I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
I've had nothing to live for
Look like nothin's gonna come my way
So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes
Sittin' here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home
Now, I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
I read the news today, oh boy. The passing of another great musician, Steve Cropper. Mr. Cropper played lead guitar for the Mar-Keys and then for the Stax house band, Booker T. & The MG's. Similar to their brethren in New Orleans (another instrumental quartet & studio/live house band) The Meters, Booker T & The MGs were a great instrumental soul/rock/funk outfit who had many hits between 1962 and 1970, as well as backing many southern Stax soul artists like Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas and Otis Redding. Like The Meters, each member of Booker T & The MGs was integral to their unique sound. Steve Cropper had a distinctive sleek yet funky sound on his guitar and influenced many other young guitar pickers. As a big fan of the MGs and Steve Cropper, I've collected each of his dozen solo efforts, especially digging his two duo efforts with Felix Cavaliere from the Rascals. The above song was released late in 1967 and written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper. In a year that was filled with many psychedelic or protest bands/singers, "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" stood out as a lazy-sounding summer song complete with chirping seagulls. The sad thing is that Otis Redding died in a plane crash in December of 1967 and this song became a number one hit just a couple of months later in early 1968. Steve Cropper was later an original member of the Blues Brothers and can be seen & heard in their film. I caught Mr. Cropper once live in a reunion version of Booker T & The MGs and was knocked by this seminal band, still sounding great several decades after they began in 1962. A toast to Steve Cropper and the many records that he played on. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
***********
THE DMG 34th ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE CONCERT CELEBRATION CONTINUES with:
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 - Bass Clarinet-Tenor Sax / MIRANDA AGNEW - Trumpet / ZACHARY SWANSON - Bass / YUKO TOGAMI - Drums
8:30: GREG SHERIIF - Drums, Digeridoo, Field Recordings / SANDY EWEN - Guitar
Saturday, December 20th: The Gauci-Music Series Christmas Celebration 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 WEEK'S TREASURE CHEST OF JEWELS BEGIN WITH INCREDIBLE MUSIC FROM:
ANTHONY BRAXTON // ROLAND DAHINDEN / HILDEGARD KLEEB - Four Compositions (Wesleyan)(Prague Music Platform PMB 2301; Czech Republic) In September 2023, PMP is proud to release Anthony Braxton's "Four Compositions (Wesleyan) 2013", a limited deluxe 4-CD box set documenting the one-time meeting of an all-star trio featuring the legendary saxophonist and composer alongside Roland Dahinden (trombone), and Hildegard Kleeb (piano). This is the first album of the new Czech label PMP. Art Lange describes the impetus for the session in the liner notes: The 4 CD set box Four Compositions (Wesleyan) 2013 is built on the latest evolutional stage of Anthony Braxton's lifelong conceptualization and personalization of notation called Falling River Music. Braxton's systematic approach balances methodology and mythology, utilizing a variety of graphic designs as symbolic and representational characterizations of his sound vision. The scores incorporate numerical and alphabetical equations, abstract diagrams, and sections of conventional notation, along with spontaneously conceived, painted gestures connected to a web-like pattern of shorthand. In this album, Braxton explores the concept of "aesthetic networking "by having three musicians play from different scores simultaneously, creating a unique blend of impressions."
4 CD Set $70 [Limited edition, in stock in 1-2 weeks]
ANTHONY BRAXTON // HILDEGARD KLEEB / EVA ESTERKOVA ALES / JANIGA ELMAZ / et al - Trillium X (Prague Music Platform PMP2501; Czech Republic) In 2025, PMP is proud to release Trillium X, a sixth opera by Anthony Braxton, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. A limited deluxe 8-CD box set includes both a live recording of the world premiere in Prague and a studio recording realized at the famous Darmstadt Summer Course, along with 6 hours of exclusive audio-visual materials documenting the complete world premiere, the documentary film In the Garden of Trillium X, and in-depth conversations between Anthony Braxton, Swiss conductor Roland Dahinden, and German writer and Braxton scholar Timo Hoyer. Braxton spent five years working on his opus magnum. He has been significantly involved in all Trillium performances, including this one. He has accompanied the rehearsals from the very beginning. However, the leading man in charge was Roland Dahinden, his long-time fellow from Wesleyan University. Dahinden and the incredible PMP Orchestra represent the ongoing generational change in creative music.
8 CD Set $240 [Limited edition, in stock in 1-2 weeks; the price seems high for this so I am trying to find a less expensive copy if I can]
JOHN ZORN // BARBARA HANNIGAN / MATHIEU AMALRIC / THE DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM - DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM - Song of Songs - Shir Hashirim (Tzadik 5050; USA) Presented in a lush CD book including dozens of Zorn’s original erotic drawings printed in gold ink on distinctive art paper, this is the definitive presentation of one of Zorn’s most poignant and lush creations—an all-vocal setting of the Bible’s sensual poetry The Song of Solomon. Scored for five female voices plus male and female narrators, the ensemble here includes narration by classical superstar Barbara Hannigan and renown French actor/director Mathieu Amalric. Featuring a newly commissioned translation of the Hebrew text by musician/scholar/philosopher/ poet Jeremy Fogel, this unique limited edition CD book is an absolute delight.
Book CD $60
I.P.Y. with IKUE MORI / PHEW / YOSHIMI-O - I.P.Y. (Tzadik 4059; USA) Ikue Mori, PHEW and YoshimiO are three legends of the Japanese Avant Garde music scene: Ikue was an original member of DNA and is a vital member of the NYC Downtown Scene, Phew founded Aunt Sally in 1978 and has performed in countless folk/rock solo projects and collaborations and YoshimiO is a core member of the Boredoms, Saicobab and OOIOO. Here they come together for their first ever trio project. Recorded at Club U.F.O. in Tokyo, the music was edited and mixed during the shelter-in-place months of early 2020. Surprising and powerful, this is a fabulous and essential meeting of three new music superstars!
