Since moving to Chinatown in 2010, we’ve struggled to survive as our mail-order and walk-in is OK, but selling CD’s, albums, t-shirts, books and DVD’s is getting more difficult all the time. I must admit that I still love this job, meeting other serious listeners and creative musicians. Listening, talking about and promoting Creative Music is what my life is mostly about. I also love writing reviews and commenting on how my/our lives are going. Around 7,000 folks get this, the weekly DMG newsletter which is great although only around 100 or so actually order from us regularly. During the pandemic, I started to add lyrics and commentary to the top of the newsletter as a way to reach out to many of you who felt alone due to be at home. I realized that many of us felt similar about what was going on and the response has been pretty great ever since. If you read the DMG weekly or even occasionally and like what you read, please help us to survive. Since the weekly newsletter has been free since it started in the late 1990’s, I would ask any of you readers to subscribe perhaps $50 for 6 months or $100 per year or whatever you can do. I know that many of you read the newsletter but no longer buy CD’s or LP’s. If you want us to continue to do what we do, please do send us some funds. I will keep the newsletter going for as long as I can.
My goal at this point is to keep DMG going until I turn 75 or perhaps until the store turns 40 (in 5 years or so). We are still looking for some record collections since we selling more records than CD’s for the first time in our long history. We have gotten several thousand CD donations over the past few years and this has helped us immensely. Thanks to any of you who did donate, we do appreciate it. This year, 2025, DMG turns 34, hence we are the oldest record store in Manhattan. We still have weekly in-store concerts and I try to post 1 minute segments from these concerts almost every day on InstaGram. We’ve had around 35 folks work for us over the long haul so thanks to each of them for their help. You can send us a check (to DMG, POB 153, NY, NY, 10002-0153) or pay via paypal at ebay@downtownmusicgallery.com (which costs us around 5%). Thanks to all of you, especially our longtime weekly or monthly customers, each of whom has helped get to where we are today, still promoting Creative Music in any way we can. Peace and Love Always, Bruce Lee Gallanter at DMG
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THE DMG 34th ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE FREE MUSIC SERIES Continues with:
Monday, January 20th:
6:30: JAMES PAUL NADIEN - Solo Drums
7:15: CHRIS PITSIOKOS - Solo Alto Sax
8:00: JAMES PAUL NADIEN / CHRIS PITSIOKOS - Drums / Alto Sax DuoEARLIER
Tuesday, January 21st:
6:30: BEYOND FLUTE GROUP with CHERYL PYLE - C & Alto Flutes/ MICHAEL EATON - Soprano Sax / GENE COLEMAN - Bass Flute & Piccolo / SYLVAIN LEROUX - Fula & C Flutes
7:30: ANDY HAAS / SABRINA SALAMONE - Sax / Violin
8:30: AIDAN O’CONNELL - Bass / MATT KNOEGEL - Sax / MICHAEL LAROCCA - Drums
Tuesday, January 28th:
6:30: JONATHAN WILSON - Drums / TAKUMA KANAIWA - Bass / KEENA RUFFIN - Guitar / STEN ZENKOV - Reeds
7:30: MAX JOHNSON / BRANDON LOPEZ - Rare ContraBass Duo
8:30: JEREMY CARLSTEDT - Drums / RAY ANDERSON - Trombone
Tuesday, February 4th:
6:30: RōNIN PHASING: patrick brennan - Solo Alto Sax
7:30: DAFNA NAPHTALI - Electronics-Voice / FORBES GRAHAM - Trumpet-Electronics
8:30: JONATHAN RESIN - Tenor Sax / YONI KRETZMER - Tenor Sax / MICHAEL GILBERT - Bass / JARRED CHASE - Drums
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TWO NEW TZADIK DISCS OUT NOW:
* JOHN ZORN // JACK QUARTET - The Complete String Quartets (Tzadik 9318-2; USA) The world class JACK Quartet, both individually and as an ensemble, have had a personal relationship with Zorn for well over a decade. Here they deliver passionate and virtuosic recordings of his complete string quartets. Zorn’s writing for strings is legendary, and his eight string quartets, written in a thirty-year period from 1988–2017, are some of the most important and original works of the late 20th–early 21st century. Each piece is a unique world of its own, but all carry a dramatic narrative arc, a connection to tradition, and all push the players technically right to the edge of impossibility. Imaginative, challenging, and filled with color and a wealth of emotions, this is new music at its best. Includes a 36-page booklet with extensive notes, scores, and appreciations by the musicians.
2 CD Set $26
* JACK Quartet Plays JOHN ZORN’s Memento Mori and Necronomicon - Friday, January 17, 2025. 8:00 pm at Roulette in Brooklyn
JOHN ZORN // MARY HALVORSON QUARTET with MILES OKAZAKI / DREW GRESS / TOMAS FUJIWARA - The Bagatelles Volume 1 (Tzadik 5211; USA) May 2015, John Zorn composed 300 new tunes that were eventually collected into a book of music he called The Bagatelles. After five years of performances around the world in venues large and small, the choicest ensembles have gone into the studio and the results are some of the most exciting and varied music Zorn has ever presented. This first volume features the remarkable Mary Halvorson Quartet. Dynamic, fiery and endlessly imaginative, this is a fascinating first peek into the world of Zorn’s Bagatelles. The first Bagatelles boxset (Vol 1) does include this disc so no reason to get it again if you have that boxset already.
