Grrr-r-eaat! New Discs from:


Anthony Braxton & John McDonough! Rob Brown Qt! Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble! ROVA Sax QT! Cuong Vu 4-Tet! Kimmo Pohjonen & Kronos Qt! Kessler/Esposito! KoenjiHyakkei!

Steve Lacy! Stefano Maltese! Hans Koller/Bill Frisell! Zeitkratzer does Alvin Lucier! Laswell Ltd Ed Autographed CD! Italian Instabile Orchestra! Korekyojinn!

Bizingas! Nico Soffiato! Otomo/Millions! Lisa Bielawa! Bernard Herrmann! Hariprasad Chaurasia! T K Ramamoorthy! Faust! Elmo Hope!

..and Focus On: Mike Pride!




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The DMG Free-In-Store Performance Series Continues With:


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


Friday, February 18th at 5:30:
GRAHAM COLLIER - Meet & Greet & Sign Copies of his Discs & New Book!
Renown British Jazz Composer & Author Will Discuss His Books & Music!


Sunday, February 27th Double Header:
6pm: BILL BUCHEN - Sonic Percussion!
7pm: FRED LYENN - Rare Singer/Songwriter Set at DMG!


Sunday, March 6th - Another Double Header:
6pm: MARTIN PHILADELPHY & JEREMY CARLSTEDT!
Amazing New Guitar & Drums Duo CD Release Set!
7pm: MARCO CAPPELLI & IMPROVVISATORE INVOLONTARIO !


Sunday, March 13th - Another Great Double-Header with:
6pm: LOUIE BELOGENIS & SHANIR BLUMENKRANZ!
Amazing Tenor sax & Contrabass Duo!
7pm: DEE POP 55th Birthday Celebration with Special Guests!


Sunday, March 20th at 6pm:
MICHAEL ATTIAS/DANIEL LEVIN/JUAN PABLO CARLETTI!
Wow! Another Wonderful New Sax/Cello/Drums Trio!


Sunday, March 27th at 6pm:
KYOKO KITAMURA / JEN BAKER!
Extraordinary Vocal & Trombone Duo!


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A Love Supreme
Words and music by John Coltrane
Valentine's Day - Monday February 14th at 8 pm

Featuring:
Roy Campbell, Jr., trumpets and flute
Louie Belogenis, sax
Uri Caine, piano
Hilliard Greene, bass
Michael Wimberly, drums
Beth Anne Hatton, voice
Jacqueline Lewis, speaker


Middle Collegiate Church - (212) 477-0666
50 E. 7th Street (entrance on Second Avenue)
$15 suggested donation


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ANTHONY BRAXTON & JOHN McDONOUGH - 6 Duos [Wesleyan] 2006 (Nessa 33; USA) For this intimate recital Anthony Braxton plays in duet with trumpeter John McDonough. In the notes McDonough explains the genesis of this recording: After finally meeting him at a concert in 2002, I nervously offered to try and organize a performance of his composition 103, for 7 trumpets. He was so excited and grateful, I couldn't believe it. After copying out the parts and with a large amount of help from Taylor Ho Bynum, we organized the premiere on September 16, 2005. About a week after the concert he said to me "Mr. McDonough you and I are going to do a duo album together!" The program is a mix of compositions by the participants, an improvisation and a march by Sousa!
CD $16

ROSCOE MITCHELL ART ENSEMBLE With LESTER BOWIE/MALACHI FAVORS/PHILLIP WILSON - Old/Quartet: Sessions [2 CD set] (Nessa 27/28; USA) (Complete documentation of the 1967 edition of saxophonist/composer Roscoe Mitchell's Art Ensemble with Lester Bowie (trumpet), Malachi Favors (bass) and Phillip Wilson (drums).
Disc one was initially issued on vinyl in 1975 as Old/Quartet. The material on the second disc was first released in the limited edition CD box The Art Ensemble 1967/68 ncd-2500. All materials newly remastered for this 2011 release!
2 CD set for $24


ROB BROWN QUARTET With MATT MORAN/CHRIS LIGHTCAP/GERALD CLEAVER - Unexplained Phenomena: Live at the Vision Festival XV (Futura/Marge 48; France) "Rob Brown's New Quartet features Rob on alto sax, Matt Moran on vibes, Chris Lightcap on acoustic bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums. For just about every Vision Fest, Rob Brown brings another new project and each is one is quite different, yet consistently strong. This quartet has a most unique sound with Matt Moran taking the place of a pianist whilst adding something new & unexpected. I was often reminded of Eric Dolphy's 'Point of Departure' (1964) which featured Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. Gerald Cleaver has become the favorite drummer of many discerning listeners in NY & elsewhere since he sounds so great in so many different situations. This quartet is tight and Rob's strong writing keeps them on their toes throughout. Besides taking a number of inspired solos, vibesman Matt Moran does a splendid job of supporting Rob and playing great interconnected ideas with the bass & drums. When the quartet slows down for a desert like piece, Matt bows his vibes to great effect to get that suspense-filled aura. One piece has two duos doing separate yet connected lines together: the vibes & alto going one way while the bass & drums go another way and all ending up on the same page together. Another piece has Rob slowly twisting each note one at a time while Matt shadows him on marimbas. For me it was indeed a perfect set. I hoped it would be released in the future for further investigation - and now it is! " - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallanter
CD $18


HANS KOLLER With BILL FRISELL et al + EVAN PARKER - Cry, Want (Psi 10.08; UK) This is Hans Koller the keyboard player who has a half dozen discs on the 33 Jazz label and not Hans Koller the saxist who has been recording since the late fifties. Personnel: Percy Pursglove (trumpet), Robbie Robson (trumpet), Jim Rattigan (French horn), Mark Nightingale (trombone), Sarah Williams (bass trombone), Finn Peters (alto saxophone), Robin Fincker (tenor saxophone & clarinet), Hans Koller (electric piano), Bill Frisell (guitar), Dave Whitford (double bass), Jeff Williams (drums), plus Evan Parker (soprano saxophone) on two tracks, play Hans Koller's arrangements of six originals and two jazz standards.
CD $18

OTHERWAYS [NIGEL COOMBES/HERMAN HAUGE et al]//FREE SPACE [JOHN STEVENS/TREVOR WATTS/HERMAN HAUGE et al] - Life Amid the Artifacts' (1973/84) (EMANEM 5014; UK) The bulk of this CD features OTHERWAYS, a 'second generation' London group that has not appeared on record before. This delayed publication, combined with the general lack of recognition of the musicians involved, does not prepare one for the excellent music they made together, distinctly different from other groups of the period. HERMAN HAUGE (alto saxophone), MARC MEGGIDO (double bass) and DAVE SOLOMON (percussion) are heard in two 1973 quartets, one with NIGEL COOMBES (violin) the other with SIMON MORTIMER (piano). There are also some saxophone/percussion duets from 1984.
The remaining 15 minutes feature another previously unissued group from 1973, FREE SPACE, which was assembled by JOHN STEVENS to explore medium-sized improvisation. The other participants are TREVOR WATTS, HERMAN HAUGE, JOHN RUSSELL, NIGEL COOMBES, RON HERMAN, MARC MEGGIDO and DAVE SOLOMON.76 minutes.
CD $18


ROVA SAXOPHONE QUARTET [BRUCE ACKLEY/STEVE ADAMS/LARRY OCHS/JON RASKIN] - Planetary (United/SoLyd 407; Russia) "After 16 [they MUST mean 30+ - ed.] years of bold experimentation, Rova has been credited with virtually re-inventing the concept of the saxophone quartet. Rova aims at making a synthesis of composition and structured improvisation. Rova's collaborations with such significant creative musicians as Anthony Braxton, Alvin Curran, John Zorn, Steve Lacy, Terry Riley, Robin Holcomb, Butch Morris, Fred Frith and Kronos Quartet have expanded possibilities and contributed to the redefinition of 20th Century Music. It is in such a restless, expansive, but intensely focused musical partnership as Rova that the sounds of the 21st Century are prefigured. The Rova Saxophone is an ensemble that creates a musical presence so immense that you can clearly hear the future. The Penguin Guide to Jazz calls its music 'a teeming cosmos of saxophone sounds' created by 'deliberately eschewing conventional notions about swing [and] prodding at the boundaries on sound and space?'"
CD $16


CUONG VU 4-TET With STOMU TAKEISHI/LUKE BERGMAN/TED POOR - Leaps Of Faith (Origin 82585; USA) After a decade of recordings featuring only his original compositions, the master trumpeter and his band now turn their attention to the standard jazz repertoire, presenting decidely unique interpretations of classics such as Body & Soul and My Funny Valentine, along with songs by George Harrison and Jackson Browne. Though only two electric basses, drums and trumpet, the group displays a staggering wealth of textural variety to compliment their visionary improvisational explorations. "That the band is able to make so many disparate elements intersect at all, let alone with cohesion and vitality, speaks to Vu and the Band's marvelous imagination." - JazzTimes "...the point of Mr. Vu's music, at its best, is just that: to make you feel lost in it." - Ben Ratliff, NY Times
CD $14


ERNEST DAWKINS NEW HORIZONS ENSEMBLE - The Prairie Prophet (Delmark DE 598; USA) In 1978 Ernest Dawkins formed New Horizons Ensemble, a group which today continues to create a sound that showcases their unique combination of jazz, bebop, swing, and avant garde. The Chicago Tribune describes them as "a band with an uncommon versatility that erupts into new music bursts of dissonance and color. This band can enlighten an audience while enthralling it." The Prairie Prophet is NHE's fifth Delmark CD and features Ernest Dawkins, saxophone; Steve Berry, trombone; Marquis Hill, trumpet, Jeff Parker, guitar; Junius Paul, bass; Isaiah Spencer, drums. Contains all new original Ernest Dawkins compositions. This CD is dedicated to Fred Anderson.
CD $15


MITCH KESSLER With JOHN ESPOSITO/IRA COLEMAN/PETER O'BRIEN - Der Erlkonig (Sunjump CD 11; USA) On alto and tenor saxist Mitch Kessler's second release, Der Erlkonig (released on the increasingly important, Sun Jump Records), Kessler has again delivered an intricate and creative balance of songwriting and musicianship. With the help of longtime friends and bandmates, John Esposito (piano), Ira Coleman (bass) and Peter O'Brien (drums), Der Erlkonig is treasure with shades of both Pharoah Sanders, Eric Dolphy, Alice and John Coltrane looming large. Tracks such as the title piece (a rendering of a classic German poem) "Der Erlkonig," "Indo Eurasian Folksong,"Grimace And Bear It" and "Vietnamese Waltz" demonstrate an immediacy and beauty not heard in American jazz for awhile. Der Erlkonig flows freely between post modern structures, spiritual themes and funky syncopation's. This is will be a real discovery for everyone. Mitch Kessler is well on his way to establishing himself as a new force on the scene. - Stephan Moore, DMG
CD $14