CD $14
FRED FRITH & THE GRAVITY BAND with AVA MENDOZA / AARON NOVIK / WOBBLY / JORDAN GLENN / WILLIAM WINANT / et al - Recorded Live at Music Meeting, Nijmegen and the Moers Festival, June 4 and 5, 2014 (Klanggalerie GG 514; Germany) Fred Frith is one of the most important musicians of our time. He was born in Sussex, UK and now lives in California, USA. He first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. He was and is also a member of groups like Massacre, Art Bears, Skeleton Crew or Cosa Brava. Over the past 40 years Fred has collaborated with outstanding musicians like John Zorn, Tom Cora, Bill Laswell, Carla Kihlstedt, Henry Kaiser, Phil Minton, Brian Eno, The Residents, Marc Ribot, Lol Coxhill, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins, Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, John Butcher, Laurie Anderson - the list could go on much longer. In 1974 Fred Frith released his landmark album Guitar Solos, a glimpse into what he had been doing with his guitar. It was improvised and recorded within four days and presented an experimental and innovative way of playing the instrument. Frith relocated to New York and quickly became part of the downtown avantgarde scene, something he found very liberating as he could be himself instead of living up to what other people were expecting of him. Fred also started composing music for film, dance and theatre. After a few years in Stuttgart, Germany, Frith went back to the States where he is now professor of composition. In 1980, The Residents' label Ralph records released his album Gravity focusing on Frith as a composer, not improvisor. It features guests like Aksak Maboul, Lars Hollmer, Chris Cutler or Catherine Jauniaux. In 2014, Frith took the album on the road again with a special line-up of musicians, the Gravity Band. The Gravity Band was the brainchild of Aaron Novik and Dominique Leone, who proposed joining their two groups together to perform this material. Klanggalerie are now proud to bring you a recording of this incredible group in action for the first time on CD. It features music from the shows in Nijmegen, The Netherlands and Moers, Germany.
CD $18
JEREMY VINER / MARC DUCRET / KATE GENTILE - Sifters (Obliquity Records 06; USA) Featuring Jeremy Viner on tenor sax, Marc Ducret on guitar and Kate Gentile on drums. Pianist Matt Mitchell and his music partner drummer Kate Gentile are both gifted musicians, composers and multiple bandleaders. They co-run this, the Obliquity Records label and this is their 6th disc. Both musicians are also fans of metal, progressive jazz and rock and assorted more demanding genres. For this disc Ms. Gentile chose two other gifted musicians, saxist Jeremy Viner (from Battle Trance, John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble & other Gentile projects). Mostly you know well about French guitar great Marc Ducret who worked at length with Tim Berne, loads of other French musicians plus upwards of 20 of his own projects over his forty year music career. Aside from her diverse composing and bandleading talents, Ms. Gentile also pops up in some strong improv units like a trio with Francois Houle (clarinet) and Alexander Hawkins (piano), their disc on the Victo label, one of 2024's best releases.
This disc was recorded in a studio in Osnabruck, Germany in January of this year (2025) and each member of the trio contributed compositions. The disc begins with Ms. Gentile's "Flail Maneuvers", which has a tight, yet explosive prog/metal-like spinning cycle. Mr. Ducret burns up the frets by playing those intense, angular, spiky lines with saxist Viner also taking a quick bent-note solo to follow. Ms. Gentile's "Innominate" is one of two long pieces here and features some intense, brutal guitar, sax and drums interplay which is partially written with bursts fractured lines from the guitar and sax, the last section has a low-key ending. For Mr, Viner's piece "vault", both the guitar and sax seem to be battling while Ms. Gentile provides some powerful tight, throttling drums underneath. Mr. Ducret's "Tarot" slows down to tempo a bit but it is no less angular or intense. Most of these pieces have spikey written themes which are tightly played by the trio with power and conviction. While the drums and sax or guitar play the heads, the third instrument will solo or match the written parts. I am a longtime fan of French guitarist Marc Ducret who has worked with Tim Berne at length. His own leader records are few and each one is worth checking out no matter which other musicians he is working with. Ducret is in especially fine form here whether taking inspired solos or just playing the complex music provided by each member of the trio. "90 cairns" (by Gentile) is the other long piece here and it reminds me of the way Tim Berne creates these somewhat bent, circular lines which repeat yet also fluctuate as far as the way the notes shift in direction at times with some unexpected twists and turns along the way. This is a solid, exciting trio with their own group sound. A true treasure on several levels. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
NICOLE MITCHELL & ALEXANDER HAWKINS - At Earth School (Astral Spirits AS232; USA) Featuring Nicole Mitchell on flute & vocals and Alexander Hawkins on piano & bells. Recorded live at Cafe Oto in London in October of 2022. Although both of these master musicians come from much different backgrounds, both keep busy in a wide variety of different playing situations and groups. Aside from being one of the most inventive and in-demand flutists, Ms. Mitchell also teaches and has worked with seminal ensembles like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Artifacts and the Tiger Trio. British-based keyboard wiz, Alexander Hawkins, has done a number of fine duos with Taylor Ho Bynum (brass), Sofia Jernberg (voice), Angelika Niescier (sax) and Tomeka Reid (cello).
This set took place at Cafe Oto in London, a funky little place that has been the main home for all sorts of avant/jazz over the past decade-plus. Right from the opening, the flute & piano duo are playing in a close-knit fashion, both players spinning a series of higher-end notes which are soon shifting into other tonal areas. The music here is superbly recorded, the balance just right. The first piece, "Miracle Witness" has a lovely, calm yet majestic sound. The duo start pushing things even further out on "Interlocking Imaginations", the tempo and intensity increasing as the piece unfolds. One of the things that I like the most about Nicole Mitchell is the way she pushes whoever she is playing with due to her ever-inventive, non-stop improvising talents. Alexander Hawkins seems like a perfect match for Ms. Mitchell, his playing is sweeping, often creating a thick cushion of waves and/or currents, creating a rich layer of harmonies to match Ms. Mitchell's restless oft rambunctious playing. Ms. Mitchell adds some spoken words to "What Are You Afraid of", her youthful voice expressive, her words like our collective consciousness asking us questions about why we do what we do, giving us some food for thought. The one cover song here is "There is a Balm in Gilead", a haunting, gospel-like song that was once covered by Archie Shepp and Jeanne Lee. All of the pieces here flow into one another, hence there is an ongoing organic flow that plucks at the strings on our hearts and minds. From all angles, this is one the best duo discs I've heard in recent memory. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
SARA SERPA / MATT MITCHELL - End of Something (Obliqity Records 05; USA)To describe this work merely as a jazz album would be to misread its intent and misunderstand its scope. It is, more accurately, a conceptual and poetic meditation that situates itself somewhere between the structural rigor of Béla Bartók and the spiritual architecture of Olivier Messiaen.
