DMG Newsletter for June 9th, 2023:

The line-up this year is just incredible! If you are searching for moments of transcendence, then you must attend as much as this fest as you can! It is not just the music or dance or poetry or artwork that keeps us going, it is the Communal Spirit of Our International Creative Music Family which helps to brings us together and believe in the Positive Vibrations of Free Spirits! Looking forward to seeing, listening and hanging out with my brothers and sisters out there. You know who loves you truly… me, Bruce Lee Gallanter of Downtown Music Gallery

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

Rare Monday Event, June 12th:
6:30: OKAPI and WILL BOLLINGER
7:30: MARC SLOAN - Solo Electronics, Bass & Voice - Part 2
8:30: ROSS HAMMOND / MIKE PRIDE - Guitar / Drums

VISION FEST 2023 - June 13th - June 18th - No DMG In-stores during the fest

Tuesday, June 20th:
6:30: RICH ROSENTHAL - Guitar / NICK GIANNI - Tenor Sax / HILL GREENE - Bass / COLIN HINTON - Drums!
7:30: ELIJAH SHIFFER’S DADA BEBOP QT: HAYOUNG LYUO / ANNA ABONDOLO / JAMES PAUL NADIEN
8:30: SETH ANDREW DAVIS / SANDY EWEN / KYLE HUTCHINS / TED MOORE
9:30: ZOH AMBA / WOBBLY - Tenor Sax / Electronics

Tuesday, June 27th:
6:30: AYUMI ISHITO / DANIEL CARTER / CLAIRE de BRUNNER / LESLEY MOK - Sax/Reeds/Bassoon/Drums
7:30: FUNGAL BLOOM: CHERN HWEI FUNG / SHAWN LOVATO / COLIN HINTON - Violin / Bass / Drums
8:30: GUILLERMO GREGORIO - Clarinet / T Z - Accordion / IVAN BARENBOIM - contralto clarinet / JAMES PAUL NADIEN - 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 NEWSLETTER STARTS OFF WITH THE NEW WILLIAM PARKER CONVERSATION VI BOOK:

WILLIAM PARKER / JEFF SCHLANGER - Conversations IV (Rogue Art 782953 150865; France) This is the fourth great book on interviews conducted by master-bassist/multi-bandleader/composer/VISIONary William Parker. This time Mr. Parker interviews: Newman Taylor Baker, Michael Bisio, Peter Brotzmann, Taylor Ho Bynum, Darius Jones, Tatsuya Nakatani, Leena Conquest, Joel Futterman, James Brandon Lewis, Zeena Parkins, Anthony Davis, Grachan Moncur III, Evan Parker, J.D. Parren, Ava Mendoza, Tom Rainey, Juma Sultan, Bobby Zankel… I’ve read through the three previous Conversations books that William Parker has done so far and being a humble, down-to-earth musician himself, his interviews are to and from the heart. This book was delivered earlier this week (6/6/23), so I am just about to jump in once again. A must read for those who want to explore the Creative Musicians who continue to give us inspiration and the music we need to stay sane. - BLG/DMG
BOOK $45

ILLEGAL CROWNS with TOMAS FUJIWARA / TAYLOR HO BYNUM / MARY HALVORSON / BENOIT DELBECQ - unclosing (Out of Your Heads Records 020; USA) Featuring Mary Halvorson on guitar, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet & flugelhorn, Benoit Delbecq on piano and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. The Illegal Crowns are an all-star Downtown mostly quartet that record every four or five years, this is their third release. Originally Mary, Taylor & Tomas were living in NY while Benoit hails from France. Mr. Ho Bynum worked for Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation and has since left NY (in 2017) to teach at Dartmouth College. Delbecq, Halvorson and Fujiwara all composed pieces for this disc. Since each member of the quartet leads or collaborates with a variety of other creative musicians, each of their releases show different aspects of how their playing and writing has evolved over the four or five years of time lapse between each release.
Mr. Fujiwara’s “Crooked Frame” opens this disc with a slow, sly groove. The guitar and cornet play a celebral theme together with the piano and drums interweaving underneath also playing their lines together. Ms. Halvorson takes a fine solo, looping her lines with a certain device that often defines her distinctive sound. Mr. Bynum takes an extraordinary (Mongezi Feza-like) cornet solo with his lines spiraling furiously yet with a calm core. Mr. Delbecq is a noted master of playing inside the piano and muting strings when need be. He also takes a fine solo, muting certain notes to give them a rhythmic sound. I like the way the cornet and guitar play tag, spinning their lines tightly around one another on “Triple Fever”, while the piano & drums also spin tightly together, like two spheres orbiting the same body or planet, remaining somehow connected below the surface. On “Fading Wave”, things slow down to a more suspense-filled hypnotic groove. One of the main things I noticed about this disc is that each of the composers have taken some time to compose each piece as each piece has several layers of ideas or strategies which make for some surprising twists. On a few of these pieces, Ms. Halvorson will insert an odd-sounding solo (with those quirky effects) while the rest of the quartet plays a more acoustic groove repeating line. Although this music is rarely dense, it is endlessly fascinating since we have to listen to it several times to hear the way it unfolds and the way certain elements with the solo move in unexpected directions. There are quite a bit of surprising shifts going on here which will keep the active listener on their toes trying to figure out where things will end up. Most impressive. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

