Happy Holidays to All DMG Newsletter Readers!



A Short But Festive List of Goodies:

Schweizer/Schoof/Wilen/Neumeier 1967! Joseph Daley's Earth Tones Ensemble! Radigue/Oliveros/Wada! Langille & Murgai Duo LP!

Albert Mangelsdorff & Reto Percussion Orchestra!Giancinto Scelsi Piano Works 4! Basil Kirchin!

Rare Miles Davis box editions!

and Even More Yule-Time Treasures!




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Downtown Music Gallery FREE In-Store Performance Schedule Continues with:


Sunday, December 19th at 6pm:
RAS MOSHE- Sax & Flute / ANDERS NILSSON - Guitar/ SHAYNA DULBERGER - Bass/ ANDREW DRURY - Drums! This quartet rules - don't miss them!


December 26th & January 2nd - Happy Holidays! No In-Store


Friday, January 7th, 2011 at 6:30pm:
KEN ALDCROFT & WILLIAM PARKER!
Toronto Guitarist & Downtown Bass Great's Second DMG Hit!


Sunday, January 9th at 6pm:
LA GHIMA featuring: GL DIANA & FREDERIKA KRIER!
New Electronics/Sitar & Violin Duo!


Sunday, January 16th, 2011 Double-Header featuring:
6pm: JOACHIM BADENHORST / FRANTZ LORIOT / PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER!
New Reeds / Viola / Acoustic Bass Trio Just back from European Tour!
7pm: DARIUS JONES & BEN GERSTEIN! Amazing Alto Sax & Trombone Duo!


Sunday, January 23rd, 2011 at 6pm:
Clean Feed Recording Artists: HNH featuring:
JOE HERTENSTEIN / PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER / THOMAS HEBERER!


Sunday, January 30th, 2011 at 6pm:
MIKE BAGGETTA / KIRK KNUFFKE / JEFF DAVIS!
Outstanding New Guitar/Trumpet/Drums Trio!


Sunday, February 13th Solos Double-Header:
6pm: MAX JOHNSON - Solo Contrabass!
7pm: DAVE GROLLMAN - Solo Snare Drum!


Sunday, February 27th at 6pm:
BILL BUCHEN - Sonic Percussion!


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Tzadik/East Village Jewish Music Festival Featuring:

Ayn Sof Arkestra & Bigger Band, Hasidic New Wave, Midnight Minyan, Pitom, Rashanim and poet Jake Marmer

This Saturday, Dec 25 8:30pm
at Sixth Street Synagogue, NY, NY

Community Synagogue/Max D. Raiskin Center
325 E. Sixth Street (between 1st Ave. and 2nd Ave.), NYC
212.473.3665 / info@sixthstreetsynagogue.org

Admission $25 ($20 students/advance sales) - sixthstreetsynagogue.org/


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CAPTAIN BEEFHEART has departed Terra..

Don Van Vliet, a/k/a Captain Beefheart, the one the greatest of all singers, poets, bandleaders & visual artists died on December 17th after struggling with MS for near two decades. From 1966 to 1982, Mr. Vliet fronted Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, one of the most avant-garde and influential of all rock bands, emerging from the LA freak scene of the mid-sixties.
In high school, Don Van Vliet & Frank Zappa were friends and early collaborators, sharing a love of the blues and R&B. Originally inspired by & even sounding-like Howlin' Wolf, Vliet had a bizarre, distinctive voice that he used in his own weird way, as well as playing soprano sax or musette on occasion. The Magic Band included a number of great musicians who went on to other important careers on their own: Ry Cooder, Jeff Cotton, Elliott Ingber (Antennae Jimmy Semens), Bill Harkleroad (Zoot Horn Rollo), Rockette Morton, John French (Drumbo), Roy Estrada, Bruce Fowler, Eric Drew Feldman & Gary Lucas. Both the music he created and the lyrics he wrote for the Magic Band were completely original and often brilliant. At college (1972-76), my roommates & I spent hours trying to decipher the layers of meaning that Captain Beefheart's lyrics dealt with. I had the good fortune to witness Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band perform live a half dozen times between 1975 & 1981 and was blown away each & every time. Mr. Vliet retired from performing in 1982 to concentrate on his painting and had had a number of successful gallery exhibitions around the world since.
Here're recommended Captain Beefheart's albums which are essential to an appreciation of experimental/rock in the twentieth century:


1.Safe as Milk (1967)
2.Strictly Personal (1968)
3.Mirror Man (1968)
4.Trout Mask Replica (1969)
5.Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970)
6.The Spotlight Kid (1972)
7.Clear Spot (1972)
8.Shiny Beast or Bat Chain Puller (1978)
9.Doc at the Radar Station (1980)
10.Ice Cream for Crow (1982)


Distant cousins
There's a limited supply
And we're down to the dozens
And this why
Big-Eyed Beans from Venus!
My Oh My!


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IRENE SCHWEIZER/MANFRED SCHOOF/BARNEY WILEN/MANI NEUMEIER/ULI TREPTE + DEWAN MOTIHAR TRIO - Jazz Meets India (MPS/Promising; Germany) Years before John McLaughlin began a deep investigation into the music of India that resonates to this day, there was Jazz Meets India. It wasn't the first time that Indian music had crept into popular western culture - The Beatles and John Coltrane, amongst others, had already seen to that - but this 1967 MPS date was an early experimental meshing of linear Eastern modality with free jazz improv. There have been plenty of failed cross-cultural experiments, but thanks to Promising Music's ongoing MPS reissue series, this conjoined octet consisting of Irene Schweizer Trio (including European improvisers Uli Trepte and Mani Neumeier, who together would go on to form Guru Guru), along with the Dewan Motihar Trio (traditional Indian classicists including Kusum Thakur and Keshav Sathe), and horn players Manfred Schoof and Barney Wilen, proves an unqualified success.
Comprising only three compositions - two extended pieces and one relatively brief one at just over five minutes - the premise of Jazz Meets India arose when MPS producer Joachim Ernst Berendt asked pianist Irene Schweizer's drummer, Mani Neumeier, if he had any connection with Indian musicians. The drummer had studied with sitarist/tablaist Dewan Motihar a couple years earlier in London, and Motihjar was, himself, a student of Ravi Shankar - already on the ascendancy to international stardom at this time. With Neumeier's insistence of including saxophonist Barney Wilen, and the additional of trumpeter Manfred Schoof, this mix of eastern and western instruments works precisely because, at the core of all three pieces, is a fundamental that's not jazzed up, nor toned down. Instead, both sides moving towards a common middle ground where individual authenticity remains, while creating something fresh and exciting.
The 17-minute "Sun Love," co-written by Motihar and Neumeier, begins steeped in Indian traditionalism, with Kusum Thakur's droning tambura and Motihar's sitar patiently finding their way to a tablaist Keshav Sathe's more defined pulse. Schweizer's trio doesn't enter until after the four-minute mark, but when they do, they're clearly coming from a space heralded by Coltrane - albeit more gently - as Neumeier injects a 6/8 swing over Sathe's longer rhythmic pattern. Bringing a chordal instrument into the mix of this largely linear music could displace it, but instead Schweizer's increasingly active playing respects the piece's inherent modality, drawing on McCoy Tyner for inspiration but going to areas of even freer expressionism. Schoof - whose recently reissued 2CD set of early ECM recordings Resonance (in 2009) was nothing short of revelational - plays with equal license, as does Wilen, who adopts a less nasal tone than that of Coltrane's.
"Yaad" provides a brief moment of contemplation, Wilen's saxophone a delicate foil for Motihan's gentle singing, but it's Schoof's closing "Brigach and Ganges" that's Jazz Meets India's greatest success. Starting with Uli Trepte's microtonal-centric bowed bass and some empathic yet lyrical interaction between Schoof and Wilen, over the course of 14 minutes it builds towards the disc's greatest reckless abandon; Neumeier and Scweizer, in particular, playing with unbridled fire matched, perhaps surprisingly, by Motihan.
Neither east nor west, yet redolent of both, Jazz Meets India is an overlooked gem from the MPS catalogue, one that may have seemed more innovative at the time of its release, but which remains engaging nearly 45 years after it was first recorded.
CD $23


