When Black Friday comes
I'll collect everything I'm owed
And before my friends find out
I'll be on the road
When Black Friday falls
You know it's got to be
Don't let it fall on me
When Black Friday comes
I'll fly down to Muswellbrook
Gonna strike all the big red words
From my little black book
Gonna do just what I please
Gonna wear no socks and shoes
With nothing to do but feed
All the kangaroos
When Black Friday comes
I'll be on that hill
You know I will
When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna dig myself a hole
Gonna lay down in it
'Til I satisfy my soul
Gonna let the world pass by me
The Archbishop's gonna sanctify me
And if he don't come across
I'm gonna let it roll
When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna stake my claim
I'll guess I'll change my name
By the time many of you read this it will be Black Friday, a term that I am not particularly fond of. The term originated in the 1950's in Philly, PA and referred to an Army/Navy football game which took place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It now refers to the Friday after Thanksgiving which is supposed to be a big shopper's holiday/sale. The above song was written and performed by Steely Dan and seems to be about the singer/author escaping from the panic of the Great (stock market) crash, which started the Great Depression in the US in the 1920's, a century ago at this point. The songwriters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker often remind me of Randy Newman, another great (LA-based) songwriter who often wrote wise yet sarcastic lyrics about the ridiculousness of mankind's assorted predicaments. I don't like the bad news frenzy of holidays created just to stimulate consumers to acquire more goods that they might not actually need. Record Store Day, which is yet another similar holiday created to increase the sale of vinyl/records and other musical platforms, has also become a bloated dinosaur-like retail fest, has become completely overwhelming as far as the number of sale items created to tease the customer in all of us. I am certainly glad when any holiday or event helps us to sell more of the Creative Music which we continue to sell here year round. There are a number of new CD's which have come in this week which I will list and review in next week's DMG newsletter. This week's newsletter deals with mainly records, long playing albums, which we've acquired over the past few years. I still prefer the way all analog vinyl sounds over CD's or any other digital media. So, let's raise our glasses to the Great Myth of Great Music preserved on vinyl. I am home today (before Thanksgiving, listening to only records and smiling, singing and dancing along and remembering the many years of vinyl listening that has continued throughout my/our lives from the 1950's (when LP records began) until today. When Black Friday comes, I will just be singing and dancing and working here at DMG to make whoever shows up here, that we are celebrating the Music that continues to inspire all serious listeners. - MC-BruceLee at DMG
***********
THE DMG 34th ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE CONCERT CELEBRATION CONTINUES with:
Tuesday, December 2nd:
6:30: EVAN PALMER - Bass / STEPHEN GAUCI - Tenor Sax - Clarinet / JAMES PAUL NADIEN - Drums
7:30: JONATHAN RESIN - Tenor Sax / MELISSA ALMAGUER - Tap Dance / CHEN HAR EVEN - Drums
8:30: COLIN HINTON & Band
Tuesday, December 9th:
6:30: Sketchbook Series #12 - ReMonkability: patrick brennan – ReArrangement Alto Saxophone / RYAN EASTER - Trumpet / HILLIARD GREENE - Contrabass / MICHAEL T.A. THOMPSON - Trap Drums
7:30: THING OF THIS NATURE: SHOGO YAMAGISHI - Contrabass / CAYLIE DAVIS - Trumpet / CHRIS FERRARI - Sax / JJ MAZZA - Drums
8:30: NICK NEUBERG - Drums / TJ BORDEN / Cello / SABRINA SALMONE - Violin / EVAN PALMER - Contrabass
Tuesday, December 16th:
6:30: T.J. BORDEN - Cello / MARTIN FREEMAN - Electronics / LIHUEN SIRVENT - Flute
7:30: STAN ZENKOV's Naughty 3EW Project
Saturday, December 20th: The Gauci-Music Series continues with:
6:30: AYUMI ISHITO - Tenor Sax / JEFF MILES - Guitar / EVAN PALMER - Bass / KEN KOBAYASHI - Drums
7:30: STEPHEN GAUCI - Tenor Sax-Clarinet-Flute / EVAN PALMER - ContraBass / KEVIN SHEA - Drums
8:30: YONI KRETZMER - Tenor Sax / PETER BITENC - Bass / TBA - Drums
*******
THIS IS A RARE LP ONLY NEWSLETTER!
Although we've sold quite a bit more CD's than Lp's for many years, things are changing overall as far as LP sales go. We still sell ore new CD's through mailorder as far as sales inspired by our weekly newsletter but in store LP sales are increasing day by day! Below is a long list of LP's that we've acquired over the past decade or so. It is a diverse list of all sorts of Creative music, reissues of 60' & 70's psych, prog, avant and in-between-categories weirdness.
NEW THINGS ON VINYL: that have recently arrived here:
MARSHALL ALLEN with KASH KILLION / DM HOTEP / KEVIN DIEHL / JOSEPH TOLEDO / OLUFEMI MITCHELL / TONGO HERNANDEZ / JOHN WILKIE - The Omniverse Oriki (High Two HT 040; USA) Featuring Marshall Allen on alto sax, EWI, casio keyboard & vibrations, DM Hotep on guitar with effects & synths, Kash Killion on cello with effects & sarangi plus the Lucumi chorus: Kevin Diehl, Joseph Toledo, Olufemi Mitchell, Tongo Hernandez & John Wilkie. Aside from being called the City of Brotherly Love, a hometown for John Coltrane and Jimmy Heath and the longtime communal home for the Sun Ra Arkestra, Philadephia has had a longtime underground of all sorts of Creative Music from the 1950's onwards. There is a long list of all sorts of Cosmic Creative musicians like Sunny Murray, Byard Lancaster, the Legendary Hassan, Odean Pope, George Bishop, Steve Buchanan, Elliott Levin, Rick Iannicone, Todd Rundgren, Keir Neuringer and under-recognized bands like Elizabeth, Good God (of the best electric jazz/rock bands ever!), the Nazz, New Ghost, Embers, Make a Rising, Normal Love and the Sonic Liberation Front. Sonic Liberation Front is/are an ongoing large ensemble with upwards of 2 dozen musicians led by Kevin Diehl. They've worked with Sunny Murray, Oliver Lake and Elliott Levin and have a half dozen recordings out, all great and below-the-radar of wide recognition. Mr. Diehl also runs this, the High Two label and produced this marvelous session. "A protege' of free-jazz pioneer Sunny Murray, Diehl connects his training in both the post-bop tradition and traditional Afro-Cuban Yoruba roots music with authority. Combining a rhythm section equally devoted to Yoruba roots, and a horn section adept at free jazz expression -- polyrhythmic bata drumming seamlessly converges with avant-jazz elements, producing a highly addictive hybrid; being from Philadelphia, the further urban funk element is a matter of course."
Marshall Allen has long been a founding member of the Sun Ra Arkestra starting around 1956 and has led the Arkestra since the late 1990's after the passing of Sun and John Gilmore. The Afro-Cuban vibe a/k/a Lucumi, with cosmic chorus vocals is at the center of this music of this music. Side 1 consists of "Omniverse Oriki 1" which features layers of chanting vocals and ritualistic hand percussion (congas, bata, clapping, etc). Guitarist DM Hotep (a current Arkestra member) and cellist Kash Killion add layers of lines along with Mr. Marshall's electronics and alto sax. The rhythmic undertow is both infectious and hypnotic. Side 2 consists of "Omniverse Oriki 2 & 3". The thing I notice the most is that inner, throbbing groove which runs throughout all of the music here. My mind and my body are slowly bouncing up and down to the music here. My soul is mesmerized. This is Spirit Music for our current trying times. Don't nod out, nod along and keep smiling into the sunset of Sun Ra Land. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $25 [Limited edition LP only release]
SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA - Supersonic Jazz (Cosmic Myth Records 009 CD/LP; USA) "Official expanded edition of Sun Ra's Saturn debut features an additional fourteen tracks of alternate versions and studio takes. The CD also contains four CD only bonus tracks. Liner notes were penned by avid fan Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, as well as an essay from longtime Ra blogger Rodger Coleman (NUVOID Sun Ra Sundays). Vinyl gatefold jacket includes a 12x12 insert reproduction of the original LP jacket art. Recorded in 1956 and released in 1957, Supersonic Jazz is arguably the first long-playing album by Sun Ra and His Arkestra on his Saturn label. However, it was not recorded as a debut. Rather, the album was assembled from tapes recorded during a number of sessions at two Chicago studios (RCA Victor and Balkan), and several tracks had been released as singles before their inclusion on this album. (Sunny's first fully realized commercial album was 1957's Jazz by Sun Ra, produced by Tom Wilson on his short lived/soon to be defunct Transition label.) Prior to these sessions, Sunny was still arranging for the Red Saunders Orchestra and singer Joe Williams, in addition to arranging for and coaching doo-wop ensembles. As Sunny's ambitions achieved liftoff, the Arkestra coalesced, began building a repertoire (mostly of Ra's originals), and making forays into studios. Deciding it was time for commercial releases, Sunny and business partner Alton Abraham launched Saturn (sometimes called El Saturn) as a record company in 1956. As a first offering, Supersonic Jazz is a pinnacle Sun Ra release. While reflecting many prevailing bebop, Latin, and R&B conventions of the mid-1950s, it's evident that Sun Ra's musical voice and vision were starting to propel him away from the jazz mainstream. Biographer John Szwed finds on these recordings 'characteristics which seemed alien to swing, bebop, or the new, more soulful and hard-edged music which was coming to be called hard bop.'"
