DMG Newsletter for July 23rd, 2021: Vision Fest 25 Begins tonight!

This Saturday, July 24th at Oliver Coffee at 2pm:
MATT MOTTEL'S 40TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! Featuring:
MATT MOTTELL / GERALD CLEAVER / JEAN CARLA RODEA / DANIEL CARTER / COLIN LANGENUS!
ANDREW LAMPERT / SAM WEINBERG!
PETER GORDON / MUSTAFA KHALIQ AHMED / EVE ESSEX / MAX GORDON / RANDY GUN

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This Week’s Cosmic Sonic Cookies (the one you eat, not the others that follow you around)
Begin With an Amazing Guitar Trio:

JOHN ZORN // BILL FRISELL / JULIAN LAGE / GYAN RILEY - Parables (Tzadik 8381; USA) This newest CD of Zorn compositions performed by the remarkable all-star guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Gyan Riley is inspired by the ancient tradition of story telling as spiritual lesson. Drawing upon Sufic, Hebrew and secular traditions, Parables is a unique collection of compositional miniatures blending folk, classical, jazz, bluegrass, world music and more. Featuring seductive moods, driving rhythms and thought provoking twists and turns, this is a charming and adventurous program of music performed by three of the most distinctive guitarists around.
CD $16

WILLIAM PARKER with DANIEL CARTER / HAMID DRAKE - Painters Winter (Aum Fidelity 116; USA) "Following the release of the Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 10-CD Box and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker presents a pair of brand new studio trio albums which bountifully expound on his vision. One of the most iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Painters Winter features the trio of Daniel Carter -- reeds, trumpet, flute; William Parker -- bass, trombonium, shakuhachi; Hamid Drake -- drums. Carter & Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s NYC. Their work together in Other Dimensions In Music with Roy Campbell & Rashid Bakr for well over two decades manifest in bountiful music for the ages. They have recently been featured together in similar majestic open form on the album, Seraphic Light. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician's musician; one of the most in-demand drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages, learned and absorbed directly. His frequent flyer miles could get him a ticket to Saturn and back. Drake & Parker launched their devoted 'two-man big band' partnership in 2000 and haven't stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter, they've created one previous album together, Painters Spring, released that same year. Drake has made mention of his awe that William could pick up any new instrument and make beautiful music with it from jump. The title track of Painters Winter features Parker on trombonium, one of those many instruments that he plays beautifully on. The track 'Painted Scarf' features Parker on shakuhachi, upon which he has clearly become a master. Regarding this album's title, Parker elucidates, 'It speaks to those who paint with sound, in different landscapes, to celebrate the coming of the seasons: winter spring summer and autumn. Acknowledging the entire universe of world jazz music. Discovering the undiscovered.' And from his liner notes, 'The music on this album is a tribute to the flow of rhythm as melody and pulsation. Laced with the joy and the bounce, the dance and the heartbeat. Giving a nod to all the music that has ever passed through us.'"
CD $14

WILLIAM PARKER with AVA MENDOZA / GERALD CLEAVER - Mayan Space Station (Aum Fidelity 115; USA) "Following the release of the Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World: Volumes 1-10 10CD Box and his first book-length biography, Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker earlier this year, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, griot, improviser and community leader William Parker presents a pair of brand-new studio trio albums which bountifully expound on his vision. One of the most iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher. Mayan Space Station is his first electric guitar trio album, and features Ava Mendoza -- electric guitar, William Parker -- bass, and Gerald Cleaver -- drums. Cosmic multi-hued blues, perfect for space and time travel. The unparalleled rhythmic firmament created by Parker & Cleaver is matched by Mendoza in full flight. All of the promise imagined by a trio recording of these musicians with compositions by Parker is delivered to the fullest. William Parker first worked with Ava Mendoza on a project entitled Thunder and Flowers for his July 2019 residency at The Stone in NYC. Her prodigious talents have illuminated many projects and recordings as both leader and collaborator over the past decade. As is abundantly clear here, she is committed to bringing expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music. Gerald Cleaver is an exceptionally gifted poet of drum sound who can play in the deepest of pockets and manifest all manner of sound to perfectly fit contours within the most open of forms. Cleaver & Parker have worked closely on numerous projects, notably within the nonpareil full-improvising trio, Farmers By Nature, together with Craig Taborn. William Parker is in vibrant grandmaster blossom here on double bass -- in both pizzicato & bow-as-prism modes. Regarding the album title, Parker offers: 'Mayan Space Station is a conduit for peace and inspiration. It is an oasis where sound and silence navigators stop for sustenance to replenish their imaginations. It is a reality that important to the myth structure of the Tone World chronicle. In a way, musicians, and definitely these particular musicians, belong to the blood line of sonic travelers who, as Sun Ra described it, 'travel the space ways.' Re-inventing the process, allowing music to flow through their instruments.'"
CD $14

WILLIAM PARKER / MATTEW SHIPP - Re-Union (Rogue Art 0111; France) Featuring Matthew Shipp on piano and William Parker on contrabass. This session was recorded at a studio in Malakoff, France in February of 2019. Mr. Parker and Mr. Shipp collaborations go back to the mid-nineties when they started working in the David S. Ware Quartet (1995-2010). They’ve also been involved in other collaborations with Ivo Perelman, Rob Brown, Other Dimensions in Music, Khan Jamal and others. Although there’ve been a handful of trio effort, Parker & Shipp duo records are pretty rare, just two previously as fas as I can tell. Having worked together for song, the duo certainly have their own distinct sound.
The sound of this disc is superb: well-balanced, warm, an intense duo in which there is no leader, just two strong, connected spirits. Mr. Parker’s powerful bass playing is the central force at times, playing the cosmic, shifting throb, giving Mr. Shipp an anchor to adorn with his own layer of lines. As Mr. Prker carefully changes tempos through faster or slower sections, Mr. Shipp sprinkles in quicker lines at the higher end of the piano while adding some slower, darker chords at the lower end. The long connection between these two master musicians is often astonishing, I keep hearing different lines of notes which are in flux yet keep interconnecting on several levels. The music often moves from an inner sense of calm to some more turbulent twists and turns. When Mr. Mr. Parkers witches to bowed bass on the second track, the vibe changes since the sound of the plucked note is much different than the bowed, slightly bent note. Rather like both musicians switching positions with Mr. Shipp hitting those dark, ominous chord so far down in a more swampy region. What makes this disc so special is the way these two musicians balance the dark with the light, the lightning & thunder with a more calm sense of equipoise. At one point, the sun went behind the clouds here (7/21/21) and it started to rain hard for a few minutes. The music also turned into a storm at the same time and synchronicity made me stop and think about how things come together at times, making for those occasional transcendent moments which are far and few between. A colossal effort from two giants. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $16