ALBERT MANGELSDORFF & RETO WEBER PERCUSSION ORCHESTRA - Live At Montreux 1994 (DoubleMoon/Challenge 71009; EEC) The late legendary German trombonist, Albert Mangelsdorff, continually challenged himself throughout his long career playing in a variety of different situations from solo to duos (w/ Lee Konitz) to trios (Jaco Pastorius & Alphonse Mouzon) to quartets (w/ John Surman, Barre Phillips & Stu Martin) to orchestras (NDR Big Band & Globe Unity). This is Mangelsdorff's second disc with Reto Weber's Percussion Orchestra which includes two guests: Nana Twum Nketia (from Ghana) on African percussion and Keyvan Chemirani (from Iran) on zarb, a Persian dumbek or hand-drum.
Mangelsdorff & Swiss percussionist Reto Weber had been doing duo performances since 1975, so they have developed a special connection through the years. The first piece is just skeletal percussion (mostly clicking sounds) and it has a most festive vibe. A steel drummer takes the lead on "Looking Back" with the rest of the percussion joining & building upon it while Mangelsdorff takes a strong solo on top. The groove eventually slows down while Albert engages in a different dialogue with the percussion. This piece escalates to an exciting conclusion as the percussion erupts. On each piece, the percussion orchestra established a strong rhythmic center that keeps the vibe joyous and often intoxicating. The diversity of rhythmic structures on this disc is what makes it so good as each piece explores different and ever-shifting percussive terrain. Mr. Mangelsdorff's astonishing multi-phonic trombone explorations are featured on "Bone Blue", certainly one of the highlights of this disc. For fans of the late, great Albert Mangelsdorff as well as fans of amazing percussion ensembles, this is truly a treasure chest. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16


[JOE] JOSEPH DALEY EARTH TONE ENSEMBLE With MARTY EHRLICH/HOWARD JOHNSON/LEW SOLOFF/GARY VALENTE/CRAIG S HARRIS/BOB STEWART/VINCENT CHANCEY/ONAJE ALLAN GUMBS/WARREN SMITH/SATOSHI TAKEISHI et al - The Seven Deadly Sins [CD + DVD] (Jaro 4302/03; Germany) [While supplies last, you will receive a BONUS DVD [20 minutes] of the film of The Seven Deadly Sins by Robert O'Haire & Jeff Burns!]
Joseph Daley-Composer, Conductor, Euphonium, Tuba; Marty Ehrlich-Soprano sax; Jimmy Cozier-Alto sax; Tenor Sax: Bill Saxton, Bob DeBellis, Steve Elson; Howard Johnson-Baritone Sax, Contrabass Clarinet, Tuba; Scott Robinson-Bass Saxophone, Sarrusophone, Contrabass, Saxophone; Trumpets: Lou Soloff, Stanton Davis, Eddie Allen, Reggie Pittman, Stephen Haynes, Pamela Fleming; Trombones: Gary Valente, Alfred Patterson, Craig Harris, Reut Regev; Earl McIntyre-Bass Trombone & Tuba; Bob Stewart-Tuba; French Horns: Vincent Chancey, Mark Taylor; Onaje Allan Gumbs-Piano; Benjamin Brown-Contrabass, Electric Bass, Tuba; Warren Smith-Vibraphone, Marimba, and Percussion; Buddy Williams-Drum set, Percussion; Satoshi Takeishi-Asian Drum set, Percussion; William Bausch-Timbales, Percussion; Richard Huntley-Percussion; Bill Barrett-Harmonica This band is truly well grounded - the tones that dominate its music seem to come from the deepest depths of the earth, which is the reason Joseph Daley called his big band The Earth Tones Ensemble.
He was interested in using the rich colours of the earth as an inspiration for the orchestral textures used in his compositions. The line-up accordingly includes a large number of instruments in the area of the deepest basses, and the band leader quite deliberately has them play into the very lowest registers possible. "I wanted to make the timbres of the low-pitched instruments the core of my composition, and wanted the other instruments to be able to rest on those deep tones". Joseph Daley is himself a 'low brass specialist', plays the euphonium, trombone and tuba, a native of New York. He has worked, toured and recorded with many of the members of this ensemble. When he asked them to be part of the unusual Earth Tones Ensemble project, they all agreed: Howard Johnson and Scott Robinson, played bass giants rarely seen and heard, for example, the contrabass clarinet, the contrabass saxophone and the bass sarrusophone. (a bass instrument developed in the nineteenth century by Frenchman Pierre-Auguste Sarrus and akin to the saxophone). The appearance of these colossi alone is impressive, to say nothing of their sound, next to them the tuba, euphonium and bass trombone played by Bob Stewart, Joseph Daley and Earl McIntrye appear small.
But not just the deep bass instrumentalists accompanied Daley into the studio. The names of the other musicians - Marty Ehrlich, Lou Soloff, Stanton Davis, Gary Valente, Vincent Chancey, to name just a few reads like a Who's Who of American jazz. It really is an illustrious twenty-five member big band Daley rounded up for his compositions.
He has a fabulous team at his disposal, and he says, "I wanted to have instrumental voices that are unique, but also characterized by strong spiritual sublimity." Without exception, they are musicians Daley knows well, musicians whose special style and technique he is familiar with, and he was accordingly able to tailor his music to each of them, a circumstance to which every note testifies. Daley was interested in them as outstanding musicians but more importantly "that they're first-class listeners", who were able to perceive what's going on around them and draw musical conclusions from it. But who is Joseph Daley? Many jazz fans are likely to own one album or more CDs on which he is responsible for the bass foundation. Born in Harlem in 1949, Daley received his training at the Manhattan School of Music and has played in many of the trend-setting large formations since the early seventies: the Gil Evans Orchestra, the Carla Bley Band, Sam Rivers Rivbea Orchestra, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra, etc.
One of the first stops along his way was the brass section of the Taj Mahal Tuba band, where he along with Howard Johnson, Bob Stewart and Earl McIntyre was responsible for the weighty bass groove. Taj Mahal recruited the members of the tuba band from the innovative six tuba ensemble called Gravity which was under the leadership of the great Howard Johnson. This ensemble likewise devoted to the deep registers, and to which Joseph naturally belonged. The list of prime jazz addresses where Daley has been at home goes on and on.
Daley is currently a member of one of the most interesting bands coming out of New York - Hazmat Modine, an ensemble which defies all stylistic classification because it impetuously mingles blues, klezmer, Balkan beats, jazz and rock. The head of Hazmat Modine, singer, guitarist and harmonica player Wade Schuman, in turn played a central role in the creation of Joseph Daley's composition The Seven Deadly Sins. Apart from being a musician, Schuman is first and foremost a visual artist, and has painted a cycle on The Seven Deadly Sins which Daley has translated into sound.
CD $16

also available..

HAZMAT MODINE [WADE SCHUMAN/RANDY WEINSTEIN/JOE DALEY/MICHAEL GOMEZ/PETE SMITH/PAM FLEMING/RICH HUNTLEY] - Bahamut (Barbes 14; USA) It's a fairly good bet you won't hear another record like Bahamut any time soon -- because there isn't one. Hazmat Modine tap into the deepest veins of raw, unpolluted prewar blues and ancient jazz, then whip them up in a blender, tossing in strains of Caribbean calypso and ska, Eastern European klezmer and Balkan brass, Middle Eastern mystery, and more than a few unidentifiable elements that just somehow fit. The result is music that sounds at once ageless and primeval, authentically indigenous and inexplicably otherworldly, familiar and unlike anything else. Hazmat Modine revolve around the vision of Wade Schuman, a virtuoso on the diatonic and chromatic harmonicas and a variety of guitars who then mixes and matches his machines to a variety of other instruments till he arrives at that place his head has been visiting. Those instruments include the commonplace (drums, trumpets), the unexpected (Hawaiian steel guitar, lots of tubas), and those you're just not going to find down at the local music shop (cimbalom, zamponia, claviola). With that arsenal and sympathetic players at hand, Schuman invents. Sometimes, as in "Lost Fox Train," he's on his own, unreeling a thrilling solo harmonica piece that nudges the instrument out past the town limits. Alone again on "Ugly Rug," it's just Schuman and his lute guitar. For "It Calls Me" (on which Schuman's usually rough-hewn vocals slide up the scale and recall the late Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson of Canned Heat), "Everybody Loves You," and "Man Trouble," he brings in the legendary Tuvan throat singers Huun-Huur-Tu, whose amphibian warblings may or may not have met up with tuba and Hawaiian steel guitar before, but probably never within the same song. If all of this sounds a bit deliberate and precious, the relieving news is that it's not. Hazmat Modine are unconventional in every sense, but theirs is listener-friendly music, nothing that requires a degree in ethnomusicology to enjoy. Many other bands, from Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks to the Cheap Suit Serenaders, and from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band to Squirrel Nut Zippers, have mined forgotten caves of Americana before, but Hazmat Modine's widened the playing field here, taking the resurrection international on this stunning debut. ~ Jeff Tamarkin
CD $15


Four CDs featuring Ken Aldcroft!

