Another Groovy Fall Week w/ 6 New Discs from CLEAN FEED, PAUL DUNMALL & TONY BIANCO, ROBERT FRIPP & THEO TRAVIS, 4 from Porter: KHAN JAMAL, ODEON POPE, INTERPLAY (w/ ELLIOTT LEVIN & RICK IANNICONE) & ANDREW RAFFO DEWAR,

2 from WEASEL WALTER & PETER EVANS, CARLA BLEY BIG BAND, McCOY TYNER w/ MARC RIBOT, BILL FRISELL, JOHN SCOFIELD & other guitar heroes, Alex Maguire Sextet, Marc Copland & John Abercrombie, Tim Hagans & Achim Kaufmann w/ Jim Black, Kenny Garrett & Pharoah Sanders, Acid Mothers Temple, Merzbow Rarity,

Plus Historic Discs & Restocks from: Morton Feldman, John Cage, Wayne Horvitz, Charles Bukowski Blue Note RVG Reissues, Anne Briggs, Charlie Louvan and High Quality vinyl from Fairport Convention & Funkadelic!


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A possible tip for Musicians - from around the world - in promoting their NYC area gigs

Stagebuddy.com

..allows users to post their NYC area gigs for free - for any kind of performing arts big or tiny. It automatically formats input information into an organized segment of its own (as opposed to the unreadable mess of Myspace and other sites), complete with picture, description, and calendar)

While not, by any means, centered on the Downtown Music scene, this could be of help in cross-pollinating the awareness of such events amongst the larger NY audience, so check it out


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AND NOW .. THIS WEEK'S BASKET OF GEMS!


PAUL DUNMALL/TONY BIANCO - Spirits Past And Future (Duns 062; UK) LIMITED CDR EDITION. Featuring Paul Dunmall on tenor sax & saxello and Tony Bianco on drums. Recorded December 7th 2007 at UWE Bristol. Paul Dunmall often reminds me of Coltrane, in that each offering we get from him is special and spiritual sounding. This impressive disc includes just two pieces. The first is the title track, "Spirits Past and Future" and it is a 50 & 1/2 minutes long epic. It sounds quite a bit like 'Interstellar Space',' the final duo recording with Coltrane and Rashied Ali. Master drummer, Tony Bianco, has worked with Dunmall, Elton Deal & Dave Liebman previously is just incredible throughout, swirling powerfully around the drums in a slow-burning simmer. There is a perfect balance here between two giants, the sound is just superb. The duo starts out slowly, building as the tempo and intensity increases incrementally throughout. The second piece is called "Istah" and it is an amazing, haunting, dream-like seance for simmering tenor and sublime mallet-work. It is a perfect conclusion to yet another treasure from the Duns catalogue. - BLG
AS usual, we have only 10 of the 80 copies Duns makes of each release - so git quik!
CD $15


McCOY TYNER With BILL FRISELL/MARC RIBOT/JOHN SCOFIELD/DEREK TRUCKS/BELA FLECK/RON CARTER/JACK DeJOHNETTE - Guitars [CD + DVD] (McCoy Tyner/Halfnote 4537; USA) McCoy Tyner is one of the most renowned jazz pianists of all-time, his status as legendary alum of Coltrane's quartet merely being a starting point. His second album for his own label McCoy Tyner Music on Half Note Records is titled Guitars. Appropriately, the album spotlights a number of ace guitarists--Bill Frisell, Derek Trucks, John Scofield and Marc Ribot--as well as one banjoist, Bela Fleck. The rhythm section consists of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnette. "I've never done anything like this before," Tyner said in a press release. "It was great, and each guy had his own concept and own sound, which is very, very important on any instrument," said Tyner. "You know, I look for that, the individual sound and concept."
CD & DVD for $17


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Six Slammin' New Releases from Portugal's 'Clean Feed' label - in time for their NYC Festival!

SEAN CONLY With MICHAEL ATTIAS/TONY MALABY/PHEEROAN AkLAFF - Re:Action (Clean Feed 124; Portugal) There aren't many jazz bands lead by the guy playing the bass, but the tradition is strong (remember Mingus?), so strong that we can feel it in the DNA of the music performed by Re:Action. This quartet formed by Sean Conly consists of the free jazz drumming legend Pheeroan Aklaff, the ever in demand, and rock solid veteran of the present New York scene, Tony Malaby, and a saxophonist in fast ascension to international fame, Michael Attias. As with many other jazz musicians of his generation, Sean began to play rock as a young teenager, but through the discovery of the music of Charles Mingus (of course), Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Scott Lafaro and The Revolutionary Ensemble, he quickly turned his attention to jazz in it's many different forms. A student of Rufus Reid, he soon established himself as a sideman with big names like Freddie Hubbard, Andrew Hill, James Moody, Stefon Harris, Regina Carter, Nicholas Payton and Ray Barretto, but also as an equal voice among the younger innovators, from Anthony Coleman to Russ Lossing. In a recent interview Sean said "I have always enjoyed the challenge of playing a wide variety of music as there is a lot you can learn from others, but at heart my favorite thing is to compose and play my own music", and this new Clean Feed recording is just that: music based in the idea of action and reaction, with the scores functioning as aural plots to be elucidated on by the players, music written "to let people play the way they play". It is important to say that Re:Action's first gig ever was voted one of the best concerts of the year by All About Jazz magazine and that the music of the CD is all first or second takes without overdubs facts that only serve to give you an idea of the in the moment freshness you will find on this fantastic Clean Feed release.
CD $16

HARRIS EISENSTADT With NATE WOOLEY/MARK TAYLOR/JOSH SINTON - Guewel (Clean Feed 123; Portugal) No, the pan-African days aren't gone. Something remained of the Sun Ra Arkestra and the Art Ensemble of Chicago fascinations for the Mother Continent and its rhythms. We can find it in this new project by Harris Eisenstadt, a Canadian ex-pat New York-based jazz drummer who had the opportunity to study in Gambia and Senegal with griot musicians. In Senegal he learned Sabar traditional drumming, used in parties and life-cycle events, and the sense of community Eisenstadt experienced in Dakar was transposed to the collective playing of this quintet with four horns, going deeply into the roots of jazz without being close-minded. Attracted to this music in his teenage years because of the "kind of transcendence going on" in John Coltrane and Miles Davis records with, respectively, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams holding the sticks, his references start in rock - Led Zeppelin, for instance - and include contemporary music composers like Charles Ives, Toru Takemitsu and Gyorgy Ligeti. Now he's involved in creative music, and one of his life achievements was playing in a trio with a historic figure of this tendency, Sam Rivers. An enthusiast of the Do It Yourself aesthetics, Harris Eisenstadt has in Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, flugelhorn), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Mark Taylor (french horn) and Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone) equal believers in the principle "do what you do and believe in it no matter what", as he said in an interview. His two first partners are frontline figures now, Ho Bynum a Braxton disciple with many new ideas to give, and Wooley an explorer of extended techniques. Imagine what they can do together with Africa as a source of inspiration and after that listen to Guewel. Yes, they go even further...
CD $16

