Leavin' this morning, I had to go ride the blinds
I've been mistreated, don't mind dying
This morning, I had to go ride the blinds
I've been mistreated, Lord, I don't mind dying
People tell me walkin' blues ain't bad;
Worst old feeling I most ever had
People tell me the old walkin' blues ain't bad
Well it's the worst old feeling, Lord, I most ever had
For the past few weeks, I really had the Blues. The low down, mean and dirty kind. There are so many reasons to feel angry and frustrated by the news: the unwanted war in Iran, the plight of the Palestinians, election interference from the Fake Prez, the treatment of immigrants all over the US due to ICE and other sleazy haters... There's too much on my mind. Plus, the summer has been the worst for DMG as far as sales go so I feel as if we are sinking lower and lower into the endless abyss. There are a few Reasons to be Cheerful: we finally got our new computer (thanks to everyone who donated money for this), we still get great response from the newsletter subscribers both from afar and those who come to visit us and Creative Music & Creative Musicians are still give me/us Hope and Inspiration. Yesterday, I spent 6 hours cleaning my kitchen, bathroom and the rest of my apartment getting ready for the exterminator. Although I wore a mask, the dust and disorganization did get to me. My apartment is the cleanest it's been in years and now it is time to get rid of some unwanted stuff. The store also needs to cleaned and dusted so that will be coming up as well. I am not so sure as to how to increase sales so please order something from us or come to visit and show us your smile. The gigs in the store have been a constant source of Inspiration we've been getting some new folks coming in to check them out. Thanks to you, all of our subscribers and supporters from around the world. I do feel much better today with my apt being cleaner and more organized. - Peace and Love Always, Bruce Lee Gallanter at DMG
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THE DMG 35th ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE CONCERT SERIES Continues with:
July 28th:
6:30: DANIEL GALOW - alto sax / AARON RUBUNSTEIN - guitar / KEVIN MURRAY - Drums
7:30: JAMES WENGROW - guitar / KAELEN GHANDI - sax / LIM YANG - bass / PATRICK GOLDEN - Drums
8:30: JAMES PAUL NADIEN - Drums / LUKE POLIPNICK - Bass-Guitar / KAELIN GHANDHI - Sax
August 4th:
6:30: GUILLERMO GREGORIO - Solo Clarinet with Tapes
7:30: BEN GOLDBERG INVISIBLE GUY
8:30: ANTON PONOMAREV - Alto Sax / ADAM LANE - Bass / PATRICK GOLDEN - Drums
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THIS WEEK'S GROOVY NEW DISCS BEGING WITH THIS DYNAMIC DUO!
ANTHONY BRAXTON / JAMES EMERY - Articulations (Modern Sounds 004; USA) Featuring Anthony Braxton on alto & sopranino saxes, flute, clarinet, contrabass clarinet & compositions and James Emery on guitar, guitar synth & compositions. Recorded in Florence, Italy in June of 1992. This is a previously unreleased duo recording made two guiding lights of the experimental/avant/jazz/modern classical worlds. Master guitarist James Emery worked with visionary composer & multi-instrumentalist in Anthony Braxton's Creative Music Orchestra as well as a trio with Ray Anderson. Mr. Emery wrote all but one of the six songs here with one long piece by Mr. Braxton. Beginning with "Maguire", Mr. Emery creates a theme which sounds jazz-like for Mr. Braxton's alto while Mr. Emery plays acoustic guitar, bending and muting certain strings while playing tightly with Braxton's swirling cascade on sopranino sax. Braxton's tone is warmer than usual yet is well matched by Emery's non-stop series of looping lines. "Falling River Time" keeps both Braxton's sax and Emery's guitar moving quickly together tightly, working their way through a series of challenging changes. The last time I caught Mr. Braxton play live was doing a solo alto concert at the Victo Fest. It was a lovely, heartfelt set and his tone had mellowed a bit yet his lines were as quirky and ever-shifting as ever. His tone here, although it is more than 40 years ago and it is equally warm while still coming up with surprising twists in direction. "Duo 2.01" is a bit more abstract and sounds like modern chamber music with haunting harmonies for both musicians. Aside from some consistently challenging composing, Mr. Emery is in strong form here, his playing is a continuous flurry of notes, reminding me of Ralph Towner sped up. The one Braxton piece here is "Composition No. 167" and it is the longest one here (28 minutes). Mr. Braxton starts out on flute, his tone and playing first extraordinary. He soon switches to the low-end grumbling of his contrabass clarinet. The interplay here is astonishing as both players explore a wide range of tones, Although I am often disappointed by the use of guitar synth, Mr. Emery sounds great playing those eerie electronics sounds which work well with Braxton's sly sopranino sax. This piece is episodic like a series of ongoing scenes, speeding up, slowly down as Braxton switches from one reed to another. This piece has more of that Braxtonian sound and keeps shifting as Braxton solos while Emery keeps intersecting with his own flow of ideas/lines. This piece is a tour-de-force and it sounds like a lost piece of historic and demanding music from many years back which still sounds modern and challenging today. Special thanks to James Emery and Anthony Braxton for rescuing an important part of our collective past. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
SANDY EWEN / DAMON SMITH / WEASEL WALTER - Untitled (2) (ugExplode / Balance point Acoustics; USA) Featuring Sandy Ewen on guitar, Damon Smith on contrabass and Weasel Walter on drums. This is the fourth disc from this formidable trio of monster musicians. This trio has been around since 2014 and records every few years since each musician lives in a different place. I believe that Damon Smith and Weasel Walter were living in the Bay Area when the trio started out with Ms. Ewen living in Houston, Texas at that time. Mr. Walter was living in Brooklyn for a while and is back in Chicago while Ms. Ewen currently lives in Brooklyn. Damon Smith was living in Boston for a while but has since moved. Since moving to Brooklyn, I've had numerous opportunities to see & hear Ms. Ewen play live and often here at DMG in solo, duos, trios and quartets. Her unique set up: guitar on lap with various utensils and no pedals, is not like anyone else that I've heard. Hence, she consistently surprises me with her distinctive and ever-evolving playing. This disc includes some most impressive and informative liner notes from West Coast guitar master/innovator Henry Kaiser. Take the time to read them and savor his words.