KEN ALDCROFT'S CONVERGENCE ENSEMBLE With EVAN SHAW/NICOLE RAMPERSAUD/SCOTT THOMSON/WES NEAL/JOE SORBARA - Our Hospitality (Trio 10; Canada) Featuring Ken Aldcroft on guitar, Evan Shaw on alto sax, Nicole Rampersaud on trumpet, Scott Thomson on trombone, Wes Neal on bass and Joe Sorbara on drums. Both William Parker and Anthony Braxton have sung the praises of the ever-expanding Toronto new music scene over the past few years, with both leaders working with the cream of that particular scene. The Guelph Jazz Fest, which is an hour's drive north of Toronto, has also spotlighted a number of these fine players over its long history. The AIM Orchestra is an amazing Toronto-based institution which has performed and recorded with Anthony Braxton. Guitarist Ken Aldcroft played a fine duo set here at DMG earlier this year (2010) with William Parker and both men will be back to do another duo on January 7th here at DMG at 6:30. Ken recently sent us four titles to review, all listed here for the first time.
I recognize just a few of these names from other discs on the Spool or Barnyard labels, both of which are also based in Toronto. Although perhaps half of this music was mostly improvised in the studio, there is a some direction going on as themes or ideas seem to develop and expand. Even with six musicians involved, the music steers clear of free over-density. On the title piece, the drummer establishes a slow repeating rhythmic undertow that holds the piece together while the horns & guitar intertwine in tight sputters. Towards the last section of this piece, the sextet hit their stride with a great swashbuckling theme. I dig the way Ken splits the band up on "Study In" - the rhythm team spins in one direction while the guitar & horns play a theme spinning tightly from another direction. Eventually all parties meet when the central theme comes together. Nearly all of the pieces have a crafty written section within the freer introductions and/or conclusions and these are the best parts, like diamonds shining through the haze of indeterminacy. Looking forward to hearing and reviewing the other three discs from Ken Aldcroft and his cohorts. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery CD $14 KEN ALDCROFT'S CONVERGENCE ENSEMBLE With EVAN SHAW/SCOTT THOMSON/WES NEAL/JOE SORBARA - Trolleys (Trio 09; Canada) Toronto-based guitarist KEN ALDCROFT has been issuing record- ings by his Convergence Ensemble since around 2005. A five-piece group, it's an ensemble that mixes the leader's creative com- positions with first rate improvising. The band consists of Aldcroft (g), Evan Shaw (as), Scott Thomson (tbn), Wes Neal (b), and Joe Sorbara (d). The only musician of whom I've previously heard is Sorbara who was the drummer in Glen Hall's Trio Muo. He's superb for Aldcroft's music, a drummer with a lot of imagination, pays attention to detail, and knows when to drive a soloist and when to ornament the music. The other players are also able to navigate this complex music easily.
Aldcroft's compositions don't rely on the typical theme-solos-theme format. He stretches the material out. At times, it lies at the bluesier end of the spectrum, at others in a far more abstract zone. Aldcroft's music seems to be pitched somewhere between Mingus and Braxton. While each player gets his solo sections, these players seem just as comfortable engaging in group interplay as well as standing out front. But all five players acquit themselves well and this album points to a creative ensemble worth investigating. Let's hope there's more in the offing. Recommended! - Robert Iannapollo, Cadence
CD $14

KEN ALDCROFT - Vocabulary: Solo Guitar Improvisations (Trio 08; Canada) Aldcroft is an active and lively member of the Toronto Jazz scene. This is my first exposure to him and I am happy to have had the opportunity to review the CD at hand. A solo guitar outing is a challenge to the artist. A guitar is somewhere between a piano and a horn. It can and does lend itself to harmonic complexities but nothing lies quite as easily on the hands as does a piano (although of course there are things a great pianist does that are far from 'easy' to the average technician). The guitar also lends itself to the textures and varieties of tone a horn or woodwind can produce, but not entirely as a natural thing. The guitar does not handle vocal qualities as a truly normal component of its sounding. So the guitarist has to work harder to get the variety of harmonic and tonal nuances that a solo concert demands. If successful, it is very much so; if it doesn't come off it can be an incredible snore. Does maestro Aldcroft succeed? Read on.
The program begins with a rather electric, somewhat distorted version of post-Bailey dissonances, then less distorted and more thematic material. Playing around with a melodic fragment that sounds like part of "Going Home" (Dvorak/Spiritual), Aldcroft then expands outward to longer jagged phrases, then to strummed melodies within dissonant chords.
He next adopts a mellower acoustic-electric tone and phrasing that suggests traditional Jazz solo guitar - but it's more dissonant with less harmonically standard intervals. Aldcroft then plays along with himself via looped phrases on a digital-delay device, building some interesting moments of orchestral counterpoint. A thicker texture evolves with dampened strings and delay. The sound is almost in the Surf mode - but then gets widely dissonant with a large spectrum of pitch ranges. A more Fuzzy sound comes into play and then he tops off the recital with an interesting bout of string tapping. In sum Aldcroft shows good sense in creating a spontaneous, very musical structure in what could otherwise have been an hour of aimless noodling. It is one of the better avant solo guitar outings I've heard in recent years and puts him in the rank of musicians to watch and listen to expectantly in the time to come. - Grego Applegate Edwards, Cadence
CD $14

ALANIARIS [MICHAEL KALER/KEN ALDCROFT/MARK ZURAWINSKI] - Live At Somewhere There (Trio 11; Canada) Combining rock, jazz, surf and Eastern European traditions, this Toronto based trio effortlessly glide beyond stylistic boundaries into the outlandish sonic region formerly occupied by everyone's favourite cultural pranksters, Sun City Girls. Guitarist Ken Aldcroft, drummer Mark Zurawinski and bassist Michael Kaler have been gigging for less than two years, yet their plentiful synergy is on display during every instant of this recording. With a mix of Greek traditional songs and original compositions, Live at Somewhere There showcases the vast range and talent of the players and the sheer ferocity with which they perform. There isn't a second of awkwardness present - Aldcroft, Kaler and Zurawinski are adept listeners, responding in turn to the expert manoeuvrings of the other players. Craftily executed, Live at Somewhere There is a stunning document of a trio at the height of their power. - Bryon Hayes
CD $14


DIMITRI VOUDOURIS - Alpha Lambda Theta = Psi / UVIV / 1:Theta Psi 4 / O N T A (Pogus 21056; USA) Dimitri Voudouris is Greek living in South Africa doing electronic music. So, needless to say his story sounds a bit unique from the get go. Well, surprisingly enough, this disc was played blindly to me by our beloved Bruce Gallanter and it actually impressed me (BLG knows I'm a hard nut to crack). What grabbed me was his compositions straddling the old and far reaching to the new, a bit of a sonic bridge for lack of better terms. I'm a sucker for all things INA GRM related, and if I was truly blindfolded, i would have first thought this was from that particular studio of electronic music known for their elegantly contorting of tones. Here he explores the straight up electronic medium to exploit it to his means of creation. A text to speech piece is caringly crafted into an abstract mangled robot vocal cut up caught between radio airwaves. The electronic voyage that you are brought on is one of many twists and turns, so hold on to your seat. Oh, by the way, those seemingly esoteric four different subsets of characters, perhaps Greek in origin (Manny can you shine some light here) are the names of his compositions. Whatever his story is, I'm listening. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! -Chuck Bettis/DMG
CD $12


SUZANNE LANGILLE/NEEL MURGAI - Wild & Foolish Heart (Family Vineyard 65; USA) Suzanne Langille started her recording career as a vocalist alongside Loren Mazzacane Connors on a string of rare LPs in the mid-1980s acclaimed for their startling transformation of the blues. Since, Langille has added vocals and lyrics to many Connors albums, including the landmark Hell's Kitchen Park, collaborated with San Agustin and issued a conceptual full-length on Secretly Canadian in 1998. But all along a proper solo album has never surfaced -- until now.
Wild & Foolish Heart joins Langille with Indian classical musician Neel Murgai -- a long-time collaborator and leader of his own ensemble. Langille's blues-filled moans are perfectly matched to the dazzling drone and subtle melodic rhythm of Murgai's tanpura and daf (Persian frame drum). This 550-edition LP features cover art from Loren Connors, a selection of his rarely seen photography/collage work.
LP $17



