DMG Newsletter for May 26th, 2023

Oh! you're gonna miss me, baby.
Oh! you're gonna miss me, baby.
Oh! you're gonna miss me, child, yeah, yeah.

I gave you the warning,
But you never heeded it.
How can you say you miss my lovin’
When you never needed it?
Yeah! Yeah! Ow!

You're gonna wake up wonderin',
Find yourself all alone,
But what's gonna stop me, baby?
I'm not comin' home.
I'm not comin' home.
I'm not comin' home.
Oh, oh, oh, yeah!

I recall getting a copy of the first ’Nuggets’ 2-LP set on Sire Records when it was released in 1976. I had long been a big fan of psychedelic and garage music, buying loads of singles and then LP’s from every cool psych/garage band that I could find. I am still on that long psych journey today. I still dig most of the songs from that ‘Nuggets’ LP, as well as the ongoing ‘Nuggets’ & ‘Pebbles’ comps that I still collect. ‘You’re Gonna Me Miss’ is an early garage rock revenge fueled song which still stirs me up and has me singing along. The 13th Floor Elevators were from Austin, Texas and were led by Roky Erickson, who went to high school and was a friend of Janis Joplin. The band recorded four albums for the International Artists label which was run by Leland Rogers (brother of Kenny Rogers). Oddly enough, Texas was a hotbed for many great psych & garage bands like the Red Crayola, Sir Douglas Quintet, Moving Sidewalks, Lost & Found, Fever Tree, Bubble Puppy, Southwest F.O.B. and many others.
“You’re Gonna Miss Me” opens the film, ‘High Fidelity’, which stars John Cusak as a quirky yet lovable record store owner. The film was based on a book by Nick Hornsby (even better than the film) and as a record store dude myself, I can certainly relate to the goings on in the store. This song was covered by dozens of garage & punk bands, like my pals the Love Pushers (Jersey Beat staff writers) and Radio Birdman, who revved it up to near hardcore intensity. If you’ve ever felt revenge or anger for someone who has hurt you, someone you used to love or be close friends with, then you can relate to the feelings whipped up in this song. I would like to dedicate this song to two former friends and/or lovers, Jason Roth and Huguette C. “You didn’t realize (repeat several times), You’re gonna miss me, baby!” Yes you are! - MC BruceLee G

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THE DMG 32nd ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE FREE MUSIC SERIES Continues with:

Tuesday, May 30th:
6:30: HAN TAMMEN / MONICA ROCHA / PAUL FEITZINGER - Electronics / No-input mixer / Percussion
7:30: MAX JOHNSON / ALFREDO COLON / JASON NAZARY - Bass / Alto Sax / Drums
8:30: BEN STAPP - Tuba - compositions / SAM NEWSOME - Soprano Sax

Saturday, June 3rd: The GauciMusic Series Continues with:
6pm: DAVE MILLER / BLAISE SIWULA / RUBIN KODHELLI / ADAM LANE - Drums / Sax / Cello / Bass
7pm: STEPHEN GAUCI / JULIA BRUESSEL / KEVIN SHEA - Reeds / Violin / Drums
8pm: BEN STAPP / JUAN PABLO CARLETTI - Tuba / Drums

Tuesday, June 6th:
6:30: POTIONS with YOON SUN CHOI - Voice / ANDRE MATOS - Guitar / JEONG LIM YANG - Bass
7:30: BLAISE SIWULA / DMITRY ISHENKO / DAVE MILLER - Sax & Clarinet / Contrabass / Drums
8:30: PATRICK GOLDEN / JIM CLOUSE / DAVE SEWELSON / ADAM LANE- Drums / Tenor Sax / Bari Sax / Bass
9:30: SKEETER SHELTON - Saxes & Winds / JOEL PETERSON - Contrabass / JAMES BALIJO - Drums

Downtown Music Gallery is located at 13 Monroe St, between Catherine & Market Sts. We are in a basement space below an art gallery & beauty salon. We are on the east side of Chinatown, not far from East Broadway & the end of the Bowery. Admission for all concerts is free and donations are always welcomed. We have concerts here every Tuesday starting at 6:30 plus Steve Gauci curates his own series here on the 2nd or 1st Saturday of each month. You can check out the weekly schedule here: https://www.downtownmusicgallery.com/shows.php

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THIS WEEK’S DYNAMIC DISCS BEGIN WITH…