Over his long career Weasel Walter has become a wonderful producer, engineer and mastering technician. Sonically, the sound on this disc is astonishing. If you didn't already know the instrumentation, you might not be able to guess it at times. The first piece (no title, just the time) is static, finely tuned, spacious yet also busy or buzzing. The bass seems to be humming or quietly vibrating with Weasel's Insect Music like percussion percolating throughout. It sounds like these three are creating their own sonic world or space which is unique and doesn't sound quite like anything else. It also sounds like it is moving in (deliberate) slow motion, unfolding most organically. Are these aliens trying to communicate with us?!? I do think so. This disc is also graced by some mysterious odd artwork by Sandy Ewen with even more enclosed inside. Are you ready for some transformation into another alien world? I would hope so. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
SCHANZER / SPEECH DUO with OLIVER LAKE / LESER BOWIE / WADADA LEO SMITH / MARK DRESSER / LEROY JENKINS / JOSEPH JARMAN / FRED LONBERG-HOLM / ALVA ROGERS / et al - With Guests Live in Brooklyn 1992-2002 (Neuma Records 266; USA) Featuring Jeffrey Schanzer on classical & electric guitar and Bernadette Speech on piano with Oliver Lake on alto sax, Lester Bowie on trumpet, Wada Leo Smith on trumpet, koto, mbira, harmonica & wooden flute, Mark Dresser on contrabass, Joseph Jarman on alto sax, flute & percussion, Leroy Jenkins on violin, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Alva Rogers on vocals, Dr. David Pleasant on percussion & flute and Holland Hopson on soprano sax & electronics John J.A. Jannone on electronics. I've been fascinated with the history of Downtown Scene from the time it began (for me) around 1979/1980. In the early to mid 1980's, I attended hundreds of concerts at places like Roulette, the Kitchen, the Knitting Factory, Tin Pan Alley, Soundscape and several galleries. I recall seeing the couple of Jeffrey Schanzer and Bernadette Speech at several of these spaces with both attending shows and occasionally playing live. Mr. Schanzer released one album in 1997 on CRI which included members of the Soldier/Sirius String Quartet while Ms. Speech released two discs on mode in 1988 & in 2002.
It's been a longtime since I first noticed and heard the music of both of these composers and lo & behold they have a new duo effort out in 2026 with a number of great guests. The liner notes here describe how Mr. Schanzer and Ms. Speech got together and became longtime collaborators ( and married partners). The couple started out in Buffalo and organized the Buffalo New Music Ensemble before moving to Brooklyn and organizing the Musicians of Brooklyn Initiative. MOBI organized and presented their own concerts at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, which is where most of these recordings took place. Some of these pieces are improvisations and some are notated and all are engaging. "Improvisation" for Oliver Lake on alto sax, Mr. Schanzer on guitar and Ms. Speech on piano opens and it features strong interplay between the three musicians. The music moves quickly from sparse to busy and often had me on the edge of my seat. "The Villager" features the late Art Ensemble trumpet hero Lester Bowie with the duo. Mr. Bowie often had an odd sense of humor and wore a doctor's smock when he played with the Art Ensemble. He sounds wonderful here, moving between haunting, feisty and melodic fragments seamlessly. I recall drummer Davis Pleasant from the time he worked with Charles Gayle in the late 80/early '90's as well as with patrick brennan's Sonic Openings Under Pressure. I didn't know that he played with the rap band Arrested development or that he got his doctorate. Dr. Pleasant actually plays both flute and percussion with the duo here. Pleasant fits just right as he plays hand percussion turning the trio into a solid force with Schanzer playing some tasty, inventive guitar. The piece with Wadada Leo Smith was composed by him Wadada plays koto, mbira, wooden flute as well as his trumpet. This piece is most successful and it is superbly recorded. Throughout this entire 2 hour 2 CD set, each piece is well captured and the duo have taken the best pieces from each concert so that all of the music is excellent and engaging. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $16
KEVIN DRUMM / TAKU UMANI - Zero Talk (Erstwhile 111-3; USA) This is what we know: Kevin Drumm has been creating his own electronic music for around 20 years and used to use guitar, tapes, mics, pedals, analogue synthesizer and computer. Although he has more than a dozen solo efforts, he has also worked with Jason Lescalleet, Jeff Parker, Prurient, Alex Dorner and Weasel Walter. Taku Unami plays computer and guitar and has worked with Otomo, Keith Rowe, Toshiya Tsunoda and Graham Lambkin. The reason that this disc is called 'Zero Talk' is that these two musicians created this music without talking about it first.
The three discs here are around an hour each and can be played in any order. The first disc begins with a thick slowly pulsating drone which slowly expands as it evolves. Slowly the resonating drone changes expanding and increasing in pulsations. Some sort of percussive sound enters at the 11 & 1/2 minute mark, the drone still shifting slowly. The percussive sound fades in and out of range. The drone slows down and becomes quieter, more distant as the more eruptive sound re-enters. The music takes patience since it evolves slowly. If you listen closely, you can hear subtle changes going on. By halfway point, the music seems to be getting lighter, less dense, more positive or uplifting somehow. The second disc begins more abruptly with several layers of static/noise/electronics all swirling tightly together. There is a high end pitch which fades in and out while one electronic wave after the other washes over us. The wave of electronics is finely tuned (manipulated) as it evolves. The static-like sound slowly shifts as it goes with several layers interweaving their way together or around one another. At the 11 minute mark, an explosion of several layers of electronics takes place for a short section before dropping out with that high end drone continuing throughout. I listened to this music on headphones which makes it easier to hear in all of its sonic glory. All in all, I am impressed with how well these two sonic pioneers work together. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
3 CD Set $30
VANESSA ROSSETTO with MICHAEL GARIN / MARDIE MILLIT / RADA HADJIKOSTOVA / AINE O'DWYER - The Professional (erstwhile Erst-Solo 011-2; USA) After a series of collaborations with Matthew Revert, Lionel Marchetti, Moniek Darge, experimental composer Vanessa Rossetto now has her third erstwhile solo effort. According to Discogs Ms. Rossetto uses "chamber instrumentation, field recordings, electronics and a wide array of different objects exploring them through extended and traditional techniques and other methods of her own devising." Unlike any other erstwhile CD that I've heard, this disc opens with a vocal & piano duo, singing a somewhat silly song about being a professional. Very odd opener. Next we're back to erst-like close mic'd sounds with wind, mumbled voices, a whistler, a spoken word vocalists, distant piano and layers of sampled indeterminate sounds. On headphones, the sounds keep swirling and expanding and evoking different inner places within. Each of the nine pieces here create a different sonic land or soundscape. The music/sounds are in stereo and are often shifting from one perspective to another. We hear a series of snatched conversations, each one coming from a different place. As I listen, I hear fragments of conversations, some distinct, some more hazy with several layers of extraneous sounds. I am placed in a different sonic environment on each piece. I find this music to be pretty fascinating throughout, sort of like a soundtrack to an avant film which changes themes from scene to scene yet it somehow fits together just right. There was an impressive cover feature on Vanessa Rossetto last year (?) that I also enjoyed reading about her life and music pursuits. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $22
Le GGRIL DDK with JACQUES DEMIERRE / AXEL DORNER / JONAS KOCHER - Diffraction (Tour de Bras / Circum-Disc 900079CD / MICROCIDI037; France) Bringing together Swiss-German trio DDK — Jacques Demierre on piano, Axel Dorner on trumpet, and Jonas Kocher on accordion — with Quebec's large improvising ensemble Le GGRIL, this expansive collaboration uses the ensemble as living material for a collective work of juxtaposition, superposition, sonic individuality, and shared compositional energy across a broad electroacoustic terrain.