This is the second Mary Halvorson CD of performing music from John Zorn’s large songbook collections. The first one was called ‘Paimon’ and it was the last (Vol 32) of Zorn’s ‘Book of Angels’ series. It was & still is my favorite of that series and I played nearly every day at the store for a year. If you don’t already have it, you really should check it out. - BLG at DMG
CD $18
TIM BERNE / TOM RAINEY / GREGG BELISLE-CHI - Yikes Too (Out of Your Head / Screwgun 002; USA) After having a half dozen releases on ECM as a leader or collaborator, alto sax great Tim Berne has had a handful of discs on other labels like Intakt and Relative Pitch. In 2023, Marc Ducret and Tim Berne had a release on the Out of Our Heads/Screwgun collective imprint. Over the past few years Mr. Berne has been playing regularly are smaller places in Brooklyn like Lowlands, drawing from several players from his past. This particular trio features Featuring Tim Berne on alto sax & compositions, Tom Rainey on drums and Gregg Belisle-Chi on guitar. On Mr. Belisle-Chi’s first release for Relative pitch, he covered the music of Tim Berne, no easy feat. Mr. Berne and Mr. Belisle-Chi also a duo effort out on the Intakt label. Beloved drum master Tom Rainey used to work with Mr. Berne in the 1980’s and 1990’s in a trio called Paraphrase, as well as a few other varied projects.
This is the first recording by this trio and it is an ambitious 2 CD set with one disc recorded the Firehouse 12 studio in April of 2024 and the other one recorded live at then Royal Room in Seattle in March of 2024. Disc 1 is the studio recording and Mr. Berne wrote all of the pieces except one cover by the late Julius Hemphill, who Mr. Berne studied with in the early days of his music career. “oddly Enough” opens and starts with one of those cyclic repeating lines that Berne has been drawing from for many years. Although the trio plays the line a few times together, Mr. Rainey keeps the groove going while Mr. Belisle-Chi takes a spirited bent-note guitar solo. Mr. Belisle-Chi uses select distortion which often matches Mr. Berne’s fractured sax notes just right. “Guitar Star” begin with some unaccompanied dark, tortured guitar tones as an intro. Berne and Rainey soon join him, the guitar and sax both playing their lines together while Rainey does a great job of anchoring the bottom end rhythm with his distinctive drumming. “Yikes” starts off with the guitar starting off playing that repeating riff Berne adding his own counterpoint lines and Rainey playing his skeletal pattern underneath. Mr. Belisle-Chi takes a long, simmering, solo while Berne adds his part on top, the intensity building, both the guitar and sax soloing together. Mr. Rainey kicks off “Yikes 2” with just a distinctive drums solo before the rest of the trio joins him. The trio strips things down for “Marmite Woman”, which is eerie and suspense-filled. Both the guitar and sax do a good job of bending their notes in similar way. The one cver here is by Julius Hemphill and it is a unexpectedly lovely, somber and cerebral. For “Bat Channel”, Mr. Rainey switches to brushes, the trio playing more slowly and thoughtfully. Around half of the songs on Disc One are actually more restrained and cerebral. This seems like a different direction or approach.
2 CD Set $16 / LP $18
EAST AXIS with SCOTT ROBINSON / MATTHEW SHIPP / KEVIN RAY / GERALD CLEAVER - No Subject (Mack Avenue BRO4003; USA) East Axis is Scott Robinson on tenor sax, alto clarinet, tarogato, trumpet & slide cornet, Matt Shipp on piano, Kevin Ray on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums. This is the second disc from East Axis, their first one (from 2021) had Allen Lowe on reeds instead of Scott Robinson. I am a big fan of Mr. Robinson, a unique musician who seems to play (and collect) so may instruments that I’ve lost count. Plus he appears to be a virtuoso on whichever instrument he is playing at the time. Robinson also works in a wide variety of ensembles, playing many different types of music. Bassist Kevin Ray has a group called 10 32K with Frank Lacy & Andrew Drury, which have 2 discs out. You most likely know about pianist Matt Shipp and drum wizard Gerald Cleaver, both of whom work together often as well as record and play live with many other gifted musicians from different circles.
As far as I can tell, this is an all improvised session similar to their first disc. Matt Shipp records quite a bit of improvised discs for a few labels and with a handful of musicians he has worked with for many years. Although it is often Mr. Shipp’s dark, probing chords are at the center of some of these pieces, it is the six different reeds or brass which push the quartet into different areas or vibes. Mr. Robinson is playing alto clarinet on the first piece, the quartet often playing quietly and sparsely. Robinson switches to tenor sax on “I Like it Very Much”, his playing comes from that inside/outside sounds, sorta swinging (oldschool-wise) yet still taking it outside at times. Mr. Shipp continues this inside/outside sound as well, playing normal chords with his left hand while adding some crisscrossing single note runs with his right hand. Mr. Ray’s stark contrabass plays a strong, spirited bass solo at the beginning of “Sometime Tomorrow”. The bass is the central figure on this piece with Mr. Cleaver adding some turbulence with his drums. Robinson enters on spooky tarogato (a long Eastern European clarinet), the vibe is skeletal and filled with suspense. The quartet erupt on “Decisions Have Already Been Made”, with some powerful low-end note-stretching from Robinson’s tenor. Most disturbing yet appropriate considering… Although Scott Robinson has worked with the likes of Maria Schneider, Anthony Braxton and Marshall Allen, he rarely gets a chance to stretch out his freer chops. He does a fine job here of pushing himself further outside of his regular inside activities. On “Excuse My Absence”, the quartet stretch out time spaciously with the dark currents on piano, skeletal bass & drums while Robinson adds suspense-filled smears with different instruments. Each of the dozen piece here create a different mood or vibe. Mr. Cleaver’s masterful drums are featured on “To Be Honest”, which also features some haunting, Trane-like tenor from Robinson. Since Mr. Shipp appears not to be the leader on this disc, the outcome is often less predictable with some surprising changes in direction. A strong date for a mighty fine quartet. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
PEGGY LEE and COLE SCHMIDT with WAYNE HORVITZ / SARA SCHOENBECK / SUNNY KIM / JP CARTER / DYLAN VAN DER SCHYFF / et al - Forever Stories of: Moving Parts (Earshift Music 098; Vancouver, Canada) Featuring Peggy Lee on cello, Cole Schmidt on guitar, JP Carter on trumpet & electronics, Lisen Rylander Love on tenor sax & electronics, Melissa Hubert on flute, James Goddard on tenor sax, Melissa Hubert on flute, Wayne Horvitz on piano, organ, Wurlitzer & synth, Sara Schoenbeck on bassoon, Mededith Bates on violin, Frank Rosaly, Erika Angell & Sunny Kim on electronics and/or vocals, James Meger on bass, Dylan Van Der Schyff or Mili Hong on drums. Vancouver-based cellist, Peggy Lee, has been recording since the late 1990’s and working with both Vancouver-based and other international players like: John Butcher, Michael Moore and Dave Douglas. She has recorded around two dozen discs as a leader or co-leader since 1998. Guitarist Cole Schmidt has recorded around a dozen discs, running his own bands like The Pugs & Crows Band and Sickboss. I’ve become friendly with Mr. Cole over the past few years, always admiring whatever discs he leaves us with. Of the two vocalists here, Sunny Kim is from Korea while Erika Angell is Swedish (lives in Canada). I only know a few of the bigger names here like Wayne Horvitz, Sara Schoenbeck, JP Carter and Dylan van der Schyff (who is married to Ms. Lee).
