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NEWSLETTER - March 11th, 2016
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DMG Newsletter for March 11h, 2016
Is it Spring? It Sure Feels like it Today!
Take some Time to Enjoy the Sunshine If You Can
Here are some Refreshing New Titles to Help you Feel Better:
Thomas Chapin 'Night Bird Song' DVD! Alex von Schlippenbach/Aki Takase/Paul Lovens!Brad Shepik/Ron Samworth Qt! Michael Blake/Peggy Lee Vancouver All-Stars! Steve Colson Solo Piano Tribute! Driff Records: Jorrit Dijkstra/Pandelis Karayorgis QT & Bathysphere Large Ensemble!
Simon Nabatov/Mark Dresser/Dominik Mahnig! Achim Kaufmann/Frank Gratkowski/Wilbert De Joode! Avram Fefer's Big Picture Holiday! American Jazz Quintet: Ellis Marsalis/Harold Battiste/Alvin Batiste/Ed Blackwell! Blue Mitchell/Sonny Red Quintet!
Gavin Bryars/Christopher Hobbs Obscure Reissue! Cramps label sale: John Cage/Alvin Curran/Robert Ashley/David Tuder/Gruppo Di Improvvione..! The Flesheaters! Plus Sale Discs from Avram Fefer & Brian Groder! More and More!
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The DMG FREE Weekly In-Store Concert Series Continues With:
Sunday, March 13th:
6pm: DANIEL LEVIN & JAIMIE BRANCH!
Sunday, March 20th:
6pm: ROSS HAMMOND & KEN FILIANO - Guitar & Contrabass
7pm: GORDON GRDINA & MAT MANERI!
Sunday, March 27th:
6pm: HENRY P. MELBOURNE - Solo Tenor Sax
7pm: TIERRA MESTIZA: OMAR ANTONIO TAMEZ & ANGELICA SANCHEZ
Sunday, April 3rd:
6pm: FRANCOIS GRILLOT & CECILE BROCHE - Contrabass & Violn
7pm: PHILLIP GREENLIEF - Solo Sax
Sunday, April 10th:
6pm: CHERYL PYLE BEYOND DUO With BERN NIX!
7pm: KADAWA: TAL YAHALOM - Guitar / ALMOG SHARVIT - Bass / BEN SILASHI - Drums!
DMG is located at 13 Monroe St. (between Catherine & Market Sts) in a basement below a Buddhist temple. Take the F train to East Broadway or the 6 train to Canal or the B or D to Grand, or the M-15 bus to Madison & Catherine. Come on Down, the Music Always Free & the Vibes are Quite Cosy!
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* THOMAS CHAPIN - Night Bird Song - The Incandescent Life of a Jazz Giant/Directed by Stephanie J. Castillo [DVD](Akasha; Inc.; USA) 2 & 1/2 hours long in two parts. Last night (3/9/16) we celebrated the birthday of the late, great Thomas Chapin here at DMG. We played his music all day long and had Saul Rubin, Arthur Kell and Cheryl Pyle play Thomas' music live. With wine, snacks and reminiscing, it was a joyous occasion.
The long awaited Thomas Chapin documentary is finally here and it is a joy to behold. The film is long yet does a wonderful job at capturing the short yet event-filled live of saxist/composer/bandleader Thomas Chapin who passed away at only 40 years. Ms. Castillo weaves a fascinating web live performances, Thomas' artwork, visual & audio, dozens of interviews with friends, family, fellow musicians, club owners, concert promoters, label heads and journalists. All interviews are generally short so each one makes a point to illustrate Chapin's life and flight as an ever-evolving musician and composer. Right from the start as a teenage saxist and flute player, Chapin was able to tap in his own magic and cast spells with his playing. Musicians around him his own age and as well as his elders (like his teachers Jackie McLean, Paul Jeffries and James Spaulding), recognized this as soon as they heard him play. After a handful of long lost records on the Alacra & MuWorks labels in the eighties, Thomas Chapin's music career soared for his last decade with upwards of twenty recordings as a leader or collaborator, as well as touring in Europe and Japan and playing many important festivals. It is tragic that his life and ascendance as a jazz legend was cut short by leukimia at only 40, but this film captures and illustrates his flight in so many important ways. Music fans around the world continue to discover him nearly two decades after his departure, the question keeps popping up: who is or was Thomas Chapin? This film answers that question in depth. A toast to Stephanie Castillo (the director), Terri Castillo Chapin (his widow & keeper of the flame) and to Thomas Chapin himself for continuing to inspire us as long as we continue listen. - Bruce Lee Gallanter
DVD $16
* The final opportunity to this film for free will take place this Sunday March 13thin New York - A Special Screening, SVA Theater - 333 West 23 Street, NY, NY 10010, (Donors, Supporters and Public Screening) - Doors open at 1p.m. film begins 1:30 p.m. RSVP TO: tcnightbirdsong@gmail.com For other questions, email castillosj@aol.com or keymediagroup@verizon.net
LOK 03+1 [ALEX VON SCHLIPPENBACH/AKI TAKASE/PAUL LOVENS/DJ ILLVIBE] - Signals (Trost 136; Austria) Featuring Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano; Aki Takase: piano; DJ Illvibe: turntables; Paul Lovens: drums. Recorded by Rainer Robben at AudioCue, Berlin. Lovens joins the Lok 03 trio of Schlippenbach, Takase, and DJ Illvibe for the follow-up to their 2005 debut. CD version includes five extra tracks. Mastered by Beat Halberschmidt. Artwork by Philip Hillers. Liner notes by Yoko Tawada.
CD $17
BRAD SHEPIK / RON SAMWORTH QUARTET With PHIL SPARKS/MICHAEL SARIN- 1991 (Songlines 1616; Canada) Featuring Brad Shepik & Ron Samworth on guitars, Phil Sparks on bass and Michael Sarin on drums. Throughout the nineties and early aughts, Brad Shepik was one of Downtown's most in demand, creative and diverse guitarists thanks to his work with Pachora, the Tiny Bell Trio, Paradox Trio as well as having a half dozen discs on the Knit and Songlines labels. His own recordings and gigs in NY have slowed down in recent times, so it always great to get a new or unreleased recording from him.
