Free unless otherwise indicated
ALL FUTURE DMG IN-STORE CONCERTS ARE CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
THE SUNDAY NIGHT CONCERTS HERE AT DMG THAT HAVE BEEN GOING ON FOR THE BETTER PART OF (NEARLY) 29 YEARS THAT WE HAVE EXISTED HAVE BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE NYC UNDERGROUND/DOWNTOWN MUSIC SCENE. MORE & MORE I BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THESE WEEKLY SESSIONS WHICH SHOW CREATIVE MUSIC OFTEN AT IT BEST. I/WE NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL OCCUR OTHER THAN GIVING FOLKS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES IN A FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT AND SEE & HEAR WHAT HAPPENS. SOMETIMES IT WORKS, SOMETIMES IT DOESN’T, SOMETIMES IT IS JUST GREAT AND OCCASIONALLY IT IS TRANSCENDENT! SUNDAY NIGHT IS THE END OF THE WEEK AND THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT WEEK. SINCE I RARELY GO TO TEMPLE (it closed some 20 years ago), I MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRAY WITH OTHER HUMANS WHO ARE PART OF A COLLECTIVE TRIBE. I FIND THAT CREATIVE MUSIC EVENTS HAVE TAKEN THE PLACE OF THE COMMUNAL EXPERIENCE: SHARING THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND HOPE FOR BETTER DAYS. THERE HAS BEEN NO GIGS AT DMG FOR JUST 2 WEEKS AND ALREADY I MISS THESE EVENTS SO VERY MUCH. I RARELY TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED AND I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL WE TO GET BACK TO CHECKING THEM OUT ONCE MORE. I’VE GOTTEN A FEW NOTES FROM SOME OF OUR REGULARS SO I KNOW I AM NOT ALONE. I NO LONGER BELIEVE IN HAVING PRIDE IN WHATEVER TRIBE I AM SUPPOSED TO BE A PART OF, NO ONE GROUP IS REALLY CHOSEN. THE ONLY TRIBE I DO FEEL A PART OF IS THE ONE THAT IS INSPIRED OR UPLIFTED BY CREATIVE MUSIC OR CREATIVE ART OF DIFFERENT TYPES. LET’S LIFT A GLASS TO THE LIGHT AT THE END OF TUNNEL, WHEN THIS CURRENT NIGHTMARE ENDS AND WE CAN ALL HOLD HANDS AND HUG ONE ANOTHER AND EMBRACE PEACE, LOVE COMMUNION WITH THE INNER AND OUTER SPIRITS! - MC BruceLee
At this point we’ve has a number cancellations due to the pandemic. Some of our future triple bills are now single bills. Things may change as things evolve so we won’t know until we see what happens with musicians and listeners decide to not participate or attend. The store is currently closed to any walk-in customers. Our skeleton crew will be here just a couple days each week doing mail-order only. No idea how long this will last but remember, stay safe, stay healthy, stay sane, stay inspired and stay tuned for any updates. Now is a good time to clean and reorganize your homes and your music collections. WE MISS YOU And WE WILL SURVIVE! - Bruce Lee G. and the DMG Crew!
All future gigs at DMG are currently in limbo until this health crisis is over. DMG will be closed to the public as this Monday, March 23rd. We will be doing mail-order on just 2 or 3 days a week. You can still support us by ordering via e-mail or through our website or through Discogs. You can still check out many of our InstaGram 1 minute sets through our feed. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES, SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS. Listen to some music that will inspire you. Peace & Love from Bruce Lee & the rest of the DMG Crew
Will will reschedule when we can.
TONED features TOM WEEKS on saxes, NATHAN CORDER on electronics and LEO SUAREZ on drums. TONED may be an electroacoustic trio, but if the term “electroacoustic” suggests something tame from the stodgy contemporary music spectrum, be warned: “The Private Sector” is a deconstructed hellscape of what seems to be some kind of punk-jazz, with maniac “riffs” produced by digital electronics, a drumkit tirelessly assaulting your eardrums, and the cutting action of a schizophrenic alto saxophone. You can’t perceive where the established structures end and free-improvisation begins, because there’s a nonlinear and non-hierarchical organizational process at work, described as a «fractal chimera, generated by multiple layers of compositional feedback loops». Because everything is submitted to a meticulous mastication of materials, corresponding to Tom Weeks’, Nathan Corder’s and Leo Suarez’s «distrust in the canons of present-day art forms and commonly ingested sound principles», even what you vaguely identify as punk (the attitude) and as jazz (the sound) is devoured by the procedures, resulting in a musical praxis you have certainly never heard before../////////////////////
UNI features VINICIUS CAJADO on Acoustic Bass and KENJI HERBERT on Electric Guitar. “The duo Uni dances between intellect and instinct where sound manifests as a mirror image of human perception. The name “UNI”, Japanese for “Sea Urchin” is meant to evoke the feeling of listening to new music and sensing its textures. Eating an urchin is the ultimate sensory experience; from its texture and taste (neither sweet nor savory). Sensory intuition and live performances are the main focus; the immediacy of the experience naturally blurs the line between listener and performer.”
“LAURENT DAVID, an undaunted bassist and virtuoso, sensitive and precise composer, stood on stage with many well-known artists such as Guillaume Perret, D. Lockwood, Yael Naim … and put his electric bass as an enlightened companion. Atypical as a musician, Laurent likes to meet other musicians (David Linx, Ari Hoenig) and to create families, “groups” (SHIJIN, M&t@l). He accumulates many enriching experiences that inspire him and allow him to draw a path of his own, serving music in particular and art in general. Thus, with Naked, Laurent opens the “Solo” collection of the label Durance.
In this opus, by using all the components of his favorite instrument, Laurent offers a unique and exciting journey, composed in New York in winter 2018. Like other illustrious precursors like Jaco Pastorius or Jonas Hellborg, he explores various facets of the instrument without using loopers or overdubs, preferring to offer chiseled writing (legacy of his classical training) without depriving himself of the improvised framework that is dear to him (legacy of jazz). Crossing the instrumental and aesthetic boundaries, Laurent today carries the electric bass at the height of his art.”
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Drummer RAF VERTESSEN, has played here at DMG on a handful of previous gigs and always with a different cast of collaborators. For this set Ref will play a duo with the legendary saxist, JOE McPHEE, one of the most well-respected and prolific improvisers in the US. Mr. McPhee switches between a variety of saxes and brass instruments. We never know what he will bring to any particular set but we know he will work wonders!
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Ms. LELE DAI (rhymes with lullabye) plays theremin, lap steel and assorted miscellaneous instruments or objects. She has played here at DMG on several occasions with Todd Capp and Dissipated Face. For each set, Ms. Dai usually wears some sort of odd costume, for this set, she will unveil a new sonic device known as a Sewing Machine?!?!
Toronto-based drummer NICK FRASER can be heard on some 20 releases and has worked Tony Malaby, Marilyn Crispell and is a member of AIM Toronto Orchestra. His trio with Kris Davis & Malaby is phenomenal, just check out any of their recordings! NY-based tenor & soprano saxist TONY MALABY keeps busy playing with dozens of ensembles like the Liberation Music Orchestra, Open Loose and Overseas. He is currently living, teaching and playing in Argentina. Young contrabassist BRANDON LOPEZ seems to get better and better as he plays with loads of other giants: Dave Rempis, Guillermo Gregorio and Ivo Perelman. This trio will blow some minds!
Both CHERYL PYLE and ROBERT DICK are amazing flute players. This will be their first duo performance and we know that there will be a great deal of creative fireworks and special sonic surprises!
Ms. ERIN ROGERS has a recent solo sax effort on the Relative Pitch label which is one of under-recognized gems that will be making a number of Best of the Year lists once the word gets out! Ms. Rogers is a member of International Contemporary Ensemble and will have a duo record out on the Gold Bolus label out in the near future. This is her debut at DMG and we can hardly wait!
This looks to be one of the best triple bills of the year and the year is still young!
JUDI SILVANO and BRUCE ARNOLD - Cloudwalking (Muse Eek 304; USA) Featuring Judi Silvano on vocals & effects and Bruce Arnold on guitars & effects. This is the second disc from Judi Silvano and Bruce Arnold. To call Ms. Silvano just a jazz singer would be misleading since, as this disc shows, there is quite a bit more going on here than one might imagine. We can still hear her jazz background but she is still stepping into another world, rather mysterious sounding. Her voice on “Ingenue” is lovely, warm, dreamy sounds without words. Mr. Arnold also plays solemn, spacy echoplex guitar chords underneath. Ms. Silvano selectively uses an ample amount of echo effects to expand the sound of her voice. The effects that both musicians use are similar in the way they pulsate and work well together. The effects that Mr. Arnold uses add a hypnotic groove at times upon which Mr. Silvano lets her voice glide, rhythmically, tastefully. There is some magic spice going on here, a rather soothing, dream-like vibe that feels better that some of the more aggravating nonsense we all have to deal with at times. Is this music for a fairy tale or a quaint movie for our minds when we are mellowing out? I like when the voices lays out for a bit while Mr. Arnold creates enchanting scenes from different short stories or chapters in a novel. This gives Ms. Silvano a chance to add her own part of the story, her creating different characters. Since there are no lyrics to think about, it is only the sound of her voice to evoke different feelings. Overall, I find this disc to be rather charming and not too far out, but enough to take us all on a magic carpet ride upwards and onwards. This duo will be playing here at DMG early next year, so keep you eyes & eras peeled. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, CD review from DMG Newsletter
Presenting two sets of idiosyncratic and dynamic approaches to sound immersion and improvisation, RAGNHILD MAY and a duo of CECILIA LOPEZ and JOE MOFFETT each bring their distinct artistry to DMG. Ragnhild May, in New York from Denmark, brings her distinct solo work to the evening with her self-constructed instruments. Cecilia Lopez and Joe Moffett create bionic sonic constructions by merging acoustic instruments with synth and electronics.
Soprano saxist, MICHAEL EATON, has played here at DMG on several occasions with Cheryl Pyle’s Beyond Group. Mr. Eaton is a gifted saxist with a new disc our as a leader and this is his first time at DMG with his own unit. Special guest, flutist, CHERYL PYLE, is added to his crew for this special occasion.
DISSIPATED FACE were an amazing young power trio from Merrick, Long Island that mixed Punk, Avant-Jazz, Progressive Rock, Reggae & Free Form into their own unique blend and existed throughout the 1980's. Lead Guitarist KURT RALSKE later morphed in Ultra Vivid Scene and recorded 3 highly regarded albums for 4AD. STEVE POPKIN co-founded the Downtown Music Gallery record store with Bruce Lee Gallanter & David Yamner in 1991 and became a talented DJ after that. DF have reunited as an improv unit and have played at DMG on a number of occasions. The current version features KURT RALSKE, DANIEL CARTER, WILL DAHL & STEVE POPKIN!
Before co-founding Downtown Music Gallery in May of 1991, Jersey Beat journalist & record store dude, BRUCE LEE GALLANTER, organized SUBURBAN BOHEMIA, an improv ensemble which began around 1976 in Linden, NJ and has had dozens of musicians from NJ, NYC and elsewhere. Suburban Bohemia plays generally once a decade whenever Mr. Gallanter comes up with a concept and a handful of musicians to flesh it out. MCBruceLee will be doing a hip hop version of the Mothers of Invention's "Trouble Every Day" from 'Freak-Out!'. Guests should be THE MONZ (from the legendary Mopeds), ELLIOTT SHARP (one of Downtown’s best pickers!) FRANK MEADOWS (DMG bass great) & MICHAEL VATCHER (Amsterdam transplant, percussionist extraordinare & DMG helper)! This is a Party/Celebration/Jam - end of the year, end of the decade, end of the current fascist regime in DC. Let's pray for better days in 2020! "If you don't complain, nothing will change!"
There will be no DMG In-store that night, instead this concert will take place at: At Jazz Habitat / El Barrio ArtSpace - 215 East 99th St in Uptown, Manhattan
This concert will take place at: The DiMenna Center - 450 W 37th St. (bet 9th & 10th Aves) in NYC
Tuba giant JESSE DULMAN is back with his amazing quartet! For this set, the quartet will feature RAS MOSHE on tenor sax, BLAISE SIWULA on alto sax and LEONID GALAGANOV on drums. A slightly different version of this quartet recorded an LP release which was recorded here at DMG and will soon be out-of-print. Search for it, it is indeed a gem!
L.A. guitarist MAX KUTNER is a member of the great trio Evil Genius, who have two spirited CD's out on the Orenda label. Kutner also has a duo disc out with fellow guitar great Henry Kaiser. This will be Max/ second appearance at DMG, so do not miss it!
"Alto saxophonists NOAH BECKER and MICHAëL ATTIAS have shared a creative practice for many years. Together, they maintain an ongoing inquiry about the qualities that differentiate and motivate improvisations, the minutiae of saxophone sound production, the commitment to (and defacement of) musical structures, and the relationship between internal and external perceptions when creating music. At DMG, for the first time, they will carry these explorations forward live!" //////////////////////////////////////
Flutist supreme ROBERT DICK is renown for is long history of multi-flute explorations. His is an early part of the Downtown Scene (from the mid-eighties) and has worked with other Downtown Heroes and otherwise: John Zorn, Ned Rothenberg, Christy Doran, Marty Ehrlich, Soldier String Quartet, Steve Gorn, Joelle Leandre, New Winds… Guitarist NICOLA HEIN has played here at DMG around a half dozen times so far and each time with a different musician: Viv Corringham, Mia Zabelka, Briggan Krause, as well as a soloist. This will be his second set here with Robert Dick, the last one was great!
The Rare Return of BassDrumBone
Featuring MARK HELIAS / GERRY HEMINGWAY / RAY ANDERSON!!!
Saturday, November 9th at 8pm:
Rare Appearance at ZÜRCHER Gallery -
33 Bleecker St. (East of Lafayette), NY NY 10012
Tel: 212-777-0790 / studio@galeriezurcher.com
MARK HELIAS plays contrabass, GERRY HEMINGWAY on drums and RAY ANDERSON on trombone are known as BassDrumBass and have been together for four decades! This year is the 40th anniversary of their first album (‘Oahspe’ on Auricle). Their concerts in NYC are rare events so don’t miss this opportunity to check them out at the cozy ZÜRCHER Gallery at 33 Bleecker St.
BLG will be attending of John Zorn’s New MASADA Quartet at the Village Vanguard! The New Masada Quartet features John Zorn on alto sax, Julian Lage on guitar, Jorge Roeder on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums! I caught them last night (10/30/19) and they were amazing! It is rare to hear sax giant John Zorn play for an entire set, especially two sets per night for six nights. The quartet is on fire and will get even better every night so DO NOT Miss an opportunity to check them out! - BLG
DAVID GROLLMAN plays the snare drum and occasionally removes his clothes mid-performance. The last time he played at DMG, he played a solo on his jock-strap with drum sticks & a cymbal. This segment was posted on DMG's InstaGram and caused quite a sensation! Our followers doubled in size from 700 to 1,400 quickly! Mr. Grollman will be playing with KENNY MILLIONS, a legendary/mystery figure who is even more unpredictable and controversial. We are not so sure what will happen during their set but it will no doubt be memorable!
SEAN ALI plays contrabass with assorted objects while Ms. SANDY EWEN plays electric guitar on her lap with her own odd devices. This should make a unique combination of sounds! Be there or be square!
Downtown Poet Laureate STEVE DALACHINSKY passed away suddenly on September 16th, a tragic loss to the Downtown Community and Creative Music Scene worldwide. On this night, we will celebrate his life, his poetry and his influence on us. A half dozen Downtown musicians will play Free Music in his honor, as well as reading his Poetry and other remembrances. There will be some snacks and friendly faces so please come on down and help us to celebrate his life! Participating Musicians will Feature: Louie Belogenis, Marty Ehrlich, Joe Fonda, Thomas Heberer, Darren Johnston, Jessica Pavone, Michael Vatcher and others..!
This should be another great triple bill at DMG! The first 2 sets will be a tribute to the late, great guitarist BERN NIX, who played for many years in Ornette Coleman's Prime Time Band. Longtime Bern Nix friend & collaborator, flutist CHERYL PYLE will bring back the Beyond Group with MICHAEL EATON on soprano sax and REGGIE SYLVESTER on drums. The Beyond Group has played at DMG several times and always knock us out! The second set will feature Retrograde, the duo of MATT LAVELLE on alto clarinet & trumpet and REGGIE SYLVESTER on drums once more. The Retrograde CD that came out last year was awesome!
The third set that night will feature DREW WESELY on guitar, LESTER ST. LOUIS on cello and CARLO COSTA on percussion. I've caught each member of this trio in different settings so I look forward to see & hear what they
will come up with this special night.
If you are searching to hear the cutting edge of alto sax experimentation, then this night will show you two extreme examples. Although CHRIS PITSIOKOS is still part of the younger contingent of the ever-evolving Downtown Scene, he has made leaps & strides since moving to NYC nearly a decade ago. Aside from working with Nate Wooley, Makigami Koichi and the Louise Jensen Sax Quartet, Mr. Pitsiokos has recorded and toured (Europe & Japan) playing solo, in duos and trios. His current quartet is called the CP Unit, an incredibly intense No Wave meets Post-Post meets Free Noise band that must be heard to be believed. Their CD from this year will make many top 10 lists, mark my words! Chris recently got back from a month long American tour after touring South America earlier this year. His solo sets are becoming legendary, come see & hear why!
