Me and my wife we were standing upstairs
I heard the white man say'n I don't want no niggers up there
Lord, he a bourgeois man
Uhm, bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
Home of the brave, land of the free
I don't wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues,
I'm gonna spread the news all around
Me and my wife went all over town
And where we go, the colored people turn us down
Lord, in a bourgeois town
It's a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues, I'm
Gonna spread the news all around
Them white folks in Washington they know how
To call a man a nigger just to see him bow
Lord, it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
I’m gonna spread the news all around
I tell all the colored folks to listen to me
Don't try to find you no home in Washington, DC
'Cause it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues and
I'm gonna spread the news
Last night, I had the blues something bad. After watching the news about the slaughter of decent civilians in Israel last Saturday and talking about it with my Mom earlier in the evening, I felt sad, angry, frustrated and overwhelmed with emotions. I still can’t fathom how our one group of people can do this to another group of people just because they are/were Jews. It’s been almost a century since the beginning of what would become WWII and some things never seem to change. Six million Jews were exterminated in WWII, this is a fact no matter what anyone says. I’ve met concentration camp survivors (who witnessed the atrocities) and I know their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It is a sad legacy that we, as humankind, have to remember and deal with. I believe that Jews deserve a homeland and I also believe that the Palestinians deserve a homeland as well. The two should be able to coexist peacefully but this is rarely the case.
The above song was released in 1939, around the same time as the beginning of WWII. It was written by Leadbelly, a black American folk and blues singer, who played a 12-string guitar in his own distinctive way. Leadbelly is poking fun at the “bourgeoisie” in Washington, DC, the capitol of our country and no less racist than anywhere else in the US. I was so upset last night that I drank a couple of Guinness Stouts and listened to several blues collections, singing and sobbing along. There was a version of this song that I heard was sung by Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie, two left-wing white guys that I’ve long admired. The rampart racism and fascist-leaning folks on the right really gets to me and gnaw at the Hope that I still have in my heart. I need to break through the negativity and I need to laugh, sing and embrace my friends, family and neighbors. We need to help each other. No toasting today, I have a hangover. - MCBruceLee
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DMG GOT THE BLUES SO BAD!
This past week has been a troubling time for myself, the future of the store and for the people who were executed, humiliated, tortured and kidnapped in the Gaza section of Israel by the Hamas. Over the past few months, CD mail-order sales have plunged. We still sell CD’s, LP’s and cassettes thru our Discogs site and we still sell some discs promoted in our weekly newsletter and thru our database, but we are struggling to pay our rent and survive. I do appreciate all donations, monetary funds, CD’s and records, but I would like to survive through sales of the music we continue to promote and support. I turn 70 next year, which means I can get the most from my Social Security account, but I am not ready to retire since I still love what I do at the store, both online and in person. What can you do to help us? Please tell your friends about us if they are interested in the varied types of music that we support and sell. The weekly DMG newsletter remains a free source of info & opinion but we still need some financial support from those who enjoy & are inspired by what we do here. Those who live in the NYC area, please come visit us. Record shops worldwide are still dwindling except for some vinyl-only outfits. We still have records, CD’s, cassettes, t-shirts, DVD’s and music books here. Plus we are always friendly and supportive to all who come to visit us. I do appreciate the kind words of support I get from those of who read the newsletter and are inspired by my intros. Since Creative Music and thoughtful lyrics still inspire me, I try to spread the word about the music & musicians who continue to give me hope for better days ahead. Thanks to all of you out there who continue to be a part of our collective family. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
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THE DMG 32nd ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE FREE MUSIC SERIES Continues with:
Saturday October 14th, 2023 - The GauciMusic Series presents:
6pm: DAVID LEON - alto sax / ZOH AMBA - tenor sax / HENRY MERMER - Drums
7pm: STEPHEN GAUCI - tenor sax / MICHAEL GILBERT - Bass / COLIN HINTON - Drums
9pm: JOSH SINTON - Bari Sax, Flute & Bass Clarinet / SAM NEWSOME - Soprano Sax
Tuesday, October 17th:
6:30: GIAN PEREZ - Solo Guitar
7:00: JONATHAN RESIN - Solo Tenor Sax
7:30: DAWOUD KRINGLE - Solo Sitar
8:30: KYN TRIO with HS / NOA FORT / YOON SUN CHOI - New Vocal Trio
9:30: FRANCOIS HOULE - Clarinet / MICHAEL BATES - ContraBass
Rare Sunday Night Event, October 29th:
6:30: VINNY GOLIA - Reeds / GUILLERMO GREGORIO - Clarinet / TJ BORDEN - Cello / gabby fluke-mogol - Violin
Downtown Music Gallery is located at 13 Monroe St, between Catherine & Market Sts. You can take the F train to East Broadway or the M15 bus to Madison & Catherine 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 welcome. 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. I post 1 minute segments from these sets almost every day on our InstaGram feed (if you don’t do InstaGram, you can still view these 1 minute clips on the DMG homepage, (a recently added feature), so please check them out and come down to visit when you can. - BLG/DMG
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THIS WEEK’S DYNAMIC DISCS BEGIN WITH: PETER BROTZMANN!
