Friday, July 30, 2021

Tony Catania Trio - Fairly Certain (July 30, 2021)

1. Basement Moth 05:12
2. Thistle 04:57
3. Noonday Demon 04:42
4. Boofy 04:49
5. Junco ii 02:10
6. Empathy 05:09
7. Branch 02:30
8. Fairly Certain 03:51
9. Mt. Lenom 05:40
10. Away 01:12

Tony Catania • Tenor Saxophone
Barry Paul Clark • Bass
Devin Drobka • Drums

All compositions by Tony Catania

Recorded 9/20/2020 by Dave Miller at Whiskey Point Studio in Chicago, Ill
Mixed by Dave Miller
Mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering in Milwaukee, Wi.

Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking's "The Long Middle" due out July 30, 2021 via Outside In Music

Sam Blakeslee and Wistful Thinking Present The Long Middle, A Meditation on Isolation and Distance in a Chamber Jazz Setting, due out July 30, 2021 via Outside in Music

Outside in Music is thrilled to announce the July 30, 2021 release of The Long Middle, the debut album from stalwart New York-based trombonist and composer Sam Blakeslee and his dynamic ensemble Wistful Thinking. Featuring an introspective journey of pastoral melodies and beautifully crafted compositions and arrangements, this genre-defying release comes to life in an intimate chamber-jazz setting, akin to the various small bands of Kenny Wheeler and Bob Brookmeyer. Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking features the trombonist alongside saxophonist Chris Coles, who also contributes various electronic effects and pedals, guitarist Brandon Coleman and bassist Matt Wiles. The Long Middle represents a pivotal period for the New York-based trombonist; one that is marked by the pervading feelings of isolation and distance, both in the geographic and social sense that have been so universally felt over the past year.  

Originally from Columbus, Ohio, award-winning trombonist Sam Blakeslee has made a significant name for himself in New York City, where he has lived since 2017. Over the past four years, Blakeslee has developed a solid reputation as a “first call” player, notably with several high-profile large ensemble groups including the Dan Pugach Nonet, Manuel Valera’s New Cuban Express Big Band, New Alchemy Jazz Orchestra, Terraza Big Band, Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows, Big Heart Machine, Emilio Solla’s Tango Jazz Orchestra, and the New York Afro-Bop Alliance Big Band, among others. He has shared the stage with a plethora of top-notch jazz icons ranging from Joe Lovano and Sean Jones to Ingrid Jensen and Dominick Farinacci, and regularly performed at top tier venues around the city. While he loved New York City and all it had to offer, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. “The transience and overwhelming frequency of New York City started to create a bittersweet sentiment for my friends and musical collaborators in my native Ohio,” he shared, adding that he was drawn to both the grounded nature of his hometown, and it’s predictability. He particularly missed the “beautiful, community-oriented fashion” he had grown up with.

Yearning for a sense of community and musical kinship, Blakeslee began making regular trips back to Ohio to perform and record with friends and musicians there. However, during those visits, he would immediately long for the unbridled energy and unparalleled musical diversity of New York. In other words, he found himself somewhere in the middle. 

During one of these visits in 2019, he and fellow Ohio-native musicians Brandon Coleman and Matt Wiles found themselves in discussion about the joys of playing with a percussion-less ensemble. “We realized it was something we did rarely, but wanted to do more. We immediately thought of ways that it could change the direction of the music we were working on to give us unique options while improvising, and also could be a vehicle to fulfill the unique challenges that type of ensemble poses.” It struck Blakeslee that this pared down instrumentation might compliment the new music he was composing as of late, inspired by his wistful wish to be in two places at once. Blakeslee also added alto saxophonist Chris Coles into the mix; a brilliant musician whose spirit and energy was an obvious natural fit. 
Two days before the newly named Wistful Thinking project was set to embark on their first tour, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Blakeslee was crushed.  “At that point, I had spent over two years trying to get established in New York and purposefully not pursuing my own projects to try to absorb all of the other musical offerings that were present there. Then when the moment came to finally step out as a leader, everything became so uncertain. Like all other musicians at that time, I saw my whole calendar full of both creative projects and my livelihood get washed away in a matter of weeks.” The isolation from the pandemic intensified the already existing sense of yearning for the group, and added an extra layer of emotion to the project. Finally, after much delay, the band came together to record over three days in Cincinnati last August, providing a much-needed catharsis for all parties. The resulting work is a striking and meditative eight track collection comprised of Blakeslee originals and a retooling of the Appalachian folk song “Shady Grove”. 

Highlights include the title track, “The Long Middle”, which was the last piece composed for this record and reflects the slow passage of time that unfolded during the isolation of the pandemic, and “Ashokan”, which was inspired by the Ashokan Reservoir in the Catskill Mountains. “During his period, the reservoir and the Catskills in general have become an integral part of balancing my art and life and that balance is what I tried to represent in the composition. I have also been fascinated with the duality in this particular location – that something so serene and still can provide water and lifeblood to such a chaotic place like NYC,” Blakeslee describes. Another poignant feature is “Bygones are Bygones”, which symbolizes the concept of “water under the bridge”. Particularly striking, this track demonstrates the deep trust between the members with free improvisation. Recorded in only one take, to Blakeslee this tune best displays the unique timbral palette of the ensemble. 