CD $17
SO SA LA with SADATO / TATSUYA ISHIDA / KATO HIDEKI / DENNIS GUNN / ROMI / TOSHIKO - 1987 - Hajime (Doo Bee Doo Records; USA) Featuring Sadato on saxes, synths, flute & vocals, Tatsuya Ishida on drums, percussion & vocals, Kato Hideki on bass, synth, sampler & vocals and Dennis Gunn on guitar & vocals plus guests Romi (voice) and Toshiko (synth). This session was recorded in February & March of 1987 and released on LP soon thereafter. I do have the vinyl somewhere at home but finding it would be a difficult task. Current Downtowner, activist & saxist, Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (a/k/a So Sa La) has been releasing or reissuing items from his earlier days with live recordings from 1983 and 1994. It's difficult to get a handle on Sadato, since each of his six releases come from different places, eras or styles. He has also recorded with Japanese avant-garde vocalist Phew. His band here includes guitarist Dennis Gunn and bassist Kato Hideki. I've known of Mr. Hideki since he played in Ground Zero, Ikue Mori, Fred Frith and more recently a fine trio with Karen Mantler & Doug Weiselman.
This disc begins with "Sincro" which features several layers of haunting vocals over a choppy post-punk groove. "Ningen" has SoSaLa doing more goofy, warped vocals over a churning sampled (?) groove, with some modest tenor sax slowly entering. Each song captures an odd blend of punk or new waves or noise with selective reverb added to the sax or guitar. "Pachinko Breeze" sounds like an ancient surf rocker with strong rockin' sax from SoSaLa and nifty twang guitar from Mr. Gunn. One of the main things I like about this album is that Sadato keeps his tongue firmly in his cheek with different amounts of silliness. "Sarariman Shine" features some out sax, shouted vocals and squealing synth. This disc doesn't quite sound like any other album that I can think of. It doesn't sound dated even the synth does have a certain 80's sound and it does have a certain oddball charm. It took me a bit to warm to this disc but I found that it is enchanting in its own strange way. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
TONY COE & JOHN HORLER - Dancing in the Dark (Gearbox GB 1567CD; UK) Piano and clarinet duo albums are few and far between within the jazz canon. In the case of Dancing in the Dark, versatile horn player Tony Coe chose to stick to the clarinet as his saxophone case was too heavy, or so that's how pianist John Horler recounts it. The performance in question takes place at St Michael's Church, Appleby in 2007 as part of the annual Appleby Jazz Festival. The setting is warm and intimate as is the church acoustic, a perfect backdrop for the varied repertoire of standards and original compositions performed. Coe and Horler dance their way through Bill Evans' "Person I Knew" and Cole Porter's "Night and Day" as well as Horler's own "Piece for Poppy," dedicated to his partner Wendy, and Coe's contrafact to Autumn Leaves, titled "Some Other Autumn." Both players push and pull the well-known melodies to suit the moment yet maintain complete synergy with one another, with Horler's Bill Tatum-esque chord voicings and meandering lyrical interludes giving platform to Coe's resounding, cadenza-like improvisations. Coe recounts this as "one of my very best performances, which would not have been possible without a partner who is one of the finest jazz pianists in the world." The respect from Horler is mutual, with him noting, "Tony was such a great player that it took sometime for me to realize that I could play a bit too." Their trust in each other, in the music, and in the moment, rings true with this live performance Dancing in the Dark, which finally sees the light of day.
CD $17
ANTONIO INFANTINO ED IL GRUPPO DI TRICARICO - Follie Del Divino Spirito Santo (Black Sweat Records BS 090CD; Italy) In this work, first published in 1978 by Cetra, Antonio Infantino continues to express his ritualistic and shamanic relationship with the musical traditions of Southern Italy. The recordings focus on the mystery of death and the sacraments, the light of the spirit and the divine that descends and conquers souls. The phenomenon of Tarantism is still strong, the power of dance as a symbol of transformation and revolt, a therapeutic process of final healing. Folk music celebrates a deep sense of community, the memory of a peasant world that no longer exists but is still alive in the collective memory. Behind the tight and insistent rhythm of the percussion, the voices of the people, the colors of the squares and the scratchy string arrangements always emerge. The magical sound of the bagpipes is lost in the alleys of the villages. Infantino sings of minor cultures, the poor and oppressed classes, who share joys and sorrows, dance and music as secular forms of liberation.
CD $19
GRAHAM COSTELLO - Second Lives (Gearbox BG 1566CD; UK) Glasgow drummer and composer Graham Costello returns with his second STRATA album, Second Lives. Second Lives spans Reichian minimalism, semi-free jazz à la Binker and Moses, polyrhythmic math rock, and pensive, cinematic ambience. The album was recorded straight to tape at RAK Studios with co-producer and engineer Hugh Padgham at the helm, mixed at British Grove, and subsequently mastered in-house at Gearbox. The inspiration and wider themes of Second Lives sit with thoughts of identity, heritage, and Stoicism, as well as the theme of overcoming inner challenges - what you face and the process you go through to get to the other side. The album features STRATA, an ensemble formed by Graham in 2016 which brings together stylistic elements of minimalism, jazz and noise-rock whilst channeling a strong DIY ethic. Made up of some of Scotland's most exciting musical proponents, the band features: pianist Fergus McCreadie, whose critically acclaimed new solo album just came out via Edition Records; guitarist Joe Williamson, who was named Young Scottish Jazz Musician Of The Year in 2018 and leads hard-hitting five-piece Animal Society; rising trombonist Liam Shortall, who also leads jazz collective corto.alto; renowned bassist Mark Hendry and rising saxophonist Harry Weir who also leads AKU!.GRAHAM
CD $17
LEVITATION ORCHESTRA - Illusions & Realities (Gearbox 1572CD; UK)Levitation Orchestra presents one of the most adventurous albums of recent times, bringing together multiple inspirations ranging across spiritual jazz, classical, electronica, soul, spoken word, M-Base, and no-holds-barred free improvisation. With trumpeter Axel Kaner-Lidstrom (Cykada, Maisha) as musical director, the collective comprises some of London's most promising young musicians, who together play in or with the likes of SEED Ensemble, Alabaster de Plume, Shunaji, Nihilism, PÆN, and Nardedey. Lluis Domenech Plana on flute, James Akers on tenor saxophone, and Ayodeji Ijishakin on tenor saxophone complete the horn section, with Saskia Horton on violin, Beatriz Rola on violin, and Emma Barnaby on cello making up the strings. Rhythm is available in handfuls from Hamish Nockles-Moore on double bass and Harry Ling on drums, complemented by Roella Oloro on keys, Maria Osuchowska on harp, and Paris Charles on guitar, with last but not least, Plumm and Dilara Aydin-Corbett on vocals. As a true collective, each member is vital, contributing equally to the whole in terms of playing and writing. Compositions formed out of group discussions, which in the case of Illusions & Realities, delved into childhood, stoicism, astrophysical theories, and neurological delusions, all interweaving and circling the point where truth and reality enter the realm of illusion. The result is a record which manages to channels the energy of Sun Ra's Arkestra, the spiritual ambience of Alice Coltrane, and the harmonic subtleties of Debussy, whilst ultimately producing something tantalizingly original.