2 LP Set $34 / 2 CD Set $17
AHMED with PAT THOMAS / SEYMOUR WRIGHT / JOEL GRIP / ANTONIN GERBAL - Wood Blues (Astral Spirits AS 230; USA) Pianist Pat Thomas continues his recent resurgence with yet another release with [Ahmed]. A group named after bassist / oudist Ahmed Abdul-Malik, this is their first recorded offering since 2021’s Nights on Saturn (Communication). It is also their first to not be a reimagining of Abdul-Malik’s works, and is instead a riveting 60-minute single-track performance from the 2022 Counterflows Festival in Glasgow.
Joining Thomas are Joel Grip on bass, Antonin Gerbal on drums, and Seymour Wright on alto sax. While Grip and Gerbal provide compelling workmanlike contributions, the emphasis is on Seymour and Thomas.
The album begins centered around a walking bass line, perhaps a nod toward Abdul-Malik and the tradition in general. But from there the rhythm section provides a dense underpinning to discordant, pounding sax and piano structures.
Mr. Thomas plays in his signature percussive style, attacking the keys to form staccato patterns and tone clusters. Seymour is unabashedly outside, with a wailing harshness that is intense but falls just short of overbearing. In other words, Thomas and Seymour push this hour-long session to the limit with contrapuntal harmonies and bursts of dissonance. Particularly Seymour plays short, grainy melodies over Thomas’s thick chording. The result is non-stop sonic brain food." - AvantMusicNews
2 LP Set $35 [[Limited edition LP only release]
NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WITH EVAN PARKER - Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Aguirre Records Edition Zorn 074LP; Belgium) Mastered by Helge Sten, Audio Virus, Oslo. Lacquers by Dubplates & Mastering. Liner Notes by Theaster Gates. LPs pressed on premium audiophile-quality vinyl at Pallas Records. Rich in musical associations yet utterly singular in its voice, joyous with an inner tranquility, the music of Natural Information Society is unlike any other being made today. Their sixth album in eleven years for eremite records, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the first to be recorded live, featuring a set from London's Cafe OTO with veteran English free-improv great Evan Parker, & the first to feature just one extended composition. The 75-minute performance, inspired by the galvanizing presence of Parker, is a sustained bacchanalia of collective ecstasy. You could call it their party album. This was the second time Parker played with NIS. Joshua Abrams: "Both times we played compositions with Evan in mind. I don't tell Evan anything. He's a free agent." The music is focused & malleable, energized & even-keeled, drawing on concepts of ensemble playing common to musics from many locations & eras without any one specific aesthetic realization completely defining it. "The rhythms that Mikel plays are not an exact reference to Chicago house, but that's in there," Abrams says. "I like to take a cyclic view of music history, can we take that four-on-the-floor, & consider how it connects to swing-era music? Can we articulate a through line? I dee-jayed for years in Chicago & lessons I learned from playing records for dancing inform how I think about the group's music. The listener can make connections to aspects of soul music, electronic music, minimalism, traditional folk musics, & other musics of the diaspora as well. It's about these aspects coming together. I don't need to mimic something, I need to embody it to get to the spirit, to get to the living thing." For jazz fans, the sound of Parker's soprano & Jason Stein's bass clarinet might evoke Coltrane & Dolphy, even though they didn't necessarily set out to do that & they play with complete individuality. Abrams sees a bridge to the historical precedent, too. "Since we first met in the 1990s, one of the things that Evan and I connected on was Coltrane's music," he says. "I hoped that we would tap into that sound world intuitively. In this case, I think that level of evocation adds another layer of depth, versus a layer of reference." Indeed, this is a performance in which the connections among the ensemble & the creative tension between improvisation and composition build into a complex mesh of associations & interactions. While the band confines itself to the territory mapped out by Abrams' composition, they are remarkably attentive & responsive, making adjustments to Parker's improvisations. When Parker's intricate patterns of notes interweave with the band, the parts reinforce one another & the music rockets upward. Sometimes, Parker's lines are cradled by the group's gentle pulse & an unearthly lyrical balance is struck. Drummer Mikel Patrick Avery is locked-in, playing with hellacious long-form discipline, feel & responsiveness. Jason Stein's animated, vocalized bass clarinet weaves in & out with Lisa Alvarado's harmonium to state the piece's thematic material; the pulsing tremolo on the harmonium brings a Spacemen 3 vibe to the party. Abrams ties together melody & rhythm on guimbri, a presence that leads without seeming to. Like his bandmates, he shifts modes of playing frequently, improvising & then returning to the composed structure. "As specific as the composition is, the goal is to internalize it & mix it up," Abrams says. "The idea is to get so comfortable that we can make spontaneous changes, find new routes of activity, stasis & byways every gig. It's like a web we're spinning. If someone makes a move, we all aim to be aware of it, make room for it. Experiencing & listening is what it's about, & Evan supercharges that." "Supercharged" is the word for this album. With Parker further opening up their music, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the sound of Natural Information Society growing both more disciplined and freer, one of the great bands of its time on a deep run.
2 LP Set $40
THELONIOUS MONK with CHARLIE ROUSE / LARRY GALES / BEN RILEY - Bremen 65 (Sunnyside SSC 1634; USA) By the mid-1960s, European touring had become a routine familiar to many of jazz’s most well-known practitioners. Piano/composer Thelonious Monk was already over two decades into his career when he began to visit Europe in earnest. Europeans were excited to experience Monk and his storied personality, often focusing as much on his appearance and idiosyncratic behavior ahead of the music.
The release of Bremen 1965 finds the legend on his second tour to feature stops in Germany with his seasoned quartet featuring his longtime saxophone foil, Charlie Rouse, along with bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley. Bremen, Germany was the second stop on the quartet’s world tour, which would include much of Europe, Australia, and Japan. The recording was made on March 8, 1965, in Radio Bremen’s storied Sendesaal / Studio F in front of an anticipative audience.
Bremen 1965 is the first official release of the concert, mastered from the original tapes held in the Radio Bremen vaults under the guidance and blessings of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Radio Bremen, and T.S. Monk. The release will be available in a handful of formats, including digitally along with double CD and LP record sets. Included with the physical releases is a researched set of liner notes from Sunnyside’s Bret Sjerven.
The recording catches Monk just after some notable transitions. The pianist left his former label, Riverside Records, for Columbia Records, where his most recent release, It’s Monk’s Time, was fresh off the presses when the quartet arrived in Europe in 1965. There had also been a change in the rhythm section, as bassist John Ore and drummer Frankie Dunlop had been replaced by Larry Gales and Ben Riley, who would both appear on Monk’s next studio recording, Monk.
The long performance captures unique takes of Monk classics, like “Criss Cross,” “Well You Needn’t,” “Epistrophy,” and “Rhythm-a-ning,” along with standards that Monk continued to find inspiring, including “Sweet and Lovely,” “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” and “Don’t Blame Me.” Long, loose takes on these pieces allow for listeners to experience Monk and company’s ability to swing, duel, and sing in their most unparalleled fashion.
The music of Thelonious Monk remains eternally and monumentally singular in approach and conception. Monk’s interpretations of his tunes and those of others have left lasting impressions on the genre of jazz. Bremen 1965 highlights an incredible performance during one of Monk and his quartet’s most fiery and exploratory periods.
