Another Colossal Week of Great Discs!

John Zorn's Love Songs! Wadada Leo Smith & Jack DeJohnette! Hilmar Jensson's Tyft Qnt! Brotzmann/Kondo/Pupillo/Nilssen-Love! Ikue Mori! Centazzo with Derek Bailey/E#/Henry Kaiser et al! Rob Brown! Joe Morris! Irabagon/Pride! Upsilon Acrux! 2 from Elliott Sharp! Alberto Braida!

Louie Belogenis/Karl Berger Old Dog! Profound Sound: Dunmall/Grimes/Cyrille! Taylor/Dunmall Circuit Ensemble! 2nd KTU: Pohjonen/Gunn/Mastelotto! Gjerstad/Edwards/Sanders!




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Downtown Music Gallery FREE In-Store Performance Schedule
C'mon down to 13 Monroe St!

[2nd Ave bus M15 to Market St stop one block away, or F train to East Broadway stop 4 blocks away]


Next Friday, May 22nd at 6pm:
WADADA LEO SMITH / JACK DeJOHNETTE'S 'AMERICA' CD RELEASE SIGNING!
Wadada Leo Smith will talk about the making of this historic disc and will sign copies of this newly released disc on Tzadik. Come meet & greet the great Wadada Leo Smith!


Sunday, May 24th at 6pm:
MAGIC HOUR featuring:
LOUIE BELOGENIS / MICHAEL ATTIAS / NATE WOOLEY / STEVE SWELL!


Sunday, May 31st at 7pm:
JD PARRAN & ANGELO BRANFORD!
BAG Legend meets Downtown Guitar!


Sunday, June 7th at 6pm:
ROB PRICE & CHRIS CAWTHRAY!
NY Guitar wunderkind Meets Torontoan Drummer!


Monday, June 8th at 6pm:
HUMANIZATION QUARTET are Clean Feed Recording artists featuring:
Rodrigo Amado on tenor sax, Luis Lopes on guitar, Aaron Gonzalez on basses & Stefan Gonzalez on drums!


Sunday, June 28th at 6pm:
TOM HAMILTON & BRUCE EISENBEIL!
Pogus CD Release Celebration for this wonderful Guitar & electronics Duo!


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Five new Tzadik releases!

JOHN ZORN - Alhambra Love Songs (Tzadik 7374; USA) In an easy listening mode, Alhambra Love Songs is Zorn's touching and lyrical ode to the San Francisco/Bay Area and the wonderful artists who have made it their home. Including tributes to artists as diverse as Vince Guaraldi, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Mike Patton and Harry Smith, the music is some of the most beautiful and soothing Zorn has ever written. Touching on the jazz/pop/funk trios of Vince Guaraldi and Ramsey Lewis, the music is scored for a remarkable piano trio of Rob Burger (Rufus Wainwright, Marianne Faithfull, Laurie Anderson), Greg Cohen (Ornette Coleman, Masada, Burt Bacharach) and Ben Perowsky (Uri Caine, Steve Bernstein, John Lurie). Evocative and endlessly listenable, this is perhaps the single most charming cd in Zorn's entire catalog, and will appeal to fans of Vince Guaraldi, Ahmad Jamal, Henry Mancini and even George Winston! TZADIK ARCHIVAL SERIES
CD $14

FRANK LONDON/LORIN SKLAMBERG - Tsuker-zis (Tzadik 8141; USA) At the epicenter of the klezmer revival and the New Jewish Music scene, Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg have masterminded some of the most exciting Jewish music bands of the past two decades, including The Klezmatics. This third installment of their Nigunim projects focuses on Hasidic holiday songs. Featuring guitarist Knox Chandler of the Psychedelic Furs, legendary oud player Ara Dinkjian and Indian percussion virtuoso Deep Singh, the songs on tsuker-zis (sugarsweet) will delight one and all with their authenticity and creativity. TZADIK RADICAL JEWISH CULTURE SERIES
CD $14

ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ - Timba Talmud (Tzadik 8140; USA) Composer/percussionist Roberto Rodriguez's imaginative Cuban-Jewish fusion is some of the most charming and popular music on Tzadik. Continuing his creative reading of imaginary music from Havana's Jewish community, Roberto draws upon several traditions in Timba Talmud, his best CD yet. Performed by a tight band of musical all-stars, Son Montuno and Guaracha meet the Jewish tradition in this beautiful and sensitive collection of Latin Klezmer. TZADIK RADICAL JEWISH CULTURE SERIES
CD $14

IKUE MORI - Class Insecta (Tzadik 7629; USA) One of the pioneers of laptop electronics, Ikue Mori has been breaking new ground on the musical frontier for three decades. From her early days in the landmark No Wave band DNA, to her years as a regular in the downtown improvisation community and more recently as one of the epicenters of the international laptop electronic scene, Ikue has become an underground hero - yet her work is still sorely underappreciated. This newest solo CD features Ikue's idiosyncratic take on contemporary dance rhythms and electronica. Fascinating ambient textures, detailed improvisations and pulsing hypnotic rhythms clash and combine in this complex and charismatic electronic masterpiece. TZADIK KEY SERIES
CD $14

WADADA LEO SMITH/JACK DeJOHNETTE - America (Tzadik 7628; USA) Two creative music legends who share a remarkable spiritual connection in their first duo outing. Originally proposed to ECM in 1979 and rejected, this rare musical treasure is a project that has been brewing for thirty years. Featuring six new compositions by one of the most consistently brilliant composer/performers out of the legendary AACM, and telepathic interplay by two virtuoso instrumentalists who have been pushing the musical envelope since the 1960s, Red Trumpet is one of the highlights of this or any other year. Recorded at Bill Laswell's New Jersey studio, the sound is impeccable and the music incendiary. TZADIK KEY SERIES
NEXT FRIDAY 5/22: Mr Smith will be at DMG [13 Monroe St] giving a talk, answering questions [?] and signing copies of this new CD! 6 PM
CD $14



PETER BROTZMANN/TOSHINORI KONDO/MASSIMO PUPILLO/PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE - Hairy Bones (Okka Disk 12076; USA) Featuring Peter Brotzmann on alto & tenor sax, b-flat clarinet & tarogato, Toshinori Kondo on electric trumpet, Massimo Pupillo on electric bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. Recorded live at Bimhuis in Amsterdam in September of 2008. I just caught OffOnOff (Terrie Ex/Pupillo/Nilssen-Love) the other night and my ears are still ringing - impressive power, but perhaps a bit too much my old ears to deal with at 11pm or so. Anyway, that same rhythm team is here and backing two other free jazz giants from an older generation of heavies. None other than Peter Brotzmann and Toshinori Kondo, who were both part of Die Like a Dog, an Ayler tribute quartet with William Parker and Hamid Drake.
The cover of 'Hairy Bones' is graced with a rather blunt woodcut-like drawing of a native shtupping a large breasted woman in the standard position. Hmmmm. The music here consists of two long (30+ Minute) pieces. This electric free/jazz at its best, blasting, burning and heading straight for the stratosphere. Massimo Pupillo is from Italy's finest hardcore improv trio Zu and is an intense electric bassist. His playing with the mighty Paal Nilssen-Love (The Thing & Scorch Trio) is especially well matched. The best part of the OffOnOff set was the incredible interplay between Paal and Massimo. Both Brotzmann and Kondo soar and sail magnificently on top, wailing together, throwing ideas back and forth at a furious pace. Kondo sounds great as spins quick lines of mutant trumpet notes, bent into odd shapes due to some devices but never getting in the way of his unrelenting onslaught. When things finally calm down, Paal plays with suspense while Kondo adds some orchestra colors and Brotz move into a more contemplative area. Massimo takes an amazing el. bass solo on the first piece and all four of these fine musicians get plenty of chances to stretch out at length throughout this extraordinary disc. No doubt, the finest free/jazz disc of the year so far & it is only May (2009). - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery.
CD $15


ANDREA CENTAZZO With DEREK BAILEY/ELLIOTT SHARP/HENRY KAISER/EUGENE CHADBOURNE/DAVEY WILLIAMS/ROBERTO ZORZI/MARCO CAPPELLI - Guitars [2 CD set] (Ictus 507; Italy) [Never before released in any form!] Andrea Centazzo in duo and trio formations with seven masters of contemporary guitar (Derek Bailey, Elliott Sharp, Roberto Zorzi, Davey Williams, Henry Kaiser, Marco Capelli, Eugene Chabourne). Also invoved in these lineups is LaDonna Smith, Hideki Kato, Anthony Coleman, Boris Savoldelli!
2 CD set for $28



and on Not Two:
[just in so ..reviews/descriptions next week but that doesn't mean you should wait!]