GIACINTO SCELSI//STEPHEN CLARKE - Vol. 8: The Piano Works 4 (mode 227; USA) Mode's Scelsi Edition continues with the fourth volume devoted to his piano works - three first recordings of major, large scale works from his early period of the 1930s. The piano plays a role of undeniable importance in Scelsi's life and work. From 1930 to 1941, and again from 1952 to 1956, the composer produced an enormous repertoire for the instrument, including 40 Preludes, 11 Suites, four Sonatas, and many solo works. The works on this CD attest to his brilliance as an improviser, his sensitivity to rhythm and color, and the originality of his compositional identity.
Hispania is a fascinating work, where passages show some signs of Scelsi's later style, yet other features remain more closely connected to earlier practice. The 'Tryptique Pour Piano' is arranged in three distinct movements, fast-slow-fast. While much of Scelsi's work is highly chromatic, reflecting the influence of Scriabin and Berg, Hispania contains long passages of predominantly diatonic material, using mostly the white keys of the piano with very few accidentals. It also shows the influence of French neoclassicism and impressionism, with certain moments recalling the Spanish-themed works of Ravel and Debussy.
Suite No. 5: Il Circo or The Circus, an image that is full of possible connotations from the ancient (as in Rome's Circus Maximus) to the exotic. Rhythm, an aspect of music which Scelsi held as equivalent to vitality, is the true shaping force in these short vignettes.
Suite No. 6: I Capricci di Ty takes more steps in the direction of Scelsi's later minimalistic style, with entire movements focusing on this type of material, some with variable beats in each measure, and time signatures often omitted altogether. Ty was Scelsi's nickname for his wife, Dorothy.
One of Canada's leading pianists, Stephen Clarke has performed as a soloist in festivals in Europe, Canada, and the U.S. He has worked with a number of ensembles and has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Composers' Orchestra.
This audiophile quality recording was made using high-resolution 96khz/24-bit technology.
CD $15

Pianist Stephen Clarke will appear on January 3rd at 7:30 at Le Poisson Rouge,158 Bleecker Street, NY, NY to celebrate his new Mode CD of 3 premier recordings of Giacinto Scelsi. Mr. Clarke will perform Scelsi's "Hispania" & "Suite No. 5", as well as Kaikhosru SORABJI's "In the Hothouse" & "Toccata" and Horatiu RADULESCU's "Fifth Piano Sonata - settle your dust, this is the primal identity".


ELIANE RADIGUE//PAULINE OLIVERSO//YOSHI WADA//SUN CIRCLE - Attention Patterns [2 LP + Book set; Ltd Ed of 600] (Important 263; USA) [While supplies last, you will receive a BONUS DVD [20 minutes] of the film of The Seven Deadly Sins by Robert O'Haire & Jeff Burns!]
"Attention Patterns is a 2 LP set featuring new and archival compositions by Pauline Oliveros, Eliane Radigue, Yoshi Wada and Sun Circle, as well as a 48-page booklet containing interviews with the composers and related texts. This release brings together composers with shared affinities for long, slowly unfolding durations and unconventional, harmonic approaches to tuning. Each has contributed a full LP side to the compilation. Edition of 600. Pauline Oliveros' 'Horse Sings from Cloud (Encore)' is a live performance from 1977 that finds her at her most distilled, performing alone with her justly tuned accordion and voice. Eliane Radigue's electronic work 'Biogenesis,' from 1973, uses her ARP synthesizer and recordings of human heartbeats as its main constituents and is the only piece included on the LPs that has been previously released. Sound artist and instrument builder, Yoshi Wada, appears with 'Reed Modulations,' a new work for harmonium, audio generators and bagpipe, made in collaboration with his son, Tashi Wada. Greg Davis and Zach Wallace, better known as Sun Circle, have contributed 'For Yoshi Wada,' an ecstatic and fitting tribute with its oddly tuned free reed drones and percussion. The accompanying booklet includes several of Oliveros' 'Sonic Meditations' -- verbal scores that formed the basis for her concept of 'Deep Listening' -- and interviews with Radigue, Wada, and Sun Circle, as well as an in-depth article on collaborating with Radigue by cellist Charles Curtis. Attention Patterns was compiled by Che Chen (whose other outings as anthologist have included the no longer extant, O Sirhan, O Sirhan, a zine that counted Henry Flynt, Bruce McClure, Sir Richard Bishop, Sublime Frequencies, Jessica Rylan, Animal Collective, Deerhoof, Jorge Boehringer and others among it's featured) and is a co-release between his new imprint, Black Pollen Press, and Important Records. Two LPs, 48-page booklet, letter-pressed sleeves."
2 LP + Book set for $46

ELEH//ELLEN FULLMAN - Mind Of No Mind//Event Locations [Ltd Ed of 500 copies] (Important 318; USA) "Numbered edition of 500. Jackets letterpress printed at 43rd Parallel Letterpress. Split release between Ellen Fullman & Eleh. 'By examining the waveform produced by the Long String Instrument through a spectrum analyzer, I have observed that every overtone of the fundamental being played is represented nearly equally through the entire range of hearing. Just intonation, a tuning system based on pure ratios, lends itself to a consideration of not only precise tuning of fundamental frequencies, but in addition, precise alignment of the resultant matrix of relationships among the upper partial tones. Strings vibrate in mathematical subdivisions of the total string length. As the performer moves through these subdivisions or nodal points, while bowing with rosin-coated fingertips, partials associated with that location emerge. Thus, musical events on my instrument can be aligned in time and space to coincide with specific overtone combinations.'" --Ellen Fullman, 2010
LP $22

ELEH - Radiant Intervals [Ltd Ed of 700 copies] (Important 319; USA) "Numbered edition of 700. Jackets letterpress printed at 43rd Parallel Letterpress. Cover design by Neil Burke @ Monoroid. Radiant Intervals is the first Eleh full length on Important since 2008's Floating Frequencies/Intuitive Synthesis Vol. 3 and it follows Eleh's full length for the Touch label. Eleh has been an enigma since the first record under that name was released in 2006. In numbered editions with letter-pressed sleeves, usually on Important Records, these vinyl-only releases were evidently a labor of love and attention. Further recordings have been released on the labels Taiga and Touch, making up 13 vinyl editions in all. Eleh began as long ago as 1999 as an exploration of analog synthesis, emphasizing low frequency oscillation and resonant acoustic phenomena. Eleh's work highlights the physical presence of sound as it has been inspired by the physical world.
LP $22


BASIL KIRCHIN - Primitive London/The Freelance [sndtck s] (Trunk 038; UK) LP version. This is the first-ever release of not ONE but TWO classic Basil Kirchin soundtracks, one from 1965, the other 1971. It's music for strippers, wife-swapping, death, birth, crime and chicken factories. Basil Kirchin is a legendary jazz drummer and grandfather of ambient music. He started his jazz career drumming in his father's jazz band. In the war years, he took over the band and post-war travelled to the East, hung out with the Maharishi, found himself, moved to Australia and finally returned home to the UK in the early 1960s with jazz ideas the likes of which no one else had ever dreamt. He moved into film music composition, library music and special commissions. By the late 1960s, he was experimenting with free jazz, tape manipulations and animal recordings. His series of works entitled Worlds Within Worlds are the first examples of ambient music. Regarded as a musical genius by many of the world's current music geniuses, Basil Kirchin's influence and following grows and grows each day. No one knows how and why drummer and jazzman Basil Kirchin came to write his first-ever soundtrack, but the sounds he created for Primitive London and its images of abattoirs, strip joints, alcoholism, beatniks and peculiar supermarkets are second-to-none. The music is film music but with touches of jazz, drones and oddness, impressive for such an early recording. There's even a tune surprisingly similar to Herrmann's Taxi Driver, a score written over a decade later. Primitive London is notorious as the UK's first and most important "Mondo" movie. The images filmed were strange, sensational, shocking and sleazy, the music harrowing, groovy and hip. This short, and until now unreleased score is accompanied on this release by a soundtrack Kirchin wrote six years later, for a very different kind of London film. Called The Freelance, this rough, tough crime flick is rarely seen, but features lively performances by classic British character actors and a young, impressive Ian McShane. Set in the criminal underworld, Kirchin brought to the screen the sounds of progressive drumming, free jazz and a touch of new decade optimism. The cues are long, develop well and are like no other. Both scores represent important times in Kirchin's musical life; the first score pre-dates his library work, the second comes at a time when this master of modern jazz music and industrial sounds had reached a creative peak. Both scores are unmistakably Kirchin, with his instant, insistent rhythms, memorable melodies and distinctive, strange jazz sounds permeating this entire release. His ever-growing band of fans will love it all. Superb full-color sleeve taken from the original 1965 Primitive London press book.
LP $17


