DMG Newsletter for October 21st, 2022

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The creator has a master plan
Peace and happiness for every man
The creator has a master plan
Peace and happiness for every man
The creator makes but one demand
Peace and happiness through all the land
The creator makes but one demand
Happiness through all the land

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Last month on September 24th, the amazing saxist/composer/bandleader/Free Spirit Jazz Man Pharoah Sanders passed away, no doubt reunited with the Creator and Pharaoh’s music brethen: John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry and Sun Ra. Pharoah Sanders’ ‘Karma’ album was the first LP I bought of his (around 1973), after hearing the above song, “The Creator Has a Master Plan’ on jazz radio in the early 1970’s. All of side one is the long version of this song with vocals from the late great Leon Thomas. Although the short lyrics seem to come from a hippie peace & love vibrations vibe, the song and those words have always touched me deeply, the way great lyrics often do. I caught Pharoah Sanders live perhaps a dozen times throughout his nearly six decade music journey at places like: the Village Vanguard, the Village Gate, Bottom Line, the Knitting Factory, Village Underground, Guelph Jazz Fest, the Iridium… and every show had some Cosmic/Spiritual vibes flowing in the music. I have also collected all of Pharoah’s many albums and still love the dozen that were released on Impulse! in the seventies especially ‘Thembi’ and ‘Live at The East’.

In 1977, a record was released called ‘Pharoah’ on the India Navigation label. On guitar was someone just named Munoz whose full name was/is Tisziji Munoz. I hadn’t heard of Mr. Munoz at that point although I could recognize that his playing was something special: Spiritual, Free and obviously influenced by John Coltrane’s sheets of sound. Twenty years later in the late 1990’s, I got a phone call from my friend Henry Kaiser who asked me to help promote Tisziji Munoz, his musical Guitar Guru. I was honored to do after hearing a handful of his releases, especially since each one had that Spirit/Force sound and his guitar playing was just incredible. I soon got Munoz a gig at the Knitting Factory, which was recorded and released as ‘The Great Sacrifice’ on CD, and I organized later performances at The Stone and Tonic. Tisziji Munoz and I are still good friends and we’ve been planning a set of his Cosmic/Spirit/Healing Music for several years. He hasn’t played in NYC in many years and he is ready to play! That set will take place tomorrow (10/21/22) night at Artists Space in Tribeca, so those of you who need some of that Cosmic Spirit Music should attend. Although admission is free & all of the pre-tickets are sold out there is still a waiting list for those who didn’t get on the original invite list. We will be celebrating the 31st Anniversary of my store, Downtown Music Gallery and the Legacy of Pharoah Sanders and all of those musicians and serious listeners who appreciate Spirit Music. The particulars to this event is listed below. Who loves you all bubbies?!? Me, Bruce Lee Gallanter at DMG

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THE INDEPENDENT PROMOTERS ALLIANCE, DMG & 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 Featuring SAM NEWSOME / DD JACKSON / BOB STEWART / ROMAN DIAZ!

9 pm: TISZIJI MUNOZ’s COSMIC ENSEMBLE Celebrates PHAROAH SANDERS with PAUL SHAFFER / DON PATE / TONY FALCO / ADAM BENHAM / ZULFUGAR BAGHIROV!

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

* I’ve been working on this gig for several years now, especially since my man Tisziji Munoz hasn’t played in NYC in many years. I urge you to consider going to this event as it will feature some Cosmic/Free Spirit/Avant-Jazz with Latin rhythms in the undertow. And it is FREE admission but you must RSVP. There are just 100 seats & a few dozen standing room. It will be the Cosmic Gig of the Year, I guarantee it! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, founder of Downtown Music Gallery and partner in the Downtown Promoter’s Alliance

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THE DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY 31st ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE PERFORMANCE SERIES Continues with:

Tuesday, October 25th:
6:30: KEVIN MURRAY - soprano sax / MICHAEL LAROCCA- drums
7:30: KENNY WARREN / JACOB WICK / SEAN ALI / CARLO COSTA

Tuesday, November 1st:
6:30: MAX KUTNER / KEVIN SHEA - Guitar / Drums-electronic pads
7:30: ASTRO TURF: SAM DAY HARNET - mandolin/electronics / SANA NAGANO - violin/effects / ZACHARY SWANSON - bass!
8:30: SAKINA ABDOU - Sax!

Tuesday, November 8th:
NO GIG - ELECTION NIGHT! Please get out to vote!

Saturday November 12th - GauciMusic Series Presents:
6pm: Ken Kobayashi - drums / Ayumi Ishito - sax / Eric Plaks - keyboard
7pm: Stephen Gauci - tenor sax / Gasper Piano - guitar / Adam Lane - bass / Kevin Shea - drums
8pm: Rotem Eylam - guitar / Mark Abramovski - bass / Isaac Dubow - trumpet / Ben Eidson - electronics

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NEW DISCS FOR THIS WEEK BEGIN WITH:

DAVE DOUGLAS QUINTET with JON IRABAGON / MATT MITCHELL / LINDA MAY HAN OH / RUDY ROYSTON - Songs of Ascent: Book 1 - Degrees (Greenleaf Music 1096; USA) Featuring Dave Douglas on trumpet & compositions, Jon Irabagon on reeds, Matt Mithchell on piano, Linda May Han Oh on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. Trumpet master and composer, Dave Douglas, has had a number of ongoing quintets throughout his long music career, this quintet has been around since 2011. Each release that Mr. Douglas produces has a theme or inner direction that guides the participants of his bands. Mr. Douglas’ last disc was called ‘Secular Psalms’ and while working on it, Mr. Douglas also considered composing music based on the 15 psalms known as the ’Songs of Ascents’, which includes 16 pieces. This disc consists of half of those, eight pieces. Word is that Dave Douglas spends time every day composing music, hence I get the feeling that he is always drawing from a big book on compositions, well thought out. The first piece is called “Never Let Me Go” and it is also the title of one of Thomas Chapin’s last few discs. Dave & Thomas are both Downtown musicians/composers who up around the same time and played together with Anthony Braxton. This piece features some tight, inspired ensemble playing due to Douglas’ thoughtful composing and the musicians involved. Both Mr. Douglas and Mr. Irabagon (on tenor) take strong solos while the rest of the ensembles swirls tightly around them. The last solo by Matt Mitchell is breath taking. “Deceitful Tongues” begins a difficult note-bending theme for the ensemble to play before it breaks down to a number of splendid short solos which work their way through the them/line as they evolve. The opening theme to “Lift Up My Eyes” has the entire quintet playing these ascending and descending lines tightly together, the solos which follow also move up and down the scale as well, allowing the listeners to follow the same directions or currents as the flow. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve have recognized that this music was inspired by sacred or religious songs, the music is still heartfeld, warm and challenging in more subtle ways. “Peace With Your Walls”, has a stunning, simmering, laid suspense-filled theme like the calm before a storm. “Enthroned” features one of Mr. Douglas’ loveliest, most haunting trumpet solos with Mr. Irabagon also continuing the glowing vibe with his tenor solo. Ace drummer Rudy Royston is featured on “Scepter”, spinning a tasteful rhythmic wave quickly and then slowing down as the inner flow increases and decreases over and over. Mr. Douglas plays a tasty Mile-like solo on the last piece, “Mouths Full of Joy”, which includes an inspired Wayne Shorter-like tenor solo from Mr. Irabagon. This is a constantly inspired and inventive disc which should be heard but serious listeners everywhere. - Bruce Lee Gallanter
CD $15