ROB BROWN TRIO With DANIEL LEVIN/SATOSHI TAKEISHI - Live At Firehouse 12 (Not Two 813; EEC) Recorded November 2, 2008 at Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT. "It's hard to think of another jazz player who's emerged in the last two decades who can cover so much territory so effortlessly: he's just as commanding playing swinging bebop over a walking bassline as he is furiously spitting motivic variations in a totally free context." - Chicago Reader
CD $18

JOE MORRIS/PETER CANCURA/JASON NAZARY - Fine Objects (Not Two 810; EEC) Joe Morris - bass; Peter Cancura - tenor and soprano saxophones; Jason Nazary - drums
CD $18



Two new ones on Chris Speed's Skirl label!

CURTIS HASSELBRING'S THE NEW MELLOW EDWARDS With CHRIS SPEED/TREVOR DUNN/JOHN HOLLENBECK - Big Choantza (Skirl 10; USA) This second album by trombonist/composer Curtis Hasselbring and his all-star band the New Mellow Edwards defines the current wave of jazz-based music emanating from the formerly mean streets of Brooklyn. Like its predecessor (Skirl 003), "Big Choantza" features Hasselbring's highly refined and personal compositional language, informed as much by indie rock and classical composition as it is by all eras of jazz, and includes striking performances by Speed, Dunn and Hollenbeck.
CD $14

HILMAR JENSSON'S TYFT With JIM BLACK/ANDREW D'ANGELO/CHRIS SPEED/PETER EVANS - Smell The Difference (Skirl 12; USA) The last two TYFT albums have been AMAZING, and now the trio has added Chris Speed and Peter Evans.. so don't wait! [review next week]
CD $14


ANGEL OV DEATH [ANDREW D'ANGELO/MIKE PRIDE/JAMIE SAFT] - Live In Space And Time (At The Stone) [DVD] (Veal 06; USA) Andrew d'Angelo, Mike Pride, and Jamie Saft live in New York City. Stunningly captured by video artist extraordinaire Torsten. DVD features art by Andrew d'Angelo and design by Mike Pride and Brad Sawyer.
DVD $16

JON IRABAGON With MIKE PRIDE - I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues (Loyal 05; USA) Irabagon tenor sax; Pride drums. This is the first recording by this continuous, additive group. In their own words: "The set-up and breakdown of grooves and improvisational material is an attempt at melding many of our musical influences, both jazz and non-jazz, all while firmly remaining in the world of extended tenor saxophone and drum improvisation. While this world is now an accepted part of the jazz lineage, our goal is to stack levels of different genres, tempos, noise, and moods, and to constantly shift the focus within this pile: either collectively or individually. After running through these continuously churning and evolving layers, the initial motifs transform into the resulting ideas that appear later, while also reappearing in their original forms. This duality produces another level of tension. Our hope is that the listener is able to hear through these various shifting layers and to notice the progression, development, and return of the original motifs."
CD $15


KLUSTER [CONRAD SCHNITZLER/DIETER MOEBIUS/HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS (CLUSTER)] - Kluster And Friends: 1969-1973 [Ltd Ed 6 LP box set] (Qbico 94; Italy) "6LP (black vinyls/black labels/black inner sleeves) box, spray painted (stencil/lettering by Troglosound) in gold or silver or bronze (3 versions) and with clear plastic insert (rare photos). Unreleased music!"
6 LP Limited Edition Box Set for $240




I was more than a little troubled after having read The Wire's review by Tony Herrington of the Flow Trio's 'Rejuvenation' on ESP. Mr. Herrington unjustly compares ESP's Bernard Stollman to Dr. Frankenstein for rejuvenating the carcass of the ESP label, and claims that some things (like the aforementioned CD) are better left for dead, as the Flow Trio are merely imitating the free jazz spirits of the past.
I certainly disagree with Tony's sad rant and likely so should you if you get a chance to hear the great Flow Trio CD. I don't think legends like Rashied Ali, Coltrane's boundary-busting drummer, would choose to collaborate (Ali/Belogenis duets and Prima Materia trio) with saxophonist Louie Belogenis for over a decade unless Belogenis's music - and playing - continually presented a fresh challenge. It is this sort of auto-pilot snobbery that has hurt the Wire over the past few years while they cover more important [read: commercial] musics like grime, hip hop, metal, drum n' bass, etc. Which brings us to the following review... BLG

New from Porter:
[and at new lowered prices!]

OLD DOG [LOUIS BELOGENIS/KARL BERGER/MICHAEL BISIO/WARREN SMITH] - By Any Other Name (Porter 4027; USA) Featuring Louie Belogenis on tenor sax, Karl Berger on vibes & piano, Michael Bisio on bass and Warren Smith on drums. Old Dog? I am not so sure about that since only two of the members of this quartet are older members of the avant jazz scene once and still based in New York. Percussionist Warren Smith has been playing live and recording on hundreds of sessions since the mid-sixties, from jazz, classical, folk, rock and more. Karl Berger is legendary musician, composer, collaborator, teacher and founder of the Creative Music School in the Woodstock area in the seventies. Although a generation or so younger, Louie Belogenis, has been playing powerful tenor sax with Rashied Ali, John Zorn, Borah Bergman and leading a number of fine bands of his own. Formerly of the Pacific Northwest, Michael Bisio has become one of the Bisi-est bassists since moving here a few years back. He certainly is a leader of this great quartet since he wrote five of their nine pieces.
This is a studio date and the first thing that strikes me is the way it was recored with the dynamic balance just right. There two versions of the title track, a trio version at the beginning and a quartet version at the end. Bisio's nimble bass is at the center with Warren playing some sublime brushes. It is the gorgeous, spiritual tone of Louie's tenor truly reaches for the heart, stirring our emotions delightfully. The other four of these pieces are groups improvs and even they are special and spirited. Karl Berger used to work with the great Dave Holland in the seventies and has found a fine match with Bisio's equally strong acoustic bass. The interplay between Karl's piano or vibes and Louie's tenor is consistently superb. It feel like the quartet are capturing the spirit of Trane and taking off from there. Each of Bisio's piece provides a different structure and challenge to all members of the quartet. Old Dog swings furiously on "Swa Swu Sui" with incredible solos from Karl's vibes and Louie's tenor. "Round and Round" is freer, yet still powerful and focused with some heavy bowed bass, tenor and drums dialogue. What amazes me is that the (Florida-based) Porter Records label has become of the most consistently adventurous and creative avant-jazz (and beyond) labels in just their first few years. Can't wait for more gems from the fine folks at Porter. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $14

PROFOUND SOUND TRIO [ANDREW CYRILLE/PAUL DUNMALL/HENRY GRIMES] - Opus De Life: Live At The Vision Festival 2008 (Porter 4032; USA) Featuring Paul Dunmall on tenor sax & bagpipes, Henry Grimes on bass and violin and Andrew Cyrille on drums. This was recorded at last year's Vision Festival in June of 2008 and was one of the hottest performances ever in more ways than one. " Most folks know that Paul Dunmall is one my favorite reedmen on the planet, as well as being a good friend of mine. I continuously promote his works, since he makes so many folks happy when he plays, which is not often enough here in NYC. This was a nearly perfect trio with that intense and highly creative free spirit at the center. The set developed organically with Paul breathing fire on his tenor. Henry played intense bowed and plucked bass while Andrew walked around his drum-set and still sounded great. Dunmall has a strong Trane-like tone and took his time to build into a whirlwind-like storm. Henry sounded especially great while pumping hard underneath the sax and locking in with Andrew's swirling drums. I was glad to see that Dunmall had his bagpipes, since he was unable to bring them in the last time he was here, for the DMG fest in December of 2006. Paul took a long and engaging bagpipe solo, one of the things that makes Mr. Dunmall so unique. Mr. Cyrille took one of his customary dynamic drum solos and I was pleased to hear Dunmall do some intense blasting that had some folks screaming for more. It turns out that it was too darn hot on stage as well and Dunmall nearly fainted." This dynamite disc captures this incredible set without having to bathe in sweat for the entire performance. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $14