PETER BROTZMANN / SABU TOYOZUMI - Triangle - Live at OHM, 1987 (NoBusiness 160; Lithuania) Featuring Peter Brotzmann on tenor sax & taragato and Sabu Toyozumi on drums & cover art work. This session was recorded live at OHM in Kolwa, Japan on December 4th of 1987. Both Peter Brotzmann (3/6/41-6/22/23) and Sabu Toyozumi (7/11/43) are respected elders of Free/Jazz born just 2 years apart with starting to play Free Music around the same time: late 1960’s. Mr. Brotzmann sadly passed away earlier this year (June of 2023), while Toyozumi is still playing and recording (with Wadada Leo Smith, Masahiko Satoh & Rick Countryman). These two musicians have recorded together previously in a duo and a trio situation with Derek Bailey (recorded the same year as this session in 1987).
Peter Brotzmann has long had his own, distinctive tone & approach on sax. Right from the opening salvo, we hear that bittersweet tone up front and on target. Toyozumi begins by playing these marching rhythms on his snare and bass drums, varying the tempo as he goes and providing a righteous ritualistic groove/rhythm for Brotzmann’s ever-shifting stream of notes. Although Mr. Brotzmann is often known for playing fast, loud and furious, this is not the case here. The duo often lay back and simmer. On “Toh-ro”, Brotzmann switches to taragato (a large eastern European clarinet-like instrument) and plays softly to Sabu’s equally laid back drumming. Toyozumi uses soft mallets or perhaps his hands the drums for this piece, bringing the temperature down to an organic simmer. Brotzmann switches back to tenor for “Yuh-ru Yuru” and starts to push the intensity more, starting in the low end of his range and rising to a more abrupt squall. There is a righteous balance going on here between the explosive and the more restrained elements/sections plus this sounds like an organic dialogue going on between old friends who seem to see & hear eye to eye or ear to ear. Even when Brotzmann starts to last, Toyozumi keeps the raft tethered and moving in the same direction. “Depth of Focus” is the longest and most exciting piece here. I find this piece to be most uplifting, like taking us all on a great train, ship or spaceship ride. Sailing or soaring between the stars. There is quite a bit of magic dust scattered liberally here and that is the seasoning to make our lives better. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
ROY CAMPBELL / WILLIAM PARKER / ZEN MATSURA - Visitation of Spirits - The Pyramid Trio Live, 1985 (NoBusiness 162; Lithuania) Featuring Roy Campbell on trumpet, flugelhorn & flute, William parker on contrabass and Zen Matsuura on drums. Recorded at The Joint at Brandeis University in MA on February 21st of 1985. Downtown trumpet hero, Roy Campbell, has long been one of my favorite trumpeters. I caught him many times throughout the years in a variety of settings with Other Dimensions in Music, several bands with William Parker, the Nu Band & the Stone Quartet. Both on stage and off stage, he was always funny, honest and insightful. His untimely passing in January of 2014, was a sad day for the Downtown Creative Music Community. Bass giant, William Parker, worked with Mr. Campbell in a variety of groups with different leaders like Billy Bang. Japanese drummer, Zen Matsuura, I don’t know that well, although he did recorded with Mr. Campbell on some four previous recordings.
“Charmaine” is where we begin and it starts quietly and spaciously. After a somber intro, William Parker starts to play one of those quaint, laid back, repeating lines with Mr. Campbell’s trumpet mellow and simmering, unmuted at first and then muted with lovely restraint and a tasteful tone. Mr. Campbell played in different types of bands from swinging to free as well as some reggae and rock bands. Hence, this trio seems to be playing through different influences or styles. “Vigilance” has a buoyant, infectious groove or line, slightly funky and refreshing. Campbell takes a long trumpet solo which is filled with lyric melodies and occasional free fireworks. Mr. Matsuura’s drum solo completes the melody that the trio was playing earlier in the long song. “Brother Yusef” is dedicated to reeds wiz, Yusef Lateef, with whom Mr. Campbell studied at the Manhattan Community College. Mr. Lateef had a course which discussed different types of music from around the world. Mr. Campbell was inspired to listen to a variety of ethnic music(s) and we can hear some of these influences with the long songs here which sound restless in their ability to keep evolving through and past whatever jazz influences or ideas that Mr. Campbell played. William Parker also takes a long, thoughtful bass solo on this song, another gem from this treasure chest of songs and sounds. There is something heartwarming going on here. Everything sounds and feels good, from the center to the satellites spinning all around the sides. a long, superb, inspired and inventive session. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
BARRY ALTSCHUL / DAVID IZENSON / PERRY ROBINSON - Stop Time - Live at Prince Street, 1978 (NoBusiness 163; Lithuania) Featuring Perry Robinson on clarinet, David Izenzon on contrabass and Barry Altschul on drums. This session was recorded on October 14th of 1978 at 131 Prince Street, which was Ornette Coleman’s Artist House loft space, in the Soho section of Manhattan. This session was recorded during the latter part of the Loft Jazz Era in the late 1970’s. This live date was a first time meeting with all three members of this trio. All three musicians had large resumes with the founding members of this scene: Perry Robinson was also working with Gunter Hampel’s Dream Galaxy Band, David Izenzon was a member of the Ornette Coleman Trio & worked with Bill Dixon & Don Cherry and Barry Altschul was part of the Sam Rivers Trio, worked with Paul Bley and had two fine leader LP’s released around this time.