WHIT DICKEY QUARTET with TONY MALABY / MATTHEW SHIPP / BRANDON LOPEZ - Root Perspectives (Tao Forms 12; USA) Featuring Whit Dickey on drums & direction, Tony Malaby on tenor sax, Matt Shipp on piano and Brandon Lopez on contrabass. Premiere avant/jazz drummer Whit Dickey generally releases 1 or 2 discs a year as a leader as well as working occasionally with William Parker, Ivo Perelman or Rob Brown. This is a new quartet and the first time that Mr. Dickey has recorded with tenor saxist Tony Malaby. Each of the four piece here are long (9-16 minutes), giving the musicians a chance to stretch out. “Supernova” starts off in slo-mo with Mr. Malaby playing his lines in a more laid-back Ayleresque mode, while Mr. Shipp also weaves his own slowed down, deliberate pulse of dark, turbulent notes. Soon enough the quartet speeds up for some firey, storm-like exhortations. The quartet continues to move in dense waves, one after the other and often with Malaby reaching deep into the wailing zone. At times things calm down to a more restrained section. On “Doomsday Equation”, Mr. Shipp seems to directing the energy with his own dark, somewhat disturbing chords while Malaby soars slowly on top, bending certain notes when need be. The entire quartet come together to reach for the light above becoming more spacious as they go. “Swamp Petals” starts out more sparse and gets more dense as it goes. Mr. Dickey’s drums are navigating the currents below while Messers Malaby and Shipp have a dialogue above. In demand bassist Brandon Lopez is also the central figure at times, providing an occasional pulse while balancing rhythmics with Dickey and adding his own fractured yet concise notes/sounds to the ever-evolving quartet. The quartet slows things down once on “Starship Lotus”, with four celestial spirits all evolving around one another. Each of the four pieces create their own spiritual vibration. One must step back a bit to catch the way things go or flow to hear how things are held together. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

IVO PERELMAN & MATTHEW SHIPP - Fruition (ESP-Disk 5070; USA) The eighteenth duo album by Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp. "We believe it's our best effort so far," says Perelman. "Every rhythmic and melodic gesture [in 'Nine'] that tenor saxist and pianist feed each other in this remarkable duet is met with a musically and emotionally appropriate response from the other. And somehow or other, this entirely free jazz somehow coalesces and takes shape in a way that is absolutely perfect." And, "each track in this remarkable album is a highlight in itself and different from every other track. These two artists have played and recorded together so often that they do indeed almost seem to read each other's mind, and at this stage the psychic communication is so complete that it almost sounds as if we, the listeners, are eavesdropping in on a very personal and intimate conversation." --Lynn René Bayley "The music flows naturally from their fruitful exchanges, informed by mutual listening, skill and imagination. In the span of four minutes, ideas and images follow one after the other, become distinct then disappear, the players' energies converging into a single stream which one flees from as the other diverts it in a new and unforeseen direction; the passage from the known, what they have played in the past, to the unknown, instant creation. They propose forms, cadences, timbres, harmonic clusters, spirals of breath stretched to screaming heights, heartening melodies, curious ostinatos, elliptical flights, chords constantly shifting as new elements appear, by accident or by enchantment, compelled by the pair's instincts as improvisers. [...] Neither player is a soloist or accompanist; in their weightless, whirling ballads, both share the arduous, integral role of dialogist. The ego fades into the collective dimension, as the music demands." J-M Van Schouwburg (translated from French) Personnel: Ivo Perelman - tenor saxophone; Matthew Shipp - piano. Recorded by Jim Clouse on June 25, 2021 at Park West Studios. Produced by Steve Holtje. Cover art by Yuko Otomo.
CD $12

MICHAEL MARCUS with FRANK LACY / TARUS MATEEN / JAY ROSEN - Abstractions in Lime Caverns (ESP-Disk 5074; USA) “After paying his dues with bluesmen Albert King and Bobby "Blue" Bland and jazzman Jaki Byard, Michael Marcus had his first album released in 1991, when he was 39. He's been much more prolific since then, co-leading Cosmosamatics with Sonny Simmons, SaxEmble with Frank Lowe and James Carter, Blue Reality Quartet with Joe McPhee, Warren Smith, and Jay Rosen, and Duology with Ted Daniel as well as Marcus's many albums as sole leader. Frank Lacy moved to New York in 1981 and soon established himself (primarily as a trombonist) as Art Blakey's music director, a member of the Mingus Big Band, sideman with Lester Bowie, David Murray Big Band, McCoy Tyner, and Roy Hargrove among others, and a leader in his own right. Tarus Mateen has worked with artists ranging from Christina Aguilera and OutKast to Betty Carter, Jason Moran, Hargrove, Greg Osby, and Terence Blanchard, to name a few. Jay Rosen of Cosmosamatics is also a member of Trio X with McPhee and Dominic Duval and Resonance Impeders with Chris Dahlgren and Briggan Krauss and has played with Mark Whitecage, Ivo Perelman, Gebhard Ullmann, etc.”
Personnel: Michael Marcus - soprano sax, tenor sax, alto tarogato, G clarinet, bass flute & gong; Frank Lacy - French horn; Tarus Mateen - Marcoustico acoustic bass and Jay Rosen - drums and percussion. Recorded, mixed, and mastered on November 26-27, 2021 by Jim Clouse at Parkwest Studios, Brooklyn.
CD $12