MISLED CHILDREN & ODEAN POPE - Misled Children Meet Odean Pope (Porter 1000; USA) The perfect union of hip hop and jazz. With Misled Children's live instrumentation approach to hip hop and the maturity of Odean Pope's amazing horn playing and horn arrangements, "The Misled Children meet Odean Pope" will be one of the most memorable recordings of 2008. Filled with funky rhythms, tight beats and a solid horn foundation, those in the hip hop and jazz community will be equally thrilled with this all instrumental recording
CD $14

ARNOLD CHEATHAM - Thing (Porter 1507; USA) This powerful 1972 performance by Arni Cheatham's group provides a unique glimpse of the jazz scene in Boston. The group borrowed the most innovative characteristics of jazz and rock, but never sounded derivative. This is early seventies 'jazz fusion' of the highest order, before the term evolved to mean a light, commercially acceptable genre. As with many innovative jazz forms, the recording was made at one of the many local universities, Harvard. The resulting album was pressed in scant numbers and remains obscure even to Beantown jazz buffs.
CD $14

ALAN SONDHEIM/MYK FREEDMAN - Julu Twine (Porter 4028; USA) Using an arsenal of acoustic instruments including zither, antique classical guitars, tenor banjo and parlor guitar, Alan Sondheim brings these traditional sounding instruments into the realm of improvisation along with Myk Freedman whose lap steel playing adds an air of serenity to these astonishingly crafted songs. From frantic playing to oddly moving songs, Julu Twine moves through a wide range of emotions while firmly declaring a singular vision. The music on Julu Twine is best described as improvised folk music with leanings toward the experimental.
CD $14

FRANCESCO GIANNICO - Folkanization (Porter 4030; USA) The fluttering of distant memories comes to life through the sounds of Francesco Giannico, whose blend of electronics and acoustic instruments paint beautiful pictures of lost times. His musical approach is described as a cinematic journey which pushes the boundaries of digital media even further by incorporating smooth melodies and gentle textures. More traditional instruments such as guitar and piano are constantly present into FrancescoXs music, within interrupted structures or long and dreaming sonorous carpets.
CD $14

VALERIO COSI - Collected Works (Porter 4008; USA) "Collected Works" is the first compilation of music belonging to the solo works of Valerio Cosi. It gathers the best recordings from the years between 2005 and 2008. Many of these recordings were originally released in limited (sometimes ultra limited) quantities through cdr labels and now come renewed and re-mastered in sound. Valerio started making solo experimental music back in the late 90's which was mostly recorded in his home. His first released recording called "Immortal Attitudes" (2006), a work recorded a year before, contains the most recognizable sounds developed by Cosi through his musical years. Free jazz, electronics, saxophone and lots of psychedelic/ethnic atmosphere.
CD $14

DAVID HURLEY - Outer Nebula Inner Nebula (Porter 4016; USA) San Diego based David Hurley approaches music with one foot in the past and one foot firmly planted in the future. With drums and an arsenal of percussion instruments, flutes, voice and even a Moog, he touches on elements of free-jazz, improv and spaced-out psychedelic music. His music is filled with unexpected surprises and a refreshing openness to trying new concepts in a genre of music that has become fairly predictable. A must have for fans of Sun Ra and otherworldly music.
CD $14

DAWID SZCEZSNY - Luxated Symmetry (Porter 4019; USA) Poland based sound artist Dawid Szczesny creates beautifully fragmented music that ebbs and flows in surrealistic swirls of sampled percussion and stringed instruments. While experimental in nature, subtle rhythms and soundtrack sensibilities will appeal to a wide range of music listeners. Truly innovative and fresh music from a musician with a unique ear for music composition. Dawid Szczesny's music will interest listeners of Tim Hecker, Philip Jeck and Part Timer.
CD $14

DAWID SZCZESNY - In Between [CD ep] (Porter 4015; USA) Dawid Szczesny is a sound architect from Poland who takes samples from live acoustic instruments and cuts and pastes them into new compositions of complex beauty.
CD $11

EARPEACE [NON/DAWID SZCZESNY] - Earpeace [CD ep] (Porter 4007; USA) Forward thinking hip-hop filled with abstract beats and strong lyrical flow, Earpeace is the cross continental collaboration between hip-hop artist Non from Shadowhuntaz and Poland based sound architect Dawid Szczesny.
CD $11

THE NETHER DAWN [ANTONY MILTON] - Well Song (Porter 4026; USA) The Nether Dawn is Antony Milton who is one of New Zealand's leading figures of new experimental drone and folk music. "Well Song" was recorded in the dim light of an underground abandoned bunker.
"The bunker is a beautiful and lonely spot with a spectacular view that encompasses much of the southern reaches of the North Island. But what draws me back, laden down with acoustic and battery operated instruments, is the rich resonant acoustic properties of these man made caves. One cannot help but sing in such a place." - Antony Milton
CD $14

WOMAN YEAR - Aeon Centers Faded (Porter 4024; USA) Distant transmissions, strangely catchy tunes and the beautifully crafted, fill the musical world of Woman Year. From indie pop to the experimental and everything in-between, Woman Year knows no musical boundary. With a mix of guitar, voice, keyboards, drums, drum machines and various other noise makers, Woman Year has crafted a strong debut recording that will appeal to a wide range of listeners.
CD $14



New on Cuneiform!

UPSILON ACRUX - Radian Futura (Cuneiform 284; USA) Upsilon Acrux is an instrumental quintet (dual guitars, keyboards, bass and drums). Their music is generally very intense, loud, hard-hitting and unbelivably virtuosic. Upsilon Acrux's music is demanding on many levels, but mostly it demands that you listen to it a number of times before forming an opinion, because after you've gotten familiar with it and can get past the sheer complexity and onslaught of it all and hear the amazing musicality of what they are doing. This combination of blazingly fast, interwoven musical lines delivered at blinding speed mixed with their unique melodic sense makes Upsilon's music instantly recognizable. They are one of the most creative and original of the shockingly large number of great post-punk, avant-garde rock bands today. This is their sixth album of explosive, intense and surprisingly beautiful intricate, instrumental rock.
CD $15

ED PALERMO BIG BAND//FRANK ZAPPA - Eddy Loves Frank (Cuneiform 285; USA) Ed Palermo is a alto sax player and arranger; he has had a big band for twenty-five years, which is an impressive feat in itself, and has had his band performing the music of Frank Zappa for over a decade. Years and years of playing these pieces in front of enthusiastic crowds at a number of venues in New York City and beyond have honed the band's skills with this difficult material to where they can glide through these charts as if they were butter. There are a number of ensembles performing the music of this great 20th century American composer, but no one does it with this ease, skill and originality; Ed is not afraid to turn a piece into a salsa number (the title track) or to take what was a one minute miniature and to develop it out into a six minute work. The band is a 15 piece ensemble of 6 woodwind players, two trumpeters, three trombonists, two keyboardists, bass and drums, plus a few guests. All of these musicians are NYC professionals, and they have been playing this music for years with Ed, because, like Ed, they recognize and appreciate the genius inherent in the huge body of Zappa's work, and they want to keep this great music alive and in front of the public.
"[Palermo's] wisely chosen to emphasize Zappa's early and mid-career work, as that's the music which is more fluid and graceful--and more apt to swing....reveals the lighthearted playfulness and rhythmic intelligence at the core of Zappa's best work..." - Downbeat.
CD $15

and in case you blinked a coupl'a weeks ago

POSITIVE CATASTROPHE [TAYLOR HO BYNUM/ABRAHAM GOMEZ-DELGADO/MATT BAUDER/MICHAEL ATTIAS et al] - Garabatos Volume One (Cuneiform 286; USA) Positive Catastrophe is the brainchild of Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) and Abraham Gomez-Delgado (percussion). The group enlists a bevy of New York's most adventurous jazz and salsa musicians, all of whom are composers and leaders in their own right. The full line up is: Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, flugelhorn, co-leader), Abraham Gomez-Delgado (vocals, percussion, co-leader), Jen Shyu (vocals, erhu), Matt Bauder (tenor sax, clarinets), Michael Attias (baritone sax), Mark Taylor (french horn), Reut Regev (trombone), Pete Fitzpatrick (guitar), Alvaro Benavides (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums). "If you've been hungering to hear Latin-based jazz in a new light, your prayers have been answered." - NY Press
CD $15

