Get your ticket on the central line
Get off at bond street
And she'll be so kind
To make a flower
With just you in mind
And the question that is Jenny's
What to wear and how to spend her pennies
She seeks out friends
Secretly desiring many
She feels so kind
As she unwinds
In gilbert street
West one
Get your ticket on the central line
Get off at bond street
Sharp at 9
Take her out to dinner and she say
I thank you for a lovely time and goodnight
And my lady in blue
With her childhood hero untrue
Looks both ways and wonders just who
Is gonna bring her something new
To make her smile
Just for a little while
In gilbert street
West one
Get your ticket on the central line
Get off at bond street
Go for a joy ride
Dig some joy
'Til those midnight chimes
And along come a man
With a big brass band
And to my lady in blue
He whispered, here I am
Together they flew
Down the avenue
Called gilbert street
West one
Get your ticket on the central line
Get off at bond street
And you'll be flyin' high
Leave all the symbols
And the tired mind behind
And the sun it did shine
As the lovers they entwine
And the big friends bide their time
While they all stand in line
To say you can't be
Hey can't you see
This is gilbert street
West one
And the prince of the clan
With his destiny so well in hand
Success and unspoken religion
Between himself and his fans
He's not so sure
Anymore
When he's in gilbert street
West one
Get your ticket on the central line
Get off at bond street
And step into the limelight
There's two just waiting for you, waiting for you
To make it, make it soon
And the actor he stands
With outstretched hands
Knowing not but hoping
That a good spirit is in command
Where laughter flows
And nobody knows
Of gilbert street
West one
If you hear tinkling of a bell
Borne on a moccasin through the gates of hell
Have no fear babe
It's only me
I wish you well
I really do I wish you well
Yes I do... (fade out)
Between the Spring of 1967 and the early 1970’s, I listened to FM radio after school when I wasn’t listening to the albums that I had acquired or doing homework. Mostly WNEW-FM with DJ’s like Scott Muni, Emperor Rosko, Jonathan Schwartz and Allison Steele (the Nightbird). This was when DJ’s were free to play some more adventurous music and they weren’t governed by market studies BS. “Gilbert Street” by Sweet Thursday was one of the staples of WNEW’s nighttime listening experience. The quintet included Jon Mark, a fine guitarist who went on to work with John Mayall and the band Mark-Almond, session pianist Nicky Hopkins who worked with the Stones, the Kinks & The Who & was a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Bassist Brian Odgers had also played on John McLaughlin’s debut album, ‘Extrapolation’ (1968), one of the best of all British jazz/rock/prog records. This song is 10 minutes long and tells a tale about the characters on Gilbert Street. Epic length songs like this were manna for freaks, hippies, stoners and serious listeners like myself and some of you out there. The entire album is consistently strong so check it out if you can. I really like this line: “Get your ticket on the central line, Get off at bond street And step into the limelight”… - MCBruceLee at DMG
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THE DMG 33rd ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE FREE MUSIC SERIES Continues with:
Tuesday, February 13th, 2024:
6:30: JASON WEISS - Reading from his new book, “Listenings”
7:00: ANDY HAAS - Reeds & Effects / DON FIORINO - Guitar
8:00: PATRICK GOLDEN Drums / STEPHEN GAUCI - Tenor Sax / MATT HOLLENBERG - El Guitar / LIN YANG - Bass
Tuesday, February 20th: An Evening Organized by MARC EDWARDS:
6:30: ZOH AMBA / CAROLINE MORTON / MARC EDWARDS
7:30: Su$HI: GIAN PEREZ / CAROLINE MORTON / ANTHONY GENOVESE
8:30: SELENDIS SEBASTIAN / ALEXANDER JOHNSON / AJ MEDEIROS DUO
Tuesday, February 27th:
6:30: JOSH SINTON - Reeds / MAZZ SWIFT - Violin - Two Solos & a Duo
8:00: JONATHAN REISEN - Solo Tenor Sax
8:30: DANIEL GALOW - Alto Sax-Electronics / SYL WINCH - Trombone
9:30: JUDY DUNAWAY - Solo Balloon(s)
DMG stands for Downtown Music Gallery and we are located at 13 Monroe St, between Catherine & Market Sts. You can take the F train to East Broadway or the M15 bus to Madison & Catherine Sts. We are in a basement space below an art gallery & beauty salon. We are on the east side of Chinatown, not far from East Broadway & the end of the Bowery. Admission for all concerts is free and donations are always welcome. We have concerts here every Tuesday starting at 6:30 plus Steve Gauci curates his own series here on the 2nd or 1st Saturday of each month. You can check out the weekly schedule here: https://www.downtownmusicgallery.com/shows.php. I post 1 minute segments from these sets almost every day on our InstaGram feed (if you don’t do InstaGram, you can still view these 1 minute clips on the DMG homepage, (a recently added feature), so please check them out and come down to visit when you can. - BLG/DMG
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This Week’s Sonic Gems Begin with:
SUNNY FIVE with TIM BERNE / MARC DUCRET / DAVID TORN / DEVIN HOFF / CHES SMITH - Candid (Intakt 415; Switzerland) Featuring Tim Berne on alto sax, Marc Ducret & David Torn on guitars, effects & loops, Devin Hoff on bass and Ches Smith on drums, brings together five of the most prominent voices on the New York jazz scene. This group of friends pursues a creative vision that explores the juxtaposition of pure acoustic sonic elements and the integration of electric/ electronic sound-generation. “We hear Tim Berne’s saxophone – rectilinear, concise, insistent – interacting/intoning with and through the deeply textural sound worlds of David Torn’s electric/electronic guitar playing, coupled with or countered by guitarist Marc Ducret’s incisive, essentialist virtuosity. There are tensions present that seem unresolvable and made more so by the fathoming sonorities of Devin Hoff’s bass and the metric pliability of Ches Smith’s approach to the drums and electronics ...There are moments in the music where it may be impossible to tell who’s doing what... and by what means...” writes Brandon Ross in the liner notes, calling this record “Kinetic, mysterious, cinematic and heroically exciting.”
It’s been around a year since Tim Berne’s last disc (a trio with Hank Roberts & Aurora Neeland) was released. Sadly, we haven’t been able to get copies of that disc due to problems with Intakt’s current US distributor and problems with the mail. We just got this new title in and boy, was it worth the wait! Since Mr. Berne doesn’t seem to have a working band at the time, he organizes projects with members from previous outfits. This features two very different guitarists: Marc Ducret on Vendramini & table top guitars and David Torn on electric guitar & live looping. The rhythm team is former west coasters Devin Hoff on electric bass and Ches Smith on drums & electronics. This same rhythm team have also worked with Ava Mendoza and Ben Goldberg.