Grammy nominated trombonist and composer Alan Ferber praised Blakeslee and The Long Middle. He shared: “In a year fraught with anxiety and isolation, there are some musicians who have found powerful opportunities for musical and spiritual growth. As evidenced by his stunning new release, Sam Blakeslee is clearly one of them. This new body of work reflects a trombonist who thinks and plays like a composer, patiently waiting for each new idea to be heard before delivering and developing. As I listened to this album, I remembered something that Bob Brookmeyer used to say, “The line is everything.” I can promise that if you follow the line that permeates Sam’s new album, you will be richly rewarded with a story both unique and beautiful, and most importantly, honest.” 

1. The Long Middle 5:54 
2. Ashokan 5:57 
3. Bygones Are Bygones 4:40 
4. Franklin’s Blues 5:10
5. Nomad’s Lament 4:35 
6. Bob 4:49 
7. Shady Grove 7:43
8. Approaching Closure 5:51

All music by Sam Blakeslee

Xhosa Cole - K​(​no​)​w Them, K​(​no​)​w Us (July 30, 2021 Stoney Lane Records)

Xhosa Cole, the acclaimed 24 year-old award-winning saxophonist, is to release his much-anticipated debut album this summer, celebrating the rich tapestry of music and heritage of great African-American composers and improvisers - formative influences on his life and music - through a contemporary black British lens.

“... Cole expressed a touchingly modest reverence towards his great forebears, but there’s absolutely nothing modest about his playing, which is madly inventive at every moment and remarkably individual for one so young.” - The Telegraph

Featuring special guest appearances from fellow Birmingham-raised musicians – MOBO-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch and celebrated pianist Reuben James - K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us takes its inspiration from words by the great Dizzy Gillespie about Louis Armstrong - ‘no him, no me.’ As Cole explains, “this album acknowledges the shoulders on which all of the musicians in the band stand as one. To understand me and my music is to understand all the amazing teachers and musicians who have helped me along this path - without the greats who helped to forge this journey over half a century ago we wouldn’t be lucky enough to be walking in their footsteps today.”

Full of warmth, character and authenticity, K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us features seven pieces all with strong meaning to Cole. Opening with trumpeter Woody Shaw’s Zoltan, Xhosa recalls spending his late teens at Edgbaston reservoir in Birmingham repeatedly listening to clips of the album with a friend - “trying to milk all the little nuggets of information out of those moments of pure genius.” What’s New (Bob Haggart) was one of the very first jazz tunes Xhosa remembers hearing, from one of his favourite vocalists Ella Fitzgerald. “I’m what you call a hopeless romantic, which is why the old American song books resonate with me and get me all up in my feels!” Further tracks feature music from heroes Ornette Coleman, Lee Morgan and Thelonious Monk. “There is no composer like Monk and there is no pianist like Monk. The depth of his groove coupled with his harmonic commitment and integrity makes for one BAD musician! I’ve learned so much trying to prize open his compositions - you have to mine for the abundance of gold and treasures he’s left humanity.”

• K(no)w Them, K(no)w Us releases on 30th July 2021 on Stoney Lane Records, available on CD, limited edition 180g vinyl and all digital platforms 

1. Zoltan
2. Blues Connotation
3. Manhattan
4. Played Twice
5. On A Misty Night
6. What's New
7. Untitled Boogaloo
8. Zoltan (radio edit)

Xhosa Cole - Saxophone
Jay Phelps - Trumpet
James Owston - Bass
James Bashford - Drums

with special guests
Soweto Kinch - Saxophone (6, 7)
Reuben James - Piano (3, 6, 7)

Barry Altschul 3Dom Factor 'Long Tall Sunshine' – July 30, 2021 via Not Two

Pioneering drummer Barry Altschul returns with a thrilling new live performance by his exploratory trio 
The 3Dom Factor
 
 
" The best way to hear this band is live and wild in the moment."
– Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes
 
“The 3Dom Factor… epitomizes the energy, exuberance and capriciousness of most great jazz… a small, highly intuitive combo that uses bop as a springboard into the great unknown of avant-garde.”
– Victor Aaron, Something Else Reviews

Three, as those of us who grew up on Schoolhouse Rock will remember, truly is a magic number. It’s enshrined in the name of The 3Dom Factor, the astounding trio led by legendary drummer/improviser Barry Altschul for the last decade or so. That sobriquet reflects the vital importance of all three voices in the band: not only Altschul’s powerful, ever-inquisitive drumming, but the tirelessly venturesome saxophone playing of Jon Irabagon and the acrobatic muscularity of bass great Joe Fonda.
 
So naturally, the release of the 3dom Factor’s third album, Live in Kraków, in 2017 felt like a natural conclusion of sorts for the project. It summed up a neat trilogy that began with the band’s self-titled 2012 debut, which concentrated on Altschul’s original tunes; followed by the 2015 follow-up, Tales of the Unforeseen, a second studio date that was almost wholly improvised save for a pair of intriguing covers; and finally, Live in Kraków, a dazzling showcase of the trio’s onstage inventiveness.
 