JUST IN - New Goodies from Italy!
[reviews next week]

STEVE LACY - Best Wishes: Live At The Labirinti Sonori Festival 2001 (Labirinti Sonori 05; Italy) Previously unreleased solo recording!
CD $17

STEFANO MALTESE GHOST COMPANY - Dja 'Ba 'La (Labirinti Sonori 02; Italy) STEFANO MALTESE: soprano, alto & C melody sax; bass clarinet, mbira, percussion; PAOLO SORGE: electric guitar, live electronics; CARLO NATOLI: baritone electric guitar, live electonics; ALBERTO AMATO: double bass; ANTONIO MONCADA: drums & percussion
CD $17

TEST QUINTET - La Gatta Nel Sacco (Labirinti Sonori 07; Italy) Tony Cattano: trombone - Marco Colonna: bass clarinet - Mauro Schiavone: piano - Silvia Bolognesi: double bass - Stefano Tesei: drums
CD $17

MARCELLO INSERRA QUARTET - Luminaria (Labirinti Sonori 04; Italy)
CD $17

KNOW QUARTET [STEFANO MALTESE/GIORGIO OCCHIPINTI/GIUSEPPE GUARRELLA/EMANUELE PRIMAVERA] - Monk Know (Labirinti Sonori 03; Italy) Stefano Maltese: alto sax, bass clarinet - Giorgio Occhipinti: piano - Giuseppe Guarrella: double bass - Emanuele Primavera: drums
CD $17

ANGELO OLIVIERI/VINCENT COURTOIS/MARCO ARIANO/ANTONIO PULLI - Caos Musique (Terre Sommerse 06; Italy)
CD $17

ENZO LANZO QUARTET With ROBERTO OTTAVIANO/GIOVANNI MAIER/LAURO ROSSI - Boastful Speeches (Terre Sommerse 05; Italy)
CD $17

ITALIAN INSTABILE ORCHESTRA (CARLO ACTIS DATO/GIANLUIGI TROVESI et al) - Totally Gone (Rai Trade 21; Italy)
CD $17


KIMMO POHJONEN/SAMULI KOSMINEN & KRONOS QUARTET - Uniko (Ondine; Germany) Featuring Kimmo Pohjonen on accordion & voice, Samuli Kosminen on string & accordion samples and the new Kronos String Quartet: David Harrington & John Sherba on violins, Hank Dutt on viola and Jeffrey Zeigler on cello. I was pretty excited to find out about this collaboration and now that I've heard it a few times, I am still knocked out. I have been fortunate to witness the incredible Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen in solo, duo & with the later King Crimson rhythm team (Trey Gunn & Pat Mastelotto) in KTU up at the Victo Fest on different occasions. Each of those sets was great as are each of Kimmo's handful of releases. Over the past decade Kronos has been collaborating with different world musicians and composers and a number of these discs have left me less than enthused. This time they chose a perfect pair of collaborators to work with. Kimmo and his longtime partner, Samuli Kosminen wrote all of the music and arrangements for this fabulous disc.
"Uniko" is a seven part, 52 minute work. The accordion, sampler and strings are well-blended into one a seamless chamber work. The central melody has a lovely, folkish theme that touched me immediately and had me humming along. I kept thinking a chorus was about to join in. Mr. Kosminen often uses subtle samples of accordion, strings and percussion in order to add the spice that makes this music even more magical. Sometimes he'll add a shadow or sandpaper-like sound in order to add some depth to a certain section. Kimmo's voice is also utilized minimally, just adding a growl or odd vocal sound here and there as occasional punctuation. Even with only six musicians involved, this music has a rich, symphonic and cinematic vibe. I kept thinking I was a train moving through the Scandinavian countryside watching the scenery slowly change as my journey unfolded. It is only early February (of 2011) and already we have one the year's best discs. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16


New Far-Freaking-Out recordings from Japan!

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE SWR + KAZUTOKI UMEZU - Sax & The City (Magaibutsu 37; Japan) "Acid Mothers Temple SWR (Makoto Kawabata, Atsushi Tsuyama, and Tatsuya Yoshida) made this one-time improvisational album with Kazutoki Umezu, who is known for his own band 'the Doctor Umezu Band' and for the inspiring play in 'the RC Succession'. The expansion of the sounds in each track which generates the acrobatic grooves reminds us of the every possible kind of music genre, namely, rock, progressive, psychedelic, contemporary, and folk. You will experience the exiting drive of the aggressive sound-mixture and undergo the sound-agitation in this musical melting pot."
CD $20

KOENJIHYAKKEI [KOENJI HYAKKEI: TATSUYA YOSHIDA et al] - Live At Koenji High [DVD] (Magaibutsu DV 07; Japan) DocUmenting their European tour of 2009, this features 2 new songs that are unavailable elsewhere and totals 75 minutes. Each DVD they release is a bit more professional looking and has more camera angles than the one before, and this is beginning to aproximate a completely professional DVD! Having seen this tour, this perfectly encapsulates just what makes this group so wild and so fun and is *the* DVD to own, if you are owning only one (at least until the next one!). As usual, this is a wild race into Zeuhl territory, with all the throbbing bass, wild, Vander-inspired drumming, & Kobaian-via-Japan singing you could hope for.
DVD $20

KOENJIHYAKKEI [KOENJI HYAKKEI: TATSUYA YOSHIDA et al] - 070531: Live At Starpine's Cafe [DVD] (Magaibutsu DV 04; Japan) This is the third (and only currently available) DVD by Koenjihyakkei. As usual, this is a wild race into Zeuhl territory, with all the throbbing bass, wild, Vander-inspired drumming, & Kobaian-via-Japan singing you could hope for. This is the most professionally done of their DVDs. Recorded on May 31, 2007, it is different from previous Koenji CDs and DVDs as it includes guests Imahori Tsuneo (from Tipographica) on guitar, Tsuboy Akihisa (from KBB) on violin and Hoppy Kamiyama on second keyboard. Lasting a full 100 minutes, about half of this is improvised with the various guests and the second half features a number of songs from the albums.
DVD $20

KOREKYOJINN [TATSUYA YOSHIDA/KIDO NATSUKI/NANSUNO MITSURO] - Tundra (Magaibutsu 36; Japan) This is Korekyojinn's 6th release and another great, great power-trio release by this excellent Japanese band featuring amazing drummer Yoshida Tatsuya, leader of Ruins and Koenjihyakkei, mighty guitarist Kido Natsuki [Bondage Fruit] and astounding bassist bassist Nasuno Mitsuru [Altered States]. This band is one of my favorite things that Yoshida is involved with - and heaven knows that he's involved with a lot of good stuff! The basic framework of a good Korekyojinn album (and I think this is the best one yet) is that they have good structures for the band to work their magic around, but enough looseness that they can really take off and roar. Highly recommended if you like Yoshida's work, Bondage Fruit or great, heavy power trios. As a friend pointed out (something I never noticed, but once he pointed it out, I had to agree) it's obvious that these guys really like Yes, combined with heavier music, such as Magma; at its best, this reminds me a lot of the very heaviest guitar/bass/drums sections of Yes (think of the opening few minutes of Close to the Edge) with everyone just going full-throttle around a basic theme) but combine it with Christian Vander-esque drumming. Totally great; I can't recommend this enough
CD $20


NICO SOFFIATO QUARTET - Just Add Water (NBN 05; Italy) Nico Soffiato on guitar, Nick Videen on alto sax, Giancomo Merega on electric bass and Zach Mangan on drums. Every few months there seems to yet another new label coming out of Italy, each one documenting a different scene and each label worth checking out. NBN is a new label with a new look, nice soft cardboard cover with rounded corners. Although I believe all four members of this quartet at Italian, this disc was recorded in Brooklyn where some (all?) of them currently reside. The only name I recognize here is bassist Giacomo Merega who's own CD with Dave Tronzo on the Creative Nation label, I reviewed a couple of years ago and who played here at DMG.
The members of the quartet wrote most of the songs on this disc with just two covers, one by Marc Ducret and a standard by Richard Rogers. Most of these pieces are centered around the electric bass playing a repeating lick while the guitar and alto sax play the main theme together. Nico's solos are often the most relaxed yet still tell thoughtful stories. The drummer plays quick flourishes while the rest of the band simmers sublimely. On the title track the sax and guitar spin tightly around one another until they hit the main theme, slow down and the quartet play ever so elegantly together. Although many of these songs have a rather somber vibe, there is still some more complex interplay and arrangements involved. Nico Soffiato will be playing some of this music here at DMG next month (date tba) so please come on down and support these immensely talented young Italian musicians. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15


BIZINGAS [BRIAN DRYE/JONATHAN GOLDBERGER/KIRK KNUFFKE/CHES SMITH] - Bizingas (NCM East; USA) Brian Drye on trombone, piano & compositions, Jonathan Goldberger on guitars, Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Ches Smith on drums & glockenspiel. Trombonist Brian Drye has played here a couple of times and just left us with his new disc. Brian was a member of Four Bags and has also recorded in Kirk Knuffke's quartet for their Clean Feed release. Although the instrumentation is odd (trombone, cornet, guitar & drums), the music is focused and spirited. It is an odd version of jazz/rock with bent guitar riffs and slippery horns on top. What I dig is that Brian writes pieces which don't seem to come from any familiar tradition. "TMT" reminds me more of an odd early Eno piece with a quirky melody not so distant from Penguin Cafe. It sounds as if Brian has taken a good deal of time to come up with diverse and challenging material for his own unique quartet to play. Each piece has some sort of strategy or idea that is endlessly fascinating in different ways. Nothing is as if seems, mucho surprises are in store. I hope to get these guys down here at DMG for an in-store but until then, please check out this unexpected delight. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
[limited time price; normally $15]
CD $10 GEORGE SCHULLER TRIO With DAN TEPFER/JEREMY STRATTON - Life's Little Dramas (Fresh Sound NT 368; EEC) Featuring George Schuller (drums), Dan Tepfer (piano) & Jeremy Stratton (bass). The time keeper for not only his own groups but a vital member of the avant garde group, Conference Call, Schuller delivers a trio outing that is simply sublime. Featuring already highly acclaimed musicians, Dan Tepfer (piano) and Jeremy Stratton (drums), Schuller's composition allow this trio to stretch and have free reign in what turns out to be a very relaxed yet complex recording. Schuller penned numbers "Newtoon," "Apocalypso" find the group is exploratory mode but with subtle post bop undertones. "House Of Blue Lime" written by Lee Konitz takes on a different direction under Schuller's arrangement and deserves multiple listens on its own. Life's Little Dramas is not a 'drummer's' record. It's a composer's record. And George Schuller has delivered a record that is diverse, dynamic and richly inventive. - Stephan Moore, DMG
CD $15


4 copies of this rarity found:

RASA [BILL LASWELL] - Serene Timeless Joy: Shining Stone For Untitled Art [Ltd Ed of 100 copies signed & #'d by Bill Laswell & artist Steven Sapporta] (private release; USA) Rasa is a Sanskrit and ancient Javanese expression which means a sense of the spiritual. The soundscapes of this record were captured in Borobudur, Indonesia, and it's surrounding mountains which are believed to be sacred. Borobudur is the largest Buddhist monument in the world built in the eighth and ninth centuries. Found here is one 60 minute meditational track, "Shinning Stone Walu Jilang", created, produced, manipulated and recorded by Bill Laswell!
This is a long out-of-print edition, a machine-labeled CD-R in an art-print-cover jewel case - only 100 copies were made and sold at artist Steven Sapporta's gallery exhibition in 1999. These copies are directly from the artist, and are signed and #d in pencil by Bill Laswell and Steven Sapporta!
Ltd Ed Autographed CD $40



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Re: Last week's Focus on Ellery Eskelin

Ellery himself contacted us, very pleased, and offered us his very last copies of 3 out-of-print titles that were not on last week's list
Grab now or Weep!

