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50th Birthday Celebration Volume 1
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* September 2003 marked the 50th birthday of John Zorn, and to celebrate, Tonic hosted a month-long celebration of Zorn's various musical groups and projects. The shows were recorded, and the best of them are being released as a new series on Zorn's "Tzadik" label.
The first offering is the entire early set by the Masada String Trio, recorded on September 4, 2003, with Zorn conducting Mark Feldman on violin, Erik Friedlander on cello, and Greg Cohen, on ba…
Arispejal astisaró
Geometrik presents the reissue, remastered from the original tapes, of a classic Esplendor Geométrico. Arispejal astisaró was recorded between 1987 and 1989. an especially interesting period where the unique and characteristic rhytmic-industrial Esplendro Geométrico style, developed along the eighties, turns more minimalistic, schematic, cold and rough. Arispejal astisaró was firstly published in 1993 by the label Línea Alternativa in an edition of 500 copies. This new reissue is remastered from…
Obelisk
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Universally acclaimed as a pioneer in live laptop electronics, Ikue’s signature style is still uniquely her own and has influenced two generations of laptop performers. Her new band project Obelisk is a super-band featuring three of the most acclaimed and original players in the Downtown scene—Okkyung Lee, Jim Black and Sylvie Courvoisier. Ikue’s startling compositions blend gorgeous melodies with hypnotic rhythms and evocative soundscapes. Strange and beaut…
Gently Unfamiliar
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* One of the most versatile and active proponents of creative music, Karl Berger is a living legend who has been expanding the Jazz language since the mid-'60s. A pianist, vibraphonist, composer, arranger, conductor and educator of astounding energy and creativity, Karl has worked with many of the greatest names in New Music: Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Anthony Braxton, Bill Laswell and countless others. Following up on his gorgeous 2010 releas…
Live At Tonic 1999
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock* With the growth of saxophonist/composer/bandleader/producer John Zorn's Masada project into a veritable cottage industry that includes Masada Recital, Masada String Trio, Masada Guitars , Electric Masada and The Unknown Masada, it may be easy to forget how, ten years ago, his Masada Quartet, with trumpeter Dave Douglas, bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Joey Baron burst onto the scene with a series of ten rapidly-released studio records that combined a Jewish mu…
Nador
Geometrik presents the first vinyl edition of Esplendor Geométrico's Nador, originally released by Dirk Ivens' Daft Records on CD in 1995. Fans of Esplendor Geométrico have been waiting eagerly for this reissue of Nador, a collection of alternate takes and otherwise unreleased tracks recorded in 1988 and '89, one of the duo's best creative periods. Includes tracks recorded in the Sheikh Aljama (GR 2116CD/GR 2131LP) and Arispejal Astisaró (GR 2117CD/GR 2132LP) period, an especially interesting…
Alastor: The Book of Angels vol. 21
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* The latest in John Zorn‘s second Masada songbook, the highly melodic and dynamic Book of Angels, the 10 songs on Alastor come courtesy of master composer and violist / multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang. Though Kang generally skews towards classical, chamber, and ambient, his take on Zorn’s hand-picked selections is a surprising and gorgeous collision of styles.
“Hakem” opens with synthesized accents and a strong Indian and Persian inflection—elements that re…
Shofar Rags
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Active since the mid-’60s, Alvin Curran is one of America’s most courageous and outrageous musical mavericks. A true forefather to the Downtown scene, his music embraces the dialectics of composition/improvisation, tonality/atonality, minimalism/maximalism, electronic/acoustic and more. Alvin’s use of the Shofar in experimental music making goes as far back as 1988, and this long awaited release features several compositions for Shofar and electronics, rangi…
Chromatophore
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Anthony Pateras is a composer/performer based in Melbourne who is as comfortable writing for full orchestra as he is performing in intimate improvisational groupings. Pateras represents the best in the new generation of musicians combining the spontaneity of improvisation with the formal logic of composition and for his second Tzadik CD, he has chosen an eclectic mix of ensemble pieces that blend instrumental virtuosity and electroacoustic sonorities in star…
Double Dupe Down
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Zeena Parkins is a keyboardist, harpist and composer who has worked closely with Fred Frith, Bjork, Ikue Mori and many others. Her brilliant work for dance has earned her three Bessie Awards, and her own bands have toured the world for over twenty years to great acclaim. This special compilation brings together her best compositions written for film and features some of the greatest musicians in the downtown scene. An endlessly creative collection of work by…
Reflex
Eich presents Recorded by Jean-Philippe Gross. Recorded in 2013, 2016 & 2018. Edited and mixed in december 2018 & april 2019. Mastering : Taku Unami. Photo : Guillaume Greff. Design : Studio Punkat.