This disc is actually an unreleased stdio date recorded in Seattle in 1991. The rest of the quartet features another fine guitarist named Ron Samworth (from Vancouver), Seattle bassist Phil Sparks (worked with Rich Halley) and drum great Michael Sarin, right before he moved to NY and joined the Thomas Chapin Trio. Most songs were written by Mr. Shepik with two by Mr. Samworth, an Ornette cover ("Ramblin'") and one by soon to be Seattle transplant Robin Holcomb. It is indeed rare to hear Shepik play with another guitarist and that is one of the things that makes this date so special. Both guitarists sound great together and often switch off on solos as well as providing spirited interplay. What is interesting is this: Shepik was a member of Pachora & Tiny Bell Trio at that point, both of which had a middle eastern/European sort of sound, which is not present here. Since both guitarists have a similar tone here, it might here hard to tell them apart aside from the fact that each one is on a different channel. I dig the way that Shepik had written some complex lines/ parts for both guitarist to play, creating some challenging twists and turns for the entire quartet. There are a few pieces which sound (partially) free yet remain focused somehow with both guitarists trading off lines in a most compelling way, at times creating a hypnotic web of intricate lines. It is always swell to hear Ornette's tricky "Ramblin'" covers and this quartet does a fine job of bringing it to life. Both guitars get a chance to stretch out superbly on the last piece, "Song of Then", which is one this discs many highlights. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
MICHAEL BLAKE With PEGGY LEE/RON SAMWORTH/ARAM BAJAKIAN/ et al - Fulfillment (Songlines 1615; Canada) Featuring Michael Blake on tenor & soprano saxes & compositions, Ron Samworth on electric guitar & banjo, J.P. Carter on trumpet & electronics, Chris Gestrin on piano & MicroMoog, Peggy Lee on cello, Andre Lachance on bass and Dylan van der Schyff on drums plus Aram Bajakian on guitars (3 tracks). One of the most ambitious and diverse of all Downtown saxists is Michael Blake. Once a member of the Lounge Lizards and Slowpoke, Mr. Blake always has several bands going on at the same time, each very different from the other. Mr. Blake is originally from Vancouver and goes back from time to time, often to work with other musicians from that area. This disc features a half dozen musicians from that area and certain tragic events that took place a century ago, when exclusionist laws forced a steamship out of Vancouver's harbor, sending them back to India, where 19 crew members died when landing during an ensuring police riot. Some things never change and come back to haunt us time and again.
Commencing with a rather surprising intro, an enchanting song called "Sea Shanty", with minimal yet sublime vocals by Emma Postl. I really dig the quirky harmonies on "Perimeters", with that swirling soprano sax, guitar, cello and synth over that delirious groove. It is are to hear music that is both progressive and uplifting at the same time but this is what we have here. Ms. Postl's charming voice is also featured on "The Ballad of Gurtid Singh", which also includes a fine, swaggering tenor solo from the leader. Mr. Blake keeps things interesting by changing the instrumentation on each track. "Arrivals" features some amazing, haunting cello, quaint banjo and sly soprano sax, an odd combination. One of Vancouver's finest musicians is pianist Chris Gestrin, who has a couple of discs out on Songlines. Gestrin is featured on "Departures" and is astonishing, working his way through various styles (inside, outside, bent notes, blues licks, etc.), quoting some standards and turning expectations and directions as he goes. Since the true story that inspired this effort is a sad one, there is a solemn undertow these pieces. Peggy Lee's cello rises to the occasion and sounds consistently enchanting, tugging at our heartstrings several times. This disc often sounds like a soundtrack and even without a film to accompany, knowing the inner story, I can see the scenes from the movie in my mind's eye. Perhaps this is Michael Blake's most monumental achievement yet. It is certainly one of this month's finest hidden treasures. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $15
STEVE COLSON - Tones for... Volume 1 & 2 [2 CD set] (Silver Sphinx 12404; USA)"On Adegoke Steve Colson's first album of solo piano, the title refers to three historical figures that inspired the music: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass. To mark the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War (and the 50th anniversary of the start of the AACM, of which he is a member), Colson has created a two-disc set of compositions and improvisations that attempt to capture in music the work and writing of these trailblazers. It's a far-reaching set, marked by both the struggles that these figures engaged in and the determination that drove them.
Colson explains in the notes that Tubman's life serves as the overriding storyline here, and her legacy shapes most of the tracks on the first disc. The title "We Saw the Lightning" comes from her observation of Civil War battlefields, and that track features some of the wilder moments of the project's first half. Colson uses Tubman's iconic assessment of mental enslavement as the basis for the more meditative "A Thousand More, If Only They Knew," while "I Didn't Know" goes further, sounding like a more traditional ballad. The first disc's 11 tracks flow together like a suite. With the exception of the latter piece, there aren't typically theme-and-variation movements that are easy to latch onto. The whole performance, at 44 minutes, stays in one place just long enough to establish a thought before moving to the next idea.