ELLERY ESKELIN With ANDREA PARKINS/JIM BLACK/ERIK FRIEDLANDER/JOE DALEY - Ramifications (Hat ology 551; Switzerland) E Eskelin tenor sax, A Parkins accordion, E Friedlander cello, J Daley tuba, J Black drums
These seven compositions are my first for a five piece band. Some of them are episodic (overall balance being the key issue) others are cut whole from the same cloth (wherein the cyclical structure becomes obscured as to just where it begins or ends). I'm interested in the effect that each newsection of music (or new piece in the overall order) has on the previous one and how it affects perceptions of the upcoming one, a process that is somewhat more aligned with the technique of filmmaking than with traditional formal development such as theme and variations. This process more accurately reflects the way I see actions in daily life. - Ellery Eskelin
CD $19 (Out of print, but we have it!)

ELLERY ESKELIN/ANDREA PARKINS/JIM BLACK - 12 (+1) Imaginary Views (Hat ology 584; Switzerland) Why the word "imaginary" you ask? Because these pieces barely exist, at least on paper. They exist more so in our minds and imaginations at the time we perform them. But of course as documented on this recording they exist in a very real way. As with all improvisation there is an element of indeterminacy that when negotiated in the spur of the moment ultimately results in definitive musical statements. And these pieces rely on improvisation more so than any we've played thus far. Each one is an idea, a concept containing some specific element that characterizes an otherwise open improvisation. These twelve short pieces were conceived of and written as a suite and were developed in performance during our 2001 spring tour of Europe. - Ellery Eskelin
CD $19 (Out of print, but we have it!)

ELLERY ESKELIN/ANDREA PARKINS/JIM BLACK - The Secret Museum (Hat ology 552 S; Switzerland) The Secret Museum refers to both the individual and collective experiences that all of us carry around in our daily lives. We are each a secret museum of experiences and remembrances of events gone by, places that have since changed, people that are no longer with us. Music can be an excellent medium by which to express these lost times and places and bring us to new places as well. It's been very rewarding to present the strange and sometimes conflicting elements of my musical psyche to listeners around the world, opening the door to my own secret museum of the past, present and future - Ellery Eskelin
CD $19 (Out of print, but we have it!)


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Two Explosively Creative Musicians - Together!
Limited time sale copies

OTOMO YOSHIHIDE & KESHAVAN MASLAK [KENNY MILLIONS] - Without Kuryokhin (Long Arms 99021; Russia) Originally this was supposed to have been a trio tour of Russia with Sergey Kuryokhin on piano, Otomo on turntables & samples and Keshavan on reeds, mini guitar & voice. Sergey's untimely death in 1996 forced the trio to become a duo for two special gigs in St. Petersburg & Moscow in November of '96. This release is from the Moscow gig, half live and half live & remixed by Otomo. Keshavan is also known as Kenny Millions and has that twisted sense of humor that Sergey also loved to dip into. Otomo also seems to be inspired by Sergey's odd & unexpected ever-changing approach, with piano samples possibly from Sergey himself. The live tracks show a thoughtful, minimalist approach which blends silly wordless vocals and funky sax with suspenseful samples and an appreciative audience to egg them on. The remixed live tracks are much wackier, with Otomo's diverse manipulations of Kehavan's sax, clarinet & voice samples. It sometimes sounds as if my cd player is skipping, but this is just Otomo's doing. There is one track of noise explosions for those who need these extremes, but not for too long. Overall, this sounds more like an Otomo excursion, with all of its layered samples weaved together. A piano was placed on stage at both of these gigs in respect for Sergey, his spirit seems to inhabit this fine release. - BLG
CD $13.00 7 for 6 SALE.


THAI? DAI! [V.A.] - The Heavier Side Of The Luk Thung Underground (BMusic 29; USA) "It's possibly a misnomer to label music recorded outside of the USA or Europe with terms such as 'psyche' or 'surf' as it is often just a stylistic innovation based on exposure to foreign records via the radio or music stores. It doesn't necessarily chime in with any of the social shifts or changes that accompanied the music's development in the West. Even in America, the concept of teen culture was relatively new during the height of these genres popularity. People who could afford to take advantage of these new freedoms often had the financial cushioning to do so. This factor was amplified in South East Asia, and the music shouldn't be considered nationally representative - it's a more scaled down phenomenon, relevant to a small cross-section of society. By the same token, this wasn't just bland copycat music to widen a band's audience, or to entertain expat patrons in bars or clubs. This was a sincere desire to experiment and repackage local sounds without necessarily needing to make a statement. The musical information was processed and partially recast amidst a blend of local music and arrangements, transposed onto drums, electric bass, guitar and keyboards. Although in the mid-70s there was a wider protest movement in Thailand that found it's musical outlet in the 'songs for life' of Caravan and Carabao, the music collected here was not part of the same aesthetic, although it's possible there was some musical overspill. The styles featured on this compilation fall somewhere between Luk Thung ('song of the countryside') and Luk Krung ('song of the city'). Bangkok was a particular melting pot for the evolution of these two genres, the former alluding to musical themes and lyrics aimed at the wider national population, the latter looking westwards with a more urban 'sophisticated' audience in mind. The tracks here were experimentations or dice rolling by both little known groups, as well as established figures like Plearn Promdan. Some tracks might represent a specific artist's only foray into this musical area. Even within Thailand the majority of these tunes remain unissued, so it's with great pleasure that we present this glimpse of the strange underbelly of Thai Luk Thung in all its unique, original and outlandish glory - a small snapshot of an otherwise forgotten era." Compiled by Chris Menist & Andy Votel with Maft Sai (of the ZudRangMa label).
CD $16


LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS - Moonyean (Enabling Works 02; EEC) 180 gram vinyl special. This is the second of a selection of Loren Connors' typical and truly addictive guitar suites from the '90s to be reissued on vinyl. In 1994, after the Hell's Kitchen Park (EW 001LP) album and Mother & Son 7" EP had come out, a semi-sequel to the latter was released by Table of the Elements in the form of a 7" EP called The Five Points. The record told a short story of a New York City slum of that name, which counted the city's most mortalities in the year 1857, of which most were Irish children under six years of age. The EP featured one track that was given the ambiguous name "Moonyean." There was a movie from 1932 that was based on a theater play from 1919, in which the ghost of an Irish-American woman appeared in a garden. That ghost was Moonyean, and Loren named his next album after her. This suite of 13 individually untitled tracks was originally released on CD by Road Cone in 1994. For the re-release on 180 gram vinyl, the original artwork including Suzanne Langille's picture on the front cover has been upgraded, but the title is all that remains clear about the theme, still leaving its content up to one's imagination. Though ever-equipped with the same tools of his trade, Loren managed to come up with a different sound on every album. Moonyean for the most part is probably the most gentle of all, due to its source of inspiration. It carries a number of warm and fuzzy tracks in which notes just melt on the tongue. But the album also has the right dose of distorted experimental blues riffs, ever so intense. Loren may have found a new way to express himself through the different pick-up positions on his guitar as well as external effects, but his character guiding his soft artistic hands over the strings leaves the sound of one man and his guitar unequalled, as his state of mind decides the color of a recording. With the tape hiss, environmental sounds, acoustics, and Loren's occasional distant moaning, Moonyean is another beautiful piece of timeless and earthly sound art. For its completion, Suzanne Langille hums a few lines on one of the tracks, bringing in an element of peace -- perhaps playing the role of Moonyean. Even though it is not clear what Loren is saying exactly with the untitled tracks on the album, there is a certain pureness and truth in it.
LP $25


JIMI HENDRIX - Blues [2 LP set] (Sony/Experience Hendrix 45171; USA) 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
2 LP set for $24


LISA BIELAWA - Chance Encounter (Orange Mountain 7004; USA) "Chance Encounter was co-conceived by world-renowned soprano Susan Narucki and composer Lisa Bielawa, Rome Prize winning composer and long-time member of the Philip Glass Ensemble. The work's libretto is comprised entirely of utterances that Bielawa overheard over the course of a full year of travel, in transient public spaces around the world. These captured phrases are organized into four song-arias."
CD $17

MARIA BACHMANN - Glass Heart (Orange Mountain 7006; USA) "Maria Bachmann is heard here in a recital that features the world premiere recording of Philip Glass' Sonata for Violin and Piano (2008) which was written for her. The recital also includes Schubert's mighty Sonata in A major, and Ravel's Sonate posthume. Jon Klibonoff is Bachmann's accompanist. The duo won the 2010 Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists award given by the Classical Recording Foundation."
CD $17

PHILIP GLASS - Kepler [2 CD + Libretto set] (Orange Mountain 71; USA) "Philip Glass' opera Kepler in many ways harkens back to Glass' portrait operas of the early 1980s and continues the composer's interest in scientists after having also written operas on Einstein and Galileo. The opera premiered at the Landestheater Linz in 2009 and continues the amazing 30 year collaboration between Glass and the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, the music director of both the Landestheater Linz and its orchestra, the Bruckner Orchester. Kepler marks a refreshing return to large scale symphonic writing for the opera house. It is a musical dedication to the life of this great scientist -- exploring both his triumphs and his human flaws. As Glass states, 'Kepler was a man with his mind in the clouds and his feet in the mud.' Taken from live performances in 2010 during its extensive run in Linz, this is the world premiere recording. It is sung in German and Latin and contains the full libretto with English translation in the deluxe two disc digipack."
2 CD + Libretto set for $36