CD $16
AKUSMI - Terra Incognita (Tonal TU 020CD; UK) "Cartographers and US multinational technology corporations might think they've mapped out most of the planet, and yet there's always more to discover if you know where to look. French-born, London-based composer and musician Pascal Bideau takes this as his central premise on a new album of intrepid sonic exploration that delights in the sensation of being somewhere you've never been before. Terra Incognita invites listeners to seven faraway sonic imaginariums fusing global and spiritual jazz with life affirming minimalism into a hypnotic, polyrhythmic odyssey. This time, the albums' sound palette is more vibrant, earthy and abundant, drawing inspiration from the radiating optimism and high-energy sources heard in Afrobeat, highlife and electronic Afro-pop music, sounding looser, free and primarily interested in raw sensations. Terra Incognita is a hybrid blend of traditional music and modern electronics, a trip into the unknown that ambulates freely, taking pleasure in its repetitions and never staying still. Bideau suggests this unmarked territory could be as much a fantasyland as it is a transportive journey into the inner self. In an era where the concept of nation states and their need to be protected has come to dominate the political discourse, Terra Incognita embraces adventure without borders, seeking out the unexplored territory of the title, breathlessly beholding vistas and pirouetting to take in boundless panoramas. Bideau is not the only musician on Terra Incognita. There's the Indian-born tabla virtuoso Sarathy Korwar who adds an almost drum and bass-like kineticism to 'Rain Dance', Dudú Kouate, the celebrated Senegalese musician adds an array of percussions, ngoni, flutes throughout with a spirited multi-octave vocal to give a climatic end to the album on 'Dawning Dusk'. Levitation Orchestra's Marysia Osu alongside Lluís Domènech Plana respectively bring harp and flutes whilst pulsing electronics are provided on 'Anima' by longtime collaborator Daniel Brandt. Ecstatic improvisations were overlaid with an array of instruments at his disposal, many from around the world, from Africa to South East Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, gathered from his own travels or brought back by family and friends. Pascal plays flutes, clarinet, guitars, bass, mbira, balafon, dutars, marimbas, zither, adungu and many other percussions."
CD $20
EARTHBALL - Actual Earth Music: Volume 3 & 4 (Upset the Rhythm 181CD; UK) EarthBall are an avant/noise/rock wrecking ball of a band from Nanaimo, Canada. Rooted in total improvisation, free expression, and a deeply psychedelic sensibility, EarthBall operate on pure instinct. They hurtle onwards in a combustion of spontaneous composition, shooting from the hip, as they fall out of the sky ablaze. The group encompasses Isabel Ford (vocals, bass), John Brennan (drums, percussion), Jeremy Van Wyke (vocals, guitar, trumpet), Kellan Maclaughlin (guitar, talkbox), and Liam Murphy (saxophone). Each member brings a rich and varied musical history, with past and present projects including Shearing Pinx, Plan Your Future, Kamikaze Nurse, Eschatons, and Psychedelic Dirt. Collectively and individually, they have collaborated with artists such as Deerhoof, Raven Chacon, Chris Corsano, and William Hooker, deepening the band's exploratory reach and collective language. Since forming in 2021, EarthBall have released six cassettes and three fervently received LPs on Upset The Rhythm, including the widely-acclaimed Outside Over There. Their latest release, Actual Earth Music: Volume 3 & 4, follows the first instalment in the series and captures two mind-quaking highlights from their European tour. This is EarthBall plunging to full fathom five, transforming into something rich and strange -- channeling the fleeting moment as it fractures, erupts, and dissolves into the unknown. Side A captures a thumping performance at Cave12 in Geneva. Frazzled from a white-knuckle alpine descent, the group settles into a hypnotic sprawl, stretching time and form across a colossal 53-minute set. The Cave12 recording is a study in tension and release; ruminative, volatile, and barely contained. Drums stumble and surge, saxophone howls cut through the air, and Ford and Van Wyke's voices briefly pull together the circle twice, before the tumult lapses into a spinning maelstrom. Side B meanwhile presents a scorched excerpt from EarthBall's crushing performance at Le Guess Who? Festival. Actual Earth Music: Volume 3 & 4 marks another ascent in EarthBall's ever-expanding, totemic discography, an ecstatic storm of raw immediacy and unfiltered expression,
CD $16
`MORE BURIED TREASIUES;
BILL COLE / THE UNTEMPERED ENSEMBLE with COOPER-MOORE / WILLIAM PARKER / WARREN SMITH - Duets & Solos - Volume 1 (Boxholder Records BXH 011; USA) Featuring: Bill Cole- flute, digeridoo, shenai, Tibetan trumpet, sona, piri; Cooper-Moore- horizontal hoe-handle harp, diddley bow; Warren Smith- gongs, trap drums; William Parker- bass.
"Bill Cole’s debut disc for Boxholder described the myriad strengths of his Untempered Ensemble at full muster ranging through a handful of powerful and highly personal compositions. Comprising a formidable roster of improvisers including Cooper-Moore, William Parker and Joseph Daley, and adhering to Cole’s rubric of incorporating non-Western instruments into jazz-based improvisatory settings the group was an ingenious amalgam of new and traditionally grounded sonorities. The 2-disc set turned out to be one of the most original and thought-provoking releases of 2000. This second release is culled from a performance that followed the day after the one issued on the first where Cole chose to pair with several colleagues from the Ensemble project in stripped down duo settings and bookended the program with two solo performances, the first for flute and the second for shenai.
While the compositions and playing remain passionate and personal and there are many moments of brilliance on the sophomore effort, Cole’s expectations on his audience are even higher and overall the music is even more demanding than it’s predecessor. Devoid of the broad palette of textures and colors afforded by large ensemble Cole is forced to work much more within the parameters of his own instruments, many of which were not designed for a wide dynamic range of expressive capabilities. As a result, their limitations as extended improvisatory vehicles are brought into bolder relief. Even with Cole’s broad array of extended techniques (multiphonics, vocalizations, etc.) the opening piece for flute suffers in this respect and threatens to slip into redundancy toward its close. Conversely the second piece stands as one of them most engaging pieces of music I’ve heard in recent memory. Cooper-Moore is a genius- an instrument-maker and improviser who is completely comfortable in seemingly any setting. On homemade hoe-handled harp he plucks out a gossamer latticework of Eastern-tinged angelic patterns that simulate the sky to Cole’s droning didgeridoo earth. Shenai and diddley-bow are matched on “W.S.C. & G.Y.A. Blues” trafficking in a weird strain of Middle-Eastern funk. Cooper-Moore’s diddley-bow, an amplified one-string instrument, lays down a viscous vamp and Cole soars above. Again the temporal dimensions of the piece surpass the variations achievable by the instruments. In addition Cooper-Moore’s ‘bow’ sacrifices some clarity through muddy amplification.