DANS LES ARBRES [XAVIER CHARLES/IVAR GRYDELAND/CHRISTIAN WALLUMROD/INGAR ZACH] - Dans Les Arbres (ECM 2058; USA) Guitarist Ivar Grydeland and percussionist Ingar Zach, prime movers and catalysts for free improvised music in Norway, got in touch with Christian Wallumrod after hearing his Sofienberg Variations on ECM and they have since worked together in diverse combinations including, since 2004, Dans Les Arbres a project completed by French clarinettist Xavier Charles. Their radical all-acoustic improvisation explores sonorities and textures that frequently sound electronic, and also often sounds 'composed' - with echoes of Cage and the New York School.
"I caught this quartet at the Victo Fest earlier this year (05/10) and thought they were special. Although this disc is not new, it should not be overlooked nonetheless. The quartet consists of Xavier Charles on clarinet & harmonica, Ivar Grydeland on acoustic guitar, banjo & struti box (a drone device), Christian Wallumrod on piano and Ingar Zach on percussion. Although the instrumentation appears to be normal for a jazz quartet, this is not what we hear. The instrumentation is acoustic yet it is not so easy to figure out since the instruments are played in odd ways. From what I remember of the set, the acoustic guitar was laid upon a table and plucked & bowed in different ways. The first piece is quietly nightmarish, like a wind-up toy box that has been twisted too tightly and is about to explode. Xavier Charles concentrates on those bent clarinet notes which sound more like growls and animal sounds than anything else. There are a number of sounds which are difficult to tell who is playing what: is that a trombone or a tuba? What is being bowed... a cymbal? Are those alien spirits or communications from another dimension? The overall sound is cautious and casts a somber spell on us, as we drift from wave to wave, floating on a warm sea." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $17

WANJA SLAVIN QUINTET With MEDERIC CILLIGNON/CHRISTIAN LILLINGER/RONNY GRAUPE et al - Scirocco (Jazzwerkstatt 72; Germany) Featuring Wanja Slavin on alto & soprano sax & alto clarinet, Mederic Collignon on pocket trumpet & voice, Karsten Hochhapfel on cello & guitar, Ronny Graupe on guitar, Robert Landfermann on double bass and Christian Lillinger on drums. I can't say that I am familiar with any of the members of this superb sextet (a quintet + 1, actually), except for their drummer Christian Lillinger who has turned up on a half dozen discs on the Hatology & JazzWerkStatt labels over the past few years and guitarist Ronny Graupe who also works with Rolf Kuhn. But it doesn't really matter, since this label continues to focus on the new German scene with players both well-known & little-known. When this quintet first got together in May of 2005, they were joined by Kenny Wheeler. The following year, a fine trumpet player from Paris named Mederic Colligon joined them to take Wheeler's place. The first piece, "Zug" starts with strange floating operatic vocalese, cello and sax. The band has a rather early Curlew-like sound with some nifty horns parts and a great, slightly bent rhythm team. All members of the group contribute songs except for their bassist and each piece provides a different challenge. On "Nini Toscane", the tempo and structure keep shifting between sections with complex horn parts, crazed non-word scat-like vocals and intricate rhythm team action. At times, Mederic uses his voice like a deranged cartoon character much the same way that Phil Minton does, adding an unexpected and often hilarious element to the proceedings, but rarely overdoing it. For "Sechs Hortkinder" , both Colligon & Slavin (on alto sax) take a long rambunctious solos while the rest of the spins around them in tight, complex spirals. Another surprise is a piece called "Bebop" which has a crafty deconstructed bebop-like structure and a number of smokin' solos. With more than a hundred releases out, it should come as no surprise how many under-recognized gems there are in the JazzWerkStatt catalogue. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $18

CARL LUDWIG HUBSCH'S PRIMORDIAL SOUP With AXEL DORNER/FRANK GRATKOWSKI/MICHAEL GRIENER - Souped-Up (Jazzwerkstatt 96; Germany) Featuring Carl Hubsch on tuba & compositions, Axel Dorner on trumpet, Frank Gratkowski on clarinet and Michael Griener on drums. Over the past decade tuba player & bandleader, Carl Ludwig Hubsch, has kept busy with a dozen plus discs out on the Konnex, Leo, Another Timbre & Neos labels. This is the second disc from Primordial Soup whose first one was released on Red Toucan last year. No doubt you are familiar with Axel Dorner & Frank Gratkowski, both of whom are on more than fifty discs each. Drummer Michael Griener is found on far less discs ( as far as I can tell) but he is member of the Ulrich Gumpert Workshop, Squakk and has played with Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky. Hubsch writes quirky yet tight ever-shifting pieces that move in unexpected directions. Assembled fragments which are in flux yet remain tightly developed and played at a modest volume. This music reminds of the highly calculated scientific sound of early Braxton music, somewhere in between contemporary classical and modern jazz. Hubsch does a great job of shifting between playing bass-lines and soloing or interacting consistently. Gratkowski's clarinet, Dorner's trumpet & Hubsch's tuba share a similar restrained yet focused dialogue where ideas go back and forth in an effortless exchange. For "Vier" Griener plays a series of fractured beats while Hubsch maintains the rhythmic center. Both the clarinet and trumpet play tight flutters of notes like bees buzzing around the hive, the pace gets faster and faster until it spins slowly back down. I noticed that when I played this disc in the store, I missed out on a great deal of the softer intricate interaction. At home where it is much quieter& there are less distractions, I hear so much more going on. This disc is a bit too busy and structured for most lower-case improv but no less engaging for what it is - this Primordial Soup does taste great. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $18

TRIO DOLCE VITA [CLAUDIO PUNTIN/JOHANNES FINK/JORG BRINKMANN]//NINO ROTA - Amarcord: A Tribute to Nino Rota (Jazzwerkstatt 82; Germany) Featuring Claudio Puntin on clarinets, Hohner organ & toys, Jorg Brinkmann on cello & electronics and Johannes Fink on double bass. The Swiss band leader Claudio Puntin is one of the most renowned and versatile clarinettists and composers. Puntin has travelled all over the world with diverse ensembles and can be heard on over 60 CDs. He has worked with a variety of orchestras, big bands and ensembles, produced and composed various radio plays and film music. He has worked with Frith & Cutler in the Science Group, a duo with Gerdur Gunnarsdottir for ECM, the Syntopia Quartet with Albrecht Maurer as well as with Lucas Niggli, Pierre Favre and Matthias Schubert. I can't say that I was familiar with Jorg Brinkmann before this although bassist Johannes Fink is on a dozen discs with Rudi Mahall, Rolf Kuhn & Oliver Steidle.
All of the music on this disc was written by Nina Rota, mostly for the films of Federico Fellini. The "Amarcord" theme opens this disc it is a most haunting one at that. The sound of Puntin's warm,and lush bass clarinet is perfectly accompanied by two quietly plucked strings. The superb blend of bass clarinet and cello playing these distinctive, dramatic melodies is often cinematic and magical in the way it transports us to another place in our minds. What is wonderful about this is that the trio strips things down to just clarinet, cello and acoustic bass, letting the precious, thoughtful melodies ring true and breathe freely. The songs come from 'La Strada', 'The Godfather' and 'Casanova' and do sound familiar to these ears. Consistently enchanting. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $18

