DMG Newsletter for October 16th, 2020

“The Age of Self” by Robert Wyatt from ‘Old Rottenhat’

They say the working class is dead,
we're all consumers now

They say that we have moved ahead – we're all just people now

There's people doing 'frightfully well' there's others on the shelf

But never mind the second kind this is the age of self



And it seems to me if we forget our roots and where we stand

The movement will disintegrate like castles built on sand



They say we need new images to help our movement grow

They say that life is broader based as if we didn't know

While Martin Jacques and Robert Maxwell play with printer's ink

The workers 'round the world still die for Rio Tinto zinc



And it seems to me if we forget our roots and where we stand

The movement will disintegrate like castles built on sand

Castles built on sand

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

THIS WEEKS NEW DISCS START WITH A DYNAMIC TRIO OF CREATIVE WOMEN:

I.P.Y. with IKUE MORI / PHEW / YOSHIMI-O - IPY (Tzadik 4032; USA) Ikue Mori, Phew and YoshimiO are three legends of the Japanese Avant Garde music scene: Ikue was an original member of DNA and is a vital member of the NYC Downtown Scene, Phew founded Aunt Sally in 1978 and has performed in countless folk/rock solo projects and collaborations and YoshimiO is a core member of the Boredoms, Saicobab and OOIOO. Here they come together for their first ever trio project. Recorded at Club U.F.O. in Tokyo, the music was edited and mixed during the shelter-in-place months of early 2020. Surprising and powerful, this is a fabulous and essential meeting of three new music superstars. - Release October, 2020
CD $14

JAMES BRANDON LEWIS QUARTET with ARUAN ORTIZ / BRAD JONES / CHAD TAYLOR - Molecular (Intakt 350; Switzerland) Saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis possesses an inspiring energy. His deep curiosity and the thrill he gets from discovery are crucial facets of his personality, and qualities that guide his art. Over the last half-decade he’s emerged as one of the most exciting figures in jazz and improvised music, a voracious listener who rejects stylistic hierarchies and one that has feverishly explored new ideas and embraced fresh motivations with every new project. Inspired by molecular biology James Brandon develops a special system for a surprising and beautiful music with his Quartet with drummer Chad Taylor, pianist Aruán Ortiz, and bassist Brad Jones. He has taken the idea of a “Molecular Systematic Music” to heart in the formulation of the compositions featured on the stunning debut album by this quartet. James Brandon Lewis says: “I wrote out everything, but the reason I feel like the music is still free is because the lines dictate the harmonic information. With this band the music is going to lift off the page.” Listen to the recordings: The James Brandon Lewis Quartet takes off with an exuberant joy of playing and that rhythmic intensity and thematic beauty that is rooted in the jazz tradition.”
CD $18

JUNK MAGIC with CRAIG TABORN / CHRIS SPEED / MAT MANERI / ERIK FRATZKE / DAVE KING - Compass Confusion (Pyroclastic 12; USA) Featuring Craig Taborn on electric piano, keyboards & compositions, Chris Speed on tenor sax & clarinet, Mat Maneri on viola, Erik Fratzke on electric bass and Dave King on drums. Way back in 2004, Downtown master keyboardist, Craig Taborn, had a quartet who made an album titled, ‘Junk Magic’ (Thirsty Ear, OOP). It was an electric group with Mr. Taborn on electric keyboards plus Mat Maneri on viola and Bad Plus drummer Dave King. Aside from being one of the best acoustic pianists of the entire Downtown Network, Mr. Taborn has continued to work with electric keyboards with Tim Berne, Dave Holland’s Prism and Dan Weiss’ current fusion/metal quintet, Starebaby. So now, more than 15 years later, Mr. Taborn returns with a new version of Junk Magic, still an electric quartet with two of the original members Mat Maneri and Dave King plus bassist Erik Fratzke, who has worked with Dave King in other projects.
The first track here is called, “Laser Beaming Hearts” and it begins with some intense, pulsating electric keyboards, swirling synths of some sort. Soon, a slamming funky beat kicks in on the bass and drums. I dig that sly, hypnotic riff that the quarter hits over and over, there is something infectious going on here. Taborn creates a dreamlike world on “Dream and Guess” which features simmering synth and viola interweaving their sinuous lines. For “Compass Confusion”, Taborn carefully layers the synths & keyboards to create a shimmering, mesmerizing distant horizon eerie sounds. The rhythm team plays a slow, dreamy groove while the layers of lines bubble on top. Things get darker on “The Science of Why Devils Smell Like Sulfur” when the piece starts, which is followed by an inspired free section for viola & electric piano spinning quickly on top together. In the second half of this piece, things erupt with several scary well-placed explosions. So nice to hear the incredible and often under-utilized Mat Maneri really taking off. Even when Mr. Taborn creates a solid hypnotic beat, he does a fine job of adding varied punctuation and/or short solos for himself or the viola to keep things consistently engaging with occasionally surprising twists. On the final piece, “Sunsets Forever”, the keyboards and viola are stretched out and cautiously bent creating a wonderful slightly disorienting vibe. It feels as if we are floating in spacesuits with no gravity to hold us down. A nice way to brings things to grand conclusion. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15

SANDY EWEN / DAMON SMITH / WEASEL WALTER - No Title (ugEXPLODE 79; USA) Featuring Sandy Ewen on laptop guitar, Damon Smith on double bass and Weasel Walter on drums. Since moving to our town several years back, I’ve had the opportunity to see & hear Ms. Ewen play live perhaps a dozen times. Each of her sets here at DMG have revelations for yours truly since she plays electric guitar in her own distinct way, something you can’t completely appreciate until you see her live. This is the third disc from this trio, the first recorded (2014 & 2016), when both Damon Smith and Sandy Ewen were still living in Texas. Ms. Ewen has also done a duo disc with drum wiz/punk/No Wave historian Weasel Walter. Like all releases produced by Weasel Walter, the sound here is impressive: well-balanced, warm, focused and intense. Ms. Ewen often plays her guitar in her lap and uses several utensils to coax sounds. During the mid section of the first piece, things quiet down for that rather that British-style insect music type of sound. Although Mr. Walter often gets a bad rep for his cantankerous social media presence, he is a shrewd and often sympathetic improviser who knows when to hold back and explode when need be. This is a most formidable trio that works extremely well together, everything here sounds most concentrated. Due to the unique approach that Ms. Ewen has for her guitar, her sound often unique and even starting at times. She has invented her own sound and often it is hard to tell what exactly she is playing. What I often hear here is that this trio has created their own world/sound which is consistently engaging, fascinating once we submerge ourselves into their world. Occasionally things move into a darker, noisier, more abrupt or intense section, yet everything is connected. Consisted strong, spirited and inventive through. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