2 LP Set $40 / 2 CD Set $18
HEARTS & MINDS with JASON STEIN / PAUL GIALLORENZO / CHAD TAYLOR - Illuminescence (Astral Spirits AS 238; USA) Featuring Jason stein on bass clarinet, Paul Giallorenzo on synth & electric piano and Chad Taylor on drums. Hearts & Minds are a Chicago-based trio who've been around for a decade and this is their third release. All three members are leaders and respected collaborators: Giallorenzo has worked with Guillermo Gregorio, Restroy & Masul, Jason Stein has worked with Natural Information Society, Locksmith Isidore & Exploding Star Orchestra and Chad Taylor is one of the most in-demand drummers anywhere, working with James Brandon Lewis, Jaimie Branch and Chicago Underground. Both Jason Stein and Paul Giallorenzo have composed songs for this disc as well as there being three trio improvs. "Counterpoint" is first the it does indeed involve a swirling, circular counterpoint repeating groove. Mr. Giallorenzo's Sun Ra-like synth is at the center of "Particle Field", another circular groove with some inspired bass clarinet from Mr. Stein. While the bass clarinet continues to solo throughout, the central groove switches between a couple of different interlocking patterns with Mr. Taylor tapping out an infectious 4/4 groove. On "Horizon", Mr. Stein's bass clarinet sounds more like a baritone sax, growling out those feisty low-end grumbling blasts. On "Imaging", Mr. Taylor's drumming is featured at the center of a laid back storm with a strong storytelling bass clarinet solo as well. What stands out most here is it is obvious that this trio has been at it for a long while and have matured into a tight, inspired, full-integrated trio with their own unique sound. Whether composed or improvised, every song is strong, inspired, tightly wound and a marvel to behold or behear. A true treasure waiting for your appreciation. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $25
DENNIS GONZALEZ LEGACY BAND with ROB MAZUREK / AARON & STEFAN GONZALEZ / JAWWAAD TAYLOR / DANNY KAMINS / et al - Live at the Texas Theatre (Astral Spirits 242; USA) Featuring the late Dennis Gonzalez's two sons: Aaron Gonzalez on contrabass, Stefan Gonzalez on drums & vibes, Rob Mazurek on trumpet & piccolo trumpet, Jawwaad Taylor on pocket trumpet, Danny Kamins & Joshua Miller on saxes, Gaika James on trombone, Drew Phelps on acoustic bass and Lily Thomas on vocals. Recorded live at the Texas Theatre in Dallas on January 20 2024. Dennis Gonzalez was one of the best, most ambitious and creative of any trumpeters that I've ever encountered. We were longtime friends and I've long dug each of his two dozen or so recordings as well as the numerous times I caught him live, the first time at our first store on East 5th St in the mid 1990's with his two young sons in a trio known as Yells at Eels. One of the things I dug most about Dennis is that he would pick a town like New York, Boston or London, do research at pick out the best improvisers he could find and then take a trip to that town and record a session with his well-selected crew. Hew a gifted trumpeter, composer and organizer of a number of inspired free sessions. His two sons, Aaron and Stefan ended up as extraordinary musicians as well thanks to his inspired schooling. Over the last few years of his life, Dennis Gonzalez had a number of health issues as well as some accidents, troubles I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies. When I spoke to him on the phone during this period, he was his usual positive self, a longtime inspiration to me and many others. When he passed in March of 2022, many of us were devastated by his loss. I still go back to his numerous records as they remain an inspiration to me.
All of the pieces on this record were written by Dennis Gonzalez and his two sons most likely organized this session. I know of a few of the players here like Rob Mazurek (leader of many bands: Chicago & Sai Paolo Underground's & Exploding Star Orchestra), Texans Jawwaad Taylor and Danny Kamins, both of whom have played here at DMG. The other musician's names I don't recognize. Each of these 5 songs come from different projects that Dennis Gonzalez produced over his long musical career/journey. "Hymn of Mbizo (Intro)" was named after South African expat bassist Johnny Dyani. This piece is an explosive intro piece with some superb burnin' trumpet. Dennis' two son rhythm team is what makes this piece so impressive, with Stefan playing like Louis Moholo, the South African drummer who worked with Johnny Dyani in the legendary Blue Notes. Both tenor saxists and trombone take explosive, inspired solos here. "Namesake" comes from a great album by Dennis with a band that featured Charles Brackeen, Ahmed Abdullah & Malachi Favors, Once again, that Spirit Jazz groove/melody/vibe is what makes this piece special. Again we get more inspired trumpet, sax and a great free singing solo(s). Although I am not so sure which trumpeter or saxist is playing on each piece, every solo here sounds like a gift from the gods! This album is a most impressive tribute to a wonderful musician, bandleader, composer, family guy and all around inspiring human being - Dennis Gonzalez! A toast to him and his continuing legacy (band)! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $25 [Limited edition of 300, LP only]
ROB MAZUREK / NICK TERRY - C6Fe2KN6 (Astral Spirits AS 233; USA) Featuring Rob Mazurek on trumpet, piano, mbira, flutes & bells and Nick Terry on electric guitar, kalimba & music box. It keeps getting more difficult to pin down (former?) Chicago-based trumpeter Rob Mazurek since he has so many different projects and collaborations that is involved with. Aside from numerous bands and projects like the Chicago & Sao Paolo Underground(s), Exploding Star Orchestra, Starlicker and more, Mr. Mazurek is often collaborating with musicians from different scenes, cultures and genres. Nick Terry has played in bands like Primal Scream, the Libertines and the Klaxons, as well as producing and/or engineering more than 200 diverse (mostly British) bands. I know that Mr. Mazurek has done his fair share of electronic or experimental recordings. Opening with "The Tining Strength" opens with Mr. Terry playing some Frippish sustained guitar with Mazurek's trumpet hovering on top. Mr. Terry does a good job of creating different types of ambience, whether playing guitar, thumb piano, music box or using effects to alter his or Mazurek's sound. Often the sound is quiet yet eerie with subtle echoes shimmering in the distance. "Degree of Dispersion" opens Side B and it is a long piece with some of Mazurek's best trumpet playing over shifting sustain-toned electronics. This piece seems to deal with a mood of floating phantoms like sounds. Each project or band that Rob Mazurek is involved with does something different and this one does a good job of creating a series of spacious moods or environments. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $25 [Limited edition of 300, LP only]
********
HERE's A LARGE LIST OF DIVERSE ALBUMS THAT WE'VE ACQUIRED OVER THE PAST DECADE OR SO, ALL ARE NEW AND MOST ARE SEALED, Some are original copies like Horace Tapscott & Borah Bergman while others are high quality reissues. A dozen or so are reviewed down below...
AMALGAM with TREVOR WATTS / JEFF CLYNE / JOHN STEVENS / BARRY GUY - Prayer For Peace (Trading Places TDP 54106LP; UK) - reissue
LP $26
THE ANCIENTS with ISAIAH COLLIER / WILLIAM HOOKER / WILLIAM PARKER - The Ancients (Eremite MTE 080-081; USA)
2 LP Set $45
ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO - Les Stances a Sophie (Play Loud! Productions 135LP; UK)
LP $28
DEREK BAILEY and ANDREA CENTAZZO - Drops (Ictus 002LP; Italy) - Reissue
LP $30
ANDREW BARKER / WILLIAM PARKER / JON IRABAGON - Bakunawa (Out of Your Head Records 030; USA) - Original
LP $22
THE BEACH BOYS - Smile (Good Vibrations; EEC) "Smile (sometimes stylized as SMiLE) is the unfinished album by the Beach Boys intended to follow their 1966 album Pet Sounds. the project came to be regarded as the most legendary unreleased album in popular music history. The album was produced and almost entirely composed by Brian Wilson with Van Dyke Parks, both of whom conceived the project as a 'teenage symphony to God' It was a concept album that was planned to feature word paintings, tape manipulation, experiments with musical acoustics, themes of youth and innocence, and comedic interludes, with influences drawn from mysticism, pre-rock and roll pop, doo-wop, jazz, ragtime, musique concrète, classical, American history, poetry, spirituality, and cartoons. A mythology grew around the project, and its unfulfilled potential inspired many, especially those in indie rock, post-punk, electronic, and chamber pop genres."
LP $28
THE BEACH BOYS - Pet Sounds - The Vocals Only (No Label SW 113LP; EEC) Beautiful, fan-made album of acapella versions of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds classics on one disc. Be able to hear and appreciate their intricate harmonies like never before. Sit back, close your eyes and have a listen to the isolated vocal tracks of one of the greatest albums ever made. "God Only Knows", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "That's Not Me", "You Still Believe In Me" and so on and on... It also contains some rare audio clips Carl Wilson and the Boys at their finest.
LP $25
BORAH BERGMAN - Upside Down Visions (Soul Note 1080; Italy) Original copy
LP $20
SIR RICHARD BISHOP / AVA MENDOZA - Ivory Tower (Unrock 005; Earth) See review below
LP $27
MICHAEL BLAKE with SKYE STEELE / CHRISTOPHER HOFFMAN / GUILHERME MONTIERO / MAURO REFOSCO / ROGERIO BOCCATO - Dance Of The Mystic Bliss (P&M Records CD001; USA)
LP $25
PAUL BLEY TRIO - Closer (ESP-Disk 1021; USA)
LP $20
GLENN BRANCA - The Ascension (Superior Viaduct 56; Earth)
LP $32
BURNT SUGAR THE ARKESTRA CHAMBER with GREG IRONMAN TATE / LEWIS FLIP BARNES / AVRAM FEFER / PAUL HENDERSON / BEN TYREE / ANDRE LASSALLE / JARED MICHAEL NICKERSON / et al - Angels Over Oakanda (True Groid; USA)
LP $28
JOHNNY BUTLER - Meet Me in the Wayback Field (Hi Forehead Records 049; UK)
LP $25
EUGENE CHADBOURNE - Solo Guitar Volume 4 & 1/3 (Feeding Tube Records 396; USA)
LP $24
ISAIAH COLLIER & THE CHOSEN FEW - The Almighty (Division 81; Earth)
LP $25
CONVERGENCE QUARTET with TAYLOR HO BYNUM / HARRIS EISENSTADT / ALEXANDER HAWKINS / DOMINIC LASH - Owl Jacket (NoBusiness LP 84; Lithuania)
LP $18
COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH - Electric Music for the Mind and Body (Vanguard CRF 24; USA) Reissue. Word is that more folks tripped (on acid) to this record than any other psych record from this eras (1967)!
