Stick all the communists in one neighborhood
Terrorize their children, will make you feel real good,
Singing 'bout
My country, tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
Down on the corner of 6th and Main Street
I belong to the KKK and the NAACP
a Berkeley student and the John Birch Society
A missile director, propaganda collector
A women's elector, a Castro defector
A medical dissector, a states' rights protector
A professional soldier, a conscious objector
A Hell's Angels member, of the Black Panther party
A Communist member, since 1940
A Digger, a hippie, an acid-head and a saint,
Daughter of the Revolution, a Minuteman in warpaint
Divided we stand
Multiply we fall
Overpopulation
Is my call
I'm black and I'm white
I come in every color
A student and a teacher
And I'm dying of stone hunger
A hawk and a dove,
Known as a hate monger
Old as the hills but I'm feeling a little younger
Righteously righteous
stone justly just,
Faithful in the need of everyone's trust,
Loyal to the Lodge
That just painted my garage
I noticed when your family sees me coming
They come they begin to duck and dodge
I'm a gourmet chef
Of the local barbeque
Transplanted heart
Sewed to the soul of my shoe
You might think I'm crazy
You might think I'm insane
Never know the secret
That lies hidden in my brain
I'm 100% for Uncle Sam
A patriotic flag waver is what I am
My country, tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
I wear a 10 gallon hat
Carry in my hand a baseball bat
I'm singing about
My country, tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
Down on the corner
Of 6th and main street
Shove all the communists down to one neighborhood
Terrorize the children and feel real good
(My country, tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing)
Down on the corner
Of 6th and main street
Send all the draft card burners
Back to Vietnam
If they protest over there
You know I won't give a damn
I'm a 100% for uncle sam
A patriotic flag waver is what I am
(O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Completely spooky! I recall hearing "Walk on Gilded Splinters" by Dr. John (the Night Tripper) on FM radio in 1968 and thinking that this was one of the most bizarre and even scary songs to blare from my radio. FM radio from 1967-1970, was an incredible source of all sorts of psych, prog and music beyond regular categories and I listened to it at length with a small notebook in hand to write down whatever gems that blew my teenage mind! I bought that first legit Dr. John album, 'Gris Gris' the year it was released and it still sends shivers up and down my spine when I listen to it today. I caught Dr. John and his band at the Atlantic City Rock Fest in August of 1969 and thought their set was just incredible, all wearing voodoo costumes and chanting their unearthly lyrics to those who righteously listened. The above song, 'Patriotic Flag Waver' comes from Dr. John's second album, 'Babylon' and it is almost as amazing as his debut! I still laugh out loud when I hear this song and sing along to its wonderful tongue-in-cheek lyrics. It captures the outrageous hypocrisy that defines what America is all about. We are a nation of extremes, opposing points of view, worshipping the almighty dollar rather than taking care of our fellow man or woman or whatever group we choose to be a part of. Right Wing Extremists thrive on this hypocrisy, preach one way but do the opposite. The more I speak with friends, family, musicians and DMG customers from everywhere, the more I hear and feel the Universal Stress that is affecting everyone. I keep hearing from my/our friends who read our weekly newsletter and enjoy what I stick at the top. I do this for all of you as we are all part of the same Family (sing it loudly, "We Are Family"!) and we have to take care of one another the best way we can. "If you don't complain, nothing will change", so let it all out. Peace, MC-BruceLee
***********
THE DMG 34th ANNIVERSARY IN-STORE CONCERT CELEBRATION CONTINUES with:
Monday, November 24th: GIAN PEREZ BIRTHDAY GIG!
6:30: BUZ DONALD - Drums / GIAN PEREZ - Guitar
7:30: MARC EDWARDS - Drums / CAROLINE MORTON - Contrabass / GIAN PEREZ - Guitar
8:30: HANS YOUNG-BINTER - Keyboard / VIVEK MENON - Violin / ORCHID McRAE - Drums / GIAN PEREZ - Guitar
Tuesday, November 25th:
6:30: NICK NEUBERG - Solo Drums - CD Release Set
7:30: CHRIS GRUDA - Guitar / JAMES McKAIN - Bari Sax / EVAN PALMER - Contrabass
8:30: GIACOMO MEREGA - Electric bass / HARVEY VALDES - Guitar
Tuesday, December 2nd:
6:30: EVAN PALMER - Bass / STEPHEN GAUCI - Tenor Sax - Clarinet / JAMES PAUL NADIEN - Drums
7:30: JONATHAN RESIN - Tenor Sax / MELISSA ALMAGUER - Tap Dance / CHEN HAR EVEN - Drums
8:30: COLIN HINTON - Drums / TODD NEUFELD - Guitar / SHAWN LOVATO - Bass
*******
THREE GREAT DISCS FROM OUR FRIENDS AT SUNNYSIDE Will Be In Stock Next Tuesday
THELONIOUS MONK with CHARLIE ROUSE / LARRY GALES / BEN RILEY - Bremen 65 (Sunnyside SSC 1634; USA) By the mid-1960s, European touring had become a routine familiar to many of jazz’s most well-known practitioners. Piano/composer Thelonious Monk was already over two decades into his career when he began to visit Europe in earnest. Europeans were excited to experience Monk and his storied personality, often focusing as much on his appearance and idiosyncratic behavior ahead of the music.
The release of Bremen 1965 finds the legend on his second tour to feature stops in Germany with his seasoned quartet featuring his longtime saxophone foil, Charlie Rouse, along with bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley. Bremen, Germany was the second stop on the quartet’s world tour, which would include much of Europe, Australia, and Japan. The recording was made on March 8, 1965, in Radio Bremen’s storied Sendesaal / Studio F in front of an anticipative audience.
Bremen 1965 is the first official release of the concert, mastered from the original tapes held in the Radio Bremen vaults under the guidance and blessings of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Radio Bremen, and T.S. Monk. The release will be available in a handful of formats, including digitally along with double CD and LP record sets. Included with the physical releases is a researched set of liner notes from Sunnyside’s Bret Sjerven.
The recording catches Monk just after some notable transitions. The pianist left his former label, Riverside Records, for Columbia Records, where his most recent release, It’s Monk’s Time, was fresh off the presses when the quartet arrived in Europe in 1965. There had also been a change in the rhythm section, as bassist John Ore and drummer Frankie Dunlop had been replaced by Larry Gales and Ben Riley, who would both appear on Monk’s next studio recording, Monk.
The long performance captures unique takes of Monk classics, like “Criss Cross,” “Well You Needn’t,” “Epistrophy,” and “Rhythm-a-ning,” along with standards that Monk continued to find inspiring, including “Sweet and Lovely,” “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” and “Don’t Blame Me.” Long, loose takes on these pieces allow for listeners to experience Monk and company’s ability to swing, duel, and sing in their most unparalleled fashion.