FIGHT THE BIG BULL [MATT WHITE et al] - Dying Will Be Easy (Clean Feed 108; Portugal) Matthew White's Fight the Big Bull nonet treats the past as a point of departure. Each composition plays with those references to jazz history. The title of the CD refers to the Blind Willie Johnson blues song Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed. Other tracks have other associations: Black Saint And The Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus, Escalator Over the Hill by Carla Bley with the Jazz Composers Orchestra, New Orleans Suite by Duke Ellington, and reminiscences of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the Lounge Lizards, Archie Shepp (who, by the way, also used trumpet, tenor saxophone, clarinet and two trombones - plus tuba on 'Mama Too Tight'), and Mike Mantler. In his liner notes, trumpeter Steven Bernstein discusses these allusions as if he's disassembling an engine. But although this work could be a challenge for encyclopedically minded jazz listener, the music stands alone. And although it is the vision of one man, who composed and arranged all the pieces, the collective focus is astonishing. There's no fixed hierarchy here.
CD $16

MEMORIZE THE SKY [MATT BAUDER/ZACH WALLACE/AARON SIEGEL] - In Former Times (Clean Feed 122; Portugal) The music played by Matt Bauder, Zach Wallace and Aaron Siegel - the three sides of the group Memorize The Sky - is like a sudden cold dive on the sea in a very hot summer day. You can't get fresher ideas than these. The instrumentation is the typical one in acoustic improvised music, the reeds-double bass-percussion formula in hard bop, free jazz and free bop, but there's nothing typical in what this troupe usually does, even because sometimes they sound... electronic. The motive may reside in the personal experiences of the three musicians coming from Michigan, very far from what's usually done in New York and Chicago, the two most important capitals of the American modern and avant-garde jazz ? they were or are presently involved, at the same time, with non-aligned rock bands and musicians like His Name Is Alive, Neil Michael Hagerty, Tara Jane O'Neil, Saturday Looks Good To Me and Low, and very well known experimentalists active in different fields, Anthony Braxton, Jim O'Rourke, Tony Conrad and Alvin Lucier, among others. They have also collaborated with the likes of Ken Vandermark, Rob Mazurek, Scott Rosenberg, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Greg Kelly and Jim Baker to name a few. MTS engages in free music without the turbulent side of it, and usually with a chamber-like or an ambient (yes, with drones) approach, always with surprising developments. It's Bauder, Wallace and Siegel alone we find in In Former Times, and what they do is more than enough to conclude that they're changing the frontiers of jazz. It happens again, and that signifies just one thing: the future of this music language is under construction. You can say that this fact is natural when we're dealing with a living art form as this is, but even so it's always remarkable.
CD $16

FREDRICK NORDSTROM QUINTET - Live in Coimbra (Clean Feed 119; Portugal) Inspired in the American jazz of the Sixties, but with a North European perspective of inquestionable modernity, Fredrik Nordstrom imposed himself already as one of the most powerful and intriguing saxophonists in the tenor variant coming from the Old Continent. His prestige as a performer is extensive to the compositional work he's developing, such is the richness of ideas in terms of harmony and rhythm presented by his quintet. With trombonist Mats Aleklint replacing Magnus Broo and his trumpet and Torbjorn Zetterberg ocupying the position of the double bass instead of Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, but keeping Mattias Stahl (vibraphone) and Fredrik Rundqvist (drums) at their posts, this live CD recorded in Coimbra, Portugal, presents a renewed band with the same objectives defined since the beginning: elasticity of style and afirmative drive. Adding a new voice to the lineage of tenors with robust sound, it's nevertheless in the Ornette Coleman heritage that we can place Nordstrom. And that even if Live In Coimbra has more connections with the Blue Note catalogue and the Bobby Hutcherson groups in the golden period of this master vibraphonist than with the harmolodic concepts. The album includes two pieces never recorded before, Yakiniku and Mister Barista, and a version of a song by none other than the pop singer Bjork, Cocoon, and it's a blast, showing this project in the ideal of contexts when the music in question is jazz: a concert. Bravo.
CD $16

TETTERAPADEQU - And The Missing R (Clean Feed 120; Portugal) Daniele Martini (ts), Giovanni di Domenico (p), Gonzalo Almeida (b), Joao Lobo (d), What does Tetterapadequ mean? Is it an obscure Italian or Portuguese term that reflects this ensemble's mix of two Italian and two Portuguese musicians? No it is not. It's an anagram of De Patter Quartet, which was named after the De Pater jazz club in Haia, The Netherlands. The club - one of the favorite venues for Gonzalo Almeida, Giovanni di Domenico, Joao Lobo, and Daniele Martini when they were attending the local conservatory - was where the project Tetterapadequ was born and began to develop. But something is missing from the anagram: it shoud have one more 'r,' hence the CD's title. R or no R, what you'll find in the music extends far beyond what is taught in European jazz courses. At De Pater the quartet explored the possibilities of a shared musical language developed through collective improvisation. It is clearly jazz, which is the root of the musical language used here, but there's much more to it than typical jazz-like rhythmic patterns and harmonic constructions. The four young musicians call their new musical lingo "confusionism" because their structured improvisations and spontaneous compositions surprise the listener, and often the musicians themselves, with unexpected and even bizarre outcomes.
CD $16


The Third Annual CLEAN FEED FESTIVAL Starts Tonight!

'Clean Feed Fest NY III'
at the Living Theatre, 21 Clinton St, Manhattan - 212- 792-8050

Tonight, September 19th [Fri]
9:00 - Adam Lane / Mark Whitecage / Lou Grassi "Drunk Butterfly" Mark Whitecage - alto sax and clarinet, Adam Lane - double bass, Lou Grassi - drums
10:30 - Michael Dessen Trio "Between Shadow and Space" - Michael Dessen - trombone, Christopher Tordini - double bass, Tyshawn Sorey - drums

September 20th [Sat]
9:00 - Stephen Gauci "Basso Continuo" Stephen Gauci - tenor saxophone, Nate Wooley - trumpet, Ken Filiano - double bass, Mike Bisio - double bass
10:30 - Dual Identity - Steve Lehman - alto saxophone, Rudresh Mahanthappa - alto saxophone, Liberty Ellman - guitar, Matt Brewer - double bass, Damion Reid - drums

September 21st [Sun]
8:00 - The Empty Cage Quartet "Stratostrophic" - Jason Mears - alto saxophone, clarinet, Kris Tiner - trumpet, flugelhorn, Paul Kikuchi - drums, percussion, electronics, Ivan Johnson - double bass (Co-sponsored by the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT))
9:30 - Dennis Gonzalez / Rachiim Ausar Sahu Duo - Dennis Gonzalez - trumpet, Rachiim Ausar Sahu - double bass (Co-sponsored by the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT))

September 22nd [Mon]
8:00 - Elliott Sharp / Scott Fields "Scharfefelder" Elliott Sharp - acoustic guitar, Scott Fields- acoustic guitar
9:30 - Tony Malaby's Tamarindo with William Parker & Nasheet Waits, Tony Malaby - tenor and soprano saxes, William Parker - double bass, Nasheet Waits - drums

September 24th [Wed]
8:00 - Sean Conly's Re:Action Joe Fiedler - trombone, Michael Attias - alto and baritone saxes, Sean Conly - double bass, Pheeroan Aklaff - drums
9:30 - Michael Blake "Hellbent" - Michael Blake - tenor saxophone, Marcus Rojas - tuba, Charlie Burnham - violin, Calvin Weston - drums

Six (!) New Clean Feed Titles out today & listed below.
The Festival of New Trumpets (FONT) continues & is also listed below


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FOUR FABULOUS NEW DISCS from PORTER RECORDS + A FREEBEE!