Speaking of legends, TAMIO Shiraishi, is without a doubt one of the most brutal and unique of all solo alto saxists. His unique approach to playing sax with those scary blasts often wake up sleeping dogs for miles around. Tamio remains a mysterious figure who has been around for several decades but rarely plays live. Tamio was once an early member of Fushitsusha, Japanese Noise Extremists with another legend - Haino Keiji. Tamio is very selective with who he collaborates with: Sean Meehan, Mico from No Neck Blues Band, Louise Jensen and Talibam! In recent years, out sax freaks like Kevin Reilly & myself schedule to meet Tamio at 1am on a subway platform midtown where he will play a 20 minute solo on the platform. He loves the sounds of the subways roaring by as he plays. Folks will be talking about this concert for years to come so you best come down to check out two apocalyptic solo sets!
Saxist SAM WEINBERG played a solo sax set here not too long ago and it was fabulous! Sam’s current trop features HENRY FRASER on Bass and WEASEL WALTER on Drums! This reckons to be an incredible, sax/bass/drums trio so don’t miss it!
Former West Coast trumpeter, DARREN JOHNSTON, has worked with Larry Ochs, Fred Frith and many others. For this set Mr. Johnston will be working with Downtown alto saxist: MICHAEL ATTIAS! Mr. Attias is one of the best saxists on the scene, check out any of his dozens of f
This looks to yet another great night at DMG!
West Coast Clarinet Master, BEN GOLDBERG, will be playing for six nights nearly straight, he will be at The Stone from August 13th through August 17th, which will be bookended by two performances at DMG on August 11th and August 18th! The distinguished clarinetist and multi-bandleader will be using different personnel on each set! For this set, Mr. Goldberg will be working with guitarists SIMON JERMYN and RYAN FERREIRA, who we know from his work in Tim Berne' Snakeoil.
The second set features the legendary saxist and writer, JACK WRIGHT, in a trio setting with EVAN LIPSON on contrabass and MICHAEL EVANS on drums. Mr. Wright's recent book on free improvisation ranks amongst the best on this subject. Jack Wright has been improvising with a myriad of musicians from Philly, NYC and many places around the planet for more than 40 years! His sets in NY are pretty rare so please don't miss this one!
NICK DUNSTON features his quintet ‘Atlantic Extraction’, performing a selection of the bassist’s newest works. Both the act of construction and demolition work together in harmony to grow the sound of this dynamic and agile ensemble. ATLANTIC EXTRACTION features LOUNA DEKKER-VARGAS on flute, LEDAH FINCK on violin, TAL YAHALOM on guitar, NICK DUNSTON on bass and STEPHEN BOEGEHOLD on drums. ///////////////////////////
Former Chicago-based saxist and composer, CAROLINE DAVIS, leads several bands, all great and all completely different: Whirlpool with Ron Miles & Charles Rumback, Alula with Matt Mitchell & Greg Saunier and ‘Heart Tonic’ with Marquis Hill & Julian Shore. Ms. Davis played here at DMG last year in a great trio with Loren Benedict and Maria Grand. On this night Ms. Davis will be joined by another great bassist named KIM CASS. The is certain to be another wonderful double-header at DMG, so please come on down!
ROBERY DICK and LESZEK “HEFI” WISNIOWSKI are both master improvisers on their respective flutes! This is their second appearance here at DMG and they were spectacular last time! This is a rare Monday evening set at DMG so please come on down and check out this historic event!
From time to time, I meet who a serious listener who has caught a set with DARIUS JONES and they exclaim that they were completely blown away by Mr. Jones and why does he not get the recognition he well deserves!?! I have been following Darius Jones for the past decade, attending many of his sets and reviewing each of his dozen discs, most of which are on the Aum Fidelity label. He still knocks me out each and every time I hear him play!
Former West Coast drummer, MICHAEL VATCHER, has been living & performing in Amsterdam for the past 30 years. I have been following his long career for many moons, checking him out with several bands with Michael Moore (especially noteworthy is Jewels & Binoculars, a Bob Dylan avant-jazz trio tribute unit), Four Walls (w/ Phil Minton, Veryan Weston & Luc Ex), Georg Graewe, Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher and more recently with 1000. For the past nearly 2 years, Mr. Vatcher has been living in NYC, playing with several ensembles and working here at DMG on occasion, which makes our days at DMG even more joyous! I recently organized a trio with Chris Pitsiokos, Mark Helias & Mr. Vatcher and they played here at DMG a few weeks ago - they were fabulous! Mr. Vatcher will be moving back to Amsterdam next month, so I got him to play here at DMG twice in the upcoming weeks. He is a master percussionist and one of the nicest folks I know! Please come down to hear him on 7/21/19 and 7/28/19!
MATT MOTTEL is synth & keyboards in the Talibam! One of Downtown's best, weirdest, most undefineable bands ever! His solo sets are incredible rare so... Talibam! recently released a 15 CD set drawn from the past 15 years of their long reign, with loads of guests: Tamio, David Watson, Joe McPhee, Sandy Ewen, Alan Wilkinson & Steve Dalachinsky.
CHRIS PITSIOKOS is phenomenal young alto saxist who keeps pushing himself, higher & higher! His playing keeps making more strides, as he evolves. A former DMG employee, he has played at a number in-stores at DMG. Each set even better than the last one. He is just getting back from a midwest / southern solo tour so watch out...! California bred, Amsterdam-based drum master, MICHAEL VATCHER, has been living here for the past year or so and helping us out here at DMG! Mr. Vatcher will be playing at the Vision Fest with the Darius Jones Quintet at the Vision Fest on Sat, June 15th at 6:30. Vatcher has long been one of my favorite drummers, especially his work with ICP expat Michael Moore (check Jewels & Binoculars - a stunning Bob Dylan tribute trio with Lindsay Horner). I am determined to make sure that he plays more often in NYC while he is still here. Then trio will also feature Downtown Master bassistL MARK HELIAS! What an incredible line-up!!!
For the second set, the ever-incredible trombonist STEVE SWELL will play a rare duo set Toronto-based drummer MARK SEGGER. Whenever Steve Swell plays at DMG, something magical happens so please don't miss this set!
This mind-blowing double-header is also a pre-Birthday Celebration for DMG Founder, Uncle / Grandpappy Bruce Lee Gallanter, who will turn.... 65 on the 19th, Oye! Come on down and join in the festivities.
Check out the Vision Festival (June 12-16th)! No in-store this night
Master Bassist / Composer / Multi-Bandleader William Parker will talk about his new book, ‘Conversations III’ on Rogue Art. Other speakers include Michel Dorbon from Rogue Art Records, Jeff Schlanger - MusicWitness Artist and Ed Hazell - editor.
CONVERSATIONS III - The Book
700 pages (in English)
33 Interviews by William Parker
29 Artworks by Jeff Schlangler
13 Photographs by Jacques Bisceglia
Edited by Ed Hazell
Featuring interviews with:
Josh Abrams / Pheeron AkLaff / Hamiet Bluiett / Karen Borca / Connie Crothers / Steve Dalachinsky / Marty Ehrlich / Ken Filiano / Dick Griffin / Craig Harris / Klaas Hekmann / Gerry Hemingway / Oliver Lake / Ingrid Laubrock / Bill Lowe / Tony Malaby / Joe McPhee / David Mott / Bern Nix / Mike Reed / Tomeka Reid / Michele Rosewoman / Lee Mixashawn Rozie / Dave Sewelson / Matthew Shipp / Jen Shyu / Craig Taborn / Toschi Tsuchitori / Fay Victor / Greg Ward / Andrea Wolper
All three volumes of the Conversations books will be available and on sale that night.
Former Chicago-based clarinetist & composer, GUILLERMO GREGORIO, has been living here for the past few years and playing at DMG regularly (lucky us!). He loves to play with strings so here he will play with a string duo or trio: SARAH BERNSTEIN on violin and NICK JOZWIAK on cello.
Guitarist MATTEO LIBERATORE has a great solo effort out on Innova, as well was leading several small groups of improvisors. For this set he is joined by the amazing JON IRABAGON on sax. Mr. Irabagon is already a young master at tenor & alto saxes, having won the Monk award, leading several bands, playing the music of John Zorn and reuniting with his old pals in Mostly Other People Do the Killing! Recently he has been challenging himself (and us) by playing sopranino and perhaps ever more rare, soprillo sax.
JUST ADDED! ODD GRAVITY featuring THOMAS HELTON on contrabass, JAIMIE BRANCH on trumpet and MICHAEL EVANS on drums! This looks like a winner!Thomas Helton hails from Texas and has played some superb sets here with William Parker, Brandon Lopez and Joe Hertenstein. Ms. JAIMIE BRANCH rules on trumpet! She is currently riding a well-deserved wave of popularity, mostly due to here debut CD from last year, 'Fly of Die'! Her sets at Roulette last week were astonishing! As is her work with James Brandon Lewis. MICHAEL EVANS is one our favorite Downtown drummers, he is impossible to pigeonhole or predict, although I know something special is in store those brave or crazy enough to endure three sets at DMG on Mothers (of Invention) Day!
Electric Bassist STUART POPEJOY is hard to pin down since he can play heavy (metal) bass is certain projects like Bassoon or Iron Dog while playing more jazz-oriented projects like the Sarah Bernstein Quartet or his own quintet. Alto saxist CHRIS PITSIOKOS is a current local hero who plays with extended technique and has consistently explored and expanded his sound/tone. He has more than a half dozen strong discs out as a leader, all highly recommended! Since leaving DMG and doing graduate work at Wesleyan, he hasn’t been playing in town as often as the past. Bassist ZACH SWANSON has played here a couple of times recently and is someone to watch & listen closely. He has organized a new quartet featuring AYAKO KANDA on vocals, ROCCO JOHN IACONE on saxes and DALIUS NAUJO on drums. After retiring from performing for a few years, tuba great JESSE DULMAN returned to DMG with a new quartet last summer (2018) and recorded a full length album. It is the first LP recorded at DMG and it is a true gem! For this upcoming set, the slightly altered personnel will feature BLAISE SIWULA on sax, DAVE SEWELSON on bari sax and LEONID GALAGANOV on drums! This looks to be yet another truly eclectic, diverse and hopefully historic night like most Sundays here at DMG!
DAVID GROLLMAN plays solo snare drum and occasionally balloons or other odd objects! Sometimes he strips down to his undies or rants about something currently effecting him & us. Sometimes unexpected things happen, so you will just have to come down join in with the fun and see for yourself!
The second will feature: DREW WESELY on guitars & objects and DAVE ZAKARIAN on alto sax.
Here’s a poem about this duo:
shrine of mirrors
untouched in perfect erosion,
ground to dust of
deep sleep obsidian;
imprisoned in spectra--
vibration in chorus
visceral and timbral Improvisations
VIV CORRINGHAM is the Grand Dame of Experimental vocals, hails from the UK and has been visiting here for a bit. She has collaborated with a diverse cast: Charles Hayward (in Monkey Puzzle), Peter Cusack, Anna Homler & Daniel Levin! She is currently a part of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. MIA ZABELKA is a Vienna-based violinist who has played here at DMG on a couple of occasions. She has worked with Lydia Lunch, James Plotkin and Nicola L. Hein. An odd yet diverse crew.
This should yet another wacky & weird night of creative music and other strange behavior!
Tenor saxist CHET DOXAS often defies expectations. Chet and his brother Jim are both members of Dave Douglas’ Riverside quartet with Steve Swallow, whose CD is a tribute to Jimmy Giuffre. Chet is also a big fan of the New York No Wave scene, so the last time he played at DMG, he did a tribute to that music which used some ancient drum machine samples!?! For this show, Chet will be playing some solo tenor sax, a rarity amongst the many sets at DMG!
FERAL CHILDREN feature: NOAH BECKER on alto sax & clarinet, NICK DUNSTON on acoustic bass and LESLEY MOK on drums & percussion. Feral Children breathes as one three-headed beast, balancing and re-balancing from within to project a wild sense of outward unity. The trio formed in 2018, intent on exploring ideas about collective composition and role-obscuring orchestration through its own lens, and they are excited to perform at DMG for the first time!
Tuba player & composer, BEN STAPP, has a recent trio disc out with Joe Morris and Stephen Haynes, which is one of the most creative and challenging discs released so far this year! Soprano sax virtuoso, SAM NEWSOME, has a half dozen releases of solo soprano sax, each one completely different concept-wise and each one pretty amazing! The two most recent duo sets that I've caught with Mr. Newsome featured Amirtha Kidambi on vocals and Sandy Ewen on guitar-on-lap. Both were extraordinary!
Viola player, JOANNA MATTREY, has played here a DMG was a diverse cast of improvisers: Guillermo Gregorio, Michael Foster, Nico Letman-Burtinov, Matteo Liberatore and many more! Ms. Mattrey has solo viola CD out on Relative Pitch called, "Veiled" and string trio release with Leila Bordreuil and Sean Ali on Astral Spirits. This is her first solo performance here at DMG, we are proud to present her here.
This is a first-time collaboration featuring ALEX WARD on clarinet, AMI YAMAZAKI on vocal and JOSH SINTON on bass clarinet! UK clarinetist & guitarist, is one of the leading lights of the London Creative Music Underground. Originally championed by Derek Bailey, Mr. Ward loves to challenge himself with a diverse cast of great players: Duck Baker Trio, Eugene Chadbourne, Lol Coxhill & Joe Morris! I've caught vocalist AMI YAMAZAKI on several occasions and she has consistently knocked me out! She played here at DMG with Craig Flanagan, was most enchanting although I wasn't familiar with her at that time. She also played at The Stone and in a trio with Ned Rothenberg & Erik Friedlander, which was again, superb!
Austrian guitarist MARTIN PHILADELPHY has played here more than a half dozen times and always surprises me, often using different musicians for each set: Kresten Osgood, Jeremy Carlstedt... the music always crafty, rocking and inspired. Again Mr. Philadelphy has chosen a unusual cast: BRADFORD REED on drums & electronics and JANE LeCROY on vocals. Bradford Reed invented an instrument known as the pencilina and was once a member of King Missile (Shimmy Disc stars). Vocalist JANE LeCROY fronts the avant-pop band, The Icebergs (with Tom Abbs on cello and David Rogers-Berry on drums). This will be her first performance at DMG! Not sure how this will work so there should be some great surprises in store for all who attend!
Brooklyn-based violinist, SARAH BERNSTEIN, has just organized a new string quartet and this will be their debut set here at DMG! Ms. Bernstein is a restless, creative spirit who keeps turning up in unlikely musical situations: as a member of Barbez & Iron Dog (w/ Stuart Popejoy), duos with Satoshi Takeishi & Kid Millions and her own dynamic quartet with Kris Davis & Ches Smith. She has gathered a strong quartet of players from diverse backgrounds: SANA NAGANO (last seen w/ Karl Berger), LEONOR FALCON (Chama & Juanma Trujillo) and NICK JOZWIAK (Nico Letman-Burtinovic Bass Qt & Guillermo Gregorio).
JARVIS EARNSHAW was born in London, raised in Japan, studied sitar in India and graduated Pratt Institute. Mr. Earnshaw plays sitar & loops and recently organized a trio with the ubiquitous DANIEL CARTER on various woodwinds and ZACH SWANSON on acoustic bass. DANIEL CARTER is legendary figure amongst the vast cast of Downtown sonic explorers since moving here four decades ago! Considering he hasn’t led his own band (perhaps ever), he has collaborated with hundred of musicians from across the many scenes that make up the Downtown Network, no matter what labels are forced upon them. Bassist ZACH SWANSON has played here at DMG on occasion: with Nico Soffiato, Lior Milliger & Guillermo Gregorio!
Experimental vocalist, RANDI PONTOPPIDAN, hails from Denmark and has collaborated with both jazz pioneers like Jamaaladeen tacuma & Greg Cohen, as well as contemporary classical musicians. She is member of Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices. I caught her with Theatre of Voices at Zankel performing an incredible work from Karlheinz Stockhausen called "Stimmung” a few years back. Ms. Pontoppidan has a new CD release entitled “Space Geode”, which is a duo Greg Cohen, bassist supreme and founding member of John Zorn’s Masada Quartet & Masada String Trio!
Triple bills at DMG are a rarity so come on down and hear some truly creative music!
JESSICA and TONY JONES both play tenor sax and have been collaborating for 25 years! This great Bay Area couple moved here and have continued to thrive as musicians, composers and teachers. They've worked with a number of seminal figures like Don Cherry, Joseph Jarman and Connie Crothers. Both have recent CD's and we are celebrating the release of these two gems.
ICP trumpet hero, THOMAS HEBERER, moved to New York a dozen years ago and has become an integral part of the Downtown Scene. Mr. Heberer is involved in a half dozen different projects including the Yoni Kretzmer 5, the Nu Band (w/ Mark Whitecage, Joe Fonda & Lou Grassi). Mr. Heberer has a new quartet disc out on OutNow which is fantastic with a great band. JOE HERTENSTEIN is one of the finest drummers to move to New York in many years so we are proud to have him here on this great night!
Legendary tuba master, JOSEPH DALEY, has worked with many giants: Sam Rivers, Carla Bley, Ted Daniel, Bill Cole and Jason Hwang! His live performances are pretty rare nowadays! This set will feature the debut of Avant-Garde Working Class, a Tuba Duo with local Hero JESSE DULMAN! Mr. Dulman is a young tuba master who brought an incredible quartet to play here at DMG last Summer! That set was recorded and released as the first record album performed here at DMG! We remain proud!
“Canadian saxophonist KAREN NG teams up with bassist HENRY FRASER, performing in public for the first time. Improvisations of sonic textures with patient cyclical overlapping patterns, this new duo continues to explore spaces together bringing influences from their respective communities.”