Here, the voice, far from a vehicle of expression in the conventional sense, becomes a questioning force, a sonic gesture aimed at unsettling rather than consoling. The notes, as they ascend into the air, seem less to entertain than to provoke thought, to disturb the inertia of intellectual comfort, to dissolve the boundaries that habitually separate genres, disciplines, and modes of perception. What emerges is a work grounded in an undeniable form, or perhaps more precisely, a form that carries the resonance of a foundation, one as poetically elusive and emotionally charged as Paul Auster’s “Lulu on the Bridge”.
There is, throughout this project, a distinct sense of urgency: the urgency to create, to risk, to surrender control to the unknown, and to float within it. It is a music of resistance to ease, a deliberate refusal of the ornamental and the familiar. To listen is to engage in an act of deep attention, an intellectual exercise that demands cultural literacy as much as emotional openness. This is not music for the casual listener; it requires a readiness to confront complexity and to inhabit ambiguity.
The album unfolds as a dialogue between original compositions by Sara Serpa and Matt Mitchell, and their settings of texts by writers and poets Sonia Sanchez, Sofia de Mello Breyner, Virginia Woolf, and Luce Irigaray. Added to this is a luminous reinterpretation of Messiaen’s “Les Bergers”, a piece whose sacred stillness finds new resonance in Serpa’s vocal transparency and Mitchell’s harmonic density. The result is an immersive sonic landscape, intricate, daring, and harmonically rich, where voice and piano engage in a constant negotiation between structure and dissolution.
The artistic rapport between Serpa and Mitchell did not arise by accident. Their creative partnership began in 2018, within the framework of Serpa’s *Intimate Strangers* project. From the outset, Serpa recalls, there was a rare sense of trust and alignment. “From the very beginning, I knew I could rely on Matt,” she says. “I never feared losing myself. He listens so deeply and understands the voice in a way that few musicians do.” That capacity for deep listening—a kind of radical attention—is central to their process.
In this music, listening is not a passive act but a compositional principle. It occurs between silences, in the invisible space where sound and intention meet. It involves a constant reading of gesture, an anticipatory awareness of the other’s impulse, and a precise sense of how to shape and inhabit sonic space.
This sensitivity recalls an older tradition of musical awareness, one that extends back to Purcell and Monteverdi, composers for whom silence, dissonance, and phrasing were integral to emotional truth. Such lineage underscores the historical depth of Serpa and Mitchell’s work. Their improvisations, though spontaneous, are informed by centuries of musical thought; they belong to a continuum in which form and freedom are never opposites but dialectical partners. “Every time we improvised together, something special happened,” Mitchell reflects. “It wasn’t just an intellectual challenge, it was a kind of sonic beauty, something that existed only in that moment.”
To work at this level of abstraction and emotional precision requires a rare courage: the courage to abandon mastery in favor of discovery. Artists like Serpa and Mitchell inhabit a creative ethos that resists repetition and refuses complacency. They confront the unknown not as a void but as a generative space, where inherited knowledge is not discarded but transformed, distilled into essence. “Some of these pieces had lived quietly in my archives,” Serpa admits. “They were exercises, sketches that never reached the stage. But with Matt, they finally found their meaning: that balance between form, freedom, and sonic exploration.”
The philosophical and aesthetic implications of such collaboration are profound. It suggests a model of creation that values permeability over certainty, and interdependence over individual expression. This approach dissolves the conventional hierarchies of composition and improvisation, performer and listener, intellect and emotion. In this respect, Serpa and Mitchell participate in a lineage that extends beyond jazz, to the experimental traditions of 20th-century modernism, to the introspective poetics of Virginia Woolf, and to the feminist philosophy of Luce Irigaray, whose writings interrogate the very nature of dialogue and otherness.
To engage with contemporary jazz at this level is to recognize that the term “jazz” itself becomes inadequate. The music operates in a field where all arts converge, cinema, theater, poetry, dance, philosophy, and the many musical traditions that have shaped the modern ear: classical, folk, rock, funk, and the avant-garde. To understand such a project is not simply to appreciate its technical or harmonic innovation but to perceive the web of influences that animate it. It is to see, as Messiaen once suggested, that sound itself can be a form of prayer, and that artistic creation is, at its most vital, an act of revelation.
Ultimately, this album demands an encounter rather than an opinion. It must be experienced—preferably live, where the music’s spatial and emotional dimensions can fully unfold. On stage, Serpa and Mitchell’s dialogue becomes something more than performance; it becomes a form of philosophical inquiry, a meditation on attention and the limits of communication. The listener who accepts this invitation, who consents to dwell in uncertainty and resonance, will discover not merely the beauty of sound, but the deeper beauty of listening itself, a beauty that, like the finest works of art, transforms the act of hearing into an act of understanding." - Thierry De Clemensat / Paris-Move.com
CD $14
* ZEENA PARKINS // LAETITIA SONAMI / JOHN BISCHOFF / JAMES FEI - Lament for the Maker (Relative Pitch RPR 1136; USA) Acoustic & electric harp virtuoso, composer and professor at Mills college, Zeena Parkins, has come a long way since moving to NYC and becoming an important part of the emerging Downtown Scene in the mid-1980's. Ms. Parkins was a member of several seminal Downtown bands like Carbon, Skeleton Crew and No Safety, as well as a collaborator with John Zorn, Fred Frith and Ikue Mori (check out the Phantom Orchestra). Since the turn of the millenium, Ms. Parkins has expanded her palette as a diverse and demanding composer, as well as expanding her skills as a great improviser. Mills College in Oakland, CA, has been a lighthouse radiating experimental music and art since it began in 1928, nearly a century ago. Numerous important 20th and 21st century composers have attended and/or taught there over its long history: Pauline Oliveros, Luciano Berio, Darius Milhaud, Fred Frith, Roscoe Mitchell, Chris Brown, William Winant and many more.
