DMG Newsletter for Friday, June 1st, 2018

It’s the Singer Not the Song!
Raise a Toast to the Many Singers who have long Sang to Us
Through the many phase of our lives and Touched us in different Ways

Both Festivals I recently attended featured several great vocalists:
Victo: Julia Ulehla from Dalava, Audrey Chen, Yoshimi from Saicobab & Anna Homler
Vision Fest: Amirtha Kidambi from Code Girl, Fay Victor, Camae Ayewa & Julie Ezelle Patton
Each one was Enchanting in their own Distinctive Way! Most inspiring to One and All!

The Newsletter below also features some strong Vocalists
So Open your Mind of Take a Listen to some New Voices and Important Music from:

Six from Clean Feed: Marty Ehrlich/John Hebert/Nasheet Waits! Sean Conly/Michael Attias/Satoshi Takeishi! Angles 3: Martin Kuchen/Ingebrigt Haker Flaten/Kjell Nordeson! Chris Pitsiokos Unit! Honest John Ab Baars! Bill Frisell & Chantal Acda! Pharoah Sanders 1968! Joelle Leandre & Elisabeth Harnik! Angelika Niescier/Chris Tordini/Tyshawn Sorey!

Dave Gisler Trio! Three from Kristo Rodzevski with Mary Halvorson & Tomas Fujiwara! Big Blood & Chuck Bettis! Six Duck Baker Restocks! Plus Historic Discs from Bo Hansson! Nikki Sudden! Nurse with Wound! John Fahey DVD! Derek Bailey & Evan Parker LP! Serge Gainsbourg and Much More..!

************
DMG 28th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (Part 1) 

This Monday, June 4th at 8pm: 

KALABALIK featuring RAOUL BJORKENHEIM, ANDERS NILSSON & GERALD CLEAVER!

At The New School, 55 West 13th St (upstairs from The Stone) - just east of 6th Ave
on the fifth floor in the Jazz Performance Space

KALABALIK played their set at Downtown Music Gallery on January 2nd of 2011. Their debut set was recorded and released on our own DMG/ARC label. KALABALIK have performed on several DMG sponsored events through the years, blowing minds each time to play. To help celebrate our 28th year as the only record store left on the Planet Earth to remain open and still specialize in Creative/Avant-Jazz/Progressive & Downtown Musics. 

Admission: Donation - whatever you can afford

DMG News Department:

We (your friends at Downtown Music Gallery) are working on getting our lease extended for another three years. This will bring us to our 30th year! Our current lease is up in October of this year and we are struggling but still want to continue to provide a home for serious listeners and creative musicians worldwide.  

****************
Upcoming Sets at Downtown Music Gallery - FREE, every Sunday at 6pm

THE DMG 28TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES OF SONIC CELEBRATIONS Continue with:

This Sunday, June 3rd:
6pm: DAVID AARON / ROB RITCHIE / DAVE GOULD -
Soprano Sax / Electric Guitar / Drums
7pm: SAM NEWSOME - Solo Soprano Sax

This Monday, June 4th: DMG 28th Anniversary Celebration! At The New School:
8pm: KALABALIK: RAOUL BJORKENHEIM / ANDERS NILSSON / GERALD CLEAVER!

Sunday, June 10th:
6pm: CARLO COSTA / CHRISTIAN MEAAS SVEDSEN / SAM KULIK - Percussion / Bass / Trombone
7pm: JONATHAN MORITZ / SEAN ALI / CARLO COSTA - Sax / Bass/ Drums

Rare, Monday June 11th:
6:30 - CARTOON JUSTICE With G. CALVIN WESTON/MIKA PONTECORVO/KERSTI ABRAMS/ADRIANE PONTECORVO/MARK PINO/ELIJAH PONTECORVO - Drums/Guitar/Alto Sax/Cello/El. Bass/Waterphone

Sunday, June 17th:
6pm: PRACTITIONER: BEN GOLDBERG and MICHAEL COLEMAN - CD Release Set
7pm: NICOLA HAIN / BRIGGAN KRAUSS - Electric Guitar & Alto Sax
8pm: KAWAGUCHI KENYA and NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC! - Shakuhachi & Acoustic Bass

Tuesday, June 19th: Bruce’s Birthday Bash!
Dance party Here at DMG with Snacks and Spirits!
Check out some Funky DJ Music by MC Bruce Lee

Sunday, June 24th:
6pm: TODD CAPP’S MYSTERY TRAIN: KURT RALSKE / EMILIE LESBROS /
AUSTIN COVELL / ANDREW HAAS / TODD CAPP
7pm: DCNN: DANIEL CARTER NEWS NETWORK: ELI WALLACE /
BEN COHEN / DANIEL CARTER / DAN KURFIRST

DMG is located at 13 Monroe St. (between Catherine & Market Sts) in a basement below a small gallery. Take the F train to East Broadway or the 6 train to Canal or the B or D to Grand, or the M-15 bus to Madison & Catherine. Come on Down, the Sunday Music Series is Always Free & the Vibes are Always Cosy

*******

Six New Discs from the Incredible & Prolific Clean Feed Label:

MARTY EHRLICH With JOHN HEBERT / NASHEET WAITS - Trio Exaltation (Clean Feed 475; Portugal) Marty Ehrlich has released his first trio recording in many years, entitled "Trio Exaltation." For this new trio concept, Ehrlich has called on bassist John Hébert and drummer Nasheet Waits. All three were members together in the Andrew Hill Point of Departure Sextet, a group which brought Andrew Hill's music strongly before the public in the last decade of Hill's life.
This recording features eight new compositions by Marty Ehrlich, one of the most accomplished and celebrated composers and performers in the New Jazz. The one exception is the seminal composition of Andrew Hill entitled "Dusk", which is also the title of the first Andrew Hill Sextet recording. Ehrlich writes that this is a work of "simple complexity which Andrew was a master of."
This recording also includes a beautiful hymn in memory of Ornette Coleman, and a tribute to Pedro Costa of Clean Feed entitled “Senhor P.C.” Ehrlich uses his range of saxophone, clarinets, and flutes as the works on the recording moves from reflection to vigor and back. There is a great empathy between these three artists, as they explore "the exaltation of the moment." Trio Exaltation is a new stage of Ehrlich's ensembles, rich in urgency and sophistication. Give it a listen.”
CD $15

SEAN CONLY With MICHAEL ATTIAS / SATOSHI TAKEISHi - Hard Knocks (Clean Feed 772; Portugal) Personnel: Sean Conly - double bass, Michaël Attias - alto sax and Satoshi Takeishi - drums. On “Hard Knocks”, bassist and composer Sean Conly does just that. In a trio setting with Satoshi Takeishi (drums) and Michaël Attias (alto saxophone), Sean sets out on a musical adventure with his longtime friends and collaborators of roughly 20 years. These stalwart improvisors fill every moment with surprise, energy and emotion as they navigate a new series of compositions Mr. Conly wrote for them. . Past, present and future are engaged and mixed together in this organic and elastic trio. Whether they navigate thru a modern take on the blues (Loose Screws), or swing thru freedom and form (Hard Knocks), or embrace a cinematic take on the slow ballad (Undertow), the trio has a compulsion to simultaneously explore the roots and yet play something very much alive and organic. This puts Conly and his companions very far from the classic mainstream / avant-garde equation. This means you find them, and the music in “Hard Knocks”, all encompassing, nothing being refused on principle. The use of open forms isn’t necessarily in conflict with the rigour of the structures, the same way the attention to spaces doesn’t endanger the drive or the intensity of a particular improvisation. The name of the game, here, is inclusion, and it sounds beautiful.
CD $15

