NEW! ANTHONY BRAXTON 4CD & 2CD SETS! 'ROGUEART' LABEL PREMIERE With ROSCOE MITCHELL, ROB BROWN, and HAMID DRAKE CDs! BARRY GUY ORCHESTRA! EVAN PARKER/SEPTEMBER WINDS! DENNIS GONZALEZ/OLIVER LAKE! GERRY HEMMINGWAY/HERB ROBERTSON/ELLERY ESKELIN! WHIT DICKEY/ROB BROWN/JOE MORRIS/ROY CAMPBELL! PHILLIP GAYLE! JOE GIARDULLO! THE 'SONGLINES' LABEL! 'INA GRM' RESTOCKS!



THIS SUNDAY JUNE 19TH, WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THE 51st BIRTHDAY OF DMG FOUNDER BRUCE LEE GALLANTER from 4pm til 7pm. OUR GOOD FRIEND, GUITAR HERO & FELLOW GEMINI GARY LUCAS WILL PERFORM SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR AT 5PM!!! FREE CHAMPAGNE & OTHER SNACKS WILL BE PROVIDED, SO COME ON DOWN!

DMG WILL BE CLOSING EARLY THIS SATURDAY & SUNDAY (ABOUT 7PM), SINCE WE NEED TO GET TO THE VISION FESTIVAL AS MUCH AS YOU DO!


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SPECIAL VISON FEST SALE! Normally $120...NOW $100 [but only 10 copies]

JIMMY LYONS - The Box Set [5 CD set] (Ayler 36/40; EEC) Immensely important, historic and much anticipated box set featuring the incredible alto saxist supreme Jimmy Lyons, Cecil Taylor's longtime collaborator and considered to be the link between Bird's bebop and the sixties free/jazz scene. The personnel features Karen Borca on bassoon, Raphe Malik on trumpet, William Parker & Hayes Burnett on basses, Paul Murphy & Sidney Smart on drums and the late Jimmy Lyons on alto sax throughout. The five discs consist of live dates from 1972-1983 and were recorded at Studio Rivbea, Soundscape, Tufts University and in Geneva, Switzerland. Included is a solo set and an interview with Mr. Lyons. In stock now.. and we are just as psyched as you! IMPORTED 5 CD Box Set with an impressive booklet!
CD $100


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AND NOW FOR THE NEW STUFF:


THE NEW FRENCH LABEL 'ROGUEART' DEBUTS WITH THREE AMAZING RECENT RECORDINGS...

ROB BROWN QUARTET With STEVE SWELL/JOE MORRIS/LUTHER GRAY - Radiant Pools (RogueArt 02; USA)
CD $16

HAMID DRAKE & BINDU [DANIEL CARTER/ERNEST DAWKINS/SABIR MATEEN/GREG WARD/NICOLE MITCHELL] - Bindu (RogueArt 01; USA)
CD $16

ROSCOE MITCHELL QUINTET With CRAIG TABORN/COREY WILKES/JARIBU SHAHID/TANI TABBAL - Turn (RogueArt 03; USA)
CD $16



BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA - Oort-Entropy (Intakt 101/Switzerland) Featuring Barry Guy on contrabass & direction, Evan Parker on soprano & tenor saxes, Mats Gustafsson on baritone sax & fluteophone, Hans Koch on bass clarinet, Herb Robertson on trumpet & flugelhorn, Johannes Bauer on trombone, Per Ake Holmlander on tuba, Agusti Fernandez on piano, Paul Lytton & Raymond Strid on percussion. Outstanding studio date from July of 2004, featuring an amazing European all-star tentet. Contrabassist supreme & grand composer/bandleader, Barry Guy, continues in the tradition of his previous large ensemble, the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. The New Orchestra are more compact, but no less impressive in sound. - BLG
CD for $16



NEW ON LEO FEIGEN'S LEGENDARY 'LEO' LABEL

ANTHONY BRAXTON & WALTER FRANKS - 4 Improvisations [Duets] 2004 [2 CD set] (Leo 429/430; UK) A new side of Anthony Braxton performing a double CD of four improvised pieces with the piano player Walter Franks. As Stuart Broomer writes in his notes: "On first hearing, this is music that seems out of time: often it's rubato and its harmonic materials - - frequently scalar - - sometimes seem tightly focused on the French impressionist school of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These free dialogues allow Braxton and Franks to create extraordinarily well-developed, rhapsodic compositions..."
2 CD set for $28

ANTHONY BRAXTON With KEVIN O'NEIL/KEVIN NORTON/ANDY EULAU - 20 Standards [Quartet] 2003 [Ltd Ed 4 CD set] (Leo 431-434; UK) The previous 4-CD set "23 Standards (Quartet) 2003" was an unprecedented artistic & "commercial" success (printed as a limited edition of 1000 copies, it is completely sold-out). The new edition is the rest of those two famous European tours in 2003 with the same line-up: Kevin O'Neil on guitar, Kevin Norton on percussion, Andy Eulau on bass, and Anthony Braxton on saxophone. What you have here is 20 different standards (no repeats), 5 hours of music; notes by Stuart Broomer. Limited edition of 1000 copies.
4 CD set for $68.00

EVAN PARKER & SEPTEMBER WINDS - Short Stories (Leo 428; UK) Second CD by the same lineup: Peter A. Schmid, Evan Parker, Jurg Solothurnmann, Reto Senn play all sorts of reeds while Hans Anliker playes trombone. "September Winds" is a group of rare dimension. The chemistry is perfect. Short Strories represents a radical departure from the concept of the first CD. Recorded on the day following the tour of six concerts, the group goes for short takes - - 23 all in all - - sounding like highlights of more extended improvisations.
CD $17

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NEW FROM PORTUGAL'S 'CLEAN FEED' LABEL

GERRY HEMINGWAY QUARTET With HERB ROBERTSON/ELLERY ESKELIN/MARK HELIAS - The Whimbler (clean feed 40; Portugal)
CD $17

WHIT DICKEY With ROY CAMPBELL/ROB BROWN/JOE MORRIS/CHRIS LIGHTCAP - In A Heartbeat (clean feed 37; Portugal)
CD $17

DENNIS GONZALEZ'S SPIRIT MERIDIAN With OLIVER LAKE - Idle Wild (clean feed 35; Portugal) [In on Monday]
CD $17

JAMES FINN TRIO With DOMINIC DUVAL/WARREN SMITH - Plaza De Toros (clean feed 34; Portugal) Featuring James Finn on tenor sax, Dominic Duval on double bass and Warren Smith on drums. Third fine trio date for local sax sensation after one on Cadence Jazz with Mr. Duval & Whit Dickey and the other on CIMP with the same trio as his debut on Clean Feed. Review soon.
CD $17

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PHIL MINTON & VERYAN WESTON - ways out east, ways out west (Intakt 097/Switzerland) Featuring the voice of Phil Minton and Veryan Weston on piano, organ & voice. Another ridiculously cool offering from this wonderful and wacky duo, which includes two members of the great Four Walls. The first part of this spendid disc is dedicated to and inspired by Nestor Makhno, a dedicated anarchist who had not been given his just place in history. The second part consists of songs adapted from Pete Seeger's book, 'American Favorite Ballads, Tunes and Songs'. Immensely charming in its own way. - BLG
CD for $16

PHILIP GAYLE - the mommy row (Family Vineyard 38) Another unique offering by the mythic avant-string explorer, Philip Gayle. On his new solo effort, Philip employs 1-string, 6-string & 12-string guitars, mandolin, violin, cowboy toy & Chinese double-neck toy guitars, baritone ukulele, prepared toy piano, odd percussion and classical guitar. Philip does a fine job of layering his various acoustic guitars, strings, gongs and other percussion. He bends and bows, plucks and manipulates strings in his own strange way. At times it sounds as if things are being played backwards, but I'll bet they are not. The cover photo of an extremely pregnant, nude hippie woman from the breasts down is certain to shock a few folks out there. He has certainly created his own distinctive alien world and those who listen will be taken on an oddly enchanting journey. - BLG
CD for $12

JOE GIARDULLO - weather (Not Two 755/Poland) Solo soprano saxophone recorded at Klub Re in Krakow, Poland in April of 2004. Another of our favorite local heroes (actually upstate New York) unleashes a fine solo soprano sax disc. Over the past five years, we've seen ten fine discs from Mr. Giardullo, more than half of them collaborations with his close friend, Joe McPhee. On Giardullo's first solo disc, he plays four long pieces, three originals and a stunning cover of Trane's classic "A Love Supreme". Joe has a unique sound on soprano, not too harsh or too sweet, but just right. He sounds like he adding some Monk-like phrases on the title track, making a bit Steve Lacy-ish. Coltane's spiritual epic, "A Love Supreme" was done on tenor sax, so hearing it done more quietly on soprano sax is an approach that does work in another way. He does twists some of those notes inside-out. Very nice work from Joe Giardullo. - BLG
CD for $17

BILLY BANG - Vietnam: Reflections (Justin Time 212; Canada) Vietnam: Reflections' offers a portrait of the changes that have occurred over the past 30 years in both Vietnam and America. Blending the objective overview of a mature artist with the passionate subjectivity of his own experiences, Billy has created a precious gem that offers deeper insights with each listening.
CD $16

FRANCES-MARIE UITTI/PAUL GRIFFITHS - There Is Still Time (ECM 1882; USA) Frances-Marie Uitti and Paul Griffiths, together for the first time on disc, both making their ECM debuts as performers.Cellist Uitti is an innovator, creator of many new techniques for her instrument. The great composers of new music have collaborated with her - from Cage to Scelsi, from Carter to Nono, from Xenakis to Kurtag. She is herself a composer as well as an inspired interpreter, and also an improviser of the first rank. Paul Griffiths was the librettist for Elliott Carter's opera 'What Next?'. He is also one of the best-known - and one of the most highly-respected - writers on music, and has a growing reputation as a writer of fiction. His novel 'Myself and Marco Polo' won the Commonwealth Writers Prize.
'There is still time' resists categorization, but the recording is special, and these "Scenes for Speaking Voice and Cello" should be heard.
CD $17

BLUE COLLAR (NATE WOOLEY / STEVE SWELL / TATSUYA NAKATANI) - Lovely Hazel (Public Eyesore; PECD 81; USA) This is the companion album to last year's Rossbin release by this NYC trio, material from the same 2003 recording sessions with the same vivid and powerful recording quality. Like that fresh jewel of multi-directional free improv, there's a lot of variety from piece to piece on Lovely Hazel, and there's no difference in overall character I can cite. This disc really captures Nakatani's current sound as well as any other; on the opening track "48/1" (check out the elegant numerical titles!) you wouldn't even really know there was a percussionist with his incredible bowed and scraped textures blending with the trumpet and trombone noise scultpure--for that matter, it's not even obvious there's a trumpet and trombone! Dense, shifting textures of complex acoustic timbres with mysterious dynamic shifts--I'm in heaven! But Nakatani usually favors isolated, dramatic percussive strikes, like the resonant booms on "47", which is almost like slow Kodo drumming without the predictable licks. Swell and Wooley's confident, loud, sustained brass tones cannot be punctuated by this punctuation; they defy time and occasionally collapse into unexpected and inexplicable chunks of sound complexity. In "74" Nakatani shows his knack for making sudden, powerful composite gestures, pounding his bass drum at the same time he creates a fast buzzing/scraping sound with a metal rod, and in "110" he shows he can tear it up with some Lytton-grade high-velocity skitters, a bit of an anomaly for a generally slow-paced disc. On "48/2" Nakatani's trademark massive bowed percussion blends with sustained brass language extensions to create a shifting, thick meta-drone with a bracing, penetrating sharpness and exquisite slowness. If Dumitrescu were to hear this album, I bet he'd have these guys on the first available flight to Romania! By and large, the defining sound of Blue Collar is the unconventional and unbridled brass experimentalism of Wooley and Swell, who freely range from microscopically detailed and quiet Doerner-style acoustics-as-electronics passages to harsh blustering at the outer fringes of brass timbres. The music cuts across recent trends in improvised music, often favoring a restricted, economical, sparse, slow style, but it's usually somewhat loud, explosive, and faintly "expressive" instead of being quiet and austere. Unique and powerful music by accomplished musicians at the nexus of current developments in improvised music. This is that hot mix of FMP-style free improv and Tibetan ritual orchestra jams you've been waiting for all these years. It's here. Dig it. -Michael Anton Parker
CD for $14