Many composers, musicians, professors and students were saddened when Mills College was closed in 2022 and absorbed into Northeastern University. As a tribute to Mills College, where Zeena Parkins taught for 13 years, she organized a concert and recording for solo harp with three pieces by former Mills' composers Laetitia Sonami (check out her video on Roulette TV), John Bischoff (from the experimental/electronics ensemble The Hub) and James Fei (longtime Anthony Braxton collaborator), as well as a piece by Zeena herself. Ms. Parkins plays acoustic harp with assorted effects or utensils.
The first piece is Laetitia Sonami's "She is a Butcher in My Dreams". If I didn't know better, it would be hard to tell which instrument(s) is being utilized here as the sounds are indeed strange, scary, mysterious and fascinating. The rubbing of strings with a bow or another utensil sounds like what we hear in some science fiction (or monster) movies. John Bischoff's "pluck" was composed for harp and electronics with the electronics triggered by Zeena's harp playing. Ms. Parkins' acoustic harp playing moves between solemn, enchanting, melodic moments and more fractured, note-bending sections. Slowly electronics are added in spurts, well-balanced between acoustic and electronics sounds which work well together. James Fei's "In Such Circumstances of Miscalculations" was written for Ms. Parkins' unique way of playing the harp, dealing in gestures, patterns, repeating or improvised but not written out notes from a tablature. This piece reminds me of the way Ms. Parkins often plays when she get to improvise at length since several of these gestures/sounds are distinctively hers. Ms. Parkins' piece is called "berlin bedroom: littlefield feb 10, 2024' and it was recorded in Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College. Zeena worked on this piece while doing a residency in Berlin, which began in 2014. The piece deals with going beyond the harp's sonic limits and was performed in front of a small audience in Zeena's workspace in Berlin with the audience sitting up close. The sound itself is intimate as if we are all in the same room close to Zeena's harp. Ms. Parkins takes her time and explores different areas of the harp using her fingers as well as the odd utensil to coax sounds. Twanged or bent notes are used at times which are similar to the sounds made by a prepared piano. It seems obvious that Ms. Parkins has been using these extended techniques for many years as these sounds have become more familiar to her loyal listeners. This disc seems to sum up what Zeena Parkins has been doing for forty odd years, constantly searching for new ways to create sounds on this ancient, beloved instrument. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13
* Zeena Parkins will be performing with former Mills College professor & percussionist William Winant at The Stone tomorrow night, December 5th at 8:30pm
PETER EVANS / MIKE PRIDE - A Window, Basically (Relative Pitch RPR 1238; USA) Featuring Peter Evans on trumpet & piccolo trumpet and Mike Pride on drums, percussion & autoharp. Virtuosic trumpeter Peter Evans continues to wow listeners with his incredible playing, whether playing solo (for an hour straight at times), leading several of his own bands or playing the music of demanding composers (like John Zorn, Barry Guy and Evan Parker). Drummer/composer Mike Pride is also an extremely diverse (impossible to pigeonhole) musician who has worked with Anthony Braxton, John Dikeman and Jon Irabagon, as well as leading several of his own bands and playing in legendary hardcore punk band MDC. Mr. Evans and Mr. Pride were also part of a brutal power trio called Pulverize the Sound.
All of the music here was recorded over three years (2022-2025) at a studio upstate in Goshen, NY. "Substance X" begins at a modest tempo with Mr. Evans playing those lines without using any extended techniques and playing tightly with Mr. Pride's expressive drumming. Mr. Evans plays with restraint on "Substance T", slowly increasing the tempo and intensity as he goes. Most of the pieces are more like a conversation between two old friends and each piece tells a story or sets a scene. Instead dealing with his use of fireworks and extremes, both musicians tone it down and play superbly together. On the last piece, Mr. Evnas switches to piccolo trumpet while Mr. Pride plays bowed gong or cymbals. The sound is eerie, haunting like two ghosts slowly dancing or swaying together. This disc is modest yet oddly sublime. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13
KELSEY MINES / VINNY GOLIA - Collusion and Collaboration (Relative Pitch RPR 1235; USA) Featuring Kelsey Mines on contrabass & voice and Vinny Golia on piccolo & contrabass flutes, B-flat clarinet & sopranino sax. Recorded at Seahorse Sound studio in LA, CA. I've heard and reviewed two different discs by Kelsey Mines (on Relative Pitch) over the past few years, a solo effort and a duo with saxist Erin Rogers. I thought both of these discs were great and challenging like most releases that the Relative Pitch label put out. Ms. Mines has also played solo bass here at DMG as well as a fine duo with extended technique sax specialist Erin Rogers. Multiple reeds wizard, college professor and founder of Nine Winds records, Vinny Golia is an old friend and one of my favorite musicians. Mr. Golia is pretty prolific and has hundreds of discs out as a leader or collaborator and often works with former or current students to help them along on their own career/journeys. I recently got another duo disc with Mr. Golia and electric bassist Steuart Liebig but that one is a horse of a different color.