Azazel: Book of Angels Volume 2
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* The first new studio recording in almost ten years by one of the most exhilarating ensembles in the ever growing Masada family. Together since 1994, their breathtaking virtuosity, extraordinary passion and telepathic interplay has increased over the years and now their performances set a new standard for excitement, concentration and commitment. Performing thirteen new compositions from Zorn's legendary Book of Angels, these three brilliant musicians, under …
The Viking Of Sixth Avenue
re-released on its original label, Honest Jon's, with new and improved gatefold card wallet sleeve packaging. Poet, composer, street musician and cosmologist Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin, 1916-1999) learned rhythm from American Indians and counterpoint from J.S. Bach. Many of his recordings feature instruments he built himself: trimba, yukh, tuji, oo. Sometimes you can hear in the background the streets of New York, where Moondog often slept. In addition, he was blind, due to an accident when he…
The Sound Placing Land Bridge
During a research in his archive Giancarlo Toniutti found two unfinished compositions recorded with Tiziano Dominighini in 1981-1982. Those compositions were mostly made of improvisation sessions using synthesizers and a guitar. Giancarlo Toniutti decided in 2013 to complete the compostions and recorded new material througout 2013 and 2014. The new compositions were made of several field recordings made in the countryside nearby a highway road. All the compostions were then mixed together in 201…
Masada First Live 1993
*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* As a unit, Masada was well-documented in live settings. Despite the ten studio recordings, there have been numerous double live concert outings from the quartet -- John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron -- from all over the world, but until now, there has been scant opportunity to hear how Masada's sound (which came across as completely mature on their first studio date) was born and developed. This set, the band's first ever live meeting at the old…
Malagasy at Newport
** Carefully remastered. 4 page booklet with rare and unpublished photos ** In May 1972, the wave of anger and the thirst for freedom that had swept the world in 1968 arrived in Madagascar. The Malagasy youth took the opportunity to exile in search of a brighter future. Several of them, all jazz musicians and often polyintrumentalists, came to Paris with their afro hair and bellbottoms. Their names were Sylvin Marc, his cousin Ange "Zizi" Japhet, Del Rabenja, Gérard Rakotoarivony and Frank Rahol…
Madagascar Now - Maintenant 'Zao
** Carefully remastered. 4 page booklet with rare and unpublished photos ** While he was working on the repertoire for the new version of his group Malagasy, with young Malagasy musicians he had met in Paris in 1972 (and who can be heard on the album "Malagasy At Newport-Paris"), Jef Gilson realised that two of his new discoveries, in addition to being established polyinstrumentalists (who both had sharpened their skills in the legendary seja-jazz band from La Réunion, Le Club Rythmique), were a…
Spectrum
'Spectrum is a continuation of my interest in the perception of time, and at the same time an acknowledgement of me being on the autism spectrum. I got diagnosed with this about 2 1/2 years ago, which was quite the shock for me at that moment. But in the past 2 1/2 years I have learned so much about this.
This album, with my interest in minimalism, opposed to bombastic music, is a form to embrace my autism and to accept it as it is. I didn't change as a person, but I do know myself better. The m…
Three Blokes in Ameno
*In process of stocking* The trio Kalma Zolli Sinigaglia is coming out from the experiences of the duo “Scosse Elettriche” (Zolli-Sinigaglia) playing with other musicians like Trio Cavalazzi and Ariel Kalma. Riccardo Sinigaglia is a well-known Italian composer, electronic musician and improviser; he played keyboards and flute in groups like Futuro Antico, Correnti Magnetiche, Doubling Riders, and collaborated with many musicians in Italy and abroad. Davide Zolli has been the drummer of Italian n…
DIY Canons
"The pieces on this CD are all based on the ideas in Larry Polansky's four voice canons, a series of pieces he began in 1975. These canons are usually "mensuration canons," which means that the tempi of successive voices is proportional to their start times, so that the voices end together. They also use simple ideas of moving through a list of permutations, and applying the elements of those permutations to various musical parameters. A set of Polansky's canons was produced on Cold Blue Records…