SKEETER SHELTON / HAMID DRAKE - Sclupperbep (Two Rooms Records 006; USA) Featuring Skeeter Shelton on tenor sax, folk & pan flutes and Hamid Drake on drums & percussion. The weekly & monthly in-store concerts here at DMG have been getting more engaging every week, with a number of four set nights which have just occurred (June of 2023) and a few more lined up for the summer. Originally I tried not to do more than three sets per night but so many creative musicians have approached me that I feel I must try to accommodate them. Last night (6/6/23) we had four sets, all quite different and strong in their own unique way. The fourth set featured a trio from Detroit that had contacted me a couple of months ago since they were on tour and needed a place to play in NY. I did know about their frontline tenor saxist, Skeeter Shelton, who I had once heard with the legendary Faruq Z. Bey & the Northwoods Improvisers (at Issue Project Room, around a decade ago). I had also heard Mr. Shelton play on discs with loft jazz bassist Hakim Jami and James ‘Blood’ Ulmer. All but two songs were written by Mr. Shelton and this disc was recorded & mixed by Joel Peterson, who played bass with Shelton last night.
This is a studio recording that was done after Mr. Shelton & Mr. Drake had played together for the first time with Shelton subbing for Drake’s ill partner who couldn’t make the gig the night they played with Matt Shipp & Michael Bisio on the same bill. Skeeter Shelton is known for having a longtime, revered Trane-like tone on tenor. This disc begins with Shelton’s tenor up front, slow-burning nicely with Hamid’s ever-swinging Spirit Jazz groove. Shelton and Drake work together extremely well, taking their time and slowly building up their tight, free-flowing dialogue. Mr. Shelton played a varierty of lutes, shofars and other odd wind instruments, coaxing strong sounds from each one. He also plays different flutes here. By the fourth track, the duo are getting closer to the fire-breathing sounds of ‘Interstellar Space’, one of the last of Coltrane’s records, a duo with drummer Rashied Ali. Shelton lays back on ”Charles Miles”, his tone solemn, warm and somewhat tender, burnished nicely. Both of these musicians sound like they are coming from an older, Spirit Jazz sound, a palpable vibe which comes with age. There are some beautiful, free-flowing vibes going on here which tugs at the hearts of those searching for those prayer-like vibrations. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 [Limited Edition]

CHRIS SPEED TRIO with CHRIS TORDINI / DAVE KING - Despite Obstacles (Intakt 404; Switzerland) Featuring Chris Speed on tenor sax & clarinet, Chris Tordini on double bass and Dave King on drums. This is the fourth disc from the Chris Speed Trio, which seem to appear at 2-3 year intervals. Both bassist Tordini and drummer King, have also worked with Mr. Speed in our projects as well. Chris Speed’s tone on tenor has broadened somewhat in recent years, sounding quite unlike any other tenor players. “Advil” (which is the name of an aspirin) opens and it has a nice, jumping groove, the vibe is infectious and makes me smile. Mr. Speed’s writing and playing have become more laid back over the past decade or so. I’ve joked with Chris that moving to L.A. and being a father has mellowed him out somewhat but he said he wasn’t so sure, probably just getting older. The melody on “Wrangled” sounds like an older ballad of sorts, slower and simmering nicely. Although Mr. Speed’s tenor sounds warm and thoughtful throughout, the rhythm team has more going on as they work their way through some unexpected twists and turns. Although Mr. Speed’s playing and writing has become less avant (or Downtown) over time, he is still stretching himself to become enchanting in other ways. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18

ZEENA PARKINS / JEFF KOLAR - Scale (Two Rooms Records; USA) Featuring Zeena Parkins on acoustic & electric harps, tuning forks, electronics & field recordings and Jeff Kolar on electronics, radio & voice. I am always learning new things about the many musicians that I admire. Bassist, Joel Peterson from Detroit played in a trio here last night (6/6/23) with Skeeter Shelton and runs this the Two Rooms label. Peterson told me that harpist Zeena Parkins (early Downtown musician that I’ve known for 40 years) grew up in Detroit and had studied with the same harp teacher as Alice Coltrane & Dorothy Ashby, two of jazz’s finest harp players. It turns out that Ms. Parkins still comes back to Detroit and works with local musicians from time to time. ’Scale’ was commissioned by the choreographer Jennifer Monson and was performed live at the Chocolate Factory Theatre in Queens, NY. Ms. Parkins had worked with Ms. Monson on a previous disc called ‘Captiva’ from 2018. I hadn’t heard of electronics musician Jeff Kolar before now, but it turns out that he is from Chicago and has more than two dozen discs as a leader or collaborator.
It sounds as Zeena is bowing the harp strings slowly and adding some odd sounds while there are several short drones also floating by. The piece gets more melodic midway wuth a repeating line that sounds rather angelic. It is nice to hear Zeena playing acoustic harp for a change. Ms. Parkin’s playing sounds more classical then is usually the case. After a few pieces of mostly solo harp, we start to hear some electronic sounds floating in: static, noise fragments, an occasional voice… all selectively placed. Zeena’s harp sounds somewhat like a bent jewelry box melody repeating over and over, speeding up a bit while the electronic sounds get more dense as they evolve. I love the way the harp and electronics work together, seamlessly interweaving into one stream. What I really like about this disc is that the electronics are kept to a minimum, always enhancing the sound of the harp. The music here often sounds cinematic as if it is a soundtrack for a thoughtful, moderately paced film. There is also a magical, quietly transcendent vibe that runs through this as well. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

SATOKO FUJII - Torrent (Libra 201-072; Japan) Featuring Satoko Fujii on solo piano, recorded October of 2022 in Japan. Satoko Fujii is perhaps the most prolific, diverse and creative pianists to emerge from Japan in the past three decades. Word is that this is her 101st release, not too bad considering her first disc was released in 1996. Besides a bunch of fine solo piano efforts, Ms. Fujii records in duos (with Paul Bley, Natsuki Tamura & Joe Fonda), trios, quartets, moderate-sized ensembles and several orchestras. Ms. Fujii released one disc per month for her 60th birthday year and continues to release discs at an accelerated rate. I look forward to each of her solo piano efforts since each one shows where she it at. as far as an ever-evolving pianist , when it was recorded.
Ms. Fujii composed and performed all six songs here. The title track is first and it seems aptly titled as ”Torrent” since Ms. Fujii often plays in free, furious torrents. Ms. Fujii is whipping up a storm here, building in waves and then calming down to the occasional sparse pauses in the action. This is her powerful John Blum, Thollem McDonas or Dave Burrell side, just one part of her palette and equally intense as those other great pianists. “Voyage” starts off very sparse with just a few notes, Ms. Fujii has been using an e-bow inside the piano to vibrate the strings and get a buzzing drone as well as using her hand or another object to mute certain strings as she plays. Satoko plays certain phrases here while holding down the pedal, expanding the pulsating lines further. Midway through “Voyage”, Fujii varies between a prog-like theme and tasty rhythmic muted notes, blending two different approaches into one tightly interwoven stream. On “Light on the Sea Surface”, Ms. Fujii keeps expanding a circular harp-like stream of notes with her left hand while she adds select fragments tapped out by her right hand, the inner flow going back and forth in a most organic-sounding way. Sometimes she varies things by going back and forth with her right hand on both ends of the piano keyboard. I’ve listened to a number of solo piano discs over the past few year, each of which I like and each one unique. Satoko Fujii’s “Torrent” just might be the best of the current batch. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16