JOELLE LEANDRE / MAT MANERI / GERALD CLEAVER - Light and Dance (Rogue Art 0112; France) Featuring Joelle Leandre on contrabass, Mat Maneri on viola and Gerald Cleaver on drums & small percussion. This 2 CD set was recorded at three concerts in France in January of 2020. I feel fortunate to have caught this trio at the Vision Fest a few years ago (which took place at Judson Hall, hence the band’s name), since their set was even better than anyone could’ve expected. Instead of playing on the large stage, which had not great sound, they played in the audience, in front of the stage which was more intimate, bringing the audience right into the action. Ms. Leandre and Mr. Maneri have been working together ever since The Stone Quartet played their first gig at The Stone in December of 2006. Since Ms. Leandre and Mr. Maneri both play acoustic string instruments, thus creating a strong bond especially when both are bowing, carefully shaping notes in similar ways. Master drummer, Gerald Cleaver is perfectly matched, as all three acoustic instruments are combined in a most organic way. When Ms. Leandre starts plucking and popping the strings on track #2, this works well with Mr. Cleaver’s cautious percussion, eventually Maneri weaves in his distinctive bent note fragments. On track #3 Ms. Leandre takes off with a powerful solo which is peppered with her own non-verbal vocal sounds with the viola and percussion also adding their own spice. Throughout this music, it often sounds like Ms. Leandre keeps digging deeper and exploring different approaches to improvised contrabass and as a longtime gifted improviser for several decades continues to come up with new sounds. She gives quite a bit for Maneri’s viola and Cleaver’s drums to work with. The perspective keeps shifting as the these three players keep pushing the barriers, exploring textures and nuances in a wide variety of combinations. This is consistently edge-of-your-seat type of playing so take some time to go along for the long ride or journey. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
2 CD Set $24

GYORGI SZABADOS / JOELLE LEANDRE - Live at Magyarkanizsa (BMC Records 183; Hungry) “Among the legends of contemporary Hungarian music, György Szabados occupies a special place that has made him, in his country and throughout the world, one of the most atypical voices of jazz and improvised music. Born in 1939, virtuoso pianist and child prodigy of a family of famous musicians, Szabados was one of the first children to learn music by the "Kodály method". Considered to be one of the fathers of Hungarian jazz, which he clandestinely animated as early as the end of the fifties, he always approached this music with the filter of the iron curtain. The result is a very personal aesthetic, the rhizomes of which share equally their energy in jazz and their refinement at the heart of written music. We find mainly in him a Magyar heritage which, from harmonic researches of Bartók to the marked influence of Ligeti, intimate a color inimitable to its powerful improvisations. A style that still largely influences young Hungarian musicians. The encounter with Joëlle Leandre sounds like an obvious as the universes resemble each other. Both have been able, through daring and determination, to impose their language and explore new territories freed from academicism. These two improvised music giants with multiple joint collaborations - from Anthony Braxton to Evan Parker - had never recorded together. In November 2010, this meeting took place in Vojvodina, the Magyar-speaking enclave of Serbia, hosted by Budapest Music Center. This Live At Magyarkanizsa is a free tumultuous discussion of two verbal improvisers who carry the same word. The strength of Szabados' music is his ability to use all the resources of his instrument, from the rhythmic pounding that seems to whirl around the double bass to the small light sentence escaping from the maelstrom of the hammers, bows and strings. At his side, Leandre plays with a builder bow that is both urgent and solid, which visits the deepest abysses ... Franpi Barriaux (Citizenjazz, France)”
CD $14

ELLIOTT SHARP’S TERRAPLANE with HUBERT SUMLIN / ERIC MINGUS / TRACIE MORRIS / TAYLOR HO BYNUM / MELANIE DYER / MIKEL BANKS / DAVE HOFSTRA / DON McKENZIE - Century (zOaR 55491-20439; USA) This version of Terraplane features Elliott Sharp on guitars, steel guitar, banjo, saxes, keys & electronics, Hubert Sumlin & Al Kaatz on guitars, Melanie Dyer on viola, Taylor Ho Bynum on trumpet, Dave Hofstar on acoustic bass, Don McKenzie on drums plus Eric Mingus, Tracie Morris & Mikel Banks on vocals. This disc was created/inspired by an opera by E Sharp called “horspiel” which commemorated the 100th anniversary of a book called, ’Negro’, an early collection African-Americans texts (including Langston Hughes & Zora Neale Hurston). Mr. Sharp chose texts, writing music for each one to be sung or spoke by three vocalists and played by the current version of his ongoing blues band, Terraplane. Mr. Sharp organized the first version of Terraplane around 1994 with a self-titled record on Homestead, the band being an instrumental trio. Ten discs & 25 years later, E#’s Terraplane continues to reinvent itself for each release. Since the pandemic started in March of 2020, we’ve all been through an existential crisis due to Fake News and racial divisiveness. Hence, we all have some form of the blues and are trying to adjust to our current lives. I can hear the same anger and frustration that many of are feeling deep within and throughout this entire disc. Each song deals with some sort of observation of different injustices that black folks have had to deal with since they were brought here as slaves, several centuries back. Each of the three singers/vocalists have strong, effective voices and Mr. Sharp does a splendid job of adding different shades of the blues to match their spirits voices & words. On the open piece, “Tol’ Mah Capn”, Mr. Sharp plays those blues licks in a most Hendrix-like way just the way those ancient hippies (like myself) dig. Longtime Terraplane singer Eric Mingus (son of Charles), has a powerful, rich voice and is in strong form here. He sings with righteous indignation on “Toppling Statues”, backed by a spirited soul/gospel chorus who answer him in the chorus. Although Terraplane are considered to be a blues band, Mr. Sharp consistently blurs the lines, adding a variety of effects/influences from rock, psych, folk, blues, funk and other sources. Rather than howling the blues, this music is more cerebral, less visceral. Hubert Sumlin played lead blues guitar for Howlin’ Wolf for many years and passed away in 2011. Sumlin also collaborated with Mr. Sharp for a couple of records. His playing is at the center of “Exit Strategy” here, great to hear his licks added to the powerful, soul-searching mix. Instead of having a drummer on a few of these songs, Sharp uses rhythm samples to center the cosmic, blues throb, recalling at times the way they would record the tapping foot of an old bluesman who played alone and unaccompanied, like a one-man band. For a few of these tracks, Sharp does use the strong, spirited drumming of Don McKenzie, one of those great Downtown masters who rarely gets the credit he deserves. His playing is especially slamming on “Tulsa 21”. Terraplane does a swell version of an old blues standard “How Can Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” (by Blind Alfred Reed), which was once covered by Ry Cooder. If like me, you can feel the palpable frustration of racial strife/injustice over the past year, then you can feel that inner flame that burns at the center of this disc. Fan the flames and search for the truth since we are surrounded by too many lies and misinformations. If that don’t give you the blues something bad, then jack, you already dead! - MC BruceLee at DMG
CD $14

THREE LAYER CAKE with BRANDON SEABROOK / MIKE WATT / MIKE PRIDE - Stove Top (Rare Noise 128; Earth) Featuring Brandon Seabrook on guitar & banjo, Mike Watt on electric bass and Mike Pride on drums, marimba, glockenspiel & organ. This is quite an eclectic trio of three fine musicians from much different backgrounds. The elder here is monster bassist, Mike Watt, who use to play in the legendary punk/prog/hardcore band the Minutemen, which later morphed in Firehose after D. Boon passed away. Mr. Watt has also had a long solo/bandleader career as well as playing with the reunited Stooges. Guitarist/banjo-player Brandon Seabrook is one the most diverse of all Downtown guitar greats. Aside from working with Black Host, Andrew Drury & the Flying Luttenbachers, Mr. Seabrook has also led several of his own bands. Equally diverse is Downtown drummer Mike Pride, who has worked with HC-punkers MDC, as well as with Anthony Braxton, Jon Irabagon & Darius Jones, as well as leading several of his own bands: From Bacteria to Boys to Locksmith Isidore.
Instead of a power trio, we get something quite a bit more eclectic. Due to the pandemic, this recording was done in different places and then assembled. Although it is hard to tell that. The first song, “Beatified, Bedraggled and Bombed” features some inspired banjo gliding over the spacious rhythm team. It sounds as if Seabrook is bowing his banjo as well as perhaps adding some odd effects. The trio evolve through odd, structures, the rhythm team changing strategies on each track. “Primary Fuel” has a strange repeating riff at the center that and sounds more like a humorous version of Yo La Tengo, quite quirky and unpredictable. “Luminous Range -“ keeps switching between one glockenspiel led line with another twisted funk part, rather Zappa-like with its sly sense of humor and unexpected twists. Each track here a delight and unlike anything you might’ve expected from any of these three cool mutants. I kinda wished it was longer at nearly 45 minutes although I did play it again as soon as it ended. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $18