SAM WEINBERG / HENRY FRASER / WEASEL WALTER - ‘Grist’ (ugEXPLODE 78; USA) Featuring Sam Weinberg on tenor & soprano saxes, Henry Fraser on contrabass and Weasel Walter on drums & percussion. What keeps the ongoing Downtown Underground/Scene so fresh and vital is that new musicians and artists come here to test their mettle, experiment, get noticed and either thrive or just survive. DMG has long been at the center of Creative Music Cyclone, giving opportunity to many musicians, some known and many not so much. The Sunday Free Music Series at DMG has become an outlet for many Creative Musicians and gathering place for them and the serious listeners we show up weekly. Watching new folks come to town, come on down, converse, drop off their product and play an occasional show here, has become an integral part of my life. A number of fine saxists have moved here over the past decade or so: Chris Pitsiokos, Michael Foster and Sam Weinberg. Each of them has played at DMG on many occasions, each one getting better and evolving as musicians, composers and bandleaders. I’ve had my eye & ear on Mr. Weinberg for several years, catching him working with Sandy Ewen, Chris Pitsiokos and Alex Ward. On this disc we have a marvelous trio with Henry Fraser on bass and drum monster Weasel Walter. Mr. Fraser has become an in-demand bassist and has played at DMG with many: Daniel Levin, Michael Foster and Karen NG.
This is a strong, intense and focused trio that sound as if they have been playing together for a long while. I have been thinking about what makes free music or free/jazz work: cohesion, listening, thinking & reacting quickly, matching dynamics and ideas, like a heated dialogue amongst thoughtful, articulate beings. What amazes me about this is how tight it is, swirling lines of notes spiraling quickly in several interconnected orbits. Bassist Fraser who switches quickly between plucking & bowing, is consistently providing the melodic/rhythmic/fractured glue that holds the trio together. Weasel Walter is also in fine form here, expanding and contracting his palette, from quiet & careful to explosive, all in furiously tight exchanges. His rubbed or bowed cymbals and other small percussion sounds are always well-utilized as is his over-the-top, double bass drum pedal fury. This impressive rhythm team pushes Sam Weinberg to remain on his toes throughout, as he has to match wits while remaining in constant motion. Another astounding offering from the fine folks at ugEXPLODE! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

DEREK HIGGINS // VICKY CHOW / MIVOS QUARTET / WET INK ENSEMBLE - Tocsin (Telegraph Harp 014; USA) Although I have listening to music seriously since 1967 when I was thirteen and started attending concerts in NY in 1969, I am still amazed at home much music and art, I have occasionally missed out on until several years later. Experimental guitarist and composer, Patrick Higgins, is my latest discovery. Mr. Higgins first recording was released in 2006 and he has gone to do a dozen or so recordings since. Higgins has been a member of the Downtown band Zs, one of the strangest, most unique and unclassifiable bands who started around the turn of the millenium. Mr. Higgins joined Zs in 2012 and when I caught them a few years later at LPR, I thought they were both brilliant and baffling, in between any recognizable category and difficult to describe. Although I have heard a couple of the albums by Zs, this is first release by Mr. Higgins that I’ve had a chance to listen to at length.
There are three pieces on this disc, each with a different cast of musicians. These three pieces were premiered live at Pioneer Weeks (in Brooklyn) in November of 2016. The first piece here is “SQ3 (String Quartet No. 3)” and it is performed by the Mivos Quartet, who have also worked with Downtown composers: Ned Rothenberg, Nate Wooley and Jon Irabagon. I have listened to quite a bit of string quartet music overall (Bartok, Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Hannah Lash…), so that I do appreciate what can be done with this longstanding medium. “SQ3” is quite striking, several themes emerge from different combinations of players. While the low end (cello & viola) play a slow, haunting pulse, either or both violinists erupt in intense blasts of bent-note frenzy. This is some of the best, most engaging string quartet music I’ve heard! Outstanding! There are sections in which it sound electronic, hmmmm! There is quite a bit of unnerving bent-string activity which is most effective. Each section of this piece involves different strategies, ideas or directions, yet it all fits together perfectly.
The title piece, “Tocsin” which is performed by pianist Vicky Chow and tow cellists: Mariel Roberts and Brian Snow. This is another strange work which is hard to tell exactly what we are listening to. The piano and cellists seem to exist in different sonic locations, yet they are always connected by what they are playing. Sections inside the piano are muted, adding some mystery to what we think is actually going on. Another most impressive work.
The last piece is “Emptyset [0.0]”, for the Wet Ink Ensemble, an octet here. The rhythmic scheme here is central and appears to have an ongoing pulse. Pizzicato strings, clarinets, flute and percussion stay on the beat which is fragmented but there is still a recognizable pulse going on. There is a fine line here between playfulness and seriousness which is blurred since both elements are at play. The sounds on top are most enchanting yet there is much more going on below the surface so listen closely. There is an unlisted/hidden track on the end of this disc after a long silence. It is an adaption of a late piece by Bach for string quartet. It shows how far music has been stretched beyond what was common in previously eras. It sounds quaint, a good way to help us calm down to a more peaceful time waybackwhen… - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
LP $25 [with Super-Deluxe Edition Cover / one of the impressive covers I’ve ever seen!]

SARAH HENNIES // BEARTHOVEN / BENT DUO - Spectral Malsconcities (New World 80824; USA) “In modern experimental music, and especially among a number of musician-composers emerging in America during the Sixties, a fixation on process and awareness became a structural hallmark, exploring the gradual change of sonic materials, built environments, and the human body. Though much maligned as a term by its practitioners, figures like Steve Reich, La Monte Young, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley were among these “minimal” composers; askew of them were electroacoustic explorers like Alvin Lucier, Robert Ashley, and David Behrman. In recent years, composer Sarah Hennies (b. 1979) is forging new paths of reduction and expansion.
“Spectral Malsconcities” (2018) consists of six linked and varied sections; it is constructed in a way that ensures the musicians are never completely in sync, and in fact they generate sounds that continually destabilize the standard ensemble goal of togetherness. As Hennies put it recently, “this piece is an example of performers elevating something beyond what I thought it could be. I wrote a piece that I thought would intentionally create mistakes. You ask somebody to repeat a very different polyrhythmic contrapuntal page of music 25 times, and it is going to fall apart at some point and then come back together. However, the musicians are so good that they played it exactly as it was written, which is better than what I thought it would have been if they were messing up...”
Taking its cue from a two or three player-one vibraphone piece called Settle, which was composed by Hennies in 2012, Unsettle (2017) is a spare and summarily weighty composition that finds space monolithic and driving. The score is economic, taking all of two pages to spin out 33 minutes of music. It begins with una corda fluttering, the passing of time held in single E notes bent at the edges and limned by vibraphone haze, gradually augmented by rumbling clusters and brassy, clanging bells. The inflection and increase in density among otherwise apposite events create an extremely intense landscape of tension without release, though powerful as well—the closing minutes of pedal movement, muted piano strings, and bell clatter (à la Iannis Xenakis’ Bohor I) lead into prepared twang and supple metallic accents. Ditto the shock of vibraphone and muted clamor at minute twenty, carrying enough distorted overtones to defuse one’s skull.
Sublime and utterly physical, explosive and statuesque, Spectral Malsconcities and Unsettle are complementary works that display another rich stage of Sarah Hennies’ practice. Her world of creativity is welcoming, but like all art of significance, you have to do the work in order to share in the experience. At the end, and wherever that end is, the rewards will be great.”
CD $15 (In stock next week)

MIND-BLOWING NEW CD’S from the WONDERFUL RELATIVE PITCH LABEL, 4 This Week & 4 More Next Week!