ANGLES 3 With MARTIN KUCHEN / INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN / KJELL NORDESON - Parede (Clean Feed 483; Portugal) Personnel: Martin Küchen - tenor and soprano saxes, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - double bass and Kjell Nordeson - drums and percussion. After concerts and recordings as Angles 10, Angles 9, Angles 8 and Angles 6, here is back the original Angles line-up, Angles 3. It was 2004 and for a gig at the Glenn Miller Cafe it's mentor and saxophonist, Martin Küchen invited two Scandinavian musicians now living in the United States (respectively, Austin - Texas and San Diego - California), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Kjell Nordeson. “Parede”, the title, is a tribute to the Portuguese town near Lisbon where the album was recorded live, at a venue called SMUP which in few years became the equivalent in this Southern European country to The Stone, Cornelia Street Café and Nublu. Most of the compositions, like Küchen’s classics “Satan in Plain Clothes” and “By Way of Deception”, are the same of those other Angles investments, of course with different arrangements. This version functions as a reduction to the essence of the music conceived by the Swedish musician, resulting in an energetic, even brutal, kind of free bop delivered to the ears as if it is punk or metal, echoes of Sonny Rollins and Albert Ayler mixing with something that could come from... The Melvins.
CD $15

CP UNIT With CHRIS PITSIOKOS / SAM LISABETH / TIM DAHL HENRY FRASER / JASON NAZARY - Silver Bullets in the Autumn of Your Years (Clean Feed 481; Portugal) Personnel: Chris Pitsiokos - alto sax, wind controller, sampler & analog synthesizer, Sam Lisabeth - guitar, Tim Dahl - electric bass or Henry Fraser electric bass and Jason Nazary drums and electronics or Connor Baker drums. Chris Pitsiokos is indeed what everybody says about him: the most representative face of a new generation of musicians commited to change the New York jazz scene. Or the New York rock scene, because he is positioned somewhere among those genres, also incorporating aspects of contemporary classical music in his compositions and improvisations. Here again, we find him expanding the possibilities of his instrument, the alto saxophone, under the influence of Ornette Coleman’s harmolodics, noise music, and the timbral explorations of Stockhausen. The CP Unit includes a regular companion, Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, Pulverize the Sound) and musicians Sam Lisabeth (Samuel Boat, Guerilla Toss), Henry Fraser (The Full Salon, Brandon Seabrook Trio, Brandon Seabrook's Die Trommel Fatale), Jason Nazary (Little Women, Bear in Heaven) and Connor Baker (No Name, Michael Foster’s The Ghost). While Pitsiokos is firmly rooted in the melodic vocabularies of his forbears Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman, his structural, harmonic and timbral ideas propel him into the future and beyond. Always included are the personal contributions of his partners, opening himself and the music to their visions. The result is astonishing.
CD $15

HONEST JOHN WITH AB BAARS - Treem (Clean Feed 482; Portugal) Personnel: Ole-Henrik Moe -violin, Kim Johannesen -guitar, guitar-banjo, Ola Høyer - double bass, Erik Nylander drums, Roland TR77 drum machine and Klaus Ellerhusen Holm alto sax, Bb-clarinet; special guest: Ab Baars Tenor sax, Bb clarinet and shakuhachi Klaus Ellerhusen Holm’s writing for the band Honest John may have the kind of ondulations and turnings you recognize from Anthony Braxton’s compositions, but the use of chamber music historical references and of folk instruments (like the banjo played by Kim Johannesen) give it a very different dimension. The way “Treem” associates abstract, experimental moments with passages of the most explicit, bop-ish, groovy jazz is another distinctive aspect in presence, benefiting from the contribution of the guest musician in this album, a star of the Dutch jazz scene, Ab Baars, whose tenor saxophone and clarinet reproduce all the patrimony of jazz in new ways, while his shakuhachi, a traditional bamboo Japanese flute, reinforces the idea that this project is inventing an imaginary folklore for the global village we all live in. This is the last release with the participation of violinist Ole-Henrik Moe, replaced by accordeonist Kalle Moberg after the recording of the present collection of pieces due to his ongoing commitments to his compositional work, being one of Norway most prominent contemporary composers. You couldn’t have a more touching and vibrant farewell from his part, giving to Moberg a supplementar responsability in what concerns the realization of the Honest John beautiful utopia: to open up very specific music to a broader audience.
CD $15

CHROME HILL - The Explorer (Clean Feed 471; Portugal) Personnel: Asbjørn Lerheim - baritone guitar; Atle Nymo - tenor sax, Roger Arntzen - double bass and Torstein Lofthus - drums. That’s not news now: Scandinavian jazz is in love with Americana, importing aspects of Country & Western and Appalachian folk, and even using its instruments, in projects gradually difficult to categorize. Each project still individually unique, and like their fellow countrymen Huntsville, who mixes banjo and pedal steel guitar with Indian tabla machine and shruti boxes, Chrome Hill uses the typical sound of the surf guitar style of bands like The Surfaris, The Mermen, Eddie & the Showmen or The Ventures, with lots of reverb and tremolo. A kind of sound treatment you also wouldn’t expect from a combo profoundly influenced by Texan-Mexican rock done such brilliantly, like this one lead by Asbjørn Lerheim on baritone guitar. Lerheim is not alien to this kind of mixes: he is an important contributor to Lisa Dillan’s Quiet Quiet Project, with its reformulation of Elvis Presley’s songs. After four Chrome Hill albums (two of them under the name Damp), the saxophone was played by Shining leader Jørgen Munkeby. Atle Nymo (the same of Motif and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra) is now pointing out a new direction, giving a more melodic character to the music. He is the needed contrast to the dense and dirty rhythmic support given by In the Country bassist Roger Arntzen and Elephant9 drummer Torstein Lofthus and to the profound, earthy guitar work developed by Lerheim. You’ll get addicted.
CD $15

CHANTAL ACDA & BILL FRISELL - Live at Jazz Middelheim (Glitterhouse 954; Germany) Glitterhouse present the live recording of a magic night - the Dutch/Belgian chanteuse Chantal Acda in a duo-setting with Grammy award winning guitarist extraordinaire Bill Frisell. Captured in superb sound quality. Chantal Acda on the recording: "When I wrote the songs of my record, I dreamt to hear Bill's sounds on it. I thought this feeling would go away but it never did. So I decided to contact him to see if he would work with me and put the last pieces of the puzzle together on this record (Bounce Back, 2017). He liked the music so I flew to Seattle to record his wonderful guitar playing on the songs. Meeting him felt like coming home. And this connection was still so fresh in my memory when I arrived back to Belgium. We kept in touch by writing each other and sometimes he drew me funny faces. We were invited to play at the wonderful Jazz Middelheim festival and finally ended up on stage together. In the dressing room we quickly went through the songs but we kept all surprises for the stage. It was a wonderful experience for me. One of the highlights of my musical career. It wasn't meant to be recorded but it was. So listening back to these recordings we thought it would be nice to be able to share this with the people who were there but also the people who missed it and are curious to hear what happened. I truly hope you will enjoy these moments. These moments that will always stick with me."
CD $17

PHAROAH SANDERS With LONNIE LISTON SMITH / SIRONE / MAJEED SHABAZZ - Juan Les Pin Jazz Festival '68 (Hi Hat 3097; UK) Pharoah Sanders, live from the Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival, Antibes, France on July 20th, 1968. Having made his name playing with John Coltrane as of 1965, Pharoah Sanders soon came to be recognized as one of the most innovative jazz players of his generation. Having formed his own quartet, he was invited to perform at the Antibes Jazz Festival in Juan-les-Pins, France in July 1968. Originally broadcast on French radio station WDR3, this superb recording captures a great musician in his early prime. Includes the entire WDR3-FM radio broadcast is presented here, digitally remastered, with background notes and images. Personnel: Pharoah Sanders - tenor sax, percussion; Lonnie Liston Smith - piano; Norman "Sirone" Jones - bass; Majeed Shabazz - drums.
CD $17