All of the songs were composed by Peggy Lee or Cole Schmidt and performed by a shared ensemble with members from Vancouver, Montreal, Sweden and the Pacific northwest. Commencing with “Blame”, the music is solemn, lush, dreamy, stripped down with haunting trumpet, guitar, cello and skeletal drums. The guitar and plucked cello are at the center of “removing clocks from a heated house” with Mr. Schmidt’s guitar being strummed while a layers of electronics floats in and out. Sunny Kim adds her exquisite spoken word vocals to “it will come back”, which are backed by cello, electronics and organ. An el bass throbs quietly throughout “doctor dawn”, with Ms. Lee’s cello and Mr. Schmidt’s hypnotic guitar washing over us in small waves with hushed vocal sound hovering in the background. Much of the music here has a somber, drifting, dream-like sound. The main thematic melodies are mostly played by the cello and nimble guitar with effective, subtle electronics added like spice. I like the way the electronics are used here, often bubbling or simmering underneath the themes played by the trumpet, cello and guitar. Mr. Cole does more than strumming than picking, playing those hypnotic chords over us in ongoing waves. There is little soloing here since the music is more about creating a series of moods. Ms. Angell’s hushed and haunting vocals sound just right on “fallride”, speaking softly, the music dreamy, elegant. Former Downtowner, Wayne Horvitz, often adds a rich yet subtle undertow of organ, piano and synth here and there, adding some subtle magic to these pieces. This disc is one of the most enchanting, sublime and quietly engaging discs I’ve heard in recent memory. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
ERNEST DAWKINS / LASANA D. KAZEMBE // LIVE THE SPIRIT RESIDENCY with COREY WILKES / ISAIAH SPENCER / et al - Paul Robeson - Man of the People - A New Jazz Poetry Opera (Dawk Music; USA) Featuring Ernest Dawkins - composer, director, conductor & producer, Lasana D. Kazembe - librettist, Corey Wilkes - trumpet, Isaiah Keith - piano & vibes, Kevin King - reeds, Galen Morris - bass, Isaiah Spencer - drums, Staci McCraken - vocals and a string quartet. For the past few years, early AACM reeds player & composer, Ernest Dawkins, has been stopping by the store and leaving us with a new disc from his Live the Spirit Residency project. Although many of the members his band(s) are younger and under-recognized musicians from Chicago. each of the previous CD’s have been thematic gems with a great deal of time and thought for each one. The same goes for this one.
I didn’t know that much about the legendary black vocalist Paul Robeson before getting a copy of this disc. I read his lengthy wikipedia page earlier today as well as the liner notes to a CD of his called ’Songs of Free Men’, which was recorded in the mid-1940’a. Paul Robeson was a fascinating individual, winning a scholarship to Rutgers College in NJ in 1915, playing in the National Football League, graduating Columbia law school and becoming an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Mr. Robeson was a bass-baritone singer who gave recitals around the world and acted in many important plays and musicals. He was a longtime civil rights activist and was scrutinized by the FBI for his left-wing activities. He was often outspoken in his beliefs and was treated unfairly by rightwing extremists throughout much of his adult life. I listened to a long album of his earlier today and was/am most impressed by his rich, deep voice, covering gospel, religious, folk, blues, pop and classical songs. He covers an Hasidic chant (Jewish music) on this disc which reminded me of my own heritage. Paul Robeson seems like a great person for a fine tribute, hence this disc does a fine job.
