BRUCE LEE GALLANTER'S 45TH BIRTHDAY BASH!! AND THE DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY 9TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!! Thursday June 22nd at Tonic at 8pm - featuring: JOHN ZORN/ELLIOTT SHARP GEMINI IMPROV!! THE GREAT ATOMIC POWER!! THE LUNAR BEAR ENSEMBLE!! PRELAPSE!! and mystery guests!

1.WADADA LEO SMITH-Golden Quartet (Tzadik 7604) Featuring Anthony Davis on piano, Malachi Favors on contrabass, Jack DeJohnette on drums and Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn. This has been Leo Smith's all-star dream project for quite a while and it is an outstanding offering. Each musician is an important player/composer/leader in their own right and each has developed their direction, yet this quartet brings out their best playing in recent memory. Although there is no doubt that all four of these heroes are extraordinary musicians, for me their recent paths/releases have been a bit disappointing. Leo took a long journey through Rastafarian directions and has been doing more modern classical composing on his two previous Tzadik cds. Leo's astounding playing on he & Henry Kaiser's 'Yo Miles' project (a recent gig at the Fillmore is said to have completely blown minds!), as well as his playing on two recent What We Live cds, shows that Leo is still a trumpet force to be reckoned with! I can't recall any recordings from Anthony Davis in quite a while and DeJohnette's last few ECM cds have left me cold. Yet on 'Golden Quartet', watch out for the sparks! This release contains five long works with two over fifteen minutes in length, so the quartet gets a chance to really stretch out. From the very first opening salvo of "DeJohnette", you can tell that these musicians mean business with flurries of free activity until a head or theme emerges and then a spacious passage rife with suspense - each player is listening closely and responding as one solid magical (golden?) quartet. This is joyous music, filled with intense energy and is consistently inventive! The theme re-emerges and is almost a gospelish/funky one, bringing us back to earth for a nice landing. "Harumi" is actually a somber, bluesy beauty with Jack playing graceful mallets and Leo's trumpet both stark and endearing. "Celestial Sky & All the Magic" is dedicated to the recently departed spirit of trumpet god Lester Bowie who was in the Art Ensemble of Chicago with bassist Malachi Favors. Lester was an incredible musician whose playing knew no boundaries of genre or style. This piece does a fine job of capturing his explosive fury, purity of tone and even some of those close-miked smear s that Lester delighted in using, as well as a marching section. Things wind down to a more austere ballad-like gem on "The Healer's Voyage on the Sacred River", soft spirits rustling in the breeze of a lazy spring day. The intensity erupts once more on the closing piece "America's Third Century Spiritual Awakening" which sounds likeone of those fabulous Miles' Quintet treasures for the mid-sixties, where each musician pushes the other up the heavens for the ultimate release! Four strong winds are blowing up a storm! $14

2.LOIS V VIERK-River Beneath the River (Tzadik 7056) Although I am not a fan of the more popular minimalist composers (Philip Glass & Steve Reich), there are a few of these composers who really touch me. Lois V Vierk might just be my favorite, her music has a distinctive sound, which gets under my skin and massages my brain. She is unfortunately under-recorded and has only one other release with her compositions only on OO Discs. Thanks to Zorn and Tzadik for rectifying this situation. 'River Beneath the River' consists of four long works, the first two of which are for string quartet. What I recall most from Lois' previous works is that they featured soloists or ensembles of multiple instruments of the same like pieces for numerous layered guitars or trumpets. The other distinctive part of Lois' work is the way that the music slides and drones, retaining a buzzing, mesmerizing quality. On the title piece, several strands seem to be flowing in and around each other, see-sawing in waves and slowly building into an almost frenzied ending. I love the way the flow of "Into the Brightening Air" appears to move in opposite directions at once, almost as if the strings or our perceptions of them are melting into one another. There are hills and valleys in this piece, with both quiet and busy sections which gradually weave the threads into an eerie soundscape. "Jagged Mesa" is for a trio of trumpet, trombone and bass trombone and has long notes very slowly sliding or gliding in sustained repose, drifting in a melancholy haze, harmonies seem to move in and out of phase as the notes slide past their partners in pitch. This reminds me of renaissance music with its rich. The final piece is "Red Shift" for cello, el. guitar, percussion & synth and this piece has appeared elsewhere before. Once more it slowly unravels minimal drones, that take their time to build to an almost frenzied conclusion which sort-of rocks out during the second half. Bravo!! $14.

3.DOUSIDZ-empties (Tzadik 7228) This is a Japanese trio based in New York with a bassist who looks to be a trans, more than that I couldn't tell you, not even how their name is pronounced, except that this is yet another Zorn discovery. Starting with the first tune, I amazed that I have never heard of them. "seemless" is a powerful rockin' psychedelic fuzz-toned instrumental delight, it stops a few times for some short phase-shifted acoustic guitar breaks, but then rocks/grinds it out again. "vanilla" layers a few warped psych guitars around a sexy female vocal and a drifting hypnotic haze/groove. We get more throbbing layers of fuzzed guitars on "we copy" - another thick and twisted instrumental, short but most affective. On "impure" it is back to the sexy vocals and mutant guitars slowly groaning in a melancholy fog - perhaps there is a pattern here and perhaps that is a woman singing, but who knows & who cares?!? I do dig this! The guitar(s) take on gargantuan proportions on the instrumental pieces- dense, howling, fuzz-drenched, mutant and scary, leaping out of my speakers and stinging like a hive of nasty bees, almost too much! This should do well at Other Music & Kim's, where the hipsters are still searching for that lost psychedelic gem to enhance their senses. Pass that joint and dig in! $14.