ELLIOTT SHARP / ERIC MINGUS - Songs from a Rogue State (zOaR ZCD 119; Earth) Featuring Eric Mingus on vocals, vocal arrangements, el upright and el. bass, Elliott Sharp (E#) on electric, 12-string, baritone & console steel guitars, electric & 8-string basses, analogue synth & drum programming and Don McKenzie on drum samples & loops. Elliott Sharp and Eric Mingus (son of Charles) have a long history of working together in Mr. Sharp’s 21st century blues band, known as Terraplane. Terraplane’s first release came out in 1994 when they were a guitar/bass/drums trio and they’ve recorded a dozen discs in nearly three decades. Their personnel and sound has also also evolved over time, which ranges from 8 musicians to the current duo with Eric Mingus. The opening track, “This is a Message”, has a colossal blues/funk groove with Eric Mingus’ powerful soulful vocals reaching deep into his soul and directly into our hearts and minds. Mingus sounds like an ancient blues singer and gospel minister all rolled into one body/being. “Don’t Go Near the Water” has a swell soul chorus backing Mr. Mingus’ truth-seeking lead vocal with words about the precarious situation that we now find ourselves in due to climate disasters and BS rightwing propaganda. Each songs has some great, oft greasy, slamming beats provided by Don McKenzie to which E# adds layers of effects-drenched blues/rock guitar, slide guitar licks, simmering keyboard or synth samples. The main thing that stands out here is Mr. Mingus power no-nonsense voice which demands attention and the lyrics which often capture many of the things which effect us all and give each of us the blues. Besides Mr. Mingus’ strong lead voice, there are layers of blues/gospel/R&B voices which back him most righteously. “Loaded with dread, dancing in my head” goes one song which sounds right. Longtime guitar great Elliott Sharp, uses a variety of effects to alter the sound of his guitarof every song, blending blues, psych and other distinctive sounds which have a way of reaching deep into our collective minds and souls. If you’ve ever had the blues in your life then you can relate to some/many/all of the sounds & voices which are brewing together on this disc. Are you ready to jump thru the hoops of flames? I know that I am. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

JASON KAO HWANG / J.A.DEANE - UnCharted Faith - Dino Duo (Tone Science/Blue Coast Music TSM 00013; USA) Featuring Jason Kao Hwang on electric violin with multi-FX processor and J.A. Deane on electronics: touch controller, granular synth software and live digital audio workstation. Over several decades I’ve caught Jason K Hwang play mostly acoustic violin with a variety of situations and with several different bands that he’s led. It is rare to hear him use electronics or effects to alter his instrument. Until now. I recall hearing J.A. Deane (a/k/a Dino) playing trombone & electronics in the 1980’s when he was working with Butch Morris, Bill Horvitz and Jon Hassell. Dino was living in NY then and eventually moved to New Mexico where he spent many years directing an ensemble called Out of Context and running a label called Zerx. I have long collected his many discs although acquiring all of the 26 discs on Zerx has been a longtime search endeavor. The music for this was recorded just a few years ago and since then Mr. Deane has passed away (7/23/21 at 71 years of age).
This disc has Jason Hwang playing a solid body electric violin, a first for him as far as I can tell. The liner notes here were written by Mr. Hwang and they are most illuminating, describing how this music evolved and what was going on with Mr. Deane until he passed. When this disc first began “Parallel Universe”, I thought I was listening to a muted trumpet with layers, waves of granular wind-like electronics surrounding the central sound. That muted trumpet sound must be Mr. Hwang’s violin and he is using some sort of wah wah-like device which sounds like a mute. While Mr. Hwang improvises some bird-like sounds, Dino keeps things shifting around Hwang. Some of the electronics sound familiar while others are unique and unpredictable. Mr. Deane is very carefully with the way that his sounds or contributions change somewhat from piece to piece while capturing an ongoing flow/sound which often evokes different sonic scenery. Things get a more dense and harrowing on “Crossing the Horizon”, the violin more like a siren’s voice calling to the spirits about impending storm-front ahead. Things lighten up somewhat on “Speaking in Tongues”, where Hwang’s violin is more playful, the electronics delicately shifting in textures like little fairies dancing around an ghostlike flame. The final piece, “Uncharted Faith” is the fascinating, creating a disquieting dreamscape with electric sustained strings in the foreground and some tribal percussive electronics weaving in and out in the background. This piece has a most melancholy vibe, a feeling I often get when thinking about the sad situation that our world is in presently. Timely? I would say quite rightly so. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

PAULINE OLIVEROS / JAMES ILGENFRITZ - Altamirage (Infrequent Seams IS-1039; US) On this stylistically integrated recording of experimental chamber improv, the late Pauline Oliveros and bassist Ilgenfritz (who runs Infrequent Seams) merge minds and sensibilities to achieve a quiet storm of refracted tones and bent notes. Considering Oliveros’s vast catalog, this recording seems to be of a piece and yet also quite outside her usual remit. Absent is the deeply forthright electronica she pioneered in the 60s and 70s, but in full abundance is her characteristic accordion playing, augmented with MIDI, which renders its textures sometimes recognizable, sometimes alien, and further belies the Deep Listening ethos she championed throughout her career. Ilgenfritz is a more than capable foil and colleague, keeping a particularly strident sonic vocabulary that complements and contrasts with the prickly if dry statements orchestrated by all parties concerned. Oliveros sits out the opening piece, a lengthy work for string bass, percussion, and flute, offering Ilgenfritz a chance to shine, which he certainly takes advantage of. His woodsy, varnished sounds are vaguely reminiscent of Eberhard Weber’s full-bodied approach, dappling the background when needed as errant flutes and percussive filigree color outside the lines. When Oliveros enters on “Altamirage I”, the effect is almost startling, the studio sizzling with electricity and and a somewhat menacing air, though its obvious that the overall experience seeks to draw you in rather than repel. Concentrated listening is required at this point, as Ilgenfritz generally keeps pace with Oliveros’s time-stretched tonalities. The successive trio pieces are formidable in and of themselves, notes and extremities flailing about with reckless abandon, but it’s clear all the players are thoroughly enjoying setting the firmament alight. Oliveros not only remains a commanding presence in this austere environment, she brings all her experience and complexities to bear in a performance that is as explorative and transformative as it is rigorous. Alluring stuff. - Darren Bergstein, DMG
CD $14