Each of the 11 pieces here are named "Improv" with a different number attached. "Improv 1" opens with Ms. Mines scatting along with her bass while Mr. Golia plays some spooky contrabass flute. Golia switches to clarinet for "Improv 4", while Ms. Mines bows up a storm on her contrabass. Both Golia and Mines are pushing things further out and at a quick pace, exchanging ideas at a furious rate. This duo sounds like a great match of wits and expressive dialogue. At times, Ms. Mines matches her bass playing by making vocal sounds which enhance the sound of her bass which are warm, somewhat fuzzy of slightly bent similar to many of the sounds that Mr. Golia makes on his flute, clarinet or sopranino sax. Considering how many different reeds that Mr. Golia collects and plays, he is consistently exploring and expanding the vocabulary of whichever reed he is using for each piece. There are quite a bit of more subtle, somewhat minimal sounds here rather than the usual free/jazz over-the-top improvising that makes up much of what I usually review. On "Improv 6" both Mines on bowed bass and Golia on clarinet start to push things further out at times. Golia switches to sopranino sax for "Improv 7", going even further out with spiraling lines held down by Mines' thoughtfully plucked bass. Although Mr. Golia is most likely a bit older than Ms. Mines, both work well as one force, tossing back and forth all sorts of fascinating conversations. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13
ED CHERRY with MONTE CROFT / KYLE KOEHLER / BYRON WOOKI LANDMAN - Are We There Yet? (Cellar Music CMR061622; USA) Featuring Ed Cherry on guitar, Monte Croft on vibes, Kyle Koehler on Hammond B3 organ and Byron "Wookie" Landham on drums. When "Big" John Patton's 'Minor Swing' CD was released in 1995, I was astonished that it sounded to me like the best jazz disc of the year and it sounded like it might've been recorded in the late 1960's. This session was produced by John Zorn and the personnel is as follows: John Patton on Hammond organ, Ed Cherry on guitar, John Zorn on alto sax and Kenny Wollesen on drums. Although it does sound like a number of the organ-driven dates that John Patton had done for Blue Notes, the solos by Mr. Zorn, Mr. Cherry and Mr. Patton were all colossal. Plus it had that soulful, 60's Newark organ-based, somewhat greasy sound. I didn't know much about Ed Cherry at that time but did see his name on albums with Dizzy Gillespie, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Henry Threadgill and Pheeroan AkLaff. Since hearing Mr. Cherry's playing on that seminal John Patton CD, I've searched for his dozen or so leader dates on labels like Posi-Tone and Groovin' High. I have around half of those discs and dig all of them, his playing is consistently spirited and inventive. I recently noticed this disc, which was released in 2022, and when I heard it, I was knocked once more. At first, I wasn't so sure I had heard of the other members of this quartet but after doing some research, I see that each member have worked with musicians that I do know: Kyle Koehler (with Dom Minasi), Monte Croft (with Mulgrew Miller and Byron Landham (with Tom Harrell & Orrin Evans).
In the liner notes, Ed Cherry explains that the blues were his first and main inspiration. The blues and that groove-based Newark funky organ sound is what most of this disc sounds like. Aside from a couple originals, Mr. Cherry chose some covers by John Patton, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery and Carla Bley. The first thing that stands out here is that Mr Cheery used both an organ and vibes in his quartet, a combination that we rarely see. The opening song is a Ed Cherry original called "Jean/Pauline" and that laid back groove is just right, sly and a bit funky with an infectious vibes solo and the first of many superb Wes Montgomery-like guitar solos. "Ding Dong" was composed by John Patton, who Mr. Cherry worked with on several records. This song also has an infectious groove which should make you smile and nod your head in time. Although I thought I knew how the song does unfold, I was surprised when the tempo double timed near the end, an unexpected delight. For Grant Green's "Green Jeans". Mr. Cherry takes an incredible Wes Montgomery-like solo which is full of those octaves that were part of Mr. Montgmery's signature sound. The title track, "Are We There Yet?", features great solos from the organ and guitar, Mr. Cherry making each note count. When I first listened to this disc last week, I liked the way it sounded but was unsure of how much of this would sound similar. After playing this disc at home, I realize that each of the 10 songs is solid, strong, spirited and inventive beyond expectation. Plus every guitar solo is a delight. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
MELAINE DALIBERT / DAVID SYLVAIN - vermillion hours (Ici D’Ailleurs Sarl MT022; EEC) Scattered notes stretch time, their repetitions evoking the infinite iridescence of dawn--a ritual as inevitable as it is unpredictable. Melaine Dalibert's Musique pour le lever du jour, composed over two years and completed in 2017, was envisioned as "an infinite piece," without beginning or end. Subtle, intangible, both complex and minimal, this hour-long work--dedicated to pianist Stéphane Ginsburgh--lets silence and resonance blossom into shifting colors. Released by Elsewhere Music (run by Yuko Zama), the album was among France Musique's 100 best of 2018. Its abstract cover was created by David Sylvian. Dalibert has since performed the piece in varied settings, from dawn to dusk, leading him to craft a condensed 20-minute version more suited to live performance. During this period, he released three more albums on Elsewhere, each featuring artwork by Sylvian--an artist Dalibert first admired through his experimental works like Blemish and Manafon. Sylvian, best known as the voice of Japan (1974-1982), has also built a significant ambient legacy, collaborating with Holger Czukay, Jon Hassell, Robert Fripp, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Christian Fennesz, and Stephan Mathieu. Their connection naturally led to his contribution on two tracks of Dalibert's 2021 Night Blossoms, subtly enriching its piano textures with electronic color. The two new pieces of Vermilion Hours mark a culmination. With a generational bridge--Dalibert (b. 1979), Sylvian (1958), Czukay (1938)--this project reinterprets Musique in a slower, more resonant form, allowing Sylvian's restrained electronics to gently "baroquize" the texture. Dalibert's Arabesque, also featured, embodies his systematic yet humanized approach. "Any system must be transformed organically to move us," he says. These works become landscape music--resonant, spectral, and quietly transformative.
CD $14
KEVIN DRUMM - Sheer Hellish Miasma II (erstwhile records ErstSolo 009; USA) "Though Drumm never completely shied away from noise, it was Erstwhile Records founder Jon Abbey who convinced him to venture back into the frostbitten tundras of his most famous nightmare. The imposing sequel Sheer Hellish Miasma II—95 minutes long, spread across two discs—certainly feels like the Drumm of a particular vintage: CD-only, blocky black-and-gold artwork, Nmperign’s Greg “Dana Flugel” Kelley returning for guest trumpet (good luck locating exactly where). But Drumm’s credits—“electronics, tapes, microphone, computer assistance”—are notably missing the original’s crucial ingredients, “guitar” and “pedals.” Instead of emulating the brushstrokes of the former, Drumm is building a pure noise wall and painting a Picasso on it.
“Exorcism,” the first of two very long tracks, is nearly 43 merciless minutes of monolithic, deafening, blown-the-fuck-out blasting that makes the original album seem as dynamic as Haydn’s “Surprise” symphony. It’s less refined but just as blood-curdling, closer to the “harsh noise wall” antics of artists like the Cherry Point and the Rita, akin to the way Lou Reed’s feedback symphony Metal Machine Music feels like hundreds of robot crabs fighting their way out of a bucket. Moving from boil to simmer to lava eruption, it’s an absolute chest-clutching terror at high volumes. Its highly layered, clashing collisions teem with phantom screams, like the “Well to Hell” urban legend. The second and final track, the 52-minute “Icepick,” is somewhat closer in form to the original Sheer Hellish Miasma—if only in that it sounds like furious tremolo guitar riffage when it doesn’t sound like ball bearings raining on sheet metal. A deep Earth-style doom drone swirling with mutating and spasming digital noise, it decays and decelerates, then kicks back into gear with a giant blast. It may be the only song where the “mosh part” comes at the 29-minute mark.
