Jazz /
Dance Of The Living Image
Lost Reel Collection Vol. 4. Recently discovered rehearsal tapes believed to have been recorded in the San Francisco area in December 1974. Identified (by ear) in the session are Sun Ra, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny Ray Thompson, James Jacson, Damon Choice, Akh Tal Ebah, Eloe Omoe, Clifford Jarvis, Dale Williams, and others.
The Creator of the Universe
Vol.1 in a new series entitled "The Lost Reel Collection." 2-CD set of the Arkestra playing live in a SF warehouse in '71, & a lecture by Ra from his legendary residency at UC Berkeley. This is a Sun Ra album like no other!
Expanded Botanics
As with the transformations brought about by recording facilities,this CD features a shift of emphasis from real time performance to the consideration of various stages and assorted sources in sound production as valid ingredients. The use of synthetic or processed fibers, thus prompts new behaviours -give, grain/counter grain- in the fabrics obtained.
Refugium
Electroacoustic trio weaving sampled and live sounds as part of a single continuum, encompassing a rich range of sonorities. The outlook, featuring oriental timbres and recalling contemporary music conceptions, unfolds in slow circular sequences that, nevertheless, create a narrative thread. Their poetics proposes a deceiving play on mirrors, the instrumental roles dismantled through that very multiplying of reflections, the sound quality creating an endless kaleidoscopic impression of elusive d…
New excursions
This 1998 date featured British saxophone and improvisation deity Evan Parker with Copenhagen's Ghost-in-the-Machine trio and Martin Klapper on electronics. This traditional quartet -- saxophones, bass, drums, and piano -- added Klapper to extend the sonic possibilities of all the instruments, which were amplified by microphones. The results are studies more in texture, atmospherics, and sonic constructions than they are in spontaneous composition.
American Landscapes 2
American Landscapes 2 ramps up the intensity slowly and with the clear objective to display power and a thorough sense of control. The first 13 minutes come at you sounding like a forest fire churning with stored energy. Underneath this unfurling force are composed parts that are revealed through close inspection. Once the energy breaks a trombone/saxophone duo stops the presses and summons a simple chamber horn interlude with other brass walking in. The piece wanders a bit into more open free p…
American Landscapes 1
American Landscapes 1 and 2 are live dates from 2006. While there have been a few personnel changes since the original line-up—trombonist Hannes Bauer replacing Jeb Bishop and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love replacing Hamid Drake—the core Tentet has remained intact. Both discs are comprised of a single track, clocking in at respectively about 44 and 52 minutes. Both discs are difficult to digest as single entities: attacking them as longer composed/improvised pieces linked by changes allows you better…
Live At Slug\'s Saloon 1972
6CD set. Sun Ra & the Arkestra played every Monday night at Slug's Saloon in the Lower East Side of NYC for over 5 years, from 1966-1972. This is the 1st released documentation of this long residency, comprising 2 complete shows (6 hours total) recorded over the summer of 1972. High quality recordings that capture the Arkestra emerging from their psychedelic phase & moving back towards their jazz roots.
Second Original Silence
Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke and Mats Gustafsson last convened for the monumentally noisy Diskaholics Anonymous LP, Weapons of Ass Destruction. Now the trio have returned to Smalltown Superjazz for yet more sonic carnage, this time joined by ace drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, guitarist Terrie Ex and bassist Massimo Pupillo. There's a tremendous breadth to the kind of ground covered by these musicians. At no point do you feel as if the ensemble is running out of ideas or stagnating on one particular …
Vesikansi
49 minutes of gooey new goodness spread over just three tracks! From the same tattered coven of piss drinkers who alternately refer to themselves as ANAKSIMANDROS comes this. These fumbling Finns conjure a smoky, shit-drunk forest of noise, folk & unsurpassable tribal improv.. a delicious Ya ho wha 13 soup with a spicy, burnt Amon Duul crust. Oh so highly recommended. Gueast vocals via TARA BURKE aka FURSAXA.
Saxophone Solos
Reissue of Chronoscope CPE 2002-2. Originally issued on LP 19 and a limited edition cassette. Evan Parker's first solo concert on soprano saxophone. Recorded by Martin Davidson in 1975 at the Unity Theatre in London, at that time the preferred concert venue of the Musicans' Co-operative. Further solo material for the original LP release was recorded by Jost Gebers in the FMP studio in Berlin later that year.
C-Section
First release on Second Layer Records. Real-time improvisations to be played at maximum volume. Recorded at Eastcote Studios, London May 2008. Mastered by Tommi Keranen. Evan Parker : tenor, soprano saxophone. John Wiese : electronics, tape, MSP. First edition of 1000 copies.
Mayan Temples
One of the finest Sun Ra recordings from his final years, this effort is particularly recommended due to the many Ra keyboard solos and John Gilmore features, the latter of which include a tenor showcase on "Opus In Springtime." Trumpeters Michael Ray and Ahmed Abdullah, altoist Marshall Allen and singer June Tyson also have their spots, and the repertoire consists of ten Ra originals (including a remake of "El Is the Sound of Joy") and three standard ballads. Overall, this is a fine all-around …
Zombie
A record full of magical chants & even more magical grooves (anyone who would wish the part seven minutes into "Zombie" would end has no soul & probably does not have a soul). Fela Kuti's music transcends barriers of taste & culture, due to the inevitable desire of all human beings to throw their hands up & shake their rumps with no remorse.
Underground System
At 28 minutes in length, the title track boogies from fat funk break to fat funk break as though James Brown possessed the structural ambition of Duke Ellington. Recorded when Fela's 34-piece band was at its apex, this indispensable Fela disc has it all: wavelike call-and-response blowing and singing, thundering-herd percussion, dynamic electric grooves, and potent lyrical invective. The title track excoriates a government no less corrupt today than when it was written.
Teacher, Don't Teach Me Nonsense
In Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense, Fela explains the role of the teacher in any society with the concept that all the things we consider to be problems and all that we consider to be good in life begin with what we are taught, whether it's by our mothers at home, our teachers at school, lecturers at University or the government beyond that. Who then is the governments teacher? 'Culture and Tradition' says Fela.
Shuffering And Shmiling / No Agreement
Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti specialized in the percolating jam, peppered with idiosyncratic horn stabs and political chants, underpinned with sinuous, interweaving guitar and bass lines, and propelled by Tony Allen's Afrobeat percussion, blending traditional Yoruban rhythms and contemporary James Brown beats. SHUFFERING AND SHMILING is trademark Fela, mixing several lengthy, irresistibly danceable tracks (including "Dog Eat Dog," a collaboration with Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter L…
Opposite People / Sorrow Tears And Blood
His mixture of raw energy and sophistication is as remarkable today as it was when he first put it all on wax.
Monkey Banana / Excuse 0
"Monkey Banana/Excuse O" is another gem in the Fela two-albums-on-one-CD reissue series. (By the way, the cover art posted on this page is that of "Upside Down" not "Monkey Banana.") It should be noted that unlike some of the other titles in this series, the song "Monkey Banana" was previously available on the original Celluloid label release of "Zombie" in the mid-1980s. Both the original "Monkey Banana" (with its b-side "Sense Wiseness") and "Excuse O" (with its b-side "Mr. Grammarticalogylisa…