On the other hand, disc two has five tracks, all distinct from one another. "When the Gold Was for Dusting Our Eyebrows" moves at a relaxed pace for 16 minutes, meandering a little, perhaps, but Colson's angularity and rolling chords maintain a narrative feeling throughout. "Friendship" brings the focus back to modern times, reflecting on friends that have passed in recent years. The closing "The Torch Still Burns" serves as a reminder that the crusades of Tubman, Truth and Douglass have yet to be resolved. "In being 'summoned' or 'called' to their mission, these three were always for change and transformation, not for hate or cruel retributions," Colson explains. The same can be said of the music in this set. While there are turbulent moments, those sections are more often balanced by feelings of earnestness and hope. The momentum occasionally softens; the focus of the story does not." - Mike Shanley, Jazz Times
2 CD Set $12
The Boston-based label Driff Records is run by saxist Jorrit Dijkstra and pianist Pandelis Karayorgis. Driff generally releases three discs a year, so those three have just arrived:
BATHYSPHERE [With JORRIT DIJKSTRA/PANDELIS KARAYORGIS/TONY MALABY/TAYLOR HO BYNUM/CHARLIE KOHLHASE/JEB BISHOP/ et al - Bathysphere (Driff Records 1502; USA) Bathysphere is a 15-piece large ensemble mostly based in Boston with a few special guests like Tony Malaby, Taylor Ho Bynum and Jeb Bishop. Considering that Boston has two large music schools (NEC & Berkeley) with hundreds of musicians involved, there are few places to play live. Like many other large cities, this hasn't stopped a large community of underground musicians from organizing their own scene. Thanks to larger units like the Aardvaark Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Composers Alliance, Either/Orchestra, BSC and now the Leap of Faith Orchestra, these communities are growing. Bathysphere is the latest in Boston-area based large ensembles and features a number of veteran players: Charlie Kohlhase, Nate McBride and Luther Gray. All of the pieces were written by either one of the co-leaders: Mr. Dijkstra or Mr. Pandelis. "Sounding Line" opens with a bent, Monkish theme for the piano-led rhythm team while the rest of the ensemble plays twisted free lines around them. Mr. Dijkstra wrote "Funnel" and plays some lyricon, a sort of electric wind instrument that was more popular in the 1970's. Midway there is an eerie section with some analogue electronics (from Andrew Neumann?) and solemn charts for the rest of the ensemble. On "Chip Log", there is an odd blend of charted and freer parts, the piano is often at the center of those tight swirling lines, keeping the horns from going to far out and ending with strange yet mellow synth solo. "Boter" seems to mix the ICP Orchestra with the Sun Ra Arkestra: strong, spirited tenor sax (Malaby?) rides on top of the lumbering large unit. Nice! The longest piece here, "Bathychord" veers between some fine free piano, bass & drums sections with crazed charted horns, while remaining somber at the center. I get the feeling that it will take some time to absorb just what it is that makes this disc so interesting as there seems to be ideas or strategies buried below the surface. Often when someone solos, it is those crafty charts that seem to come out of nowhere and surprise us with their unexpected twists and turns. Very interesting! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
JORRIT DIJKSTRA/PANDELIS KARAYORGI/NATE McBRIDE/CURT NEWTON - Matchbox (Driff Records 1501; USA) Featuring Jorrit Dijkstra on alto sax,lyric on & analog synth, Pandelis Karayorgis on piano, Nate McBride on bass and Curt Newton on drums. The McBride/Newton rhythm team have been around for many years, once playing with Joe Morris and then working with Pandelis Karayorgis in M13. Both Mr. Dijkstra and Mr. Karayoris run the Driff label and co-lead several bands. Like their larger ensemble, Batysphere, they split the composing duties on this disc as well. "Fourteen Squares" starts with a swell Monkish theme played with tight, effervescent spirit. It has that charming ICP-like sly, humorous vibe that feels so good to hear. Both Dijkstra and Karayorgis do a fine job of writing charming themes which then lead to all sorts of unexpected twists, turns and solos from both the sax and piano. The interplay between the sax and piano is consistently crafty, tight and well-playing, sounding as if they have been working together for many years. At some 70 minutes, there is quite a bit of superb playing and writing involved here. One of the best alto sax/piano quartets I've heard in a long while. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
JORRIT DIJKSTRA - Never Odd or Even (Driff Records 1503; USA) Featuring Jorrit Dijkstra on alto sax, lyricon, analog synth and effects pedals. This is the second disc of solo improvisations that Mr. Dijkstra has released and he has been working for more than a decade on his solo sax and electronic explorations. Each track involves a different approach or strategy, hence the overall sound is very different on each piece. It is often difficult to tell that Mr. Dijkstra is even playing sax, although he also works with a lyricon (70's era wind synth), analog synth and pedals. "Ear Piercing" is a misleading title although it is a reflection on Mr. Dijkstra's hearing problem. It is more somber and reflective. "Toodleledoo" has several layers of overdubbed saxes spinning tightly around one another. Most of the pieces here are relatively short so that each exploration never goes on for too long. Although Jorrit uses an analog synth and electronic manipulations, he never seems to alienate the listener with abstract electronics too thick too deal with. Each piece is fascinating in its own way and I remained completely enchanted throughout. Unlike any other solo effort I've heard. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $14
BIG PICTURE HOLIDAY [AVRAM FEFER/KENNY WESSEL/ et al] - Shimmer and Melt (Ropeadope 284; USA) Big Picture Holiday features Avram Fefer on saxes, bass clarinet & alto flute & songs, Kenny Wessel & David Phelps on guitars, Alexis Marcelo on Wurlitzer & Rhodes electric pianos, Jason Dimatteo on electric bass and Chris Eddleton & Todd isler on drums & percussion. Avram Fefer played a duo set here last week (3/6/16) with Michael Bisio on bass and it was one of the finest duo sets I've heard here at DMG. Mr. Fefer left us with this disc which is completely different from anything I've heard from him before. What is most surprising for me is that this disc is a successful mix of funky grooves with an infectious world music like vibe. It does make me smile and want to dance around my kitchen. I am a longtime fan of guitarist Kenny Wessel who has worked with diverse bandleaders like Ornette Coleman, Adam Rudolph and Karl Berger. The only other musicians whose names I recognize are David Phelps whom worked in Ruet Regev's R*Time and Todd Isler who once played at DMG with Haze Greenfield. The music has a gleeful, swirling, joyous sound which reminds me of perhaps King Sunny Ade or Fela, yet remains somehow unique. Both Mr. Fefer and either/both guitar players take occasional inspired solos, but that's not what make this so fine: the groove is what makes us want to jump around. There is also a somewhat blues, greasy quality to this which also feels so good. Want to feel better?!? Then brother & sisters, take a Big Picture Holiday and get down! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $12
SIMON NABATOV / MARK DRESSER / DOMINIK MAHNIG - Equal Poise (Leo 745; UK) Push and pull, jabs and hooks, gloves on and off, circling around and direct engagement, one-word insistency and loose chatter, sprawling stances and elegant dance-floor moves, falling apart and keeping it together &emdash; Simon Nabatov, Mark Dresser and Dominik Mahnig deliver it all in their first collective bout at Cologne's LOFT. In spite of the vast difference in backgrounds, age and experience, the three melt into one in a hurry, navigating each twist and turn with mutual trust and rapport. The renowned German artist Norman Junge contributes a delightful drawing underpinning the essence of the trio.
CD $17
ACHIM KAUFMANN/FRANK GRATKOWSKI/WILBERT DE JOODE - Oblengths (Leo 748; UK) This trio is about 15 years old but the band's roots go back even further &emdash; to the mid-1980s. The interplay is miraculous, their expressive range is phenomenal, their rhythmic complexity is mind boggling. The most distinctive features of the trio is dynamics and texture. This is what separates this trio from the rest of the field. Frank Gratkowski - alto saxophone, bass clarinet and clarinet, Achim Kaufmann - piano and Wilbert de Joode - bass.