LED BIB [MARK HOLUB/LIRAN DONIN/TOBY McLAREN/PETE GROGAN/CHRIS WILLIAMS] - Sensible Shoes (Cuneiform 283; USA) Sensible Shoes is the fourth album by this London quartet of dual alto saxes, Fender Rhodes & keyboards, bass and drums. It is a cataclysmic offering of jazz-rock, free-jazz, avant-skronk, funk-rock, art-noise and whatever else they can lay their hands on. "We are a jazz band from London, we sound like (insert some ridiculous adjectives here). We have played with (insert long list of people who we have onced shared a toilet with). And we have played at (insert long list of places where we have once smuggled our instruments inside)."
CD $15

MIRIODOR - Avanti! (Cuneiform 288; USA) In my opinion, Avanti! is most likely their best work yet! The band have always produced music that is intricate, tuneful, challenging and filled with both fire and humor. At the core of this production are the usual partners in crime : Bernard Falaise (guitars, stringed instruments, etc.), Pascal Globensky (keyboards, synthesizer, piano), Remi Leclerc (drums, percussion, sampler) and Nicolas Masino (bass, keyboards).
CD $15


New KTU!

KTU [KIMMO POHJONEN & TU: TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Quiver (7D Media 912; USA) Finnish accordion daredevil Kimmo Pohjonen once again joins with Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto (from King Crimson) forming the trio KTU (pronounced "K2"). Their second album, Quiver, recorded in Texas and Finland, follows their live 2005 debut, 8 Armed Monkey, and features guest appearances from original KTU member Samuli Kosminen, now with Icelandic band MuM, and three pieces mixed by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.
David Fricke of Rolling Stone calls KTU "a robust tumult of Northern Lights sparkle, white-wolf guitar wail and rolling knotted thunder...as powerful and transgressive as the killer King Crimson. Pohjonen is a wonder unto himself: animating his wind song with pedals and processing; attacking the bellows with the ecstatic fury of Jimi Hendrix."
CD $15

also available

KTU [KLUSTER: KIMMO POHJONEN/SAMULI KOSMINEN & TU:TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - 8 Armed Monkey (Thirsty Ear 57092; USA) KTU, headed by accordion visionary Kimmo Pohjonen, and accompanied by the most recent King Crimson rhythm section, is an exploration in musicianship, melding sounds from the past and the future. 8-Armed Monkey is a presentation of modern, traditional and tribal elements that are a rarity in today's musical world. Supporting Pohjonen in this effort are Trey Gunn and Pat Mastellotto (of King Crimson), providing a rich backdrop to the futuristic sampling of Samuli Kosminen. Since leaving the legendary King Crimson band, we've been wondering just what Trey Gunn will do next and if it was good idea to leave the most popular and influential progressive band (or dinosaur) of all time. We now have an answer or at least an idea.
CD $16

[See further down for King Crimson Collectors Club CDs featuring Gunn & Mastelotto]



ANDROMEDA MEGA EXPRESS ORCHESTRA - Take Off! (Alien Transistor 18; Germany) This is the debut full-length release by Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra. Whoever claims to have heard anything like this before must be lying. This 20-piece orchestra, led by 25-year-old Berlin-based composer Daniel Glatzel, sets off a firework of energy, musicality and fresh ideas and juggles genres, styles and musical references in a way that can make you dizzy. Jazz doesn't begin to describe it. We're talking about everything from minimalism to film scores, Romanticism, modern classical music, and Bartok, right through to Frank Zappa. Glatzel also cites computer games, cartoons, shabby infomercials and elevators in expensive hotels as influences. Take Off! is true to its name -- the album is wild, headstrong, haunting, atmospheric, funny, disturbing -- all at once. Pulling out all the stops, Glatzel uses musical registers from varied cultural references and alarmingly crazy time signatures, all with a nonchalance which borders on the outrageous. Big-band swing is interrupted by free-jazz cacophonies, and excerpts from crime movie soundtracks are mixed with fanfares from imaginary film production companies. All of a sudden, the blissfully elated mood will shift to its opposite and we find ourselves in the middle of oppressive, sprawling soundscapes where all is boundless and wonderful. The AMEO are 20 young musicians all from differing musical and cultural backgrounds -- from Germany, France, Switzerland, Canada, Norway, Japan, Thailand, the Czech Republic and South Korea. As leader, composer, arranger and woodwind player, Glatzel is responsible for the record's concept as well as for composition and arrangement. AMEO have already left Korean concert halls and Bavarian provincial backwaters astonished, and occasionally frightened, with their harmonic adventures and rhythmic madness. Each individual member of the orchestra brings with them a stylistic openness and the highest possible joy of playing. It's a debut that leaves you asking what can possibly follow it.
CD $17



Ten new recordings from FMR!

CIRCUIT ELECTRO ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE [TREVOR TAYLOR/PAUL DUNMALL/JONATHAN IMPLETT/NICK STEPHENS] - Epiphany (FMR 209; UK) The music recorded here was the first in a series of recordings by CIRCUIT using varying personnel, all of whom had shown an interest in using live electronics to expand their music. The musicians were also chosen for their expertise in improvisation and their dedication and openness in creating and exploring new musical language. The advent of much faster computer processors has challenged the musician to use this speed to utilise far more sophisticated alogrithms and complex programs that can modulate sound in incredible ways and provide unprecedented real time control What you hear here is exactly what was played live, there was no post production manipulation or overdubbing of any kind
CD $16

FRODE GJERSTAD/JOHN EDWARDS/MARK SANDERS - Bergen (FMR 269; UK) Frode Gjerstad (alto sax and clarinets), John Edwards (acoustic bass), Mark Sanders (drums and percussion)
CD $16

PAT THOMAS//DEREK BAILEY//THELONIOUS MONK - Pat Thomas Plays The Music Of Derek Bailey & Thelonious Monk (FMR 259; UK) Pat Thomas (piano, keyboards) The Derek Bailey transciptions were performed at the Holywell music room in October 2005 as part of a concert organised by Fran Ryan, who wanted to hear the celebrated pianist play piano in a more composed setting. Thomas agreed to play music based on Derek Bailey's early recordings and brilliantly transcribed by Chris Burn as well as the music of Thelonious Monk
CD $16

SCATTER [PAT THOMAS/PHIL MINTON/DAVE TUCKER/ROGER TURNER] - Scatter (FMR 237; UK) Scatter were originally formed by Oxford based keyboard player Pat Thomas in the early 90's and first performed at the China Pig Club in East London. Other concerts around London & Oxford were also performed in the years since as well as an Arts Council tour of England
CD $16

ALEXANDER HAWKINS ENSEMBLE - No Now Is So (FMR 270; UK) Alexander Hawkins (piano), Orphy Robinson (steel pan), Otto Fischer (electric guitar), Hannah Marshall (cello), Dominic Lash (double bass), Javier Carmona (drums, percussion)
CD $16

MOTOSOL [STINE JANVIN MOTLAND/STALE LAIVIK SOLBERG] - Strap On (FMR 219; UK)
CD $16

RED SQUARE [JON SEAGROATT/IAN STAPLES/ROGER TELFORD] - Thirty Three (FMR 262; UK) JON SEAGROATT (bass clarinet & soprano saxophone), IAN STAPLES (guitar & violin). ROGER TELFORD (drums & percussion) The release of this album documents a remarkable, pioneering British group that formed in 1972 and broke up in 1978. The material on Thirty Three was recorded between those years, but was considered too extreme for release at the time.
CD $16