Any of you/us that have been following Time Berne for a while know that his music is often based on repeating riffs or lines. The same is true here. Mr. Berne kicks off “Piper” with a great churning, somewhat bent line. The line that Berne is playing keeps pulsating at the center, reminding me a cosmic chorus of chanting monks. Both guitarists playing their own interlocking contrapuntal lines, adding layers or effects in their own unique way. The rhythm team jumps into and rides the inner riff, laying out from time to time. David Torn, who has his own studio in the Woodstock area, is also a master of looping lines. Here he seems to take his time and add some loops or effects selectively and minimally. “Scratch” begins with just Berne’s soft alto sax playing in the distance with subtle electronics and/or effects flowing underneath. Once again, the guitars slowly create a wave of riffs, one layer at a time, the intensity building slowly over time. While both guitars sound great as they ascend together, it is powerful rhythm team (especially Ches Smith) who are pushing the quintet to epic heights. Where Tim Berne enters, he sounds fierce and explosive. When the quintet hit their crescendo I am reminded more of a metal band which keeps erupting, pounding and throbbing higher & higher. On “Craw” the shortest piece, the rhythm team and guitar(s) kick things off. Both guitar actually work well together and take over until Mr. Berne slowly slithers in, playing his riff at the center with guitar fragments swirling around him. The last piece is called “Floored” and it is a 35 minute epic. “Floored” opens with spacious sax drones, guitar sonics and a sly, slow moving rhythm team. The piece ascends and then calms down a bit for a while, slowly building back up again with strong, spirited solos from each guitarist and a fine, righteous solo from Berne as well. The music on this piece is somewhere between progress and jazz/rock and it is a tour-de-force. There is a wonderful somewhat psychedelic picture of the band playing in the enclosed booklet which captures the visual magic that the quintet obviously has. OUTstanding in a number of ways! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS QUARTET with ARUAN ORTIZ / BRAD JONES / CHAD TAYLOR - Transfiguration (Intakt 400; Switzerland) Featuring James Brandon Lewis on tenor sax & compositions, Aruan Ortiz on piano, Brad Jones on bass and Chad Taylor on drums. Since moving here in the past decade tenor sax giant James Brandon Lewis’ rising star status has continued to grow. Mr. Lewis has recorded more than a dozen albums in the past decade, each one a gem of a different sort. Mr. Lewis has several groups that he works with, a duo with Chad Taylor, the Red Lily Quartet, groups with DC guitar great Anthony Pirog and this his ongoing quartet. This is the fourth disc from the James Brandon Lewis Quartet and the group keeps getting better. This disc was recorded in a studio in Switzerland where the Intakt label is based. The title track, “Transfiguration” is first and it is a grand opening by this mighty quartet. Mr. Lewis has a powerful deep, dark, Trane-like tone on tenor, plus the quartet is playing in a sprawling, modal sounding way. Aruan Ortiz plays with a slowed down yet cerebral McCoy-like way, his piano first solo is breath-taking, the interplay between Mr. Lewis and Mr. Ortiz is quite striking, hand-in-glove like the rest of the quartet. The quartet slows things down for “Trinity of Creative Self”, the vibe completely hypnotic. If you are a fan of ’Spiritual Jazz’, then this disc will be like cosmic medicine for those who can appreciate its grand depth. Former bassist for Muhal Richard Abrams, Marc Ribot & Dave Douglas, Brad Jones kicks off “Swerve” with an engrossing bass-line, which is at the center of this probing piece. Master drummer Chad Taylor plays in double time pushing the tension up higher. “Per 6” has a six note beat with Chad Taylor’s immense groove at the center, Mr. Lewis keeps swirling around the central groove, speeding up and slowing down before heading back to the opening theme with Ortiz taking a fine solo of his own. The tempo keeps increasing while Mr. Lewis takes yet another powerful solo which is followed by another spirited bass solo by Brad Jones. Jones plays a challenging bass line at the center of the storm on “Black Apollo”, while JB Lewis solos, the drums back every rhythmic nuance of his playing. The quartet strips things down later in this piece with Lewis playing the essence of restraint. What I dig the most about this quartet is the way they play together: Ortiz piano often plays floating chords giving Lewis a chance to stretch out while the rhythm team plays elastically, throbbing together tightly yet organically. On “Empirical Perception”, Lewis plays the first slow-burning solo which Ortiz continues with as if both solos were in the same stream. I love the way Brad Jones’ bass is pumping at the center of “Triptych”, he is the heart of the quartet with Ortiz soloing rambunctiously midway. The final song is one of transcendence and it called “Elan Vital” and Ortiz plays powerful, majestic piano with the rest of the quartet matching his waves and JB Lewis surfing on top and reaching for the stars. James Brandon Lewis is on a trajectory and is soaring higher with each of his releases. Check out his most recent treasure and be swept away. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18
JOHN ESPOSITO SEXTET with ERIC PERSON / CHRIS PASIN / PHILL ALLEN / IRA COLEMAN / PETER O’BRIEN - Laura (Sunjump CD0020; USA) Featuring John Esposito on piano & compositions, Chris Pasin on trumpet & cornet, Eric Person on flute, soprano, alto & tenor saxes, Phil Allen on valve trombone, Ira Coleman on bass and Peter O’Brien on drums. I recall first hearing John Esposito playing on a record by Franklin Kiermyer called “Solomon’s Daughter’ from 1994 with Pharoah Sanders. That record is/was amazing and I was particularly blown away by John Esposito’s incredible McCoy Tyner-like piano. Ever since then, I’ve kept my eye & ear on whatever I’ve been able to find from Mr. Esposito. Mr. Esposito started his own Sunjump label around 1988, releasing some 20 discs by himself, Sangeeta Michael Berardi and Second Sight (with Dave Douglas). During the pandemic, Mr. Esposito, who used to play 200 times live a year, was cut back to playing no gigs for that year. What he did was rehearse weekly with his ongoing trio and also with his own sextet. This disc comprises the music which Esposito’s sextet rehearsed during that period. I recognize a few of the names here like Eric Person (who I know from records with Chico Hamilton, Dave Holland & Ronald Shannon Jackson. I don’t recognize the names Chris Pasin or Phil Allen but I do know the rhythm team, Ira Coleman & Peter O’Brien from previous work with Mr. Esposito, as well as with Tony Williams and Barney Wilen.
This is most effervescent sextet, swinging hard and sounding like a Blue Note band from the sixties of seventies. “Clarity” opens with an uplifting, swinging groove with inspired solos from the trumpet, tenor sax, trombone and piano. The relaxed pace and lovely melodies of the some of these songs is/are exquisite. “First Sight” features a repeating riff which is near majestic in its sound and which features drummer Peter O’Brien revving up underneath the calm exterior and adding some sparks. One of the highlights here, which I didn’t notice at first, is the way Mr. Esposito writes for thoughtful harmonies for the horns. At times, the trumpet, sax or flute and trombone will all solo together creating quirky circles. On “La Leque” lush harmonies are both haunting and lovely at the same time, something which is not so easy to pull off. Since this music is not very avant or out, what does standout is the strong playing and adventurous yet somehow subtle arrangements which seem hidden at times yet come through if you listen closely and give several listens. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
JOHN ESPOSITO TRIO with IRA COLEMAN / PETER O’BRIEN - Blues for Outlaw Hearts (Sunjump CD 0021; USA) Review next week.
CD $14
MARTA WARELIS / INGEBRIGT HAKER-FLATEN - Sun Lit Starlings (Weird Cry Records 086; USA) Featuring Marta Warelis on piano and Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on contrabass. Recorded at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam on two occasions. I know of Polish-born/Amsterdam-based avant pianist Marta Warelis from the handful of discs she’s done with Magda Mayas, Carlos Zingaro and John Dikeman plus great solo & trio efforts for the Relative Pitch label. Her solo effort on Relative Pitch was/is one of the best solo piano efforts I’ve heard in a long while. Norwegian bass legend, Ingebright Haker Flaten has worked with a variety of great groups like The Thing, Scorch Trio and with Joe McPhee.