LP $22
CHRISTOPHER DAMMANN SEXTET with JON IRABAGON / EDWARD WILKERSON, JR. / JAMES DAVIS / MABEL KWAN / SCOTT CLARK - Christopher Dammann Sextet (Out of Your Head Records 033; USA)
LP $20
BETTY DAVIS - Crashin' from Passion (Night in the Attic LITA 196-1; USA)
LP $20
DETAIL with FRODE GJERSTAD / KENT CARTER / JOHN STEVENS - Detail 90 (NoBusiness NBLP 143; Lithuania)
LP $20
EARTH OPERA - Great American Eagle Tragedy (Elektra EKS 74038; USA) Peter Rowan's first r3corded band with David Grisman; Great folk, rock, psych LP from 1969.
LP $15
HARRIS EISENSTADT // MIVOS QUARTET - Whatever Will Happen That Will Also Be (No Business 107; Lithuania)
LP $18
MICHAEL FORMANEK DROME TRIO with CHET DOXAS / VINNIE SPERRAZZA - Were We Where We Were (Circular File Records 120220022021; USA)
LP $22
GEORGE with JOHN HOLLENBECK / ANNA WEBBER / AURORA NEALAND / CHIQUITA MAGIC - Letters to George (Out Of Your Head Records 018; USA)
LP $20
NOAH HOWARD GROUP with TAKASHI KAKO / KENT CARTER / OLIVER JOHNSON - Berlin Concert (Cien Fuegos 033LP; Austria)
LP $34
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - After Bathing at Baxters (RCA IMT5016944; EEC) Jefferson Airplane's 3rd album from late 1967 and a true psychedelic masterwork!
LP $38
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - Blessed Pointed Little Head (RCA, Music on Vinyl 2007376; EEC) Amazing live set from Fillmore West in 1969!
LP $38
JETHRO TULL - Benefit (Reprise RS 6400; IMT2322271; Earth) Third Jethro Tull record from 1970 and another great one!
LP $28
KING CRIMSON with ROBERT FRIPP / JOHN WETTON / BILL BRUFORD IAN McDONALS / MARC CHARIG / MEL COLLINS / DAVID CROSSRed (Island ILPS 9309; DGM KCLLP6; UK) From 1974. Final incredible King Crimson studio record before they split up and reformed with new personnel in 1981.
LP $36
LOVE with ARTHUR LEE / JOHNNY ECHOLS / BRYAN MacLEAN / KEN FORSSI / ALBAN PFISTERER- Love / 1st (Elektra EKL 4001; MUVN6953202; Earth) First Love record from 1966; Outstanding rock/psych L.A. band led by Arthur Lee; 1 5 albums all great and completely different from each other.
LP $40
GARY LUCAS / JEFF BUCKLEY with STEVE BERNSTEIN / BRIGGAN KRAUSE / JARED NICKERSON / TONY MAIMONE / TONY SCHERR / TONY LEWIS / ANTON FIER / KENNY WOLLESEN - Songs to No One 1991-1992 (Evolver 2008-5; USA)
2 LP Set $25
MATCHING MOLE with ROBERT WYATT / PHIL MILLER / DAVE MacRAE / BILL MacCORMICK BRIAN ENO - Little Red Record (Columbia 47188; USA)
LP $28
JOHN MAYALL & THE BLUESBREAKERS Featuring ERIC CLAPTON, JOHN McVIE, MICK TAYLOR - Live at the BBC Radio and Radio Bremen 1966-1969 (Outsider Outs 010LP; Earth)
LP $24
McDONALD & GILES - McDonald & Giles (Island/Atlantic; DMG LP7; UK) Featuring Ian McDonald on reeds & keyboards, Michael Giles on drums plus Stevie Winwood on keyboards, Peter Giles on bass and Michael Blakesley on trombone. McDonald and Giles left King Crimson in 1970 and formed this fab duo and recorded just one classic, prog rock gem!
LP $32
JOE McPHEE / MATS GUSTAFSSON - I’m Just Say’n (Smalltown Supersound STSLJN 441LP; Sweden) See review below:
LP $40
MOONDOG // GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA / KRONOS QUARTET with RUFUS WAINWRIGHT / PETRA HADEN / JARVIS CROCKER / KAREN MANTLER / JOAN (AS POLICEWOMAN) WASSER / AOIFE O'DONAVON / et aL - Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog (Cantaloupe CA 21192; USA)
2 LP SET $45
YUSEF MUMIN - Journey To The Ancient (WeWantSounds WWSLP 113LP; UK)
LP $35
THE NECKS - Bleed (Northern Spy 168; USA)
LP $24
SEAN NOONAN PAVEES DANCE with AVA MENDOZA / MALCOLM MOONEY / JAMAALADEEN TACUMA / ALEX MARCELO - Tan Man's Hat (Rare Noise 106; UK)
LP $20
SEAN NOONAN / AVA MENDOZA / MALCOLM MOONEY / JAMAALADEEN TACUMA - Slide Gate (Noonan Music SNMR1001; Earth)
LP $20
ADAM O’FARRILL with MARY HALVORSON / PATRICIA BRENNAN / DAVID LEON / KEVIN SUN / KALUN LEUNG / TYRONE ALLEN II / TOMAS FUJIWARA - For These Streets (Out of Your Head Records 034; USA)
2 LP Set $25
EVAN PARKER / JEAN-MARC FOUSSAT - Insolence (Nashazphone NP 054LP; EEC)
LP $30
GRAM PARSONS with BERNIE LEADON / LINDA RONSTADT / HERB PEDERSON / BYRON BERLINE / ND SMART II / et al - Grievous Angels (Reprise Records – REP 44.259; Rhino RHI2171; USA) 2 great solo effort from former Byrds & Flying Burrito Brothers band member
LP $25
PENTANGLE with JOHN RENBOURN / BERT JANSCH / JACQUI McSHEE / DANNY THOMPSON / TERRY COX - Cruel Sister (Reprise Records RS 6430; USA) Brilliant British folk/jazz/rock quintet who made 7 great albums between 1968 & 1972. Both guitarists are considered to be virtuosos.
LP $24
PINK FLOYD - Saucerful of Secrets (Capitol ST-6279; IMT5067824; Earth) Second album from 1968 an last album with former leader Syd Barrett; Yet another classic psych, space rock treasure;
LP $35
PROCOL HARUM - Shine On Brightly (A&M; Regal Zonophone; Music on Vinyl MOVLP1803; UK) From 1968 and the second album from this wonderful symphonic art rock band. A favorite of mine and many other Procol fans!
LP $30
CHUCK ROTH - Watergh0st Songs (Palilalia PAL 088LP; USA)
LP $28
RAY RUSSELL SEXTET featuring HARRY BECKETT with TONY ROBERTS / NICK EVANS / DARYL RUNSWICK / ALAN RUSHTON - Forget To Remember Live Vol. 2, 1970 (JazzInBritain JIB-22; UK) See review below
LP $33
GRACE SLICK with PAUL KANTNER / PETER KAUKONEN / CRAIG CHAQUITO / JOHN BARBATA / DAVID FRIEBERG / GARY DUNCAN / PETER SEARS / et al- Manhole (RCA/Grunt BFL1-0347; USA) This is lead singer for Jefferson Airplane's one and only solo effort from 1973 and it is an under-recognized treasure.
LP $22
STAPLE SINGERS - Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax – STS 3002; USA) From 1972. Around for more than a decade at this point, one of the finest gospel/funk/rock/soul salvation bands of all time! If you ain't heard the song "Respect Yourself", you best get on down and check it out. This song makes me feel good to be alive!
LP $20
SUFJAN STEVENS - The Ascension (Asmatic Kitty; USA)
2 LP Set $25
HORACE TAPSCOTT - Vol.1: The Tapscott Sessions (Nimbus West 1581; USA) Last original copies of this LP!
LP $25
HORACE TAPSCOTT - Vol. 2: The Tapscott Sessions (NimbusWest 1692; USA) Last original copies of this LP!
LP $25
HORACE TAPSCOTT - Vol. 3: The Tapscott Sessions (NimbusWest 1703; USA) Last original copies of this LP!
LP $25
HORACE TAPSCOTT - Vol. 4: The Tapscott Sessions (NimbusWest 1814; USA) Last original copies of this LP!
LP $25
HORACE TAPSCOTT - Vol. 5: The Tapscott Sessions (NimbusWest 1925; USA) - Last original copies of this LP!
LP $25
HORACE TAPSCOTT - Vol. 6: The Tapscott Sessions (NimbusWest 2036; USA) - Last original copies of this LP!
LP $25
HORACE TAPSCOTT / EVERETT BROWN, JR. - At the Crossroads (NimbusWest NS 579; USA) - Last original copies of this LP!
LP $25
THE THIRD MIND with DAVE ALLEN / JESSE SYKES / DAVID IMMERGLUCK / VICTOR KRUMMENACHER / MICHAEL JEROME - The Third Mind (Yep Rock Records 2710; USA) My current favorite psych/jam/best 60's cover band from L.A. A devilish supergroup for the post aughts psych fan addicts!