BENJAMIN DUBOC/ITARU OKI - Nobusiko (Improvising Beings 01; EEC) Recorded December 15, 2009 at Christophe Bart's in Paris. Featuring Benjamin Duboc on double bass and Itaru Oki on trumpet, flugelhorn, flutes, tubes & percussion. French bassist, Benjamin Duboc, has worked with a variety of musicians like Michel Doneda, Oliver Lake, Roy Campbell, Sunny Murray & Gael Mevel. He can be found on more than a dozen discs mostly on the Ayler label with mostly French musicians. Legendary Japanese trumpeter Itaru Oki has lived in Paris for many years and has a long career as one of Japan's best free/jazz trumpeters. His recordings are rare although he has collaborated with Alan Silva, Sunny Murray, Michael Pilz, Satoko Fuji & Natsuki Tamura. Both Benjamin & Itaru are members of a quintet known as Nuts with Rasul Siddik that has one fine disc out on Ayler.
There is something magical about this duo - acoustic, organic, gentle at times, full of controlled spirits, tossing ideas back and forth, conversing in the age-old dialogue of gifted improvisers. Itaru blends the lower-case smears with Lester Bowie-like melodic reflections. Benjamin does a great job of keeping a fine running dialogue working his way through somber melodic fragments with spirit-force intersections. Duboc takes off on "Harawata" strumming forcefully and playing this wonderful throbbing line while Itaru plays poignant muted and then explosive repartee. There is nothing better than the sound of two old friends conversing in a friendly, intimate dialogue. This is another magical gift from the great gods of improv. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $17



MORE Recent ECM releases:

KEITH JARRETT/CHARLIE HADEN - Jasmine (ECM 2165; USA) Jarrett and Haden back together again! Thirty three years after the break-up of Keith Jarrett's great 'American Quartet' , the pianist, and bassist Charlie Haden, reunited for an album of standards, played with deep feeling. The programme on Jasmine includes such classic songs as Body and Soul, For All We Know , Where Can I Go Without You, Don't Ever Leave Me and more. Intimate, spontaneous and warm, the album, recorded at Jarrett's home, has affinities, in its unaffected directness, with Keith's The Melody At Night With You album. Jarrett and Haden play the music and nothing but the music - as only they can. As Keith Jarrett says in his liner notes: "This is spontaneous music made on the spot without any preparation save our dedication throughout our lives that we won't accept a substitute... These are great love songs played by players who are trying, mostly, to keep the message intact."
CD $17

JAN GARBAREK/HILLIARD ENSEMBLE [PAUL HILLIER et al] - Officium Novum (ECM 2125 NS; USA) The inspired bringing together of Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble has resulted in consistently inventive music making since 1993. The unprecedented Officium album, with Garbarek's saxophone as a free-ranging 'fifth voice' with the Ensemble, gave the first indications of the musical scope and emotional power of this combination. 'Mnemosyne' (1998) took the story further, expanding the repertoire beyond 'early music' to embrace works both ancient and modern.
Now, after another decade of shared experiences, comes Officium Novum, the third album from Garbarek/Hilliard, recorded, like its distinguished predecessors, in the St Gerold monastery.
CD $17

MANU KATCHE With TORE BRUNBORG/JASON REBELLO/PINO PALLADINO/JACOB YOUNG - Third Round (ECM 2156; USA) Intensified commitment to the French-African drummer's programme of 'beautifully mutated grooves and jazzy themes' (to quote The Guardian) distinguishes Manu Katche's third ECM album. Inside an all-new line-up, bassist Pino Palladino nonchalantly reinforces the groove element - he and Katche have much shared history as sessioneers - and helps the pulses of Manu's tunes to dance. Pianist Rebello has both delicacy of touch and energy to burn, and saxophonist Brunborg, currently playing at a peak, solos passionately on Katche's melodies. Guest guitarist Jacob Young shades and colours a handful of pieces, while Kami Lyle adds innocent vocals to Stay With You. Recorded in the South of France in December 2009 and issued on the eve of a major European tour.
CD $17

SINIKKA LANGELAND With ARVE HENRIKSEN/TRYGVE SEIM/ANDERS JORMIN/MARKKU OUNASKARI - Starflowers (ECM 1996; USA) Starflowers is a fascinating ECM debut for Norwegian vocalist and kantele player Sinikka Langeland. A folk singer from the forest lands near the Swedish border, Langeland explores in her work the relationship between man and nature. On this disc she sets verse of lumberjack-poet Hans Borli (1918-89), with help from an outstanding ensemble including trumpeter Arve Henriksen, saxophonist Trygve Seim, bassist Anders Jormin and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. Altogether: a marvellous confluence of folk music, sung poetry and Nordic improvisation brilliantly marshalled in Manfred Eicher's productSinikka Langeland vocal, kantele
CD $17

STEPHAN MICUS - Bold As Light (ECM 2173; USA) Stephan Micus raj nplaim, bass zither, chord zither, bavarian zither, nohkan, sho, voice, kalimba, shakuhachi, sinding. "The idea of sitting down at a table and making a composition on paper is totally foreign to me. To come up with a piece of music, I have to make the sound myself, have the instruments in my hands." Stephan Micus (1953) has a special and intense relationship with the countless instruments he plays. Many of the instruments, a number of which come from Asia or Africa, represent age-old musical traditions, some of them dying out while others have congealed into the stuff of museum exhibits. But in Micus' hands they come alive again. He experiments with new sound possibilities and often plays the instruments in ways other than those he was taught by local masters during his distant travels. Improvising, he comes up with the most surprising combinations of instruments, whose melodic lines he plays separately into a multi-track recorder. The resulting polyphonic structures are staggeringly and mysteriously beautiful.
Micus' three main sound protagonists in Bold As Light are the raj nplaim (a free-reed pipe made of bamboo) from Laos, the nohkan (a bamboo flute) from Japan, and the many male voices, which, of course, are all sung by Micus himself. With this CD - the nineteenth for ECM - the impressive discography Stephan Micus has built up continues unabated, each time with new and unique music.
CD $17

and last copies of this import-only ECM..

OM [URS LEIMGRUBER/CHRISTY DORAN/BOBBI BURRI/FREDY STUDER] - A Retrospective (1975-1980) (ECM 1642; Germany) "Featuring: Urs Leimgruber on soprano & tenor saxes, Christy Doran on electric guitar, Bobby Burri on double-bass & devices and Fredy Studer on drums & percussion. This is a reunion of a great fusion quartet called OM that existed from 1972 to 1982 and recorded a few amazing records for ECM. It has been almost thirty years since Om broke up and each of their members has their separate ways into a variety of different projects. I find most reunions to be disappointing but not this one since the members have evolved greatly and they now sound completely different. In the old days of seventies jazz/rock fusion, the bands had a tendency to show off their chops and play fast, furious and sometimes funky. This was not really what OM were about then so we shouldn't be too surprised that they are now a completely improvised quartet free of any of those fusion cliches or licks. Oddly enough this disc begins with layers spoken word weirdness, animated and fun. By the second section, the quartet take their time to improvise freely, organically building and interacting together. Christy's guitar and Urs' saxes sail & soar around one another while the rhythm team also swirls beneath them. This sort of intense improv bristles with excitement and that edge-of-your-seat wonder. This set was recorded live for Swiss radio so the sound is superb. There musicians are still powerful and resourceful and weave their way through some of the finest free/fusion I've heard in a long while. There quite a bit of quieter moments while the quartet wind their way through different sections. If you were expecting mainly fusion fireworks, than you would no doubt be disappointed. If, however, you dig that great European style improv at its best then this disc is for you & me." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $28


3 new editions of great Hendrix releases!