WHITEHOUSE [WILLIAM BENNETT] & ZEITKRATZER - Electronics (Zeitkratzer 07; Germany) William Bennett is one of the great pioneers of noise and industrial music. His influential project Whitehouse has become a worldwide reference. The music on this CD and the arrangements by Reinhold Friedl were worked out in close collaboration with William Bennett and the Zeitkratzer musicians. The compositions are short, very clear, and have an unbelievable impact, with precisely-defined harsh sounds. This music is an adventurous journey into the amplified acoustic noise of musical instruments. This project would not have been possible without the experience of Zeitkratzer in noise and sound music; for example, in their collaborations with Merzbow, Lou Reed, Zbigniew Karkowski or Keiji Haino. This CD is one of the most concentrated and cleanly-presented noise works Zeitkratzer has ever offered. All music recorded at Festival Les Musiques GMEM Marseille, France, May 14, 2009. Musicians include: Frank Gratkowski (clarinets), Matt Davis (trumpet), Hilary Jeffery (trombone), Reinhold Friedl (piano), Rhodri Davies (harp), Maurice De Martin (drums, percussion), Burkhard Schlothauer (violin), Anton Lukoszevieze (violoncello), Ulrich Phillipp (double bass), Ralf Meinz (sound).
CD $16

ZEITKRATZER [REINHOLD FRIEDL/FRANK GRATKOWSKI/HILARY JEFFREY et al]//ALVIN LUCIER - Old School: Alvin Lucier (Zeitkratzer 11; Germany) Alvin Lucier is one of the most outstanding American minimalists -- he could be called a sound physician and his compositions regarded as acoustic research settings. Often, his pieces turn inside-out the inner properties of the room they are played in and the instrument that they are played on. Zeitkratzer had the chance to work with the composer in Dijon, France in 2008, and continued to work on and to program his music in different places. The Philharmonie in Luxembourg turned out to be the ideal space for recording. On this CD, you can hear how Lucier enables Zeitkratzer to create sounds most people have never heard before. Ringing overtones, a singing piano, a thrilling concert triangle, pencils on little objects, and how irritating a violoncello, a viola and a piano can sound together, creating sonic interferences. This music is not only a physical phenomenology, but becomes inherently a sensual listening experience. Directed by Reinhold Friedl. Musicians include: Burkhard Schlothauer (violin, viola, objects), Anton Lukoszevieze (violoncello, objects), Uli Phillipp (objects), Reinhold Friedl (piano, objects), Maurice de Martin (triangle, objects), Frank Gratkowski (objects), Hayden Chisholm (objects), Matt Davis (objects), Hilary Jeffery (objects) and Ralf Meinz (sound).
CD $16


BERNARD HERRMANN//JULIAN BLISS/TIPPETT STRING QUARTET - Psycho: Suite For String Quartet (Signum 234; UK) Featured works: Psycho Suite for String Quartet; Echoes for String Quartet (1965); Souvenirs de Voyage (1967). Performed by Julian Bliss, clarinet; Tippett String Quartet. "Although he is best known for his scores to perhaps some of the most iconic films ever made (Vertigo, Citizen Kane, Psycho), Bernard Herrmann was also a talented composer for the concert hall, with an early career marked out by his skill as a conductor - praised by Stravinsky amongst others, who autographed Herrmann's score for his Symphony in 3 Movements with: 'To the excellent musician and conductor, Bernard Herrmann. Cordially, I. Stravinsky.' The Tippett Quartet capture the energy and musical finesse of Herrmann's works in this recording, accompanied for Souvernirs de Voyage by the clarinetist Julian Bliss and featuring a new arrangement of his score for Psycho."
CD $20


MERCE CUNNINGHAM DANCE COMPANY - Suite For Five - Summerspace - Interscape [3 DVD set] (Artpix 1200; USA) "In 1954, Robert Rauschenberg became the Resident Designer to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, a position he held for ten years. During that time these friends and collaborators, along with the musician John Cage, created some of the most iconoclastic artworks of the 20th century. This three-DVD set showcases these great artists' work, along with the work of another, filmmaker Charles Atlas. The DVDs are accompanied by an illustrated essay by Bonnie Brooks. Charles Atlas has directed and collaborated on over 35 film or video projects with Merce Cunningham and served as the company's filmmaker-in-residence for ten years (1974-1983). The three films in this collection showcase Atlas's direction and editing of films and include the 2003 revival of Suite for Five, the 1999 revival of Summerspace, and the original cast of Interscape in 2000. Suite for Five (1956) is one of Cunningham's most enduring explorations of time and space. Combined with Cage's chance-derived score and Rauschenberg's costumes and design, the work is a classic of the choreographer's repertoire. In Summerspace (1958) each creative element -- Morton Feldman's score, Rauschenberg's decor and costumes, and Cunningham's choreography -- were conceived and created independently of one another. Despite this separation, the elements meld to give the audience an impression of a balmy summer day. Interscape (2000) explores the transitions between darkness and light, stillness and exertion, and silence and sound. A detailed and beautifully rendered work, Interscape showcases the essence of the artists Cage, Cunningham and Rauschenberg." NTSC all region format. Running times: Suite For Five: 25:58; Summerspace: 22:05; Interscape: 47:05.
3 DVD set for $51


M S DAGLEY - Mystery Of The Guitar (Abaton 035; USA) "Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in its surrounds, Dagley was classically trained as a guitarist from age eight to thirteen by David Arnold, a pupil of Sophocles Papas and a master class student of Andre Segovia. He then enjoyed the blues tutelage of local luminaries John Jackson, Elizabeth Cotton, Archie Edwards and Flora Moulton during his adolescent years. Mystery of the Guitar distills the essence of these lessons into an open ended galaxy of musical proposals, from 17th century courtly dance compositions to improvised extrapolations, seemingly critical of syncopation itself. Dagley went on to become a founding member of the late 70s Boston art punk band The Girls and the early 80s New York punk blues band The Hi Sheriffs of Blue, both of which featured the renowned painter George Condo. More recently, he engineered the debut CDs of singer/songwriters Marianne Nowottny, Julia Vorontsova, Corbi Wright and the teen girl punk duo Shell. Mark Dagley is also an accomplished visual artist whose abstract geometric paintings have been displayed at galleries, foundations and museums throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia."
CD $12


NICK JONAH DAVIS - Of Time And Tides: Guitar Recordings Vol. II (Tompkins Square 2547; USA) "Nick Jonah Davis is a guitarist from Nottingham, England. His early blues rock leanings led to the discovery of prewar blues, as well as modal British folk. Nick steadily absorbed these influences over many years of solitary improvisation. The post-Takoma acoustic guitar solo scene has provided a context for Nick's music, which might otherwise have remained a private endeavour. Live, Nick has shared bills in the UK and USA with the likes of James Blackshaw, Alasdair Roberts, Jozef van Wissem, Max Ochs, Ellen Mary McGee and Eric Carbonara. Nick first ventured into the studio to record his brief album Guitar Recordings Vol 1, one of UNCUT/Wild Mercury Sound's Top 100 Albums of 2009. Of Time and Tides is his more expansive second release, featuring evocative solo performances on 6 and 12 string guitar, as well as duets with guitarist Will Phipps and pianist Ed Earl."
LP $15


HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA - Hariprasad Chaurasia And The Art Of Improvisation [2 CD + Book set] (Accords Croises 136; EEC) "Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia seems to draws ideas from an inexhaustible source, playing on every contrast, composing his musical discourse with outstanding aesthetic sense and clarity. His extraordinary mastery of improvisation is dazzling to improvisers of all kinds. This CD and book is intended for all keen listeners who wish to learn more about the creative process. It also aims to guide students, scholars, improvisers, performers and composers from various backgrounds who endeavor to explore his music in order to enrich their art. Step by step, the improvisations of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia will lead the way into the different elements of the great musical tradition of northern India." 2 CDs of raga music housed in a deluxe hardbound 200-page book written by Henri Tournier. The book features full-color paintings, pictures and musical notation. 11 x 5 1/2 inches.
2 CD + Book set for $45


T K RAMAMOORTHY - Fabulous Notes And Beats Of The Indian Carnatic-Jazz (EM 1091; Japan) Come join EM Records on another of their spatio-temporal musical journeys. This time, we're off to Madras, 1969 to hear legendary south Indian film music composer/director, T. K. Ramamoorthy's prescient Fabulous Notes And Beats Of The Indian Carnatic - Jazz, a daring fusion of Carnatic music and jazz. Although jazz musicians had been using Indian elements before this time, Fabulous Notes was the first recording in which accomplished Indian musicians adopted jazz elements. And these are accomplished musicians indeed -- veterans of the demanding Indian film music studios, trained in the strict discipline of the traditional Carnatic system, led by the visionary Ramamoorthy, a legendary composer who collaborated with M. S. Viswanathan in providing soundtracks for more than 700 films. The music here is a true Indian music, adhering to traditional Carnatic ragas with their varying ascending and descending modes, using a wide range of Indian instruments in an appealing fusion with jazz instruments, ideas and rhythms. The result is not a slavish imitation of modish Western styles, but a stimulating and surprising new entity; fans of later Ethio-jazz may well experience a frisson of familiarity at certain moments when listening to these recordings. Famed composer Ramamoorthy is also a masterful arranger and orchestrator, giving us surprising vistas of timbre, allowing instruments to come to the fore, supported in appealing combinations. But the true heart of both Carnatic music and jazz is improvisation, and T.K.R. allows these fine players space within relatively brief moments to make their own statements within the ragas, as detailed in the liner notes accompanying this reissue. What we hear is a new meeting of worlds, both sharing a respect for the primacy of improvisation, a love for the intricacies of ensemble-playing, and a fine understanding of the power of propulsive yet sophisticated rhythms. Fabulous Notes reveals a true Indian music, not merely Occidental music with hints of Indo-spice. We can picture the recording sessions, with the musicians seated on the floor of the studio, Indian musicians playing Indian music, playing jazz, playing Fabulous Notes And Beats Of The Indian Carnatic - Jazz. Indian instruments include: veena, gotuvadyam, flute, tabla tharang, tape, conch, ghatam, mridangam, chandai & sudha madhalam, tabla, jalra and bul bul thara, and Western instruments include: bass clarinet, saxophone, piano, guitar, double bass, trumpet, drums and bongos.
CD $21