MARK DRESSER/DENMAN MARONEY With MICHAEL SARIN and ALEXANDRA MONTANO - Time Changes (Cryptogramophone; CG124; USA) Mark Dresser and Denman Maroney have covered a lot of territory in their 16 years of frequent collaboration, but this may be their most successful attempt at synthesizing diverse moods and concepts. While the experimental, challenging side of their musicality is de-emphasized on Time Changes, this program is a delirious swath of contemporary musical aesthetics "integrated not segregated"--to use Dresser's own words. These guys have invented fresh new ways to go way OUT while still being gloriously, heart-achingly, toe-tappingly IN; sometimes it feels like they've hidden a Kagel composition in the interstices of a jazz ballad. What's so special about Dresser is how he's developed an incomparable vocabulary of extended technique on doublebass, but he'sfound a way to incorporate this goldmine of timbral and dynamic detail into a conventional jazz context instead of the more straightforward and common approach of playing these techniques for their own sake.Dresser is no stranger to the latter approach of placing sound discoveries on center stage to speak for themselves and I personally find that musical direction endlessly rewarding as a wellspring of new musical parametrizations and forms, but it's a rare and joyous occasion to hear this kind of microstructural avant-gardism elevate an older form like jazz. And, wow, is this music elevated; it's floating in the celestial spheres of creative jazz. Accounting for its title, the album is highlighted by complex and innovative rhythmic interaction, an area of compositional investigation that Dresser and Maroney have both pursued to rare depths. Michael Sarin is a master of intricate post-jazz drumkit and he not only nails the tricky details of timing in these works, but also offers a degree of timbral detail that matches Dresser and Maroney. At times they deliver the sort of staggered, off-kilter, punchy, tightly wound, cyclical rhythmic structures that would appeal to fans of the RIO tradition in avant-rock (Nimal, Univers Zero, Henry Cow, etc) in addition to fans of the robust avant-jazz tradition of intricate "heads" (Chapin, Berne, Masada, Threadgill, etc). This album is a showcase for Maroney's flexibility; he freely moves between precise, economical keyboard parts and his famous "hyperpiano" vocabulary. On "Pulse Field" he treats the piano as the giant zither it is, with buzzing darts and clusters of high-pitched microtonal plucking. Even when the trio is in their post-Euro-improv/serialist zones, they favor repetition and fairly smooth timbres that sustain the album's subdued, gentle flow and nearly romantic mood of lush prettiness, which finds its peaks in the four tracks featuring mezzo-soprano female vocalist Alexandra Montano. As much as I love the contrasts from track to track that make it an intoxicating and varied total-album experience, I'd be just as happy to hear Montano's heavenly voice on every track! "Between 17th and Bliss" is not only the highlight of the album for me, but this miraculous triumph of creativity and beauty is probably the most gorgeous piece of music I'll hear all year. Towards the end an understated bass, piano, and cymbal composite gracefully glides down a breathtaking, shimmering arch with Montano's lilting, slow melodies. It's one of those moments where I feel truly transported by music. Transported to where? Perhaps an expansive flower garden on a warm day with a gentle breeze carrying the ephemeral scents of fresh blooms. At times, Montano recalls the pastoral, floating moments of Aina Kemanis' vocals in the Alex Cline Ensemble, and on "M.C." she rivals the darting, light bliss of Flora Purim's work with Airto Moreira and Chick Corea. Every track on Time Changes is stunning and every note feels perfect. It's a masterpiece rendered with audiophile recording clarity and presented with Cryptogramophone's customar lavish packaging and artwork." - Michael Anton Parker
CD for $16

TAKU SUGIMOTO - Live In Australia [2 CD set] (IMJ 524/5; Japan) "Taku Sugimoto is an extremely restrained guitarist who produces very few sounds in performance, allowing silence to be the controlling force. As an improviser and composer, he's garnered international acclaim, and also provoked strong reactions, both positive and negative. This two-CD set documents Sugimoto's live performances, in Australia in September 2003, of two of his own compositions (one per CD): 'Dot (73)' and 'Music for Amplified Guitar.' Environmental sounds - listeners' coughs, footsteps, and chair scraping, as well as noises from outside - make their way clearly and naturally into Sugimoto's live concerts. Occasionally there's a sound from his guitar; it's as if he were collaborating with the sounds around him. This is very much the case on Live in Australia, and particularly on Disc 1. As the performance began, so did a rain shower, which grew more intense, filling the space with a sound like white noise. Over this background noise, Sugimoto quietly plucked a handful of short sounds. The set includes a long (1,000+ word) essay by Sugimoto that sheds new light on his musical ideas."
2 CD set for $25

ARC AND SENDER - s.t.a. (High Two 004; USA) "Arc and Sender's unique sound is derived from a thick chorus of guitars, guitars, drums and more guitar - no bass! Quickly shifting tempo, timbre and texture, Arc and Sender's intricate songs maintain a dramatic tension between composition and chaos. One part Brian Eno; one part Jesus Lizard; one part Glen Branca; one part Dirty Three - the band's self-titled debut includes a range of pieces - from avant-garde interstitials to hard-driving walls of sounds to placid guitar arrangements. Despite being a relatively new band, the trio is earning comparisons to similarly adventurous instrumental guitar-based bands like Growing, Tarentel, and Explosions in the Sky."
CD $14

ANTOINE BERTHIAUME/QUENTIN SIRJACQ/NORMAN TEALE - Leaves And Snows (AM 135; Canada)
CD $14

PAUL DOLDEN - Delires De Plaisirs (Empreintes Digitales 0577; Canada) At the beginning of the 21st century, listeners are inundated with music that wafts through every commercial space. Shopping malls have become tasting centers, wherein a book shop will pipe in a muzak-ed Beatles tune while the clothes boutique next door is barking bass-heavy electronica. A little further down the stroll, light classical is shouldered alongside hip hop, creating a garbled omnipresence. There is no silence any more, only a miasma of unrelated ideas. Paul Dolden coheres such babble in a single, densely packed meta-narrative. This is his voice, his style, condensing the shopper's day, explicating the aural plague, giving it shape and substance. Now Dolden offers a new sound, a barrage of now, in the form of myriad musical genres, packed smart and tight like Bach's counterpoint or Ligeti's mircropolyphony. This release is tonal, less dissonant and longer than any previous work and welcomes comedy back to serious music. Listen for when the dark, pulsing orchestral tensions melt into speedy jazz guitar at the end of the first movement and try not to smile. Let's return to the humour aspect later. Delires De Plaisirs begs a reappraisal of the vocabulary around Dolden's music. Particularly, his often-touted 'aesthetics of excess' no longer seems to apply; the millions of notes heard on this recording, uncharacteristically, do not overload the listener. There are exactly enough of them
CD $14

GILLES GOBEIL - Trilogie d'Ondes [CD/DVD] (Empreintes Digitales 0576; Canada) Gilles Gobeil's body of work to date has been characterized by a rupture or break aesthetics, in which large-scale musical gestures are developed and brought to their acme before being immediately crushed into silence. It is a musical way of being, of breathing, a natural mark, a style, immediately identifiable and thus much more than a habit. The Trilogie d'Ondes is testimony to this approach, so deeply rooted in the composer's musical thought. The ondes Martenot's electronic timbre and acoustic resonance are perfectly suited to the musical fabric of the electroacoustic tape part, turning it into a rich and complex mixed work. In places the instrument melds almost perfectly with the tape, while in others the ondes stand out from the sonic material, due either to the expressive quality of some melodic interventions or the contrast between the ethereal quality of the timbre and the colorful complexity of the tape sounds. In this case, Gilles Gobeil has chosen to rely mostly on the musician's expressive accuracy in addition to virtuosity. Among the various contributions from the ondes, two themes stand out and underpin the entire structure: the 'wrench theme,' which is always tightly woven into the tape and manifests itself through a long rising glissando, and the 'cell theme' - or 'soul theme' - a cell consisting of four neighboring, distempered notes
CD $14

LUIGI ARCHETTI/BO WIGET - Low Tides Digitals II (Rune Grammofon 2046; EEC) Low Tide Digitals II is the sequel to this non-Norwegian duo's acclaimed 2001 debut album of the same name (RCD 2019). As with the debut, this is an extremely fine-tuned mix of acoustic instruments and electronic elements. An album of sensitive, electronically-tinged free improvising, it's the work of two Swiss based musicians, guitarist Luigi Archetti and cellist Bo Wiget. Archetti was born in Brescia, Italy, in 1955, but has been a resident of Zurich for more than 30 years. He's a multi-media artist, well-known for his work as both a painter and as a musician (he has received many awards for his paintings, drawings, objects, and videos which have been displayed in exhibitions, galleries and museums around the globe). Active in both free improvisation and experimental rock since the late 1970s, Archetti joined vintage German psychedelic band Guru Guru (one of the groups that has been an influence on latter-day ambient music, also in the Far North) in 1990 and he has since appeared on three new albums with them as well as on the live triple album Guru Guru: 30 Jahre Live issued in 1999. He has played too with numerous exponents of improvised music including Urs Voerkel, Ellen Christi, Magikami Koichi and many others. Bo Wiget was born in Wattwil, Switzerland in 1971 and studied classical cello in Austria at the Feldkirch Academy. At the age of 16 he launched a rock band called the Dying Hedgehog, in which he was singer and banjo player as well as cellist. It was the first of a series of unfortunately-named groups which would also include the late 90s ensemble, Spot The Loony. Over the last decade he has worked with numerous improvisers including legendary Swiss free saxophonist Werner Ludi, Czech singer/violinist Iva Bittova, and Japanese guitarist Taku Sugimoto."
CD $16

KYLE GANN - Nude Rolling Down an Escalator: Studies for Disklavier (New World; USA) Like many composers of subsequent generations, Kyle Gann (born 1955) was captivated by Cowell's theories and Nancarrow's music. His book, The Music of Conlon Nancarrow, is the essential source for any serious study of Nancarrow's work. Knowing so much about Nancarrow's music, it's hardly surprising that it would occur to Gann to consider the question of how he might make the mechanical piano his own. His answer is the music on this recording. The instrument isn't exactly the same. Nancarrow employed the old-fashioned player piano, driven by paper rolls with holes punched in them. Gann uses the more recent Disklavier, which is controlled by a computer via MIDI data. However, like Nancarrow, Gann employs the mechanical piano for both musical and practical reasons. The musical attraction, of course, is the one Cowell observed: the instrument allows the composer to compose with tempo relationships and rhythmic velocities not readily playable by human performers. The practical appeal is that Gann felt that not enough people were playing his music. So in the do-it-yourself spirit of Nancarrow, Lou Harrison, Harry Partch and so many other American composers, he decided to take matters into his own virtual hands. But although Gann's reasons for working with the mechanical piano are similar to Nancarrow's, the musical results are quite different. Gann picks up where Nancarrow left off, developing his own personal methods of working with multiple tempo layers, and weaving elements of popular and classical music into his vivid and distinctive musical tapestries. Gann's music embraces a wide range of influences but sounds like no other. His fascination with complex tempo structures and microtonal tunings places him in the experimentalist tradition from Cowell to La Monte Young. Yet the directness and accessibility of his music reveal his affinity with American populists such as Roy Harris and Virgil Thomson. In this highly personal blend of experimentalism and populism, Gann's closest musical forebears are Partch and Charles Ives. In the spirit of Ives, Gann's music invokes ragtime, jazz, folk music and Native American music on equal footing with classical music and purely abstract sonic speculations."
CD $15