There are four untitled improvisations here. All three of these musicians are well-seasoned and have played in a variety of situations. The clarinet was one of the earliest instruments in jazz to lead a band as well as solo with great results. The late Perry Robinson sounds like he played in Dixieland as well as in free/jazz ensembles. Everything flows here freely with a stream. Robinson often sounds like he is playing an older theme and then starting to soar freely before going back to the first theme or launching into another one. The rhythm team here are locked in together although I don’t think they have played together (much/any?) before this. I had seen/heard Barry Altschul play with the Sam Rivers Trio a half dozen times starting in the summer of 1973, thinking they were one the best free trios that I had ever witnessed live. Altschul’s playing here is consistently inspired and inventive, occasionally kicking up a storm of rhythmic eruptions. Bassist Izenzon starts off “Untitled II”, with a fine bowed bass solo. There is a free section here which is exceptional since it evolves through different sections and sounds organic in the way it unfolds. Altschul kicks off “Untitled III” with a great drum solo/intro. Mr. Altschul’s drumming helps to focus and push the push to new heights. The drum solo is long and includes a section where Altschul is playing some Caribbean rhythms, sly and rather funky. The piece breaks into a slow blues near the end with a fine, old school clarinet solo from the oft effervescent Perry Robinson. “Untitled IV” is the longest piece here at almost 20 minutes and gives the trio a chance to really stretch out. Everyone solos at length and Cosmic Free Vibe continues to ascend throughout. Dig in…! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
AVA MENDOZA / JAMES BRANDON LEWIS / DEVIN HOFF / CHES SMITH - REVELS - EchoLocation (Aum Fidelity 117-2; USA) Featuring Ava Mendoza on electric guitar & compositions of four songs, James Brandon Lewis on tenor sax, Devin Hoff on electric bass & compositions of the other four songs and Ches Smith on drums. Former Bay-area-based guitarist Ava Mendoza keeps moving in leaps and strides with each project she is involved with. In just the last few years,s since moving to NYC, Ms. Mendoza has recorded with Erik Friedlander, Negativland and in an amazing trio called Mayan Space Station with William Parker & Gerald Cleaver. Their last-minute scheduled set at the Victo Fest last year was a highlight of that year’s fest. Also last year (2022), Ms. Mendoza premiered another new project with Abiodon Oyewole from the Last Poets, another incredible performance at the Vision Fest. That band is as yet unsigned, so folks at International Anthem, please take notice.
This new quartet also features tenor saxist, James Brandon Lewis, who is again one of the best and most talked about new voices in town these days. The other composer here is bassist Devin Hoff, who we know from his work with Nels Cline & Ben Goldberg. The ever-inventive, super diverse and in-demand drummer, Ches Smith is a great choice since he brings so much focus to whomever he collaborates with. This quartet is unlike anything I’ve heard from any of these folks before. The opener, “Dyscalculia” opens with some drak, dense and probing metal guitar chords. The quartet is rocking hard at times, the groove somewhere between rock and funk, infectious and in-your-face! The piece evolves into a powerful free-for-all in the second half and then getting back to the original theme in the last section. The title track has Ms. Mendoza using some devices to make her guitar sound more eerie, the slowed down groove is most hypnotic with Mr. Lewis adding some rich harmonies to Mendoza’s somber strumming. Both JB and Mendoza take strong, inspired, brooding solos which are well cushioned by Mr. Hoff’s bass throb and Mr. Smith’s supern mallet-work. What’s interesting is this: the music here is strong and spirited, yet it is in between jazz and rock, a new hybrid which blends several streams together in an inviting way. I like the way the el guitar and tenor sax play together on “New Ghosts”, both playing their circular lines tightly around one another. Post-punk? Jazz/rock? Progressive? All three or none of the above? The first time I listened to this disc at the store, I wasn’t so sure about how I felt about it. Now that I’ve heard it a few times, I am knocked out about it. This is a solid working band that sounds like they’ve been together for a long while. Completely solid, compelling and inventive on several levels. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
FRED FRITH / SUDHU TEWARI / CENK ERGUN - Lock Me Up, Lock Me Down (Carrier NO84; USA) Featuring Fred Frith on electric guitar, Cenk Ergün on electronics and Sudhu Tewari on recuperated junk. This session was recorded at Expression College in Emeryville, CA in 2010, shelved for a decade, found, mixed, mastered and finally released in 2020. I had the good fortune to see & hear my old friend Fred Frith play at The Stone for four nights last week (10/4-7/2023), playing with different personnel on each night. Mr. Frith played guitar on two nights and some odd homemade instruments on the other two nights. The trio that plays on this disc features the same two electronics/homemade instrument players on October 5th at The Stone. Electronics player Cenk Ergün has worked with So Percussion, the JACK Quartet and Mariel Roberts. Homemade instrument player Sudhu Tewari has an earlier duo disc out with Fred Frith from 2014, which I’ve never seen or heard of until now.