ROSCOE MITCHELL ORCHESTRA and SPACE TRIO with JAMES FEI / SCOTT ROBINSON / BEN GOLDBERG / WILLIAM WINANT / THOMAS BUCKNER / SARAH CAHILL / et al - At the Fault Zone Festival (Wide Hive 0371; USA) Roscoe Mitchell’s Space trio features Mr. Mitchell on bass sax & compositions, Scott Robinson on tenor & slides saxes and Thomas Buckner on baritone voice. The Roscoe Mitchell Orchestra features around 40 musicians featuring known quantities like Sarah Cahill on piano, Ben Goldberg on B-flat clarinet, Jordan Glenn on percussion, Roscoe Mitchell on soprano sax (solo) and Scott Robinaon on tenor sax (solo). This disc was recorded at the Fault Zone Festival at Mills College on April 19 & 21st on 2022. Although Art Ensemble of Chicago & AACM founder, Roscoe Mitchell is now 84 and has retired from teaching at Mills College, he continues to compose and paint all the time, as well as play live as often as it possible as well. The Space Trio (originally with Thomas Buckner & Gerald Oshita) was founded in the mid-1980’s and continues today. The pieces for the orchestra were recorded on 4/21/22 while the pieces for the Space Trio were recorded the day before.
The opening and closing pieces were performed by the Space Trio. The first piece is entitled “You’ll Be There in Denim Blue” and the liner notes state that the Space Trio has long been involved with improvisations and ways to direct or frame it. With the passing of original reeds player Gerald Oshita, multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson plays tenor & slide saxes while Mr. Mitchell plays the unwieldy bass sax and Thomas Bucker sings. Baritone vocalist and longtime Roscoe Mitchell collaborator/supporter, Thomas Buckner, has worked with Mr. Mitchell for nearly 40 years, hence his voice and Mitchell’s bass sax work well and in a similar timbral area. “Cards in 3D Colors” was composed for Sarah Cahill (New Music specialist) on piano and Kate Stenberg on violin. Although it is through-composed, it utilizes material for improvisers taken from Mitchell’s card series. This piece recalls a similar serious, thoughtful, thematic intent/vibe that I often here in most of Roscoe Mitchell’s chamber works. It is also superbly recorded as is all the music of this disc: warm, clean, clear and superbly balanced. “Sustain and Run 22” is an orchestra work and it based on the transcribed music taken from Mr. Mitchell’s solo sax improvisations with text snippets taken from William Shakespeare, sung in an operatic mode and featuring three vocalists. Although I’ve listened to very little opera, outside of Berg’s “Woyzeck” and “Lulu”, I do enjoy the vocals and music here as they work together well. The longest piece here is called “Distant Radio Transmission Fault Zone” (nearly 29 minutes) and it is quite extraordinary. The piece works its way through different sections, baritone vocals used sparingly, cautiously interwoven strings, brass and reeds, and Roscoe Mitchell’s distinctive soprano sax soloing midway. The AACM, of which Roscoe Mitchell is a founding member, has long pushed/inspired their members to go beyond categories, genres of styles like jazz and contemporary classical or chamber music. The music here is beyond those categories, blending the best elements of each into a focused, thoughtful, compelling source of inspiration and reflection. The cover was also painted by Roscoe Mitchell and also reflects the music found inside. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

PETER BROTZMANN / MAJID BEKKAS / HAMID DRAKE - Catching Ghosts - Live at JazzFest Berlin (ACT 9970-2; Germany)"Catching Ghosts" by revered, iconoclastic 81-year-old reedist Peter Brötzmann with Moroccan Gnaoua adept Majid Bekkas playing two-stringed, camel-skin-backed guembre and Chicago-bred drummer Hamid Drake, proves that "free" spontaneous interactions deriving power from age-old traditions can transcend cultural lines. Improvising on incantations from Gnaoua liturgy, Brötzmann's horn cries as summons and statement; Drake's drums awaken inner impulses; Bekkas' strings, plucked and strummed, tie it all together, and his voice brings the song home. But this is no lucky success: The music is vital due to its players' career-long practice, their knowledge of heritage, and belief the past must always be reinterpreted, renewed.
American jazz giants have jammed with Gnaouans, but for Brötzmann, Europe's exemplar of unfettered blowing, to grapple with such material is to hear a new synthesis. "My approach is get in and disturb these themes, so other things happen," he explains. "I'm not thinking about scales or harmonies. I follow Bekkas, and when he changes, I do something against it to make the music interesting to me. The dialectic is a good way to make something new, out of tension. I need that in any sort of playing."
Bekkas aligns himself with Brötzmann, championing the revival of Gnaouan culture, which originates in the uneasy history of freed Black slaves integrating with Moroccan Islamic society. The music relates to American blues, as Bekkas knows. Drake orchestrates the open format, making drama from grooves so each track of "Catching Ghosts" tells its own story, signifying meaning though it be pre-linguistic.
That suits Brötzmann's adjustment of his signature style. "I don't have to play all high energy anymore," says the German who shook up the jazz world in 1968 with his album "Machine Gun". "Now I'm more interested in dynamics and sound." Those tangible qualities universalize the challenge of "Catching Ghosts".
CD $16

MICHAEL BLAKE with SKYE STEELE / CHRISTOPHER HOFFMAN / GUILHERME MONTIERO / MAURO REFOSCO / ROGERIO BOCCATO - Dance Of The Mystic Bliss (P&M Records CD001; USA) Featuring Michael Blake on tenor & soprano saxes, flutes & compositions, Skye Steele on violin, rabeka & gonji, Guilherme Montiero on electric guitar, Christopher Hoffman on cello, Michael Bates on bass, Mauro Refosco & Rogerio Boccato on percussion. About 3 months ago, we got two promos CD’s in the mail from Daniel Rosenboom & Michael Blake. I played them in the store back to back with my employee John Mori listening and we both agreed that both were extraordinary. A great way to start our day at DMG. I have long admired the playing, composing and band-leading of former Lounge Lizard saxist Michael Blake. Blake is immensely diverse, each of his 20 discs completely different. Mr. Blake lost his mother in 2018, which devastated him, making it difficult to come up with material for his latest release. The pandemic gave him the time and consideration for this music on this disc. I know of each of the members of this septet except for their guitarist from previous sessions: Skye Steele (from Adam Rudolph & Aram Bajakian) sessions, Chris Hoffman (for Threadgill’s Zooid & James Brandon Lewis), Mauro Refosco (for Zion80 & Tony Scherr) and Michael Bates (Francois Houle & numerous solo offerings.
Michael Blake has always had an organic, earthy, infectious, groove-infected sound and this is still true right from the first song. “Merle the Pearl” features Mr. Blake’s joyous tenor sax supported by swirling strings, tasty guitar and a cushion of soft percussion. Blake’s lush soprano sails softly on “Le Couer du Gardin”, supported by haunting, dreamy strings and percussion. I like the way Blake uses both percussionists throughout, doubling up the groove with some laid back grease. Guitarist Guilherme Montiero & Michael Blake both play with soulful grit on “Little Demons”, oh so yummy. Here’s something interesting: Blake has the string players adding some funky repeating lines on “Love Finally Arrives”, which sounds more like folk-rock, sort of. “Topanga Burns” has a majestic, rather prog-like vibe/sound. “Sagra” sounds more like an ethnic album with another infectious groove & melody at the center. “The Meadows” features some exquisite flute, a long, teasing, thoughtful story-telling solo over some hypnotic strings. Things turn darker, spookier on “Weeds”, which is fueled by a slow, swaying, conga groove with eerie swamp-like guitar and equally haunting cello-led strings. Quite unexpected. Category-wise, no idea how to file this disc although it is most enchanting throughout the hour-long duration. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 / LP $25