4.MATTHEW SHIPP QUARTET-Pastoral Composure (Thirsty Ear 57084) Featuring Roy Campbell on trumpets, William Parker on bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums and Mr. Shipp on piano. Thirsty Ear has persuaded our local hero, avant/jazz piano giant and good pal Matt Shipp to come out of his self-imposed retirement from recording as a leader by giving him his own 'Blue Series' branch of their label. 'Pastoral Composure' is the first of some half dozen releases to come out in the next year or so selected my Matt and this is Matt's first studio recording in about 18 months. Matt composed 7 of the 9 pieces, with a cover of Duke's "Prelude to a Kiss" and an interesting choice of a nursery school tune - "Frere Jacques". Roy Campbell played a number of outstanding solos with Peter Brotzmann's Die Like a Dog Qt. the other night at Tonic and never ceases to amaze me in Other Dimensions. His playing on this release also special, inspired, diverse and even startling at times. The opening tune is called "Gesture" and it is one of the more lyrical themes that Matt has written, Roy's flugelhorn sails the Spanish seas with beauty and grace. Matt has called this cd his most mainstream jazz release yet and it would seem so. "Visions" is a bluesy sort of standard, with both Roy and Matt both playing fine straight ahead solos, quite elegant. Both Matt & I have often discussed our love of the vast Duke Ellington songbook, so it is great to hear Matt doing an endearing, yet distinctive solo rendition of "Prelude to a Kiss". The title piece is also grand and appropriately titled, with Roy playing some warm and lovely flugel once more on top of Matt's dark and probing rumbling chords. "Progression" also sounds as if it was written in the 60's perhaps, another laid back mainstream chestnut with sparkling solos by Roy & Matt. Surprisingly, "Frere Jacques" is the furthest out piece here, with the entire quartet swirling in deep currents, while the next piece "Merge" also swirls in more subdued impressionistic free-flowing way. "Inner Order" is a haunting duo of contrabass and trumpet, subtle and submerged in suspense. The closing piece is "XTU" and it is one of Matt's wonderful solo excursions which mixes the dark and light together in equal amounts. Let us welcome Matt Shipp back to the land of recording. $14.

5.MYRA MELFORD'S CRUSH-dance beyond the color (Arabesque 147) Crush is Stomu Takeishi on basses, Kenny Wollesen on drums & sampler and Myra on piano & harmonium. When Myra Melford started out a decade ago she recorded two fine piano trio releases for the now defunct Enemy label. She then put together a great quintet called The Same River, Twice who now have three releases out and continue. She received that magical instrument - the harmonium as a present a few years back and plays it in an excellent trio with Dave Douglas, as well as another fine trio - Equal Interest with Joseph Jarman & Leroy Jenkins. Crush is Myra's new trio with two in-demand players - Stomu whose Klein fretless electric bass in the centering magic for Henry Threadgill's Make a Move and Kenny who appears in more bands that I can ever recall. It is interesting how Myra is the youngest member of Equal Interest, but probably the oldest member of Crush, the balance seems equal either way. "Like Rain Whispers Mist" is the opener and is an apt title, it is quiet, elegant, graceful, quaint and touching. The title piece does "Dance Beyond the Color" by allowing the rhythm team to provide waves of charming colors underneath Myra's swirling piano. Things begin freer and spookier on "Orange", with Myra playing inside the piano, before the cool , blusey head emerges and eventually a storm erupts. The harmonium glows with transcendent spirit on "Equal Grace" while the bass repeats a hypnotic riff at the center, the pulse begins to quicken and Myra takes an uplifting Harmonium solo! Things start out with understated tension on "Chalk Sandskrit" but continues to build majestically as the drama unfolds and explodes. "Always Chant Could One" has that rather gospelish groove/vibe that Myra is so good at evoking while her solo splashes a more dense eruption. The closing theme "In Memorium" is also tranquil mediation for harmonium, eerie sampler, dreamy mallets and hovering el. bass. Superb. $14.

6.CHRIS SPEED TRIO-Iffy (KFW 275) This is Chris' new trio with Jamie Saft on organ & synth, Ben Perowsky on drums and Chris on clarinet & tenor sax. Each of Chris Speed's bands are much different, almost opposites in nature. Bloodcount, who haven't played in a while, are an intense & gnarly double sax out/jazz qt. who play long & winding pieces; Pachora, who just got off the road promoting their third cd, are much lighter, more melodic and have middle-eastern euro grooves. He can also be found playing in groups for Dave Douglas & Myra Melford, and has two fine quartet cds as a leader on Songlines as well. Still, this new trio release is something else again. Electric keyboard wiz Jamie Saft has played in Saft/Vu (on Avant), is on a few of Zorn's cds and is featured on funky el. piano on Cuong Vu's latest new release. Ben Perowsky is also a busy drummer who released his own trio cd in the past year and has also played for Zorn and Dave Douglas. It is Jamie's organ that seems to be the defining sound on this fine release, he also plays the bass parts, since there is no bass player here. This is certainly Chris' most jazz-like cd so far with Jamie taking a more traditional role on organ. Chris has written some great, challenging, aggressive, quick-spinning tunes that push the abilities of each member of the trio to their full extent. I can't recall hearing any other clarinet & organ combos of note, but it really works well hear! Each of these tunes has an indelible groove, especially the tunes with Chris on tenor sax, linked to the tradition of 60's organ groove combos often coming out of Newark, NJ. Even Chris' tone on tenor sax seem to come right out of that older tradition of honkers. The tunes featuring the clarinet do have a somewhat more eastern tinge, with Chris playing inspired solos throughout. A strong offering from a solid trio that at times reminds me of Tony Williams Lifetime when Larry Young was in the band. $13.

