebral section with probing bass and sly electric guitar which keeps changing its sound due to the laptop manipulations. There is a marvelous section where the contrabass starts playing these throbbing notes which stir up some deep, hypnotic currents while Mr. Schindler adds some tactile sopranino spirals. Mr. Gramms bows quickly on the fourth piece, bending some strings, creating odd drones while the guitar and sax chatter together around him. Mr. Geisse carefully stretches out his notes until they turn into controlled feedback at times, the bent notes of the sopranino sax and bowed bass all hovering in a similar timbral area. What I like most about this is that it sounds very focused as if each note or sound evokes a different vibe or (inner) scene. Strong, well-seasoned improv. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

OM with URS LEIMGRUBER / CHRISTY DORAN / BOBBY BURRI / FREDY STUDER - ElectroAcoustiCore (Intakt 388; Switzerland) OM features Urs Lemigruber on soprano sax, Christ Doran on guitar, Bobbi Burri on bass and Fredy Studer on drums. “50 years OM! The band is cult. This band wrote history from 1972 to 1982 combining the energy of rock music with the power of free improvisation. With enormous vitality they bring together the experiences of a young generation electrified by Jimi Hendrix, fascinated by John Coltrane and inspired by free jazz. OM brought rock music into spontaneous musical processes with uncertain endings. After a long break from touring, the band returned in 2008 with a brilliant concert at the Willisau Jazz Festival (Intakt CD 170). After another break, they created the album „It‘s about Time“ (Intakt CD 348) in 2020.
‘ElectroAcoustiCore’ is what they call the music. Now the journey continues: OM reinvents itself again and presents a brilliant musical statement for their 50th anniversary. “I often lose my place when listening to OM, the legendary quartet that’s been with us for half a century. There are moments all over their records when I find myself in an incredible polyrhythmic thicket or deep cosmic space, and I pause, thinking, “Wait, how did we get here?” That’s OM to me. With decades of growth and exploration, together and separately, OM are making their best music right now,“ writes Jason Bivins in the liner notes.”
CD $18

THERE ARE SIX NEW DISCS FROM THE MAHAKALA COSMIC MUSIC LABEL, 3 listed this week and…

IVO PERELMAN / CHAD FOWLER / ZOH AMBA / MATTHEW SHIPP / WILLIAM PARKER / STEVE HIRSH - Alien Skin (Mahakala 041; USA) Featuring Ivo Perelman on tenor sax, Zoh Amba on tenor sax & flute, Chad Fowler on stritch & saxello, Matt Shipp on piano, William Parker on contrabass and Steve Hirsh on drums. Last night (10/4/22) we had two incredible sets here at DMG. The second set featured Ivo Perelman & Jim Clouse (owner of Park West Studio where this disc was recorded) on saxes, Sean Conly on acoustic  bass & Patrick Golden on drums. Although it was what most folks would call “free jazz”, it worked because everyone listened and worked closely together. I hadn’t heard my old friend Ivo Perelman live in a long while although I’ve reviewed & listed dozens of his discs from the last decade or so. This three sax fronted sextet featured an all-star crew, some of whom had not played together previously and will not most likely play together again. Ms. Zoh Amba is a young (early 20’s) saxist from down south who has several great discs out on the Tzadik & 577 Records labels. Chad Fowler is also from the south and runs this, the Mahakala label. Chad plays two rare saxes, a stritch (made popular by Rahsaan Roland Kirk) and a saxello (Elton Dean’s main ax). Matt Shipp and William Parker certainly need no introduction here while drummer Steve Hirsh can be found on several discs from the Mahakala label.
   William Parker haunting bowed bass starts things off with Matt Shipp’s dark,turbulent piano soon being added. Each sax slowly enters, together and apart and each one has a distinctive voice and all three work together extremely well. While one of the saxes plays or leads up front, the other two weave their lines tightly around one another. I hadn’t heard of drummer Steve Hirsh before his name popped up on several Mahakala recordings. Each member of this sextet sounds inspired and they work well together superbly. There are layers of challenging interplay going on here so we have to listen closely to hear the different combinations merge and submerge in numerous wondrous waves. Mr. Parker breaks into a slow, simmering blues like bringing the ensemble into a swell, slow groove. Everyone builds slowly together, with the bowed bass creating a drone underneath shifting waves above. Ms. Amba has been getting alot of hype recently in the press, which can be a good thing depending… On record, she is a good leader and team player, hence her records are consistently strong and stirring. On this disc, all members of the sextet work well as one unified force/sound. There is one track that reminds me of one of those swell Albert Ayler-like marching beat groove fests. This is one of the best Free Music/Spirit Jazz discs I’ve heard in a long while, so please to do check it out. It is Music/Magic/Medicine at its best. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG      
CD $13