Over the past few years, I have had me eye & ear on Downtown drummer, REGGIE SYLVESTER. I know that he has worked with Bern Nix, Cheryl Pyle and Jorge Nuno and has a recent duo CD out with MATT LAVELLE on ESP-Disk. During a recent trio set here at DMG, Mr. Sylvester, did a hilarious spoken word passage while holding our snare to his face. Very strange! Reggie tells us that guitarist ED KELLER is pretty incredible so we look forward to checking him out!. The duo CD with Matt Lavelle, which came out late last year is another one of those under-recognized gems that you really should hear. You most likely know about MATT LAVELLE, who plays trumpet & alto clarinet and has worked with William Parker, Ras Moshe. Sabir Mateen and leads a fine ensemble called 12 Rooms.
XANDER NAYLOR is a guitarist and composer in Brooklyn. A long-time student of Indian music and disciple of tabla maestro Samir Chatterjee, Naylor’s work is centered on cross-cultural blending with the aim of creating new methods and forms for improvisation and expression. RYAN DUGRE’ is a freelance guitarist and multi-instrumentalist based in Brooklyn. He is a touring member of Rubblebucket, Landlady and Eleanor Friedberger.
Tenor saxist STEPHEN GAUCI wears many hats! He is a gifted jazz saxist with a strong, well-worn tone, a teacher, organizer of the ongoing Monday night series at the Bushwick Public House and is now running his own label. His first three CD’s will be available at DMG in time for this set! Former Bay Area drummer VIJAY ANDERSON has worked with Vinny Golia, Adam Lane, Lisa Mezzacappa plus a couple of discs as a leader. He recently moved here and this is his first set at DMG in a long while. We are honored to have him back!
Last summer (2018), we sponsored the debut set of the Jesse Dulman Quartet here at DMG. Their great set was recorded and became the first record album recorded here, which seems odd since we were celebrating our 28th anniversary in May. Tuba master JESSE DULMAN has been playing in subways and venues for more than a decade. and is certified working class hero. Bari saxist DAVE SEWELSON is one of the original Downtown musicians whose career stretches back to the late 1970’s, working with the Microscopics, Robin Holcomb & Wayne Horvitz. Tenor sax & flutist, RAS MOSHE, is a noted Avant/Jazz historian and truly positive creative spirit. Estonian drummer, LEONID GALAGANOV, also plays shachuhachi & waterphone and has been working with William Parker & Kyoko Kitamura.
Flute sorceress, CHERYL PYLE, has been playing here at DMG a couple of time per year for many moons. Her duo with the late Bern Nix remain some of my fondest moments of DMG’s in-store history! The Beyond Group is Ms. Pyle’s all reeds ensemble which also has played here several times, always conjuring up those cosmic, creative spirits. The personnel this time features: CHERYL PYLE - C Alto Flutes / MICHAEL EATON - Soprano Sax / CLAIRE de BRUNNER - Bassoon / GENE COLEMAN - Bass Flute Piccolo
In memory or our guitarist Michael Lublin who passed in 2018. DISSIPATED FACE are old friends of mine that I met when they were high school around 1980. Two original members: STEPHEN POPKIN & KURT RALSKE (formerly of Ultra Vivid Scene), are still with them plus longtime guest collaborator, DANIEL CARTER, WILL DAHL and BILL MILKOWSKI (great music journalist who wrote the Jaco Pastorius book). The question remains: will Mr. Ralske whip out his electric guitar for a blast from the past?!?!
Swiss drummer DAVID MEIER is a member of the amazing Cuneiform progressive trio SchnellerTollerMeier. He is currently visiting our great city and collaborating with many of Downtown’s best musicians. He has played at DMG twice recently and he has chosen two local greats: JONATHAN MORITZ on saxes and TODD NEUFELD (Tyshawn Sorey collaborator) on guitar! Another great double header here at DMG!
Clarinet master BEN GOLDBERG has had two residencies here at DMG over the past couple of years, playing with a wide variety of Downtown's finest: Nels Cline, Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey, Kirk Knuffke, Tony Malaby, Ellery Eskelin & Charles Burham! Each time he plays here, something special happens! For this set, Mr. Goldberg will be joined by TOMAS FUJIWARA, one of Downtown’s best and most in-demand drummers! Mr. Fujiwara leads his own band plus he works with Mary Halvorson and Taylor Ho Bynum in several other bands. This set will help DMG bring their year-long in-store Sunday Series to grand close so please come down and help us celebrate!
On Dec. 3, 630pm, at Downtown Music Gallery, composer and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp will read from his new book IrRational Music, a mix of memoir, music theory,and ruminations on culture, art, and philosophy. Speaking of IrRational Music, author Jonathan Lethem states “Elliott Sharp’s writing, like his music, recombines the scrupulously discursive with the deeply humane and reflective. What a joy it is to be informed by this remarkable account of the coming-of-age of his psyche, his curiosity, and his methodology. Sharp paints a picture of lost kingdoms of the avant-garde which aren’t really lost, but continuous in our present if we’re inclined to notice them. With this book, a reader joins Sharp in the step-by-step reinvigoration of intentional sound itself – sound as culture, as science, as art -- a process that can never be finished.” From composer and electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick: "Sharp is of the first generation of composers to come of age in a musical environment when everything seemed connected; Gregorian Chant to John Cage's chance. His book, IrRational Music, is a fascinating window into that moment in time when music opened up to everyone and all things became possible.”
‘IrRational Music’ is published by TerraNova Books and distributed by MIT Press. There will be copies available for purchase and signing.
Our favorite local Clarinet hero, GUILLERMO GREGORIO, is back and has put together an amazing double bill: the Duo of GG & OMAR TAMEZ on guitar at 6pm and a Trio with GG, OMAR TAMEZ and RAYMON LOPEZ on drums. Mexican guitarist OMAR TAMEZ is a rather mysterious figure, a sort of Shaman who has played here in a duo with Angelica Sanchez. Spanish drummer RAYMON LOPEZ rarely if ever comes to these shores so it is great to have him play his US debut here at DMG! Check any of his discs on Leo or Intakt, especially his trio with Barry Guy and Agusti Fernandez.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
No in-store performance this week
Flutist extraordinaire, CHERYL PYLE, has played here at DMG close to a dozen times with a wealth of great collaborators: Bern Nix, Biggi Vinkeloe, Daniel Carter & Claire Daley. Her ongoing Beyond Unit are perennial DMG faves, their personnel always changing. For this set, the Beyond Trio will feature MICHAEL EATON on soprano sax and REGGIE SYLVESTER on drums!
Saxist MICHAEL FOSTER is another gifted reeds player who keeps experimenting with his sound and the different musicians he works with. Violist JOANNA MATTREY keeps finding new ways to play her viola, collaborating with Guillermo Gregorio, Matteo Liberatore & Nico Letman-Burtinovic. Swiss drummer, DAVID MEIER, is a member of the great progressive trio SchnellerTollerMeier who have some great discs out on Cuneiform. Mr. Meier is currently visiting NYC and working with many of Downtown's finest!
The RADIO I-CHIING DUO Features ANDY HAAS on saxes & electronics and DON FIORINO on guitar. Originally a trio with Dee Pop on drums, Andy and Don have been playing together for more than a decade together and refining their unique way at looking at the other side of life. They recently released their first duo CD which remains an underground gem.
DAVID GROLLMAN plays snare drum in his own completely distinctive way, occasionally stripping down to his skivvies. AL MARGOLIS runs the beyond avant-garde Pogus label for many years and it is seasoned sonic manipulator. LUCAS BRODE plays guitar.
Featuring Dave Sewelson on baritone & sopranino saxes, Steve Swell on trombone, William Parker on contrabass and Marvin Bugaloo Smith on drums. Veteran saxist Dave Sewelson is an early member of the Downtown scene, having worked with Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb and the Microscopic Septet in the early 1980’s. Mr. Sewelson is also a member of the Jessie Dulman Quartet, whose LP was recorded right at DMG last year! Actually, all four members of the great quartet are veterans whose varied careers go back to the late seventies. The eldest member of this quintet is drummer, Marvin Bugaloo’ Smith, who has worked Sun Ra, Archie Shepp and David Schnitter. The opening song is the title track and it was written by Mr. Sewelson. It has a strong, spirited, almost prayer-light theme that rings true for the troubling times that surround us. Many of us can relate to the sentiment of the title, “Music for a Free World”, since we do long to be free of the fascism that is rising around the planet. Mr. Sewelson and Mr. Swell sound like righteous sparring partners, combining forces, blending their solemn, slow burning voices. The longest piece here is called “Tensiana”and starts off with some brooding, thoughtful bass from Mr. Parker. This long work is indeed intense and filled with turbulent currents which rise and fall as the currents swirl around the two horns. Last Sunday (7/2918), trombonist Steve Swell, played a duo here with Canadian drummer Mark Segger. Even in quieter settings, Mr. swell showed himself to be a formidable improviser who kept digging deeper and coming with a wealth of sounds and inspired solos. There are tow songs which were written by both frontline horn men. These are actually duo pieces which are laid back yet a sly, somewhat funky, organic spirit, kinda like a a warm conversation. The quartet together make a strong impression, a solid force, they capture some age old vibes, united in the right ways. A toast to these fabulous veterans! - CD review by Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
“If a hundred crackpot 4-track cassettes met in the eye of a cyclone, the result could near what’s heard in Oxide.” (Massimo Ricci/Touching Extremes). Since their first performances together in the beginning of the 80s, CHRISTOF IRMER (violin) and HANS TAMMEN (guitar) have collaborated on numerous projects. The music of their duo OXIDE changes frequently between soundscapes and fierce sonic outbursts, and draws extensively from their 30 year long collaboration.”
LIOR MILLIGER, an emerging improviser and saxophone player in New York's free jazz scene,
has collaborates with a growing number of prominent musicians. Longtime Downtown bassist HILL GREENE has worked with many of Downtown's finest: Charles Gayle, Gebhard Ullmann, Dave Douglas and Jemeel Mondoc. Ace drummer JOE HERTENSTEIN also gets around, playing in Texas, NYC and in Europe with noted fellow spirits: Jon Irabagon, Ivo Perelman, Thomas Heberer and many more. The MILLIGER / GREENE / HERTENSTEIN Trio should blow some minds!
BRAD LINDE’s Team Players celebrates the release of their 3rd album, "Smells Like Team Spirit" featuring 12-tone music inspired by bowling and outer space exploration. In addition to new music written by the entire team, the quartet reimagines songs by Jimmie Haskell, Albert Ayler, and old chestnuts associated with Thelonious Monk. The rest of the quintet features Mr. Linde & BILLY WOLFE on saxes, AARON QUINN on guitar and DERIC DICKENS on drums. Ace drummer, Deric Dickens, plays here at DMG on occasion and last time left us with a slew of great self-produced CD’s.
Aside from being the nephew of & collaborating famed beat boet Anne Waldman, DEVIN BRAHJA WALDMAN, also works with Daniel Carter, Thurston Moore, HAGL (Heroes are Gang Leaders) and has a his own unit which is based in Montreal. Drummer, DEVIN GRAY, is a rare breed, a Downtown drummer who seems to work with an unpredictable cast of great players: Ellery Eskelin, Gary Thomas, Nate Wooley, Anna Webber and Kris Davis. Check out either of his discs on Skirl, they are both super-duper cool!
Red Rainbow is ANNE RHODES’ solo voice and electronics project, in which she uses variety of vocal styles, extended techniques, and bel canto vocalese to create loops that are at once noisy and lyrical, dissonant and harmonious. You should recognize Ms. Rhodes' name from her work with Anthony Braxton.
THOMAS HEBERER plays trumpet with the ICP Orchestra, the NU Band, The Yoni Kretzmer 5, Aki Takase and has guested with Leap of Faith. Since moving to NY, he has been making the rounds with a number of other Downtown masters. Bassists JOHN HEBERT also keeps pretty busy playing with a diverse cast: Mary Halvorson, Michael Attias, Kris Davis & Rez Abbasi. Most folks know of drum great MICHAEL SARIN from his work the Thomas Chapin Trio, as well as with Mario Pavone, Dave Douglas, Erik Friedlander, Myra Melford and many more.
JAMISON WILLIAMS plays soprano sax and is relentlessly creative, and challenging the boundaries of saxophonic extended techniques, Jamison Williams' role in defining the pursuit of expressive freedom through the use of the instrument cannot be understated; from founding the Experimental Arts Union of Florida, SoLo Sound Gallery, and Vantage Bulletin publishing, to designing the educational curriculum currently taught at [neu]Sonics Music Initiative, his energy is contagious and an inspiration. SAM WEINBERG is a saxophonist, composer, and improviser living and working in Brooklyn, NY. His active projects include W-2 (with Chris Welcome), BLOOR (with Andrew Smiley and Jason Nazary), Maestro Day (with Henry Fraser and Joe Moffett), and music for solo saxophone. Other improvised collaborations and projects are many and varied and include the likes of Ben Bennett, Jaimie Branch, Sandy Ewen, Weasel Walter, Brandon Seabrook, Mike Pride, Chris Pitsiokos, Mark Morgan (Sightings) and many others.
The first set is a duo called SAMDY which Features SANDY EWEN on Guitar and SAM WEINBERG on Tenor Sax. Ms. Ewen moved here from Texas a couple of years back and has been working her way into the Downtown Scene playing in an ongoing group Steve Gauci (most Mondays at the Bushwick Series), as well as working with Weasel Walter. She plays her guitar on her lap and has her own unique approach. Check out her duo (w/ Weasel Walter) or trio (w/ Damon Smith & WW) and you will be knocked out. Guitar great Henry Kaiser was the first person to rave about Sandy so she must be doing something right! Saxist SAM WEINBERG plays with W-2, BLOOR and Maestro Day, as well as with Chris Pitsiokos and Jaimie Branch.
For the second set, we are in for another great surprise: JOSH SINTON on Bass Clarinet and GUILLERMO GREGORIO on regular Clarinet. Besides running the great quartet Ideal Bread, who cover exclusively Steve Lacy, Mr. Sinton keeps busy playing with a number of great musicians: Lisa Mezzacappa, Jeb Bishop, Aaron Novik & Todd Neufeld. Clarinetist, Guillermo Gregorio, moved here from Chicago a couple of years ago and has played here at DMG several times with: Steve Swell, Nico Letman-Burtinovic, Brandon Lopez and Mat Maneri. Clarinet duos are a rarity so we are proud to two have these two giants playing here at DMG on this very special night!
Experimental vocalist CHARMAINE LEE will be joined by Philadelphia-based improvising percussionist BEN BENNETT for an electrifying meeting of unconventional sounds, creaks, and techniques. Using amplification, microphones, modified drum heads, stretched membranes, and objects, the duo will explore an eclectic aesthetic territory together, comfortably moving between rapid-fire free improvisation and the sober austerity of lowercase and Japanese onkyo.
Avant/Jazz/New Music vocalist, KYOKO KITAMURA, consistently outdoes herself by pushing the barriers of vocalizing, singing in Anthony Braxton’s TriCentric Ensemble and in Ras Mosh’e Music Now. One of Ms. Kitamura’s current bands, Tidepool Fauna, has a superb new CD that is worth checking out. Kyoko will be joined by Estonian drummer & shakuhachi player, LEONID GALAGANOV, who was last seen/heard playing with William Parker' Waterphone Ensemble and Jesse Dulman DMG Quartet
Bassist CARLOS QUEBRADA and Percussionist NICOLAS DEL AQUILA are both members of Nicotina os Primavera, an incredible progressive band from Buenos Aires and who remain one of Argentina’s best kept secrets!
NATE WOOLEY is the quintessential Downtown trumpeter who consistently reinvents the way he plays the trumpet, forever experimenting and evolving, His recent duo with young reeds wiz Chris Pitsiokos was one of the most challenging sets I’ve caught this year! l Gifted guitarist AARON RUBINSTEIN is a volunteer at The Stone and has played at DMG with his trio on a couple occasions, all great sets!
Electric guitarist XANDER NAYLOR has played here at DMG on solo electric guitar and has an extraordinary self-released CD that we carry. RICK PARKER has also played here at DMG on several occasions and is a wiz at trombone and electronics.
Both NATE WOOLEY on trumpet and CHRIS PITSIOKOS on alto sax are restless sonic explorers who work hard at coming up with new ideas, extended techniques and unique sounds on they respective instruments as well as continually evolving with their composing and arranging abilities. Both Nate and Chris leads several bands, each one a different challenge. Chris will be attending Wesleyan University in the Fall on a full scholarship to Mazel Tov to him! I have been working for the past year to put together an incredible bill that represents what Downtown Music Gallery is all about: promoting challenging/creative music in a sympathetic setting. The Zurcher Gallery on 33 Bleecker St, just east of Lafayette is the perfect play to do this set, so please don't miss this historic date!
LESZEK “HEFI” WISNIOSKI is Poland’s number one flutist for improvised music and jazz. Hefi and ROBERT DICK have improvised in Poland and now bring their spontaneous, emotionally and sonically kaleidoscopic musical expression to New York. Hefi and Robert both use Robert’s invention, the Glissando Headjoint® and gravity will be optional while they play. A recent flute duo with Nicole Mitchell & Mr. Dick at The Stone was one of the best sets of improvised music that I’ve seen in recent memory! - BLG
Greek-born drummer, ALEX LOULOUDIS, moved to NYC around 2001, and has collaborated with Oliver Lake, Charles Tolliver and Ahmad Abdullah. Alex will be joined by DMG favorite, RAS MOSHE, on tenor sax.Mr. Moshe plays here at DMG often, since he always delivers the goods! This should prove to yet another amazing double-header, a regular ocurrence at DMG!
Clarinetist BEN GOLDBERG and Cornetist KIRK KNUFFKE keep immensely busy schedules collaborating with many other keep music figures: Mr. Goldberg has worked with Nels Cline, Tin Hat, Mary Halvorson & John Zorn. Mr. Knuffke has worked Ideal Bread (Steve Lacy tribute), Jesse Stacken and Max Johnson. This set is a celebration for a recent duo CD called ‘Uncompahgre’ on the Relative Pitch label.