As far as sequels go, Sheer Hellish Miasma II is less Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and more Twin Peaks: The Return—sure, you might recognize the characters, but the sheer impenetrability of the work lets you know the director is clearly on some other shit. If you appreciated the original for its nuance, its gorgeously pixellated textures, or the way it blurred the lines between Merzbow and Motörhead, prepare to be disappointed. But if you liked Sheer Hellish Miasma for the feeling of staring down a running leafblower, get ready for your face to be blown back by the best organic Botox money can buy." - excerpt from review by Christopher R. Weingarten for Pitchfork
2 CD Set $22
JURG FREY // REINER VAN HOUDT - composer, alone (elsewhere o30-23; USA) ‘Composer, alone’ is a collection of twelve solo piano pieces by Swiss composer Jürg Frey, performed by Dutch pianist/composer Reinier van Houdt. It is the sequel to the 2022 triple album 'lieues d'ombres' (elsewhere 020-3) and the third collaboration between Frey and van Houdt on elsewhere music. The two have cultivated a close rapport, first documented on 'l'air, l'instant - deux pianos' (elsewhere 014) in 2020.
This three-disc set features a wide range of Frey's solo piano compositions from 1990 to 2024, including his latest piano pieces 'Composer, alone (1)' and 'Composer, alone (2)'. This three-disc album traces Frey's journey over the past 30 years as he explores his voice as a composer through piano works. It reveals how his compositional style has evolved, while also demonstrating that the underlying essence of his compositions remains consistent.
As a pianist who has a deep connection to the music of Frey, van Houdt skillfully reveals the subtleties hidden in Frey's compositions, as he did in 'lieues d'ombres'. Staying true to the composer's vision, van Houdt captures the essence of Frey's diverse piano pieces from the past 34 years while achieving a perfect balance between fragility, warmth, and clarity." - bandcamp blurb
I've been impressed with the dozen or so discs that the erstwhile, elsewhere and Wandelweiser labels have released decade or so by Austrian composer Jurg Frey. I am listening closely to Disc One now and hearing the way each note is struck and the way it hangs in the air or in our consciousness after it is struck. I get the feeling that every note of phrase evokes a different vibe and it is that feeling that lingers within us listeners. The first piece is called, "Composer, Alone (1)" and it is around 25 minutes long. Each note or chord affects us in different ways. At around the 21 minute point, the volume increases and the vibe gets more intense. On "Klavierstuck 1", the sound of the piano becomes more dense, as the resonance pedal is held down. It sounds like we are hearing the resonating notes of the piano along with a low-end bass hum. While certain notes are muted, others are struck more intensely, the contrast becomes more noticeable over time. On each piece, there is a slightly different vibe that lingers after each note or chord is played. The space between each note, the length of each resonating sound and unique sound of each note or phrase sound that there is much more going on here than just minimalistic piano playing. This entire 3 CD set is around three hours in length. After the first disc came to an end, I realized how much I enjoyed savoring the music. Take your time, there is quite a bit of serious sounds here to absorb. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
3 CD Set $30
ERIC LA CASA / JEROME NOETINGER - Off Tracks (erstwhile 101; USA) Like most discs on the erstwhile label, there is no instrumentation listed on this disc. No matter since we know from earlier recordings that Mr. La Casa utilizes field recordings while Mr. Noetinger works with music concrete and electro-acoustic experimentation. Both have collaborated with other erstwhile artists like Lasse Marhaug, Taku Unami and MIMEO. The four tracks here are all named "Off Track, No. 1-4". As this work unfolds, we hear what sounds like wind or distant thunder, occasional spoken words, rubbed surfaces, extraneous sounds which are effective but not easy to figure out what they are. Quite a bit of what we hear is the sound of movement or currents, wind or water with echoes of birds and something being rubbed on a floor, table or other surface. In the third piece, we hear a heartbeat pumping underneath the sound movements, a steady pulse throbbing quietly within. What makes this disc work is that we are often taken on an inner journey with sounds that help us to move inside our minds. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
DYLAN DELGIUDICE - This is Not a Joke (Self-produced 55491 35654; USA) Featuring Dylan Delgiudice on solo guitar, alto sax & piano (for one track each). Over the past few years I've noticed that there are a large number of guitarists and drummers who have often moved to this town and play here regularly during our weekly live in-store music series. At the last count, I came up with a list of 20(!) different guitar players that have played here over the last few years. You might think that this is a lot but what I did notice is that each one has a different voice or sound on their guitar. Dylan Delgiudice has played here around a half dozen times over the past few years, often working with powerhouse drummer Marc Edwards. The opening piece has Dylan playing piano at his parent's home with the TV on in the distance. The piano playing is somewhat ethereal and Dylan's playing a bit majestic. DelGiudice plays steel-string slide acoustic guitar on track two with field recordings and drums (drum machine?). The sound quality is not so great but the music (guitar and found sounds) are interesting. Track 4 features Dylan on alto sax with a Red Panda Tensor effects device. Dylan's alto playing is solemn and rather poignant with subtle echoplex effects added. The 5th and last piece is for a nylon-string acoustic guitar with some Logic Pro effects. This piece is somber, laid back and a nice way to bring this modest gem to a close. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD-R $10
OFFICER! with MICK HOBBS / FELIZ FIEDOROWICZ - Dead Right (KlangGalerie GG521; Germany) Officer! was founded by Londoner Mick Hobbs. His roots were in the Rock In Opposition scene of the late 70s and early 80s. Initially he worked as guitarist in The Work, subsequently he became closely associated with This Heat and their Cold Storage Studio in Brixton, working with artists like Family Fodder, Catherine Jauniaux or Zeena Parkins. The band's first album "8 New Songs By Mick Hobbs" came out in 1982 on cassette only. It was followed by the second album, "Ossification". The third album, "Cough" was recorded and released in France in 1985. It is often overlooked in the band's discography, a fate that many cassette releases share. "8 New Songs By Mick Hobbs" and "Cough" have been collected to form the CD "Earlier Music", which was also made available again by Klanggalerie. Dead Right is the band's last album, after the far too early death of Mick Hobbs who says about this record: "I have recorded a double album full of songs against the conservative Tories. It is national, but also international. A vinyl version will be released by Jelodanti and In Poly Sons, and we are happy to bring you the CD version of this wonderful recording.