MAGNET ANIMALS with C TODD CLOUSER / EYAL MAOZ / SHANIR BLUMENKRANZ / JORGE SERVIN - Fake Dudes (Rare Noise 126; Earth) Magnet Animals features Todd Clouser on guitar & vocals, Eyal Maoz on lead guitar, Shanir Blumenkranz on bass and Jorge Servin on drums. Two members of the newer quartet, Mr. Maoz & Mr. Blumenkranz, are also members of Abraxas, an incredible band who sound like the original Mahavishnu Orchestra playing some electric post-klez music but with their own approach. Check out any of their three discs on Tzadik, self/titled, ‘Gevurah’ & ‘Psychomagia’ and be blown away. Both Maoz and Blumenkranz also have several of their own projects & collaborations, all of which are well worth checking out. It turns out that the frontman here, Todd Clouser, is a singer/songwriter/guitarist with six albums of his own which include collaborations with John Medeski, Thollem McDonas and Brian Chase.
This is second disc from Magnet Animals, both on Rare Noise and I haven’t heard the first one yet. I also wasn’t familiar with Mexican drummer, Jorge Servin, before now, although he has worked with Mr. Clouser in several previous projects. It turns out that Mr. Clouser is a gifted songwriter and has organized a particularly strong band. “Believe” opens things with a strong, sly somewhat reggae/funk groove with Mr. Blumenkranz’s throbbing bass hypnotic at the center. Mr. Clouser is fine wordsmith with, giving voice to our our collective conscious about what we believe or not believe. Although he rarely gets credit, Eyal Maoz is one of the best electric guitarists to emerge from the Downtown scene over the past decade plus. Each song here his Maoz a chance to add his magic touch, crunch or incisive lead guitar licks while never showing off and always in favor of the song they are the center of. My favorite song here is “Forecast in Rome” which has a similar riff to Frank Zappa’s “Willie the Pimp”, although it keeps shifting through a variety of changes, much like the music of the other Great Z-man, John Zorn. I have not heard much contemporary rock music, outside of the Garcia People, that has knocked me out as much as this disc does. Wonderful, powerful in some many great ways! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $17

JULIAN LAGE with JORGE ROEDER / DAVE KING - Squint (Blue Note 3332402; USA) “Before discussing guitarist Julian Lage's album, some food for thought... A credible argument could be put forward to say that the jazz piano trio reached its pinnacle of perfection with Bill Evans' Village Vanguard performances of June 1961, with the trio of bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, and that trios led by guitars, another chordal instrument, have long since replaced piano led trios at the evolutionary edge of the music.
Still thinking aloud, as it were, the acoustic piano might also be said to be increasingly anachronistic across jazz, its place taken in many young bands by an electric keyboard, or a guitar, or by no chordal instrument at all. On the other hand, the explanation for that could simply be cyclical. In any event, no denigration of acoustic pianists is intended. It is indisputable, however, that jazz guitar trios continue to push the boundaries of the music—or, as in the case of Lage's Blue Note debut, Squint, bring a fresh spin to the lyric territory in which Bill Evans excelled.
All but two of the eleven tracks on Squint are Lage originals and they range from blues rock to exquisitely beautiful ballads. Predictably, Blue Note is pushing the first strand, which, enjoyable as it is, forms the smaller proportion of the album. The only YouTube clip available at the time of writing is "Boo's Blues," and the album's first single is "Saint Rose." Both tunes are radio-friendly drive-time chuggers. Among the ballads, a highlight is undoubtedly the cover of Johnny Mandel's "Emily," but Lage's "Day And Age" and "Quiet Like A Flower" are every bit as gorgeous. The guitarist's playing on all three tracks is as harmonically elevated as Bill Evans was on, say, "My Foolish Heart" and "Waltz For Debby" at the Vanguard (or indeed on the versions of "My Funny Valentine" and "Romain" he recorded in a duo with guitarist Jim Hall in 1962 for the United Artists album Undercurrent).
Lage excels throughout Squint as both an improviser and a composer, and he is well served by bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King, both of whom had toured with him for two years before the pandemic delayed the completion of recording. From every angle, and from start to finish, the album is a delight.” - Chris May, AllAboutJazz
CD $15

THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS with WEASEL WALTER / MATT NELSON / KATIE BATTISTONI / TIM DAHL / SAM OSPOVAT - Negative Infinity (UgEXPLODE 81; USA) Featuring Weasel Walter & Katie Battistoni on guitars, Mat Nelson on tenor sax, Tim Dahl on electric bass and Sam Ospovat on drums. Weasel Walter rarely gets the respect he so righteously deserves. Aside from being one the best drummers to move to town in the past decade, Weasel also a gifted & diverse composer, multi-bandleader, producer, engineer and music historian. Weasel’s early band/project, the Flying Luttenbachers, started around 1992 with the legendary Hal Russell in their ranks and have evolved through many line-ups with Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Chad Organ, Dylan Posa and later Brandon Seabrook & Tim Dahl. The personnel seem to change on each record although they do have a unique sound no matter who is in the band. Over the past few years, Mr. Walter has been guitar rather than drums with Lydia Lunch. So it it should come as to much of a surprise to find him playing guitar here. Both saxist Matt Nelson (from Battles Trance) and bassist Tim Dahl (from Child Abuse) have been in the band for the last few years while both guitarist Katie Battistoni and drummer Sam Ospovat are newcomers. The Flying Luttenbachers have always between categories like punk, math-rock and prog. “Fury of the Delusion” has saxist Nelson and guitarist playing their tight twisted lines together. Is that sax double tracked or is it matched to the similar sounding sustain guitar lines?!?! On “Demonic Velocities”, the quintet sounds like King Crimson at times with a thick layer of distorted guitar, howling sax and a tight pounding rhythm team. The final piece, “On the Verge of Destruction” is nearly 20 minutes long and a tour-de-force. In a recent conversation with Weasel Walter earlier this week (7/19/21), Weasel told us how much he admires and has been exploring the music of Frank Zappa over the past year. I can actually hear the way Zappa’s constantly shifting, complex music has influenced Weasel’s own music. The epic-length final song is a case in point, as it keeps shifting between varies sections and the occasional blistering guitar or sax solo wailing on top. The music is consistently exciting and often exhilarating. This is the brutal truth, powerful and unhinged, intense and in your face! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13