GLASS TRIANGLE with ZEENA PARKINS / METTE RASMUSSEN / RYAN SAWYER - Blue and Sun-Lights (Relative Pitch Records 1152; USA) Glass Triangle features Zeena Parkins on electric harp & objects, Mette Rasmussen on sax, voice & other objects and Ryan Sawyer on drums & percussion. Thanks to label founder, Kevin Reilly, the Relative Pitch label continues to release a wealth of international improvisers a chance to experiment, explore sounds and put select musicians in ever-changing combinations, as well as a number of fine solo efforts. Glass Triangle is a unique trio which consists of harpist Zeena Parkins (early Downtown player & professor at Mills College), Mette Rasmussen (free-form Danish saxist living in Norway) and Ryan Sawyer (NY drummer who has worked with Tony Malaby, Susan Alcorn & Nate Wooley). This is the second disc from this trio.
Zeena Parkins has been playing her handmade electric harp since the late 1980’s when she was a member of Skeleton Crew, Carbon and No Safety. Check out her unique harp on-line since no one else plays it quite like her. That harp has pick-ups and a whammy bar plus Zeena uses a variety of utensils & devices to coax sounds from it. On the opener, “Earth O”, Ms. Parkins plays those warped electric guitar like sounds while Ms. Rasmussen spews out some powerful free alto sax exhortations with Mr. Sawyer providing a series of rhythm explosions as well as more subtle punctuation. It does sound like this trio has been playing together for a while since their improv is tightly executed. Considering that Ms. Parkins has been a series of Downtown rock-oriented bands, her playing often frames things in a out-rock sort-of way. Mr. Sawyer has been in several rock bands, as well as free form outlets, hence he also locks into Zeena’s more rhythmic segments just right. Ms. Rassmussen is the youngest member of this trio and also mixes free/jazz with other more rocking detours. Mette also has a strong, recognizable tone when she is not sputtering, screaming or twisting notes inside-out. I know that Ms. Parkins also plays a small keyboard, synth or sample, which she might be playing here when there are sounds that I don’t quite recognize. Ms. Rassmussen is featured on “beaming/becoming chrystal” and it sounds like she is playing some fierce tenor sax with strong support from Sawyer’s quick-witted drums. Sawyer’s drumming is particularly potent on “Spine”, giving both Parkins and Rassmussen a series of rhythmic eruptions and silences to deal with. This entire disc is a solid effort of free, focused improv at its best. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

MELTING MIND with VIRGINIA GENTA / MICHELE MAZZANI / DAVID VANZAN / MATTEO POGGI - At Grnd Zero (Relative Pitch Records 1147; USA) Melting Mind is Virginia Genta on amplified & processed sopranino sax, Michele Mazzani on electric guitar & electronics and David Vanzan & Matteo Poggi both on electronics. Connoisseurs of free/jazz sax should recognize the name of Italain saxist Virginia Genta, who has worked with Neokarma, Jooklo Trio and Andrew Barker. Electronics player David Vanzan was also a member of Neokarma & Jooklo Trio or Octet. I hadn’t heard about Michele Mazzani or Matteo Poggi before now although both are members of Gelba, a psych/noise unit with a half dozen obscure releases mostly on cassette. I am a big fan of Ms. Genta whose free-form sax playing can be as intense as any other contemporary free sax great.
This disc was recorded live at Grnd Zero in Lyon, France is October of 2019. The overall sound here is completely abrasive, noisy and over-the-top. It is hard to tell who is playing what since there is a focused stream of howling noise. I can pick out a bit of furiously picked guitar and/or bent sax but otherwise the stream of noise pulsates and howls like a fierce wind erupting and blowing over us. At first, I thought the sound was solid, like an amplified vacuum cleaner, but as the disc unfolds, I start to hear the sounds expand, contract and slowly shift through different timbral areas. If you dig lands like Wolf Eyes, Hair Police or even Merzbow, then you just might enjoy this sprawling effort of mutant, warped, brain-melting sounds. - Bruce Lee Gallanter
CD $13

PEGGY LEE BAND with BRAD TURNER / JON BENTLEY / JEREMY BERKMAN / RON SAMWORTH / TONY WILSON / ANDRE LACHANCE / DYLAN VAN DER SCHYFF - A Giving Way (Songlines SGL 1636; Canada) This is the sixth studio album of The Peggy Lee Band, the first since 2012. The band was formed in Vancouver in 1998 to, as Peggy writes, “to explore different strategies for improvisation within composition and to feature the unique and brilliant individual voices that make up the band. Over the years the individual voices remain vivid and compelling but the overall ensemble sound has also developed into its own rich entity." The members of the band are Brad Turner (trumpet), Jon Bentley (sax), Jeremy Berkman (trombone), Ron Samworth and Tony Wilson (guitars), André Lachance (bass) and Dylan van der Schyff (drums), with Peggy on cello. All are senior members of Vancouver's jazz and creative music community; many have had their own Songlines releases, most recently Waxwing (Bentley-Lee-Wilson) with Flicker Down (2021). Lee's previous release on Songlines, the 10-piece Echo Painting project (2018) was widely acclaimed for its heartfelt expressivity and superb style and craft. The compositions here are all originals except for The Band's "Whispering Pines." The music has a kind of concept, as Peggy explains: "These compositions come from a place of gratitude and love for family, place and community as well as a desire to do better collectively towards justice, honor and human dignity. The ensemble playing is beautifully polished and warm and the members of the band improvise with great creativity, passion and clarity."
CD $16