There are four long pieces here and all are improvised as far as I can tell. The duo sounds like they’ve worked together for a while, playing and thinking closely together. Things begin sparsely at first, the duo taking their time and slowly exchanging their lines. There is a strong dialogue going on here, with solid, spirited interplay as well. Like Sylvie Courvoisier or Kris Davis, Ms. Warelis mutes certain strings inside the piano with her hand(s). Ms. Warelis shows that she is a force to be reckoned with, speeding up at times, tossing off these frenetic lines, some with muted strings, some not. Erupting in some sections and then winding down to sparse space as well. Mr. Haker Flaten is also a marvelous bassist who again works or plays in a similar connected way. The closer I listened, the more nuance of exploration continues throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
JON IRABAGON - Bird with Streams (Irabbagast Records 019; USA) Featuring Jon Irabagon on solo tenor sax, recorded out doors in Falling Rock, South Dakota and at the edge of the Black Hills National Forest in in the summer & early fall of 2020. Master multi-saxist Jon Irabagon loves to challenge himself in a variety of situations, whether playingin a group or doing the occasional solo sets. Due to the Great Pandemic of 2020, Mr. Irabagaon decided to try to some projects different. He traveled out to some forests, parks and canyons in South Dakota and play bebop standards outdoors with the sounds of nature radiating around him. Irabagon quotes two legendary saxists, Sonny Rollins and Jerry Bergonzi, both talking about the craft of Charlie Parker and methods in practicing. Mr. Irabagon plays 13 bebop songs and two originals, accompanied by Mother nature. The sound of his sax is a bit different on every track depending on where is is and what song he playing. “Anthropology” is first and it sounds like Irabagon is muffling his sax a bit while he plays that distinctive melody. Instead of being bound by a rhythm section playing changes underneath, Irabagon plays these songs freely and resourcefully. Instead of the furious pace that most beboppers play at, Irabagon often slows these pieces down a bit and holds on to and accentuates certain notes. One of Irabagon’s original is called “Schwifty” and this one he does play at a furiously with the sound on running water in the background. The sound of the the air or water rushing around him has the same flow/feeling that Irabagon is tapping into. On “Mohawk”, Irabagon slowly stretches out each note, doing some difficult tongue fluttering to get his own unique sound. It sounds like he playing a tube not a sax. He refers to the melody of the song in an odd way. There is a certain lonely or singular sound to the way the sax is played here with no one else around. Many of Charlie Parker’s live recordings have bad sound, recorded at clubs with people talking and cash registers ringing. On these recordings we get to hear the melodies and flourishes by themselves with nothing to hide behind. This disc is a marvel of playing these songs with verve, spirit and adventurousness. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
GREAT NEW DISCS From The SuperFine FOLKS AT DISCUS:
THIS CELESTIAL ENGINE with ROY POWELL / DAVE STURT / TED PARSONS - This Celestial Engine (Discus 166CD; UK) This Celestial Engine features Roy Powell on keyboards & loops, Dave Sturt on bass, ebow bass & weird effects and Ted Parsons on drums. Over the past decade a British keyboard player named Roy Powell started to pop up on more than a dozen discs mostly on the Rare Noise label. He was a member of different projects like Jazzmob, Interstatic, Mumpbeak and Naked Truth, playing with musicians like Bill Laswell, Cuong Vu, Pat Mastelotto (from King Crimson) and Lorenzo Feliciati. I actually caught Mumpbeak at the old Stone when they were a trio with Powell, Shanir Blumenkranz (from Abraxas & Rashanim) on bass and Pat Mastelotto on drums. Hard to believe but it sounded like King Crimson playing at The Stone!?! British bassist Dave Sturt has played with Gong as well as being in a handful of other Martin Archer projects for Discus. American drummer Ted Parsons has played with the Swans, Material and Metallic Taste of Blood (with Laswell & Rammelzee). Hence the line-up for this trio is certainly an odd one.
This disc was recorded live at Stagger Home Studios & Kate’ Haeverk in Oslo, Norway in May of 2021 and in June of 2022. “The Astral Doctrine” is first and it is spacious sounding with Sturt on fretless bass, Powell on eerie, skeletal keyboards and minimal drums. Mr. Powell is playing some piano and synth with some dubby grooves by the Sturt and Parsons. The trio hit their stride later on in this piece when Powell starts to play his Farfisa like keyboard, the groove getting heavier, the vibe more prog-like. On “Supranormal Headspace” Mr. Powell starts off playing subtle, eerie echoplexed piano & drifting synth. Mick Karn-like dub bass enters midway and the trio break into a hypnotic laid back groove. Mr. Sturt’s superb, nimble, haunting fretless bass is featured on “Any The Wiser”, his long solo flows throughout this piece and it most exquisite. Powell switches to electric piano which has that cool seventies sound, the drums like soft thunder. “Rewire My Subtext” has a prog-like keyboards: several organs with effects altering our consciousness a bit. The bass groove here is a bit funky (so get up & dance, perhaps) and sounds great with long el. piano solo. “Mindmelding” is the perfect name for the last piece here, kind of like slow building space-rock. Roy Powell has an arsenal of keyboards and keeps adding different lines or parts to the throbbing Hawkwind/Gong/Pink Floyd-like vibe/sound. I haven’t listened to anything quite like this recently outside of some early Gong listening when Daevid Allen passed in 2015. The last piece has applause at the end which sounds about right, nothing live hearing some live prog/space-rock live! A rarity nowadays. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
THEO MAY’S ODD UNIT with GUSTAVO CLAYTON MARUCCI / WILL BRACKEN / ALI WATSON / ALEX TEMPLE-HEALD / et al - Alive in the Forest of Odd (Discus 168CD; UK) Odd Unit features Theo May on violin & compositions, Gustavo Clayton Marucci on B-flat & bass clarinets, Will Bracken on piano, Ali Watson on double bass and Alex Temple-Heald on drums plus guests Francesca Brito & Jan Halen on violins, Cubby Howard on cello and Daniel Swani on flute. When Theo May was just 13 and attending the South West Music School, he had the good fortune to collaborate with two elder British jazz legends, Keith and Julie Tippett. The trio recorded a disc which was released by the school. Someone, one of Theo's parents, contacted us here at DMG so we got in copies to sell. That disc was fabulous and we might still have a few copies left. Since then young Mr. May has recorded with Paul Dunmall (tenor saxist for Keith Tippett's Mujician quartet). Which brings us to this disc, recorded in 2023, more than a decade after May's debut disc. Theo May's Odd Unit is a quintet and the members attended the Royal Academy in the UK. I don't recognize any of their names from previous releases. This disc begins with "Voyager" which recall both British folk-rock and progressive influences. It is Mr. May's long, thoughtful violin solo which shows off his talents as a fine soloist. Mr. Clayton Marucci also pulls off an extraordinary clarinet solo here, one of the first highlights of this disc. ”Set Free to Sing in the Clear Sky” has a haunting melody which is played by the violin and clarinet, both play the theme together and then slowly play around the theme. The two lead instruments and the piano play exquisitely together with a most expressive, enchanting solo from the violin. The rhythm team often plays skeletally, subtly providing the rhythmic support and leaving space for everyone to breathe together. Although the writing is somewhat proglike, these acoustic instruments play with tasty flourishes and none of that grandstanding that comes with electric prog rock. On two tracks Mr. May adds two other violinists & a cellist, all of whom attend the same school as he does, the Royal Academy. These added musicians give the music a more orchestral sound yet the sound is still somehow understated. “Solemnity” is actually a solemn, haunting, subtle piece featuring some quaint yet inventive clarinet. “Twelve’s Blood” shows the aggressive side to this quintet, the band actually rocks out a bit and the sound is closer to some well written progressive/folk/rock, even erupting intensely near the end. “The Joy of Nine” is a complex, uptempo piece which shows this quintet at its best. Similar to an Irish jig yet sped up and thoughtfully developed. Although some of these piece are skeletal, the playing and writing is consistently engaging. If you mid-seventies prog like Gryphon or perhaps Renaissance, then you should really enjoy this since it is even. There is no singing going on and the music is superb throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
SUN RA and His INTERGALACTIC SOLAR ARKESTRA with JOHN GILMORE / MARSHALL ALLEN / DANNY DAVIS / ELOE OMOE / WAYNE HARRIS / KWAME HADI / LAARY NORTHINGTON / DANNY RAY THOMPSON / JUNE TYSON / KEN MOSHESH / LEX HUMPHRIES - Space Is The Place (Modern Harmonic-267; Saturn, The Planet) "A celestial journey is just what Sun Ra and his Arkestra have created with Space is the Place. Sun Ra's opus is at its simplest, a trip through outer bound melodies! Planetary bodies, eras in time, crystals, space caravans... Allow yourself to envision or feel a world away with this deluxe package of 2 CDs, a BluRay Disc and DVD of the film, and lots more!