ALICE COLTRANE - Turiya Sings (Impulse! Records 3370502; USA) “After releasing the wondrous Transfiguration in 1978, documenting a live concert with drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Reggie Workman, Alice Coltrane retreated from public life to serve as swamini in an ashram she founded in Agoura Hills, California. Though she resurfaced briefly at John Coltrane tribute concerts during the 1990s and released a final album, Translinear Light, in 2004, it was widely thought she had abandoned music for over two decades. However, during that time, she was playing alone and with others for Sunday "kirtans" (services), and she occasionally recorded devotional chants for her followers. In 2017, Luaka Bop released The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda; its music was compiled from four privately pressed (and professionally recorded) cassettes. The first of these was 1982's Turiya Sings, and marked the first recording of her singing voice, accompanied by organ, strings, synths, and in places, minimal sound effects. Commercially unavailable, it has been streaming on YouTube for years. Kirtan: Turiya Sings, issued by Impulse!, presents that album in a startling new context. This rare mix -- unheard even by Ravi Coltrane until he was producing Translinear Light -- presents Alice's prayerful rendition of nine traditional Hindu chants called "bhajans," offered with only her Wurlitzer organ in support.
From the opening moments of "Jagadishwar," Coltrane's dignified worship songs seemingly transcend time. They abundantly reflect an earlier period in her own life when she was still in Detroit playing organ in church for gospel choirs and congregations during the early 1950s. That said, they also wed the millennia-old Hindu prayers to the 20th century African American Church and the blues Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey used in reframing gospel music. A striking example here is "Krishna Krishna"; it drones along a skeletal chord progression as Coltrane's instrumental pulse underscores her subdued, vulnerable, almost unbearably tender chant and suggests a country blues. "Rama Katha" adds depth to that impression while being presented in a slightly more dramatic fashion with a taut delivery. Coltrane's jazz training can't resist slipping in unusual chord voicings amid the Wurlitzer's droning growl -- check out "Hara Siva," where she pairs fleeting elliptical ghost traces of chords under an open-throated, deep blue groan that simultaneously reflects yearning and transcendence. Closer "Prandhana" offers seemingly syncopated organ play as chords melt together, transforming them into new utterances. The Wurlitzer hums, rife with airy pedal action as her voice wavers around the resultant overtones. Kirtan: Turiya Sings is more subdued than the original (perhaps they should have been packaged together), but because of the power in Coltrane's singing, it is also deeper emotionally. Rather than a recording designed to project music for a congregation to respond to collectively, it resonates with the personal primacy of private devotional prayer. In sum, it doesn't displace or replace the original, but adds immeasurably to its meaning and dimension.” - Thom Jurek, AllMusic.com
CD $16

This is the 3 LP Set that many folks have been talking about for the past couple of years, especially since it was delayed more times than we can count!

HORACE TAPSCOTT and the PAN AFRIKAN PEOPLES ARKESTRA with SABIR MATEEN / BILLIE HARRIS / DAA’OUD WOODS / JOHNNY WILLIAMS / LESTER ROBERTSON/ ADELE SEBASTIAN / LINDA HILL / et al ‎– Live At Century City Playhouse 9/9/79 (Nimbus West Records NS-4035; USA) Finally available after long pressing delays, comes a never before issued recording of Horace Tapscott leading his legendary Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, "Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79", documenting the entirety of a 2 hours performance that sprawls across glorious 3 LPs. Easily one of the most beautiful, striking, and historically important records of the year, it’s a joyous explosion of sound, seeded by social, political, and community-based action, at the juncture of spiritual and free jazz. 10 out of 10 and not to be missed, it’s impossible to express how happy we are to have this one in our hands after a long wait.
There were 500 copies made and all are sold-out at source. This is an amazing 3LP set!!! The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra on fire in 1979 in a complete 2 hour concert!!! Super intimate and raw-like sitting in the front row of this small club 41 years ago … cut directly from original master tapes with no digital process whatsoever. Gatefold tip-on sleeve, featuring archival photographs and a beautiful essay by Mark Weber.** The Los Angeles based pianist, band leader, and composer, Horace Tapscott, always stood apart from the pack. A true visionary who was fiercely principled and independent, across the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s, leading his legendary Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, he produced a tour de force of sound, seeded by social, political, and community-based action.
For the entirety of their run together, Tapscott and his Arkestra, which continues to this day, were among the most important groups working in the United States. They also remain among the most under-appreciated. Thankfully, the last few years has brought a number of reissues and archival releases by Tapscott, the Arkestra, and many of its members and associates like Linda Hill, Jesse Sharps, Adele Sebastian, Nate Morgan, Curtis Clark, and others, allowing the sprawling scope and astounding merit of their accomplishments to come into view for a broader audience. Now, we have yet another from Nimbus West - the imprint founded in 1979 by Tom Albach to support Tapscott and Arkestra’s activities - Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79, a never before issued recording sprawling across three mind-bending LPs. Hugely historically important, and an absolute marvel of sound, this is West Coast avant-garde and spiritual jazz at its absolute best. Originally slated for release early this year and beset with pressing delays, we’re absolutely overjoyed to finally have this beauty in our hands.
Horace Tapscott began his career as a trombonist before switching to piano, playing with Frank Morgan, Don Cherry, and Billy Higgins while still his teens, before hitting the road with Lionel Hampton during the late '50s and early '60s, an experience formative enough to push him down his own path as a band leader. For most of his career, Tapscott remained one of the unsung giants of jazz; a gifted composer, arranger, and educator, as well as a remarkably original pianist and bandleader. In 1961 he founded the Underground Musicians Association (UGMA) - which morphed into the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra roughly a decade later, a project which, despite Tapscott’s untimely passing in 1999, continues to send ripples across the world improvised music to this day, both through its own activities and through the individual gestures - past and present - of the hundreds of talented voices who have passed through its ranks (Arthur Blythe, Azar Lawrence, Jimmy Woods, John Carter, Bobby Bradford, Sonny Criss, Ndugu Chancler, Nate Morgan, Jesse Sharps, Adele Sebastian, Dadisi Komolafe, Gary Bias, to mention only a few).
While Tapscott recorded in numerous configurations (almost always as a leader) and solo over the many years of his activity, from its inception UGMA / the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra remained his central focus. A radical band, creating revolutionary music that channeled Afrocentric and self-determinist philosophies, it was a community band that lived communally. In Tapscott’s own words, the project hoped to act as ‘a cultural safe house for the music.’ - an Ark, stating, “This is your music. This is black music,… a panorama of the whole thing right here”. Playing fundraisers, organising teach-ins and workshops for young and old, all the while integrating their efforts with radical theatre groups and poets, political revolutionaries, Black separatists, community groups and churches, it drew on its own culture and the immediate community from surrounding Los Angeles neighbourhoods for talent and creative inspiration, producing a totality of sound and action that has few equivalents in the history of American music.
Like Sun Ra, from whom he borrowed when naming his own Arkestra, and Kelan Phil Cohran working during the same period in Chicago, Taspcott showed deep dedication to possibilities and inclusiveness presented by working in large ensembles. Attempting to remain as free from the restrictions of the white run music industry, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra only began to document their efforts toward the end of the 1970s - always placing community work and political consciousness at the heart of the project, preferring to play in the street, parks and coffee houses, over traditional venues. Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79, issued by Nimbus West - the imprint with which the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and its members almost exclusively worked during the '70s, '80s, and '90s - takes us into the heart of this remarkably fertile period and its incredible sounds and ideas.
Never before issued, capturing the entirety of a 2 hour live concert with a band on fire, featuring the stellar playing of Horace Tapscott, Adele Sebastian, Linda Hill, Sabir Mateen, Desta Walker, Billie Harris, Lester Robertson, Johnny Williams, Conga Mike, Daoud Woods, David Bryant, Alan Hines, and Billy Hinton, Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79 has few equivalents in the band’s historical output, not to mention the entire market of contemporary archival releases. An explosion of joyous music, threaded with the warmth of Tapscott’s introductory voice - giving context and insight into the compositions and the band’s mission - the album’s rough creative proximity falls somewhere between spiritual jazz and free jazz, but within its makeup are traces numerous forms of music and cultural traditions. Bebop, big band swing, gospel, and soul percolate just below the surface, contributing a truly singular temperament of color and range, almost as though Tapscott and the Akrestra have distilled the entire history of African American music into a powerful and deeply emotive whole.
Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79 is one of those rare documents of avant-garde jazz that, even 40 years after it was laid to tape, challenges the mind and creative sensibilities, while promoting the body to dance. The band is locked in and loud - rattling, rhythmic, and tonally complex - met by wild exclamations of an ecstatic audience taken to the brink. This is what music is all about - by the people and for the people, bringing us together and fueling the forward march - the sounds of hope and change, locked in mesmerizing creative exchange. Few records to have emerged this year can claim these heights. An absolute masterpiece that once heard will leave you wondering where it’s been all these years. Unquestionably one of the best records of the year, cut directly from the original master tapes with no process, and issued in a gatefold tip-on sleeve, featuring archival photos and a beautiful essay by veteran writer Mark Weber, it doesn’t get any better than this. Nimbus have only pressed 500 copies, so this one isn’t going to sit around for long. A 10 out of 10 and as essential as records come.
3 LP Deluxe Set $80 [Limited Edition of 500 copies, already sold out from the label; Just heard from the label that they hope to make another 500 next Spring of 2022]

TEN SALE CD’S Just Gotten in from some Recent Donations, all sealed & $10 each.