Cole and Smith convene on the next two tracks, first meshing circular blown Tibetan trumpet with gongs before moving into a conversation between sona, shenai and trap drums. More meditative than overtly musical these pieces also require that listeners subsume expectations and simply attend to the sounds on their own terms. Of the two Smith’s dynamic drumming on the second piece makes it slightly more accessible, but both pieces repay attentive listening in the textures and communication they unveil. Cole’s solemn piri and Parker’s pitched string bowing mix sharply on the next composition creating another atmosphere of Eastern-inflected sonorities that rises into a flurried patchwork of tone colors. Closing with a solo shenai invocation in honor of former friend and colleague Clifford Thornton Cole leaves the way wide open for Volume 2." - Derek Taylor, AllAboutJazz
CD Sale $8
LAST EXIT with SONNY SHARROCK / PETER BROTZMANN / RONALD SHANNON JACKSON / BILL LASWELL - Headfirst Into The Flames: Live In Europe (DMG ARC 701; USA) Our SECOND Release on Downtown Music Gallery's newly formed DMG ARC label is considered by many fans to be the best of the six releases [certainly the best of the five live ones] by the improv super-group Last Exit, and the least widely distributed. Originally released as a limited edition on Muworks, this item commands high prices ranging to $50-$75 from collector's shops and auction websites including eBay. Ronald Shannon Jackson Is on drums, occasionally adding creepy blues vocals worthy of a serial killer. Sonny Sharrock play nasty blues lines when he Isn't beating his guitar to a pulp, while German sax madman Peter Brotzmann veers between similar extremes with his squealing and honking. Laswell was the perfect bassist for this unit, his dirty, hard-driving lines retaining a feeling of downright meanness throughout. (Please, someone lay "My Balls/Your Chin" and "Pig Cheese" on a Najee fan!) An over-the-top live recording of frighteningly talented musicians improvising as a unit, this album is what you REALLY want to scrape out your cerebral cortex! "Never let it be said that Last Exit didn't take advantage of recording their live shows or playing in front of adoring Europeans. With cover art and song titles courtesy of the late avant-garde British poet Kenneth Patchen, Headfirst kicks off with the brain fry of "Lizard Eyes" only to launch into a Sharrock improv called "Don't Be a Cry Baby, Whatever You Do." Brotzmann blows wild and free here, and his squeal and blurt provides a great counterpoint to the rumble of the rhythms and the pummeling sonic overload of Sharrock's guitar. Another piece of blurt that will make your head spin." - John Dougan "The downtown 80s experimental collective Last Exit well knew that a freedom using potential chaos needs an ingrained order to become art. Although sax,guitar and even bass so often leave rigid forms the instruments lose their usual definitions both bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Shannon Jackson never lose the root spine that gives axe howler Sonny Sharrock and saxist Peter Brotzman just enough of a shifting foundation to remain both focused and restless. Names cease to be important when musicians strike such an intelligent balance. By releasing these live cuts knowledgeable NYC store Downtown Music Gallery proves true liberty creates humility." - James Hopkins "One of my favorite recordings of all time, PERIOD! What a joy it is to present this as an early entry on our own label!" -MannyLunch
CD Sale $8
SELWYN LISSACK'S FRIENDSHIP NEXT OF KIN With MIKE OSBORNE / MONGEZI FEZA / KENNETH TERROADE / HARRY MILLER / EARL FREEMAN - Facets Of The Univers (DMG ARC 702; USA) "Thanks to the NYC store Downtown Music Gallery for unearthing this 1969 treasure, originally out on the French BYG Goody imprint and never on disc until now. Like the South African free jazzers that carved out the path to Europe before him (Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza, Harry Miller), drummer Selwyn Lissack was trying to make his personal connection with the music that barely filtered into his homeland, and made a three year detour to the UK in hopes of continuing onto America landed him with connections to the likes of Lol Coxhill and Mike Osbourne before he took on the reins as a leader for Friendship Next of Kin. Unfortunately the notorious label producer Claude Delcloo butted heads with Lissack, provided and unsatisfactory mix which kept the album in short run despite the stellar lineup on it. Besides fellow ex-pats Feza and Miller, there was another South African, Louis Moholo, plus Osbourne and others joining in for this amazing slab of music; and thankfully Lissack (now a laser artist and sculptor) retained the rights to fix up the sound and reissue it here. "Facets of the Universe" (Real Audio) is a complete blowout of unbelievable proportions; American/Euro/African universal soundmeld that spirals into vicious, relentless attack up there with Brotzmann's Machine Gun or Pharoah's Izipho Zam for sheer gut-bludgeon potential. I would love to hear Lissack's only other session, on the Ric Colbeck Quartet's "The Sun Is Coming Up", and also bummed that I missed his first appearance in 30 years at the Stone this past December (also lined up by DMG)." Brian Turner, WFMU
CD Sale $8
BORAH BERGMAN / LOL COXHILL / PAUL HESSION - Acts Of Love (Mutable 17519; USA) With a unique, two-handed approach that dispenses with the traditional notion of piano playing as competing or interlocking lines, Borah Bergman deals with sound as mass, great chilly bergs or hot flows of magma that change shape as different layers flow against one another, hardening and melting at different rates. By contrast, Lol Coxhill is a singer, a chanticleer on the dunghill of the city or on the rooftree of your house, a head full of old songs and the harmonic codes to transform them. The simplest difference may be that Coxhill comes from a jazz tradition, never more communicative than when playing changes and subverting a saccharine show-tune, while Bergman, for all his deep understanding of blues, boogie-woogie, swing, bebop, comes from somewhere else, classical, cantorial, exclamatory, De profundis clamavi . . . What unites them, though, even beyond the astonishing lingua franca of improvisation, is the idea of music as a kind of labour. Both seem to inhabit an old European ideal, anti-romantic and the toughest creative path there is, that subordinates the idea of works, perfect icons of expression ready for admiring consumption, to the idea of work, a physical, mental and moral effort that has ritual at one end of its spectrum and entertainment away at the other. These are hugely enjoyable pieces; they also have an element of ritual to them; but at their core is something much more profound and constantly evolving. The evolution of music of this kind depends on a very particular sense of time. Like some of the finest British "free" percussionists X Eddie Prevost, the late John Stevens, the younger Mark Sanders - Paul Hession has the ability to impart swing to apparently metreless playing. His virtues are easily overlooked because he seems to blend effortlessly into any background or environment - the classical evolutionary virtue - and one only becomes aware of his importance when he drops out for a measure or two. Such are the ironies of shedding a performing ego. Uniqueness is a much exaggerated quality. Every rock pulled from the ground is unique; the face and history of every passer-by different to the last; what's important, though, is what you make of them in the collective. Bergman and Coxhill are special and play special music, because they have committed themselves to something larger than individual expression. - Brian Morton
