DMG Newsletter for the Week of Jun 28th, 2024

double click  LOVE!

 …..it doesn’t matter which folder it’s in, it is REALITY.
 Here is a flash drive filled with fairness
 clean install it            
Hey, it’s that thing that you do,
                  called “LOVE” 
it’s in the drop down menu, menu, menu! 
just refresh and right click, the runtime is short, it’s also wireless
all hate and dishonesty goes to spam 

  all the good stuff is in the internal drive     (THE HEART) 
check your operating system  
  “you can’t overwrite LOVE” 
  “you can’t overwrite LOVE” 
in a FLASH 
you can DRIVE the right system to the homepage
 home to the correctness of…LOVE!

we are all multitasking our way thru this maze
… Life maze 
 and find that much of it   is an illusion
   
we all have the password, no firewall can stop it   ….send a hardcopy
be a power user, access the Motherboard …….
put it in your memory stick, network  
scan your heart / scan your brain
    edit your blog, queue up to inclusion, fairness
 be a master 
             host “love”
         ilove, imove, ising, igroove, idance,ilove, igive, iam
              
be sure your heart flows with forgiveness
be sure your inbox is open
   open to the only realness and the only thing that is real 
                     LOVE

By Oliver Lake 2016

The 29th Annual Vision Festival ended this past Sunday and as always I had a blast attending the entire six day event! I have attended every year since it began in 1995 and will continue to do so as long as I can. I am slowly working on my review now and it will take about 2 weeks to finish. Here is a short list of my favorite sets: William Parker Lifetime Achievement Award/Celebration entire night, James Brandon Lewis & Chad Taylor, Melanie Dyer’s Incalculable Likelihood, Ava Mendoza Qt, Matana Roberts Coin Coin 5, Darius Jones Quintet, the Sun Ra Arkestra and the Oliver Lake / William Parker Duo! Oliver Lake was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2017 and has retired from playing sax, a sad thing for us Oliver Lake fans. The unstoppable Mr. Lake has been concentrating on composing music, poetry and artwork. The duo set at the Vision set featured Mr. Lake reading his poetry and William Parker playing his contrabass, with Mr. Lake’s artwork being projected on the big screen above. The entirety of the was just incredible. I loved each of Mr. Lake’s poems since they so well written, thought out, humorous, honest and made me/us think about the often unfair world we all live in is. My favorite poem was the above one which shows the connection between Love and our current communication through our computers. Please read this poem all the way through, perhaps several times as I think it is something special. Oliver Lake does have a book of his poetry & artwork called “If I Knew This & More” which we will be getting copies of sometime soon. A special toast to the organizers of the Vision Fest (a/k/a ArtsforArt), all of the wonderful musicians, dancers, poets & artists who performed this year and to all of you/us who attended this year. Thanks to my main man Oliver Lake for sharing this poem with us! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG


**************

THE DMG 33rd ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE FREE MUSIC SERIES Continues with:

Tuesday, July 2nd:
6:30: JUDY DUNAWAY - Solo Balloons
7:30: JON MADOF - Guitar / JESSICA LURIE - Sax
8:30: AMOS A - Solo Tenor Acoustic Guitar
9:30: KYOKO KITAMURA - Voice / KEN FILIANO - Bass / JULIUS BOXER-COOPER - Flute / PAIGE DRAISS - Drums & Percussion

Tuesday, July 9th:
6:30: C N - Sax!
7:30: DYLAN DELGLUDICE - Guitar-Sax / AYUMI ISHITO - Tenor Sax / DAVE MILLER - Drums!
8:30: JONATHAN REISEN - Solo Tenor Sax!

The DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY 33rd ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION:

Will take place at The New School on:

Monday, July 15th:
TISZIJI MUNOZ / BOB RA KALAM MOSES COSMIC SPIRITS!

Two Sets!

1st Set: 7:30: Spirit Music for Our Mothers!
Featuring:
TISZIJI MUNOZ - Guitar
DON PATE - Contrabass
BOB RA KALAM MOSES - Drums
Special Guest: DAVE LIEBMAN - Tenor & Soprano Sax

2nd Set: 9pm: More Spirit Music: Tribute to John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders!
Tisziji Munoz / Don Pate / Bob Ra Kalam Moses plus
Guest Saxist JIM CLOUSE - Tenor & Soprano Saxes

Taking Place at The New School
5th Floor Theatre
55 West 13th St, just east of 6th Ave
5 floors above The Stone

******

THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER BEGINS WITH ANOTHER VOLUME OF ROBIN HOLCOMB’S “One Way or..”

ROBIN HOLCOMB - One Way or Another, Vol. 2 (Westerlies Records WST 026; USA) Featuring Robin Holcomb on piano and voice, produced by Wayne Horvitz. This is second in a series of solo offerings by composer/pianist/vocalist Robin Holcomb. I met the couple Robin Holcomb and Wayne Horvitz at a funky basement space in the West Village known as Studio Henry around 1980, some 44 years ago. Although they were playing mostly improvised avant/jazz in the early Downtown days, both have evolved immensely over time as musicians, composers and bandleaders. Nearly a decade later, when Ms. Holcomb sang on a record called, ‘Larks, They Crazy’, I was surprised that she had a good, although fragile voice that seemed to touch those who listened. She was soon signed to Nonesuch (a major label) who released four albums of her vocal songs in the 1990’s and early aughts.
   For this series, Ms. Holcomb has decided to revisit some of her old songs as well as doing a few appropriate covers by Randy Newman, Stephen Foster and the Mississippi Sheiks (a blues string band from the 1930’s). Ms. Holcomb’s fragile yet tender voice, as well as her distinctive piano playing are often stripped down yet filled with solemn emotions. The words to her songs are often subtle yet poetic, taking fragments of scenes or feelings and giving us a chance to savor her rich spirit. Ms. Holcomb covers her own song, “Deliver Me”, which closed her first album on Nonesuch from 1990. I find this song and Ms. Holcomb’s voice to evoke an ancient sad spirit which has been a part of songs for as long as women and men have sung out loud to soothe one another. I recall when Ms. Holcomb used to close her concerts with this song, bringing tears to the eyes of the listeners. Randy Newman is another songwriter and Ms. Holcomb covers his song, “Old Man”. What’s interesting is that whatever song Ms. Holcomb does (lyrically or musically), she makes it her own both with her voice and her piano playing. Although a number of these songs had Ms. Holcomb accompanied by her own band (which included Bill Frisell), the versions here of these songs stripped down to just voice and piano, pure yet fleeting. Ms. Holcomb covers two songs from the Mississippi Sheiks, a nearly century old string/blues band who have some two dozen 78’s in the 1930’s. Although Ms. Holcomb has obviously lived a life much different from the down & out characters in these songs, the feeling her voice and piano, captures an ancient spirit that many of us can relate to. There are also a few songs here which weren’t on those original Nonesuch records, yet all of the songs here are part of one world-weary vibe. By the time I had listened to this entire album, I was quite moved by all of the songs here. The music provided a somehow calming vibe which feels good to dwell on. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG  
CD $15