The music of Thelonious Monk remains eternally and monumentally singular in approach and conception. Monk’s interpretations of his tunes and those of others have left lasting impressions on the genre of jazz. Bremen 1965 highlights an incredible performance during one of Monk and his quartet’s most fiery and exploratory periods.
2 CD Set $17 / 2 LP Set $40 [In stock next week]
FOR LIVING LOVER with BRANDON ROSS / STOMU TAKEISHI - Natural Name (Sunnyside 1796; USA) Featuring Brandon Ross on acoustic & soprano guitars, banjo & voice and Stomu Takeishi As a musician begins to develop, he or she is essentially a product of influences. Musical syntax is developed by study, repetition, and memorization. Often a musician becomes a life-long recycler of artifice, never truly finding their unique musical identity or language. Choosing their authentic selves and inhabiting their own sound world through their collaboration has been the essential goal for guitarist Brandon Ross and acoustic bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi. Their duo, For Living Lovers, returns with Natural Name, a moving display of their interlocking values and incredible interplay.
Mr. Ross has been on a path to musical clarity from his earliest days as a player. Receiving early encouragement from legends like Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp, Ross was counseled to realize that he possessed the tools necessary to be a musician and what he really needed to do was to remove himself from the distractions of influence or striving for approval. He needed to define his own voice.
Threadgill’s Make a Move band in the mid-1990s. The duo created For Living Lovers two decades ago using Ross’ compositions and adopting a concept informed by Threadgill’s unique intervallic organization system. The system yields what might be called a pan-tonal structure for composition and developing improvisation, both highly specific yet inspiringly unbounded by diatonicism.
The music that For Living Lovers creates is unique in sound, structure, and texture. Performing on acoustic string instruments designed by world renowned luthier Steve Klein, the duo’s sound is natural, resonant, and full of personality. The forms of Ross’ original compositions are built to provide a context for him and Takeishi to create and develop music in the moment, eluding staid responses and reflexive patterns. As the primary composer, Ross takes these elements and a wide variety of visual and philosophical influences to inform the pieces for the duo.
The recordings that were compiled to create Natural Name come from two different performance occasions. The bulk of the music was recorded while the duo was in residence at the inaugural Cheswatyr Residency at Looking Glass Arts in September 2024. Ross and Takeishi were afforded two full days of rehearsal along with two days of recording in The Barn, Looking Glass Arts’ former dairy barn turned recording studio. Three additional pieces were included from a For Living Lovers performance at the Yamaha Music Salon in New York City from February 201
CD $14
THEO BLECKMANN with BEN MONDER / MIKE KING / TIMO VOLBRECHT / MATT PENMAN / ULYSSES OWENS JR. - Love and Anger (Sunnyside 1804; USA) One voice has been recognized as an essential element in enhancing this generation’s endeavors in experimentation, originality, and tasteful interpretation. The exquisite vocal gifts of Theo Bleckmann have enlivened the works of many composers and improvisers over the years. This has unfortunately often led to his own projects becoming a rarity. Bleckmann’s new recording, Love and Anger, presents the full scope of the vocalist’s wide ranging musical talents with collaborators new and old on material imbued with heart.
One of Bleckmann’s more recent collaborators, Ulysses Owens, Jr., had loved Bleckmann’s Hello Earth, a recording highlighting the music of Kate Bush. Bleckmann and Owens’ time on the road allowed for a friendship to blossom, leading Owens to express his intention to produce a recording for Bleckmann in 2024.
The duo’s efforts were fluid and fast, as they chose material that they felt would highlight Bleckmann’s unique abilities and, also, was connected to his unique aesthetic. They really wanted to highlight Bleckmann’s innate ability to take another composer’s work and excavate something out of it that wasn’t already there. His pure and daring voice has inspired compositions by Ben Monder, John Hollenbeck, Phil Kline, Ikue Mori, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Julia Wolfe and David Lang, whose chamber opera “Note to a Friend” (commissioned by Japan Society and directed by Yoshi Oida) was composed specifically for Bleckmann’s unique sound and sensibility.
The musicians recruited to accompany Bleckmann on this deeply personal recording are fellow journeymen on many of Bleckmann’s projects, truly making this a band of friends. Drummer Owens is accompanied by stalwart bassist Matt Penman and pianist Mike King, a brilliant performer to whom Bleckmann was introduced during the Songs of Freedom tour. Longtime collaborators Ben Monder and woodwind specialist Timo Vollbrecht are also featured prominently on a number of pieces. These partnerships extend a lineage of trusted creative bonds—Bleckmann has maintained long-term associations with the late Sheila Jordan, Meredith Monk, and Monder, most recently appearing with Monk in her 2024 Park Avenue Armory blockbuster Indra’s Net.
The ensemble recording was made on July 24, 2024, at Trading 8s Studio by Chris Sulit and then mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington. It begins with two Kate Bush compositions. “Love and Anger” is a song about deep secrets, in this case those of the ills of the Catholic church. Bleckmann’s multilayered vocals float above the driving quartet as he asks for resolution from an ugly reality. Bush’s “Bertie” delivers a message of love for a child but also a concern for their existence in a confusing moment in time. The harmonic momentum of the piece is deepened with the addition of Vollbrecht’s arpeggiating sax and Monder’s hazy guitar. Frank Ocean’s “Solo” is stripped down to King’s organ and Bleckmann’s echoing multilayered choir.
Vollbrecht’s soprano sax and Bleckmann’s voice play counterpoint on a warmly swinging version of the Beatles’ “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.” Bleckmann honors his mentor and friend Sheila Jordan with an arrangement of the legendary vocalist’s “The Crossing,” the piece finding a sweet space between jazz tune, Celtic folk song, and spiritual. Bleckmann looks to Nina Simone’s version “Stars” to inspire his melancholy take on Janis Ian’s evergreen examination of wanting fame and the downsides of achieving it, messages that still resound in this social media age.
“I Feel Real” is a reflectively somber atmospheric introduction to disco legend Sylvester’s “Mighty Real.” Sylvester was one of the first non-binary artists, their music a soundtrack to a generation of the gay listeners that was tragically devastated by AIDS. The stripped-down quartet performance is movingly poignant. Another stop on Bleckmann’s musical journey was a study of Baroque composer Henry Purcell, whose “Dido’s Lament” is lushly reborn with Bleckmann’s overdubbed vocals and leads to Massive Attack’s hit “Teardrop,” which is cleverly reimagined for the quartet and features moving solo turns from Penman and King. The two are paired together as very different pieces of music mourning the loss of a loved one.
The recording concludes with a heartbreaking arrangement of the traditional hymn “Precious Lord” that Bleckmann made on the event of his sister-in-law’s funeral leading into a warmly upbeat setting of poet Labi Siffre’s “Cry, Laughing, Loving, Lying.” The piece capturing the full emotional scope of the project that hopes to shine light on love even through the tears.