THREE NEW GEMS FROM THE FINE FOLKS AT THE MAHAKALA LABEL:

STEVE SWELL / JOE McPHEE / CHRIS CORSANO - Sometimes the Air Is (Mahakala 052; USA) Featuring Joe McPhee on tenor sax, Steve Swell on trombone and Chris Corsano on drums & percussion. Reeds/brass master, Joe McPhee is a road warrior who seems to keep busy playing around the world with a large amount fellow/feline Creative Musicians from everywhere. Downtown trombone great, Steve Swell, is also often out on tour. Swell and McPhee have only recorded together on a couple of occasions with Dominic Duval and Ken Vandermark. Young drum master, Chris Corsano, is the favorite percussionist of many diverse fans, especially since he has collaborated with a diverse cast: Sir Richard Bishop, Nate Wolley, Nels Cline, Akira Sakata and Mette Rasmussen. I’ve caught Mr. Swell & Mr. Corsano both play with Mars Williams Ayler/Christmas project in the past. Hence, there is some history here between these three musicians.
This session was recorded at Park West Studios in Brooklyn in March of 2022, Park West is run by Jim Clouse and it is the studio of choice for the Mahakala label. This disc is more than 70 minutes long so there is quite a bit of bang for the buck. This is a most formidable trio and within a minute or two, the trio takes off into free-form, free-wheeling, free/jazz land, soaring together. The trio keeps burning higher and hotter as they go. At one point during the second piece, Swell and McPhee sound like they are bending their notes around one another, giving things a slightly tipsy vibe. Corsano does a fine job of connecting the other two players by keeping an ongoing, organic rhythmic flow underneath as a cushion of solid support. On “Cosmic Passage”, McPhee plays one of those Ayler-esque fractured lines while Swell plays long tones underneath, the drums creating a somber undertow. “Welcome to the Dancing Notes” features some mighty fine drumming from Chris Corsano, an incredible drummer who is endlessly creative and has his own sound/approach. Joe McPhee and Steve Swell make great partners as each one knows how to improvise together through explosive, subdued and moderated paced sections. A consistently fascinating ongoing dialogue which consistently reinvents itself time and again. Steve Swell is one of the finest and busiest trombonists from New York, often touring and recording as often as he can. Swell is featured on “Open That Other Can of Worms” and is in particularly fine form, playing the first spirited solo/duo with drums before McPhee also plays a spirited duo with drums in the second half. As I was saying at the beginning of this review, this is a long disc. The more I listen, the more focused free flowing spirits I hear. This music is joyous and free of boundaries, something we all need. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

CHAD ANDERSON with ZOH AMBA / WARREN SMITH / BARRY STEPHENSON / ANKHITEK - Vol. 1 - Mellifluous Excursions: Where You Been (Mahakala 033; USA) Featuring Chad Anderson on drums, Warren Smith on vibes, Zoh Amba on tenor sax & flute, Barry Stephenson on bass and Ankhitek on spoken words. The Mahakala label has a way of locating under-recognized free/jazz musicians and giving them a platform to record more frequently. The leader of this session is drummer Chad Anderson who I know little about except for two records: Henry Warner’s Vibrational Therapists (from 2003) and an Ivo Perelman quartet disc called ‘Magic Dust’ from 2022. The other percussionist (vibes mostly) here is Warren Smith who has been an integral part of the Creative Music Scene in NYC since the mid-1960’s. Young saxist Zoh Amba has come a long way in the past year, wowing audiences both live and on record (for Tzadik, 577 Records and Mahakala). I hadn’t heard of bassist Barry Stephenson or spoken word artist Ankhitek before now although Mr. Stephenson is on some half dozen different sessions most with other musicians whose names I don’t recognize. The only mention of Ankhitek that I could find is on a hip hop/deep house comp called ‘Sacred Art Muzik Group’ from 2008.
“Pillar for Urgency” opens up this disc and the Free Jazz/Spirit Music sound is what we hear right from the opening salvo. Warren Smith is an well respected elder who plays on diverse sessions from jazz, modern classical to folk or folk/rock. He is a fines vibesman and sounded wonderful here are the ongoing undertow swirling tightly with the other members of the sprawling rhythm team. Zoh Amba is a formidable, intense tenor saxist who sounds like Albert Ayler at times and is not afraid to unleash the turbulent storm-like heft of free/jazz at its best. The quintet calms down for “Spirit Vectors”, slow burning and slowly building in intensity. Zoh Amba and Warren Smith both take strong, spirited solos here, with Ankhitek’s spoken word/poetry adding a sense of urgency and protest to the current ways of the world. Ms. Amba switches to flute with Mr. Stephenson on bowed bass for the more restrained piece, “Ballad of the Soundtravelers”. This pieces glows with warmth and includes some hypnotic percussion and vibes flowing in the undertow. Then freer pieces here all sound like they are from the heart, burning with the intense flow/flame that many of us are always searching for in music of this type. For those of you who care about the amount of spoken words that are found here, they are kept to a minimum and are still integral to the inner Spirit Jazz vibration s that run throughout the entire disc. Ms. Amba takes a number of fine solos on this disc, fire-breathing yet focused and fitting the spirit force of this oft turbulent release. Another gem from the fine folks at the Mahakala label.
CD $14

FROG SQUAD with DAVID COLLINS / CHAD FOWLER / FRANKO COLEMAN / KHARI WYNN / JON HARRISON / et al - Special Noise (Mahakala 056; USA) Frog Squad features David Collins on guitars, vibes, keys & percussion, Hope Clayburn, Franko Coleman, Chad Fowler & Aaron Phillips on reeds, Cedric Taylor on keyboards, Khari Wynn on bass, Hector Diaz on congas & bongos and Jon Harrison on drums. Mahakala’s founder, saxist Chad Fowler, has a knack for assembling & presenting great bands who play their own version of Spirit Music, whether you’ve heard of their personnel or not. Frog Squad is led by multi-instrumentalist David Collins, who wrote most of the music here. I hadn’t heard of Mr. Collins before this disc appeared or any of the other members of this ensemble except for label head Chad Fowler, a fine saxist who appears on a number of other discs on the Mahakala label. Considering that there are nine musicians here, the sound remains free yet focused, as if someone is directing the flow of the ensemble. The second song is called “Somersaulter” and it is a fine, written, progressive sound piece with some inspired rock/jazz guitar (by Mr. Collins) soloing throughout. It turns out that David Collins is an inventive guitarist (with some of those Holdsworth-like turbo licks) and composer as well. “Porch Couch” blends some greasy funk with rock and the power of a horn band sax chorus. With four saxists, it is hard to know who is soloing but someone here takes a great alto solo! “Dirge Vader” is a sort of proggish rock dirge with some blistering Hendrix-like guitar and waves of horns and power chords washing over us. Surprisingly, Frog Squad (yes, a silly name) is not like anything else that has come out on the consistently Free Spirit Jazz Mahakala label. It is however an amazing progressive/jazz/rock effort that would be a fine good home on the Cuneiform label. An outstanding effort, especially considering that I hadn’t heard of any of the member, except for Chad Fowler, before now. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