CD Sale $8
DAVE BURRELL & DAVID MURRAY - Brother To Brother (Gazell 4006; USA) This duet set by pianist Dave Burrell and David Murray (heard on tenor and bass clarinet) is mostly quite relaxed, surprisingly melodic in spots, and explorative but in subtle ways. Burrell's style both looks backward toward stride (and on "New Orleans Blues" to Jelly Roll Morton) and toward the future in its freedom. Murray is mostly fairly mellow, avoiding the extreme upper register much of the time and focusing on his warm tone. There is a fair amount of variety in tempos even while the mutually respectful mood prevails. An excellent effort! - Scott Yanow
CD Sale $8
ELLERY ESKELIN / SYLVIE COURVOISIER - Every So Often (Prime Source 5010; USA) Featuring Ellery Eskelin on tenor sax and Sylvie Courvoisier on piano. Although this extraordinary duo has not play in New York very often, they have done a bit of touring, playing in Vancouver, the Oregon Festival of Music, Baltimore, the Earshot & Penofin Jazz Fests, Baltimore, Hell's Kitchen Fest and of course, The Stone. Both Ellery and Sylvie remain amongst downtown's finest musicians and composers with a variety of projects and bands that they work with. The also have a trio disc with Vincent Courtois being released on CAM in Italy which we still await. I expected great things from this duo and I was completely knocked out by the results. There is some immense concentration going on here, a dialogue that goes back and forth and combines/blends ideas. On "Moderato Cantabile" the duo play a series of magical cascades, waves of notes building, caressing and slowly ascending, finally fading into silence. A superb beginning. Sylvie is quite a musical sorceress, she makes every note count. Whether she is playing inside the piano or on the keyboard, nothing is ever superfluous. On "A Distant Place" Sylvie seems to playing a few different inter-connected lines simultaneously while Ellery shifts between the lines providing a focal point of entry into ever-changing logic that holds this piece together. I love how on the title piece, the duo strip things down to a more skeletal approach so that each sound shimmers in the space between the notes. This duo exchange is a treasure chest of successfully contained ideas that just keeps getting better each time that I listen to it. I hope to see them live someday, but this disc still blows my mind in the meantime. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD Sale $8
MACHINE GUN with ROBERT MUSSO / THOMAS CHAPIN / JOHN RICHEY / JAIR-ROHM PARKER WELLS / BIL BRYANT plus SONNY SHARROCK / KARL BERGER - Machine Gun (MuWorks 1001; USA) Live at Court Tavern and CBGBs, 1986. Taking their name from the classic '60s European Free Music album by Peter Brotzmann, this band with stellar players Robert Musso, the late Thomas Chapin, Bil Bryant, Jair-Rohm Parker Wells, John Richey with special guests Sonny Sharrock and Karl Berger put on an over the top meeting of rock, jazz and noise. For fans of Last Exit and all outrageous improv, all recorded at live shows!
CD Sale $8
DENMAN MARONEY With NED ROTHENBERG / REUBEN RADDING / MICHAEL SARIN - Gaga: The Art Of The Quartet (Nuscope 1020; USA) Featuring Denman Maroney on Steinway B Hyperpiano, Ned Rothenberg on alto sax, clarinet & bass clarinet, Reuben Radding on double bass & bass guitar (1 track) and Michael Sarin on drums. Denman Maroney has had a completely unique and distinctive approach to playing acoustic piano, that he has worked on for more than a decade. Denman's contribution to each of the discs that he has worked on with Mark Dresser, Ned Rothenberg, Mat Maneri, Earl Howard and Hans Tammen, has never been less than stunning. This is Mr. Maroney's second disc as leader, his first a fine disc on New World from last year and he has chosen his ensemble most selectively. Ned Rothenberg has a great duo disc out with Denman on CIMP and is part of Denman's quintet for New World. Reuben Radding is one of downtown's finest, most diverse and busiest bassists working with the likes of Daniel Carter, Mary Holvorson, Jack Wright & Ursel Schlicht. Similarly, Michael Sarin, also gets around, having played with a host of downtown greats like Mario Pavone, Thomas Chapin, Dave Douglas, Myra Melford and Brad Shepik. I knew from the start that this was going to be fine disc. "Fowler's Blues" opens and is an odd minimal bluesy song with Denman playing most skeletal and Ned playing even less notes, while Michael spins more quickly on brushes. The mid-section has Denman cautiously muting the piano strings with as he plays those eerie rubbed string sounds. There is something quite elegant and charming about this piece. I love the way Denman combines the that twisted Latin-like groove on "Frogs" while playing those bowl-rubbing notes inside the piano. The title track, "Gaga" is the longest and it is a spacious, haunting and minimal piece. Michael's melodic mallet work is featured as the rest of the instruments just add occasional punctuation. It is as if there is a couple of intersecting stories going on simultaneously in slow motion and then building in tempo slightly as it unfolds. When Ned finally comes in, his own playful sound to the sly, oddly funky vibe. The thing I dig most about this disc is the strange yet charming melodies that Denman has written. Each piece seems to have a theme that is quirky, unpredictable and yet, oddly charming. "Kilter" reminds me of a merry-go-round as it accelerates and then slows back down. "Social Security" sounds suspiciously like a Thelonius Monk theme with a theme that is instantly memorable. In a way, I can see/hear how Monk could be an inspiration for this quartet as Denman does write those quirky slightly twisted songs. This disc is not what we might have expected from an experimentalist like Denman Maroney, although it is just as engaging nonetheless. - BLG
CD Sale $8
LOTTE ANKER With FRED FRITH / PHIL MINTON / IKUE MORI / GARTH KNOX / CHRIS CUTLER / et al - What River is This? (Ilk Music 226; Denmark) Everything we've heard from Danish saxist Lotte Anker has been mainly improvised trios and duos, except for the Tim Berne disc that she is on, "Open, Coma". Ms Anker has worked a number of strong players like: Craig Taborn, Gerald Cleaver, Herb Robertson and Sylvie Courvoisier. This disc, however, was composed for the Hudderfield Contemporary Music Festival. Some of these folks have worked together before: Frith & Cutler were once in Henry Cow and the Art Bears plus Henry Cow once tour with the Mike Westbrook band. which also included Phil Minton. The personnel consists of: Ms. Amker on alto, soprano & tenor saxes, Anna Klett on clarinets, Fred Frith on guitar, Garth Know on viola, Phil Minton on voice, Ikue Mori on electronics, Jesper Egelund on contrabass and Chris Cutler on drums. This disc came in a couple of months ago and I had to listen to it several times to figure out how it worked. The music sounds both partially improvised yet tightly directed in sections. Similar to the way a graphic score is balanced with some written parts. The texts come from two writers: Jorge Luis Borges and Danish poet Ursula Andkjaer Olsen. Mr. Minton's voice is used selectively, creating strange sounds and twisting segments of words into different voices. The music is often stripped down and filled with suspense-filled sections. Minton does a great job of sounding like several different characters in a strange play as he changes the sound of his voice(s). There is little if any soloing going on, but there is quite a bit of intense interplay between everyone. What I really dig about this disc is that once you hear it a few times, you see that an odd, sort of story appears as the piece evolves. The written sections are skeletal yet they add a central structure that takes some time to absorb. I had to concentrate on this disc in order to let it take over and take me away. Most successful! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD Sale $10