CHAD FOWLER / WILLIAM PARKER / ANDER GRIFFIN - Thinking Unthinking (Mahakala Music 037; USA) Featuring Chad Fowler on stritch & alto flute, William Parker on contrabass and Anders Griffin on drums. The Mahakala label was founded by saxist Chad Fowler around 2010 and first released two albums by a little known Polynesian band called Sidepony. Starting just three years ago in 2019, Mahakala erupted and has released some 30 discs, many from Downtown & elsewhere elders like: Ivo Perelman, Matt Shipp, William Parker & Kidd Jordan. I have reviewed more than a dozen so far and have dug everything that the label has put out. On a handful of these discs, label founder Chad Fowler plays mostly stritch, a rarely used straight alto sax that was first played by Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Michael Marcus. Most (all?) of the discs on Mahakala were recorded at Park West Studios in Brooklyn by Jim Clouse and the sound is consistently warm, clean and spirited.
We recently got in six new discs from Mahakala, two of which feature a trio with Chad Fowler, William Parker and Anders Griffin. Although Mr. Fowler has a fine duo disc out with Matt Shipp, the two current trio discs are the first ones where he is the featured soloist. Master contrabassist, William Parker, certainly need no intro here. Brooklyn-based drummer, Anders Griffen, has worked with Frank Lowe, Jeffrey Lewis and The Bundles. He was recently here at DMG checking out a quartet date with Ivo Perelman & Jim Clouse. We talked for a bit and he told me that is currently living in Maine. This disc has three long pieces and begins with “Kongerei” which starts with some haunting flute by Mr. Fowler, lovely laid back bass from WP and skeletal percussion from Mr. Griffen. As the piece builds, Fowler switches to stritch, which sounds light a soprano sax and which Fowler plays with an immense swagger, bending & twisting certain notes, his tone and playing are his own. Eventually the tempo and intensity pick up as we soar higher for a short section and then come back down to Mother Earth for a calm landing. All of the music here unfolds in a most organic, natural way. Since this is an all acoustic trio, there are no effects used on any of the instruments and thus it sounds immense warm and enticing. The last piece, “Shall”, starts with an impressive opening sax squeal and takes off from there building in intensity as it evolves. Mr. Fowler concentrates and makes each note/sound count slowly caressing and bending each note carefully. It is not so simple to capture the Spirit World just right so we should give some credit to all of those involved in creating this release so special. Kudos! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

UDO SCHINDLER & ERIC ZWANG ERIKSSON - Blow & Swirl (FMR 635; UK) Featuring Udo Schindler on sopranino & tenor saxes & tubax (an E-flat contrabass sax) and Eric Zwang Eriksson on drums & percussion. This is the second disc from this duo on FMR, Udo Schindler and Eric Zwang Eriksson, the first came out in 2019 on the same label. I don’t know much about German drummer, Erik Zwang Eriksson although I see that he has worked with Ignaz Schick and is a part of the Berlin Scene. The music was recorded in February of 2022 at BASIS Booksalon at MUCCA, a book store. The music here is superbly, warmly recorded, the balance just right. Mr. Schindler starts off on sopranino sax, playing quietly, carefully in the first section. The duo take their time to stretch out, have a dialogue, trade lines, weaving their notes/sounds back & forth and together. Much of the conversation here is restrained, thoughtful, subtle and enchanting. And it all flows from one section to the next quite naturally. Since we have sets at the store every Tuesday, I know (or I can feel) when the music is reaching those in attendance. Listening to the music here, I feel the same way. I feel and hear the inner and outer spirits reaching out to touch those who are listening. More strong Spiritual Medicine from Udo Schindler and Eric Zwang Eriksson. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


NEW FROM CLEAN FEED:

GÜNTER BABY SOMMER & RAYMOND MacDONALD - Sounds, Songs & Other Noises (Clean Feed 607CD; Portugal) Personnel: Günter Baby Sommer - drums & percussion and Raymond MacDonald - alto & soprano saxes. Gunter Baby Sommer, born in Dresden, is one of the pioneers of European Free Jazz. In a prolific career spanning over 50 years he has developed a unique approach to percussion and a captivating highly personalized style that has taken him around the world, collaborating widely and delighting audiences with charm and virtuosity. He has also developed and made his own exceptional instruments and has an unmistakable soundworld that marks him out as a master and a true living legend of percussion.
Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist and composer with an extensive career in music, cross-disciplinary arts and academia. Much of his work explores the boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition. As a saxophonist and composer, MacDonald has released over 60 CDs, toured and broadcast worldwide and has composed music for film, television,theatre, radio and art installations.
The result of their collaboration can be heard on their new CD "Sounds, Songs and some other Noises”. Joyous and celebratory, this CD captures two artists at the top of their game exploring new landscapes with mesmerising ideas, drawing listeners into their unique and engaging world of sound. At times fragile and delicate and at others boisterous and freewheeling, they explore their sounds and songs with a telepathic understanding of old friends sharing good times. Carving a new set of beguiling pieces brimming with warmth and excitement, Sommer’s endlessly inventive rhythms dance and weave to create wondrous percussive stories, while the saxophone searches, sometimes soaring and weeping and sometimes probing with tiny subtle sparkling textures. Jointly they create an improvised magnetic charm that is inviting, irresistible and fun. Breezy melodies and roller-coaster improvisations merge in a thrilling adventure bathing the audience in new and glorious sounds.
CD $15