Fortunately for lovers of exploratory jazz at its finest, Altschul decided against letting that trilogy stand alone. After four years of recorded silence, The 3dom Factor makes its welcome return with Long Tall Sunshine, an exhilarating concert performance captured somewhere in Europe during the trio’s spring 2019 tour. (Unfortunately the band’s record-keeping isn’t quite as skillful as its interplay, leaving the specifics as something of a mystery.) Due out July 30, 2021 via Not Two, Long Tall Sunshine finds The 3dom Factor at the top of its form, navigating five of Altschul’s expansive compositions with a staggering display of in-the-moment inspiration and tightrope-walking audacity.
 
“This album is kind of a bonus,” Altschul says. “The third album felt like a nice way to end the series, but I read several reviews that said they hoped this wasn't the last release. The audience wanted more.” As did Altschul’s triomates, who strongly encouraged him to release this particular concert after hearing the dauntless imagination of the performance.
 
“More” is precisely what Long Tall Sunshine has to offer. Four of the five tracks will be familiar to longtime fans of the drummer, having made up the repertoire not only of the previous 3dom Factor outings but of Altschul’s early-80s trio with Ray Anderson and Mark Helias and his FAB Trio with Fonda and the late violinist Billy Bang. The exception is the title track, a previously unrecorded composition dedicated to a former paramour who Altschul describes as “long and tall, with this sunny disposition.”
 
Anchored by Fonda’s pulsating bassline, the tune’s sinuous theme is an alluring mix of the sleek and the sunny, an ideal launching point for Irabagon’s inexhaustible array of melodic variations. Altschul prods the saxophonist onward with an invigorating barrage of combustible percussion, laying back only to make room for Fonda’s eloquent bass solo, which the drummer parries with conversational expertise, reflecting the pair’s long history together.
Irabagon, Altschul & Fonda

The remaining four pieces all appeared on The 3dom Factor, with three of them reprised on Live in Kraków. The multiple versions of each make for enlightening comparison, shining a spotlight on the trio’s unceasing creativity and gift for completely reinventing each tune from one performance to the next. It’s also reflective of Altschul’s philosophy of improvised music.
 
“I don't really believe that anything is really new,” he emphasizes. “I'm a believer in ‘fresh.’ I listen to Miles Davis when he said that Louis Armstrong played everything that could be played. So it's just a matter of being fresh. So using the same compositions just provides a springboard to let us get into some fresh improvisational spaces.
 
“Plus,” he adds, a wry smile creeping into his voice, “I'm lazy.”
 
It’s difficult to put much stock into that claim given the longevity of Altschul’s career, which now stretches out over more than five decades and includes collaborations with many of the music’s most towering figures, including Chick Corea, Paul Bley, Lee Konitz, Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers and Andrew Hill. Another deciding factor in releasing Long Tall Sunshine (though the breathtaking quality of the music is reason enough) was Altschul’s encroaching 80th birthday, which will arrive in January 2023. With the pandemic taking live performance out of the equation at a moment when the drummer was contemplating the winding down of his touring schedule, it felt all the more important to remind the world of the continuing vitality of this major voice in free music.
 
The cover portrait of Long Tall Sunshine, by Altschul’s friend and NYC neighbor Nora Howard, captures its subject’s energy as well as his forward-looking attitude. “Nora's a very dear friend, and when she showed me this painting I said, ‘It looks like it's not finished.’ And she said, ‘Well’ neither are you!’ That worked for me.”

01 Long Tall Sunshine
02 The 3Dom Factor
03 Irina
04 Be Out S'Cool
05 Martin's Stew

Barry Altschul - drums & cymbals
Jon Irabagon - tenor & soprillo saxophones and alto clarinet
Joe Fonda - bass

Florian Arbenz - Conversation #2 & #3 (July 30, 2021)

Best known for his work with Swiss trio VEIN, drummer Florian Arbenz has toured, recorded and performed with artists including Kirk Lightsey, Greg Osby, Glenn Ferris, Wolfgang Puschnig, Bennie Maupin, Dave Liebman, Rick Margitza, Andy Sheppard, Matthieu Michel, Bruno Rousselet, Michel Benita, Olah Kalman, Tibor Elekes, Oguz Buyukberber and others.

1. Arbenz X Hart - Triptych 
2. Arbenz X Hart - Wooden Lines
3. Arbenz X Hart - Homenaje
4. Arbenz X Hart - Freedom Jazz Dance
5. Arbenz X Hart - Between Times
6. Arbenz X Hart - Evidence
7. Arbenz X Hart / Känzig - Ramprasad
8. Arbenz X Hart / Känzig - Jammin' In The Children's Corner
9. Arbenz X Hart / Känzig - Ode To The Sentimental Knowledge
10. Arbenz X Hart / Känzig - Rhenos
11. Arbenz X Hart / Känzig - Grace of Gravity
12. Arbenz X Hart / Känzig - Epistrophy

Mocky - Overtones for the Omniverse (July 30, 2021)

Following up his score for the japanese Netflix Anime series “Carole & Tuesday”, Mocky returns to album mode with his new orchestral opus “Overtones For The Omniverse”. Just days before the first Covid lockdowns, Mocky brought a 16 person orchestra comprising of his usual who’s who of underground talent into LA’s Barefoot Studios (and into the same room where Stevie Wonder recorded “Songs in the Key of Life”) to record a pile of scores he had come up with during his previous year’s sabbatical in Portugal.