LP $24
THE THIRD MIND with JESSE SYKES / DAVE ALVIN / DAVID IMMERGLUCK / VICTOR KRUMMENACHER / MICHAEL JEROME / WILLIE ARON - Third Mind 2 (Yep Rock 3076; USA)
3 sided / 2 LP Set $36
THE THIRD MIND - Live Mind (Yep Rock Records YEP 3100; USA)
2 LP Set $36
THE THIRD MIND with DAVE ALVIN / JESSE SYKES / DAVID IMMERGLUCK / VICTOR KRUMMENACHER / MICHAEL JEROME Right Now! (Yep Roc 3111; USA)
LP $25
THE THIRD MIND with DAVE ALVIN / JESSE SYKES / DAVID IMMERGLUCK / VICTOR KRUMMENACHER / MICHAEL JEROME - Right Now! (Yep Roc 3111; USA) Latest studio effort from this fantastic psych/jam/spooky band. Covers included here are: "Darkness, Darkness" (Youngbloods), "Reno, Nevada" (Richard & Mimi Farina), "Pretty Polly" and "The Creator Has a Master Plan" (Pharoah Sanders & Leon Thomas)!!!
LP $25
THUMBSCREW with TOMAS FUJIWARA / MARY HALVORSON / MICHAEL FORMANEK - Never is Enough (Cuneiform Rune 478; USA)
2 LP Set $36
THUMBSCREW with MICHAEL FORMANEK / MARY HALVORSON / TOMAS FUJIWARA - Multicolored Midnight (Cuneiform Rune 485; USA)
2 LP Set $36
JULIE TIPPETTS - Shadow Puppeteer (Eargong Records EG 010LP; UK)
2 LP Set $38
KEITH TIPPETT GROUP With ELTON DEAN / MARC CHARIG / GARY BOYLE / NICK EVANS / ROY BABBINGTON / JEFF CLYNE / NEVILLE WHITEHEAD / ROBERT WYATT / PHIL HOWARD / BRYAN SPRING / TONY UTA - Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening (Be With Records 132LP; UK)
LP $46
KEITH TIPPETT GROUP with ELTON DEAN / MARC CHARIG / NICK EVANS / JEFF CLYNE / ALAN JACKSON - You Are Here... I Am There (Life Goes On Records 059LP; UK)
LP $24
MASAHIKO TOGASHI & MASAYUKI TAKANAYAGI - Pulsation - we now create - live at zojoji hall (Holy Basil Records 012; Holland)
LP $36
TRAFFIC with STEVIE WINWOOD / DAVE MASON / CHRIS WOODS / JIM CAPALDI - Dear Mr. Fantasy (Island ISL7751254; Earth) British version of Traffic's impressive debut album from 1967! A breath of fresj air and a rare masterpiece!
LP $18
TRAFFIC with STEVIE WINWOOD / DAVE MASON / CHRIS WOODS / JIM CAPALDI - Traffic (Island ISL7751255; UK) 2nd colossal album from Traffic with "Feelin' Alright", "Forty Thousand Headmen" and more!
LP $18
TRAFFIC with STEVE WINWOOD / CHRIS WOODS / JIM CAPALDI - John Barleycorn Must Die (Island ISL7751256; UK) After initial breakup in 1969, Traffic reformed in 1970 and created another classic gem!
LP $18
LEE UNDERWOOD with CHAS SMITH / KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE / et al - California Sigh (Drag City 892LP; USA)
2 LP Set $33
KENNY WARREN / CHRISTOPHER HOFFMAN / NATHAN ELLMAN-BELL - Sweet World (Out of Your Head Records 028; USA)
LP $20
THE WHO - A Quick One / Happy Jack (Decca; GEF3559982; Earth) British version of the second Who album and an exceptional pop/psych gem! Includes an epic length suite called "A Quick One".
LP $24
THE WHO - Sell Out (Decca; GEF3559983; UK) Hald speed master of this classic psych gem from 1967 with "I Can See for Miles" and in-between song radio or TV commercials created by members of the band. Check out "Armenia City in the Sky" (composed by future Thunderclap Newman member Speedy Keene) and "Rael", an ambitious suite.
LP $30
ROBERT WYATT - Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981 (Rai Trade RTD 014LP; Italy)
LP $25
ZAM with ANTHONY PIROG / ANDREW COLWELL / DAN SHARNOFF - Waves of Seeing (Ramble Records RAM-56; Australia)
LP $18
THANKSGIVING 2025 LP SALE, LISTINGS with REVIEWS ADDED:
AMALGAM with TREVOR WATTS / JEFF CLYNE / JOHN STEVENS / BARRY GUY - Prayer For Peace (Trading Places TDP 54106LP; UK) Reissue, originally released in 1969. While stationed in Germany in the RAF during the late 1950s and early 1960s, York-born alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts met the drummer John Stevens, with whom he would form the Spontaneous Music Ensemble upon returning to the UK in 1965, which became an important vehicle for British free improvisation. Watts's spin-off project Amalgam came two years later with Stevens and bassist Jeff Clyne, previously in the Jazz Couriers with Ronnie Scott; their debut LP Prayer For Peace is jazz improv at its most melodic, an unpredictable album of varying shades, with three unique takes of the song "Judy's Smile." Licensed from BMG.
LP $26
THE ANCIENTS with ISAIAH COLLIER / WILLIAM HOOKER / WILLIAM PARKER - The Ancients (Eremite MTE 080-081; USA) Arriving in North America on Eremite, the debut recording by The Ancients, the intergenerational coalition of Isaiah Collier, William Hooker, and William Parker formed by Parker to play concerts in conjunction with the Milford Graves Mind Body Deal exhibition at the Institute Of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and now a working group. Across 2 LPs of side-length long-form improvised sets recorded at 2220 Arts and Archives in LA and The Chapel in San Francisco, The Ancients bring the free jazz trio languages first explored by the Cecil Taylor Unit and Ornette Coleman's Golden Circle Band (expanded upon in later eras by Sam Rivers' trio and Parker's collective trios with Charles Gayle/Graves and Peter Brötzmann/Hamid Drake) into their own unique and scintillating realms of expression. As we tumble further into the throes of history's tides, people of hope and creativity rely on the works of our great artists to lift our spirits and focus our resolve. Ascension was recorded less than a year after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and four months after the assassination of Malcolm X. Journey in Satchidananda was recorded the month Reagan was re-elected governor of California. M'Boom made its debut recording weeks after the Watergate scandal broke and a couple months after the Wounded Knee occupation ended. The music of The Ancients builds on these great musical legacies. It resounds with the pride of survival and the joys of making and sharing music. It delivers to us hope and balm. Something real in you, real in history, and real in the music is shared, right on time. When Eremite records commenced operations during the 1990s free jazz resurgence, heavyweight freedom-seeking tenor saxophonists such as Fred Anderson, Peter Brötzmann, Charles Gayle, Kidd Jordan, and David S. Ware were at the height of their powers. Isaiah Collier's tenor playing in The Ancients is bracing testimony that the wellspring lives on. To hear the young Chicago firebrand blowing freely with veteran improvisers in an entirely open-form group music is a revelatory study of his vast talent, personal voice, and the intensity of his expression -- as well as a bold complement to his composition-based albums as a bandleader (including The Almighty, a New York Times' best albums of 2024 selection). I've admired drummer William Hooker since first encountering his music in a Hartford, CT, city park, early '90s (on a double bill with Jerry González and Fort Apache Band). From the man himself right off the bandstand I bought his even-then rare first recording, the 1976 self-released 2LP opus Is Eternal Life (reissued 2019 by Superior Viaduct). An imposing force on his instrument and an intrepid DIY cat, Hooker's been exuberantly swinging in-and-out of free time for 50 years. Informed by the innovations of Sunny Murray and Tony Williams yet entirely himself, there is no other term for it than "pure Hooker." At age 78, with the Ancients and everywhere else, THE HOOK is in peak form. With a discography approaching 600 entries and 50 years working across the musical maps, including in the history-defining bands of Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Peter Brötzmann, in his own wondrous ensembles from small group to orchestra to opera, a bastion of compassionate leadership and a poetic champion of his musical community, in tireless service to what he rather egolessly refers to as "the tone world," multi-instrumentalist, improviser and composer William Parker is a living hero of the grassroots and the Black Mystery Musics, not to mention one of the great bassists in the history of jazz. To quote George Clinton, conquering the stumbling blocks comes easier when the conqueror is in tune with the infinite. Free jazz is an enduring high art. Its greatest expressions belong to their particular moment in history, and live on to transcend and refract in amaranthine ways. Inside our present historical moment, we are fortunate to have the master musicians in the ancients bringing us their high-level creation. First Eremite edition of 1,299 copies pressed on premium audiophile-quality 140gram vinyl at Fidelity Record pressing, from Kevin Gray/Cohearent audio lacquers. Live to 2-track concert recordings by Bryce Gonzales, Highland Dynamics. Mastered by Joe Lizzi, Queens, NY. Album and concerts co-produced with The Black Editions Group.