CLAIRE CHASE with NATHAN DAVIS / SUSIE IBARRA / LEVY LORENZO / et al - Density 2026, Part VIII (New Focus Records 353; USA) It was a familiar, comforting sight: the flutist Claire Chase, standing atop a scaffold and softly lit, a warmly glowing star in the expansive darkness of the Kitchen’s performance space.
Since 2013, a scene like this has greeted every audience to witness an installment of “Density 2036,” Chase’s multidecade initiative to commission a new program of flute music each year, leading up to the centennial of Edgard Varèse’s brief but influential 1936 solo “Density 21.5,” a work that, she once wrote, “unfurled genre-dissolving possibilities for the instrument.”
These programs — theatrical as well as musical, vocal as well as instrumental — have taken on the reliability of holiday gatherings. And, like many such gatherings, Chase’s was jeopardized by the pandemic: The seventh installment, Liza Lim’s “Sex Magic,” premiered online last December.
What a relief it was, then, to be back at the Kitchen on Friday for Part VIII of “Density” — one of the great musical undertakings of our time, a singular project by a singular artist on the messily ambitious scale of Wagner’s “Ring” and Stockhausen’s “Licht.” The climax will be a 24-hour marathon concert, but until then, “Density” is unfolding incrementally, with Chase as the North Star of her instrument’s ever-expanding universe.” - Joshua Barone, Critic’s Pick for the NY Times
3 CD Set $24

EMILY HAY / STEUART LIEBIG DUO - Nomads (pfMENTUM CD 188; USA) Featuring Emily Hay on flutes, voice & electronics and Steuart Liebig on basses & electronics. Just before I left for the Victo Fest, I was visited by Michael Vatcher and L.A. bassist Steuart Liebig, who were on tour. I hadn’t seen Mr. Liebig in more than a decade so it was great to speak with him again. Mr. Liebig was/is a part of the L.A. avant/jazz underground, playing & recording with Vinny Golia, Gregg Bendian, Ross Hammond & Nathan Hubbard. Emily Hay was once a member of the legendary L.A. prog outfit 5UU’s & Motor Totemist Guild, as well as working with Jeff Kaiser, Brad Dutz and the Go Organic Orchestra. This disc was recorded (live?) on seven dates from 2015 and 2016 in California and NY (at Shapeshifter Lab). I know that Mr. Liebig usually plays a custom-made 5 string el bass so perhaps that is what he is playing here. If I recall correctly, I think that Ms. Hay and Mr. Liebig are also a couple. They do sound like they’ve been playing together for a long while as their sounds/playing are tight and well-integrated with each other. Ms. Hay uses her voice like an extension of her flute playing, make voice sound like a flute at times and being just as expressive. Both musicians explore sutble slowly shifting long tones on some of the pieces. Ms. Hay is a gifted flutist and changes her tone, sound and tactics throughout this disc. Mr. Liebig, longtime L.A, bass great, also sounds fine, exploring textures and other sounds on bass whether using some devices or electronics to enhance the sound. Considering that this disc is 75-plus minutes long, there is quite a bit to listen here. I was mostly fascinated by the array of sounds that this modest duo performed on their west & east coast tour. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10

BRIAN BAUMBUSCH / JACK QUARTET / NATA SWARA - Chemistry for Gamelan and String Quartet (New World Records 80833-2; USA) Chemistry for Gamelan and String Quartet is the culmination of a long-term collaboration between the JACK Quartet and composer and instrument builder Brian Baumbusch (b. 1987). Over the past ten years, Baumbusch has designed and built two separate sets of “American gamelan” instruments. Based on various instruments from the Balinese gamelan tradition, these instruments depart in innovative ways from Indonesian traditions based on their unique tuning, inspired in part by the tuning theories published by musicologist William Sethares, as well as their design and performance techniques, which draw inspiration from instruments built by Lou Harrison and Harry Partch.
“Hydrogen(2)Oxygen” (2015) uses a unique compositional technique called “polytempo,” pioneered by composer Conlon Nancarrow and further developed by Baumbusch in his works for large ensemble. Hydrogen(2)Oxygen explores the unique tuning landscape that is created by combing Baumbusch’s Lightbulb instruments with string quartet. This work in particular uses performance practices native to Bali and advanced instrumental techniques that are derived from the virtuosic tradition cultivated by the artistry of Balinese musicians. Therefore, to produce the recordings on this album, Baumbusch returned to Bali with his instruments to work with Nata Swara. This is the first instance of Balinese musicians performing on “American gamelan” instruments within Indonesia.
“Three Elements for String Quartet” (2016) is one of Baumbusch’s earliest endeavors in composing with polytempo structures. The format of the three movements requires that the performers use individual click tracks in the first and third movements in order to execute the polytempo relationships in the music, and in the middle movement the ensemble is free from “clock time” and can interpret the rhythms communally.
“Prisms for Gene Davis” (2018–2021) involves a separate set of gamelan instruments from those used in Hydrogen(2)Oxygen. It is an exploration of Balinese compositional heterophony, though structured to contain irregular and compound meters that are less common in Balinese music. Prisms can be thought of as a refraction of Baumbusch’s relationship to both American Minimalism and Balinese music.
This album is the work of a diligent composer who has travelled deep down many rabbit holes (instrument building, tuning, spectral analysis, tempo technology, Balinese compositional techniques, and even microphone building) to learn the technical information needed to engage with these complex compositional worlds. He has resurfaced from these explorations with a sensitive and refined fusion that can be heard here.”
CD $15