Although Fred Frith plays guitar on this disc, he is also a longtime experimenter and often manipulates his sound and approach to playing the guitar in unorthodox ways. Having heard Frith play live hundreds of times, as recent as last week, I do recognize his sound/approach. I like the array of sounds here, quietly mutant, sustained guitar lines with static, clanging, dark, percussive banging on metal,eerie, electric dulcimer-like tapping with small sticks and the rubbing of strings with different utensils. When I caught this trio last week, all three members were playing an assortment of strange home or self-made instruments, two tabletops filled with knobs, dials, devices and mixing boards to blend the different inputs. On “Stay Tuned”, it sounds like someone is playing a hammered dulcimer which is amplified quietly, most mesmerizing. After a while, I’d forgotten that there is/was a guitar here as all of the sounds blended together so seamlessly. Submarine-like submerged sounds, a broken piano of sorts, somewhat Harry Bertoia-like sonic/percussive sculptures like sounds; Japanese monster-movie groaning sci-fi sounds; At times it sounds as if Mr. Frith is detuning his guitar with plucked strings playing odd, bent notes. Although there are seven named pieces, everything flows together in a stream. The resonating strings sound like a sea of foghorn long-tones in the distance. The longtones keep shifting in tone, sounding like an organ or shimmering slightly disorienting chords. Sometimes electronic sounds can be alienating or hard to enter, not so here. The sounds are often warm and fascinating. A strong dose of sonic medicine from Fred Frith and his cohorts. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
ROB BROWN - Oceanic (Rogue Art 0132; France) Featuring Rob Brown on solo alto sax. I’ve been watching and listening to alto saxist Rob Brown for more than thirty years. He’s played mainly in small groups like trios, quartets or somewhat large ensembles. His first recording was a duo with Matt Shipp and he has done a few duo efforts since then: Daniel Levin (cello), Juan Pablo Carletti & Andrew Barker (both drums). This is Rob Brown’s first solo effort and it is a big deal for him and for us. This disc is superbly recorded at Park West Studio in Brooklyn, the sound is warm and clear. Every note rings out in clarity and grace. With no rhythm section or other partner, we get to hear every note/sound that Rob plays. Mr. Brown has a unique tone and approach to his playing. He chooses every note wisely and with meaning or feeling throughout. It sounds like Mr. Brown has a lingering melody or song deep inside on which he plays off of. I hear a fragment of a melody which he takes and plays around with, peppering it with select bent or slurred notes to push it a bit further out yet coming back to the inner melody time and again. On “Oversea Undersea, part 3”, Mr. Brown takes off and starts reaching for some furious cascades in the early section before he slows down to explore by twisting certain notes in odd but unique ways. Brown likes to explore certain lines in different registers, with the higher notes reaching for some intense extremes. I love the way that Brown stretches out his notes on “Marine Life Encounter”, holding certain notes out, playing around with an earlier melody that he played in the first part of this piece. On each piece, Mr. Brown develops a different line or theme, playing around it, bending and twisting as he goes, reaching deep inside to explore his feelings with appropriate response. Sometimes he goes too far or perhaps I wasn’t ready to go as far as he does. Still, each piece is like a story unfolding with variations on whatever theme is at hand. I know that solo discs are harder to sell yet some are more successful than others. This is a gnarly gem. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
NOA FORT / SAM NEWSOME / SEAN CONLY - Live at Scholes Street Studio (GauciMusic 45121 04853; USA) Featuring Noa Fort on vocals & piano, Sam Newsome on soprano sax and Sean Conly on drums. Recorded at Scholes Street Studio in Brooklyn in March of 2022. Israeli vocalist, Noa Fort, has played here at DMG and will be back with a new vocal trio for next week’s in-store gig here on 10/17/23. She is a charmer. Soprano sax master Sam Newsome has released a half dozen solo soprano sax discs, each one great and quite different in content/approach. Over the last few years I’ve/we’ve heard Mr. Newsome improvises with a large group of gifted musicians: Sandy Ewen, Josh Sinton, Daniel Carter… Mr. Newsome is constantly reinventing approach to playing the soprano with tubes and odd percussive things… Sean Conly plays mostly contrabass and keeps busy with another large number of crafty players: Mike McGinnis, Yoni Kretzmer & Michael Attias. This session consists of six improvised pieces with one song written by Ms. Fort. When this disc begins we hear Ms. Fort’s jazz scatting voice along with Mr. Conly’s bowed bass plus Mr. Newsome’s quirky soprano played with a tube between the mouthpiece and the sax. Since Ms. Fort sings no actual words, just sounds, it is hard to tell her apart from the sax or the bowed or tapped on bass, all three in a similar range. Mr. Newsome plays assorted percussive instruments like bells or chimes or something similar, which work well with Noa’s voice and with Conly’s percussive tapping on his bass with a bow. There is a strong balance going on here between all three members of the trio. Ms. Fort’s vocals are often charming and sound like the most melodic part of this trio. She sounds like she is singing a Jewish themed piece on “Improv II”, with Newsome creates a sonar-like throb and Conly’s bass speeds up and then slows back down, creating an entire rhythm section for Noa’s lovely voice. This section is most enchanting and it has some rare tender moments from Newsome’s often more further out excursions. “Improv IV” sounds like the trio is slowly waking from a dream, with Ms. Fort stretching out her notes like a sorceress from ancient times. Both Newsome and Fort have a dialogue of mostly weird sounds which works well as they go / flow. Ms. Fort plays piano on the one song here that she composed, “Plant People”, a most haunting piece. Ms. Fort again sings no words yet the eerie melody lingers in our minds like audio perfume. On “Improv V”, Ms. Fort continues on feisty, inventive piano while Conly plucks on his prepared bass and Newsome plays some odd, muted sounds on soprano. The trio soar together on “Improv VI”, the vocals and soprano interweaving while Conly plays slightly disorienting bowed bass. What really surprises me is that this disc is not as out as I thought it would and that it remains consistently enchanting and inventive. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13