EVE RISSER RED DESERT ORCHESTRA - Eurythmia (Clean Feed 609CD; Portugal) Personnel: Eve Risser - composition, piano, voice, Antonin-Tri Hoang - alto sax, analog synth, Sakina Abdou - tenor sax, Grégoire Tirtiaux - baritone sax, qarqabas, Nils Ostendorf - trumpet, analog synth, Mathias Müller - trombone, Tatiana Paris - electric guitar, voice, Ophélia Hié balafon, bara, voice, Mélissa Hié balafon, djembe, voice, Fanny Lasfargues - electro-acoustic bass, Oumarou Bambara djembe, bara& Emmanuel Scarpa - drums.
Led by the French pianist Eve Risser, the Red Desert Orchestra is a hybrid formation in which musicians from Europe and Africa rub shoulders in the service of music resolutely haunting, magnifying the polyrhythmic intertwining to the point of vertigo through a writing as demanding in its form as resolute in its ambitions. Stakeholder of ten different configurations, from solo to large ensemble,Eve Risser develops in this context her talents as a composer by adding the sounds of balafons to her orchestra, djembes and bara, from West Africa. Lines and sounds weave in tireless hypnotic loops that lead the listener to a spiritual and nomadic experience, from which brilliant soloists emerge.In Eve’s own words: “this Orchestra took over from the White Desert Orchestra. My current influences were Mali, my work with the Kaladjula Band and Nainy Diabaté.
It is a work with people and with the body: the search for soft trance for Eurythmia and dance for Kogoba Basigui, the two programs that we carry with this orchestra. SOYYAYA is an arrangement of the piece “Après Un Rêve” (Clean Feed, 2019) out of a prepared romantic-mechanical solo piano original piece. This is kind of where I've been for a while. Between dance, trance, techno, West African music (and so many others!) and romanticism, expressionism. For the other songs I came with ideas orally and we have them all arranged together. GÄMSE is a piece completely written by me as well. We play it in the other Kogoba program as well.
We work orally because not everyone reads music and especially wanting to avoid “efficiency” of writing and getting into a slow process. Treat yourself to the luxury of the "long term". See how the music can anchor itself in us and dress the group to the skin and with the time that pass. Slow process = rare these days I find, but humanly very very strong! It's really worth it! In relation to the work that we carried out to create this orchestra and this repertoire, I evoke willingly the image of weaving: at the beginning the weaving was thicker, as if we had had big needles and big yarns and little by little, it became fine lace, with wide variety of colors. When we work orally, we start with large blocks, to remember music easily, before refining with smaller needles and thread. If we do not see for a long time, the colors may be more intense (because everyone will be going back to his or her home and will have nurtured his musical individually) but the needles and wool will be larger again.
CD $15

AHANES with MATS ALEKLINT / TORBJORN ZETTERBERG / ALEX ZETHSON / et al - Petrichor (Clean Feed 604CD; Portugal) Ahanes gathered for the first time in Stockholm, in mid December 2021. Both coming from Greece and being invited to the wintery Stockholm by Zethson to play concerts, saxophonist Nicky Kokkoli were participating in a FRIM-initiated project with Maggie Nicols, while guitarist Giannis Arapis performed with Zethson’s 13-piece ensemble and VÖ during a Thanatosis festival.Though living in the same city (Athens) they hadn’t played together before, which made the three of them even more excited to do something together. Together they decided to ask three Stockholm-based, amazing musicians: drummer Nils Agnas; bassist Torbjörn Zetterberg; and trombonist Mats Äleklint who were all keen to play with them.
The sextet met in a most modest and open setting, trying out some songs, did some arrangements on the spot and then hit the record button. In the end, the album consists of two modal tunes by Coltrane and Mingus respectively, plus a composition, Piper, by Zethson and Sand –a completely free improvisation, collective real-time composing led by the close interplay.
Nicky Kokkoli was Born in 1996 in Athens, Greece. Active on the Greek Jazz and Free Improv scenes. Works on solo projects as well as in various music bands. She has collaborated with many artists around the world such as Maggie Nicols, Sharif Senhaoui, Martin Küchen, Bram De Looze, Giorgos Kontrafouris etc.Swedish pianist/keyboardist and composer Alexander Zethson (born 1988) is a member of bands such as Angles, Goran Kajfeš Tropiques, VÖ and Yokada. He has performed with Fredrik Ljungkvist, Nils Berg, various Mats Gustafsson constellations, and many more. He frequently performs solo, as well as with the likes of Sven Wunder and Mariam The Believer. Zethson is also a concert organizer and runs the label Thanatosis Produktion.
Giannis Arapis (1994) is a guitarist and an educator based in Athens, Greece. He performs, composes and improvises experimental rock and jazz music, and he is also teaching guitar as well. His main purpose is to help establish the electric guitar as a melodic voicein avant-garde music, thus showing how you can create chaos with melodic phrases. Some of his main influences are the first free jazz saxophonists like Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy and Steve Lacy, as well as classical composers such as Bela Bartok and Shostakovich.MATS ÄLEKLINT and TORBJÖRN ZETTERBERG are well-renowned players active on the international music scenes for decades. NILSAGNAS is born in 1996 and already an sought-after drummer in Stockholm and Sweden. He currently plays a lot with Max Agnes.”
CD $15

SENYAWA LAWRENCE ENGLISH / AVIVA ENDEAN / PETER KNIGHT / HELEN SVOBODA / JOE TALIA - “The Prey and The Ruler (Room40 RM 4196; Australia) “From Lawrence English: "The first time I witnessed Senyawa was in the early 2010s. We shared a bill at the MonaFoma festival in Hobart. Some memories hold strongly in your mind and Senyawa's performance that day did just that . . . This project, The Prey and the Ruler, finds its root in the unsteady months of mid-2021. As the pandemic plodded onward, and lockdowns were a thing of the everyday here in Australia, Peter Knight and I were talking about the situations unfolding in our respective states. We also got to talking about friends in the region and found ourselves pondering the situation just north of us, in Indonesia. It was around this time we thought to reach out to Rully and Wukir from Senyawa and to hear how things were first hand for them, and their communities. Following that initial conversation, we collectively decided that it was a good moment to commence a project that could cut through the geographic isolation of those long months, and also seek to create some opportunities for a community of instrument builders, friends of Senyawa, who had been significantly hit by the force of the pandemic. A few weeks after this exchange, Wukir sent a series of videos; grabs from his cellphone. The videos were of plastic molds, smoke, spray paint, and sound. In each short clip, instruments were being conceived, tested and forged. These were new instruments coming to life before our eyes, and ears. It was these instruments, and the audio possibilities they suggested, that are at the very heart of this edition. Following several more exchanges we started passing recordings to one another. The process of sharing materials back and forth quickly took on the shape of the works you hear on this album. Once all the contributions were in place, I set about forging them. On the first listen there was a deep sense of intensity to all the performances, like an outpouring or eruption. This was no doubt the result of people being largely locked away, a chance to break the looping around of their own daily routines. These sonic offerings from Senyawa, these instruments with their sounds so unfamiliar and at times unexpected, seemingly unlocked approaches from everyone in surprising ways. It was as if everyone was leaning into the sounds, applying themselves to the particular qualities of these new instruments. What you hear on this edition then is a collective effort at expanded listening..."
CD $18