KHAN JAMAL PERCUSSION AND STRING QUARTET - Cool (Porter 4018; USA) Featuring Khan Jamal on vibes & compositions, John Rodgers on cello, Warren Ore on bass and Dwight James on drums. This is studio date recorded in February of 1989, but unreleased until now. Khan Jamal remains one of the best jazz vibes players ever, yet his recorded legacy is rather slim. Although Mr. Jamal has recorded with Sunny Murray, Billy Bang, Ted Daniel and Roy Campbell, his has only a dozen or so discs as a leader. The first time I heard this extraordinary disc, I was amazed at how incredible it is. This is an unusual yet wonderful quartet with a vibes and cello frontline. "Professor B.L." was probably written for Byard Lancaster another Philly-based legend. This piece has a swell Braxton-like theme that is slightly twisted and no doubt difficult to play. Cellist John Rodgers is consistently strong throughout which is interesting since I hadn't heard of him before this disc. "A Dansk Morn" has a lovely, poignant theme with some incredible solos from Rodgers' cello and Khan's vibes. Khan's composing is consistently challenging to play and the quartet rises to the occasion on each piece. "Rhythm Thang" has another bent groove that is somewhat funky and festive and perhaps Defunkt-ish. "Innocence" opens with some incredible, middle-eastern sounding amplified cello and a mesmerizing melody that you will not soon forget. "Six Plus Seven" is a throttling uptempo piece with Khan playing yet another astonsihing solo while the rhythm team burns underneath. Holy sh*t! I dig the way the cello plays one theme on "Mrs. J's Blues" while the vibes solo in a great counterpoint to that theme. Even better is the way both the bass and cello pluck their notes together on "Cool" while Khan takes another marvelous solo. Is it strange that this disc, one of the best modern jazz discs of this year, was recorded nearly 20 years ago??? Not for Porter Records who continue to blow minds all the time. - BLG
CD $15

ODEAN POPE TRIO With SUNNY MURRAY/LEE SMITH - Plant Life (Porter 4017; USA) Featuring Odeon Pope on tenor sax, Lee Smith on bass and Sunny Murray on drums. This disc was recorded in may of this year (2008) in Philadelphia, where Odean Pope still resides and where Sunny Murray used to live as well. Sunny has been living in Paris for many years at this point. Although Sunny Murray is said to have (help) invented free/jazz drumming in the early sixites, his playing is not always completely "free". Odean Pope played with Max Roach for many years, runs the Saxophone Choir and has recorded in a number of fine trios. For this disc Odea has decided to lay back and play more restrained with more standard-like songs and some lovely ballads. Odean and Sunny have written all of the songs here and show that they are both fine writers of more straight ahead jazz than one might imagine. Bassist Lee Smith is another Philly native, as well as being the father to jazz bass great, Christian McBride. Lee's bass playing is also superb throughout and featured on a couple of these pieces. I found this disc to be delightful and filled with a number of memorable songs. "Thoughts" is a fine, elegant offering for solo tenor sax by Odean Pope that is quite touching. Nice to hear a more straight ahead offering from some veterans of the "out jazz" scene and this disc is a gem in its own way. - BLG
CD $15

INTERPLAY [ELLIOTT LEVIN/RICK IANNACONE et al] - Apology to the Atonists/Tritone Suite (Porter 4009; USA) Featuring Elliott Levin - poetry, flutes & saxes, Rick Iannacone - guitars & electronics, Keno Speller on flute, vocal & percussion, Ron Howerton on cuica & percussion and Ed Watkins - percussion. The story of Interplay starts back in the early 80's when Elliott Levin, Rick Iannacone, Ed Watkins, Ron Howerton and Keno Speller got together in Philadelphia and began playing experimental jazz with elements of improvisation, poetry and heavy percussion. While at times the music of Interplay dips into dark mysterious waters, there are times when the music can become truly uplifting and joyous. Filled with creative musicianship, fans of Sun Ra will definitely want to check this out.
CD $15

ANDREW RAFFO DEWAR - Six Lines Of Transformation/Music For Eight Bamboo Flutes (Porter 4006; USA) Andrew Raffo Dewar is an explorer of composed music and sounds. A student and now performer with Bill Dixon and Anthony Braxton, Andrew Raffo Dewar will take you deep into the world of his imaginative sound. "Six Lines of Transformation": Matt Bauder (bass clarinet); Jennifer Caputo (marimba, gongs, cymbals, bodhran); Andrew Lafkas (contrabass); Jane Rigler (flute); Matthew Welch (conductor); Nate Wooley (trumpet); Katherine Young (bassoon)
"Music for Eight Bamboo Flutes"with Ida Bagus Widnyana, Nick Brooke, I. Dewa Nyoman Supenida, Andrew Raffo Dewar, Pande Made Sukerta, Andrew McGraw, Chris Miller, A.L. Suwardi
CD $15

FREE from Porter Records just for the asking: THE JEWELLED ANTLER COLLECTIVE LIBRARY promo sampler, taken from the upcoming Limited edition 4 CD Box-set, 13 groups, 59 tracks, over 4 1/2 hours of music, available 11/18/08. We have a stack of these freebies. If you order any disc from this week's newsletter (9/19/08) & ask, we will include this collectable gem [while they last].


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MARC COPLAND With JOHN ABERCROMBIE - Another Place (Pirouet 3031; Germany) Featuring Marc Copland on piano, John Abercrombie on guitar, Drew Gress on bass and Billy Hart on drums. This music vibrates with an intensity and lyrical magic that conjures up a hymn-like strength conjoined with a wide-open harmonic concept, subtle lines, and powerful dynamics. "Another Place" is a sparkling musical landscape in which unlimited discoveries await.
CD $16

TIM HAGANS With MARC COPLAND/DREW GRESS/JOCHAN RUCHERT - Alone Together (Pirouet 3030; Germany) Featuring Tim Hagans on trumpet, Marc Copland on piano, Drew Gress on bass and Jochan Ruckert on drums. There's playing of breath-taking intensity to be heard on this CD - it is exciting, richly communicative music. Tim Hagans plays with a strong, subtly expressive tone, as articulate as it is eloquent - regardless of the musical context. With its strong contours, Tim Hagans' trumpet sound glides weightlessly over Copeland's unusual harmonies. Piece after piece, it's a listening experience filled with refinement and magic.
CD $16

ACHIM KAUFMANN With JIM BLACK/VALDI KOLLI - Kyrill (Pirouet 3034; Germany) Featuring Achim Kaufmann on piano, Valdi Kolli on bass and Jim Black on drums. The music this trio plays is the opposite of harmless. It is music that is excitingly intense, expressive, and shimmering with kaleidoscopic complexity. It is piano trio music that is both highly complex and intensely sensual in which the composition plays a central roll, a music that consummately goes its own way.
CD $16