7.COOPER-MOORE SOLO-Deep in the Neighborhood of History & Influence (Hopscotch 5) Although marvelous pianist and nifty instrument maker Cooper-Moore has been a part of the downtown scene for more than a decade, it seems as if he is finally getting some well-earned recognition. In the past few years he has been an important part of two of William Parker's main units - In Order to Survive and the Little Huey CM Orchestra. More recently he is also a part of Susie Ibarra's wonderful trio. This amazing cd is Cooper-Moore's first solo piano effort and it captures his incredible rambunctious spirit! It is an entire live set from the Pizza Joint at the Guelph Festival in Toronto in September of last year. Cooper begins by giving thanks to just about everyone who has helped and inspired him. On "Part 1" Cooper unleashes a torrent of notes, yet there is a fine balance of silence and suspense peppered through the more explosive sections. The calm comes in on "Part 2", yet slowly it builds to controlled frenzy, two opposite vibrations come together in a seamless mix. "Part 3" is also called "Waltz" but we can hear a great deal more going on than just a waltz. "Part 4" is dedicated to the recently departed pianist-wonder Jaki Byard and Cooper explains the many approaches to the piano that Jaki had worked with - most instructive. Cooper goes for that Cecil Taylor-like cascading, ultra-quick, double-handed, stream on "Part 5". The calm after the storm is the only non-original, the lovely "Radiance" by Susie Ibarra, which Cooper plays with hushed elegance. The whirlwind erupts again on "Evolution" , massive waves covering all of us, the plot gets thicker, the activity gets more dense, still there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And then an embarrassing/hilarious thing happens, the promoter, whose piano Cooper is pounding on, gets upset thinking Cooper is hurting his piano and signals his dismay to Cooper who has to calm the guy down and goof on him, making light of the situation and concluding the set with a verbalized nervous break, screaming and repeating the word "agony" over and over. And it works! $14.

8.CHRIS CUTLER/FRED FRITH-2 Gentlemen in Verona (ReR CCFF3) It has been exactly 20 years since these gentlemen first played a short US tour in 1979, the gig in NY was at the Squat Theatre and it was a complete revelation watching these two alchemists at work. Their former band - Henry Cow - has just broken up and the Art Bears were forming, Fred was just about to move to NY for more than a decade and become an integral member of the early downtown scene. Henry Cow was for many of us the greatest of all progressive bands, for many reasons. On one hand, their music was a mixture of many streams - rock/out jazz/modern classical/electronics/studio manipulation with heavy Zappa/Soft Machine influence, always stretching the boundaries. Since then, their composing and improvising (instant composing) talents have continued to mature/evolve/flourishthrough hundreds of recordings and concerts. What made this first concert so special was being able to see how Fred manipulated his guitar on table with many objects and how also Chris played the drums/percussion in his utterly distinctive way. This duo gig & recording from that time show Fred & Chris creating a dense world of often loud, chaotic, weird, noisy music that is intense & challenging to come to turns with. How have things changed, you may ask? Chris Cutler recently came to town, played two gigs, stopped by DMG to talk for a bit. He played a marvelous, rather subdued trio gig at Tonic with Kato Hideki on acoustic bass & Zeena Parkins on el. harp. Although he had a (borrowed) drums kit, he played more from his large table of inexpensive electronics, percussive objects & cds. When we got to talking in the store, he mentioned that Tim Hodgkinson's new improv trio (up at Victo in May) was a constant barrage of loud extremes and that Chris desires more space and silence in his improv situations nowadays. '2 Gentlemen in Verona' was recorded live in Italy last year and came as a surprise for Chris from the fan who recorded it off the board. The title comes from Shakespeare and Chris also indexed the continuous concert into sections named after scene from his plays. Suspense and wonder abound from layers of percussive, electronic and guitar manipulated sounds/noises. Chris plays an almost marching beat on his snare while Fred lets out some howling vocals, snippets of guitar feedback pepper the proceedings while the beat gets more frantic and bent, before quieting down once more. Chris (?) sounds as if he is cleaning teeth with a dentist drill while Fred hums softly, Chris files objects while Fred plays melodic fragments on his guitar. The rhythmic scheme gets freer and textures build & mutate, almost get funky. The scenery continues to change as the duo shuffle & select sounds and assemble something new & unexpected. Chris goes back to that marching beat as Fred plays a quaint music-box-like melody with a Casio tone. The encore is sort of odd blues thing with Fred playing some slide guitar as a radio signal chatters in the distance. A somber conclusion to fine concert filled with surprises. $14.