The result is a stunning orchestral album recorded in 36 hours in one or two takes straight off the written page. Shunning the “possible perfection” of today's recording techniques, Mocky looked back as a way to find an alternate future.
According to Mocky:
“We had to do it quick with no rehearsal to capture that big open sound of people working together in a room - in all its imperfect glory. In the imperfections you find the humanity. And in today’s tech driven spaces you have to fight to preserve a space for humanity. I felt a deep desire to create a sonic trajectory path for us to follow as we ascend and evolve our understanding of love and what it means to be human. This is the inspiration for „Overtones for the Omniverse“”.

The album runs the gamut from Steve Reich infused minimalism overlaid with Dorothy Ashby style harp runs (“Overtures”) to atonal analogue synth sounds over Martin Denny style percussion (“Bora!”). There's a classic Mocky crooning number that gives a Jim Henson-esque take on the state of “Humans” and the album as a whole captures Mocky's skill of bringing together the joyful energy of a unique cast of LA collaborators.

1. Overtures
2. Bora!
3. Stevie's Room
4. Humans
5. Ape-Ifanys
6. Well Tempered Lament
7. Wishful Thinking
8. Désirée (Piano Version)

Featuring:
Randal Fisher / Flute, Vicky Farewell / Piano, Vocals, Harry Foster / Bass, Vibraphone, Tubular Bells, Vocals
Joey Dosik / Organ and Glockenspiel, Vocals, Guilermo E. Brown aka Pw / Percussion, Vocals, Jhan Lee Aponte (TossTones) / Percussion, Vocals, Timpani, Paul Cartwright / Violin, Molly Rogers / Viola, Gabe Noel / Cello, Contrabass, Liza Wallace / Harp, Coco O. / Vocals, Mocky / Compositions, Drums, Vocals, Roland Sh-1000

O for the O Choir :
Nia Andrews, Leslie Feist, Moses Sumney, Durand Bernarr, Eddie Chacon

Recorded at Barefoot Studios, Los Angeles March 6 + 7, 2020.
All songs written by Dominic “Mocky” Salole and published by Heavy Sheet Music/Warner Chappell except "Wishful Thinking" written by Dominic “Mocky” Salole and Matt Corby and "Bora!" written by Dominic “Mocky” Salole, Guillermo Brown, Aponte Poro.

Produced by Mocky, Justin Stanley and Renaud Letang. Mixed by Renaud Letang at Ferber Studios Paris
Mastered by Emilie Daelemans. Cover artwork by Rand Sevilla. Photo by Vice Cooler.

Matt Mitchell & Kate Gentile - Snark Horse [Box Set] July 30, 2021 Pi Recordings

Snark Horse is a book of 70 highly-detailed one-bar compositions by pianist / composer Matt Mitchell and percussionist / composer Kate Gentile designed to incite inventive, multi-directional improvisation. It is also the name of a revolving cast of musicians – including Mitchell and Gentile – who have performed this music in various combinations since 2013. Mitchell's prior release, Phalanx Ambassadors, was called by Popmatters "a high watermark for the new jazz... a breathtaking jawdropper from one of the best pianists and composers now working." Gentile's 2017 debut release, Mannequins, was described by The New York Times as "full of stuttering rhythms and teetering intervallic jumps; an array of textures — sometimes chiming, sometimes abraded — disorient you even as they deepen your listening."

For this new recording, Mitchell and Gentile convened eight other singular musicians – all of whom have taken part in Snark Horse performances over the years – in varying combinations. Despite the small nuggets of musical information, their approach is still jazz-oriented: the musicians first play, and then improvise on the tunes. The one-bar compositions can be looped, connected, made into vamps, transposed, inverted, alternated, played together to create other-worldly counterpoint, basically in infinite permutations. Ultimately, Mitchell and Gentile’s intention behind Snark Horse is to make a highly improvisational and expansive environment using compressed versions of the kinds of material they use in their longer pieces. The compositions help foster a unique, highly imaginative universe for the musicians to show off their individual takes on this truly idiosyncratic music. Their energy is captured in over 270 minutes of music, interwoven with 60 additional minutes of electronic material composed and constructed by Mitchell in response to the group recordings. The entire daunting project presents the musicians’ resourceful creativity to full effect. 
1. flock adulation
2. compartments | 's partial
3. hem(atoadaso)da
4. a pouting grimace | greasy puzzle
5. forn
6. pheromone quiz
7. deep recess
8. fertile pinwheels
9. key tettle | FLARDLE
10. igh | dogmacile
11. trapezoids | matching tickles
12. all tall ghosts
13. nudgelet
14. thumbly
15. asymptotic rest area
16. underblobb sys
17. feral pineals
18. torpid blather | fuck your capitalization style | pendulum wobbles
19. teeming molten holdings
20. thing-fact | theoretical muscle
21. adrenal halos | dog mma((t)t)gic
22. alphabotanical
23. bogs and silence
24. fickle laughing
25. for teens | spinal thought | peripheral drome
26. infractal sentences
27. glubz | spelling bad on purpose
28. garlic plastics
29. f tessellations | chimeric numbers
30. tooth helmet
31. Tørn
32. feebleau
33. fruit velvet
34. mind google | end of something
35. regular falutin'
36. supple bicepsual | is jingles | utter balbis
37. phoofaux | rejected names | high popes
38. startling and diaphanous | the gnostic and the spastic
39. B
40. strikes me as wanting to make me barf | clump 3
41. mad homonyms | phex
42. plungeon
43. ought gobs | T
44. breach zone
45. elegiac foldouts | gluey clamor
46. mighnutes
47. glue cubes | inkblot terrain | clock levitation | cat secrets | bludgement
48. catjinx
49. fettleau | a spree...canopy