JOHN BUTCHER / DYLAN VAN DER SCHYFF - Points, Snags and Windings (Meniscus 010; USA) “John Butcher, tenor and soprano saxes; Dylan van der Schyff, percussion. Recorded 2 July 2000 at Blue Wave Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia"Butcher's duo album with percussionist Dylan van der Schyff, Points, Snags and Windings, is even better, partly because two men can produce a greater variety of colors and textures than one, and also because they seem to inspire each other to greater degrees of subtlety and intensity. Van der Schyff plays sensitively throughout and he knows when not to play. As for Butcher, yes, he creates a variety of sonorities, but his lines have substance as well. Points, Snags and Windings is very well realized, and a classic of its kind" Harvey Pekar, Jazz Times.”
CD $10

WOLFGANG FUCHS / JEROME BRYERTON / DAMON SMITH - Three October Meetings (Balance Point Acoustics 03; USA) The third and finest release yet on Damon Smith's label Balance Point Acoustics, "Three October Meetings" chronicles a few days young Bay improvisers Smith (double bass) and Jerome Bryerton (drums) spent with German clarinetist Wolfgang Fuchs. The CD combines material from two concerts in Berkeley and San Francisco, and a studio session. All recordings took place within a three-day period in October 2001. Smith has rarely displayed such colorful and varied playing. Fuchs, like Radu Malfatti an instigator of silence-focused free improv, alternates between his soprano saxophone, bass and contrabass clarinets. The low, breathy growls of the latter intermingle with the bassist's sinuous arco, while the overtones of the soprano sax mesh with the drummer's bowed cymbals. Bryerton is the real discovery here. His playing is light, inventive and pertinent. Never busy for the sake of it, he focuses on the cymbals in a way strongly reminiscent of John Stevens. The CD starts with a few short studio tracks that explore rather specific textures mostly triggered by Fuchs' choice of instrument or initial technique. Then come the live selections. The long improvs of "Meeting One" are captivating, thanks to a high degree of listening. Despite age difference, these three share the same language. Recommended! - Francois Couture
CD $10

CAROL GENETTI / DAMON SMITH FRED LONBERG-HOLM - sense of hearing (Balance Point Acoustics 05; USA) In some circles Genetti is the reigning queen of free improv voice in America, and this is her best release so far. When you think about the flurry of innovation in current improv that's based on air passing through the human oral cavity, but attenuated by metal tubing, it's puzzling why more folks don't just pursue the most direct and flexible option in this game, the naked voice. Listening to Genetti's abstract, language-free, maneuvers among all manner of sonorants and obstruents on this program of duos with bassist Damon Smith, I'm struck by how much untapped potential there is in vocal music, and I wish I'd need more than two hands to count the Genettis, Blonks, Mintons, and Makigamis of the world. The impression is especially forceful thanks to the incredible recording quality of this disc, another triumph for Genetti's Chicago comrade Bob Falesch--it feels like I'm hearing it live sitting only a few feet away from the musicians! The tiniest details burst out of the speaker, and this is the kind of music that pivots on such details--the faint shards that fall off Smith's bowed notes; the split-second buzz of string against wood; the swooping fricatives that escape between Genetti's sweet squalls. Although it's pretty restrained relative to the history of free improvisation, the music here is not lowercase improv; it's alternately elegaic and frenetic music constantly taking off in new directions, and Smith in particular exemplifies the classic Euro-improv aesthetic of sounding at the boundary of momentum, the region where phrases hold together by the thinnest threads, where the failures bleed into new moments so quickly they aren't noticed, and the successes slam you in the face. Both Genetti and Smith have virtuosic control of a huge range of unconventional sounds; there are parts where Smith's bass sounds like some unidentifiable southeast asian stringed instrument in a fit of ecstatic pitch leaps, and parts where Genetti digs into the sound world of small animals and insects. A highlight can be found in the startling passage in "fragility itself" where Smith continuously generates several distinct sounds from his bass simultaneously, creating a massive texture of burbling, groaning, grinding, and wheezing. This is the first disc of Smith's work I can specifically recall listening to, and it's so wonderful I'm excited about further investigating his fair-sized discography, which includes work with luminaries like Wolfgang Fuchs, Frank Gratkowski, Serge Bagdassarian, and Boris Baltshun, much of it released on his own label for personal documentation, Balance Point Acoustics. With the dozens of great improv bassists out there, noone could be blamed if they happened to overlook Damon Smith's brilliant work, but improv vocalists of Genetti's caliber are so rare that this release is absolutely essential for anyone with an interest in avant-garde settings for humanity's first instrument. The second part of the disc is 27 minutes of live trio recordings of Genetti, Smith, and Fred Lonberg-Holm. By now most folks know how potent Lonberg-Holm is in just about any improv situation, and this session is mind-blowing and essential for fans of America's leading cello improvisor. For a disc of music for double bass and female voice, it's fitting that the booklet includes a beautiful short poem by a master of both instruments, Joelle Leandre, which refers to three things abundantly present in this music: "intensity, fragility, and love". - Michael Anton Parker for DMG
CD $10

VINNY GOLIA - Clarient: 9 pieces for solo Bb clarinet (Meniscus 008; USA) Recorded 6 November 2000 at Newzone Studio, Los Angeles. Vinny plays an arsenal of reed instruments, but on this CD - his first solo effort in twenty years - he concentrates on B flat clarinet only with no overdubs. Highly concentrated and extremely well recorded. Right from the opening note of "Joined to the Songs of Ancestory" we know we are in store for something special - the pure wooden tone, explored to its fullest, spinning quick, sharp, mesmerizing and expressive webs - soft and playful one moment, squealing layers of bent notes the next. Each piece here show how far and how rich the many different sonorities that a clarinet can summon up. Eric Dolphy showed everyone how to swing and how expressive one could get on a bass clarinet some 40 years ago, since then pioneers like John Carter, Alvin Batiste and Perry Robinson have moved the clarinet into the future. Vinny has pushed these explorations even further. He deals with long droning tones on "Ape and the Spotted Salamander" - warm, somber, elegant textures which drift like ghosts hovering one note at a time and wander quietly, but then dance like flames flickering. Reed instruments have a special way of bending notes which takes a long time to master - Vinny concentrates on this note splitting technique on "Darkwood Plinth" which sounds as if the notes have been twisted into sharp shreds - not very easy to do or listen to either. Vinny deals with a much smoother older-style tone on "Collapse of the Crane" which swings and sails like Benny Goodman on speed in parts and spirals upwards in bird-like chatter. He spins even quicker and more dizzying lines on "Rictus of Revenge" with astonishing ease. Things slow down to a calm pace on the haunting "Momona of the Stairs" - hushed, graceful, each note glowing and then quickly spiraling upwards. "That's Just Billy Talk" balances between two extremes from somber one moment to intense note-bending eruptions the next. The final piece "The Last One Was What the First One Should Be" also lets loose ultra-quick cascading lines that spin in many directions and moves through sections of varying densities, speeds and timbres. Vinny Golia's 'Clarient' is an incredible display of the adventure of what can be done on a lone clarinet. Outstanding! - BLG "It's great to hear a solo reeds album which doesn't feel under pressure to be a manifesto or a calling-card. Although he's not as well-known as he ought to be, Golia's voice is a well-established one by now and the self-assurance on show here is as impresssive as the virtuosity. Highly recommended." Richard Cochrane, Musings.”
CD $10