Originally from Venezuela, guitarist JUANMA TRUJILLO, played here violinist Leonor Falcón within the last year or so. Juanma plays on the CD by Leonor Falcon, which is yet another under-recognized treasure. Mr. Trujillo recently left us with his own disc, ‘El Vecino’, a rare gem which was reviewed here and raved about in the DMG newsletter by yours truly… BLG Juanma will be joined by HERY PAZ on guitar and DAYEON SECK on drums
Coming together for the second time this year, NYC based MATTEO LIBERATORE, JOANNA MATTREY and MICHAEL FOSTER explore the acoustic possibilities of their instruments, with an eye on composition and “real time” arranging of their improvisations. They combine a modern melodic/harmonic approach along with extended techniques to create fluid and focused pieces, somehow reminiscent of composers like Salvatore Sciarrino and Luigi Nono." ///////////////
Since moving here from Chicago last year, clarinetist GUILLERMO GREGORIO, has been collaborating with a number of diverse, creative musicians and playing here at DMG on a regular basis. A recent set at DMG with Mr. Gregorio, Nick Jozwiak, Nico Letman-Burtinovic & guest Sarah Bernstein was a particular Summer highlight. For this night, Mr. Gregorio will be working with STAN ZENKOV on bass clarinet and ZACH SWANSON on contrabass. No doubt well-chosen collaborators
Another amazing double-header only found here at DMG, so you best get your tush down here!
“Sarah Hughes and Nate Scheible are two mainstays within the Baltimore and DC improvised music communities working within and against a variety of genres, from dense, untethered free jazz to delicate, stark minimalism. Hughes and Scheible have been collaborating for the past two years, eschewing the expectations of the typical saxophone and drums duo, and utilizing it as a jumping off point to explore deeper possibilities of sound. This oftentimes involves integrating text, movement, and other non-idiomatic approaches, while still maintaining a sense of self-awareness and humor.” /////
Trombone master, STEVE SWELL, is one of the lynchpins of the Downtown Scene, a restless, creative spirit who has worked with dozens of important musicians like: Peter Brotzmann, Ken Vandermark, Marshall Allen, William Parker… Drummer, MARK SEGGER, is a native of Edmonton, Canada and is an integral part of the current Toronto scene.
Recently alto saxist/bass clarinetist WELF DORR dropped a new quartet (WD Unit) disc on us from the Creative Sources label. It is dedicated to James Blood Ulmer and it is one of the best jazz/rock/fusion gems we’ve heard in a long while! For this in-store set, Mr. Dorr has put together a new trio with ON KA’A DAVIS on guitar and JOE HERTENSTEIN on drums. Guitarist On Ka’ A Davis is a local legend with a couple of great yet mysterious discs out on Tzadik and LiveWired labels. He comes from the Electric Miles/P. Funk school of cosmic pickers! The ever-inventive drummer Joe Hertenstein is another local hero who pops up in lots of odd places: with Thomas Helton in Texas, with Thomas Heberer & Jon Irabagon!
Speaking of Great Guitarists, SCOTT FIELDS, rarely comes to New York but does play with just about everyone: Jeff Parker, Xu Fengxia, Marilyn Crispell and John Hollenbeck. Mr. Fields will start off his set by playing solo guitar and will then be joined by our own Downtown Hero, ELLIOTT SHARP, yet another Amazing, super-diverse and consistently creative musician/composer/multi-bandleader!
The first set features: GUILLERMO GREGORIO on clarinet, NICK JOZWIAK on cello, NICO LETMAN-BURTINOVIC on Contrabass and TODD CAPPA on drums! Mr. Gregorio moved from Chicago (previously Argentina) and is a gifted clarinetist & composer. Every set he has done at DMG has been magical!
SARAH BERNSTEIN is one Downtown's best violinists and leads several bands. For this set, she will be performing the violin music of Ornette Coleman. Indeed a rare opportunity to hear this music!
Clarinetist extraordinaire, BEN GOLDBERG, is here for the summer and is doing a residency here at DMG throughout the summer. This week he will perform in a duo the ever in-demand drummer GERALD CLEAVER! It should be pretty amazing, so do not miss it!
JOSH SINTON plays bari sax & bass clarinet and leads several seminal bands like Ideal Bread! JS will be joined by guitarist TODD NEUFELD (last seen with Tyshawn Sorey) and GIACOMO MEREGA, who plays Bass Guitar! Yet another great set is expected!
Surviving member of the Loft Jazz Scene (circa late 70's), TODD CAPP, is still playing the drums and seeking out creative players from all over (age-wise & geographically): Take a ride on the ever-evolving Mystery Train with KURT RALSKE (cornet, soprano sax & possibly guitar), EMILIE LESBROS (vocals), AUSTIN COVELL & ANDREW HAAS (electronics). ///////////////
XNN is a Real News Network which Features DANIEL CARTER on reeds & trumpet, ELI WALLACE on keyboard, BEN COHEN on tenor sax and DAN KURFIRST on drums. Daniel Carter has played with just about everybody in the Downtown Music Scene for some three decades, Jazz bands, rock bands, punk bands, noise groups, encouraging and be-friending fellow musicians from everywhere! His list of collaborators is way longer than the Pres' list of lies and that is saying something!
DMG Founder Bruce Lee Gallanter turns 64 on June 19th, 2018! So let's celebrate! MC Bruce Lee will spin some funky discs from different era, so it is time to get down, dance freely and forget about whatever it is that is currently troubling you! Let's toast to the sounds of Fela Kuti, Funkadelic, James Brown, Little Feat, Dollar Brand, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Laswell, Earth, Wind & Fire, Prince, the Meters, Stax, Motown, The Dead, Electric Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock Mwandishi... There will be some wine, water and or'derves (sic) provided but you can still bring something special to eat or drink if you wish to share. peace, BLG
PRACTITIONER features BEN GOLDBERG on clarinets and MICHAEL COLEMAN on keyboard - their recent CD is a tribute to Steve Lacy's classic 'Hocus Pocus' album. This will be their east coast debut set!
Guitarist NICOLA HEIN has played here at DMG in several great duos with Robert Dick, Chris Pitsiokos and Mia Zabelka. Each of those sets were great! Longtime Downtown alto saxist & guitarist, BRIGGAN KRAUSS has worked with a number of key figures lie wayne Horvitz in Pigpen and Andrew Drury in Content Provider. Mr. Krauss is one of Downtown's best and most distinctive saxists.
Shakuhachi specialist KENYA KAWAGUCHI works for the Chap Chap label and rarely plays in NYC. He will be joined by bassist NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC, who often plays here at DMG in eclectic sets with Guillermo Gregorio as well as in bass trios & quartets.
“Shamanic Noise Jazz is the improvisatory darkly psychedelic post-folk/rock, nordic/arctic/asian vocalizations, pan-afro-arabic funk and jazz with a good dose of post-industrial eletroacoustic noise.
With an initial focus on doing political instrumentals, Cartoon Justice has expanded into a fluid set of players taking on both free improv, ambient post-industrial noisescapes and dark psychedelic folk-rock and post-rock songs.
Their improv draws on a background of the ethnic sounds of arctic/nordic/siberian peoples, arab north african and sub-saharan african popular music, and the free psychedelic-jazz-rock-funk vocabulary of the 1970s free fusion experiments of Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and Sun Ra.”
Cartoon Justice are from San Francisco and they are now on their East Coast Tour.
Be there or be square!
Percussionist CARLO COSTA will be presenting two very different trios this night. Mr. Costa runs a label called Neithernor, which has released a handful of fine discs. Trombonist SAM KULIK keeps busy collaborating with Talibam! Anders Nilsson, James Ilgenfritz and Jeremiah Cymerman. Saxist JONATHAN MORITZ has worked with Shayna Dulberger, Chris Welcome and has several discs out as a leader.
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.
KALABALIK Set Live at DMG - January 5th, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnYidR233L4
Admission: Donation - whatever you can afford
Featuring DAVID AARON on soprano sax, RON RITCHIE on bass and DAVE GOULD on drums.
“Started in Halifax in 2001, an obtuse jazz trio. Lots of confusion and disregard for instruction, but with clear intention. “ - DA. Mr. Aaron has played here at DMG several times in the past and always leaves us with a mystery. - BLG ////////
Every since SAM NEWSOME picked up the soprano sax, he has become a man on a mission: transforming the role of the soprano sax and thinking of new ways and settings to experiment within. He has produced five fabulous solo discs and a two duo CD’s with pianists Lucian Ban and Jean-Michel Pilc, showing him to be an ever-evolving free spirit/force. His also works in the great Spiritual Jazz band Afro Horn, who recently played at the Vision Fest and who blew minds once again!
FIMAV is Festival International Musique Actuelle Victoriaville
FIMAV is an incredible four day festival of New Music/Progressive/Avant Jazz/Noise/Etc.
Check out the line-up here: https://www.fimav.qc.ca/en/
I have been attending EVERY year since 1987, thanks to some prompting by Fred Frith!
"Two NY-based improvising saxophonists will be joined by a West Coast vocal improvisor for a set of trio, duo, and solo improvisations. Some of their generating material will be culled from the American songbook, so to speak, but other territories will be explored as well. Featuring: MARIA GRAND - tenor sax, CAROLINE DAVIS - alto sax and LORIN BENEDICT - voice." Caroline Davis has a new CD out on Sunnyside which features a stunning quintet and which has been garnering a number of great reviews! Swiss saxist Maria Grand moved to NY in 2011 and had been working with Steve Coleman (heard on his two CD’s: ‘Morphogenesis’ & ’Sinovial Joints’). Ms. Grand also has two CDs out as a leader: ‘Magdalena’ and ‘Tetrawind’, both or which also have been getting great reviews.
CHRIS PITSIOKOS has been touring (US, Europe & Japan) and woodshedding extensively over the past few years, playing in different ensembles with Nate Wooley, Otomo Yoshihide and Louise DE Jensen. His solo sax sets are becoming legendary as he continually pushes himself to explore deeper, working with multiphonics and other extended techniques. Chris says that this set will be a long one and that he has been be reaching for new things to reveal and which will be put on display here! This is will be another historic night of creative/challennging music at DMG!
German guitarist NICOLA HEIN has a recent scholarship at Columbia University and has been playing occasional sets here at DMG with a host of improvisers: Viv Corringham, Mia Zabelka and recently an amazing duo with Chris Pitsiokos. Downtown flute virtuoso, ROBERT DICK, has been an integral of the ever-evolving Downtown Scene for more than three decades. Nobody can do the things he does on flute and his book, 'The Other Flute' is the bible for serious flute studies.
Texas-based bassist THOMAS HELTON comes to play here a couple of times a year and always finds great collaborators to work with: Matt Shipp, William Parker, Tony Malaby & Jaimie Branch. BRANDON LOPEZ has become one of the best and most in-demand bassists to move here in the recent past. A duo set with Chicago saxist Dave Rempis at The Owl (a couple of years ago) was one of the best duos I've heard live in many years!
You are invited to a free salon at DMG to introduce Elliott Sharp's upcoming book IrRational Music - Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at 6:30pm Elliott Sharp has written a book! IrRational Music, a combination of memoir, music theory, and cultural criticism will be published on Nov. 1 by Terra Nova Books in collaboration with Found Sound Editions. IrRational Music is a mix of tales from the road and sky with thoughts on music, art, and the process of thinking itself collected in a beautifully printed and illustrated book with accompanying graphic scores To introduce the book and a Kickstarter campaign to fund its publication, E# will do a short solo performance on acoustic guitar and read an excerpt. David Rothenberg of Terra Nova and Kyla Rose-Smith of Found Sound Nation will also be on hand to speak about the project. Refreshments will be served. “Elliott Sharp’s writing, like his music, recombines the scrupulously discursive with the deeply humane and reflective. What a joy it is to be informed by this remarkable account of the coming-of-age of his psyche, his curiosity, and his methodology. Sharp paints a picture of lost kingdoms of the avant-garde which aren’t really lost, but continuous in our present if we’re inclined to notice them. With this book, a reader joins Sharp in the step-by-step reinvigoration of intentional sound itself – sound as culture, as science, as art -- a process that can never be finished.” – Jonathan Lethem (Author of Motherless Children, Fortress Of Solitude)
Last Summer the JESSE DULMAN QUARTET played and recorded a set here at DMG. That set was amazing, one of the most memorable of the many sets here at DMG! It was released on RR Gems Records from Russia. The personnel were & still are JESSE DULMAN on tuba & direction, DAVE SEWELSON (from Microscopics) on bari sax, RAS MOSHE on tenor sax and LEONID GALAGANOV on drums. This set is dedicated to the recently departed Master Musician Cecil Taylor.
Contrabassist NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC leads several bands with numerous CDs by each one worth checking out. Nico plays here at DMG often and always brings strong collaborators. He will be joined MICHAEL LYTLE on clarinets. Mr. Lytle is an early member of the Downtown Scene, a co-leader of MELTABLE SNAPS IT (2 LP's) with George Cartwright, as well as a longtime member of DR. NERVE, NYC Progressive favorites.
NOAH BECKER and COLIN HINTON met in the summer of 2017 at Vijay Iyer's International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music in Banff, Canada, and immediately felt a strong personal, musical, and aesthetic connection. They have continued to perform together back home in New York as active members of the city's creative music scene. Having already played and recorded together in many larger ensemble contexts, they are excited to premiere this duo for the first time at DMG! ///////////
DAVID GROLLMAN plays mainly snare drum with assorted objects, has unpredictable outbursts of vocals and is a longtime friend and constant supporter of the DMG Sunday Music Series. Of all of our InstraGram attractions, Mr. Grollman seems to be amongst the most popular. He has invited another snare drummer, CORY O’BRIEN, ti turn this into a duo. The name SPEEDO refers to the type of preferred garment that the duo might just be wearing, if they will actually be wearing anything at all!
Come on down and Say Happy Birthday to CHERYL PYLE - the great flutist and organizer! Ms. Pyle plays at DMG several times a year and always chooses highly creative collaborators. For this special occasion Ms. debuts the Beyond Group, an a rare all horns quartet which features the irrepressible Downtown giant - DANIEL CARTER (Reeds & Trumpet), MICHAEL EATON on Soprano Sax and CLAIRE de BRUNNER on bassoon. //////////////////
There are dozens of great guitarists in New York, but there is only one ANDERS NILSSON and we are pleased as punch to have him play here. Mr. Nilsson is a member of KALABALIK, an amazing trio whose debut disc was recorded at here at DMG, as well as doing strong collaborations with Fay Victor and Ras Moshe. Nilsson has a revolving trio which always included Scandinavian drummer HAMPUS OHMAN-FROLUND and special guest CHARLES WATERS on alto sax & clarinet. Mr. Waters is a founding member of Gold Sparkle Band, as well as playing in the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra and recently with the Zodiac Sax Quartet, in which he composes all the music.
An April Fool's Day / Easter and Birthday Celebration for LOUISE D.E. JENSEN!
1st Set at 6pm: In order to do something very special for the beginning of April and Spring, Ms. Louise DE Jensen has organized an incredible Alto Sax Trio with the Legendary TAMIO (SHIRASHI) and Future Legend CHRIS PITSIOKOS! For those of you who want to hear the cutting edge of alto sax exploration, this is the set not to miss!!!
2nd Set ay 7pm: Another legendary figure is saxist JACK WRIGHT, whose recent book, 'The Free Musics', will hopefully end up on the NYT Book Best Sellers List! Mr. Wright will be playing in a duo with guitarist ZACH DARRUP, a longtime partner & collaborator! We have copies of Mr. Wright's book in store so get your copy and have him sign it!
Sacramento guitarist ROSS HAMMOND performs at DMG usually once a year and has collaborated with Oliver Lake, Vinny Golia, Alex Cline and many others. Mr. Hammond will be working with drummer/percussionist ANDREW DRURY whose current quartet Content Provider has been blowing minds with their recently released second disc. Mr. Drury is also an immensely crafty experimental percussionist with several great duo CDs out with Yoni Kretzmer, Jessica Lurie & Stephanie Richards.
Most folks know saxist BONNIE KANE from the out/rock/jazz band W.O.O.. She has also recorded a number of strong duo discs with Kevin Shea, Chris Welcome & Federico Ughi. For this special set, Ms. Kane will be joined by ace Downtown bassist ADAM LANE. Besides some swell collaborations with John Tchicai, Paul Smoker and Ken Vandermark, Mr. Kane has a dozen discs as a leader all strong efforts, especially since his writing and playing are consistently engaging!
Pacific Northwest great DENNIS REA used to lead the great fusion/prog band known as Moraine. Mr. Moraine is a gifted improviser who has collaborated with Jeff Grienke and Wally Shoup, two other West Coast legends. Mr. Rea rarely makes his way to NYC so you should miss an opportunity to hear him live whenever you can
This should be another marvelous, diverse and challenging night here at DMG!
Toronto based drummer NICK FRASER can be hear on around a dozen discs on labels like Clean Feed. His trio with Tony Malaby and Kris Davis, being amongst the best. Mr. Fraser in a sensitive and thoughtful drummer and should be a perfect collaborator for saxist INGRID LAUBROCK. Ms. Laubrock leads several strong bands and has loads of great discs out on the Intakt label. She is both a gifted improviser and an important, ever-evolving composer.
Guitarist NICOLA HEIN is currently teaching/studying up at Columbia University. He has played here at DMG a few times and has a unique approach to the guitar. Here Mr. Hein will be working with young Downtown experimental saxist CHRIS PITSIOKOS. Expect some fireworks!