9.TIM HODGKINSON-Sang (ReR TH2) Outstanding!! Both other former Henry Cow members, Lindsay Cooper and Tim Hodgkinson take their time working hard on each release they put their name on. This is only Tim's fourth solo release in twenty plus years, not forgetting his time with The Work and The Momes. Tom plays alto sax, clarinet, keyboards & el guitar and is currently in an improv trio called Konk Pak with Thomas Lehn and Roger Turner, who will be playing at the Victoriaville Festival in May, along with Tim's collaboration with Italian electro-acoustic unit Ossatura. Both Fred Frith and Tim have been working with contemporary chamber ensembles in the past decade and the results of which are two phenomenal releases this year - Fred's 'Traffic Continues' (on W&W) and Tim's new masterwork - 'Sang'! This new release consists of four long and immensely demanding works, each with a different sized ensemble from (layered) solo to a mass of brass and all completed last year. "The Road to Erzin" is for viola, piano, alto sax, two percussionists & live electronics and is dedicated to & influenced by musicians from central Asia. This piece does have an exotic and suspense filled flavor, the viola scraped in mysterious ways, the percussion and piano hushed and trembling. Although this piece is often sparse, each sound is filled with inner-life or drama. The alto sax often sounds more wooden like a clarinet and the viola is stretched tight in short droning atmospherics. Restrained yet potent. "GUSHe" is a solo work for Bb clarinet and tape made from electric guitar, clarinet & drums. This piece is also stark with slowly unfolding clarinet and tape manipulations weaving lines in enigmatic fragments. "The Crackle of Forests" is for a large number of solo instruments and a mass of brass, which Tim claims is about how the ordinary gives birth to the extraordinary. The title is most appropriate due to the natural feeling at the center of this rather dense web of activity. This piece swirls with focused layers, the density in constant flux, sometimes Penderecki or Xenakis-like, sometimes more sparse yet equally haunting with sinister flashes of strange puncuation. "Brilliant! "M'A" is a montage work for solo voice with fragments of "Eixam for Wind Orchestra, Percussion & Double Basses" and Tim's "Second String Quartet". The expressive voice is that of actress Federica Santoro and "M'A" is a sort of theatre piece, quite bizarre and wonderful. Once again, Tim mixes various strata into a breath-taking nest of inter-connected strands. There is a fine balance between the delicate and the hyper flow of ideas. Excellent and engaging throughout! $14.

10.BILL LASWELL-Dub Chamber 3 (Roir 8263) Featuring Nils Petter Molvaer on el. trumpet, Nicky Skopelitis on guitars, Craig Taborn on el. piano, Bill Laswell & Jah Wobble on basses and Karsh Kale on drums & tabla. Yah mon, our main man - heavy bass & beats producer Bill Laswell is back with a throbbing dub offering to soothe our souls & spirits. Four long and thick tracks make up this dub delight. Electric trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer hails from Scandinavia, has a couple of fine releases out on ECM and sounds like Jon Hassell at times. Up and coming pianist Craig Taborn shares piano duties with Matt Shipp in Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory and Karsh Kale is a drum n' bass expert who plays for Talvin Singe. "Beyond the Zero" is a nice laid back groover with smoky el. piano, spacy el. trumpet smears, lazy tabla tapping and Bill's cosmic melodic bass throbbing at the center. "Cybotron" was co-written by Bill's bass buddy Jah Wobble and it sounds like a Wobble track with its busier bass line and is bathed in thick echoplex dub effects panning around the mix. Nicky also adds some funky flavor with his wah-wah guitar effects. That drum n' bass groove fuels "Devil Syndrome" and Craig gets a chance to stretch out a bit on el. piano, trading lines with Nils' trumpet. What is hip about this track is how the beat slowly changes speeds although the flow continues in waves. It is always nice to hear Nicky's spacious, dreamy guitar which is featured on "A Screaming Comes Across the Sky". Later in this piece, a mesmerizing dub bass line takes over while the echoes wash over the mix adding icing to the tasty cake/mix. Great late night listening, now where's that spliff?!? $14.

11.EGYPT IS THE MAGICK #-How Many Pieces of the Puzzle Can the Mind Go Without? (psycho path #1) The No Neck Blues Band are local legends, friends and are often unpredictable. They have a loft space up in Harlem and have had wild & weird parties for the past few years with little or no advertising, presenting the likes of John Fahey, Vince Martin, Haunted House, Test.. Their own gigs range from transcendent to ridiculous & they have gotten rave reviews in the Wire and even an article in the NY Times. One never knows how many members will be in the band and they have a number of off-shoot projects. Egypt is the Magick # is one such duo and this is their first mysterious release. The liner notes & artwork are purposefully obscure and it hurts our brains to try to figure just what they are trying to say. Of course the personnel and instrumentation is not listed, so we must just listen and see/hear what happens. They commence with a 30 minute journey called "Sirius Transmission" which takes a long time to unfold with mutant, spacy guitars, vocals and percussion providing their strange soundscape. This music has a ritualistic, naïve, hippie-ish communal spirit about it, as if it would've been more fun to have been their joining in than just listening. This often reminds me of my occasional project - Suburban Bohemia, one never knows when the magic will appear, but there certainly glimpses, but patience is definitely required. There is a quiet, natural, rustling of leaves in the wind, type of vibration at work here, almost as if the environment is playing itself. There is a certain mellow, folky, subdued psychedelic charm that pervades this endeavor, as long as one doesn't take it too seriously. This cracked gem was put out by my pal & long time space-traveler Simon from Kim's Underground. Only $10.

12.DR. EUGENE CHADBOURNE-I Talked to Death in Stereo (Leo 276) With Brian Richie, Carrie Shull, Jonathon Segal, Victor Krummenacher & more wackos. This is a collection of four original tunes & five covers for both solo & group performances, recorded between '97 &'99. The title track has to be one of Eugene's best titles ever and deals with concentration and listening for a quintet of el. guitar, el. viola, violin/cello, clarinet/alto sax & theremin/drums. As out there or free as it gets, there is an underlying focus to the proceedings. On "Ochre Ringlet & "Don't Happy, Be Worry" Dr. Chad plays all the instruments (piano, alto sax harmonica and organ), a first for him. He does a fine job of layering these instruments on top of one another in a harmelodic mass that has a twisted charm. "Don't Happy" has hilarious lyrics about custom official snafus and is a quaint yet weird rendition. "I'll Never Smile Again" is one of the three standards that Eugene tackles for solo guitar & voice and it receives a sad, soft, eloquent reading. Rogers & Hart's "Glad to be Unhappy" is done by a trio of dobro, acoustic bass guitar & oboe with Eugene doing his hilarious Satchmo vocal. The two Albert Ayler covers are done by both the twisted quintet and the odd acoustic trio, with "Prophecy" getting the amazing cosmo-spastic out-jazz treatment and "Change Has Come" also receiving a hyper-out-to-lunch free/jazz acoustic version. Dr. Chad is backed by his two partners from Camper Van Chadbourne on "The Walking Dead" for a spooky, nimble fingered acoustic journey through horror movie soundtrack inspired hell. The closing benediction is a solo cover of "I've Got a Crush on You" by the Gershwins, another quaint way to end this groovy collection. $14.