FRANK PAUL SCHUBERT / ALEX VON SCHLIPPENBACH / MARTIN BLUME - Forge (Relative Pitch RPR 1117; USA) “The trio is comprised of legend and the doyen of improvised music and free jazz: the pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach. The term "accompaniment" is rather unsuitable for the trio: Frank Paul Schubert on alto and soprano saxophone and Martin Blume on drums, act as equal partners. All trio members at ear level are the source of ideas and impulses, their interplay is a subtle trialogue, for successful listening and picking up on musical elements that are woven into a coherent spontaneous opus.”
CD $14

JOHN BLUM / JACKSON KRALL - Duplexity (Relative Pitch 100; USA) Featuring John Blum on piano and Jackson Krall on drums, recorded live at Michiko Studios in October of 2018. A couple of months after the passing Mike Panico (Relative Pitch co-founder) in October of 2018, I organized a tribute concert for him at Roulette with some remembrances about him and around 20 musicians playing in different combinations. The concert was a wonderful event overall and I worked hard at the programming so that it flowed and showed the diverse array of musicians, each of whom were befriended and supported by Relative Pitch: Mike P. and Kevin Reilly. The concert began with a duo of John Zorn & Ned Rothenberg and ended, some three hours later, with a short, intense solo piano piece by John Blum. Mr. Blum is one of then original Downtown Free/Jazz giants who plays here all too rarely and always blows the minds of any in attendance. His short piece at the end was incredible, brutal and it won him a number of new fans. Over more than thirty years, Mr. Blum, has only a half dozen recordings as a leader. All are difficult to find yet worthy if you appreciate free/jazz piano at its most intense. This set was recorded just 10 days after the shocking demise of Mike Panico, hence his memory was still fresh in the hearts and minds of his many friends.
For this set, Mr. Blum chose Jackson Krall on drums. Mr. Krall was the longtime drummer of the late period Cecil Taylor Trio, while Mr. Blum studied with Cecil Taylor and both Blum & Krall were members of Mr. Taylor’s large ensemble/workshop. I was at this set and can still remember that feeling of sprawling, explosive intensity. As I listened to this disc, I can hear certain lines or ways of hitting the piano keys, that are unique to the playing of Mr. Blum. After many years of working with free/jazz piano legend, Cecil Taylor, Mr. Krall works well with Mr. Blum, the two sound hooked up, both whipping up waves together, speeding up, criss-crossing lines and then winding down at times as well. There is a deep connection between these two musicians, a dynamic flow, a tight, rich united force. This disc is around 38 minutes long which is just long enough to move and inspire those of us ready and willing to go along for the roller coaster ride within. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14

BIRGIT ULHER / FRANZ HAUTZINGER - Kleine Trompetenmusik (Relative Pitch RPR 1107; USA) It is no longer startling to hear tubes and valves channelling breath and imagination into such fine gradations of utterance. The process of deterritorialization from the trumpets inherited identity is too far advanced to spring major surprises. The pleasure of listening to Hautzinger and Ulher together lies in the success of their creative interaction, the synergetic uplift of their shared and distinct techniques, their spontaneous responses and intuitive leaps. Prolonged introspection blossoms into sustained communication. Years of dedicated independent research has found its mature application.
Each of these five tracks conveys its own character. The moment to moment resourcefulness is still fascinating, but the shaping of the music has become more significant than the unorthodox means of its realization. Listeners not acquainted with these exhilarating trumpeters can here catch them at a stage of vital consolidation. - Julian Cowley, The Wire
CD $14

BRAD HENKEL / JACOB WICK - Lovely Bag You Have (Relative Pitch RPR 1108; USA) Jacob Wick has long stood out to me as a standard setting practictioner of extended technique for trumpet. I have witnessed him give some of the quietest solo performances for any instrument I have ever seen, always a careful adventure exploring microscopic breath and drawing the listener into the timbral geography of his instrument. I have also known him to shine in the duo context, and I encourage listeners to check out his collaborations with Shane Parish, Claire Rousay and others. Here, Mr. Wick has found an excellent mirror image in Brad Henkel, and their first duo record for Relative Pitch documents a wonderful expansion of their symbiotic visions for the trumpet. The movements are patient yet urgent, developing steadily at a pace that allows the richness of the timbres to expand. This is VERY quiet music in parts, as Wick and Henkel seem to literally deconstruct their trumpets, showcasing human breath through valves in various states of assembly, while allowing pitched material to poke its head out, or to provide a luminous drone. Fans of the extended Wandelweiser scene will be delighted by much of this record, but might be disappointed by the lack of academic sterility that plagues much of that music. This duo is not a one-trick pony. The recording quality is masterful, and the clarity allows for a playful dynamic floor that the duo uses to keep the listener steadily engaged. As in Mr. Wick’s other works, the approach towards microscopic sound seems to be an opportunity rather than a rule. It allows the listener to zero in on a level of chemistry, lyricism and dynamic range not possible otherwise, and allows for the brief glimpses of more conventional trumpet sound to cut through like a beacon. It’s clear that their mastery of the sound is total, but that they are also having FUN. The mutual support and respect is palpable in the pacing and chemistry, and the statement as a whole is succinct and well proportioned, allowing for many repeated listens to uncover new secrets. - Frank Meadows for DMG
CD $14


SOU SI-TAI - China: The Fisherman and the Woodcutter - The qin, zither of the Literati (Disques VDE Gallo 1214; Switzerland) “Sou Si-tai, whose playing style is pure and serene, started out by learning to play the end-blown xiao flute and the side-blown di flute with Wang Quan. In the early 1980s, he started learning the qin with Mrs Tsar The-yun, master of the Fanchuan school, disciple of Shen Caonong, an especially gifted and highly talented musician who was initiated into the arts of poetry and calligraphy at an exceptionally young age. Sou Si-tai is also a qin maker. He teaches and gives concerts in many places in the world. 2006 recordings made by Renaud Millet-Lacombe. Notes by Georges Goormaghtigh. Includes 24-page booklet.”
CD $16