KIM DAE HWAN / CHOI SUN BAE - Korean Fantasy (NoBusiness 161; Lithuania) Featuring Choi Sun Bae on trumpet & harmonica and Kim Dae Hwan on drums & calligraphy on the cover booklet. This session was recorded live on November 26th of 1999 at Aspirante in Yamaguchi in Japan. Both of these musicians were members of the Kang Tae Hwan Trio in the 1990’s. Kim Dae Hwan plays a set of pukes (traditional Korean drums), instead of a trap drum kit. Korean free improv music is few and far between and have only had a rare opportunity to play there. Choi Sun Bae plays trumpeter quietly on the first piece, exploring the more restrained sounds on his trumpet. Mr. Hwan plays some ritualistic beats on Korean drums. The duo organically ascend together, their dialogue/interplay ascending as they sail. Mr. Bae keeps expanding his sound, at times sounding like two trumpeters playing at the same time while he blurs his notes or lines. His trumpet sounds like he is playing in a cave with his notes like a flurry of fleeing birds. Mr. Hwan takes a long drum solo on the first piece, showing off his unique ritualistic style. Mr. Bae switches to harmonica (or bluesharp), sounding like a train passing by in the distance. Mr. Bae’s trumpet has a soft, warm tone and is being heard from a distance. His final solo on “FM-1” sounds like he is on a raft in the middle of the ocean playing an eulogy for Mother Earth. “FM-2” erupts quickly with pounding drums and explosive trumpet. Marvelous! While Mr. Hwan keeps up his ritualistic groove, Mr. Bae tells a long story through his distinctive trumpet playing. Even when Hwan’s drumming lays out, Bae’s story continues as he keeps reshaping his notes/sounds on trumpet. Kim Dae Hwan is always creating different sorts of grooves which keep things flowing here. Choi Sun Bae often waits for Hwan to get into a great groove before he joins in the dialogue. The back & forth interplay on “FM-3” is strong and spirited, it flows just right. The music here has a warm, ritualistic, spiritual quality which feels like we are in the middle of a ceremony, perhaps to help us enter the cool breeze of The Fall. It feels and sounds just right! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
PLAKS PANDEMIC ENSEMBLE with AYUMI ISHITO / ELIJAH SHIFFER / JAMES ROGERS / RANDY STEFFES / ERIK PLAKS / SEAN CONLY / MICHAEL LAROCCA - Themes 43-56 for Piano, Guitar, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Bass Trombone, Electric Bass and Drums (Darkfyre Records DFR 009; USA) Featuring Ayumo Ishito on tenor sax, Elijah Shiffer on alto sax, pennywhistle & kazoo, James Rogers on bass trombone, Randy Steffes on guitar, Erik Plaks on piano, Sean Conly on electric bass and Michael LaRocca in drums. Over the past few years, due to the weekly DMG in-store music series & GauciMusic monthly series here, I’ve come to meet many more new and young creative musicians from this area, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Europe and elsewhere. Every week several new musicians and listeners show up here for the ritualistic playing and listening session. I know most of the musicians here from in-store gigs as well as occasional recordings: Ms. Ishito (dozen discs Daniel Carter, Eighty Pound Pug, mostly on 577), Mr. Shiffer (swell recent dixieland-to-out freak-out CD), Mr. Plaks (several off self=produced CD’s) and Sean Conly (numerous leader dates plus works with Darius Jones, Amanda Monico & Michael Attias).
Over the past few years keyboardist Eric Plaks has played at the store several times with different ensembles and left us a half dozen self-produced CD’s. He just left us with two new ones (on 10/9/23). During the Great Pandemic Mr. Plaks composed a large number of odd themes. (#’s 43-56). “Theme 43 - 16 Bar Blues” is a funny blues with a oldtime festive & funky groove, complete with ragtime piano and an infectious party-time sax solo. “Theme 44 - Big Band Emergency” features a fine drum solo by Michael Larocca with a jubilant band playing around his solo. Mr. Plaks ends this song with a fine, Sun Ra-like out-there el. piano solo. “Theme 45 - For Frank Zappa” has some humorous spoken-words from an email questionnaire with equally silly music/hijinks. This episode is totally hilarious actually. “Sweet Potato Pie” is both in & out, swinging with some cool out solos (Ishito on tenor & Shiffer on alto) and tight yet funny ensemble works. Eric Plaks often sounds like he is playing electric piano & arranging like Sun Ra, from both outer space illuminations to occasional big or small band swing. “Busy City Fire” sounds like the Keystone Kops trying to put out a fire including an over-the-top clavinet solo and short pyrotechnique drums solo. “La Ronitis” has a fine Zappa-like guitar solo and more silly/cool vocal sounds. Although each piece seems to come from a different era/genre/place, it is the humor, unpredictable twists & turns that hold this together. If you are an old Mothers of Inventions or Fugs fan, you should appreciate what’s going on here. indispensable, fun-filled and ever-inventive. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
JOHN BUTCHER - The Very Fabric (Ftarri/Hitorri 964; Japan) “Impeccably recorded inside the Brønshøj Water Tower, in Copenhagen, Denmark, a highly resonant space built 100 years ago, where UK tenor and soprano saxophonist John Butcher continues his investigations into spaces with natural delay and decay, through 11 improvisations of discriminating pacing as he finds incredible beauty in floating and shifting tones and instrument errata; exquisite.”