The audio portion contains the original music composed for the film, which was eventually released as a soundtrack in 1993. It also features The Mathematics Of The Altered Destiny, a previously unissued album recorded in the same soundtrack sessions but is finally being released half a century after it was recorded. This newly discovered album is heavy on the prose of Sun Ra, as he and June Tyson bestow countless bits of information and inspiration onto the listener.
The film soundtrack is an entirely different journey than the 1973 Blue Thumb LP it shares its title with. We suggest you take both journeys. These recordings were sourced from the Sun Ra tape vault, then were digitally restored to make an album this special sound the best it possibly could.
The BluRay contains the entire glorious film complete with film artifacts, and was sourced from the restoration prepared by Rapid Eye Movies of Germany. The bonus features on the BluRay are composed of Ra and Ra-centric material from the Modern Harmonic archives, including video from the Outer Space Visual Communicator footage. An additional track from these sessions, "The Idea Of The Greater Age" can be found on the CD version of this album or on the album Some Skin: A Modern Harmonic Bongo and Percussion Party."- Modern Harmonic
Comes in rectangular cardboard box containing two CDs, one containing about 40 minutes of unissued Sun Ra studio recordings, a BluRay & DVD of the entire film, and a booklet with notes from multiple Afrofuturism scholars. Track 2-5 is a CD only bonus track, previously available on Some Skin, A Modern Harmonic Bongo & Percussion Party.
2 CD / DVD / Bluray - 4 Disc Set $48
BACK IN STOCK:
PHAROAH SANDERS with TISZIJI MUNOZ / CLIFTON "JIGGS" CHASE / STEVE NEIL / LAWRENCE KILLIAN plus KHALID MOSS / HAYES BURNETT / CLIFFORD JARVIS / BEDRIA SANDERS - Pharoah / Harvest Time Live 1977 (Luaka Bop 6 80899 8008-1-5; USA) After recording a dozen albums of Spiritual Jazz for the Impulse! label, Pharoah Sanders recorded an album for Strata East called ‘Izipho Zam (My Gifts)” (in 1973) and an album for India Navigation called, ‘Pharoah’ in 1977. Both of the last two aformentioned albums featured a guitarist, something that Pharoah rarely did. Sonny Sharrock plays on ‘Thembi’ and ‘Iziphio Zam’ and plays some brutal, spirit jazz guitar. For the ‘Pharoah’ album, Mr. Sanders added someone called Tiszji Munos. Both of these guitarists can capture that powerful Free/Spirit/Jazz sound which is an inspiration to many of us. This was Tisziji Munoz’ debut on an album and two decades later I became friends with Munoz thanks to an introduction by Henry Kaiser and continue to promote him ever since. Munoz had a unique style on guitar as he was greatly influenced by John Coltrane and wanted to emulate Coltrane’s furious sheets of sound on an electric guitar. In the next year, 1978, India Navigation would release Munoz’ debut album called ‘Rendezvous for Now’ and he was backed by a Toronto-based rhythm team, Toronto being where he was based around this time. A decade later (in 1988), Munoz would start his own label and call it Anami Music. 50 plus discs since then and Munoz is still releasing great Spiritual Jazz albums. Original copies of both of these India Navigation treasures LP do go for big bucks and have never been reissued until now. The second disc features two unreleased Pharoah live sets from the same year and with a slightly different personnel but no Munoz here. These live set feature two long versions of “Harvest Time”, which was an album length epic song. To help celebrate this colossal reissue, Luaka Bop has organized a tour featuring Tisziji Munoz and an all-star cast of current all-star heroes. The entourage recently played at National Sawdust in Brooklyn and word is that they were incredible live. They will be returning in January here to play at the Winter Jazz Fest. I hope to book another Munoz set at Roulette in the Spring. Are you a big Free/Jazz freak like yours truly?!? If so, then you had better a grab up the deluxe CD or LP box sets since they are limited. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Deluxe Box Set $28
PETER BROTZMANN / SABU TOYOZUMI Triangle - Live at OHM, 1987 (NoBusiness 160; Lithuania) Featuring Peter Brotzmann on tenor sax & taragato and Sabu Toyozumi on drums & cover art work. This session was recorded live at OHM in Kolwa, Japan on December 4th of 1987. Both Peter Brotzmann (3/6/41-6/22/23) and Sabu Toyozumi (7/11/43) are respected elders of Free/Jazz born just 2 years apart with starting to play Free Music around the same time: late 1960’s. Mr. Brotzmann sadly passed away earlier this year (June of 2023), while Toyozumi is still playing and recording (with Wadada Leo Smith, Masahiko Satoh & Rick Countryman). These two musicians have recorded together previously in a duo and a trio situation with Derek Bailey (recorded the same year as this session in 1987). Peter Brotzmann has long had his own, distinctive tone & approach on sax. Right from the opening salvo, we hear that bittersweet tone up front and on target. Toyozumi begins by playing these marching rhythms on his snare and bass drums, varying the tempo as he goes and providing a righteous ritualistic groove/rhythm for Brotzmann’s ever-shifting stream of notes. Although Mr. Brotzmann is often known for playing fast, loud and furious, this is not the case here. The duo often lay back and simmer. On “Toh-ro”, Brotzmann switches to taragato (a large eastern European clarinet-like instrument) and plays softly to Sabu’s equally laid back drumming. Toyozumi uses soft mallets or perhaps his hands the drums for this piece, bringing the temperature down to an organic simmer. Brotzmann switches back to tenor for “Yuh-ru Yuru” and starts to push the intensity more, starting in the low end of his range and rising to a more abrupt squall. There is a righteous balance going on here between the explosive and the more restrained elements/sections plus this sounds like an organic dialogue going on between old friends who seem to see & hear eye to eye or ear to ear. Even when Brotzmann starts to last, Toyozumi keeps the raft tethered and moving in the same direction. “Depth of Focus” is the longest and most exciting piece here. I find this piece to be most uplifting, like taking us all on a great train, ship or spaceship ride. Sailing or soaring between the stars. There is quite a bit of magic dust scattered liberally here and that is the seasoning to make our lives better. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