ZOH AMBA / MICAH THOMAS / MATT HOLLENBERG / TYSHAWN SOREY - Bhakti (Mahakala 032; USA) In a short documentary, Zoh Amba says that she thought music was an escape from the world, but she realized that it was rather a gateway to a universe of beauty. With it, she says, she can create a world of friends and sunshine, even when the circumstances around you aren’t the best. Amba grew up in rural Tennessee, her mother raising her and her twin brother alone, with which she was occasionally overwhelmed (she was only 18 when the children were born). As a teenager, Amba was sometimes so sad that she would have preferred to leave the world - but then she got a saxophone. Later on she has found some support in Hinduism. It was then when she realized that music is everything and everything is simultaneously in music. God and music are one for her. When she sometimes found herself lost in worldly sadness, she remembered the truth of music and sound and could then lose herself in it instead. Still, she felt like a stranger in Tennessee. In the fall of 2020, at the invitation of a mutual acquaintance, she drove from Tennessee to Harlem a few times to meet and eventually study with David Murray. “We were playing really high together and just screaming on the horn in class, and he said, 'Come on, give me more’“, Amba said in an interview with The New York Times. “He was the one who encouraged me, 'Don't stop, keep going, let me hear it, keep going.’" Murray said Amba reminded him of himself when he was her age. “She’s trying to find her voice now, like I was trying to find my voice when I came to New York when I was 20 years old“, he said. “And finding your voice early is a rare thing. And Amba has a voice of her own….” - Martin Schray, FreeJazzBlog - rest of review found here: https://www.freejazzblog.org/2022/10/zoh-amba-bhakti-mahakala-music-2022.html
CD $13

IVO PERELMAN / TIM BERNE / TONY MALABY / JAMES CARTER - (D)Ivo (Mahakala 028; USA) Featuring Ivo Perelman on tenor sax, Tim Berne on alto sax, Tony Malaby on soprano sax and James Carter on baritone sax. Earlier this week Ivo Perelman played here at DMG in a quartet with Jim Clouse on saxes, Sean Conly on bass and Patrick Golden on drums. It was a marvelous set of Free/Jazz and the first time that Ivo has played here since he did a duo with the late Elton Dean at our first location in the mid-1990’s.
Ivo told me that the day that this disc was recorded in January of this year (2022), was also his birthday and that Mr. Clouse (also runs a recording studio) gave him a bottle of rare Scotch. The all-star sax quartet that Perelman organized for this session all took a sip of the Scotch. This session was the first time that this sax quartet had ever played together and hence, this is an all improvised session. You should no doubt all of the members of this quartet from many other previous sessions. You might think that James Carter would be an odd choice but you should remember that he was a member of the Julius Hemphill Sex Sextet & the World Sax Quartet.
The first thing I noticed here is how well this is recorded, close mic’d and perfectly balanced. Since each member of this quartet has their own sound and approach, they all have a hand in the direction, the way things unfold. Things often move kaleidoscopically, duos turn into trios and then into quartets, combinations of players are constantly changing. While one sax is soloing, the others combine forces to create odd, unique harmonies. This is not just a free jazz blow-out or fire music only, there are quieter moments as well as unexpected melodic and dissonant excursions and detours. There are some scary moments of intensity and layered fragments or fractures which keep things interesting throughout. Overall it is the sound of surprise that makes this so splendid and engaging. At times it sounds as if they are breaking into a song and then things mutate again. I myself am a big fan of sax quartets going all the back to Rova and the World Sax Quartet which stared in the late 1970’s, plus there are a number of more recent sax quartets that are also worth checking out. This is the best sax quartet I’ve heard in recent memory, so brace yourself for the roller coaster ride. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