BACK IN STOCK:

ROBIN HOLCOMB - Lyrics (Crazy Larks Press; USA) I hadn’t really thought about the lyrics to Robin Holcomb’s songs until recently when she released a new self-produced CD which is listed in the above newsletter. Starting around 1988, with the release of her first record as a leader, “Larks, They Crazy”, Ms. Holcomb wrote and sung the title track from this great album. Ms. Holcomb a gifted free/jazz pianist and a crafty composer. No one knew that Ms. Holcomb could sing and that she had a lovely, sad, fragile voice. It was a big surprise to all of her fans. A couple of years later in 1990, Ms. Holcomb signed with Nonesuch (a major label) and they released four albums of her vocal music, each one a gem. I still savor those records as well as any other music that Ms. Holcomb has done. It turns out that Ms. Holcomb is a fine lyricist, a fine poet. ‘Lyrics’ by Ms. Holcomb is a collection of most of the lyrics that Robin has written for her vocal albums. Almost every day for the past month, I read one poem at a time and savor what it means. There is something magical going on in each of these poems, a phrase or observation occurs and makes us think about what is being said and why it rings true. Ms. Holcomb does a great job of stripping things down to the just the essence of what’s what. Although Ms. Holcomb started out as an avant-garde, Downtown musician/composer, her vocal songs seem to come from an ancient Americana stream. Her lyrics also seem to embrace and illustrate this vibe or view of the American frontier. I am often reminded of the intersection between Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, The Band and any of what those great gospel singers do when they sing to us and fill the room with their Spirit. During the difficult times that we are all going through presently, Robin’s voice and words shine a light on the darkness. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
BOOK $25

ELLIOTT SHARP / SALLY GATES / TASHI DORJI - ERE Guitar (Intakt 418; Switzerland) Featuring Elliott Sharp, Sally Gates and Tashi Dorji on electric guitars. This is the second guitar trio that Elliott Sharp has organized for a series that is being released on Intakt Records. The first one was with Marc Ribot and Mary Halvorson but this one is completely different. All three of these guitarists have vastly different vocabularies/backgrounds. Sally Gates hails from Down Under but has been living here for the past couple of years. Although she has a sort of metal/prog quartet called Titan to Tachyons with a disc on Tzadik, she has played a number of improvised sets here at DMG showing that her playing draws from a variety of genres, she always surprises me. Bhutanese guitarist currently residing in Asheville, NC, Tashi Dorji is also hard to pin down. I’ve heard him improvise with Dave Rempis, Eivind Kang and Shane Parrish, but I can’t quite describe his style other than adventurous. Multi-instrumentalist, composer & producer is also way too diverse to explain quickly although I have listened to enough of his many releases to recognize his sound, most of the time.
Most of the ten pieces were improvised by the trio with two pieces composed by Mr. Sharp. “Wildlife” opens sounds pretty wild with several layers of electric guitars swirling together intensely yet somehow connected. Things flow right into the second piece, “Seven Seize”, and the pace slows down and becomes a bit more sparse. I do recognize a few licks from Mr. Sharp but things keep shifting or changing in direction or sound. Things make more sense when they slow down and we notice each sound and the way these sounds combine. Some of the lower end sounds sound like a bass guitar but again they soon shift in feeling and sound. At times it is hard to tell that there are three guitars as certain sounds are manipulated through devices or by hand or tapping techniques. Varied sustained sounds, subtle feedback, rubbing the strings with an object or by hand all seem to be employed and selectively utilized. Although this music sounds alien at times, it does make sense to me and is consistently fascinating. The two pieces written by Mr. Sharp does not sound much different from the rest of this disc although I do recognize certain licks or ideas that I’ve heard Mr. Sharp do in his vast past. If you want to hear the future of electric guitar experimentation, look no further than here. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18

DARIUS JONES with JESSE ZUBOT / JOSH ZUBOT / PEGGY LEE / JAMES MEGER / GERALD CLEAVER - fLuXkit Vancouver (its suite but sacred) (Northern Spy / We Jazz Records WJCD054; USA) Featuring Darius Jones on alto sax & compositions, Jesse & Josh Zubot on violins, Peggy Lee on cello, James Meger on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums. This disc was recorded at Grand Luxe Hall in the Western Front in Vancouver on June 25th of 2022. I just caught saxist & composer, Darius Jones, playing live at the Vision Fest (6/18/thru 6/23/2024) in two sets last week, one where Mr. Jones was the leader and the other one was led by Matana Roberts. I’ve long admired the work of Darius Jones, as a distinctive alto saxist, collaborator and ever-evolving composer. For this session, Mr. Jones traveled up to Vancouver and worked with a handful of Vancouver-based musicians like: Jesse Zubot, Peggy Lee and James Meger. Josh Zubot, who is the brother of Jesse, lives in the Toronto area. Always good to hear former Downtown drummer, Gerald Cleaver, who moved out of NYC a few years back.
Since every effort by Darius Jones is so different, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this new one with three string players involved. I recently (December of 2023) reviewed a disc from Josh Zubot which included three of the members of this project as well, so perhaps Mr. Jones' selection of these string players brought them together for some future projects. The opening piece is called, “Fluxus V5T 1S1”, and it begins with Darius Jones’ distinctive alto sax sound with a cushion of strings underneath and strong rhythm team support. As Mr. Jones takes a long solo, the strings play thoughtfully written parts underneath, seesawing back and forth. While the rhythm team plays a quick walking groove, the strings start to erupt together with Mr. Cleaver’s drumming pushing the group higher. For the second piece, “Zubot”, the sax and drums play tightly around one another while the string players tap rhythmically on their instruments in the first section. The sax and strings play tightly together for the midsection which was written out in part. While the drums add ongoing punctuation, it is the sax-led strings which truly stand out here. Master drummer, Gerald Cleaver, is featured on “Rainbow”, the longest piece here, his opening solo is an essential part of the way this piece unfolds and evolves through different sections. I love the sound of Mr. Jones’ sax, slightly pinched with a chorus of strings caressing each of Jones’s sax cries or sounds. The strings expand and contract together playing odd, slightly twisted harmonies together. Midway, the bassist plays unaccompanied, creating suspense with each sparse note, taking a strong solo. Darius Jones re-enters and takes another storytelling solo with the strings rising and falling in waves around him. The final piece is called “Damon and Pythias” it sounds like Mr. Jones has spent quite a bit of time composing the powerful string arrangements which erupt together and play in tight orbits around one another. When Mr. Jones enters on sax, both the drums and strings surrounding him are playing together with strong results. As Mr. Jones plays, he makes each note count, stretching them carefully so that the music has a unified group sound. This piece really shows off the strong, focused and powerful sound of this sextet, as all of the players are well utilized throughout the entire work. A true classic on several levels. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 / LP $25