FAUST - Something Dirty (Bureau B 65; Germany) Faust has been around for over 40 years. Since 2007, the line-up of the Krautrock legends has comprised founding members Jean-Herve Peron and Zappi Diermaier, the English musician James Johnston, founder of the brutish blues rockers Gallon Drunk and long-standing member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, plus the English painter, filmmaker, author and musician Geraldine Swayne. On Something Dirty, the creativity and musical ideas of these four personalities coalesce into a perfect symbiosis of sound. It is at once hypnotic, repetitive, melodic, exhilarating, psychedelic, menacing, Dadaist and ethereal. Johnston's guitar saws its way through Diermaier's archaic beats, harmonically enriched by Peron's powerful bass and Swayne's psychedelic keyboards. Time and again, Faust revisits their avant-garde roots, experimenting with voices and unusual instruments. (A flamethrower and goat hooves can be detected in their arsenal of sonic sources.) Best of all, however, Faust have succeeded in reproducing the raw energy and roughness of their live performances on Something Dirty. Breathtaking stuff! "There is no group more mythical than Faust." Thus wrote English musician and eccentric Julian Cope. Which says it all really, neither the habitus nor the music of the six-piece Hamburg group was easy to grasp. While some lauded Faust as the best thing that ever happened to rock, others dismissed them as shameless dilettantes. Their collage of Dadaism, avant-garde rock and free improvisation radically divided opinion. When the first LP was unleashed on the world in 1971, Faust were very much the prophet in his own land, as the saying goes: few were interested in listening to their music -- in Germany. Not so across the Channel: this is where Faust's career really kick-started. These monoliths of avant-garde rock sold 100,000 copies of their album The Faust Tapes. Exactly 40 years after their debut, Faust has come up with another archetypical album: inspiring, innovative, unpredictable, anarchic and Faustian. Something Dirty is a definitive milestone in the long history of this world-famous musical institution from Hamburg.
CD $17


ELMO HOPE TRIO With PERCY HEATH/JOHN ORE/RONNIE BOYKINS/PAUL CHAMBERS/JIMMY BOND/PHILLY JOE JONES/WILLY JONES/FRANK BUTLER/CLIFFORD JARVIS et al - The Complete Studio Recordings: The Master Takes [4 CD set] (Gambit 69262; EEC)
2 CD set for $22

ZOOT SIMS/KENNY DREW QUARTET With NIELS-HENNING ORSTED PEDERSEN/ED THIGPEN or ALEX RIEL - Complete Live Recordings: Denmark August 1978 [2 CD set] (Gambit 69286; EEC)
CD $16

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Focus on: MIKE PRIDE!

Mike Pride is one of the most prolific drummers I know. Gigging nightly, endlessly recording and releasing music; he can seamlessly slip in and out of sonic dimensions like turning a page in a book! He does what the music calls for, actively engaging himself and your ears, capable of sensitive listening and tremendously creative response in musics from bop, post-bop, all the way to math-rock and metal speed-core. Pride was taught by the great Milford Graves, but what he has done with his teachings is the most interesting. As you will see below, he has a plethora of releases on such luminous labels such as Aum Fidelity, Clean Feed, Tzadik, Veal, and even his own label Funhole[!]
This list represents most of the still-available releases that he is on - many more are out-of-print at this point. Dig in and dig deep! - Chuck Bettis/DMG

Mike Pride is the next 'everyone's favorite drummer' in the creative music scene[s]; he's already mine! - MannyLunch


As leader or co-leader

MIKE PRIDE With TONY MALABY/WILLIAM PARKER/CHARLIE LOOKER - Scrambler (Not Two 766; EEC) Mike Pride is the kind of musician that makes the current NYC improv underground so vital. He's always challenging himself with new situations and breaking down barriers between different scenes, intermingling avant-rock, avant-jazz, free improv, and miscellaneous wackiness in a countless stream of projects. This disc is a perfect example of his expansive community spirit, bringing together two great avant-jazzers from different circles of activity, not to mention a young guitarist known mostly for his work in the fabulously idiosyncratic post-hardcore art pop band Time of Orchids. Charlie Looker's guitar playing on this disc has many of the same qualities I enjoy in his ToO work, a simple, pin-prick spikiness and clarity of line without soloistic cliches, though he does play some ordinary jazz lines a few times here too. Looker also does some subtle coloristic background playing that lets the pungent, edgy timbres of electric guitar seep into the mix and amplify the poignancy of Malaby's bittersweet saxophone melodies, especially in the achingly beautiful "A Prayer For Peace". Malaby dominates the music, and the fluid balance between post-Berne, post-Ornette, and post-Ayler concepts he achieves in this 100% free session reveals musical depths independent of the score-based avant-jazz he tends to mine. I've never been disappointed by the many concerts and recordings I've heard from Malaby; I think he's one of the most consistently inspired jazz saxophonists of his generation. With his knockout playing on this album, Mike Pride puts himself on the map as a free jazz drumkitter, even though he's a veteran of publicly documented groups led by the likes of Anthony Braxton and Brandon Evans. With his foundations in aggressive rock music, he doesn't hesitate to explore furious high-energy territory, but he's just as adept at groove deconstructionism a la Jim Black. Despite the eclectic backgrounds of the musicians, this music is not eclectic at all; it's a totally focused free jazz session that never steps outside of the classic universal music zone, riding the ebb and flow of melody and pulse as an organic unit with shared intentions. Every combination of unique musical personalities offers the potential for unique and great free jazz if they come together with confidence and sensitivity. Here are four musicians who do precisely that, catalyzed by William Parker's locomotive throbs and searing arco. Free jazz is a bottomless well of human spirit and these 2002 recordings issued in an elegant gatefold by the Polish label Not Two is an outpouring well worth lapping up. -Michael Anton Parker
CD $18

MIKE PRIDE'S FROM BACTERIA TO BOYS With DARIUS JONES/EVAN LIPSON - Hang (Funhole 09; USA) Featuring Darius Jones on alto sax, Evan Lipson on acoustic bass and Mike Pride on drums. Mike Pride keeps pretty busy between a wide variety of bands and projects. This trio date was recorded in Philly in June of 2006. "I'm Not Afraid to be a Man" opens with insistent repeating sax line, the rhythm team switching below, at a slower pace, then varying the rhythm as the piece evolves. Considering that I haven't heard of the saxist, Darius Jones, before this, he sounds pretty great at spinning his fast lines tightly with the bass and drums. This is a particularly strong jazz date with a fine acoustic trio, strong writing and inspired playing. - BLG
CD $8

MIKE PRIDE'S FROM BACTERIA TO BOYS With DARIUS JONES/PETER BITENC/ALEXIS MARCELO - Betweenwhile (AUM Fidelity 65; USA) "Mike Pride's From Bacteria To Boys, now a quartet for their 2nd album Betweenwhile, features four of the most startling and beautiful new voices in modern jazz and blurs the lines between forward-looking, groove-based modern jazz, chant works, R&B (R. Kelly, mainly) and 20th/21st century classical music, with a singular intensity and center of focus. This is avant-garde soul music -- the credo of AUM Fidelity -- and we are very proud to present this major work. Betweenwhile is the flagship document of what these four musicians (Mike Pride, Darius Jones, Peter Bitenc, and Alexis Marcelo), as led by drummer/composer Pride, have summoned and made animate in the world over a highly-concentrated period of tireless live performance and group refinement. Its title, semi-quoted from a line in the expository intermediary Chapter 12.5 of R. Kelly's 'Trapped In the Closet' epic, alludes to the many-layered accruement between human beings operating together and towards collective goals in time/space. From Bacteria to Boys has performed their due diligence in understanding not only the rhythmic micro-realities of R&B, but its contentedly ecstatic spirit as well. It is a music indeed ecstatically alive and committed to the continuance and elevation of love and happiness through all the means that jazz music can employ."
CD $14

MIKE PRIDE'S SCENE FUCKER #5 With GERALD MENKE/JESSICA PAVONE/BRIAN MORAN/AARON ALI SHAIKH - The Ensemble is an Electronic Device (Public Eyesore 94; USA) [ltd time sale price!] Featuring Gerald Menke on pedal steel guitar, Brian Moran on electronics, Jessica Pavone on viola, Aaron Ali Shaikh on soprano & alto saxes and Mike Pride on percussion, electronics & cassette. In January of 2005, Mike Pride lost his apartment and most of his possessions to an unexpected electrical fire. The tape for this one-time live improv date is one of the few things that survived the fire. The only player here that I am previously familiar with is Jessica Pavone who has worked with Anthony Braxton and has a duo with Mary Halvorson. This disc contains one long (nearly 35 minute) piece and was recorded live at Freddy's in Brooklyn in February of 2003. I dig the way that this unfolds slowly, quietly with sporadic sounds floating in space. Minimal amplified viola, fragments of sax notes, occasional percussion and quiet electronics sail through the landscape. Different combinations of players weave their sounds with one another, Nothing feels forced and no one really solos, everything moves in spurts or floats, connecting with another free spirit. There are magic moments when it seems as if we are entering another dimension, both familiar and alien, simultaneously. It is a rare occurrence, but it does happen here and more frequently that you might expect. - BLG
CD $12

NED MUFFLEBURGER & THE DSL [MIKE PRIDE et al] - collymore (Funhole 07; USA) Pristine recording catches Ned Muffleburger BAND live at a freak-out psychadelic night at Collymore, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. 10 tunes walking the line between Cars-style pop rock, Art Ensemble of Chicago-style improvisation, & early 90's Boredoms-style noise freakouts. Recording features Ned Muffleburger (guitar, vocals, can), Scarecrowoven(electronics, voice), Evan Lipson (bass), Mike Gamble (guitar, Casio SK-1), Sam Hoyt (trumpet) & DJ JEN-X (vocals and inspiration).
CD $8

NED MUFFLEBURGER & THE DSL [MIKE PRIDE et al] - delancey (Funhole 06; USA) 1st release in a new series of live-then-treated site recordings of the NED MUFFLEBURGER BAND. This disc was recorded live at the FIRE RELIEF BENEFIT FOR MIKE PRIDE in the summer of 2005 at Delancey in NYC. 9 seminal tracks find the BAND at peak psychadelic-noise form. Never before has a pop sensibility melded so drastically and organically with modern lowercase improv and harsh noise. This who's who all-star band includes: Ned Muffleburger (guitar, vocals), Fritz Welch (percussion, voice), Scarecrowoven (electronics, voice), Jesse Krakow (bass), Mike Gamble (Casio SK-1) + some special guests. Live recording digitally fucked with/overdubbed on/processed and edited by Mike Pride in early 2006.
CD $8