ELISABETH HARNIK / JOELLE LEANDRE - Tender Music (Trost 172; Austria) Beautiful, insightful improvisation pieces by two master-musicians full of creativity and musical knowledge. Mastered by Jean-Marc Foussat. Liner notes by Ken Vandermark. Artwork by Lasse Marhaug. Personnel: Elisabeth Harnik - piano and Joëlle Léandre - double bass.
CD $17

ANGELIKA NIESCIER / CHRIS TORDINI / TYSHAWN SOREY - The Berlin Concert (Intakt 305; Switzerland) “This magnificent concert took place at the Berlin Jazzfest 2017, where Angelika Niescier was awarded the Albert Mangelsdorff Prize (German Jazz Prize). This concert by the Angelika Niescier NYC Trio with Chris Tordini on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums – who was Jazzfest Berlin’s 2017 Artist in Residence, and gave several performances in Berlin – proved to be a remarkable stroke of luck for the festival, since Niescier had already worked regularly with both for ten years.
Christian Broecking writes in the liner notes: "This Berlin Concert of the Angelika Niescier Trio makes it clear in a unique way how something organically complete can emerge from all this unceasing curiosity, questioning and research, from pulse, attentiveness and from an acute sense of judgment and knowledge of what is going to work. When Tordini heard the recording of this very special concert, he noticed both the collective attention and the freedom, a combination which only rarely succeeds in such intense conditions. And Tyshawn Sorey agrees: ‘None of us either hung around for the others or hurried ahead of them.’“
CD $18

DAVE GISLER TRIO With RAFFAELE BOSSARD / LIONEL FRIEDLI - Rabbits on the Run (Intakt 304; Switzerland) Featuring Dave Gisler on guitar, Raffaele Bosshard on bass and Lionel Friedli on drums. Over the past few years, the underground creative music scene has been emerging and expanding in Switzerland. The Intakt label has done a great job of documenting such musicians as Sarah Buechi, Florian Egli, Omri Ziegele, Silke Eberhard and Christoph Irniger. Not forgetting SchnellerTollerMeier and the Great Harry Hillman on Cuneiform. Guitarist Dave Gisler is yet another musician to watch, having recorded with Florian Egli and Christoph Irniger. Having heard Mr. Gisler on several discs for Intakt, I thought I know what to expect but I was dead wrong.
“Spiegelfeld” starts off with a spacey, early Pat Metheny Trio like sound. Soon enough, “Dive” launches into a near-punkish throttle with furious, soaring sustained guitar on top above a slamming rhythm team. Quite an eruption going on here! Mr. Gisler creates immense suspense on “Mr. No Name”, while acoustic bassist Bosshard hangs on that central strummed note. “Sinister Minister” also features some power, menacing sustained guitar, the distortion near breaking point. The trio create a different vibe on every piece, from introspection to over-the-top. On the title track, “Rabbits on the Run”, they erupt like a tornado, jazz/rock/fusion at its most intense. I can’t think of the last time I heard a power trio as hot as this one, except perhaps Blixt (with Raoul Bjorkenheim, Bill Laswell & Morgen Agron). Guitar fan-addists, this one is for you! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18

PETER BRUUN’S ALL TOO HUMAN With MARC DUCRET / KASPER TRANBERG / SIMON TOLDAM - Vernacular Avant-Garde (Ayler Records 155; France) Featuring Marc Ducret bon 6 & 12 string guitars, Kasper Tranberg on trumpet & cornet, Simon Toldam on Moog & Juno 60 synths and Peter Bruun on drums,MikroKorg & compositions. Danish drummer, Peter Bruun, has been branching out in the last few years and working with Samuel Blaser, Django Bates and Jacob Anderskov. Mr. Bruun can also be found on a couple of more recent discs from French guitarist, Marc Ducret. Danish trumpeter, Kasper Tranberg, has worked in similar circles with Tim Berne, Pierre Dorge and Mikko Innanen, I only know synth player, Simon Toldham, from his work in the Han Bennink Trio, where he played piano. Starting with, “Follow Me”, Bruun has written a quirky, off-kilter line for the guitar and trumpet to play together while Mr. Toldam adds some synth underneath. The band name, “All Too Human”, is also the name of the second song and it has a solemn, prayer-like vibe with somber cornet and eerie synth. The title track features some tight, fractured, guitar, trumpet and synth lines played together on the theme. “Sunshine Superman” is not the old Donavon song that you might recall but an original, lop-sided tune with a cloud of spacey cornet and synth with great shards of electric guitar interwoven throughout. What I find most interesting about this disc is that none of the pieces rock very hard, all are more cerebral with much attention paid to odd structures and unexpected twists and turns. Mr. Ducret plays some strange, dreamy slide on “Extended Mind”, which keeps us off-balance. The final piece, “Is That So Sir Names”, keeps changing throughout with weird synth sounds and strange samples thrown in-between the written parts. This is one of those disc that will take some to fugure how it all fits together so surprises are certainly in store. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $17

After a two month delay due to a printing error, the new Mary Halvorson 2 CD set will finally arrive in a day or two. Everyone who has pre-ordered this disc before now, will get it at the pre-order sale price of $20. As of June 1st, the price will go up to $22.

MARY HALVORSON With AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE / AMIRTHA KIDAMBI / MICHAEL FORMANEK / TOMAS FUJIWARA - Code Girl ((Firehouse 12 04-01-027; USA) “Each of Mary Halvorson’s ‘main’ records where the ingeniously quirky composer and guitarist heads up a small ensemble represents a tweak on the group’s configuration. She does this to reveal a new facet in her original, pliable compositions; for that reason, every album is its own, standalone chapter in the still-evolving Book of Halvorson. For Code Girl (March 30 2018, Firehouse 12 Records), Halvorson uses a whole new crew apart from the one that’s always been anchored by the Ches Smith/John Hébert rhythm section. Well, not exactly new: The collective Thumbscrew trio of her, drummer Tomas Fujiwara and bassist Michael Formanek is expanded with Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet) and Amirtha Kidambi (voice), and she’s fully in charge. The term “code girl” came randomly out of the mouth of Halvorson’s primary mentor Anthony Braxton but it could have easily been directed at Halvorson herself and her approach to composition: a calculating, mathematical approach where the math is advanced algebra. She sets up each song to solve for x, always arriving there via a path no one could anticipate or readily decipher but the journey is worthwhile just for the exotic places it takes you. Just to pick out one example, “Possibility of Lightning” is typical of that Halvorson brand, marching, literally, to the beat that could have only come from her head. But now, Halvorson introduces lyrics that are found in all but a couple of songs on Code Girl. Singing isn’t a new thing on Halvorson’s material, she’s done this on her collaborations with Jessica Pavone. This time though the lines are all delivered by Kidambi. Adopting an approach that’s the opposite of probably most songwriters, the lyrics were written first and the music was built around it. In the end, the words don’t alter the general thrust of Halvorson’s music but it serves to sharpen the edges of it a bit. “My Mind I Find In Time” begins with Halvorson alone in a dreamy aside that reminds me of how her originality is only magnified when she’s all alone. However, the whole band acts as an effective extension of her fertile mind when they come on board, including even another true original of the current generation, Akinmusire. The trumpeter provides the expected contrast but when the two play as a unit as they do on “Pretty Mountain,” they find common ground in their disparate approaches. He gets an unaccompanied spotlight on “Deepest Similar” that’s all pure tone goodness and emits a voice-like moan on the short “Armory Beams.” We also witness the duality of Halvorson’s artistry: the clearly defined shapes accentuated by flourishes of atonality in the precise dose it takes to make you sit up and pay attention. Formanek’s direct, woody upright frames the gently prancing “Off The Record,” a non-vocal selection that instead presents Halvorson playing her customary clean lines mixed with the delayed backwash eccentricities coming from delay and her unique use of an effect pedal. Not every song is densely charted: “Storm Cloud” lumbers along with extended notes and it’s subdued to the point that for much of the song, it’s just Halvorson, Kidambi and Formanek (playing arco), sounding close to a rock ballad. “Thunderhead” lumbers forward on Formanek’s creeping bass figure as Akinmusire and Halvorson put forth thoughtful, unhurried phrases. For most of this fare, Kidambi’s voice blends in with the band, but for “Accurate Hit,” her singing is accompanied only by Halvorson rhythm guitar stridently strumming a cyclical pattern, a song that would fit in perfectly on an indie rock album. However, it’s on the Spanish-styled melody “The Unexpected Natural Phenomenon” where the vocalist gets her most expressive and passionate (matched later on by Fujiwara’s own fervent showing). Stretching across an hour and a half, fourteen tracks and two discs, there’s a lot here to digest but more Mary Halvorson is preferable to less. Adroitly summoning up all of her powers and the ample powers of her band, Code Girl is Mary Halvorson’s most wide-ranging effort yet.” - S. Victor Aaron, Something Else
2 CD Set $22 (All pre-order sales at $20 ending May 31st, 2018)

