The Music Never Stops!

Ken Vandermark Duets! Paal Nilssen-Love Duos: Peter Brotzmann & Joe McPhee! The Flow Trio (Belogenis/Morris/Downs)! Don Cherry Montmartre Live V3! Matt Lavelle!

Daniel Kelly! Alan Wilkinson/John Edwards/Steve Noble! Source Records Box Set! Boghossian/Tilbury/Wastell! John Cage! Peter Ablinger! Merzbow!

Sub Rosa DVD's from David Toop and Henri Pousseur! 2 More from Toshi Ichiyanagi! More Secret Museum of Mankind Series! Rare Enja label Last Copies!




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Saturday February 14th at 8 pm
Special Valentine's Day Concert:

A Love Supreme
Words and music by John Coltrane

Roy Campbell, trumpets and flute
Louie Belogenis, tenor saxophone
Andrew Bemkey, piano
Hill Greene, bass
Michael Wimberly, drums
Beth Anne Hatton, vocals
Jacqueline Lewis, speaker

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


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LIMITED ENGAGEMENT FOR THIS FOREMAN-ZORN THEATRICAL EVENT!

Richard Foreman is one of the most important theatre directors in the world, and has been a personal hero of John Zorn's for over 30 years. This theatre/music piece is the historic first-time collaboration for two masters of the bizarre (both MacArthur geniuses) who individually have challenged, enlightened and entertained adventurous audiences for decades.

ASTRONOME: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is a work dominated by ecstatic groans, grunts and babbling, and explores the initiation of a group of people into a world where ambiguous behavior alone leads to freedom--perhaps under the tutelage of the necessary "false messiah." This is one of those events that can only happen downtown - culminating from a chance meeting in the street - independent of any special grants, funding, institution or administration.

Based on ASTRONOME, the intense second CD of a series featuring Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn and Joey Baron, Richard Foreman's staging of it is absolutely stunning!

Please make a special effort to see this once in a lifetime event, opening FEBRUARY 5th and RUNNING FOR ONLY TWO MONTHS through APRIL 5th at the ONOTOLOGICAL-HYSTERIC THEATRE
@ St Marks Church in the East Village, 131 East 10th St on Second Ave!


to purchase tickets, go to:

https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/633735


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PLEASE NOTE: We have moved a great deal of our inventory to our new location [13 Monroe St],
BUT we are still open for business at our current [13 Monroe St.] address.

HOWEVER, orders we receive may take 1-2 days longer to fill as we have to pull items from the new location for shipping, which is still occurring from our Bowery location

Pease bear with us the next few weeks - we'll be back to our usual cheerful and unstressed selves in the beginning of March (we hope!)

Regards, Bruce, Manny and Chuck and Co.


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KEN VANDERMARK With NATE McBRIDE//KENT KESSLER//INGERBRIGT HAKER FLAKEN//WILBERT DE JOODE - Collected Fiction: Duos [2 CD set] (Okka Disk 12075; USA) A two disk studio recording of duos by Ken Vandermark and four of the world's best bass players: Nate McBride, Kent Kessler, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and Wilbert De Joode. These sessions where recorded in Chicago on February 4 and 5, 2008.
"The beauty and the challenge of undertaking a project like Collected Fiction, a collection of bass and reed improvised duos, is to make an engaging and thoughtful experience for both players and listeners. These 22-tracks do just that with a polymorphic approach that renews itself with each track.
The organizer here is Chicagoan Ken Vandermark, playing with three very familiar bassists and one somewhat new acquaintant. Vandermark's connection with Kent Kessler goes way back to their work with Hal Russell's NRG ensemble in the late 1980s. Like Kessler, Nate McBride is a fellow Chicagoan and has kept time for Vandermark in numerous groups. Similarly, Norwegian Ingebrigt Haker Flaten has intertwined his career with the saxophonist, playing in the bands Schooldays and Free Fall. He released his solo disc Double Bass on Sofa Records in 2003. The newest collaborator is the Dutch bassist Wilbert De Joode. Until the release of Ab Baars Trio with Ken Vandermark, Goofy June Bug (Wig Records, 2008), there is no record of the two recording together.
Recorded in Chicago in February 2008 by Bob Weston, the sound has a live quality that reveals the emotion and physicality of the playing, while giving you that "I was there" feeling as a listener. The bassists all play acoustic behind Vandermark's various reeds. I count tenor and soprano saxophone, plus clarinet and bass clarinet. As a soloist, Vandermark has stepped out from his composing and organizing work of late, releasing a solo disc, Furniture Music, in 2003 and a series of duo sessions with drummers Paal Nilssen-Love and Tim Daisy. Perhaps his friend Mats Gustafsson is the perfect confederate for a drummer with his muscular attack and volume. Vandermark seems to have found a home here. These improvised pieces were created (as noted) with multiple takes and the music (upon repeat listenings) feels as if it is more constructed than free. McBride plays an (almost) blues behind the tenor on "Torus II," and drops wave upon wave of energy in front of a bass clarinet on "Ellipse II." Kessler might be Vandermark's closest companion here, plucking and bowing with the utmost sympathy. They even take on a bit of Brotzmann's sound on the noisy "Spiral," with its barking aggressive energy. But mostly this music is focused inward. "Contour II," with its arco bowed lines and popping clarinet, find the chamber setting more to its liking.
The most physical of the bassists has to be Flaten. There is no mistaking his vocalizing on "Curve I" or the menace he is to his instrument on "Extension." His playing, more in the tradition of the great European improvisers Joelle Leandre and Peter Kowald, expands the sound of the bass beyond the traditional pulse. Same can be said for Joode as he scatters notes on the opening section of "Ellipse IV," sounding as if he were a train's wheels rolling past a crossing. Together Vandermark and he create almost electronic sounds on "Contour III" before parting into a call-and-response improvisation. - Mark Corroto, All About Jazz
CD $18


New from Smalltown Supersound/Superjazz:

PETER BROTZMANN/PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE - SweetSweat (Smalltown SJ 143; EEC) The godfather of European Free-Music, Peter Brotzmann, is joined by respected Scandinavian percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love to form a musical partnership of rare and beautiful balance. Recorded live at Sting Jazzklubb in Norway during the Maijazz Festival in 2006. Four tracks.
CD $15

JOE McPHEE/PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE - Tomorrow Came Today (Smalltown SJ 148; EEC) Free Jazz legend Joe McPhee spent one day with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love improvising direct to tape. Recorded in Olso's Grandsport Studio, an analog studio that perfectly captures the atmosphere and warmth of these improvisations. The music is spontaneous, raw and groovy, but at the same time mellow, melodic and beautiful. Eight tracks.
CD $15

and recent..

ORIGINAL SILENCE [THURSTON MOORE/TERRIE EX/MATS GUSTAFSSON/PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE/JIM O'ROURKE/MASSIMO PUPILLO] - The Second Original Silence (Smalltown SJ 144; EEC) The 2008 return of this super-noise group featuring Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Terrie Ex (The Ex), Jim O'Rourke, Mats Gustaffson (Thing), Paal Nilssen-Love (Thing), & Massimo Pupillo (Zu). Recorded at a September 28, 2006 performance at Rome, Italy's Brancaleone.
CD $15



