Jazz /
Oliv & Familie
The 1969 Oliv session was the third Spontaneous Music Ensemble LP to be issued, following on from Challenge (1966) and Karyobin (1968), currently awaiting reissue. Familie appears to be the earliest recorded example of a large Sme group. This music is very influenced by slow-moving Gagaku (Japanese court music), especially the semi-composed first half. The second half is largely a free improvisation with a brief return to the written material at the end. An alternative take was recorded, presuma…
Avignon and after - Volume 1
The 1972 Avignon concerts were Steve Lacy’s very first solo concerts, although he did make an excellent overdubbed solo record for Saravah the year before. (For ‘solo’ read ‘alone’ or ‘unaccompanied’ rather than the usual music business meaning of ‘very accompanied’.) Thanks to an introduction by John Stevens, I first met Lacy when he visited London in 1973. He brought with him some of the Avignon tapes in order to try and interest a record producer to issue this music. However, record producers…
The Sun
It is a disturbing fact that most of the major disputes throughout history have been settled by physical fighting involving killing. Have we really risen much above the rest of the animal world? On the contrary, many animals do not kill members of their own species even though they may fight. It used to be that battles were fought in a remote location between two armies that comprised a small percentage of the population. But let us not forget that military fighters, whether voluntary, conscript…
School days
“In 1962 I went to New York for the first time. My father had worked for Boac for so long that the flights were free - I had only to pay 7/6 (=37½p) airport tax. I stayed in NY for two weeks, only leaving Manhattan to take the standard tourist boat trip around the island. A lady on the plane had taken an interest in my plans, and when I told her that I didn't think there would be time to experience more than what Manhattan had to offer, she implored me, 'Please don't judge America by what you se…
Hamidbar Medaber
A dynamic and powerful band out of Canada, Zebrina brings Jewish music into the 21st century with their brilliant second CD. Featuring Ben Goldberg on clarinet, “Hamidbar Medaber” is one of the most exciting and successful blending of modern jazz with the Jewish tradition. Referencing Masada and late Miles, the music contains mysterious moods, fiery solos, and lyrical melodies that will keep you coming back for more. One of the most exciting young bands working in Radical Jewish Culture, Zebrina…
Valentine's Day
An exciting new world of instrumental rock featuring three generations of Downtown superstars—Marc Ribot (Ceramic Dog, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Melvins, Fantômas) and Tyshawn Sorey (Steve Coleman, Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer). Written in 2010, these 12 instrumental miniatures combine atonal lyricism with rock intensity—Schoenberg meets Beefheart’s Magic Band. Originally released as duos in 2011 on the now legendary Enigmata CD (one of the most vexing CDs in Zorn’s cat…
The testament of Solomon
For their fourth release, Zorn’s most intimate and spiritual 21st century ensemble returns with a melodic and open book of tunes reminiscent of the Book of Angels. Drawing inspiration from the Biblical Song of Solomon and originally intended as a companion piece to Zorn’s vocal masterpiece Shir Hashirim, the music is regal, sensual and romantic—a magical blend of classical, jazz and folk music. There has never been a group like the Gnostic Trio, and The Testament of Solomon is a unique CD in the…
Babylon
Turkish free-improv group KonstruKt was formed in 2008 by guitarist Umut Çağlar, and since their inception, they’ve gained notice through their collaborations with such old-guard stalwarts as Evan Parker, Marshall Allen and Peter Brotzmann. The latter introduced them to the legendary Joe McPhee at the Krakow Jazz Autumn festival, and after striking up a friendship, they invited him to join them in Istanbul for a concert in March of 2014. Babylon was recorded the day after he arrived, w…
Kochuu
Isabelle Duthoit, clarinet, voice. Roger Turner, percussion. Alexander Frangenheim, double bass. Recorded in Berlin 2014.
Three Rushes
Ernesto Rodrigues, harp and objects. Katsura Yamauchi, alto saxophone. Carlos Santos, computer.
Negatively Complicating A Procedure That Is Already Flawed
Stunning new jams by the trio of Ben Hall (Graveyards), C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core) and Mike Khoury. Two violins and incendiary drums for a serie of dialogues that magically combine intensity and introspection, rhythm and silence, discipline and ‘fire’. When imagination meets instinct, music is free. A rare gem, a gift by gifted musicians.150 copies with handmade covers.
Zwerginnensuite
After two albums with electroacoustic compositions and turntablism, Corvo Records releases as its seventh LP the piano opus by Austrian composer and performer Ingrid Schmoliner. Inspired by the saga of the Percht, a female pagan godess which appears on midwinter and whose origins reach back to the Stone Age, still present in the very remote mountain areas of the Austrian alps, this album of Ingrid Schmoliner is a suite of powerful prepared piano music. It is witch music in its best sense. And it…
Instants Chevires
Truly an outstanding live document, by the trio comprising Peter Kowald (1944 - 2002), doublebass. Daunik Lazro, alto & baryton saxophones. Annick Nozati (1945 - 2000), voice. Recorded in Instants Chavirés, Montreuil, February 2000 by Jean-Marc Foussat. Duos, trios and one solo from Annick Nozati. The only time they did play together.
28 rue Dunois, juillet 1982
Awesome collective improvisation. "The fundamental tension between freely improvised music’s momentary existence in performance and the monumentalizing impact of media becomes more nuanced with each new delivery system. While MP3 files lack the totemic mass of box sets of discs, they nevertheless have a compensating spectral power. The rise of the archival recording compounds this tension, particularly when one is proffered to be the long-missing puzzle piece that completes the picture of how an…
Live in Montreux
Founded in the Italy centre town of Ancona, Agorà curiously debuted with a live album instead of a studio one: they played an almost-instrumental typical jazz-rock, and they were invited to play at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland (a place that is most remembered for the fire that inspired Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water"). That's where "Live in Montreux" was recorded, a four-track LP, one of which has been cut in two parts on the two sides of the album.Music, as specified in t…
The Journey
South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) featuring Hamiet Bluiett (baritone sax) and Don Cherry (trumpet). Exact repro, originally released in 1977.
Mulatu of Ethiopia
Cool dubbed out percussive afro tribalism with a free jazz spirit like Roland Kirk meeting Fela Kuti. Include vibraphone, saxophone, drum and you get da spiritual fonkjazz! Very cool authentic reissue to save you a few hundred bucks over the stoopid rare original.
Arashi
Legendary japanese musician Akira Sakata (active in various groups since the early 70s) teams up with Berthling of Fire and Nilssen-Love of The Thing. Akira Sakata, alto saxophone, clarinet, voice. Johan Berthling, double bass. Paal Nilssen-Love, drums & percussion.
Music From Tomorrow's World
Music From Tomorrow's World is a fascinating document and a boon to Sun Ra collectors. It gathers previously unheard tapes from two sources: one from the Wonder Inn club and one from Majestic Hall, probably a rehearsal. Both were recorded in 1960, toward the end of the Arkestra's Chicago period. The Wonder Inn tape is especially revealing, as it presents the Arkestra in front of a crowd. And although Saturn album releases from the period feature Ra compositions almost exclusively, this set shows…
Sunrise In Different Dimensions
This CD features a live concert by Sun Ra & the Arkestra in Switzerland. The only fault to the set is that the two drummers (Chris Henderson and Eric Walker) fail to swing and often sound wooden on the vintage standards, which might be due to the lack of a bassist. However, the nonet (which also includes Ra on piano and organ, tenor great John Gilmore, altoist Marshall Allen, baritonist Danny Thompson, the reeds of Kenneth Williams and Noel Scott, and trumpeter Michael Ray), despite its slightly…