JOHANNES FINK / SILKE EBERHEARD / TILO WEBER - Fink 70’s Revisited - Sound of Music (JazzWerkStatt 232; Germany) Featuring Johannes Fink on 5-string cello & most compositions, Silke Eberhard on alto sax and Tilo Weber on drums. Cellist Johannes Fink can be found on some two dozen discs with Rolf Kuhn, Gunter Adler and Gulf of Berlin, most of whom record for the JazzWerkStatt label. I’ve kept my eye on German saxist Ms. Silke Eberhard since the early aughts, leading several of her own bands, as well as working with Dave Burrell, Ake Takase and Dave Rempis. German drummer Tilo Weber is someone I don’t know very well, although he does have two discs out as a leader and has worked with Elias Stemeseder, Alberto Cavenati and Claudio Putin.
Cellist Johannes Fink wrote all but two of the pieces here and plays a unique 5-string cello. Mr. Fink’s cello is often the lead instrument here, plucking out bass lines while the alto sax and drums play the written parts. “Misertioser” opens and is has a Monk-like bent groove, the cello playing all pizzicato lines throughout. “Muscatel de Setubal” has a laid back somewhat quaint older sound (Brazilian sounding), the percussion completely stripped down to a skeletal groove. Mr. Fink is a fine composer whose songs are charming but too avant, always thoughtfully composed. “70’s Revisited” is an odd song and album title yet I think that the somewhat funky yet stripped down groove played acoustically does capture a bit of 1970’s funkiness but pushing it a bit further out. There is a quaint, somewhat funky groove at the center of most of these songs which is played acoustically. Ms. Eberhard gets a chance to stretch out and solo enthusiastically on the final song here but the overall mood is one having some fun more than stretching out. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $17

MIKE COOPER with GEOFF HAWKINS / ELLIOTT SHARP / JON RASKIN / SCOT RAY / VIV CORRINGHAM / PAT THOMAS / et al - Black Flamingo (Room40 4209CD; Australia) “A note from Mike Cooper: "Collaboration, improvisation, innovation. The remit for Black Flamingo. During the Covid lockdown period I started long distance collaborations with a team of friends and made Oceans Of Milk And Treacle for Room40 (RM 4176CD). A family of long-time associates plus some more recent and one that I have never met in person. All of them with a unique ability to respond creatively, in any genre or context, in a creative, spontaneous and improvised manner. Featuring Geoff Hawkins on tenor sax. Our 60 year friendship goes back to the 1960s and my first band The Blues Committee then on through the 1970s to Trout Steel and The Machine Gun Company on the Dawn label meeting up again in the mid-1990s on my Island Songs CD. Elliott Sharp, guitarist, composer, improviser from the Downtown New York music scene. We first played together in Rome many years ago. We have a duo digital collection on my Bandcamp site and here on Black Flamingo, Elliott plays bass clarinet. Jon Raskin, a founder member of The Rova Saxophone Quartet based in California surprised me one night in London by appearing in the audience at a folk club concert I gave . . . Scot Ray, slidationist; lap steel and pedal steel guitar visionary. We have never met in the real(?) world, only online. I am always seeking audacious players of both those instruments and Scot is a true star . . . Michael Thieke, a fellow part-time Roman part-time Berliner member of the International Nothing brings peace on the clarinet with breathy playing on this most beautiful of wind instruments. Viv Corringham has shared her voice on many past musical roads with me from Greek Rembetronika to an improvising trio with Lol Coxhill and Soundwalks in hills around Hong Kong. Tim Hill on baritone sax. We go back to my 1980s in Reading in the UK. Together we had Beating Time with Paul Burwell on drums and Gary Jones on bass, both sadly gone now and Mayhem Quartet with Pat Thomas on keys and Neil Palmer our improvising DJ both happily still with us. Then we started Trystero System which became a floating membership duo spanning several years and has included both Viv Corringham and Pat Thomas with myself and continues from time to time. Lastly, The Migrant School of Bodies Choir was the result of a workshop in Milan for a performance/dance piece organized by choreographer/dancer Ariella Vidach. The text is each member counting from one to 26 in their own language each one starting to count after the neighbor had reached the number eight. Most of the members were from Africa and shared no common African language..."
CD $18

KLAUS WIESE - Maraccaba (Kray Records INT5; Italy) "Klaus Wiese (1942-2009) was a veteran e-musician, minimalist, and multi-instrumentalist. A master of the Tibetan singing bowl, he created an extensive series of album releases using them. Wiese also used the human voice, the zither, Persian stringed instruments, chimes, and other exotic instruments in his music. Wiese is considered by some as one of the great ambient or space music artists alongside Robert Rich, Steve Roach, Michael Stearns, Constance Demby, and Jonn Serrie. His musical style is much more appropriately compared to the organic soundscapes of drone and dark ambient music, such as Oöphoi, Alio Die, Mathias Grassow, and Tau Ceti. In the 1990s he founded the Nono Orchestra to play the giant sheetmetal instruments of Robert Rutman. Wiese is known also for his collaborations with Al Gromer Khan, Mathias Grassow, Oöphoi, Tau Ceti, Saam Schlamminger, and Ted de Jong. He collaborated with Deuter on his Silence is the Answer album in 1980 and East of the Full Moon in 2005."
CD $17

RESTOCKS, REISSUES and HISTORIC RECORDINGS:

CHARLES GAYLE / WILLIAM PARKER / HAMID DRAKE - Live at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz (JazzWerkStatt 155; Germany) Featuring Charles Gayle on tenor sax & piano, William Parker on bass and Hamid Drake on drums. Although free/jazz sax giant Charles Gayle has worked with bass great William Parker for many years in By Any Means & several discs on Silkheart, Black Saint & Knitworks, this is the first recording with the amazing Hamid Drake on drums. Recorded live in May of 2014.
CD $18