FLOW TRIO [LOUIS BELOGENIS/JOE MORRIS/CHARLES DOWNS [RASHID BAKR]] - Rejuvenation (ESP Disk 4052; USA) The Flow Trio is a new lineup featuring three free/jazz giants with diverse backgrounds: Louie Belogenis on tenor sax, Joe Morris on contrabass and Charles Downs on drums. Louie's career goes back to the earlier days of the downtown scene in the mid-eighties. He is one of John Zorn's oldest friends, and both are sax explorers for more than two decades (actually three for Mr. Zorn). I recall some early duos with cellist Michelle Kinney and pianist Borah Bergman. But what I remember best is a band called Prima Materia with Rashied Ali, William Parker and/or Joe Gallant on basses, Allan Chase and Louie on saxes and Greg Murphy on piano. This amazing band was a tribute to Albert Ayler and John Coltrane and recorded three fine discs for the old Knit label. Louie continues to play with Trane's ultimate drummer, the incredible Rashied Ali, in another fine band with Reggie Workman, Roy Campbell & Andrew Bemkey. Louie has also recorded with two other formidable trios, one with Wilbur Morris & Rashied Ali, and with his current trio with Shanir Blumenkranz & Kenny Wollesen. And now we have another fine trio with Joe Morris and Charles Downs, formerly known as Rashid Bakr.
Commencing with the appropriately titled "Reflection," Louie starts with a hushed and haunting solo sax intro, a perfect way to begin our journey within. "Slow Cab" opens with Joe's contemplative plucked bass, the rest of the trio slowly entering and hovering like somber ghosts floating freely. Louie has a most distinctive way of bending and twisting his notes, somewhere between Trane and Ayler in tone and depth. This is a most marvelous trio, coming together and ascending as one spirit rising higher and higher. Warmly recorded and superbly balanced, this is one cosmic trio, organically evolving together. The trio starts erupting together on "Pick Up Sticks" with Joe's swirling, plucked lines weaving supremely with Charles' master drumming. Louie sounds as if he is surfing on waves of power and resourcefulness. Louie is calling up the spirits, practically crying through his sax and evoking ghosts of the past, present and future. It is Charles' short drum solo that brings in the magic and rhythmic prowess. Joe kicks off "Two Acts" with quick walking bass before the tenor and thumping drums kick in. The trio slowly builds to a powerful, free, well-measured conclusion, expanding and ascending higher and higher. Joe's nimble, quick spinning bass continues to burn throughout until the trio slows down to a graceful yet still intense final section. On "Succor" both Louie and Joe bend their notes together in similar-sounding ways, taking their time to let things unfold slowly, yet assuredly. "Rejuvenation" brings this disc to fine conclusion with a restrained beginning that soars higher as it unfolds. This superb trio sounds as if they are thinking as one, with their notes weaving together in a dynamic tapestry of inter-connection. Like leaves sailing on the wind in the fall, all of their notes glide together and fall naturally to Mother Earth around our feet. Amen, to all fellow travelers. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $12

HAR-YOU PERCUSSION GROUP - Sounds of the Ghetto Youth (ESP Disk 1067; USA) This Latin soul group, led by master conga player part of the Harlem Youth program of the '60s, is a fantastic mix of funky bass, heavy drums, burning horn lines, and soulful vocals. Quite simply one of the great Latin jazz releases of all time, this disc includes the monster tracks Welcome to the Party, Feed Me Good, and Oua-Train. stands as a testament to how exciting and profound music education can be for kids ... Latin, Cuban, jazz, and blues influences combine to create their boogie-down melting pot of rhythm that keeps the feet moving.
CD $12

PATTY WATERS - Patty Waters Sings (ESP Disk 1025; USA) Her legendary 1965 debut on ESP. Featuring Patty waters on vocals, Burton Greene on piano, Steve Tintweiss on bass and Tom Price on drumbeautiful recording established the singer & composer as a vocal innovator who would later influence shy, riveting performer made two albums for ESP before retiring to raise her son. Essential listening for all aspiring singers.
"An album that could have just as well been titled 'The Two Sides of Patty Waters', divided between seven short, almost minimal, whispery piano ballads and the 13-minute outburst of "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," in which Waters unveils her arsenal of vocal improvisations. Building from haunting, barely audible moans to angst-ridden bleats, it is the performance that established her as a vocal innovator, albeit one that was too edgy for most listeners." - Richie Unterberger, AMG
CD $12

DON CHERRY QUINTET With GATO BARBIERI/BO STIEFF/KARL BERGER/ALDO ROMANO - Vol 3: Live at Cafe Montmartre 1966 (ESP Disk 4051; USA) The individuality of Cherry's contribution to the history of jazz has often been unfairly obscured by his admittedly important association with the music of Ornette Coleman. While the (pocket) trumpeter's position as Coleman's front line partner in the altoist's first revolutionary quartet was indeed a major one, Cherry's role as one of the founders of the genre that is known today as "world music" is equally significant." - Russ Musto
CD $12

also available..

DON CHERRY QUINTET With GATO BARBIERI/BO STIEFF/KARL BERGER/ALDO ROMANO - Vol 2: Live at Cafe Montmartre 1966 (ESP Disk 4043; USA) Another amazing previously unreleased live session. Featuring Don Cherry on cornet, Gato Barbieri on tenor sax, Karl Berger on vibes, Bo Stieff on bass and Aldo Romano on drums.
CD $12

DON CHERRY QUINTET With GATO BARBIERI/BO STIEFF/KARL BERGER/ALDO ROMANO - Vol 1: Live at Cafe Montmartre 1966 (ESP Disk 4032; USA) Don Cherry (trumpet); Gato Barbieri (tenor saxophone); Bo Stief (bass); Karl Berger (vibraphone); Aldo Romano (drums). Live performance from the legendary Cafe Montmartre. This performance appears to be the March 16th 1966 show previously issued in significantly lesser sound quality on the German quasi-legit Magnetic label as "Montmartre 1966 - Vol 1"[their vol 2 was the same group from March 31st 1966]; too bad this new edition does not give proper identification of dates.
"Don Cherry, more than any other artist in the jazz of his era, pioneered the music's internationalist nature that has now come to be commonly accepted as an integral part of its character. The individuality of Cherry's contribution to the history of jazz has often been unfairly obscured by his admittedly important association with the music of Ornette Coleman. While the (pocket) trumpeter's position as Coleman's front line partner in the altoist's first revolutionary quartet was indeed a major one, Cherry's role as one of the founders of the genre that is known today as 'world music' is equally significant." - Russ Musto
CD $15


ALAN WILKINSON/JOHN EDWARDS/STEVE NOBLE - Live At Cafe Oto (Bo Weavil 33; UK) Bo' Weavil Recordings presents a live recording of UK free jazz trio Alan Wilkinson (baritone & alto sax, voice), John Edwards (bass), and Steve Noble (drums/percussion). Let's face it, the recording, the thing (CD, vinyl, iPod), is a convenient form of storing and a flawed attempt at revisiting the ecstasy of the live experience. Live music is at the heart of civilization and culture. Live music is real music -- the recording is simply the run-out groove of time, a means to try and capture the experience. This trio is defined by live performance. The relationship between them, fused into an innate musical understanding through constant exposure to one another in the fiery amphitheater of improvisation, driven by their individuality, bursts into fissive conflagration in live performance. Resourcefully, remorselessly, inventive; muscular and graceful as the needs be -- as the moment requires -- they are live, alive, life. You can't possibly experience this group in all their live magnificence on this wonderful recording, made at Cafe Oto in London's Dalston in the summer of 2008. But what you do have is a document, an authentification if you like, of these three consummate musicians live. This is what it's like; all you have to do is close your eyes, spin the volume dial clockwise, conjure up what you would imagine to be Cafe Oto in your mind's eye and revisit the ecstasy of the live experience.
CD $17

also, still available..

ALAN WILKINSON/JOHN EDWARDS/STEVE NOBLE - Obliquity (Bo Weavil 23; UK) "Obliquity is a free jazz record, if you'll forgive the use of such a hoary, old fashioned phrase. Its scorching, heads-down momentum, rhythm and drive places it in direct line of descent from the fierce originators of the genre: Ayler, Sanders, Graves, Frank Wright. It also swings. At times it dances. Obliquity is a free jazz record through the prism of the improvisational movement in Europe, though. This is no attempt at polite revivalism or looking back/up to the 1960s. Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble are producing new, vital music of and for now. John Edwards pins down the trio with precision and energy -- his tremendous internal rhythm on display to full effect throughout. Alan Wilkinson is a ferocious improviser, probably best known for membership of the demon Hession/Wilkinson/Fell trio. Obliquity features full-spectrum Wilkinson: flatouttakenoprisoners saxophonication, squeals, coughs, sustained improvisational experimentation and east London tribal chanting. Steve Noble is an upright drummer with a surgeon's accuracy, his crisp percussion work has accompanied dancers, funksters, poets and tuba players. But he's not played better than here: great power, allied to grace, a subtle touch and solid time -- the drumming drives the music on to real heights."
CD $17