BARRY ALTSCHUL / DAVID IZENSON / PERRY ROBINSON Live at Prince Street, 1978 (NoBusiness 163; Lithuania) Featuring Perry Robinson on clarinet, David Izenzon on contrabass and Barry Altschul on drums. This session was recorded on October 14th of 1978 at 131 Prince Street, which was Ornette Coleman’s Artist House loft space, in the Soho section of Manhattan. This session was recorded during the latter part of the Loft Jazz Era in the late 1970’s. This live date was a first time meeting with all three members of this trio. All three musicians had large resumes with the founding members of this scene: Perry Robinson was also working with Gunter Hampel’s Dream Galaxy Band, David Izenzon was a member of the Ornette Coleman Trio & worked with Bill Dixon & Don Cherry and Barry Altschul was part of the Sam Rivers Trio, worked with Paul Bley and had two fine leader LP’s released around this time. There are four untitled improvisations here. All three of these musicians are well-seasoned and have played in a variety of situations. The clarinet was one of the earliest instruments in jazz to lead a band as well as solo with great results. The late Perry Robinson sounds like he played in Dixieland as well as in free/jazz ensembles. Everything flows here freely with a stream. Robinson often sounds like he is playing an older theme and then starting to soar freely before going back to the first theme or launching into another one. The rhythm team here are locked in together although I don’t think they have played together (much/any?) before this. I had seen/heard Barry Altschul play with the Sam Rivers Trio a half dozen times starting in the summer of 1973, thinking they were one the best free trios that I had ever witnessed live. Altschul’s playing here is consistently inspired and inventive, occasionally kicking up a storm of rhythmic eruptions. Bassist Izenzon starts off “Untitled II”, with a fine bowed bass solo. There is a free section here which is exceptional since it evolves through different sections and sounds organic in the way it unfolds. Altschul kicks off “Untitled III” with a great drum solo/intro. Mr. Altschul’s drumming helps to focus and push the push to new heights. The drum solo is long and includes a section where Altschul is playing some Caribbean rhythms, sly and rather funky. The piece breaks into a slow blues near the end with a fine, old school clarinet solo from the oft effervescent Perry Robinson. “Untitled IV” is the longest piece here at almost 20 minutes and gives the trio a chance to really stretch out. Everyone solos at length and Cosmic Free Vibe continues to ascend throughout. Dig in…! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
ROY CAMPBELL / WILLIAM PARKER / ZEN MATSURA - Visitation of Spirits - The Pyramid Trio Live, 1985 (NoBusiness 162; Lithuania) Featuring Roy Campbell on trumpet, flugelhorn & flute, William parker on contrabass and Zen Matsuura on drums. Recorded at The Joint at Brandeis University in MA on February 21st of 1985. Downtown trumpet hero, Roy Campbell, has long been one of my favorite trumpeters. I caught him many times throughout the years in a variety of settings with Other Dimensions in Music, several bands with William Parker, the Nu Band & the Stone Quartet. Both on stage and off stage, he was always funny, honest and insightful. His untimely passing in January of 2014, was a sad day for the Downtown Creative Music Community. Bass giant, William Parker, worked with Mr. Campbell in a variety of groups with different leaders like Billy Bang. Japanese drummer, Zen Matsuura, I don’t know that well, although he did recorded with Mr. Campbell on some four previous recordings. “Charmaine” is where we begin and it starts quietly and spaciously. After a somber intro, William Parker starts to play one of those quaint, laid back, repeating lines with Mr. Campbell’s trumpet mellow and simmering, unmuted at first and then muted with lovely restraint and a tasteful tone. Mr. Campbell played in different types of bands from swinging to free as well as some reggae and rock bands. Hence, this trio seems to be playing through different influences or styles. “Vigilance” has a buoyant, infectious groove or line, slightly funky and refreshing. Campbell takes a long trumpet solo which is filled with lyric melodies and occasional free fireworks. Mr. Matsuura’s drum solo completes the melody that the trio was playing earlier in the long song. “Brother Yusef” is dedicated to reeds wiz, Yusef Lateef, with whom Mr. Campbell studied at the Manhattan Community College. Mr. Lateef had a course which discussed different types of music from around the world. Mr. Campbell was inspired to listen to a variety of ethnic music(s) and we can hear some of these influences with the long songs here which sound restless in their ability to keep evolving through and past whatever jazz influences or ideas that Mr. Campbell played. William Parker also takes a long, thoughtful bass solo on this song, another gem from this treasure chest of songs and sounds. There is something heartwarming going on here. Everything sounds and feels good, from the center to the satellites spinning all around the sides. a long, superb, inspired and inventive session. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16
CHRISTIAN WOLFF - Sveglia (I Dischi Di Angelica; Italy) In May 2022, at the age of 88, Christian Wolff performed once again at AngelicA, nine years after the monographic concerts the festival had dedicated to him in 2013, which was documented on the CD album Angelica Music, (ANGELICA 030CD, 2020). Among the greatest and most singular living composers, for the opening of the thirty-second edition of the festival he presented a world-exclusive program, alongside two of his long-time collaborators, the percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky and the drummer Joey Baron, and an Angelica orchestrA of seven electric guitars, made up for the occasion around students and teachers of the Conservatory "G.B. Martini" of Bologna led by Walter Zanetti. Spanning over 58 years of the composer's production, the program offered on May 7th revolved around Sveglia, a new composition for seven electric guitars commissioned as a world premiere by the festival. Renowned up to that point as a pianist, it was apparently Wolff's interest for several rock bands of the time who pushed him to buy an electric guitar in the mid-'60s, and the first of his compositions to incorporate this instrument were the three Electric Spring of 1966-67. In the 2000s he also composed three pieces for solo guitar (two of which were recorded by Sergio Sorrentino, guest of Angelica orchestrA at this time), but he had never composed for an ensemble of guitars only, as on this occasion. Largely completely notated, but with a series of compositional features left open (i.e. no specification of tempi, dynamics and spacing of musical elements), Sveglia also includes short quotations from other compositions (Bach's Brandenburg Concertos n. 3 and 6, and a motet by Gombert), "that need not necessarily be noticed." The other piece composed specifically for the concert in Bologna (and for one held later in New York, at the space for experimental music from which it took its title) is Roulette, performed by Wolff with Schulkowsky and Baron.