ELIAS STEMESEDER / CHRISTIAN LILLINGER QUARTET with PETER EVANS / RUSSELL HALL - Umbra II - RVG Session Acoustic Setting (Intakt 423; Switzerland) It is impressive how, over the last three years, the Austrian keyboard instrumentalist Elias Stemeseder and the German percussionist Christian Lillinger have developed a remarkable artistic partnership, which has already found expression in a series of different recordings. Expanding into a quartet with Peter Evans and Russell Hall, they reveal further facets of their collaboration on Umbra II. Unlike its production-heavy predecessor Umbra, the music on Umbra II is entirely acoustic and the band’s sound has a classical feel. This album, which has the strongest and most direct connection to the jazz tradition to date, was recorded at the venerable Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. “The duo are always looking ahead, whether that means bringing in new collaborators, embracing novel techniques, or adding new tools to its instrumental arsenal. Umbra ll represents one leg of an ongoing journey. Here’s hoping the destination always remains elusive”, writes Peter Margasak in the liner notes.
CD $18

KIM CASS with MATT MITCHELL / LAURA COCKS / ADAM DOTSON / TYSHAWN SOREY - Levs (Pi Recordings 102; USA) Featuring Kim Cass on bass & compositions, Matt Mitchell on piano & Prophet-6 synth, Laura Cocks on flute, Adam Dotson on euphonium and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. Over the past decade there have been around a dozen contrabassists who have moved to town, each one adding to the ever evolving Downtown Scene. I’ve heard bassist Kim Cass play with Matt Mitchell, Kate Gentile and Patricia Brennan over the past few years. This is Kim Cass’s first album as a leader except for a download-only solo bass effort from 2015. Mr. Cass has organized a unique quintet with pianist Matt Mitchell, classically trained flutist Laura Cocks, a rarely heard euphonium player called Adam Dotson and drummer/composer/professor Tyshawn Sorey. In the liner notes, Mr. Cass explains that he was influenced by the graphic scores by Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez and Arnold Schoenberg.
Things begin with ”Slag”, which has the piano, bass & drums playing some difficult figures tightly together at a whirlwind pace. Mr. Mitchell switches between synth & piano on “Fog Face”, again the piano, bass & drums are swirling tightly together. These are densely written and sound quite challenging to play. Keyboard wiz Matt Mitchell seems to favor playing complex lines whether he is composing or playing someone else’s music. Mr. Cass’ bass is often at the center of most of these pieces and he is playing some daredevil lines at a furious velocity. On “Ripley”, the pace slows down so that we can hear the flute & euphonium play their lines together in the background. It often sounds like there are two different lines or subgroups playing simultaneously, while the piano, bass & drums trio erupt intensely, the flute and euphonium and occasionally the synth play these quirky counter-melodies. These sound like they were immensely challenging to play, they are certainly challenging to listen to. The synth that Mitchell uses sounds like it is playing backwards at times which gives this disc a feeling of going into opposite directions at the same time. Although the flute and euphonium never solo here, they are still working hard to play these difficult written lines. I can’t quite think of any other music that sounds like this, hence this disc is in a class of its own. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

STEPH RICHARDS with JOSHUA WHITE / STOMU TAKEISHI / MAX JAFFE / GERALD CLEAVER - Power Vibe (Northern Spy NS 164; USA) Featuring Steph Richards on trumpet & flugelhorn & compositions, Joshua White on piano, Stomu Takeishi on acoustic and bass guitars, Max Jaffe on electronics & drums (1 track) and Gerald Cleaver on drums.
“Fire music. Free jazz. Third stream. Fourth stream. Avant improv, noise chamber blues, and whatever the meta and hashtags say it is, this sextet of loose cannons knows better and holds all the cards. Imagine for a moment what the reaction might be if your facial muscles suddenly, involuntarily, started to freeze, leaving you without expression and, without your art. Trumpeter Steph Richards, a halcyon force on the expanding concepts of free music, responded by making Power Vibe easily the most emboldened and venturesome statement of her ascendant career.
A whole lot is going on throughout the incendiary totality of Power Vibe . If you are distracted even for a moment, you will miss something. "Prey" opens tested and true enough: Richards' trumpet breaks the silence. Cymbal's jangle, but then sensory electronics—drum-triggered sensors creating their own tactile, yet oddly ethereal rhythms courtesy of Max Jaffe—propel and tangle, intertwine and disappear, inspiring each instrument to find its way.
The title track is a monster. Pianist Joshua White—caught up in a McCoy Tyner-like fervor—runs away with "Power Vibe" and listening to the rest of the ensemble try to catch up is beyond bracing and bold, it is a wanton privilege. Gerald Cleaver bashes and pounds. Jaffe's textures do their thing. Bassist Stomu Takeishi thrums across his five strings like a stormtrooper. Richards,' a furious improviser who never stands down, runs straight through and around, breaks, bounds and cuts. When it is all said and done, "Power Vibe" has seven of the fiercest minutes experienced this year or the next ten or in a lifetime.
Pulling from all her resources—Richards has worked alongside Yoko Ono, David Byrne, Henry Threadgill, John Zorn, Laurie Anderson. "October to July (for Dorian)" flows moody and mournful on the heels of "Power Vibe." Forlorn and richly sensuous, Richards' flugelhorn calls out to the powers that seek to wrest control of her muscles, her life and her work: let her keep her voice! What semblance of control can anyone embrace if they cannot control their own movements? Each daredevil responds in kind.
"Moutons," a creation theory all its own, follows. Richards and Takeishi take the lead as Jaffe slinks in then all hell breaks loose via the crashing tides of White and Cleaver. Shrapnel of sound logic sprays forward and becomes "Reculez." Quixotic, alluring, recorded live in Bolzano, Italy "Supersense" (the epic namesake of her 2020 Northern Spy album) brings Power Vibe to a fiery, climatic close.” - Mike Jurkovic, AllAboutJazz
CD $14