THE WORKING PARTY - Starting Point: Zero - Recordings From Improvised Performances in Glasgow and L'Aquila, 2001-2002 (FMR 131; UK) Scottish based collective The Working Party take their inspiration from John Cage's theories on improvisation and combine music, performance, singing and Foley techniques to create a uniquely absorbing CD. The Working Party is a Glasgow based art company set up in December 2000, it brings people of different cultures together to make creative things happen, in particular, in Scotland and abroad. The concept for this album was how improvisation can be used in many other ways other than purely musical. All the tracks have been chosen to show contrast in these activities which make this CD highly original and thought provoking.
CD $16

TRIO NANG NAAK [BARRY BAZMATRON EDWARDS/COLIN SOMERVELL/MARK SANDERS] - Trio NaNG NAak (FMR 257; UK)
CD $16

DIRK WACHTELAER + KOHN [JURGEN DE BLONDE] - Evening And Morning (FMR 245; UK) Dirk Wachtelaer (acoustic drums), Jurgen de Blonde (live electronics) In March 2007 Jurgen de Blonde (aka Kohn) and Dirk Wachtelaer were working together with two Chinese musicians for a Vanishing Pictures project in Antwerp, Belgium. This music is the result of the two musicians working late one evening and early one morning during the course of these two days of sessions, producing a unique sound that has a life of its own, complete as a seperate body of work all its own.
CD $16



ELLIOTT SHARP With DONELLA DEL MONACO/STEVE PICCOLO - Em/Pyre (Opus Avantra 10; Italy) EmPyre is a work of music-theater composed by E# for famed Italian soprano Donella Dell'Monaco and her ensemble of virtuosic musicians whose approach spans the gamut from electronica to classical with text in both Italian and English by ex-Lounge Lizard Steve Piccolo who also sings. EmPyre compares the city-states of new York City post-911 with Venice in the late 15th century when its' neutrality was threatened by both the Catholic and Islamic empires. E# joins the ensemble on electroacoustic guitar. The music ranges from pure lyricism to raging drones and storms.
[only 5 copies and then they're gone!]
CD $20


BORIS SAVOLDELLI & ELLIOTT SHARP - Protoplasmic (Moonjune 025; USA) Following a 2007 Milano gig by New Yorker Elliott Sharp's Terraplane, the Italian singer Boris Savoldelli handed the guitarist a copy of his freshly-recorded solo album Insanology. Sharp was blown away, and the pair met again a year later in Padova. Savoldelli announced his plans for a Manhattan jaunt, and promptly invited Sharp to guest on his September 2008 gig at The Stone, composer John Zorn's Lower East Side venue for experimental sounds. The day before the show, the pair entered Sharp's own Studio zOaR and set its controls for an extended improvisation. The result was a session of communicative depth, and its highlights are now presented as Protoplasmic. Both players are continually seeking the pitch-shifting wobble, constantly discovering fresh ways to manipulate their real-time output. Effects boxes are liberally used, but always with a focused sense of purpose. The knobs and buttons never get beyond the control of Savoldelli and Sharp's fingers. The guitarist makes glassy shard-cascades, whilst the singer wields frosty sustain-tones, the twosome sculpting as quickly as they invent. If Sharp is the runway, then Savoldelli is the jet. The Italian speaks in tongues as the American makes reed-noodles on his horns. The sounds they make are frequently pitch-shifted, but sometimes have a similar nature to the manic turntable scrabble of a hiphop DJ. Sharp jumps from electric sludge to acoustic harp impersonations, whilst Savoldelli makes guttural hog-growls, momentarily rising towards helium-howling, churchy extensions. Both players are perverting their real-time outpourings, continually massing, mutating and multiplying
CD $15

SIMAKdIALOG [SIMAK DIALOG] - Demi Massa (Moonjune 024; USA) This is the fifth album from Indonesian progressive jazz ensemble simakDialog. Led by keyboardist and composer Riza Arshad, the band also features guitarist Tohpati and bassist Adhitya Pratama, working alongside the twinned percussion thrust of Endang Ramdan and Erlan Suwardana. This latter pair are specialists in traditional Sundanese kendang drumming. Arshad's compositional approach opens up from a jazz-rock palette, but his Fender Rhodes electric piano is clearly influenced by the crisp ring and shimmer of the Indonesian gamelan's array of gongs, metallophones and double-headed drums. We can immediately hear the similarities between the keyboard's percussive crackle and the sharp detonations of tunefully struck metal. The percussionists soon enter, clattering out their heavily organic patterns with roundly slapped skins, shaker bells and handclaps. Arshad frequently pushes his solos (or are they ongoing themes?) up to continually higher levels, urging repeated climaxes as each piece steadily amasses intensity. Tohpati is also attracted to resonant trebly zones, journeying from acoustic delicacy to a subtly distorted friction. The guitarist's presence has a significance beyond his role on this album, as Tohpati is one of the Indonesian music scene's most successful (and ubiquitous) players. Another element is tipped in later, with the percussionists chanting along to emphasise their dense structures. Arshad might recline in a hazy contemplation, but it doesn't take him long to develop an insistent pulse, invariably reaching a frenzied state. There's a clear recalling of the classic moves made by Chick Corea and Terje Rypdal in the 1970s, but this is laced with authentic gamelan elements utilised as part of this jazz-rock vocabulary. The result sounds both natural and fully integrated. This a particular realm that couldn't be reached either by Western progressives or a traditional gamelan ensemble. The simakDialog involves a unique combination of both spheres, without making the commercially tempting mistake of cultural dilution.
CD $15


COPERNICUS - Disappearance (Nevermore 2091; USA) COPERNICUS poetry, lead vocals, keyboards; PIERCE TURNER musical director, Hammond B3 organ, acoustic piano, vocals, percussion; LARRY KIRWAN electric guitar, vocals; MIKE FAZIO electric guitar; BOB HOFFNAR steel guitar; RAIMUNDO PENAFORTE violin, acoustic guitar, bandolin, percussion, vocals; CESAR ARAGUNDI electric & acoustic guitar; FRED PARCELLS trombone; ROB THOMAS violin; MATTY FILLOU tenor saxophone, percussion; MARVIN WRIGHT bass guitar, electric guitar, percussion; GEORGE RUSH tuba, contrabass, bass guitar; THOMAS HAMLIN drums, percussion; MARK BROTTER drums, percussion; JAMES FRAZEE recording & mixing engineer.
CD $15


MICHAEL GORDON - (purgatorio) Popopera [CD ep] (Cantaloupe 21049; USA) "[purgatorio] Popopera is a new dance work created by Emio Greco and Pieter Scholten, principal choreographers of the Amsterdam-based troupe Emio Greco/PC. When I met Emio and Pieter in New York in 2000, I was taken by their thoughtful intensity and this attraction only grew when I saw their dance. Their work captures an other worldly energy that, when on the verge of cresting, just continues to get wilder and wilder. We began then a long conversation about creating a new work together. I suggested that the dance company learn how to play electric guitars and perform the music I write for them as part of a new dance piece. Although Emio and Pieter had reservations about this, they were intrigued, and in the summer of 2005 I met the dance company at MASS Moca in North Adams, Massachusetts and we began a 10 day workshop to see if it was even feasible to think that they could learn how to play music. I was joined there by Bryce Dessner and Katie Geissinger, who coached the dancers in guitar and voice (respectively). Bryce and I immediately went to Guitar World in Albany and had the pleasure of buying eight new guitars. None of us, I think, were prepared for the intensity with which the dancers committed themselves to playing the guitar. The days consisted of long grinding morning to evening sessions in which they rarely wanted to take a break and never seemed to tire. At the end of the ten days we gave a workshop performance (!!) to an invited audience and Popopera was born. Over the next three years I met repeatedly with the company, always in intense workshop situations, and was assisted by Taylor Levine who was their principal guitar coach throughout this period. Very early in the process I retuned the guitars, tuning the bottom three strings to F and the top three strings to E. This tuning created very rich sonorities and allowed me to create dense sounding harmonies. Between the summer of 2007 and the premiere in June of 2008 at the Holland Festival, Taylor Levine and I met with the company for intense multi-week sessions in Italy, Amsterdam, and again at Mass MOCA. From the very beginning the company incorporated movement into the creation of the piece, so that after a bit of music was learned they would start to workshop the movement. This whole thing might have seemed crazy to everyone involved in this project but at a certain point it became clear that they were about to pull off something spectacular. All of a sudden they stopped being dancers and became musicians. I don't know exactly when this all happened but it encouraged me to write some fairly tricky rhythmic interplays between the group members."
CD $8