KRISTO RODZEVSKI With MARY HALVORSON / INGRID LAUBROCK / BRIAN DRYE / KRIS DAVIS / MICHAEL BLANCO/ TOMAS FUJIWARA - The Rabbit and the Fallen Sycamore (Much Prefer Records 003; Czech Republic) Featuring Kristo Rodzevski on vocals & guitar, Mary Halvorson on guitar, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor sax, Brian Drye on trombone, Kris Davis on piano, Michael Bianco on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. This is the third part of a trilogy of discs from singer/songwriter Kristo Rodzevski. On all three discs, Mr. Rodzevski utilize’s the talents of some of Downtown’s best players: Mary Halvorson & Tomas Fujiwara on all three. Ms. Halvorson is currently the Queen of the Downtown Scene, she is currently featured in not one, but three current music magazines: The Wire, Downbeat and The Nation. Ms. Halvorson and Mr. Fujiwara play together in several bands, as well as with Kris Davis and Ingrid Laubrock. The only musician her that I wasn’t familiar with is bassist Michael Blanco.
Right from the gitgo, there is something charming going on here: the voice, the elegant, strummed guitars, tasty piano, personable voice with short trombone bursts interjected selectively. “Ralph Lifschitz, why did you change your name?”, Kristo asks and we can imagine why. The songs here are not complex in a prog-ish way, yet Kristo allows the players to add their own quirky parts, his writing is filled with unexpected twists that you might miss the first time we listen. The sound of the band captures a carefree vibe at times, with both Mary’s guitar and Kris’ piano taking off together on occasion. Many of the choruses here do have a catchy refrain which doesn’t cheapen them but does give them most memorable quality. What surprises me most is when mid song, an inspired solo will leap out from what you think might happen but doesn’t necessarily do so. It took a bit, but I really dig Mr. Rodzevski’s voice, slightly nasal yet somehow most charming. Each time I listen to this, I get sucked in further. Since I don’t listen to much current pop or rock music, I can’t compare this to anything or anyone else. Still, the more I listen, the more I like what I hear. Most refreshing is several ways. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 / LP $21

KRISTO RODZEVSKI With MARY HALVORSON / CHRIS SPEED / TAYLOR HO BYNUM / TOMEKA REID / MICHAEL BLANCO/ TOMAS FUJIWARA - Bitter Almonds (Much Prefer Records 002; Czech Republic) Featuring Kristo Rodzevski on acoustic guitar & vocals, Mary Halvorson on electric guitar, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, Chris Speed on tenor sax, Tomeka Reid on cello, Michael Blanco on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. This is the second disc by Czech singer/songwriter, Kristo Rodzevski, and once more he has wisely chosen a Downtown all-star cast to back him. You should no doubt know all of these folks, since all are leaders and/or busy collaborators except for the bassist, with whom I am not familiar. Glad to see that Kristo chose to use Chris Speed (now living in L.A.) and Tomeka Reid (Brooklyn-based but often on the road). What is most interesting is see/hear three Anthony Braxton collaborators (Mary, Taylor & Tomas), playing in a folk/roots/rock sort of band. It sounds like Mr. Rodzevski wrote and sings these songs on an acoustic guitar, which are at the center of each song. On the opener, “Farewell Burlesque”, Ms. Reid’s cello and Ms. Halvorson’s guitar enhance the song by adding subtle nuance to Kristo’s charming voice and tasty acoustic guitar. Ms. Halvorson’s distinctive guitar is also at the center of most of these songs, adding her own odd note choices and nifty, short solos to Mr. Rodzevski’s ever-enchanting songs. What I find most interesting is that Mr. Bynum, Ms. Reid and Ms. Speed all contribute quirky, short solos which allow the songs to shine even more. There is a certain joy to understated simplicity, these songs often embrace a certain, infectious, positive spirit that we don’t hear often enough in music that is often further out. It will take a while to fully absorb all of the quaint charm and subtle craft that went into each of these songs. It is pretty rare for this listener to recommend music which is an endearing this is, perhaps my sister or brother would enjoy this disc. Perhaps you would as well, why not take a chance… - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 / LP $21

KRISTO RODZEVSKI With MARY HALVORSON / KIRK KNUFFKE / MICHAEL BLANCO/ TOMAS FUJIWARA - Batania (Much Prefer Recors 001; Czech Republic) Featuring Kristo Rodzevski on acoustic guitar & vocals, Mary Halvorson on electric guitar, Kirk Knuffke on cornet, Michael Blanco on bass and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. This is the first part of a trilogy of releases from Czech singer/songwriter Kristo Rodzevski and it was released in 2015 (recorded in January of that year). When Mr. Rodzevski left us with three discs last week, I hadn’t heard of him but certainly knew of most of the members on his three discs, except for bassist Michael Blanco, who appears on all three CD’s. Mr. Rodzevski played acoustic guitar, sang and wrote all of the songs here. The opening song, “Batania” is sung in Czech (as are most of these songs) and it is splendid, somber, haunting one with Ms. Halvorson’s distinctive bent-note guitar added as sly sonic seasoning. Mr. Rodzevski deals in old fashioned song structures that recall some of the better, more endearing 60’s folk or roots rock. He wrote all but one song and the one cover is by Antonio Jobim, Brazilian sensation from the early 1960’s. Jobim’s influence can be heard on several of these songs, which wouldn’t sound out of place on any number of better Brazilian pop records from way back when. What does stand out here are/is a handful of superb solos from Ms. Halvorson. She adds righteous amounts of magic dust here and there, sweetening up these songs and making them even more enchanting. Who knew that Ms. Halvorson has this lyrical side which brightens up this music and makes me (and hopefully you all) smile. This disc sounds like a long, lost pop album from the mid-sixties, a true gem that shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15 / LP $21

BIG BLOOD & THUNDER CRUTCH [CHUCK BETTIS / YUKO TONOHIRA] - Big Blood & Thunder Clutch (Don’t Trust the Ruin 047; USA) Thunder Clutch is Chuck Bettis on voice & electronics and Yuko Tonohira on voice; Big Blood is Colleen Kinsella on voice, piano, harmonium & drums, Caleb Mulkerin on voice, bass, oscillator, synth, mambo & loops and Quinnisa Rose on trombone & voice. After moving here from the D.C. area nearly 2 decades back, Chuck Bettis (vocals & electronics), remains an integral part of the Downtown Underground, working Ikue Mori, Mick Barr & John Zorn, as well as being a member of Brown Wing Overdrive and Period.Mr. Bettis also worked here at DMG for more than a decade, helping steer us through tumultuous times. Thanks bubbie! During his time at DMG, Mr. Bettis turned us onto an experimental duo from Maine known as Big Blood. Over more than a few dozen self-produced CD’s, Big Blood have established themselves as an underground sensation that certainly deserve whatever recognition they can get.
Commencing with “Standard Abberation”, we hear an enchanting blend of subtle, spinning electronics, mutant trombone sounds, selective feedback and snips of quiet alien voices. There are those who have a problem with an abundance of electronics, finding it too alien or unhuman. Here, the electronics are rather quaint, the layers never too dense or overwhelming. Even the cheap drum machine samples are used selectively. Unexpectedly, their singer (Quinnisa?), belts out her soulful vocals on “`He is a Girl Underneath”, which actually has a charming soul chorus. On “Make Way”, there are several layers of voices, piled up and altered into a near symphonic chorus. Oddly enough, I actually put on my dancing shoes for “Sing For What It’s With”, it is that funky, a finger-snapping, get down delight. Who knew?!? At times, Big Blood & Co. remind me of the early Residents, who were weird, crafty and enchanting in their own way. BB & TC have found a way to create their own twisted version of pop music in which they have woven a mysterious thread of electronics and alien voices into their own unique tapestry. Thanks to Chuck Bettis for dropping this infectious time bomb on all who choose to listen. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $8