CD $22
PHILIP CORNER - Chorus At The Corner: A Joyfull Noise (I Dischi Di Angelica 054; Italy) Born in 1933, with a career spanning over 65 years, the American composer Philip Corner has explored the most diverse artistic and musical expressions: as a pianist and trombonist, he performed historic and contemporary authors such as Ives, Cage, Cacioppo, Hellerman (in 1963 he also took part in the first integral performance of Vexations by Satie curated by Cage in New York). As a composer and performer, he was a member of Fluxus (defining with his Piano Activities the most iconic performance of the movement, albeit in the "over the top" rendition by Maciunas, Williams, Vostell, Paik, Higgins, Patterson, and Knowles in Wiesbaden in 1962); but also (between 1962 and 1965) of Judson Dance Theatre, composing music for dance and theatre pieces by Lucinda Childs, Yvonne Rainer, Living Theatre, etc. In 1963 he co-founded the Tone Roads Chamber Ensemble with Malcolm Goldstein and James Tenney; in 1972, with Julie Winter, the ensemble Sounds out of Silent Spaces (at whose performances took part Annea Lockwood, Alison Knowles, Ruth Anderson, and Tom Johnson); and in 1975, with Barbara Benary and Daniel Goode, the Gamelan Son of Lion. He experimented with both "action music" and "meditative music," electronic or concrete montages, proto-plunderphonic collages, graphic scores, verbal philosophical/poetic instructions, contemporary gamelans, extreme minimalism (in 1977 in New York his Elementals lasted 123 uninterrupted hours on a single note, played in turn by guests spanning from Beth Anderson, to Cage to Paik); but he also composed for string quartets, chamber music ensembles, and orchestras. As a visual artist he created countless assemblages, calligraphies, collages, drawings, paintings and objects made of various materials, showcased in museums and collections around the world. Corner has been living in Italy since 1992, and he presented several projects at AngelicA (amongst which an unprecedented trio with Joan La Barbara and Alvin Curran paying homage to Cage), but perhaps the most peculiar one has been Chorus at the Corner: A Joyfull Noise, a commission entirely dedicated to his compositions for choir. A concert made possible by the availability of two "resident" choirs at the festival.
CD $22
REINHOLD FRIEDL / MARTIN SIEWERT - Lichtung (KarlRecords 106; Germany) Reinhold Friedl (piano) meets Radian member Martin Siewert (guitar, electronics). Three spontaneous sonic explorations -- subtle and explosive! With over a dozen releases on Karlrecords, and a total output of more than 100 albums in general, Reinhold Friedl doesn't need much of an introduction to anyone interested in contemporary music/avantgarde: his ensemble Zeitkratzer is as respected as it is feared for its radical approach on music, and it seems redundant to mention all collaborators and projects. Friedl is known for his unique piano sound, his advanced techniques, and his musical intensity paired with precise exuberant sound constructions and consistent compositional thinking. He has cooperated with musicians from Phil Niblock to Lou Reed, Mario Bertoncini (Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) to Whitehouse, Laurie Anderson to Rashad Becker, and works as guest professor at various universities across Europe. The "multi-talented renaissance man" (as Naut Human turned it) is also known as a specialist for Iannis Xenakis, and curates the Perihel series on Karlrecords. Lichtung is the collaboration of Friedl and no other than Vienna-based Martin Siewert, himself a highly prolific and repudiated innovative guitar player and producer in groups like Radian and Trapist. Martin Siewert has played with the who-is-who in experimental and improvised music and has celebrated his strong musical identity in international collaborations with Otomo Yoshihide, Oren Ambarchi, Meg Stuart, Christian Fennesz, Sainkho Namtchylak, and The Necks. Siewert's guitar plays at the intersection of acoustic/electronic-generated sounds is unique, evoking echoes of krautrock and musique concrete to electronic jazz and avantgarde. Lichtung was recorded in Vienna: several studio meetings condensed to three intense tracks, a statement and musical adventure between noise and silence, subtle and explosive! Two musicians who couldn't be more diverse, and yet here -- in every sense -- they act in concert.
CD $18
DREW DANIEL / JOHN WIESE - Continuous Hole (Cold Spring Records 325CD; UK) This collaborative album by Drew Daniel (Matmos, The Soft Pink Truth) and John Wiese (Sissy Spacek, Smegma, LHD) is the fruit of over 10 years of recordings in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. Continuous Hole melds improvisation and musique concrète composition into a unique document of labor-intensive rhythm. A finger puzzle of reconciled opposites: lockstep structure and constant flux. Relentlessly variable source material is relegated to precisely timed gated forms and patterns. Without using any sampling or MIDI sequencing, the rhythmic cuts are constructed entirely from volcanic, gnarled abstraction, and eschew typical genre elements. Raw yet precise, from mayhem to menace, this is an album of strong contrasts from two American artists discovering common ground in the joy of frenzied cutting. "Abhorred Shears" is reminiscent of the cut-up works of Coil's LSD yet remains utterly unique. A prolific recording artist and visual artist with an extensive discography under his own name, and with noise stalwarts Sissy Spacek, John Wiese is currently based in Cleveland. One half of the electronic band Matmos and all of The Soft Pink Truth, Drew Daniel is based in Baltimore. Mastered by Thomas Dimuzio. Presented in a matt-laminate, six-panel digipak with photography by John Wiese. The cover photograph was shot by John Wiese in Drew Daniel's office on the campus of Johns Hopkins University where Daniel is a Shakespeare professor.
CD $17
SATORI (UK) - The Woods (Cold Spring Records 322CD; UK) Industrial/power electronics unit SATØRI returns with a new dark and disturbing journey into the very depths of human horror. Using his love of pure noise, harsh synths and brutal percussion, SATØRI has created a dystopian cinematic soundscape in which it would be entirely possible to lose your very soul. While the last two releases concentrated on what could be described as "observations on humanity's ability to drag itself down to its lowest common denominator", this new work focuses on a more localised depravity -- that of the lone wolf. An individual who, having no moral compass, has no boundaries to cross. Welcome to The Woods. CD in matt-laminate digipak with artwork by Abby Helasdottir.
CD $17
BURIAL HEX - In Hiding (Cold Spring Records 328CD; UK) In Hiding features a carefully curated selection of the crucial compilation tracks from horror electronics/post-industrial project Burial Hex, gathering and remastering them together, striving to create a resonance between disparate sources, forming an extraordinary new experience. After nearly 20 years of activity from this restless project, many Burial Hex compilation tracks have been released, often of a very unique and high quality as Clay Ruby seemed to enjoy taking compilation submission requests as an opportunity to offer new perspectives on their already bizarre and eclectic work. Many of the tracks were from cassettes, vinyl, or digital-only releases for labels such as Brave Mysteries, Aurora Borealis, Clan Destine, Small Doses, and Buh, appearing here on CD for the first time -- or in the case of "Pentitential March," never-before released. Clay Ruby has remixed each track, in some cases re-envisioning them specifically to live together coherently in this incarnation, making this collection more like a new studio album rather than another anthology compilation. Reveling in the intimate, feral surrealism that we have come to know without parallel from this intoxicating project, In Hiding is an excellent view into the romantic Promethean theater of Burial Hex, whether for the neophyte or the adept. For fans of: Coil, SPK, Psychic TV, Trepaneringsritualen. CD in matt-laminate digipak with artwork by Nathaniel Ritter.
CD $17
ANADOL - Uzun Havalar (Pingpung 06CD; Germany) Anadol is a psychedelic synth folk project by Gözen Atila, a Turkish sound artist and photographer based in Berlin. Her third album Uzun Havalar is based on collective improvisations of middle eastern folk songs called "uzun hava." They turn out as rich, atmospheric synth ballads. A diverse roster of improvising musicians creates their fascinating complexity. Anadol recorded them during extensive sessions in Istanbul. One can hear drummers laughing and playing guitars, composers howling, announcements in French and screams in no language, record collectors playing oscillators, and trumpets through spacious echoes. Anadol represents Gözen Atila's liberation from a rather academic approach to electronic composition which she pursued during her music technology studies in Istanbul. She calls her education the "darkness of serious music" where she first tried to belong, then to break free with the help of lo-fi synth pop. As a producer of radio plays and an expert field recording artist she has developed a distinct sense of timing, editing and sound design. Her Anadol project walks in the footsteps of lone synth experimentalists like Bruce Haack and The Space Lady with their childlike curiosity for electronic sounds, pushing the boundaries of minimal equipment. On Uzun Havalar she translates her experimental background into these floating folk ballads. The album was originally released on tape via Kinship in 2018.