SENTIERI SELVAGGI//GAVIN BRYARS/PHILIP GLASS - Plays Gavin Bryars & Philip Glass [CD ep] (Cantaloupe 21048; USA) "Sentieri Selvaggi is a group made up of some of the best Italian musicians, united in a cultural project aimed to bring contemporary music to a larger audience. Founded in 1997 by Carlo Boccadoro, Filippo Del Corno and Angelo Miotto, the group has garnered much international acclaim and has developed close working relationships with renowned composers -- Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, David Lang, James MacMillan, Gavin Bryars and Louis Andriessen. In Sentieri Selvaggi's new EP, the Italian ensemble presents pieces from two of today's most celebrated composers -- Gavin Bryars and Philip Glass. When Bryars recorded his first album for ECM, Three Viennese Dancers, Manfred Eicher (the founder of ECM) introduced him to American guitarist Bill Frisell's In Line. Bryars transcribed the melody of one of Frisell's solos, and the result transported Frisell's notes into a magical, but melancholy world -- distinctive of Bryar's music. Notably, he slowed down the tempo of the theme and used the piano to play a simple pattern, which continued for the entire piece. Bryars also added sweet melodies performed by a strange ensemble of a recorder, a clarinet, a vibraphone (played with a bow to produce harmonies), a violin and a bass. The result, 'Sub Rosa,' is a sense of almost ethereal lightness pervading through the score. The second piece -- 'Facades,' was originally composed for the score of Koyannisquatsi, a cult film directed by Godfrey Reggio and Glass' debut to film scoring. As 'Facades'' scene was cut from the film, Glass transposed it into a piece for his ensemble of saxophones and electronic keyboards, and released it on Glassworks. Sentieri Selvaggi's recording is a further re-orchestration, including strings, a flute and a clarinet. Stylistically, the piece is halfway between Glass' first period, based on few cells obsessively repeated which undergo very gradual harmonic changes, and the following decade, a period more melodic and lyrical. The immediate communicability of this piece made it into one of the most popular works of Glass."
CD $8


ALBERTO BRAIDA - Talus (Nuscope 1022; USA) This disc, which was recorded on November 28, 2008, features Braida on a beautiful Fazioli concert grand at Artesuono Studios in Udine, Italy with noted engineer Stefano Amerio. According to Francesco Martinelli's liner notes, "This music is a new combination where strains of jazz, 20th Century music, and the past 40 years of European improvised pianism are the ingredients of an organically balanced musical architecture which is exquisitely pianistic without resorting to any pre-set approaches."Comes with an 8-page booklet with liner notes from Pisa, Italy-based journalist Francesco Martinelli, and intriguing cover art from Norwegian artist Terry Nilssen-Love.
CD $15


JONATHAN KANE - Jet Ear Party (Table of Elements/Radium 816; USA) "Jet Ear Party, Jonathan Kane's second full-length release, is a masterpiece of raw, ass-thumping Americana that shakes the meat right off the bone. With guest appearances from members of his live band, February, Kane barrels into these eight tracks like a freight train. He lunges at breakneck boogies and tom-driven swamp stomps with equal abandon. In a radical departure, he tones down his mojo long enough to accommodate female vocals for a breathlessly sexy, overtone-drenched soul ballad. Kane even pilots hardcore R&B a la Wilson Pickett into the Creedence bayou for a sweat-soaked cover of Sly Stone's 'Thank You Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin' -- and it's got a freak-out bagpipe solo that would make The Stooges proud. Seriously, he's not holding anything back." In-between, "Pops" is almost too mild-mannered, but close attention rewards the listener; and "Sis" imagines a down-home stomper stretched on minimalism's rack until it becomes a hypnotic skeleton suitable for a night's totentanz on the town.
Deep, dense, and a dangerously entrancing way to end a rough day, it will take some damn impressive releases in the next few months for February to not be high on my year's top ten. Stellar work all around." - Mason Jones, Dusted
CD $16
also available on LP for $25


SKYE STEELE QUINTET With HAREL SHACHAL/BEN CASSORLA/SATOSHI TAKEISHI/JOHN HADFIELD - Late Bloomer (Skyesteele 01; USA) Skye Steele began studying violin when he was three years old. More recently Skye has traveled to Turkey and twice to Brazil to investigate their respective violin traditions, studying, collaborating, performing and recording with local artists. Skye is active throughout New York's vibrant world-music scene performing on Western and Arabic Violin, Kemani (turkish fiddle) and Rabeca (Brazilian fiddle). In addition to his long list of regular collaborators--The Nation Beat, Anistar, Vampire Suit, the EthnoEccentric String Trio, Howard Fishman, et al, he has recorded with Cyro Baptista, Rufus Wainwright (on the soundtrack to Scorcese's "The Aviator"), and performed with Frank London, Duncan Sheik, Alessandra Belloni, Souren Baronian, Matt Darriau, Andrew D'Angelo, Jenny Scheinman, Laura Cantrell, Butch Morris, Mat Maneri, Daniel Carter, Lukas Ligeti, Forro For All, MaracatuNY, Raquy and the Cavemen, Abu Gara, the Big Apple Circus, and the Bindlestiff Family Circus. "It's clear that this crew is ready to stretch out in a million different directions and have tons of fun doing it.... Steele's fiddle darts in and out of the oddball rhythmic structures with great panache and rhythmic assurance.... Steele's fabulous tone and inventive solo sense didn't just happen overnight."- Stuart Kremsky, Cadence
CD $12


COLD CAVE - Cremations (Hospital 248; USA) "Cremations is a collection of early demo/live/and unreleased tracks from Cold Cave. From the project's isolated beginnings to the recent full band line-up, the development of this singular musical entity is documented here in its icy electronic glory. From Cold Cave's infancy, sexual identity and oblique existentialism have been expressed through biting lyrics and electronic minimalism. Rarely has the human condition been exposed so brazenly as in 'Sex Ads.' Melodies, noise and rhythms clash as stories from below the surface are retold. From the demo LP Coma Potion, which featured a rugged stripped down distortion, to the suggestive Electronic Dreams tour cassette (featuring the voice of Max Morton on the track 'Heavenly Metals'), Cold Cave has developed its own brand of genre defying electronic music, without ever betraying its dark roots. Love and pornography, industrial music and traditionalism, poetry and profanity all mix together in a hedonistic cocktail of nihilistic nights and mournful mornings. Cremations collects all this work for the first and last time."
CD $12

THE GREY WOLVES - Judgement (Hospital 247; USA) "Reissue of our personal favorite cassette-only release from the legendary UK industrial icon known as The Grey Wolves to celebrate their 23rd year of existence. Despite their power electronics fame, Judgement exhibits the dark rhythmic industrial and ritualistic minimal synth half rarely heard. Two side long oil slick tracks of filthy crumbling rotten beats hammer away with nihilistic chaos. Militant synth lines raise the occult flag. Ancient ethereal feedback howls voiceless language through the hallway of industrial fallout. The Grey Wolves are in the area!"
CD $12