CD $14
JASON ADASIEWICZ - Roscoe Village: The Music of Roscoe Mitchell (CvsD 103CD; USA) “Tuned metal percussion figures prominently in the sound universe of Roscoe Mitchell. Many of Mitchell's early compositions for the Art Ensemble of Chicago feature xylophone and tuned bells, and his immersive set-up known as "The Cage" arranges an array of percussed instruments in a circle around him, including all sorts of metallophones and gongs. On Roscoe Village, Chicago-based improvisor Jason Adasiewicz has transcribed and arranged a selection of Mitchell-penned pieces, performing them all on solo vibraphone. Adasiewicz, who has been one of the most in-demand players on contemporary improvised music stages, with his group Sun Rooms, his quintet Rolldown, the ensemble Living By Lanterns (co-led with drummer Mike Reed), and in duets and quartets with saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, is back on the scene after a self-imposed five-year break from music. Originally commissioned to transcribe a few works as a surprise for Mitchell during the afterparty for an exhibition of paintings at Corbett vs. Dempsey at the beginning of 2023 Adasiewicz dug deeply into the archives. He transcribed and arranged several 1960s Art Ensemble cuts ("Old," "Toro," "Congliptious," "A Jackson In Your House," and the perennial "Carefree"), a cut from the '70s ("The Key"), and another from the '80s ("Jo Jar"). From the great LP The Third Decade, he chose a piece scribed by Mitchell's father ("Walking In the Moonlight") and from a recently uncovered Paris-era Art Ensemble composition sketchbook, he arranged a never-heard Mitchell work ("The Cartoon March"). Adasiewicz also worked up a version of one of Mitchell's favorite R&B tunes (Otis Blackwell's "Daddy Rollin' Stone"). On certain tracks he slowed the melody down drastically or split a harmonized part into its constituent parts, playing them in sequence rather than at once, on others he added his own composed material to the familiar Mitchell piece. This is the first time many of these historical works have been treated to a new arrangement, and it's also Adasiewicz's first solo record, a fact worth celebrating on its own. Sporting a 1968 painting by Mitchell on its cover, Roscoe Village is a unique document of two great minds in dialogue, one paying homage to the other by the mightiest means available: a highly attuned form of personal creativity.”
CD $16
LP SECTION:
SUN RA - Interview with Charlie Morrow (Recital 106LP; USA) “Recital presents a newly unearthed recording of an interview between Sun Ra and composer Charlie Morrow recorded at his New York studio in 1989. This voice-only recording develops more like a kaleidoscopic sermon than any standard interview. Charlie Morrow recalls: "My 1989 Summer Solstice Celebration featured Sun Ra and his Arkestra. On March 29, 1989, ahead of this historical performance, Sun Ra came to New York to plan the performance and do an interview with me in the Charles Morrow Associates studio. There were members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, some of my team, and a photographer present. Once in the sound studio, Sun Ra wanted to record the discussion. What he says is so much more than anyone expected. I pushed record on the tape recorder, which quietly took it all in. What Sun Ra recorded is a breathtaking expression of his feelings and strong convictions, illustrated with personal memories and stories. My few questions to him about the upcoming Solstice and about the sun and his thoughts about a dawn event triggered his mind. He launched into a nonstop journey of ricocheting stories and concepts, climaxing when I started jamming with Sun Ra on conch horn. Our duo drives to a climactic peak with explosive conch breath sounds giving line-by-line affirmations to Sun Ra's points. The 1989 Summer Solstice event brought together Sun Ra and his constellation of musicians and fans with my large-scale gatherings and work with the New Wilderness Foundation. Here in 2023 and beyond, the events live again. Sean McCann of Recital was drawn to Sun Ra's words, which inspired the production of this edition. Sun Ra's words seem to have an even greater resonance in present time. Ra is calling out the turbulence of the bad actions of the righteous and the good actions that an evil man, as he dubs himself, can perform, all the time believing that music has the possibility to bring all humans to a better place." One-time pressing of 425. Includes 12-page booklet with photos and full transcription of interview. Also includes 24"x18" poster of Sun Ra 1989 Solstice performance photograph.”
LP $30
SUZANNE LANGILLE, ANDREW BURNES, DAVID DANIELL & LOREN CONNORS - Let The Darkness Fall (Recital 104LP; USA) “Recital presents the first vinyl edition of Let the Darkness Fall, a forgotten corner from the vast discography of Suzanne Langille & Loren Connors. Joined here by David Daniell and Andrew Burnes (of the Atlanta-based group San Agustin), Darkness was recorded in the summer of 1998 on a Tascam Porta-5 in Loren and Suzanne's Brooklyn living room, and issued the following year as a limited CD by Secretly Canadian. The tender gloom of Let the Darkness Fall sounds like a broadcast of some private séance. The trio of guitarists here show a beautiful restraint, hovering just underneath vocalist Suzanne Langille's ephemeral poetry. Once they hit record, the sensitivity of the players melded this quartet into a sole-entity; finishing each other's phrases in slow motion. Suzanne's gentle voice glows through the wispy guitar shadows with a quiet determination. One could almost imagine her building a nest out of the guitar lines she's gathered. This collection of musicians is a precursor to the band Haunted House, a wild sort of jam-band playing the blues without playing structure. Recital is proud to continue the series of Loren Connors-related editions, stretching from his art books Wildweeds & Night of Rain, to his masterpiece solo LPs Airs & Lullaby. And Recital is equally thrilled to highlight Suzanne Langille's mystifying command of voice and word and the intricate guitar work of Andrew Burnes and David Daniell. Come revisit the mist that filled that living room 25 years ago.”