ENSEMBLE AL-KINDI & SHEIKH HAMED DAOUD - Transe Soufie des Derviches Tourneurs de Damas (Buda Musique 860382; France) “The Al-Kindi instrumental ensemble was founded in 1983 by French musician, musicologist and qanun virtuoso Julien Jâlal Eddine Weiss, who died prematurely in 2015. Along with his fellow musicians -- from Damascus, Ziad Kadi Amin (ney, reed elute); from Aleppo, Mohamad Qadri Dalal (oud); and, from Alexandria, Adel Shams El Din (riqq, cymbalette percussion) -- they made Al-Kindi one of the finest musical ensembles, known for the rigour of its work and the excellence of its interpretation of the Arab classical repertoire. For more than thirty years, the Al-Kindi Ensemble has been exploring the richness and universality of Arab classical music and culture in the hope of fostering the positive idea of peaceful coexistence between peoples. Just like Western classical music ensembles, the Al-Kindi Ensemble has met and collaborated with the best singers and musicians from Syria, Iraq and Turkey, with whom they have performed on the world's greatest musical stages including Carnegie Hall in New York, touring all over Europe, from the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris to the Arab World Institute, at the Sacred Music Festival in Fez and at the Baalbeck Festival. The war in Syria, with its forced exile, closed borders, and the premature death of Julien Weiss in January 2015, have strongly impacted the group's activities but it has adapted, with changes of territory for some, and the arrival of new musicians including Khadija El-Afritt on qanun.”
CD $16

HISTORIC & ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS, RESTOCKS & REISSUED OF NOTE:

OUR LARGE ORDER FOR THE CADILLAC / OGUN LABELS HAS JUST ARRIVED AND HAS TO BE CHECKED IN. THERE IS ONE NEWLY REISSUED GEM LISTED BELOW THAT I KNOW YOU WILL WANT TO KNOW ABOUT. WE WILL LIST THE OTHER 20 OR SO CADILLAC & OGUN DISCS NEXT WEEK WHEN WE HAVE SOME TIME:

THE JAZZ DOCTORS with BILLY BANG / FRANK LOWE / RAFAEL GARRETT / WILBER MORRIS / DENIS CHARLES / THURMAN BARKER - Intensive Care: Prescriptions Filled (Cadillac ; UK) For the first time on CD/Digital here is the Jazz Doctors session from 1983 that was released on LP as Intensive Care, with the session recorded the following year that was intended for release as Prescriptions Filled, but was never issued, at last made available.
The connection between the Billy Bang quartet and John Jack at Cadillac Records probably originated with John’s recording of the great New York tenor player David Murray that resulted in The London Concert (SGCCD08/09) in 1978 in London, and the license of Conceptual Saxophone (SGC1007), recorded in Paris in the same year. The connection resulted in an introduction to Billy and when his quartet, under the name of the Jazz Doctors, came to the UK on tour, John was keen to record them – so keen that, according to Ogun Records’ Hazel Miller, “John overpaid them out of his own pocket!” Whatever the arrangement, John was extremely proud of the album recorded in November of 1983 at Peter Ind’s Wave Studio in Hoxton Square, London (Bass player, club and label owner Peter is another casualty of this story, sadly passing in 2021). Intensive Care was released in 1984 in time for the group’s follow up tour.
The much missed promoter and music activist Anthony Wood brought the Billy Bang Quartet back to these shores in October 1984, this time with bassist Wilber Morris (who played with Pharoah Sanders and many others) and the then Art Ensemble of Chicago drummer, Thurman Barker replacing Charles and Garrett (allegedly the changes had followed an altercation between Bang and Charles on the bandstand at a Wuppertal gig on the 25th October 1983). The group appeared at Wood’s innovative Actual Festival at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London before embarking on a UK tour. The first stage was organized by Jazz North and featured gigs at the Leadmill, Sheffield (17th), Band on the Wall, Manchester (18th), Bradford Hotel, Liverpool (19th) and Leeds Trades Club (20th), tickets sold for the princely sum of £3.50 (£3.00 concessions). Then back to London’s 100 club on the 21st and on to Cardiff (26th) and Norwich (27th). John Jack of Cadillac and Hazel Miller promoted the tour and during the four down days in London between 22nd-25th arranged to record the band again at Peter Ind’s Wave Studios.
However, the resulting recording, slated for release as Prescriptions Filled, remained unissued. Rumours suggested there had been a technical issue, and by the time of John Jack’s death in 2017 the tapes that were left only included half the recording session (the full session is listed in Billy Bang’s handwriting on some scraps of paper in the archive). Sadly, there the trail ends and we’ll never hear ‘Hocuspocus’ (Thurman Barker), ‘Pooch Walks’ (Wilber Morris), ‘Local Colours’ (Frank Lowe) or the title track ‘Prescriptions Filled’ (Billy Bang), unless they surface in some of the live recordings that exist out there. But we do have the otherwise unrecorded ‘Suite For Gamma’ by Billy Bang, running to 22 minutes, which would’ve formed the heart of the prospective album, and some idiosyncratic covers by the quartet. We’ve not been able to discover the tour set list, but it seems likely that these tracks formed the heart of it.”
CD $17

WAYNE SHORTER with JOHN McLAUGHLIN / SONNY SHARROCK / CHICK COREA / HERBIE HANCOCK / MIROSLAV VITOUS / AIRTO MOREIRA / JACK DeJOHNETTE - Adams Apple To Super Nova Revisited (Hat EZZ-thetics 1153; Switzerland) Following the evolution in form and approach of composer and tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter from his 1966 Blue Note album Adam's Apple with Hancock, Workman and Chambers (including a pre-Miles "Footprints") to the 1969 Weather Report precursor Super Nova with John McLaughlin, Sonny Sharrock, Miroslav Vitous, Chick Corea and Jack DeJohnette.
CD $18