DUCK BAKER CD’s Back in Stock:

DUCK BAKER//HERBIE NICHOLS - Spinning Song: Plays The Music Of Herbie Nichols (Avant 040; Japan) Duck Baker, a crackerjack on the finger-picked acoustic guitar, has recorded numerous solo albums on the Kicking Mule and Shanachie labels, showcasing his mastery of a diversity of traditional folk, blues, ragtime and jazz styles. This wizard has played with artists ranging from Jim Kweskin to J.J. Cale, from Stefan Grossman to John Zorn. Baker's subtle and sensitive renditions transform Nichols' oblique masterpieces -- those hearing Nichols' music for the first time may find it hard to imagine these tunes in any other context than folk guitar. ‘Spinning Song’ is an absolute treasure.”
CD $25 [Last few copies left]

DUCK BAKER PROJECT With DEREK BAILEY / ROSWELL RUDD / JOHN ZORN / CYRO BAPTISTA - The Ducks Palace (Incus 59; UK) Tracks: Improv 1 & 5 recorded at The Knitting Factory New York 1993; Tracks Improv 2, 4 & 6 recorded London 2002; Track 3. "The Blues" recorded at the Outpost Alberquerque 2004; Track 7 "Pavement Blues" recorded at Tonic New York 2002.
CD $22

DUCK BAKER - Everything That Rises Must Converge: Free Jazz Guitar Solos (Mighty Quinn 1117; USA) I just caught acoustic finger-style guitar master Duck Baker playing solo at The Stone earlier this evening (7/23/09) and he continues to astound me. Besides the fact the Duck has worked his way through playing the music of Thelonius Monk & Herbie Nichols, which is no easy feat, he is also a jazz historian and journalist. He also has his own style and approach to this acoustic guitar which blends the older jazz styles with freer elements to come up with something fresh and fascinating. With more than a dozen releases under his belt, Duck has been threatening to release a "free jazz" disc for many years and has finally done just that. We just have a half dozen copies for now until Duck sends us more in the near future. I will do a full review when we get that next batch. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

DUCK BAKER TRIO With ALEX WARD/JOE WILLIAMSON - Amnesia In Trastevere (Les Cousins 14; UK) Featuring Duck Baker on acoustic guitar, Alex Ward on clarinet and Joe Williamson on bass. As a longtime fan of fingerstyle guitarist Duck Baker, I can appreciate the fact that Duck embraces a variety of styles, genres and situations, putting a his own spin on the connection between tradition and free expression. Each of Duck's discs are different and often surprising. I often think that I know what to expect but then there is something lurking below the surface that takes a bit searching to expose. This is the second disc from Mr. Baker's London-based trio with Alex Ward on clarinet and Joe Williamson on bass. Alex Ward is another character who moves in mysterious ways playing with a diverse cast like Derek Bailey, Lol Coxhill, Simon Fell & Joe Morris. I recall bassist Joe Williamson from his time with Kletka Red, although he has since done many sessions with Tobias Delius, Eddie Prevost and is a member of Trapist. Duck wrote all but one of these songs here. "Opening the Eyes of Love" opens this disc with a lovely, laid back melody that I could easily whistle along to. "Ode to Jo" swings furiously and has a some superb solos for the clarinet and guitar. Each melody that Duck has written here is a memorable one, making me want to go back again until I could recall each of the gems he has presented. The one cover is Monk's classic "Jackie-Ing" which sounds like an especially smart choice since both Duck and Alex capture the angularity and playfulness perfectly. I love the way the trio strips these songs down to their barest essentials, never wasting a note. The conciseness of the playing makes this an especially pleasurable experience all the way through. Alex Ward, who is at least a generation younger than Mr. Baker, swings his tush off on each and every solo, sounding righteous and wise beyond his years. With no drummer in sight, Mr. Williamson also does a splendid of providing all of the rhythm section support from the center of the trio. For those who can appreciate a more inside yet no less inventive date from a great acoustic trio that sounds like no one else. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15

DUCK BAKER TRIO With ALEX WARD/JOE WILLIAMSON - The Waltz Lesson (Les Cousins 11; UK) Featuring Duck Baker on acoustic guitar, Alex Ward on clarinet and Joe Williamson on bass. Duck Baker is often considered to be a favorite of other great guitarists since Duck's playing is so strong, distinctive and wide-ranging. There are few guitarists with his grasp of jazz's long and thorny history, hence his playing draws from the early swing, blues and ragtime players through Monk & Herbie Nichols to the free zone of the sixties and beyond. Duck plays exclusively acoustic and mostly finger-style guitar. The majority of his recordings are either solo or occasionally duo efforts. After living in the Bay area, Duck moved to England where is still based, hence working with clarinetist Alex Ward. We know Alex Ward from his fine work with Derek Bailey, Joe Morris and Tony Bevin. Bassist Joe Williamson has worked with an equally diverse cast of players like Alex von Schlippenbach, Han Bennink, Tristan Honsinger and Kletka Red. For this disc, the trio plays eight originals by Duck Baker and two covers, John Coltrane's "Mr. Syms" and a song called "Sweet & Lovely". The opening piece, "Waltz with Mary's Smile" is a pure delight with a lovely melody played sublimely by the trio. What is interesting is hearing Alex Ward who is a gifted improviser and a master of outside clarinet play so melodically here. Both Alex's and Duck's solos are superb. To me, Duck's songs sound like standards with memorable melodies, yet are rarely as simple as they sound. Alex's swell clarinet on "Friday" sounds so gleeful, it is as if his clarinet is laughing. Trane's "Mr. Syms" has a sly, bluesy theme that is just rings true in its own exquisite way. Everything about this trio is just right, they swing they asses off and every solo is inspired and crafty. "Left & Me" recalls in a scene in an old silent movie where someone is sitting and waiting for an olden style haircut from a barber. Duck's music seems to dig into a variety of older styles with a refreshingly positive outlook to each song. Nice to hear some music that is endlessly inventive without being really avant-garde. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15

DUCK BAKER TRIO With ALEX WARD / JOHN EDWARDS - Deja Vouty (Fulica Records 101; UK)
CD $15

VOICES OF MISSISSIPPI - Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris / various artists (Dust-to-Digital 053; USA) “This watershed release represents the life's work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South. William Ferris was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1942. Growing up on a working farm, Ferris began at a young age documenting the artwork, music, and lives of the people on the farm and in his local community. The archive of recordings that he created and the documentary films that he had a hand in producing have served as powerful tools in institutions of higher learning for decades. Dust-to-Digital present these films and recordings. The label's hope is that the enjoyment and educational value that has been received by Ferris's students over the years will be transmitted to listeners around the world and further the understanding of Southern culture. Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris includes: a 120-page hardcover book in full color edited by William Ferris Writings by Scott Barretta, David Evans, and Tom Rankin; three CDs -- two of the CDs feature blues and gospel recordings (1966-1978), and the final CD features interviews and storytelling (1968-1994); and one DVD featuring documentary films (1972-1980). Transcriptions and annotations are provided for each track. Comes in a cigar box.
In addition to being a groundbreaking documentarian of the American South, William Ferris is Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History and senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ferris co-edited the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (1989) and is the author of multiple books. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine named him among the top ten professors in the United States.”
3 CD/DVD/Book $56