JJ DUERINCKX / ADRIAN NORTHOVER - Hearoglyphics (Setola Di Maiale 4150; Italy) Featuring JJ Duerinckx on sopranino sax and Adrian Northover on soprano & alto saxes. Recorded at Red Shed Studios on April 8, 2019. This showed up in the mail the other day from the experimental vocalist named Jean-Michel van Schouwburg, whose band, the Bellowing Earwigs’ CD on FMR I recently reviewed. Mr. van Schouwburg is the one who produced this session. Another member of the Earwigs is UK saxist Adrian Northover, who used to work with the Remote Viewers and who has some 20 discs out on the FMR & Leo labels. The other saxist here, JJ Duerinckx, is a bit more obscure but does have a discs out on Emanem, FMR & Improvised Beings. Sopranino & soprano sax duos are pretty rare so I was glad when this disc showed up in the mail. Each of the thirteen pieces is named after a symbol with a one-word name attached. Both saxists sound well-matched and in similar terrain, quietly matching each other’s subtle tapestry. What makes this work so well is that both saxists play quietly, like a couple of neighborhoods chirping together at dusk, relaxed and calming. At times, either or both saxists will play a note or a few notes and then carefully stretch the note or phrase out, but not too far. There is a spacious, more organic vibe going on here, as if this is a series conversations between two inspired sensitive beings. Eventually things heat up a bit and the sound gets a bit more dense and quietly agitated. The duo remain engaged and compelling throughout, even when things are more restrained. Magical in its own way. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12

THE DEAD C - Unknowns (Ba Da Bing! 162; USA) "Some bands struggle to transcend their initial mythos, those stories that introduce them to the public eye. But The Dead C is a notable exception. They appeared in 1986 under a cloud of mystery, their unconventional location (South Island, New Zealand) helping to fuel their erratic sound. Name-dropped through the nineties by groups like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo, they gained influence and acclaim but never strayed from their original mainlined performing technique, which can sound like chaos to the casual listener. What kind of a world greets them and their new album Unknowns in 2020? New Zealand culture is better known throughout the world, not to mention a low-virus paradise. Yes, isolated as in the past, but this time for being a nation of efficacy in tackling a public health crisis. But what about the rest of the world? The music of Mssrs. Robbie Yates, Bruce Russell and Michael Morley endures, partially because their errant sounds, once so alienating, now feel like they've been made flesh in a large part of the modern-day world. Continuing to delve inwards for inspiration with tin ears towards trends, styles and technique, The Dead C forge onward. Unpolished, dusty and gritty, these three have again taken two guitars and drums, a combo which has less to say than ever, and leave the listener stunned. Unknowns has Morley slurring over spiraling dissemblance, with tracks ricocheting from intense to assaultive to drained, yet consistently magnificent. As reliable as ever, The Dead C are firmly grounded as an unassailable Truth."
CD $12

THURSTON MOORE - By The Fire (Daydream Library Series 010; UK) “This is Thurston Moore's seventh solo album, and features musicians Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, Jon Leidecker aka "Wobbly" (of Negativland) on electronics, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, as well as Jem Doulton, alternating on drums. "Hashish", the first single from the album, is described by Moore as "an ode to the narcotic of love in our shared responsibility to each other during isolation." The song includes a video with footage from The Thurston Moore Group's tour in early 2020 in Europe, as well as footage of Thurston quarantined in his home during the past few months "with respect to the sacred healing truth of nature." Prior to isolation during the COVID pandemic, Thurston worked in recording studios in North London until the third week of March 2020 to complete this album for release on September 5, 2020. While the musicians may not immediately tour, Thurston was adamant to release By The Fire in 2020, and with Daydream Library, has released this quote: By The Fire is music in flames. 2020 is our time for radical change and collective awareness and Thurston Moore has written nine songs of enlightenment, released to a world on fire. Taking a cue from Albert Ayler's "music is the healing force of the universe," this recording offers songs as flames of rainbow energy, where the power of love becomes our call. These are love songs in a time where creativity is our dignity, our demonstration against the forces of oppression. By The Fire is a gathering, a party of peace -- songs in the heat of the moment.”
CD $15

WENDY EISENBERG - Auto (Ba Da Bing! 163; USA) "Drawing the connections between Wendy Eisenberg's releases feels like undertaking a wide-ranging investigation. Albums of wildly inventive guitar, tempo-shifting avant rock and curiously leftfield pop fit together as offerings of Eisenberg's curious mind. On Auto, their most innovative and inner-reaching album yet, Eisenberg explores emotional, subjective truth, and how it interacts with an objectivity no person alone can grasp. Inspired by the solo work of Mark Hollis (Talk Talk) and David Sylvian's Blemish, with playing skills that have already seen them climbing Best Guitarist lists and an unvarnished vocal immediacy, Wendy Eisenberg has created an album of subtle display that resonates with maximal impact. Auto has multiple meanings. First, automobile: 'A lot of these songs were written about and mentally take place when I'm in the car on my way to gigs,' says Eisenberg. Immediate melodies came to them on these trips, to which they'd later add complex guitar parts. And automata: 'I make myself into a machine, which is why everything that's played is precise.' Finally, they frame their work in the literary technique of auto-fiction, 'the semi-fictionalized presentation of the self in a narrative form of growth,' as Eisenberg sees it. The album served as a means toward working through emotional conflicts from adolescent trauma and PTSD, and dissects the dissolution and conflict that led towards the breakup of their former band. With much of it written while its events played out, Auto faces the grief of losing what one thinks is their future while experiencing a dramatic reshaping of their past; it delves openly into the limited nature of one person's narrative. After making a few efforts to record Auto, Eisenberg ultimately chose to collaborate with childhood friend Nick Zanca, who contributes electronic elements and production. Mirroring the personal and organic offered by Eisenberg, synthetic sounds form a kind of boundary or context for everything. They 'sound like commentary on songs that were written from an organic or subjective perspective,' says Eisenberg. Their place on the album is integral for Eisenberg's goal 'to outweigh the subjectivity of normal singer-songwriter guitar songs with the objectivity of electronic sound.'"
CD $12

REINHOLD FRIEDL - KRAFFT (Zeitkratzer 027; Germany) “KRAFFT for orchestra was composed in 2016 as a commission of the French State, and was premiered in Paris and Marseille, France. The composition has a similar kind of metric structure as String Quartet No.3: all instruments play in rhythmic unison throughout. KRAFFT is an ironic-onomatopoetic wrong spelling of the German term "Kraft", meaning "power" or "force". The listener should feel exposed to a sonic undertow. The notion of huge power and force is often connected to the existence of clandestine and unknown rules controlling the world around us; something is happening, but we do not know exactly what, when or how. KRAFFT enforces textural listening as Richard Wood described it "an unwinding strip of 'texture': just listen to that; not to its various strands as such, not to one single strand, but to it as a whole, an unwinding ribbon, varying as it goes in width, in colour, in depth, in thickness, in weight, in character, but always a unity." KRAFFT is composed with the help of the computer program TTM (Textural Transformation Machine), developed by the Friedl to sculpture multiple random processes. It has been programmed by Sukandar Kartadinata.”
CD $15