CLIFFORD THORNTON / ARTHUR JONES TRIO with ARCHIE SHEPP / GRACHAN MONCUR III / DAVE BURRELL / EARL FREEMAN / SUNNY MURRAY / et al - Ketchaoua / Scorpio (Hat EZZ-thetics 1154; Switzerland) Two powerfully intense 1969 free jazz recordings by American ex-patriots, saxophonist Arthur Jones and cornetist Clifford Thornton, recorded days apart in the same studio and released on BYG Records, Jones this reissue's connection with his own trio, and joining Thornton for four uniquely configured sessions that include Archie Shepp, Grachan Moncur III, Dave Burrell and Sunny Murray.
‘Ketchaoua’ LP: “This album was recorded in Paris on August 18, 1969 by Clifford Thornton (cornet and conga drums) with Grachan Moncur III (trombone), Archie Shepp (soprano saxophone), Arthur Jones (alto saxophone), Dave Burrell (piano), Sunny Murray (drums), Beb Guerin (bass), Earl Freeman (bass) and Claude Delcloo (drums). 'Clifford Thornton was a player and a composer whose obscurity was offset by the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow musicians... like Shepp, Thornton was actively involved in advancing the ideology of the black nationalist movement... and all of his recordings are intense and important about those matters that were close to his heart - liberation, communication and unity'. - Thurston Moore and Byron Coley.
CD $18

STEVE ROACH - Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces (Complete Edition)(Projekt Records 144CD; USA) “Stephen Hill, Hearts of Space Radio: "Abandoning all conventional notions of music as melody, harmony and rhythm, Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces allows the listener blissful hours on the high frontier between deep listening music and the spirituality of pure sound. On the 20th anniversary of Roach's breathtaking album, Projekt collects all four parts into a single release -- close to five hours of electronic ambient music. Moving into the majestic realm of pure, non-rhythmic electro-acoustic soundworlds, these four discs are a milestone from a true artist of sound. His landmark statements -- including Dreamtime Return, Magnificent Void and Structures from Silence -- are all parts of the uninterrupted flow which built to this 2003 release. Roach's awe-inspiring sonic immersion delves into a spiritual dimension of sound. This release offers a listening experience creating a new sense of 'ambient orchestration' through a constantly shifting flow of textures that enter a sacred realm of music." Steve Davis, Neptune Currents, KKUP-FM: "Steve Roach has created an ambient masterpiece: a varied collection of totally absorbing, immersive soundworlds, clearly a milestone in electronic music." John Diliberto, Echoes: "It floats in a space of richly detailed but minutely shifting sound constructs that owe more to Gyorgy Ligeti and Mark Rothko than early Roach touchstones like Klaus Schulze and Salvador Dali. Roach is creating a free fall through space, less rooted in the pulsing techno-tribal sound of his 1990s music and more ecstatic in its evocations of something beyond. He carries you to groaning turgid depths then lifts you as electric guitar glides and synthesizers gurgle, shudder, and swell in an Aurora Borealis of sound." 4CD eco-wallet; limited edition of 1000; Originally released in 2003; 20th anniversary rerelease.”
4 CD Set $32

SILBERLAND VOL. 2 - The Driving Side Of Kosmische Musik 1974-1984 (Bureau B BB414CD; Germany) “With synthesizers, rhythm computers, and human metronomes turned to a gallop, these electronic innovators set modernity to a motorik beat, and Bureau B's second trip into Silberland cuts right to the thrust of the genre. The set begins with the propulsive opener from Harald Grosskopf's 1986 LP Oceanheart, in which pristine sequences play in counterpoint atop a mechanical kick, hurtling forward until the rest of the kit catches up. Live drums take center stage for Cluster's feverish "Prothese" and the time travelling "Elektroklang" by Conrad Schnitzler. You offer astral ascension on "Son Of A True Star", weaving proggy square waves and pulsating arps around an irresistible shuffle from mysterious percussionist Lhan Gopal (Grosskopf in disguise), before the optimistic "Für Dich" fuses classic kosmische chords with Thomas Dinger's pummeling beat. Asmus Tietchens's detuned keys and drum machine samba are imbued with a punk spirit shared by Moebius Plank Neumeier's discordant jazz-tanz jam "Search Zero". "Beat For Ikutaro", plucked from a mid-80s demo tape by Camouflage keyboardist Heiko Maile, swerves into icy electroid territories. The cassette energy continues with the mechanized boogie of Lapre's "Flokati", a funkier take on the style in wonderful contrast with Adelbert Von Deyen's breakneck, straight shooting "Time Machine", a massively motorik night drive. Günter Schickert takes you inside the fuel pump on the weird and watery "Puls", while the charmingly disruptive Faust complete the pitstop via the blasted blues of "Juggernaut". Moebius & Plank return sans Neumeier for the deep and dubby "Feedback 66", all murmured vocals and surging pedals powered by a seismic bassline from Holger Czukay. You move through the airy tones of Roedelius and arrive at the high-tension electronics of Serge Blenner's "Phonique". Moebius & Beerbohm's "Subito" follows in a flurry of tribal drumming, guttural distortion and corrosive drone, a synthesized translation of punk spirit which mellows into the soft-focus serenade of Tyndall's "Wolkenlos", a thrilling contradiction of pastoral motifs and breathless tempo. Pyrolator's 1981 creation "180°" maintains the lightening pace, lurching forward in bursts of chaotic drum programming and sampler abuse, sending you spinning out into the strange beauty of Die Partei's "Guten Morgen In Köln". Enmeshing fragments of musique concrète and yearning guitar with throbbing sequences and a rigid rhythm grid, the duo signpost a melodic destination finally delivered by Streetmark keyboardist Dorothea Raukes under her Deutsche Wertabeit alias. A fitting finale, "Auf Engelsflügeln" radiates human warmth and cosmic wonder, serving electronic emotion from start to finish.”
CD $18