MATT LAVELLE And MORCILLA With FRANCOIS GRILLOT - The Manifestation Drama (KMBjazz 18; USA) Featuring Matt Lavelle - trumpet, flugelhorn, bass clarinet & compositions, Andre Martinez - congas & cover paintings, Francois Grillot on bass and Chris Forbes on piano. Thanks to local photographer John Rogers, who took the pics here (www.myspace.com/crayonensemble), for introducing Matt to Ornette Coleman. Ornette has become a teacher and inspiration to Matt, the evidence is in the grooves. No doubt you know downtown bassist, Francois Grillot, from his work with Steve Swell, Marc Edwards and Michael Marcus. Both Francois and percussionist, Andre Martinez are members of the great Earth People ensemble. Pianist Chris Forbes also runs with the same crowd, has worked with Daniel Carter and other downtowners.
Morcilla is a blood sausage which sounds fine if you are not a vegetarian. Their music is something else quite as fascinating to listen to. "god love sex" opens with a wonderful slow-burning quartet - bass clarinet, piano, acoustic bass and congas. Matt keeps getting better on bass clarinet as he reaches deeper into his soul to expose the muse within. After Matt's thoughtful solo, Chris takes off on the piano for the stratosphere with some inspired and intense free runs. Next Matt picks up the trumpet and explores the outer regions while the trio spins quickly underneath. "Synesthesia" begins with some exquisite, swirling piano and somber, lyrical bass clarinet. This followed by a short, lovely muted trumpet and conga duo that feels just right and is called "The Eternity Tree". The title track also simmers slowly with some haunting bass clarinet by Matt over some suspense-filled bowed bass and delicate piano and percussion. Completely sublime and quite lovely. "The Living Desire" has a most memorable, McCoyish melody played by Matt on bass clarinet and it had he humming along immediately. Chris Forbes' piano solo is just amazing on this fine piece as well. "OC DC BC" has a great, dark and repeating bass line with some inspired a great trumpet solo from Matt. As Matt Lavelle continues to mature as a musician and composer, his discs also get better and better. 'The Manifestation Drama' is filled with beauty, restraint and collective creativity. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $12


DANIEL KELLY - Portal (3x9 Records 265; USA) There seems to be a growing number of gifted pianists emerging form the busy downtown scene over the past few years. The list just keeps on growing: Kris Davis, Jacob Sachs, Chris Forbes, Matt Mitchell, David Bryant... and of course, Daniel Kelly. Daniel's new disc, 'Portal' is an inspired solo piano effort, a 17-part suite of improvised sections that flow superbly and cover a great deal of terrain. Recently I've been watching a compilation of early silent films called 'Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film 1900-1934'. Newly recorded soundtracks of solo piano accompany these films which sometimes work and sometimes not. I found that Daniel Kelly's solo piano excursions to work with these images much better since his playing feels more story-like. Most of his pieces are fairly short (under four minutes) and each one develops another (related) theme. On "Wrestling the Tiger" there are a few different intense lines that shift around one another in a most impressive way. I dig the way "Descending with Spirals" starts with some scary spirals but then slowly descends into slower, sparser and more brooding section, eventually building intensity as the tempo increases. Although this entire work is improvised it often sounds as if many of the themes were pre-planned. Overall I was most impressed with the wide range of feelings, textures, intersecting lines and ideas that emerge throughout this wonderful disc. Solo piano discs are always hard work and reveal the worth and depth of the musician at hand. I found this disc to be immensely rewarding on a variety of levels. Daniel Kelly will be celebrating the release of this gem with a solo piano set at The Stone on Sunday, March 15th at 8pm. Those in the know should be in attendance. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $10


SOURCE RECORDS [V.A. With ROBERT ASHLEY/DAVID BEHRMAN/ALVIN LUCIER et al] - Source: Music of the Avant Garde 1968-1971 Vols 1-6 [3 CD set] (Pogus 21050; USA) Featuring works by Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Allan Bryant, Alvin Lucier, Larry Austin, Annea Lockwood and more. Pogus is extremely proud to reissue the recordings included in the seminal new music journal, Source: Music of the Avant Garde, Vols. 1-6, Issues 1-11, Source Records 1-6, 1967-1973. The original six ten-inch LP Source Records contained some of the most important experimental music of the nineteen-sixties to mid nineteen-seventies and they have now been reissued as a 3 CD set. Source ended publication in 1973, having published, since 1967, contemporary musical materials, scores, articles, interviews, photo essays and recordings over seven years, with up to 2000 subscribers to the semiannual journal: the subscribers avidly anticipated receiving two new and critically acclaimed issues each year during that period.
Most of the original tape masters for the records, after over forty years, have vanished or have seriously deteriorated; hence, we have carefully transferred, noise-reduced, and crackle-removed all the actual LP record tracks to the digital medium, then mastered to the compact disc format for this reissue: the result is an authentic recreation of the original LP, characteristic sound.
CD One - VOLS 1 and 2: Robert Ashley 'The Wolfman'; David Behrman 'Wave Train'; Larry Austin 'Accidents'; Allan Bryant 'Pitch Out'
CD Two - VOLS 3 and 4 : Alvin Lucier 'I am sitting in a room'; Arthur Woodbury 'Velox'; Mark Riener 'Phlegethon'; Larry Austin 'Caritas; Stanley Lunetta 'moosack machine'
CD Three - VOLS 5 and 6: Lowell Cross 'Video II (B)/(C)/(L)'; Arrigo Lora-Totino 'english phonemes'; Alvin Curran 'Magic Carpet'; Annea Lockwood 'Tiger Balm'
"The enclosed booklet contains information on each of the twelve composers with notes about each of the pieces included in the box. I found much of this music to be extremely challenging and occasionally difficult to reckon with. Sitting at my computer at home and listening closely and patiently, I was greatly rewarded by the often fascinating and sometimes harrowing sounds. Larry Austin's "Accidents" is for electronically prepared piano & ring modulator with various manipulated visual projections involved. Although the piece is based on "accidents" (notes at the piano are depressed silently, the sounds occur only by accident), it does sound more deliberate or focused. Allan Bryant played unconventional guitar with Musica Elettronica Viva, legendary new music/noise/improv ensemble based in Rome in the sixties with Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Curran & Richard Teitlebaum. Mr. Bryant's piece "Pitch Out" is performed by four musicians playing an eight (mandolin) stringed instrument mounted on a board, played in surround sound. No doubt this music predates the multiple string weirdness of Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham and Sonic Youth. The textures of the many rubbed and plucked strings is both fascinating and alien-sounding. Since all of these pieces were recorded between 1968 and 1971, electronic processing and synthesizers involved give this a somewhat ancient (dated) quality. Rather than limiting the sonic textures, it helped to focus the creativity in other ways. I found all of the pieces here to be interesting in one way or another, the explanations of the pieces to be informative but not always necessary to understanding the sounds. Some of the pieces were completely enchanting like Larry Austin's "Caritas," Stanley Lunetta's "moosack machine" and Alvin Curran's "Magic Carpet". The 'Source Records' collections show that challenging music from more than forty years ago still rings true today." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
3 CD set for $40


JOHN CAGE/YVAR MIKHASHOFF - Vol. 41: Cage Performs Cage - Empty Words With Music For Piano/One7 (mode 200; USA) Mode celebrates its 200th release with a special installment in its 'John Cage Edition' - works performed by John Cage himself, released for the first time. These recordings were made in Buffalo, New York in April 1991. Cage and Mode Records were in Buffalo to work on the premiere of his 'Europera 5', which he wrote for Yvar Mikhashoff, a longtime collaborator and specialist in New Music. Cage and Mikhashoff had performed this special duet of 'Empty Words' simultaneous with 'Music for Piano' in concert several times, and decided to make this recording, without an audience, especially for Mode.
CD $15

PETER ABLINGER - 33-127 for electric guitar and CD (Mode 206; USA) From orchestral works to installations, Peter Ablinger's oeuvre explores the differences between reality and our perception of reality. In '33-127' for electric guitar and CD, Ablinger confronts the rational, human division of sound into musical scales with the complex acoustical reality of any given moment - its "noise." In each of the 95 pieces that make up 33-127, these two realities come face to face again and again. In each piece, a scale descends, with gentle and unpredictable irregularities of both rhythm and pitch, from the top of the electric guitar's range to the bottom. The sound of the instrument is clean, clear, and precise. At some point in each of these tranquil, neutral scales - all but one of them, anyway - a cacophony of recorded street noise bursts in, which the guitar, now louder and rougher in tone, doubles, playing an orchestrated spectral analysis.
CD $15