Theo Bleckmann shows once again how his service to experimentation and interpretation remains utterly unique. Love and Anger provides an entrancingly kaleidoscopic view of Bleckmann’s impressive range of interests, styles, and collaborations—music that is accessibly sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful.
CD $14
CAMILLA NEBBIA / MARILYN CRISPELL / LESLEY MOK - a reflection distorts over water (Relative Pitch RPR 1248; USA) Featuring Camilla Nebbia on tenor sax, Marilyn Crispell on piano and Lesley Mok on drums. Whether Camila Nebbia is freely improvising or playing originals that toggle between poetic rumination and fiery blowing, she is all in. With "a reflection distorts over water" she’s formed one of the most febrile, elastic ensembles in a very prolific career, uniting with two of the strongest improvisers in the US: veteran pianist Marilyn Crispell and rising percussionist Lesley Mok. The new trio set up at Nevessa Studio without any prior rehearsal. They played Mok’s composition “Longing” while a few other pieces drew inspiration from some of the saxophonist’s open scores, but otherwise everything they performed was fully improvised. The results cover a broad terrain, but binding everything is a stunning presence, a connection to the sounds and sensibilities that allows the trio to function both a single organism, wriggling, stomping, and crying as one, while also providing the space and trust for single voices to emerge from the mutual action. It can also go the other way, too, and in a nonchalantly effective gesture, in “A Room Is Being Erased ” Nebbia cedes the foreground to Crispell, but rather than interrupting her own flow with silence or sudden shift in volume, she momentarily dampens her attack by placing the bell of her horn against her leg while carrying on at full throttle. It creates a striking sonic effect but it also displays her quickness and sensitivity. - Peter Margasak
CD $13
KELSEY MINES / ERIN ROGERS - Scratching the Surface (Relative Pitch RPR 1242; USA) Featuring Kelsey Mines on contrabass and Erin Rogers on tenor & soprano saxes. Kelsey Mines has a solo contrass CD out on Relative Pitch which was released in 2022. Erin Rogers is a classically trained, experimental saxist who is a member of Popebama and Hypercube and who has played here at DMG on several occasions in solos & in duos. On "Breath", it is hard to te4ll the bowed bass from the tenor sax as both are playing similar low-end droning sounds. Ms. Mines taps on her strings with a bow or mallet on the title piece before she begins to pluck the strings while Ms. Rogers sails around her, bending each note slowly, assuredly. Both musicians here are a good match and seem to be working in similar low-end tonal centers, matching wits as they erupt. On "Mariana Trench", it is hard to tell who is doing what as a number of the sounds are so similar, whether stretching out the notes on the sax or the bass. On "Swimmers Overhead", the duo erupt more intensely, the tempo and spinning increasing to the next level. On "Drowning Girls", the bowed bass expands and contracts slowly while the sax also wheezes along, the bent, seesawing notes weaving into an odd tapestry. The vibe is somewhat disorienting. The low end bowed bass on "Syrefattiga" is also rather disturbing, rumbling and messing with our inner equilibrium while Mr. Rogers also adds her own dark currents to a raft that we are all balancing upon. Ms. Rogers often sounds like she is shifting from one terrain to another as she plays. On "Electric Blue", she plays quick, fractured lines while Mines' bass matches the saxes' spinning lines. There is a deep connection going on here between these two musicians, they sound as if they are coming from a similar place or tonal region. Most impressive. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13
MIA DYBERG / AXEL FILIP - HobbyHouse (Relative Pitch RPR 1241; USA) Featuring Mya Dyberg on alto sax and Axel Filip on drums. I met Danish saxist Mia Dyberg while I was attending the Jyderup Music Workshop Fest in Denmark in June or 2015, a decade ago. Ms. Dyberg has two trio efforts on Clean Feed, both of which I remember liking. Argentinian-born, Berlin-based drummer, Axel Filip, I know from his work with: Camila Nebbia and Signe Emmeluth. "Feet in the Water" opens this disc and has Ms. Dyberg creating several drone lines on her close mic'd sax with Mr. Filip coaxing sparse, eerie sounds from his drums and cymbals. The tempo is sped up on "Running Horses" , giving it a boppish sound. The sax and drums play their quick lines tightly together. "Snow Plough Racer" shows a more restrained side to this duo, rather solemn with Ms. Dyberg playing those thoughtful, quaint lines. There is a strong balance between these two fine improvisers going on here. Dybgerg often takes her time and stretches out certain notes carefully. There is rarely any screaming or extreme note-bending going on here. I really like Ms. Dyberg's warm tone, which reminds me of Lee Konitz at times. The subtly and spaciousness here is what makes this disc a gem, it sounds relaxed and calm at the center with often simmering cymbals buzzing quietly. On the last piece, "Swimming in the Air", the duo play in somber, drifting tones, weaving their lines gracefully around one another. This disc is a gem of restraint and beauty, something rare amongst other more explosive free terrain blasts of what we normally list here. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD $13
BEN STAPP - Uzmic Ro’Samg (Live Solo Tuba) (577 Records 5987; USA) Featuring Ben Stapp on solo tuba(s), recorded live at the Main Drag in Brooklyn in January of 2025. Ever since checking out Howard Johnson & three other tuba players, working with Taj Mahal at the Fillmore in 1970, I knew there was more going on with tubas than one might think when they see or hear a tube player. Over the past few decades, more & more tuba players keep popping up and surprising me/us with their creative abilities: Joe Daley, Bob Stewart, Marcus Rojas, Jesse Dulman, Ben Stapp and more recently Elihu Conant-Haque, have all added to growing repertoire and exploration of tube playing.