the Snark Horsekestra:
Kate Gentile - compositions, drums & percussion
Matt Mitchell - compositions, piano, modular synthesizer, Prophet-6, MicroFreak & electronics
Kim Cass - acoustic & electroacoustic bass
Ben Gerstein - trombone
Jon Irabagon - tenor, mezzo-soprano, sopranino, soprillo, & mezzo-soprano saxophones & alto clarinet
Davy Lazar - trumpet, piccolo trumpet & cornet
Mat Maneri - viola
Ava Mendoza - guitar
Matt Nelson - tenor & alto saxophones
Brandon Seabrook - guitar & tenor banjo

All 6 discs in a clamshell style box. Comes with a beautiful 12-page booklet containing a breakdown of which musicians play on which tracks, which pieces are by Matt and which are by Kate, and words by each band member of the Snark Horsekestra and mixing/mastering wizard David Torn.

Includes digital pre-order of Snark Horse [Box Set]. You get 10 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

Digital Album
Streaming + Download
Pre-order of Snark Horse [Box Set]. You get 10 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

Josef Akin - Flightcase (July 30, 2021 Sola Terra)

Recorded in a rare moment of freedom between lockdowns, Flightcase represents the joy of collaboration and the importance of human connection.

This is an album of many voices. Influences ranging from Herbie Hancock to Sun Ra, but also from other projects Akin is involved in, Amara & GABO, shine through in an album which acknowledges the various music that inspires and influences Akin, whilst trying to create something new and unique.

Akin Subscribes to the philosophy of allowing each musician to create however they feel to, trying to do little more than create the framework and allow the other musicians to express themselves within this. This felt particularly important in a time marred by restrictions.

1. Aquila
2. Sun Dance
3. Di Avenie
4. Blue Brew
5. Syntax
6. Flightcase
7. Darwood Avenue
8. Final Thoughts

Josef Akin - keys, vocals, balafon
Daniel Ashton - flute, guitar
Finn Rosenbaum - drums, percussion
Norman Villeroux - bass
India Blue - vocals, trumpet (3,8)
Harry Weir - saxophone
Suleman "Chief" Chebe - balafon, percussion
Joshua Elcock - trumpet (6)

Recorded & mixed by Luigi Pasquini
Dystopia Studios, Glasgow, Scotland
Mastered by Mark Dobson
Coda Mastering, Brighton, England
Artwork & Design by Charlie Turner

Michael Jenner - Feed The Kitty (July 30, 2021 Breakfast for Dinner Records)

This album was recorded in one six-hour session on September 29, 2006. We set up in the main room at Word of Mouth in Algiers Point, no rehearsal, and hit it! Other than a couple of brief discussions about how to end (and sometimes not even that) my only directions were to play exactly what you want. I chose this group to make this record because I LOVE them and they just happen to be some of the greatest musicians I know. Jason Mingledorff is one of the most soulful and skilled cats I’ve ever met. When Jason’s on the gig you know he’s gonna make everyone around him sound better. Brian Coogan is an absolute magician. His ability to take my simple little tunes and re-harmonize them on the fly and create stunning soundscapes will never cease to blow my mind. Simon Lott is so much more than a drummer.

His love of music and life comes through in every note he plays. He also has one of the greatest laughs I’ve heard in my life. And Tim Green… Anyone that ever got to experience the great joy of being around Tim can attest to the fact the he’s probably the kindest person to ever walk the earth. I think about Tim a lot since his passing. He was one of those people that made you want to be better. And what a sound!

I would also like to acknowledge Tim Stambaugh, Tracey Freeman, and Chris Munson. They are the unsung members of the band. This record would not be what it is without their contributions. Love you cats!

I hope you will experience a little bit of the joy we had making this record.

MJ

1. Julia Stiles 14:31
2. You Still Make Me Nervous 08:19
3. Off The Ground 13:09
4. Cantabile 09:42
5. A Mid September Night's Dream 13:01
6. Waiting For Tuesday 10:16
7. Let's Waste The Day 07:51
8. Message From Tim 00:50

This recording is dedicated to Tim Green and Eric Traub

All compositions by Michael Jenner except Cantabile by Simon Lott.

Michael Jenner - Tenor Saxophone
Tim Green - Tenor Saxophone
Jason Mingledorff - Tenor and Alto Saxophone
Brian Coogan - Organ and Piano
Simon Lott - Drums and Cymbals

Recorded September 29, 2006 at Word of Mouth by Tim Stambaugh
Mixed by Tracey Freeman
Mastered by Chris Munson
Artwork by Katey Jenner
Layout and design by Mary Pendarvis

Mackey Feary Band - Mackey Feary Band (July 30, 2021 Aloha Got Soul)

Must-have rare groove from the Hawaiian Islands.