NED MUFFLEBURGER & THE DSL [MIKE PRIDE et al] - Ned Muffleburger & The DSL (Funhole 01; USA) Ned Muffleburger's (aka Mike Pride) and Funhole Records' 1st release, recorded in a basement studio in Southern Maine, in which he sings, and plays instruments, and is joined by a mysterious collaborative of musicians known as "The Dirty Shit Love". One of the most bizarre concept albums ever made. You figure out what the point is.. 24 tracks that range from noise-garage rock to tape collage and experimental studio techniques. 10 years since its first release, this album sounds even more experimental and exciting as time goes by
CD $8

NED MUFFLEBURGER & THE DSL [MIKE PRIDE et al] - santa's sac (Funhole 04; USA) The mother of all future Christmas albums! 11 holiday favorites interpreted by native-northern noise woodsman, Ned Muffleburger, plus 6 originals. Unlike any holiday album you have heard before - innocent, passionate & humorous. A must have for any lover of holiday music, or lovers of all things bizarre. Packaged in a charming thank you card style, with a special gift from Ned inside. Dave Pride- Bb clarinet, Ned Muffleburger- vocals, percussion, electric bass, guitars, samples, etc..
CD $8

DYNAMITE CLUB [KENTARO SAITO/MIKE PRIDE/EVAN LIPSON] - Fusion Era (Caminante; USA) So this is what insanity sounds like.. Formed in 2001, the aptly-named Dynamite Club features guitarist and vocalist Kentaro Saito from Tokyo, drummer and vocalist Mike Pride from Brooklyn, and current bassist (the band's eighth!) Evan Lipson. This bi-continental trio has forged an identity through the fires of the New York and Tokyo scenes to come out as one of the most unique noise rock bands in recent memory.
Their latest release, Fusion Era, finds Dynamite Club launching into a preposterous 12-track set highlighted by abnormal flashes of funk, bursts of noise, SOAD-esque rock segments, and intervallic sections of puzzling exquisiteness.
Like most noise rock, it's pretty senseless to divide it up into palatable segments. Fusion Era is not a record that is scanned or divvied up into tracks for analysis, although there are many great moments worth highlighting. As an album, it stands as a whole work of art. It may be a deafening, hectic, infuriating work of art, but Dynamite Club has created something special here.
All but two of Fusion Era's tracks run under the two-minute-mark, with several running under a minute. Bleats of noise, strewn shards of rhythm, blasts of guitar, unstructured soloing, and warped bass suffuse each track with madness. Saito's shouts, screams, wails, and affectionate anarchy bring the fucking house down.
For many people, Fusion Era simply won't work. Noise rock is a risky genre. I happen to love it, but many of my friends simply can't grasp what I find to be 'beauty in chaos.'
Still, Dynamite Club is, at times, as undemanding as any other Japanese rock band. Fusion Era finds Dynamite Club making lots of jubilant noise. Deconstruction works as a theme, as songs begin with eagerness but quickly overturn into psychosis (Cow Fat). Others take the noise and convert it to something funky (www.porno.net). And still others take a windy, haunting road to their final resting place (Eye Like to Watch). Dynamite Club's Fusion Era is an album that is as much about the deconstruction of sound as it is about the construction of noise. Songs bray and lament over hard guitars and fucked-up vocals, giving things an exasperating edge. Some, like me, will find beauty in the chaos. Others will simply sit, flabbergasted, and wait for the blasted exercise in 'art' to be over and done with.
CD $15

DYNAMITE CLUB [KENTARO SAITO/MIKE PRIDE/BYRNE KLAY] - it's deeper than most people actually think... (Funhole 03; USA) One year in the making, this is the 2nd full-length CD from Dynamite Club! 17 new songs. Where Dynamite Club's first album was an excercise in noise, claustrophobia and chaos, this is Dynamite Club's "studio" album - crystal clear, bright, tight and totally unpredictable - showcasing musical virtuosity and maybe even sincerety. Certainly not what you would expect, and unlike anything you have ever heard before. Sure to shock and delight music lovers of all walks. It's "DEEEEP"!
CD $8

BUNDA LOVE QUARTET [ID M THEFT ABLE/MIKE PRIDE et al] - Strange Mane: Live sounds from the Southern Maine Noise Underground. (Sachimay Interventions 13 CD-R ; USA) The duo Bunda Love -- Mike Pride (amplified & non-amplified percussion, open circuit wiring, dual feedback machine, voice, drum machine stick) and id m theft able (voice, electronics, percussion, etc.) -- present a quartet recorded live at Southern Maine's premier noise venue/used media superstore, Strange Maine. For this date, Bunda Love was expanded by Wisconsin native violin terrorist Blanca Martin and Southern Maine classical guitar virtuoso/composer Don Pride. This is music you won't likely hear outside the Maine Pines. Ecstatic, meditative, confrontational, and totally singular. Total time: 41:38.
Sachimay Interventions is a CDR series created by and for artists working in the fields of free improvisation, electronic/turntable/computer music, ambient, free jazz, composed New Music, spoken word, and other "out" forms. All disks are burned by the artists and package in recognizable numbered series-design sleeves that can be printed cheaply on the artist's home computer. In rejection of the dictum that price is an indicator of quality, all Sachimay Interventions CDRs are priced at only $5 -- free music for an almost-free price.
CD $5

BUNDA LOVE [ID M THEFTABLE/MIKE PRIDE] With BLANCA MARTIN - Beards And Calves [2 CD set] (Funhole 10/Mang Disc 49; USA) A double dose of insanity from the realm of Mike Pride and his childhood compatriot known as "ID M Theft Able", writing absurd songs about their high school days. Since graduation ID M Theft Able now runs a store called "Strange Maine" in Portland, Maine, the old stomping grounds of this duo, but IDM Theft Able remained the townie as Pride escaped to the big city. "Beards & Calves" is a two disc zany adventure into their memories as schoolmates with an apparent smirk and abundant giggles. Two discs seems a bit much to absorb at once, but each track appears to be meant to approach on its own. Disc One is titled "Bears" and is filled with contact mic surfaces, percussion of various sorts and some overdriven indecipherable sounds. Disc Two is titled "Calves" and seems to be more focused on close mic intimacy; elaborating further on the instrumentation of the first disc with the addition - vocalizations of two possessed madmen with a hint of sound poetry theatrics, toys, and a TV. When you have any experience being in close proximity of any unstable hi-jinks you don't always know when to pay attention, to laugh, or get out of the way. This is definitely for the more adventurous aka for those truly into experimental music. Push yourself to the edge, you will benefit from it! For fans of Puzzle Punks, Vitamin B12, or the contributing artists. RECOMMENDED! Chuck Bettis, DMG
CD $13

BUNDA LOVE [ID M THEFTABLE/MIKE PRIDE] With JAMIE SAFT - Bunda Love Mit Saft [DVD] (Funhole 11; USA) id m theft able- voice and things; Jamie Saft- guitars & keyboards; Mike Pride- percussion, voice, laptop, etc.
Live concert DVD from Bunda Love (id & Mike) with Jamie Saft, filmed at Strange Maine in Portland, Maine. Southern Maine printmaker and visual artist, Brad Sawyer, shot the concert & did the design and silkscreening for this beautiful handmade packaging. Silver ink on 120 lb. black cardstock. Packaging folds out as a beautiful 2-sided, 5"x15" piece of top quality print art. All this acompanying this one of a kind dvd video of sheer communications in wierdness (think doom metal meets schizoid noise) in front of a packed room in Southern Maine - the only place this could have happened. *Limited edition of 300 pieces.
DVD $12

ANGEL OV DEATH [ANDREW D'ANGELO/MIKE PRIDE/JAMIE SAFT] - Live In Space And Time (At The Stone) [DVD] (Veal 06; USA) Jamie Saft, Mike Pride, & Andrew d'Angelo are Angel Ov Death. Need I say more? Their fever-pitched cauldron of jazz-metal-blues comes across with great passion in this black and white audio visual document. So far this is the only release of Angel Ov Death, so this is a tease for what future documents will bring. Filmed live, right here in NYC, with multiple cameras at the infamous Stone. I happened to be there, but for those who weren't, there is this dvd. RECOMMENDED! - Chuck Bettis/dmg
DVD $15

KALASHNIKOV [JAMIE SAFT/MIKE PRIDE] - Bang Bang [2 CD set] (Veal 05; USA) Jamie Saft and Mike Pride have become an inseparable duo lately; sharing such groups as Whoopie Pie, Angel Ov Death, and now Kalashnikov. Kalashinikov consists of Saft on bass & synths with Pride on drums, vocals, flutes + whistles. This recording highlights the low end side of Jaime Safts explorations, displaying his heavy plodding bass tones which any Melvins fan would be proud, while Pride's "improv-metal" drumming shines light on his years with MDC.
"Bang Bang" presents an alter-universe consisting of empowering yet doomy ambience that compelling takes you through thundering workouts, eerie space ambience, and corn ball hookie pokie jazz with ease. Yet what separates this project from the various other shared releases is the accompaniment of Mike Pride's schizophrenic vocals; ranging from death metal cookie monster grunts, basenji wails, all the way to Makigami Koichi dada style vocalizations (there is even a moment when Pride tries hand out as stand-up comedian). I am compelled to point out a very special treat, which is the guest vocals of Yoshiko O'Hara (front woman from the metal doomsters Bloody Panda) which makes me crave more of her vocals. Jonathan Moritz (of Evil Eye and Trio Cavaet) also guests on sax on the same track O'Hara sings on. This is what Zappa would have ended up doing if he was still alive, flying that freak flag high and mighty. RECOMMENDED! - Chuck Bettis/DMG
CD $22

WHOOPIE-PIE [BILL McHENRY/JAMIE SAFT/MIKE PRIDE] - Sweet (Veal 02; USA) The ridiculously named Whoopie-Pie features straight-ahead jazz star, Bill McHenry on tenor sax, Tzadik recording artist, engineer & keyboard wiz Jamie Saft and the ubiquitous punk/improv drummer Mike Pride. An eclectic trio, so say the least. The opening track, "Hake" is 41 minutes long and sounds like Painkiller!?! Thick, scary fuzz-bass, chains-for-percussion & heavy drums with tense tenor sax eruptions. You wouldn't think that Fresh Sounds tenor man, Bill McHenry, would be the right choice for this crazed, punk/jazz endeavor, but he does fit well blasting over Jamie's thick, demented distorto bass eruptions. This is one of those recordings that sounds much better loud, in-your-face and blasting out of big speakers. Is that Bill screaming through his sax? Holy sh*t, it is! Mike Pride, who has toured with that ancient hardcore punk band MDC (Millions of Dead Corpses), sounds most impressive here on powerhouse drums. Yes, the same Mike Pride I heard playing mostly haunting (quiet) cymbals with lower-case sax grand-daddy Jack Wright last month (Jan. '08). Jamie Saft's monstrous electric (keyboard) bass is also immense and well-recorded. Sounds like he could give Laswell a run for his money in the daredevil Painkiller category. This disc is frighteningly good! - BLG
CD $15