TAA! - Our Language May Be Dying, but Our Voices Remain (Botswana)(Glitterbeat GB 140CD; Germany) “Mesmerizing field recordings from Botswana. Producer/recordist/Grammy winner Ian Brennan ventured to an end-of-the-road location to document songs sung in Taa, a rich language on the verge of extinction. This captivating music is created by solo and layered voices, handclaps, found percussion and thumb piano. Shamanic, ghostly ballads from the farthest reaches of Southern Africa. Volume #11 of Glitterbeat's acclaimed Hidden Musics series. The Taa language in Botswana possesses 112 sounds, the most of any language in the world. In contrast, English has approximately 44 sounds, Italian 32. But there are only around 2,500 Taa speakers remaining and the language is "dying." The songs on this album are mostly mantras... prayers that repeat the same words or phrases over and over again. The song titles tell entire stories by themselves, and with the Taa language's heavy use of click consonants, the sounds carry the meaning as much as the words. The name of the Taa language itself translates to "human being," making its threat of extinction all the more poignant --the language living in the people, not on the page. The explanation of lyrics often took longer than the songs themselves -- difficult to translate, complex thoughts encapsulated in a single word.
"Botswana is diamond-drunk nation, hosting the biggest diamond mine on earth. But the Taa villages at the furthest reach of dead-end dirt roads are where the country expires and the people are left forgotten by unguarded borders. One village's name literally translates to "the very end." Wherever we reached, elderly shamans -- two who were blind -- gathered and played ghostly ballads. Yet, they told us that there were many other songs and those could not be played since performing them in the daytime would bring bad luck. One shaman's son said he hadn't heard the music performed since he was a child in the 1980s, over thirty years ago. Many were 'homemade-beer, drinking songs.' Another shaman's parents taught him to play the thumb piano as a way of remembering them after they were gone Botswana is so flat, at sunset you can see the earth's own shadow -- the horizon bending back on itself. We visited the highest point in the country, a hill that would barely register as one elsewhere. It is a land largely defined by absence. The towns resembled trailer-parks in America's southwest..." --Notes written by Ian Brennan
CD $17

THE MILK AND HONEY BAND - Songs From Truleigh Hill (Onomatopoeia Records HUM 038CD; UK) “Essentially Robert White -- erstwhile mainstay keyboardist/guitarist/songwriter for early 1990s noisenik Britpop-deniers, Levitation -- The Milk And Honey Band exist so that the world doesn't have to invent another band as contrarily/culturally dissimilar to any other band as contrarily/culturally dissimilar to them. The band's name was originally thought up as an antidote to the frailty and vapidity of a 1990s scene that White felt alienated from as well as handy way to disguise the fact it was a solo project. Correspondingly, the songs that The Milk And Honey Band conjure up, have more in keeping with the sublime, reflective nature of a novel like Cider With Rosie than they do with the self-congratulatory, back-slapping musical fare often associated with the indie scene. And, oh yes, the Milk and Honey Band are defiantly indie. In 2004 White signed to Andy Partridge of XTC's label and released The Secret Life Of The Milk And Honey Band, and four years after that, the band released their first masterpiece. Dog Eared Moonlight was the band's second appearance on Partridge's label and accorded the kind of critical attention that makes everyone sit up and notice. "Immaculately arranged acoustic-rock and power-pop numbers about love and break-up revealing an Elliott Smith-style gift for combining bitter sentiments with sweet harmonies" - Financial Times
CD $15

LP SECTION:

SONNY SHARROCK with LINDA SHARROCK / DAVE BURRELL / SIRONE / MILFORD GRAVES - Black Woman (Superior Viaduct SV 169LP; Earth) "Warren 'Sonny' Sharrock died of a heart attack at the age of 53 in 1994. At the time of his death, many writers noted that he had recently landed a contract with a major label (RCA) and was perhaps 'destined for big things.' In my opinion, these writers missed the point. Although Mr. Sharrock may not have been successful financially (as though that might be a primary motivating goal for any true artist), he was uncommonly successful aesthetically. Certainly, there are a few dubious moments to be found inside his oeuvre, but Mr. Sharrock produced several of the most mind-shredding avant-garde albums ever recorded. Premier among them is Black Woman. Originally released on the Vortex label in 1969, Black Woman may be the universe's first true statement of guitar skronk majesty. It also represents Mr. Sharrock's first date as a leader and stands as the sole documentation of a band that well-understood the essentials of energy. Besides Sharrock's explosive guitar, the band features the omni-directional percussion mastery of Milford Graves (then in the midst of recording Love Cry with Albert Ayler), the gorgeous post-tongue vocalizing of Sonny's then-wife Linda Sharrock, the sinuous bass presence of Norris Jones (later known as Sirone) and some of the most explicitly abstract piano work ever recorded by Dave Burrell. That Black Woman was produced by flautist Herbie Mann, a guy not well-known for his affinity to fire music, makes it even more intriguing." - Byron Coley
LP $30

DON CHERRY with JANNINK TOP / ELLI MEDEIROS / ABDOULAYE PROSPER NIANG / NEGRITO TRASANTE / et al - Home Boy, Sister Out (WeWantSounds 014LP; UK) “Features a new essay by French journalist Jacques Denis (Liberation). Don Cherry's downtown Paris funk masterwork Home Boy, Sister Out, produced in 1985 by Ramuntcho Matta and originally released by Barclay in France only, finally gets a worldwide release on Wewantsounds. Featuring French post-punk muse Elli Medeiros, avant-garde poet Brion Gysin, and cult Senegalese drummer Abdoulaye Prosper Niang (Xalam), this is a unique soundbite of Paris in the early '80s at its coolest when funk, jazz, and new wave were mingling with sounds from Africa, Jamaica, and Latin America. Recorded at the legendary Studio Caroline in Paris, a hotbed for the African diaspora in Paris the '80s, and produced by cult French-Chilean musician and producer Ramuntcho Matta (his father is painter Roberto Matta and half-brother is cult New York artist Gordon Matta-Clark), Home Boy, Sister Out is one of Don Cherry's funkiest albums. Coming back from New York where Matta had immersed himself in the downtown scene working with the likes of Peter Gordon, Arto Lindsay, The Talking Heads, Meredith Monk, and Laurie Anderson, he crossed path with the American trumpet player in Paris by chance. It was love at first sight and together they had the idea of an album where Cherry would not only play but also sing. Accompanied by a first class cast of musicians from the Paris scene, they recorded Home Boy, Sister Out in Spring 1985. Very little known outside of France, where it has achieved cult status in some circles, the album embodies the spirit of the "Sono Mondiale", the multi-ethnic sound of '80s Paris, pioneered by Radio Nova and Celluloid Records. Featuring legendary Senegalese drummer, Abdoulaye Prosper Niang (Xalam), Negrito Trasante, Elli Medeiros, Jannick Top, and Don Cherry on various instruments plus vocals, the album is a fascinating mix of Downtown New York funk, jazz, new wave, reggae, and African music. The release also includes a handful of bonus tracks taken from Ramuntcho Matta's vaults including the cult 1983 single "Kick" featuring legendary multi-artist Brion Gysin who's influenced such artists as David Bowie, Keith Haring, John Zorn, Brian Jones, Genesis P-Orridge, among others. A fascinating album. Newly remastered. Includes five bonus tracks.”
2 LP Set $36