PAUL AUSTERLITZ / DOMINICAN ENSEMBLE - Dr. Merengue (round whirled records 0085; USA) Featuring Paul Austerlitz on bass clarinet, alto & tenor saxes, clarinet & flute, Gustavo Rodriguez & Juan Valdez on piano, Leo Pimentel on keyboards, Nelson Pimentel, Esar Simo & Freddy Valdez on basses, Jose Duluc & Julio Figueros on percussion & vocals, Kenia de la Rosa on guira and Otoniel Nicolas on drums. This is the third part of a trilogy of discs which were inspired by the spiritual traditions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Born in Finland and raised in NYC, Paul Austerlitz learned to play the sax, worked in different bands and ended up playing with the King of Merengue, Joseito Mateo. Mr. Austerlitz studied merengue and went on to live in the Dominican Republic. He got an ethnomusicological scholarship and has been teaching at several colleges ever since. He has written a book on the history of merengue and now runs several bands which play merengue and other spiritual Dominican and Haitian musics. The lengthy liner notes for this disc discuss the history of merengue at length so that we get an idea of how these songs have evolved. The first song, “Hominaje a Nico Lora”, has a uplifting groove/vibe, cheerful singing & accordion plus an inspired solo from Mr. Austerlitz on bass clarinet. “Los Saxofones” has another jubilant groove with some wonderful interplay between Austerlitz’s sax and Leo Pimentel’s accordion-like keyboards, both plays take spirited, exuberant solos here. There is also a great multi-handed percussion segment midway for 2-3 players which again exudes a most positive vibe. Although about half of these songs are traditional, they all sound like their melodies/structures embrace a long culture or history with many different smiles (good vibes) in each one. Since I’ve never listened or even danced to merengue music much in my life, I can tell you that this disc, this music does make me feel good. The sun is finally out today (10/6/22) after a week of early coldness and the lack of heat in my apt. I am currently singing and swaying in my kitchen to this music and I feel a whole lot better thanks to this mighty fine disc. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

MARTIN ARCHER / JOHN JASNOCH / SARAH FARMER / LEE BOYD ALLATSON - Wasp Honey (Discus 138CD; UK) Martin Archer corrals some top-notch names on the new jazz circuit to birth this quietly unassuming and arresting release. He’s worked with the above-noted colleagues before, specifically within the Birmingham Improvisors Orchestra; reconstituted as a tightly-knit quartet, the four straddle only the finest drops of electroacoustic improv, composition, and a vast array of post-modernist, post-classical tropes. Each musician brings a colorful tincture of fundamental prowess to the gathering. Archer fixes his gaze on blowing his astringent alto, sopranino saxophones and flute; Jasnoch’s bass guitar waxes a bit of Eberhard Weber here, some momentous Barry Guy alterations there; Farmer’s violin throttles many a chamber-esque participant, smearing her notes with astutely-choreographed electronic flourishes; drummer Allatson can be as fleet and cunning as Eddie Prevost when he chooses to be, which is often. Together, the four subtly provide enough instrumental grit to move mountains. The opening twelve minutes of “Flood” takes its full complement of minutes to finally crest, as the tumescent urgings of violin and sax dance seductively about one another in flagrante delicto. “Two Way Traffic” is indeed a more bustling affair, Allatson’s percussive firmament propelling forward with a good deal of wit and aplomb, a sturdy bedrock upon which Archer bends notes like passersby navigating tortured, congested avenues. By the time we’ve gotten to “Swoon” (hair tousled back, flirtatious gestures cast askance, looks stolen), as Archer’s bluster vies for attention amidst Farmer’s aching cries, the callback to “Flood” squares the circle, lovers leaping, energies ejected, chaos christened. The closing title track acts like the party’s pre-dawn comedown, swinging with the kind of cool autumnal ‘60s shuffle that would make Don Rendell and Ian Carr proud as peacocks. There’s worse ways to go than getting stung by the sweet nectar of this lot. - Darren Bergstein, DMG
CD $14