HERVE BOGHOSSIAN/JOHN TILBURY/MARK WASTELL - Archi.Texture Vol.1 (Cathnor 01; UK) Featuring Herve Boghossion on digital treatments, John Tilbury on piano and Mark Wastell on cello.These two duos and a trio were recorded in April and May of 2005 and have had only minimal distribution. All three pieces were composed by Mr. Boghossian, who I hadn't heard of before this disc. Mr. Tilbury is well known for his work with AMM as well as being a well-regarded interpreter of the music of Morton Feldman, John Cage and Cornelius Cardew. Mark Wastell was/is one of most imaginative cellists and improvisers around but has moved beyond just playing the cello in recent years and into manipulating a variety of instruments and sounds. He used to play in IST and has collaborated with a number of Erstwhile-based players too many to mention here. Each piece is about 20 minutes in length and each piece is a separate composition. The first piece is for piano with digital treatments. The piano is rumbling slowly in the deep, dark end resonating as if it was submerged in molasses. The resonating tones sound like a hazy drone washing over us. The haze of the drone gets more dense as it evolves like driving in a fog and not knowing where you are going. Sometimes the suspense is too much, like drowning in quicksand. The second piece is for cello with treatments and again the cello becomes an eerie haze of multiple droning lines. Whereas the low-end drone of the rumbling piano has a center dark effect, the high-end drone of the bowed strings brings us closer to the light. What this most reminds me of is the way Soft Machine layered various loops on 'Third' into a dense mass of mesmerizing swirls. The high pitches are almost too much at times like being inside a swarm of buzzing bees. The third and last piece combines both the extremes of the piano and the cello. Although the low end and high end frequencies are so far apart, the cosmic drone in the middle is similar, so that the two waves simmer together and become one shimmering buzz. Like the sound of breathing, there is something lifelike and captivating about this piece. The elongated drones are slowly shifting in texture and often sound electronically based. For those still fascinated by tape pieces like Steve Reich's "Come Out", this is an equally worthy work. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $12


HENRI POUSSEUR//DOMINQUE LOHLE & GUY MARC HINANT, dirs. - Hommage Au Sauvage: A Portrait Of Henri Pousseur [DVD] (Sub Rosa OME 66; Belgium) Sub Rosa re-releases the 2005 documentary of Belgian theoretician and experimental/avant-garde composer, Henri Pousseur. Over 15 years ago, the Basel-based Fondation Paul Sacher, which preserves archives related to 20th century music, sent its best expert, musicologist Dr. Albi Rosenthal, to Henri Pousseur's home. Upon finding out the scope of documents Pousseur had kept, the musical antiquarian's eyes widened. Now, Pousseur's past, present and future archives can be found at the Foundation: magnetic tapes, scores, correspondence, etc., along with his most complex research work, his most obscure sound materials, and his most random memos. This documentary film is part of that archival body, in the form of a "road movie," if you will. Henri leads a convoy en route to Basel. For hours on end, the footage conjures up far-away and ancient places, but we know nothing of the moment, the location, or the context of their emergence. The enclosed and moving space of the car is the only thing you can hold on to or believe in. On the way back, after sitting in the car for hours, the setting sun illuminates Pousseur's face. He remembers his first glimpse of Mount Fuji and carefully shows the viewer where he was sitting on the Tokyo-Kyoto train, years ago: "Right there, like that. My wife was there and I was there." Through the window, he shows us where Mount Fuji stood. And suddenly, we can see it too, silhouetted on the horizon. Thanks to what happens off-camera, the filmed reminiscence turns into Presence. As we capture the tale of this vision, we can see what Pousseur sees. And yet, beyond that, and that light: nothing. This is a powerful documentary, which manages to change sensations simply by recording a living, direct, and unpredictable narration. It is also Henri's last voyage. Directed by Dominique Lohle and Guy Marc Hinant. 52 minutes; double-sided DVD in both NTSC & PAL formats, region-free; in French with English subtitles
DVD $19

DAVID TOOP//GUY MARC HINANT & DOMINQUE LOHLE, dirs. - I Never Promised You A Rose Garden: A Portrait Of David Toop Through His Records Collection [DVD] (Sub Rosa OME 10; Belgium) In his home in the northern part of London, David Toop plays us records for several days and asks: does music have any limits? Is the collective vomiting of Amazonian shamans on a vision quest music, or not? What about the funeral dirges of the Potu people? How did New Orleans jazz-bassist John Levy's recordings radically change our perceptions? How did improvised music and electronica redefine some secular frontiers? What influence did solitary rockabilly singer Hasil Adkins have on Finnish electronic group Panasonic? Sub Rosa presents a 90-minute film of these questions and more in a 96-minute film, directed by Guy-Marc Hinant and Dominique Lohle. However, this film is not only about music, it is about speech patterns, and the moments where speech progresses towards exhaustion, where at any moment, words are lost, the body's limits take hold, and the film is over. Toop's record collection is endless, but after a while, the man gets tired, as if envisioning himself commenting on tens of thousands of records, one by one. Could that be done? At one point, the tone switches from the desire to continue to the desire to see it all stop. A type of despondency and hidden sadness is revealed. 96 minutes; double-sided DVD in both NTSC & PAL formats; region-free; in English with French subtitles.
DVD $19

MUSIC IN THE MARGIN: WILD CLASSICAL MUSIC ENSEMBLE - Wild Classical Music Ensemble (Sub Rosa 274; Belgium) This is the fourth volume in Sub Rosa's Musics in the Margin series. Faithful to their concept, Sub Rosa searches out self-taught musicians -- people who make contemporary music outside the customary production and distribution channels, with the determination and creative gifts that stem from unmistakable artistic talent. Some of these musicians operate in mental or social isolation and make their music in special workshops, while others can be classified as spiritualist or visionary artists. This particular relationship with the creative process is a fundamental characteristic of outsider art. Sound is an energy, a power. The ability to handle that power is perhaps what so many musicians, artists and writers lack -- they are too referential, have no universe of their own, are pushing to get their particular insights recognized (through art-historical criteria). Whereas here, everything is marked by the spirit of a chaotic intelligence. Four mentally-challenged musicians, Johan, Linh, Kim and Rudy jam together with their artistic mentor and drummer, Damien -- there are drums, trumpets, violins, melodica, samplers and an electric guitar. Concentration, suspense, beads of sweat, a sigh, a cough, and then -- the scream. For over 40 minutes, they pour a sauce of punk, rock, noise and free music all over the audience. There's no beat, no biz, no schmalzy popular songs here. This music is neither contemporary, nor popular. It can't be labelled as subversive outsider nor as avant-garde. This music is the fantasy and emotion of five musicians, directly translated into sound and color. Their exploration of their musical instruments and the way they deal with sounds is inspiring and contains a hidden structure -- a new rhythm. It is just a simple must to encounter this group.
CD $15


ROGER KLEIER With ANNIE GOSFIELD/JOAN JEANRENAUD - The Night Has Many Hours (Innova 685; USA) "Featuring Roger Kleier on all guitars & other instruments except for Joan Jeanrenaud on cello and Annie Gosfield on organ. This disc is the third and final part of a trilogy of discs that downtown guitarist and composer Roger Kleier has ben working on a number of years. The first part/disc was called 'KlangenBang' in Rift Records and the second part was called "Deep Night, Deep Autumn' on Starkland. Mr. Kleier sees his guitar as a character in an ongoing series of novels for each of these releases. The title track is first and features a collage of dark guitar sounds, humming, shimmering, sizzling, mysterious and rather mesmerizing. Former Kronos Quartet cellist Joan Jeanrenaud is featured on (the three parts of) "What is the Price of Iron?" This piece blends hypnotic layers of cello with manipulated guitar fragments. The combination of the two forces fits perfectly and I found this piece to be quite breathtaking. Joan takes a powerful, haunting solo on the second part while Roger creates some ominous industrial beats underneath. I love the way Roger overdubs various layers of cellos on the third part, weaving a web of strings that is rather gripping. Annie Gosfield, downtown composer and keyboard player in her own right, plays on organ on "Knuckleduster" and both she and Roger weave another web of weirdness that is completely transfixing. Although Roger's electric guitar(s) is/are featured as the main source of sounds here, it is often difficult to find any recognizable guitar sounds. Not that it matters since the music or overall blend of sounds is so fascinating and engaging throughout. What amazes me is when someone creates an entirely new world of sounds from the usual instruments that so many musicians utilize time and again, the results are devastating yet somehow recognizable. A masterpiece from another planet." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $14


