After playing at the Antibes Jazz Fest, the Blue Notes stayed in France and had a hard time surviving. They lucked out when Dollar Brand contacted them and offered them a chance to play at a club in Zurich, Switzerland, where he had a year long residency and want to tour for a bit. They played, they slayed and they stayed for a month before getting an offer to play at Ronnie Scott's in London. They were also a sensation in London since their music blended inside and outside/free jazz, bebop with South African folk melodies. Their original members includes Chris MacGregor on piano, Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Mongezi Feza on trumpet, Johnny Dyani on bass and Louis Moholo on drums. The Blue Notes decided to stay in London and became part of a small but thriving scene of creative jazz musicians who loved to collaborate with them. Each member had different problems dealing with not being to return to their homeland, as well as varied health issues (physical & mental). They were befriended by producer Joe Boyd, who produced many sessions for them, even having Chris MacGregor work with Nick Drake for an album.
Ever since being turned on to the Blue Notes and later the Brotherhood of Breath, thanks to hanging out with Robert Wyatt in November of 1975, I've been a longtime fan and collect anything and everything from each member of the Blue Notes or Brotherhood of Breath. Allegedly Mr. Dyani and Mr. Moholo didn't get along so Dyani moved to Copenhagen where he lived for the rest of his life, recording a handful of records for the Steeplechase label. Mr. Dyani's was replaced in the Blue Notes and BoB by another South African expat named Harry Miller. Harry Miller and his wife Hazel started the Ogun label in 1973, releasing around 100 LP's and CD's, many of which are long out-of-print. Ogun and their sister label Cadillac still reissue and release new items from time to time. The top release in this week's newsletter is a phenomenal unreleased disc featuring Keith Tippett, Louis Moholo and Larry Stabbins (see the review below).
Sadly, most of the members of the Blue Notes never made it to the US except for Johny Dyani (once for a concert with Dollar Brand) and Mr. Moholo (on several occasions). All had passed away in the 1970's or 1980's except for Louis Moholo. I feel fortunate to have checked out Mr. Moholo live around a half dozen times over several decades: at the 100 Club with El Skid (w/ Elton Dean & Alan Skidmore) in December of 1975, with Keith Tippett's Tapestry Orchestra at the Victo Fest, twice at the Vision Fest (with different bands, both excellent) and with his own quartet (with Alexander Hawkins) in London for a tribute to John Stevens Festival in 2014. The good news is that Mr. Moholo finally went back to South Africa in 2005 when his father passed away, making him the head of his clan and adding another Moholo to his name. After seeing & hearing him live several times and listening closely to his recordings, I noticed that Moholo made his own drum sticks, hence his playing had a unique sound. I truly like and admire every recording that I've heard from him and still marvel at his distinctive sound. We just restocked around 15 Ogun and Cadillac titles including two wonderful Brotherhood of Breath records. Most of their other titles (3 on Cuneiform & 1 on Antilles) are out of print. I didn't restock on any of Mr. Moholo-Moholo's leader dates on Ogun since we still have most of them in stock and they are listed on Discogs. If you are a big fan of Avant or Spirit Jazz, then you should check out the Blue Notes, Brotherhood of Breath and their assorted other offshoot projects. A toast to Louis Moholo-Moholo, one of the greatest Cosmic Spirits of them all! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
************
THE DMG 34th ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE CONCERT CELEBRATION CONTINUES with:
Tuesday, July 15th:
6:30: SABRINA SALAMONE - Violin / ROCIO SANCHEZ - Bass / NICK NEUBERG - Drums
7:30: TY CITERMAN - Guitar / JEN BAKER - Trombone / DAFNA NAPHTALI - Electronics
8:30: SYLVAIN LEROUX - Fula Flute - alto sax / HILL GREENE - Contrabass / DAN KURFIRST - Drums
9:30: MARK DATERMAN - Guitar / JAIR-ROHM PARKER WELLS - ContraBass / JOE HURTIN - Drums
Rare Monday Night Event: June 21st, 2025: Relative Pitch Presents: 6:30 - 8:30:
1st Set: gabby fluke-mogul - Violin / PAULA SANCHEZ - Cello
Tuesday, July 22nd:
6:30: JOSE F. SOLARES - Tenor sax / MIRANDA AGNEW - Trumpet / ORCHID McRAE - Drums
7:30: AIDAN O’CONNELL - ContraBass / MATT KNOEGEL - Sax / MICHAEL LAROCCA - Drums
8:30: GREG SHERIFF from VOIDWARD - Drums, Digeridoo, Samples / SANDY EWEN - Guitar
Saturday, July 26th: The Gauci-Music Series continues with:
6:30: SEBASTIAN ALEXANDER JOHNSON - trombone / JOSE FERNANDO SOLARES - sax-reeds / CAROLINE MORTON - bass / JOSH MATHEWS - drums
7:30: STEPHEN GAUCI - tenor sax-clarinet-flute / ADAM LANE - bass / KEVIN SHEA - drums
8:30: PATRICK GOLDEN - drums / JIM CLOUSE - tenor - soprano saxes / MATT HOLLENBERG - guitar
Tuesday, July 29th:
6:30: STEPHAN CRUMP - Solo Contrabass
7:00: NICK NEUBERG - Solo Drums
7:30: DARREN JOHNSTON - Trumpet / SEAN CONLY - Contrabass / HAMIR ATWAL - Drums
8:30: BEN GOLDBERG'S INVISIBLE GUY
************
The First Disc of this week's DMG Newsletter begins with a phenomenal, historic trio date:
LARRY STABBINS / KEITH TIPPETT / LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO - Live in Foggia (Ogun 051; UK) Featuring Larry Stabbins on tenor & soprano saxes & flute, Keith Tippett on piano & voice and Louis Moholo on drums, bass & voice. Recorded live in November of 1985 at University Giordano Conservatory in Foggia. Italy. With recent passing of two legendary figures of the British Avant Jazz Scene, Louis Moholo-Moholo (3/10/1940-6/13/2025) and Keith Tippett (8/25/1947-6/14/2020), unreleased recordings have become the Holy Grail for those of us appreciate the best moments of this great scene. Drum master, Louis Moholo, was a founding member of the legendary South African expats, The Blue Notes, as well as Brotherhood of Breath and the Dedication Orchestra. The sad part of this story is that the Blue Notes left South Africa in the early 1960's (during the worst of the apartheid era) to play at the Antibes Jazz Festival and decided to not return to their home country. All founding members of the Blue Notes (Chris MacGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Johnny Dyani plus BoB bassist Harry Miller) all passed away well before their times, leaving only Louis Moholo to carry on, playing drums, leading bands and collaborating with the cream of the British and European Avant Jazz scene. Like myself, there are large number of Blue notes and Brotherhood of Breath fans around the world who know and recognize the importance and influence these musicians. There are also a number of us (like Manny/Lunch & myself) who are huge fans of master pianist Keith Tippett, one of the greatest avant/jazz pianists ever! British reeds wiz, Larry Stabbins, is also unrecognized and under-recorded, with just a half dozen releases as a leader or collaborator, aside from his work with Working Weekend, Peter Brotzmann, Tony Oxley and Trevor Watts.
This particular trio does have one record out on FMP from 1983 plus a duo with Mr. Tippett and Mr. Moholo from 1982. This disc/concert consists of two long pieces, clocking in at 74 minutes altogether. The first piece, "Greatest Service", begins quietly and lyrically with Mr. Tippett on sparse yet majestic piano, Mr. Stabbins on heartwarming, lush-toned tenor and Mr. Moholo on sparking, skeletal drums. The trio morph into a hypnotic, repeating groove with Stabbins sailing on top and the piano and drums playing in powerful waves underneath. The whole first section is actually more melodic and enchanting than one might imagine from these recognized free/jazz legends. I hadn't realized until now what a fine saxist Larry Stabbins in whether playing inside or out, he is consistently on target! Both he and Tippett are constantly working tightly together, both shadowing each other in furious fast section and in slower more melodic sections. In the second section both Tippett & Moholo do some eerie vocal sounds in the distance with Stabbins on haunting flute. The section keeps building in intensity, at times erupting to that tribal, ritualistic free/spirit/jazz ascension to higher plains. It sounds like Mr. Tippett is scraping the strings inside the piano and then using a wooden block to mute certain strings, all used to great effect. At one point, Tippett speeds up while muting the piani to give it a harpsichord-like sound, a most astonishing effect with the sax and drums also erupting together. Eventually the trio break into what sounds one of those infectious South African melodies which is bound to make us all feel better!