NURSE WITH WOUND - Sinister Whimsy For The Wretched (Dirter DPROM 140; UK) Sinister Whimsy For The Wretched contains the long out-of-print albums, Sugar Fish Drink (1992) and Large Ladies With Cake In The Oven (1993). Both discs are remastered by Andrew Liles. You will never hear these better. Sugar Fish Drink, "Cod Surrealism", is a distinctly wet aberration on paranoid aesthetics occasionally coordinated by John Balance and Steven Stapleton. For Large Ladies With Cake In The Oven, all tracks were previously released in some form or another. Songs titles have been altered from their original forms on their original releases. "Head Cold" is very close to being the exact song as the Miss Ticker remix of "Cold" from the Thunder Perfect Mind CD reissue and "Steel Dream March Of The Metal Man".
2 CD Set $19

BO HANSSON - Music Inspired By Lord Of The Rings (Silence 3600-XCD; Sweden) Bo Hansson's Music Inspired By Lord Of The Rings was the first ever release on Silence, initially issued in 1970. This was also the first Bo Hansson solo album, the Swedish legend known to be one of the earliest to place "space music". Produced as a tribute to the Tolkien trilogy, this is stunning instrumental psychedelic music, with plush atmospherics -- Don't Fear The Hobbit! This issue includes a 16-page booklet with the complete Bo Hansson story and is a digitally and analog remastered issue from 2001; the producer Anders Lind says it sounds just as it should and need no further mastering. Performed by: Bo Hansson (organs, guitar, Moog, bass), Rune Carlsson (drums, congas), Gunnar Bergsten (saxophone), Sten Bergman (flute). Lord Of The Rings was released late in the fall of 1970 in Sweden and became an immediate success. Bo himself was in the midst of a very creative period, new melodies were constantly popping up in his head, so when Lord Of The Rings finally got released in other countries there were already three more tracks added compared to the first Swedish issue. In the Progressive Rock Encyclopedia, Bo Hansson is mentioned with reverence and respect. He is the first to play "space music", he is a precursor to the French prog-celebrities Gong and England's Henry Cow, and contemporary style-formers as Genesis and Yes. Bo Hansson is an innovator in the most noble sense of the word. Bo Hansson and his music has been and still is an inspiration to many musicians round the world. Same audio master as the 2002 edition; new cover art with English title.
CD $16

NIKKI SUDDEN - The Last Bandits In The World (Seventeen Records 002; UK) Seventeen Records present a reissue of Nikki Sudden's The Last Bandits In The World, originally released in 1986. Remastered at Woodbine Street Recording Studios by John Rivers, with Simon Carmody. 30 years on from the original release of this album, now compiled to include bonus material, singles, B sides, etc. Last Bandits In The World has been out-of-print for over 25 years and the singles were only ever issued in Eire.
CD $16

SAMBA TOURE - Wande (Glitterbeat 059; Germany) When Malian singer and guitarist Samba Touré was planning Wande ("The Beloved"), his third Glitterbeat release, he had strong ideas for the way it should sound. But once the sessions were over, he knew he had something entirely different, something even more satisfying: a collection of songs where warmth filled the grooves of every song. "We had a totally different album in mind," Touré admits, "a return to something more traditional, almost acoustic. I think this album is less dark than the previous ones. It has some sad and serious songs, but it sounds more peaceful. All the first takes have been kept." That spark of spontaneity fires across the whole disc. It was recorded quickly, in "about two weeks, only in the afternoons and with breaks on weekend to play in weddings, so it was very relaxed!" Wande is just as direct and powerful as Touré's previous work, but everything moves with a bright, danceable sensibility. Gone are the intense guitar and ngoni duels, replaced with short, incisive guitar solos and a solid, laid-back groove. Only two songs had been written before going into the studio: the title cut, which is a love song to his wife, and "Tribute To Zoumana Tereta", a memorial to the late sokou fiddle player who often collaborated with Touré. Everything else came together almost on the spot, like the rhythmic "Yo Pouhala", composed one afternoon and recorded the next, or "Yerfara", with an impeccable, chunky rhythm guitar riff to make Keith Richards weep with envy. The emphasis throughout is on rhythm, and the tama talking drum that's always been a feature of Touré's music takes a place near the front of the band. "I've always loved tama, for its sounds . . . It's a symbol of call to reunion." Starting out as a guitarist in a soukous band, everything was altered when he became an accompanist to Mali's greatest legend, the late Ali Farka Touré (with whom his mother had performed). Later, as a solo artist, he's become renowned across the globe for his passionate guitar work and fiery singing, one of the masters of his art. But, Touré says, don't call it desert blues. Don't call it African rock. That's lazy. It doesn't need labels like that. Instead, call Wande the unexpected. Call it joyous. Call it the music Samba Touré is making right now.
CD $15

USTAD ZIA MOHIUDDIN DAGAR - Ragas Abhogi & Vardhani (Ideological Organ 028; France) "Around ten years ago, deep into a cozy and hazy night following a concert with my sound brothers Daniel O'Sullivan and Kristoffer Rygg in London (as Æthenor), they graciously introduced me to a recording of rudra veena (a kind of noble deeper bass relative to the sitar, in a way) as performed by dhrupad master Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. Dhrupad, for those who do not know, is a branch of Hindustani classical music said to 'show the raga in its clearest and purest form'. It's pacing concentrates heavily on the slow, contemplative alap section and works with specific microtonal gestures and deep characteristics of resonance . . . In early 2015 I was able to make contact with Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's son Bahauddin and some of his American students/disciples, primarily Jeff Lewis. Over time we developed a friendly and educational exchange, access to a massive archive of recordings and developed these two paired titles for my label . . . I'm proud to be able to reveal these to date unreleased archival recordings of one of the masters of dhrupad, Z. M. Dagar, to the public for the first time. Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the nineteenth generation in a family tradition known as Dagar gharana, a rich lineage which continued and performed the musical form of dhrupad. Initially, dhrupad was a rigorous, austere, devotional genre that was sung in Hindu temples. But between the 16th and the 18th centuries, it became the preeminent genre in royal courts in North and Central India, and the Dagar gharana developed and continued publicly following the eventual loss of court patronage for dhrupad in the 19th century. The French ethnomusicologist Renaud Brizard covers the story of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's life and teaching (a long story also in Seattle, my hometown!), the Dagar family and gharana, the rudra veena and more topics in an extensive set of liner notes in this release. Ragas Abhogi & Vardhani were recorded in a private house concert in Seattle at the home of the Benegals in March 1986 (the week before the accompanying release, Raga Yaman (SOMA 029CD/LP), was recorded). The Benegals were friends (and Shantha Benegal was also a student) of Dagarsahib who sometimes hosted Hindustani music concerts in their home. It's a rare glimpse of a more intimate, personal and perhaps different kind of performance considering the form of dhrupad." --Stephen O'Malley, March 2018, Paris, France Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering.
CD $17