ETHIOPIQUES - MAHMOUD AHMED - Vol. 19: Alemye (Buda Musique 86010; EEC) "Authentic legend in Ethiopia, Mahmoud Ahmed set up the bases of a definitively original music in his way to synthesize various influences in a typical and universal language. With his rough and velvety voice which rises in hallucinated spirals, Mahmoud Ahmed invents a world with uncertain borders, mixing improbable Afro-Eastern rhythm and mysterious chants with refined ornamentations and melodies with surprising Indian inspirations. This record presents various tone and electric sound, hot grooves swinging and funk passing by strange incursions by the side of reggae music."
CD $15




JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER - L'Enfant Assassin des Mouches (Insolitudes) (FindersKeepers 01; EEC) 2005 French reissue [with 2 bonus cuts and the cover of the original album, which the 2003 reissue did not have] of this classic Serge Gainsbourg associated album. Recorded in 1972, at the same sessions as Gainsbourg's monumental Histoire De Melody Nelson, but never officially released until the 2003 CD came out.
"A stone-cold classic. Vannier's a genius: making a musique concrete recording using a hot acid-psych band, a children's choir, field recordings, and a klaxon orchestra, setting the tapes ablaze with a box of sonic matches. It's important to note that Gainsbourg is NOT on this record, and there aren't any actual lyrics in regard to the story this record is based upon, so don't come to this expecting Melody Nelson Pt 2 - Serge wrote the liner notes inspired by Jean-Claude's vision, and that's as far as his involvement goes. The results are startling, and just when you think you've got things sorted, J-C lights another match and your preconcieved notions are up in smoke once more. An essential addition to anyone's collection of psych, prog, and avant-rock in general. Highest recommendation!" -Mikey IQ Jones @ DMG." "This goes to the heart of WHAT 'PROGRESSIVE' SHOULD REALLY MEAN! Not that tired 'symphonic [keyboard] prog' but something truly creative that takes you on an unbounded musical voyage. All THUMBS UP!!! - MannyLunch
CD $19

We also have the 2003 'Night & Day' label edition of the above album which doesn't have originally scheduled cover or the two bonus cuts - Mikey IQ thinks they're rather spurious anyways; either way you should get it!.. for only
CD for $16

Make sure to specify which edition when ordering

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JORANE - The You And The Now (Six Degrees 1108; USA) The haunting voice of Canadian phenomenon, Jorane, and her soulful cello playing captivate her audience by weaving a sonic dreamscape. The You and the Now is produced by Michael Brook and features a duet with Daniel Lanois as well as songwriting collaboration with Lisa Germano. Two striking voices come to the fore on The You and the Now, the American debut release by French-Canadian singer-cellist Jorane: (pronounced jo-ran) her own, and that of her instrument. One is light, lithe and sinuous, the other rich, woody and mellow. Together, the two voices intertwine in ways unique, mysterious and otherworldly, creating a signature sound that has already made the 28-year-old performer a best-selling artist in her native country, as well as France, Japan and points beyond. Elusive and indefinable, Jorane's music draws freely upon alternative rock, folk, classical, and ambient music idioms, eliciting comparisons along the way with such distinctive artists as Kate Bush, Bjork, Tori Amos, Sinead O'Connor and Loreena McKennitt. Previous albums found Jorane singing primarily in French or in a non-verbal "jabberwocky." But on The You and the Now, the album that will provide her introduction to most of the English-speaking world, Jorane joined forces with noted Canadian musician and producer Michael Brook (Jane Siberry, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Brian Eno, Mary Margaret O'Hara) to create her first album of songs in English. The album includes songs co-written with Lisa Germano (John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, Indigo Girls), Simon Wilcox and Shira Myrow, as well as a recent, previously unrecorded selection by Daniel Lanois (U2, Emmylou Harris, Peter Gabriel) who joins her on the recording.
CD $15




RESTOCKS ON THE WONDERFUL CANADIAN 'SONGLINES' LABEL!!!

BABKAS [BRIGGAN KRAUSS/AARON ALEXANDER/BRAD SHEPIK] - Ants To The Moon (Songlines 1505; Canada) "Avant-improv trio explore the full range of textures and colors on their instruments, creating image-rich works tangled with hauntingly impressionistic and frenetically hallucinogenic soundscapes, also pockets of melancholic and meditative calm.... Great ensemble performances." - Dan Ouellette, CD Review
CD $15

HAN BENNINK & DAVE DOUGLAS - Serpentine (Songlines 1510; Canada) The great and zany Dutch percusussionist and the versatile, thoughtful New York trumpeter meet in a program of standards, original compositions, and improvised duets and solos, including "seven fully realized performances whose starkness throws Douglas' virtuosity into bold relief... On this year's A-list." (Francis Davis, FI )
CD $15

THEO BLECKMANN With BEN MONDER/MATT MORAN/SKULI SVERRISSON/JOHN HOLLENBECK - Origami (Songlines 1534; Canada) A songbook often without words and practically without borders, Origami is the latest report back from Theo Bleckmann on his continuing explorations into the unsuspected emotional and expressive possibilities of the voice in an unfettered group context. It is also a meticulously constructed, exquisitely detailed collection of songs that ranges across centuries, continents and musical styles for its inspiration. The ancient Japanese art of paper folding, origami, is a constant touchstone, unfolding (and enfolding the listener) in unusual ways. Building on his earlier collaboration with downtown New York instrumentalists Ben Monder, Skuli Sverrisson and Jim Black, No Boat (SGL 1516), he creates lush environments through overdubbing and live electronic layering, embedding his vocals in diverse rhythms and textures, shifting from song to sound and from composition to improvisation, developing a mercurial aesthetic that encompasses (at least) jazz, folk, minimalism, ambient, noise, and free improv.
CD $15

THEO BLECKMANN & BEN MONDER With SKULI SVERRISSON/JIM BLACK - No Boat (Songlines 1516; Canada) New York vocalist Bleckmann (Meredith Monk and Vocal Group, Mark Dresser's Force Green) and guitarist Ben Monder form a focused, intense duo, expanded to quartet on some tracks by Skuli Sverrisson (electric bass) and Jim Black (drums). Their program ranges from standards, wordless ballads and other original pieces to collective improvisation. Audiophile analogue recording.
CD $15

BENOIT DELBECQ UNIT - Phonetics [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1552; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] Featuring Benoit Delbecq on piano & sampler, Mark Turner on tenor sax, Oene Van Geel on viola, Mark Helias on contrabass and Emile Biayenda on drums. This is the 5th fabulous disc that Mr. Delbecq has done for the Songlines label, each has been great and each is different. So far, he has one solo disc, two duo discs with clarinetist Francois Houle and his first effort was another quintet disc from 1997 with a much different unit (Michael Moore, Houle, J.J. Avenel & Steve Arguelles). Can't say that I am familiar with the violist or drummer, but saxist Mark Turner has three discs out as a leader on Fresh Sound and Criss Cross and we all know downtown contrabass great Mark Helias from the many strong records he has out as a leader, collaborator or sideman. What makes Benoit so distinctive is the way he approaches the piano, playing inside, muting the strings and getting unique percussive sounds that are quite uniquely his own. Benoit has also gotten the violist to pluck the strings in a similar rhythmic way on the opener, "Le meme jour", as the bass and drums also dance around the central theme playfully and Turner plays some cautious, elegant tenor throughout. Both violist Oene and tenor saxist Mark take a number superb solos, often beautiful, restrained and exquisitely inventive. You could call this chamber jazz if you need to, so what stands out is the writing and the way different sub-groups play those intricate inter-connected parts, yet keeping things minimal. The drummer Emile does a fine job of playing gracefully and organically, with hands-on-the-drums, a style that Joey Baron and Jim Black do so well. There is hushed and dream-like quality to much of this music, that makes it very special, with some rich and enchanting harmonies for the sax and viola. Modern day music from the third stream, without the difficult distance of being too cerebral for its own good. - BLG
CD $17

BENOIT DELBECQ 5 With MICHAEL MOORE/FRANCOIS HOULE/JEAN-JACQUES AVENEL/STEVE ARGUELLES - Pursuit (Songlines 1529; Canada) with Francois Houle (clarinet), Michael Moore (reeds), Jean-Jacques Avenel (acoustic bass), Steve Arguelles (drums & electronics) One the most innovative young keyboardists & composers of the '90s has forged a personal approach from jazz, ambient, contemporary classical, and non-western musics. His playing on prepared piano reveals fugitive harmonies and a rich palette of colors and phrasings. Polyphonic rhythmic-melodic "fabrics" suggest balafon, sanza, pygmy music, gamelan, or John Cage. His new international quintet creates a collective music with the shape-shifting, mutatating quality of a waking dream, a feeling augmented by Arguelles' stealthy live sampling and processing.
CD $15

BENOIT DELBECQ - Nu-Turn [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1543; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] Benoit Delbecq is a uniquely gifted French pianist and keyboardist who has created his own music using ideas and techniques from contemporary classical (Cage, Ligeti, Nancarrow), jazz, Pygmy polyphony, European improv and other sources. He prepares the piano with various materials such as eraser bits and carved wooden twigs, and improvises on short, overlapping vamps and patterns; the result is a complex, spacious sound that hardly seems to be emanating from a single instrument. On Nu-turn Delbecq stretches out solo on a Steinway D in 8 astonishing structured improvisations; the final, 12-minute composition is a computer-created ambient "remix" that completely transforms the solo material. Recorded in a small concert hall directly to 6 channel DSD (the sixth channel is an optional height channel), the piano sound is remarkably realistic, and the music beguiling in its rhythmic-melodic-timbral meldings. Dexterous, brainy, evanescent and strangely moving, Nu-turn will intrigue audiophiles ready for new experiences (we predict it will become a multi-channel demonstration record), and appeal to fans of new music beyond category.
CD $17

DAVE DOUGLAS' TINY BELL TRIO With BRAD SHEPIK/JIM BLACK - Tiny Bell Trio (Songlines 1504; Canada) First outing for acclaimed trumpet player's cut-loose group, featuring Brad Shepik (guitar) and Jim Black (drums), playing original compositions with a Monkish tinge plus Weill, Kosma and Tailleferre. Audiophile analogue recording.
CD $15

[V.A. Tribute To NICK DRAKE] POOR BOY - Songs of Nick Drake [H-SACD] (Songlines 4202; Canada) Featuring Robin Holcomb, Jesse Sykes, Aiko Shimada, Francois Houle, Eyvind Kang, Ian Moore, Tucker Martine, Bill Horist, Veda Hill, Peggy Lee, Kate Hammett-Vaughn, Chris Gestrin, Danielle Hebert and others. This is an immensely charming and magical tribute to the tragic British folk singer, Nick Drake, who ironically committed suicide due to his lack of recognition and fragile spirit. Ironic, since he has become most popular in recent years, three decades after his demise in 1974, with recent recognition due to a song of his appearing in a car commercial on TV. His three albums during his lifetime ('Five Leaves Left', 'Bryter Layter' & 'Pink Moon') and one posthumous LP ('Way to Blue') were all the stuff of legend. With 14 tracks and at over 78 minutes in length, this is indeed a long journey through the sad, beautiful and enchanting world of Nick Drake's special songs. Although this sublime gem was produced by Songlines label head - Tony Reif, sonic specialist, engineer and musician, Tucker Martine, has also added his cosmic spice and spaciousness to a number of these songs. The ten vocalists are all well chosen and each is different in their sound and approach. This is a HYBRID Super Audio-CD, which will play on ANY old CD player as well!
CD $17