EVIL EYE [JONATHAN MORITZ/NATE WOOLEY/MIKE PRIDE/KEN FILIANO] - Doin' It All For My Baby [ltd ed] (KMBjazz 14; USA) This is the second disc from Evil Eye and the personnel still features Nate Wooley on trumpet, Jason Moritz on tenor sax, Ken Filiano on contrabass and Mike Pride on drums & vibes. Commencing with the near-punk energy of the first track, 2 & 1/2 minutes of intense, tight thrash jazz taken at quick pace. The second track is a sort of sluggish ballad that keeps changing tempos throughout, with Nate playing some fine muted trumpet. Each member except for Ken Filiano contributes compositions and each is challenging in their own ways. Ken's powerful contrabass is often featured on most of these pieces as he churns, pushes and probes and helps hold things together. Mike is featured on vibes on track 4 with Ken's fine bowed bass as Nate (on muted trumpet) and Jason provide dark harmonies for this most haunting piece. - BLG
CD $12

EVIL EYE [JONATHAN MORITZ/NATE WOOLEY/MIKE PRIDE/KEN FILIANO] - Evil Eye (Funhole 05; USA) Jonathan Moritz- tenor sax; Nate Wooley- trumpet; Ken Filiano- bass; Mike Pride- drums. EVIL EYE is a modern jazz quartet led by Jonathan Moritz & Mike Pride. This is live recording from November 2003 remastered by Mike Pride to pristine popping sound quality ala HatHut Records in 2006. Features 2 modern jazz compositions by Moritz and 2 chamber jazz pieces by Mike Pride; also features inspired and hard-edged neu-jazz at its finest.
CD $8

DEALBREAKER [JAMES ILGENFRITZ/AARON ALI SHAIKH/MIKE PRIDE] - Deal Breaker [ltd ed of 200 #'d copies] (Utech 042; USA) Featuring James Ilgenfritz on double bass, Aaron Ali Shaikh on alto, soprano & sopranino saxes and Mike Pride on drums. I know bassist James Ilgenfritz from a series he ran last year at The Elixir Bar and a compilation CD he put out called 'Sound Infusion'. I am unfamiliar with Mr. Shaikh, but Mike Pride is an ambitious drummer who has played with Anthony Braxton, Sonny Simmons, Tony Malaby & MDC (the HC punk band) as well as running a number of different bands like the MP Three and the Bunda Love Qt. This disc consists of three long pieces, two of which are standards. The standards are two ancient choices: "There Will Never Be Another" and "Stella by Starlight." I can't recall Mike ever doing standards on any previous discs, so this is indeed a departure. The trio actually play the theme on "There Will Be Another You" and then take off from there slowly evolving through different sections, quickly at first and then winding down to a quiet, solo bass segment with very minimal drums, finally playing the theme once more. Aaron has a unique way of bending notes on his sax, and stretching them out elastically and turning them inside-out. "Stella by Starlight" begins with minimal bass and drums and slowly builds into a ballad. The rhythm team plays skeletally which Aaron again bends and twists his notes into odd shapes, sometimes shadowed by James' bowed bass. Aaron switches to sopranino for his own, "For Ustad Bismillah Khan and Namagiripettai Krishan" and plays that small sax with a sly, snake-charming pinched tone. The piece gets freer and continues to go further out as it ascends higher. Very cleanly recorded and balanced just right. Nice work, lads. - BLG
CD $12

MARCOS FERNANDES/MIKE PRIDE - A Mountain Is A Mammal (Accretions 42; USA) Marcos Fernandes - percussion, phonography; Mike Pride - drums, percussion, glockenspiel, electronics, voice
"a mountain is a mammal is about human beings. Science and technology surely had a hand in its evolution but in the end, it's about people. Two people, in fact, and happenstance. Marcos Fernandes (California) and Mike Pride (New York) are two drummers. They met one rainy night in Tokyo while on their respective tours in the Spring of 2005. Collaborations ensued and the two recorded duets one sunny afternoon in New York City. The results showed that there was chemistry. And the proof is in this pressing - a collection of dialogues between two people who passed in the night and met again, days upon days later." - Accretions.com
Mike's first percussion duets document! 3 pieces ranging from minimalism, to maximalism, to drumisms to harsh electronic noise.
CD $13

JON IRABAGON With MIKE PRIDE - I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues (Loyal 05; USA) Irabagon tenor sax; Pride drums. This is the first recording by this continuous, additive group. In their own words: "The set-up and breakdown of grooves and improvisational material is an attempt at melding many of our musical influences, both jazz and non-jazz, all while firmly remaining in the world of extended tenor saxophone and drum improvisation. While this world is now an accepted part of the jazz lineage, our goal is to stack levels of different genres, tempos, noise, and moods, and to constantly shift the focus within this pile: either collectively or individually. After running through these continuously churning and evolving layers, the initial motifs transform into the resulting ideas that appear later, while also reappearing in their original forms. This duality produces another level of tension. Our hope is that the listener is able to hear through these various shifting layers and to notice the progression, development, and return of the original motifs."
"The saxophone and drum duo has long been an established jazz tradition, with Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1965), John Coltrane's legendary duet album with Rashied Ali, widely considered the format's archetype. Containing a single 47-and-a-half minute improvisation, I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues is tenor saxophonist Jon Irabagon and drummer Mike Pride's bold contribution to the tradition. Released in an era dominated by shortened attention spans and internet downloads, Irabagon and Pride make their intentions clear; this is not music for the casual listener.
In addition to his own ensembles, Irabagon's work in Moppa Elliott's Mostly Other People Do the Killing has revealed a virtuoso with a wily creative streak, able to run quicksilver chord changes as readily as conjuring coruscating dissonances. Pride is known for his work with Jamie Saft, John Zorn and a host of Brooklyn-based ensembles like Dynamite Club, From Bacteria to Boys and Rocket Engine. His affinity for extreme metal occasionally pushes the session into testosterone fueled territory, but never without providing dynamic contrast along the way. Recorded in a single take, the piece unfolds like a suite, with fragmentary themes and motifs surfacing at random intervals between labyrinthine excursions. Their spontaneous interplay invokes aspects of Dixieland, swing, blues, funk, metal, noise and even calypso over the duration, making this extended work far from repetitious.
The piece begins with a simple blues refrain from Irabagon, with Pride kicking in subtle double-bass pedal accents, foreshadowing the fury to come. Irabagon gradually deconstructs the theme, alternating circuitous cadences and keening cries with meticulous fragmentation of the basic structure. Pride shadows Irabagon, complementing and contrasting his phrases with a mercurial mix of metallic double-bass drum blast beats, funky hi-hat accents, tribal tom-tom fills, second line shuffle patterns and so on, revealing an endless variety of percussive techniques. The duo modulates gracefully between genres, maintaining thematic focus from one visceral section to another. Their discourse is relentlessly intense, varying in density and volume, but not activity. Neither Irabagon nor Pride relents at any point in the piece; there are no solo cadenzas or quiet interludes - this is a continuous conversation between two amped improvisers with a mischievous sensibility and an encyclopedic knowledge of music history.
Most contemporary saxophone and drum duets usually tend toward either short thematic improvisations or expansive free burnouts. Irabagon and Pride combine the two concepts, venturing into uncharted territory with a bracing new vision. I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues is history in the making. - Troy Collins, AAJ
CD $13


With others:

ANDREW D'ANGELO MORTHANA TRIO With ANDERS HANA/MORTEN J OLSEN + MIKE PRIDE - Morthana With Pride (Doubt 105; Japan) You gotta love Andrew d'Angelo, one of the funniest and most ridiculous musicians known. Have you ever seen him doing somersaults on stage with the Matt Wilson Quartet?!? The story goes that Andrew (alto & bari sax & bass clarinet) met Anders Hana (electric guitar & effects) and Morten J. Olsen (drums) in the bathroom of the Molde Jazz Fest in Norway in 2001. Anders and Morten were only 17 & 18 at the time and they all played at a jam session later that night, which was totally over the top, certain to offend jazz snobs at the fest. Their first official gig was at the Knitting Factory a month after September 11th!?! They are joined here by local hero Mike Pride on drums, effects and screaming. Mike Pride is no doubt the only musician to ever play with Anthony Braxton and tour with punk legends MDC (Millions of Dead Cops). As you might imagine, the music here is a splendid hybrid of jazz, punk and noise, super-tight and in-your-face! On the first track, Mike's vocals are hilarious, he screams out, "My Prostate" which is also the song title. When I played this in the store, these two old ladies couldn't stop laughing. As I get older and my hair turns grayer, I keep thinking that my days of listening to hardcore punk are in the past. Yet, every so often I long for those days when I would go slamming or occasionally stage diving, fearing not if I would get hurt. This music is quite well played, tight and exciting. There are a few quieter, freer moments as well, all played taste. If you are a jazz snob, you will probably hate this. If you more open-minded, you might actually enjoy this blistering jazz/punk insanity. Don't say I didn't warn you. - BLG
CD $20

STEPHEN GAUCI QUARTET With NELS CLINE/KEN FILIANO/MIKE PRIDE - Red Feast (Cadence 1216; USA) Featuring Stephen Gauci on tenor sax, Nels Cline on guitar & electronics, Ken Filiano on bass & electronics and Mike Pride on drums. I was intrigued to see the line-up on this disc since some of the folks had never played together and had come from different backgrounds. It came together due to a friend of Steve's who on the crew for Wilco, the roots/rock band that Nels is currently playing with. Although Steve & Mike had played together on different occasions and Nels & Ken had worked together in LA, as well as with Vinny Golia in a quartet that I booked at The Stone, this is a first time meeting of all four members of this quartet and man, do they take off!
"Escape from the Hell Realms" opens with some cautious, mysterious and most effective freer realms. I dig the way things build with Steve's tenor and Nels guitar bending their notes around one another magically. The rhythm team is also a fine form creating turbulent rhythms propulsive the proceedings higher and higher. On "Charnel House" the quartet do a fine job of creating dark and spooky sounds, churning, hypnotic and molasses-like in density. I dig when Steve and Nels toss sounds back and forth like a heated dialogue, with the rhythm team swirling intricately around them. On the title track Steve and Nels play quick yet calm waves of notes around each other. While Steve shows off his gracious, warm jazz-like tenor tone, Nels plays swell chords underneath. Ken takes a strong bass solo with Mike playing exquisite brushes along with him. "Blue Tara" has an eerie, spacious sound with ominous bowed bass, atmospheric guitar sounds, haunting sax and skeletal drums. I dig the it evolves slowly giving each of the four players a chance to stretch and push the music in their own directions. Finally, "Like a Madman Beyond All Limits" erupts quickly with streams of notes from all four burning together. A most impressive endeavor from four strong spirits meeting in the studio for the first time. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
[limited time sale; normally $16]
CD $13