This ambitious work is broken into 6 movements, each movement broken into 2-4 parts. “Movement 1” is called “Into the Storm, He is Born…”. Vocalist Staci McCrakin has a fine voice, somewhere between gospel and older classical traditions, righteous, touching, stirring up deep emotions. The music on “Unfreedom” combines the string quartet seamlessly with an intense, free-ish jazz ensemble. Vibist Isaiah Keith and drummer Isaiah Spencer (on mallets) are featured here, the music rumbling, powerful like a train charging down the tracks from one city to another. Former Art Ensemble trumpeter, Corey Wilkes, blasts out a powerful solo here, soaring in waves about the ensemble below. Spoken word vocalist & librettist, Lasana Kazembe, does a great job to speaking truth to power, telling the story of Paul Robeson’s life. The music here is also well-written, thoughtful, powerful and filled with bristling energy, inventiveness and emotion. “Movement 2: Made in America” has two parts. “Part 1” features some intense sax, trumpet and piano interplay over a strong rhythm team. There is a repeating vibes line which is most hypnotic. Both the words and voice here capture the spirit/ the essence of the life of Paul Robeson, a righteous fire is burning within. The story unfolds like a tale of a true American Spirit, courageous, proud, stirring and real. Ernest Dawkins’ music is consistently engaging, compelling and well-worth thinking about especially today as racism and fascism is breathing down our necks, stepping on our throats so that we can hardly breathe. The more I listen, the more interesting things get. Funky acoustic bass with pizzicato strings dancing on top, many other surprises are in store. The music on track 9 is just too much, an infectious groove with a slamming beat and then a couple of layers of vocals moving around one another with Staci McCrakin’s soulful voice soaring on top! Everything flows just right here, from the beginning to the end. Since I have see/heard so few musicals, (except for the Gospel at Colonus), I can’t compare this work to anything else. I must admit that for me , this is as good as it gets. It works on all levels, tells a fascinating American story and is most inspirational! Thanks to everyone involved in this effort, bravo to All! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
CHRISTIAN BUCHER / SIMON TAN / RICK COUNTRYMAN - Unanimity (FMR CD698-0624; UK) Featuring Rick Countryman on alto sax, Simon Tan on bass and Christian Bucher on drums. Beginning around 5 years ago (in 2019), American saxist Rick Countryman, who now lives in the Philippines has been releasing a series of free jazz sessions with a group of improvisers from different backgrounds. This is at least the fourth disc by this particular trio. This session was recorded at Strawberry Jams Studio in the Philippines just like their previous releases. I can tell that this this trio has been together for a while since they are immensely focused and consistently inventive. They start out quietly on “Meditations on Immigration” (a play on the title of an old Mingus piece). Each piece seems to build on the previous piece, increasing in intensity as it the disc unfolds. Bassist Simon Tan, who I’ve only heard with Mr. Countryman is in fine form here and is often at the center of the trio, pumping up a storm at times. Christian Bucher kicks off “Derivational Morphemes” with sprawling drums with the trio soon entering as well. This music is most organic-sounding and sounds like a series of stories unfolding. On “Concurrency”, the trio speed up and start to soar together, the intensity building higher. Things actually calm down a bit on “First Bird”, which is more cerebral and most mesmerizing. On “Circumstances” things erupt intensely one more and there is a rush of Free Spirits sailing on high. “Apparitions” seems like an apt title since it is more stripped down and has some ghost/spirits floating through. This is a marvelous free trio who should be reckoned with. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
ROSE CITY BAND - Sol Y Sombra (Thrill Jockey 620CD; USA) "Rose City Band's music is sun-kissed timeless country rock whose seemingly effortless momentum carries the joy of its creation without ignoring the darkness pervading our consciousness. Led by guitarist/vocalist Ripley Johnson, the music of Rose City Band is rooted in his love of private press records of the mid to late '70s. The band, in addition to Johnson, features pedal steel guitarist Barry Walker, keyboardist Paul Hasenberg, and drummer John Jeffrey who enmesh a keen sense of rhythmic drive and melody with gentler, sumptuous atmospheres. Nuanced performances and interplay between players unfurl like desert flowers splashing color onto an arid landscape. The ensemble's buoyant moments still glide with ease, but there is room to revel in respite of the shade of a dark cloud. Across the album, Johnson's tasteful guitar interjections and soothing voice are met in kind with the versatile playing of Walker, Hasenberg, and Jeffery, with special guest performances by synthesist/vocalist, Sanae Yamada. Album closer 'The Walls' perfectly captures the band's explorative and expansive songs, Hasenberg's soulful organ driving the album to an emotionally cathartic conclusion. Throughout his prolific career with Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo, and now Rose City Band, Johnson's music has consistently centered around exploration and discovery. Sol Y Sombra imbues his penchant for space and resplendent tonality with a denser amalgam of his influences through a delicate balance of the somber and the serene, of subtle evolutions and familiar sounds, Sol Y Sombra makes for a holistically joyous experience, finding solace in both sun and shade."
CD $16
ASH RA TEMPEL EXPERIENCE - Live In Melbourne (Mg.Art 502; Germany) 2015 live recording from the Supersense Festival in Melbourne, previously unreleased, featuring a supergroup of Manuel Göttsching, Ariel Pink, Oren Ambarchi, and Shags Chamberlain playing material from classic Ash Ra Tempel releases, 1972's Schwingungen (MGART 112CD) and 1973's Seven Up (MGART 113CD). Taken from Göttsching on the release: "Out of the blue -- I was invited to perform in Melbourne, Australia. It happened thanks to my dear old friend Mick Glossop, who made the suggestion to Sophia Brous, at the time the curator of a music-festival called 'Supersense' at the Melbourne Arts Centre in summer 2015. In addition to the solo performance I'd planned, Sophia proposed an additional collaboration or session performances with some of the other participating musicians. I had never been very happy in performing 'public sessions'. I've always tried to first look for a conceptual approach, and my wife, Ilona J. Ziok, came up with the idea of performing some Ash Ra Tempel classics. That's when the idea for an 'Experience' was born. I decided that pieces from the second and third Ash Ra Tempel albums Schwingungen and Seven Up would be most appropriate for a group performance with Ariel Pink, Shags Chamberlain, and Oren Ambarchi. We conversed by email, and much to my surprise, they all claimed to be very familiar with this music. . . . We finally met in Melbourne for a relaxed afternoon rehearsal, just two days before the actual concert performance took place. After a technical set-up we went straight into 'Look At Your Sun' and it was as if we had performed it only yesterday. It continued like that with the other tracks. For the first part of Schwingungen I decided for a little variation, so that all four of us were standing around the vibraphone at the beginning, playing it with four/eight hands -- like an imaginary 'Music for Four Musicians' (a bit reminiscent of the early works of Steve Reich). . . . In return, it was only natural to ask Mick Glossop to make a mix of our concert recording, and quite happily he agreed. He has put together a wonderful and subtle mix, perfectly representing the atmosphere of the concert." Includes liner notes by Mick Glossop and Manuel Göttsching and photographs of the rehearsal and live performance. CD version comes with an eight-page booklet.