2 LP Set $45
SIR RICHARD BISHOP / AVA MENDOZA - Ivory Tower (Unrock 005; Earth) The third installment in Unrock's string-related Saraswati Series features Grandseigneur Richard Bishop performing with his rough charm and maximum elegance, along with one of the hottest kick-ass avant-guitar players around, the now-Brooklyn-based Ava Mendoza. Besides her work in Unnatural Ways, she improvises constantly on NY's avant-stages along with Elliott Sharp, Jim Black, William Winant, Paul Flaherty, Tim Dahl, and others. Rumor has it that she was even in Caroliner. Recorded in full at Ivory Tower (Unrock Headquarters), the Sir opens up stepping deep into music history (as we know it), messing carefully around with the mysterious track that the New York Times focused on in their 2014 review of one of his live performances. An electric version of "Safe House," a bone-dry 2015 update on "Abyss," an eruptive outbreak from "Multiple Hallucination" into "Black Eyed Blue," and a mild and mellow reflection ("Ivory Tower"). Miss Mendoza is wild at heart and gives you the boot with what she's best at: thunderous, eruptive, twisted improvisations and perfect songs.
LP $27
BURNT SUGAR THE ARKESTRA CHAMBER with GREG IRONMAN TATE / LEWIS FLIP BARNES / AVRAM FEFER / PAUL HENDERSON / BEN TYREE / ANDRE LASSALLE / JARED MICHAEL NICKERSON / et al - Angels Over Oakanda (True Groid; USA) It has several around 4 years since the last release of new music was dropped by our good friends, Burnt Sugar. Considering that has been more than 20 years since Greg -Ironman Tate organized this massive, ever-evolving, beyond categories large ensemble, the Burnt Sugar Arkestra has delivered a dozen wonderful discs (1, 2 & 3 CD sets), each one a gem blending the best of many worlds: funk, jazz, rock, R & B, fusion, prog, hip-hop, psych and much more. Plus spirited collaborations with Butch Morris and Melvin van Peebles. Plus, not so strangely enough, their new one sounds nothing like anything they've done previously. Over those two decades the personnel has also evolved from gig to gig, disc to disc. There are, of course, a handful of regulars: Greg Tate, Jared M. Nickerson, Avram Fefer, Paula Henderson, Ben Tyree, Satch Hoyt and Andre Lassalle. "Angels Over Oakanda" is a four song suite and Oakanda refers to a section in the Bay Area (Oakland) where Black Culture is appreciated and nurtured. The title track is long and winding and has an infectious, laid-back, funky, dream-like groove. Five horns, alto, tenor & bari saxes, flute & trumpet , all all swirling together with several guitars, keyboards and percussion all creating a cosmic kaleidoscope of rainbow colors. That groove is most infectious, slamming, sort of Electric Miles for the 21st Century. So good, you don't want it to end! One of the things that stands out here is el bassist Jared M Nickerson, whose bass is at the center the swirling storm throughout this entire endeavor. On “Repatriation-of-the-Midnight-Moors", his bass sounds sped up and is even more astonishing! The groove here is right out of drum'n bass, sly, phat and center to make you want to shake your booty! When I played this piece at store on Monday (8/30/21), a bunch of multi-colored folks all started to dance! John M & myself just had to join in, so we did just that. Reeds wiz, Satch Hoyt plays some superfine flute throughout this piece. Another great thing about this disc is how well it is produced: totally awesome! On “Oakland Overdrive", the band really takes off with some superb electric piano, furious electric bass and layers of percussion. Plus the horns are well-produced with some of that seventies, swirling reverb that many of us old-timers recall with deep fondness. The final song is a remix of “Oakanda Overdrive" with Lisala Beatty's immensely enchanting voice(s) on top! This is the best feel-good record of the year, both your booty and your mind will feel better after you get down to it! - MC BruceLee from DMG
LP $28
DETAIL with FRODE GJERSTAD / KENT CARTER / JOHN STEVENS - Detail 90 (NoBusiness NBLP 143; Lithuania) Recorded 41 years ago this month, Detail-90 (available as LP or download) presents two side-long improvisations from the seminal free jazz unit: Norwegian alto saxophonist Frode Gjerstad, expat American bassist Kent Carter and British drummer John Stevens (who died in 1994). By this stage the group was eight years old, with the only significant change being the passing of original member South African bassist Johnny Dyani in 1986. However the shift in personnel didn’t alter the trio’s essential character and it remained a pioneering co-operative thriving in the fertile soil between jazz and abstraction. Stevens looms large in the outfit’s triangulations here, with a firm hand on tiller, steering the interplay and dynamics from behind his kit. Even his choice of when not to play proves decisive in calibrating the overall trajectory while his prompting and cajoling act as a fulcrum around which saxophone and bass pivot. He often lays down a regular pulse, pitching the exchanges towards freebop (indeed Stevens maintained a band of that name for several years), with Carter walking propulsively and Gjerstad unfurling bright Ornette Coleman-inspired dancing lines in response. At other times Gjerstad adopts a querulous raw-edged tone, embellished with dissonance and multiphonics, presaging his later approach. Carter (who cut his teeth in the ‘60s with the Jazz Composers Orchestra and Paul Bley, then was part of Steve Lacy’s groups in the ‘70s) moves in resonant parallel to Gjerstad, switching easily between bow and fingers. Interaction between the pair reaches a high on the second side, with Gjerstad gradually running repeated phrases together in swinging style as Carter fashions a buoyant counterpoint, before they peak with sustained notes from alto and arco bass pleasingly intertwined. With much of the band’s discography out of print, this flowing set makes a fine addition, particularly timeless in all senses of the word when they strike out into the unknown. - John Sharpe, New York City Jazz Record
LP $20
GEORGE with JOHN HOLLENBECK / ANNA WEBBER / AURORA NEALAND / CHIQUITA MAGIC - Letters to George (Out Of Your Head Records 018; USA) Featuring John Hollenbeck on drums, piano & compositions, Anna Webber on tenor sax & flute, Aurora Nealand on voice, alto & soprano sax & keyboards and Chiquita Magic keyboards, voice & piano. It'ss been around 4 years since percussionist/composer John Hollenbeck has released anything as a leader. He has collaborated with other musicians like Anna Webber plus an odd duo disc with Bernard Meyer on Shhpuma. You should well know about reeds player & composer Anna Webber, since she has several bands and is a most inventive reeds player. I hadn'st heard of saxist Aurora Nealand or keyboardist Chiquita Magic. It turns our that Ms. Nealand is based in New Orleans, has worked with Tim Berne and has a half dozen records as a leader. I hand'st heard of Chaquita Magic before this disc arrived. Perhaps he is from Montreal since Mr. Hollenbeck has been teaching at Magill University (in Montreal) for the past few years and this is where this disc was recorded. Mr. Hollenbeck wrote all but two of the pieces here. Since each of Mr. Hollenbeck'ss bands and projects are so different, I had no idea what to expect. Starting with “Earthworker , the group sound like a quirky pop quartet: with cute non-words vocals, wistful flute, simmering electric piano and a great groove provided by Hollenbeck'ss drumming. The only band that I can compare this with is perhaps Free Design, a quaint, sunshine pop band which existed from the late 1960'ss into the early 1970'ss. “Clinton (as in George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic) starts as a rambunctious, freeish sax and drums duo and then goes back into that cute, pop/rock sound. “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) written and by Sonny Bono & sung by Cher in the mid-sixties and it seems like an odd song to cover. Mr. Hollenbeck has long covered a variety of pop songs, this being the theme for two albums of his called 'sSongs We Like A Lot's and 'sSongs You like A Lot's. This version of “Bang Bang is stripped down to just vocals & drums and it is kinda cool, going free in the middle. I noticed on “ Washington Carver that this band had their own quaint, quirky sound. The electric piano (Wurlitzer sounding) and the echoplexed flute is/are used in a distinctive way plus the quartet has their own fun-filled groove/sound. Both saxists (soprano & tenor) stretch out together on this piece as well as the theme together. For “O'sKeefe , the electric piano and drums slam together over a tight groove with the two reeds swirl tightly around them. Each piece get a bit more progressive in sound. Check out “Can You Imagine This? where saxes and organ or synth swirl around one another over Hollenbeck'ss slamming drum groove. The reeds, electric keyboards and drums all sound like they are drenched in echoes. Here is what I find most interesting here: this music is in between any established genres like rock, jazz, prog of even (un}easy listening. “Floyd is mostly made up a drum solo with layers of sampled voices, flute and keywords floating throughout. It is also rather solemn so perhaps it is a requiem for George Floyd, a black American unjustly murdered by the police. “Grey Funnel Line is the other cover song here, although I'sve never heard of this song before. Ms. Nealand'ss vocals sound forlorn yet spirited here with a cushion of drumming underneath. For all or most of the discs by John Hollenbeck, we should expect the unexpected and that is what makes this disc so great, it is in a class of its own. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $20
JOE McPHEE / MATS GUSTAFSSON - I’m Just Say’n (Smalltown Supersound STSLJN 441LP; Sweden) As a common ligature to the OG free jazz scene of '60s NYC, with formative binds to its European offshoots and the experimental avant garde, Joe McPhee is a true force of nature who has represented jazz at its freest over a remarkable lifetime. In duo with Swedish free jazz and noise standard bearer Mats Gustafson, he upends expectations with an astonishingly vivid and upfront example of his enduring contribution to freely improvised music. In 11 parts he variously reflects on everything from the neon sleaze and scuzz of NYC to contemporary US politicians and laugh out loud imitations of his previous sparring partners such as Peter Brötzmann, with a head-slapping immediacy that leaves you reeling, spellbound. McPhee's flow of rare, organic cadence, ranging from urgent to contemplative and dreamlike, is blessed with a unique turn-of-phrase that surely mirrors his decades of instrumental work. Gustafsson, meanwhile, dexterously takes up the mantle with a multi-instrumental spectrum of sounds, leaving McPhee unbound and able to float and sting on the mic. There's obvious wisdom in his perceptively penetrative observations, as derived from a rich cultural life well spent, but also a playful naivety and levity in his ability to veer from almost melodic speech to explosive aggression and a knowing, bathetic wit. It's perhaps hard to believe that McPhee only started incorporating and performing spoken word in his work in the past ten years, a half century since his declaration of "What Time Is It?" announced his arrival on a legendary debut Nation Time (1971), ushering in one of free jazz's most singular characters in the process. Oscillating between discordant reflections on life as a touring musician, set to Gustafsson's skronk and culminating in a snort-worthy imitation of Peter Brötzmann's gruff German accent, on "Short Pieces" or the glowering growl and noise exhortations of "Guitar," he evokes a more sweetly consonant calm in "When I Grow Up" and eerie threat of "The Dreams Book," and viscerality of "Disco Death," where Gustafson's tonal versatility comes into hugely mutable play, whilst McPhee's extraordinary, unaffected voice is a constant. It's perhaps McPhee's balance of cool measuredness and wellspring of barbed energies that allows listeners, at least, to get the most out of this one; not stifling with mannered or manicured enunciation that can trigger certain icks; keeping close to the nature of spoken word in a way that avoids cliche and becomes inherently critical of it within his purposeful, non-hesitant clarity and unflinching approach.