MARTY EHRLICH & BEN GOLDBERG - Light at the Crossroads (Songlines 1511; Canada) Together for the first time: two master clarinettists and composers with roots in both jazz and new music, one based in New York and the other in San Francisco, in a deeply-felt program for clarinets and/or bass clarinets. Their swinging quartet is completed by longtime Goldberg collaborators Trevor Dunn (bass) and Kenny Wollesen (drums). 20-bit recording.
CD $15

ELLERY ESKELIN/ANDREA PARKINS/JIM BLACK - Jazz Trash (Songlines 1506; Canada) First release of individualistic tenorman's unconventional trio, with Andrea Parkins (accordion/sampler) and Jim Black (drums). Best of 1995, Jazz Times and Cadence ; Best of 1996, Cadence and Jazz Magazine (France).
CD $15

BILL FRISELL With HANK ROBERTS/EYVIND KANG/JENNY SCHEINMAN - Richter 858 [H-SACD] (Songlines 1551; Canada) [This is a hybrid/multi-channel SA-CD which will play on any cd player!]
Featuring Bill Frisell on guitars, electronics & compositions, Hank Roberts on cello, Jenny Scheinman on violin and Eyvind Kang on viola. This is quite a departure for our old pal and distinguished guitarist Bill Frisell. The music was inspired by the breathtaking and distinctive artwork of Gerhardt Richter, which graces the cover and is included in the enclosed booklet. Produced by David Breskin and not by Lee Townsend (and not on Nonesuch), so that the edge is still intact, something we haven't heard from Mr. Frisell in quite a while. The booklet also includes some informative notes and interviews with Mr. Frisell and Mr. Breskin, which do a great job of explaining how this unique project came to be. The CD opens with an intensely out intro of explosive strings and scary electric guitar, heart-attack time for some newer Frisell fans perhaps? It eventually calms down a bit and moves into some somber yet dark slightly bent strings and Frisell's unique, haunting sound and distinctive chords. Frisell spent a lot of time studying Richter's artwork and composing this music, giving the music a very focused, yet still dream-like vibe. We are only two weeks into the new year and already this appears to be one the best discs I've heard in recent memory. A strong return to true form from someone we always expect great things from. - BLG
CD $17

JERRY GRANELLI & BADLANDS - Enter, A Dragon (Songlines 1521; Canada) Drummer Granelli's New York dream band, chock full of the young lions of the downtown scene, plays original compositions that draw on the whole history of jazz, from New Orleans heterophony to Ellington and Mingus, from free to funk, and beyond jazz to lounge-core and eastern Europe, the middle east, India, Tibet. Within the ebb and flow of written ensembles, solos, and collective improvisation are duets between Jerry and each of his bandmates. A record full of wit, subtlety, and character; with Chris Speed (tenor sax, clarinet), Peter Epstein (soprano and alto sax), Briggan Krauss (alto sax), Curtis Hasselbring (trombone), Jamie Saft (piano, clavinet, accordion, slide guitar), and J. Anthony Granelli (electric bass, acoustic bass guitar). 20-bit recording.
CD $15

JERRY GRANELLI & BADLANDS - Crowd Theory (Songlines 1526; Canada) Veteran drummer/bandleader Granelli has had several well received 90s releases on Intuition including two by his dual-guitar fusion band UFB. He's back with a new CD by his septet of outstanding young downtown NY improvisers (Chris Speed, Briggan Krauss, Peter Epstein, Curtis Hasselbring, Jamie Saft and J. Anthony Granelli) for a record of deep groove and relaxed intensity. The program, all original tunes, ranges across and beyond jazz territory to include avant-funk, a dark tango, an ambient-meets-Sun Ra piece, and a breezy homage to Monsieur Hulot.
CD $15

JERRY GRANELLI - Sandhills Reunion [H-SACD] (Songlines 1553; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] Featuring Francois Houle & Jeff Reilly on clarinets, the voice of Rinde Eckert, David Mott on bari sax, Christian Kogel on guitars, Christoph Both on cello, J. Granelli on bass & lap steel and Jerry Granelli on drums, samples. Rinde Eckert is a storyteller and here has provided 12 short tales about a fictitious (?) place in the Midwest called Sandhills. Rinde has written all the words and each of the musicians has composed the music for 1 or 2 pieces. Jerry comments: "I knew that to get the sound I wanted we'd need Lee Townsend to produce the work. We discussed the overall concept, basically recording it like shooting a film -- just gathering material, then putting it all together in the mix. I asked the members of the band to write -- not specifying what to write, but implying what I was hearing. I didn't write a lot of music myself but was kind of the vision holder, maybe the director, always working with Lee. The next step was finding the text, the voice. I've had a long relationship with Rinde. I'd originally planned to use Ondaatje excerpts, but in the end Lee suggested that Rinde could create a new text for the project... The musicians never heard any texts. Part of the reason for this is that I wanted the music to stand alone, not as a servant to the words. The idea was that we would have two strong elements that come together to produce a third thing, a new form. So the listener might pay attention one time to the music and next time to the text, and once to the feeling of both." (The SACD surround mix literally adds another dimension, suspending the listener within the aural web of musical and vocal associations.)
CD $15

JERRY GRANELLI With DAVE TRONZO et al - The V16 Project [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1539; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] Jerry Granelli: electro-acoustic percussion; Anthony Cox: acoustic bass and acoustic bass guitar; David Tronzo: acoustic and electric guitars, sampler; Christian Kogel: acoustic and electric guitars, sampler. The V16 Project is Jerry Granelli's latest sonic adventure. It features a two-guitar frontline and diverse approach - jazz improvisation, blues-rock-funk fusion, freeform jamming, sampled soundscapes and more -making it equally at home in both jazz and avant-rock bins, at jazz festivals and jamband venues. Highlighting the superb interplay of famous slide virtuoso Tronzo, lyrical German guitar ace Kogel (from Jerry's band UFB), and versatile bassist Cox, the group hones its style on a surprising range of material. There are drummerless acoustic improvs, Kogel's trancey bossa nova, Jerry's waltz-to-freetime-to-Latin Mr. Wong suite, a psych-tinged, freegrass flavoured extended cover of the old standard "Temptation," and several varieties of soul jazz by Cox. Expect the unexpected: as Granelli comments in his note, "The heart of the band is risk, not knowing, curiosity and nowness." The high definition, 24 bit/176.4K digital recording and 2 + 5 channel mix to DSD should gain approval from audiophiles and surround-sound music fans.
CD $17

WAYNE HORVITZ/ROBIN HOLCOMB - Solos [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1550; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] with Wayne Horvitz and Robin Holcomb, piano Distinguished pianists and composers with individual styles, Horvitz and Holcomb have been partners in life as well as musically for almost three decades. They have appeared on record in each other's company numerous times, but this is their first recording actually sharing the billing. Together...and yet alone, as each plays solo piano. The instrument is a Steinway D, and the program they have sequenced includes original compositions (e.g. Holcomb's 13-minute suite "When the Comet Comes"), three free improvisations, and three covers (including Wayne Shorter's beautiful "Armageddon."). Live-to-DSD recording in a small concert hall creates an intimate, palpable atmosphere. In the event, Solos implies all these stylistic connections and more (e.g. the impressionism of Debussy or the pared-down elegance of Satie). But its varying moods flow together into a personal, shared artistic statement.
CD $17

WAYNE HORVITZ & ZONY MASH ACOUSTIC - Forever [aka American Bandstand] (Songlines 1528; Canada) Featuring Wayne on piano Timothy Young on acoustic guitars, Keith Lowe on acoustic bass & Andy Roth on drums This was the original project that Wayne planned on doing, but couldn't find a local club with a good piano to do a residence in, so he found a club to let him leave his B-3 organ in for a weekly gig that's how Zony Mash came to be. However this album is completely acoustic, as was originally planned. So, much of 'American Bandstand' is earlier material that Wayne wrote for piano. It has that wonderful rootsy, earthy, bluesy, folk-themed sound not far removed from the Band. Wayne developed that sound on releases by his great fusion unit - the President, his collaborations with Bill Frisell, as well as his playing on those superb releases by his wife Robin Holcomb. This music is so beautiful, melancholy, laid back and has a gospelish grace. I do believe I recognize a few of these tasty tunes, those delightful, delicious down-home melodies and heart-warming songs from previous efforts. The acoustic bass & acoustic piano sound so fine together, caressing the quiet side of real restraint. The usual sly, bluesy, slightly funky groove doesn't appear until this cd is half over on "In the Ballroom", Wayne stays on the piano in his finest blues dripping grace, but Tim Young does start to burn on his sly lead guitar for a bit. Still, most of this has that soothing melancholy grace, wistful and just very slightly twisted. "Little Man" is rather like a waltz and the final/title track is a great spooky piece for ghost-like piano & acoustic bass fluctuations. Excellent and soothing! - BLG
Note: This is a re-issue of American Bandstand (SGL 1528-2) released in February 2000 and now withdrawn due to legal action by Dick Clark. [For audiophiles, a DVD/DVD-A version of Forever has been released by Hi-Res Music.] Wayne's second record with Zony Mash acoustic is the hybrid SACD Sweeter Than the Day (SGL 1536-5).
CD $15

WAYNE HORVITZ & ZONY MASH ACOUSTIC - Sweeter Than the Day [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1536; Canada) Wayne Horvitz (piano); Timothy Young (guitars); Keith Lowe (acoustic bass); Andy Roth (drums) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] When Wayne Horvitz's first Songlines CD, American Bandstand (because of legal action from Dick Clark, American Bandstand had to be withdrawn and is now being re-issued as Forever), came out in February 2000 it was his first piano record as a leader in 13 years. Its success with critics and the public led to touring and a second set of tunes for this version of Zony Mash (which has become known as Zony Mash Acoustic). The music can be as intense as Zony Mash electric, but more often it expresses the reflective side of Wayne's temperament: bittersweet, melodically distinctive chamber jazz, an evocative combination of swing, bop, blues, west coast cool, and the occasional edge of free jazz, with echoes of French impressionism and other classical piano music and popular music of the 50s and 60s.
CD $17

FRANCOIS HOULE & BENOIT DELBECQ - Dice Thrown [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1538; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] Building on these artists' first duo collaboration, Nancali (SGL 1519-2, 1997), Dice Thrown includes pieces for piano or prepared piano and clarinets (sometimes two played simultaneously) and a solo improvisation by each musician. As the record unfolds, composition and improvisation seem to flow together into a dream-like continuum where jazz and new music meet. To reach this place, Delbecq and Houle have worked for years extending the techniques of their instruments and creating their own language of musical gestures for purposes of spontaneous musical composition. Delbecq's contemplative piano "fabrics" draw on Cage, Ligeti, and African timbres and polyrhythms, and are characterized by unexpected juxtapositions and patternings. Houle's approach has been inspired by Evan Parker and clarinetist William O. Smith's multi-layered sonic explorations, and combines a thoroughgoing reinvention of the clarinet's expressive possibilities with an exceptional melodic lyricism. The duo's rapport result in a highly ordered yet intuitive discourse, echoes and undercurrents of other music continually opening up new directions. The nuanced 24-bit recording was mastered to Direct Stream Digital, revealing a world of subtle resonance.
CD $17

FRANCOIS HOULE & BENOIT DELBECQ - Nancali (Songlines 1519; Canada) "One of the most fascinating pianists of the new generation" (Michel Contat, Telerama), French pianist/prepared pianist Delbecq (Paintings, Kartet, The Recyclers) meets Canadian clarinet virtuoso Houle; their program of improvisations and compositions draws on contemporary classical, jazz, African and southeast Asian traditions. Probing and highly empathetic. Mark Miller's top 10 jazz for 1997, The Globe & Mail.
CD $15

FRANCOIS HOULE - Et Cetera (Songlines 1501; Canada) Vancouver clarinettist/soprano saxophonist in a live date for septet featuring Tony Wilson (guitar), Dylan van der Schyff (drums), and Saul Berson (reeds).
CD $15