CD $17 / LP $22
BRUEDER SELKE & MIDORI HIRANO - Split Scale (Thrill Jockey 626; CD) "Midori Hirano and Brueder Selke's debut album Split Scale unites two artists who share both inimitable skill and depth of expression. Pillars of Berlin's new music community and globally lauded composers, they each share a background in classical tradition while practicing on the cutting edge of modern music. Split Scale is an elegant emotive ambient album built primarily from pianos and cello and electronics. After tracks on Longform Editions and the creation and curation of the Q3Ambientfest, this power pairing should be an immediate hit with fans of quality ambient or minimal modern music. As Brueder Selke, the polymath duo brothers Daniel and Sebastian Selke's interdisciplinary partnerships are vast and include classical institutions like the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and Filmorchester Babelsberg. The brothers have additionally been working as musical directors of the Schaffrath Chamber Orchestra and curating their own festival Q3Ambientfest which has featured the likes of fellow artists such as Laura Cannell, Mabe Fratti/Resina, Jules Reidy, Grand River, Yair Elazar Glotman, and now-collaborator Midori Hirano. Midori Hirano's mastery of sound sculpting has put her in high demand as a composer for film and television, including recent soundtracks for All or Nothing, Tokito, and a documentary on the Premier League, alongside astounding collaborations with artists including Hprizm of Anti Pop Consortium and Ilpo Väisänen of Pan Sonic. In addition to her own composing, Hirano has remixed the likes of Robot Koch and Rival Consoles. Split Scale, the group's first album together, follows a series of live collaborations. The artists chose a simple concept, following a western scale from beginning to end, and from this created a suite of sublime, synesthetic soundscapes and cinematic movements. The vivid tapestry of sound and color is luminous and emotive.
"at once familiar and odd, with the ineffable quality of a dream" --Time Magazine on Midori Hirano. “they explore texture -- creaking strings, bashed wood, triple stopping -- over minimal one-chord drones with a horror-movie intensity." - The Guardian on Brueder Selke
CD $16
SOUNDWALK COLLECTIVE with PATTI SMITH- Khandroma (Ubi Ku 001CD; Italy) While they've been active for more than two decades, it's only been in recent years that the Berlin and New York based contemporary sonic arts platform, Soundwalk Collective, has begun to gather the accolades and attention that they rightfully deserve. Firmly rooted within a multi-disciplinary practice that engages the narrative potential of sound within the contexts of visual art, dance, music and film, as well as tapping anthropological, ethnographic, and psycho-geographic research, they've gained great note for collaborations with Jean-Luc Goddard, Nan Goldin, Sasha Waltz, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and numerous others. Building on the back of 2023's brilliant All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (AF 002LP), Soundwalk Collective now returns with Khandroma, one of their most fascinating and singular endeavors to date, which re-engages their enduring creative partnerships with Patti Smith. Issued by Ubi Kū, a brand-new imprint founded by the Italian Buddhist Union dedicated to the relationships between Buddhist cultures, music, and sound, across the album's stunning two sides this incredible ensemble draws inspiration from and conjures Tibetan deities, the Himalayan Plateau, the valleys of Nepal and the highest peaks where the most ancient Buddhist temples reside, culminating as a sprawling sonic tapestry like little else. Issued as a beautifully produced, limited-edition vinyl LP and CD, mixed and mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, complete with a booklet featuring liner note essays penned by Chiara Bellini and Filippo Lunardo, and images by Stephan Crasneanscki, it's hands down among the label's favorite releases by Soundwalk Collective to date and not to be missed. Perhaps the best way of approaching Khandroma is through Soundwalk Collective's longstanding focus on the discipline of psycho-geography -- a practice that interrogates the impact of an environment's embedded histories and meanings on the psychology of the present -- as well as the group's integration of observations of nature, and uses of non-linear narrative, as a vehicle for recording and the synthesis of meaning. Like previous projects that have encountered them traveling extensively across the world, occupying diverse environments for long periods of investigation and fieldwork, during which they source materials for subsequent works, the material roots of Khandroma are a body of field recordings made by Crasneanscki, Francisco López, and Simone Merli at altitudes between 2,760 and 4,500 meters, in varying locations across Upper Mustang during 2016. Immersive, stunningly beautiful, and haunting, Khandroma draws the ancient and distant into the consciousness of the present, close to home, bordering on the profound.