13.KEITH ROWE/GUNTER MULLER/TAKU SUGIMOTO-The World Turned Upside Down (Erstwhile 005) Keith Rowe has been doing his tabletop guitar manipulations since the mid-sixties with AMM, inspiring Fred Frith and others to explore this unique technique. Aside from performing on all but one dozen plus AMM recordings, he records much too infrequently, having released only one full length solo and one duo endeavor in thirty years. Gunter Muller has also been manipulating his drum kit with electronics for some time, runs the 4 For Ears label and he too records on occasion in duos with Jim O'Rourke, Christian Marclay and with Voice Crack. Guitarist Taku Sugimoto is someone I am much less familiar with, but he does have a solo cd out on Hat Noir from last year. So, congratulations are in order for the ever-probing Erstwhile label on getting this trio to record their distinctive live explorations at a concert in Paris last year. Taku has a Mazzacane-like ultra-subtle sound that hovers quietly between these two other sound sorcerers. This concert was quite well recorded, which is perfect since many of the alien sounds are so restrained and delicate, like a colony of ants hard at work assembling their own world. There is a dreamy haze found here, a soothing rubbing and plucking of strings and featherweight percussives, all moving softly in slow motion. I recall Mr. Rowe swinging an earphone from a radio over his guitar pickup at an AMM gig in NY presented by yours truly a few years back and it sounds as if he has continued to utilize this sound, forever coaxing ghost-like sounds from his trusty axe. Eventually the sound here gets a bit more dense and the textures more alien, yet it all fits together so well, it is extremely refined. There is a calming glow that surrounds each and every sound, so peaceful and enchanting. Keith has provided us with a niftly, cubist, animated cover that also seems to fit the wonderful treasure found within. $13.

14.FRED ANDERSON/KIDD JORDAN/WILLIAM PARKER/HAMID DRAKE-2 Days in April (Eremite 23/24) Just last week, a year after this cd was recorded, the amazing Die Like a Dog Qt. came to Tonic for two long sets and blew us all away!! That frontline was Peter Brotzmann & Roy Campbell, both of whom were in fine form, but it was the incredible and diverse rhythm team of William Parker & Hamid Drake who also were outstanding for the nearly 3 hours worth of cosmic music. '2 Days in April' also captures the very same rhythm team with another incredible frontline of two elderly statesmen of tenor sax blasting who don't play outside of their respective hometowns often enough - Fred Anderson from Chicago and Kidd Jordan from New Orleans. Both of these greats did play at the Vision Fest last year, but they come to NY so rarely. This fabulous double cd comes from two gigs in Massachusetts in April of last year. Both this cd and the recent gig show how magical Hamid really is, whether playing his drum kit or frame drums & hand percussion, he is continually an inspiration to watch as he locks in various grooves jazz or even funky with powerhouse contrabassist William Parker. Hamid starts off this release slowly building his earthly vibe until the free/jazz storm force explodes with tenor men wailing, burning, shrieking, squealing, pushing each other (and us) higher and higher. After the storm subsides, William takes one of his fingers blurring, ever buzzing bass solos that are always a marvel of invention. Both tenor titans begin from the bottom on upwards once more, slowly spiraling their lines, interweaving layers of notes, both sour & sweet as the rhythm section lays low. Once more the volcano erupts as both tenors reach for the heavens while William & Hamid kick it into hyper-drive. Watch out! The second disc & set commences with a restrained flurry of bass & percussion organically building, as the two tenors take their time to weave their wears from pensive to quietly explosive. Both tenor players have long & varied careers playing in many situations, from r & b, the blues, through mainstream and the further out reaches of free/jazz. Their solos reflect their long histories, navigating through the shrieks & howls of both the blues and r&b, with Kidd Jordan often burning in the upper register and Fred Anderson 's dark and resonant tone sand-blasting in a lower register. Both of these tenor gods are unfortunately under-recorded, considering the wealth of their collective careers, so it is a great thing for Eremite to give them a chance to really blow up a hurricane of powerful music. Two cd set for $20.

15.STEVE COHN-Bridge Over the X-Stream (Leo 288) Featuring Jason Hwang on violin, Tom Varner on french horn, Reggie Workman on bass & Steve Cohn piano & shakuhachi. Local avant-jazz pianist Steve Cohn records on rare occasions, so each of his half dozen releases are a welcome surprise. His early releases, which we still stock, are on lp only and his sound or vision seems to come out of the loft/jazz scene of the 70's - free-flowing and good natured. This release was recorded live at the Knit in January of 1999 and includes no drummer, although both Steve and Reggie do play some hand percussion. The odd instrumentation of violin, french horn, bass and piano with a bit of shakuhachi works nicely, since each of these musicians has a strong presence of their own. This is an exquisite, beautifully recorded performance with just the right balance of each musician., just the right amount of space. Everything unfolds ever so slowly, delicately, with Steve playinginside the piano in hushed calmness. There are six titles sections, but it all really flows together organically like fish sailing down a stream. Eventually the pace-pulse picks up, as the flower opens bending towards the sun and the musicians get more playful, casting a deeper spell. About halfway through the set, the french horn & bass start playing a groove section, while the violin & piano dance on top, this works exceedingly well although it doesn't last long as things evolve back down to a more suspense-filed space. 'Bridge Over the X-Stream" does a fine job of capturing some fleeting spirits before they ascend up to the skies. $14.