The last few times that contrabassist SEAN ALI played here at DMG, he used a soda can and a cardboard tube to alter the sound of his bass. Mr. Ali usually performs in duos when he plays here and will be working with Japanese experimental vocalist AYAKO KANDA.
A couple of months ago I reviewed a duo CD by NICO SOFFIATO on guitar and ZACH SWANSON on double bass. This disc was released by a new Italian label called Nusica.Org and all ten discs on this label are limited to just a few hundred copies. I thought Mr. Soffiato’s duo CD was superb, another buried treasure only found here. Think: Jim Hall and Ron Carter.
Master clarinetist, BEN GOLDBERG, had a residency here last year, playing five Sundays in three months, each with different personnel and each one great in different ways. Mr. Goldberg is back with another colossal duo featuring the talents of TOM RAINEY on drums. In a city where we can find dozens (hundreds?) of great drummers, Mr. Rainey remains on the top of the heap! Nobody plays quite like him and every time he plays, he wins over a new fan or two!
Featuring HANS TAMMEN on Buchla synthesizer, KEISUKE MATSUNO on electric guitar and RAF VERTESSEN on drums. It is pretty rare to see/hear anyone playing the ancient Buchla synthesizer but this is what guitarist & composer has been working on for the past few years. This is an extraordinary trio which features new Downtowners, fascinating noise/improv guitarist Keisuke Matsuno (originally from Berlin & co-leading Trio Schetterling)) and impressive young drummer named Raf Vertessen (originally from Belgium), who also works with Anna Webber and Adam O’Farrill. //////
JIM DENLEY is a virtuoso reeds player from Australia, who used to play in Machines for Making Sense and is currently in MURAL (with Kim Myhr & Ingar Zach). Mr. Denley is a master of extended techniques on sax and flute and has long experimented in varied situations, both indoors and outdoors. He rarely comes to the US so come on down and don't miss this rare treat! //////
CHRIS PITSIOKOS is a young Downtown master of extended techniques and multiphonics on alto sax. I asked Jim Denley and Chris if they wanted to do a rare duo on alto saxes, crossing generations, cultures and lede experiences. They agreed and we will all benefit from this - It should be another glorious/challenging night so…
A night of two wildly different duos! CHET DOXAS plays tenor sax & clarinet in quartet called Riverside with Dave Douglas, Steve Swallow and his brother Jim Doxas. It turns out that Mr. Doxas has been listening to a great deal of New York No Wave from the late 70’s/early 80’s. For this rare set, Doxas will play an ancient drum machine and will be joined by the great UK/NY pianist, JOHN ESCREET, who will be playing some synth & other drum machine/samples.
From the other side of the sonic spectrum will be the second set with keyboard wiz, MATT MOTTEL, from the noise/jazz/prog/comedy duo Talibam! and with the legendary extended-technique saxist, MARTIN ESCALANTE, from down south. Again, this will be a night to remember. Come on down!
Alto saxist DEVIN BRAHJA WALDMAN splits his time between the New York and Montreal underground scenes and has collaborated with legendary beat poet Anne Waldman, Thurston Moore and HAGL (Heroes are Gang Leaders). Devin will be joined by the ever-ready/ubiquitous improviser DANIEL CARTER (multi-reeds & brass) and drummer MALICK KOLY. This set is in celebration of a new CD called, ‘Wisdomatic’.
Multi-reeds Wizard and Avant/Jazz Scholar RAS MOSHE returns to DMG for another set of inspired improvisations. For this set Ras has organized a great new trio with CHARLEY SABATINO on contrabass and the Legendary BOBBY KAPP on drums! More than fifty years ago, Bobby Kapp recorded with Gato Barbieri and Noah Howard for the ESP label. After a half century out of the spolight, Mr. Kapp has returned and recently recorded (3 CD’s) with Matt Shipp and Ivo Perelman.
This looks to be a glorious night Free / Healing / Spiritual music so please come down and joy the festivities!
DAVE SEWELSON plays baritone & alto saxes and is an original member of the early Downtown Scene, starting in the late seventies. Mr. Sewelson is a founding member of the Microscopic Septet (the longest running Downtown unit), as well as working with Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Peter Kuhn, Jesse Dulman and loads more. Mr. Sewelson rarely does gigs as a leader so this is indeed a rare occasion. His trio will featuring two leading lights of the Downtown network: WILLIAM PARKER on Contrabass and MARVIN BUGALOO SMITH on Drums! the fare. As they used to say, it's a gas, man.” - Grego Applegate Edwards
DR. EUGENE CHADOURNE will play a rare set of solo banjo songs, improvisations and banter here at DMG this Monday, February 5th at 6pm! Doc Chadbourne is in the middle of a short tour of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Beacon, NY.
Amongst the 100's of musicians who are involved in the current and past Downtown Scene, there is only one musician who is truly devoted to collaborating with just about everyone and anyone worth their salt: multi reeds master & trumpeter, DANIEL CARTER seems to be everywhere! He continues to improvise with dozens of musicians known and unknown and from just about any genre, style, age, gender, background. He is also a sweet soul and a great conversationalist. He refuses to be a group leader since he would rather give an opportunity to an up & coming player. It has been four decades since he moved to New York and has always been searching for more sessions to do... A toast to Daniel Carter!
On this night DANIEL CARTER will play with two very different units: ZERO POINT with MARIUS DUBOULE on guitar, MICHAEL BATES on bass and DERIC DICKENS on drums. Their first disc came out last month and it is another one of underground gems! Former Canadian bassist keeps pretty busy playing in several bands (the Sandcasters & loads more) as well as being a bandleader.
The second set will feature CHERL PYLE on flute, CLAIRE DeBRUNNER on bassoon and DANIEL CARTER on saxes, clarinet, flute & trumpet. Ms. Pyle is a longtime DMG favorite who has played here many time with many well selected musicians: Bern Nix, Mark Alban Lotz & Biggi Vinkeloe! We haven't had very many bassoonists play here at DMG in the past (mainly Sara Schoenbeck) but Ms .DeBrunner is in a class of her own and keeps wowing us each time she is here!
Featuring HANS TAMMEN on Buchla synthesizer, KEISUKE MATSUNO on electric guitar and RAF VERTESSEN on drums. It is pretty rare to see/hear anyone playing the ancient Buchla synthesizer but this is what guitarist & composer has been working on for the past few years. This is an extraordinary trio which features new Downtowners, fascinating noise/improv guitarist Keisuke Matsuno (originally from Berlin & co-leading Trio Schetterling)) and impressive young drummer named Raf Vertessen (originally from Belgium), who also works with Anna Webber and Adam O’Farrill. //////
JIM DENLEY is a virtuoso reeds player from Australia, who used to play in Machines for Making Sense and is currently in MURAL (with Kim Myhr & Ingar Zach). Mr. Denley is a master of extended techniques on sax and flute and has long experimented in varied situations, both indoors and outdoors. He rarely comes to the US so come on down and don't miss this rare treat!//////
CHRIS PITSIOKOS is a young Downtown master of extended techniques and multiphonics on alto sax. I asked Jim Denley and Chris if they wanted to do a rare duo on alto saxes, crossing generations, cultures and life experiences. They agreed and we (those in attendance) will all benefit from this - It should be another glorious/challenging night so…
Legendary American-born drummer/percussionist, MICHAEL VATCHER, has made his way back to New York, after living in Amsterdam for some thirty years. He will be joined by another legendary figure, saxist JACK WRIGHT, who has been creating his own free music for more than 40 years and working with a large cast of musicians from around the globe. //////
WHILE WE STILL HAVE BODIES is an exceptional new Downtown all-star quartet featuring: MICHAEL FOSTER on saxes, BEN GERSTEIN on trombone, SEAN ALI on contrabass and FLIN VAN HEMMEN on drums. Their first disc was released last month and is one of the best regarded debut discs of the past year.
The ZODIAC SAX QUARTET will be playing the music of CHARLES WATERS (once of Gold Sparkle band), and features three other fine saxists: CLAIRE DALY (from Two Sisters) on bari sax, LEE ODOM (Matt Lavelle's 12 Houses) on soprano sax and RAS MOSHE BURNETT on tenor sax! The Zodiacs have been rehearsing for the past year or so but rarely play live, so... //////////
After living and teaching in Chicago for many years, clarinetist & composer, GUILLERMO GREGORIO, moved to NYC, where he been playing with many of Downtown finest: Mat Maneri, Jaimie Branch, Steve Swell and Nico Letman-Burtinovic. More recently Gregorio has been working with cellist NICK JOZWIAK, who also play bass in a double bass trio and quartet there at DMG. Early Downtown drummer, TODD CAPP, continually seeks out open-minded improvisers, known and not-so to work with, playing here at DMG with a new crew each time he is here.
Master Contrabassist DAMON SMITH currently resides in Boston, where he works with Leap of Faith and has played with many greats: Joe McPhee, Henry Kaiser, Peter Kowald and many more. Formerly Amsterdam-based drummer & instrument-maker, MICHAEL VATCHER, recently moved to New York and has been playing the occasional set around town. Mr. Vatcher is the favored percussionist of many, working for nearly three decades in the Netherlands and playing with many important musicians/ensembles: Jewels & Binoculars (with Michael Moore & Lindsey Horner), Tom Cora's Roof & 4 Walls (with Phil Minton, Veryan Weston & Luc Ex) and Trio Braam. ///
It is pretty rare for anyone to play instruments like oud, ney and morsing here at DMG (or anywhere else) but this is what TOMCHESS does. Mr. Chess has a new duo disc out with Turkish bassist ESAT EKINCIOGLU who is currently living in the Netherlands.
It is also rare for us to have a Saturday night gig here at DMG so this looks to be yet another amazing night of wonderful music! Come on down and tell your friends!
Every week at DMG, something unique, magical and transformative happens at our store on Sundays at 6pm. Take a chance and come on down and hear some new sounds that you've never heard before!
Check out XANDER NAYLOR: youtu.be/mUOiN5cNw6k
Check out VIV CORRINGHAM: /soundcloud.com/ivorringham/live-solo-at-poppers-ny-march-1st-2016
Sunday, December 31st: New Years Eve - No In-store
Check this out instead:
OUR LAST NEW YEAR'S GIG AT THE ORIGINAL LOCATION
BRING THE NEW YEAR IN AT THE STONE!
8:30 — NEW YEARS EVE IMPROV BENEFIT
John Zorn (sax) Chris Speed (sax) Makigami Koichi (voice) Ikue Mori (electronics) Brian Marsella (piano) Jim Black (drums) Chris Tordini (bass) Okkyung Lee (cello) Jad Atoui (electronics) and many special guests
11pm — NEW YEAR'S EVE SPECIAL - PAKORA with Chris Speed (clarinet) Brad Shepik (guitar, saz) Chris Tordini (electric bass) Jim Black (drums, percussion)
A special concert for New Year's Eve! Pachora is a fabulous instrumental unit inspired by the music of Eastern Europe—a legendary all-star ensemble performing a unique set for the holidays! Bring the New Year in Stone-style at our LAST EVER NEW YEARS SHOW!
Sunday, December 24th: Christmas Eve - No in-store
Merry Christmas to All!
ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE features CRAIG FLANAGIN and NORMANDY SHERWOOD on modular electronics plus special guest vocalist AMI YAMASAKI! Downtown historians should recognize the name Craig Flanagin from his time playing guitar with the legendary post-punk band God is My Co-Pilot, who used to play at places like the Knitting Factory & CBGB's and have many discs out. Every few years, Craig brings a new project here to DMG and always surprises us with something completely unexpected. This night Craig is bringing a modular electronics duo with NORMANY SHERWOOD plus a great vocalist named AMI YAMASAKI !
Young string wizard, FUNG CHERN HWE, is a member of the Sirius String Quartet, Seven)Suns and Fugu and has worked with Ivo Perelman, Roberta Piket and Jason Kao Hwang. This will be a rare opportunity to hear him play solo so put this on your calendars!
DISSIPATED FACE were an ambitious, diverse young power trio were met at high school in Merrick, Long Island and continually evolved throughout the 1980's. Their music was an original blend of influences from free jazz/punk rock/sixties psych/dub/noise. Dissipated Fave loved to jam and experiment and often invited kindred spirits to sit in. Downtown legend, DANIEL CARTER (reeds & trumpet), played with them several times at CBGB's and a single released around 5 years ago with Carter sitting in. After they split in the early 1990's, their guitarist KURT RALSKE recorded three fine albums for the 4AD label under the name Ultra Vivid Scene. Two of their founding members STEVE "EXTREME" POPKIN (drums) and KURT RALKSE (guitar & trumpet), reformed in recent times and play a yearly set here at DMG. The current version of the band includes BILL MILKOWSKI (author of Jaco Pastorius bio) on guitar, WILL DAHL (from Blind Idiot God) on bass and WILL LUBLIN. ///
RAS MOSHE plays tenor sax & flute and has led the MUSIC NOW ensemble for a decade or so. Mr. Moshe has played with Amina Baraka, Bill Cole, Marc Edwards and William Hooker. Ras will be joined by experimental vocalist KYOKO KITAMORA, who has been collaborating with Anthony Braxton in several ensembles. Moshe just added REUBEN RADDING on bass and LEONID GALAGANOV on drums, two of Downtown’s best!
CHRIS PITSIOKOS is the most talked about young saxist who has emerged from the Downtown Scene in the past few years. He has a singular sound which is informed by early Zorn-like multiphonics and keeps reaching for further out experimentation. He leads several bands (check out the CP Unit on Clean Feed) and has collaborated with Weasel Walter, Nate Wooley, Dre Hocevar and Joe Morris. Chris recently toured in Europe, Japan and the mid-west. His recent solo sax sets are well worth checking out!
Cologne-based trombonist MATTHIAS MUCHE was recently part of a great trombone trio with Jeb Bishop and Matthias Muller, whose recent CD (on Not Two) was dedicated the late Johannes Bauer. Mr. Muche recently performed at the Austrian Cultural Center (midtown, NYC) with Studio Dan,a New Music Ensemble. He has worked with Nicola L Hein, Ernesto Rodrigues and Achim Tang.
In a city where there are dozens of great drummers, GERALD CLEAVER, is perhaps the most in-demand of them all. Besides his own ensemble Black Host, Mr. Cleaver works with Farmers by Nature, Kalabalik, Lotte Anker, Samuel Blaser and Mario Pavone.
This is a first time meeting of these three formidable musicians. Do not miss this amazing event!
This is the first time meeting of two international trios! Swedish guitar monster ANDERS NILSSON works in several great bands: Aorta, Kalabalik and the Fulminate Trio, as well as collaborating with Fay Victor, Ras Moshe and many others. For this date, Anders has decided to work with Scandinavian drummer Hampus Ohman-Frolund who plated here with Robbie Lee earlier this year. Recently added is trombonist SAM KULIK - who has worked with Talibam!, Jeremiah Cymerman and Mysterium. Kulik has an odd sense of humor so we are certainly in for some surprises! /////////////////////////
Formerly Bay Area-based clarinetist, AARON NOVIK, has several great CD's out plus he has worked with Fred Frith and Lisa Mezzacappa. PATRICK HOLMES is another fine clarinetist who play here recently with a Clarinet Quartet. Although trumpet master THOMAS HEBERER is a longtime member of the ICP Orchestra, he moved to NY a few years back, juggling opportunities with the Nu Band, the Yoni Kretzmer Five plus occasional collaborations with Frank Gratkowski, Achim Kaufmann, Joachim Badenhorst and Boston's finest, Leap of Faith. Just added to the line-up is contrabassist PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER, another local hero and in-demand bassist! This looks to be another incredible night here at DMG so please come on down and join the festivities!
French-born, New York-based acoustic bassist, FRANCOIS GRILLOT, is another of Downtown’s under-recognized greats, often working with other like minded free spirits like Marc Edwards, the Earth People, Giuseppi Logan, Bern Nix and Matt Lavelle. A few times a years, Francois brings another fine unit to play here at DMG and has something special going on on November 26th: guitarist RICH ROSENTHAL, alto saxist NICK LYONS and drummers LEONID GALAGANOV & TODD CAPP. Each time that Francois Grillot brings a new ensemble here to DMG, something extraordinary happens! Come on down!
Original Free/Loft/Jazz drummer TODD CAPP is constantly searching for like-minded improvisers who love to push the envelope! For this special occasion Mr. Capp has organized an amazing once-in-a-lifetime Clarinet Quartet featuring four masters: SYLVAIN KASSAP (France), GUILLERMO GREGORIO (Argentina/Chicago/NY), PATRICK HOLMES and MICHAEL LYTLE (early Downtown pioneer & founding member of Dr. Nerve). Not to be missed!
ANDY HAAS plays sax & electronics and has many discs of solos, duos and trios. DON FIORINO plays guitar in his own distinctive way. Andy and Don were once members of the legendary Radio I-Ching with Dee Pop. Their duo sets are incredibly rare, so come on down and get your minds blown once more!
ROBERT DICK has long been an innovative flutist, author of several books and an integral member of the Downtown Scene for nearly 40 years. Mr. Dick is pioneer of extended techniques, multi-phonics and still plays custom-made experimental flutes, one of which he designed. Through the years, Mr. Dick has set the standard for modern flute playing and composing, moving easily between jazz, free/improv and New Music worlds. Starting in the early 1980’s I’ve checked out his playing with a diverse cast of great musicians/bands: New Winds (w/ Ned Rothenberg & JD Parran), early John Zorn game pieces, ADD Trio (w/ Christy Doran & Steve Arguelles) and more recently duos with his wife, pianist Ursel Schlict. On occasion Robert Dick has recorded a handful of solo efforts, the most recent is ‘Our Cells Know’ (Tzadik in 2015). Robert Dick’s solo performances are pretty rare so we are proud to have one happen her at DMG!