USTAD ZIA MOHIUDDIN DAGAR - Raga Yaman (Ideological Organ 029; France) "Around ten years ago, deep into a cozy and hazy night following a concert with my sound brothers Daniel O'Sullivan and Kristoffer Rygg in London (as Æthenor), they graciously introduced me to a recording of rudra veena (a kind of noble deeper bass relative to the sitar, in a way) as performed by dhrupad master Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. Dhrupad is a branch of Hindustani classical music said to 'show the raga in its clearest and purest form'. It's pacing concentrates heavily on the slow, contemplative alap section and works with specific microtonal gestures and deep characteristics of resonance . . . In early 2015 I was able to make contact with Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's son Bahauddin and some of his American students/disciples, primarily Jeff Lewis. Over time we developed a friendly and educational exchange, access to a massive archive of recordings and developed these two paired titles for my label . . . I'm proud to be able to reveal these to date unreleased archival recordings of one of the masters of dhrupad, Z. M. Dagar, to the public for the first time. Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the nineteenth generation in a family tradition known as Dagar gharana, a rich lineage which continued and performed the musical form of dhrupad. Initially, dhrupad was a rigorous, austere, devotional genre that was sung in Hindu temples. But between the 16th and the 18th centuries, it became the preeminent genre in royal courts in North and Central India, and the Dagar gharana developed and continued publicly following the eventual loss of court patronage for dhrupad in the 19th century. The French ethnomusicologist Renaud Brizard covers the story of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's life and teaching, the Dagar family and gharana, the rudra veena and more topics in an extensive set of liner notes in this release. Raga Yaman was recorded at a public concert in Seattle at the HUB Ballroom at the University of Washington in March 1986 (the week after the accompanying release Ragas Abhogi & Vardhani (SOMA 028CD/LP) was recorded) at the end of his last tour of the United States. Yaman was a special raga for Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, one of his signature raags. For centuries, Yaman has been considered as one of the most fundamental ragas in Hindustani music and is one of the first ragas which is taught to students." --Stephen O'Malley, March 2018, Paris, France Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering.
CD $17

PYRAMID - Pyramid (Mental Experience MENT 022; Spain) 33 minutes of pure, unadulterated, psychedelic krautrock courtesy of Pyramid, an obscure studio project produced by Toby Robinson, aka The Mad Twiddler. These sessions were recorded circa 1975-76 in Cologne for the underground Pyramid label, which was operated by Toby and his friend Robin Page (the Fluxus artist). During that time, Toby worked as engineer and assistant at various studios in Cologne, including the famous Dieter Dierks studios, where most of the albums from the Ohr/Pilz/Cosmic Courier catalog were registered. Having access to the studios during dead hours, Toby recorded lot of sessions just for fun without any commercial interest, featuring friends and musicians who frequented the studios and the underground art/music scene of Cologne. Some of these sessions were later released as handmade vinyl micro-pressings on his Pyramid label with help from artist Robin Page. Master tape sound. Includes insert with liner notes by Alan Freeman. RIYL: Pink Floyd, Cosmic Jokers, Agitation Free, Ash Ra Tempel, Gila, Porcupine Tree, Amon Düül II. "... from trippy phases with echo guitars and Mellotron onto headfirst plunges into space-rock overdrive territory. In all, an excellent album of spacey krautrock" - Alan Freeman
CD $17

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN - Wisteria (Occultation Janus7e 2054; UK) Dunedin trio Death And The Maiden return with a second album of hypnotic post-punk dream-pop. Wisteria continues the exploration of the dark bounds between love and death, beauty and decay unveiled on the band's debut (2015). Although the BPM of their shadowy sound world may have increased, the new album seems even more somber than its predecessor, with a deeper undertow of anxiety beneath the slow-motion trance pop. The songs on Wisteria are still anchored by Lucinda King's hypnotic basslines, as her vocals deliver lyrics exploring human experience within natural and unnatural worlds, but this time Hope Robertson's delay and reverb-drenched guitars break free, soaring above the decelerated, minimalist techno sounds of Danny Brady's electronic instrumentation and programmed beats, at times hinting at psychedelic surf music exotica. This unusual combination of techno, post-punk, psychedelia and dream-pop makes the new album from Death And The Maiden another beguiling proposition to explore.
CD $15

JOHN FAHEY - 1978 Live At Audimax Hamburg (Blast First Petite PTYT 037; UK) Warehouse find, last copies. Shot live for TV by the legendary German music show "Rockpalast," this DVD represents the earliest example of a complete John Fahey concert performance, given on March 17, 1978. The multi-camera filming features detailed close-ups of Fahey's playing style, giving Fahey fans a rare insight into what Pete Townshend has called the William Burroughs of the guitar. Fahey's 1978 visit to Europe saw him in fine wild form, performing an 10-track set and, as an incredibly rare bonus, a short interview with the maverick iconoclast. All-Region NTSC-compatible DVD in CD digipak. Location: Audimax, Hamburg. John Fahey: vocals, guitar.
DVD $17

LP Section:

DEREK BAILEY / EVAN PARKER - The London Concert (Otoroku 002; UK) Following on from the re-issue of Topography of the Lungs, Otoroku is proud to follow up with another legendary free-improvised document, this one from the duo of Derek Bailey and Evan Parker, originally released on the INCUS label in 1975. "The London Concert is one of those rare recordings that capture musicians at a special moment of confluence, a moment when procedures are proving fruitful and before practice has hardened into dogma, when different visions are not yet turned into position papers (insert your list here). There are clearly moments in the London Concert when things that have not precisely happened before emerge from one partner, are caught and supported by the other in a way that, too, is still new 40 some years on, and which prods the initiator to hold and develop a particular line with the clear support of the other." -- Stuart Broomer. The London Concert comes in a limited edition of 500 copies printed on reverse board with printed inner sleeve and newly commissioned liner notes by Stuart Broomer.
LP $30

METTE RASMUSSEN / TASHI DORJI - Mette Rasmussen/Tashi Dorji (Feeding Tube Records 403; USA) "Mette Rasmussen is a Danish saxophonist, based in Norway, who has been recording with some of our favorite players (Chris Corsano, Alan Silva, Mats Gustafsson, Ace Farren Ford, etc.) She has also formed this duo with Asheville-based guitarist, Tashi Dorji (whose combo, Manas, has had two LPs on Feeding Tube this far: FTR 208LP, 2015 and FTR 330LP, 2017). The duo material for this LP was recorded in Montreal, right around the same time Mette and Tashi recorded a trio set for Trost (with the addition of drummer Tyler Damon). And it's all great stuff. Mette's playing has a raw tonal approach that makes one think of Eric Dolphy at his harshest. Her lines evince much of the same nimbleness as well. The effect is not unlike being hit in the face by a bunch of snakes with wings. Naturally, Tashi is playing electric in order to make himself heard, and the clots of sound he manages to coax out of his amp are worthy of comparison with such form-erupters as Keith Rowe. On the first side, there's a real physicality to the blocks Tashi creates, as well as to the manner which Mette's reed attacks them. It's an incredible sound -- brutal and communicative in equal measures. But as much as this may imply a musical surface akin to that of Borbetomagus, there's a lot more open space here. Especially on the second side, the music is paced to give itself over (now and then) to crenellations that allows in as much light as they emit. This record is a supremely human effort and hopefully the harbinger of much more to come." --Byron Coley, 2018 Edition of 250.
LP $24

THE THING - Again (The Thing Records TTR 007; Norway) LP version. The Thing, recorded July 2nd and 3rd, 2017. Personnel: Mats Gustafsson - tenor and baritone saxophone; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - electric and double bass; Paal Nilssen-Love - drums, percussion. Recorded July 2nd and 3rd, 2017 by Øyvind Gundersen at Studio Paradiso, Oslo. Mixed October 2017, by Andreas Werliin at Repeat Until Death, Stockholm. Mastered by Lupo at Calyx mastering, Berlin. Liner notes by Brian Morton.
LP $22

SERGE GAINSBOURG - Theatre Des Capucines 1963 (Jeanne Dielman 123; Belgium) Jeanne Dielman present a reissue of Serge Gainsbourg's Théâtre Des Capucines 1963. Théâtre Des Capucines 1963 is one of the earliest live documents of the legendary French singer. Recorded in a brilliant small group setting, featuring only the instrumentation of the fantastic Hungarian guitarist Elek Bacsik and French journeyman bassist, Michel Gaudry, this is Gainsbourg at his cool and minimalist best. This is the same group that recorded that year's near perfect studio album, Gainsbourg Confidentiel. This live recording takes that album's minimal vibe to its sultry and smoky extreme. A beautiful live recording from one of the most famous singers of the mid-20th century.
LP $22