CD $16
We just got in Restocked CD's from the Great OGUN & CADILLAC Labels which are listed down below:
LARRY STABBINS / MARK SANDERS - Cup & Ring (Discus Music 191CD; UK) Featuring Larry Stabbins on alto sax, bass clarinet, concert & alto flutes and Mark Sanders on drums & percussion. Larry Stabbins is amazing British saxist who has been around since the early 1970's but rarely gets the recognition he well deserves. He has worked with/in Keith Tippett's Centipede & Tapestry Orchestras, thew London Jazz Composers Orchestra and in bands led by Peter Brotzmann, Tony Oxley and Trevor Watts, as well as the jazz/pop band Weekend. Mark Sanders is one of the best drummers to emerge from the British Creative Music Scene, having worked with Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall, John Butcher and many more. Mr. Stabbins and Mr. Sanders have worked together previous on a couple records from 2002 and 2012. On each of the 11 pieces here, Mr. Stabbins switches between alto & concert flutes, alto sax and bass clarinet, not playing his more popular tenor sax. Starting out on alto flute with what sounds like a gong, cymbal or timpani, the duo creating a soundscape of great suspense. Each sound is carefully placed over a solemn silence or space. Mr. Stabbins moves to alto sax on "Ring No 1", his playing slow, thoughtful and assured. Mr. Sanders swings at moderate pace providing a fine groove of support. Stabbins switches to bass clarinet on "Ring No 2", again taking his time as Sanders creates a rhythmic web, both players increasing the tempo and tension as they go. Stabbins switches back to alto sax for "Bong No 3" which erupts intensely and Stabbins blasting ferociously and Sanders keeping the pace and flow in line. It sounds like Sanders is playing a bass-line on his bass drum while he provides a fine groove on his drums and cymbals. On "Cup No 2", it sounds like Sanders is bowing his cymbal(s) or gong, the sound is quite eerie with Stabbins on haunting flute. There is a righteous balance here between the more boisterous and the calming improvs. An excellent duo disc from two sympathetic creative spirits. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
MARTY EHRLICH TRIO EXALTATION with JOHN HEBERT / NASHEET WAITS - This Time (Sunnyside SSC 1778; USA) Featuring Marty Ehrlich on alto & tenor saxes & compositions (all but two), John Hebert on contrabass and Nasheet Waits on drums. Marty Ehrlich is an elder member of the Downtown Scene and has worked with a number of giants like Julius Hemphill, Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton and Andrew Hill. Mr. Ehrlich has long played in trios going back to his first leader date in 1986 with this trio having their first record released in 2018. Drummer Nasheet Waits also played with Mr. Ehrlich in the Andrew Hill Big Band in 2014. Bassist John Hebert keeps pretty busy in many different projects like working with Michael Attias, Lucian Ban and Mary Halvorson.
"Sometimes, This Time" has a strong, stirring repeating bass figure at the center with Mr. Ehrlich's alto sax reaching out passionately while Mr. Waits plays his own solid mallet-work. Ehrlich takes a long inspired solo throughout this piece, balancing between outside and inside lines. "Dusk" was written by Andrew Hill and was the title track from an album released in 2000. Once again, it is Mr. Hebert'a assertive bass which is the central force here with Mr. Ehrlich playing his own thoughtful lines, bittersweet in sound. "Images of Time" was also written by Andrew Hill and it is a sort of solemn ballad, somber yet still touching. "Twelve for Black Arthur" is dedicated to "Black" Arthur Blythe (I believe), the late great alto saxist who moved from L.A, to NYC during the Loft Jazz Days. Blythe had a distinctive tone on sax and Ehrlich does a good job of playing in a similar way, making every note count. It is actually Nasheet Waits' drumming which is featured here and he is fine form. Mr. Hebert's churning bass line provides the central groove on "Variations on a Vamp", but it is Ehrlich's alto that sings the haunting melody directly from the heart and soul. Waits' superb mallet-work is featured on "Conversations I" with Ehrlich's alto spiraling in a series of lines, t times holding on a certain note and twisting it inside-out carefully. "As It Is" is the freest and most intense and sprawling piece here, the trio spinning out lines quickly at times before calming down near the end. "This Space, This Time" is also spacious, with Mr. Ehrlich on tenor sax. Spare, suspenseful and moving slowly, making each note count. "Conversations II" is another powerful, free sounding piece for impressive, powerful drumming and Ehrlich's intense alto eruptions. Mr. Ehlich used to work with Julius Hemphill and later assembled a Julius Hemphill box set for New World Records. This recall the tone and free intensity of Mr. Hemphill's playing. It sounds like a perfect conclusion to an entire program of strong, spirited and inventive music. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14 [anyone who purchases this disc can get a free copy the below Marty Ehrlich CD this month, while they last]
BACK IN STOCK AT A LOWER PRICE, THIS GEM FROM 2002:
MARTY EHRLICH With WAYNE HORVITZ / MARK FELDMAN / BOBBY PREVITE / MARK DRESSER / NED ROTHENBERG / et al - The Long View (Enja/Justin Time JENJ 3308-2; Canada) With Mark Feldman, Bobby Previte, Pheeroan AkLaff, Ray Anderson, Wayne Horvitz, Erik Friedlander, Mark Helias, Marcus Rojas, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Dresser, Andy Laster, Michael Sarin, James Zollar, J D Parran, Eddie Bobe, Ralph Farris, Eddie Allen, Sam Furnace, John Clark, Clark Gayton and Robert DeBellis. Whew! This features a long-form, six movement suite inspired by and in collaboration with six paintings done in conjunction with these musics by Oliver Jackson, a charter member of B.A.G. (Black Artists Group, whose members included Julius Hemphill), one of which is included in the foldout booklet. This is an amazing work of strength, maturity, and sublime arrangement from reedman/flautist Marty (we don't expect less!); one can easily place it in stature alongside classic jazz composer orchestra recordings (like the JCOA albums of the '70s) but it is quite contemporary, very fresh and up to the moment. Each movement is played by variations in line-ups of the all-star assemblage!
CD Sale $10
RAKALAM BOB MOSES / GAIA WILMER with GEORGE GARZONE / LEO GENOVESE / et al - Dancing With Elephants (Sunnyside SSC 1757; NYC; USA) For decades, the great percussionist/conceptualist Ra Kalam Bob Moses has explored many facets of creative music from throughout the world, finding generations of willing collaborators and mentees along the way. Brazilian saxophonist/composer Gaia Wilmer was presented with a unique opportunity to work with Moses and took advantage for their new recording, Dancing with Elephants.
Establishing himself in the jazz rock world of the 1960s, Moses quickly branched out into more diverse realms of improvisation. He studied many facets of percussion and found himself able to add his unique style in uncountable performances. Moses was also able to instill his concepts and open approach to his generations of students at New England Conservatory over the years.
Wilmer has found a place for herself at the heights of contemporary jazz and improvised music in Brazil and New York City in short order. Having studied in the States, Wilmer returned to her home country, establishing a number of fantastic groups in Sao Paulo, mostly notably her Sextet and her Large Ensemble that feature her fabulous compositions and arrangements. Since then, she has gone on to work closely with notable Brazilian legends, like Egberto Gismonti and Jaques Morelenbaum.
Prior to their meeting, Moses heard some of Wilmer’s music online and suggested a project for them where she would compose music over some of his pre-recorded grooves. While living in Boston, Moses had a home studio and worked with an engineer. Together they would capture hundreds of Moses’ solo percussion improvisations or “sonic beds”. Wilmer chose a number of these “beds” and wrote music to them. Moses' only request was to leave ample space for improvisations.
The tracks were chosen for various reasons, usually if they clicked with Wilmer immediately or provided a unique quality that inspired her writing. All the “beds” were improvised by Moses, leaving Wilmer the task of memorizing and mapping them to the second to chart her arrangements.
Wilmer’s move back to Brazil and the pandemic led to the project having to wait a couple of years before being recorded in 2023 at the Big Orange Sheep in Brooklyn with a cast of friends that Wilmer had met while living in Boston. The musicians include flutist Yulia Musayelyan, vocalist Song Yi Jeon, saxophonists Gustavo D’Amico, Daniele Germani, George Garzone, and Neta Raanan, along with guitarist Leandro Pellegrino and keyboardist Leo Genovese. Each one of these chosen musicians were both close to Wilmer and Moses in different ways.
CD $14
ANNA WEBBER / KEN THOMSON // ANZU QUARTET with OLIVIA DE PRATO / ASHLET BATHGATE / KEN THOMSON / KARL LARSON - adjust (Cantaloupe Music 21212; USA) Formed in 2020 and comprised of veterans of New York City's vital contemporary music community, the Anzû Quartet — Olivia De Prato (violin), Ashley Bathgate (cello), Ken Thomson (clarinet) and Karl Larson (piano) — is an ensemble dedicated to the music of our time and the recent canon. The quartet’s first full-length studio release of premiere recordings features new works by Thomson (Uneasy) and fellow composer Anna Webber (adjust, which lends the album its title).
"Uneasy" was composed by Ken Thomson, who has composed for the JACK Quartet and is formerly of Gutbucket and Slow/Fast ensembles. This piece is broken into four sections. While the clarinet, violin & cello play their parts tightly together, the piano plays a series of complex written lines as support, holding the piece together. The pieces bristles with intensity, with several lines moving tightly around one another. "Uneasy II" shows a more restrained side of the quartet, slower, calmer with the clarinet & strings interweaving as if they are balancing on a raft on the ocean while the piano sprinkles lush chords underneath. "Uneasy III" has several different layers moving around one another with certain connected parts which seem to be influx as they unfold. As the tempo increases, the piece becomes more complex, more dense, eventually winding down to a more cerebral, eerie conclusion.