I've had my eye on tubist Ben Stapp for the past decade whether working in trios with Tony Malaby & Satoshi Takeishi or Joe Morris & Stephen Haynes. Even more ambitious is that Mr. Stapp was been working on an ongoing series of opera's known as 'Myrrha's Red Book'. Solo tuba efforts are pretty rare so I can tell that Mr. Stapp has worked hard to pull this one off. I can see from the pictures on the disc that Mr. Stapp is using different mutes and tubes, as well as amplifying his tuba. When this disc opens, it sounds like we are under the water and hearing whale-like sound emanating through the waves. Aside from the low-end drones, we soon hear another distant voice popping up. There seems to be a mic placed above the tuba as well as a separate tube which Stapp blows or hums into at the same time, creating two lines. By humming certain notes while blowing into the tuba, Stapp creates chords. No easy feat. The sounds get more agitated and more dense as this disc unfolds. The feeling I often get here is like being inside of a whale or submarine submerged in the ocean with those rumbling underwater sounds flowing around us with another creative adding their voice in the distance. Although some of these sounds are alien in nature, they also sound somehow familiar to me, someone who has long been fascinated by the most experimental or avant-garde of sounds. On "Errathemuel", Stapp starts swinging and playing what sounds like a familiar sort of song, showing another side to his playing. There often sounds like two or more voices moving around or answering each other, making this solo recital more like a duo or even a trio at times. There are some sounds here which are a bit hard to figure out yet all of the sounds fit together to tell a story or at least set a scene for our mind's eye. There was a TV show in the 60's called '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", which took place on a submarine deep in the ocean. Much of the music here reminds me of being submerged in another world. Considering this is a live session, Stapp uses the room's resonance, giving his tuba a richer, larger sound. Ben Stapp will be performing a solo tuba concert here at DMG in the next couple of months so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can grab this disc and do some deep listening. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
KHAN JAMAL - Gives The Vibes Some (Souffle Continu FFL101CD; France) On "Cold Sweat," James Brown famously called to "give the drummer some." In 1974, Philadelphia vibraphonist Khan Jamal called to Give the Vibes Some, with superb results. Pianist and composer Jef Gilson's PALM label gave Jamal the platform he needed to deliver a thorough exploration of contemporary vibraphone. After launching PALM in 1973, Gilson quickly demonstrated that he would only produce records not found anywhere else. Give the Vibes Some, PALM number 10, was another confirmation of this guiding principle. Raised and based in Philadelphia, Khan Jamal took up the vibes in 1968, after two years in the army during which he was stationed in France and Germany. Decisively drawn to the instrument by the work of the Modern Jazz Quartet's Milt Jackson, Jamal studied under Philadelphia vibraphone legend Bill Lewis and soon made his debuts in the local underground. Early in 1972, Jamal made his first recording, with the Sounds of Liberation. The band attempted an original fusion of conga-heavy grooves with avant-garde jazz soloing. Saxophonist Byard Lancaster, an important figure in Jamal's development, contributed much of the solo work. Later in 1972, Jamal made his leader debut with Drum Dance to the Motherland, a reverb-drenched, never-to-be-replicated experiment with live sound processing. Both albums appeared on the tiny musician-run Dogtown label. "We couldn't get no play from nowhere. No gigs or recording sessions or anything. So I took off for Paris," Jamal recalled in a Cadence interview with Ken Weiss. "Within a few weeks, I had a few articles and I did a record date. It didn't make me feel good about America." That was in 1974, while Byard Lancaster was recording the music gathered on Souffle Continu's The Complete PALM Recordings, 1973-1974. Jamal's record date delivered Give the Vibes Some. At its core, it was an exploratory solo vibraphone album, even if two tracks added (through technological resourcefulness?) a très célèbre French drummer very much into Elvin Jones appearing under pseudonym for contractual reasons. Another track, for which Jamal switched to the vibes's wooden ancestor, the marimba, added young Texan trumpeter Clint Jackson III. The most notable article published on Jamal during this stay in France was a Jazz Magazine interview. Jamal's last word there were "The Creator has a master plan/drum dance to the motherland." "Give the vibes some" could be added to this programmatic statement.
CD $15 / LP $32
UNIVERS ZERO - Live at the Triton 2009 (Sub Rosa 574CD; Belgium) DVD is NTSC format, region-free. Never released before. In 2009, the Triton venue (near Paris, France) was sold out to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Univers Zéro, an iconic band of the Rock In Opposition movement. These two exceptional concerts highlighted a radical and unique style of music, at the crossroads of new music and chamber rock, skillfully blending acoustic and electric instruments, as heard on the cult album Ceux du Dehors. Around Daniel Denis (drums, composition), Michel Berckmans (oboe, bassoon), and Andy Kirk (keyboards and guitar), three historical figures of the group, complemented by four other talented musicians, offered an intense multimedia show, intertwining a condensed version of key pieces from the repertoire with more recent compositions. These concerts were part of a key phase in which the band offered one of its most-accomplished line-ups, taking the opportunity to establish its sound and image. The line-up had undergone a few changes since its reformation in 2004, with Pierre Chevalier (from the band Présent) and a new bassist joining the ensemble. This highlight has now resulted in the release of a live CD/DVD, a precious testimony to the band's artistic resurgence and stage energy.
CD/DVD $23
UNIVERS ZERO - Uzed (Sub Rosa SR 559; Belgium) Uzed is the fourth album by Belgian band Univers Zero. It was released three years after Ceux du Dehors, due to a change in line-up and a new repertoire, although the EP Crawling Wind had been released in the meantime. The album marked a turning point for the band. Univers Zero explored new electric colors, giving it a more rock feel with the addition of new musicians such as Jean-Luc Plouvier, who introduced the synthesizer, guitarist Michel Delory, who played a memorable solo in "Célesta (For Chantal)," and André Mergen on electric cello and alto saxophone, who enriched the orchestral texture. With Dirk Descheemaeker on clarinet and soprano saxophone and the return of Christian Genet on bass, this evolution can also be explained by the arrival of new musicians. Uzed is entirely composed and arranged by Daniel Denis. The recording and mixing were done at Daylight Studio in Brussels in 1984, but to bring out Uzed, the sound had to be improved by giving it more dynamic range, which was done at ICP Studios in 2024. Univers Zero represents one of the longest-living bands in Belgium. It was established in 1974. Drummer Daniel Denis had the brilliant idea to gather together a team of professionals sharing the same taste for music. The band has adopted an instrumental progressive style. Over the last couple of decades, the band has also implemented a series of influences from chamber music -- most commonly, chamber music from the 20th century. Even if the line-up changes a lot over the years, the overall sound of UZ remained fairly consistent.
CD $17 / LP $26
PHEW, ERIKA KOBAYASHI, DIETER MOEBIUS - Radium Girls (Bureau B 485CD; Germany) In the shadow of the nuclear accident in Fukushima in 2011, Japanese musician Phew, artist Erika Kobayashi, and German electronic music pioneer Dieter Moebius (Cluster, Harmonia) came together for an extraordinary project. Together, they developed the concept album Radium Girls 2011, which they released in 2012 under the project name Project UNDARK -- 114 years after the discovery of radium by Marie and Pierre Curie. The album is dedicated to the so-called Radium Girls, female factory workers in the United States during the 1920s who painted watch dials with radioactive luminous paint and suffered severe health consequences from radium poisoning. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the label Bureau B is reissuing Radium Girls -- for the first time also on vinyl. The Radium Girls were female factory workers who unknowingly suffered radiation poisoning while painting watch dials with glow-in-the-dark paint at the United States Radium Factory in Orange, New Jersey, around 1917. A group of five affected women later took their employer to court, setting a legal precedent that granted workers the right to sue companies for illnesses caused by hazardous working conditions. Between 1917 and 1926, the U.S. Radium Corporation -- previously named the Radium Luminous Material Corporation -- specialized in extracting and refining radium from carnotite ore to manufacture glow-in-the-dark paint, marketed as "Undark." As a supplier for the military, the company produced radioluminescent watches and other instruments. The New Jersey factory employed over a hundred workers, primarily women, to apply the radium-based paint, unaware of the serious health dangers associated with it. In total, around 4,000 workers across the United States and Canada were hired to paint watch dials with radium. Many later suffered from severe health problems due to radiation exposure, though the exact number of fatalities remains uncertain.