JIMI HENDRIX - BBC Sessions [2 CD + DVD set] (Sony/Experience Hendrix 45192; USA) This newly minted (2010) 2CD+DVD collection ADDS the previously unreleased, bonus track "Burning Of The Mightnight Lamp" recorded on August 24, 1967 during The Experience's appear on Top Of The Pops onto the CD set. The DVD has a short-film documentary detailing the history of Jimi Hendrix's appearances at the BBC, including a live version of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" from his legendary 'uncontrolled' appearance on The Lulu [TV] Show in 1969!
"These are the recordings that Jimi Hendrix made for BBC radio - in their studio setting - in the late '60s. As such, they're loose, informal, and off-the-top-of-his-head improvisational fun. These versions of the hits "Foxey Lady," "Fire," two versions of "Purple Haze," and "Hey Joe" stay surprisingly close to the studio versions, but the tone of Hendrix's guitar on these is positively blistering and worth the price of admission alone. There's also a lot of blues on this two-disc collection, and Hendrix's versions of "Hoochie Coochie Man" (with Alexis Korner on slide guitar), "Catfish Blues," "Killing Floor," and "Hear My Train A-Comin'" find him in excellent form. But perhaps the best example of how loosely conceived these sessions were are the oddball covers that Hendrix tackles, including Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her" (featuring Wonder on drums), Dylan's "Can You Please Crawl out Your Window?," the Beatles' "Day Tripper" and, in recognition of his immediate competition, Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love." No lo-fi bootleg tapes here (everything's from the original masters and gone over by Eddie Kramer), the music and sound are class-A all the way, making a worthwhile addition to anyone's Hendrix collection." - Cub Koda, AMG
2 CD + DVD set for $20

JIMI HENDRIX - Blues [CD + DVD] (Sony/Experience Hendrix 45162; USA) As a special feature of this new deluxe CD+DVD release, the DVD bonus material will feature the acclaimed documentary special Jimi Hendrix & The Blues that originally aired as part of the Martin Scororsese Presnts The Blues telecast in 2003. [ Experience Hendrix/Legacy Recordings ]
(This release does not feature any audio remastering compared to its original 1994 release or 1998 re-issue.)
While Hendrix remains most famous for his hard rock and psychedelic innovations, more than a third of his recordings were blues-oriented. This CD contains 11 blues originals and covers, eight of which were previously unreleased. Recorded between 1966 and 1970, they feature the master guitarist stretching the boundaries of electric blues in both live and studio settings. Besides several Hendrix blues-based originals, it includes covers of Albert King and Muddy Waters classics, as well as a 1967 acoustic version of his composition "Hear My Train A-Comin'." - Richie Unterberger, AMG
CD + DVD set for $14

JIMI HENDRIX - Live At Woodstock [2 CD set] (Sony/Experience Hendrix 72342; USA) In August 1994, MCA Records released Jimi Hendrix: Woodstock, a single-disc collection of 10 highlights from Hendrix's legendary closing set at Woodstock. Less than a year later, Al Hendrix won the rights to his son's recordings, and his company, Experience Hendrix, began reissuing definitive masters of Jimi's catalog. In the summer of 1999, Experience Hendrix rolled out Live at Woodstock, which features the entire set over the course of two discs. Now this new Sony edition has it at a bargain price! Hearing Hendrix's complete concert isn't as revelatory as you'd think, since it just emphasizes that he overcompensated for his under-rehearsed band by jamming. And does he ever jam! - almost everything clocks in at over five minutes, with a couple weighing in at over ten minutes. Naturally, this will hardly be seen as a detriment by legions of Hendrix fans, and that's who this set is for. Listening to all of Live at Woodstock takes dedication and an active interest in the subtleties of Jimi's playing. He had disbanded the Experience only eight weeks before and was teamed with players who wanted to follow him, no matter where he went. Unfortunately, the lack of rehearsal meant that they were often striving to keep up with him; in turn, Hendrix runs wild, spinning off dizzying solos that are as fascinating as they are frustrating. Taken individually, these performances are usually enthralling, but Live at Woodstock will exhaust the average listener. Which is not to say it isn't a worthwhile experience. As a historical document, it is interesting and revealing, and Hendrix historians undoubtedly will find several of these performances necessary. But this not an essential addition to the average fan's library, simply because Hendrix blew minds at Woodstock through excess, not focus. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG
2 CD set for $14



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


RARE FIRST EDITIONS OF ALL EIGHT MILES DAVIS - COMPLETE COLUMBIA BOXES
[1 sealed copy each - except for the Seven Steps box]


MILES DAVIS With JOHN McLAUGHLIN/DAVE LIEBMAN/HERBIE HANCOCK/REGGIE LUCAS/CHICK COREA et al - Vol 8: Bey-On-d The Corner - The Complete On The Corner Sessions [6 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 62392; USA) This is the eighth and final deluxe box set in the Grammy Award-winning Miles Davis Series, includes more than 6 hours of music - twelve previously unissued tracks plus five tracks previously unissued in full - covering sixteen sessions from the On the Corner, Big Fun, and Get Up With It albums. Joined by such jazz legends as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Hart, and countless others, this 6-CD deluxe edition also contains a 120-page full-color booklet with liner notes and essays by Grammy-winning producer Bob Belden, journalist Tom Terrell, and acclaimed arranger and composer Paul Buckmaster. With such a comprehensive collection of Miles Davis' songs, plus dozens of rare photographs and new illustrations, this very special deluxe box set is a must have for any fan of Davis' genius or jazz music in general.
"ABSOLUTE LANDMARK MUST For the electric Miles/funk-fusion/McLaughlin, et al, enthusiast - and an absolute CRIME that Sony didn't remake this into a cheaper edition like the other boxes! - MannyLunch
[1st and ONLY edition; with CD sized box and metal spine]
6 CD box set for $185 (Out of print, but we have one copy - sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)


MILES DAVIS With JOHN McLAUGHLIN/SONNY SHARROCK/WAYNE SHORTER/STEVE GROSSMAN/HERBIE HANCOCK/CHICK COREA/KEITH JARRETT/DAVE HOLLAND/MICHAEL HENDERSON/JACK DeJOHNETTE/BILLY COBHAM et al - Vol 7: Jack Johnson: The Complete Sessions [5 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 86359; USA) With John McLaughlin, Bennie Maupin, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Steve Grossman, Michael Henderson, Ron Carter, Sonny Sharrock, Airto, Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter, and Hermeto Pascoal
Of all the Miles Davis recordings, the sessions that created a single, two-selection LP produced by Teo Macero called A Tribute To Jack Johnson have been the most apocryphal. While the album itself was a confounding obscurity upon release - due to its proximity to the inferior yet infinitely more label-promoted Live at the Fillmore East - its influence has become the monolith of the first complete fusion of jazz and rock; it also cemented a place in the history books for guitarist John McLaughlin, whose raw, slash-and-burn playing is the axis around which the entire album turns. This five-CD set was recorded in 16 weeks, from February 18 to June 4 of 1970, during which a revolving cast of musicians entered the Davis/Macero laboratory for a series of mind-bending, sometimes inspired, sometimes maddeningly monotonous recording dates, where the creation of backbeat-driven grooves and short, rhythmic rock- and funk-inflected riffs were the only preconceptions and everything else flowed from there for better or worse. No less than five separate releases benefited from these sessions; they include Live-Evil, Get Up With It, Directions, and Big Fun.
"EXTREME RECOMMENDATION !!!"- Bruce Gallanter;
"McLAUGHLIN FANS: GET OUT YOUR BLOOD THINNER - TO AVOID A STROKE!!!" - Mannylunch
[1st edition with CD sized box and metal spine]
5 CD box set for $120 (Out of print, but we have one copy - sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)

Above also available as 2nd US edition [90926] packaged in an upright vertical book format at a lower price while still retaining all materials for $48


MILES DAVIS With JOHN McLAUGHLIN/WAYNE SHORTER/BENNIE MAUPIN/CHICK COREA/LARRY YOUNG/DAVE HOLLAND/JACK DeJOHNETTE/LENNY WHITE et al - Vol 6: Bitches Brew: The Complete Sessions [4 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 65570; USA) With John McLaughlin, Bennie Maupin, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Steve Grossman, Ron Carter, Airto, Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter, Larry Young, Lenny White, Don Alias, Joe Zawinul, Khalil Blalkrishna, Harvey Brooks, Billy Cobham, Juma Santos, and Bihari Sharma
Columbia's continuing summation of the career of Miles Davis through lavish box-set reissues resumed in 1998 withT he Complete Bitches Brew Sessions, a four-disc set including all the music from the original 1970 double albumBitches Brew plus over two additional hours of music from the six-month period during which the album was recorded. (Some of those tracks were previously released on compilations like Big Fun and Circle in the Round, but almost one-third of the material lay unissued until this release.)
[1st edition with CD sized box and metal spine]
4 CD box set for $100 (Out of print, but we have one copy - sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)

Above also available as 2nd US edition [90924] packaged in an upright book format at a lower price while still retaining all materials for $48