FRANCOIS HOULE 5 With DAVE DOUGLAS/MARK DRESSER/PEGGY LEE/DYLAN VAN DER SCHYFF - In the Vernacular: The Music of John Carter (Songlines 1522; Canada) Clarinettist/composer John Carter created a profound body of contemporary music expressing the African-American experience through its folk idioms. Long inspired by Carter's vision, clarinettist Houle has assembled a superb group of Vancouver and New York players to, in critic Art Lange's words, "resurrect the spirit of the original, freeing his own ensemble's unique capabilities... In improvisational music, form is feeling... " And the feelings here are tender, buoyant, and generous. First recording of Carter's "Three Dances in the Vernacular". Featuring Dave Douglas (trumpet), Peggy Lee (cello), Mark Dresser (bass), and Dylan van der Schyff (drums).
"Featuring downtowners Dave Douglas & Mark Dresser, with three excellent members of the current Vancouver scene-Francois on clarinet, Peggy Lee on cello & Dylan van der Schyff on drums. When Ornette moved his revolutionary qt. to NYC in the late 50's, he left in LA another amazing qt. who Ornette had shared explorations with. This legendary long running qt. was fronted by John Carter on clarinet & Bobby Bradford on trumpet. Throughout the 60's it was only John Carter & Jimmy Guiffre expanding the range of the clarinet, before them we also had klezmer clarinet giants-Dave Tarras & Naftule Brandwein. From the 60's forward, we've heard the likes of Perry Robinson and more recently Don Byron, Ben Goldberg and Vancouver's finest-Francois Houle! This quintet does an outstanding job of making this music completely fresh & ripe for discovery. John Carter's music covered an entire history of African/American themes, the quintet sail through this challenging music rich in spirits & warm in lifelike color! The frontline of clarinet, trumpet and cello, are a solid team of well chosen players, with powerful solos and daredevil interplay. While Mark Dresser seems to hold back, perhaps due to occasional minimal nature of this music, his duo with Peggy Lee is astonishingly fine! " - BLG
CD $15

HUMAN FEEL [CHRIS SPEED/ANDREW D'ANGELO/KURT ROSENWINKEL/JIM BLACK] - Speak To It (Songlines 1514; Canada) Brooklyn (ex-Boston) collective - Andrew D'Angelo (alto sax, bass clarinet), Chris Speed (tenor sax, clarinet), Kurt Rosenwinkel (guitar), and Jim Black (drums) - move between jazz and jazz-rock, improv, and classical new music forms. With guest Holly Palmer interpreting the Billie Holiday classic "Left Alone". Audiophile analogue recording.
CD $15

HILMAR JENSSON With JIM BLACK & ANDREW D'ANGELO - Tyft (Songlines 1542; Canada) Hilmar is that fabulous Icelandic guitarist that plays in the ever-popular Jim Black Alasnoaxis unit. Andrew D'Angelo plays consistently inspired alto sax and bass clarinet, once for Human Feel, Matt Wilson and more recently in that great duo with Jaime Fennelly. Jim Black remains one downtown's most in demand and dynamic drummers, from Bloodcount, to Tiny Bell Trio to Laurie Anderson to that superb longtime trio with Ellery Eskelin & Andrea Parkins. This is Hilmar's debut cd in the US after a few hard-to-find imports. All three members of this trio double on electronics. This is a rambunctious trio that often erupts freely, yet sails through tight charted areas as well. "Short or Hairy" moves through a variety of twisted sections, some quick and abrupt, some fractured blues licks and completely tight and focused. Hilmar plays some eloquent acoustic solo guitar on a few on these pieces. The trio does a fine job of adding eerie electronics to some of the suspenseful pieces, blending electric ghost-like sounds to squeaky reeds, melodica and percussion. Hilmar seems to coax a lot of quirky sounds from his guitars, making it difficult to figure out who is doing what. Like Alasnoaxis, this trio create a variety of moods, each one filled with different soundtrack like images, from somber to more agitated, fascinating throughout.
CD $15

HILMAR JENSSON - ditty blei [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1547; Canada) Featuring Herb Robertson on trumpet, Andrew D'Angelo on alto sax & bass clarinet, Hilmar Jensson on guitars & compositions, Trevor Dunn on acoustic bass and Jim Black on drums. This is Icelandic guitar hero Hilmar's second great release for Songlines and it features his swell all-star quintet, where each member is also a bandleader, busy collaborator and composer as well. Hilmar expands his fine bass-less trio from last year into a quintet and expands his palette as well. "Latta" has that fractured rock groove that Jim Black's cds often include. Both Andrew's bass clarinet & alto sax and Herb's trumpet take swell nervous twisted solos, as the bent guitar, bass and drums dance around them with tight abandon. "larf" begins more freely, but soon gets back to a great rockin' groove with an infectious melody. Hilmar's great fractured guitar solo is orchestrated with Jim's equally fractured drumming - perfectly matched. I dig the way the guitar, alto and trumpet swirl around one another on "mayla mayla", and connect on the chorus. Hilmar takes a great solo made more from just sounds and not really notes, a most modern approach. Hilmar plays some fine acoustic guitar on "correct me if I'm right" which a righteous laid back and sunny melody, some of the loveliest and most soulful playing we'll (ever?) hear from Andrew and Herb. The unstoppable Herb Robertson squeezes out one of those grand, loopy yet explosive muted solos that he is a master of on "abbi". "grinning" is another twisted rocker with some great shimmering guitar and joyous horns that just keep ringing in my head long after the song is over. It feels great when the quintet finally explodes on "gobbles", with short sick solos from the frontline. "everything is temporary" sound again one of those great slow motion rockers from the last Jim Black gem, with another great tortured guitar solo from Hilmar and sly, spirited horn harmonies. Immensely tasty and quietly riveting. This is another Songlines hybrid/multi-channel SA-CD which WILL PLAY ON ANY player!
CD $17

JUNK GENIUS [BEN GOLDBERG/JOHN SCHOTT/TREVOR DUNN/KENNY WOLLESEN] - Ghost Of Electricity (Songlines 1525; Canada) Junk Genius's first record (on Knitting Factory ) consisted of fractured, go-for-broke treatments of difficult bebop compositions, and earned high praise from Down Beat, Option, etc. Five years later they return with a different focus: original songs that sound as if they'd come from old field recordings, recovered artifacts inspiring a new oral tradition. Through hymns, stomps, hollers, and anarchic strum-alongs, Junk Genius trace the border regions between alternative jazz, improvisation, and the primal music of Dock Boggs, Son House, the Carter Family, and the Georgia Sea Islands. Ben Goldberg (clarinet), John Schott (guitars), Trevor Dunn (bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums) play together as one, and are beautifully recorded. But this is no exercise in nostalgia: while it moves the listener with the reverence of its melodies, the rhythmic feel is dynamic and unsettling and the overall tone of the record both liberating and tragic.
CD $15

ANDY LASTER'S HYDRA With HERB ROBERTSON/DREW GRESS/TOM RAINEY - Polyogue (Songlines 1507; Canada) New York alto/baritone saxophonist's band - Herb Robertson (trumpet, cornet), Drew Gress (bass), Tom Rainey (drums) and Brad Shepik (guitars) - dig into his vividly arranged, angular, multi-layered compositions.
CD $15

TONY MALABY With TOM RAINEY/MICHAEL SARIN/DREW GRESS/ - Apparitions [H-SACD] (Songlines 1545; Canada) Featuring Tony on tenor & soprano saxes, Drew Gress on acoustic bass and Tom Rainey & Michael Sarin on drums & percussion. This is local sax great Tony Malaby's second superb release as a leader and it features two of downtown's finest drummers - Tom Rainey, who plays in numerous projects for Tim Berne and Michael Sarin, who has worked with Thomas Chapin, Myra Melford and Dave Douglas. Starting with the three part "The Mestizo Suite", the quartet plays with restrained fire, both drummers weaving cautiously, as Tony's tenor floats on top. By the third section of the suite ("Mambo Chueco"), the group takes off and spins quickly as the piece gets more intricate and difficult, with Tony's tenor dancing amongst both drummers. "Talpa" has Tony's deep, rich and warm toned tenor playing with luscious grace as the rhythm team levitates underneath. They really fly on "Fast Tip", which is short and erupts fast with some Pharoah-esque sax. The title piece is a mysterious freer excursion with spacious percussion, nimble soprano and then tenor sax and some rich bowed bass segments. Tom Rainey works his magical mallets on "Dos Caminos", providing a layer of swirling tapestry with Drew's bass as Tony sails with inter-connected intensity in a web of activity. "Tula" brings this cd to a close with some haunting, ghost-like tenor and suspenseful drums. Overall, there is a fine, earthy and organic vibe at the center of this and even with two drummers, it never gets too busy. H-SACD [H for hybrid means it's playable on regular CD players]
CD $17

MISHA MENGELBERG QUARTET With DAVE DOUGLAS/HAN BENNINK/BRAD JONES - Four In One [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1535; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] When Dutch pianist, composer and humorist Misha Mengelberg, one of the heroes of the "new Dutch swing," got together with Dave Douglas for a couple of duo gigs, they enjoyed it so much they decided to expand things to a quartet with New York bassist Brad Jones (who performs regularly with Dave and is on Misha's Avant CD Who's Bridge) and Misha's longtime colleague Han Bennink on drums. (Dave has also performed with Han as a duo, documented on Serpentine , SGL 1510-2). Working with a book of Mengelberg originals and Monk tunes, they played a week at NY's Iridium and then went into Avatar with engineer Joe Ferla (Dave producing) to record live to Direct Stream Digital, the Sony/Philips high definition system. The resulting hybrid Super Audio CD is thrillingly convincing when played back as a 2-channel SACD and still vibrant sounding as a CD, preserving the wit and drive and cohesiveness of four improvisers at the top of their collective game. Misha's tunes run the gamut from boppish scorchers to ballads, raucous, sardonic ditties to blues to a South African kwela, and in this context the Monk tunes underline Misha's particular affinity for his music.
CD $17

BEN MONDER TRIO WITH JIM BLACK & DREW GRESS - Flux (Songlines 1509; Canada) New York guitarist plays three inward-looking solo pieces and is joined by Drew Gress (bass) and Jim Black (drums) in a trio that integrates 20th century classical influences (Bartok, Stravinsky, Carter) and some rock elements into jazz. "His deeply personal musical vision, complete with staggering technique and rhythmic flexibility, allows him to... create music that is startlingly pure and uncompromising." - Rob Levit, The Nebula Music Magazine
CD $15

MARK NODWELL - Nemesis [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1539; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well]. Featuring Ron Miles on trumpet, Khabu Doug Young on guitar, Art Lande on piano, Drew Gress on bass and Tom Rainey on drums. Mr. Nodwell is the composer of this release, which features a fine quintet from across the US. Ron is from Colorado and has played with Bill Frisell & Harriet Tubman. Art Lande had some great albums out on ECM in the seventies. Drew and Tom are a NY based rhythm team. Don't know Khabu as of yet or Mark as of yet. This music has that warm, melancholy ECM-like quality and reminds me a Frisell band playing a dreamy Herbie Hancock tune fromthe mid-sixties. Khabu even has an early Frisell-like tone on his nimble electric guitar. Things get more gnarly on "Sortex", which has a twisted, constantly shifting rhythmic scheme, oddly funky, which Khabu plays with a nastier tone. "Corpse" is one of those fine freeish stop and start types of pieces. "Fleet" brings us back to Blue Note land with strong solos from Ron Miles, Khabu and Art Lande, as the rhythm team swings and spins strongly. "Aura" is an exquisitely lovely piece with some tasty guitar and haunting, drifting trumpet. My man Tom Rainey adds his special hands-on-drums rhythmic spice to "Flight of the Pteradactyl" and Khabu takes a slamming guitar solo. Overall, this has a superb balance of melancholy, dreamy tunes and some feisty, spirited, somewhat rambunctious tunes. If you are of those Frisell fans who miss the days when he had more edge in his tone and playing, Mr. Young on this cd should make you happy.
CD $17