ELIJAH SHIFFER with DARREN JOHNSTON / KEVIN SUN / CHRISTIAN CAIL / ANNA ABONDOLO / DMITRY ISHENKO / JAMES PAUL NADIEN / COLIN HINTON - Dada Bebop (Star Jelly 003; USA) Featuring Elijah Shiffer on alto & tenor saxes & most compositions, Kevin Sun on tenor sax, Darren Johnston on trumpet, Christian Cail on guitar, Hayoung Lyou on piano, Anna Abondolo & Dmitry Ishenko on basses and James Paul Nadien & Colin Hinton on drums. This is the second leader date that Elijah Shiffer has recorded for the Star Jelly label. Elijah Shiffer composed all but two pieces here with a couple of covers by Elmo Hope and Herbie Nichols, two pianist/jazz composers whose careers both started in the mid-fifties. The personnel of each of these 14 songs is slightly different with two rhythm teams and a few revolving members in the frontline. Elmo Hope’s “One for Joe” opens this disc up with Shiffer on alto & Darren Johnston on trumpet in the frontline with strong comping from pianist Hayoung Lyou. Mr. Shiffer takes an inspired, hard-swinging solo here. Although these songs often swing hard, Mr. Shiffer often surprises us by having the band base their changes on other songs than the ones they are presently playing. For instance, “Blue Blonk” is based on the changes from a song by avant-garde vocalist Jaap Blonk. Hence, guitarist Christian Cail adds some distortion so that his solo seems to come from a more psych base than a jazz one. Mr. Shiffer seems to have a twisted sense of humor so that we never know what direction any song will go through. On “Birdlesque”, the alto sax and el guitar solo quickly together, working their way through Bird (Charlie Parker) licks together with occasional surprising detours in direction. There is quite a bit of strong trading going on here, check out Darren Johnston & Elijah Shiffer trading those boppist licks on “Late-Lee”. In the liner notes, Mr. Shiffer often explains what songs are based on the changes to other unexpected songs, something that a non-musician might not notice. What I do notice is that all of these songs seem to move in unexpected directions with something pulling or pushing them somewhere else than what you might think they are going. If you are tired of straight ahead jazz records which sound too straight, then you should check out this delightful treasure of odd gems. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

MARI KIMURA - Mugetsu (nomosBolero NB001; Japan) Featuring Mari Kimura on solo violin, recorded at Barber Fuji in Ageo, Saitma in Japan. I’ve known about violin virtuoso Mari Kimura for some 30 years, hearing her collaborate with Henry Kaiser, Robert Dick and Jim O’Rourke. Ms. Kimura is renowned for “mastering the production of pitches that sound up to an octave below the violin’s lowest string without re-tuning. This technique, which she calls Subharmonics”. This session was recorded in a barber shop in an obscure area in Japan, the barber being fond of experimental music and having avant-garde musicians play there to a small audience as well as cutting their hair. The set was recorded by a young man named Shingo Matsuoka who was so inspired by the concert that he started his own label in order to release this disc.
   The first thing I noticed is that Ms. Kimura has her own sound on the violin, her own way of playing. Ms. Kimura is often stretching out and bending notes in her own unique way. The music here is often furiously played with Ms. Kimura leaping from register to another, muting or bending notes in a near violent, way intense fashion. On “Murasame”, Kimua lays back, plays more slowly and somewhat lyrically, bending only certain notes in her own way before she starts to stretch those notes out further and further. I find this music to be consistently exciting with an edge-you-seat compelling quality. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG  
CD $15

MARI KIMURA - The World Below G And Beyond (Mutable Music 17542-2; USA) “In April 1994, at a solo recital in New York City, Kimura introduced subharmonics as a musical element to extend the range of the violin by a full octave below the open G string without changing the tuning. Playing subharmonics takes precise control of bow pressure and speed, reliably and repeatedly on demand, which is extremely hard, especially in real time performance situations. Her introduction of subharmonics was widely praised by Edward Rothstein, the chief critic of The New York Times who described it as, "revolutionary technique" for the violin.
Kimura took these obscure sounds and developed them further. She created compositions using subharmonics not for the sake of novelty but to use them as a new element for the musical language for the violin. This album contains many of her early works using subharmonics controlling different subharmonic intervals, such as subharmonic octave, third and second.
Since the early 1990s, Kimura has also been a violinist/composer specializing in interactive computer music composition and performance. She created many works for the violin using an interactive computer music program MaxMSP. On this album she includes some of her older works for violin and MaxMSP, as well as more recent compositions.” - bandcamp
CD $10

CHUCK BETTIS and JERRY LIM - Controlled Opposition / Sleepwalk Artifact (Living Myth 7?; USA) Featuring Chuck Bettis on electronics and Jerry Lim on guitar & electronics. Chuck Bettis was a manager here at DMG and worked for us for more than a decade so he is integral part of DMG’s long history. Guitarist Jerry Lim and Mr. Bettis have been friends and collaborators ever since they were living in the DC area (in the 1980’s & before) and moved here afterwards. Mr. Lim has played solo acoustic guitar here at DMG while Mr. Bettis has played a couple of fine two sets here with Dafna Naphtali (one earlier this week - 6/25/24).
   “Chroma Surge” starts with an eerie organ sound and sparse electronic type of sounds. What’s interesting about this disc is that most of it is calm with subtle layers of electronic sounds. At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on but when I turned up the volume a bit I started to hear more things going on. Each of the five pieces seems to evoke a different sonic environment so it takes some time to get used to and understand or better yet be moved by what we are hearing. I’ve listened to this disc several times over the past few days and only now it is starting to get to me. On “Sleepwalk Artifact”, Mr. Lim is playing some eerie skeletal electric guitar (with a bell-like sound) with layers of percolating electronic sounds. Both sound sources work together well and seem to be related somehow. Sometimes we have to be patient to understand the way things work since they seem alien or hard to understand at times. Not so with this music, as soon as it sinks in, it starts to make some sense and shift in mood. This is electronic music which isn’t too weird or alienating. It works! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG  
CD $14

IPEK EGINLI - Field Recording in a Black Hole (Weird Cry Records WCR 093; USA) This is a collection of free-form electro-acoustic pieces composed and performed by Ipek Eginli. Earlier this week, I organized the first DMG Mini-Electronic Music Festival as part of our ongoing free Tuesday night series. I am always trying to find ways to expand the personnel, instrumentation and types of the Creative Music that we present here on a weekly basis. A cellist friend of mine suggested that I give Turkish-born electronic musician Ipek Eginli a set here at DMG so I checked her out and gave her an opportunity to play here. I decided to make this a small fest with two more sets of mostly electronic duos and it turned out better than expected. I will be posting 1 minute excerpts through our InstaGram feed later this week so stay tuned. Ms. Eglini played a duo with Jason Nazary and it was great!
This disc, ‘Field Recording in a Black Hole’, was mixed and mastered with the help of Erdem Helvacioglu, Turkish composer and electro-acoustic musician. One of the things I noticed about watching Ms. Egini live is that she played a regular (looking) electric keyboard and seems to have some classical training. Starting with “Remains of a Prelude and Fugue - Mating Song of the Past and Future”, erupts intensely with an explosion of electronic sounds and then calms down to a warm blend of acoustic piano and electronic fragments. Another thing I noticed is that the electronic sounds that Ms Eginli uses have a more ancient analogue sound, not so different from what famed Turkish electronic composer Ilhan Mimaroglu used to do in the 1960’s & ’70’s. It sounds like Ms. Eginli is playing acoustic piano and muting certain strings with her hand, something that has become more popular in the last decade. “Flow, My Breath” is based on lute songs from the 16th & 17th centuries and has a (sampled?) woman’s voice which is slightly manipulated with analogue sounding effects. Although Ms. Eginli has short explanations for the titles of most of these pieces, it is the music itself that I find the most interesting no matter what was the intention. I’ve long been attracted to electronic music from the early 1970’s like Morton Subotnick or the aforementioned Mimaroglu. Ipek Eginli seems to capture this spirit/music in her own unique way. This is her debut disc I believe and it is a gem. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