CARLA BLEY And HER REMARKABLE BIG BAND - Appearing Nightly (ECM/Watt 33; USA) "Carla Bley and Her Remarkable Big Band" - as it says on the cover - recorded live at Paris's famous New Morning club in a set of new but nostalgically-inflected material. "We couldn't bring back the past, but this was a chance to pay our respects to the wonderful big bands and great American songwriters that dominated American popular music in the first half of the 20th century". Warm and witty playing by all of Bley's cast in charts that bear out Nat Hentoff's judgement: "Her scores for big jazz bands are matched only by those of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus for yearning lyricism, explosive exultation and other expressions of the human condition." Earl Gardner, Lew Soloff, Florian Esch trumpets; Beppe Calamosca, Gary Valente, Gigi Grata, Richard Henry trombones; Roger Jannotta soprano and alto saxophones, flute; Wolfgang Puschnig alto saxophone, flute; Andy Sheppard, Christophe Panzani tenor saxophones; Julian Arguelles baritone saxophone; Carla Bley piano, conductor; Karen Mantler organ; Steve Swallow bass; Billy Drummond drums
CD $17


KENNY GARRETT With PHAROAH SANDERS et al - Sketches Of MD (Mack Ave 1042; USA) For the album, Garrett and his band - pianist Benito Gonzales, bassist Nat Reeves, drummer Jamire Williams and special guest tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders - worked on five compositions inspired by the playing of various sideman from Miles Davis' array of groups. In the late 1980s, Garrett himself served as one of Davis' sidemen. The band decided to forgo taking these songs to the studio; instead, Sketches of MD is a live album, recorded at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City.
CD $16



THEO TRAVIS/ROBERT FRIPP - Thread (DGM/Inner Knot GYR 01; USA) 2008 release, a collection of nine improvised pieces by Theo Travis [alto flute, soprano sax] and Robert Fripp [guitar, soundscapes]. It was recorded at DGM Soundworld by David Singleton, with reediting/mixing and mastering courtesy of Steven Wilson [Porcupine Tree]. The collaboration has yielded a very beautiful sequence of recordings that neatly avoid many of the cliches routinely associated with terms such as 'ambient' and 'improvised', while encompassing the core elements of both forms of music
Theo Travis is a London based saxophonist, flautist and composer. In conjunction with famed guitarist Robert Fripp, Travis releases nine improvised pieces, mastered by Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree). This collaboration has yielded a very beautiful sequence of recordings that encompass the core elements of ambient and improvised music, while avoiding being cliche in any form.
CD $15


CHRIS STASSINOPOULOS & FRIENDS: DAVID CROSS/HUGH HOPPER/BARRY FINNERTY/ALEX FOSTER et al - Light In The Dark (Christass; Greece)
CD $15

ALEX MAGUIRE SEXTET - Brewed In Belgium (Moonjune 023; USA) Featuring Alex Maguire on piano, synth & most compositions, Michel Delville on guitar, Robin Verheyen on soprano & tenor sax, Jean-Paul Estivienart on trumpet & flugel, Damien Polard on bass guitar and Laurent Delchambre on drums. Alex Maguire is one of the better and more diverse keyboardists to emerge from the British scene in many years and has played with the likes of Elton Dean, Michael Moore, Hatfield & the North (recent reunion) and Wishful Thinking with Alipio Neto from Clean Feed. Other members of this fine sextet are from the Wrong Object a Dutch band that backed Elton Dean on one of his last discs from last year.
Commencing with "Psychic Warrior," which as a lovely solo piano intro. Alex's "John's Fragment" is a righteous, melodic jazz/rock song with strong playing from all members of the sextet. Trumpeter, Jean-Pail's Saturn" is a great "Saturn" is a long epic piece with a slow swirling groove and fines solos from all. Guitarist Michel Deville's "Theresa's Dress" simmers nicely with dreamy solos from Jean-Paul on flugel and Michel on spacy guitar. Alex plays some amazing piano on his own piece, "Pumpkin Soup" which also features supern soprano sax from Robin. Finally, Elton Dean's "Seven for Lee" is a perfect closer with rich horn harmonies and inspired solos from the soprano sax & flugelhorn. This is a consistently strong effort of modern day jazz/rock and one of the best under-recognized gems of the year. - BLG
CD $15


PETER EVANS/JAMES FEI/DAMON SMITH/WEASEL WALTER - Evans/Fei/Smith/Walter (ugExplode 29; USA) [Ltd CD-R] Featuring Peter Evans on trumpet, James Fei on alto sax, Damon Smith on Ergo bass and Weasel Walter on drums. The irrespressible drummer. Weasel Walter, thrives on mixing things up by organizing great groups of improvisers that have rarely played together. For this fine quartet Weasel has worked his magic by put an east coast/west coast unit. Young local trumpet hero, Peter Evans, has been wowing fans for the past few years by staying busy and playing solo trumpet sets (CD on PSI), as well as with Mostly Other People do the Killing and leading his own quartet (CD on Firehouse 12) and duo with Tom Blancarte. James Fei has worked with Anthony Braxton in his 12+1 Ensemble and how teaches at Mills College whic is located in Oakland where Damon Smith & Weasel Walter also now live. There are four unnamed tracks here and each one is a powerful and intense exploration. Both Peter on trumpet and James Fei on alto sax, create strange sounds on there respective horns, twisting there notes inside out and upside down. Weasel and Damon also swirl intensely around them as the horns erupt in waves. This is a most inventive and often scary quartet, focused yet often on the verge of exploding. Weasel's massive drumming always pushes his partners to great heights. West coast contrabass great, Damon Smith, is one of Weasel's most consistent partners and also does a great job of bowing, plucking and providing a strong middle ground between the drums and horns. When things finally slow down, we get to hear some shrewd muliphonic improv from both horns and the equally creative rhythm team. Sounds to me like Weasel has a double drum or pedal and knows how to use it to kick the quartet into an over-the-top blur of hyper-activity. What amazes me about this disc os that the imrov most often is exciting leaves you at the edge of your seat. Everyone here gives their all so that by the end, both them and us sound or feel exhausted. Unbelievably intense at times. Too much? Not for us free/jazz fan-addicts! - BLG
CD $14

PETER EVANS/WEASEL WALTER GROUP - Oculus Ex Abyssus [lmt ed of 300] (ugExplode 28; USA) PETER EVANS/WEASEL WALTER GROUP - Oculus Ex Abyssus [lmt ed of 300] (ugExplode 28; USA) Featuring Peter Evans on trumpet, Paul Hartsaw on tenor & soprano sax, Damon Smith on contrabass and Weasel Walter on drums. Studio date from January of 2008 in Oakland, California. Another explosive quartet date from the mighty drummer Weasel Walter and the amazing Peter Evans on trumpet with Chicago sax great Paul Hartsaw and the ever dynamic Damon Smith on contrabass! Limited edition of 300 and we only have 5 for sale.
LP $20