MARK NODWELL With EYVIND KANG/FRANCOIS HOULE/KHABU DOUG YOUNG - co)incidents (Songlines 1527; Canada) For his debut CD, Vancouver soprano saxist Nodwell has assembled a fine international sextet, including improv/noise fiddler Eyvind Kang (here playing viola), clarinetist Francois Houle, and NY guitarist Khabu Doug Young. His four long compositions, all played with a searing lyricism, shift from lush textures to driving solos and ensembles to raucous free-for-alls. The stylistic diversity draws upon Eastern European and Asian musics as well as rock, ambient, and contemporary classical. Nodwell links creative jazz and experimental music in a deeply satisfying way.
CD $15

ROB REDDY'S HONOR SYSTEM With JOSH ROSEMAN/PHEEROAN AkLAFF/JEF LEE JOHNSON et al - Post-War Euphoria (Songlines 1512; Canada) New York soprano and alto saxophonist, a former member of Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society, has created a personal synthesis of his (early to avant) jazz, blues, funk and gospel roots. His powerhouse band is Eddie Allen(trumpet), Josh Roseman (trombone), Jef Lee Johnson (guitar), Dom Richards (bass), and Pheeroan akLaff (drums).
"The Honor System takes an ambitious and passionate ramble through Reddy's limber compositions... An unabashed acknowledgment that jazz has roots outside jazz itself that lead not only in the direction of virtuosic soloing and intricate ensemble performance, but also toward the more populist pleasures of r&b and rock. The results are both impressive and fun." - William Stephenson, Jazziz
CD $15

BRAD SHEPIK - The Well (Songlines 1531; Canada) with Peter Epstein (saxes), Skuli Sverrisson (electric bass), Michael Sarin (drums & percussion), Seido Salifoski (dumbek & percussion) The follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Loan (SGL 1518-2) finds guitarist/saz player Shepik ( Tiny Bell Trio , Pachora, BABKAS ) deeper in the music of the Balkans, Middle East, and North Africa and deeper in his own style - driving or insinuating grooves and melodies in compound time signatures, with subtle group interplay, effortless solos, and a downtown edge.
"With Brad on guitars, saz & tambura, Peter Epstein on saxes, Skuli Sverrisson on el. bass, Seido Salifoski on dumbek & Michael Sarin on drums. Brad Shepik keeps busy in both Pachora and Tiny Bell Trio, and this cd is his second as a leader. Skuli is also in Pachora, Seido is from the Paradox Trio and Michael has drummed with Thomas Chapin, Dave Douglas & Myra Melford. Brad specializes in that middle/eastern/euro sound that both Pachora & Tiny Bell are a part of, his solo cds also come from a similar place. The same infectious exotic groove fuels 'the well' which flies open with a hyper strummed piece called "The Flood". Brad has composed all but one piece found here, the only cover being a traditional Turkish tune called "Zephyr", which sounds no different from the rest of the tunes. Both Brad & Skuli, who plays consistently great fretless bass, switch off on soloing and playing in and around each other with a tight knit connection. The title tune slows down the pace a bit, with Brad playing some smoky acoustic, as well some more mysterious phased electric guitar. Alto & soprano saxist - Peter Epstein also seems just the right choice for this unit, by taking the role of hypnotic snake-charming reed player. Each tune is introduced by a different player, until the groove is established and the memorable melody takes us for a ride once more. The sly & sluggish "Quiver of Veils" has a fine, intoxicating groove which reminds me of sipping an ice cold drink in the arid desert. " - BGL
CD $15

BRAD SHEPIK & THE COMMUTERS - The Loan (Songlines 1518; Canada) Debut of BABKAS and Pachora co-leader (and member of Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio and the Paradox Trio) features his compositions arranged for a Balkan/Turkish/Persian (and occasionally Afro/Celtic) flavored quintet. Supercharged world jazz. Shepik, guitars, electric saz, banjo, cumbus, with Peter Epstein (alto and soprano sax), Tony Scherr (electric bass), Kenny Wollesen (drums) and Seido Salifoski (dumbek). Richard Gehr's Top 10 for 1997, Folk Roots. "Shepik excels in a vein of ethnic improv that mines Middle-Eastern and southern European sources with real with and passion... His playing has real flair, and the material is deep, spirited stuff - full of appeal not only for the avant-jazz crowd but also for world music fans and the hippie-groove contingent." - Bradley Bambarger, Billboard
CD $15

CHRIS SPEED'S YEAH NO With CUONG VU/SKULI SVERRISSON/JIM BLACK - Deviantics (Songlines 1524; Canada) After a half dozen excellent releases with Tim Berne'e Bloodcount, two fine Pachora cds, his work with Myra Melford and Dougie Bowne, this is Chris Speed's second recording as a leader. Chris's palette continues to expand, his tenor sax & clarinet playing, as well as his composing just get richer and stronger. His quartet feature the talents of up & coming trumpet great - Cuong Vu (from Saft/Vu), plus the Pachora rhythm team of Skuli Sverrisson (Mo Boma) on el. bass and Jim Black (Bloodcount also) on drums & melodica. The rhythm team is splendid throughout, shifting gears midstream, stopping on a dime and jumping into or providing the flow of ever - changing events. Considering how young Cuong Vu is, both he and Chris are perfect foils for the demanding compositions found here. Jim's eerie melodica drones and ultra - subtle small percussion flourishes also add a mysterious ambiance. That Pachora - esque middle eastern groove is only found here is small dosage, so this quartet can explore other pathways. One of the things I dig most about Chris Speed is the his endearing warm toned tenor, expansive and rich, out of the cool school, a sigh of relief from those who blow too hard from Traneland. His clarinet also is seems to be coming from a playful and pensive Jimmy Giuffre like sound. - BLG
CD $15

CHRIS SPEED'S YEAH NO With CUONG VU/SKULI SVERRISSON/JIM BLACK - Emit (Songlines 1532; Canada) This is Chris' third release for Songlines and his second cd this year, the first was his new 'Iffy' trio on KFW. 'Emit' features his stellar Yeah No quartet with Cuong Vu on trumpet, Skuli Sverrisson on el. bass and Jim Black on drums. Chris plays tenor sax and clarinet and keeps very busy juggling commitments with Bloodcount, Same River Twice, Dave Douglas units past & present and currently with Pachora. His playing and composing continue to evolve, expand and just get better with each release. Both Chris and Jim write these nifty tunes with skewed, fragmented structures. "Constance and Georgia" begins with a normal tenor and trumpet head, yet the rhythm team starts to veer off and twists things into strange areas - Skuli and Jim have been playing together for a while and it sounds like they can anticipate each other's moves. "Suggestible" is like a Pachora tune, but a bit more off kilter - both Cuong and Chris on clarinet play quick, inspired and burning solos, the rhythm team soars through this quick piece with ease. Things slow down to a lumbering, broken pace on "Berance", sounding like the entire quartet are about to fall over, but somehow remain tight and eventually erupt near the end. The horns drift like ghosts on "Waltzing" which is filled with suspense and silence. "Kosmia" starts with a sunny, eastern euro melody and lovely clarinet and trumpet solos to follow. Both horns play their slow bopping lines together almost throughout "Tangents" while the rhythm team burns on top spinning dense webs. "Tralala" is gentle, sort-of chamber jazz and "Kompa" has that refreshing, memorable melody line and infectious eastern groove - where's the belly-dancer?!? The closer "Transporter" also has a wonderful, warm head and quaint, hushed solos from Chris' tenor and Cuong's trumpet. - BLG
CD $15

CHRIS SPEED'S YEAH NO With CUONG VU/SKULI SVERRISSON/JIM BLACK - Yeah No (Songlines 1517; Canada) Tenor sax/clarinettist co-leads Human Feel and is a member of Tim Berne's Bloodcount and Myra Melford's The Same River, Twice. His debut CD explores his jazz, contemporary classical and Balkan-inspired compositions with a subtle, simmering kind of freedom. With Cuong Vu (trumpet), Skuli Sverrisson (electric bass) and Jim Black (drums). Writers choice 1997, Steve Vickery, Coda.
CD $15

GEBHARD ULLMANN/TA LAM - Ta Lam (Songlines 1520; Canada) Music for saxes, flutes, clarinets, bass clarinet, and accordion by a truly original Berlin-based composer-performer and his colleagues. Echoes of tango, Oceanic panpipes, pygmy chants, township jive, gagaku, Turkish music, and Brecht-Weill cabaret are woven here and here through tonally rich ensembles that balance the rhythmic freedom of jazz and the structual rigour of 20th century classical forms. But file under jazz for the solos! This release collects the best music from Ta Lam's two German-only CDs - the first performed entirely by Ullmann (overdubbing himself on a panoply of saxes and woodwinds) with accordionist Hans Hassler, the second by his band (seven reed players and accordion).
CD $15

PATRICK ZIMMERLI & OCTURN With BEN MONDER - The Book Of Hours (Songlines 1541; Canada) The Book of Hours, by New York-based composer/saxophonist Patrick Zimmerli supported by the Belgian little big band Octurn with previous collaborator Ben Monder guesting on guitar, should appeal to a broad spectrum of jazz listeners from straight-ahead to avant-garde. For those of the more straight-ahead persuasion, the album presents music of great beauty and melodicism; Zimmerli employs often bright and crisp colors and textures (fully realized here by the ten likeminded musicians of Octurn), and there is also a warmth that suggests the post-Gil Evans approaches of a composer like Maria Schneider. In short, The Book of Hours is engaging and accessible throughout, and shouldn't scare potential straight-ahead jazz listeners away, at least those not bound by rigid stylistic constraints. And listeners with a non-traditional streak should find favor in the polyphonic complexity of Zimmerli's scores, which disguise and embellish head-solos-head structures in unconventional ways (the canon-like "Interlude" segments have a particularly strong classical influence, beginning in duet form and adding instruments cumulatively during trio, quartet, and sextet iterations interspersed among the other album tracks). Thematic material (signifying the many moods of a passing day) is stated and restated in variation as soloists enter and exit against an always surprising and involving backdrop -- this is music that could keep even the most dedicated avant-gardist on his or her toes with its constantly evolving permutations. However, if you are an avant-garde jazz fan who favors apocalyptic free jazz filled with outbursts of dissonance, overblown multiphonics, and ear-splitting squeals, The Book of Hours is emphatically not for you. Zimmerli's music can be bold, energetic, and propulsive ("Night"), yet it often maintains a subtle and understated quality; even the seemingly highly improvised dialogue between baritone saxophone and percussion on "Noon" suggests a conversation rather than a shouting match. As for Zimmerli the saxophonist, his soprano solo on the lovely "Sleep" that concludes the disc is a thing of true beauty and one of the album's most striking improvisational moments, even as the piece tends to calm rather than excite the listener's heart. ~ Dave Lynch, AMG
CD $15

PATRICK ZIMMERLI - Phoenix [Hybrid SACD] (Songlines 1548; Canada) [this is a Hybrid SACD (H-SACD) which means it is playable on ordinary CD players as well] Featuring Patrick Zimmerli on soprano sax & compositions, Scott Yoo & Yoon Kwon on violins, Maurycy Banaszek on viola, Inbal Segev on cello, Kevin Hays on piano, Stomu Takeishi on fretless el. bass and Satoshi Takeishi on percussion, programming & electronics. This gem appears to be Zimmerli's fifth disc since his debut a decade ago. I've only heard the last two ('Expansion' & 'The Book of Hours') and I am indeed intrigued by Patrick's rich compositions. His new ensemble features a string quartet plus another quartet of his soprano sax, piano, fretless bass and percussion. You should be familiar with the wonderful Takeishi brothers rhythm team who work independently and together with Henry Threadgill, Myra Melford, Ned Rothenberg, Dave Tronzo & many others. Both quartets are completely intertwined as one solid octet. Patrick's music is a rich blend of sublime and haunting melodies with some intricate strings surrounding his lovely soprano playing. Zimmerli composed all but one piece, which is a cover of Jobim's classic "How Insensitive" and is a quaint rendition. Stomu Takeishi is one of the best and most distinctive electric bassists around, his unique liquid (fretless) tone always rings true and is featured here superbly. On "Wunderlichen Stadt", the group shifts between somber and playful themes, evoking different emotions with every shift in direction. Satoshi plays some elegant mallet work through, as well as the selective use of rhythmic samples, creating different beats with the odd rhythmic loop. All the 14 pieces seem to be connected with recurring themes, in a thread-like suite. Another sublime jewel that hovers nicely between categories. - BLG
CD $17