As a longtime Canterbury (and related) fan addict, I am on a constant search for any offshoot recordings by any of the Canterbury bands that we all love. Although based in England, Mick Hobbs was a member of The Work (with Tim Hodgkinson from Henry Cow), Half Japanese, the Momes and Lo Yo Yo. Mr. Hobbs also worked under the name Officer! and collaborated with Bill Gilonis (also from The Work), Keisuke Matsui, Felix Fiedorowitz (from Family Fodder) and Joey Stack. If you do not recognize many of these musicians, you are not alone as I had to look them up as well. This disc appears to be the 12th full length release by Officer! and is a duo with Mick Hobbs and Felix Fiedorowicz. This disc is a collection of 34 mostly shorter pieces. This disc has a variety of guests on many of the tracks: Bill Gilonis, Mary Currie & Tim Hodgkinson. The music is all over the place from goofy British new wave to Young Marble Giants-like minimal pop sung in French to quirky, pop/psych which has been created and altered in the studio. Buzz-saw guitars, groove-infectious drum machines, unexpected twists and turns, charming oft humorous vocals, twee Brit op and lots of enchanted detours. If you are a fan of obscure yet somehow inventive British pop music from the (let's say) the 1970's, you should check this out since it will make you smile unless you are mainly a sourpuss. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $17
VINCENT COURTOIS and COLIN VALLON - A Simple Fall (BMC Records CD358; EEC) Courtois, who has collaborated with the likes of Rita Mitsouko, Christian Escoudé, Michel Petrucciani or even Michel Portal, is no stranger to the BMC catalogue. His tone, equally capable of lyricism and restraint finds a remarkable counterpart in Vallon's unique sense of proportion when it comes to piano. Vallon, an internationally celebrated soloist known by his releases over ECM Records, is renowned for a touch that balances fragility and quiet intensity, shaping silence as much as sound. " The album where Lieder without words alternate with improvisations of boundless creativity, evokes sometimes the expressivity of Othmar Schoeck, sometimes the anarchy of John Cage. It extends, rekindles and transposes the long, prestigious tradition of works for piano and cello, extremely rare in the jazz scene, but abundant in the history of classical music. By multiplying techniques and preparations, Courtois and Vallon have managed to give this intimate line-up a totally original orchestral dimension, the piano sometimes changing into a glass harp, sometimes into a music box, into a yangqin, or into a viola da gamba, and the cello likewise acting as a percussion instrument, harmony instrument, and melody instrument. A genuine bridge between classical music, experimental music, and jazz, this album is one of those rare kaleidoscopic works that, through the skilful combination of rudimentary elements, make it possible to imagine the infinite." - Michaël Roelli
CD $16
TUBBY HAYES QUARTET with MIKE PYNE / RON MATHEWSON / TONY LEVIN - A Little Workout (Acrobat ACMCD 4396; UK) When the Tubby Hayes and his new quartet alighted on the Little Theatre in Rochester, Kent for two evenings' worth of performances during the winter/spring of 1966/67 both the leader and the band's music were in a period of transition. Drawing equal inspiration from both the recent innovations of Miles Davis and John Coltrane and the energy of his new, young and adventurous sidemen, Hayes was to turn these to-all-intents-and-purposes typical provincial club nights into definitive manifesto statements of his contemporary musical ambitions. Luckily, excerpts from both these performances were captured on tape. Occasionally bootlegged, the recordings made on these two gigs half a century ago illustrate everything the saxophonist had learned, experienced and pioneered up to that moment; from the blistering paint-off-the-walls bebop of "Walkin'", a solo to rank alongside any of John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins' extended forays from the Sixties, through to the astonishing emotional denouement of a seventeen-minute deconstruction of "Dear Johnny B." - this isn't Hayes merely on form; this is him on fire! This new Acrobat CD is the first ever release of these recordings and comes packaged with rare, hitherto unpublished photographs and a fascinating booklet note by award-winning saxophonist Simon Spillett - author of The Long Shadow of The Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes.
CD $18
SONNY STITT with PAUL GONZALEZ / BOOKER ERVIN / DICK MORRISSEY / ERNEST RANGLIN / THAD JONES / HANK JONES / CHICK COREA / DON PATTERSON JACK McDUFF / MILT HINTON / OSIE JOHNSON / HERBIE LOVELLE / WILLIE BOBO / PATATO- The Soul Jazz Dates (Enlightenment 9249; EEC) Born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. on 2 February 1924, the man who would become Sonny Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over 100 albums. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern because of his tendency rarely to work with the same musicians for long, despite his relentless touring and devotion to the craft. Stitt was sometimes regarded as a Charlie Parker mimic early in his career, but he gradually developed his own sound and style, particularly when performing on the tenor saxophone and occasionally even the baritone sax. He was placed for adoption in 1924 by his father and adopted by the Stitt family in Saginaw. He later began calling himself "Sonny". Stitt ventured into soul jazz in the early 1960s, and it is this period of the great man's career that is in focus on this four-CD collection. Starting with his 1963 albums Salt and Pepper and Soul Shack, Sonny continued in this vein until 1965. His finest record during this period was perhaps the set he recorded with Booker Ervin in 1964, Soul People (Prestige). Around the same time, he appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London, and a live 1964 encounter with Ronnie Scott, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, eventually surfaced. Stitt recorded at Ronnie Scott's again in 1966 with resident guitarist Ernest Ranglin and British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey. This compilation brings together eight of this maverick musician's superb soul-jazz-inspired releases, recorded in the early to mid-1960s, which many enthusiasts consider to be among his finest work. Albums included: 'Salt and Pepper', 'Soul People', 'Soul Shack', 'The Night Has a Thousand Eyes', 'Stitt Goes Latin'.