The Downtown Underground continues to rise up. Every Sunday a different musician or group of players comes here to perform their of unique perspective. This trio will no doubt pull off some surprises: GIACOMO MEREGA plays electric bass and has worked with Dave Tronzo, Noah Kaplan and has his own unit: Trio (MIT) on Rudi Records. Guitarist ANDREW SMILEY played Little Women, a great quartet led by Darius Jones, and more recently with the CP Unit led by Chris Pitsoikos. Trumpeter ELI ASHER is a member of the Respect Sextet whose CD’s on Mode include their own take on Sun Ra and Stockhausen, both of which are well worthy of seeking out, as well their earlier hard-to-find discs.
CHRIS PITSIOKOS is one of the most well regarded saxists to appear in New York in many years. In less than a decade he has established himself as the new sax wiz to check out. He has toured in the mid-west, Europe and Japan in the past year and has a half dozen discs out as a leader or collaborator. Chris has played solos hewer at DMG several times an each time, he blow some minds!
German trombonist MM rarely comes to town so we are glad to get him to play here. MM is part of a recent trombone trio CD on Not Two which is a tribute to the late Johannes Bauer. MM will be joined by GERALD CLEAVER, one of Downtown's best and busiest drummers. Mr. Cleaver is a member of many great bands: Black Host, Farmers By Nature and Kalabalik.
This special evening will conclude with a first time meeting of this trio: Chris Pitsiokos, MM and Gerald Cleaver - it should be an historic night!
Local heroes, FLIP CITY, have played here at DMG on several occasions and have always knocked out those in attendance. Their music is partially free and often filled with fire and invention! The personnel remains: DAVID AARON on saxes, WILL McEVOY on bass and DAVID GOULD on drums. This is from their own website: “A hard-steamin', obtuse jazz unit. Lots of confusion and disregard for instruction, but with clear intention.”
Alto saxist and composer PATRICK BRENNAN, is originally from Detroit, lived in Morocco and has been involved in several bands throughout his time here in NYC. He has a knack for choosing strong collaborators hence his quartet tonight will feature a strong cast: JASON KAO HWANG on violin, PATRICK HOLMES on clarinet and BRIAN GRODER on trumpet, all leads on their own.
South American reeds player LUIS CONDE hails from Buenos Aires and has a couple of disc out on FMR, one with Frode Gjerstad. Mr. Conde will join forces with the great JOSH SINTON, bari sax & bass clarinetist for several bands like Ideal Bread, the Harris Eisenstadt and Nate Wooley bands. This should be a pretty remarkable duo!
BRANDON LOPEZ is one of the best bassists on the Downtown Scene at present. His work with the Nate Wooley Quartet, Dave Rempis and Guillermo Gregorio show him to be consistently creative. Mr. Lopez will have a new trio release out shortly with Sam Yulsman on piano and Chris Corsano on drums. His solo bass performances are becoming legendary!
Longtime jazz vocalist supreme, JUDI SILVANO, has decided to go even further out than she has in the past and made a great yet bizarre electro-acoustic duo CD with guitarist BRUCE ARNOLD! This recently released disc remains amongst the more experimental side of the Downtown scene and has little in common with most of the more mainstream jazz offerings that one might associate from Ms. Silvano’s previous recordings.
Venezuelan violinist LEONOR FALCON recently released an incredible quartet CD and played here at DMG with that marvelous quartet! Yet another New York-based violinist, Ms. SANA NAGANO has worked with quite a diverse cast: Karl Berger, Jeff Shurdut and Carlo Costa and she is featured on a new disc from Adam Rudolph, just released this week (10/06/2017).
Drummer JEREMY CARLSTEDT is a positive spirit who has played here on several occasions, always casting a spell on us with his inventive drumming. Mr. Carlstedt has studied and collaborated with Chico Hamilton, Brian Settles and Tim Motzer. Trombonist and electronics wiz, RICK PARKER, once played at DMG in a great duo and has played 9Volt with Tim Berne as well as with Alex Weiss. This looks to be yet another colossal duo set!
WILL GREENE From Trigger (soon to be Tzadik recording artists) will debut hew new woodwind trio here at DMG!
Experimental vocalist KYOKO KITAMURA has worked with Anthony Braxton and Ras Moshe as well as leading her own ensembles. She has played at DMG on several occasions and knocked us out each time! Contrabassist supreme KEN FILIANO is the bassist of choice for many folks: Vinny Golia, Connie Crothers and Jason Hwang to name a few. Korean percussionist DAYEON SEOK was selected by Ms. Kitamura for her unique playing so we look forward to her DMG debut!
Berlin-based violinist IRENE KEPL will make her debut here at DMG on this night. Ms. Kepl recently sent us a great trio CD with George Cremaschi and Petr Vrba., as well as a fine solo disc. Ms. KEPL will be joined by percussionist DAVID GROLLMAN, Mr. Grollman plays mainly a snare drums with assorted objects and has a singular approach. Both musicians will play solo as well as a duo, It should be a marvelous night!
Texas-bassed bassist THOMAS HELTON comes to DMG around once a year playing solo or duo (William Parker) or trio (Tony Malaby & Joe Hertenstein) and never fails to knock us out! For this set, Helton will be joined by Downtown bass master MICHAEL BISIO! For the past few year Mr. Bisio has been playing in duo, trios and quartets with Matt Shipp, Kirk Kniffke and Ivo Perelman. Mr. Bisio's last two discs for Relative Pitch, a duo with Kirk Knuffke and a quartet with Knuffke, Art Bailey and Michael Wimberley are both underground classics!
Bay area bassist LISA MEZZACAPPA is one of the most ambitious, creative and diverse bandleaders & composers to emerge from the West Coast in the past decade. Ms. Mezzacappa has a half dozen different discs out on Not Two, Clean Feed and Leo, all excellent! Lisa has organized a phenomenal new quartet just for DMG featuring West Coast/East Coast All-Stars: Aaron Novik (several great discs on Tzadik, Evander & Porto Franco) and Josh Sinton (Ideal Bread, Nate Wooley & Harris Eisenstadt) on bass clarinets and Bay Area drummer JASON LEVIS, who has two swell but hard-to-find duo discs out with Ms. Mezzacappa.
This looks to be another one of Special DMG Double Bills that will discussed by future Downtown historians!
Trumpeter KENNY WARREN has an amazing new CD out on the Whirlwind label. For this set, Mr. Warren will have a formidable trio with ADAM HOPKINS on bass and FLIN VAN HEMMEN on drums! Mark my words, they will smoke!
Venezuelan violin LEONOR FALCON also has an incredible new quartet CD out called ‘Imaga Mondo’ which has been garnering rave reviews! Her great quartet features JUANMA TRUJILLO on guitar, CHRISTOF KNOCHE on bass clarinet and JUAN P. CARLETTI on drums. Those in the know should recognize the names of Christof Knoche who once had a great disc on the Omnitone label and Argentinian drummer JP Carletti who works with Tony Malaby and a number of other Downtown aces! This will be a CD release set and should definitely blow some minds!
RAYMOND MacDONALD plays sax & GEORGE BURT plays electric guitar. Both of the musicians are longtime members of the Glasgow creative music scene and have had an ongoing co-led ensemble for many years. UK legends Lol Coxhill and Keith Tippett were both guests of this band and are on several of their recordings. Both are also members of the sensational Glasgow Improvers Orchestra. I believe that this is their time playing together in NYC and we are delighted to give them an opportunity to do their thing!
Clarinetist and composer, GUILLERMO GREGORIO, is an original member of Argentinian avant/underground from the mid-sixties. Mr. Gregorio later moved to Chicago and was an integral part of the Windy City avant/jazz and New Music scene. Check out his diverse catalogue of more than a dozen discs on Hatology/Now, New World, Peira and Atavistic labels. Guillermo moved too NY last year and has played here at DMG many times. Each set has been special in one way or another, always blurring the lines between Avant/Free Jazz and New Music. Not to be missed by those in the know!
Violist & violinist, MAT MANERI, is one of the most distinctive string players to emerge from the vast creative music scene in the past couple of decades. Both Mat and his father Joe Maneri, were known for their unique microtonal explorations. Mat has continued to experiment with his own microtonal vision/sound and works with a number of other challenging musicians: Ches Smith Trio (ECM CD), trio with Evan Parker & Lucian Ban and another trio with Tony Malaby & Daniel Levin. All are amazing!
The third member of this trio is cellist NICHOLAS JOZWIAK. This is the debut set of this new trio and should be another of this year’s highlights!
RAS MOSHE plays mostly tenor sax and occasionally flute. He is one of Downtown's most inspired and positive Underground heroes. Ras is also a noted Avant-Jazz historian, as well as a teacher. He leads several bands with MUSIC NOW his most acclaimed. He always finds like-minded spirits to collaborate with and we look forward to each and every visit! This set will feature the DMG Debut of the ZODIAC SAXOPHONE QUARTET and the personnel features: Ras Moshe Burnett, Charles Waters, Claire Daly and Lee Odom on saxes.
REDS & WHITES feature JOHN WELSH on guitar, AUSTIN WHITES on electric bass and ANDERS ZELINSKI on drums. This phenomenal trio are one of NYC’s best kept secrets! An intense, explosive power trio that draw from jazz/rock/punk and other post-whatever sources. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!?!
Young alto sax master, CHRIS PITSIOKOS, recently returned from a successful tour of Northern Europe. Chris played several solo sets as well as with his own CP Unit. Check out his discs on Clean Feed, New Atlantis and UgExplode! There are many great young saxists playing in New York but young Mr. Pitsiokos’ profile has been ever-rising, as he has worked hard developing his own sound.
ContraBassist BRANDON LOPEZ has become the one of the most eagerly anticipated new bassists to check out in our fair town. His playing with the current Nate Wooley Quartet (on Clean Feed with Chris P) and his duo set with Dave Rempis at the Owl Parlor from a few months are two of this year's most talked about highlights!
DAVID GROLLMAN plays snare drum in a completely original way! Mr. Grollman is longtime supporter of the DMG in-store series and we never know which weird character he will tap into when he performs. Don't mis this one!
At the end of last summer (2016), the ever in-demand and immensely diverse drummer, BILLY MINTZ, left us with a CD of his current quintet. You would never know from Mr. Mintz’s modest, unassuming demeanor that he is one of the best drummers around, a strong composer and a smart bandleader. His quintet features a two tenor frontline: the ubiquitous TONY MALABY (Open Loose & way too many other great situations) and JOHN GROSS, a superfine west coast saxist who again rarely gets the recognition he deserves. The secret weapon here is Mintz’s partner, ROBERTA PIKET, a gifted pianist and keyboard player who also never ceases to amaze those who listen closely to her wide ranging output. Ms. Piket released a superb tribute to Marian McPartland, last year that you should really check out. Bassist HILLIARD GREENE is way too busy to peg down to any one thing, although he has worked Billy Bang. Dave Douglas, Patrick Brennan and many others. Mintz's quintet are incredible to so...
MAT MANERI and TANYA KALMANOVICH both play viola. Mr. Maneri is a longtime Downtown staple who has worked with a number of our most creative improvisers: Matt Shipp, Joe Morris, Lucian Ban and Cecil Taylor. Check out his playing with the Ches Smith Trio disc on ECM! Originally from Canada, Ms. Kalmanovitch has her own quintet and has recorded with Myra Melford and Ivo Perelman. This great duo has a recently self-released 2 LP set that is a treasure to behold! This looks to be one of great double bills of the year and the admission is FREE!
GUILLERMO GREGORIO recently moved here from his long tenure in Chicago. Originally hailing from Argentina where he was involved in Fluxus activities in the mid-sixties. While in Chicago he taught, composed and has worked with a wide range of like-minded musicians: Mat Maneri, Pandelis Karayorgis, Mats Gustafsson, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jaimie Branch, etc.
Originally Bay Area-based, AARON NOVIK has a number of fine discs out on the Tzadik, Evander & Porto Franco labels. Mr. Novik is currently living here and recently brought an extraordinary quartet to DMG: two clarinets and two guitars (Jeremiah Cymerman, Ava Mendoza & Brandon Seabrook!).
Clarinet trios are indeed pretty rare so don't miss this one!
West Coast Guitar Master HENRY KAISER comes to our fair town pretty rarely so it is indeed a special occasion to have him play a solo electric guitar set here at DMG! Mr. Kaiser has become immensely prolific over the past few years with some two dozen releases, practically one per month for the past two years!?! His two most recent CDs show his incredible diversity: a tribute/reworking of Steve Lacy's avant classic recording 'Saxophone Special' with the Rova Sax Quartet & Kule Bruckmann on Clean Feed and a wonderful collection of rare guitar duos with Derek Bailey, Nels Cline, Fred Frith, Sandy Ewen, Davey Williams, Eugene Chadbourne, Bill Frisell,Roberto Zorzi and more!
We are currently having a HENRY KAISER CD SALE! Three dozen CD’s, one buck off of each one! 3 or more, take your pick from the list below. In-store and mail-order customers as well!
West Coast Guitar Master HENRY KAISER comes to our fair town pretty rarely so it is indeed a special occasion to have him play a solo electric guitar set here at DMG! Mr. Kaiser has become immensely prolific over the past few years with some two dozen releases, practically one per month for the past two years!?! His two most recent CDs show his incredible diversity: a tribute/reworking of Steve Lacy's avant classic recording 'Saxophone Special' with the Rova Sax Quartet & Kule Bruckmann on Clean Feed and a wonderful collection of rare guitar duos with Derek Bailey, Nels Cline, Fred Frith, Sandy Ewen, Davey Williams, Eugene Chadbourne, Bill Frisell,Roberto Zorzi and more!
We are currently having a HENRY KAISER CD SALE! Three dozen CD’s, one buck off of each one! 3 or more, take your pick from the list below. In-store and mail-order customers as well!
ANDREA CENTAZZO/HENRY KAISER - Infinity Squared: Live In Los Angeles 2006 (Ictus 152 ,Italy)
CD $14
EUGENE CHADBOURNE/HENRY KAISER - The Guitar Lesson (Victo 064 ,Canada)
CD $15
TANIA CHEN / HENRY KAISER / WADADA LEO SMITH / WILLIAM WINANT - Ocean of Storms (Fractal Music o64 ,USA)
CD $10
NELS CLINE / HENRY KAISER / JIM THOMAS / WEASEL WALTER / ALLEN WHITMAN - Jazz Free (Fractal Music 026 ,USA)
CD $10
KIKU DAY & HENRY KAISER - Zen Kaiju (BPA 303 ,USA)
CD 12.00 AVAILABLE
SANDY EWEN & HENRY KAISER - Lake Monsters (Balance Point Acoustics 606 ,USA)
CD $10
INVITE THE SPIRIT [HENRY KAISER/CHARLES K NOYES/SANG-WON PARK] - Invite The Spirit 2006 (Tzadik 7617 ,USA)
CD $14
INVITE THE SPIRIT [HENRY KAISER/CHARLES K NOYES/SANG-WON PARK] - Invite the Spirit (1983): Remastered (Tzadik 7622 ,USA)
CD $14
HENRY KAISER - A Little Stroke Of Light: Live Solo Guitar 2010 (Kaiser ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER - Everything Forever: 80 Minute Live Trance Guitar Solo (Kaiser ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER & KILLICK HINDS - Teuffel Tesla Duets (H(i)nds(i)ght 1 ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER/TORSTEN MULLER/RANDY RAINE-REUSCH - Kamura (Asza ,USA)
CD $12
HENRY KAISER - Requia And Other Improvisations For Guitar Solo (Tzadik 7645 ,USA)
CD $14
HENRY KAISER & DAVID LINDLEY With CHERYL LEONARD/DAMON SMITH/WILLIAM WINANT et al - Music For Werner Herzog's Encounters At The End Of World [sndtck] (FractalMusic ,USA)
CD $10
JOSHUA ALLEN/HENRY KAISER/RANDY HUNT/WILLIAM WINANT - The Deconstruction Of What You Know (self released ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER/DAVID WESSEL/CHRIS MUIR - At CNMAT (Kaiser ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER / TANIA CHEN / DANIELLE DeGRUTTOLA / SOO-YEON LYUH / WILLIAM WINANT - Megasonic Chapel (Fractal 2015-25 ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER & DAMON SMITH - Relations (Balance Point Acoustics 505 ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER - Garden Of Memory: Live Electronic Guitar Solos [5CD boxset] (Kaiser ,USA)
5 CD Set CD $28 ($2 off for this sale)
HENRY KAISER/DAMON SMITH/WEASEL WALTER - Plane Crash Two (New Atlantis CD 24 ,USA)
CD $12
HENRY KAISER - Nazca Lines - Solo Acoustic Guitar (HK ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER / ROBERT MUSSO / NICK DIDKOVSKY / JESSE KRAKOW / WEASEL WALTER - Echoes For Sonny [LTD Edition] (MuWorks 0088 ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER/MICHAEL MANRING/WU NA/DANIELLE DeGRUTTOLA/GAUTAM TEJAS GANESHAN/ANANTHA R. KRISHNAN - You Can't Get There From Here [2CD] (Fractal 2015-2-X ,USA)
2 CD Set $14
HENRY KAISER/MARI KIMURA/JIM O'ROURKE/JOHN OSWALD - Acoustics (Victo 025 ,Canada)
CD $15
HENRY KAISER/JIM O'ROURKE - Tomorrow Knows Where You Live (Victo 014 ,Canada)
CD $15
HENRY KAISER With DEREK BAILEY/TOSHINORI KONDO/JOHN OSWALD/DAMON SMITH et al - Domo Arigato Derek-Sensei! (BPA 202 ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER - Devil In The Drain (SST 118 ,USA)
CD $14
HENRY KAISER/DAMON SMITH/WEASEL WALTER - Plane Crash (ugExplode 30 ,USA)
CD $12
HENRY KAISER/BOB BRALOVE - Ultraviolet Licorice (Blove ,USA)
CD $12
HENRY KAISER - Where Endless Meets Disappearing: Solo Guitar 2009 (BPA 404 ,USA)
CD $12
HENRY KAISER / CHRIS COGBURN / STEVE PARKER / DAMON SMITH - Nearly Extinct (Balance Point Acoustics 707 ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER / PAUL PLIMLEY / LUKAS LIGETI / WEASEL WALTER - The Starbreak Splatterlight (Fractal Music 025 ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER / KOBE DUPREE / JACK THOMPSON / ALEXEI PLIOUSININE - Talk to Me About Invisible People (Fractal Music ,USA)
CD $10
KILLICK HINDS & HENRY KAISER - Xenosynchronicity II (Fractal Music ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER / ALEXEI PLIOUSNINE With MARCO ENEIDI / JON RASKIN / SCOTT R. LOONEY / DAMON SMITH / JOHN HANES / GINO ROBAIR - Indestructible Fantasy (Fractal Music 310 ,USA)
CD $10
BOB BRALOVE / HENRY KAISER / CHRIS MUIR - Positively Space Music [2 CD Set] (Fractal 17-3 ,USA)
2 CD Set $14
HENRY KAISER - Nostalgia for Infinity - Solo Antarctic Guitar (Fractal ,USA)
CD $10
HENRY KAISER / ALAN LICHT With MIKKO BIFFLE / RICK WALKER - Skip to the Solo (Public Eyesore 135 ,USA)
CD $12
TISZIJI MUNOZ With HENRY KAISER/MARILYN CRISPELL/MARK DRESSER/LUKAS LIGETI - Auspicious Healing (Anami 018 ,USA)
CD $12
SEXTESSENSE [AARON BENNET/JOHN BUTCHER/HENRY KAISER/DANIELLE DEGRUTTOLA/DAMON SMITH/JEROME BRYERTON] - Sextessense: A Tribute to John Stevens & SME [Spontaneous Music Ensemble] (BPA 11 ,USA)
CD $12
WEASEL WALTER LARGE ENSEMBLE [Featuring HENRY KAISER PETER EVANS/ALAN LICHT/CHRIS WELCOME/STEVE SWELL/DAN PECK/JIM SAUTER/CHRIS PITSIOKOS/ et al - Igneity: After the Fall of Civilization (UgExplode? ,USA)
CD $14
JOHN ZORN With EUGENE CHADBOURNE/HENRY KAISER/POLLY BRADFIELD/LaDONNA SMITH/DAVEY WILLIAMS/BRUCE ACKLEY/MARK ABBOTT - Lacrosse [2 CD Set] (Tzadik 7316-1 ,USA)
2 CD Set $20
NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC is a great bassist, composer and multi-bandleader! He has played here at DMG a half dozen times and always does something special. Last time he was here, he brought a contrabass quartet and it was pretty amazing! His new band is the VORKTIP TRIO which features ELIJAH SHIFFER on sax and BRITT CIAMPA on drums
THOMAS HEBERER is a longtime member of the ICP Orchestra, as well as working with all sorts of: Dr. Chadbourne, Achim Kaufmann, HNH and the Yoni Kretzmer Five. CHRISTOPH KNOCHE once had a great disc out on Omnitone plus he has worked with Russ Johnson, Miles Okazaki and Kirk Knuffke.