CD $18 / LP $28
GILLES TORRENT - Buleria (Jazzman 147CD; UK) Swiss saxophonist Gilles Torrent, perhaps known from the Spiritual Jazz collection A Tribute to 'Trane, leads the way with his new album Buleria; a mesmerizing set of modal jazz pieces that will speak directly to any listener who has felt the other-worldly depths of John Coltrane. The album is comprised of Torrent originals and explorations of Coltrane standards. It reaches for something beyond the mundane, and blends complex harmonic structures with raw, improvisational energy. The Torrent original, "Danse Tropical," opens the set with a contemplative tone. Led by a sax that pulls the listener through a maze of scales and modes, the rhythm section remains steady, creating a grounding space for exploration. "Quannassa" drives the energy forward, and the band moves seamlessly through shifting tensions as Torrent's saxophone searches for answers within a pantheon of harmonic structures. The standout track, "Buleria" is a daring 8-minute piece, with an evolving, meditative flamenco piece that showcases the saxophonist's raw improvisational skill, a spiritual journey that takes the listener to the windswept plains of Iberia. The quartet is a faithful tribute to classic modal jazz, with the interplay between piano, bass, and drums feeling natural and organic. They provide a harmonic foundation that encourages the saxophone to glide and soar, pushing into new emotional territory, going from tender and melodic to fiery and free. This interplay gives the album its distinctive feel -- while drawing from Coltrane's influence, it's clear the musicians are searching for something new, something personal.
CD $16
SISTER RAY DAVIES - Holy Island (Sonic Cathedral SCR355CD; UK) The brilliantly named duo -- formed by Adam Morrow and Jamie Sego -- might be based in "the hit recording capital of the world," Muscle Shoals, Alabama, but somehow, they have made a concept album about the ancient religious outpost off the coast of northeast England. It's a stunning record that mixes fuzzy guitars with folk horror and fantastic melodies -- for fans of Ride, Slowdive, Galaxie 500, Talk Talk, Yo La Tengo and The Clientele. Despite its lyrical inspiration lying thousands of miles away, it comes imbued with the soulfulness of their surroundings -- not least because it was recorded in the old Muscle Shoals Sound studio by the Tennessee River, now Portside Sound, which is run by Jamie. "The story of Lindisfarne gave us a framework for what were otherwise very abstract ideas and emotions," explains Adam. "It became a way to make sense of our own moment in history. We really want our lives and societies to always get better, and to be left alone to make that happen. But we are stuck in these cycles of progress and regression, and I think most people are really driven to make sense of it and assign meaning. Lately, we've lived through a global pandemic, a devaluation of truth and reality, and a resurgence of far-right politics into the mainstream. Not really what I expected out of life in 2025." He is keen to point out that, despite the seriousness of its inspirations, the duo had a lot of fun making the album and really want it to be "a living and breathing thing". "We want people to be able to engage with it regardless of whether they care about it as a concept record," he says. "For me, it's just another reason to expand the pedalboard," concludes Jamie. "We hope you enjoy it. Peace, love and reverb from Alabama."
CD $15
MICHAEL CASHMORE - The Ninth Circle Beyond the Sun (Parts One to Ten)(Lumberton Trading Company 039CD; UK) The latest album from Michael Cashmore (formerly of Current 93 plus known for his work as Nature and Organisation) collects ten pieces which, as with the previous album, Until the End of Vibration, released by Lumberton Trading Company, draw from that magical place where crepuscular and moody soundtrack work converges with the kind of synth lines Tangerine Dream made a name for themselves with. Along the way, there are piano-led melodic swells, a couple of surprisingly serrated edges and sparingly used percussion veering between the bombastic and more emotionally charged. Between each of the compositions, there's an overarching sense of sadness or resignation while carefully woven refrains point to the simple beauty one derives from staring at a night sky or the sun's rise or setting over a serene sea apparently untouched by man. Sophisticated yet unostentatious, this is music that's bold, minimal and utterly deserving of the attention of the film that will doubtlessly play out in your head as you lock yourself in to everything it promises.
CD $15
BACK IN STOCK, LAST COPIES OF THESE JAZZ-IN-BRITAIN TITLES: All titles on this label are limited and available as Download only once the virtual copies are sold out.
BOBBY WELLINS / KENNY WHEELER QUINTET with PETE JACOBSON / KENNY BALDOCK / SPIKE WELLS - The Endangered Species (Jazz in Britain 78; UK) In 1980 Bobby Wellins wrote a suite of music for quartet called The Endangered Species. Bobby played a recording to Bob Cornford as he was keen for him to orchestrate the suite for a small chamber orchestra in addition to the quartet. In 1982 the suite was played on a tour with the addition of Kenny Wheeler promoted as by the Bobby Wellins / Kenny Wheeler Quintet.
After the tour, Bobby took his quartet, plus Kenny, into the studio to record the suite and sent the recordings to Bob Cornford, for him to write the arrangements but Bob died before he could do this and instead Tony Coe wrote them. The recordings were released some years later, with the added strings, but called The Birds of Brazil. This is the first time that Bobby’s suite has been released with its original title and without the added strings. We’ve also included two more CDs of live recordings of the suite, as well as tunes that were played on the 1982 tour.
3 CD Set $25
GORDON BECK with RAY WARLEIGH / IAIN BELLAMY / DAVE GREEN / SPIKE WELLS - Pay Now, Live Later: Live at the Bass Clef '85 (Jazz in Britain 75; UK) Featuring Ray Warleigh on alto sax & flute, Iain Bellamy on tenor & sopprano saxes, Gordon Beck on piano, Dave Green on bass and Spike Wells on drums. Retrospective of the pianist Gordon Beck’s musical journey from the 1960s to 1985 from a trio of Beck, Dave Green and Spike Wells plus Ray Warleigh and Iain Ballamy on the quintet tracks. The single CD comes in a 6-panel digisleeve, with a 20 page booklet written by Simon Spillett, incorporating memories provided by Iain Ballamy (from Bill Bruford's Earthworks), Dave Green, Liam Noble. The cover art for both sleeve and booklet are original drawings from the brilliant Alban Low.