REVEREND JOHN WILKINS - Trouble (Goner Records 170; USA) "To call the Reverend John Wilkins a national treasure would not be an overstatement. He is the son of pre-war blues/folk-revival legend Reverend Robert Wilkins and he leads one of the most exciting and uplifting musical acts on the blues and gospel circuit today. His multiracial, multi-generational band blends soul, southern gospel and hill country rhythm, into a sound that has the infectious drive of hill country blues with the emotional heights of a summer tent revival. Following in the footsteps of his famous father Rev. Robert Wilkins, a blues-singer turned preacher who went from the juke joint to the pulpit, the life of Rev. John Wilkins took a similar path. But in 2020 John Wilkins' life has been closer to a different iconic bible character, Lazarus, as he has miraculously risen after surviving a month-long stay in intensive care battling COVID 19 in a Memphis hospital. As Rev. Wilkins sings on the closing track of Trouble, 'I've come through the storm and rain, I've come through the storm and rain, and I made it!' And there is much to celebrate with this resurrection. Trouble, the aptly named new album, is a confident and joy-filled statement delivering the good-news gospel message unapologetically through music influenced by Ray Charles, Junior Kimbrough, Bill Withers and of course, his father. John Wilkins is one of seven children born in Memphis, TN to Robert Wilkin. The elder Wilkins was a pre-war innovator of the blues before turning to a life of ministry. John Wilkins started performing with his father when he was very young. Like the elder Wilkins, the lure of the blues was a temptation for the emerging guitarist. His musical reputation brought him session work at several of the Memphis legendary studios, including Stax, Royal Studios and Memphis Sound, among others. Wilkins performed and toured with the M&N Gospel Singers through the 1970's, before being called to preach. Since 1983, Wilkins has pastored Hunter's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church just outside Como, Mississippi, the same chapel whose choir recorded a classic album of spirituals with Fred McDowell in 1966. Since retiring from the Memphis Parks Dept. in 2006, Rev. John Wilkins has picked up his music career where he left off 25 years earlier. Trouble is the culmination of everything in Rev. Wilkins's remarkable life, his regional history, and his family music history."
CD $15

SPIRITUAL JAZZ with ALICE COLTRANE / PHAROAH SANDERS / McCOY TYNER / YUSEF LATEEF / ELVIN JONES / MAX ROACH / FREDDIE HUBBARD / MARION BROWN / PHIL WOODS / JOHN KLEMMER / et al - Vol. XII: Impulse! (Jazzman Records 122; UK) “In Jazzman Records' latest chapter of Spiritual Jazz, the label returns to the source -- the Impulse! label, and the monumental influence of its most prominent artist, John Coltrane. Since the first release in the series back in 2008, Jazzman Records has mapped out the growth of the spiritual sound in jazz. Spiritually energized and politically conscious, the spiritual sound in jazz music is one of the most important currents in the music. The label's series has charted the growth of the style from early experiments at Blue Note and Prestige to European excursions, exiled experimentalists, and sounds from across the globe. But whenever you think of spiritual jazz, it's a fair bet that the double exclamation mark and orange-and-black spine of Impulse quickly comes to mind. Home to John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef, McCoy Tyner, and countless other musical pioneers, Impulse! was the most important and forward-thinking jazz label of the 1960s. With the music-first attitude of an independent but the clout of a major, producers Creed Taylor and Bob Thiele made Impulse! the defining imprint of a crucial decade. They hand-picked the top players of the moment and gave them freedom to record the music they wanted, setting out their stall with a bold slogan: "The New Wave Of Jazz Is On Impulse!" Here, Jazzman Records dive deep into the Impulse! catalog, bringing celebrated masterpieces from Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders into the arena, together with lesser known cuts from Phil Woods and John Klemmer as well as straight-up classics such from Yusef Lateef and Elvin Jones. Fifty years on and the new wave of jazz still sounds fresh, vibrant, and as relevant as ever. Also features Max Roach, Freddie Hubbard, Archie Shepp, Michael White, and Marion Brown.
2 CD Set $18

WEEK # 6 ATAVISTIC ONGOING REISSUE SALE:

PETER BROTZMANN & PEETER UUSKYLA - Born Broke (Atavistic ALP 185; USA) "Peter & Peeter have once again joined spirits and forces, picking up where their trio with Peter Friis-Nielsen left off -- this time as a reeds-n'-drums duo delivering a blowout double-CD -- whose only remote competition in the field understandably comes from Messrs. Vandermark & Nilssen-Love's two-man implosion unit, Dual Pleasure. A fresh double-dose of soul-purge from free men, presented in a Brotz art-brute package. From Uuskyla's liner notes: 'The liferoad of the one life you have. Been fighting all the time for playing untouchable sounds of simple music. My definition of beauty. Untouchable, therefore powerful, simple, therefore universal, for everyone. But you are notable to keep it only yourself, that's the strength. No amplification, not even monitor speakers or headphones needed for this duo. The punch and the scream -- the foundation of natural music-making!'"
2 CD Set $18

GLENN BRANCA with THURSTON MOORE / LEE RANALDO / MICHAEL GIRA / et al - Symphony No. 3 (GLORIA)(Atavistic ALP 08; USA) One of Branca's earlier "Guitar Army" pieces, a Crystalline Beauty from 1983 featuring Barbara Ess, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo & Michael Gira as ensemble members. Sonic Youth & SWANS we really just getting their respectively brilliant careers underway at this point, so dig the post-NO WAVE sound of NYC right here, right now.
CD $15

GLENN BRANCA - Symphony No. 5 - Describing Planes of an Expanding Hypersphere (Atavistic ALP 15; USA) Though he once again includes a subtitle that is imbued with matters arcane ("Describing Planes of an Expanding Hypersphere"), Symphony No. 5 actually harkens back more to Branca's earlier rock-based compositions than to more diffuse works like Symphony No. 3. Stefan Wischerth's steady drumming, which might sound leaden in other contexts, is featured prominently here and propels the 11-piece ensemble dramatically through each movement. The final section -- filled with dense, industrial thrashings and a fractured rhythm -- breaks character somewhat, bringing the piece to an unsettling close. As with several prior works, the "guitars" in question appear to be homemade models consisting of guitar strings and pickups attached to wooden planks, laid in tiers horizontally and played with mallets or sticks. By using several different tunings (all, knowing Branca's methodology, presumably related in some obscure mathematical fashion), the chords created are both complex and ambiguous, and virtually always fascinating. If there's a complaint to be lodged with this composition, perhaps it is that it comes across more as a series of individual movements and less as a whole, organic form. But those movements offer more than enough pleasures to highly recommend the album both to Branca fans and to newcomers seeking to learn about his music. - Brian Olewnick, AMG
CD $15