The first recording from Mackey Feary’s solo effort — created after Feary's departure from Kalapana, the seminal 1970s group that shaped the sound of contemporary Hawaii. The group's debut LP finds Feary and his counterparts weaving jazz, soul, rock, and groove into a style that all Mackey's own.

The album reads as a who’s who in the local 70s music scene: Nohelani Cypriano (of “Lihue” cult fame), Azure McCall (of Lemuria), Jimmy Funai (who produced Hal Bradbury’s debut), and Gaylord Holomalia.

This official Aloha Got Soul reissue, licensed from Mackey's son, Sebastian Feary, has been meticulously restored and remastered to sound the absolute best it ever has.

This reissue also includes the full version of "Powerslide" in its 7-minute and 20-second glory.

1. You're Young
2. Catherine
3. Lullabye
4. I Remember You
5. A Million Stars
6. My Hands Do Play
7. It Takes Two
8. Interlude In Mood
9. Powerslide

Andrew Finn Magill - Festa! (July 30, 2021 Ropeadope Records)

Andrew Finn Magill’s outstanding new album “Festa!” arrives as something of a miracle: an album that stands proudly among the very best of a traditional style of music with its roots in 19th-century Rio De Janeiro, created by a North Carolina-based violinist. Hearing this wonderful and soulful album is like being transported to a bar in Rio’s bohemian Lapa neighborhood in the 1940s. The songwriting, arrangements and execution of the material do the genre’s legendary figures proud and is all the more impressive for being all original, from Magill’s own pen.

Without indulging in forced or contrived fusions or experiments, it still manages to add a fresh, contemporary take on a time-honored sound, and one can only imagine the legendary Pixinguinha, frequently described as Brazil’s Louis Armstrong, nodding in approval. One feels the particular carefree lightness of touch coupled with exacting precision that is the hallmark of the best choro, and which explains the attraction of the form to many jazz musicians around the world.

Magill’s achievement here has not gone unnoticed, with acclaimed Rio producer/musician Kassin saying of this album: “Andrew Finn Magill’s new record is like comfort food for ears. Listening to his music is guaranteed instant happiness.” Kassin adds that “Nando Duarte’s production provides an elegant dressing for Magill’s mel odies.” Such high praise is a testament to the chemistry and communication achieved by Magill and producer Duarte, and of the almost telepathic communication among the musicians.
– Greg Caz, renowned Brazilian music DJ (Brooklyn, NY)

He (Magill) is a genuine, and excellent, chameleon! Accompanied by a first-rate team of sharp Brazilians, Andrew is not intimidated, he makes the sounds of his violin stir, stretching the hips of one note to lean against others.
– Badi Assad, legendary Brazilian guitarist

Andrew Finn Magill and Nando Duarte have created some sunshine for our ears and minds with this beautifully played, arranged, and produced album. Their perfect combination of effortless virtuosity and musical simpatico is sure to put a smile on your face.
– Zach Brock, Grammy-winning violinist with Snarky Puppy

1. Cheio de Mordidas
2. Chorinho pra Alice
3. Pé Quente
4. Borboleta
5. Fuga para a Argentina
6. Proezas de Moisa
7. Choro de Cris 02:42
8. Às Escuras
9. Saxofone na Ilha 03:43
10. O Homem Vermelho

Andrew Finn Magill: violin
Nando Duarte: 6-string guitar, 7-string guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin, electric bass, piano, percussion
Thiago da Serrinha: percussion (Cheio de Mordidas, Pé Quente, Choro de Cris)
Carlos Cesar Motta: drums (Saxofone na Ilha)
Janderson Bernardo: saxophone (Saxofone na Ilha)

Produced by Nando Duarte
Mixed and mastered by Nando Duarte and Daniel Carvalho

All music written by Andrew Finn Magill (© 2021 BMI)

Revival Room - Revival Room (July 30, 2021)

Featuring a selection of Manchester’s top improvisers, Revival Room is comprised of three musicians closely associated with the Efpi family, and with the city’s burgeoning creative improvised music scene – Adam Fairhall (organ), Mark Hanslip (tenor saxophone), and Johnny Hunter (drums). The band is the culmination of a series of long-held friendships: often playing together in various combinations in other projects, the trio were drawn together by shared principles of collaboration. “It's a genuinely cooperative band, where we all have an equal say”, Mark explains. This deeply creative debut album is the sound of a group at once bedding in and breaking out.

The organ trio format has a rich and varied history. The iconic sound of the Hammond organ has historically graced an array of genres, inspiring performers from Larry Young to Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Yet the format has often been overlooked as a medium for exploration, particularly as a vehicle for improvisation and free playing. Revival Room are on a mission to change that, following such contemporary organists as Alexander Hawkins, John Medeski and Daniel Formo. As Adam notes; “I'd been exploring other keyboard instruments for a few years, and the Hammond organ was one that I was trying to get into. I needed to play with people, and Johnny and Mark are both great at jazz, but also have a very inclusive perspective on improv too. The idea was that we tried to explore the possibilities of an organ trio in improvisation, bringing in non-jazz vocabularies as well as referencing parts of the tradition.”