SPERMCHURCH with TREVOR DUNN / SANNETY - Merdeka Atau Mati (Riverworm RWR001; USA) Worship the glitch, goes the mandate. Alternately: beware ye all who enter here. Bassist Trevor Dunn has launched his new Riverworm label with a helluva statement, created in collaboration with Brooklyn electronicist Sannety. Merdeka Atau Mati, Indonesian for “live free or die”, certainly is a confrontational statement on all levels, if disguised by an aberrant collision of chopped-up digitalia, piecemeal collage, spastic looping, the aforementioned glitch patterning, and an almost everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to sound design. The results resemble a mashup of Venetian Snares, Autechre, Oval, Fenn O’Berg, and any number of artists ripping apart the innards of their hard-drives to broach something new. “You Thoroughly Want the Thing That Mounts” is the duo’s mission statement, a nine-minute investigation in ungainly noises combining skipping CD detritus, distorted half-heard voices, tones that feel like nettle being crushed underfoot, bastardized drum machine snares, and other unknown sources to unveil a symphony for distressed ears. It is simultaneously wearying and exhilarating in equal measure. “Which Ways the Arrows Point” is a skittery dissection of drum ’n’ bass delighting in its bubbly high frequencies and effervescent aftertaste, burping and bleeping its way to its own sated satisfaction. Consequently, it’s unfortunate that the prior “Ovary Looping”, brilliant title notwithstanding, lasts but a mere 59 seconds; its dying, moogy catcalls and tumbling, whirlpool effects could go on for ten minutes and never outstay its welcome. But that’s okay: your ears are amply rewarded by the zeitgeist-capturing “Put the Baby Online”, which somehow conjures what Frank Zappa might do had he run roughshod and barefoot through the vast cybernetic forest of plug-ins, soft synths, and other laptop paraphernalia. Disarming as all get out, and quite a hoot. - Darren Bergstein, DMG
CD $12

AGNESE AMICO - Alalie (zOaR ZCD 120; USA) Featuring Agnese Amico on hardenger fiddle, recorded live at Cosmo in Venice, Italy. Ms. Amico is a Sicilian/Norwegian violinist who plays the rare Hardenger fiddle which is is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be a national instrument of Norway. This type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings rather than four as on a standard violin. The title of this disc, ‘Alalie’ refers to “the feeling of loss of words, thoughts and memories leading to an inability to interact with certain environment. This music was inspired by popular songs from both Norwegian and Sicilian sources. The music is superbly recorded and mixed & mastered by Elliott Sharp whose label zOaR this disc is released on. The space where this was recorded, an apse or a semicircular recess in a church, adds some unique, mystical reverberance to the sound of the Hardenger fiddle. The sound is all acoustic and superbly recorded. The music is somewhat melancholy and somewhat angelic, likes harps played by angels in the heavens. In the back picture Ms. Amico is playing her fiddle like a cello in the upright position resting in her lap. Ms. Amico takes an older melody on “Varde” and expands upon it, speeding up her bowing and then carefully bending certain notes to give things a slightly disorienting quality. Since I don’t recognize any of the melodies or old songs that have inspired these pieces, I can only go by what I hear which is this: there is quite a bit extrapolation and experimentation going here although nothing seems forced to be too out but rather still enchanting in the way these sounds evoke layers of spirits from ancient or present times. I found this disc to be most haunting, a deeply personal inner journey that feels truly from the heart and mind of this wonderful new musician. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14


HISTORIC & ARCHIVAL, REISSUES & RESTOCKED DISCS:

SUN RA and His BLUE UNIVERSE ARKESTRA - Universe in Blue (Cosmic Myth Records 006; USA) “Universe in Blue is a rarity. After-hours music, showcasing Sun Ra's twisted take on the Blues, these live recordings from 1972 provide an intriguing glimpse of the Arkestra’s repertoire and virtuosity at the close of their first decade playing in New York, and brought him to the greater attention of the New York press and helped cement his reputation for audacious showmanship. Ra and his band performed at the famed East Village Slug's almost every Monday night for several years through the late sixties, and took the stage sporadically for several years thereafter.
Based on a number of accounts, the Slugs shows typically started around 9:00 pm and could blaze on with or without breaks until 4:00 am. The personnel fluctuated, depending on who showed up, who was hanging around and could handle an instrument, and the bandleader's divinations. These evenings were raw, unpredictable, and calamitous, and not without artistic controversy. They brought Sun Ra greater attention from the New York press and helped cement his reputation for audacious showmanship.
This collection of undated live club performances was issued in small-run pressings with two different LP covers on Sun Ra's Saturn label around 1972, but has largely escaped further notice. It's never been available on CD, and only a previous unofficial LP reissue was available prior to this edition.”
CD $14 / LP $22

ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH - Globe Unity (Corbett vs. Dempsey 09; USA) “Reissue, originally released in 1967. In 1966, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach assembled his first large ensemble to play his compositions "Globe Unity" and "Sun." This 14-piece band, which brought together some of the leading figures in European improvised music, would eventually expand -- incorporating not only Europeans but also American and Asian musicians -- and assume its rightful name: Globe Unity Orchestra. In its nascent outing, beautifully recorded at Ariola Studio in Cologne, Schlippenbach's band was already sensational, performing at various festivals and solidifying the reputations of some of its star players. Most notably among these was a 25-year-old saxophonist named Peter Brötzmann, whose whole band -- saxophonist Kris Wanders, drummer Mani Neumeier, and bassist Peter Kowald, the latter of whom would for a period assume nominal leadership of Globe Unity -- was incorporated into the large Schlippenbach group. Globe Unity was Brötzmann's first outing on LP. Kowald's too. And future drum heroes of the krautrock genre, Neumeier (with Guru Guru) and Jaki Liebezeit (with Can) constitute the incredible rhythm section. If you factor in German early-free-music mainstays Gunter Hampel (here on flute and bass clarinet, no vibes), trumpeter Manfred Schoof, bassist Buschi Niebergall, and tenor saxophonist Gerd Dudek, Dutch saxophonist and clarinetist Willem Breuker, French trumpeter Claude Deron, the enormity of the band's potential becomes apparent. Add Schlippenbach himself, an absolute cyclone on the piano as well as prominent tubular bells and gong, and the global scene is set. Schlippenbach's unique position at the time, as one of the foremost players in German free music, but also as a rising young composer who'd studied with Bernd Alois Zimmermann, allowed him to serve as exactly the right conduit for several approaches to creative music, from introducing his graphically notated scores to making a perfect context for the debuts of future star improvisors Brötzmann and Kowald. Schlippenbach's Globe Unity was first issued on SABA in 1967, then MPS a couple of years after that. It has long been out-of-print and has only ever appeared on CD in a tiny Japanese version published in 1999. Corbett vs. Dempsey's reissue comes with facsimile cover. The music was remastered from the original tapes and is licensed directly from MPS. Anyone interested in the history of improvised music needs to hear Globe Unity, which retains a sense of urgency 56 years after it was waxed.”
CD $15