VIOLETA GARCIA - Fobia (Relative Pitch SS007; USA) Featuring Violeta Garcia on solo cello, recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There appears to be a growing scene of creative musicians who are or were located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the past couple of years we’ve had both cellist Violeta Garcia and saxist Camilla Nebbia play here at DMG at different times. Both hail from Argentina, both are members of Ms. Angeles’ quartet while Ms. Nebbia is currently living in Berlin. There is a long history of great jazz/improvising cellists going back to the 1970’s with Abdul Wadud & David Darling, then om Cora, Ernst Reijseger and Tristan Honsinger on the 1980’s followed by Erik Friedlander, Hank Roberts, Frances Marie Uitti & Jane Scarpantoni in the 1990’s. Since the turn of the millenia, we’ve seen a larger number of fine cellists emerge: Tomas Ulrich, Tomeka Reid and Christopher Hoffman. More recently cellists like Leila Bordreuil, Mariel Roberts and now Violeta Garcia. Each one of these has added to the ever-evolving explorations of sounds/music for the cello.
Like most releases on Relative Pitch, Ms. Garcia, has been working hard on developing new sounds &/or approaches for the cello. Things begin with a thick layer of scary, pulsating cellos all pumping together. For “Acero”, strips things down to more sparse, slightly twisted sounds, quickly bowing different areas of the strings, tapping and rubbing the strings or body of the cello with a bow or other objects. On each of the 15 pieces, Ms. Garcia works at getting a number of odd, unique sounds out of her cello. Is she tapping on the strings inside a piano on “LaburaHolic”? What I find most interesting is this: no matter how far out Ms. Garcia pushes her strings & wood implements outside the usual barriers of sonic explorations, the music consistently evokes a myriad of feelings, vibes and sonic scenery. There are moments that are way intense or even scary yet everything is well-measured, well-balancing and thoughtfully laid out. Perhaps getting close too be being too much yet reaching deep to touch us within our tortured souls. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

DAVID LEE MYERS - Logos in Aeon (Pulsewidth PW019; US) Myers’s first of two new fall releases might well scare the crap out of you. Unsure what he’s been reading or watching of late (Cronenberg? Halloween soundtracks? Omen sequels?), but there’s real menace lurking about these tracks, sometimes stealthily, sometimes overtly, but obvious in its portentous intent. “The Eye That Sees Itself”, with its pithy, stalking motif and overarching synths, could well track 80s Stuart Gordon mindmelder From Beyond, the shuddering atmospheres frightful enough to overstimulate your pineal gland. “We Make Books of Them” is no less ominous, gurgling static bursts and irising, pitchbent cones of cackling fire supercharged with both pain and delight. The equilibrium-upsetting trills of “Name It Full” can surely put you off your popcorn, buoyed by a mock Carnatic sequence of faux sarod that suggests a Burroughsian landscape where defrocked aliens have remade Tangiers in their own twisted image. Likewise the metallic, serpentine reverie of the title track, which if anything evokes what type of music might be summoned by the Pharoahs while writing the Book of the Dead. Similar ringing tones and ascending reverberations inform the finale, “The Time-Solid”, casting the listener adrift—or is that suspended?—in some nether region where both space and time stand still, oscillating drones bisecting dimensions, bending wills, redirecting cochlea. It’s Myers at his subversive best, as usual concocting an ever-shifting tableau of sounds that never fail to either impress or surprise. Add it to your shelf at once. - Darren Bergstein, DMG
CD $12