GEORGE IVANOVICH GURDJIEFF - Harmonic Development: The Complete Harmonium Recordings 1948-1949 [3 CD/MP3 set & Book] (Basta 9115; EEC) 2 regular CDs, an MP3-disc (with 19 hours of music & visuals), plus a 144 page illustrated paperback book on Gurdjieff and his harmonium recordings. This is the first release of this music (there have been numerous releases of Gurdjieff's earlier piano music from the 1920s, usually performed by Thomas de Hartmann), documented to the usual high Basta standards. "Basta Audio Visuals is proud to announce the release of George Gurdjieff's complete harmonium recordings. In September 2000, at the instigation of producer Gert-Jan Blom, Basta Music obtained the license of the 44 master-tapes containing Gurdjieff's complete recorded output from Mme. Sylvie Anastasieff, widow of Valentin Anastasieff, Gurdjieff's nephew. The 113 recordings on these tapes are sequenced in four series: I: First Series - recorded between 1 April and 21 July 1949; II: Mesoteric Series - recorded between 22 July and 18 August 1949; III: American Series - recorded between 25 August and 27 September 1949; IV: Second Series - recorded between 27 September and 16 October 1949. These were recorded at Gurdjieff's apartment in Paris. Additionally, the very first recordings of Gurdjieff's harmonium music -- made at the Wellington Hotel, New York, between 25 December 1948 and early February 1949 -- have been added to this collection with the consent of the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York. These New York recordings also include several talks and stories as told by Gurdjieff to his pupils. An addenda section containing several interesting, albeit unlabeled pieces from the original wire recordings brings the grand total to 136 recordings, over 19 hours of music, all brought together in chronological sequence on a single disc in 'MP3' format. As a special bonus, a short 9-minute film made by Evelyn Sutta on several automobile trips with Gurdjieff during the summer of 1949 has been added. This disc will play on any computer with MP3 software installed and on most recent DVD players. An extra 2 CD set in standard audio format contains a representative compilation of the recordings; these discs will play on any CD player. This unique collection comes with an attractive and profusely illustrated 144-page book with many previously unpublished photographs of Gurdjieff and recollections of people who were present when these recordings were made. It further contains several chapters by Gert-Jan Blom about the process of selecting and sequencing the tracks, audio restoration of the recordings, the history of Gurdjieff's harmonium music, transcriptions of Gurdjieff's stories and an extensive track notes-section. The book has a preface by King Crimson guitarist, Guitar Craft instructor and Soundscaper Robert Fripp."
3 CD/MP3 Sset & Book for $55




RESTOCKS ON FRANCE'S 'INA GRM' LABEL...

INA GRM [V.A.] - Archives GRM [5 CD set] (INA GRM 1030; EEC) Deluxe 5CD box issued in conjunction with the 30 history history of the INA GRM in France. The roots and historical development of musique concrete and experimental electronic/tape music - packaged in stunning form. 5 jewel cased CDs in a heavy duty box, featuring 101 tracks (many previously unreleased, others never released on INA before; most are edits to some degree), with an 80 page booklet of historical photos. Essays by Jean-Christophe Thomas, Regis Renouard Lariviere, Christian Zanesi, Daniel Teruggi, Yann Geslin & Francoise Bayle, plus detailed notes on every track. Provides a captivating overview of decades of breakthrough developments in sound/architexture, and is a totally essential artifact in its own right. "To mark and celebrate the thirty years of the INA, the GRM has chosen to bring together an exceptional set of five compact discs, illustrating some of its most remarkable musical archives. These original works, which are often previously unpublished or have been dispersed throughout a host of other publications, are important because of the originality and audacity they testify to in the second half of the 20th century. Some listeners will be pleased to see that there are a number of illustrious composers here who, in the 1950s, frequented the studio of Pierre Schaeffer, and others will discover numberous musicians whose enthusiasm enabled this innovative musical genre to last throughout the following decades. The Institut National de l'Audiovisuel, whose mission to conserve and diffuse audio-visual heritage has never been more active, is able to demonstrate with these CDs the full extent of its extraordinarily rich musical collections. The INA is steadfastly building up the future of your memory." - Emmanuel Hoog, INA Chairman CD1: "Les visiteurs de l'aventure concrete" (early works by "the visitors of the concrete adventure"); CD2: "l'art de l'etude" ("The art of study"); CD3: le son en nombre ("Sound in numbers"); CD4: "Le temps du temps reel" (all works produced via Syter); CD5: le GRM sans le savoir ("The GRM without knowing it"). Featured artists (and year of work included): Andre Hodeir ("Jazz et Jazz" from 1951, "the very first mixed work in history"), Pierre Boulez (Etudes from 1951), Jean Barraque (1951-54), Darius Milhaud (1954), Roman Haubenstock-Ramati 1957), Henri Sauguet (1957), Edgar Varese ("Deserts", "Interpolation 1", 1954), Andre Boucourechliev (1959), Claude Ballif (1962), Iannis Xenakis ("Concret PH", 1958), Oliver Messiaen (the legendary unreleased collaboration wtih Pierre Henry, "Timbres Durees", from 1952), Pierre Schaeffer ("L'Etude Pathetique", from the concrete debut of 1948) , Monique Rollin (1952), Michel Philippot, Philippe Arthuys (1955), Luc Ferrari (various works from 1958), Francois-Bernard (1959), Mireille Chamass-Kyrou (1960), Ivo Malec (1961), Philippe Carson (1962), Akira Tamba (1962), Beatriz Ferreyra (1960), Alain Savouret (1969 & 1985), Francois Bayle ("It." - excerpt of L'experience Acoustique, from 1970, with Robert Wyatt!), Dieter Kauffman (1987), Jean-Claude Risset (1984) Denis Smalley (1987), Gilles Racot, (1984-5) Yann Geslin (1981-2), Benedict Mailliard (1984-5), Francois Dhomont (1989), Benard Parmegiani ("Indicatif Roissy", the classic 4 second work from 1971, plus other early/short "sound designs"), Ake Parmerud, Denis Dufour, Horacio Vaggione, Gilles Racot, Daniel Teruggi, Ramon Gonzales-Arroyo, Michel Redolfi, Michel Portal, Boris Vian (1962), Robert Cohen-Solal (1968), Guy Reibel (1971), Edgardo Canton (1967), Christian Zanesi (1996).
5 CD box set for $55

ANDRE BOUCOURECHLIEV - Threne (INA GRM 2025; EEC) First full CD release by this Bulgarian-born composer (1925-1997). Includes the first issue of a 1973 doom-concrete classic, "Threne", plus other early works. An important INA GRM document. "The work 'Threne' is a creation inspired from fragments of an unfinished poem Mallarme had attempted to write following the death of his son when aged 8, in 1879. The musical composition recorded on magnetic tape features the exclusive use of voice: a mixed choir and two narrators. Following recording production, these voices were subsequently processed using electro-acoustic techinques, being purposely restrained in many cases. On the other hand, a more radical electro-acoustic and systematic approach governs the relationships and cross-linking arising between work and song, a process involving actual dynamic modulation. Through the latter, it becomes possible to provide a given 'model' of created sound - chorus harmony, polyphonic sung vocal structures, whispers, etc. - with intensity, dynamic pulsation derived from another material, in this case, from the spoken word. In this way, the subtleness of words becomes embedded in song, with the latter receiving rhythmical and dynamic inflection from the words. Between the 'word thus deepened out' appearing in song, and the real word itself found here and there throughout the work, an unlimited array of states of existence come into being, intermediate levels where song and word appear to merge to a point where they exchange identities, sound becoming the word in spirit and the word becomes pure music." Also features: "Text I" (1958, for magnetic tape (2 tracks); "Text II" (1959, for two magnetic tapes); "Concerto Pour Piano et Orchestre" (peformed by Claude Helffer, piano; Orchestre National de France, Conducted by Ivo Malec).
CD $20

LUC FERRARI - Presque Rien (INA GRM 2008; EEC) A series of early Ferrari works for magnetic tape (previously issued on Wergo and DGG in the LP era). "Presque Rien No. 1" is a piece from 1970, a work that he referred to as "poor man's concrete music," in that it was not heavily edited or manipulated, but is fascinating in its success in creating a "harmonious architecture resulting from a secretly methodical use of polyphony." "Presque Rien No. 2" is almost an ambient-environmental work: the sounds of crickets and other insects, eventually building into "a nightmarish frenzy of storm and rain, and an insistent beating of electronic notes." "Music Promenade" was realized in 1969 for 4 magnetic tapes, each comprising different recordings, played simultaneously on 4 separate tape recorders, and a truly successful head blower. Definitely one of the key INA CD releases. "So much musique concrete was interchangeable, but Ferrari was the medium's poet, and Presque Rien (Almost Nothing No. 1) the genre's classic, a recorded day at the seaside enhanced so subtly that it's a virtual extension of '4'33"...the other concreters string noises together, but Ferrari paints situational tone-pictures so lifelike you want to creep into the loudspeaker to see what's going on." -- Kyle Gann
CD $20

BERNARD PARMEGIANI - De Natura Sonorum (INA GRM 3001; EEC) Classic 1975 recording of mostly quiet, resonating electronic sounds. "With the music of Bernard Parmegiani something in us is freed and comes out of passivity. This thing, which I know now was blocked without my knowing where, is the buzzing and Time within the flesh -- a humming of millions of closed mouths between the cells. What is the murmur made up of? The body develops a tongue in listening to this music, and there is within it great movement of the sound material... it is music that makes the organic breathe, lifts it up and stretches it... music that takes the ear 'beyond' work, but touching the inner side." -- Bernard Noel.
CD $20

BERNARD PARMEGIANI - La Creation du Monde (INA GRM 1002; EEC) INA GRM is a recording studio and label founded by Pierre Schaeffer in 1958 that has been central in the development, documentation and support of electronic/musique concrete/electroacoustic/acousmatic music ever since. Their LP series in the 70s was a true statement of artistry, and now they are heavily involved in issuing CDs of old & new classics. It is with great pleasure that we can offer this label for distribution; they've had a number of confusing relations with past distributors and the CDs have always been somewhat painful to obtain. This is a list of all CDs currently in print. If you're new to this field, check out Francois Bayle, Bernard Parmegiani or the Pierre Schaeffer box first, but just about every title has it's merits. All the CDs have fairly extensive liner notes, with French and English translations. On this first CD Parmegiani tries to acousmatically recreate "The Creation Of the World" -- starting with the Black Light of the pre-"Big Bang": "The absence of tonality that characterizes a good deal of sound material in 'Black Light' is due to the use of 'white' noises, that is to say sounds whose mass theoretically contains all the frequencies that can be accumulated statistically..." And then leading on to "The Metamorphosis Of the Void" & "The Sign Of Life." And so on. Parmegiani is one of our favorite of the French electroacoustic composers, his attention to sonic detail always a marvel to witness; recordings are few and far between. "What [Parmegiani's] compositions have in common is a strong emphasis on sounds produced by matter and sounds recorded from nature which he uses as a model. The concept of metamorphism which characterizes many of Parmegiani's works is expressed in his use of such elements as the ephemeral, the fleeting, the motions of air, the transparency or non-transparency of the space in which he arrays different levels of depth, the repetitive, the 'mirror effect'."
CD $20




ARCHIVAL REISSUES........