MATTHEW GOODHEART - Songs from the time of great questioning (Meniscus 001; USA) “Featuring Matthew Goodheart on piano, recorded live in concert at New Langton Arts, San Francisco on 7th November 1996. "Easily one of the most satisfying solo piano recordings in recent memory, this disc represents the work of a refreshingly original musician who will be one to watch in the coming years." Derek Taylor, All About Jazz
CD $10

FRANK GRATKOWSKI / GEORG GRAEWE / PAUL LOVENS - Quicksand (Meniscus 007; USA) Featuring Frank on alto sax & clarinets, Georg Graewe on piano and Paul Lovens on drums & singing saw. Recorded at Stadgarten, Cologne on 28 January 1999. 'Quicksand' was recorded live in Cologne, Germany in January of 1999. Frank, Georg and Paul all have long careers in improvised music, so indeed this trio works well together. There is a playful and occasionally rambunctious spirit on this trio date. All three are masters of small sounds, rustling, cautious and quietly mesmerizing. Lovens is especially magical when he bows his cymbals and saw, creating eerie textures that inspire Frank and Georg to also work with a subtle, fractured tapestry which evolves through more dramatic and intense sections, occasionally erupting into some explosive exchanges. My favorite part(s) is when they take off together and spin their lines of notes into an intricate and breathtaking collage of integrated elements. This is certainly Euro-free/improv at its best. - BLG "There is a nice tension between energy and introspectiveness (this is not the same as tension-and-release!), triggered by drummer PaulLovens' shifts between drums, cymbals, and singing saw. Simply put:Free improv hardly gets more enjoyable than that." Francois Couture, All Music Guide
CD $10

AURORA JOSEPHSON / PHILIPP WACHSMANN / JACOB LINDSAY / DAMON SMITH / MARTIN BLUME - zero plus (Balance Point Acoustics 07; USA) Singer Aurora Josephson, clarinetist Jacob Lindsay, and bassist (and Balance Point Acoustics owner) Damon Smith perform regularly as the Triple D trio. Keen on developing projects with European free improvisers visiting the United States, the trio arranged for three consecutive days of concerts and recording sessions, in April 2003, with violinist Philipp Wachsmann and drummer Martin Blume. The two concerts at 21 Grand (Oakland, CA) and The Luggage Store (San Francisco, CA) were recorded on a multitrack machine by Scott R. Looney, who also presided the studio session. As a result, Zero Plus offers very good and consistent sound quality throughout, the shift from one venue to another detectable only through the few extra seconds of silence separating the three 'chapters' of the CD. The music could easily have taken the form of a "trio 2" setting, the guests attempting to find a niche among the existing dynamics of the core unit. Instead, we assist to a total reconfiguration of the group. Lindsay and Wachsmann team up, developing intricate dialogues (themselves interacting with the other voices). Smith and Blume form a partnership that answers the modus operandi of a bona fide rhythm section, even if they never actually sound like one (the bass also establishes a strong connexion with the violin at times). Josephson either leads the way -- her warm tone and extended techniques captivate the listener's attention in a way that gives her predominance over the other improvisers -- or integrates a sub-unit by mimicking a particular sound that has attracted her. In the quieter passages, her voice can often be confused with the clarinet or violin. Highlights include "Tiger, Tiger!" and "Zero," but the level of involvment is high from start to finish, with excellent balance between the pensive and the frantic ends of the free improv spectrum. Recommended! - Francois Couture
CD $10

GREG KELLEY - Trumpet (Meniscus 009; USA) Recorded in Somerville, Massachusetts, 12 May to 20 June 2000. "Mr. Kelley is about to undo everything you've ever learnedor known about the trumpet. You'll either balk at its extreme, atonal statements or happily agree to hear a brave new sound that tests the limits of everything you've learned about music." - Andrew Magilow, Splendid E-zine
CD $10

CHRISTIAN LILLINGER / TOBIAS DELIUS - Dicht (Relative Pitch 1057;  USA) Featuring Christian Lillinger on drums and Tobias Delius on tenor sax & clarinet. Berlin-based drummer, Christian Lillinger, really gets around as we can see from the more than two dozen discs he appears on listed in the DMG database with: Axel Dorner, Peter Evans, Achim Kaufmann & Rolf Kuhn. Although Dutch reeds wiz, Tobias Delius, joined the ICP Orchestra late in his career, he has kept busy recording as a leader as well as playing with Michael Moore, Sean Bergin, Jaap Blonk and Cor Fuhler. The title piece is first and right from the opening the duo take off soaring together. This is a most marvelous duo that sounds perfect together, no matter if they are erupting or calming down into more peaceful currents. Even when things quiet down, like on “Ethical Privet”, there is still a close connection, a fascinating dialogue unfolds slowly… and then ascends through layers of cosmic connections. Mr. Delius has a striking, odd tone on clarinet, which sounds nothing like any of the more famous, old school players. There is some intense, focused listening & responding going on here, as both musicians are so well-matched. This is most modest yet completely enchanting duo, perfect listening for a rainy, overcast day like today (5/25/17). - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $10

LE QUAN NINH - Le Ventre Negatif (Meniscus 011; USA) Le Quan Ninh, surrounded bass drum. Recorded at Les Entrepots, Toulouse, France in October 2001 I've caught French based percussion wizard Le Quan Ninh on a few occasions and realized what a remarkable and completely unique percussionist he is. He stands in front of one horizontal bass drum with a cymbal and a few utensils and evokes unusual spirits. Each of these five pieces is over six minutes and each one deals with carefully crafted textures, stretched out so that time doesn't seem to matter. "tel quel" is the longest and there is an organic quality to this, the rubbing and small tapping of the drum skin with a cymbal laid on top at times. Since it unfolds slowly and acoustically, we get to hear and feel each small gesture ever so closely. Headphones would be a good idea here as some of these sounds are extremely quiet and delicate. At times it sounds as if he squeezing ghostly voices from his rubbed cymbal, like some spirit trying to escape to the real world. A well recorded textural gem. - BLG "Throughout the disc there's a depth of sound that will have you double-checking the liner notes to confirm that rather than an host of percussionists assisted by saxophone, cello and laptop computer, you're hearing just one man hard at work at his circular desktop." Dan Warburton, Paris TransAtlantic
CD $10

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We just got a batch of those Black Saint / Soul Note / Cam Jazz Reissue Box sets. Will this be the last batch of these? No idea but a half dozen of the older titles are now sold out. Remember that all Black Saint / Soul Note LP’s and CD’s are all long out of print so the only way to get them is getting a used copy, many of which are expensive. A handful have been reissued on LP (sometimes with a CD included) but these go out of print quickly. The great thing about these boxes is that the cost per CD is cheap: usually $5-$7 each.

MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS With ROSCOE MITCHELL / GEORGE E LEWIS / AMINA CLAUDINE MYERS / BAIKIDA CARROLL / LEROY JENKINS / ANDREW CYRILLE / THURMAN BARKER / JEAN-PAUL BOURELLY / MARTY EHRLICH / CRAIG S HARRIS / BOB STEWART / HOWARD JOHNSON / ABDUL WADUD /JOHN PURCELL / FRED HOPKINS / et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Spihumonesty / Mama And Daddy / Blues Forever / Rejoicing With The Light / View From Within / The Hearinga Suite / Blu Blu Blu / Think All Focus One (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1021; Italy)
8 CD Set $45

MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS with GEORGE LEWIS / DOUGLAS EWART / ANTHONY BRAXTON / LEROY JENKINS / ROSCOE MITCHELL / ABDUL WADUD / HENRY THREADGILL / JACK WALRATH / STEVE McCALL/ et al - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note - Volume 2 (BXS 1041; Italy)
9 CD Set $45

ED BLACKWELL With DEWEY REDMAN / CHARLIE HADEN / DON CHERRY / KARL BERGER / REGGIE WORKMAN / DAVID MURRAY / et al. - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Wall-Bridges/Old And New Dreams/A Tribute To Blackwell/Transit/In Willisau/Morning Song/From Bad To Badder [7 CD set] (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1030; Italy)
7 CD Set $42

RAN BLAKE With RICKY FORD / DAVID FABRIS / HOUSTON PERSON / JAKI BYARD / et al - The Complete Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1034; Italy)
7 CD Set $40

DAVE DOUGLAS With MARK FELDMAN / ERIK FRIEDLANDER / DREW GRESS / MICHAEL SARIN / MARK DRESSER / JOHN LINDBERG / ROVA SAXOPHONE QUARTET / GLENN SPEARMAN / RAPHE MALIK / DENMAN MARONEY et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Parallel Worlds/Five/Convergence/John Coltrane's Ascension/Bounce/Force Green (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1020; Italy)
6 CD set $40

ART FARMER With SAHIB SHIHAB / CLIFFORD JORDAN / BENNY GOLSON / CURTIS FULLER / ENRICO PIERANUNZI / FURIO DI CASTRI / KENNY DREW / FRED HERSCH / MADS VINDING / RAY DRUMMOND / ED THIGPEN / ALBERT HEATH / et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Isis/Manhattan/Mirage/Moment To Moment/You Make Me Smile/Azure (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1025; Italy)
6 CD Set $40

GIORGIO GASLINI With ANTHONY BRAXTON / GIANNI BEDORI / GIANLUIGI TROVESI / FABIO MORGERA / CLAUDION ALLIFRANCHINI / MAURIZIO CALDURA / EDDIE GOMEZ et al - Complete Dischi Della Quercia Recordings: Murales/New Orleans Suite/Free Actions/Graffiti/Sharing/Live At The Public Theater NYC/Ecstasy/Four Pieces/Indian Suite/Monodrama/Skies Of China (DDQ/Cam BXS 5001; Italy)
11 CD Set $50

JIMMY GIUFFRE 4 With PETE LEVIN / BOB NIESKE / RANDY KAYE / or With PAUL BLEY / STEVE SWALLOW - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Dragonfly / Quasar / Liquid Dancers / Conversations With A Goose (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1016; Italy)
4 CD Set $36

ANDREW HILL With CLIFFORD JORDAN / RUFUS REID / BEN RILEY / ALAN SILVA / FREDDIE WAITS - The Complete Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1039; Italy)
4 CD Set $36

LEE KONITZ With HAROLD DANKO/JIMMY KNEPPER/KENNY WERNER/RED RODNEY/MARC JOHNSON/ADAM NUSSBAUM et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Live At Laren/Ideal Scene/The New York Album/Zounds/Lunasea (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1011 ,Italy)
5 CD Set $40

STEVE LACY With ROSWELL RUDD / HAN BENNINK / MISHA MENGELBERG / GEORGE LEWIS / BOBBY FEW / BEAVER HARRIS / et al. - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Trickles / Revenue / Troubles / Regeneration / Change Of The Season / Dutch Masters / The Condor/The Cry / Vespers (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1033; Italy)
9 CD Set $45

OLIVER LAKE With BAIKIDA CARROLL / MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON / CHARLES EUBANKS / GERI ALLEN / BORAH BERGMAN / REGGIE WORKMAN / FRED HOPKINS / PHEEROAN AkLAFF / ANDREW CYRILLE / et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Holding Together / Prophet / Clevont Fitzhubert / Expandable Language / Edge-Ing / Dedicated To Dolphy / A New Organization [7 CD set] (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1026; Italy)
7 CD Set $40

GEORGE E LEWIS With DOUGLAS EWART / ROSCOE MITCHELL / LEROY JENKINS / MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS / ABDUL WADUD / ANTHONY DAVIS /RICHARD TEITELBAUM / STEVE LACY / MISHA MENGELBERG / HAN BENNINK / ERNST REIJSEGER / ARJEN GORTER - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Shadowgraph, 5 (Sextet)/Jila-Save! Mon - The Imaginary Suite/Homage To Charles Parker/Change Of Season: The Music Of Herbie Nichols/Dutch Masters (BlackSaint / Cam BXS 1022; Italy)
5 CD Set $38

JIMMY LYONS With ANDREW CYRILLE / WILLIAM PARKER / JEANNE LEE / RAPHE MALIK / ENRICO RAVA et al. - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Wee Sneezawee / Give It Up / Burnt Offering / Nuba / Something in Return (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1028; Italy)
5 CD Set $40

ROSCOE MITCHELL With HUGH RAGIN/MATT SHIPP/WILLIAM PARKER/SPENCER BAREFIELD/JODIE CHRISTIAN/MALACHI FAVORS/STEVE McCALL/MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS/ et al - The Complete Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1036; Italy)
9 CD Set $45

DAVID MURRAY OCTET With HENRY THREADGILL / LAWRENCE 'BUTCH' MORRIS / BOBBY BRADFORD / GEORGE E LEWIS / CRAIG S HARRIS / OLU DARA / WILBER MORRIS / STEVE McCALL / et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings Vol 1 - Octets: Ming / Home / Murray's Steps / New Life /Hope Scope (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1010; Italy)
5 CD Set $38

DAVID MURRAY With BUTCH MORRIS / JOHNNY DYANI / JAMES BLOOD ULMER / ALVIN BATISTE / JOHN CARTER / RANDY WESTON / et al - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note - Volume 3 [6 CD Set] (Black Saint/Soul Note/CAM BXS 1042; Italy)
6 CD Set $40

ENRICO PIERANUNZI With ART FARMER / LEE KONITZ / MARC JOHNSON / JOEY BARON / BILLY HIGGINS / PAUL MOTIAN / et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Isis / Deep Down / No Man's Land / Flux And Change / Seaward / Ma L'Amore No [6 CD set] (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1004; Italy)
6 CD Set $40

MAX ROACH With CECIL TAYLOR / M'BOOM / ANTHONY BRAXTON / ODEAN POPE / CECIL BRIDGEWATER / JOE CHAMBERS / WARREN SMITH / Et al - The Complete Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1038; Italy)
6 CD Set $40

ARCHIE SHEPP With DAVE BURRELL / CHARLES GREENLEE / ENRICO RAVA / CAMERON BROWN / GEORGE CABLES / KENNY WERNER / BEAVER HARRIS / et al- - The Complete Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1035; Italy)
4 CD Set $36

GIANLUIGI TROVESI with BRUNO TOMMASO / RICCARDO CROTTI / ROBERTO BONATI / MARCO REMONDINI / ROBERTO OTTAVIANO / CLAUDIO FASOLI / et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: From G To G / Les Hommes Armes / The Village Fair / Around Small Fairy Tales / Electric Five / Missa / Baghet / Cinque Piccole Storie / Nivola (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1032; Italy)
9 CD Set $45

WORLD SAXOPHONE QUARTET with DAVID MURRAY / JULIUS HEMPHILL / OLIVER LAKE / HAMIET BLUIETT / et al - Complete Black Saint-Soul Note Recordings: Steppin' With The World Saxophone Quartet / W.S.Q. / Revue / Live In Zurich / Live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music / Moving Right Along (BlackSaint/Cam BXS 1015; Italy)
6 CD Set $36

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ATTENTION ALL CREATIVE MUSICIANS OUT THERE, Around the world.