16.PAUL LYTTON & KEN VANDERMARK-English Suites (Wobbly Rail 009) I can vividly recall being startled by Paul Lytton whipping chains & whacking strips of metal at his make-shift drum kit in a duo with his long-time partner Evan Parker at the 100 Club in London in December of '75, during my semester at an exchange program college. The next time I saw him play was with the phenomenal London Jazz Composers Orchestra at Victo in the mid-90's and I was surprised at how well he played more conventional jazz drums with LJCO. Chicago reed specialist - Ken Vandermark - recently won the prestigious McArthur commission and leads a host of fine ensembles, consistently challenging himself in new & diverse situations. In recent years, more & more European avant/jazz players have been welcomed to both play and sometimes reside in Chicago, we downtowners should take note! This challenging double cd presents two colossal duo gigs from a set in Belgium and a set in Belgium - 11 months apart. Disc one is from a Chicago radio broadcast and things get under way a brief blast of tenor sax and muffled Euro free/jazz drums, a nice match of wits, an explosive release of charged particles. The second part is a complete turnaround with a murmuring ballad on the first half and minimal accompaniment which eventually picks up speed and gets freer, but no less sparse with Ken on clarinet on the second half. Paul stirs the cauldron by mixing in a wealth of small percussive instruments. There doesn't seem to be much (any?) of Lytton's electronics on the Chicago gig, but it doesn't matter since he does consistently blend and erupt with Ken's various reed explorations. The Belgium disc is broken into two parts - the 'Film' and the 'Stage' sections and was recorded at the "Sound in Motion Festival". This set has more of a live sound/feel and Lytton's bizarre electronics are more in evidence. Ken's clarinet splinters the sound into spastic fragments as Paul's percussive noodling also shows endless possibilities. It sounds as if Paul's bowing his cymbals for quite an eerie effect, or is it the electronics making that ghostly sound? This entire endeavor is a long journey through slowly evolving and ever-changing scenery. This splendid two cd set costs $17.

17.JOHN TILBURY & EVAN PARKER-Two Chapters and an Epilogue (Matchless 39) Towards the end of April, we (in NYC) were blessed with a four night Evan Parker fest at the Knitting Factory. The first three nights were in the Old Office, the first set a duo with fellow circular-breathing reeds explorer Ned Rothenberg, the two saxists just finishing up a short east coast tour. The second set each night was with a different improviser(s)- a duo with Richard Teitlebaum on sampler on the first night and a trio on the second & third nights with Mark Dresser on each and Gerry Hemingway & Bobby Previte on one set each. Each of these sets was extraordinary as Evan approached each one with a different way of challenging his partner(s). Even Evan & Ned found new ways staying fresh each night after a half dozen other sets this month. The final night was in the Knit's main space and it consisted of all-star downtown unit with four saxists - John Zorn, Tim Berne, Ned & Evan plus Ikue Mori and Earl Howard on samplers and Georg Grawe on piano. The first set was completely overbearing and impossible to penetrate, no one I spoke with dug it. The second set was much more balanced and some of the magical combinations did work well.

Circular-breathing is a technique that jazz saxists in the sixties helped develop by breathing in and out simultaneously, thus being able to play streams of notes for absurdly long periods of time, seemingly endlessly. John Coltrane & Rahsaan Roland Kirk were masters of this at that point. Since then, many sax players have learned to do this, each one utilizing it in their own way. Evan Parker is one of the masters of this technique since the 70's and has a most distinctive way of choosing bent notes and stringing them together in odd patterns that make his sound so unique and often difficult to listen to at length. Downtown saxists like Ned, John Zorn & Thomas Chapin have also developed new ways of exploring this technique. What is fascinating about this release is that Evan's sound or streams of notes are often non-stop or maximal and pianist John Tilbury from AMM is more of a minimalist who recently performed the piano music of Morton Feldman (the king of minimal composers) on a four cd set. So the question remains - how can this combination of opposite approaches ever succeed?!? Both of these musicians have been playing, exploring and refining their sound for over thirty years in a variety of situations, learning how to make that improv magic come to life. This wonderful work consists of two long thirty plus minute journeys (or chapters) and a brief epilogue. In the first piece, time is stretched out as solitary notes drift by one at a time, ultra delicate and carefully chosen. Slowly more notes are unfurled, as each player begins to add layers and eventually waves of notes. Much of this retains the tightly focused abstractions of contemporary classical music. There are moments when Evan finally lets his lines build to a thicker row but more often Evan appears to hold back somewhat, his streams broken up into more controlled, more streamlined fragments. There is a common ground, an elegant thread that runs though this entire endeavor, of listening ever so closely and shifting textures together so that waves of notes have time to breath together as one natural expression of life. A most precious treat for all who choose to listen. $14.