WOLF EYES - Always Wrong (Hospital 245; USA) "Always Wrong is a mantra of severity. Wolf Eyes has been scouring audiences across the globe with their acid drenched industrial noise and dub terror psychedelia, establishing themselves as the trailblazers of a genre and pioneers of the long-form noise tour. Coming forth from the piles of tape loops and effects, the bulk of tables reeling with electronics have been shed. This clarity never sacrifices intensity as paradoxically this is the most organic of the full lengths but also the harshest and most dissonant. Opening track 'Cellar' immediately sets the pace of barraged edits and percussive electronics as startling vocals spit from the dry throat and remain unfiltered for the first time breathing a clear litany of scorn. A new voice is rising and it isn't happy. Throughout the album, non-electronic beats created from live drums replace programming while colliding tape loops and junk metal bring new unstable rhythm like a house with eroding foundation. 'Living Stone' shows a more natural state of acoustic composition highlighting the despondent, subtle plucking of controlled guitar improvisation that could come from natures ghost. Forging ahead in 'We All Hate You,' loud tonal horns and architecturally placed electronics. However, their aesthetic core of pummeling hasn't been abandoned as the aggressive 'Broken Order' takes hold, with shrill feedback fueling industrial cannon blasts of white hot noise that burn the body from the neck down. An eerie harmonica driven death march straight out of Once Upon A Time In The West cries on the closing track 'Droll/Cut The Dog.' Immediately it is clear that Wolf Eyes have crafted a statement with maturity that stands at the top of their mysterious discography. Always Wrong is a denial against conformity and the triumph of walking a path alone. Young, Olson, Connelly."
CD $12


Back in stock:

LUC FERRARI With OTOMO YOSHIHIDE - Les Archives Sauvees Des Eaux (Callithump 01; Japan) Recorded live at Super Deluxe Concert Series in Tokyo, Japan on October 19th of 2003 and featuring Luc Ferrari on CD-J's of his own compositions with Otomo Yoshihide on turntables, records and prepared cartridges. This important meeting of two great composers from very different periods and cultures was no mere easy improv event to pull off. A great deal of preparation was involved and Otomo had to gather records to use since he had abandoned this method of playing earlier in his evolvement. Although this music often sounds freely improvised, Otomo says he followed the score laid out by Ferrari completely, interpreting it in his own way. There is something special, magical about the sound of crackling records, like ancient voices from the past calling out to us. Like the best electronic music, Ferrari's distinct sonic world emerges here in all of its magnificence. There is an incredible balance between all of the sounds that Ferrari and Otomo create together. Mr. Ferrari was one of the pioneers of music-concrete, having worked with electronic music from the fifties onwards. Through tape-splicing and long hours in the studio, he was able to compose unique electronic sounds that still sound fascinating today, more than fifty years later. For this concert Ferrari has selected the sounds he had invented through the many years of experimenting and used them as a basis for a new living composition that Otomo contributes to in his own distinctive way. The results are remarkable. Every time I listen to this wondrous disc, I am flabbergasted for the entire length. Luc Ferrari passed away in 2005, leaving us with a long legacy of recordings. This one sounds to like a crowning achievement, so I urge you to grab it soon and spend some time listening to it closely and completely. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery [now at a lower price!]
CD $22


ANTHONY BRAXTON & ITALIAN INSTABILE ORCHESTRA (CARLO ACTIS DATO/GIANLUIGI TROVESI et al) - Creative Orchestra (Bolzano) 2007 (Rai Trade 13; Italy) Superbly recorded live at Alto Adige Jazz Festival in Bolzano, Italy in June of 2007 and featuring Anthony Braxton on alto sax, sopranino sax & conduction, Gianluigi Trovesi, Daniele Cavallanti, Carlo Actis Dato & Eugenio Colombo on reeds; Pino Minafra, Alberto Mandarini & Guido Mazzon on trumpets, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Sebi Tramontana & Lauro Rossi on trombones; Martin Mayes on French horn, Emanuele Parrini & Paolo Damiani on strings, Umberto Petrin on piano, Giovanni Maier on bass and Vincenzo Mazzone & Tiziano Tononi on drums. Wow, what a line-up!?! Considering that we just listed (last week) some dozen discs (including five box sets) from Mr. Braxton that were released in the past year, I shouldn't have been surprised to find yet another treasure in the mail this week from the fine folks at Rai Trade. Many of the musicians in this fine orchestra are leaders on their own, as well as master instrumentalists. No doubt you should recognize the mighty names like Pino Minafra (CD's on Victo & Leo), Gianluigi Trovesi & Umberto Petrin (ECM, Soul Note & Splasch), Daniele Cavallanti & Tiziano Tononi (Splasch & Long Song) and Carlo Actis Dato (Leo & Splasch). The Italian Instabile Orchestra are the premiere composers and players orchestra of Italy and feature a most impressive line-up of Italy's finest musicians. Each of their half dozen discs is a marvel of creative playing, impressive composing and constant ingenuity.
Their last disc featured the great Cecil Taylor on piano and directing, while this one has the equally engaging Anthony Braxton playing saxes and directing four of his challenging compositions. Mr. Braxton chose pieces from the earlier part of his long career like Compositions "No. 59 & 63", as well as from the midpoint like Compositions "No. 92 & 164". Listening to these pieces, all appear to challenging in different ways. "Comp. No. 63" opens with dense layers that float around one another gracefully. Braxton is master of constantly shifting sonorities and this orchestra is the perfect vehicle for his various lines to intersect. A number of short yet inspired solos emerge (bari sax, acoustic bass, violin) from the different waves that Braxton conducts. Mr. Braxton's compositions often seem to balanced between written and freer passages, interconnected solos and layers of connected themes. "Composition No. 92" actually swings in a most twisted sort of way and in an unexpected delight complete with strong solos from the trombone and flourishes of other instruments rising and falling into the currents. Umberto Petrin starts "Composition No. 164" with some intense piano, while the other players swirl around him. Different combinations of musicians blend, connect and move around one another cautiously while different harmonies emerge. No matter how chaotic any one section becomes, there is a constant underlying thread that holds this together. Mr. Braxton makes demands of his musicians and his listeners, both of us must work to hear all of the many wonders that are hidden within this music. Considering that it is only the first week of January, 2009, should we be surprised that we already have a contender for disc of the year!?! - BLG
CD $17


WILLIAM PARKER With LEWIS 'FLIP' BARNES/DARRYL FOSTER/SABIR MATEEN/DAVE BURRELL/HAMID DRAKE/LEENA CONQUEST/AMIRI BARAKA [LEROI JONES] - The Inside Songs Of Curtis Mayfield: Live In Rome (Rai Trade 11; Italy) It has been a long time coming and finally we have the much anticipated Curtis Mayfield tribute by William Parker and his special ensemble. Us William Parker fans have been hearing about this project for years and wondering what it will be like, since it has never been performed in New York, William's hometown. I was fortunate enough to hear this band play at the Guelph Jazz Fest in September of this year (2007) and I was most impressed. I, myself, have been a longtime fan of Curtis Mayfield, partially due to a roommate of mine from Tunisia that I boarded with when I did a semester in England in 1975/76. Tzadouk felt that Curtis Mayfield was the best songwriter that America had produced so we listened to Curtis' records more seriously than I had done in the past. So, I was more than intrigued to hear what William could do with these great songs. For this project, William organized a serious sextet taken from the Little Huey Orchestra, as well as his small units and added two vocalists, free/jazz poet/scholar Amiri Baraka and singer, Leena Conquest.
Opening with the stark, soulful vocals of Leena on "The Makings of You", with just Hamid's skeletal drums to accompany her. (The Chambers Brothers version of) "People Get Ready" was the first Curtis Mayfield song that really touched me. William's ensemble does a great, funky version with strong vocals by both Leena (sung) and Amiri (mostly spoken word). "There's a storm coming" Amiri repeats and we know he is right. "Inside Song #1" features some Dave Burrell's feisty piano, Hamid's slamming drums, Lewis Barnes' spirited trumpet solo with William's probing bass holding it all together. The music here is joyous and the ensemble play it with great passion and that creative spirit. Leena sings "We the People Who are Darker than Blue" with sassiness and grace while Amiri inserts his own illuminating poetry at length throughout this long piece. Amiri gives us a great deal to consider with his incisive words. He makes many strong points, not that I always agree. What I dig about this project and band is that they combine the best of many worlds, from to soul and gospel to free and swinging jazz. Everyone here gets a chance to solo, but it is the songs and melodies themselves that shine through and touch our hearts and minds in their righteous ways. - BLG
CD $17


CHRIS WATSON - Stepping Into The Dark (Touch 27; UK) 1996 release, repressed! "Watson's lead instrument is the tape recorder. After working with Cabaret Voltaire and The Hafler Trio, he became sound recordist for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He has since joined a film and video production company, working for BBC wildlife documentaries and occasional feature films. The 12 recordings on Stepping into the Dark contrast a windswept forest in Glen Cannich with the gathering conversations of rooks roosting in a churchyard in Northumberland. Other atmospheres include the heat and wall of sound found on the River Mara in Kenya, fishing bats on a mangrove pool in Venezuela, the ritual dance of snipe at dusk in the Northern Hebrides... a hydrophone at 5m. depth in the Moray Firth captures the signature whistles and clicks of bottlenose dolphins."
CD $16


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On the eve of the forthcoming King Crimson Collectors Club #40 'Live March 27 1972' [actually the 39th release, as #5/6 was assigned to the first double CD issued]..
We remind you snatch up the remaining available Club releases - several are out of print already and more to join them very soon - presented here in performance date order.
(Please do NOT order the ones marked 'No Longer Available' - they are included here to show you what you've already missed, BUT they really are gone for good!)