JORDAN PERRY - What Do You See Every Day? (Feeding Tube Records 696LP; USA) "Another fantastic slab by Virginia-based guitarist Jordan Perry, whose style fuses disparate threads from the American Primitive and avant-garde songbooks into a unique alloy. For this album Primitivism has largely been eclipsed by avant urges. Still, there is one track, 'Days Have Gone By Volume' where Jordan is joined by guitarist Ned Oldham for a piece evoking Fahey in more than its title. But that is the exception. Most of What Do You See Every Day? is filled with abstractions for acoustic guitar. His work has a genteel aura and pacing in which free melodies are played inside the context of graspable rhythmic structures. This simultaneously highlights their weirdness, and dials it back contextually by having the music emerge in a clearly delineated flow. The act of not-rushing things has the effect of softening the potentially sharp edges of the sound. Jordan also plays melodica on a track, 'For Three,' which shimmers with a liturgical edge reminiscent of plainsong. He is joined on another track, 'From Traces What Do You?,' by wordless vocalizing from two Virginia singers, Diane Cluck and Devon Sproule. Their voices (plus Jordan's own) add an ethereal otherness that is quite lovely. As is the avian field recording on 'Five Hours.' But the bulk of the music is guitar-centric and beautiful off-kilter. There are little flashes of jazziness that make me think of some of Duck Baker's work, but only for a moment. There are also bursts that seem to parallel some of the experimental work Mike Cooper has been doing for last couple of decades. But, as usual, Jordan Perry is walking a path all his own. And it is a beautiful way to wander." --Byron Coley, 2023
LP $28

KINK GONG - Tanzania 2 (Discrepant Crep 098LP; UK) “Eight years almost to the day after releasing his unique re-interpretation album of his field recordings made in the late '90s in Tanzania, Kink Gong is back with another volume of bushmen madness. Here's what Kink Gong aka Laurent Jeanneau has to say about his end of millennium trip: "My experience in Tanzania is now over 20 years and most of the so-called remix was started in Tanzania and left un-finished, then eventually retouched in Vienna, Paris, Shanghai, Kunming, Dali or Vientiane. 20 years later I searched my Tanzanian files and rediscovered unfinished tracks which are being now refreshed on this new record. Back to the early days of the XXI century, when I lost my health trying to survive with the Hadzas, the last bushmen in northern Tanzania. In 1999 James Stephenson from NYC invited me to join his Hadzas friends. I would leave the bush to rest in a place with enough food and electricity and start to edit, loop and work on the original recordings, to trans-form them into organic abstract compositions, the only instrument I had recorded a lot with the Hadzas was the malimba and I bought different malimbas in Arusha to take back with me to Europe, I used either the original recordings or me playing malimbas on some tracks and applied some electronic treatment to it, at that time I used Roland synths for some tracks. The original recordings are related to scenes at night by the fire with the Hadzas, but also three different types of celebrations, 'Epeme Men' was recorded on a moonless night with men and women singing and dancing in complete darkness in Mangola, an Hadza camp. 'Irawk Drum Under the Rain' was recorded during daytime at a Multi ethnic gathering at the Franciscan Spanish catholic mission with a crowd dancing and singing under heavy rain while an IRAWK large (and wet) drum was being played, Northern Tanzania. 'Makonde Island' was recorded in southern Tanzania at the border with Mozambique and is a pure scene of trance taking place on an island where the Makonde fishermen off the coast of Mtwara, get wild, hitting plastic containers for the sound, drunk and stoned men and women are hysterically jumping and falling on each other, ending up with a few wounded. Once again, I'm responsible for this act of multicultural sabotage, but don't forget that you can always listen to the original recordings on the Kink Gong recs collection." - Laurent Jeanneau, Berlin 2023.
LP $28

MAXINE FUNKE - Silk (Feeding Tube Records 410LP; USA) "Silk is the fantastic third LP by Maxine Funke, a New Zealand musician whose first recordings were with the legendary $100 Band (Funke, Alastair Galbraith, and Mike Dooley!), whose music was drifting experimental dust of a very high order. Maxine's first two solo albums, Lace (2008) and Felt (2012) (originally released as CDR on Galbraith's Next Best Way and a lathe on Epic Sweep, respectively), were reissued by Time-Lag to great acclaim in 2016, securing her place in the upper echelons of contemporary folk inventors. With the release of Silk, Ms. Funke manages to create an album that merges both of these style threads. Many of the tracks are cast in an intimate mood congruent with artists like Sibylle Baier, Barbara Manning, Myriam Gendron, Joanne Robertson, and other women who have pulled sweetly dark sounds from pockets of deep emotion, abetted largely by acoustic guitar. On a few other tracks, electronic instrumentals hearken back to her work with transceivers in the $100 Band days. The balance between these posts is delicately intoxicating. A readymade classic from start to finish, Silk travels a brilliant series of spaceways with grace and assurance. We should all be so lucky." - Byron Coley, 2018.
LP $19

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VISION FESTIVAL 2023:

June 13th - Joëlle Léandre : Celebrating a Lifetime of Achievement
7:00pm - Tiger Trio: Joëlle Léandre - bass / Myra Melford - piano / Nicole Mitchell - flute

8:00pm - Joëlle Léandre / Fred Moten: Joëlle Léandre - bass / Fred Moten - poetry

8:30pm - Judson Trio: Joëlle Léandre - bass / Craig Taborn - piano / Mat Maneri - viola