That combination of tradition and exploration becomes an important guiding principle for the group. Thoroughly acquainted with the musical languages of not just organ trios, but the entire post-bop vernacular, Revival Room spin vibrant new tunes with a distinct sound in this exciting study of the format.

'You Funnin Me, Son?' is an immediate step into the band’s noir sound world. The piece (referencing a quote from Ron Perlman’s Hannibal Chau in Pacific Rim) has an off-kilter, Monk-ish vibe, built on an ostinato organ bass. 'Red Room' continues with vivid filmic imagery, referencing Hanslip’s intriguing cover art, generated by hybridizing two distinct images using AI.

The band gradually emerge from the heavy misterioso feel in 'Monobrow', where free playing meets a series of unison statements. “I wanted to write a single line that we all played together”, Hanslip explains. “We arrived at an arrangement for it as a group though. Working like this is home territory for me after being in bands like Twelves and Outhouse, where the composition might be your own, but the arrangement is worked out collectively.” Further contrast arrives in 'Day Of Rest', a straight-ahead jazz ballad: “I tried to make it as simple as possible”, says Hanslip. “I just wanted to write a really simple ballad, with as much clarity as possible.”

Originally written by Johnny for baritone saxophone and snare drum, 'April' later entered the repertoire of his New Orleans-style street band before finding its way into Revival Room's book. Hunter’s compositions put a heavier emphasis on groove, finding the grit and dirt. 'To And Frodo' is similarly groove-focused, and also started life elsewhere: first designed as an exercise to ease Hunter and bassist Seth Bennett into the 5:3 polyrhythm, the group breathes new life into the track on top of this rhythmic bedrock. Fairhall’s 'Pines' brings back the more misterioso mood of his opening tracks, with both himself and Hanslip improvising freely over this harmonically complex ballad. 'Slippy', another Fairhall original, ups the pace - a tricky head section gives way to a sparse sax solo, before Fairhall and Hunter crank up the intensity with some frenetic organ-and-drums shredding.

The album finishes with the only non-original piece – 'Ida Lupino', by prolific American composer and bandleader Carla Bley, and a crowd favourite typically played at the end of Revival Room gigs. The piece was originally written as an homage to the similarly pioneering Lupino, an Anglo-American filmmaker and a prominent voice in the male-dominated landscape of 1950s Hollywood. The tune represents a side of Bley’s compositional style that is smooth and lyrical, slower and calmer than some of her edgier, more unpredictable compositions.

Ending on the smoother side of Bley seems appropriate for a group keen to update, contest and explore. “I guess we're eclectic musicians”, says Adam. “Johnny and I have been involved in the creative side of the jazz scene in Manchester, and the free side as well, for quite a few years now - and it's really great that Mark has embedded himself in the Manchester scene too now that he’s based in the north.” 

1. You Funnin' Me, Son?
2. Red Room
3. Monobrow
4. Day Of Rest
5. To And Frodo
6. April
7. Pines
8. Slippy
9. Ida Lupino

Adam Fairhall - Hammond B3 organ
Mark Hanslip - tenor saxophone
Johnny Hunter - drums

Recorded in Leeds on 1st and 2nd August 2018
Engineered, mixed and mastered by Michael Ward
Artwork by Mark Hanslip
Sleeve designed by Ten

Stian Larsen / Andrew Lisle / Colin Webster - Problem of Absolute Generality (July 30, 2021)

1. Boltzmann Brain
2. Tachyonic Antitelephone
3. Upstream Contamination
4. All Horses Are The Same Colour
5. Problem of Absolute Generality

Stian Larsen: Guitars
Andrew Lisle: Drums
Colin Webster: Saxophone

Recorded by Giles Barrett at Soup Studios, London on 15th February 2019
Mixed by Giles Barrett
Mastered by Marlon Wolterink

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Mike Lloyd / Peeter Uuskyla / Gunnar Backman / Anders Berg - Leavings (July 29, 2021)

I have a soft spot for Peeter Uuskyla and his loose, deceptively clumsy style of drumming. Here, he is accompanied by Mike Lloyd on trumpet, Gunnar Backman on fretted and fretless virtual guitar (possibly the storied Yggdrasil) and live loops, and his long-time companion-at-arms Anders Berg on bass.

I am familiar with some of Uuskyla and Berg’s previous work. I am less familiar, however, with Lloyd and Backman. Both have appeared on previous Simlas releases, sometimes together and sometimes, in the case of Backman, with other configurations of an apparently tight circle of musicians featured on Simlas (run by guitarist Tellef Øgrim and Berg) and Backman’s own label, Brakophonic Records.

In other words, most of these musicians seem to play together frequently. (Lloyd may be an outlier in that respect when it comes to Uuskyla, but the claim certainly applies to the rest of combinations.) Although the music itself can hardly be called “tight,” that familiarity shows in the Leavings. As the cover art shows, each musician can be thought of one within an interlocking system of gears. When one gears turns, the others must as well. If one were to stop abruptly, the others would have to follow suit. Were one to malfunction, the entire apparatus would be rendered kaput. I do not want to make too much of this image. Gears, of course, have no volition and no recourse outside of their track. When working properly, they do not take detours or try new things. The whole image, of course, is too mechanical to be perfect. But, as free music lovers would likely agree, the pursuit is not reproducibility or mere function, but an unexpectedly moving whole.