MICHELE EDELIN TRIO + STEVE LEHMAN - Kuntu (RogueArt 19; EEC) Featuring Michel Edelin on flute, alto flute, bass flute & all but one compositions, Jean-Jacques Avenel on double bass and John Betsch on drums plus special guest Steve Lehman on alto sax. Considering that I wasn't familiar with French flutist Michel Edelin before this disc, I was surprised at how extraordinary this disc is. It turns out that Mr. Edelin has worked with a variety of fine musicians like Byard Lancaster, Phil Minton, Steve Potts and Camel Zerki, plus he has chosen the amazing and final Steve Lacy rhythm team to work with. The CD title, 'Kuntu' comes from the Bantu languages in Africa and refers to the modalities, the acts of creation like laughter, beauty, music, dance and the arts and how they are all inter-related. Right from the opening of "Les Hirondelles", the flute and alto sax frontline sound perfect together as they sail around one another tightly and with with great spirit. The longtime Steve Lacy-rhythm team plays with passion, inventiveness and the constant flow of ideas. Michel's compositions are consistently engaging, his melodies always memorable. More than that, he keeps his trio on their toes by writing pieces that take are challenging to play with difficult twists and turns. Jean-Jacques Avenel is one of the best bassists in Europe and sounds fabulous as he and John Betsch navigate through these challenging tunes. Jean-Jacques' bass spins powerfully and quickly on "Ultravitre" as he and Betsch master the ever-shifting tempo throughout this amazing piece. Still, it is Mr. Edelin's incredible flute solo that is most amazing and impossible to believe. JJ opens "Gout Bulgare" with an outstanding bowed bass solo before Michel's haunting flute solo with John's superb mallet backing. Steve Lehman has become one of downtown's most inventive alto saxists and is a strong addition to this trio. Steve plays on just a few of these pieces, but is well utilized nonetheless. "Tout Simplement" starts with one of those demanding themes that Steve always excels at, the quartet seems to play through this with ease. I dig the way the sax and flute navigate these complex lines and swirl intricately around one another. Steve's slurred-note solo is so good that it is hard to believe. The tune itself has a rather quirky Dolphy-like construction. Another thing that makes this disc so good is the way that it is recorded. The balance and sound of each instrument is phenomenal throughout. If it were not for the fact that Rogue Art just released another fabulous flute CD by the Indigo Trio with Nicole Mitchell, I would say that Michel Edelin's 'Kuntu' disc is the best modern jazz flute disc of the year. So that makes two outstanding flute releases at the same time! Will wonders never cease?!? We certainly hope not. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $16


NANA APRIL JUN [CHRISTOFER LUMGREN] - The Ontology Of Noise (Touch TONE 37; UK) Nana April Jun is an alias of Christofer Lumgren, a visual artist, composer and art magazine editor/curator (YKKY) based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and this is his debut full-length release. The Ontology Of Noise researches the dark associations of post-black metal. No traditional instruments are used on the album and all techniques are digital in their application. There are almost no arrangements or layers, but the pieces consist of single streams which change intuitively. This makes The Ontology Of Noise a concrete journey through an abstract language evolving around light and darkness, nature and artificiality, and sometimes even takes the form of a sound very similar to an electric guitar. The Ontology Of Noise explores the filmic qualities of noise -- the image-creating mechanisms that arise almost hallucinogenically from subtle variations of frequencies. By using a special set of digital mastering and filtering techniques, the recordings often sound very much like the sounds of nature; wind in trees and water. The Ontology Of Noise opens up an audial perception for these sounds of nature and asks questions about their ontology. Fans of Burzum's Filosofem take note.
CD $16


MERZBOW [MASAMI AKITA] - Suzume: 13 Japanese Birds Pt. 1 (Important 230; USA) On the flagship release to his 13 month/13 cd series Masami Akita, herein known as Merzbow, returns to his drumset to accompany his complex analogue noise. His prowess as a drummer rivals his abilities as a noise artist making this an essential and exciting entry into the Merzbow cannon.
CD $14


SCHISTOSOMA JAPONICA - Kankei UFO from Zanryu-shimen (PSF 183; Japan) "Volume 3 in the ongoing Japanese Avant-Garde Cassette Reissue Series. The '80s and early '90s saw a great deal of fascinating and exciting material released on cassette in the Tokyo underground. While some of the more noise-oriented stuff enjoyed a modicum of international distribution, the avant-garde material generally did not. This series, whose first release was Iro / Tamafuri (PSFD-180), aims to rescue the best of this material from historical oblivion. Schitosoma Japonica (AKA Nihon Juketsu Kyuchu) were a cracked avant-garde, recording-only offshoot of the freeform rock band Amanita. Formed around 1990, the group lived a communal existence in Saitama, on the northern borders of Tokyo, experimenting with music, magic and psychological experiments. 'Our basic performance style was completely freeform, utilizing prepared instruments and rejecting regular rhythms and melodic development. Our abiding themes were communication with the afterlife/cosmos and the manifestation of paranormal accidents. We would jam endlessly until our performance space was filled with the 'signs of blood and feverish becomings'. For us, performance was a kind of ritual.' The group released a clutch of barely distributed cassettes in tiny editions. This CD compiles the best of them, sifting through the detritus of a technological society to float between noise, drone and ritualized avant-garde gestures. Eight tracks, fifty-four minutes. Liner notes in English and Japanese." -- Alan Cummings
CD $20

TOUKASEIBUNSHI - Meta-Inorganicmatter Meta-Newlon (PSF 182; Japan) "Volume 2 in the ongoing Japanese Avant-Garde Cassette Reissue Series. The 80s and early 90s saw a great deal of fascinating material released on cassette in the Tokyo underground. While some of the more noise-orientated stuff enjoyed a modicum of international distribution, the avant-garde material generally did not. This series, whose first release was Iro / Tamafuri (PSFD-180), aims to rescue the best of this music from historical oblivion. Toukaseibunshi (Permeable Molecule) was an ultra-mysterious solo unit created by Hironari Iwata. Iwata was a footnote figure in the world of Japanese avant-garde/noise from the mid to late eighties. As well as Toukaseibunshi, he also recorded under the name Haiginsha, ran the Angakok cassette label and wrote for various magazines. There's an unshowy stoicism to Iwata's investigation of drone, clank and crackling sustain, a deep seriousness of purpose that beguiles as much as it confounds. Six tracks, fifty-eight minutes. Gatefold papersleeve." -- Alan Cummings
CD $20

IRO - Tamafuri (PSF 180; Japan) "Volume 1 in the ongoing Japanese Avant-Garde Cassette Reissue SeriesAn ultra mysterious blast from the deepest underground! Iro were (and still are) a little-known shamanic improvisation unit, consisting of Kawasaki-based husband and wife Shizuko and Toshio Orimo. Formed in 1981, they released a number of cassette-only albums during the '80s. Deeply suspicious of the merest whiff of commercialism, they never took the opportunities for greater fame -- in spite of some substantial media coverage in Japan at the time. The duo still perform today, in a more ethnic, esoteric ritual mode. Tamafuri was originally released on cassette on their own Shaman Label in 1985. It's a fantastically charged blend of ultra-propulsive ethnic drone, free jazz drumming with harsh noise textures and intense, almost possessed vocal incantations from Shizuko. As Takeo Udagawa puts it, 'their high-energy improvisations feel intensely dangerous, like a nuclear reactor-core going into meltdown, throwing out waves of radiation and intense heat.' A must for any true believer in the power of wailing blurt -- from Keiji Haino, to LAFMS, to Takayanagi. Comes with great contextual liner notes (in Japanese and English) by fringe music researcher Takeo Udagawa. And, yes, Shizuko and Toshio are indeed the parents of young shakuhachi sensation, Sabu Orimo." -- Alan Cummings.
CD $20


We advertised these two a while before in error - they are finally released and in stock:

OBSCURE TAPE MUSIC: TOSHI ICHIYANAGI + YOJI KURI - Vol. 9: Drip Music [aka Synthesized Piano Space] (Omega Point 09; Japan) This is volume 9 in Omega Point's Obscure Tape Music of Japan series. Yoji Kuri is one of the foremost and highly-regarded experimental animation artists in Japan, active since the early '60s. His name is well-known not only for his many works of "black humor" throughout the '60s and 70's, but also for the soundtracks to his materials, composed by avant-garde composers. Originally titled Synthesized Piano Space, it has been renamed Drip Music for this release. This new edition is combined with Toshi Ichiyanagi's unpublished tape work from 1974 (lost at Kuri's studio for the past 30 years) with some of Kuri's newly-written, fantastic manga work inspired by the sound. Contains newly-written liner notes in Japanese and English, housed in a specially-designed cardboard paper sleeve in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.
CD $31

EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC OF JAPAN: TOSHI ICHIYANAGI/AKIKO SAMUKAWA/TOMOMI ADACHI - Live Document "Hommage For Space" (Omega Point; Japan) The first release in Omega Point's series, Experimental Music of Japan. This is the live recording of the music performance held at the installation exhibition of Chiharu Shiota in the gallery of Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in Yokohama, Japan in October 2007. The performance was defined as "art complex" by Toshi Ichiyanagi from a musical standpoint, and the content consists of live computer improvisation as well as some acoustic, programmed pieces performed on piano by Akiko Samukawa, Toshi Ichiyanagi, and computer electronics by Tomomi Adachi to create the interpenetration of temporal and spacial situation in the gallery space. Housed in a specially-designed cardboard paper gatefold sleeve, including newly-written liner notes in Japanese & English by Toshi Ichiyanagi himself, as well as many photographs of the exhibition and performance. Limited edition of 1,000 copies.
CD $24



TOM JAMES SCOTT - School And Rivers (Bo Weavil 32; UK) This is the second full-length release by UK-based Tom James Scott for Bo'Weavil. School And Rivers is a selection of five new slices of minimal guitar compositions. These are varied pieces that were written immediately after the release of 'Red Deer', to those that came about just before recording began in March of 2008. David Aird's tuba playing on the title track and "Seabird" provides a necessary weight, pulling at the high notes of the guitar that hang in mid-air, with droning, near-dissonant tones in the more fluid sections. Tom has an interest in melodies that drift in and out of focus, moving between abstract and more concrete forms, leaving pockets of silence where the listener can escape. The pieces on this recording remain quite static, following slight variations through time. Not to be mistaken as coming from the tradition of Fahey et al., Tom's cues are from a far more diverse palette, modern composition, piano contemplations, ethnic/folk recordings and the wealth of improvisation are but a few.
CD $17

also, still available..

TOM JAMES SCOTT - Red Deer (Bo Weavil 26; UK) Debut solo recording by Tom James Scott, a young classically-trained guitarist, and a mainstay of the improvising collective, CYRK. Tom's influences stretch far and wide, touching upon aspects of traditional music, improvisation, vocal music (solo and choral), composition, and field recording, to name but a few. These 5 slices of acoustic alchemy are well-formed compositions for acoustic guitar, where the wealth of folk guitar has been distilled through a minimalist mindset to create some of the most beautiful elemental melodic lines that take the listener on a journey of meditative contemplation. Hard card mini-gatefold sleeve limited to 500 copies.
CD $17


IAN ANDERSON'S COUNTRY BLUES BAND - Stereo Death Breakdown (Fledg'ling 3073; UK) Fledg'ling Records reissues Stereo Death Breakdown by Ian Anderson's Country Blues Band, a lost gem of the British blues scene of the 1960s -- remastered from the original tapes, including two contemporary bonus tracks. At the height of the British blues boom in the late 1960s, a handful of musicians came to prominence reinterpreting the acoustic country blues of the 1920s and 1930s. Championed by Radio 1 DJs John Peel, Mike Raven and Alexis Korner, and the music press of the day like Melody Maker, the emerging stars of this mini-movement were soon snapped up by major labels. So in the winter of 1968/1969, UK musician Ian Anderson assembled a lively country blues band for his debut album Stereo Death Breakdown, gigging exhaustively alongside household name electric bands and visiting American blues legends like Mississippi Fred McDowell. Influenced by ancient 78rpm recordings of early American country blues artists like Big Joe Williams, Charley Patton, Sleepy John Estes, Tommy McClennan, Garfield Akers, Tommy Johnson and the Memphis Jug Band, and inspired to perform live by contemporary heroes like Spider John Koerner, the teenage Ian Anderson had founded the first specialist country blues club in the UK -- Bristol's Folk Blues Bristol & West. Out of this club came an English country blues compilation album Blues Like Showers Of Rain, the spark which ignited the boom by propelling artists like Jo Ann Kelly, Mike Cooper and Ian onto the nation's airwaves. Originally picked up by then fast-rising hip independent Island Records (signed by legendary head of A&R Guy Stevens), Ian Anderson's Country Blues Band's Stereo Death Breakdown had to be moved sideways at the 11th hour for release by Liberty/United Artists after pressure from a rock band on the label led by a musician of the same name. In later years -- with original Liberty vinyl copies selling for over 100 Pounds apiece -- the master tapes of Stereo Death Breakdown were thought to be lost forever, but recent detective work by Fledg'ling Records unearthed them in the vault where they'd been carefully stored. So here, remastered from those original tapes, with two extra tracks from a contemporary session and new notes by Ian, is a long-lost British blues collectors' piece, finally re-issued just in time for its 40th anniversary.
CD $17



Trevor Watt's amazing AMALGAM recordings restocked!

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS/KEITH ROWE/LIAM GENOCKEY et al] - Wipeout [3 CD Box Set] (FMR 111; UK) FINALLY OUT [6/07]! Trevor Watts (alto & soprano saxes), Keith Rowe (guitars), Liam Genockey (drums) plus Colin McKenzie (bass) or George Lyle (bass). Another important first-time-on-CD release for Trevor Watts' Amalgam. This excellent 3CD box set was originally released on Impetus in the early eighties. The three discs feature live recordings of twelve original Amalgam performances and features excellent guitar improviser Keith Rowe and regular drummer Liam Genockey, plus the electric bass work of Colin MacKenzie and George Lyle. [Note: This had to be transferred and mastered from vinyl as master tapes were lost]
This has to be one of the strangest and most incongruent bands that emerged from the British free/jazz scene that began in the mid-sixties. Trevor Watts started out with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, an influential group that he founded with John Stevens that developed their approach to "free music". In the seventies, Trevor put together Amalgam, another highly influential band that combined the best elements of that era: jazz, rock, fusion and freedom in their own unique and often rhythmic way. For this version of Amalgam, AMM's guitar-on-table sonic explorer, Keith Rowe, was asked to play in a more rhythm-oriented way. According to a discussion I had with Mr. Rowe last year, he claimed that he went out and bought a solid-body rock guitar solely for this tour and learned some rock guitar riffs. Anyone who is familiar with Keith Rowe's distinctive sonically manipulated sound, will be shocked to hear this triple disc set. The band actually rocks hard and powerfully with Trevor's alto sax wailing on top. Liam Genockey is an amazing drummer who adds passion, fury and rhythmic finesse to this band. He went on to work with Trevor Watts in other bands like the Moire Music Group, as well as in Steeleye Span. While the rhythm team kicks some serious butt, Trevor and Keith, push each other higher and higher, both wailing and bending their notes together into a colossal hurricane. One of the most important, unexpected and joyous releases of the year! - BLG
3 CD set for $45

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS et al] - Another Time (FMR 116; UK) Trevor Watts (alto & soprano saxophones), Steve Hayton (guitar), Pete Cowling (bass guitar), Liam Genockey (drums).
First time outing on CD for this classic Amalgam recording originally released on Berlin's Vinyl Records in 1976. Trevor Watts heads a highly experienced line up which includes Steve Hayton on guitar, the bass guitar of Pete Cowling and the confident drumming of Liam Genockey and features six mostly Watts composed original quartet pieces.
CD $16

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS et al] - Deep (FMR 120; UK) F**king incredible! Featuring Trevor Watts on alto sax, Dave Cole on electric guitar, Harry Miller on contrabass and Liam Genockey on drums. Recorded on November 17th of 1977 at Riverside Studio and without a doubt on the most astonishing dates we've heard in quite a while.
CD $16

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS et al] - Mad (FMR 267; UK) Featuring Trevor Watts on saxes, Willem Kuhne on electric piano, Colin McKenzie on bass and Liam Genockey on drums. Recorded live in 1977. This is the 9th Amalgam disc released on FMR and each one has been a different and distinctive gem. Amalgam was saxist Trevor Watts' ever-evolving band both during and after he left the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Amalgam had first an acoustic period with bassists Jeff Clyne or Barry Guy and guests like Keith Tippett. Their electric period featured the same rhythm team of Colin Mackenzie on electric bass and Liam Genockey on drums with different electric guitarists Dave Cole, Steve Layton and even Keith Rowe from AMM.
'Mad' seems to be the one Amalgam disc with an electric piano, Willem Kuhne, replacing the electric guitar. When Trevor left SME, he moved more into the (cosmic) groove. Hence, the electric version of Amalgam always had a great groove in the center of whatever they did. Although you can tell that this disc was taken from vinyl, the sound is still just right. The rhythm team has a consistent, joyous, somewhat funky vibe which is both in-the-pocket and mutating at the same time. Trevor does a fabulous job of riding the groove and soloing with infectious glee on top. "Jive" is fast and furious tune that approaches that over-the-top fusion intensity level. With the rhythm team slamming hard, Trevor spins cascading lines of notes as if he is running a race or being pursued some monster about to swallow him whole. Mr. Kuhne also takes a smokin' solo, giving Trevor a run for his money, as does bassist Colin Mackenzie. . The second side of the album, consists of the two-part "Berlin Wall" and "Mad". On "Berlin Wall," Trevor almost sounds like a horse as he solos (whinnies) on top of another slower yet still celebratory groove. Drummer, Liam Genockey, was also a member of Trevor's next band, the Moire Music Society which included African musicians as well. Listening to this creative groove wonder, I can hear the connection between Amalgam and MMS. I dig the way the sax and piano are always interconnected, soloing and working their way around one another seamlessly. Amalgam is/are a powerful quartet that must've really been a joy to witness live, too bad we can't just jump into a time machine and check them out live. In the meantime, this disc will have to do. - BLG
CD $16

