Jazz /
Récital Paris 1971
Beautiful solo work from Anthony Braxton -- recorded live in Paris at the start of the 70s, and a fair bit more sensitive than some of his earlier work on that scene! Side one features a beautiful take on Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" -- one that runs for 25 minutes, and which features Braxton blowing straight, and almost with some of those Lee Konitz-inspired modes he was using around the time. The tune's still got some of the darkness you might expect from Braxton -- but things really go out …
Gracilty
2024 lucky restock. A mind blowing archival double cd centred around Laurie Scott Baker, who has been involved in experimental music since he was a teenager. A pioneer of live electronics and graphic scores back in the 60s, a member of the Scratch Orchestra & Peoples Liberation Music with Cornelius Cardew, played many first performances of new music. Gracility comes out of the development of free improvisation & groups such as Scratch Orchestra etc. & the general questioning of the music establi…
Electricals
Few albums have been more accurately titled. Though Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn) and Ernst Karel (trumpet) come from acoustic backgrounds, analogue electronics dominate these five pieces, creating what Gino Robair termed "voltage made audible." The duo manages their modular synthesizers the old-school way—"by twisting knobs, flipping switches, yanking patch cords in and out, and sometimes using their own fingers as conductors between cables and instruments," as Bill Meyer describes in Dus…
Kravis Rhonn Project
Radical collaboration between two of European improvisation's most innovative voices, recorded in Berlin in April 2008. Annette Krebs (guitar, mixing board, tapes) and Rhodri Davies (electric harp & electronics) created hours of raw material during sessions in Krebs's apartment, which she then spent months editing and mastering into this intriguing three-part suite. Krebs - one of contemporary improvisation's most distinctive and selective voices - has built her reputation through carefully chos…
Shadows Took Shape
This recording is from a concert during the early 1970's. there is no further informaiton on this recording except that the original reel tape was labeled "Spacemaster Concert." June Tyson recites "The Shadows Took Shape" a Sun Ra poem never heard or seen until now.
Live At Myron\'s Ballroom
Vol. One in Transparency's new audio series of super-high-quality live performances. This one is 3 solid hrs of the Arkestra live at Myron's Ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, April 2 1981. They hadn't played in L.A. for ten years & therefore are FIRED UP!
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.