CD $17
TONY COE ENSEMBLE with THE DELME STRING QUARTET - The Buds of Time (Jazz in Britain 70; UK) This is the first ‘lost’ album Jazz In Britain has discovered. We’ve released albums that were only previously released on vinyl, or even cassette tape, ie never on CD, or albums produced from sessions by groups that never made a record, or we’ve included unreleased tracks that never made it only albums… but this is a real first for us.
In 1979 Tony Coe and Bob Cornford composed pieces for an unusual, and unrepeated, combination of a six-piece jazz ensemble (two reeds, bass trombone, piano, percussion and double bass) with a string quartet. The main piece Tony called The Buds of Time. The music was rehearsed, pieces for an album were recorded and, under the auspices of an Arts Council Contemporary Music Network tour, concerts took place at six venues around the UK. We had read about this in John Wickes’ book Innovations in British Jazz Volume One 1960-1980.
Early in 2024 we were given lists of recordings in the Bob Cornford tape archive and spotted references to a number of Buds of Time recordings in there. We secured consent from Tony Coe’s family to release those recordings and also acquired (from Tony’s and Bob Cornford’ archives) memorabilia from the Arts council tour, photographs from some of the concerts, examples of the musical scores plus contemporaneous reviews. We’ve included as much as we could of this in a comprehensive booklet which tells the complete story of this remarkable and unique album. In terms of the actual music, it’s very different from anything you’ll have heard on a ‘jazz’ label but we’ll leave you to discover that and make your own mind up!
"Reeds wizard Tony Coe is one of the eclectic, diverse and successful of all British reeds players! Who else has worked with this diverse list of giants: Derek Bailey, Neil Ardley, Steve Beresford, Kenny Clark Big Band, Franz Koglmann, the Melody Four and many others. Plus he was the featured soloist on the "Pink Panther Theme" for Henry Mancini!." - BLG at DMG
CD $17
PAZ with LOL COXHILL / BRIAN SMITH / RAY WARLEIGH / PHIL TODD / GEOFF CASTLE / DAVE MacRAE / ALLAN HOLDSWORTH / BRIAN GODDING / PHIL LEE / ED SPEIGHT / RON MATHEWSON / DAVE SHEEN / et al - Variations and Creation: The Story of PAZ (Jazz in Britain 40; UK) Five years in the making and representing the twenty-year story of a pioneering British jazz-rock fusion band with strong Latinesque influences… whose alumni over that period included over thirty well-known British jazz musicians… but a band you might not have heard of… or have any of their eight albums… we have finally come up with ‘Variation and Creation: The Story of PAZ’.
The album was produced in cooperation with the families of Dick Crouch and Geoff Castle, the heart of the band over its lifetime. It's available on download, streaming and limited edition CD. The story behind this album… we started this project some five years ago when Ron Mathewson was alive and gave Jazz In Britain his complete archive of tape cassette recordings which included a number of PAZ sessions. We started working with Beth Curtis-Clarke (Dick Crouch’s daughter) on the album idea and she provided recordings and memorabilia from Dick’s archives and then, a couple of years ago, Caroline Castle let us have her husband Geoff’s complete archive of reel tape recordings.They included copies of PAZ albums, rough mixes of albums, unreleased albums, BBC sessions and live recordings.
I recall hearing PAZ play live when I was going to school in London in the fall of 1975. I thought they were one of the best jazz/rock bands that I had seen during my stay in London. I always wondered what had happened to them since they had so few recordings (or so I thought). It turns out that the band has some 10 recordings released although I've never seen or heard of them. So nice to hear a number of my fave musicians here like Lol Coxhill, Phil Lee, Brian Smith and Ray Warleigh. Essential, seminal and exhaustive! - BLG at DMG
3 CD Set $25
SAROST with LARRY STABBINS / PAUL ROGERS / MARK SANDERS - Aurora (Jazz in Britain JN 03; UK) SAROST is a new trio comprising three veteran, virtuoso improvisors, all of whom have worked with countless renowned improvising musicians, and who have worked together in various combinations over the last 40 odd years, but only recently started to play together as a trio.
MARK SANDERS has worked with Wadada Leo Smith, Roswell Rudd, Evan Parker and Howard Riley as well as tutoring at many of the UK’s finest music schools and conservatoires. PAUL ROGERS plays an AAL 7 string bass of his own design and has been active on the European and US jazz and improv scenes for more than 40 years. He was a member of MUJICIAN alongside Keith Tippett, Paul Dunmall and Tony Levin for many years. LARRY STABBINS has worked with a diverse array of people, including Keith Tippett, Robert Wyatt, Peter Brözmann and Jerry Dammers and formed WORKING WEEK with guitarist Simon Booth. As well as SAROST, Larry is currently a member of the quartet 137 alongside Adrian Uttley, Jim Barr and Sebastian Rochford.
Recorded in a single session, the day after a triumphant performance at the 2025 Bath Jazz Weekend, Aurora is a dazzling example of the finest in British improvised music, performed by three masters of the genre.
Both live and in the studio, the music includes everything from wild saxophone screeches to the deftest of arco basslines, with percussion keeping step throughout. Bath Jazz Weekend promoter Nod Knowles described the trio’s performance at this year’s event as “absolutely spectacular” and the trio’s studio performance is no different.
Aurora is a dramatic statement from three of the best and most respected improvisers of the last 50 years; this recording breaks new ground while doffing its hat to those who have gone before, particularly Bristolian pianist and composer Keith Tippett.