CD $17
JEAN-LUC OBOMAN FILLON With MARK FELDMAN/FRANCOIS MECHALI/FRANCOIS MERVILLE - Echoes of Freedom (Buda Musique 860283; France) Featuring Jean-Luc Oboman Fillon on oboe & cor anglais, Mark Feldman on violin, Francois Mechali on bass and Francois Merville on drums. Kinda reminds me of Oregon in places, due to the use of the oboe as a leader instrument. I hope to review this next week when I have more time.
CD $15 (In stock next week)
AMERICAN JAZZ QUINTET [ELLIS MARSALIS/HAROLD BATISTE/ALVIN BATISTE/ED BLACKWELL/ et al] - Gulf Coast Jazz - Wade in the Water (VSOP 129; USA) This is the second release of music from the Gulf Coast Jazz sessions comes from the February 23, 1959 session at Cosimo's studio in New Orleans. Recorded in stereo for release on Andex Records, some of the tracks on this album were released on Bumps Blackwell's Famous Records label. Like the first session, Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Batiste, Harold Battiste, Ed Blackwell and Richard Payne or William Swanson provide a very interesting program of the unique jazz that these musicians were the primary proponents of. These treasures should not be ignored since they are closer to third stream than anything else.
CD $14
BLUE MITCHELL & SONNY RED [With JOHN HICKS/GENE TAYLOR/JOE CHAMBERS] - Baltimore 1966 (Uptown 2783; USA) Trumpeter Blue Mitchell and alto saxophonist Sonny Red lead their quintet of pianist John Hicks, bassist Gene Taylor and drummer Joe Chambers on this live date from the Crystal Ballroom in Baltimore, Maryland on March 20th 1966. Featuring six previously unissued tracks with liner notes by Bob Blumenthal and mastered by Doug Benson.
CD $16
GAVIN BRYARS/CHRISTOPHER HOBBS - Ensemble Pieces/Original Obscure Records Recordings (GB 23; UK) Collective personnel: Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Gavin Bryars, Brian Eno - guitars, Cornelius Cardew, Andy MacKay, Gavin Bryars, Paul Nieman, Christopher Hobbs and John White.
CD $16 (In stock next week)
Cramps Label Sale! A Dozen Dynamic Electronic/Contemporary Composer/Progressive Discs Reissued in Limited Editions for $10 each!
JOHN CAGE - Cheap Imitation (Cramps 117; Italy) Originally released in 1977 as number 17 in the Nova Musicha series. Recorded at the Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College, Oakland, California, Cheap Imitation is a piece for solo piano by John Cage, composed in 1969. It is an indeterminate piece created using the I Ching and based, rhythmically, on Socrate by Erik Satie; it consists almost exclusively of a single melodic line, with occasional doublings, as an "imitation" of original score.
CD $10
GRUPPO DI IMPROVVISAZIONE NUOVA CONSONANZA - Musica Su Schemi (Cramps 141302; Italy) Originally released in 1976 as number nine in the Nova Musicha series. Founded in Italy between 1964 and 1965, the world's first composers collective, Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, sought to unhem the purposefulness of their respective instruments and the primacy of composition in order to open up a space for the emergence of free music and unintentional noise sounds. The music sways between nearly inaudible whir, clatter and scrape, and bubbling blasts of sound. Their overtures to noise, anti-musical operations, and compositional experiments on this disc, like their English brethren AMM, completely anticipated a strategic break with the standards of virtuosity. This work represents the earliest incarnation of the Gruppo and features Ennio Morricone, better known for his soundtrack work, Franco Evangelisti, Egisto Macchi, Antonello Neri, Giovanni Piazza and future Italian Instabile Orchestra member Giancarlo Schiaffini. Contains previously unpublished photos and original notes by Franco Evangelisti.
CD $10
ALVIN CURRAN/PAOLO TOFANI/MAURO TESPIO - POPTraits: Contemporary Music Collection (Cramps 1112; Italy) A deep investigation of a very few simple principles; acoustic instruments rub ambiguously up against electrified objects and electronics, but these in the main provide atmosphere and harmonic complexity. Taking its cue from John Cage, the trio began sticking contact mics to anything that sounded and amplified their raw sounds. Alvin Curran, Paolo Tofani, and Mauro Tespio share a common interest in electrifying objects; one might say that this represents the bridge between the ancient music experience and contemporary music technology. "Technology is one of those myths that return cyclically to haunt all of us, now then and surely in the future. . . . I began to record the world or sound around me, knowing intuitively that it was an on-going and never-ending symphony of immense beauty. . . ." Alvin Curran: piano, prepared piano, sampling keyboard, percussion, shell, tube, shofar; Paolo Tofani: trikanta veena connected to an Axon Ax50 Apple MacBook Pro MIDI converter by a GK-2 resophonic Roland; Mauro Tespio: trumpet, Tibetan bells, percussion, balafon, EMS Synthi AKS.
CD $10
ROBERT ASHLEY - In Sara, Mencken, Christ And Beethoven There Were Men And Women (Cramps 103; Italy) Originally released in 1974 as number three in the Nova Musicha series. Robert Ashley's minimal masterpiece centered on John Barton Wolgamot's experimental book-length poem "In Sarah, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven There Were Men and Women." It consists of one sentence repeated over and over, and the only changes from sentence to sentence are that different names are inserted -- "In their very truly great manners of Jesus Christ very heroically Geoffrey Chaucer, Rupert Brooke . . ." Ashley's fascinating liner notes to this album offer a very reasonable interpretation of the very bizarre text. And the music? It's wonderful -- Ashley and Paul DeMarinis's electronics bubble in the background, and Wolgamot's words sound beautiful when read by Ashley, who delivers the text in his usual sprechstimme-on-downers style.
CD $10
DAVID TUDOR - Microphone (Cramps 154562; Italy) Originally released on LP in 1973 as number 16 in the Nova Musicha series. This work is an exploration of space and sound through feedback; the album features two long tracks -- "Mix A" and "Mix B" -- and both appear to involve spare sounds in space, filtered through additional electronics, often with the effect of a microphone feeding back, then suddenly halted. Tudor manipulates the sounds enough to pull out some compelling waveforms, especially on "Mix B" -- and the album offers up a much darker side of his music than one might expect from the early years. Recorded at Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College, Oakland, California. Includes 12-page booklet with photographs, score, and liner notes in Italian.