DAVID LEE MYERS - Partikelrauschen (Pulsewidth PW020; USA) Shifting tack on the second of his late 2022 releases, the depth-defying imagination of Myers, channelled through his machines, finds inspiration culled from the wellspring of ‘50s sci-fi soundtracks, '60s academic electronica, originators like Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, and his late colleague Tod Dockstader, and many of the early Teutonic pioneers embracing glurp, blorp, and bleep. In all honesty, if your weakness are sounds heretofore unheard-of by the human ear, this is a tour de force of sonic mythmaking that’ll mandate being re-spun again and again, for only a single turn of the digital motor isn’t enough to excavate the rainbow of beautiful noises layered within. From the very first track, Myers allows his tools, synthetic, electronic, and otherwise, to run ragged across all manners of forbidden planets, warring species, and raging galaxies, for the cavalcade of incessant, smeared tones, crackling van der graaf generators, and subterranean rumblings could only conjure such far-flung, incorporeal images. The successive piece finds those inimical civilizations going to battle, warping and wringing their circuits as lasers airburst over ruined cities and unrecognizable were-things trudge about the post-apocalyptic landscape. Myers has a particular knack for permanently altering the very nature of the electrical impulses he sculpts and massages with his bare hands; the fourth piece takes the album’s title (which translates as “particles rustle”), and runs with it, its fibrillating noises like brillo being rubbed under fluorescent lights, rusted motors starting then seizing, the percolations of a thousand synapses firing and misfiring out of sequence. The various sounds rarely coalesce into anything resembling formalism, but why would they? This is a highly experimental, yet instantly gripping, form of music that is simply dazzling to behold, tastes and textures utterly original in design. Which is what the best electronic music does, and what Myers, one of our leading lights in the field, regularly, expertly demonstrates. - Darren Bergstein, DMG
CD $12

THE BRIDGE SESSIONS (TBS) label/organization brings together avant/jazz musicians from France and Chicago to do recordings, tours and workshops throughout France and in & around Chicago with occasional detours (like NYC). I collect and have heard all of the discs on the label and always enjoy what they do. The label has no distribution in the US and has been rather difficult to find here. I lucked into getting 9 of their 14 titles through a mutual friend and we have just 3 copies of each. I’ve only reviewed a few in the past and those reviews can be found at the end of this list or through the DMG database. I urge you to check them out before they disappear for good…. BLG/DMG

EVE RISSER / SYLVAINE HELARY / FREDRICK LONBERG-HOLM / MIKE REED - The Sync (The Bridge Sessions 02; France)
CD $16

ROB MAZUREK / MWATA BOWDEN / DOUGLAS EWART a/k/a SHORE TO SHORE - Four Views of a Three Sided Garden (The Bridge Sessions 03; France)
CD $16

SYLVAINE HELARY / FRED LONBERG-HOLM / EVE RISSER / MIKE REED - The Sync (The Bridge #5; France)
CD $16

FRED JACKSON, JR. / STEPHANE PAYEN / EDWARD PERRAUD / FRANK ROSALY - Twins (The Bridge Sessions 06; France)
CD $16

LARRY OCHS / MARS WILLIAMS / JULIEN DESPREZ / MATHIEU SOURISSEAU / SAMUEL SILVENT - Stroboscope (The Bridge Sessions 09; France)
CD $16

TOMEKA REID / KATHERINE YOUNG / BENOIT DELBECQ / CLAUDIA SOLAL - Antichamber Music (The Bridge Sessions 10; France)
CD $16

DAVE REMPIS / KEEFE JACKSON / CHRISTINE WODTASCKA / PETER ORINS - Minuscules (The Bridge Sessions 11; France)
CD $16

JEAN-LUC GUIONNET / PIERRE-ANTOINE BADAROUX / JIM BAKER / JASON ROEBKE - Forget to Find (The Bridge Sessions 12; France)
CD $16

JOSH BERMAN / DIDIER PETIT / JASON STEIN / EDWARD PERRAUD - The Way Through (The Bridge Sessions 13; France)
CD $16

A FEW BRIDGE SESSIONS CD’s with Reviews added:

EVE RISSER / SYLVAINE HELARY / FREDRICK LONBERG-HOLM / MIKE REEDS - The Sync (The Bridge Sessions 02; France) “The Bridge is a transatlantic network connecting American and French musicians in new collaborations. Starting a few years ago, the collective has released a handful of albums documenting their experimental spirit, including this one of the the fifth “bridge,” or ensemble, created through the collective (the rest can be seen here). The Sync features flutist and singer Sylvaine Hélary, pianist Eve Risser, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, and drummer Mike Reed in late 2014, after a brief French tour.
The album opens on a stark, exposed Hélary solo, with Lonberg-Holm, Reed, and Risser in a percussive conversation. It’s a group improvisation, but there’s a bit of pairing here and there with Reed’s fluid style matched with Risser’s prepared piano. Around the halfway mark, Lonberg-Holm steps forward, and he and Hélary enter into a brief duet that flows into a searing cello solo. Risser counters some of Lonberg-Holm’s playing here, creating an offbeat tension that leads to an excellent duet, buoyed by Reed’s drumming. Hélary returns on vocals, and her singing opens up new territories of improvisation for a group barely 15 minutes out of the gate. The whole opening half hour, “Golay,” is a fantastic example of how four creative musicians bend and fold a collaboration into itself, then reopen it to expose a dozen new ideas. When Risser takes her first big solo of the disc, Reed switches up his playing, driving cymbals urging her on. At the same time, Lonberg-Holm’s effects intertwine for Hélary’s flute for a fascinating, lengthy run…” - Lee Rice Epstein, FreeJazzBlog
CD $16