LP $40
SEAN NOONAN PAVEES DANCE with AVA MENDOZA / MALCOLM MOONEY / JAMAALADEEN TACUMA / ALEX MARCELO - Tan Man's Hat (Rare Noise 106; UK) “A drummer and composer whose music enthusiastically defies category, Sean Noonan prefers the title Rhythmic Storyteller “ an apt description for a modern-day sonic griot who spins imaginative yarns in the ancient tradition of wandering minstrels while weaving captivating narrative tapestries via his unique polyrhythmic language. On Tan Man's Hat, the second release by his harmolodic jazz-rock ensemble Pavees Dance, Noonan draws inspiration from the soul to the stars with his stunningly adventurous collaborators: original Can vocalist Malcolm Mooney, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma (Ornette Coleman's Prime Time), guitarist Ava Mendoza (Unnatural Ways) and keyboardist Alex Marcelo (Yusef Lateef). Tan Man's Hat confronts the listener with a vibrant, shocking swirl of sound, a dauntless tempest of varied influences: prog rock and avant-garde classical create sparks from clashes with harmolodic improvisation and African folk traditions, with jolting infusions of psychedelia and campfire tales. The band also thrives on its blend of generations, with experimental elders Mooney and Tacuma passing a still-blazing torch to their cutting-edge compatriots.
LP $20
SEAN NOONAN / AVA MENDOZA / MALCOLM MOONEY / JAMAALADEEN TACUMA - Slide Gate (Noonan Music SNMR1001; Earth) Featuring Malcom Mooney on vocals, lyrics & artwork, Ava Mendoza on guitar, Jamaaladeen Tacuma on electric bass and Sean Noonan on drums, vocals & compositions. American-born and currently London-based drummer & composer Sean Noonan always has several aces up his sleeve, as he leads several bands and composes for different ensembles from modern classical string quartets to unique prog-rock units. For the past few years Noonan has led a quartet called Pavees Dance which has featured former Can lead singer Malcolm Mooney and former Prime Time bass wizard Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Lead guitar duties have included Aram Bajakian (from Abraxas & Dalava) and Ava Mendoza (one of Downtown's best guitarists who has worked with William Parker, James Brandon Lewis & Erik Friedlander). Mr. Noonan has great talent for choosing just the right musicians for each of his varied projects/bands. Considering that the legendary vocalist Malcolm Mooney has recorded so little since his time with Can (circa 1968-1970), Noonan gives Mooney a chance to stretch out, write odd lyrics, create album cover artwork and sing at length. "Android" opens and has a rather Beefheartian tight yet bent structure. While Mr. Tacuma plays those knuckle-busting high speed harmolodic lines, both Mendoza's guitar and Noonan's drumming locks in the groove and expands it in different ways. Mr. Mooney has a distinctive voice which I find most charming in its own distinctive way. On the title track, "Slide Gate", Mooney sings about a slide gate which encloses something that our imaginations can only conjure. The music here is rock music with some unexpected twists. Ms. Mendoza does a fine job of playing different parts as each piece comes from somewhere else. Mooney appears to be singing about different things in each piece so it will take time to consider what he is addressing. Noonan changes the structure and grooves on each piece yet the inner vibe sounds connected. Mr. Tacuma is an amazing bassist who often nails those funk, rock and prog lines in his own ways and works well with drummers who can match his complex lines, which Noonan does throughout. Ava Mendoza has become the Downtown guitarist to watch since she moved here several years back. She never ceases to amaze me as she always fits in a wide variety of contexts. "We Will Take Our Minds Back" opens Side 2 and it has a churning repeating riff with eerie, dreamy vocals from Mr. Mooney. As the piece evolves, the guitar, bass & drums start playing these circular, tight lines over and over, with different layers interlocking as Mendoza plays a powerful, inventive solo. "Take Our Minds Back" Mooney chants over and over. Is this record some sort of prog rock epic, not really but it is still unique, inventive and beyond any rigid categories. Most impressive, nonetheless. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $20
EVAN PARKER / JEAN-MARC FOUSSAT - Insolence (Nashazphone NP 054LP; EEC) A meeting of great minds recorded live at the Improtech Festival in Uzeste in summer 2023. Two avant-garde and improvisation titans offer a new chapter in the infinite quest for freedom and absolute beauty. "Innocence" and "Insouciance" are sharp and stinging live improvisations by longtime comrades, Parker and Foussat. Elegant, subtle and complex, these pieces immediately rise to the status of eternal documents by these giants. "WIREless for Anthony Wood" is a solo tenor piece by Parker recorded during The Actual Festival at the London ICA in August 1981 and named in homage to the late Anthony Wood, founder of both The Wire Magazine and The Actual Festival. It is followed and echoed by "SLAUGHT return," a contemporaneous assembly piece by Foussat from the original Abattage solo VCS3session in late 1980.