ROB MAZUREK - Milan (Clean Feed CF 665CD; Portugal) Featuring Rob Mazurek on trumpets, prepared piano, sampler, percussion, flutes, voice, etc. “Milan is the latest spellbinding stop-off on an intrepid solo voyage, with interdisciplinary abstractivist Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Chicago Underground Duo, São Paulo Underground) dropping anchor in the regional capital of Lombardy to record the latest in his series of unaccompanied performances at radio stations throughout the world.
Infused with the cultural legacy of his striking environs, this musical Maqroll conjures “an architecture of energy”, his bespoke PolySonicTectonics set-up usurping the gigahertz at Radio Popolare, one of Italy’s oldest listener-supported radio broadcasters, to raise a one-man carnival of feverish ceremonial exorcisms from the enlightened smolder of a reverent nothingness.
Trumpet, piano (played with the pedal permanently down), bells, percussion, flute and voice are caught here in heady maelstroms of resonance and reverberation, echo-chamber rites awhirl with the painterly expressionism of Toru Takemitsu, Kaija Saariaho and Morton Feldman, AACM’s chattering “little instruments”, and São Paulo Underground’s inscrutable, ramshackle, fourth-world exotica. Overlapping frequencies bleed disorienting distortions of reality, and wordless subpoenas accompanied by lyrical Don Cherry-like horns are slowly smothered in scalding electro-blast, wild tub-thumping sessions and the frayed ends of a disassembled gagaku field recording.
Milan transcends traditional boundaries, embodying an audacious fusion of disciplines (check the blissful cover art, Milan Scores) and a quest for abstract representation located in the ecstatic and atavistic, conjuring lucid pareidolic bouts populated by clackety Cagean ghosts, shadow demons roving an outlandish staging-post on Eddie Owens Martin’s Pasaquanian province. These deeply personal communications, charged with fire, love and honesty, form this album’s deliriously transcendent symphony of sound, which Mazurek himself has defined as, “a definite and infinite ritual towards New Utopian Futures”.
CD $15

SIMON NABATOV QUARTET with RALPH ALESSI / SEBASTIAN GILLE / DAVID HELM / LEIF BERGER - Lovely Music (Clean Feed CF 670; Portugal) Featuring Simon Nabatov on piano & compositions, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Sebastian Gille on saxes, David Helm on bass and Leif Berger on drums. I am a longtime fan of Russian/American pianist/composer Simon Nabatov (currently living in Cologne), although I must admit that I’ve only heard around a third of his 75 plus releases. Everything I have heard including a half dozen gigs in NYC are/have been inspiring. Mr. Nabatov always selects great musicians to work with whether they are American (like Mark Feldman, Herb Robertson & Tom Rainey) or one of the many European players he has worked with. For this disc Mr. Nabatov has chosen the great Downtown/ECM trumpeter Ralph Alessi, who I don’t think he has worked with before. Both Sebastian Gille and David Helm were in a previous Nabatov project from last year.
“Koscha’s Delight” opens and sounds like chamber music, quirky, well-written, thoughtfully composed, tight but not swinging like jazz is supposed to. The music is fascinating nonetheless and shows off Mr. Nabatov’s distinctive composing style/ideas. Contrabassist David Helm kicks off “Nature Morte 8” with a strong unaccompanied bowed bass solo which leads to a slow, haunting, solemn chamber-jazz like work. Mr. Nabatov’s piano solo is quite lovely, showing a side to his playing that we rarely see or hear. Mr. Alessi tops things off with a delightful trumpet solo as well. “Rickey” is a complex piece which goes through a few sections and features an exuberant piano solo by the composer. “Autumn Music” is a lovely, sad sort of chamber piece which I found to be actually touching, reflective of more solemn moments. “Timwork” features some fine brush work by Mr. Berger and thoughtful ensemble playing by the rest of the quintet. As the piece evolves, it goes further out and into some unexpected detours. What makes this disc so compelling is Mr. Nabatov’s ensemble writing, often having subgroups playing different connected parts, like the trumpet & piano going in one direction as the sax, bass & drums go somewhere else yet the overall music makes sense if we give it some time to absorb. Simon Nabatov continues to grow and evolve as a composer and this disc is a prime example of how far he has gone. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

LIBA VILLAVECCHIA TRIO plus LUIS VICENTE / VASCO TRILLA / ALEX REVIVIEGO - Muracik (Clean Feed CF 669; Portugal) Since forming in March 2021, the Liba Villavecchia Trio have channelled a singular spiritual mien, borne of shared experience, reflection and reminiscence, with previous albums, Zaidín (2022) and Birchwood (2023) capturing the group’s esprit de corps in vividly contrasting approaches, hopscotching from propulsive swing and fractious bustle, to smoldering disquisition and evocative abstraction.
Now with the addition of versatile Lisbon-based trumpeter Luís Vicente to their ranks, saxophonist Villavecchia, drummer Vasco Trilla and double-bassist Alex Reviriego amplify this exceptional Iberian hivemind, transforming magic triangle into squared circle.
On Muracik, an intensive Robert Musil-like assay into the collective soul, this auspicious union lays bare a detailed anatomy of regional commonalities – common roots, perceptions, memories and feelings – realized through effusive composition and impassioned improv, alternating between locomotive bursts of punchy horn-led lyricism and enigmatic passages of allusive dissonance.
Together the quartet become conduits for sounds, sonorities and sensations from their native peninsula – the breeze of westerly winds, the clickity chirrup of gossiping cicadas kicking it in the sun, the crunch of arid soil trodden beneath the boots of millenary peasants – while also paying homage to absent friends (both human and non-human), as well as sax titan Ornette Coleman, the icon’s influence writ large throughout this most profoundly expressive, revealing and unapologetically emotional of works.
CD $15