Anna Webber's "adjust" is next. I must admit that I am a big fan of Ms. Webber's composing, various bands and sax playing skills. "adjust 1" has either some hand percussion or the musicians tapping on their instruments. "adjust 2" has the quartet playing the lines tightly and intensely together. This is difficult (to play) music which is exhilarating to listen to. I noticed that there is quite a bit of attention to the sound and shape of the notes and instruments involved. While 2 or 3 instruments resonate together, another will solo or interweave some fragmented lines on top. At times, the results are abrupt or even scary. On "adjust 4", the clarinet solos on top while the rest of the quartet expand and contracts as if they are all breathing together as one. Ms. Webber often does a fine job of having 2 or 3 lines moving tightly together or around one another. "adjust 5" has a few intense, brutal section which erupt in between the a couple of shifting lines which connect in part. The overall vibe for this piece has somewhat violent streak which keeps popping up in between the minimalistic colliding lines which are often shifting in one direction or another. This is a marvelous disc which captures two great demanding works. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
MAX NAGL - Remiss (Rude Noises 40; Austria) Featuring Max Nagl on saxes, clarinet, piano, guitar, drums, sampler, etc & compositions (all but 1) with Anne Harvey-Nagl on violin for 1 track. Austrian saxist Max Nagl usually sends us a new disc once a year of so from solos, to duos to various sized groups. Nagl has been running the Rude Noises label for since 1995 and this is their 40th release. If you've been paying attention, you know that Mr. Nagl has several different styles, ideas or ways dealing with different types of music. "Roost" is first and seems to dip into a variety of types of music: lovely, laid back clarinet, noisy guitar rock, laid back piano backed by metal banging, all within 4 minutes. "Bahnubergang" (a level crossing at an intersection) features somber clarinet, a clanging bell (sounds like a warning for a train) and some eerie outdoor samples. "Gumpklav 2" has some noisy, distorted vocal samples, another clanging bell and a rather suspense-filled vibe. On each piece, it sounds like Mr. Nagl has sampled some out door sound(s), and then adding bits of music on top. Each piece seems to evoke a different sonic place, as if we are moving through different scenes in a film. Some sounds we recognize, some we don't, yet each piece is effective at bringing us somewhere else. There are some surprising pieces here. "Mbira", which is a traditional song has a lovely, quaint melody with soprano sax floating on top of an mbira (thumb piano) like song. There is something magical going on here, as if Mr. Nagl was creating music for children with a calm center. The music and vibe is consistently enchanting. There is also an occasional clanging bell and a rooster buried in some of these pieces as if we were located on a farm near a train. We can tell that Max Nagl worked on each of the 19 short pieces since each one evokes a different vibe or inner place in our imagination. Nice work Max, keep it up. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10
GERRIT HATCHER GROUP with BEN LAMAR GAY / KEEFE JACKSON / KATIE ERNST /JULIAN KIRSCHNER - The Good Instinct of the Morning (Kettle Hole Records; USA) Featuring Gerrit Hatcher & Keefe Jackson on tenor saxes, Ben Lamar Gay on cornet, Katie Ernst on bass and Julian Kirscher on drums. Chicago saxist Gerrit Hatcher stopped by the store earlier this week and left us with a half dozen CD's, mostly from his own Kettle Hole Records label. I know of Mr. Hatcher from the time he played here at DMG with Chicago drummer Julian Kirshner, as well as having a disc out on the Bridge Sessions label. Each of the half dozen discs he left us with has different personnel and each one was made in a limited edition of 300. I know of Keefe Jackson and Ben Lamar Gay since both keep busy in a variety of different bands. Bassist Katie Ernst is the only name that I know beforehand.
Gerrit Hatcher composed three of the four pieces here with one cover by the late saxist Charles Tyler. "Other Fires" opens this disc with the two tenor saxes and the cornet up front playing the theme with bassist Katie Ernst holds down the center with the tree horns swirling together, each playing long tones. All three horns play intense, throttling lines swirling around one another, the saxes blasting powerfully at times. The quintet here is tight and focused with the bassist churning and pumping her lines with a strong force. "Man Alone" is by Charles Tyler from his debut album on ESP from 1967. The are some well-written horn lines on this piece, sly, shrewd, simmering above the circular rhythm team lines. "Shoaling" features another swirling theme for the three horns. While two of the j=horns play the theme together, the third horns solos powerfully on top. One of the tenors (Hatcher, I think) starts to blast intensely and freely. The music reminds me of a hymn or prayer which has a religious-sounding vibe as well. "For Protection" has the three horns playing these stuttered lines together, which recalls the way Albert Ayler also wrote and played his own songs. The staggered lines sound like their morse code like signaling. Although the music here recalls the early sounds of free/jazz from the mid-sixties, it still sounds rather fresh and powerful today. Only 35 minutes ling but still most impressive, nonetheless. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10 [LTD Edition of 300]
NED ROTHENBERG'S SYNC with JEROME HARRIS / SAMIR CHATTERJEE - Port Of Entry (Intuition 32492CD; Germany) "One can safely say that Ned Rothenberg is an exceptional phenomenon among the woodwind players: Not only is he a virtuoso saxophone and bass clarinet player, he also plays brilliantly different kinds of flutes -- he learned to play the Japanese bamboo flute shakuhachi by studying it with the masters Yokoyama Katsuya and Yamaguchi Goro in Japan. Rothenberg's constant musical curiosity and his untiring fondness of experimenting made him examine techniques usually not applied by saxophone and clarinet players; for example, he learned intercircular breathing like Australian didgeridoo players do and used both polyphony and the whole spectrum of harmonics on his instruments. These and other even more exotic approaches are the reason for Ned Rothenberg's reputation as excellent performer and composer who has left the traditional allocation of roles of his instrumental genre in the sense of mere melodic function(s) far behind him. He already worked with John Zorn, Fred Frith, Sainkho Namchylak, Elliott Sharp, and Samm Bennett, as well as Arto Lindsay, Don Cherry, and many others. Even as a soloist or with his own ensembles he has gained the respect of an international audience in the last two decades; Sync is Ned Rothenberg's latest project: a trio with the bassist Jerome Harris and the tabla virtuoso Samir Chatterjee, following the rather introspective paths that also characterize Rothenberg's solo works. Despite the large variety of styles including authentic Asian elements, Port Of Entry is a genuine jazz album. Sync prefers to play with open space, with silence and tension and the anticipation of the listener the overall impression is that of lightness but at no rate that of a lightweight. This impression is contrasted with a gentle air of melancholy which more or less clearly pervades the eight tracks of the album, giving large part of Port Of Entry an almost rhapsodic appearance."
CD $14
PETER GIGER'S FAMILY OF PERCUSSION - A Drum is a Woman (Intuition 34012; Germany) "Peter Giger is one of those musicians who bears within himself the mystery of rhythm. This percussionist, whose contribution ranks with those of Max Roach and Art Blakey as well as with greats of free jazz like Archie Shepp, gave a concert in Dakar." (Le quotidien, Dakar, Feb. 2005).
The Family of Percussion was, essentially, the first jazz-oriented percussion ensemble, and it performed internationally for sixteen years. Everywhere they played in their early years, they inspired the founding of similar formations. "We played at many international jazz festivals, performed as guests in more than a dozen European countries were in India, Mozambique, and South Africa, and everywhere we were admired in concert halls and clubs and showered with applause. The wild success of these years came as a total surprise; we literally opened up the floodgates. The same period also saw a powerful emergence of percussion instruments in the popular & art music worldwide", says Giger today.
Until the early 1990s the Family of Percussion was on tour, including in India, with Zakir Hussain, Umayalpuram K. Shivaraman and Palgat Raghu, and twice in Mozambique, with Gito Baloi, Sergio Boré, Gerd Dudek, Michael Küttner, and Dom Um Romão. "During that time we were also traveling with the Senegalese group SAF SAP, and I put together various ensembles: with Victor Bailey, Christian Escoudé, Thomas Heidepriem, Jasper van t'Hof, Joachim Kühn, Christof Lauer, Harry Peppl, Burhan Ocal, Werner Pirchner, John Schröder, Steve Swallow, Tomasz Stanko, Michal Urbaniak, and Nana Vasconcelos. For several years we toured with Wolfgang Dauner & Albert Mangelsdorff as the Ensemble Moon and then with my trio with Gerd Dudek and Vitold Rek. With the great Max Roach I was fortunate to perform a duo concert in Hofheim/Germany in 1986". In 2002 Peter Giger moved to Ticino, Switzerland and finally concentrated on the roots of drumming. In 2004 he made a solo tour to West Africa.
2 CD Set $18
MASAHIKO SATOH & GIOTIS DAMIANIDIS - Thousand Leaves (Trost 262CD; Austria) Featuring Masahiko Satoh (piano) and Giotis Damianidis (guitar). Recorded live on the 2nd of February, 2024 at Jazz Spot Candy, Chiba, Japan by Kosuke Kohashi. Despite the geographic distance and a 40-year age difference, Japanese pianist Masahiko Sato and Greek guitarist Giotis Damianidis are kindred souls in a certain sense, each possessing a keen understanding of how improvised music can magically erase such boundaries. Thousand Leaves captures their very first meeting in 2024. While Sato sticks with an acoustic piano and Damianidis embraces an amplified guitar sound closer to rock music than jazz, they reveal a strong rapport, entwining, colliding, and considering how their very distinctive threads fit together, in real time. Even as the guitarist produces flinty sparks, distortion, and effects-driven bends and swoop, Sato's quicksilver improvisations manage to draw upon a separate set of modalities, his elegant playing steeped in classical music cadences as much as post-bop runs.