LP $30
VALENTINA GONCHAROVA - Recordings Vol. 2 1987-1991 (Skukai 006LP; Ukraine)
“Following the unpublished works of the Ukrainian/Estonian musician Valentina Goncharova, Volume 2 of Shukai's archival project sits in direct contrast to the solo works of Vol. 1. Vol. 2 1987-1991 completes Shukai's dive into the sound world of an important yet overlooked artist working within Soviet era electroacoustics. This long player of duets casts a light on Goncharova's experiences with early free jazz, democratic improvisation and introductions to pure electronic sound. Where Vol. 1 explored her home studio experiments and flirtations with musique concrete and new age, this volume seeks to give audience to similarly DIY recordings developed in collaborative environments away from the conservatoire. Properly documenting sessions revolving around smoky jazz cafes, art galleries, salons and theatre venues across Riga and Tallinn, these seven pieces add to the historical narrative of the Soviet-era avant-garde and show the broader spectrum of Valentina's work. It begins in Riga with an adapted score for a delicately unfolding violin drone, voice and saxophone performance produced by Valentina and Alexander Aksenov. Valetina's bond with the multi-instrumentalist and theater director Aksenov led to decades of close friendship and several demo recordings such as "Reincarnation II". Across the rest of the disc are collaborative duets with Sergei Letov and Pekka Airaksinan respectively, the three tapes with Letov an example of recordings as a "rehearsal process". Atypical violin/saxophone techniques and light, difficult to place percussive textures interplay across the three duets with Letov, the sense of spatiality alluding to the very nature of the recordings. They strike ultimately as private, freeform experiments with sound, never intended for the listener but documenting a practice which explores the dichotomy of improv's "non-professionalism" and its potential freedom from trained performance. They are included as a deliberate variance to the tapes with Pekka Airaksinen, an already well-regarded composer, early synthesizer fanatic and Finnish radical. At their time of meeting, Pekka had diverted his attention from punk-indebted noise and free jazz groups to a pursuit of spiritualism via contemporary electronic technologies. Already familiar with the Buddhas of Golden Light LP, Valentina found in his work an attraction to the sacred and, after an encounter at a 1988 Helsinki festival dedicated to futurist art and literature, she prepared to visit his studio. After a failed attempt to record a joint album, fragments of the tapes are presented here, highlighting Goncharova's first real experience of electronic music making in a compositional sense. Fragmented guitar and additional keyboard patterns push and pull through delay units in unison with Valentina's two violins, at times mimicking the howl of the wind or even the human voice.”
LP $24
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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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THE STONE RESIDENCIES / THERESA WONG / OCT 11–14
10/11 Wednesday
8:30 pm: QUARTET - Nava Dunkelman (percussion, voice) Fred Frith (electric guitar, voice) Carla Kihlstedt (violin, voice) Theresa Wong (cello, voice)
10/12 Thursday
8:30 pm: DUO - Theresa Wong (cello, voice) Sean Meehan (percussion)
10/13 Friday
8:30 pm - DUO - Theresa Wong (cello, voice) Joan La Barbara (voice)
10/14 Saturday
8:30 pm - TRIO—Improvised Music in Just Intonation - Chris Brown (keyboard & electronics) Zeena Parkins (harps & electronics) Theresa Wong (electric guitar, cello, voice)
THE STONE RESIDENCIES - PATRICIA BRENNAN - OCT 18–21
10/18 Wednesday
8:30 pm: SOLO - Patricia Brennan (vibes)
10/19 Thursday
8:30 pm - Patricia Brennan's Electro-Acoustic Project MOCH
Patricia Brennan (vibes) Noel Brennan (drums, percussion, electronics) Keisuke Matsuno (guitar)
10/20 Friday
8:30 pm - TRIO - Patricia Brennan (vibes) Anna Webber (reeds) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
10/21 Saturday
8:30 pm - DUO - Patricia Brennan (vibes) Adam O'Farrill (trumpet)
THE STONE is located in
The New School at the Glass Box Theatre
55 West 13th Street - near 6th ave
LIVE MUSIC
wed-sat
music at 8:30pm
ADMISSION
$20 per set
unless otherwise noted
cash only payment
******
Sunday Oct. 15t at 8pm at Roulette NYC
Gary Lucas original solo guitar soundtracks
Alison Clancy live solo dance
In Written On the Body, Gary Lucas performs both composed and improvised soundtracks on solo guitar to 3 films by radical women film makers Shirley Clarke, Maya Deren and Barbara Rubin. Principal dancer of the Metropolitan Opera Alison Clancy will accompany both Lucas’s music and the films themselves with interpretive solo dances.
The films:
Shirley Clarke—A Moment in Love (1957)
Maya Deren—The Very Eye of Night (1958)
Barbara Rubin—Christmas on Earth (1963)
Curated by Chuck Smith
Taking place at Roulette
509 Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11217
Tickets and more info: https://bit.ly/3tfoDjE
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HU VIBRATIONAL PRESENTS
TIMELESS LP RELEASE CONCERT
mutli-kulti-trance-groove-meditational-dance music
Adam Rudolph - percussion, electronics, cajon, kalimba
Alexis Marcelo - electric keyboards
Damon Banks - electric bass
Harris Eisenstadt - bata, shekere
Neel Murgai - electric sitar, overtone singing and electronics
Tim Kieper - percussion, dusu n’goni
Tripp Dudley - cajon, dumbek, frame drums, percussion
@ Public Records
233 Butler St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
SATURDAY NOV 18
doors 7pm / one set 8pm
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JOHN ZORN @ 70 - Year Long Celebration Continues with:
JOHN ZORN @ 70 - 3 Concerts at Miller Theatre at Columbia University:
Composer Portraits: John Zorn at 70
Thursday, October 19, 2023, 8PM
New Masada / Simulacrum
New Masada Quartet: John Zorn / Julian Lage / Jorge Roeder / Kenny Wolleson
Simulacrum: John Medeski / Matt Hollenberg / Kenny Grohowski
Composer Portraits: John Zorn at 70
Thursday, November 16, 2023, 8PM
Barbara Hannigan - Piano John Zorn - Composer
John Zorn Star Catcher (2022)
John Zorn Split the Lark (2021)
John Zorn Liber Loagaeth (2021)
John Zorn Ab Eo, Quod (2021)
John Zorn Pandora’s Box (2013)
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14TH, 2023
Arts for Arts Presents:
Celebrate FALL InDoors out of the rain
with Music, Poetry, and Hot Chocolate!