RUFUS CAPPADOCIA - Songs For Cello (Velour; USA) Rufus Cappadocia is both a musical maverick to the bone and one of the leading voices of cutting edge cello today. His jaw dropping technique and musicianship inspire awe in even the most discerning critics, who have characterized his playing as 'powerful ..exploring territory that is positively otherworldly.' After years of experimentation and creative revision, Rufus plays a self-designed five-string electric cello that extends the bass range of the cello and through amplification expands its tonal possibilities, creating new sounds by what was once known only as a classical music instrument. He has toured throughout the Americas and Europe with both fringe and famous groups that are legion amongst those who search for peerless musicianship, and is celebrated for his unique collaborations with artists from across the globe -- from the Balkans to the Caribbean, from West Africa to North America. Rufus has toured as a founding member of numerous groups such as Urban Tap and The Paradox Trio. He has made a career of going where few cellists have gone before, appearing on CDs with Ross Daly, Kif with David Fiuczynski, DJ Cheb i Sabbah, Esma, The Paradox Trio, Odetta, Michael Blake, and Tamalalou, among others.
CD $14


PATTI SMITH/KEVIN SHIELDS - The Coral Sea [2 CD set] (Pask; USA) Legendary artist Patti Smith and My Bloody Valentine s Kevin Shields have released a double disc set of their live performance of The Coral Sea on their own PASK imprint.
The Coral Sea is Patti Smith's posthumous homage to her friend and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and the title to her 1997 book. Kevin Shields accompanies her on guitars and effects and creates a haunting backdrop to the spoken prose. The live recordings were made June 22nd 2005 and September 12th 2006 respectively at sold out performances at the QEH in London. The double-CD set runs almost two hours with a different stylistic approach to each performance. The UK's Guardian upon reviewing the 2005 performance gave it 5 stars and called it magical. One critic said of the live performance: "A kind of screaming requiem, The Coral Sea describes Mapplethorpe's terminal illness. Intense, layered electronics surged to a discordant climax as Patti Smith read her poem, the words sailing over the noise like an ocean liner, with the black and white video showing the ocean, the liner and the grey twilight of grief." The poem tells the story of M (Mapplethorpe) on a final voyage to see the stars of the Southern Cross before he dies.
2 CD set for $20


ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE COSMIC INFERNO - Pink Lady Lemonade (You're From Outer Space) (Riot Season 19; Japan) "This really could be AMT's first 'summer album.' Unlike previous Cosmic Inferno albums this one doesn't reach in the red status often -- it's more out there, like they've gone back to their mountain retreat and taken too much mushroom tea perhaps. But when it does finally soar, Kawabata's guitar has never sounded so alive. The first AMT&TCI studio recordings since the addition of Pikachu, drummer and vocalist with Osaka grenade-girl duo Afrirampo. The popular AMT standard 'Pink Lady Lemonade' showcases a 21st century acid rock update on the '60s San Francisco psychedelic sound. On 'Pink Lady Lemonade - You're From Space,' the Cosmic Inferno crew give PLL a new lease of life and reinvent it as a trippy/chilled out monster. As it rolls on, they sing, adding new riffs and taking it to the stars and back. It's like hearing it for the first time all over again."
CD $19


HIROSHI NAR WITH NISHINIHON - Hiroshi Nar With Nishinihon (Lexicon Devil 13; Australia) Originally issued by Lexicon Devil in 2005. This is a special one-time-only CD, limited to a pressing of 500, of a rare live meeting of minds: power trio Nishinihon (featuring Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple) and Hiroshi Nar of the legendary collector-scum/'60s/'70s Japanese uber-psych/garage destruction unit, Les Rallizes Denudes. Nishinihon are the amazing scorch 'n' burn three-man unit who've scarred eardrums for several years now with their acid-rock meltdown. Since his departure from Rallizes in 1978, Hiroshi has kept himself busy with a myriad projects running the scope of no wave, garage punk, Dada-rock and the occasional guest playing on an Acid Mothers disc. Suffice to say, his discography is as long as your arm and much more interesting. Hiroshi Nar with Nishinihon (which said 5 times with a belly of booze can be a great game) celebrates exactly that: a one-off live meeting in Japan in December of 2001 between these musical titans. With Hiroshi penning three of the four songs present, there's definitely a heavy musical similarity to Les Rallizes; both "20 Yen For Each Additional" and "Machiko" possess that crawling, stumbling vibe of his previous band's best '70s work, the combination of his guitar twang and stuttering garage stomp resulting in a kind of Crazy Horse/Quicksilver hybrid. Even more explosive, are the furious guitar explosions of "Are You Lady?" and "Peep Up," two short(er) ditties that get straight to the point and drive it home in a most Stoogely manner. As it says on the back cover of this release: "Do you wanna teste this fuckin' sweet wonder rock world, Brother?" Hell, yes.
CD $14


MERZBOW [MASAMI AKITA] - Eucalypse [Ltd Ed of 1000 copies] (Soleilmoon; USA) "The Tasmanian Blue Gum tree, Eucalyptus Globulus, is native to Tasmania and southern Australia. Eucalyptus trees are uniquely suited to the varied ecologies of Australia, and there is no other continent more closely associated with one genus of tree. Its leaves are the food of choice of the koala, and its flowers attract bees and hummingbirds. Out of approximately 300 identified species, Blue Gums are now the eucalyptus most frequently found in other parts of the world. Throughout the tropics they are known for their ability to dry out swampy areas, making them a valuable weapon in the fight against malaria, a disease caused by parasites carried in female Anopheles mosquitos, which breed in standing water. Eucalyptus Globulus was first brought to India in the late 18th century. Large plantations were establish in Kerala in 1863, but other than small amounts of oil distilling, little use has been made of the fast growing trees. Instead, they have thrived in the moist, foggy hills, spreading far across the landscape and transforming the ecosystem in the process. With their deep roots they lower water tables, depriving native species of the moisture necessary to survive the annual dry season, while the anti-bacterial properties of the 'blue gum' secretions they drop on the soil further suppress the germination and growth of other plants. An ancient and intricate web of life has been disrupted, and native plants, insects and animals are being driven to extinction. Humans, who have long been a part of the local ecosystem, are adaptable and will survive, but the biodiversity of an entire region is under threat from a single exotic species. It is truly a eucalyptus apocalypse. It is a eucalypse. At Soleilmoon, packaging and presentation are never overlooked. This release comes in a hand-crafted round wooden box with screenprinted swiveling lid. The box contains one CD and four full-color cards. Only 1,000 copies of this handsome CD have been made, and there will be no follow-up editions released."
CD $26


JAMES BEAUDREAU - Fresh Twigs [Lt ed of 250 #'d copies] (Workbench 02; USA) Featuring James on guitar, bass guitar & percussion, and with former DMG crewman Mikey IQ Jones guesting on percussion & electronics on one piece. This is the second disc by our friend James Beaudreau, and again he has done a fine job of delivering his own personal take on the guitar. There seems to be a deluge of solo guitarists emerging over the past few years and often acoustic players. On "Opening Bell," James plays a variety of guitars, some electric, more acoustic, carefully layers parts one on top of the other without ever become too dense or overdone. Each guitar has a very different sound or personality, depending on how it was recorded or which device was used to alter its sound. I like the way James uses either static or the sound of a campfire burning to give "Gold Coast" a more outdoorish quality. "Montmartre" starts with one acoustic guitar and then shifts into two other acoustic guitars and then it shifts again as the different guitars come from different places in the mix. There is an odd charm at work here where different themes overlap, connect and/or intersect. Each piece present a different theme, idea or a handful of related fragments that somehow fit together just right. Some of these fragemts are elegant and some are slightly twisted, yet they all seem releated to one another. What I dig most about this is the occasionally delicate sections that are both soothing and a bit perplexing at the same time. A few of these tracks have that Frith-like skewered pop sound that was apparent on "Gravity" or "Speechless". You never know where some of these pieces will end up, yet with some time & perspective, they all fit into a certain magical place. - BLG
CD $12