JOHN McCOWEN is a member of the amazing yet unknown Wei Zhongle band (from Illinois), who have been called a Chinese version of Henry Cow!?! Mr. McCowen has several solo & duo clarinet discs out which have garnered some great reviews.
LOUIE BELOGENIS has long been one of Downtown’s best tenor saxists, leading a number of formidable bands for more than thirty years. He once co-led a band called Prima Materia (3 CDs on Knitworks) with free/jazz drum legend Rashied Ali. Proma Materia’s mission was to cover the music of Albert Ayler and John Coltrane, no easy feat! Master bassist,SHANIR BLUMENKRANZ has worked a number of key Downtown bands: Satlah, Rashanim, Zion80 and Abraxas! In-demand drummer KENNY WOLLESON is also hard to pin down since he plays with Electric Masada, Bill Frisell, the Gnostic Trio and New Klez Trio and mush more. UNBROKEN haven’t played around in a while so it will be great to hear them again in the intimate setting of The Stone!
Original from Montreal, drummer & composer, FRANKLIN KIERMYER, has long been highly influenced by the music of the John Coltrane Quartet. Each and every group he organizes sounds like they were inspired by the late Coltrane Quartet, no easy feat. His most recent CD, ‘Closer to the Sun’, captures that frenetic, spiritual world. This should be another amazing night of cosmic music at The Stone!
Admission is $25 for both sets and all the money goes to the musicians.
San Diego bassist KYLE MOTL recently turned up on a great disc from early Downtown reeds wiz Peter Kuhn (on No Business), who had disappeared for nearly three decades. Contrabass duos are still relatively rare so I was glad to hear that Mr. Motl will be performing with our own contrabass great TREVOR DUNN, who John Zorn refers to as “The Rock” and who has been the lynchpin bassist for Electric Masada, Asmodeus, Fantomas & too many other great projects to mention here.
PAUL GIALLORENZO hails from Chicago and plays piano and synth equally well, often working with the Windy City’s finest: Jason Stein, Mars Williams & Jeb Bishop. Currently based in New York, young master trumpeter, JAIMIE BRANCH, had her amazing debut disc recently released and has been getting incredible press the NY Times, the Voice, the Wire and the Chicago Reader. She rules! Bassist ANTON HATWICH, is yet another one of Chicago’s unrecognized greats, working with just about everyone: Dave Rempis, Aram Shelton, Kyle Bruckmann and Josh Berman.
This looks to be another amazing night of creative music at its best!
"Italian Soda is a Los Angeles-based experimental pop band inspired by Brazilian samba, surf rock and bubbles. An unlikely combination of acoustic instruments and synth sounds, the group crafts and deconstructs both originals and covers with a rhythmic, airy yet unrestrained approach. Italian Soda is JACOB RICHARDS- Drums /Synthesizer, MOLLY PEASE- Voice/Processing, CODY PUTMAN- Bassoon and MILLER WRENN- Bass"
“Unusual improvised duo between woodwind player ROBBIE LEE and drummer HAMPUS OHMAN-FROLUND. Lee is known for work with a wide range of musicians, from Mary Halvorson to Royal Trux’s Neil Hagerty, and lots in between. He plays a mix of eclectic and neglected wind instruments, like baroque flute, the huge contrabass recorder, and sopranino saxophone, their fascinating timbres and deep tuning systems bringing new dimensions into improvised music. Öhman-Frölund plays in the fantastic and fearless jazz/free/whatever band Apuh! from Sweden, and has a joyous and freewheeling touch behind the kit. A night of adventurous music all around!”
Helsinki-based guitar demon, RAOUL BJORKENHEIM, moved to Finland a few years back to concentrate on composing, teaching, recording and band-leading. He comes back to NYC, where he lived for a while during the early aught years, just once of twice a year for short stays, always asking that I get him a gig while he is here. Mr. Borkenheim will debut his new trio with contrabassist JOE FONDA and drummer GERALD CLEAVER at the Zurcher Gallery at 33 Bleecker St. at 8pm. This should be one of the most talked about sets of the year, since no one knows if or when it will happen again! Guitar freaks, contrabass fan-addicts and master drum aficionados - do not miss this one!!!
Admission: $15
THE DMG 26TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES OF SONIC CELEBRATIONS Continue with:
THOMAS HELTON / JAIMIE BRANCH / MICHAEL EVANS AT 6PM: Texas double bassist THOMAS HELTON has played here at DMG several times and has worked with Matt Shipp (amazing Qt CD) & William Parker. Former Chicago trumpeter JAIMIE BRANCH is one of the best new musicians to move to NYC in years and has been getting some much deserved recognition recently. Her debut disc, 'Fly or Die', we just released and is already amongst this years most widely anticipated wonders! MICHAEL EVANS has a unique style of drumming that is not easy to describe. Who else has worked with a cast of critters like this: Holy Ghost Spermic Brotherhood, Talabam!, LaDonna Smith and the Fulminate Trio!?!?
KALABALIK Returns: RAOUL BJORKENHEIM / ANDERS NILSSON / GERALD CLEAVER! - Progressive /jazz/rock guitar god, RAOUL BJORKENHEIM, currently lives, composes & teaches in Helsinki. Raoul has been involved with a number of legendary bands: Krakatau (2 CDS on ECM), The Scorch Trio (with The Thing rhythm team), Blixt (with Bill Laswell & Morgen Agren) and currently leads EcStacY (Cuneiform). Both of Bjorkenheim's discs on our own DMG-ARC label are well worth searching out! ANDERS NILSSON is yet another Scandinavian guitarist whose reputation as gifted guitarist is still growing! GERALD CLEAVER is perhaps the most in-demand, creative and diverse drummers in NYC! Mr. Cleaver has worked with just about everyone important on the Downtown Scene and else where: check out his bands like Black Host and Farmers By Nature! KALABALIK's first set ever was at DMG a couple of year's back and was recorded and released on DMG/ARC.
The Vision Fest ends the night before this gig on June 3rd, so stick around and do not miss this fabulous double bill!!!
Check out the schedule at Vision Festival: https://www.artsforart.org/vf22lineup.html
Israeli saxist ASSIF TSAHAR returns to New York after many years! Tsahar is an intense and immensely creative tenor saxist who was an integral part of the Downtown Scene when he was living here for a decade in the nineties and aughts. Check his many great discs on the Hopscotch label with William Parker, Cooper-Moore, Hamid Drake, Tatsuya Nakatani, Susie Ibarra and many more..!
After returning to Israel, Mr. Tsahar raised a family, opened a jazz club in Tel Aviv and has been working on a documentary about an annual Spiritual Music Festival in Ethiopia. Assif Tsahar will be appearing at the Vision Festival on Monday, May 29th at 8pm with the Digital Primitives, Cooper-Moore and Chad Taylor! Assif rarely comes back to New York so let's welcome him back - Shalom!
NYC seems to be filled an army of gifted free/jazz saxists! Every year more turn up and find their way to DMG. Alec Harper played a superb duo set here last year and is back with a new duo called BEAKER which includes TYLER GILMORE on electronics. They sent me this clip which you should check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdzoID3uug8
Ms. SiWei GONG showed here last Sunday just in time to hear a set of free music at DMG. She was in lovely traditional dress and had what looked like a pipa case under her arm. I asked here if she wanted to play here and gave her a solo spot on the following Sunday. Pipa players in NYC, outside of Min Xiao-Fen and extremely rare, so don’t miss this golden opportunity!
BEN STAPP is a wonderful tuba player and composer! Ben played a great solo set here at DMG and has recorded with Stephen Haynes, Joe Morris, William Parker and Tony Malaby. The first two parts of his opera, 'Myrrha's Red Book: Act 1 & 2', show him to be a formidable composer and overlooked gems on CD. Saxophonist and composer ELIJAH SHIFFER is leader of the Robber Crabs, an avant-trad jazz quartet. His influences include Dadaism, no wave, and birds.
CATHERINE SIKORA plays tenor sax and is yet another of those phenomenal Downtown musicians who rarely gets the recognition she long deserves. Her solo sax offering on Relative Pitch is inspired yet modest and she has worked with Eric Mingus, Roy Campbell, Vinny Golia and Ross Hammond. She recently moved to the UK so her appearances here are relatively rare. BRIAN CHASE is another low-key yet immensely creative drummer who has been involved in several strong duos over the past few years: Andrea Parkins, Alan Licht, Thollem McDonas and as well as a couple of fine collaborations with Jeremiah Cymerman. His solo effort on Pogus, 'Drums & Drones', is a personal faves that should be checked out at you next convenience.
Another Dynamite Double-Header at DMG! 1st set features an incredible all-star quartet - featuring two clarinetists: AARON NOVICK & JEREMIAH CYMERMAN plus two more Downtown guitar heroes: AVA MENDOZA and BRANDON SEABROOK! Both clarinet players have discs out on the Tzadik label which appear to come from separate worlds. Mr. Novick's Tzadik disc featured collaborators: Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt and Ben Goldberg and was a part of the Radical Jewish Series. Experimental clarinetist and sonic manipulator Jeremiah Cymerman plays in Bloodmist and Pale Horse and has worked with Evan Parker, Nate Wooley, Peter Evans & many more. Mr. Novik and AVA MENDOZA are from the Bay area and both played together in Fred Frith's Gravity project. Ms. Mendoza\s amazing power trio Unnatural Ways have a smokin' disc out on Tzadik from last year that you need! The ever in-demand BRANDON SEABROOK plays both electric guitar and banjo and has been blowing minds on both instruments. Brandon has an astounding trio called Seabrook Power Plant that must be seen & heard to be believed!?! Plus he works with: Gerald Cleaver's Black Host, Andrew Drury's Content Provider and Peter Evans Quartet.
Originally from Argentina and longtime resident of Chicago, GUILLERMO GREGORIO, also plays clarinet and has some a dozen discs out on labels: Hatology, Peira and New World, as a leader, composer and reeds player. Gregorio has recently moved here and played at DMG several times in the past. He will joined by French hornist VINCENT CHANCEY who has worked with Carla Bley and Sun Ra and many others. Up and coming contra-bassist, BRANDON LOPEZ, has been making a name for himself working with Chris Pitsiokos and many others.
This looks to be another amazing night!
JAY ANTHONY GRANELLI is a truly fine bassist and runs the Love Slave label, home to a dozen great discs featuring: Jay's father, the legendary drummer Jerry Granelli plus many of Downtown's finest: Jamie Saft, Dave Tronzo, Brad Shepik (all 3 previous members of Mr. Lucky) and Ralph Alessi. Tonight will be the return of Granelli's Mr. Lucky Trio with current personnel: keyboardist NATE SHAW and inventive drummer/bandleader OWEN HOWARD. There are three previous discs from Mr. Lucky and each ones shows that they were one of best kept secrets in the Downtown local: jazz/rock/roots/whatever..! I get the feeling that Granelli & Mr. Lucky will once again whip it out, the good vibes and electric grooves to help soothe us in these current times of trouble.
Ace Austria guitarist MARTIN PHILADELPHY comes to visit us usually once a year, playing at DMG and leaving us with a handful of new CD's on each visit. Mr. Philadelphy has worked with Jamie Saft, Kresten Osgood and Wolfgang Mitterer. Philadelpy will be join by Downtown drum great JEREMY CARLSTEDT! Mr. Carlstedt studied and collaborated with Chico Hamilton for many years, as well as saxists Brian Settles and Stephen Gauci. Should be pretty great!
Acoustic bass quartets are pretty rare but Nico Letman-Burtinovic wanted to and did organize this unique quartet. Will four double basses actually fit in DMG? Come on down and find out for sure! The other bassists include Sean Ali, Nick Jozwiak and Zach Swanson.
Boston area based legends LEAP OF FAITH return to DMG for an ultra are yearly visit to blow some minds once again! Their core members feature Dave PEK on multiple reeds, double reeds, metals, GLYNIS LOMON on cello & aquasonic and YURI ZBITNOV on drums & assorted percussion plus mystery guests! Leap of Faith have been together for nearly two decades, recording each and every live & studio set and have some 100 recordings which include a half dozen off-shoot projects. We carry around 20 titles!?! Their set here last year was amongst the most talked-about in-stores we've had!
JEREMIAH CYMERMAN plays clarinet with and without treatments and has been one of the most consistently fascinating of Downtown's many sonic explorers. Besides two stunning disc on Tzadik, he is a member of Pale Horse and Blood Mist and has worked with: Evan Parker, Nate Wooley and Peter Evans. He also runs the 5049 Records Podcast which recently had a long interview with yours truly. Jeremiah will be doing a residency at The Stone from April 11th - 16th. Be there or be square!
Leap of Faith play more frequently in the Boston area but rarely leave town and travel. This is only their third performance in NYC! So this is your opportunity to check out their amazing free/experimental/out-there music!
NICOLA HAIN is an experimental guitarist from Germany who has played with Evan Parker, Axel Dorner and Tristan Honsinger. The last time he played at DMG was with Mia Zabelka and Viv Corringham in a strong trio set. Words can not describe some of the sounds he gets on the guitar so you will have to witness this for yourself.
SEAN ALI is amongst a small group NY-based young contrabassists who have been dealing with a variety of extended techniques to alter their basses and have come up with some amazing results. Check out his bass duo CD with Pascal Niggenkemper called PascalAli. Mr. Ali's recent solo bass CD is one of this years most engaging and under-recognized gems.
Russian saxist VLAD LUCHANSKY hails from Saint-Petersburg and has worked with Talibam!, Assif Tsahar & Tim Hodgkinson. He will be joined Downtown regular attendee and percussionist extraordinaire DAVID GROLLMAN. Mr. Grollman just got back from the International Weird Sex & Improv Festival!?! His performance there can’t be described here but will be talked about for years to come…
"Chicagoans Julian Kirshner (drums) and Gerrit Hatcher (tenor saxophone) will join Daniel Fandiño (guitar/electronics) and Sam Weinberg (alto saxophone) for a first-time quartet meeting. Hatcher, a recent Chicago transplant has recently landed himself in bands with the likes of Mars Williams, while Kirshner regularly plays in bands alongside Keefe Jackson and Fred Lonberg-Holm. Fandiño is a member of the criminally under-documented improvising synth band Green Pasture Happiness. Current Sam Weinberg projects include: Maestro Day, W-2 and Captain Phillips."