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS et al] - Samanna (FMR 125; UK) Trevor Watts (Alto and percussion), Dave Cole (guitar), Colin McKenzie (bass guitar), Pete Cowling (bass guitar), Liam Genockey (drums) Continuing FMRs collaboration with Trevor Watts, releasing, for the first time on CD, the British saxophonist, back catalogue.
CD $16

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS/JOHN STEVENS/JEFF CLYNE/BARRY GUY] - Prayer for Peace (FMR 96; UK) Outstanding early studio session from May of 1969 from an all-star SME offshoot trio featuring Trevor Watts on alto sax, John Stevens on drums, Jeff Clyne and Barry Guy (title piece only) on contrabasses. This is an aptly titled work - immensely spiritual, free flowing and sublimely cosmic. Trevor Watts has said of the title track, 'The mood of Prayer for Peace' is a very strong part of my musical personality The theme came to me during an improvisation. Afterwards I rememberedit because the feeling was so beautiful for me I wanted to recreate it, and give the feeling of peace and beauty to others'.The FMR label is becoming more difficult to get and keep in stock, so grab this soon if it tickles your fancy
CD $16

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS/JOHN STEVENS/KEITH TIPPETT/KENT CARTER/LINDSAY L COOPER/TERRI QUAYE] - Innovation (FMR 119; UK) Finally one of the gems of my vinyl collection has been resurrected on CD! An historic meeting between giants Stevens (Spontaneous Music Ensemble), Watts (SME and Moire Music) and Tippett (Ovary Lodge at the time), with four tunes written by John, and one by Trevor which makes especially good use of the two bassists of Kent and Linsay (Mr. Lindsay L Cooper, the bassist, not Ms Lindsay Cooper the composer/double-reed player from Henry Cow). Recorded in late '74 and released on the Tangent [UK] label, this has been an expensive collector's item should you even [rarely] spot it on eBay, GEMM and other sites.
CD $16

AMALGAM [TREVOR WATTS/KEITH ROWE/COLIN McKENZIE/LIAM GENOCKEY] - Over The Rainbow (FMR 132; UK) Featuring Trevor Watts on alto sax, Keith Rowe on guitar, Colin Mackenzie on electric bass and Liam Genockey on drums. Recorded live at Wimbledon November, 1979. Each of the three main ensembles that Trevor Watts played with was very different. He was with Spontaneous Music Ensemble from the mid-sixties to mid-seventies, then there was Amalgam from 1969 through the seventies and later the Moire Music Ensemble. Amalgam was an amazing jazz/rock unit, whose personnel and sounds were constantly evolving. Thanks to the reissue of their triple album, 'Wipeout' last year on FMR, we have finally got a chance to check out the period when AMM guitar-on-table wiz, Keith Rowe, joined the band for about 2 years. Whereas 'Wipeout' featured a good deal of freer, more frenetic playing, recorded on tour in 1979 in various locations, 'Over the Rainbow' was recorded live in one place (Wimbleton) and on one date (11/2/79).
The opening piece, "Wimbleton Music 1," erupts with a tight, powerful, electric jazz/rock groove. It is hard to believe that Keith Rowe, the godfather of the subtle table-top guitar tone, sounds like Robert Fripp wailing with Crimson on this impressive piece. Both Keith and Trevor on alto wail together as their impressive, tight and intense rhythm team provides a perfect balance underneath. Although this music is no doubt improvised, it is more about those great grooves and rockin' riffs that capture the spirit of what some might refer to as "fusion". Except that this fusion deals with none of the cliches (speed and/or grandstanding) that turned much domestic fusion into predictable wanking. This music is a bit rough around the edges and the sound is on the verge of distorting at times, yet the spirit, creativity and passion is just right. It makes perfect sense that the name of this recording is 'Over the Rainbow,' since that is where you supposedly find that pot of gold. So stop searching & go for the gold. - BLG
CD $16



Last copies of these Enja imports
[most are 1 or 2 copies left - don't hesitate]

ELVIN JONES - Live At The Village Vanguard (Enja 2036; Germany) In what was probably the first recording by drummer Elvin Jones' working group (and one of his first after the death of John Coltrane), the focus is very much on tenor saxophonist George Coleman. The trio (which also includes bassist Wilbur Little) stretches out on Coleman's "By George," "Laura" and "You Don't Know What Love Is" and is joined by trumpeter Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson for a 15-minute version of "Mr. Jones." The music is very much in the late-'50s/early-'60s modal vein of Coltrane, and although only the length of an LP (just a touch over 40 minutes), the playing on this CD reissue is excellent and reasonably exploratory. -- Scott Yanow, AMG
CD $16

ELVIN JONES With SONNY FORTUNE/NICHOLAS PAYTON et al - It Don't Mean A Thing (enja 8066; Germany) Elvin Jones dr; Nicholas Payton tp; Sonny Fortune ts, fl; Delfeayo Marsalis tb; Willie Pickens p; Cecil McBee b; Kevin Mahogany voc
CD $13

PRINCE LASHA With HERBIE HANCOCK/CECIL McBEE/JIMMY LOVELACE - Inside Story (Enja 9131; Germany) Recorded in 1965 but rarely available domestically, this obscure set features flutist Prince Lasha in prime form. Assisted by pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jimmy Lovelace, Lasha performs 7- to 9-minute versions of five of his originals. The inside/outside music has its free moments and solidifies the leader's position as one of the best flutists in the avant-garde movement of the period; he also contributes some credible alto. -- Scott Yanow, AMG
CD $13

LUCKY FOUR [DAVID MURRAY/DAVE BURRELL/WILBER MORRIS/VICTOR LEWIS] - Lucky Four (Tutu/Enja 888108; Germany) 'Lucky Four' is a smooth and luscious quartet date with Murray in the company of longtime associate Dave Burrell, bassist Wilber Morris, and drummer Victor Lewis. With the exception of a short piece by his manager Kunle Mwanga, all of the pieces are by either Burrell or Morris, and most of them are gems. Sinuous and bluesy, with a rich interplay of rhythms and melodies, they are the ideal platform for a soloist like Murray: grounded enough to keep him from straying too far but deep enough for him to find plenty of goodies to unearth. Morris' "Chazz," dedicated to Charles Mingus, recalls the master with accuracy and affection, giving Murray a shot to wield his bass clarinet in homage to Dolphy and allowing the composer his own heartfelt homage. The highlight of the session is Burrell's wonderful composition, "Abel's Blissed Out Blues," a piece Murray would record often and an extremely infectious number. It begins with a moody, slow section and launches into an exuberant two-step that catapults Murray skyward with the rhythm section rocking away beneath. Two songs are given the repeat treatment, and they're enjoyable enough to make the exercise worthwhile. The late '80s produced some of Murray's strongest work in the quartet format, and Lucky Four fits in quite comfortably. Recommended. -- Brian Olewnick, AMG
CD $13

ALBERT MANGELSDORFF/LEE KONITZ - Art Of The Duo (Enja 5059; Germany) No one has worked harder to elevate the art of the jazz duo than Lee Konitz. His 1967 session, The Lee Konitz Duets, was a seminal statement. This much-later duet session from '83 with trombone master Albert Mangelsdorff ...[is a statement of a completely different kind]. Konitz has long espoused the belief that horn players can swing without a rhythm section, yet much of the time Mangelsdorff insists on serving as a faux bass -- really, tuba -- player. And when he uses his patented technique of singing into his horn while creating chords, he functions as a very simple guitar player. That said, anything with these two masters on it has its pleasures. Konitz creates tasty lines with souffle-like lightness, and when Mangelsdorff breaks free he provides some gruff, complementary solos. His use of mute on "Creole Love Call" offers a break from the session's monochromaticism. Konitz also brings some fetching originals to the session, notably "A Minor Blues in F" and "Cher Ami," which feature the kind of freewheeling counterpoint that would have been welcomed throughout the '67 Lee Konitz Duets. -- David Dupont, AMG
CD $13