VANDERMARK 5 with KEN VANDERMARK / DAVE REMPIS / JEB BISHOP / KENT KESSLER / TIM MULVENNA] - Burn the Incline (Atavistic ALP 121; USA) The Vandermark 5 has returned to deliver their "annual statement": the fourth, and undeniably best album yet. The Chicago-based avant-jazz unit Vandermark 5 is led by reedist Ken Vandermark, who founded the group in 1996, now with saxophonist Dave Rempis, trombonist Jeb Bishop, bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Tim Mulvenna. "The year of Ken Vandermark, as well as the ever-evolving Chicago scene, continues to blossom and bear many gifts. Besides winning the ultra-prestigious and well-earned McArthur award, Ken tours and records with a number of diverse and challenging bands - in just the past year we have seen cds from DKV & Joe Morris, Ken's duo Paul Lytton, his Tripleplay trio, his recent trio tribute covering Sun Ra and P.Funk, Peter Brotzmann's Chicago Tentet, a Chicago all-star collaboration with Misha Mengelberg and now - the 4th release from his hard working quintet of Chicago's finest - the Vandermark 5! An amazing amount of hard work is finally paying off! 'Burn the Incline' arrives in two versions - a limited edition two-cd set with a second live cd included in which the Vandermark 5 cover seven "free jazz classics" from the giants of modern jazz! DMG has sold 25 copies so far and we don't know how many more we can get before they disappear into want-list land. Even the single cd version is worthy of (y)our attention. What makes this quintet so unique is their front-line of two saxists and a trombonist (Jeb Bishop) who switches off on electric guitar. Ken likes to dedicate each piece he composes to a different musician or group that has inspired him in some way. The first piece is "Distance" for Joe Morris and it starts slowly with a somber bass intro which builds with sailing saxes and noisy guitar solo from Munoz-land! "The Cooler" starts with the trombone soloing intensely while the band swings quickly, but breaks down into a short fragmented section and then there's an inspired Eric Dolphy-like bass clarinet solo from Ken. Things mellow down for the somber, drifting and aptly titled "Late Night Wait Around" with a hushed, old-school tenor solo slowly making its way through a haze of smoke. "Roulette" kinda reminds me of "Fuzzy Dice & Bongos" by the Mothers with its great & goofy melody and complex structure. Although "Accident Happening" is for William Parker, the intro has an angular tenor sax tone right out of Evan Parker - it is an amazing work that sounds like it could be found on a Tony Oxley LP from the early 70's - no small feat!! Unexpectedly "In Focus" has a west coast cool school sound, the guitar plays oblique and laid back counterpoint while the tenor plays an powerful, passionate solo. Even more restrained is "TheTrouble Is" for Misha, a sort-of bluesy ballad with sad & lovely solos from the horns. Closing this wonderful cd is "Ground" for the Belgian post-punk band - The Ex, with great soloing from all and an inner section where the horns & el. guitar erupt and burn it down!" - BLG
CD $15

BOXHEAD ENSEMBLE with MICHAEL KRASSNER / JEFF PARKER / FRED LONBERG-HOLM / GUILLERMO GREGORIO / GLENN KOTCHE / JIM WHITE / MICK TURNER / et al] - Two Brothers (Atavistic 126; USA) “The Boxhead Ensemble makes a glorious return after nearly a two-year hiatus, under the direction of Michael Krassner (Lofty Pillars); Two Brothers is their most distinctive & compelling album yet. Superbly recorded by Krassner & Joe Ferguson at Truckstop Chicago,Two Brothers is a modern day meditation on 19th century American musics, circa the Civil War era. Highly detailed acoustic instrumentation dominates the aural landscape, propelled by the bountiful talents of Mick Turner & Jim White (The Dirty Three), Ryan Hembrey (Pinetop Seven), Glenn Kotche (Pinetop Seven/Jim O'Rourke), Fred Lonberg-Holm (Terminal 4), Jeff Parker (Tortoise/Isotope/Tricolor), Scott Tuma (Souled American), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) Jessica Billey (Smog/ Sally Timms/ Lofty Pillars) & Guillermo Gregorio (Unheard Music Series) An extremely inviting haze emanates quietly fromTwo Brothers, drawing you further & further into its sonic web. You'll not find another record remotely like it this year-- or in any other, for that matter. Despite an ever-changing cast of musical talent, The Boxhead Ensemble has evolved into something much greater than it's low key origin as a soundtrack generator for Braden King's Alaskan landscape documentary, Dutch Harbor. After three great releases, a very successful European tour and film screenings around the world, Two Brothers knits another rich, otherworldly tapestry documenting the evolution of The Boxhead Ensemble.”
CD $15



LP SECTION:

FRANCOIS TUSQUES with MICHEL PORTAL / JAQUES THOLLOT / NOEL McGHIE / BEB GUERIN / et al - La Chasse Au Snark (The Hunting Of The Snark)(Cacophonic 027; UK) "In 1967, 1968, and 1969 most of my works were happenings loosely based on Lewis Carroll's The Hunting Of The Snark, a not-so-cryptic poem that, to my mind, gave clues to free the theater in the same way the 'new music' had freed jazz. It never made it to record and I gave up on the idea when I met Sunny Murray and Alan Silva when they arrived in Paris in the summer of '69. Few concert venues would have anything to do with us but we didn't want that kind of connection with the public . . . Galleries, museums, and art/theater/dance festivals, on the other hand, were open to this early multimedia event -- complete with films, masks and early electronic devices (Bernard Vitet, the trumpet player, brought an early portable reverb system to the proceedings). The reels and cassettes we rescued from my basement are rather evasively labeled and the following data is far from precise. The core group was me on piano, Bernard Vitet on trumpet and electronic treatments, Beb Guérin on double bass, Daniel Laloux as MC, Jean Frenay and Jean Vern on saxophones, Michel Kurylo, Annick Astier, Lambert Terbrack, and my then wife Françoise Tusques 'singing' and 'acting', so to say. Jacques Thollot, Aldo Romano, and later Noel McGhie were on drums. I know for sure side A is a studio recording carried out in August 1968 by the comité action musique, an activist group of artists and engineers aiming to reclaim the means of production from the 'record industry'. The line-up is me, Vitet, Guérin, Laloux, Frenay, Vern, Astier, Françoise Tusques, no drums (everyone doubling on percussion), and Michel Portal on bass clarinet and saxophone as guest. Side C is a montage of the surviving bits of the happenings that took place at La Vieille Grille between August 1967-March 1968 (sometimes on a daily basis in '68!), the museum of modern art during the May '68 demonstrations, and the Biennale Of Paris in February 1969. Sides B and D are less theater oriented and may have been recorded either at the American center in October 1968, the international students center in November 1968 (Barre Phillips on bass and Barney Wilen on sax guested on these dates but I'm not able to confirm they are on the tapes), or in the winter and spring of 1969. However, the cassette for side b only read "Snark 1969"... The name of the group (it changed every time it ventured out), the title of the concerts and accordingly the cuts on these LPs were all lifted randomly from Lewis Carroll's poems and novels." - Francois Tusques
2 LP Set $27