BRAINTICKET - Cottonwoodhill [aka First Album] (Phonag 81120; EEC) Reissue of one of the essential early 70s psychedelic freak-out albums, first issued by the Hallelujah label in Switzerland in 1971. Licensed to German Bellaphone soon thereafter, this is generally considered one of the peak Krautrock experiences, despite its Swiss origins. Bellaphone did a poor quality CD issue in 1989, and there was also a bootleg version on "Bellgro" -- both of those are long o/p. This new CD, legitly reissued by the original Swiss manufacturer -- Phonag Records, offers improved sound & reproduces the fantastic swirl cover. At this point in time, Brainticket were made up of: Joel Vandroogenbroeck (organ, flute), Ron Bryer (guitar), Werni Frohlich (bass), Coismo Lampis (drums), Wolfgang Paap (tabla), Dawn Muir (voice) & Hellmuth Kolbe (potentiometers, generators and soundeffects). This is their first album (sometimes referred to as "self-titled) and is quite different and more radical than anything else in their discography. It features an outlandlish churning groove of a sound (vaguely comparable to Can or Funkadelic at their most tweaked), is deeply immersed in LSD mythology and is littered with electronic effects and collage-like elements leading towards the cover's warning: "Listen to the first recordings of this LSD/Hashish/Fixy/Jointy sound. Take a trip to your inner light. See the hallucinations of reality rise out of the groove. You've got your Brainticket now!"
CD $20

EUGENE McDANIELS - Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse (Water 150; USA) "Sampled to death by the 90's hip-hop elite, including Beastie Boys, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and A Tribe Called Quest, this Administration-upsetting LP showcases this former 'jazz freak' as a slightly less cerebral Gil Scott-Heron, with his direct socially conscious lyrics layed over some of the funkiest soul-jazz of the early 70's. A ridiculously rare-groove find for years, the influence of the LP is incalculable, forging a path for hip-hop and soul that would continue to keep the music and message of the album relevant to this day. The man would later produce hit records for Roberta Flack, Gladys Night, and Nancy Wilson, but for for a time Eugene was not trying to please anyone, but just kicking back at The Man a little."
CD $15

THE WATTS 103rd STREET RHYTHM BAND - The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (Water 147; USA) Available for the first time on CD, this self-titled album is also known to fans (and in some discographies) as 'Hot Heat and Sweet Groove' as that slogan appears clearly on the back cover. With this 1968 Warner debut, the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band outlined their loose, improvisational sound bridging the gap between the proto-funk explosiveness of James Brown and the earthy Southern grooves of the Stax/Volt stable, topped off by Charles Wright's incantatory lead vocals. Along with strong originals, the album features unexpectedly soulful covers of the Beatles' 'Yellow Submarine' and Sam Cooke's 'Bring It On Home To Me.' Includes original liner notes by comedy icon Bill Cosby - who discovered the band and used them as the backing group for his own 1967 Reprise R&B LP.
CD $15


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SHORT VERSION OF THE DMG RECOMMENDED NYC GIGS:

The final three days of The Vision Festival is as follows:

Friday June 17

4pm Community of Artists and audience talk about what we can do to solve our problems in the art world and how larger social issues are effecting us all.
6:30pm Time's Up - talk on how new New York City legislation curbs our right to assemble
7pm Other Dimensions In Music meets Sound Vision Orchestra
ODIM: Roy Campbell, trumpet; Daniel Carter, reeds; William Parker, bass; Rashid Bakr, drums
Sound Vision: Stephen Haynes, trumpet; Rob Brown, alto; Sabir Mateen, tenor; Scott Currie, bari Steve Swell, trmb; Joe Daley tuba; Billy Bang & Jason Kao Hwang, violins; Daniel Levin, cello; Warren Smith, vibes; Mark Hennen, piano; Andre Martinez, perc
8pm Whit Dickey Quartet: Whit Dickey, drums; Roy Campbell, trpt; Rob Brown, alto; Joe Morris, bass with interactive Video by Phyllis Bulkin Lehrer
9pm Positive Knowledge: Oluyemi Thomas, c melody sax; Ijeoma Thomas, vcl & poetry; Kidd Jordan tenor; Harrison Bankhead, bass; Michael Wimberly, percussion
10pm David Budbill poet; William Parker, bass; Hamid Drake, drums
11pm Bill Dixon Quartet: Bill Dixon, trumpet, flugelhorn & piccolo trumpet; Warren Smith, timp,vibes; Tony Widoff piano/synthesizer; Steve Horenstein baritone/ bass flute
12pm Eloping w/ the Sun: Joe Morris guitar; William Parker bass; Hamid Drake drums with video by Zak Sherzad


Saturday Afternoon June 18 Emerging Artists

1pm Poetry reading Brian Boyles, Chavisa Woods, James Hoff, Cat Tyc
2pm Tyshawn Sorey, solo piano
3pm Todd Nicholson's Otic Band: Todd Nicholson, bass; Nate Wooley, trumpet Steve Swell, trombone; Tatsuya Nakatani, percussion
4pm Guillermo E. Brown's Cut-Up Quintet: Guillermo E. Brown, drums & electronics; Matana Roberts, reeds; Shoko Nagai, keyboards, electronics Peter Evans, trumpet, Keith Witty, bass
5pm Tatsuya Nakatani's NRA: Tatsuya Nakatani, percussion; Vic Rawlings, electronics & cello; Ricardo Arias, balloon kit


Saturday Evening

7pm Billy Bang, violin; Shoji Hano, drums; Ngo Thanh Nahn, dan tranh; Todd Nicholson bass 8pm Leroy Jenkins, violin / Felicia Norton, dance
9pm The Eddie Gale Now Band featuring William Parker Eddie Gale, trumpet; William Parker, bass; Ismael Navarette, ten & sop, flute John Gruntfest, alto; Valerie Mih, piano; T. Squire Holman drums
10pm Patricia Nicholson's PaNic: Patricia Nicholson, Kevin Bachman, Jacquiline Lorenzi & Osamu Uehara, dance Rob Brown, alto; William Parker, bass; Alvin Fielder, drums
11pm Peter Brotzmann, reeds / Nasheet Waits, drums
12mid Joe McPhee, reeds & brass / Lori Freedman, bass clarinet


Sunday June 19

7pm William Parker's Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra featuring JUICE: Trumpets: Roy Campbell, Lewis Barnes, Matt Lavelle Tuba: Dave Hofstra Sax: Alan Glover (Juice), Rob Brown, Sabir Mateen, Daryl Foster, Dave Sewelson, Charles Waters; Tmb: Alex Lodico, Steve Swell, Masahiko Kono; Bass William Parker, Drums: Andrew Barker
8pm Karen Borca Quintet: Karen Borca, bassoon; Rob Brown, alto Reggie Workman & Todd Nicholson, bass; Newman Taylor Baker, drums
9pm Joelle Leandre, bass / India Cooke, violin
10pm Rob Brown Ensemble: Rob Brown, alto; Daniel Levin, cello; Satoshi Takeishi perc.; Jo Wood Brown, art installation & video Zendora Dance Company: Nancy Zendora, Rochelle Austin, Marie Baker-Lee, Juan Merchan
11pm Matthew Shipp, piano; Sabir Mateen, reeds; William Parker, bass; Han Bennink, drums
12mid Dennis Gonzalez's Yells At Eels featuring Oliver Lake: Dennis Gonzalez, trumpet; Oliver Lake, soprano & alto sax; Aaron Gonzalez, bass; Stefan Gonzalez, drums


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The Sunday Free Style Series Has Only 7 Shows left, so please come on down to CBGB's Lounge at 313 Bowery this Sunday June 19th to see/hear:

7:00pm Mary Halvorson, Jessica Pavone, Brian Chase, Matt Welch, Jason Cady, Matt Bauder, Brett Deschenes
8pm: Noisetet: Donny Silverman, David Phelps, Brian Groder, Shawn McGloine, Yael Acher, Dee Pop & the Sculpturemotion Project
9pm - Billy Bang, Todd Nicholson Shoji Hano
10pm - Rebecca Schmoyer, Daniel Carter, Eric Marc Cohen, David Mecionis


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HERE IS THE SCHEDULE FOR THE STONE FOR JUNE 17th - 26th
THE STONE IS LOCATED AT THE CORNER OF AVENUE C & 2ND STREET; ADMISSION IS $10 PER SET, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTATED


FRI 17

8PM SUSIE IBARRA TRIO: JENNIFER CHOI (violin) CRAIG TABORN (piano) SUSIE IBARRA (drums)
10PM ANNIE GOSFIELD (keyboards)


SAT 18

8PM MIN XIAO FEN (pipa), OKKYUNG LEE (cello), SUSIE IBARRA (drums)
10PM M 2 O PLAY ASTOR PIAZZOLLA: MACHIKO OZAWA (violin) AND MAKIA MATSUMURA (piano)


SUN 19

8PM JENNIFER CHOI (violin) AND KATHY SUPOVE (piano) -SOLOS
10PM JENNIFER CHOI (violin) AND KATHY SUPOVE (piano) -DUO


MON 20

8PM RASHANIM: JON MADOF (guitar) SHANIR EZRA BLUMENKRANZ (bass) MATHIAS KUNTZLI (drums)
10PM MARC RIBOT (guitar)


TUES 21

8PM JIM O'ROURKE (electronics)
10PM JIM O'ROURKE (electronics)


WED 22

8PM MICHAEL LOWENSTERN (clarinets)
10PM STEPHEN GOSLING SOLO PIANO RECITAL


THURS 23

8PM MEPHISTA
10PM MEPHISTA
IKUE MORI (electronics) SYLVIE COURVOISIER (piano) SUSIE IBARRA (drums)


FRI 24

8PM ERNESTO MARTINEZ AND MICRORYTMICA
10PM ERNESTO MARTINEZ AND MICRORYTMICA
Here from Mexico for a rare NY appearance, Ernesto presents complex and energetic polyrhythmic music for piano, altered guitars and marimba from his both first and his upcoming Tzadik releases.


SAT 25

8PM JOHN ZORN IMPROV PARTY-MANY SPECIAL GUESTS a stone benefit
10PM JOHN ZORN IMPROV PARTY-MANY SPECIAL GUESTS a stone benefit


SUN 26

8PM MATTHEW WELCH TZADIK CD RELEASE PARTY-featuring the flux quartet and many special guests
10PM FLUX QUARTET: TOM CHIU (violin) CONRAD HARRIS (violin) MAX MANDEL (viola) DAVE EGGAR (cello)


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Tonic is located at 107 Norfolk St. between Delancey & Rivington Sts. Here are some recommended gigs for this week:


Sunday June 19th-
MICHAEL HURLEY & THE PLACES


Tues June 21st at 8 & 10pm-
Marc Ribot's Spiritual Unity featuring special guest Henry Grimes w/ Marc Ribot (guitar), Chad Taylor (drums), Roy Campbell Jr. (trumpet / flugel horn / pocket trumpet) & Henry Grimes (bass) - one of the best bands of the year!


Wed June 22nd-
SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM & FLAMING FIRE at 8pm!


Fri June 24th at 8pm-
Electric Kulintang: Susie Ibarra & Roberto Rodri guez!! ***************************************

BRUCE LEE GALLANTER'S BIRTHDAY BASH & FATHER'S DAY CELEBRATION Will take place here at Downtown Music Gallery on Sunday June 19th from 1pm-7pm Free champagne and snacks for all!

GUITAR GOD & MONSTER GARY LUCAS WILL PERFORM AT 5PM - DON'T MISS THIS GREAT DAY!

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Click this link for events at THE STONE [NYC]

Click this link for events at TONIC [NYC]