LP Section:
LOREN CONNORS & DAVID GRUBBS - Somewhere In The Wind (Room40 4273; Australia) A note from David Grubbs: "Somewhere in the Wind is the third record that Loren Connors and I have made together. Of the three, it's the first that consists exclusively of electric guitar duos and it's the first that was recorded live. To me it feels very much like a live record; this music happened in crowded rooms in Brooklyn on two dates in 2025 and there's an urgency to connect with others and a pleasure in doing so that can be heard on both of these tracks. On the first of our duo records (Arborvitae, 2003) I primarily play piano, and on the second (Evening Air, 2024) we switch off on piano and guitar. Both of those albums bespeak the privacy of the recording studio, where time is suspended and one can explore the quietest of sounds. By contrast, Somewhere in the Wind is the noisiest, most raucous and most free of our duo records. It's the sound of us taking it to the stage. I became a fan of Loren's playing from the moment that I first heard it, after happening upon a beat-up copy of In Pittsburgh circa 1992 in a used bin in the Dr. Wax record store in Chicago where my then-bandmate Bundy K. Brown worked. Everyone has taken a chance on a record because it looked interesting and wouldn't set you back too much. In that regard In Pittsburgh was the find of a lifetime. I had just switched from playing in a postpunk power trio (Bastro) to making mostly drummerless respect-your-neighbors music (Gastr del Sol), and Loren's pacing and touch and his lovely, unaffected compositions had me from the first listen. Not long after that, Jim O'Rourke and I reissued In Pittsburgh on our Dexter's Cigar label, and I fondly remember first meeting Loren in New York's Grand Central Station -- so glamorous for this country mouse -- and taking the train upstate with him where he shared a bill with Gastr del Sol. During soundcheck, Jim, Loren, and I played together for a bit and Loren's approach to the instrument was something that one could instantly sink into, the kind of situation where there are no mistakes. I still feel that when we play together."
LP $32
JOHN TCHICAI QUINTET / PETER KOWALD DUO - I.C.P./Jutto-Ku Kyoto (Formalibera SJT185; Italy) In late September and early October 1969, John Tchicai toured throughout Denmark with a special quintet. The international band was a notable one, bringing together musicians from Denmark and Holland whose conceptual differences were as important as the musical values they held in common. Tchicai and two of his closest Danish collaborators -- trumpeter Hugh Steinmetz and guitarist Pierre Dørge -- embraced an international perspective that incorporated far flung influences from African music, contemporary classical, and jazz into a cool, yet playful and joyous, modernity. In this quintet they worked with two pillars of the Dutch Instant Composer's Pool, pianist Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink. Ironic and subversive, they displayed a willingness, you might even say an eagerness, to disrupt accepted conventions of any kind. The music on this LP, recorded on October 9, 1969, at Danish Radio Studio 11 in Copenhagen, consists of compositions they'd played on the recently concluded tour plus a group improvisation. Of course, Tchicai's international collaborations extended beyond neighboring Holland. He was a most cosmopolitan musician, performing and recording with musicians in the U.S., Asia, Africa, and Europe. Perhaps surprisingly, one of his most sympathetic European partners was German bassist Peter Kowald. Tchicai did share some musical affinities with the German improvising scene. As Kowald and his compatriots, such as Peter Brötzmann and Alexander von Schlippenbach, took inspiration from the cathartic energy and the collective improvisation of free jazz, especially Albert Ayler. His appearance on John Coltrane's Ascension, would have also earned him respect among the hard-blowing Germans. Tchicai and Kowald mutual openness to the sounds of other cultures and free improvisation made them quite compatible, so it's something of a shock that this is the only documentation of their work together. The two improvisors found themselves in Japan in 1983, when they recorded the astonishing duet contained on the second side of this LP. Their improvisation in Kyoto is an amazingly resourceful conversation a kind of improvisation which remains far from "world music," and with new textures expanding their musical vocabularies and allowing them to develop new ideas; qualities that allowed Tchicai to flourish in so many different settings. Includes an insert with beautiful photos from the John Tchicai Quintet sessions with portraits of Tchicai, Bennink, Mengelberg, Steinmetz and Dørge as well as liner notes by Ed Hazell.
LP $30
JOHN TCHICAI / CADENTIA NOVA DANICA - Wigmore Hall 1968 (Formalibera 6FFCND186; Italy) To the best of anyone's knowledge this performance by John Tchicai and Cadentia Nova Danica was the first ever jazz- or improvisation-type concert held at London's hallowed recital room Wigmore Hall. 1968 was a year of Denmark's extensive cultural program in Britain, which included a poorly attended CND concert, not recorded, on 2nd October at Manchester's Free Trade Hall. That this was to be the sole concert by Tchicai -- of New York Contemporary Five, New York Art Quartet, Coltrane's Ascension fame -- was stupefyingly ridiculous so Anthony Barnett set about trying to organize a London concert. He traipsed the capital in search of an available venue without luck until, with no thought of a positive outcome, he entered Wigmore Hall. To his astonishment, with few questions asked, they said yes. Following that, there was the matter of work permits. Barnett visited the relevant office and they too said yes, probably because of the involvement of The Royal Danish Embassy and the Danish Cultural Ministry with the Manchester concert. Danmarks Radio asked the BBC to record the concert on its behalf. The arrangement was that Barnett would receive a small fee and a complete set of the tapes. Afterwards, it turned out that the BBC had edited the tapes down to what it sent to Danmarks Radio, as broadcast and now heard here for the first time since. Sadly, and quite true to form, the BBC had wiped the rest. And it was a struggle for Anthony Barnett to get back the tape that did remain. Possibly it shows how difficult things can be when one acts independently. Featuring Cadentia Nova Danica at the absolute peak of their powers; furious, rich and dense, moving between freeform improvisation and African touchstones before erupting into incandescent free improvisation. Includes an insert with the reproduction of both Wigmore Hall and Manchester's Free Trade Hall original press releases. Liner notes by Anthony Barnett.