LP $30
CHUCK ROTH - Watergh0st Songs (Palilalia PAL 088LP; USA) Chuck Roth's music wanders. The New York-based guitarist's inquisitive style builds from rippling patterns that center the physicality of his instrument, roaming wherever they take him. Watergh0st Songs, his Palilalia debut, collects songs from the past half-decade, presenting an intimate snapshot of his music that draws from an eclectic background in classical guitar, electronic music, and improvisation. The mark of Watergh0st Songs is its exploratory nature. Roth began his musical journey as a classical guitarist studying the canon works for the instrument, but he was never interested in playing fast or flashy. Instead, he wanted to roam down musical paths and see where they led him. He eventually became more interested in electronic music, where he found inspiration in subtractive properties and patterning. When writing music, Roth wants melodies to feel comfortable in the body, focused less on setting a structure and more on letting music unfold how it happens in any given moment. His songs are fluid and his melodies are clear, plucked with careful attention but never too deterministically. His is the music of a traveler, floating around the strings of the guitar. It is about embracing the banal, or the everyday moments that shape a life. Though Roth's music often feels quite direct, there is a dreaminess that lives inside of it. His lyrics don't feel too hot or cold, instead they have a wistfulness and melancholy of what it feels like to live through every passing day. His exploratory style bolsters these lyrics, giving the music its sense of ennui, as does his focus on texture. Each track takes on a different structure: 'Bunny Hop' unfolds like a squirrel jumping from branch to branch of a tree, while 'Private Boy' has a slower approach, growing from delayed harmonics that almost sound like bowed strings. His textures range from metallic and bristling to soft and feathery, evolving with gentleness. It is about ending up somewhere different than where it started, and watching the notes that fall in-between. The embrace of the routine colors Roth's music. In it, there is a sense of presence, of admiring the smallest details and moments. Roth loves to take walks and look around, observing the beauty of his surroundings. Similarly, Watergh0st Songs feels like moving through the world at the pace of a comfortable trot and soaking in every sound as it emerges. It is a quiet evolution -- but one that stays." - Vanessa Ague
LP $28
RAY RUSSELL SEXTET featuring HARRY BECKETT with TONY ROBERTS / NICK EVANS / DARYL RUNSWICK / ALAN RUSHTON - Forget To Remember Live Vol. 2, 1970 (JazzInBritain JIB-22; UK) Featuring Ray Russell on guitar, Harry Beckett on trumpet & flugelhorn, Tony Roberts on saxes, Nick Evans on trombone, Daryl Runswick on bass and Alan Rushton on drums. Recorded live at Aeolian Hall in London on January 2nd of 1970. British jazz guitarist Ray Russell started our around 1968 and recorded a half dozen great avant/jazz albums by 1973. Mr. Russell started off with a quartet (with an early Dave Holland, before he moved to NY) and organized a sextet. Starting off with “Forget to Remember”, the sextet is playing this fine “Take Five” like groove with inspired solos from Harry Beckett on trumpet and a long, superfine inside/outside guitar solo from Mr. Russell, which blends a variety of blues and free licks together in a seamless fashion. “Triple Goddess” is an explosive, freer piece with the frontline of guitar, tenor sax, trombone and flugelhorn all ascending together. Barbados born, London based trumpet wiz, is in fine form throughout this great disc, both playing several inspired solos as well as doing some inventive interaction with the rest of the sextet. Tenor saxist Tony Roberts is another fine player who rarely get some recognition. Aside from working with Ian Carr & Kenny Wheeler, he was a member of two band led by John Renbourn. Robert’s solo on “Triple Goddess” is over-the top and way intense. This pieces ends with a mighty fine drum solo by Alan Rushton, yet another under-recognized drum wizard. “Rites and Rituals” was the name of Mr. Russell’s third album as a leader from 1971, the personnel the same as on this disc. The writing here is quirky, odd and unlike anything from that time. Mr. Russell adds some twisted chords and frantic single notes, inventing his own sound, quite striking for January of 1970. Most of the pieces are generally long so that each player gets his chance to stretch out. Mr. Russell also joined Nucleus right after this, replacing Chris Spedding, but can only be heard on a a rare live Nucleus date. It is interesting to consider that this session was recorded at the very beginning of 1970 with no one else playing free/jazz guitar in this fashion except for perhaps Sonny Sharrock, who was still working with Herbie Mann. This is an OUTstanding date on several levels so do check it out before it sells out. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
LP $33
JULIE TIPPETTS - Shadow Puppeteer (Eargong Records EG 010LP; UK) For the very first time on double vinyl, one of the most amazing musical adventures of influential singer and songwriter Julie Tippetts. Originally released on CD in 1999, Shadow Puppeteer is the result of a long running career, a devotional solo album fulfilling her royal artistic vision. Surely one of the foremost European vocalists in the field of contemporary jazz and improvised music, she started out with The Brian Auger Band in the '60s fusing soul-jazz and R&B with amazing results. Moving forward into the realms of free improvisation and English jazz she found home in stunning projects as Centipede, Ovary Lodge, Ark, Mujician, The Georgian Ensemble, The Dedication Orchestra, and (late husband) Keith Tippett's Tapestry. Shadow Puppeteer is a suite of compositions and improvisations in which Julie's voice and various instruments (wind chimes, tambourine, mandolin, thumb pianos, zithers and bells) are multi-tracked to showcase the full extent of her powers of expression and imagination.
2 LP Set $38
MASAHIKO TOGASHI & MASAYUKI TAKANAYAGI - Pulsation - we now create - live at zojoji hall (Holy Basil Records 012; Holland) "On May 27th 1983, drummer Masahiko Togashi and guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, two pivotal figures in the Japanese free jazz scene that had been working together since the 1960's, performed and record this unique set at Zojoji Hall in Tokyo. At the time, Japanese jazz musicians were trying to find their own voice, welcoming creative elements coming in from the USA and Europe. The two musicians were at the fore-front of this generation, with Takayanagi developing his own guitar style through influences of mainstream and more extreme jazz, and drummer Togashi had developed a unique approach to drums and percussions, using silence as an integral part of music making, also due to an accident that forced him on a wheelchair after 1970. The record is divided in two tracks ('Inner Pulsation' and 'Outer Pulsation'), each one about 22 minutes in length, mirroring the original LP sides. The performance can be regarded as a single piece though, with a clearly symmetrical structure, even if the musicians cover much musical ground over the course of the album. The extreme abstractness of the music guarantees many possibilities, but the main themes here are pure sound and space, investigated through a massive use of silence, ever-changing dynamics and slow structural developments unfolding with a mysterious musical logic. Originally released on iconic Japanese label Paddle Wheel and out-of-print for a very long time, the album has become a very sought-after collector's item and we are glad to bring this back on vinyl in collaboration with King Record Co."
LP $36
LEE UNDERWOOD with CHAS SMITH / KEVIN BRAHENY FORTUNE / et al - California Sigh (Drag City 892LP; USA) Drag City presents the first ever vinyl pressing of guitarist Lee Underwood's under-sung 1988 acoustic guitar opus, California Sigh. Lee Underwood had been Tim Buckley's stalwart, inspiring, accompanying and being inspired by Buckley as they both navigated a heady set of changes in the late '60s and early '70s. Then, he abruptly stopped working as a professional musician, leaving behind a body of work, that, as noted by Eugene Chadbourne, was the work of 'a loner, who didn't quite march under any one flag, whose improvisations involved the level of sophisticated harmonic development one finds in jazz, floating as freely as Ornette Coleman.' 35 years later, yet still in time, train your ears on the meditations of California Sigh! As Byron Coley's liner notes observe: 'The music is guitar-based acoustic instrumental melodicism with a lovely tone and alternately ruminative and jazzy structuring. The playing is generally in the vein of William Ackerman and Alex de Grassi rather than progenitors like Basho and Fahey, although 'Lady of the Streams' does display a bit of a Fahey lilt at times. Throughout these pieces there are also flashes of single string runs straight out of the Django Reinhardt playbook. But the overall mood is tranquil -- reflecting the musical joys Underwood found when surrounded by nature.' The tenor of the production is transcendent to be sure. The playing of Chas Smith and Kevin Braheny Fortune, on pedal steel and soprano sax respectively, lend additional colors to Lee's music on several songs, but it is largely the soulful depth of Lee's guitar figures, limned by Steve Roach's synthesizers and the Roach/Underwood co-production, that give dynamic shape and elevation to Lee's lovely cycle of songs. And now, with this remastered vinyl edition, the air around the instruments -- both real and implied -- and the full sonic impact of California Sigh -- alternately gentle and mighty, like the natural world that inspired it -- is magnified incomparably. In the years following the release of California Sigh, Lee wrote and recorded two solo piano CDs, Phantom Light and Gathering Light. He continues to live in Northern California. California Sigh is 'dedicated with love and respect' by Lee to his late wife, Sonia Crespi, for the friendship and inspiration she brought."
2 LP Set $34
ROBERT WYATT - Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981 (Rai Trade RTD 014LP; Italy) An unusual detour in the Robert Wyatt catalogue, Radio Experiment Rome was recorded in February 1981, when the ex-Soft Machine drummer had been invited to record some material in-progress for a radio broadcast. The tone of these sessions is characterized by a free-roaming experimentation, laying down eight-track recordings of vocals, piano, hi-hat, jaw harp and a variety of analogue tape effects. This is Wyatt unhinged and completely let loose from the agenda of proper album recording: there's no eye on a finished, commercially viable product here, and the scope of the project takes in jazzy soundscapes like "Heathens Have No Souls," exquisitely melodic piano pieces like "L'Albero Degli Zoccoli," vaudevillian vocal tuning experiment "Billie's Bounce" and the politicized rant-poem "Born Again Cretin," about the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. "I was invited to go for a week just to record the actual process of my working. Of things like that which I've seen, for example on painters, with the honorable exception of Picasso who worked on a piece of glass, people tend to cheat a bit and do an actual finished performance in front of the cameras. But I thought 'If they really want to see how I work before I know what I'm doing, then that's what they're going to get and if during that week something comes out of it, then it will do, but if it doesn't then that will be more honest.' I deliberately went in there and improvised what I was doing as well as how I did it. The point wasn't to have a finished result that could be listened to, the point was to see a process. It's only in retrospect that I can see that bits of some of them have some kind of coherence." Robert Wyatt recorded for Un Certo Discorso, a Rai Radiotre programme by Pasquale Santoli with Francesca Albini, Teresa De Santis, and Sabina Sacchi Rome, sala M, Centro di Produzione Radio Roma, February 16-20, 1981.
LP $25
***************
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 BLGallanter@gmail.com
************
Upcoming events at Recirculation:
Thursday, December 11, 7pm
Uptown Out
Thomas Heberer (trumpet), Joe Fonda (bass)
Claire de Brunner (bassoon), Matt Lambiase (trumpet), Stephanie Griffin (viola), Will Glass (drums), Hilliard Greene (bass), Mary Cherney (flute)
Recirculation
876 Riverside Dr NY NY 10032 (@160th St)
*******
NEW VIDEOS from GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KGp0VH4yQo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWn5MRUOTAc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ste9pdLiz_0
*******
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