BILLY JOE SHAVER - One Night at Luckenbach Texas (Cleopatra All 03847; USA) Billy Joe Shavers is in top form here, delivering his greatest hits live in concert in one of his best performances of his illustrious career! This CD/DVD set ties a glittering bow on his past, offering proof he not only survived, but into his 70s (as of the date of this live recording), Billy Joe Shaver continued to thrive. Other live Shaver discs are available, but the DVD here offers an impressive view of his commanding stage presence and most of his best-known tunes are here, including "Old Chunk of Coal," "Georgia on a Fast Train," "Live Forever," and more! Led by sturdy guitar work from Jeremy Woodall, Shaver's songs continue to shine posthumously in spiritual and spunky ways!
CD / DVD $18

LP SECTION:

MASSACRE with FRED FRITH / BILL LASWELL / FRED MAHER - Killing Time (Spittle Records 067LP; Italy) “Spittle Records present an expanded reissue of Massacre's Killing Time, originally released in 1981. Following the breakup of Cambridge's avant-rock legends, Henry Cow, guitarist Fred Frith moved to NYC in 1979, and soon found himself deep in the heart of the city's robust post-punk and free-jazz scenes. He performed with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher, from the group Material, as a power trio of sorts under the moniker of Massacre. The group quickly garnered a reputation around town, and around the world for that matter, as a heavy and heady band that experimented greatly with rhythm, time signatures, and tone. As Frith himself put it, "the group was a direct response to New York. It was a very aggressive group, kind of my reaction to the whole New York rock club scene." Massacre released one album, Killing Time, before disbanding for nearly 20 years. Their first wave as a group crashed fast and furiously and this one album, recorded in part live in Paris, and in part at Brooklyn's OAO Studio, is a perfect encapsulation of early '80s NYC. In addition to the original album, first released on Celluloid in 1981, this deluxe three-sided double LP includes eight bonus tracks recorded live between '80 and '81 at The Stone in San Francisco, and Inroads and CBGB in NYC. Avant-jazz-post-punk-noise of the highest order from several legends and one of the most important projects Frith and Laswell were ever involved in. The back cover states: "In contrast to previous CD and LP versions, the Killing Time LP cuts are heard here as originally intended, at the correct speed and pitch and without added reverb."
2 LP Set $35

MICHAEL HOENIG & MANUEL GOTTSCHING - Early Water (Mg.Art 603LP; Germany) "In 1976 Michael Hoenig had a brief collaboration with Ash Ra Tempel's Manuel Göttsching in Berlin; A 48-minute recording of one of the sessions, which was released in 1995 under the title Early Water on Bernd Kistenmacher's Musique Intemporelle label. The album was deleted and unavailable for a long time. Now, finally, a re-issue of Early Water will be available again. Michael Hoenig still remembers: 'While I had been working on the Departure From The Northern Wasteland album, Manuel Göttsching had asked me if I would team up with him for some concerts in France, since his group had just gone through one of its hibernation periods. We rehearsed in my place for three or four weeks. One evening we got a call regarding some missing guarantee, which ultimately led to the decision to cancel the tour. Just for fun, we played one of the planned sets for a last time. Even though I do not recall pressing a record button, somebody recently dug up a Revox tape of that very set. After performing some digital sonic archaeology on it, it was just released under the very appropriate title Early Water.' And Manuel Göttsching adds: 'Unfortunately, some of the concert dates were not confirmed in time and we had to cancel the complete tour just on the day before we wanted to leave for France. On that evening, nevertheless, we recorded our last rehearsal 'just in case'. It turned out as a flowing harmonic piece, reflecting much of the optimistic air of 1976. Michael made his 'departure' to Los Angeles in the early 1980ies. When we met again in November 1994, I proposed to release this old track of ours. Michael took the original tape to Los Angeles, lovingly restored it and -- well, here is it again!'"
LP $32

MASAHIKO TOGASHI - Story of Wind Behind Left (Cinedelic Records 068LP; Italy) Reissue, originally released in 1975. Recorded in September 1975 at Columbia Studio, Story of Wind Behind Left is a symphonic poem in the shape of a suite. In the album, Masahiko Togashi uses music to communicate the same feelings evoked by nature. The drummer demonstrates unique composition and performance skills in the way he imitates the sounds of nature or takes inspiration from nature itself to make music. With Story of Wind Behind Left, Masahiko Togashi revolutionized the Japanese jazz scene. The record includes an insert with the original liner notes translated into English.”
LP $40

MICHEL PORTAL with JOACHIM KUHN / JACQUES THOLLOT / ALDO ROMANO - Our Meanings And Our Feelings (Le Tres Jazz Club 014LP; France) Reissue, originally released in 1969. An iconic French free jazz record recorded at Pathé Marconi Studios. On June 27th, 1969, Michel Portal pushed the door of the Pathé Marconi studios. With him were drummers Jacques Thollot and Aldo Romano, bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark, and pianist Joachim Kühn. They hadn't rehearsed anything, as if entering the studio to record an album without any plan was something normal. The musicians were obviously very used to playing with each other, as the five tracks on Our Meanings And Our Feelings seem to flow perfectly without any hint of improvisation. The zokra, an oriental clarinet that Michel Portal plays on "Walking Through The Land" and "Dear Old Morocco" brings a singular touch to this album. This singularity is transcended by Joachim Kühn's ability to easily go from the piano to the saxophone alto, from supporting to soloing, before playing the bells, then the tambourine, opening the soundscape. Our Meanings And Our Feelings may not be the first French free jazz record -- as it was preceded by the fantastic Free Jazz by François Tusques, released in 1965 and on which Michel Portal plays as well -- but it remains one of the most important. Its incredible outburst of sounds and melodies is completely free yet never turns into cacophony. 44 years after its release, it is still urgent to listen to Our Meanings And Our Feelings and what these five talented musicians had to say.”
LP $34