JOHANN JOHANNSSON With HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR & ROBERT AIKI AUBREY LOWE - End of Summer (Sonic Pieces 022RE; Germany) “Originally released in 2015. End of Summer captures Jóhann Jóhannsson's journey to the Antarctic Peninsula to discover the calm scenery of a landscape changing seasons, barely influenced or even noticed by humanity. The Super 8 film is a comforting study of a peaceful setting in one of the most crucial and endangered areas of our planet. Accompanied by rich and detailed field recordings of the surrounding this footage makes a perfect foundation for Jóhann's musical compositions, performed together with fellow musicians and friends Hildur Guðnadóttir and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. The varying use of cello, voice, synthesizer, and electronics creates a listening experience that reflects both the vast beauty of the quiet scenery and the necessary cautiousness of its inhabitants. As if gliding through the steep ice, its rough edges, and the harmonious water movements, organic arrangements are patiently devolving into voice and electronic based ambience that adds warmth to the icy, artefact laden environment. The soundtrack to End of Summer is an emotional, enduring listen and a compelling experience. Forming a soundscape as broad as the view it was inspired by yet equally heartwarming, devotion to the music will slow down time and provide a moment of harmony within times of change. LP edition features the soundtrack, as well as Field Recordings and Sound Design from End of Summer on the B-Side, exclusively on vinyl. The reissue coincides with the first-ever digital release of Jóhann's short film over on Mubi. "Field Recordings and Sound Design from End of Summer" on the B-side, exclusively on vinyl. Full tone cover artwork; includes printed inner sleeve; includes download code; edition of 500.”
LP $27

TURN IT LOOSE, AINT NO GOOD - Savoy Gospel 1970-1979 (Honest Jon’s Records 080; UK) “The second of three volumes surveying surely the mightiest Gospel label of them all. Sublime crossings of gospel with the soul, funk and jazz of the Black Power era. Twenty rapturous cuts dot dazzlingly between Muscle Shoals soul, screwed breakbeat, Mizells-style fusion, disco and proto-house. Triumphant re-workings of Sly Stone, Donny Hathaway, and Herbie Hancock's "Head Hunters" will have listeners throwing their pew cushions into the air. Drawn from hard-to-find 45s and LPs, hardly any of these recordings have been reissued since their first release. Presented in a gatefold sleeve, with full-size booklet; beautifully designed, with stunning, rare photographs and original Savoy artwork. Sound restoration and mastering at Abbey Road; pressed at Pallas. Co-curated by Greg Belson, compiler of Divine Disco; with deep, extensive notes by Robert Marovich, author of A City Called Heaven: Chicago and the Birth of Gospel Music (University of Illinois), and host of the award-winning radio show Gospel Memories.
Features The Artistic Sounds, The Holy Lights of Baltimore, MD, The Swan Silvertones, Gene Martin, Myrna Summers, James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir, Betty Hollins, The Metro Tones, The World Wonders, The Brooklyn Skyways, Ida Maxey, The Thornes Trio, Mildred Clark And The Melody-Aires, The Highway Q.C.s, The Gospelaires Of Dayton, Ohio, The Exciting Supreme Highlights, James Moore, Prof. Charles Taylor and The Charles Taylor Singers, and The Brockington Ensemble.”
LP $24

WENDELL HARRISON with LEON THOMAS / PHIL RANELIN / PAMELA WISE / BARBARA HUBIE / GEORGE DAVIDSON - Reawakening (Tribe PRSD 2214; USA) Exact repro reissue of Wendell Harrison's 1985 release on the Detroit-based Tribe label. Saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist Harrison is joined by trombonist Phil Ranelin, drummer George Davidson and percussionist Barbara Hubie.
LP $15

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ATTENTION ALL CREATIVE MUSICIANS OUT THERE, Around the world.

If you have a link, for some music that you are working on and want to share it with the folks who read the DMG Newsletter, please send the link to DMG at DMG@Downtownmusicgallery.com. Many of us are going stir crazy staying at home so if you want to inspire us and help us get through these difficult times, please show us what you got. I listed some these last week but have also a few more.

MORE THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU ARE WAITING AROUND FOR THE WORLD TO END OR GET BETTER:
STILL STIR CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!
 
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THIS IS FROM MY GOOD FRIEND JESSICA HALLOCK,

This is from Jessica Hallock, please do check it out, there is so much to explore here and I know some of you are bored and need some inspiration/distraction:

Livestreams are obviously no replacement for live shows, but they're all the community we have right now––so experimental music calendar NYC-Noise.com now provides links to livestreams (with artist / curator donation info); a roundup of local musicians' releases; COVID-19-related resources, including links to grants, petitions, & a local venue donation list; & an Instagram account (@NYC_Noise) promoting artists and releases. Please let me know about your livestreams &/or new records at www.nyc-noise.com/submit.

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THREE EXCITING LIVESTREAM CONCERTS Worth Checking out:

Saturday October 17 - Matthew Shipp solo - 8:00 PM EDT
The Piano Equation release show at Roulette
https://roulette.org/event/matthew-shipp-the-piano-equation/

Continuing to hone a singular cosmic musical language, Matthew Shipp began celebrating his landmark 60th year on earth with the creation of a new solo piano recording—The Piano Equation—which is also the inaugural release on the brand new Tao Forms label, released on May 1, 2020. The ongoing celebration of this momentous year continues with his solo performance on this evening at Roulette.

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Sunday October 18 - Ed Neumeister Quartet - 4:00 PM EDT
with Gary Versace, Drew Gress, Tom Rainey, Jay Clayton

https://tickets.wpunj.edu/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent1363.html?fbclid=IwAR3YnfMe2UDy2aVVqg78-eAfhSM9bFN5MBA4_YhnM7vOPEDvBFsxSE-IWVA

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October 23 - 2:00 PM EDT / 20h Paris CET
Simon Moullier livestream release show from Paris at Sunset/Sunside club

Ticketing link: https://www.sunset-sunside.com/2020/10/artiste/2812/7192/
Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/2T03E0Zxn

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This comes from my pal Marc Andren:

THE IICSI NEWSLETTER, ImprovNotes: iicsi@uoguelph.ca

Wow...a great issue! Click on links to Evan Parker....an interview with Randy Weston. Click on the symposium with Geri Allen...an all-day, virtual deal! 11-5-20 from 9:30 to 5:30pm....people presenting including Vijay Iyer, George Lewis, Nicole Mitchell and many others! On many aspects of Geri's life....I still miss her!

Plus here is a doc on Jaco Pastorius in 2 parts:

https://www.1handclapping.online/post/jaco-pastorius-a-documentary

https://soundcloud.com/alan-writes/punk-jazz-the-life-of-jaco-pastorius2

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MARIO PAVONE & HIS DIALECT TRIO LIVE ON-LINE!