LP $30
THE CONTEMPORARY JAZZ QUARTET Featuring SONNY MURRAY & GARY PEACOCK / HUGH STEINMETZ - The Predetermination (Formalibera 7FFTCJQ190; Italy) Includes four-page insert. "TCJQ together with Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray! This is THE sunken treasure. This is music I have only heard about. And yet, here it is. Unbelievable. Intact. Preserved. Beaming of energy and JOY! This is a sensational find. My favorite Danes exploding together with my favorite double bass player all time. Gary Peacock. The engine. The power engine. I can hardly breathe when he plays, and when he starts soloing and creating beautiful duo bass action with his colleague Steffen Andersen in this very first recording of 'Predetermination,' 10 minutes in -- my heart expands, and the world suddenly looks and sounds entirely different. Add Sunny Murray on top of it all? The master of unreal flow and accents. Sunny was a beast to deal with at the time. But what he adds to the music is pure poetry. No other drummer did anything even close to this back in the mid-'60s. To have Steinmetz and Beckerlee playing alongside Peacock and Murray in 1964 is as good as it gets. The absolute point-zero of free jazz, Spiritual Unity, was just released. It changed everything. This is the mother of it all. The birth. You would think Steinmetz and Beckerlee would have had a little anxiety joining the American duo. There is nothing of uncertainty or vague playing here. This is for real. Right-on-take-no-prisoners-do-not-look-back. Added to the A-side of this mythical recording with creative Danes and the rhythm section of Spiritual Unity is a little improvised miniature. 'In the Name of Beauty.' The title very accurately describes what is going on. TCJQ creating pure communal beauty. Steinmetz, Beckerlee and Andersen getting very real! Dig the harmonics of the last note. The B-side´s 'Spontaneity,' 'Action' and 'Collusion' are just wild. Raw. And utterly beautiful. The group is doing real sharing on a level unheard of before. While listening through this music numerous times and trying to write something simultaneously of intellectual or emotional content something happens? I lose the sense of time. The emerging free jazz scene of Denmark of the early '60s, is something spectacular and WILD. Years before the other Scandinavian countries even got a grip of the new jazz, the Danes were doing it already. Fueled by very important guest visits by Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray and Albert Ayler at both clubs and radio or TV appearances. Those were the times when public service actually noticed new developments in art, music and literature." Mats Gustafsson, April 2026
LP $30
THE COOKERS with BILLY HARPER / EDDIE HENDERSON / DAVID WEISS / CECIL McBEE / BILLY HART - Look Out! (Gearbox 1571OBILP; UK) Look Out! is the triumphant sixth album return of jazz supergroup The Cookers. Recorded at the iconic Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs and cut using a Van Gelder-era '67 Haeco Sculley lathe at Gearbox Records, the seven-track release comprises original, fresh pieces written by Cecil McBee, Billy Harper, and George Cables which channel the heady, aggressive post-bop era of the mid-60s. Whereas the majority of the jazz tradition's elder statesmen head their own groups, this is one of the few jazz bands to contain legacy musicians of this caliber functioning as an equitable, long-standing ensemble. Billy Harper, Cecil McBee, George Cables, Eddie Henderson, and Billy Hart all came up in the heady era of the mid '60s: Hart and Henderson were members of Herbie Hancock's groundbreaking Mwandishi group; Cecil McBee anchored Charles Lloyd's great '60s quartet alongside Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette; Billy Harper was part of Lee Morgan's last group, as well as being a member of Max Roach's Quartet and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers; while George Cables held down the piano chair in numerous bands including groups led by Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, and Art Pepper. David Weiss and Donald Harrison, from a more recent generation and the youngest members of the band, are experts in this forthright lingo, having gained experience performing with Art Blakey, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Tolliver, Roy Haynes and Herbie Hancock. After 14 years together, again the incredibly high level of musicianship has only increased with the revisiting of their boundary-pushing music from these revered improvisers.
LP $34
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ATTENTION ALL CREATIVE MUSICIANS OUT THERE, Around the world.
If you have a link for some music that you are working on and want to share it with the folks who read the DMG Newsletter, please send the link to DMG at BLGallanter@gmail.com
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THE STONE is LOCATED AT THE NEW SCHOOL,
Here is the upcoming schedule:
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / LARRY OCHS / JULY 22-25
7/22 Wednesday
8:30 pm: TRIO - Larry Ochs (saxes) Joe Morris (bass) Michael Wimberly (drums)
7/23 Thursday
8:30 pm: SPECTRAL - Larry Ochs (saxes) Dave Rempis (alto sax) Darren Johnston (trumpet)
7/24 Friday
8:30 pm: TRIO - Larry Ochs (saxes) Simon Hanes (electric bass) Billy Martin (drums)
7/25 Saturday
8:30 pm - LARRY OCHS with HIGHSMITH - Larry Ochs (saxes) Craig Taborn (piano) Ikue Mori (electronics)
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / LUKE STEWART / JULY 29-AUG 1
7/29 Wednesday
8:30 pm: SOLO - Luke Stewart (bass)
7/30 Thursday
8:30 pm: Blacks' Myths - Luke Stewart (electric bass guitar, electronics) Warren Crudup (drums)
7/31 Friday
8:30 pm: SILT TRIO - Luke Stewart (bass) Brian Settles (tenor sax) Chad Taylor (drums)
8/1 Saturday
8:30 pm: SILT TRIO PLUS ONE - Luke Stewart (bass) Brian Settles (tenor sax) Chad Taylor (drums) Daniel Carter (sax)
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
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THIS COMES FROM OUR GOOD FRIENDS AT THE BURNT SUGAR ARKESTRA:
Thursday, July 30th / Friday, July 31st / Saturday, August 1st
Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber “Caramelizes” The Summer of LoveConcert of Joe Henderson Lab
SF Jazz Center
201 Franklin Street
San Francisco CA 94102
415-788-7353
All Ages
Two Shows @ Night @ 7PM & 8:30PM - $39.00
Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber / sfjazz.org
Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber (SF Jazz Summer of Love Edition) - Featuring: Shelley Nicole - vocals/conduction / Bruce Mack - vocals/synthesizer/conduction / Miss Olithea - vocals/electronics / JS Williams - trumpet / V. Jeffrey Smith - soprano & tenor sax/electronics / Ben Tyree - electric guitar / Leon Gruenbaum - keyboards/samchillian/talk box / LaFrae Sci - trap drums/electronic drums/conduction / Jared Michael Nickerson - electric bubble bass
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ZURCHER GALLERY Presentation:
Thursday, September 24th at 8:30 PM
Density 2036: part xi Album Release
Terry Riley’s The Holy Liftoff (2024)
Realization by Samuel Clay Birmaher
Performed by Claire Chase (flutes) and JACK Quartet
At the Zürcher Gallery
33 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012