KAREN BORCA TRIO, QUARTET and QUINTET with ROB BROWN / WILLIAM PARKER / REGGIE WORKMAN / TODD NICHOLSON / PAUL MURPHY / SUSIE IBARRA / NEWMAN TAYLOR-BAKER - Good News Blues - Live at the Vision Festival 1998 & 2005 (NoBusiness NBCD 168; Lithuania) Longtime free/jazz legend and bassoonist Karen Borca hasn’t played live in the last few years due to aging and related health issues. There were never many free/jazz bassoonists in the avant-jazz scene aside from Ms. Borca, who was married to the great saxist Jimmy Lyons, longtime sideman for Cecil Taylor. It wasn’t until the Vision Fest began in 1995 that Ms. Borca was given an opportunity to play with her own groups on a yearly basis. For this release Ms Borca leads two different bands from May of 1998 and June of 2005.
   Starting with the Third Annual Vision Fest in May of 1998 at the Orsensanz Center, an old temple on Norfolk Street, a half block south of Houston. The first piece features Ms. Borca on bassoon, Rob Brown on alto sax, William Parker on bass and Paul Murphy on drums. Ms. Borca and Mr. Brown have been in the frontline for most of her sets at the varied Vision Fests. What’s interesting is that Rob Brown does sound a bit like Ms. Borca's former partner Jimmy Lyons. After the first piece, Susie Ibarra takes over on drums. This is Fire Music well played, intense and over the top. The final piece has Reggie Workman and Todd Nicholson on basses and Newman Taylor-Baker on drums. This piece is the longest and perhaps the best one here. The interplay between Ms. Borca and Mr. Brown is particularly strong although sound is not as well-captured. The two bassists add a layer of low end throbbing which sounds quite good. Ms. Borca and Mr. Brown both take long solos here but also do quite a bit of spirited interplay throughout as well. Midway through this piece the group calms down and plays with more restraint, both Borca and Brown take slow, long thoughtful solos. We can now hear both bassists separately, one bowing, one plucking, both playing well together. This piece takes a long while to unfold and goes through several sections. The entire piece feels organic and flows just right. The entire group plays through a few themes over the 24 minutes of this epic track, building back up to an explosive last section. I’ve missed hearing Ms. Borca’s distinctive free/jazz bassoon playing over the last few years since she has retired from playing. There are practically no recordings of her playing since this period of time in the mid-1990’s so this is a most welcome addition to the Free Jazz Bible. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG  
CD $16

KALAPARUSHA MAURICE McINTYRE with MALACHI THOMPSON / MILTON SUGGS / ALVIN FIELDER - Live from Studio Rivbea July 12, 1975, Volume 1 (NoBusiness NBCD 169; Lithuania) Featuring Kalaparusha (Maurice McIntyre) on tenor sax & clarinet, Malachi Thompson on trumpet, Milton Suggs on electric bass and Alvin Fielder on drums. Kalaparusha was an original member of the AACM, the great Chicago-based avant/jazz organization which had the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, George Lewis and Muhal Ricard Abrams amongst its members. Unfortunately Kalaparusha never seemed to get the recognition he rightly deserved during his long life in and out of the spotlight. He moved to Woodstock in the mid seventies to teach at the Creative Music Studio and later to NYC to become a part of the emerging Loft Jazz Scene. I attended dozens of gigs at loft spaces/jazz clubs like Studio Rivbea, Ladies Fort, Environ, Tin Palace and Ali’s Alley during this period and caught Kalparusha on a few occasions before he disappeared from the scene, only to return here in the early aughts.
Kalaparusha’s quartet for this live set features Malachi Thompson (from the Sun Ra Arkestra & a dozen leader dates on Delmark) on trumpet, Milton Suggs (for Byron Morris & Famadou Don Moye) on electric bass and another original AACM drummer Alvin Fielder (for Dennis Gonzalez, Joel Futterman & Kidd Jordan). There are three long pieces on this disc, none of which have titles. The music here reminds me of the cassettes I used to use to capture these gigs in the mid-to-late 1970’s. You can hear the music although the quality is a bit ragged or compressed. The first piece breaks open with the tenor sax and trumpet wailing tightly together, the el bass and drums backing them with power and passion. I caught so many gigs like this almost every weekend during that period that it makes me feel nostalgic for that sound. I started to listen to and appreciate “free jazz” around 1973 and started to attend loft jazz shows around 1975. The quartet builds from one wave to another, playing furiously for a period and then slowing down a bit as well. The second piece begins slowly with the quartet playing a solemn theme and Mr. Fielder on mallets. Alvin Fielder is a master drummer who rarely gets the recognition he well deserves. His short solo on this piece is worth checking out. Kalaparusha takes a thoughtful slow-paced solo here, twisting each note carefully. Playing freely at a slower tempo can be difficult but both Kalaparusha and Malachi Thompson do a fine job. The third piece is the best since it has a memorable repeating theme and great drumming by Alvin Fielder. Both Kalaparusha and Mr. Thompson plays especially well together here, exchanging lines tightly as they go. This is an example of free/jazz and the way it has led to bands going beyond the “freedom” tag and showing that there is much more going on than mutual screaming. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16


ELEPHANTINE with MAURICE LOUCA / PIERO BITTOLO BON / ELI VANDEWEYER / DANIEL GAHRTON / ISAK HEDTJARN / et al - Moonshine (Northern Spy NS 162; USA) On Moonshine, Maurice Louca’s ensemble Elephantine uses classical Middle Eastern modal music as a springboard to an entrancing blend of genre-defying sounds. It’s a dense, heady swirl of multi-cultural instrumentation united by jazz and other improvisational styles and modernist classical music.
Louca, who is based in Cairo, is a prolific member of Egypt’s thriving experimental arts scene. A composer and player of multiple instruments, on Moonshine, his most ambitious project yet, he plays guitar, lap steel, and synthesizer as he guides the nine-piece ensemble on a 40-minute trip from the souk to other worlds. The group includes some of the 12-person ensemble that played on his previous release, which rather confusingly was under Louca’s name and titled Elephantine. Based on touring that album for the past year the ensemble is now named Elephantine and continues in a similar vein.
Along for the ride this time are Tommaso Cappellato and Özün Usta on drums (and yes, that’s a lot of drums!), Rosa Brunello on double bass, Piero Bittolo Bon on alto sax and electronics, Rasmus Svale Kjærgård Lund on tuba, Els Vandeweyer on vibraphone, Daniel Gahrton on baritone sax, Isak Hedtjärn on clarinet, and Louca.
The album opens with “Moonshine,” the three-part suite that gives the album its title. It’s a nearly 20-minute ride through a lot of fascinating sounds. Part I starts off with the horn section (tuba included) running through the Levantine melody before the rest of the band kicks in and it sounds like the mid-80s Zappa big band, all complex rhythms, a wall of drums and vibes, Louca’s guitar and Gahrton’s bari sax adding color. Bittolo Bon and Hedtjärn take turns going wild on the alto and clarinet, and the whole ensemble returns for a satisfying coda. Part II takes a similar path, with skads of high-level improvising and another catchy pentatonic tune. Part III is my favorite track, prominently featuring Brunello’s double bass on a two-minute opening solo, joined by Louca’s woozy lap steel, some bowed vibes and spacy synth, eventually revealing itself as one of my favorite sub-genres, ambient country, but from an Old World perspective.
The closer, “Achilles Heel” is most experimental of all, opening with a lovely, languid tuba solo and cycling through all sorts of free improvisation, modernist exploration, and skittering synthesizers, a 12-minute tour de force for this amazing ensemble. Elephantine’s Moonshine is highly recommended for the adventurous listener. - Gary Whitehouse for Greenman Review
CD $15