NICOLA CIPANI - The Ill-Tempered Piano (Long Song 109; Italy) [SPECIAL SALE PRICE; NORMALLY $16!] Here's an elegant idea brilliantly realized. Nicola Cipani is a pianist who scouted the New York City area for broken or untuned pianos to improvise on. The variety and intrigue of timbres he found at his fingertips is as exciting as you might hope for. Clusters splatter; melodies buzz and sputter; notes grunt instead of singing. Nicola strikes a great balance between the viscerality of timbral jump-cut action (think Kagel) and the milder thrills of elliptical phrases changing slope. Because it's the keyboard being played, not the strings themselves, the music is much closer to the perverse percussive perambulations of prepared pianos in the Cowell, Cage, et al tradition, than the similarly popular tradition of piano-guts playing in the vein of Maroney, Neumann, et al. Having settled in Brooklyn and taken on an academic career after spending most of his life in his native Italy, where his early adult years were spent playing avant-leaning jazz, this disc is an overdue resumption of musical pursuits for a savvy and talented musician with no desire to be a redundant ivory tickler. Like horn players who develop idiosyncratic timbral vocabularies without abandoning the conventional physicality of their instrument and its attendant resources of ingrained melodic and rhythmic intuition, Nicola avoids both extremes in the continuum from banality to abstraction. The secret of improvisation is avoiding cliches; the unique states of disrepair of these pianos virtually guarantee success, but Nicola's phrasing is so precise and nuanced that the music goes a lot deeper than timbral novelty. Just like the man who made it, the music is endlessly clever, astute, and playful. Sometimes I get burned out on piano music, but this disc proves how incredible the instrument can be when it's not limited to the same 12 notes and the same clean attacks and decays. Bravo to the new and promising Italian label Long Song Records for sharing a distinctive gem deserving to be heard.- Michael Anton Parker
CD $14



MORTON FELDMAN//STEFFEN SCHLEIERMACHER - The Late Piano Works Vol. 1: Triadic Memories (MDG 6131521; Germany) Performed by Steffen Schleiermacher (piano). "Steffen Schleiermacher once again sets out to present the piano compositions of an important 20th-century composer. Vol. 1 of his three-part series featuring Morton Feldman's late piano works contains the 'Triadic Memories.' It is 90 minutes long -- quite short by this American composer's standards! During the 1970s, Morton Feldman developed a new interest in the carpets of Anatolian nomads. He was motivated by an artistic fascination transcending the collector's passion. Although only five or six basic colors are used in the carpets, they are never identical; the nuances produced during the coloring of the threads make the difference. Feldman's music is similarly structured. The wealth of his composition is revealed only under the acoustic microscope. Filigree deviations in the repeating individual tones and chords are detected only by those who take the time to contemplate the peaceful flowing of finely set tones. Steffen Schleiermacher deliberately and reflectively approaches the piano texture of almost monochrome effect and has the tones sound as softly as possible amid constant employment of the pedal. He sets rhythmic and tone-color nuances -- well-thought-out -- in opposition to the slightest hint of uniformity." Total palying time: 80'46.
CD $17

JOHN CAGE - Trombone & Piano (MDG 6131510; Germany) Performed by Mike Svobda (trombone) and Steffen Schleiermacher (piano). "The entirety of music for the trombone by maverick composer John Cage is on this one CD. Michael Svoboda was born 1960 on the island of Guam and grew up in Chicago. After winning several prizes (BMI Award to young composers 1982), he came to Europe. He has collaborated with Karlheinz Stockhausen, performing the role of Luzlfer as trombone soloist in Stockhausen's opera cycle Licht, and in many more works by that composer. Svoboda performs regularly at major festivals throughout the world and as soloist with major European orchestras. In addition, he performs his own works and plays in various jazz settings. He collaborated with Frank Zappa on a project with Ensemble Modern on Zappa's Yellow Shark project. For nearly 20 years, Mike Svoboda has committed himself to expanding his instrument's repertoire and has premiered over 300 works for trombone in various settings from composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Sandeep Baghwatl, Toshio Howokawa, Martin Smolka, Peter Eotvos and Helmut Lachenmann."
CD $17


JOHN CAGE - Vol. 4: Music for Merce Cunningham (mode 24; USA) 2008 repress, featuring a 24-bit Hi-Definition remaster; originally released in 1991. Volume 4 in the Music of Cage series. The first audio document between Cage & Cunningham. It includes a 55-minute piece called "Five Stone Wind" performed by David Tudor (live electronics), Takehisa Kosugi (amplified violin, live electronics, bamboo flute) and Michael Pugliese (clay pots and tapes) as well as a 19-minute version of the classic "Cartridge Music" (same 3 performers, "using phonograph cartridges to play various objects, toys and furniture to create a cosmos of unusual sound" ). Essential!
In the infamous Cartridge Music , the performers make use of phonograph cartridges to play various objects, toys and furniture to create a cosmos of unusual sounds. Five Stone Wind is percussive in nature. The basic sounds from David Tudor are derived from recordings of earth vibrations which trigger the electronics and treatments. The unique percussion sound is created from hand-made clay pots modeled after African "Udu" drums, which can make sounds from room-shaking bass to high pitched ceramic slaps. Live percussion is added to eight pre-recorded drum tracks, yielding an exotic and other-worldly atmosphere punctuated by solos from Kosugi.
CD $15


JOHN CAGE - Composition In Retrospect (Exact Change CAGE; USA) 2008 reprinting, originally published in 1993. Paperback, 184 pages. "Written in his characteristic 'mesostics' (linked lines of prose poetry), Composition In Retrospect is a statement of methodology in which John Cage examines the central issues of his work: indeterminacy, nonunderstanding, inconsistency, imitation, variable structure, contingency. Finished only shortly before his death in 1992, Composition In Retrospect completes the documentation of Cage's thought that began thirty years earlier with his classic collection Silence. Given Cage's vigilant attention to the present, the text can serve as an introduction and invitation to his work as much as a summary or conclusion. Also included in this volume (as Cage requested) is 'Themes and Variations,' a 1982 piece inspired by friends and heroes such as Jasper Johns, Buckminster Fuller, Marcel Duchamp, and Erik Satie. Together these two works make for a book that is both a testament to the artists Cage admired, and a clear statement of his own ars poetica."
BOOK $16



CHARLES BUKOWSKI - Underwater Poetry Festival (Temple Inc 10; USA) Recorded in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 5, 1974; produced for release by Charles Potts. "This never-before released recording of a 1974 poetry reading by world famous 20th century American poet Charles Bukowski (1922-1993) is one you'll have to stuff in your CD player as soon as you get it. In 1974, the intrepid Bukowski journeyed from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City to give a featured reading at the Underwater Poetry Festival, along with Alta, Ricardo Sanchez, and Andy Clausen. The recording of the reading given in the social work auditorium of the University of Utah survived in the archives of the Reverend Sherm W. Clow, President at the time of the renowned Litmus Inc., producer of the festival. It includes more than 20 poems with a table of contents, some introductory and closing patter by MC Charles Potts, and a reproduction of the poster from the UPF is the menu on the CD. Bukowski was just beginning to achieve the lasting fame that would come to him in the next two decades. Hear the man at his droll and noteworthy best."
CD $13