CD $22
UMEKO ANDO - Ihunke (Pingipung 060CD; Germany) Umeko Ando (1932-2004) was a folk singer from Japan. She was a representative of the Ainu culture on the Hokkaido Island in the north of Japan. Ihunke is her first album which was recorded with the Ainu musician and dub producer Oki Kano in 2000. The 16 Ainu songs on Ihunke are delicate, natural gems. They are built on Oki Kano's tonkori patterns (a five-string harp), over which Umeko Ando develops her repetitive, mantric vocals, often in a call-and-response manner. Oki Kano is one of very few professional tonkori players who performs worldwide with his Oki Dub Ainu Band. The songs possess a mystical energy -- when crows call accurately with Ando's brittle voice in the first song, it seems like natural powers join in with her music. Her voice sounds like animals of the sky and the forest. Oki Kano: "It was a lot of fun to record with Umeko Ando. Many Ainu hesitate to break from tradition -- if Umeko hadn't been so flexible to work with the younger generation and recording technology, this album would never have happened. Our sessions were intense, and we were proud and happy about making such beautiful music." Only recently (in 2008) have the Ainu officially been acknowledged as indigenous people who are culturally independent from Japan. This record is an example of how their music has been passed on through generations in the underground Ainu communities while it was oppressed by the Japanese hegemony. It deserves a huge audience. Includes liner notes and download code.
CD $26
DMG BOOK DEPARTMENT:
* JASON WEISS - Listenings (Spuyten Duyvil.net; NYC; USA) A fascinating read. I’ve known writer Jason Weiss for quite a while talking to him as a friend and kindred Spirit of serious listening, even before I found out that he was a writer as well. Mr. Weiss has written essential reds like Steve Lacy - “Conversations” (2006) and “Always In Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk - The Most Outrageous Record Label In America” (Wesleyan Univ) from 2011. He also produced and wrote notes for Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartets - Early and Late (Cuneiform Records) and worked with Kip Hanrahan.
This book is a series of around 90 short 1-5 page chapters. Each one deals with some aspect of “listening”. Weiss tells many a different stories about his in New Jersey suburbia (with 30-40 minutes from where I grew up and live nearby). What I find most interesting is that we often take our listening experiences for granted. In this book, Mr. Weiss considers the many ways we experience and think about what we are hearing or have heard. I stuck this book in my backpack for the past month and pulled it out while riding the train in from NJ to my store in Chinatown, NYC, often reading just 1 or 2 chapters at a time and then thinking about whatever points or observations that Weiss is making. Weiss often talks about gigs that he’s attended and/or records that he is listening to or has heard somewhere. Sometimes an observation he’s made doesn’t quite sink in yet so I go back and reread a chapter and think about it again. Considering that Mr. Weiss is around the same age as me and that he also have lived in NJ for most of his life, I find that a number of his musical experiences (like catching the Dead and the Allman’s at the Fillmore) are similar to mine. This is a most interesting and useful book to read. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
BOOK $16 [250 pages soft-covered, novel size]
* JASON WEISS will be reading from & signing copies of his book this Tuesday, February 13th at DMG at 6:30
BROOKE WENTZ // LAURIE ANDERSON / BILL FRISELL / MORTON SUBOTNIK / JOAN LA BARBARA / JOHN CAGE / ARTHUR RUSSELL / PHILIP GLASS / DAVID BEHRMAN / FRED FRITH / WAYNE HORVITZ / ASTOR PIAZZOLLA / RAVI SHANKAR / et al - Transfigured New York: Interviews with Experimental Artists and Musicians, 1980-1990 (Columbia University Press 9780231210881; USA) "Transfigured New York presents conversations with iconic, genre-bending artists who shaped the sounds of experimental movements like no wave, avant-jazz, and electronic music. As an undergrad in the 1980s, Brooke Wentz hosted the show Transfigured Night on Columbia University's WKCR-FM, discussing art and ideas with avant-garde music luminaries. She unearths these candid interviews--heard before only when first broadcast -- from cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, letting readers today feel the excitement and creative energy of the 1980s New York underground scene. Musicians and artists, now icons of their craft, tell their stories and share their thoughts about the creative process, capturing the ambition and energy that animated their work. Legends in the making like Bill Frisell, Philip Glass, and Laurie Anderson convey what it was like to be a struggling artist in 1980s New York, when the city was alive with possibilities. Others who were well known at the time, including John Cage, La Monte Young, and Ravi Shankar, advocate for their distinctive ideas about art and open up about their creative lives. Featuring an astonishing range of interviewees - Morton Subotnick, Joan Tower, Steve Reich, Glenn Branca, Joan La Barbara, Living Colour, Arthur Russell, John Lurie, Eric Bogosian, Bill T. Jones, and many more -- Transfigured New York provides new insight into the city's cultural landscape in this era. It is a one-of-a-kind account of one of the most exhilarating and inventive periods for art and culture in New York City's history." Hardcover; 400 pages.
I attended a book launch/party for this essential book last month at Roulette and I am working my way through reading the entire book for the second time now. I used to hangout at WKCR at Columbia University and occasionally co-host a show with Ted Goldberg called Transfigured Night in the late 70’s/early 1980’s. Brooke Wentz was also a DJ at that time and I heard her show on occasion. Ms. Wentz obviously worked hard to learn about and play a wide variety of different progressive musics for her radio show. She’s done her homework are asks challenging, thoughtful questions to all of the musicians, composers and assorted artists for this book. The mid-eighties was an extraordinary time for New Music in NYC and this book captures the spirit/thoughts of the artists who created the Downtown and Uptown Creative Music Scene. Wonderful in many ways! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
BOOK $40
LP SECTION:
FRED FRITH - Guitar Solos/Fifty (Week-End Records We 005LP; Germany) Guitar Solos is the debut solo album of British guitarist, composer, and improviser Fred Frith. It was recorded while Frith was still a member of the English experimental rock group Henry Cow and was released originally in October 1974. Voted one of the best albums of 1974 by NME critics it also attracted the attention of Brian Eno, resulting in Frith playing guitar on two of Eno's albums. Frith's never tiring spirit in creating and performing music has made him one of the most notable and creative guitar players and musicians in the scene of improvised and composed music. For the anniversary of this release, Week-End Records have encouraged Frith to arrange a set up similar to what he used 50 years ago to record an album of new compositions which will accompany the original record.