"There was recently a trio effort with Keith Tippett, Larry Stabbins & Louis Moholo on the Ogun label which was recorded in 1985. It is an astonishing live date and bristles with intensity and creativity. British saxist Larry Stabbins (currently retired) is an under-recognized giant amongst great saxists. The rhythm team here rank among the best of British creative musicians: Paul Rogers (bassist for Mujician & many Paul Dunmall projects) and Mark Sanders (drummer for Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall & Jah Wobble). I am listening to this disc now on bandcamp and it sounds phenomenal! - BLG at DMG
CD $17
BOBBY WELLINS SEXTET with PETE JACOBSON / ADRIAN KENDON / SPIKE WELLS plus LOL COXHILL / BRYAN SPRING - Live 1979 (JazzinBritain; UK) Featuring Bobby Wellins on tenor sax, Lol Coxhill on soprano sax, Pete Jacobsen on piano & electric piano, Adrian Kendon on contrabass, Bryan Spring on percussion and Spike Wells on drums. Although I became an anglophile during the first British invasion of 1964 (w/ the Beatles, the Stones & the Animals), it was a wave of psych, pre-prog and experimental rock bands in 1967 that really opened many of us to the possibilities of going beyond the barriers that we thought existed during that era. Around 1969, a number of UK rock bands like Soft Machine, King Crimson, Nucleus, If and Manfred Mann Chapter Three evolved into using elements of modern jazz in their music. Becoming a fanatic for British Progressive Jazz/Rock, I had to go back and learn the history that led to a renaissance of progressive influences. It was then that I discovered the previous generation of British saxists: Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott and Don Rendell. During my ongoing research, I also discovered British saxists like Bobby Wellins, Don Weller, Dick Morrissey, Pete King, Tony Coe, Tony Roberts, Stan Sulzmann and Dick Heckstall-Smith. I few years back I discovered two great unsung UK tenor saxists, Bobby Wellins and Don Weller. Mr. Wellins was actually Scottish and worked with Stan Tracey, Tubby Hayes and Charlie Watts Orchestra. It took me a while to find just a few of Bobby Wellins’ dozen records, and I am glad to finally hear his great sound. This disc features the “Culloden Moore Suite”, which was inspired by the Battle of Culloden Moor, a disasterish battle which took place in April of 1746. The piece was originally written for and played by the Bobby Wellins Quartet, which was expanded into a sextet for a tour in 1979. The liner notes here describe the battle at length and the way these events are captured in the music. The first four pieces are like intro to the suite and these are played by the Bobby Wellins Quartet. Pianist Pete Jacobsen was another legendary British jazz musician who rarely got the recognition he well deserved and was blind since he was a baby. The opening song has an uplifting, infectious quality which feels good to hear. Mr. Jacobson takes a long unaccompanied piano solo before the suite which is sounds like a long story being told. For the suite the quatet is joined by Lol Coxhill (on soprano sax) and Bryan Spring on percussion. The suite unfolds telling the story of the battle with an intro, a march, the battle and the aftermath. Although the recording is a bit muffled at times, the playing and vibe is infectious and inventive throughout. The legendary Pete Jacobsen takes a powerful electric piano solo on the “March”, before the both saxes play a well-written chamber jazz segment which becomes freer & more frenzied as “The Battle” takes place. “The Aftermath” has a solemn, post apocalyptic vibe and brings the story to a haunting conclusion. The final piece is called “Dizzy’s Blues” and it is indeed a blues with a joyous vibe flowing throughout. The Jazz in Britain continues to unearth under-recognized gems from the vast story of Creative Music making in the UK. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
CD Sale $12
LP SECTION:
NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY WITH EVAN PARKER - Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Aguirre Records Edition Zorn 074LP; Belgium) Mastered by Helge Sten, Audio Virus, Oslo. Lacquers by Dubplates & Mastering. Liner Notes by Theaster Gates. LPs pressed on premium audiophile-quality vinyl at Pallas Records. Rich in musical associations yet utterly singular in its voice, joyous with an inner tranquility, the music of Natural Information Society is unlike any other being made today. Their sixth album in eleven years for eremite records, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the first to be recorded live, featuring a set from London's Cafe OTO with veteran English free-improv great Evan Parker, & the first to feature just one extended composition. The 75-minute performance, inspired by the galvanizing presence of Parker, is a sustained bacchanalia of collective ecstasy. You could call it their party album.
This was the second time Parker played with NIS. Joshua Abrams: "Both times we played compositions with Evan in mind. I don't tell Evan anything. He's a free agent." The music is focused & malleable, energized & even-keeled, drawing on concepts of ensemble playing common to musics from many locations & eras without any one specific aesthetic realization completely defining it.
"The rhythms that Mikel plays are not an exact reference to Chicago house, but that's in there," Abrams says. "I like to take a cyclic view of music history, can we take that four-on-the-floor, & consider how it connects to swing-era music? Can we articulate a through line? I dee-jayed for years in Chicago & lessons I learned from playing records for dancing inform how I think about the group's music. The listener can make connections to aspects of soul music, electronic music, minimalism, traditional folk musics, & other musics of the diaspora as well. It's about these aspects coming together. I don't need to mimic something, I need to embody it to get to the spirit, to get to the living thing."
For jazz fans, the sound of Parker's soprano & Jason Stein's bass clarinet might evoke Coltrane & Dolphy, even though they didn't necessarily set out to do that & they play with complete individuality. Abrams sees a bridge to the historical precedent, too. "Since we first met in the 1990s, one of the things that Evan and I connected on was Coltrane's music," he says. "I hoped that we would tap into that sound world intuitively. In this case, I think that level of evocation adds another layer of depth, versus a layer of reference."
Indeed, this is a performance in which the connections among the ensemble & the creative tension between improvisation and composition build into a complex mesh of associations & interactions. While the band confines itself to the territory mapped out by Abrams' composition, they are remarkably attentive & responsive, making adjustments to Parker's improvisations. When Parker's intricate patterns of notes interweave with the band, the parts reinforce one another & the music rockets upward. Sometimes, Parker's lines are cradled by the group's gentle pulse & an unearthly lyrical balance is struck.
Drummer Mikel Patrick Avery is locked-in, playing with hellacious long-form discipline, feel & responsiveness. Jason Stein's animated, vocalized bass clarinet weaves in & out with Lisa Alvarado's harmonium to state the piece's thematic material; the pulsing tremolo on the harmonium brings a Spacemen 3 vibe to the party. Abrams ties together melody & rhythm on guimbri, a presence that leads without seeming to. Like his bandmates, he shifts modes of playing frequently, improvising & then returning to the composed structure.
"As specific as the composition is, the goal is to internalize it & mix it up," Abrams says. "The idea is to get so comfortable that we can make spontaneous changes, find new routes of activity, stasis & byways every gig. It's like a web we're spinning. If someone makes a move, we all aim to be aware of it, make room for it. Experiencing & listening is what it's about, & Evan supercharges that." "Supercharged" is the word for this album. With Parker further opening up their music, descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is the sound of Natural Information Society growing both more disciplined and freer, one of the great bands of its time on a deep run.
2 LP Set $40
ANTHONY MOORE WITH AKA & FRIENDS - On Beacon Hill (Drag City 965LP; USA) "On Beacon Hill: at twilight we find Anthony Moore, roots winding backwards to the halcyon days of Slapp Happy and the '70s progressive art rock scene, at guitar and piano. With the atmospheres and accompaniments of AKA & Friends, he breathes infernal new life into songs from his six decades of multivarious music making. This new delivery system is unto a séance, a communal incantation, twining Anthony's avant and pop traditions together in a darkly radiant coil of folky chamber music; a rope to lower the listener through cobwebs and murk, unveiling new life beneath Anthony's mad old lines. AKA are Anthony Moore, Keith Rodway and Amanda Thompson. A pagan family of sound worshipers hailing from that unholiest of all places: Hastings UK, home of Crowley and Turing. Like their sinister forbears in that infamous tradition, this latest trinity shares a passion for subverting pattern and number, factoring unlikely permutations arising from sea and horizon, greensward, the southerly aspect, and the planisphere as half-world. Their equatorial shore speaks of a planet of water and earth, fire and air. AKA's humble tools of choice for this endeavor are guitar, piano, organ, synthesizer and vocals. The Friends of AKA are Tullis Rennie, trombone and electronics; Olie Brice, double bass; Richard Moore, violin; and Haydn Ackerley, guitar. They too navigate the shoreline of the south coast, haunt the same taverns and regularly play together in whatever combinations fit the bill. Leaving the drums (and their drummer) at home to realize anew these dream-laden songs, AKA & Friends ensure that the notes fall around the beat and not on it, so as to define the pulse with absence. Anthony Moore with AKA & Friends manifest a sensuous post-devastation lounge act, seeking to re-invoke natural orders by naming -- rather than cursing -- the darkness in its many guises. Like final-phase Johnny Cash on a lost episode of Twin Peaks, Anthony's innate gravitas is a light through the surreal landscape, as the players combine themselves again and again, their efforts rising and falling in shared space. Their gothic jazz orchestra carves delicately through Anthony's songs, releasing the melodies and the melancholy to drift upward, like smoke against a sooty and scorched backdrop. Fantastic, prophetic journeys, dry eyed but deeply affected, through the shadow depths of Anthony Moore's mirror."