THREE IMPORTANT NEW CD BOX SETS:

IANNIS XENAKIS - Electroacoustic Works (KarlRecords 092; Germany) Electroacoustic Works celebrates the 100th anniversary of Iannis Xenakis (on May 29th, 2022). Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) is one of the most important composers of the 20th century avantgarde whose influence on music can be traced to the present day -- not only in the world of conservatory-trained composers but also in various streams of current non-academic underground aesthetics such as experimental electronic music, noise and industrial. After he arrived in Paris in 1947, Xenakis not only studied composition with Messiaen and later became a member of the famous GRM (Groupe de recherches musicales), he also worked as assistant to the famous architect Le Corbusier and realized, amongst others, the Philips Pavilion for the World Exhibition in Brussels 1958. His compositions often are based on mathematical principles which give his music an unprecedented aesthetic and "shocking otherness" (The Guardian). Although Xenakis also composed for orchestra (his most famous works are "Metastasis", "Pithoprakta", and "Terretektorh"), electronic music became his way for exploring new ideas and concepts and to develop new techniques like a graphic interface for sound synthesis or later, when computers were easier accessible, his so-called "stochastic synthesis" (Gendy 3, S.709 > Disc V, Late Works). Xenakis's first electroacoustic pieces, like "Diamorphoses" or "Bohor", turned out groundbreaking works while the latter even caused, as Michel Chion put it, the "greatest scandal of electroacoustic music" on the occasion of its performance 1968 at the GRM in Paris. His so-called "Polytopes" were overwhelming multimedia performances with especially designed architectures, laser and light shows etc. where sometimes up to several hundred loudspeakers were used to move the sounds in space. For example, his most famous composition "Persepolis", commissioned by the Persian Shah, premiered in 1971 in Shiraz-Persepolis (Iran) as a performance including light-tracks, laser beams, groups of children walking around with torches and 59 loudspeakers to project the music in an open-air situation. The most radical aspects of sound can be found in Xenakis's late work and its merciless reduction to harsh, almost ruthless sound synthesis. In the early nineties, he devoted himself to the concept of a composing machine: a machine that designs everything independently and calculates the finished piece, the algorithm is the work. Years of source studies and comparative research by zeitkratzer director Reinhold Friedl, in collaboration with sound engineer Martin Wurmnest, made these critically reflected stereo mixes possible, which were appropriately mastered by Rashad Becker and which, in addition to the aspect of fidelity to the source, put the listener in the center. 5CD box set includes booklet with English/German liner notes by Reinhold Friedl (zeitkratzer) and rare photos from the Xenakis archive.”
5 CD Set $60

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR - Interference Patterns: The Recordings 2005-2016 (Esoteric Eclec 142810; UK) 14 DISC LIMITED EDITION BOXED SET FEATURING ALL OF THE RECORDINGS BY VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR ISSUED BETWEEN 2005 and 2016. This boxed set celebrates this second era of Van der Graaf Generator with all of the albums issued by the band between 2005 and 2016 and includes the long deleted live double album and concert DVD 'Live At Paradiso' and the rare additional live CD previously issued only on the limited Japanese release of 'Real Time'.
Van der Graaf Generator were one of the most original and inspiring bands of the 1970s. When Peter Hamill, Hugh Banton, Guy Evans and David Jackson announced their reformation in 2005 to perform concerts and to record a new album, it took many by surprise, but the group proved they were still making relevant and truly progressive music.
Their reunion would not be a short-lived affair, as VdGG continued to record a series of excellent studio and live albums, despite the departure of David Jackson in late 2005 following the release of the album ‘Present’. Over the next ten years VdGG issued a string of albums and toured as the mood took them.
This boxed set celebrates this second era of Van der Graaf Generator with all of the albums issued by the band between 2005 and 2016 and includes the long deleted live double album and concert DVD ‘Live At Paradiso’ and the rare additional live CD previously issued only on the limited Japanese release of ‘Real Time’. ‘Interference Patterns’ includes a 96-page book with an extensive new essay and band interviews by Sid Smith and features each album in replica album sleeves.”
14 CD/DVD Set $110

MAN - Life on the Road - ON AIR - 1972-1983 (Esoteric Records Eclec 62814; UK)“Man earned well deserved praise for a series of wonderful albums issued between 1969 and 1976. Their US West Coast influenced sound also gained them a loyal following on the live circuit where their instrumental prowess was given room to shine. Initially enjoying success in Germany, by 1972 Man had begun to enjoy success in Britain and from 1972 they recorded a series of acclaimed sessions and live concerts for BBC Radio One, had a BBC TV documentary made about them and appeared on the influential TV series The Old Grey Whistle Test. With ever changing line-ups throughout the 1970s, Man disbanded in 1976 after a farewell concert at The Roundhouse in London (a location of some of their legendary concerts). They reformed in 1983, appearing at The Reading Festival that year and would go on to record a further series of excellent albums and undertake extensive touring. The set is completed by an illustrated booklet featuring a new essay, this release captures various line-ups of Man at their finest and is a truly special collection by a wonderful band.”
It has taken me a while to appreciate the essence of the Welsh band Man. I first heard midway through their long ever-evolving career and thought they were interesting but… Then I found a copy of their first album (‘Revelation’ from 1969) and thought yes! A blend between proggish and psych/jamband rock. There have been some 20 different musicians in Man between 1969 & the late seventies. I started with Disc One which has two long tracks from 1972 and two more tracks from 1973. “Spunk Rock” is a long & winding instrumental (minimal wordless vocals midway), not so distant from early Quicksilver with a some Gong-like space-rock jams. I must admit that the vocals occasionally make me wince a bit but instrumentally (most of which they are), Man are pretty impressive. I do like the spoken word bit on “The Brazilian Cucumber Meets Deke’s New Nose”, one of the weirder songs. There so unexpected twists and turns here using feedback or other effects, all of which are well-used. Not unlike the Dead, Man reinvent themselves from gig to gig, each song/jam evolving to often surprising places. I’ve checked the 4 CD’s and I am now a big Man fan. Time to check both of those DVD’s when I have some time. This is a must for adventurous Dead, Gong or jamband fans from anywhere/everywhere. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
6 Disc [4 CD 2 DVD] Box Set $60