EMILE PARISIEN & ROBERTO NEGRO - Les Metanuits (ACT 9664LP; Germany) "100 Years of Ligeti: Improvisations inspired by György Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1 Métamorphoses nocturnes. French soprano saxophonist supreme, Emile Parisien and Italian pianist Roberto Negro -- widely considered to be one of the most exciting pianists in Europe, on account of his own projects and his collaboration with the Ceccaldi brothers -- now team up as a duo. Métanuits is a fascinating endeavour: a wonderful piece of craftsmanship in which everything seems to interlock. There is high-wire virtuosic playing, exploration of all the tonal possibilities of the instruments by both players. Tempi tend to be on the fast side: (with the indications on the sections 'allegro', 'presto' or 'prestissimo' setting the pace), but with a 'largo' to catch breath at the end. There is also a surprising lyrical warmth, as the pair follow each other through constantly changing re-framings of the the-me, which as is re-heard takes on an irresistible expressiveness." 'The overlaps between classical music and jazz are particularly close to my heart. The boundaries between these genres no longer have to exist' is Roberto Negro's view. And this is something he and Emile Parisien prove through the natural flow and the surprising approachability of Les Métanuits. In their homage to Ligeti, they don't even bother with the historicizing conventions and barriers of an old, abstract or arcane avant-garde. Instead, they let this beguilingly contemporary music resound -- and reveal its astonishing communicative strengths."
LP $22

MOON BROS. - The Wheel (Feeding Tube Records 648LP; USA) "Moon Bros. is more or less the solo project of guitarist 'Fred' Schneider and was brought to our attention by the Queen of Colorado herself (aka Josephine Foster). Fred appears on Foster's No Harm Done album, and she returns the favor by singing on one of the tunes here. Many of Fred's earliest recording efforts were done with a variety of Chicago-based post-rock/jazz-flecked combos (The Exciting Trio, HIM, etc.) But for the past few years, he has used Moon Bros. to explore contours of more rurally-based sounds. Employing pedal steel, acoustic guitars, harmonica and vocals, Moon Bros. have produced five previous albums (two of them vinyl) on which Fred ponders the mysteries of Chet Atkins, and the other Nashville-based musicians he was drawn to before being sucked into the avant vortex of the Windy City. The music on The Wheel is brilliantly plain-spoken. The songs all possess a quality that feels more like a meditation on country music than country music per se, but this is not to infer they possess ironic distance or anything like it. Rather, they have open structural centers that avoid creating easy hooks, generating sweet atmospheric conditions rather than the tight pop formalism that is Nashville's commercial stock in trade. There is a looseness to their construction that reminds me a bit of Michael Hurley's rambling approach to sonic architecture. The tunes share Hurley's out-of-time quality as well. Listening to The Wheel you'll get no easy clues as to when it was recorded. Could be from any time in the last half a century really. There's no dipping into any trends, just beautifully crafted and deeply atmospheric music that will make you feel like you're sitting on the back porch, in the summer, with the stars blazing in the sky and a sweet snootful of bourbon handy. If that's not a feeling you'd dig, I suspect you're living on the wrong planet." --Byron Coley, 2023 45rpm.
LP $30

SHARRON KRAUS - Kin (Feeding Tube Records 725LP; USA) “Over the years Sharron Kraus's musical career has pulled her in many directions and seen her collaborate with artists, poets, writers, and researchers, creating soundtracks, podcasts, musical accompaniments, and responses. She is an intuitive improviser, a compelling performer and a weaver of musical spells. The spine supporting this body of work is songwriting, though, and it is to this most natural combination of words and music that she always returns. If prose writing is a tool for analysis and working out what we think, because of the emotional dimension music introduces, songwriting is a tool for working out how we feel. KIN, her newest album, is a collection of songs written during and partly in response to the pandemic and the relative isolation it plunged everyone into. Kraus dives into deep explorations of themes of kinship with other humans as well as the natural world, and of what happens when those kinship bonds are severed or abused. Sonically, the album is on a continuum with her previous solo album, Joy's Reflection is Sorrow (2018), with its layered synths and recorders, and sits somewhere in the space between Jane Weaver's electronica and the psych/folk of bands like The Left Outsides or Modern Studies. "an album layered with memories of landscape and memories of sound. It is a completely immersive experience and a fine achievement." --The Quietus "a truly unique sound located somewhere between Cream's 'Pressed Rat & Warthog' and what The Left Outsides might sound like if they jammed with a gamelan. Floating freaky fun of the highest order." --The Wire
LP $28

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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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Joe Fonda and Bass of Operation
May 26th at Michiko Studios 15 West 39th St., 7pm Start Joe Fonda - Bass
Mike Rabinowitz - Bassoon
Jeff Lederer - Clarinet ,flute and Piccolo.
Harvey Sorgen - Drums

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“GARY LUCAS: FROM BEEFHEART TO BUCKLEY AND BEYOND”

This SUNDAY MAY 28th @ 8PM
At The Loft at City Winery, NYC  
25 11th AVE AT 15th ST.

CELEBRATING 40 PLUS YEARS OF MUSIC MAKING!
With OVER 50 ALBUMS AS A LEADER OR CO-LEADER, OVER 100 ALBUMAs A GUEST
and LIVE APPEARANCES IN OVER 40 COUNTRIES!