CD $10
GIUSTO PIO - Motore Immobile (Cramps 54552; Italy) Originally released in 1979. Giusto Pio is an associate of Battiato's and Motore Immobile is his debut LP. On the first side, he uses a droning organ and moves from triad to triad, superimposing the next one briefly before moving on, occasionally expanding the sound with octave doubling and then just as quickly subtracting the lower tones. Intermittent humming and violin provide additional notes. On the second side, "Ananta," he uses a piano flourish to introduce each triad, landing on the tonic note each time. "Gusto Pio was the chief arranger for Italian progressive pop icon Franco Battiato during the decade, and filled his striking albums with avant-garde details. In return, Battiato himself produced this collection of modern compositions, and his ear for the extraordinary laces these two long suits. A composition for organ and violin sets the tone, which is purely avant-garde composition, and features the voice of singer Martin Kleist. The effect is a powerful study of experimental narrative, while the later piece of the two, composed for piano, organ, and violin, features the composer on violin with Danilo Lorenzini and Michele Fedrigotti's subtle accompaniment. This reissue should fill an important gap in '70s Italian music somewhere between progressive rock and avant-garde composition." - AllMusic
CD $10
MIGUEL ANGEL CORIA - En Rouge Et Noir (Cramps 154742; Italy) Originally released in 1976 as number ten in the Nova Musicha series. A breathy recording with lush piano elegies awash in a radical sonic realm that is profoundly reminiscent of Charlemagne Palestine but in a very hectic/spirited way. Truly an excellent and underrated recording that explores new piano possibilities. Beautiful digipack edition with large booklet.
CD $10
MARTIN DAVORIN JAGODIC - Tempo Furioso (Cramps 54752; Italy) Originally released in 1975 as number eight in the Nova Musicha series. The extraordinary Cramps label classic. Croatian composer Martin Davorin-Jagodic's great (Nurse With Wound-listed) Tempo Furioso, a work of creepy, sometimes droning, electronic musique concrete. Stockhausen meets Luc Ferrari with a hint of Xenakis. This breaks all the rules and invents new cross-genre concoctions, atmospheric to wild to totally perplexing. Beautiful digipack edition with printed booklet. Should make fans of musique concrete (especially the early stuff) very happy.
CD $10
PATRIZIO FARISELLI - Antropofagia (Cramps 059; Italy) Originally released in 1977 as number seven in the DIVerso series. An outstanding recording, and an unjustly neglected contribution to prepared piano performance by Area member Patrizio Fariselli with an energy somewhere between John Cage and Cecil Taylor! At times, Patrizio Fariselli plays with a great sensitivity to silence -- letting it emerge with as much force as his well-placed work on the keys of the piano. But at other times, he comes off with a full, frenzied sound that's really dynamic and almost explosive -- so much so that one is left wondering about the state of the piano after he's walked away.
CD $10
DANIELE LOMBARDI - Costellazione Seconda (Cramps 163; Italy) Costellazione Seconda is the follow-up to Daniele Lombardi's 1978 Costellazione, a piano exploration based on a map of constellations planned as the first step of a large work focused on the exposition and performance of constellations maps, planetaria, and maps of the heavens. Costellazione Seconda is broken up into 21 short piano movements concentrated on incredibly short staccato notes that sting violently between fractured harmonics, leaving plenty of momentum-puncturing silences to really heighten the sense of disorientation - as well as two long (over 20 minutes) piano excursions.
CD $10
CLAUDIO ROCCHI - In Alto (Cramps 211; Italy) The final album by Italian prog singer-songwriter Claudio Rocchi (1951-2013). Rocchi was a bassist in the group Stormy Six and appeared on their 1968 debut album, Le idee di oggi per la musica di domani. Italian newspaper la Repubblica described his 1971 album Volo Magico N.1 as "one of the definitive albums of the Italian psychedelic music, perhaps the only true classic of the genre ever produced in our country."
CD $10
CLAUDIO ROCCHI - A Fuoco (Cramps 023; Italy) Originally released in 1977. "Although Rocchi is probably better known for his earlier material on other labels, his offering on Cramps from 1977 A Fuoco (originally Cramps CRSCD 023) is a good showcase for his own talents (vocals, synthesizers, songwriting, and production) as well as his knack for surrounding himself with top notch musicians. Ostensibly a pop-singer, his skillful mastery of dynamics and clever arrangements put him on a par with the pre-glam/pre-disco work of David Bowie (circa Hunky Dory) or perhaps even later post-folk Donovan. Indeed, many of the tunes are driven by simple acoustic guitar or piano, and then built upon with full arrangements of synths, bass, drums, saxes, violins, and more. . . . fine music." - Expose
CD $10
A HAWK AND A HACKSAW - The Way the Wind Blows (Leaf 051; UK) "The Way the Wind Blows, the incandescent third album from A Hawk And A Hacksaw, was partly recorded in a remote Romanian village with members of the justly admired Balkan folk group, Fanfare Ciocarlia. Songwriter Jeremy Barnes (drums, accordion, vocals) and Heather Trost (violin) joyously and romantically romp through traditional sounds, interspersing passionate musical duets with exuberant brass band stomp."
LP+CD $21
THE FLESH EATERS - A Hard Road to Follow (Atavistic 144; USA) "A complete reissue of the long out-of-print masterpiece, and 4th release by '70's L.A. punk icons, The Flesh Eaters! Atavistic's Hard Road to Follow reissue also includes 5 bonus tracks & deluxe artwork in an oversize lyric booklet. Excerpted from Byron Coley's liner notes: 'Although it was not the last album to be issued under the name of The Flesh Eaters, Hard Road to Follow occupies a unique and special place in the band's pantheon. Released in 1983, by Chris D's own Upsetter label, it was the fourth annual and final installment in the original sequence of Flesh Eaters' albums. Hard Road was also the first to have the same line-up as its predecessor, forever came today. The band's fourth corrosive masterpiece in as many years, hard road is the best evidence of a band that had achieved a still unequaled massiveness of sound. For my money, this particular version of The Flesh Eaters represents the greatest rock band ever. They were it. Their live shows (of which I missed only two or three) were uniformly mind-melting, and while the records they left cannot convey everything that The Flesh Eaters were, they remain among the best albums ever.'"