CD $18
JEROME NOETINGER and ANTHONY PATERAS - 15 Coruscations (Penultimate Press PP055CD; UK) Far from the extended still lifes and mises en abîmes of their acclaimed Penultimate Press debut A Sunset for Walter, Noetinger & Pateras' 15 Coruscations weaves frequencies and stirs data into an agitated series of deft psychoacoustic miniatures. Employing electronics as a deformed mirror reflecting joyous lacerations and interweavings, 15 Coruscations borrows from both brut and skilled musical practices, emerging from the current despair to blister light across the moribund horizontalities of post-surveillance musical product. Jérôme Noetinger (Marseille, 1966) is one of the most respected composers/performers of electronic music working today. Discovering the ReVox B77 as a powerful tool for live electro-acoustic creation in the mid-1980s, he has developed a singular performance language unmatched in agility and invention. Anthony Pateras (Melbourne/Naarm, 1979) works at an evolving nexus of notation, improvisation, electro-acoustics keyboard instruments. Active since the late '90s as both a composer of concert music and independent bandleader, he has created a unique body of work across multiple genres and contexts. Noetinger & Pateras' working relationship began in 2009 in the Thymolphthalein quintet, extending through to the development of the six-channel tape part for Pateras' percussion sextet Beauty Will Be Amnesiac Or Will Not Be At All (Immediata, 2017). Establishing their duo in 2018 with A Sunset For Walter, they have performed across Europe in both piano/tape and pureelectronic configurations. 15 Coruscations is their latest testament to their quest for the unheard, deploying tape, computer, samplers, garbage, environmental recordings, lo-fi electronics, hi-fi circuitry and a deep love of all things concrète.
CD $16
NORMAN WESTBERG - Milan (Room40 4189CD; Australia) A note from Lawrence English: "In 2016, I invited Norman Westberg to Australia for his first solo tour. He'd been in Australia a few years before that, touring The Seer with Swans, and it was during this tour that I'd had the fortune to meet him. Since that time Norman and I have worked on a number of projects together. He very kindly played some of the central themes on my Cruel Optimism album and I had the pleasure to produced his After Vacation album (RM 481LP). [In 2024] Norman shared a multichannel live recording with me from a tour where he was supporting Swans. The recording instantly transported me back to the first time I heard Norman perform. Whilst many people know his more dynamic and tectonic playing associated with his band practice, Norman's solo work is far more fluid. Often, when I hear him live, I imagine a vast ocean moving with a shimmer, as wind and light play across its surface. Norman's concerts are expeditions into just such a place. They are porous, but connected, a kind of living organism that is him, his instrument and his effects. He finds ways to create moments of connection which are at times surprising, and at others slippery, but always rewarding. There's a deeply performative way to his approach of live performance. There's a core of the song that guides the way, a map of sound, but there's also an extended sense of curiosity that allows unexpected discoveries to emerge. Milan, which I had the pleasure to work on for Norman, captures this sense perfectly. It is a record that exists in its own right, but is of course tethered to his other works. It's an expansive lens which reveals new perspectives on familiar vistas."
CD $18
LP SECTION:
PATTI SMITH - Teenage Perversity & Ships in the Night (The Roxy, Los Angeles, January 30, 1976 (No Label ZAP 7581LP; Poland) "There is no doubt that Teenage Perversity & Ships in the Night, although a bootleg, is Patti Smith's best live album. Patti Smith released some good albums, but any serious fan of hers will tell you that she performed most of her material better live. There are a number of fine Patti Smith bootlegs, but this one -- taken from a January 1976 show at the Roxy in Los Angeles, with near-perfect fidelity -- is both her best and her best-known. Besides incendiary versions of several songs from her first few LPs, it features covers of 'Louie Louie,' 'My Generation' (with John Cale guesting), and The Velvet Underground's 'We're Gonna Have a Good Time Together' and 'Pale Blue Eyes,' as well as entertaining between-song raps and even a brief cameo by Iggy Pop. It's no exaggeration to claim that this may be her best album, and one of the best '70s punk/new wave albums of all."
LP $28
CASPAR BROTZMANN MASSAKER - It's a Love Song (Corbett Vs. Dempsey EDM 116LP; USA)
Archaic, infernal, radical, consistent, courageous. Following the release of his LP The Lovers And Destroyers with Caspar Brötzmann Bass Totem in autumn, 2024, renowned guitarist Caspar Brötzmann and his band Caspar Brötzmann Massaker present a collaborative release between Corbett vs. Dempsey and Exile On Mainstream (Berlin). The record features two different live versions of "All This Violence," recorded in Vienna and Dresden, with Saskia von Klitzing (drums) and Eduardo Delgado Lopez (bass). Founded in 1986, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker became a significant force in the 1990s alternative rock scene. The band's albums The Tribe (1987), Black Axis (1989), Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore (1991), Koksofen (1993), Home (1995) and Mute Massaker (1999) are heralded underground classics, having a profound influence on bands and artists like Sonic Youth, SUNN O))), Faith No More, Neurosis, Sumac, and Helmet, to name a few. The band's music is textural, visceral, arresting, and urgent, marked by repetitive, hypnotic intensity, and Brötzmann's signature guitar sound. The legacy lies in his fearless experimentation, dissolving boundaries between classical music structures and amplified instrumentation in rock music. Since the mid-1980s, Caspar Brötzmann has been shaping an unmistakable sound -- infernal, radical, uncompromising. He unwaveringly pursues his own path, beyond clear genre boundaries. As the son of a famous saxophonist, he found his artistic identity early on and developed a unique sound language that discharges in brute catharsis. His music is not an adaptation to trends, but a sensitive, passionate, almost obsessive approach to despair and anger -- and yet full of hope. With his virtuoso independence on the instrument, he is an exceptional phenomenon. An atonal Hendrix, made in Germany.
LP $28
BOOK SECTION:
ELIANE RADIGUE - Blank Forms 10: Alien Roots (Blank Forms 9781953691224; USA) "Edited by Lawrence Kumpf, Charles Curtis. Text by Éliane Radigue, Dagmar Schwerk, Daniel Sillman, Anthony Vine. A detailed look at the elusive work of a French pioneer of musique concrète and electroacoustic composition. This volume is an exploration of the early electronic work of French composer Éliane Radigue (born 1932), whose radical approach to feedback, analog synthesis and composition on tape has long evaded straightforward interpretation. Combining key texts, newly translated primary documents, in-depth interviews and commissioned essays, this compendium probes her idiosyncratic compositional practice, which both embraces and confounds the iterative nature of magnetic tape, the subtleties of amplification and the very experience of listenership. Chief among these entries is an in-depth overview by cellist Charles Curtis examining the composer's earliest experiments in feedback techniques and analog synthesis, her eventual turn to works for unamplified instruments and live performers, and her unique aesthetic of time and presence. Detailed conversations provide crucial windows into her working methods at different points in her career. Sketches for unrealized work, contemporary reviews, programs and ephemera are collected together for the first time. The anthology concludes with a roundtable discussion working out the knotty paradoxes of Radigue's continued 'ethos of resistance.'"
Book $22 [Paperbound, 407 pages]
MATTHEW WRIGHT - Jazz & Cricket - An Unlikely Combination (Cadillac 9781527 282599; UK) Jazz and cricket may seem an unlikely combination – the former conjures up images of smoky basements and very late nights, the latter afternoons on the village green, healthy players and delicious teas. But Matthew Wright soon puts paid to that superficial assessment in this engaging and informative book which combines history with anecdote, where cricket and jazz are equal partners and the characters we are introduced to are memorable and colourful.
Take Frank Parr – a man who ate only fried food and eschewed social niceties. “Even in flannels, walking on to the field, he still managed to look anything but a cricketer,” wrote England fast bowler Brian Statham of Parr, whose promising wicket-keeping career ended abruptly in 1956, who went on to join Mick Mulligan’s Magnolia Jazz Band (of which George Melly was a member), became Acker Bilk’s manager and a film extra, dying in 2012. And Patrick ‘Spike’ Hughes (drawn to cricket after Cambridge and who once dismissed Maurice Tate’s XI for 17, taking 6 wickets) whose musical adventures peaked whilst in New York with a 1933 Decca recording of Spike Hughes and his All-American Orchestra featuring Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins, an event of such magnitude for him that everything else afterwards was an anticlimax and he stopped playing. And more recently bassist Orlando Le Fleming who showed genuine promise as a medium-fast bowler for Devon CC and Somerset Second XI, but then moved to New York where he has made his mark in jazz as both sideman and band leader.
So what is it about jazz and cricket that enables men to move between these two different ways of life? (And, incidentally, it is in essence only men – no female cricketers are mentioned, and woman musicians such as Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald appear tangentially in anecdotes.)