ROB MAZUREK / MWATA BOWDEN / DOUGLAS EWART a/k/a SHORE TO SHORE - Four Views of a Three Sided Garden (The Bridge Sessions 03; France) Shore to Shore features Rob Mazurek on cornet & electronics, Mwata Bowden on clarinet, bari sax & didgeridoo, Julian Desprez on electric guitar, Matt Lux on electric bass guitar and Mathieu Sourisseasu on acoustic bass guitar plus guest Douglas Ewart on English Horn & bamboo piccolo. Chicago-based cornetist, Rob Mazurek, has remained extremely busy over the past decade, recurring more than a dozen discs on several labels: Cuneiform, Rouge Art and Delmark. Another staple of the Chicago Scene is reeds-player Mwata Bowden, who has worked with Edward Wilkerson in several bands. Matt Lux is yet another Chicago-based player who has worked with Mr. Mazurek in several projects. Spacious, flowing, with layers of cornet, flute, clarinet and/or English horn (double reed, oboe-like instrument), guitar, basses and electronics. The subtle yet weird electronics and echo devices add a mysterious quality to the proceedings, as if we are swimming in an ocean of slowly shifting currents. Although Mr. Mazurek does get to take a couple of inspired cornet solos, this music is more about submerging ourselves in a haze shifting waves. The vibe is often pretty hypnotic so that we don’t really want it end or leave what feels just right. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16

TOMEKA REID / KATHERINE YOUNG / BENOIT DELBECQ / CLAUDIA SOLAL - Antichamber Music (The Bridge Sessions 10; France) This particular bridge between the French and American improvising communities joins Claudia Solal (voice) and Benoit Delbecq (piano) with Tomeka Reid (cello) and Katherine Young (bassoon, effects) for 9 tracks across 39 minutes. Solal and Delbecq have not recorded together previously but have a duo due out (at the time of this writing) later this year on RogueArt. Reid and Young have recorded together on Anthony Braxton’s Trillium E and Trillium J operas as well as a reversed transcription of Black Sabbath’s “Into the Void” performed by a 10-piece jazz orchestra called From Beyond. This is the first time the French and American players have recorded together… more at https://www.freejazzblog.org/2019/04/claudia-solal-katherine-young-tomeka.html - Keith Prosk, FreeJazzBlog
CD $16

Finally Restocked, five fabulous discs from AMALGAM:

TREVOR WATTS is a legendary British alto saxist, bandleader and composer, whose half-century plus musical journey started with being a founding member of Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME) around 1966. Every decade or so, Mr. Watts seems to shed his skin/genre/style and evolve into another direction of progressive jazz. After splitting from the SME in the late sixties, Mr. Watts started his own ensemble, known as Amalgam, another project which constantly evolved due to his unending explorations through innovations in rhythms/genres/styles. There are around 10 Amalgam releases and each one is a gem! Please note that each of the FMR Amalgam reissues are CD-R’s plus some of the inserts or booklets are slightly bent. It is the music that is of the utmost importance here and only the FMR label seems to take these releases seriously enough to keep them available. You can find reviews of each of these discs in the DMG database. - BLG @ DMG

AMALGAM with TREVOR WATTS / JOHN STEVENS / KEITH TIPPETT / KENT CARTER / LINDSAY L COOPER / TERRI QUAYE - Innovation (FMR 119; UK)
CD-R $14

AMALGAM with TREVOR WATTS / KEITH ROWE / COLIN McKENZIE / LIAM GENOCKEY - Over The Rainbow (FMR 132; UK)
CD-R $14