18.SOLID EYE-fruits of automation (Win Records 034) A few years back, I splurged and bought a ten cd set by the Los Angles Free Music Society. I too (like John Zorn) am a sucker for nifty looking box sets, the more obscure the better. Turns out I actually owned some records by a few of the participants - The Doodooettes, Human Hands…Last year another 4 cd set called 'Blorp Esette" was released by more of these freaks from LA. Both are filled with a slew of weird surprises. Solid Eye were/are one of these strange bands and 'fruits' is their new release. They are a trio of Rick Potts, Joseph Hammer & Steve Thomsen, names I vaguely recall from those compilations. Their guests include bizarre guitarist Rod Poole, who has an interesting solo guitar cd out. Each song title begins with the letter "G" and there is an erector set robot on the cover. Their music is an odd combination of warped sounds, everything sounds as if it were put through an electronic blender, sounds bubble and mutate, just what the source material is, I am uncertain. It does remind me of the twisted charm of Biota at times, with some Residents-like alien transmissions. It also sounds like there is a drum machine or sequencer in there to give it some cohesion, but just a little. Things seem to go in two directions at once and many of the sounds are pretty hard to describe, but no less fascinating. It does sound as if a great deal of work - tape manipulation and loops, everything sounds oft-kilter, like it is about to fall apart, yet this alien world never gets too weird or harsh, it sounds just right, like these dudes know exactly what their doing. I believe I own an earlier cd by Solid Eye, time to go hunting. Great gobs of googly moogly! $10.

19.LYNN JOHNSTON-First We Feel (Win Records 037) Lynn is powerful alto/tenor/baritone sax player and bass & regular clarinetist who once played in Cruel Frederick (numerous great cds on SST) and for prog legends Motor Totemist Guild. This is his first release under his own name with solos, duos & trios, utilizing the percussion of Alex Cline, the only other familiar name for me here. The trios feature Hannes Giger on contrabass, Alex Cline on percussion and/or Scot Ray on trombone. Each piece shows Lynn excelling on a different reed. On "Full Frontal Blemish" Lynn wails away on bass clarinet, spinning dazzling episodes with his daredevil trio navigating over hills and through valleys. The title track is just Lynn on solo bass clarinet and he confronts the beast head on with a tone that come from the land of Eric Dolphy, from somber sections to quick flourishes of more abrupt lines. Some of the trios pit Scot Ray's erupting trombone against Lynn's clarinets in bouts of intense flight. Lynn really pumps it up on baritone on "Not Sonny Not Henry" with his bass & drums trio spinning & pushing him hard. "Puddles" is for solo clarinet and it is more oblique, abstract yet solid in its construction. The numerous trio excursions are some the best moments on this fine release, the expressive contrabass always shadowing and supporting Lynn's dynamic world of reed expansion. The duo of Scot's trombone & Lynn's alto sax on "Mops" is an incredible & explosive duo that is most exciting throughout its 3 minute duration. It would seem that LA has a wealth of untapped avant/jazz talent to be reckoned with. $10.

20.UPSILON ACRUX-The Pirates of Upsilon (Win Records 033) Who!?! Upsilon Acrux (what a name!) are an incredible double guitar instrumental quartet from San Diego and no - I never heard of them either! These dudes are tight, intense and have that Beefheartian double guitar bravado - intricate, interlocking, complex parts and fucking amazing! They also use a bunch of wailing horns on a few cuts to fatten up their already thick demented sound. Half of their pieces are improvised, but it is difficult to tell since everything here has a sense of purpose, nothing sounds completely free, but does sound very way out, sometimes on the verge of spinning out of control but never going all the way overboard! "Swabin' the Deck" featuring an army of mutant guitars and "Random Denouncement" has that super-quick, ultra-tight Minutemen-like punk/jazz charm that we all miss. On "Evening No Star" these cats do a hilarious imitation of the Fripp and Eno classic that is sure to piss-off prog-heads without a sense of humor. Upsilon also like to stretch out and experiment, so it is difficult to discern where the tune ends and the improv begins. This makes for many surprising twists & turns. What they are best at doing is mixing layers of mutant guitars into a dense and fascinating wall of sound that is both compelling and frightening! We can only hope that Upsilon Acrux will escape from San Diego one day and make their way to NYC to blow our minds to smithereens!! In the meanwhile, you had better grab this for $10.!!

21.CRIB-Forward Back (WIN Records WIN038) - Crib is bassist and WIN Records founder Devin Sarno from Los Angeles. Six tracks of rumblingdroning acoustic bass washed with reverb, 4 previously released on various compilations. Petra Haden joins on one cut with violins. Sometimes I can hear the sound of the bow against the string. Just the thing to crank up on the stereo and then lie on the floor between the speakers and enjoy the aural massage. Deep ambient is the word here and I'm already looking forward to the next one $10.00

22.VARIOUS ARTISTS-OHM: the early gurus of electronic music 1948-1980 (Ellipsis Arts CD3670) An amazing three cd 48 track compilation to sumup the early years of electronic music in the 20th century. Spiffy plastic sleeve holds a book and a fold out sleeve with 3 cds. These guys will probably win awards just for the design alone. Music that ranges from Clara Rockwell playing Tchaikovsky on the theremin and Messiaen performed on the Ondes Martenot (a theremin with a keyboard) to the music concrete of Pierre Schaeffer's school to Louis & Bebe Barron (the Forbidden Planet duo), John Cage, Edgard Varese, Richard Maxfield (unreleased too!) Stockhausen, MEV (unreleased), Raymond Scott, Reich, Oliveros, Subotnick, Tudor, Riley, Czukay, Luc Ferrari, Xenakis, La Monte Young (amazingly & it's even unreleased - a drift study, only two notes but they change), Charles Dodge, Paul Lansky, David Behrman, MEV (unreleased), Maryanne Armacher (unreleased, adds to the available recorded documentation of her work), Klaus Schultze, Jon Hassell (unreleased and very welcome here), Brian Eno and others. Whew! Forward by Brian Eno. Articles and words by Joel Chadabe, Otto Luening, Francois Bayle, D.J. Spooky, Kyle Gann, Robert Moog, writer Simon Reynolds, Pete Namlook (FAX), David Toop, Thurston Moore, Bill Laswell and others. So it sounds cool and even looks cool - a great place to check out the roots of todays electronic music. Three cd set for $29

23.TERRY RILEY-Music for the Gift/Bird of Paradise/Mescalin Mix (organ of Corti 1) I always read how Terry was such an influence on people like Steve Reich (never made the connection) and the beloved English prog/jazz/rockers Soft Machine. Only recently I found out that Reich performed in the premiere of Riley's introduce-the-world-to-minimalism In C. When I listen to the tape pieces on this cd, I feel like I've discovered the missing link. Obviously Reich must have heard Terry's tape pieces on this cd and went on to create his early tape pieces It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1965). This cd of archival material is not the rippling repetitive textures of A Rainbow in Curved Air, Shri Camel or Harp of New Albion, but more like music concrete. This music is not like any Terry Riley I've ever heard before.