4 CD Set $18
***************
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
************
Sunday, December 7th at 7pm:
Stereo Mandrax presents:
Gun Boat
Snake Union (Dave Grant & Chuck Bettis)
Dead Waiter
at Pianos - 158 Ludlow, NYC
FREE with RSVP (rsvp via Dice app, otherwise you have to pay $10 at the door)
********
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / WILLIAM WINANT / DEC 3-6
12/3 Wednesday
8:30 pm: TRIO - William Winant (percussion) Bill Nace (guitar) Nava Dunkelman (percussion)
12/4 Thursday
8:30 pm: SPECIAL PERCUSSION GROUP - Wiliam Winant (percussion) Kenny Wollesen (percussion) Will Shore (percussion)
12/5 Friday
8:30 pm: DUO - Wiliam Winant (percussion) Zeena Parkins (harp)
12/6 Saturday
8:30 pm: WHITE OUT WITH WILLIAM WINANT
Wiliam Winant (percussion) Lin Culbertson (analog synth) Tom Surgal (drums)
12/9 Tuesday
8:30 pm - THE STONE STUDENT CONCERTS—HT DUO
Howie Zheng (percussion) Titan Choi (winds)
ADMISSION IS FREE
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / IKUE MORI - DEC 10-13
12/10 Wednesday
8:30 pm: TRIO - Ikue Mori (electronics) Ned Rothenberg (reeds, shakuhachi) Billy Martin (percussion, drums)
12/11 Thursday
8:30 pm - QUARTET - Ikue Mori (electronics) Ken Vandermark (sax) Nate Wooley (trumpet) Sylvie Courvoisier (piano)
12/12 Friday
8:30 pm - HIGHSMITH PLUS - Ikue Mori (electronics) Craig Taborn (piano) Jim Staley (trombone)
12/13 Saturday
8:30 pm - QUARTET - Ikue Mori (electronics) Ingrid Laubrock (sax) Tom Rainey (drums) Zeena Parkins (harp, keyboards)
THE STONE is located in
The New School at the Glass Box Theatre
55 West 13th Street - near 6th ave
For more info: https://thestonenyc.com/calendar.php?month=1
LIVE MUSIC
wed-sat - music at 8:30pm
ADMISSION - $20 per set
unless otherwise noted
cash only payment
*******
EXPERIMENTAL INTERMEDIA
The Fifty-Second Anniversary of EI performances, the Fifty-Seventh Anniversary of the
Founding of Experimental Intermedia, the Fifty-Seventh Anniversary of the 224 Centre Street loft, and, not least, The Thirty-Fifth Annual Festival with no fancy name, Part Two (or B) - Katherine Liberovskaya, curator
DECEMBER 2025 - All events 8PM except 16 December 7PM
Please note the different venues for this series
Suggested donation $10 all nights except Friday 19th at Fridman Gallery 2 sets / $20
December 10th: Al Margolis with Tom Law (New York) - at Various/Artists 8pm Wednesday
A solo; a solo and a half; a duo; Margolis will play a solo set for stringed instrument, contact mic(s), objects/junk, etc; Tom Law will live sample/transform a Margolis tape piece; Al and Tom will then perform a set as their project Duo Denum; with some live video participation by Katherine Liberovskaya
December 11th: Marcia Bassett & Chuck Bettis (NYC) - at Various/Artists 8pm Thursday
Synth duo focused on improvised techniques that explore layered textures and deep dronescapes
December 12th: Ras Burnett (NYC) - at Various/Artists 8pm Friday
Ras Burnett is a saxophonist-composer-musicologist-educator; he commenced his musical engagement in 1987 with free jazz and reggae; Ras believes in and advocates the positive energy of creative music; featuring Ras Burnett-Tenor Sax; Tor Snyder-Guitar & Electronic Sound; Dave Ross-Guitar
December 13th: Scott Kiernan (NYC) - at Various/Artists 8pm Saturday -
A screening night of analog and real-time video from the last 15 years: often with a focus on the perils of translation through technology, forced "syntax errors" and a re-shaping of language through the video signal; projects span live performances, TV broadcast experiments, collaborations with musicians, multi-channel works and more;
December 14th: Elaine Summers Centennial (NYC) - at Various/Artists 8pm Sunday
Bringing Elaine Summers home to be featured among the events of the thirty-fifth annual series produced by Experimental Intermedia - the very organization she founded back in 1968 - this tribute screening will show five of her early film-works as part of the Centennial year celebrations of her legacy; a choreographer, filmmaker, originator of the movement practice Kinetic Awareness and intermedia artist, Summers was interested in exploring what film could do that dance could not, and how they could work together to create a temporary third, new entity that she referred to as intermedia; two of the works were created with late EIF director Phill Niblock as cinematographer; curated by Katherine Liberovskaya, introduction-video by Thomas Körtvélyessy, special thanks to Gustavo Matamoros (subtropics), Freddy Jouwayed, the
Artistic Estate of Elaine Summers and the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, and the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts
December 16th: Mariana Carvalho (Berlin, Germany) - at Harvestworks 7pm Tuesday
Two pieces for an amplified head, transducers and a tiny speaker in the mouth; Mariana shares her (internal) listening to pre-recorded material such as prepared piano, mouth-to-mouth vocals, voices, seashells and text excerpts; sometimes she sings and eats;
December 19th: Dafne Vincente-Sandoval (Paris, France) - at Fridman Gallery 8pm Friday
Minos Circuit Rewired (2024 – 2025) : performance for microphone feedback and bassoon; Minos Circuit Rewired is a site-specific exploration of the contingent musicality of feedback; through microphone feedback, various resonant spaces – the cavities of a disassembled bassoon, the concert room itself – are made audible, turning physical volume into frequency and unintended harmony
December 19th: Kristin Norderval with Miguel Frasconi (NYC) - at Fridman Gallery Friday
Kristin Norderval and Miguel Frasconi stretch time and coax sounds from thin air with gesturally controlled multiphonic vocals, glass objects and electronics; their improvising partners - glass in various stages of devolution, and the EVII (the Expanded Vocal Improvising Instrument) - require presence, flow, and learning to handle whatever surprises they mete out; just like life
Venues:
Various/Artists: 19 Essex St, New York, NY 10002
Harvestworks: 596 Broadway #602, New York, NY 10012
Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, NY 10002
As well:
Phill Niblock - Winter Solstice at Roulette: Six Hours of Music and Film on Sunday, December 21, from 6pm to midnight
Roulette Intermedium Inc, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, New York, 11217
********
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