DEWEY REDMAN - Choices (Enja 7073; Germany) This is a curious set for saxophonist Dewey Redman, featuring a killer band that includes bassist Cameron Brown, drummer Leon Parker, and the first appearance of his son, Joshua, on tenor in duet on a couple of tracks. Redman himself is in fine form, playing with all of the deep, steamy lyricism he showcased so brilliantly with Ornette Coleman and in Old and New Dreams, but there is something else too, as evidenced by the track selection, and that is a new reverence for the tradition. Redman was always a melodic player, even in his most fiery avant encounters, but his love for jazz tradition, particularly its formalist considerations, was never really apparent until now. Here Redman selects the nugget "Everything Happens to Me" as the place to showcase his reverential balladic style. Over the course of ten minutes, he allows the hidden blues in the tune to come out and haunt him as he explores each nuance with minimal accompaniment. Also, the Van Heusen nugget "Imagination" is read here with such eloquence, grace, and heartbreaking sensitivity that it's almost a blues. The melodic invention Redman displays here makes this version a contender for being the definitive one. The Eastern edge is here in "O'Besso," with Joshua playing tenor and Dewey playing musette. It begins as a modal Eastern theme onto which the changes are gradually built. The melody seeps out, almost unexpectedly, and becomes a flower of interwoven harmonic figures traded between father and son. There's also plenty of the traditional Redman fire in place too, such as on "Le Clit," the original that was supposed to be recorded for the 1980/1981 sessions he did with Pat Metheny. Whether it was or not is anybody's guess, but it has never surfaced if it was. Here Dewey and Joshua, on alto and tenor, respectively, trade eights in the bridge between their solos and come to grips with a monster of their own creation -- deeply lyric, yes, but also fathomlessly dark and brooding. Finally, Redman's "For Mo" features both men on tenor and it's more of a dovetailing ride than a battle, which is as it should be. The singing goes deep here and Parker and Brown push the pair into corners of rhythmic invention that demand resolution. This is a wonderful and unexpected surprise from Dewey and a welcome entrance onto the scene from Joshua. -- Thom Jurek, AMG
CD $13

MARIA SCHNEIDER JAZZ ORCHESTRA With BEN MONDER/TIM HAGANS/FRANK KIMBROUGH/TONY SCHERR et al - Coming About (Enja 9069; Germany) Composer & arranger Maria Schneider and her 18-piece orchestra perform a variety of advanced and difficult music on this CD. The centerpiece of the set is her three-part "Scenes from Childhood" which deals with fear, confusion and grudging acceptance; do not look here for any childlike melodies or playfulness. In addition the big band plays a reworked version of "Giant Steps," the "Love Theme from Spartacus," the Spanish-flavored "El Viento" (which is slightly reminiscent of Gil Evans's writing for Sketches of Spain) and "Waxwings." There are strong solos from trumpeters Greg Gisbert and Tim Hagans, Rich Perry and Rick Margitza on tenors and baritonist Scott Robinson among others but it is the sound of the full ensemble that is most memorable about this rather heavy and melancholy set. - Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
CD $16

AKI TAKASE/DAVID MURRAY - Blue Monk (Enja 7039; Germany) Great sax/piano duets of of Monk tunes! JAZZ LIFE: One of the 10 best jazz productions in '93!
CD $13

AKI TAKASE/SUNNY MURRAY/REGGIE WORKMAN - Clapping Music (Enja 8090; Germany) Pianist Takase, bassist Workman and drummer Murray unite to perform compositions by Monk and Mingus on this 1993 recording!
CD $16

MAL WALDRON - Black Glory (Enja 2004; Germany) This CD reissues one of the first Enja recordings, a trio outing for pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Jimmy Woode and drummer Pierre Favre. Waldron has continued to evolve through the decades while keeping his basic sound. A master at using repetition and brooding chords, Waldron is in excellent form on five of his originals plus Woode's brief "M.C," playing with a knowledge of the avant-garde but still connected to the hard bop tradition. -- Scott Yanow, AMG
CD $15


MUSIC OF MADAGASCAR [V.A.] - Classic Traditional Recordings of the 1930s (Yazoo 7003; USA) 1995 release. "With all the attention currently being given to the music of Madagascar, this release opens a new window into the subject, offering the earliest recordings (1930s) of this powerful and moving music from this remote and mystical island. Featuring: Hiran'ny Tanoran'ny Ntao Lo, Choeur Malgache, Hirand-d Razafimahefa, Hira Malaza Taloha, Hiran-d Razafimahefa, Mpilalao Malgache." "Possesses a mannered beauty unlike anything else...all the tracks are of comparable splendor... consistently enchanting." --The Beat
CD $16

SECRET MUSEUM OF MANKIND [V.A.] - Central Asia: Ethnic Music Classics 1925-48 (Yazoo 7007; USA) Includes liner notes by Pat Conte.Digitally remastered from original 78s by Richard Nevins.Of all the recent excavation projects inspired by our voracious musical culture, none is more fascinating than Pat Conte's SECRET MUSEUM series for Yazoo. Till now, a Western listener's familiarity with ethnic music from the distant past has depended on unsexy field recordings of relatively recent vintage, produced in a spirit of near-scientific inquiry by anthropologically minded musicologists. When the commercial record business really began to expand in the late '20s however, just about every national style of music was sought out and captured for a growing marketplace. This was true "world music," dressed in its Sunday best perhaps as performed by ambitious locals, but still more vital than the academic, folklorist approach that followed.Just as Harry Smith compiled early commercial blues and country records for his monumentally influential ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC, so Conte has gathered even rarer 78s from all over the globe. Thanks to excellent remastering, we can hear vividly how an ensemble sounded in India or Japan more than a half-century ago or a klezmer orchestra right before the Nazis destroyed that bit of local culture. It's like owning your own time machine.
CD $16

SECRET MUSEUM OF MANKIND [V.A.] - Music Of East Africa: Ethnic Music Classics 1925-48 (Yazoo 7015; USA) Includes liner notes by Pat Conte.Digitally remastered from original 78s by Richard Nevins.Of all the recent excavation projects inspired by our voracious musical culture, none is more fascinating than Pat Conte's SECRET MUSEUM series for Yazoo. Till now, a Western listener's familiarity with ethnic music from the distant past has depended on unsexy field recordings of relatively recent vintage, produced in a spirit of near-scientific inquiry by anthropologically minded musicologists. When the commercial record business really began to expand in the late '20s however, just about every national style of music was sought out and captured for a growing marketplace. This was true "world music," dressed in its Sunday best perhaps as performed by ambitious locals, but still more vital than the academic, folklorist approach that followed.Just as Harry Smith compiled early commercial blues and country records for his monumentally influential ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC, so Conte has gathered even rarer 78s from all over the globe. Thanks to excellent remastering, we can hear vividly how an ensemble sounded in India or Japan more than a half-century ago or a klezmer orchestra right before the Nazis destroyed that bit of local culture. It's like owning your own time machine.
CD $16

SECRET MUSEUM OF MANKIND [V.A.] - Music Of North Africa: Ethnic Music Classics 1925-48 (Yazoo 7011; USA) Includes liner notes by Pat Conte.Digitally remastered from original 78s by Richard Nevins.Of all the recent excavation projects inspired by our voracious musical culture, none is more fascinating than Pat Conte's SECRET MUSEUM series for Yazoo. Till now, a Western listener's familiarity with ethnic music from the distant past has depended on unsexy field recordings of relatively recent vintage, produced in a spirit of near-scientific inquiry by anthropologically minded musicologists. When the commercial record business really began to expand in the late '20s however, just about every national style of music was sought out and captured for a growing marketplace. This was true "world music," dressed in its Sunday best perhaps as performed by ambitious locals, but still more vital than the academic, folklorist approach that followed.Just as Harry Smith compiled early commercial blues and country records for his monumentally influential ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC, so Conte has gathered even rarer 78s from all over the globe. Thanks to excellent remastering, we can hear vividly how an ensemble sounded in India or Japan more than a half-century ago or a klezmer orchestra right before the Nazis destroyed that bit of local culture. It's like owning your own time machine.
CD $16


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