Boston-based guitarist, Jeff Platz, brings his formidable trio to DMG to blow some minds! Check out bassist Dmitry Ishenko who was worked with John Tchicai and drummer Dalius Naujokaitis. Their recent trio disc on Platz' own label is another of those swell, unknown gems that I am always blabbing out, so come on down and support FREE music!
Guitarist ROB PRICE is another those Downtown players who has remained below the radar for many years, yet has released a half dozen quirky CDs, each one with different personnel and approach. A founding member of Dim Sum Clip Job (rare CD on Avant with Dorgon & Laura Cromwell from the mid-nineties) plus a diverse cross-section of Downtowners like Ellery Eskelin, Joey Baron, Reuben Radding, David Grollman... His last appearance at DMG, Rob was showing some strange videos while he played solo. This will be the DMG debut of Rob's new trio with BEN GALLINA on bass and ANDY O'NEILL on drums.
Acoustic Bass duos have become more common in recent years but Acoustic Bass trios are still pretty rare. Over the past few years, there have been a handful of newer Downtown bassists who have been experimenting of their respective instruments: Sean Ali & Pascal Niggenkemper both have solo and duo CDs out, using extended techniques to alter their playing. The ubiquitous bassist & bandleader, NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOVIC has also been experimenting on his bass and brings us a rare treat: an acoustic bass trio with NICK JOSWIAK and ZACH SWANSON. This should be yet another historic night at DMG so get your tuchus down here!
It is the YEAR of the WOMAN so let us rejoice! This mighty quartet features four strong women musicians: CHERYL PYLE and JAMIE BUM on flutes, CLAIRE DALY on baritone sax and CLAIRE de BRUNNER on bassoon. March is also Women in Jazz month so again, let's celebrate!
Two young power trios from the NYC area are bound to blow some minds!
NICK FRASER is an impressive drummer from Toronto who has collaborated with Tony Malaby, Kris Davie, Marilyn Crispell and Marilyn Lerner. INGRID LAUBROCK has been wowing us here in NYC since she moved here a few years back. She leads a number of swell, diverse bands: Sleep Thief, Anti-House and Ubatuba and consistently finds many like-minded musicians/composers to work with: Anthony Braxton, Tom Rainey, Mary Halvorson, Ab Baars and Ig Henneman.
The Mysterious MOOSEBUMPS are a strong duo from Sweden and also will be playing sax and drums. They sound pretty fine from what I can tell so we are looking to their DMG debut!
Old School New Music from three Downtown Elders: MICHAEL LYTLE on clarinets, NICK DIDKOVSKY on guitar and MATT OSTROWSKI on synthesizer! Both Mr. Lytle and Mr. Didkovsky are longtime members of DR. NERVE as well as members of a trio with Gerry Hemingway called Swim This. If you have a good memory, you will recall a handful of early Downtown classic LPs (early eighties) with Mr. Lytle, George Cartwright, Bill Laswell and David Moss (Meltable Snaps It). Nick Didkovsky plays incredible guitar in a variety of diverse projects: a smoking' metal trio with his son called Vomit Fist, a trio with Dave Ballou and Kevin Norton, as well as composing progressive/chamber music CD for New World Records. I haven't seen or heard MATT OSTROWKI plays in many years so it will great to catch up to what is doing today! Should be pretty spectacular!
GUILLERMO GREGORIO recently moved here from Chicago, so lucky us! Guillermo is both a great clarinetist and composer with many fine discs out on Hatology, New World and Peira labels. Mr. Gregorio will be playing with his own music concrete tapes which were made during the Fluxus days of the mid-sixties. He will playing duets with ART BAILEY on accordion. Mr. Bailey also played his squeezebox on a recent disc from the Michael Bisio Accortet and has a great piano trio CD out in more recent times.
Bassist NICOLAS LETMAN-BURTINOV has played here at DMG on a half dozen occasions including a few times with Guillermo Gregorio. Nico brings different projects/personnel for each gig, his writing and playing always evolving and getting better. Letman-Burtinovic will be joined by Elijah Shiffer on alto sax and Britt Ciampa on drums. This is the second appearance here for Vortkip and no doubt they will blow some minds once again!
Some of the greatest electric guitar players hail from Scandinavia: Think Terje Rypdal! Guitarists RAOUL BJORKENHEIM and ANDERS NILSSON are on the top that of that current heap and are both members of Kalabalik whose one great CD was recorded here at DMG and is on our own DMG-ARC label. Mr. Bjorkenheim is currently living, teaching, composing and playing in Helsinki while Anders Nilsson lives here and has become a big daddy! Mazel-tov! Just added is yet another Scandinavian great - saxist MIKKO INNANEN!
Two amazing trios in one night! Alec Harper is a new man in town who studied with Joe Morris and has selected an impressive rhythm team to work with. Both bassist Brandon Lopez and drummer Flin Van Hemmen have played at DMG on several occasions and are most impressive!
Knuckelball features Daniel Levin on trumpet, Marc Hannaford on piano and Devin Gray on drums. Their new self-produced disc is one of the under-recognized gems that you really should hear!
This should be amazing! When NY saxist Sam Newsome switched from tenor to soprano sax, he wanted to blaze new trails and become of one the most distinctive saxists around! Mr. Newsome has created a new path with some four fabulous soprano sax discs, each one very different and all great! His most recent one, 'The Straight Horn of Africa' is his best offering yet!
Finnish saxist, Mikko Innanen, has four fine discs out on the TUM label, included an incredible trio with William Parker and Andrew Cyrille. He has played DMG on a couple of occasions and is in town for a rare visit - lucky us!
Abraham Mennen (tenor sax) and Kesivan Naidoo (drums) both hail from South Africa with Mr. Mennen currently collaborating with members of the Downtown scene like William Parker. Word is that Kesivan Naidoo is one of the best drummers to emerge from South Africa in many years, walking in the footsteps of the legendary Louis Moholo-Moholo!
Cellist Daniel Levin and bassist Henry Fraser both work with many of Downtown's finest best musicians: Rob Brown, Joe Morris, Nate Wooley & Chris Pitsiokos. Both men are gifted improvisers so this should be an extraordinary string duo!
Clarinet virtuoso Ben Goldberg makes another rare appearance here with drum wiz Tom Rainey! Mr. Goldberg did a residency here at DMG for last Fall, five Sundays in three months. This set should be amazing! And there just might be a guest sitting in as well. After the set, we will be celebrating the New Year with a party for DMG. Come on down to help us welcome our 26th year on the planet Earth. Not to be missed!
No In-store performances on Sunday, December 25th (Christmas Day) and Sunday, January 1st, 2017 (New Years Day). DMG is closed on both days. Will will kick off the new year on Monday, January 2nd with Ben Goldberg
Those of you who are cool enough to appreciate weird vocal music will no doubt be familiar with former UK-based singer VIV CORRINGHAM, who is in a great trio with Charles Hayward called Monkey Puzzle (with two great CDs out) and played here in another wonderful duo with vocalist Anna Homler! Viv will be joined by MIA ZABELKA, an incredible violinist currently based in Vienna, whose recent duo disc with Nicola L. Hein on FMR is one of those unknown gems of the year! Ms. Zabelka has also worked with Lydia Lunch, Martin Philadelphy as well as being a member of By Zero, a Russian septet.
French vocalist EMILIE LESBROS has become an important part of the Downtown Scene since moving to NYC in 2013. Check out her singing with the Darius Jones Quartet (she featured on Mr. Jones’ great disc “Le Bébé De Brigitte” on Aum Fidelity), as well as working with Pascal Niggenkemper’s Vision 7 (excellent CD on Clean Feed). Ms. Lesbros has also collaborated with Barre Phillips, Craig Taborn, Benoit Delbecq, Marc Ducret & many others and records under the name Miss Elie. This will be a rare opportunity hear her perform solo.
LOUISE JENSEN plays alto sax & occasional vocals for The Home of Easy Credit and an amazing quartet with Peter Evans, Dan Peck and Tom Blancarte. She is immensely charming live and in a class of her own! Ms. Jensen is joined by a fine guitarist named ADAM CAINE who plays in odd named bands like Scurvy, Mysterium and The Moon (with Federico Ughi). For the second set, Ms. Jensen has organized a sax trio with the incredible DMG alumni sax wonder CHRIS PITSIOKOS and yet another swell, upcoming saxist named NICK LYONS! This should prove to be one of the most talked about sets of challenging new music of this year!
This night will be the NYC debut celebration for the recording of 'Free World Music' which features an incredible Brooklyn- based duo: Ms. Li Daiguo on cello, pipa and vocals (throat singing, beat boxing, etc.) and Mr. Rick Parker on trombone, electronics and synths. “The sounds that the two create together are uncategorizable, a fluid blend of past and future, traditional and modern. They move from the ambient to the abstract, with folk-like acoustics colliding strangely with sci-fi electronics.” - Shaun Brady. Check out their completely unique approach at: https://youtu.be/2s-KPZOg3Eo
To check out an amazing CD from Flipcity, a great trio featuring David Aaron on tenor & soprano saxes, Will McEvoy on bass and Dave Gould on drums, go to: https://www.shortmemory.org Two members of that trio, Mr. Aaron & Mr. Gould, will play a rare duo set here at DMG on November 11th at 6pm - not to be missed!
Another Great Double-header featuring another incredible contrabass duo! 6pm: Bay-Area bassist and multi-bandleader, Lisa Mezzacappa rarely comes to our town. Even rarer is a duo with bi-coastal bass great Ken Filiano, who never ceases to surprise us with his creative playing! 7pm: Longtime honored statesmen of improvised sax, Jack Wright, has been working and refining his playing for nearly 40 years, traveling around the world and spreading the free music gospel. In a class of his own and on solo alto sax! Check this out: https://www.freejazzblog.org/2016/10/free-mathematician-in-kingdom-of.html?m=1
Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic is one of the best and busiest bassists living in Brooklyn at present. Nico has played here at DMG a half dozen times with select collaborators like Guillermo Gregorio, Damon Smith, Daniel Carter, Kyoko Kitamura and more..! Nico has a new trio with Elijah Shiffer & Britt Ciampa who he has been raving about so here is their debut at DMG! Being filmed for a feature about New Sounds emerging from the far east side of Chinatown!
Another Amazing Double-Header - Three Great Contrabassists in One Evening!
Thomas Helton comes from Texas and has worked with Matt Shipp and here will play in a smoking' trio with the ubiquitous Tony Malaby on sax and ever in-demand drummer Joe Hertenstein from HNH!
Double bass duets are pretty rare and this one should be pretty special! Formerly Bay-area and then Houston-based, Damon Smith recently moved to Boston and played in a trio with Joe McPhee & Alvin Fielder at Roulette. Nicolas Letman-Burtinovic leads several bands, some of which have have at DMG time & again. Nico has a recent super-rare, handmade solo bass CD that you can only get directly from him, if he has any left.
Two of Downtown's finest experimental musicians, Nate Wooley on trumpet and Jeremiah Cymerman on clarinet will kicks things off with a rare duo set! Both Mr. Wooley ('Argonautica' & 'Seven Story Mountain - V') and Mr. Cymerman have newer releases well worth exploring. West Coast reedman Logan Hone will close the night with a rare solo alto sax performance. Mr. Hone's recent CD on pfMENTUM is yet another under-recognized gem!
1st set: 6pm: HARVEY VALDES / MARCO OPPEDISANO / DARIO ISCARO:
"An evening of improvised music with guitar trio! Harvey Valdes - his eclectic musical journey spans the East and the West, the electric and the acoustic, the ensemble and the solo voice.
Marco Oppedisano - his compositions primarily focus on the use of guitar in the genre of electroacoustic music. He has also composed various ensemble works with guitar and solo classical and solo electric guitar compositions.
And all the way from Argentina, Dario Iscaro - guitarist and Cordovan composer of jazz and contemporary music. His critically acclaimed groups "Antiheroe" and the trio "Desatanudos" are important groups in the field of jazz and fusion of Córdoba."
2nd set at 7pm: JEREMY CARLSTEDT / ANDERS NILSSON Duo!
Drummer Jeremy Carlstedt studied and work with Chico Hamilton for many year while Scandinavian/New York guitarist Anders Nilsson remains one of Downtown's most sought-after pickers!
Omar Tamez is a guitarist/shamen/free spirit from Mexico! Angelica Sanchez is an incredible pianist, composer and keyboard wiz who will playing a Moog synth for this set. Swiss saxist Maria Grand has been living in NY for the past five years and gathering new fans all the time. Her debut disc will arrives soon.
Carlos Quebrada (bass & compositions) and Violetta (violin) are members of an amazing progressive band from Buenos Aires called Sale‘s de Bano. Both discs by this band have been played dozens of times at DMG for the past couple of months and will remain on BLG's desert island prog list! This will be the debut of this duo in NYC! Be there or beware!
South African saxist Abraham Mennen and UK saxist Alec Harper are both recent graduates of New England Conservatory. Both moved to NY recently and this is their DMG debut. Mr. Mennen recently worked with William Parker at Dizzy's Club and sat in with Joe Morris at The Stone!
Camilo Angeles is a fine flutist, composer and leader of Nicotina es Primavera, as well as a member of Sales de Bano. Two amazing progressive bands from Buenos Aires. Camilo will be joined by DMG's young master alto saxist Chris Pitsiokos and an equally astounding young bassist - Brandon Lopez!
Susan Alcorn is an incredible pedal steel guitarist who rarely comes to NYC! Her recent solo pedal steel tribute to Astor Piazzolla on Relative Pitch made several 'Best Of' lists last year. Joining her is a fine visiting guitarist, Toto Alvarez from Chile. Not to be missed and it is free!
Rare Triple Header!
6pm: ALAN BJORKLAND / KIM CASS / SAM OSPOVAT - Trumpet/Bass/Drums!
6pm: DISSIPATED FACE 2016: Steve X Dream/Kurt Ralske/Daniel Carter/Will Dahl/Bill Milkowski/Michael Lublin/Jonathan Wood Vincent!
7pm: KEN ALDCROFT & WILLIAM PARKER!
Debut performance by a new Downtown all-star sax quartet with Elder & Younger legends at 6pm!
Plus Matt Lavelle's Sumari Trio with Special Guest: Nicole Johanntgen!
Should be an Amazing Night!
6pm: TERRENCE McMANUS / JOHN HEBERT!
7pm: THOMAS HEBERER & JASON STEIN!
Monday, June 20th, from 7pm til 11pm:
JON MADOF'S ZION 80!
BURNT SUGAR ARKESTRA!
BILL LASWELL's METHOD OF DEFIANCE With MIKE SOPKO!
$25 in advance / $30 day of show - tickets on sale now at: roulette.org
6pm: JOSH SINTON & GUILLERMO GREGORIO!
7pm: MIKE SOPKO & CHRIS PITSIOKOS!
6pm: FESTER: SEAN ALI & DAVID GROLLMAN
San Diego bassist KYLE MOTL recently turned up on a great disc from early Downtown reeds wiz Peter Kuhn (on No Business), who had disappeared for nearly three decades. Contrabass duos are still relatively rare so I was glad to hear that Mr. Motl will be performing with our own contrabass great TREVOR DUNN, who John Zorn refers to as “The Rock” and who has been the lynchpin bassist for Electric Masada, Asmodeus, Fantomas & too many other great projects to mention here.
PAUL GIALLORENZO hails from Chicago and plays piano and synth equally well, often working with the Windy City’s finest: Jason Stein, Mars Williams & Jeb Bishop. Currently based in New York & also from Chicago, young master trumpeter, JAIMIE BRANCH, had her amazing debut disc recently released and has been getting incredible press the NY Times, the Voice, the Wire and the Chicago Reader. She rules! Bassist ANTON HATWICH, is yet another one of Chicago’s unrecognized greats, working with just about everyone in Chicago: Dave Rempis, Aram Shelton, Kyle Bruckmann and Josh Berman.
This looks to be another amazing night of creative music at its best!
If Music is Indeed the Healing Force of the Universe, then this night will help us heal with two sets of Spiritual Jazz!
7pm: LOUIE BELOGENIS has long been one of Downtown’s best tenor saxists, leading a number of formidable bands for more than thirty years. He once co-led a band called Prima Materia (3 CDs on Knitworks) with free/jazz drum legend Rashied Ali. Proma Materia’s mission was to cover the music of Albert Ayler and John Coltrane, no easy feat! Master bassist,SHANIR BLUMENKRANZ has worked a number of key Downtown bands: Satlah, Rashanim, Zion80 and Abraxas! In-demand drummer KENNY WOLLESON is also hard to pin down since he plays with Electric Masada, Bill Frisell, the Gnostic Trio and New Klez Trio and mush more. UNBROKEN haven’t played around in a while so it will be great to hear them again in the intimate setting of The Stone!
8:30: Original from Montreal, drummer & composer, FRANKLIN KIERMYER, has long been highly influenced by the music of the John Coltrane Quartet. Each and every group he organizes sounds like they were the late Coltrane Quartet, no easy feat. His most recent CD, ‘Closer to the Sun’, captures that frenetic, spiritual world and includes a couple of members of that great quartet. This should be another amazing night of cosmic music at The Stone! Admission is $25 for both sets and all the money goes to the musicians.
Admission for both sets is $25
Sunday, May 22nd:
Bruce up at Victo Fest/Chris Pitsiokos will be your host
Sunday, May 15th:
6pm: T.J. BORDEN - Solo Cello
7pm: BRIAN GRODER / MICHAEL BISIO / JAY ROSEN - CD Release Set
Sunday, May 8th:
6pm: BRANDON LOPEZ & GREGORIO GUILLERMO - Acoustic Bass & Clarinet