CHARLIE LOUVIN - Steps To Heaven (Tompkins Square 2059; USA) "Features 10 traditional gospel classics including 2 Louvin Brothers songs. The release will be followed by Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs. Both albums were produced, recorded and mixed by Mark Nevers (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Andrew Bird, Bobby Bare Sr.). Instead of hanging back at age 81, Charlie has instead chosen to challenge himself. Steps To Heaven was recorded live with a gospel choir comprised of three sisters, journeyman gospel pianist Derrick Lee, and Chris Scruggs, adding doghouse bass and electric guitar. Louvin had never recorded with black gospel musicians before, and in doing so discovered a new musical path. Charlie remarks, 'I did things on the gospel record I had no idea I could do. I'd be thinking along the way, 'How can I do things I've never done before?' And I did it.' 2007 saw Louvin celebrate his 80th birthday amidst a swirl of activity around the release of his first studio album in ten years, Charlie Louvin. Grammy-nominated for 'Best Traditional Folk Album,' the disc features George Jones, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, and Elvis Costello, among others. Charlie toured and recorded with Lucinda Williams, made a video for the song 'Ira,' released a field recording of one of his many in-store performances, Live at Shake It Records, played over 100 concert dates sharing stages with Ryan Adams and Neko Case, appeared on giant festivals like Bonnaroo and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and placed a medallion around Emmylou Harris' neck inducting her into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Charlie's self-titled album earned 4 out of 5 stars in Uncut and MOJO magazines, and sparked a bevy of great press and renewed interest in his fascinating career."
CD $14

BRAD BARR - The Fall Apartment: Instrumental Guitar (Tompkins Square 2011; USA) "This is guitarist Brad Barr's solo debut, The Fall Apartment: Instrumental Guitar. As a member of Northeast-based band The Slip, Brad's guitar prowess has always been notable, but his true gifts and distinct musical voice are on full display throughout this solo guitar album. A heady set of original compositions is complimented by such diverse covers as Maria La O by legendary Cuban musician Ernesto Lecuona, Kurt Cobain's 'Heart Shaped Box,' and Le Trio Ferret's 'Gin Gin.' The introspective tone of the album recalls such autumnal, overlooked loner guitar gems as Lenny Breau's Cabin Fever or Richard Crandell's In The Flower Of Our Youth, while staking out a thoroughly modern approach to solo guitar here in the late '00s."
CD $14



Wayne himself sent us his last copies of these OUT-OF-PRINT releases - WHEN THEY'RE GONE THEY'RE GONE!:

WAYNE HORVITZ & ZONY MASH With TIMOTHY YOUNG/FRED CHALENOR/ANDY ROTH - Brand Spankin' New (KnitWorks 223; USA) Wayne Horvitz (B3 organ, nord lead, moog source, DX-7, wurlitzer electric piano) Timothy Young (guitar) Fred Chalenor (bass) Andy Roth (drums) With this second release [and last with original member Chalenor], they immediately pick up where they left off on the first album, with deep grooves ala The Meters and subtle song writing at the base, but add more space and interplay between the musicians. The result of extensive toaring in Europe and the states between this album and the last has helped the band to become even tighter in the studio and their deeper feeling for each other as musicians can easily be heard right from track one on this new album.
CD $15

WAYNE HORVITZ & ZONY MASH With TIMOTHY YOUNG/KEITH LOWE/ANDY ROTH - Upper Egypt (KnitWorks 259; USA) Featuring Wayne on hammond B-3 organ, wurlitzer el. piano & dx-7 or roland synth, Timothy Young on guitars, (new man) Keith Lowe on basses & Andy Roth on drums. This is the third fonky groove affair from Zony Mash and bless the lord, they're at it again! Why is it that my pals Medeski, Martin & Wood draw such big (and smelly) crowds and Zony Mash rarely get their due?!!? What - Zony Mash ain't greasy enough for ya? It just don't seem fair. They pick a cosmic Pharoah Sanders tune from the late 60's for their opener and do it just right - feeling wise. Wayne writes such great smokey organ groove tunes and when they turn up the heat a bit - watch out!! Tim Young let loose a fat slow burn guitar solo to please the gods or at least the critics. There is something so soothing and hip about that hammond b-3 tone, it just makes you wanna turn down the lights and either slow dance or sit nodding & grinning with your eyes closed. Zony Mash have written all the other tunes here, except for one other cover by (Mr. Mellow) Bill Frisell. Wayne plays a few select synth solos that are just too much! Perhaps this music is bit too tasteful or mature for the masses!?! I've always had a soft spot for Booker T. & MG's, the Meters, Little Feat - smart soulful bands with great guitar & organ. And that's where this music seems to take off from. Loren Mazzacane says that you can tell that the lead guitarist is coming out of early Clapton on "Goes Round and Round", certainly a great compliment. In my book, Zony Mash can do wrong and this new one is happening once again, so please give them a chance to warm your funky soul! - BLG
CD $15



The latest batch of Rudy Van Gelder remasters of Classic Blue Note titles includes some monsters!

SAM RIVERS With DONALD BYRD/JAMES SPAULDING/JULIAN PRIESTER et al - Dimensions And Extensions (Blue Note RVG; USA) [2008 RVG rmstr; originally released as one of two unissued album sessions on the double Sam Rivers LP Involution] Sam River's fourth album for Blue Note, recorded March 17, 1967, is one of his best. A cover and catalog number were prepared at the time, but for some reason this excellent date with Donald Byrd, Julian Priester, James Spaulding, Cecil McBee, and Steve Ellington remained in vaults for another ten years. The album is varied and challenging but always swinging in the hippest way. DONALD BYRD, trumpet; JULIAN PRIESTER, trombone; JAMES SPAULDING, alto sax, flute; SAM RIVERS, tenor sax, soprano sax, flute; CECIL McBEE, bass; STEVE ELLINGTON, drums
CD $12

GRACHAN MONCUR III With LEE MORGAN/JACKIE McLEAN/BOBBY HUTCHERSON/BOB CRANSHAW/TONY WILLIAMS - Evolution (Blue Note RVG; USA) 2008 RVG rmstr. Jackie McLean's cutting-edge 1963 quintet catapulted Grachan Moncur III, Bobby Hutcherson, and Tony Williams on to the national jazz scene. That November, Moncur, the prime composer in the group, was given his own date as a leader, debuting four magnificent original compositions and expanding the group to a sextet with the valuable inclusion of Lee Morgan. LEE MORGAN, trumpet; GRACHAN MONCUR III, trombone; JACKIE McLEAN, alto sax; BOBBY HUTCHERSON, vibes; BOB CRANSHAW, bass; TONY WILLIAMS, drums
CD $12