CD $17
UNIONEN with STALE STORLOKKEN / PER TEXAS JOHANSSON / PETTER ELDH / GARD NILSSEN - Unionen (We Jazz WJCD 079CD; Finland) Unionen is a new quartet of four star-level Norwegian and Swedish jazz musicians. The group takes its name from the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch 1814-1905 and brings together Ståle Størlokken (Supersilent), Per "Texas" Johansson, Petter Eldh (Koma Saxo), and Gard Nilssen (Supersonic Orchestra). It's not hip to say "supergroup" but this sure is one super of a group, with each member contributing to the band sound that is unique in all the best possible ways. From misty introspection to proper rock-out-hardjazz, Unionen is set out to blaze their own trail. Tracks such as opener "Ståhlbad" draw you in with their subtle intensity, while the "rock cut" on the album, "6983" brings forth energy that sounds very much "live". Whatever Unionen do, you can feel they've been around the block a time or too, and are not just opting for easy licks to wow the listener. This is deep music that is set to stand the test of time in its originality. Early live shows of Unionen have been triumphant, with UK's Jazzwise calling them a "highlight scoop" at the Cologne Jazzweek. The album consists of eight originals, each of which defies clear classification. The compositions, including writing credits by all four members in a true fashion of the "unionen", display a genuine musical storytelling desire, matched by the ability to build a narrative that holds the listener close. On the instrumentation side of things, you hear classics like grand piano, fender Rhodes, double bass and drums, but also jazz rarities like Cor Anglais, contrabass clarinet and MPC. It's all part of a coherent sound image so you'll likely not think of how stuff was made but how it makes you feel. Unionen's music is highly emotive, more autumn than summer, more misty than sunny, more evening than midday, and first and foremost more unified than separated. No need for a monarch here, this is true democracy in the form of a jazz quartet. RIYL: Supersilent, Fire!, Scandinavian jazz, the darker side of vintage ECM.
CD $17
ROLAND KAYN - Simultan (Die Schactel 036CD; Italy) 3CD box with booklet, limited to 300 copies. A stunning journey in sound and a work of profound and intoxicating power, Roland Kayn's Simultan stands among the best of all avant-garde electronic works of its era. Die Schachtel, in collaboration with SZ Sugar, is finally able to make available in CD format -- after the legendary vinyl-only edition released in 2017 -- the first volume in a series of works named K - Kybernetische Musik, that documents the birth of Kayn's Cybernetic Music, remastered from the original analog master tapes. The re-emergence of Simultan has been long awaited by many, and should be celebrated by everyone with the faintest interest in electronic music. Totally essential and not to be missed. One of the great pioneers of electronic, computer, and instrumental avant-garde music, for most of his life, the German composer Roland Kayn (1933 - 2011) remained almost entirely unknown, a founding member of the legendary ensemble, Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, heralded as a singular genius by a small number of figures like Jim O'Rourke, who is currently curating the archive of the artist. While Kayn might be easily described as a composer of electronic, electro-acoustic, or computer music, the majority of his career was in fact largely dedicated to the revolutionary sculpting of an entirely new territory of sound: Cybernetic Music, a generative process of composition through programming. Simultan was among the first of the composer's works to emerge from this process. Cybernetic Music grew from Kayn's longstanding engagement and fascination with data processing theory, which far outweighed his interest in the work of other composers and the zeitgeists of the day -- a fact which contributed to his being declared persona non grata by the avant-garde establishment, and ultimately his lasting obscurity. Created during the period in which Kayn was living in the Netherlands, and recorded with the assistance of electronic music legends Jaap Vink and Leo Küpper, Simultan is a work of astounding beauty -- filled with a remarkable sense of humanity and touch -- a strange incongruity considering the system through which it was made, doubling as an indication of the inherent power of sound which Kayn spent his life fighting to reveal. For fans of avant-garde electronic music, particularly those drawn to the work coming out of Utrecht and Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM), but who have not yet encountered Simultan, the work is likely to represent a towering revolution.
3 CD Set $50
THE ILK MUSIC CD SALE CONTINUES WITH:
1/17/25:
HAN BENNINK TRIO With JOACHIM BADENHORST / SIMON TOLDAM - Bennink # Co. (Ilk Music 192; Denmark) Featuring Han Bennink on snare drum, Joachim Badenhorst on tenor sax & clarinets and Simon Toldam on piano. This is the second disc from the Han Bennink Trio, the ICP's legendary drummer's only band as a leader. Mr. Badenhorst lived in New York for a couple years until recently, becoming one of the most dependable and creative reeds players around before returning to Amsterdam. Considering that Han Bennink plays just his snare drum here, shows how amazing he is with just one drum at his disposal. I caught another trio with Han (on just snare drum) last year with Michael Moore and Will Holhouser and again they were wonderful. This trio moves between group improvs, as well pieces written by Mr. Toldam plus a couple of standards. Mr. Bennink's wealth of experiences go back to the mid-sixties so he often sets things up as the navigating force in the trio. It sounds as if Mr. Toldam is playing harpsichord at times or possibly muting the strings inside the piano. The trio balances playfulness with more extreme excursions, never knowing where they will end up. Hence, there are many surprises in store, as to changes in direction. The "Sim March" is silly yet fun, showing that the trio don't take themselves too seriously. Mr. Bennink often uses his foot to muffle the snare, creating a unique sound. He is also a master of the brushes and here gets the chance to steer the trio with unique approach to the snare drum. Both Joachim and Simon are impressive improvisers who will go to any length or involve any technique to match wits with the endlessly inventive Mr. Bennink. Anyone who has seen Han play live knows that he often uses (visual) humor to keep the audience in stitches. He also employs a great deal of unexpected twists and turns to keep his partners on their toes. This disc is a delight in more ways than I have digits - on all limbs! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD Sale $14
ANDERSKOV ACCIDENT - Full Circle (Ilk Music 178; Denmark) The album Full Circle documents an unforgettable concert in Copenhagen, February 2011, at the end of a European tour. Expect Anderskov Accident at its best - visionary, spiritual, and enchanted by some incredible musicians. Featuring: Kasper Tranberg on trumpet & flugelhorn, Laura Toxvaerd on alto sax, Mads Hyhne on trombone, Jacob Anderskov on Wurlitzer electric piano, Nils Davidsen on bass and Tom Rainey on drums. "For those who still didn't know, there is by now no way around realizing that Jacob Anderskov belongs to the most extra-ordinary artists of contemporary music... A high point in improvised Music..." - Hans-Jurgen von Osterhausen, Jazz Podium, Germany.