KING CRIMSON [MICHAEL GILES/ROBERT FRIPP/IAN McDONALD/GREG LAKE/PETER SINFIELD] - Hyde Park, London, July 5 1969 (DGM KCCC 12; USA) Opening for the Stones in front of 650,000 people two days after Brian Jones' death
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [MICHAEL GILES/ROBERT FRIPP/IAN McDONALD/GREG LAKE/PETER SINFIELD] - Live at The Marquee, July 6 1969 (DGM KCCC 1; USA) Believed to be from the Sunday 6th July, 1969 performance at The Marquee Club, day after Hyde Park.
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [MICHAEL GILES/ROBERT FRIPP/IAN McDONALD/GREG LAKE/PETER SINFIELD] - Live at Fillmore East, NYC, November 21 & 22 1969 (DGM KCCC 25; USA) These performances are already in the Epitaph 4CD box, BUT the tapes used here are of better quality, discovered later by Michael Giles among his reels.
CD $16


KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINS/BOZ BURRELL/IAN WALLACE/PETER SINFIELD] - Live At Plymouth, May 11 1971 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 14; USA) 1st UK performance for this lineup - sadly..
No Longer Available - Do NOT order!

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINS/BOZ BURRELL/IAN WALLACE/PETER SINFIELD] - Live At Brighton Dome, October 16 1971 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 30; USA)
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINS/BOZ BURRELL/IAN WALLACE/PETER SINFIELD] - Live in Detroit, MI, December 13 1971 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 18; USA)
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINS/BOZ BURRELL/IAN WALLACE] - Live at Jacksonville, FL, February 26 1972 (DGM KCCC 2; USA)
No Longer Available - Do NOT order!

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINS/BOZ BURRELL/IAN WALLACE] - Live in Orlando, FL, February 27 1972 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 23; USA)
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINS/BOZ BURRELL/IAN WALLACE] - Live at Summit Studios, Denver, CO, March 12 1972 (DGM KCCC 9; USA) This CD includes material that was played to the studio audience AFTER the broadcast portion ended [never out before]: a lengthy jam that starts off with a cover of Pharaoh Sander's "The Creator Has A Master Plan"
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/MEL COLLINS/BOZ BURRELL/IAN WALLACE] - Live In Denver, CO, March 13 1972 (DGM KCCC 35; USA)
CD $16


KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/JOHN WETTON/BILL BRUFORD/DAVID CROSS/JAMIE MUIR] - Live at the Zoom Club, Frankfurt, October 13 1972 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 20; USA) The debut live performance by the "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" lineup of King Crimson. The surprise is the inclusion of an instrumental run through of "Fallen Angel" which was never played live thereafter, and only appeared as a studio recording made 2 years later! Sound quality in not very good, but performance is indispensable.
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/JOHN WETTON/BILL BRUFORD/DAVID CROSS/JAMIE MUIR] - The Beat Club TV Show, Bremen, October 17 1972 (DGM KCCC 3; USA) only 15 minutes was televised - this is the whole set!
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/JOHN WETTON/BILL BRUFORD/DAVID CROSS/JAMIE MUIR] - Live in Guildford, November 13 1972 (DGM KCCC 24; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/JOHN WETTON/BILL BRUFORD/DAVID CROSS] - Live at Heidelberg, March 20 1974 (DGM KCCC 29; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/JOHN WETTON/BILL BRUFORD/DAVID CROSS] - Live in Mainz, March 30 1974 (DGM KCCC 15; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/JOHN WETTON/BILL BRUFORD/DAVID CROSS] - Live at Kassel, April 1 1974 (DGM KCCC 36; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/JOHN WETTON/BILL BRUFORD/DAVID CROSS] - Live in Central Park, NYC, July 1 1974 (DGM KCCC 10; USA) The very last live show of this quartet - noted as phenomenal by the musicians and audience alike!
CD $16


DISCIPLINE [KING CRIMSON: ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN] - Live at Moles Club, Bath, April 30 1981 (DGM KCCC 11; USA) The 11th Collectors' Club release (June, 2000). The first live performance by the group Discipline - they changed their name to King Crimson later that summer after recording the LP. Sound quality not great - but performance fascinatingly embryonic!
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN] - Live in Philadelphia, PA, July 30 1982 (DGM KCCC 26; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN] - Live at the Pier, NYC, August 2 1982 (DGM KCCC 37; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN] - Live in Berkeley, CA, August 13 1982 (DGM KCCC 16; USA)
No Longer Available - Do NOT order!

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN] - Live at Cap D'Agde, August 26 1982 (DGM KCCC 4; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN] - Live in Munich, September 29 1982 (DGM KCCC 32; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN] - The Champaign-Urbana Sessions, January 1983 (DGM KCCC 21; USA)
CD $16


KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - The VROOOM Sessions, April-May 1994 (DGM KCCC 8; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live at Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA, June 28-July 1 1995 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 31; USA)
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - On Broadway: Live In NYC, November 20-25 1995 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 5/6; USA)
No Longer Available - Do NOT order!

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in Philadelphia, PA, August 26 1996 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 38; USA)
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/ADRIAN BELEW/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Nashville Rehearsals, May 1997 (DGM KCCC 13; USA)
No Longer Available - Do NOT order!


KING CRIMSON: PROJEKCT ONE [ROBERT FRIPP/BILL BRUFORD/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN] - Jazz Cafe Suite, London, December 1-4 1997 (DGM KCCC 22; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON: PROJEKCT TWO [ROBERT FRIPP/ADRIAN BELEW/TREY GUNN] - Live in Chicago, IL, June 4 1998 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 33; USA) Adrian plays drums - not guitar - in this outfit
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON: PROJEKCT TWO [ROBERT FRIPP/ADRIAN BELEW/TREY GUNN] - Live in Northampton, MA, July 1 1998 (DGM KCCC 17; USA) Adrian plays drums - not guitar - in this outfit
CD $16

KING CRIMSON: PROJEKCT FOUR [ROBERT FRIPP/TONY LEVIN/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in San Francisco, CA, November 1 1998 (DGM KCCC 7; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON: PROJEKCT THREE [ROBERT FRIPP/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in Austin, TX, March 25 1999 (DGM KCCC 27; USA)
CD $16


KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/ADRIAN BELEW/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in Warsaw, June 11th 2000 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 28; USA)
2 CD set for $18

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/ADRIAN BELEW/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in Nashville, TN, November 9 & 10 2001 (DGM KCCC 19; USA)
CD $16

KING CRIMSON: PROJEKCT THREE [ROBERT FRIPP/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in Alexandria, VA, March 3 2003 (DGM KCCC 34; USA) This was originally ticketed as a King Crimson concert, but Adrian became ill the night of the show, so by default this became the last-ever ProjeKct Three show!
CD $16

KING CRIMSON [ROBERT FRIPP/ADRIAN BELEW/TREY GUNN/PAT MASTELOTTO] - Live in Milan, June 20 2003 [2 CD set] (DGM KCCC 39; USA)
2 CD set for $18


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