One answer to that question comes from Jim Godbolt, writer and founding editor of house magazine Jazz at Ronnie Scott’s. He wrote: “Both cricket and jazz, irrespective of style, require a sense of rhythm, timing, concentration, improvisation, solo and team work.” It’s as much an attitude of mind as anything else. As Le Fleming says on his website, [my] “facility as an improviser and capacity as a team player were first honed not on the bandstand, nor in the practice room, but on the cricket pitch”. - Mary James, UK Jazz News
Book $16 [Soft cover, 75 pages]
******
THE OGUN / CADILLAC RECORDS CD RESTOCK SALE: Reviews & Blurbs Further below:
I first became aware of the legendary Ogun label when I visited Robert Wyatt & Alfreda Benge at their cottage in November of 1975. This was in the early evening after doing interviews with Hugh Hopper & Gary Boyle (both then of Isotope) earlier that day. The first thing that Mr. Wyatt played for me was a solo bass record by Harry Miller called 'Children at Play', which is the first album released on the Ogun label from 1974. It was a lovely, haunting record of solo contrabass, percussion and effects. The Ogun label was co-founded by Harry Miller and his wife Hazel. Harry Miller was the second bassist in the later Blue Notes, (taking the place of Johnny Dyani, who moved to Copenhagen), as well as being a member of Brotherhood of Breath (BoB). Mr. Wyatt talked to me about his love of this music and the musicians who created it. He mentioned trumpeter Mongezi Feza, who had collaborated with him on the classic 'Rock Bottom' album. Mr. Feza passed away the next month in December of 1975, after having a nervous breakdown, being committed to an asylum and getting pneumonia. I went to a memorial concert for Mongezi a week after he passed away at the 100 Club which was entitled 'A Night of London Saxophones', which featured Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Elton Dean & Alan Skidmore plus Paul Lytton, Gerry Fitzgerald, Chris Laurence and Louis Moholo. After 2 duos and the El Skid Quartet, all eight musicians mentioned came back on stage together and played a 30 minute tribute to Mongezi Feza, based on a melody that Mongs had written. It was one of the most memorable concerts of my life and I can still recall the feeling of Ascension inside whenever I think about it. Ever since, I've searched out and become a big fan of anything & everything that members of the Blue Notes (Chris macGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Johnny Dyani & Louis Moholo), members of the Brotherhood of Breath and many other projects have done. The Cadillac label, which was run by John Jack, also captured many of the same musicians as well as the cream of British Creative Music Scene. The Ogun and Cadillac labels once shared an office and since the founder of Cadillac has passed and Hazel Miller has retired, both labels are now run by Mike Gavin. I generally like everything that both of these labels have released and recently restocked on some 15 titles which are listed below. A number of these have been out of stock or out of print for a while so don't hesitate to grab these before they disappear again or perhaps for good. I have posted reviews of each one further down below. I highly recommend each title. - Bruce Lee Gallanter at DMG
HARRY BECKETT with RAY RUSSELL / BRIAN MILLER / DARYL RUNSWICK / NIGEL MORRIS- Joy Unlimited (Cadillac SGCCD 017; UK)
CD $16
BLUE NOTES with CHRIS McGREGOR / LOUIS MOHOLO / DUDU PUKWANA / JOHNNY DYANI - For Mongezi (Ogun 025/026; UK)
2 CD Set $18
BLUE NOTES with CHRIS McGREGOR / LOUIS MOHOLO / DUDU PUKWANA - Blue Notes For Johnny (Ogun OGC 028; UK)
CD $16
ELTON DEAN’S NINESENSE with ALAN SKIDMORE / HARRY BECKETT / MARK CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / KEITH TIPPETT / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO - Happy Daze Oh! For the Edge (Ogun OGCD 032; UK) 2 albums on 1 CD.
CD $16
THE JAZZ DOCTORS with BILLY BANG / FRANK LOWE / RAFAEL GARRETT / WILBER MORRIS / DENIS CHARLES / THURMAN BARKER - Intensive Care (Cadillac SGCCD 020; UK)
CD $16
CHRIS McGREGOR - In His Good Time (Ogun OGCD 038; UK)
CD $16
CHRIS McGREGOR'S BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With DUDU PUKWANA / MONGEZI FEZA / EVAN PARKER / GARY WINDO / HARRY BECKETT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO (Ogun 001; UK)
CD $16
CHRIS McGREGOR'S BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With DUDU PUKWANA / EVAN PARKER / MIKE OSBORNE / HARRY BECKETT / BRUCE GRANT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / JOHNNY DYANI / LOUIS MOHOLO - Procession (Ogun OGCD 040)
CCD $16
MIKE OSBORNE TRIO With HARRY MILLER/TONY LEVIN - The Birmingham Jazz Concert - November 7 1976 (Ogun SGCCD 010/011; UK)
2 CD Set $18
JOHN STEVENS / EVAN PARKER - Corner To Corner/The Longest Night Vols 1 & 2 (Ogun OGCD 022/023; UK)
2 CD Set $18
OVARY LODGE with KEITH TIPPETT / JULIE TIPPETTS / HARRY MILLER / FRANK PERRY] - Ovary Lodge - Live (Ogun OGCD 021; UK)
CD $16
KEITH TIPPETT'S ARK With STAN TRACEY / ELTON DEAN / TREVOR WATTS / BRIAN SMITH / LARRY STABBINS / MARC CHARIG / HENRY LOWTHER / PETER KOWALD / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO / FRANK PERRY / et al - Frames (Ogun 010/011)
2 CD Set $18
KEITH TIPPETT / JULIE TIPPETTS With LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO'S VIVA-LA-BLACK & CANTO GENERAL with PINO MINAFRA / ROBERTO OTTAVIANO / et al - Viva La Black (OGCD 020; UK)
CD $16
MATTHEW WRIGHT - Jazz & Cricket - An Unlikely Combination (Cadillac 9781527 282599; UK)
Book $16 [Soft cover, 75 pages]
*************
OGUN / CADILLAC CD Restocks with reviews added:
HARRY BECKETT with RAY RUSSELL / BRIAN MILLER / DARYL RUNSWICK / NIGEL MORRIS- Joy Unlimited (Cadillac SGCCD 017; UK) The Barbados-born trumpeter Harry Beckett moved to Britain when he was 19. His first known recording session came in 1961 alongside Charles Mingus. This happened during the London sessions for the Tubby Hayes album All Night Long (Fontana, 1962), which was chronicled in the 2020 All About Jazz article Jazz & Film: An Alternative Top 20 Soundtrack Albums.
To debut with Mingus was an auspicious beginning and Beckett never looked back. Seemingly loved by everyone who met him, his music and personality reflected each other and both are perfectly caught by the title of this upbeat album. Joy Unlimited, originally released by Cadillac in 1975, is jazz rock infused with a dash of Calypsofied funk. It is played by a killer sextet of musicians' musicians with guitarist Ray Russell and keyboard player Brian Miller sharing most of the solo spotlight with Beckett. Exuberant and energizing, it has catchy tunes and frill-free arrangements. It is the absolute, total, care-free flipside of the moody contemporaneous work of Miles Davis and makes great summertime listening.
Beckett passed in 2010. During an eventful recording career he worked with many of Britain's most significant jazz and jazz-rock bandleaders and township-jazz expats, plus along the way important Americans such as Mingus, Oliver Nelson and David Murray. Like the alto saxophonist Joe Harriott (with whom he recorded), he was an early pioneer of a culturally distinct strand of Caribbean and African-enriched jazz, which in 2020 is a key ingredient in the new London jazz of players such as Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, Binker Golding and Camilla George. - Chris May, AllAboutJazz
CD $16
BLUE NOTES with CHRIS McGREGOR / LOUIS MOHOLO / DUDU PUKWANA / JOHNNY DYANI - For Mongezi (Ogun 025/026; UK) Featuring: Dudu Pukwana (alto sax, whistle, percussion, vocals), Chris McGregor (piano, percussion), Johnny Dyani (bass, bell, lead vocals "and most of the words"), Louis Moholo (drums, percussion, vocals). This, however, is one of the greatest of all records, and one of the hardest to listen to, for it comprises four sides of an improvised lament for the fifth Blue Note, Mongezi Feza - following his memorial service, the surviving band members immediately went into the studio, picked up their instruments, switched on the tape and just started playing. It is one of the rawest and most honest expressions of grief and bereavement ever articulated in musical form. Feza was just 30 when he died in December 1975 of double pneumonia, neglected and unattended to in a distant corner of a ward of a hospital in southwest London, where he had been admitted following a violent nervous breakdown in the back of a taxi. His lifespan was almost exactly that of Steve Biko, and many people still feel that he died in a not entirely dissimilar fashion. So the four musicians pluck, pound and blow their grief. Side one in particular is near unbearable in its emotional candour; Dyani throwing out monstrous basslines, chanting Mongezi's name, improvising reminiscences and expressing uncensored emotions, Dudu's alto sounding on the point of collapse - when Dyani takes a Hadenesque bass solo near the end of side one I would challenge anyone's eyes to still be dry. And yet, in the gruelling arena of this music, hope does eventually reassert itself, so much so that Dudu briefly visits the tune of "Yellow Rose Of Texas" halfway through side three, and by the end of side four we have reached the "acknowledgement" stage of this musical Kobler-Ross cycle, and the work ends with a simple, major key kwela melody to confirm that life, somehow, will continue. - Marcello Carlin
2 CD Set $18
BLUE NOTES with CHRIS McGREGOR / LOUIS MOHOLO / DUDU PUKWANA - Blue Notes For Johnny (Ogun 532; UK) “In the mid-'60s, the South African quintet called the Blue Notes emigrated from South Africa to England, both to escape the apartheid rule in force there and to search for more fertile ground to develop their unique combination of township music and avant-garde leaning jazz. Tragically, their brilliant trumpet player Mongezi Feza died in 1975 and their bassist, the extraordinary virtuoso Johnny Dyani passed away in 1986. This album is a loving tribute, by turns mournful and joyous, to Dyani by the three remaining members of the Blue Notes. The trio consists of saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer Louis Moholo. Aside from Dyani, the musical spirit of Abdullah Ibrahim, another celebrated South African expatriate, hovers over the proceedings. McGregor's piano in particular recalls that of Ibrahim, especially his earlier, wilder work. Pukwana has a singular sound on his reeds, ranging from a soulful strut reminiscent of Arthur Blythe to free-form cries and screams. The looseness of the trio's approach allows for an emotional range of "conversation" to take place as they recall their late comrade. When they play "Ntyilo Ntyilo," a traditional tune often performed by Dyani, the emotion is palpable and deep, and makes this release a fine memorial to one of the under-recognized giants of the bass. - Brian Olewnick, AllMusicGuide
CD $16
ELTON DEAN’S NINESENSE with ALAN SKIDMORE / HARRY BECKETT / MARK CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / KEITH TIPPETT / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO - Happy Daze Oh! For the Edge (Ogun OGCD 032; UK) Ninesense was the late Elton Dean's dream band and there were quite extraordinary. This disc features both of their amazing LP offerings - Oh! For The Edge is live in '76 but minus Malfati as an octet; Happy Daze is a 9tet studio recording from '77 - and clocks in at about 76 minutes. This nine-piece all star ensemble went from the sublime to the explosive with inspired solos from Elton (alto & saxello), Alan Skidmore (tenor), Harry Beckett, Marc Charig (trumpets or flugel), Nick Evans & Radu Malfatti (trombones) and of course the ever-incredible Keith Tippett on piano. The rest of the rhythm team of Harry Miller on bass and Louis Moholo on drums are amongst the best ever, anywhere at what they do. There a few Elton Dean solos (especially on saxello) that still send chills up & down my spine. Reissue of the year? Without a doubt! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16
THE JAZZ DOCTORS with BILLY BANG / FRANK LOWE / RAFAEL GARRETT / WILBER MORRIS / DENIS CHARLES / THURMAN BARKER - Intensive Care (Cadillac SGCCD 020; UK) For the first time on CD/Digital here is the Jazz Doctors session from 1983 that was released on LP as Intensive Care, with the session recorded the following year that was intended for release as Prescriptions Filled, but was never issued, at last made available.