FREE admission with suggested donation of $5 - $20
KABAYITOS Theater (2nd Fl) at The Clemente, 107 Suffolk Street, NYC
Featuring:
Noon - DoYeon Kim / Chris Williams Duo
DoYeon Kim - gayageum / Chris Williams - trumpet
1PM - Fay Victor: The Spaces We Live
Fay Victor - voice, composition / Natalie Greffel - voice / Jochem Van Dijk - bass
2PM - Dickey / Yamamoto Duo
Whit Dickey - drums / Eri Yamamoto - melodica
3PM - Monique Ngozi Nri / Ahmed Abdullah
Ahmed Abdullah - voice, trumpet / Monique Ngozi Nri - poet, voice
4PM - TREEOMETREE
Ray Anderson - trombone / Jeremy Carlstedt - drums / Hilliard Greene - bass
5PM - BMC Brown/Morris/Carletti Trio
Rob Brown - sax / Joe Morris - bass / Juan Pablo Carletti - drums
6PM - yuniya edi kwon solo
yuniya edi kwon - violin
JOIN US for the Pianos & Poets Festival - a showcase of great creative improvising pianists performing on AFA's magnificent Steinway B Grand, and featuring poets who expand our minds and hearts with their words. In partnership with The Clemente, in the Flamboyan Theater: 107 Suffolk St., NYC
Admission
SINGLE DAY: In-person - $25 / Livestream - $7
THREE DAY PASS: In-person - $60 / Livestream - $20
Thursday, November 9th, 2023
7PM: Angelica Sanchez - piano solo
8PM: Miriam Parker - movement & sound installation / No Land - poetry / Melanie Dyer - viola
9PM: Cooper-Moore -piano solo
Friday, November 10th, 2023
7PM: David Virelles - piano solo
8PM: Tracie Morris - poetry
9PM: Dave Burrell - piano solo
Saturday, November 11th, 2023
7PM: Mara Rosenbloom - piano solo
8PM: Randall Horton - poetry
8:30PM: Anne Waldman - poetry, featuring duo with Matthew Shipp
9PM: Matthew Shipp - piano solo
******
10/14
The Mike Pride-curated Body Without Organs series:
33 Chords & the Truth (duo of Rose Tang and Steve Holtje)
Kate Gentile & Shinya Lin
Jonathan Moritz's Secret Tempo Trio with Shayna Dulberger and Mike Pride
3 - 5 p.m.
First Street Green,
33 East First St, Manhattan
outdoors, free
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John Cage's Japan at Japan Society
An Original Performance Series
Celebrating the Composer's Relationship with Japanese Culture
October 21 at 8:30 pm
John Cage's Ryoanji
with Tomomi Adachi, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE),
Hitomi Nakamura (hichiriki), and Maki Ota (voice)
November 16 at 7:30 pm
Tomomi Adachi's Noh-opera / Noh-tation: Decoding John Cage's Unrealized Project
with Gelsey Bell (voice), Wakako Matsuda (noh), and ICE
Thursday, December 7 at 7:30 pm
Cage Shock: An Homage to his First Japan Visit
with Tania Caroline Chen, Victoria Shen, Tomomi Adachi, and ICE
All Programs Commissioned and presented by Japan Society
Tickets On Sale to the General Public August 17 at JapanSociety.org
They called it the "Cage Shock." In 1962, the iconoclastic American composer John Cage toured Japan for a legendary series of concerts that served to draw attention to the rhymes between his works and the sounds of avant-garde and classical Japanese music. The tour cemented Cage as a pivotal figure in the East but the impact of that trip reverberated both directions. Cage had found truth and validation for his creative philosophy in Japan and returned to his experiences abroad as a wellspring of inspiration for the rest of his life.
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NEW VIDEOS from GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj8-LKNXKuE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy9PwsO5umk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQ7nvA68pA
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CHRIS CUTLER
Formerly of HENRY COW, THE ART BEARS, NEWS FOR BABEL & RECOMMENDED RECORDS (ReR) has been creating an ongoing series of podcasts called the Probes series. I am often fascinated at listening to each of these as Mr. Cutler does an incredible job of showing a deep history of Creative Music in the 20th century & beyond. I usually listen to these on the train to NYC that I take to get to work each day. The most recent Probes (#36) was released a few weeks ago, here is the links:
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-36
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-362-auxiliaries
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gaucimusic presents:
Improvised Music @ the Main Drag
Wednesday November 1st, 2023
7:00pm: Kaelen Ghandhi - sax / Michael Larocca - drums / TJ Borden - cello
8:00pm: Todd Neufeld - guitar / Samuel Ber - drums / Barbara Kasomenakis - visual artist
9:00pm: Stephen Gauci - tenor sax / Adam Lane - bass / Colin Hinton - drums
10 pm: Hery Paz - tenor sax / Kenneth Jimenez - bass / Willy Rodriguez - drums
11 pm: Nick Gianni - Sax / On-ka Davis- guitar / Rich Rosenthal - Guitar / Hill Greene - Bass / Reggie Sylvester - Drums
**$15 GENERAL ADMISSION**
**$10 STUDENTS (w/ID)**
***PARTICIPATING MUSICIANS (PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE MAIN DRAG PERFORMERS) ATTEND FOR FREE***
(yes, the best things in life are indeed free).
November 1, 2023
@ The Main Drag
50 South 1st Street
Between Kent ave and Wythe Ave
(718) 388-6365
gaucimusic.com
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ATTENTION TO ALL DMG CUSTOMERS: NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: downtownmusicgalleryofficial@gmail.com
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