WAND - Spiders In the Rain (Drag City 785; USA) "Since 2014, Wand have made five albums (and an EP) in the studio and a living playing on the road. Business/pleasure: the two sides of their (multiverticed, decagon) coin, flipping in the strobe light of ongoing self-actualization. And yet, by doing both at the same time -- making a record of them playing live -- they've now made their best one yet. How do you get Spiders In the Rain? Start by going all the way back to January 2020. Do you remember? Wand do. They'd been touring Laughing Matter for ten months. They'd done the coast, spanned the country, crossed the water twice, came back home and kept on going . . . driving, flying, occasionally floating (or maybe just thinking they were?), always on to the next town. They did all kinds of shows -- clubs, ballrooms, festival gigs with no roof overhead -- the songs expanding and contracting according to the dimensions of each day. Seventy-nine shows, and everything that was involved -- the miles that ran beneath them, the different places and people everywhere, the music as it breathed, making everyone change every night -- alchemized the band, and they drove deeper into their far horizon than they'd ever previously gone. The essential truth of the live vibe -- that it's always better when everybody's here -- was clear, so they booked a few shows more in Cali, from L.A. up to Marin. They brought along light and projections from The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show and Mike Kreibel and Zac Hernandez too, to tape everything -- to get the big-deck energy out of performances in S.F. and L.A., but also to draw it out of the margins in Sacramento, Novato and Big Sur. It all happened, too. Everyone brought their experience -- the kids in the audience and the folks behind the boards, all along with Wand, where it meant something different for everybody in the van. Packaged sumptuously with artwork from Sam Klickner, Spiders In the Rain is an arc of natural beauty and man-made abstraction inside and out, on an epic scale. Wand are orchestra and machine on Spiders In the Rain, one with the audience, able to get inside any dimension of their sound, whether its songs from their second album or their last one. It almost felt okay that they couldn't play any more shows immediately after, until it didn't again. But the change was made: when they started up again doing shows in December of 2021, the energy moved just as fluidly through the room and the band."
CD $15

MICHAEL GIRA - The Knot: Complete Words for Music, Collected Stories and Journals (Young God; USA) Journals, stories, and songs from Michael Gira/Swans spanning the years 1981 to present. Includes visual archives and artwork dating back to 1974. Hardbound, 408 pages, includes 101 color images printed on high quality photographic paper. From the Preface to The Knot: "This book contains the words to every song I’ve written worth collecting to date from all my musical projects throughout the years. I’ve left out various imbecilities and feckless half-starts. Also included in this book are several previously published short stories."- Michael Gira
408 Page Hardbound BOOK - $70


LP SECTION:

MILES DAVIS with WAYNE SHORTER / CHICK COREA / DACE HOLLAND / JACK DeJOHNETTE - Live At Ronnie Scott's 1969 (Rhythm and Blues RANDB 105LP; UK) “The fiery five-piece band that toured Europe in late 1969 unaccountably never made a studio LP, so high quality live recordings such as this are to be treasured. This set comprises seven tracks recorded in London for BBC TV's Jazz Night plus a complementary recording of "'Round Midnight" made for Italian television. The stellar line-up comprises Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJonette. Comes with full recording details and sleeve notes.”
LP $28

PHAROAH SANDERS with CHEIKH TIDIANE / WILLIAM HENDERSON / STAFFORD JAMES / EDDIE MOORE - Moon Child (Music on Vinyl 2949; Netherlands) "To celebrate the 45th anniversary of iconic Dutch jazz label Timeless Records, Music On Vinyl is releasing a series that features albums that are part of the Timeless Records legacy and will be released mainly throughout 2022. Part of this series is Pharoah Sanders' Moon Child from 1990, which bookended a decade of musical soul searching for Sanders. The acclaimed free jazz player is known to have a raw and abrasive sound, but reinvented himself on this album as a more traditional improviser capable of thoughtful deliberations. Moon Child is a grand old time throughout, and Sanders has never been more eminently sing-along-able as he is on its title track. The record was co-written with Horace Silver, George Gershwin and Abdullah Ibrahim and recorded with William Henderson, Stafford James, Eddie Moore and Cheikh Tidiane Fall. Moon Child is available on black vinyl."
LP $36

TRONDHEIM JAZZ ORCHESTRA & OLE MORTEN VAGAN - Plastic Wave (Odin Records 9578LP; Norway) “Plastic Wave comes as the sequel to 2018's celebrated Happy Endlings, where Ole Morten Vågan, one of the most sought-after bass players in Norway, collaborated with the unpredictable and creative Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, comprised of a sort of "who's who" in Norwegian jazz. Where Happy Endlings took the listener on a 72-minute-long ride on the edge of their seat through a myriad of innovation, chock, and surprises, Plastic Wave sees TJO and Vågan take their mischievous end time antics from the previous album to the next phase, in some sorts a musical excavation of the next evolutionary step -- and the sequel is no less than 12 minutes longer. Titles such as "Food Chain Reaction" and "Critical Mass Distraction" are given extra momentum by Flu Hartberg's cover art, again a trusty companion for the music. Having been recorded halfway through 2020, the music on Plastic Wave plays well against this unprecedented backdrop, the music on Plastic Wave plays well against this unprecedented backdrop, and elements like a sudden cameo by poet Frode Grytten places the music even further into the context of our time.”
LP $26

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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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INDEPENDENT PROMOTERS ALLIANCE Presents:

NICK LYONS on alto sax, LOU GRASSI on drums SIMONE WEISENFELS 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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A CONCERT FOR THE UKRAINE
Friday, December 9th at 7:30pm, doors at 6:30
The Auditorium at The New School
66 W. 12th Street, NY, NY, 10011

Presented by John Zorn & The College of Performing Arts at The New School

Featuring:
LAURIE ANDERSON-JOHN ZORN DUO
MARC RIBOT-MARY HALVORSON DUO
BROOKLYN RIDER
SARA SERPA & MARTA SANCHEZ
RAVI COLTRANE QUARTET
with ADAM ROGERS / DEZRON DOUGLAS & KUSH ABADEY

FREE Admission
Suggested Donation $50 & above to RAZOM
https://www.razomforukraine.org//donate
Please show a receipt of your donation at the door for admission

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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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