AMALGAM with TREVOR WATTS / DAVE COLE / COLIN McKENZIE / PETE COWLING / LIAM GENOCKEY - Samanna (FMR 125; UK)
CD-R $14

AMALGAM with TREVOR WATTS / DAVE COLE / HARRY MILLER / LIAM GENOCKEY - Deep (FMR 120; UK)
CD-R $14

AMALGAM - TREVOR WATTS / STEVE HAYTON / PETE COWLING / LIAM GENOCKEY - Another Time (FMR 116; UK)
CD-R $14

ALISON KNOWLES - By Alison Knowles: A Retrospective (1960-2022)(Distributed Art Publishers; USA) "The first survey of the Fluxus cofounder's prolific avant-garde output, from eight-foot-tall books to make-a-salad performances. The American artist Alison Knowles' (born 1933) groundbreaking experiments -- from painting and printmaking to sculpture and installation, sound works, poetry and artist's books -- have influenced art and artists for more than 50 years but remain relatively unknown among mainstream audiences. The first comprehensive volume on the artist, By Alison Knowles: A Retrospective presents more than 200 objects that span the entire breadth of her career, from her intermedia works of the 1960s to forms of participatory and relational art in the 2000s. The accompanying catalog features contributions by international Fluxus curators, historians and scholars, including lead essays by organizer Karen Moss, Hannah B. Higgins and Nicole Woods, and short contributions by Lucia Fabio, Lauren Fulton, Maud Jacquin and Sébastien Pluot. It also includes reprints of key articles by Benjamin Buchloh, Julia Robinson and Kristine Stiles, as well as a conversation between Alison Knowles and poet George Quasha. Richly illustrated with more than 250 images, the full-color catalog, designed by Kimberly Varella, includes a softcover lay-flat binding, special colored papers for each section, die-cut section dividers and a chronology. The cover of the book is a makeready (press sheets gathered from printing the interior of the book) produced during the printing of the interior pages. Each cover in the edition is unique."
Book $50 [300 pages - 1.2” x 12” x 8.6” / paperback]

LP SECTION:

PHAROAH SANDERS with JOHN HICKS / WALTER BOOKER / IDRIS MUHAMMAD - Live... (Theresa Records 116LP; USA) Limited edition restock. Exact repro, originally released in 1982. Featuring John Hicks (piano), Walter Booker (bass) and Idris Muhammad (drums). "Sanders performs 'It's Easy to Remember' (in a style very reminiscent of early-'60s John Coltrane), an original blues, and two of his compositions, including the passionate 'You've Got to Have Freedom.' The musicianship is at a high level and, although Sanders does not shriek as much as one might hope (the Trane-ish influence was particularly strong during this relatively mellow period), he is in fine form." - All Music Guide
LP $17

Here is Tribute to PHAROAH SANDERS from Henry Kaiser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ste9pdLiz_0

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ATTENTION ALL CREATIVE MUSICIANS OUT THERE, Around the world.

If you have a link for some music that you are working on and want to share it with the folks who read the DMG Newsletter, please send the link to DMG at DMG@Downtownmusicgallery.com.

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411 / Shift Series Features:

Thurs, Oct 6: Ictus at Shift
Two sets with: Jeff Schwartz, Sam Newsome, Andrea Centazzo, Chris Cochrane, Stephen Haynes, Dafna Naphtali, Michael Foster, Wendy Eisenberg, Jessica Pavone, Shahzad Ismaily
Curated by Chris Cochrane and Andrea Centazzo
 
Fri, Oct 7: Ictus at Shift
Two sets with: Jeff Schwartz, Sam Newsome, Andrea Centazzo, Chris Cochrane, Stephen Haynes, Dafna Naphtali, Michael Foster, Gordon Beeferman, Steve Swell, Jessica Pavone, Shelley Hirsch, Shahzad Ismaily
Curated by Chris Cochrane and Andrea Centazzo

Sat, Oct 8: Ictus at Shift
Andrea Centazzo and Crystal Peñalosa
Andrea Centazzo, Elliot Sharp, Steve Swell

411 is located at 411 Kent Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11249
contact@411kent.org
411 Kent is a hybrid space for live performance and other projects. 411 is also the home of Shift, a platform for experimental sound and music curated by David Watson.