9:30pm - Joëlle Léandre Septet Premieres "Atlantic Ave Septet"​: Joëlle Léandre - bass, composition
Ingrid Laubrock - saxes / Steve Swell - trombone / Mat Maneri - viola / Jason Kao Hwang - violin
Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello / Joe Morris - guitar

DAY 2 / Wednesday, June 14:
7:00pm - Gerald Cleaver Black Host​: Cooper-Moore - piano, synth / Brandon Seabrook - guitar / Darius Jones - alto saxophone / Dezron Douglas - bass / Brandon Lopez - bass / Gerald Cleaver - drums, composition

8:00pm - Karen Borca Quartet​: Karen Borca - bassoon / Rob Brown - alto sax, flute / Hilliard Greene - bass / Jackson Krall - drums

9:00pm - Hamid Drake’s Turiya: Honoring Alice Coltrane​: James Brandon Lewis - tenor sax / Jamie Saft – piano, keyboards / Pasquale Mirra – vibraphone / Joshua Abrams – bass, guembri / Hamid Drake – drums, percussion, vocals featuring Patricia Nicholson - dance, spoken word

10:00pm - Mark Dresser 7​: Mark Dresser - bass, composition / Nicole Mitchell - flutes / Keir GoGwilt - violin / Marty Ehrlich - reeds / Michael Dessen - trombone / Joshua White - piano / Michael Sarin - drums

DAY 3 / Thursday, June 15
7:00pm - Brahja: Watermelancholia​: Devin Brahja Waldman - alto sax / Watson - bass clarinet / Ras Moshe - tenor sax / Lee Odom - soprano sax / Damon Hankoff - piano / Luke Stewart - bass / Reggie Nicholson - drums​

8:00pm - L.I.P.: K.J. Holmes - dance / Jeremy Carlstedt - drums

8:30pm - Ted Daniel International Brass and Membrane Corps: Ted Daniel - trumpet, composition / Marvin Sewell - guitar / Jose Davila - tuba / Michael Wimberly - percussion / Brian Rojas - actor / Kerby Darius - actor

9:30pm - Mike Reed's Separatist Party​: Mike Reed - drums, percussion, synth, compositions / Ben LaMar Gay - cornet, perc / Marvin Tate - vocals / Cooper Crain - guitar, synth / Dan Quinlivan - keyboards /
Rob Frye - tenor sax, flute, percussion

DAY 4 / Friday, June 16:
6:30pm - Patricia Brennan’s More Touch​: Patricia Brennan - vibes marimba / Kim Cass - bass / Marcus Gilmore - drums / Mauricio Herrera - percussion / Visual Art by Mincho Vega

7:30pm - Mayan Space Station Flight 66​: William Parker -bass, composition, art / Ava Mendoza - guitar / Gerald Cleaver - drums / Lee Mixashawn Rozie - mandolin, flute / Jason Kao Hwang - violin / gabby fluke-mogul - violin

8:30pm - Shamanic Principle: Patricia Nicholson - movement, text/Val Jeanty - electronics, perc. /​Visual Art: Patricia Nicholson & Miriam Parker

9:30pm - Matthew Shipp Quartet​: Matthew Shipp - piano / Mat Walerian - reeds / Michael Bisio - bass / Whit Dickey - drums / Visual Art by Dawn Bisio

10:30pm - Mississippi to NY Freedom Band: Dick Griffin - trombone, visual art / Dave Sewelson - baritone saxophone / Luke Stewart - bass / Michael Wimberly - piano / Tcheser Holmes - drums

AFTER HOURS at FourOneOne - TWO SETS!
11:30 PM - James Brandon Lewis & Alexis Marcelo Duo
12:30 AM - Open Improv JAM led by Ava Mendoza & gabby fluke-mogul
at FourOneOne, 411 Kent, Brooklyn
FREE for Vision Festival ticket holders
Others pay what you can at door - $5-$30

DAY 5 / Saturday, June 17:
6:00pm - MiM Intergenerational Ensemble ​Led by William Parker​

7:00pm - SUN HAN GUILD: eddy kwon - violin, voice, body, composition / Laura Cocks - flutes, voice/ Nava Dunkelman - percussion, voice / DoYeon Kim - gayageum, voice / Lester St. Louis - cello, voice

8:00pm - Dave Burrell / Joe McPhee: Dave Burrell - piano / Joe McPhee - tenor saxophone​

9:00pm - Yasmine Lee​: Yasmine Lee - dance / Michael Wimberly - drums

9:30pm - Brandon Lopez “the gospel of sans”​: Zeena Parkins - harp / Cecilia Lopez - electronics / Mat Maneri - viola / DoYeon Kim - gayageum / Gerald Cleaver - drums / Tom Rainey - drums / Brandon Lopez - bass / Gill Arno - live film manipulation

10:30pm - HEAR IN NOW Extended​: Tomeka Reid - cello / Silvia Bolognesi - bass / Angelica Sanchez - piano / Selina Trepp - videolah​

DAY 6 / Sunday, June 18
6:30pm - 75 Dollar Bill Altered Workspaces w/ Jason Kao Hwang ​ / Che Chen - guitar, percussion / Rick Brown - drums, homemade horns / Sue Garner - bass guitar / Talice Lee - organ, violin / Jason Kao Hwang - violin, viola

7:30pm - Ethnic Heritage Ensemble​: Don Cherry Tribute: Kahil El’Zabar, multi-percussion, voice, composition / Dwight Trible, vocals / Corey Wilkes, trumpet, percussion / Alex Harding, bari sax/ Justin Dillard, piano​

8:30pm - Melanie Dyer We Free Strings Band: Melanie Dyer - composition, viola, video / Gwen Laster - violin / Ken Filiano - bass / Alexander Waterman - cello / Newman Taylor Baker - drums / Video Art Melanie Dyer​

9:30pm - Kayo / Nioka Workman​: Kayo - poet / Nioka Workman - cello​

10:00pm - Reggie Workman Celebration Band​: Reggie Workman - bass / Odean Pope - tenor sax / Jason Moran - piano / Jen Shyu - vocals / Elijah Thomas - flute / Elizabeth Panzer - harp / Tapan Modak - tablas / Gerry Hemingway - drums

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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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JOEL HARRISON & ANTHONY PIROG with STEPHAN CRUMP & ALLSION MILLER!

June 23rd, 2023 at 8pm

At the Ki Smith Gallery
170 Forsyth Street, NYC
212-677-5131

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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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