TONY OXLEY QUINTET with LARRY STABBINS / MANFRED SCHOOF / PAT THOMAS / SIRONE - Angular Apron (Corbett Vs. Dempsey CVSD 110CD; USA) British percussionist Tony Oxley returned to his piece "Angular Apron" multiple times after debuting it in the early 1970s. Drawing equally on his interest in contemporary composed music by folks like Xenakis and Ligeti and on his long tenure as one of the central figures in European improvised music, Oxley assembled a quintet to play the work in Bochum, Germany, in 1992. The one-time ensemble consisted of five players from varied backgrounds. Trumpeter and flugelhornist Manfred Schoof, who delivers one of his last performances before turning exclusively to composition, is one of the pioneers of free music in Germany, a somewhat understated figure of immense power and authority whose 1969 FMP LP European Echoes stands as one of the great documents of orchestral improvisation, and whose own quintet helped define the transitional forms of new jazz a few years earlier in the decade. American bassist Sirone is best known for his work in the Revolutionary Ensemble, with violinist Leroy Jenkins and drummer Jerome Cooper. Sirone's presence in Oxley's group confirms the drummer's commitment to a transatlantic aesthetic, one he explored extensively with Cecil Taylor and William Parker in the Feel Trio. Saxophonist Larry Stabbins brings his incredible versatility to the band, adding the mix of ferocity and buoyancy that he added to diverse projects from Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Peter Brötzmann to Weekend and Working Week. On piano and electronics, Pat Thomas was at the time a relative newcomer to the British scene, rapidly becoming one of its leading lights and most sought-after collaborators. Oxley drew on this crew's wide range of orientations for this "Angular Apron," exploiting their extremes of timbre and register, calling on their acuity as listeners, and prodding them with his finely-honed junkshop of metal percussion, with which he detonates the hour-long piece. Presenting the never-before-released music in its complete glory, mastered from the original tapes, the Angular Apron CD design features images of two of Oxley's paintings. Recorded October 2, 1992, at the Ruhr Jazz Festival, Bochum, Germany. Mastered by Larry Stabbins. Design by David Khan-Giordano. Produced by John Corbett. Thanks to Tutta Oxley.
CD $15

LITTLE FEAT - Original Album Series: Little Feat / Sailin' Shoes / Dixie Chicken / Feats Don't Fail Me Now /The Last Record Album (Warner Brothers; USA) Little Feat were the finest roots rock band to emerge from L.A. in the early seventies. They combined all of the best elements of rock, blues, soul, funk, New Orleans groove, jamband jamming, got you off your tush to dance and massaged your brain with sly, intelligent arrangements. The leader was Lowell George, a short-lived member of the Mothers of Invention, who organized the band in 1969 with another Mother and members of L.A. psych band, the Fraternity of Man. Their first album was released in 1970, was self-titled and they were a quartet with Mr. George on guitars & vocals, Bill Payne of keyboards, Roy Estrada on bass and Richie Hayward on drums. The band was slowly evolved, stretching out past their blues/rock roots on their first two albums and expanded on “Dixie Chicken” adding a second great guitarist Paul Barrere, new bass player Kenny Gradney & conga play Sam Clayton. The past hit their stride on ‘Dixie Chicken’ which sounded like they were influenced by Allen Toussant and the Meters. Their fourth album, “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now’ is considered to be their best and it is my longtime favorite. Check the rockin’ on “Oh Atlanta”, the greasy funk on “Skin It Back” or the hotsh*t jamming on “Cold Cold Cold / Tripe Face Boogie”! Their fifth album, “The Last Record Album” is almost as good as the fourth one and it is a stone cold classic! Lowell George often partied a bit too much, drinkin’ , smokin’ and having the white line fever. Although Lowell George left the band in 1978 and died in 1979, Little Feat continued to make great records and still exist today with just one original member. In my opinion, Little Feat have never made a bad album and I’ve collected them all as well as several classic bootleg sets/discs. Essential listening for rockers, funketeers and anyone with a pulse beating inside and dancing shoes on (y)our feat! - MCBruceLee at DMG
5 CD Set $25


LP SECTION:

CHARLES GAYLE / MILFORD GRAVES / WILLIAM PARKER - Webo (Black Editions Archives BEA 03LP; USA) "A legendary concert by one of the great unrecorded bands in free jazz history is here at last. WEBO, the third installment in the Black Editions Archive series of previously unreleased recordings from Milford Graves' private tape library, roars into the station June 21, 2024. For the first time, Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker -- three lions of the Black American jazz avantgarde -- are finally heard together on record, presented here across three audiophile-quality LPs for two brutalizingly joyous hours of real ju-ju & musical mastery. The trio of Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker gave only seven public performances between 1985 and 2013, and released no recordings. Their June 1991 two-night stand at the short-lived Lower East Side venue Webo, long referenced as a signal event in New York free jazz's 1990s resurgence, has been a topic of discussion among close followers of the music for decades. In the uncompromising grassroots spirit of the 1970s New York Musicians Organization and loft jazz movements from which they had emerged, the band produced and promoted the WEBO concerts themselves. Photography and audio recording were not allowed at the concerts, and this official recording, commissioned by the artists, was never released -- until now. So vivid was the lore surrounding WEBO that it topped the list of recordings sought by Black Editions Archive from Graves' private collection. The tapes maximally substantiate eyewitness accounts describing extra-sensory levels of communication within the band, and the extraordinary clarity and impact of their performance. From William Parker's liner notes: 'Imagine a village or choir of drummers, horn players and strings. You can hear the bass and drums churning with a call and response, a melodic-rhythmic propulsion. In reality there is only one drummer, one bass, and one saxophone.' Age 52 at the time of these concerts, Charles Gayle had only recently made his first recordings. To all but the most immediate insiders he was still more myth than reality. Milford Graves, two months out from his 50th birthday, was about halfway into his body of recorded work and had sanctioned just one appearance on a commercially released recording in the last 14 years (Pieces of Time by an all-drummer quartet with Kenny Clarke, Andrew Cyrille, and Famoudou Don Moye). William Parker, the young man of the group at age 39, was a mere fifty entries into his discography, now 500 entries and counting. All three musicians were at least a quarter century into passionately developing a personal and collective music rooted in the cultural values and radical aesthetics of the 1960s and '70s Black American avant-garde. 30 years after the WEBO concerts, Black Editions Archive is honored to make these historical recordings available to the public. The three LPs are presented in a heavy black, pigment-stamped box with mounted cover painting along with liner notes by William Parker, commentary from Alan Licht (witness to night one of the WEBO concerts), a reproduction of the original concert flyer, and a set of 6"x9" printed photos from the 2021 WEBO reunion outside MoMA PS1, Queens, NY. Cover Painting by Jeff Schlanger/musicWitness, made June 8, 1991, at Webo during the band's performance. Vinyl pressed at RTI, lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio." - Michael Ehlers, 2024
3 LP Deluxe Box Set $65 [Limited Edition]