************

Bruce Lee Gallanter’s Recommended Gig List for May of 2018:

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - MARTY EHRLICH - MAY 29–JUNE 2

6/1 Friday
8:30 pm - Marty Ehrlich Shards - Angelica Sanchez (piano) John Lindberg (bass) Kate Gentile (drums) Marty Ehrlich (reeds)

6/2 Saturday
8:30 pm - Marty Ehrlich Welcome Quartet - Ron Horton (trumpet) Michael Bates (bass) Gerald Cleaver (drums) Marty Ehrlich (reeds)

THE STONE RESIDENCIES - JAD ATOUI - JUNE 5–9

6/5 Tuesday
8:30 pm - Jad Atoui (electronics) and Frank Meadows (bass)

6/6 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Jad Atoui and Chuck Bettis (electronics)

6/7 Thursday
8:30 pm - Jad Atoui (electronics) and Brian Chase (drums)

6/8 Friday
8:30 pm - STONE IMPROV NIGHT—A STONE BENEFIT - Jad Atoui (electronics) John Zorn (sax) Simon Hanes (bass) Jeremiah Cymerman (clarinet) Sam Kulik (trombone) Chuck Bettis (electronics) Joanna Mattrey (viola) Aaron Rubinstein

6/9 Saturday
8:30 pm - Biosonics - Jad Atoui (electronics) Ivan Marazzi (scientist, plants) Joanna Mattrey (viola) Lester St. Louis (cello) Frank Meadows (bass) Curtis Sydnor (piano) Robby Bowen (drums) Biosonics ensemble will perform 7 compositions generated by plants in order to monitor biological response and translate it into a performance experience.

THE (NEW) STONE is located in The New School’s Glass Box Theatre
55 West 13th street - near 6th ave
All Sets at The New Stone start at 8:30pm Tickets: $20
There are no refreshments or merchandise at The Stone.
Only music. All ages are welcome.
Cash Only at the door. There is no phone.
There is no food or beverage served or allowed
just a serious listening environment.
The Stone is booked purely on a curatorial basis

*********

The CORNELIA STREET CAFE - 212-989-9319
29 Cornelia St in the heart of the West Greenwich Village, NYC

Friday Jun 01
8:35PM FRANCISCO MELA & THE CRASH TRIO “FE” - Ingrid Laubrock, tenor sax; Henry Paz, tenor sax; Michael Attias, alto sax; Thomas Morgan, bass;

Saturday June 02
8:35PM MIKE MORENO QUARTET - Mike Moreno, guitar; Nitai Hershkovitz, piano; Matt Brewer, bass; Jonathan Barber, drums

Sunday Jun 03
8:01PM MICHAEL BLANCO QUARTET - John Ellis, tenor sax; Mike Moreno, guitar; Michael Blanco, bass; Clarence Penn, drums

Monday, June 4th:
8:30PM AMRAM & CO - David Amram, piano, french horn, flutes,composition & surprises; Kevin Twigg, drums, glockenspiel; Rene Hart, bass; Elliot Peper, bongos

Tuesday Jun 05
8:00PM BEEKMAN - Kyle Nasser, tenor sax; Yago Vasquez, piano; Pablo Menares, bass; Rodrigo Recabarren, drums
9:30PM ZACH LAPIDUS' DISQUIET - Zach Lapidus, piano,; Caroline Davis, alto sax; Jeff Miles, guitar; Peter Brendler, bass; Vinnie Sperrazza, drums

Wed June 6th:
8:00PM ANDREW D'ANGELO TRIO - Andrew D'Angelo , alto sax; Carmen Rothwell, bass; Allan Mednard, drums
9:30PM SCREE - Ryan Beckley, guitar, harmonica, and vocals; Carmen Rothwell, bass; Jason Burger, drums

Thursday Jun 07
8:01PM STREAMS TRIO W/BILLY DREWES - Billy Drewes, sax; Yago Vazquez, piano; Scott Lee, bass; Jeff Hirschfield, drums

Friday Jun 08
8:35PM JOCHEN RUECKERT QUARTET - Melissa Aldana, tenor sax; Lage Lund, guitar; Matt Penman, bass; Jochen Rueckert, drums

Saturday Jun 09
8:35PM DAN WEISS TRIO - Dan Weiss, drums; Jacob Sacks, piano; Chris Tordini,

Sunday Jun 10
6:00PM THE UKULADIES - Katie Down (aka Genevieve), banjo uke, tenor uke, flute, toy piano, penny whistle, voice ; Mary Myers (Aunt Mary Louise), baritone uke, uke, voice; Philippa Thompson (Jimmy Lu), uke, fiddle, harmonica, saw, voice; Heather Warfel (Cousin Bunnie), tap dancing, antics
8:01PM DJANGO AT CORNELIA STREET: BRAD BROSE - Brad Brose, guitar; Josh Kaye, guitar; Adrien Chevalier, violin

**********

I-Beam Presents:

Friday, June 1st 8:30 PM
Ed Neumeister Quartet
Ed Neumeister – Trombone
Marc Copland – piano
Drew Gress – bass
Tom Rainey – drums

Saturday, June 2nd 8:30 PM
Ty Citerman / Judith Berkson
Judith Berkson (voice and keyboards)
Ty Citerman (voice, guitar and electronics)

Friday, June 15th 8:00 PM
Ben Perowsky Trio
Ben Perowsky – Drums
Sylvie Courvousier – Piano
Hank Roberts – Cello

Friday, July 20th 8:30 PM
Luca Soul Trio
Elias Stemeseder – piano
Billy Mintz – drums
Luca Soul – bass & compositions

I-Beam is located at 168 7th Street in Brooklyn, NY 11215 - Directions: SUBWAY: Take the F or R trains to 4th Ave & 9th Street. Walk down 4th ave to 7th street. Make a left on 7th and walk past 3rd ave. We are located on the ground floor, the grey doors to the right of the stairs of #168.

*********
ROULETTE Special Events:

Tuesday, June 5, 2018 @ 8:00 pm
Resist x Improvise: An Evening for Roscoe Mitchell
Human Time Machine:
Brian Adler – Musical Director, Percussion
Jeremy Smith – Alto Percussion
Elizabeth Pupo-Walker – Tenor Percussion
Ned Haweeli – Soprano Percussion
Anna Wray – Bass Percussion
With Special Guests:
Jesse Neuman – Laptop, Samples, Trumpet
Michael Lofton – Baritone Voice
Crockett Doob – Film/Video/Projection
Red Wierenga – Piano

Sunday, June 17, 2018 @ 8:00 pm
Amirtha Kidambi: Lines of Light
Lines of Light - Vocal Ensemble with:
Jean Carla Rodea
Anaïs Maviel
Emilie Lesbros
Charmaine Lee
Amirtha Kidambi
Amirtha Kidambi/Lea Bertucci Duo
Amirtha Kidambi – Voice
Lea Bertucci – Analog Electronics

Monday, June 18, 2018 @ 8:00 pm
Samuel Blaser Trio: Taktlos
Samuel Blaser – Trombone
Marc Ducret – Guitar
Peter Bruun – Drums

Sunday, June 24, 2018 @ 8:00 pm
Jonathan Finlayson - Composer
Andre Solomon Glover – Baritone
Jonathan Finlayson – Trumpet
David Bryant – Piano
Chris Tordini – Acoustic Bass
Craig Weinrib – Drums and Percussion

ROULETTE is at 509 Atlantic Ave
509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
SUBWAY lines: 2, 3, 4, 5, D, M, N, R, B & Q and the LIRR arrive at Atlantic Avenue-Barclay’s Center; G train to Fulton Street. A, C, Trains to Hoyt-Schermehorn