2 LP Set $54
HAINO KEIJI / JIM O'ROURKE / OREN AMBARCHI - With Pats On The Head, Just One Too Few Is Evil One Too Many Is Good That's All It Is (Black Truffle 113LP; Australia) The heavyweight trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke, and Oren Ambarchi return with their 12th and most epic release to date, the triple LP With pats on the head, just one too few is evil one too many is good that's all it is. Documenting the entirety of their final performance at the dearly departed Roppongi home of Tokyo underground institution SuperDeluxe in November 2018, the music spread across these six sides splits the difference between the guitar-bass-drums power trio moves and experiments with novel instrumentation that have defined the trio's decade of working together. Containing some of the most delicate music the three have committed to wax since the gorgeous 12-string acoustic guitar and dulcimer tones of Only wanting to melt beautifully away is it a lack of contentment that stirs affection for those things said to be as of yet unseen, this wide-ranging release also offers up some of their most blistering free rock performances yet. The side-long opening piece finds Haino on a single snare drum in duet with O'Rourke on unamplified electric guitar, playing in the lovely post-Bailey vein heard on his classic '90s recordings with Henry Kaiser and Mats Gustafsson. For the first trio performance, Haino makes another new addition to his seemingly infinite catalogue of instruments, this time a homemade contraption he refers to as "Strings of Dubious Reputation." Joined by O'Rourke on increasingly spaced-out electric guitar and Ambarchi on skittering percussion, Haino's wonky, slack strings adds a definite "musique brut" edge to this side-long performance, certainly one of the most enchantingly odd in the trio's discography. Arriving in a deluxe trifold package with photos by Lasse Marhaug alongside inner sleeves with extensive live images, this epic release is perhaps the most remarkable document yet of this unique trio's stamina and continuing inventiveness.
3 LP Set $65
KRZYSZTOF KOMEDA with ALLAN BOTSCHINSKY / RUNE CARLSSON / et al - Ballet Etudes (Honey Pie Records 091LP; Italy) Recorded at the 1962 Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw and originally released in 1963 on Danish Metronome label, here's a true gem from one of the most important figures in Polish music and a founding father of European jazz. Ballet Etudes was one of the three full LPs released during Krzysztof Komeda's short lifetime. His fluent modern jazz conception was a perfect synthesis between the American influence and the European harmonic complexity, a unique kind of marriage colored by a clear Slavic lyricism. For many years considered a rare collector item Ballet Etudes comes back to life as a major statement in East-European music history. Featuring Allan Botschinsky (trumpet), Jan Wróblewski (tenor sax), Krzysztof Komeda (piano), Roman Dylag (bass), and Rune Carlsson (drums).
LP $26
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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
*******
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / REBEKAH HELLER / FEB 7–10
2/7 Wednesday
8:30 pm - CROSSFADES QUARTET - Isabel Lepanto Gleicher (flutes) Shara Lunon (vocals, electronics) Clara Warnaar (percussion, electronics) Rebekah Heller (bassoon, vocals)
2/8 Thursday
8:30 pm - TRIO - Rebekah Heller (bassoon) Jessie Cox (drums) Joy Guidry (bassoon)
2/9 Friday
8:30 pm - DUO - Fay Victor (voice) Rebekah Heller (bassoon)
2/10 Saturday
8:30 pm - TRIO - Wendy Eisenberg (guitar) Brian Chase (drums) Rebekah Heller (bassoon)
THE STONE RESIDENCIES / TOMAS FUJIWARA / FEB 14–17
2/14 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Billy Ray Valentine Trio; Mary Halvorson (guitar) Henry Fraser (bass) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
2/15 Thursday
8:30 pm - Tomas Fujiwara Percussion Quartet: Dream Up - Patricia Brennan (vibraphone) Kaoru Watanabe (taiko) Tim Keiper (percussion) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
2/16 Friday
8:30 pm - FIRST DUO
Jason Moran (piano) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
2/17 Saturday
8:30 pm - The Return of Plutonia: For Greg Tate
Matana Roberts (saxophone) Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
THE STONE is located in
The New School at the Glass Box Theatre
55 West 13th Street - near 6th ave
LIVE MUSIC
wed-sat
music at 8:30pm
ADMISSION
$20 per set
unless otherwise noted
cash only payment
*******
TERTON CD Release Concert
Sunday, February 11th at 7pm
Featuring:
LOUIE BELOGENIS - Tenor & Soprano Saxes
TREVOR DUNN - Bass
RYAN SAWYER - Drums
At Zurcher Gallery
33 Bleecker St, just east of Lafayette
Take the F train to Broadway & Lafayette or
The 6 train to Bleecker St.
NY, NY, 10012
*******
MOPPA ELLIOTT TOUR DATES
Tues, Feb. 20 – Rhizome, 6950 Maple St. NW, Washington, DC
7 p.m. Tickets $25.
Mostly Other People Do The Killing (MOPDtK) celebrates the release of Disasters Vol. 2 on Hot Cup Records. The album is a follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 release, Disasters Vol. 1.
https://www.rhizomedc.org/new-events/2024/2/20/mostly-other-people-do-the-killing-sarah-marie-hughes-and-derrick-michaels
Wed, Feb. 21 – Fire Museum, Philadelphia, PA
7:30 p.m. Tickets $10-$20 sliding scale.
Fire Museum Presents MOPDtK and Advancing on a Wild Pitch celebrating their new albums Disasters Vol. 2 and Jonesville. Performance takes place at Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement, 1542 East Montgomery Avenue
Thur, Feb. 22 –– The Cutting Room, 44 East 32nd Street, NYC
7 p.m. Tickets: $20
Hot Cup Records presents an Album Release Evening featuring three bands.
Mostly Other People Do the Killing celebrating "Disasters Vol. 1"
Advancing on a Wild Pitch celebrating "Disasters Vol. 2"
Acceleration Due to Gravity celebrating "Jonesville: Music by and for Sam Jones" https://wl.seetickets.us/event/mostly-other-people-do-the-killing/582194?afflky=TheCuttingRoom
Fri, Feb. 23 – The Bop Shop, 1460 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY
8 p.m. Tickets: $20 MOPDtK
https://bopshop.com/events/mostly-other-people-do-the-killing-1
Sat, Feb. 24 – Jazz at the Coop, The Cooperage, 1030 Main St., Honesdale, PA
7 p.m. Tickets: $15 MOPDtK and Advancing on a Wild Pitch.
https://allevents.in/honesdale/jazz-night-at-the-coop/200025940871819
Bands & Personnel
MOPDtK: Moppa Elliott, bass; Ron Stabinsky, keyboards; Kevin Shea, drums.
Advancing on a Wild Pitch: Sam Kulik, trombone; Charles Evans, bari sax; Danny Fox, piano; Moppa Elliott, bass; Christian Coleman, drums.
Acceleration Due to Gravity: Bobby Spellman, trumpet; Dave Taylor, trombone; Matt Nelson, alto saxophone; Stacy Dillard, tenor saxophone; Kyle Saulnier, baritone saxophone; Ava Mendoza, guitar; George Burton, piano; Moppa Elliott, bass; Mike Pride, drums.
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Article by GARY LUCAS:
This is an honest explanation/understanding of what is currently going on in Israel, please read and think about before you come to any quick conclusions.
“JEWS DO COUNT”
at CultureCatch.com
https://culturecatch.com/node/4237
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NEW VIDEOS from GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnWxohqx4tY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj8-LKNXKuE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy9PwsO5umk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQ7nvA68pA
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CHRIS CUTLER
Formerly of HENRY COW, THE ART BEARS, NEWS FOR BABEL & RECOMMENDED RECORDS (ReR) has been creating an ongoing series of podcasts called the Probes series. I am often fascinated at listening to each of these as Mr. Cutler does an incredible job of showing a deep history of Creative Music in the 20th century & beyond. I usually listen to these on the train to NYC that I take to get to work each day. The most recent Probes (#36) was released a few weeks ago, here is the links:
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-37
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-36
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-362-auxiliaries
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ATTENTION TO ALL DMG CUSTOMERS: NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: downtownmusicgalleryofficial@gmail.com
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