The connection between the Billy Bang quartet and John Jack at Cadillac Records probably originated with John's recording of the great New York tenor player David Murray that resulted in The London Concert (SGCCD08/09) in 1978 in London, and the license of Conceptual Saxophone (SGC1007), recorded in Paris in the same year. The connection resulted in an introduction to Billy and when his quartet, under the name of the Jazz Doctors, came to the UK on tour, John was keen to record them so keen that, according to Ogun Records' Hazel Miller, “John overpaid them out of his own pocket!" Whatever the arrangement, John was extremely proud of the album recorded in November of 1983 at Peter Ind's Wave Studio in Hoxton Square, London (Bass player, club and label owner Peter is another casualty of this story, sadly passing in 2021). Intensive Care was released in 1984 in time for the group's follow up tour.
The much missed promoter and music activist Anthony Wood brought the Billy Bang Quartet back to these shores in October 1984, this time with bassist Wilber Morris (who played with Pharoah Sanders and many others) and the then Art Ensemble of Chicago drummer, Thurman Barker replacing Charles and Garrett (allegedly the changes had followed an altercation between Bang and Charles on the bandstand at a Wuppertal gig on the 25th October 1983). The group appeared at Wood's innovative Actual Festival at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London before embarking on a UK tour. The first stage was organized by Jazz North and featured gigs at the Leadmill, Sheffield (17th), Band on the Wall, Manchester (18th), Bradford Hotel, Liverpool (19th) and Leeds Trades Club (20th), tickets sold for the princely sum of £3.50 (£3.00 concessions). Then back to London's 100 club on the 21st and on to Cardiff (26th) and Norwich (27th). John Jack of Cadillac and Hazel Miller promoted the tour and during the four down days in London between 22nd-25th arranged to record the band again at Peter Ind's Wave Studios.
However, the resulting recording, slated for release as Prescriptions Filled, remained unissued. Rumours suggested there had been a technical issue, and by the time of John Jack's death in 2017 the tapes that were left only included half the recording session (the full session is listed in Billy Bang's handwriting on some scraps of paper in the archive). Sadly, there the trail ends and we'll never hear "Hocuspocus" (Thurman Barker), "Pooch Walks" (Wilber Morris), "Local Colours" (Frank Lowe) or the title track 'Prescriptions Filled" (Billy Bang), unless they surface in some of the live recordings that exist out there. But we do have the otherwise unrecorded "Suite For Gamma" by Billy Bang, running to 22 minutes, which would've formed the heart of the prospective album, and some idiosyncratic covers by the quartet. We've not been able to discover the tour set list, but it seems likely that these tracks formed the heart of it.
CD $16
CHRIS McGREGOR - In His Good Time (Ogun OGCD 038; UK) This long-awaited reissue comes directly from the original unedited analogue tapes and boasts a wealth of bonus material, restoring in its entirety the first set of the evening, a continuous performance of original works and arrangements of traditional South African folksongs. Five tracks edited from the second set complete the collection. (The LP only contained part of the first set)
This rare treasure features Blue Notes and Brotherhood of Breath (BoB) leader Chris McGregor on solo piano, recorded live in Paris at the Palais des Glaces in November of 1977. This was during the golden era of the Brotherhood of Breath who were an influential orchestra featuring members of Blue Notes (long removed from South Africa) and their British brethren (Evan Parker, Gary Windo, Mike Osborne & John Surman). Between the original Blue Notes landing and then living in England in 1964 and the birth of the Brotherhood in 1969, McGregor recorded a handful of small group albums, from a trio to a septet. I believe that this was Chris' one and only solo effort and this reissue includes more material not found on the original LP which is nearly impossible to find anyways.
As the leader and main composer for the Blue Notes and the Brotherhood, Chris wrote most of the songs on this disc excepts for two traditional songs (from South Africa?) and two covers by his bandmates, Mongezi Feza and Dudu Pukwana. If that wonderful melody to Mongezi Feza's "Sonia" sounds familiar to you, it should since it was recorded earlier by Robert Wyatt for his album, 'Ruth is Stranger Than Richard'. Starting with "Green Hymn", which has a lovely, laid back, rather poignant melody to savor, there is an undercurrent of somber spirits which I find both soothing and breathtaking in their grace. There is a warmth and soft glow to this music which I find completely enchanting. I recently went back and listened to Dollar Brand's "Cape Town Fringe" which sounded just as magical as when I heard it on jazz radio in the seventies. There is a certain earthy, almost gospelish quality that I find in much jazz music from South Africa. Mr. McGregor also dips into the same well of charming ancient spirits so I get a similar hypnotic vibe here. This music is so good that you don't want it to end. I love the way McGregor will take what sounds like a simple of folk-like theme and then expand upon it, embellishing it with tasty nuances like those magic spices that make life feel better. This disc contain 13 songs and each one is special and at 73 minutes long enough to paint entire picture of one of the greatest pianists of them all. This is essential reissue for any of you who need you souls healed by the well woven cosmic threads. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16
CHRIS McGREGOR'S BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With DUDU PUKWANA / MONGEZI FEZA / EVAN PARKER / GARY WINDO / HARRY BECKETT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO - (Ogun 001; UK) Featuring: McGregor (piano); Harry Beckett, Marc Charig, Mongezi Feza (trumpets); Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti (trombones); Dudu Pukwana (alto sax); Evan Parker, Gary Windo (tenor saxes); Harry Miller (bass); Louis Moholo (drums). The original derivation of the term "kwela" for the form of South African township music previously known as "penny whistle music" comes from the exclamations of the policemen who would periodically come to arrest, take away, beat up and/or kill various township residents who had the temerity to be black. As they were being rounded up and cattle-prodded into the police vans they would exclaim "Kwela! Kwela!" meaning "Get up! Move it!" Thus a symbol of oppression was turned into a symbol of defiant celebration - the words "Get up! Move it!" now meaning "let's dance." With the Brotherhood of Breath, Chris McGregor was able to marry his love of kwela music, the Protestant hymns with which he had grown up as a child and post-Ornette all-comers free jazz in a large, sprawling band with a South African core and involving, at various times, virtually everyone of consequence on the British modern jazz and improv scene. They were capable of producing the most atonal and demonic of improvisations, yet the imperturbable rhythm section of Louis Moholo and Harry Miller anchored their explorations at all times, such that you were dancing as you flew into post-Sun Ra outer space. Frequently, in concert the "traffic jam" syndrome would make itself apparent, with all of the dozen or so horn players queuing up to solo, or just storming in anyway; often musicians would wander around the stage at their own free will, or jam the bells of their horns into microphones to produce overtones. Somehow it all held together and gave us the most glorious group of musicians of any genre ever to exist, a band who seemed to provide everything I wanted in music, post-Ellington in make-up and yet also strangely proto-punk in attitude. Their two studio albums for RCA were generally well-behaved affairs, even if the second was somewhat looser than their Joe Boyd-produced debut. But their three live albums from the '70s - and there's another double CD package due shortly from Cuneiform Records, comprising more newly-found tapes of gigs from 1971 and 1975 - present a far more raucous and anarchic assemblage. Live In Willisau was recorded in Switzerland in January 1973 on the same tour which also produced the Radio Bremen broadcasts reissued in 2001 as Traveling Somewhere, and both should be heard in tandem if possible. The Radio Bremen gig has a slightly different line-up - Mike Osborne, who was too ill to perform at the Willisau gig, appears on second alto, and Malcolm Griffiths deps for Malfatti on second trombone - but both sets of music are equally wild. Live At Willisau, even with CD remastering, still sounds as though it were recorded at the back of a bus queue, and while this necessarily means that some of the finer details of the improvised ensembles are lost - the trumpets and saxes seem a distant blur, while the two trombonists are in your face - the rawness of the music seems to be a good match for the basic sonics. Those still trying to figure out what Evan Parker was doing in that duo with Paul Lytton would do well to listen to his contributions here - his tenor feature on "Do It" is, however abstract it becomes, still fundamentally relevant to the rhythmic and melodic momentum of the piece. The breakneck pace of the Brotherhood compels Parker towards emotional directness, and his retention of the latter while still utilizing his jaw-dropping technique is brilliantly achieved. Malfatti provides a suitably droll commentary on the mock march of "Kongi's Theme" while Evans blows suitably mournfully on "Ismite Is Might." Hovering above all of this, however, is the ghost of Mongezi Feza, a musician who would have been a core regular on Ogun albums had he lived; as it turned out, this is the only Ogun album on which he appeared in his lifetime, and his main feature on "Tungi's Song" is perhaps the best solo he ever recorded, full of casually astonishing technical brilliance and a goodly portion of sheer cheek and deep emotion. Happily this album is one of the few which have been reissued on CD, in this case with over half an hour of extra material from the gig. Interestingly the performance of the ballad "Davashe's Dream" is more restrained than the explosive take recorded for the band's debut, while the version of "Andromeda" gets a little too messy (you can hear an audibly vexed McGregor trying to cue the horns back in halfway through), but nonetheless this is an absolutely vital record. - Marcello Carlin