Litchfield Jazz Fest Presents
Mario Pavone & his Dialect Trio -
Live Streamed from Telefunken Soundstage
Date-Time: October 23 @ 7:30pm
Location: Virtual
Web: www.litchfieldjazzfest.com
 
Bassist/composer Mario Pavone turns 80 on November 11th.  Like the postman undaunted by rain, sleet, snow or hail, nothing, not even a pandemic, will keep us from marking this major milestone in the life of a musician who deserves all the accolades we can bestow on him. Litchfield Jazz will host this tribute with Mario himself and his Dialect Trio doing the honors on October 23 from the Telefunken Soundstage. The performance, at 7:30, will be live streamed and free to the public, accessible through the Litchfield Jazz Festival website.
  Mario Pavone fell in love with the bass in college studying engineering, a skill he’d never practice as his fate was sealed in 1961 when he heard John Coltrane play at the Vanguard. When Coltrane died, this fledgling engineer put down his slide rule, walked out of his office, and went to Coltrane’s funeral. And he has never looked back.
  For 60 years, Pavone has been part of many pivotal milestones in avant garde jazz with other great innovators.  In the 70s he played with the likes of Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Paul Bley, Dewey Redman, Carla Bley and others. By the mid 80s he was part of the “downtown scene” centered around the Knitting Factory in New York.  It was there he met the brilliant alto saxophonist who became Lionel Hampton’s arranger and music director at 21, Thomas Chapin. The meeting led to the formation of a trio that recorded and toured worldwide for six years until leukemia claimed Chapin’s life at 40. Litchfield Jazz had the honor of presenting Chapin with Pavone on the first Litchfield Jazz Festival in 1996 and then Pavone with Chapin’s band the very next year. In ‘96 some of the audience looked a bit bewildered.  In ‘97 they got a standing ovation!
  After Chapin’s passing Pavone launched a touring and recording career with many younger players including Tony Malaby, Steven Bernstein, Gerald Cleaver, Peter Madsen, Michael Sarin and recently with the two stellar musicians who complete his Dialect Trio. Tyshawn Sorey, a multi-instrumentalist, on drums in Dialect Trio, is a 2017 MacArthur Fellow as respected for his classical chamber and opera compositions as he is for his work with the bands of Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran and John Zorn. Pianist Matt Mitchell, a Pew Fellow and Doris Duke Impact Awardee, has collaborated with, among others, Dave Douglas, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Donny McCaslin and Lee Konitz.
  Mario Pavone is a recipient of a Chamber Music America/Doris Duke New Works Grant and a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Distinguished Artists award. To date he’s made more than 30 recordings as a leader. A Renaissance man, he is an avid gardener and cook (lately obsessed with soups) and a photographer whose work has graced the covers of dozens of albums.
  Pavone’s dedication to cutting edge music, its performance and composition has never faltered, and he never tires of showing us all—if we are willing to take a deep dive and really listen—he will take us along on a ride we’ll long remember.

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This is from Thomas Sayers Ellis of HEROES ARE GANG LEADERS:

https://vimeo.com/462062455?fbclid=IwAR2lb1mWuD-7MyZ31wDmw14qtaCZW4_EgSFy2G_Yj3W2cZoqUPxtXp14o_0

Set 1
solos, duos, trios, quartet and quintets
shot in Black & White

Set 2
Full Band Performance

Check out this review of their latest release:

https://downtownmusicgallery.com/search.php?id=2020_05_20_02_41_45

HEROES ARE GANG LEADERS with THOMAS SAYERS ELLIS / JAMES BRANDON LEWIS / LUKE STEWART / WARREN “TRAE” CRUDUP III / MELANIE DYER / DEVIN BRAHJA WALDMAN / et al WILLIAM PARKER / ANNE WALDMAN - Artificial Happiness Button (Ropeadope 81526; USA) - 5th amazing disc!

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THIS IS FROM GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:

https://www.youtube.com/c/CuneiformRecords/videos

once in a while they are historical old thangs from my video archive and I will be doing more collaborations with other improvisors. I plan to keep this up until there are live gigs again so there will likely be a lot more of these best, Henry

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ARTS FOR ARTS Presents:

FREEJAZZ WORKS IN A TIME OF CRISIS

https://www.artsforart.org/onlinesalon.html

Because of You
We surpassed our $50,000 Goal
Your Donation Made the Difference
What an amazing community! Your continuing support in the face of all of the challenges that are facing us is really impressive. Together, we raised over $60,000, including over $30,000 in small donations.

We continue to post weekly Artist Diaries (https://www.artsforart.org/artistdiaries.html) and special archival footage on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/ArtsforArt?sub_confirmation=1&utm_source=Audience&utm_campaign=987d803b9c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_08_18_04_51&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3be2db18a2-987d803b9c-85161517. So there will be plenty of amazing music and art to see and inspire.

On September 7th and September 12th, Arts for Art will present Live Outdoor Events at La Plaza in The Clemente. They will be carefully presented, socially distanced, inspiring FreeJazz performances. Look forward to more information coming soon.

Wishing You Strength and Justice with Compassion.

Patricia Nicholson Parker
Founder, Arts for Arts

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From INGRID LAUBROCK & TOM RAINEY:

Every Week for the entirety of this pandemic/lockdown INGRID LAUBROCK & TOM RAINEY have been posting a new duo offering. I have listened to every one of these as they were sent out and am much impressed by the way this duo continues to evolve and work their way through many ideas. You can check out each one here:

https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-29
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-28
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-27
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-26-for-my-dad
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-25
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-24
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-23-steve-lacy
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-22
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-21
https://ingrid-laubrock.bandcamp.com/track/stir-crazy-episode-20

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ROULETTE AT HOME:

https://roulette.org/rtv/?utm_source=Roulette Master List&utm_campaign=c19eeaa4fd- Dr. Chadbourne! EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_08_15_09_07_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c36db137d7-andc19eeaa4fd-302668229#!/grs/0/id/92

https://roulette.org/event/joel-ross/?utm_source=Roulette Master List&utm_campaign=c19eeaa4fd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_08_15_09_07_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c36db137d7-c19eeaa4fd-302668229

https://roulette.org/event/nels-cline-from-cage-to-cunningham/?utm_source=Roulette Master List&utm_campaign=c19eeaa4fd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_08_15_09_07_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c36db137d7-c19eeaa4fd-302668229

Playlist: Excerpts from the Black Avant-Garde - Tracks by Tomeka Reid, Reggie Workman, Diedre Murray, Anthony Davis, Amiri Baraka, Henry Threadgill, William Parker, Matana Roberts from the Roulette concert archive. - https://soundcloud.com/roulette_intermedium/sets/blackavantgarde?utm_source=Roulette Master List&utm_campaign=34384bb216-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_08_15_09_07_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c36db137d7-34384bb216-302668229

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My good friend & guitar master GARY LUCAS is playing half hour sets at his apartment in the West village every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday at 3pm EST on Facebook. Different songs on each episode. Here is the link: https://www.facebook

https://garylucas.com/www/dracula/dracula.shtml

https://www.nporadio2.nl/soulenjazz/podcasts/co-live

https://podcast.npo.nl/feed/co-live.xml