CD 10.00 CDSALE
IBRAHIM ELECTRIC with NICLAS KNUDSEN / JEPPE TUXEN / STEFAN PASBORG - Rumours from Outer Space (Ilk Music 230CD; Denmark) The trio consists of three influential instrumentalists, more precise, Guitarist Niclas Knudsen, drummer Stefan Pasborg and Hammond Organ player Jeppe Tuxen. These 3 personal instrumentalists have - besides the popularity with this group - made a name for themselves as some of the most striking on their respective instruments in Scandinavia.
IBRAHIM ELECTRIC’s style has never been for the pedantic. There are elements of old fashioned soul/jazz – AFRObeat - 60’s acid-power-beat - and of course the trio’s trademark: the fast, almost punk-like passages in which the three musicians merge into one playful organism.
CD Sale $12
moLd with ANDERS BANKE / STEPHAN MEINBERG / MARK SOLBORG / PETER BRUUN - Voodoo Down Jump (Ilk Music 158; Denmark) Featuring Anders Banke on tenor sax & clarinet, Stephan Meinberg on trumpet, flugelhorn & euphonium, Mark Solborg on guitars and Peter Bruun on drums & percussion. 8 new moldings by the infamous Danish/German quartet. Voodoo Down Jump is a kaleidoscopic journey through groovy and dense jungle, wide open spaces, playful party-zones, revolutionary riots and honest prayers. Improv meets intricate composition, simple songs meet orchestrated suites and folklore meets quartertones in a highly original melting pot. The Voodoo cast contains a wide range of instruments including euphonium (a small tuba), bass clarinet, piccolo trumpet, bowed cymbals, percussion, guitars, knobs, a.o. Add curiosity, strong commitment, instrumental skills, spontaneity, and a warmblooded need for musical presence and individual freedom. mold is about high level group-playing that accommodates expressive 'bang for the buck' in Funkytown as well as heartfelt poetry. Voodoo Down Jump is the third release from mold. It is the result of intense work with the music and a major leap towards an even stronger, clearer and more organic approach to the wild growing fungus of mold. Do your Voodoo..
CD Sale $12
KRESTEN OSGOOD & OG HVAD ER KLOKKENS With JESPER LOVDAL / THOMAS VANG / MAGNUS JOCHUMSEN/PRINS NITRAM - PianoAlbum (Ilk Music 214CD; Denmark) This disc is mostly a solo effort by Danish drummer Kresten Osgood with an unusual story behind its creation. Here's the background from Mr. Osgood, "The idea was to make a record that dealt exclusively with my childhood piano , which is a very unique taffel-piano from 1851 (incidentally the first year a stamp was printed in Denmark). I wanted to make a record where the taffe-lpiano was the 'lead singer'. In 2007 I went with my friend Thomas Vang and a lot of equipment to Hvide Sande on the far west coast of Denmark where the instrument was situated and recorded all the melodies and solos for the album. It would prove to be the start of a very time consuming process because it was extremely difficult to have the musical foreground locked and then invent a foundation afterwards, so we've spent the last 6 years on building a world of sound around the recordings. " Between 2007 and 2013, Osgood and Vang worked on a regular basis on realizing this vision. They recorded drums, bass guitar, vocals, percussion, brass arrangements and an army of keyboards on top of the original taffelklaverindspilninger. In some cases, a piano solo was memorized and re-recorded on top so there were more voices playing the same line. Many of the tracks were completely finished and then scrapped because they became dated or as Osgood says, "because, as time passed, I got wiser and better at playing and could not live with some of my performances. Oddly enough, I never got tired of the original piano recordings from 2007 " The instrumentation for this disc is: Kresten Osgood on the taffel-piano, drums & other keyboards, Jesper Lovdal on wind instruments, Prins Nithram on rhythm guitar, Thomas Vang on bass and Magnus Jochumsen on percussion. This disc starts off with sounds like a lullaby sung (in Danish) by Mr. Osgood as the intro. Charming in its own way and a fine introduction, mood-wise. The taffel-piano sounds as if it was recorded from another older time and place, which is both somber yet touching. On "182" the sax, guitar and piano all swirl slowly around one another in a poignant waltz of sorts. Mr. Osgood himself, plays piano in his own way, calm and still inventive without any excess showing off. "Some Truth" sounds more like one of those undiscovered quirky gems from the more innocent days of the 1960's, the piano bathed in warm echo with a bit of synth sparkles added and twirling flutes on top. At times, Kresten dips into a Monk-like approach of slightly twisted piano excursions, also playing sympathetic drums underneath, creating a couple of layers of compelling dialogue. This disc is quite a departure for Mr. Osgood as well as most other more avant discs that I review every week. I still find it enchanting nonetheless. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD Sale $10
LP SECTION:
SUN & RAIN with NATHANIEL MORGAN / TRAVIS LAPLANTE / ANDREW SMILEY / JASON NAZARY - Waterfall (Out of Your Head Records 032LP; USA) Sun and Rain features Nathaniel Morgan on alto sax, Travis LaPlante on tenor sax, Andrew Smiley on electric guitar and Jason Nazary on drums. There are a number of smaller creative music scenes, all of which are a part of what I refer to as the ongoing Downtown Scene. Over the 25 plus years that I’ve booked weekly concerts at the store, I’ve met hundreds of musicians from numerous scenes. All four musicians here have played here at DMG at different times. Saxist Nathaniel Morgan has worked with Dustin Carlson, Will McEvoy & David Grollman. Saxist Travis LaPlante was a member of Little Women and Battle Trance (a great sax quartet). Both Andrew Smiley and Jason Nazary were also members of Little Women while Nazary had a fine duo with the late Jaimie Branch called Anteloper, as well as playing with Chris Pitsiokos.