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

MORE THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU ARE WAITING AROUND FOR THE WORLD TO END OR GET BETTER: STILL STIR CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!

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DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY 30 & STEPHEN GAUCI-MUSIC
Present a Once a Month Series Here at DMG - 13 Monroe St. in Chinatown, NYC

Saturday August 14th

6:30pm: Adam Lane - bass / Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
CD RELEASE PERFORMANCE for "Adam Lane / Stephen Gauci, Pandemic Duets"
8pm: Stephen Gauci - tenor sax / Adam Lane - bass / Joe Morris - drums
IN CELEBRATION OF OUR RELEASE "Morris/Gauci/Lane, Studio Sessions Vol. 3

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Roulette Radio

Ridgewood Radio: The Korean Curve
Tune in: Wednesday, June 16 5–7pm EDT on WFMU.org and archived for future listening.
David Weinstein's Ridgewood Radio program on WFMU.org's Drummer stream this week: The Korean Curve, ancient instruments and techniques had a big impact on the downtown music scene. A radio sampler from Roulette concerts by CK Noyes and Sang-Won Park (1985), Steve Beresford with Okkyung Lee and Peter Evans (2008), Tori Ensemble with Ned Rothenberg, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori (2011), and some reference materials.

Roulette Physical Address:
509 Atlantic Ave,
Brooklyn, NY 11217

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This one is from CHRIS CUTLER, original member of Henry Cow, Art Bears, News from Babel, respected author and founder of Recommended Records. This is Chris’ wonderful podcast and I urge you all to give it a listen…

https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-30

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Guitarist and DMG-pal HENRY KAISER had a Weekly Video Solo Series on Cuneiform’s Youtube page for the past year:

https://www.youtube.com/c/CuneiformRecords/videos
he recently changed it to a monthly solo series - here is the new July show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ouWlSXPzc

past favorites of HK’s from the past year’s weekly shows are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2kVX6ig-E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afG82qVOEmg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SAncJamgw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP-nPk5IeL4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyijtFN02xw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FY7bgJaxPs


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My good friend & guitar master GARY LUCAS is playing half hour sets at his apartment in the West village every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday at 3pm EST on Facebook. Different songs & improvisations on each episode.
Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/gary.lucas.5836/
https://garylucas.com/www/streams/streams.shtml

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This Sunday, July 25 at 5PM.

Featuring:
Adrianne Munden Dixon (violin)
Alex Romania (dance)
Gary Lindorff (poetry)
Sam Wenc/Ben Bennett (pedal steel/percussion)
Sandy Ewen/Fred Lonberg-Holm (prepared guitar/cello)
Zoots Houston/Derek Baron (clarinet/objects)

Address is 4150 NY-23, Hudson, New York.
$20 donation, all money to performers.
It would be so wonderful to see all your beautiful faces there.

From Ben Bennett: "The show is at the yellow house on Cherry Ridge Farm, 4150 NY-23, Hudson, NY 12534. If you are coming from the east side of the Hudson river, it is the very last turn before the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. After you turn into the farm, it is the first house you'll see - the yellow one. Go left at the fork just before the house and park by the red barn. Parking is limited, so carpooling is strongly encouraged. If the parking area by the barn is full, please go out of the farm and park in the lot next to the roundabout at the intersection of 9G and NY-23. There is a sidewalk between there and the farm."

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Bushwick Improvised Music Series
downstairs @ The Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Avenue (across the street from Central Ave M train)
https://www.bushwickpublichouse.com/
$15 at the door gets you in all night (5 sets of music)

Monday August 2nd
7pm Ayumi Ishito's "Open Question"
w/ Ayumi Ishito - tenor saxophone
Daniel Carter - woodwinds
Eric Plaks - keyboard
Zach Swanson - bass
Jon Panikkar - drums
8pm Ben Stapp ensemble
9pm Bushwick Series House Band
w/ Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Adam Lane - bass
Colin Hinton - drums
10pm Eli Wallace - synthesizer
Lester St. Louis - cello
Drew Wesely -guitar
11pm Pete Swanson - bass
Sana Nagano - violin/electronics
Kenji Herbert - guitar

Monday August 9th
7pm Patrick Golden - drums
Daniel Carter - woodwinds
Jim Clouse - bass
8pm Daniel Carter - woodwinds
Aron Namenwirth - guitar
Charely Sabatino - bass
Eric Plaks - keyboard
Colin Hinton- drums
Stephen Gauci - woodwinds
9pm Bushwick Series House Band
w/ Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Adam Lane - bass
Colin Hinton - drums
10pm Adam Caine - guitar
Bob Lanzetti - guitar
Roberta Piket - keyboard
Adam Lane - bass
Billy Mintz - drums
11pm Henry Mermer - drums
Henry Fraser - bass

Monday August 16th
7pm Jared Radichel - bass
James Mckain - tenor saxophone
Leo Suarez - drums
Joey Sullivan - drums
8pm Santiago Leibson - piano
Ken Filiano - bass
Juan Pablo Carletti - drums
9pm Bushwick Series House Band
w/ Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Adam Lane - bass
Colin Hinton - drums
10pm Igor Lumpert ensemble
11pm Joey Sullivan - drums
Kevin Eichenberger - bass
Cosmo Gallaro - guitar

Monday August 23rd
7pm James Paul Nadien - drums,
Cosmo Gallaro - guitar/bass
Brendan Rey - bass/synth
8pm Alex Weiss - saxophones
Dan Blake - saxophones
Dmitry Ishenko - bass
Yana Davydova - guitar
Vijay Anderson - drums
9pm Bushwick Series House Band
w/ Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Adam Lane - bass
Colin Hinton - drums
10pm George McMullen - trombone
Ken Filiano - bass
Billy Mintz - drums
11pm Kaelen Ghandhi ensemble

Monday August 30th
7pm Juan Pablo Carletti's "Biggish"
Juan Pablo Carletti - drums
Yoni Kretzmer - tenor saxophone
Christof Knocke - clarinets
Rick Parker - trombone
Kenneth Jimenez - bass
8pm Nebula the Velvet Queen -theremin
Maria Nazarova - bass
Ayumi Ishito - saxophone
Damien Olsen - keyboard
9pm Bushwick Series House Band
w/ Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone
Sandy Ewen - guitar
Adam Lane - bass
Colin Hinton - drums
10pm Cheryl Pyle -c flute /alto flute Michael Eaton -soprano sax
Roberta Piket -piano
Billy Mintz -drums,
Judi Silvano - vocals
11pm Aaron Quinn - guitar
Alex Koi - vocals/electronics
David Leon - woodwinds
Lesley Mok: Drums

Gaucimusic Presents:
Live at Scholes Street Studio, Friday August 27th
Brandon Lopez - bass
Ingrid Laubrock - tenor/soprano saxophones
Tom Rainey - drums

Two sets at 8 & 9:30pm
$15 at the door
Live audience/Live recording!
Scholes Street Studio
375 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY 11206 (718) 964-8763