ELKHORN - Other Worlds (Feeding Tube Records / Cardinal Fuzz FTR 747LP; USA)
Cardinal Fuzz/Feeding Tube Records in collaboration with Deep Water Acres and in tribute to Sunrise Ocean Bender Records bring to you: Elkhorn -- Other Worlds. Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard, the two-guitar duo of Elkhorn, share a musical brotherhood that spans several decades. From their nascent high school socialist-realist post-punk band Mayfirst, to teenage scavenger trips to the Princeton Record Exchange and City Gardens, the two came of age goofing along to the Dead Kennedys, the Butthole Surfers, and Sonic Youth in the dank Jersey/Philly-scene music holes. Elkhorn has long traversed the valleys between fried cosmic psychedelia and American Primitive, particularly the latter style's reverence for a wide range of folk and blues idioms ranging from County Records compilations to the Mississippi Sheiks. While the pair is best known for their acoustic guitar explorations, Other Worlds continues their recent experiments with other instrumental possibilities. For instance, on the previous Elkhorn release On the Whole Universe in All Directions, Drew switched to vibraphone and drums, with Jesse playing 12-string guitar. Other Worlds, on the other hand, finds them in a recognizable "rock trio" format (in improvisational mode) -- Drew is on electric guitar, with Jesse playing bass, and they are again joined by Ian McColm on drums, with the free-flowing groove he brings. On the opening track "Watching the Skies" you can feel the forward propulsion this power trio sets up, a cosmic widescreen which Elkhorn proceed to rock and groove across the whole of Other Worlds. Three flawless musicians in their own right, together they form a telepathic psychic link that taps into the otherworldly flow that is Other Worlds, as the synergy created by Jesse and Ian leaves Drew plenty of space to take off on exhilarating and soaring flights of fuzzy haze fire that results in a musical journey toward transcendence. Elkhorn demonstrate again and again that there is no height they won't scale, no direction they won't travel. Have Elkhorn ever sounded as heavy or as on fire as the recordings laid down here? You be the judge. The trio is multitudes. The trio is one.
LP $30

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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 / ELIZA BAGG / JUNE 26-29

6/26 Wednesday
8:30 pm: DUO 1: Eliza Bagg and Catherine Brookman (two amplified voices with electronics)

6/27 Thursday
8:30 pm: DUO 2—Mycelial Echo: Eliza Bagg (amplified voice, electronics) Booker Stardrum (electronics, percussion)

6/28 Friday
8:30 pm; DUO 3: Eliza Bagg (amplified voice, electronics) Chris Pattishall (amplified and processed piano)

6/29 Saturday
8:30 pm: DUO 4: Eliza Bagg (amplified voice, electronics) Rohan Chander aka Bakudi Scream (synths, electronics)

THE STONE RESIDENCIES / LESLEY MOK / JULY 3, 5, 6

7/3 Wednesday
8:30 pm - TRIO: Craig Taborn (piano) Lester St. Louis (cello) Lesley Mok (drums)

JULY 4
CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY - HAPPY 4TH!


7/5 Friday
8:30 pm - HISTORY DOG - Shara Lunon (voice, electronics) Chris Williams (trumpet, electronics) Luke Stewart (electric bass) Lesley Mok (drums)

7/6 Saturday
8:30 pm - THE LIVING COLLECTION - David Leon (alto saxophone, flutes) Yuma Uesaka (tenor saxophone, clarinets) Kalun Leung (trombone) Joanna Mattrey (viola) Christopher Hoffman (cello) Phillip Golub (piano) Dorian Duke (bass) Lesley Mok (drums)

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

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IBEAM in BROOKLYN Presents:

Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM
Michel Gentile Quartet
Michel Gentile (flutes),
Gary Versace (piano),
Jerome Harris (bass),
Tom Rainey (drums)

Monday, July 8, 2024 - 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Aaron Irwin Trio
Aaron Irwin - alto saxophone/bass clarinet
Mike Baggetta - guitar
Bill Campbell - drums

Wednesday, July 10, 2024 - 8:00 PM 9:00 PM
"Vitor Gonçalves and Todd Neufeld"
Vitor Gonçalves and Todd Neufeld - 8 pm
Vitor Gonçalves - accordion
Todd Neufeld - guitar

Saturday, July 13
4:00pm Improvisation Workshop (open to all!)
Kyoko Kitamura guides participants through Anthony Braxton's Language Music and beyond score excerpts provided
5:00pm Listening Session & In-Person Interview
KAREN BORCA - 90-minutes of immersion into pioneering bassoonist/composer/innovator’s body of FreeJazz works. Moderated by Ben Young. Curated/co-produced by Melanie Dyer
7:30pm Anaïs Maviel - Voice & Piano
8:45pm Ambient Parade (from Montreal!)
Kalun Leung - trombone & custom instruments
Yuma Uesaka - reeds
Special Guest! - trumpet & custom instruments
$20 includes daytime events

I-Beam is located at 168 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11215
info@ibeambrooklyn.com

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ZURCHER GALLERY Presents:

Saturday, June 29th at 8:00 pm
Terry Jenoure Trio with Terry Jenoure, Joe Fonda, Reggie Nicholson
Andrew Drury Tentet: Jason Kao Hwang (violin), Stephanie Griffin (viola), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Thomas Heberet (corner), Frank Lacy (trombone), Briggan Krauss (alto sax), JD Parran (bass flute), Alexis Marcelo (keyboard), Ken Filiano (bass), Andrew Drury (drums)
 
Admission is $20. 
Tickets can be purchased at the door. CASH ONLY.
All proceeds go to the artists.
At Zürcher Gallery
33 Bleecker st,
New York, NY 10012

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SUNDAY JUNE 30th 8PM

The first meeting of two LEGENDARY improvisers
ANTHONY COLEMAN / BARRY ALTSCHUL
plus
GABE BOYARIN / BRANDON LOPEZ
two amazing duo sets
Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer St
Brooklyn, NY, $20

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This comes from a friend and STEVE LACY Italian fan, Mauro Stocco:

www.stevelacymemorialscrapbook.org is a recent tribute portal dedicated to Steve Lacy, the great soprano sax genius who passed away twenty years ago, on June 4th, 2004. The website currently features contributions by Alvin Curran, Roberto Ottaviano, Gianni Mimmo, Zlatko Kaučič, Andrea Centazzo, Tino Tracanna, Vincent Lainè, Jason Weiss, and others will follow over time.

After having dedicated many years to collecting records, books and magazines about Steve, having met him several times and organized gigs for him in solo, trio, sextet and with Musica Elettronica Viva, I decided it was the time to create a simple, but heartfelt, tribute.

Steve Lacy was a genius of our time, a sort of Leonardo Da Vinci, capable of interacting with Dixieland, Monk, Ellington, free, Indian music, MEV, Giuseppe Chiari, dance, painting, sculpture, cinema, poetry, Living Theatre, philosophy, Tao, codifying the role of the modern soprano saxophone.

Anyone who feels they have a contribution to make to the site can contact the e-mail address listed.


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NEW VIDEOS from GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWJ20KEHAdQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuKk7GFtGls

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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 (#37) was released earlier this year, here are the links:

https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-37
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-36
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-362-auxiliaries

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

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