There doesn’t appear to be song titles on this album. The first track on Side A consists of the saxes and guitar playing several circular repeating lines quietly over and over, the overall effect is uneasy yet hypnotic. The saxes and guitar play in an subdued way, the circular lines swirling as the drums create a rhythmic cushion. As the drums speed up so do the saxes and guitar, furious playing their lines together. It sounds as if a hardcore punk band were playing a minimal piece by Philip Glass or Terry Riley. The second piece starts off slowly and quietly and builds, the quartet actually a solemn, quaint melody. On the third piece, Mr. Smiley plays soft guitar while the saxes unfurl the notes in a dream-like way. On the third piece, one sax and the the drums play one pattern tightly together while the other sax & guitar also play their lines tightly, building to am intense conclusion. Each of the sic pieces here have a central repeating riff which evolves in different ways. Side B begins with what sounds like two guitars speeding up around one another, erupting the way guitars do when they are played in Glenn Branca or Rhys Chatham like piece. This pieces calms down with with the saxes and guitar all mellowing out for a section. The quartet switches between alternating somber and explosive segments. As this piece unfolds, it fades into silence before it starts again with a series of long tones floating in and floating out. The restrained playing and long tones have a way calming things down while still keeping us a bit off balance. Even when things erupt into what sounds like more chaotic or freer terrain, there is a direction or inner series of patterns which brings everything together in a grand way. It becomes frenzied yet still tight or focused before it calms down once more. I can’t say that I’ve heard anything quite like this before now. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $18
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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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JOHN ZORN - Hermetic Cartography at the Drawing Center- Feb 7th - May 11th, 2025:
Known predominantly as a groundbreaking figure in New York’s avant-garde and experimental music scenes, John Zorn has long been celebrated for his radical innovations in music. However, his abstract drawings—a private language of symbols and notations—have remained a closely guarded secret. Offering profound insight into Zorn’s creative mind, Hermetic Cartography reveals a new dimension of his artistic practice by showcasing works on paper that span seven decades of his visionary engagement with mark-making, improvisation, and the esoteric.
The exhibition includes a diverse array of Zorn’s visual artworks, graphic scores, dense philosophical notations, abstract poetry and artist books, and not only highlights Zorn’s radical approach to marks on paper but also his unique Theatre of Musical Optics and other experimental projects. By exploring these visual elements, the exhibition provides a new perspective on how Zorn's abstract works intersect with and inform his musical compositions.
John Zorn’s ‘Hermetic Cartography’ will be accompanied by a series of musical performances curated by Zorn that will be performed in the exhibition. Performances will be held from 7:30 - 9pm on the first Saturday of each month (March - May, 2025) and will be free and open to the public. The Drawing Center is located at 35 Wooster Street, in Soho in Manhattan, NYC. Website: https://drawingcenter.org
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THE STONE RESIDENCIES / INGRID LAUBROCK / JAN 15-18
1/15 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Ingrid Laubrock and Cecilia Lopez Duo
Ingrid Laubrock (saxophones) Cecilia Lopez (electronics)
1/16 Thursday
8:30 pm- Quintet - Ingrid Laubrock (saxophone) Anna Webber (saxophone) Tom Rainey (drums) Dan Weiss (drums) Dan Peck (tuba)
1/17 Friday
8:30 pm - Grammy Season with Ingrid Laubrock (saxophone) Brandon Seabrook (guitar) Shawn Lovato (double bass) Tom Rainey (drums)
1/18 Saturday
8:30 pm - Lilith - Ingrid Laubrock (saxophones) Dave Adewumi (trumpet) Adam Matlock (accordion) Yvonne Rogers (piano) Eva Lawitts (double bass) Henry Mermer (drums)
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / CHES SMITH / JAN 22-25
1/22 Wednesday
8:30 pm - SOLO - Ches Smith (drums, vibraphone, percussion)
1/23 Thursday
8:30 pm - TRIO - Miya Masaoka (koto) Hans Tammen (blippoo box, electronics) Ches Smith (drums, vibraphone)
1/24 Friday
8:30 pm - TRIO - Craig Taborn (piano) Darius Jones (sax) Ches Smith (drums, vibraphone)
1/25 Saturday
8:30 pm - TRIO - Shara Lunon (vocals) Charmaine Lee (vocals) Ches Smith (drums, electronics)
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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ROULETTE has been and remains the best place to experience experimental music and arts since 1978. I’ve attended concerts at Roulette since it began in Tribeca and I still go as often as I can. Founder Jim Staley stepped down earlier this year and a new music director named Matt Mehlan has taken his place. Here is the most of the September calendar below, it looks most impressive…
Friday, January 17, 2025. 8:00 pm
JACK Quartet Plays JOHN ZORN’s Memento Mori and Necronomicon
Thursday - Saturday, January 23rd - January 25th:
IMPROV NIGHTS 2025: A Tribute to Derek Bailey [3 Night Festival]
Ann all-star cast: Craig Taborn, Kenny Wollesen, Wendy Eisenberg, Ikue Mori, Ned Rothenberg, Brandon Lopez, gabby fluke-mogul & many more, different musicians each night.
Roulette is located at:
509 Atlantic Avenue (Corner of Third Avenue)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Telephone: (917) 267-0363
Web: https://roulette.org
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NEW VIDEOS from GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAWxt3EJSPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcvoYygehqE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-6p_Q2Dwxc
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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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