CD $16
CHRIS McGREGOR'S BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH With DUDU PUKWANA / EVAN PARKER / MIKE OSBORNE / HARRY BECKETT / BRUCE GRANT / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / RADU MALFATTI / HARRY MILLER / JOHNNY DYANI / LOUIS MOHOLO - Procession - Live at Tououse (Ogun OGCD 040; UK) McGregor (piano), Harry Beckett, Marc Charig (trumpets), Radu Malfatti (trombone), Mike Osborne, Dudu Pukwana (alto saxes), Evan Parker (tenor sax), Bruce Grant (baritone sax, flute), Johnny Dyani, Harry Miller (basses), Louis Moholo (drums). CD features three BONUS TRACKS [23 minutes] not on the original album: "TBS", "Andromeda", and "You Ain't Gonna Know Me Cos You Think You Know Me". Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath may have had fairly conventional instrumentation for a small big band (four saxophonists, two trumpets, one trombone, two bassists, drums and the leader on piano) but the music was anything but safe and predictable. McGregor and three of his fellow Blue Notes (altoist Dudu Pukwana, bassist Johnny Dyani and drummer Louis Moholo) join some of England's more advanced players, including altoist Mike Osborne, Evan Parker on tenor, and trumpeter Harry Beckett, for three originals, including two which are quite lengthy. Although the themes are strong, the emphasis is on improvising, particularly by the full group together, and there are plenty of intense sections on this colorful LP. Recommended to open-eared listeners, this is one of the Brotherhood of Breath's best recordings. "Recorded live in Toulouse in May 1977, the absence of Feza from the line-up was palpably evident - though check the band's glorious freewheeling take on Feza's "Sonia," which you would like to go on forever - but, perhaps because of this, the band concentrate ferociously on the music at hand and deliver a blistering performance (Dyani finally agreed to play with the Brotherhood on this particular tour, and Miller kept his place in the band to provide a two-bass hit). Parker again provides some of the highlights - his passionate tenor outburst on "Sunrise On The Sun" (as Osborne's alto comments in tandem) and his sudden explosion in the midst of the systematically repeating motifs of "Kwhalo." Malfatti also performs his most passionate solo on record, multiphonics and all, on "Sunrise," while the 18 minutes of Pukwana's "Kwhalo" - a tune also known, and recorded, as "Diamond Express" - might be the band's finest moment on record. Is it pop? Is it minimalism? Is it kwela? It's all those things and far, far more. On his sleevenote Keith Beal observes how, by the track's end, every instrument in the band is a drum - it's astonishing, fiercely danceable and the finest of testaments to this greatest of all bands." - Marcello Carlin
CCD $16
MIKE OSBORNE TRIO With HARRY MILLER/TONY LEVIN - The Birmingham Jazz Concert - November 7 1976 (Ogun SGCCD 010/011; UK) NEVER PREVIOUSLY RELEASED! Osborne's is the great 'what-might-have-been' story of the UK scene - a brilliant and tempestuous player who blazed through the 60s and 70s in the Westbrook band, in Brotherhood of Breath, in S.O.S. with Alan Skidmore and John Surman, in Kenny Wheeler's Big Band and in multiple other line-ups; as well as on a small number of his own recordings. Yet his voice was silenced by illness in 1982 and he was never able to perform again until his death in 2007. So any new material is welcomed with open arms by the ever-growing audience for what is now rightfully acknowledged as a particularly fecund time and place for jazz. This 2CD live set is eagerly and gratefully received.
From the sleeve notes - Founder George West reminisces thus: I founded Birmingham Jazz in 1976 with the help of six other enthusiasts; we each put L25 on my dining room table and said we would promote some concerts for as long as the money held out. Birmingham Jazz has promoted live jazz ever since - a remarkable achievement. Our first concert was with Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia; I'm not sure who were our second but Mike Osborne's trio with Harry Miller and Tony Levin was the third, on 7 November 1976.
These concerts took place in the Warwick Suite of the Grand Hotel, Colmore Row, Birmingham that was our home base for the first five years. The musicians gave me permission to record the concert as a souvenir on my Maxwell C180 tape and Yamaha recorder, and it subsequently remained unplayed in my files until unearthed in 2009; amazingly the tape had not deteriorated in any way and gives a very high quality documentation of an outstanding evening's music making. As there had been no announcements of tune titles, several have proved slightly controversial despite being auditioned by a number of musicians who had known and played with Mike over the years he was active. But what is unquestioned is the creative quality of the Trio's performance.
2 CD Set $18
OVARY LODGE with KEITH TIPPETT / JULIE TIPPETTS / HARRY MILLER / FRANK PERRY] - Ovary Lodge - Live (Ogun OGCD 021; UK) "Ovary Lodge was co-founded between Keith Tippett and myself some time in 1971. I had moved down from Mildenhall in Suffolk in early January 1970 to live in North London, being as there were only a handful of musicians creating the kind of improvised music that I was into and they were all based in London. Keith Tippett had formerly created Septober Energy featuring a very large band and was looking to explore small group improvisation. He founded the Keith Tippett Trio which featured Roy Babbington on bass and Keith Bailey on drums. Apparently Keith was having some difficulty with Keith Bailey at the time in the group and Harry Miller and a few other musicians recommended he try me. He rang and then came to visit me. We talked and I played a bit for him. Keith immediately replaced Keith Bailey with myself and within days we were doing gigs. Two weeks later and we were in the recording studio finishing the LP Blueprint! (on RCA/Victor). This is why Keith Bailey features on some tracks and myself on others. Shortly afterwards Keith wanted to change the name of the group and to find something of an umbrella name that would allow other musicians to join and occasionally expand the trio. He wanted to call it White Lodge. However, Roy Babbington wasn't happy with this, feeling it wasn't sexy enough. I came up with Ovary Lodge and everybody was happy with that. So we went on to record the LP Ovary Lodge for RCA/Victor to follow up from Blueprint. Some time later Roy left to play more with Soft Machine and Harry Miller replaced him; as well Keith's wife Julie Tippetts joined the group on occasions [such as the live quartet recording from Nettlefold Hall, London 6 August 1975 on this CD] When Harry was tragically killed in a 1983 road accident, Marcio Mattos took over the bass stool. Keith has always said that there is no Ovary Lodge without me. And nothing has come out or been performed under that name that hasn't had myself playing in it." - Frank Perry "And this is a visionary classic, perhaps the best and most concentrated music that the Tippetts have yet made. You have to love a record whose track titles include 'A Man Carrying A Drop Of Water On A Leaf During A Thunderstorm,' of course, but this is proto-New Age improvisation (Frank Perry in particular was doing New Age for at least two decades before anyone else) which makes mincemeat out of all offal released under the banner of New Age; limpid, beautiful and genuinely transcendental music which isn't afraid to raise the temperature/passion when required - the closing sequence of side one constitutes some of the most violent music you are likely to hear on any Ogun release, Julie screaming, Keith hammering, Harry throbbing and Frank pounding his sacred Tibetan gong into the next universe." - Marcello Carlin
CD $16
JOHN STEVENS / EVAN PARKER - Corner To Corner / The Longest Night Vols 1 & 2 (Ogun OGCD 022/023; UK) Featuring Evan Parker, soprano saxophone; John Stevens, percussion, trumpet.
A triple length set of work from the team of Evan Parker and John Stevens – presented here as a 2CD set! The first part of the package features both volumes 1 and 2 of the Longest Night sessions from 1976 – very free duets between these two ex-partners in the Spontaneous Music Ensemble – a session with very little structure at all, and sounds that are almost more FMP than other Ogun albums of the time!