CD $15
BILL PRITCHARD - Mother Town Hall (Tapete 320; Germany) "A welcome return for a long-lost treasure." This was how Q magazine greeted the 2014 release of Bill Pritchard's album A Trip to the Coast (TR 280CD/LP). At the year's end, the album was included in the "50 besten Alben 2014" list in Rolling Stone's German edition. It had been nine years since Pritchard's previous release (2004's By Paris, By Taxi, By Accident), and due to an unlikely set of circumstances, A Trip to the Coast began taking shape in 2013. A friend and musician, Tim Bradshaw, moved to Pritchard's vicinity by chance. "We did the album together, basically because we're mates and we thought we'd have fun doing it," Pritchard is reported to have said in 2013. "But the response was great," he says in 2015. "I had no idea what to expect, but the welcome back was amazing." He's an unassuming character who doesn't pay much attention to who said what about whom -- the five-star reviews, radio play, shows, and videos -- although he was most concerned for the record company representative who had to be airlifted off a beach on the Welsh island of Anglesey while filming the video for "Trentham," the first single off A Trip to the Coast, in early 2014. In early 2015, Pritchard and Bradshaw returned to the studio to start the follow-up. Gradually, in bits and pieces, the album emerged. "The last album was very much about a journey of sorts," says Pritchard, "whereas this one is more rooted in one place, both thematically and emotionally." It was recorded mostly in Burslem, England ("The Mother Town"), with Bradshaw, Mike Rhead, Liam Bradley, and Remy LaPlage. Horns were added in France, and it was mixed in Burslem, Berlin, and Singapore with Bradshaw's long-time studio partner, Roo Pigott. The Burslem studio is a short step away from The Leopard inn (English writer Arnold Bennett's old fictional haunt), Vale Park (the home ground of Port Vale F.C.), and Waterloo Road, the namesake for Jason Crest's song "Waterloo Road," which French singer Joe Dassin covered under the title "Les Champs Elysees." The songs on Mother Town Hall are of the classic Bill Pritchard genre. Sparkling guitars, choruses to sing along to, meltingly beautiful ballads, and personal everyday lyrics about characters both real and imagined -- a figure whose only female company is a flower; the "Vampire of New York," who married a priest from Birmingham; and many others.
CD $17
THE OWL SERVICE - His Pride. No Spear. No Friend.(Horn Records 005; UK) His Pride. No Spear. No Friend. is the third full-length album from English alternative folk collective The Owl Service, their first new material since 2010's acclaimed The View from a Hill. This album sees the band eschewing both their psych-folk beginnings and the more polished, classic folk-rock sound of The View from a Hill to serve up an album of songs mostly from the British folk tradition but without folk instrumentation, and with little in the way of folk sensibilities. Instead, the band strived to create a different kind of modern folk album, placing these familiar songs in unfamiliar settings. Whereas previous albums unashamedly wore their influences on their sleeves, giving significant nods to the likes of Fairport Convention, Martin Carthy, Anne Briggs, Shirley Collins, and Trees, this time the starting point was the sounds of '90s US post-hardcore and early post-rock bands, in which The Owl Service were immersed while arranging these songs. The end product is a unique reimagining of 21st-century folk music a world away from any of their contemporaries.
CD $15
OUMAR KONATE - Maya Maya (Clermont Music 014; USA) In the title-track of his second album, Malian guitarist Oumar Konate shouts out to his sister, warning her about gunfire and violence in the streets. Konate's Maya Maya comes from a country in turmoil. Shifting between acoustic melancholy ("Wango Maben") and hard rock ("Hinchi Hinchi"), Konate and his power trio are 21st-century West African millennials slammed by geopolitics, shocked by an uncertain future, and stymied by fundamentalism, corruption, and failed economies. Known to friends simply as "le Maestro," Konate is a guitar genius. Sought after as bandleader and performer, Konate has played from Bamako to Gao (most Friday nights he can be found in residency at the Club Songhoy in Bamako) and from Europe to New York to Los Angeles. Drummer Makan Camara is perhaps the best in West Africa. Bassist Cheick Siriman Sissoko is also a well-known singer. These three are a power trio on the level of Cream or Band of Gypsies. The songs tell a story of hope for peace and normalcy despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges.
CD $13
EDIP AKBAYRAM & DOSTLAR - Nice Yillara Gulum (Pharaway Sounds 030; Spain) The third album by Turkish psychedelic singer Edip Akbayram, originally released in 1982, really ramps up the silly synthesizers. Hear whooshy '80s Rolands, vocals run through a harmonizer, and tons of totally tubular bass popping -- it's easy to hear the boundaries of the western intros and breaks. Ever wish Knight Rider's KITT could drive to Istanbul? Take a ride on cheesy synthesizers with Edip at the wheel! Remastered sound. Includes insert.
CD $17
FOLKLORE - An Anglo Saxon Tribe of Acoustic Troubadours Recorded Between 1965-1973 (Particles 4041; UK) Folklore is a glorious insight into an invaluable part of the British 1960s underground. This set collects rare British folk music from the 1960s and early 1970s for a feast of earthly delights. Professionally remastered original sound recordings. Includes 16-page full-color booklet with comprehensive background liners and rare archival color photos. Includes tracks by Wooden Horse, Marian Henderson, The Sun Also Rises, Dave Robin, Gothic Horizon, Gaberlunzie, Billy Nicholls, Dave Morgan, Skid Row, Mike Cooper, Cobweb, Westwind, Janie Grote, Berry Cornish, Foggy, Magna Carta, and Mike Donald.
CD $17
BEATFREAK! - Vol. 1: Rare and Obscure British Beat 1964-1968 (Particles 4044; UK) From the minds behind the Piccadilly Sunshine, Mixed Up Minds, Upside Down, and Electric Sound Show series, Beatfreak! is a journey through the glorious cultural dustbin where beat pop meets paisley rhythm and blues. Prestigious guests include London heavies The Habits; the busker of Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty; a pre-Fleur de Lys Pete Sears and Tago Byers; and a forgotten Bee Gee. A intoxicating marriage of fuzz and flute delivered with disgraceful adolescent abandon -- beware, it's not pretty. Professionally remastered original sound recordings. Includes 20-page full-color booklet with comprehensive background liners and rare archival color photos. Includes rare and obscure tracks by Fingers Lee and the Upperhand, Sons of Fred, The Habits, The Deejays, Ian & the Zodiacs, Casey Jones and the Governors, Roger Young, The Moquettes, The Hinge, The Chasers, The Jensens, Fifth Column, Thursday's Child, Red Squares, The Carpetbaggers, Hedgehoppers Anonymous, Alex Harvey, Trev Gordon, and Greg Hunter.