Music For the Gift (1963) was recorded at Radio France in Paris. It features jazz legend Chet Baker on trumpet and his group with he-who-is-known-popularly-in-some-circles-as Baba O'Riley (aka Terry Riley) as composer and tape manipulator. Varies between the jazz group feeding through an echo to bizarre tape manipulations to short sections where the band jams and then quickly mutates into strangeness. Bird of Paradise (1965) takes a similar approach with Jr. Walker's Shotgun and Mescalin Mix (1960-62) is even a bit more deranged, maybe even disturbing. 1961's Two Piano's and Five Tape recorders with Riley and good college buddy La Monte Young on pianos while accompanying tapes make a serious jumble of sound. It starts with and announcer describing the action on stage, apparently there's a bit of prepared piano going on- I hear chains and sawing sounds! Check out the missing link between early and later minimalism. $15

24.RAYMOND SCOTT - Manhattan Research, Inc. (Basta 90782) WFMU's Irwin Chusid and the Basta label has brought us material from the legendary Raymond Scott before - the three volume reissue of Soothing Sounds For Baby in '97. Now they've released Scott's music from his advertising agency and experimental music archives. Frantic tribal rhythms, sputnick sine tones with a lot of echo, quirky oriental melodies - if you liked Soothing Sounds for Baby, you'll love this well designed book with two cds. Subtitled "New Plastic Sounds and Electronic Abstractions", included are not just the music but also '60's vintage commercials for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., Bendix, Lightworks, Gillette, Sprite, Ideal Toys, IBM, Vicks, Auto Light spark plugs, Nescafe, Bufferin, GM, Hostess Twinkies, and even reinvents Scott classics like the Toy Trumpet in the new electronic medium. Some collaborators included the young Robert Moog (circuit builder) and the Muppett's Jim Henson (soundtracks for film). Some seriously wacky music. 2 cd set $26

The above 4 reviews were written by

David Beardsley 
Juxtaposition Ezine & 49/32 Radio 
http://www.virtulink.com/immp/jux/j_index.htm 

25.MORTON FELDMAN-All Piano (LoHall do13) 4CD ltd. edition.

Morton Feldman 1926-1987 composer.

Morton Feldman's all piano, a 4 CD collection of solo piano pieces spanning from 1950 to 1986. The title all piano does not mean all piano works by Feldman.

Morton Feldman was a minimalist; but in a completely different way than Philip Glass or Steve Reich. Almost all Feldman's music is slow and soft. Only at first sight is this a limitation. I see it rather as a narrow door, to whose dimensions one has to adapt oneself before one can pass through it into the state of being that is expressed in Feldman's music. Only when one has become accustomed to the dimness of light can one begin to perceive the richness and variety of colour which is the material of the music. When one has passed through the narrow door and got accustomed to the dim light, one realizes the range of his imagination and the significant differences that distinguish one piece from another. Feldman sees the sounds as reverberating endlessly, never getting lost, changing their resonances as they die away, or rather do not die away.

In the early 1950s, Morton Feldman with John Cage, Christian Wolff, Earle Brown and David Tudor was a charter member of the "New York School" of composition. His art was consciously related to the New York School of painting pursued by his contemporaries Rothko, de Kooning, Pollack, Feldmans early piano pieces, neglected for a number of years, have poetic and painterly qualities. Predominantly slow and very quiet, they are also rich, subtle and elegant. For those who know Feldman's music, the reference to slowness and quietness seems both unnecessary and inadequate. There is usually a pulse, and one not far from a heart- beat. Where there is sufficient regularity (as in Last Pieces), notes can be left unstemmed, with grace notes brought into play to effect chords which lie beyond the span of two hands, or to serve as refinements. The gentle syncopation can lend the music a sort of jazz "feel", given the added-note character of much of the chordal material. Where the notation takes more conventional form, a regular 3-in-a bar meter is used. This ensures an easy, completely natural flow to the music. In Piano Piece 1952, the impression is one of waltz-like, if unpre- dictable, circularity. There are exceptions. Two "graph" pieces Intersections 2&3 Feldman viewed as "a totally abstract sonic adventure.

On the Surface, his music meets most modern criteria. It is atonal it is highly chromatic, rippling with dissonant intervals. It rarely articulates a steady beat. Its rhythms are complexly notated, even if they don't sound complex when played.

What sticks in the classical-music craw is the stasis of Feldman's music, its absence of drama, direction, or virtuosity.

In Feldman's own words "Music can imply the infinite if enough things depart from the norm far enough. Strange "abnormal" events can lead to the feeling that anything can happen, and you have a music with no boundaries." If this sounds good to you, then I highly recommend this set. four cds for $40

(guest reviewed by Steve Cohen)

Spamming The Globe, 

Downtown Music Gallery 
13 Monroe St. 
New York, NY 
10002-7351 

212 473 0043 
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