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NUBLU JAZZ FEST:

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2022 AT 8 PM
GOLDBERGER / GERMAINE / MANERI / WOLLESEN!
Nublu, 151 Avenue C
Jonathan Goldberger, guitar
Sylvester Germaine - el bass
Mat Maneri - viola
Kenny Wollesen - drums

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INDEPENDENT PROMOTERS ALLIANCE Presents:

KEN FILIANO (bass), LOU GRASSI (drums) Special Guest on Piano
Saturday, OCTOBER 22 at 7:00 PM

At Michiko Studios, Stage 2
149 West 46th Street
Suggested $20
Stage 2 is on 3rd floor (building is not elevator-equipped)

*****

Thursday, October 27 and Friday, October 28, 2022 

Rhodri Davies
Plays Éliane Radigue, Yasunao Tone,
Ellen Arkbro, Ben Patterson and Phill Niblock

doors 7 pm, shows 7:30 pm
At Blank Forms
468 Grand Ave, 1D,
Brooklyn NY 11238

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November 22nd, 2022
gaucimusic presents:

Live at Scholes Street Studio
Tuesday November 22nd
Live recording/Live audience!
7:30pm Mara Rosenbloom - piano
gabby fluke-mogul - violin
Tcheser Holmes - drums
8:30pm Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Santiago Leibson - piano
Adam Lane - bass
Colin Hinton - drums
9:30pm Kevin Shea - drums
Jonathan Goldberger - guitar

Live recording/Live audience!
$20 at the door (entire evening), cash/venmo
@ Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn / 718-964-8763
gaucimusic.com / https://www.facebook.com/events/3307967336145215

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 8:00 PM

John Zorn’s NEW MASADA QUARTET
at ROULETTE
509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
https://roulette.org/

John Zorn - sax
Julian Lage - guitar
Jorge Roeder - bass
Kenny Wollesen - drums

THEIR ONLY PERFORMANCE UNTIL SPRING 2023 - DON’T MISS THIS ONE!

A surprise and rare appearance of John Zorn’s newest and most exciting ensemble, the New Masada Quartet. Performing classic compositions from the Masada songbooks, NMQ is a tight unit of like-minded virtuosi and one of the best groups Zorn has ever had. Bristling hot guitar master Julian Lage, bass wizard Jorge Roeder and 30-year Zorn veteran Kenny Wollesen perform with a crackling live energy that brings the Masada music to life like never before! Led by Zorn’s versatile sax and stop and start conducting, the music is filled with burning solos, telepathic group interaction, heartfelt lyricism and hypnotic grooves.

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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… the new one just popped up today, 7/27/22:

https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-342-auxiliaries
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-332-auxiliaries

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THERE IS A RECENT INTERVIEW with FRED FRITH by Rick Rees that is found here: https://rickrees.substack.com/p/fred-frith-interview . Rick Rees has been working on a website/blog/book/whatever about the great producer/manager/instigator/raconteur Georgio Gomelsky. Gomelsky is someone I’ve long admired and Rees is doing a good job of documenting/interviewing numerous Gomelsky associates. The Fred Frith interview is great and if you are a Frith fan, you should want to know about a number of upcoming projects, tours, etc. This interview showed up in my email during the last hour of my birthday last Sunday and it made me smile. Fred Frith & myself are old friends and he is someone whose music and attitude I really admire. - BLG

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AMAZING SERIES OF PODCASTS PUT TOGETHER BY THE GREAT GUITARIST SAMO SALAMON:

The wonderful Slovenian guitarist/composer Samo Salamon has an incredible podcast on Youtube entitled "DR. JAZZ". He has interviewed many of the leading lights of contemporary improvisation including Bill Frisell, Hal Galper, Herb Robertson, Ben Monder, Bob Moses etc. and his conversations are deep and enlightening. Highly recommended for all curious listeners across the worlds of creative music. Here is the link below..

https://www.bing.com/video

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne82zmzvOm4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T430EzDqtP8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDGv_5p0dvQ

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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 10:30pm Tues, Thurs and Sat 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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ATTENTION TO ALL DMG CUSTOMERS: NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: downtownmusicgalleryofficial@gmail.com

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