CD $17
Restocks, Overstock & Understock Sale:
AVRAM FEFER TRIO With ERIC REVIS/IGAL FONI - Calling All Spirits (Cadence 1123; USA)
CD $12
AVRAM FEFER QUARTET With TOMAS ULRICH/KEN FILIANO/JAY ROSEN - Shades of the Muse (CIMP 286; USA)
CD $12
BOBBY FEW & AVRAM FEFER QUARTET - Sanctuary (CIMP 333; USA)
CD $12
AVRAM FEFER TRIO With ERIC REVIS/CHAD TAYLOR- Ritual (Clean Feed; Portugal)
CD $8
AVRAM FEFER / BOBBY FEW - Heavenly Places (Boxholder 049; USA) Featuring Avram Fefer on tenor & soprano saxes & clarinet and Bobby Few on piano. This duo offering is quite different from the Kindred Spirits disc that was released at the same time, as this one consists of just three long pieces, two of which are improvised duos. Although the first piece was recorded at the same session as the above disc, the other two pieces were recorded live at the Free Music Festival XXXI in Belgium in August of 2004. This marvelous and extremely well matched (although thirty years apart in age) duo takes things much further out on this dynamic disc. They push each other and further and further, yet remain connected no matter how far they go out. They spin layers of lines, sailing and soaring, floating, sparse at times, digging deep into the bag of ideas and unleashing the forces of nature through storms and occasional sunshine. An outstanding endeavor that remains engaging throughout. - BLG
CD $12
AVRAM FEFER / BOBBY FEW - Kindred Spirits (Boxholder 048; USA) Featuring Avram Fefer on tenor & soprano saxes & clarinet and Bobby Few on piano. Two strong musicians, both American by birth, met and played together in Paris, where Bobby Few has lived for the past 35 years. Mr. Few is legendary jazz pianist who worked Frank Wright and Steve Lacy since he moved to Paris, is thirty years older than Avram who lives in NY and has played with Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray and can be found on four CIMP discs, as well as another one on Boxholder. The duo play seven covers by Monk, Mingus and Duke, as well as three originals by Avram. Monk tunes are always difficult to do and the duo do four of them, each with taste and elegance. Avram's tenor tone on "Ask Me Now" is sublime, bluesy and done just right. Bobby's beautiful playing is apparent throughout, he is truly a classy pianist, playing with a rare and refined touch. Mingus' "Reincarnation of a Lovebird" is another inspired choice and moves through an assortment of episodes with Bobby showing his deep knowledge of jazz's rich history. On Duke's "Come Sunday", Avram plays some lyrical soprano sax that is both sentimental and graceful. Avram plays Monk's "Friday the 13th" on soprano and gets a nice Steve Lacy-like tone, but it is Bobby's grand two handed piano playing that is such a marvel of dexterity. Avram's writing is also a great thing and both of his tunes are quite special. "Heavenly Places" has a thoughtful, melancholy theme with some superb piano from Bobby and exquisite soprano sax from Avram. This is truly a special duo, rich and inspired from the beginning to the end. - BLG
CD $12
Trumpeter Brian Groder is one of Downtown's finest brass players and composers. He usually releases a CD per year and each one is great. Mr. Groder will be playing here a couple of times over the next month or so, don't miss the opportunity to hear him live. In the meantime check any or all of these gems:
BRIAN GRODER + SAM RIVERS TRIO With DOUG MATTHEWS/ANTHONY COLE - Torque (Latham 5106; USA)
CD $10
BRIAN GRODER & BURTON GREENE With ROB BROWN/ADAM LANE/RAY SAGE - Groder & Greene (Latham 5409; USA)
CD $10
BRIAN GRODER TRIO With MICHAEL BISIO/JAY ROSEN - Reflexology (Latham 5901; USA)
CD $10
BRIAN GRODER/TONINO MIANO - FluiDensity (Latham 8014; USA)
CD $10
LP Only Department:
KEIJI HAINO/JIM O'ROURKE/OREN AMBARCHI - Now While It's Still Warm Let Us Pour in All the Mystery (Black Truffle 009; Australia) Limited repress; LP version. "Following on from 2012's acclaimed Imikizushi (BT 007CD/LP), Now While It's Still Warm Let Us Pour in All the Mystery is the fourth release from the established power trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke, and Oren Ambarchi, recorded in January 2012 at their yearly concert at SuperDeluxe, Tokyo. While the trio's two previous double LP releases featured sprawling, side-long performances, the music here is presented in six shorter pieces, each one displaying a different side of the trio's interactions, from holy minimalism to cave-man rock. The record begins with the trio joined by special guests Charlemagne Palestine and Eiko Ishibashi, conjuring ghostly tones from wine glasses as an accompaniment to Haino's angelic vocals. This 10-minute piece, which moves from near silence and the sound of onstage footsteps to a stunning passage of clean guitar work from Haino, is steeped in the same mysterious atmospherics as Haino's great folk-drone project, Nijumu. When Haino turns to the flute on the LP's second track, a performance that clearly demonstrates the importance of the special concept of space and silence (ma) that Haino has developed from traditional Japanese aesthetics, O'Rourke and Ambarchi transform into the delicate and probing rhythm section of a classic '70s fusion side. When the trio returns to the crushing free-rock of their last two records, O'Rourke's heavily effected bass rolling alongside Ambarchi's tumbling rhythms as Haino's guitar squeals and slashes above them, their performances display a new purposefulness and concision. Now truly operating as a band after a number of years of playing together, the pieces here feel like instant rocks songs -- O'Rourke and Ambarchi instantly locking into solid riffs over which Haino alternates between jarring no-wave chords, intense soloing and his signature vocalizations. When the trio slow down and stretch out, the rhythm section plods like an abstracted Crazy Horse on the brink of collapse, and Haino elicits long, mournful solos reminiscent of the first classic Fushitsusha double live LP. Perhaps more accessible than the trio's previous recordings because of its range and concision, Now While It's Still Warm... exudes the dark, alien quality of Haino's greatest recordings and testifies to the strength of the musical bond that has developed between these three players. --Francis Plagne, Jan 2013." Limited edition LP in a lavish gatefold with a printed inner sleeve. Design by Stephen O'Malley with high quality live shots by Ujin Matsuo and stunning artwork by Shunichiro Okada.