Evan Parker plays soprano sax throughout – and Stevens alternates between percussion and cornet – using mostly the former, but sometimes a bit of the latter in ways that have a surprising sense of presence. Parker's notes are nicely shaped on the best numbers – bringing in occasional more human moments amidst more Lacy-like bleats and blonks on the soprano. Next up is the album Corner To Corner – recorded in 1993, nearly 20 years after the first 2 records – but with a quality that's amazingly similar, and which shows both Parker and Stevens to still be at the farthest, freest edges of British jazz. - JazzMessengers.Com
2 CD Set $18
KEITH TIPPETT'S ARK With STAN TRACEY / ELTON DEAN / TREVOR WATTS / BRIAN SMITH / LARRY STABBINS / MARC CHARIG / HENRY LOWTHER / PETER KOWALD / HARRY MILLER / LOUIS MOHOLO / FRANK PERRY / et al - Frames (Ogun 010/011) Several years after his great success with the huge ensemble Centipede and its Septober Energy release, pianist Keith Tippett returned to the large-group format with his newly formed Ark. This band, a mere 22 strong, was less rock-influenced and arguably more "mature" musically, that is, quite capable of handling the diverse demands placed on it, which covered ground from richly arranged written portions to incisive free improvisation. One of the motifs tying this work (which is a single composition spread over four sides of the original LP) is the dual presence of vocalists Maggie Nicols and Julie Tippetts (the latter possessing one of the truly beautiful voices in avant-garde jazz), their twinned vocal lines serving as fine structures around which to erect woollier passages. Also as before, Tippett deploys small groups within the larger ensemble, for example a percussion duet that's soon joined by violin and soprano saxophone. These little "nuggets" within the orchestra provide a healthy degree of differentiation as well as connecting nodes between more fully massed sections. As such, "Frames" is essentially suite-like, with anthemic melodies like the one that begins side three abutting jagged, free lines that dissolve into group interplay standing alongside pulsing minimalist patterns. It's not really so much about the soloists, although there is much fine individual playing to be found, notably the leader's piano (and that of Stan Tracey), the alto work of Trevor Watts, and the bass playing of the late, great Harry Miller. Listeners who have enjoyed Barry Guy's London Jazz Composers Orchestra or Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath will find themselves right at home here. Recommended. - Brian Olewnick, AllMusicGuide
2 CD Set $18
KEITH TIPPETT / JULIE TIPPETTS With LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO'S VIVA-LA-BLACK & CANTO GENERAL with PINO MINAFRA / ROBERTO OTTAVIANO / et al - Viva La Black - Live At Ruvo (OGCD 020; UK) For its appearance at the 2004 edition of the Ruvo Festival, Canto General founder and festival director Pino Minafra invited Tippett, Tippetts and Moholo-Moholo to guest with the orchestra and the Faraualla singers. With a repertoire drawn from Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana, Harry Miller and some Keith Tippett originals, the musicians paid tribute to those who had sought to bring forth light and sound through jazz from beneath the desperate dark shadow of apartheid.
CD $16
******
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
**************
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / MATANA ROBERTS / JULY 9-12
Introducing Coin Coin Community: Sound Exploration with Heart and Purpose
Join me for an immersive solo experience that blends sound, storytelling, and collective vocalizations—rooted and inspired by my Coin Coin records( https://cstrecords.com/pages/matana-roberts?shpxid=fd17ddd1-5306-4e06-8a71-0c53b25de859). Each night, we’ll dive into soundscapes inspired by each recording in the series combined w/crucial causes impacted by today’s horrible political moment, from LGBT rights to reproductive justice and immigration. And the best part? All ticket proceeds will go directly to my fave grassroots organizations fighting for change.
It’s a healing, interactive work that needs your witness to thrive. I believe we can make a huge impact together, in community.
My dear mother called the Coin Coin project "a musical monument to the human experience" and she couldn't have been more right. Let’s keep the conversation and the experience of change—alive. This is just the beginning.
Thank you for the support. - Matana Roberts
7/9 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Coin Coin Community Solo I - Matana Roberts (winds, voice) - The Dedication (What are we fighting for): Trans rights
7/10 Thursday
8:30 pm - Coin Coin Community Solo II - Matana Roberts (winds, voice)
The Dedication (What are we fighting for): Immigrant Rights
7/11 Friday
8:30 pm - Coin Coin Community Solo III - Matana Roberts (winds, voice)
The Dedication (What are we fighting for): Educational Freedom
7/12 Saturday
8:30 pm - Coin Coin Community Solo IV
Matana Roberts (winds, voice)
The Dedication (What are we fighting for): Reproductive Justice/ We Will Not Be Silent
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / MATT MITCHELL / JULY 16-19
Pianist/composer Matt Mitchell celebrates his 50th birthday with four fabulous nights of cutting-edge music at The Stone. Come and celebrate!
7/16 Wednesday
8:30 pm - TRIO: Matt Mitchell (piano, compositions) Kim Cass (bass) Ches Smith (drums)
7/17 Thursday
8:30 pm - QUARTET: Matt Mitchell (piano, compositions) Miles Okazaki (guitar) Chris Tordini (bass) Dan Weiss (drums)
7/18 Friday
8:30 pm - QUARTET: Matt Mitchell (piano, compositions) Brandon Seabrook (guitar) Kim Cass (bass) Kate Gentile (drums)
7/19 Saturday
8:30 pm - 50TH BIRTHDAY SOLO CONCERT - Matt Mitchell (piano)
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
*******
This Notice Just Arrived from my Good Friend KYOKO KITAMURA,
Vocalist, Teacher and Longtime ANTHONY BRAXTON Collaborator:
BROOKLYN FREE SPIRIT FESTIVAL - This Weekend - July 12th & 13th:
July 12th & 13th at IBEAM BROOKLYN
168 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215
$20 Admission / day | cash or Venmo
Daily Admission includes access to all daytime and evening events. The Brooklyn Free Spirit Festival welcomes artists and audiences to share space between and following events to meet and talk. Light food and beverage provided.
Saturday, July 12
5:00pm Improviser’s Workshop (open to all)
Lifelong ecstatic improvising pianist & 40-year Qigong practitioner Kazzrie Jaxen offers a qigong workshop for creative improvisers. Wuji Gong: Skill of Entering the Supreme Unknown (comfortable clothes suggested)
7:30pm Siren Xypher : Melanie Dyer - Viola / Kyoko Kitamura - Voice / Mara Rosenbloom - Voice & Piano
8:30pm Kazzrie Jaxen SOLO Piano
Sunday, July 13
3:00pm Improvisation Workshop (open to all)
Anthony Braxton performers Chris DiMeglio and Kyoko Kitamura guides participants through Anthony Braxton’s Musical Systems and beyond. 90-minute workshop in two parts.
3 PM to 3:45 PM - Part I: text and graphic scores by various composers including Anthony Braxton, open to all including non-musicians.
3:45 PM to 4:30 PM - Part II: musical improvisation based on Anthony Braxton's concepts including Ghost Trance Music, open to all. Ability to read music recommended for Part II but not required. Score excerpts provided. Instruments welcome but not required.
5:00pm Listening Session & In-Person Interview: AMINA CLAUDINE MYERS
90-minutes of immersion into the luminary pianist/vocalist/composer’s multi-decade body of work. Conversation moderated by W.S. Tkweme, Pan-African Studies Professor at University of Louisville & 25 year radio programmer at stations across the US. Archival support from Ras Moshe Burnett. (Curated by Melanie Dyer)
7:30pm DoYeon Kim / Cooper-Moore / Satoshi Takeishi
DoYeon Kim - Gayageum & Voice / Cooper-Moore - Homemade Instruments / Satoshi Takeishi - Drums & Percussion
8:30pm Mazz Swift & Ana Luisa Díaz de Cossío Violin Violin
Produced by the Siren Xypher Collective with support from Alan Feller & Creative Music Studio
*******
THIS NOTE COMES FROM MY GOOD BUDDY JOEL HARRISON, Gifted Guitarist and Organizer. His yearly concerts at LPR have been a highlight for myself and other Guitar Freaks…
Dear Guitar Enthusiasts … There's a lot going:
—MIDWESTERNERS: please take note of the below dates. I'm lucky to be playing with two of the greatest B-3 organ players alive, and fantastic drummers as well. https://joelharrison.com/shows/
—On March 14 AGS (Alternative Guitar Summit) recordings releases ANUPAM SHOBHAKAR'S LIQUID REALITY, a tour de force on double neck guitar that fuses Indian music, jazz, and rock. If you like John McLaughlin this is for you. Preorder here: https://agsrecordings.bandcamp.com/
—We have uploaded some GREAT NEW PODCASTS to the AGS youtube channel with Ben Monder, Redd Volkaert, and more to come. Please check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/@alternativeguitarsummit
—For a couple of years I have been working on a major piece entitled "Burn Pit." The orchestration is jazz big band and a 16 person chorus. The subject matter is the deadly toxic burnpits from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that killed or sickened hundreds of thousands of military personnel. To fulfill my obligation to the NY State Council on the Arts and the Governors Office of NY, from whom I received a generous composition grant, I have posted a video discussing and playing excerpts from this work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulyk1Pgrym8
Don't forget to sign up for our summer camp! Kevin Eubanks, Vernon Reid, Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Scofield...come on! https://www.alternativeguitarsummitcamp.com/ - Joel Harrison
************
NEW VIDEOS from GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgcxTkoIgQI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAWxt3EJSPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcvoYygehqE
*******
From 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