LP $28
LESTER BOWIE with JULIUS HEMPHILL / JOHN STUBBERFIELD / JOSEPH BOWIE / JOHN HICKS / CECIL McBEE / CHARLES BOBBO SHAW / JEROME COOPER - Fast Last! (Muse Records 5055LP; USA) Exact reissue, originally released 1974. "As is often true of a Lester Bowie record, this set has surprising moments and a liberal use of absurd humor, along with some fine playing. Certainly one would not expect any other avant-garde trumpeter to play such songs as 'Hello Dolly' (in duet with pianist John Hicks) and 'F Troop Rides Again.' On a more serious note are three collaborations with altoist Julius Hemphill, including Ornette Coleman's 'Lonely Woman' and the nearly 13-minute 'Fast Last C.' A fine introduction to Lester Bowie's diverse music." - Scott Yanow/AMG
LP $16
THE HEATH BROTHERS with STANLEY COWELL - Marchin' On! (Strata-East Ses 19766; USA) Exact reissue, originally released 1976. "The debut recording by the Heath Brothers -- which at the time consisted of Jimmy Heath on tenor, soprano and flute, bassist Percy Heath, drummer Al 'Tootie' Heath and pianist Stanley Cowell -- was one of their best, but also their most obscure release. Made for the soon-defunct Strata East label, this LP has Jimmy Heath's four-part 'Smilin' Billy Suite,' an original apiece from Cowell and the two other brothers (including Percy's 'Watergate Blues'), and Duke Ellington's 'Warm Valley.' High-quality hard bop." - Scott Yanow/AMG
LP $17
SELF-IMMOLATION MUSIC - Strange Worship (Feeding Tube / Cardinal Fuzz 818LP; USA) Leeds is burning again, and the match is called Self Immolation Music. Their new LP, Strange Worship, isn't a record so much as a rite -- forty minutes of distortion, drone, and devotion from a band who don't so much play songs as build temples out of amplifier hum. Recorded inside an old converted police station, the walls still humming with ghosts of interrogation and authority, a low frequency vibration has been rattling the cells -- that's Self Immolation Music, summoning their new LP Strange Worship into existence like a feedback séance. Guitars roar like collapsing stars, basslines pulse like a migraine heartbeat, and drums hammer out the sort of trance you can't fake. This is not a record you listen to -- it's a record you enter. Forty minutes of holy distortion and electric devotion, channeled straight from the lineage of Spacemen 3, Loop, and the endless cosmic engines of Hawkwind. Where their last transmission (Infinity Trip) was a relentless surge into the void, Strange Worship is a ritual circle drawn in fuzz. The riffs don't just play -- they throb, they loop, they dissolve you. Imagine repetition as religion, feedback as incense, a mantra made of distortion. That's the sound of Strange Worship: heavy, hypnotic, and strangely beautiful in its ruin. Self Immolation Music don't deal in nostalgia or polite psych revival. They deal in immersion and Strange Worship is music for surrender. This is the deep end, the psychic throb, the sonic flame you can't look away from, a devotional noise meant to be felt in the gut and the teeth. Put it on loud and you'll understand: the worship is strange, but the faith is absolute. Strange Worship is not a product -- it's a possession. Approach with open ears, a steady pulse, and the willingness to lose yourself in the noise. Strange times call for strange worship.
LP $30
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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 BLGallanter@gmail.com
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THE STONE RESIDENCIES / FRANK LONDON / NOV 19-22 / Stone BrassFest
11/19 Wednesday
8:30 pm - Conspiracy Brass - Frank London (trumpet) Marcus Rojas (tuba) Josh Roseman (trombone) Onel Matos (congas) Javier Diaz (drums)
11/20 Thursday
8:30 pm - Loisaida Fife & Drum Corp - Frank London (trumpet) Elijah Thomas (piccolo) Ron Caswell (tuba) Charles Burnham (violin) Reut Regev (trombone) Satoshi Takaeshi (bass drum) Brian Chase (snare drum)
11/21 Friday
8:30 pm - Meditations on Resilience - Frank London (trumpet) Ben Stapp (tuba) Knox Chandler (guitar)
11/22 Saturday
8:30 pm - Conspiracy Brass with guest Steven Bernstein—My Favorite Things - Frank London (trumpet) Steven Bernstein (trumpet) Kenny Wollesen (drums) José Davila (trombone) Marcus Rojas (tuba)
THE STONE is located in
The New School at the Glass Box Theatre
55 West 13th Street - near 6th ave
For more info: https://thestonenyc.com/calendar.php?month=1
LIVE MUSIC
wed-sat - music at 8:30pm
ADMISSION - $20 per set
unless otherwise noted
cash only payment
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Upcoming events at Recirculation:
Thursday, December 11, 7pm
Uptown Out
Thomas Heberer (trumpet), Joe Fonda (bass)
Claire de Brunner (bassoon), Matt Lambiase (trumpet), Stephanie Griffin (viola), Will Glass (drums), Hilliard Greene (bass), Mary Cherney (flute)
Recirculation
876 Riverside Dr NY NY 10032 (@160th St)
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NEW VIDEOS from GUITAR MASTER HENRY KAISER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWn5MRUOTAc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ste9pdLiz_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgcxTkoIgQI
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From CHRIS CUTLER:
Formerly of HENRY COW, THE ART BEARS, NEWS FOR BABEL & RECOMMENDED RECORDS (ReR) has been creating an ongoing series of podcasts called the Probes series. I am often fascinated at listening to each of these as Mr. Cutler does an incredible job of showing a deep history of Creative Music in the 20th century & beyond. I usually listen to these on the train to NYC that I take to get to work each day. The most recent Probes (#37) was released earlier this year, here are the links:
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-37
https://rwm.macba.cat/en/research/probes-36