THE SHOW: STORIES / SONGS / INSTRUMENTALS / FILM MUSIC / RARE CLIPS  / GUITAR FIREWORKS with
GARY'S SPECIAL GUEST FEIFEI YANG VOCALS AND ERHU
Tickets and more info: https://bit.ly/3nBBf23

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Improvised Music at the Main Drag
Wednesday July 12th, 2023
7:00pm Noa Fort - vocals / Sam Newsome - soprano sax / Sean Conly - bass
8:00pm James Paul Nadien - drums / Marcus Cummins - soprano sax / James McKain - tenor sax / Hans Tammen - guitar
9:00pm Stephen Gauci - tenor sax / Adam Lane - bass / Kevin Shea - drums
10:00pm Erhard Hirt and the NY Connection with Erhard Hirt - guitar & electronics / Joe Fonda - bass / Lou Grassi - drums
11:00pm MAIN DRAG PHILHARMONIX CONDUCTION ORCHESTRA, Curated by Darren Johnston

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Wednesday July 19th, 2023
7:00pm Patrick Golden ensemble
8:00pm Rich Rosenthal - guitar / Nick Gianni - saxophone / Ken Filiano - bass / Lou Grassi - drums
9:00pm Colin Hinton's Birthday Bash with Stephen Gauci - tenor sax / Adam Lane - bass / Colin Hinton - drums
10:00pm Yoni Kretzmer & Juan Pablo Carletti's BIGGISH w/ / Juan Pablo Carletti - drums/birthday boy / Rick Parker - trombone / Christof Knoche - clarinets / Yoni Kretzmer - tenor sax/compositions / Kenny Warren - trumpet / Andrew Hadro - bari sax / Peter Bitenc- bass
11:00pm Eric Plaks - keys / Ayumi Ishito - tenor saxophone / Daniel Carter - woodwinds / Jon Panikkar - drums / Zach Swanson - bass

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GAUCIMUSIC Presents: Every Wednesday at The Main Drag in Brooklyn:

Wednesday July 26th, 2023
7:00pm Haruna Fukazawa - flutes / Claire de Brunner - bassoon / Shu Odamura - guitar / Ken Filiano - bass
8:00pm Charley Sabatino - bass / Nick Lyons - alto sax / Jeff Pearring - alto sax / Patrick Golden - drums
9:00pm Stephen Gauci - t. saxophone / Adam Lane - bass / Kevin Shea - drums
10:00pm Yuko Togami - drums / Ayumi Ishito - tenor saxophone / Rema Hasumi - keys, electronics
11:00pm James Wengrow - guitar / Hery Paz - tenor/soprano saxes / Austin white-bass / Danny Sher-drums

$20 at the door (entire evening), cash/venmo
July 26, 2023
@ The Main Drag
50 South 1st Street
Between Kent ave and Wythe Ave
(718) 388-6365
gaucimusic.com

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THIS FROM EXPERIMENTAL VOCALIST KYOKO KITAMURA:

Matthew Barney's five-channel video installation Secondary [https://secondary.matthewbarney.net] is on view until June 25th, at his huge sculpture studio along the bank of the East River. Late last year, I was a member of a quartet of vocalists working intensively for a month at the studio; Secondary's music has been created almost entirely from those sessions, human voices in its infinite natural extended iterations, masterfully edited by composer Jonathan Bepler for the multi-channel experience. Only when I finally saw the work, did I  begin to understand the depth, complexity, symbolisms and how the elements fit beautifully and powerfully together. (On a side note, I have a small on-screen role as a football referee even though I know absolutely nothing about football, the only sport I worship being F1 motor racing.)

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THIS ONE COMES FROM ABBY LONDON:

My name is Abby London-Crawford. I was the screening coordinator for Stephanie J. Castillo’s film, "Night Bird Song, the Incandescent Life of Thomas Chapin," and one of its associate producers.
Sadly, as most of you know by now, Stephanie passed away in early March. We are still mourning this award-winning documentary filmmaker and compassionate, soulful person. Before her passing Stephanie was developing another important project, which would have been her 11th documentary film.
I am sending this letter to friends, and those who knew Stephanie and her extensive documentary work, to tell you about a proposed tribute to her. And what each of us can do to make it a success. 
We wish to establish an endowed scholarship fund for cinema students in Stephanie's name at the University of Hawaii at Manoa School for Cinematic Arts. Stephanie was always a mentor, a remarkable teacher and loved working with students throughout her career. Stephanie started as a journalist and writer, skills she used well as a wonderful story teller in her films. She understood why people needed these stories and how they were uplifted by them.
In order for this scholarship to be endowed it has to be at least funded at the $46,000 level. It also has a specific deadline, September 15, 2023, to raise these funds.
I ask each of you to forward this letter, (or personalize it), and pass it along throughout your social platforms/networks; to send out an urgent appeal broadly to your contacts encouraging them all to donate, whatever they can, so that this tribute will become reality.
Here is the link that Stephanie's family has established which connects to the University of Hawaii’s donation site: https://giving.uhfoundation.org/funds/13026704.  (All contributions are tax deductible.)
I apologize if this appeal has been duplicated here. We wanted to make sure we reached those who can help spread the word. I know we can do this together and celebrate our dear friend and her artistry.
Expressing why her film about Thomas Chapin was important for her to do, she said that the film was..."to ensure his legacy...honor him, his music and his story." We have a chance to do the same for Stephanie. Looking to the future the cinema students, who will be helped by this scholarship, will gratefully thank you too. - Respectfully Yours, Abby London

The late saxist/composer/bandleader, Thomas Chapin, was a good friend of mine for last decade of his short life. I often helped him and one of his bands, Machine Gun, get gigs in NJ and NY on several occasions. I was interviewed for and appear briefly in the film mentioned above. If you haven’t seen this film and Creative Music/Spiritual Jazz inspires you, I urge you to check this film out. It is an outstanding documentary about an important jazz saxist who burned brightly, ascending in international recognition until his untimely passing of leukemia in 1998. If you do know about Thomas Chapin and have seen the doc, I urge you to consider donating to this very worthy cause. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

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ATTENTION TO ALL DMG CUSTOMERS: NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: downtownmusicgalleryofficial@gmail.com

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