HANK MOBLEY With LEE MORGAN/WYNTON KELLY et al - Peckin' Time (Blue Note RVG; USA) 2008 RGV rmstr; 3 bonus alternate takes! This hard-swinging February 9, 1958 date with Lee Morgan, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Charlie Persip was the last in a run of outstanding albums that Mobley and Morgan made for Blue Note in the two years prior. This Rudy Van Gelder remaster is issued in STEREO with three excellent alternate takes added to the original album. LEE MORGAN, trumpet; HANK MOBLEY, tenor sax; WYNTON KELLY, piano; PAUL CHAMBERS, bass; CHARLIE PERSIP, drum
CD $12

SONNY CLARK With IKE QUEBEC/TOMMY TURRENTINE et al - Leapin' And Lopin' (Blue Note RVG; USA) 2008 RVG rmstr; xtra cut. This November 13, 1961 session ranges from the modal Melody In C to the soulful blues Somethin' Special. The renowned rhythm section of Clark, Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins supports Tommy Turrentine and Charlie Rouse magnificently. Ike Quebec guests on the magnificent ballad Deep in a Dream. TOMMY TURRENTINE, trumpet; CHARLIE ROUSE, tenor sax; SONNY CLARK, piano; BUTCH WARREN, bass; BILLY HIGGINS, drums
CD $12

STANLEY TURRENTINE TRIO - Dearly Beloved (Blue Note RVG; USA) [2008 RVG rmstr; 1st TIME ON CD] Dearly Beloved may sound like a romantic ballad album, but this June 8, 1961 covers all bases from blues burners to standards to ballads. It's also one of the rare Turrentine projects for Blue Note with an organ sound. The great saxophonist is supported by future wife Shirley Scott on organ and Horace Silver's drummer of the time Roy Brooks. A great date!
CD $12


ANNE BRIGGS - Anne Briggs (Water 199; USA) "The first full-length album from the legendary folk singer, originally released in 1971. Anne Briggs was a huge influence on the entire British folk-rock movement, especially other female singers such as Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee, and Maddy Prior. Anne Briggs is a strong collection of traditional folk songs and original material and one of the most important releases of the British folk revival. Despite the fact that Briggs had been on the folk scene since the early '60s this was her first full-length effort, delayed by erratic behavior and studio fears, and she would record only two more records before dropping off the scene entirely. Thankfully we have this, her first and strongest record, reissued for the first time with the original cover."
CD $15

also available..

ANNE BRIGGS - The Time Has Come (Water 192; USA) New version of this acclaimed album, previously reissued in sporadically available fashion by the laughable CBS/Columbia remnant empire. New liner notes by Andy Beta; most homes would appreciate an upgrade pf this all-time lip-melter and here it is. "One of the most important figures of the British folk revival of the 1960s, Anne Briggs was a huge influence on such luminaries as Sandy Denny, Maddy Prior and Linda Thompson. This is her second full-length, originally released in 1971. Unlike previous releases which contained mostly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment, this album features many self-penned numbers as well as a few contemporary covers with Briggs playing guitar and bouzouki. Briggs only released two albums and a handful of singles/EPs before retiring from the music business, making this reissue an important document of the British folk revival."
CD $15



Well-pressed Vinyl Classics!

FAIRPORT CONVENTION - What We Did On Our Holidays (4 Men With Beards 157; UK) "The second Fairport Convention album, originally released in 1969, is the first to feature the beautifully haunting vocals of the legendary Sandy Denny. What We Did On Our Holidays contains some of the Fairport Convention's finest moments, including Denny's own 'Fotheringay,' Richard Thompson's 'Meet Me On The Ledge,' and their stunning take on Bob Dylan's 'I'll Keep It With Mine.' This LP finds the Fairport Convention moving away from the California folk-rock of their debut album towards a more British approach to similar material. It is also the last full LP to feature Ian Matthews on vocals." 180 gram vinyl.
LP $18

FAIRPORT CONVENTION - Unhalfbricking (4 Men With Beards 158; UK) "Unhalfbricking, originally released in 1969, was a transitional album for Fairport Convention, as vocalist (and American folk-rock enthusiast) Ian Matthews left midway through the recording. As a result, the band looked further into their own country's folk traditions for influence, as their decidedly British style was cemented by the addition of Dave Swarbrick's fiddle. This is not to say that Unhalfbricking is a weak album. On the contrary, it is a stone cold classic and includes some of the band's finest material including their take on Dylan's 'Percy's Song,' the traditional 'A Sailor's Life,' and one of Sandy Denny's finest compositions in 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes?'"
LP $18


FAIRPORT CONVENTION - Liege & Lief (4 Men With Beards 159; UK) This is the 4th fabulous Fairport album, also originally released in 1969. It includes two previously unreleased tracks from the original album sessions. Packaged with a 16-page booklet of notes (by Ashley Hutchings & Joe Boyd) and amazing photographs. "British hippies who started out emulating Jefferson Airplane, Fairport Convention escalated their homeland connections with each outing, culminating in this, their fourth album and a watershed for British folk-rock. Hindsight offers the ironic possibility that the Dylan covers of its predecessor, "Unhalfbricking", opened a window onto the earlier Irish-English-Scots roots of the American music they loved and 'Liege & Lief' jumps through that window triumphantly. "Come All Ye" underscores their affinity for the Band yet is joyfully rooted in their own fertile folk traditions, echoed in a mix of classic songs from members Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings, and Richard Thompson, and given direct homage in the extended ballads "Matty Groves" and "Tam Lin", which evoke Neil Young & Crazy Horse in kilts. Fiddler Dave Swarbrick's arrival as a fulltime member adds new richness and a wonderful foil for Thompson's superb guitar leads. A medley of jigs and reels showcases their flair for hot-wiring traditional British Isles dances, a fixture ever since." -- Chris Jones/BBC.
LP $18

FUNKADELIC - Funkadelic (4 Men With Beards 160; UK) "The 1970 debut from Detroit's nastiest, most shredding progenitors of funk-rock. Arising from the ashes of George Clinton's Plainfield, New Jersey led R&B group, The Parliaments, Funkadelic formed in the late '60s and, in addition to Clinton, included the blazing guitar of Eddie Hazel, organist Mickey Atkins, rhythm guitarist Tawl Ross, and drummer Tiki Fulwood. Though firmly rooted in funk and soul, Funkadelic incorporates a dark psychedelic element, influenced by Hendrix and Sly Stone, to create a sound that was unparalleled at the time and since. Sampled by everyone from DJ Shadow to Ice Cube, De La Soul, and the Beastie Boys, Funkadelic still sounds fresh today and is the first solid example of George Clinton's eccentric genius." 180 gram vinyl
LP $18

FUNKADELIC - Maggot Brain (4 Men With Beards 161; UK) "1971's Maggot Brain is Funkadelic's all-out masterpiece. Absolutely no one working in soul and funk at the time had the scope, vision, and, let's be honest, sheer lunacy to pull off the kind of record that George Clinton and his collaborators have made here. Eccentric funk jams are bookended by two of the heaviest tracks ('Maggot Brain' and 'Wars Of Armageddon') ever committed to tape. The title track, and album opener, is nothing short of mind-blowing, Eddie Hazel's guitar is a revolution brought on by Clinton, who supposedly told him to 'play like your momma just died.' An essential classic and the deepest album to come out of the Parliament-Funkadelic camp." Gatefold sleeve, 180 gram vinyl.
LP $18


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