LP $24
MASAMI AKITA/MERZBOW & EIKO ISHIBASHI - Kouen Kyoudai (Editions Mego 216; Austria) Prolific Japanese artist Masami Akita aka Merzbow teams up with session musician, producer, and singer-songwriter Eiko Ishibashi for a work that showcases yet another side to Akita's monumental catalog. Kouen Kyoudai consists of two side-long tracks that could be read as a contemporary take on the traditional avant-garde. With its skittering electronics, percussion, piano, doom, and noise, Kouen Kyoudai seamlessly incorporates many strands of experimental thought and practice. The tension that arises from the human use of the tool is made explicit as these works unfold in a storm of ecstatic human/instrument/machine interaction. Drums hammer alongside an ecstatic drone. Notes on a piano jostle with a storm of splintered electronics. Kouen Kyoudai highlights the pull between beauty and chaos; structure and the abyss -- leaving behind a thrilling display of the interplay between the human and the technological while opening up new paths for both musicians involved. Masami Akita: noise electronics, computer, drums. Eiko Ishibashi: piano, drums, synth. Recorded at Gok Sound and SuperDeluxe, Tokyo. Recorded and mixed by Jim O'Rourke. Cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin 2015. Photography by Shunichiro Okada. Design by Jacob Cates.
LP $21
AARON DILLOWAY & BILL NACE - BAND EP (Open Mouth 0047; USA) "At long last, this recording sees a proper release. There's a story: Initially, I released this as a cassette on my own label, Silver Lining. To be fair, you can hardly call it a label. I have no right releasing my own music, let alone anyone else's. I'm bad at manufacturing things, I'm bad at promoting them, and I'm especially dismal when it comes to packing things up and mailing them out. And so this cassette had a brief brush with public life and then vanished, due primarily to my negligence and laziness. This is where Open Mouth, once again, comes to the rescue. The record comes in a gorgeous full-color sleeve, and the sound is so much finer than the cassette that even the more sweaty-palmed collectors out there will gladly welcome this object in favor of its previous incarnation, and join me in eagerly awaiting the day when these two release a proper full length. I like that they call this EP BAND. It's a subtle melding of the personal and the conceptual. The 'B' from 'Bill,' the 'A' from 'Aaron,' the 'N' from 'Nace,' and the 'D' from 'Dilloway.' It's simple. But they're not really a band. A band is a thing that exists over time and practices and builds its own identity. Or something. This is a duo. A meeting of the minds. A conversation. A lost weekend. At their best, duos illuminate the core tenets of individuals while pushing them into territory they might not otherwise occupy. It sounds easy but it's anything but. Just look at divorce rates. Nace and Dilloway make the perfect duo. For years, they've each kept their music fresh, always avoiding preconceived notions of what they're supposed to do. Dilloway's tape loops and electronics are routinely musical, which Nace's guitar always stretches to the edges of alien electricity. Both exude a refreshing and vehement disregard for cliche without leaving behind the necessity of tradition. One hears the earliest hints of electronic music, the conceptual and visceral assault of noise, the structural and spiritual liberation offered by free jazz, the delicate patience of extended techniques, and so much more. This collaboration though, like their back catalogs, works because it is beholden to none of these. Their individual voices are recognizable, yet the record's allure is found when those voices funnel into one another. In these moments, who's who becomes irrelevant, and the music is elevated to its rightful place, far above the concerns of personality or individualism. The gurgles, scrapes, moans, and loops build their own intoxicating fog, a metallic expanse with its own logic. After all these listens, I remain disoriented by it. It's the kind of thing you want to play again because you can't quite remember exactly what it sounds like. I'm reminded of J.G. Ballard: 'The slower the clock, the nearer it approximated the infinitely gradual and majestic progression of cosmic time.' And maybe that's the thing. Nace and Dilloway each embrace the immediacy of moments and the endless march of time equally, so for this record to finally see the real light of day is no minor event." --Matt Krefting, Holyoke, MA, 2016
LP $17
OTTO LUENING/VLADIMIR USSACHEVSKY - Tape Recorder Music (Cacophonic 007; USA)
Originally released in 1955. One of the very earliest and most important examples of electronic tape music to be pressed on vinyl (alongside the Radiodiffusion-Television Francaise musique concrete compilations in France and Jim Fassett's comedic 1953 Strange to Your Ears novelty record), this privately pressed 1955 10" was released on a one-off label owned by businessman Gene Bruck to document a custom-made performance at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1952. This facsimile edition of this important LP archives remastered versions of the first recorded unison of Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky, a partnership that founded the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center at Columbia University in 1959, which would later count Ilhan Mimaroglu, Wendy Carlos, Dariush Dolat-Shahi, and Alice Shields among its graduates. The October 28, 1952, performance showcased the debut of the seminal "Fantasy in Space," based on resampled flute recordings that were manipulated on magnetic tape to create an otherworldly melodic composition, stylistically begging comparison with the early recordings of Kraftwerk (made some 20 years later) and bringing a palatable and tuneful alternative to the stark avant-garde experiments of the pair's French counterparts. The mechanical construction of the track was even "performed" on primetime American television to celebrate this groundbreaking approach to modern music. The record's full program includes further experiments with manipulated recordings of bells and woodwind instruments subjected to mechanical "augmentation, diminution and retrograding" to create pieces that "cannot be played with conventional instruments." In the following years labels like Folkways and Desto would also plunder this important session as a milestone in electronic music. For the purposes of this release Cacophonic have also included the seldom-heard 14-minute track "Poem in Cycles and Bells" for tape recorder and orchestra, which was recorded using the same techniques with the Royal Danish Radio Orchestra in 1956 and released via the Composers Recordings Inc. label founded by Luening himself in 1954 (employing Ussachevsky in an advisory capacity). CRI operated for 49 years, releasing records by Harry Partch, Alwin Nikolais, John Cage, and Alice Shields. Also included in this edition is an expansion of the rare 10" original artwork by legendary graphic designer Ronald Clyne, an early example of his work made before he became in-house designer for Folkways Records, rivaling the likes of Blue Note's Reid Miles for some of America's most iconic record sleeves.
LP $25
THE CHILDREN - Rebirth (Out-Sider 041; Spain) The Children were a great psychedelic band from San Antonio, TX, who released only one classic album on Cinema in 1968 (picked up by Atco later that year). Starting out as The Stoics in 1966, they later evolved into The Mind's Eye, then their final incarnation as The Children with the beautiful female vocals of Cassell Webb. Ex-Monkee Davy Jones took them under his wing in 1967, promoting them on the LA Sunset Strip club scene. Rebirth combines soft psych and baroque pop with fuzzed-out psychedelia. Produced by Lelan Rogers (13th Floor Elevators, The Golden Dawn, etc.). Original gatefold artwork faithful to the beautiful original release on Cinema. Newly remastered sound. Includes insert with detailed liner notes and photos.
LP $26
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