YONI KRETZMER TRIO With JASON AJEMIAN & MIKE PRIDE - Nevertheless (Hopscotch 22; USA) Featuring Yoni Kretzmer on tenor sax, Jason Ajemian on double bass and Mike Pride on drums. Israeli saxist Yoni Kretzmer left us with a CD last year where he was backed by three strings & drums. Considering that I hadn't heard of any of the musicians involved, it turned out to be one of those little known gems that make my days at DMG so satisfying. Yoni has recently moved here and just left us with another disc backed by two fine local musicians. Chicago-based bassman Jason Ajemian also moved here recently and has been keeping pretty busy. He has already recorded and/or played with Triage, Dragons 1976, Charles Rumback, Matt Bauder & Marc Ribot, as well as a couple of dates as a leader himself. Drummer Mike Pride has also collaborated with a long list of greats like Jack Wright, Anthony Braxton Sonny Simmons, Jon Irabagon, Jason Stein & Mary Halvorson. Hence their credentials are truly knee deep.
As young as Yoni is, his tone sounds wizened by time or experience. This is strong, spirited and intense mostly free/jazz trio date that reaches into the depth of exploration. Yoni wrote all but one of the pieces here and he has a knack for writing thoughtful themes. "A New Start" begins with a great unaccompanied bass solo, the swirling bass is the center of this piece for the rest of the tune. Somewhere between Trane, Ayler, Louie Belogenis and Charles Gayle, Yoni Kretzmer & his trio fit. The title piece is a somber sort-of ballad with some haunting warm-toned tenor, free yet tempered and dreamy. All three members of this fine trio are integral to the focused sound and consistently inventive playing. The Yoni Kretzmer Trio will be doing an in-store here at DMG on Sunday, October 10th at 7pm for free. Come on down and enjoy their cosmic sounds and/or grab this righteous disc. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $14

JAMIE SAFT With MR. DORGON/TREVOR DUNN/BOBBY PREVITE/MIKE PRIDE et al - Black Shabbis (Tzadik 8133; USA) After two stunning jazz piano trio recordings featuring the music of Dylan and Zorn, dubmeister Jamie Saft returns to his roots with a masterpiece of Jewish heavy metal. Slashing and burning his way through nine tracks of unbridled madness, this is Radical Jewish Culture at its best. Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and Slayer for the frum, Black Shabbis presents uncompromising and intense sounds from one of the most versatile creative lights in the downtown scene. TZADIK RADICAL JEWISH CULTURE SERIES
CD $14

JASON STEIN'S LOCKSMITH ISIDORE With JASON ROEBKE/MIKE PRIDE - Three Kinds of Happiness (Not Two 846; EEC) Featuring Jason Stein on bass clarinet, Jason Roebke on acoustic bass and Mike Pride on drums. Third great disc from this superb trio. 'm super excited for this album to come out. It's kind of a new beginning for this band, with more of a focus on stylized composition and improvistion. Roebke and Pride sound amazing. This record is definitely our best work yet. - Jason Stein. Stein stands apart from the standard instrumental lineage. Whereas a player like Eric Dolphy or Michel Portal builds on wide intervallic leaps and verticality, Stein (like Michel Pilz, Rudi Mahall or John Tchicai) operates in a horizontal fashion, favoring a breadth of twists and turns more sideways than anything else, woven into a post-Ornette fabric. - Clifford Allen, All About Jazz
CD $18

JASON STEIN'S LOCKSMITH ISIDORE With JASON ROEBKE/MIKE PRIDE - Three Less Than Between (Clean Feed 153; Portugal) On this second Locksmith Isidore release on Clean Feed Records, Jason Stein continues to redefine the bass clarinet as a lead instrument. Stein has developed his own personal voice on an instrument so few fully command. In his hands, the lower pitched specimen of the clarinet family is no longer merely a substitute for the saxophone, but is a primary instrument with its own inner logic and vocabulary. His devotion to the legacy of bass clarinet icon Eric Dolphy is apparent, though Stein's approach is clearly all his own. On Three Less Than Between, with Jason Roebke on bass (replacing Kevin Davis on cello) and Mike Pride on drums, Stein's compositions exhibit a full spectrum, from classic jazz trio to free music vehicle for experimentation. Roebke is a master of drive and propulsion, and underneath it all the sonic force of Mike Pride functions like a combustion engine. Add to this Stein's innovative language on the rarely used instrument--another page turned in history.
CD $16

JASON STEIN'S LOCKSMITH ISIDORE With KEVIN DAVIS/MIKE PRIDE - A Calculus of Loss (Clean Feed 104; Portugal) Fan's of the Chicago free jazz scene may recognize Jason Stein from his work in Ken Vandermark band Bridge 61, collaborations with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Jeff Parker, and featured roles in other Midwestern ensembles. Stein started his musical life as a blues-and-rock guitarist, but Eric Dolphy changed his life. After hearing the groundbreaking woodwind innovator, Stein replaced his guitar with a bass clarinet. He later studied with Charles Gayle and Milford Graves. A flexible performer, he can go 'mainstream' in the post-bop and free traditions or exploit novel situations, as, for example his work oboist Kyle Bruckmann in the experimental chamber jazz ensemble Wrack. His hard-driving presence on sessions with Peter Brotzmann and Fredrik Ljungkvist and his nuanced pitch and color manipulations for Lonberg-Holm and Parker demonstrate his versatility. The trio's name, Locksmith Isidore, comes from Stein's grandfather, a master locksmith who didn't trust banks and hid his money inside an old sofa in his attic. The 'loss' in the title refers to the calculations he made for the costs and benefits of not having a bank account.
CD $16

MATTHEW WELCH BLARVUSTER With LEAH PAUL/KAREN WALTUCH/IAN RIGGS/MARY HALVORSON/CHES SMITH/MIKE PRIDE et al - Blarvuster (Tzadik 8077; USA) Matthew Welch is an exciting young composer, saxophonist and virtuoso piper who has discovered the hidden nexus of the Celtic and Balinese musical traditions. Matt's second CD for Tzadik presents two exciting new projects: a beautifully orchestrated opera expanding on the language of minimalism with honesty and originality, and his dynamic touring band Blarvuster, which blends the complex skirls and rhythmic subtleties of the Highland pipes with a vibrant rock sensibility. Featuring the best out of yet another new generation of downtown musicians, this is lush and exotic new music from a fresh new compositional explorer. TZADIK COMPOSER SERIES
CD $14

TALIBAM! [MATT MOTTEL/KEVIN SHEA] + JON IRABAGON/PETER EVANS/CHRIS FORSYTH/JEREMY WILMS/MOPPA ELLIOTT/MIKE PRIDE - Boogie in the Breeze Blocks (ESP Disk 4055; USA) Brooklyn's Talibam!'s first ESP Disk release, Boogie in the Breeze Rocks, is a narrative earful as warped and wonderful as spicy pasta, fresh grapes and caramel crunch. An ensemble record joining 2008's Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute winner, Jon Irabagon (tenor sax); Peter Evans of Sparks (trumpet); guitarists Chris Forsyth from Peeesseye, Anders Nilson and Chin Chin's Jeremy Wilms; along with Mostly Other People Do the Killing's Moppa Elliot on upright bass; all filtered through Talibam! To make music of one voice and cohesion. It is ensemble playing that goes beyond personal choice to capture a mood and the deep anthropology of the strange beauty of contemporary opposing and debt-maxed-out stimuli.
CD $12

W.O.O. MAMBO MANTIS [BONNIE KANE/BLAISE SIWULA/JORDAN SCHRANTZ/MIKE PRIDE] - +1 -1 (Sweet Stuff 18; USA)
CD $8

ROCKET ENGINE [ERIC BIONDO/MIKE PRIDE/JONATHAN GOLDBERGER/AARON JENNINGS/EIVIND OPSVIK/JEFF DAVIS et al] - What Is This That Stands Before Me: Songs Of Black Sabbath (Loyal 02; USA) If you couldn't guess from the quote that names this CD, this is a Black Sabbath tribute by a group called Rocket Engine. An octet of musicians who dabble both in the jazz and rock worlds doing their best to stretch out the legendary Sabbath tunes. Being a big Black Sabbath fan, perhaps the only metal head in the store since Emperor Mike, I was pretty apprehensive about listening to this disc. When I put in on to actually let my ears give it a chance, I found some pleasant surprises. Mike Pride opens up the title track doing vocals & drums, he does a pretty good job at breathing new life into Ozzy's lyrics and is most likely drumming as he is singing. His baritone coming across a bit like Mike Patton or Captain Beefheart. Eric Biondo picks up on vocals on "Paranoid" and sounds like Ozzy on 45rpm. Personally I am a bit too distracted by vocals I don't dig, this one is a bit too indy rock sounding for me but wait, there is more to come, at least they take it out. "Lord Of This World" has vocals by Pride again, which I got to say is the better vocalist. Wish he sang more on this disc, he brings an urgency into the songs.
Biondo does his falsetto on "Never Say Goodbye" which transforms this ballad into sounding like some MTV schlock, do yourself a favor an skip all tracks Biondo sings on. "Sweet Leaf", the stoners anthem, contains that Biondo falsetto again, skip unless you want to harsh your mellow. "What Is This That Stands Before Me" blends Metal with Exotica. A huge leap into this fresh territory and this crew of musicians are brave for taking the plunge. Fans of Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs, or Kayo Dot may dig this. - Chuck Bettis/dmg
CD $13

JUST DRUMS [V.A. With BILLY MARTIN/MICHAEL EVANS/JOHN HOLLENBECK/ANDREW DRURY/MIKE PRIDE et al] - II: The Project [2 CD set] (Fever Pitch 31; USA) Features 35 tracks of primarily solo percussion from John Hollenbeck, Chris Corsano, Fast Forward, Gino Robair, Andrew Drury, Jeff Arnal & Ben Hall, Jim Pugliese, Moe! Staiano, Ches Smith, Michael Evans, Christine Bard, Billy Martin, Sean Meehan, Ravish Momin, William Winant, Trey Spruance, & more.
This Just Drums II double CD is a compilation of experimental music by drummers and percussionists. The result is a wide variety of percussion oriented compositions from solo drumming, percussion sounds and electronic manipulation. It's stimulating, it's fun, you'll laugh, you'll cry... A Fever Pitch magazine release.
CD $13


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