MILES DAVIS With JOHN McLAUGHLIN/WAYNE SHORTER/HERBIE HANCOCK/JOE ZAWINUL/CHICK COREA/DAVE HOLLAND/TONY WILLIAMS et al - Vol 5: In A Silent Way: The Complete Sessions [3 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 65362; USA) With John McLaughlin, Joe Chambers, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, TONY WILLIAMS
Of all the recording sessions completed by Miles Davis with his various bands, the sessions surrounding In a Silent Way Sessions in 1968 and 1969 are easily the most mysterious and enigmatic. For starters, they signified the completion of his transformation from acoustic to electric sound, and secondly, they marked the complete dissolution of the "second" quintet of Davis, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams,Wayne Shorter, and Ron Carter that had begun on Filles de Kilimanjaro. The addition of Chick Corea as a second keyboard player and the replacement of Ron Carter with Dave Holland had changed the sound of the band's dynamic, textural, and rhythmic palettes. The final break with Davis' own previous musical sound happened when he added guitarist John McLaughlin and keyboardist/composer Joe Zawinul (for a temporary three-keyboard sound).
The music on the In a Silent Way Sessions comes packaged three ways, all of it chronologically ordered: there is the material used to finish Filles de Kilimanjaro ("Mademoiselle Maby" and "Freon Brun"); material that has been, up until now, unissued in any form; session outtakes that appeared, in edited form, on Circle in the Round, Water Babies, and Directions; unissued and rejected takes; and finally, the music recorded for In a Silent Way itself as it was rehearsed, played, and finally, heavily edited into the released album, which also appears here.
"It's the first box set in a long time that's been worth playing from beginning to end." Thom Jurek
[1st edition with CD sized box - only one of the eight boxes issued without a metal spine]
3 CD box set for $75 (Out of print, but we have one copy - sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)

Above also available as 2nd US edition [90921] packaged in an upright book format at a lower price while still retaining all materials for $48


MILES DAVIS QUINTET With WAYNE SHORTER/HERBIE HANCOCK/TONY WILLIAMS/RON CARTER - Vol 4: The Miles Davis Quintet 1965-68: The Complete Sessions [6 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 67398; USA) [1st edition with CD sized box and metal spine] There's little argument that the quintet Miles Davis led between 1965 and 1968 was one of the classic combos in the history of jazz. By teaming with the adventurous young musicians Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock(piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums), Davis pushed mainstream jazz toward the avant-garde, expanding on the modal jazz he inaugurated with Kind of Blue and laid the groundwork for fusion. Four of their five studio albums -- ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti -- were essential, and even when they were slightly off the mark, as on Miles in the Sky, they were still filled with provocative sounds and ideas. That's the reason why The Miles Davis Quintet 1965-'68: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings is an essential release. It contains all the music from each of the five studio records, plus the tracks released on Filles De Kilimanjaro and Water Babies that were recorded by this lineup, as well as several alternate takes and 13 previously unreleased selections. There's no question that this material is necessary for any jazz collection!
[1st edition with CD sized box and metal spine]
6 CD box set for $150 (Out of print, but we have one copy - sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)

Above also available as 2nd US edition [90925] packaged in an upright book format at a lower price while still retaining all materials for $64


MILES DAVIS QUINTETS With GEORGE COLEMAN or SAM RIVERS/HERBIE HANCOCK/RON CARTER/TONY WILLIAMS et al - Vol 3: Seven Steps: Miles Davis Quintets 1963-1964: The Complete Sessions [7 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 90840; USA) The first disc - and half of the second - covers all studio material generated during this period immediately prior to Wayne Shorter joining [Miles was waiting for Wayne's contract with Blakey to end] including recordings with George Coleman/Victor Feldman/Frank Butler/Ron Carter and the Coleman/Herbie Hancock/Tony Williams/Carter quintets...
AND then there's 5 and a half discs [!] of live shows including the Coleman/Hancock/Williams/Carter quintet shows from 63-64: the COMPLETE 'Miles In Europe: Antibes Festival' [a disc and a half!] and the REALLY complete Lincoln Center 2/12/64 'Four And More/My Funny Valentine' show [with "Autumn Leaves" the show opener, finally added];
As well as the '...In Tokyo' show [1 disc] featuring Sam Rivers for the departed George Coleman [with a previously unreleased "Stella By Starlight"- boy, does that devalue my expensively-gotten Japanese CD!]
And finally, the "...In Berlin" show, where the classic mid/late '60s quintet is completed with the arrival of Wayne Shorter in the tenor sax chair! Both of these last two shows have never been previously available in the US! And, the box editions have 8 cuts [72 minutes] previously unreleased anywhere!
[1st and ONLY edition; CD sized box and metal spine]
5 CD box set for $120 (sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)


MILES DAVIS & GIL EVANS ORCHESTRA - Vol 2: Miles Davis & Gil Evans - The Complete Sessions: Miles Ahead/Porgy And Bess/Sketches Of Spain/Quiet Nights/plus.. [6 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 67397; USA) Over the course of six compact discs, Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings collects every bit of music the legendary duo recorded together between the years 1957 and 1968. Each of the original albums -- Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain, and Quiet Nights -- are presented in their original running order on separate discs; each individual disc is augmented with revealing alternate takes and rarities, like the duo's long-unavailable music for "The Time of the Barracudas" at the end of the Quiet Nights disc. The remaining two discs are filled with alternate takes, rehearsals, overdubbed solos, studio chatter, and outtakes. All of the music sounds splendid and often revelatory -- for instance, in addition to being released in stereo for the first time ever, Miles Ahead is presented in its original version for the first time on compact disc. Each disc is enclosed in a sleeve that replicates the original album release (both covers of Miles Ahead are included within the set) and housed in an immense, detailed, gold-bound 197-page book. In fact, if there is any fault with the set it is this -- since the notes, sleeves, track listings, and discs are bound together within one thick book, the set feels like a library piece instead of a functional, listenable retrospective. This is vital music that will be accessed often by anyone willing to invest in the set, so the box set should have been designed with that in mind. Nevertheless, Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings is filled with so much visionary and beautiful music, it makes the slight flaws in packaging forgivable. --Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With Paul Horn, Cannonball Adderley, Joe Beck, Phil Bodner, Ron Carter, Jimmy Cleveland, Johnny Coles, Buddy Collette, Bob Dorough, Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Wynton Kelly, Steve Lacy, Wayne Shorter, Art Taylor, Hubert Laws, Tony Williams, Jimmy Cobb, Howard Johnson, Willie Bobo........!
[1st edition with CD sized box and metal spine]
6 CD box set for $150 (Out of print, but we have one copy - sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)

Above also available as 2nd US edition [90923] packaged in an upright book format at a lower price while still retaining all materials for $64


MILES DAVIS & JOHN COLTRANE - Vol 1: Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Sessions [6 CD Box Set] (Columbia Legacy 65833; USA) As the fourth entry in Columbia's celebrated series of Miles Davis studio recordings box sets [NOT released in volume order!],The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane was perhaps the most anticipated set, and it's easy to see why. The push and pull between Miles and Coltrane resulted in dynamic recordings that set the standard for modern jazz -- and this was for their Prestige recordings, before they even moved to Columbia. Once Miles relocated to Columbia, he began to push the boundaries of his music. The progression from the sublime, after-hours Round About Midnight to the modal Milestones is remarkable -- all the more so when Kind of Blue, the culmination of Davis' modal direction, is taken into the equation. Over the course of six discs, The Complete Columbia Recordings traces this progression, including the entirety of 'Round About Midnight, Milestones, and Kind of Blue, plus selections from Someday My Prince Will Come, the live album Miles & Coltrane 57 [the only exception to the studio recordings rule of this box set series], and 18 unreleased tracks, all alternate takes. Even if you're familiar with this music -- and any jazz fan will be -- the chronological, session-order sequencing keeps it fresh, and it's possible to marvel at how quickly their talents deepened. For neophytes, this isn't really an ideal way to dive into these remarkable recordings, since there's not only too much, but it's arranged in a way that doesn't ease the listener into the music. It's designed to be a library piece for collectors, fans, and historians that have already absorbed the music fully. After all, the original album covers are not reproduced anywhere in the notes, and the discs themselves are cryptically identified with dots that parallel the numbers on a clock. For anyone that knows and loves this music though, this is an essential addition to a representative or comprehensive jazz library. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine With Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones, Wynton Kelly, Hank Mobley, Jimmy Cobb, and Paul Chambers
[1st edition with CD sized box and metal spine]
6 CD box set for $150 (Out of print, but we have one copy - sealed original with all outer stickers perfect)

Above also available as 2nd US edition [90922] packaged in an upright book format at a lower price while still retaining all materials for $64


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