And that is what Leavings achieves. Uuskyla sweeps one direction with his blustery rolls. Berg lays an unsteady beat that collides with Uuskyla’s bass drum. Lloyd offers muffled fanfares and restrained runs that reference electric Miles, though it shies from the intensity and funk that Miles so perfectly harnessed. And Lloyd, alternates between disrupted radio-wave atmospherics, feedback-laden background fidgeting, and straight-up shredding. This sounds psychedelic without the polish and pop. It sounds like a less manic Acid Mother’s Temple, before their morning cup of coffee (or, maybe, in the laggard after-hours of the night), fumbling in search of some indeterminate magical combination of sound. It is fusion played by free jazz musicians. Or, free jazz played by prog rockers who found that too restrictive and jam bands too long-winded. Or, something of the sort. I am not sure which direction these sessions went in. I can say, however, that this album rocks, through and through. This may not be music that blows you away, but it is music that, if you heard it at a friend’s house (were that still a thing in these times), you would likely say, “Wild stuff. Who is that?” - By Nick Ostrum - Free Jazz Blog

1. FOOD 12:35
2. IS THAT SO? 15:54
3. VERILY 07:27
4. BOOKSMART 14:04
5. DOGGY BAG 08:49
6. LEAVINGS 13:33

Lars Larsson / Anders Berg / Fredrik Lindholm - Underground (July 2021)

1. 1 06:51
2. 2 05:03
3. 3 10:35
4. 4 08:46

Lars Larsson - baritone saxophone
Anders Berg - bass
Fredrik Lindholm - drums

Recorded June 2020
Mixed and Mastered by Lars Larsson at Hönshuset Studios
Cover Art by Lars Larsson

Álvaro Domene - The Sword Still Hangs Upon The Wall (July 2021 Iluso Records)

Iluso Records is delighted to release Álvaro Domene's new solo album, The Sword Still Hangs Upon The Wall, which is in continuation from his orchestral inspired solo works for electric guitar captured on Illustris 2020, and The Compass 2018.

"We might well ask upon whose wall this sword hangs, this sword Álvaro Domene testifies to in his music. It is a simple comparison to link the guitar and the sword and to ask which bodies and minds might be set free by each. Both are part of a techne that captures vectors and arcs which force-multiply through other systems- separating them, clarifying them. Domene’s sound sculptures pose questions of emotion, spirit, intellect, the cosmos- and in the end, these questions of sound invite us to act in some way. The sword hangs upon all our walls and in ringing metal it leads to one destination in unison. A ‘land of song’, puissance, voices raised in glorious clamor. In unison against a falling power. ‘This machine ends all fascism.’

Domene’s work on this album explores the outer limits of engagement with the instrument itself and is in dialog with a broader milieu of guitarists who operate in the New York orbit and beyond. He deploys a galactic array of forms that include jazz, various species of metal, palettes of sonic texture from inside and outside the instrument’s techniques, experimental guitar which we can trace emerging in part from the 70s NYC downtown scene [and in Alvaro’s other collaborations with a key protagonist in that NYC scene, the magister ludi Elliott Sharp]. Domene joins a project which has been underway for many decades and accelerates it forward.

There is an underlying engagement both across the music and in his thinking. Beyond transport through joy, intricate formal unfoldings, ecstasy: how can sound take on a set of ethical, moral and political responsibilities? Perhaps by an openness to pure chance in the midst of an articulate structure; a commitment to texture, timbre; a set of extended techniques conjuring vast spaces dancing through the boundaries of carefully programmed delay matrices. Across and beyond a terrain of post-minimalism and the aesthetic positions minimalism held, Domene’s work jumps epochs, fusing myriad styles and an epic, almost symphonic form with his personal vocabulary of guitar. It exists in a tension between the given and the discovered, a structure and the evolving patterns and living sound. Like the scintillation of life itself.

And in this life-sound a core is revealed. Electromagnetic flux wrings it out, flattens it, folds it back upon itself. Layer upon layer rewrought. A core capture, a heat birth, an edge a molecule wide and a parsec long arcs out across our system. Information cascades, swarms again, dancing blades warding off the energy. Bow shock. A bubble. Inside, the denser matter becomes an encoding system. 
A position. A gesture, a supplication. The bubble grows. The bubble is gone, and we float in emptiness. Silence. The dark. And then a sudden light. All flows down. The roots of the ash tree. Æ. Star food, light, blood. The leaves burst forth.

Fiat Lux

The Sword Still Hangs Upon the Wall 18:12
Cascading ice in nacreous, luminescent sunlight. Light from an evening star, a falling star.

A Great Filter. A transmission. A halo of refractions, crystal revelation, sound writ large on the skies. Crumbling, smoldering. A thousand arms thrown up, swarming, to block the heat and light. Time lost; Starless we coast as the future wraps around us. Lensed unto the end. The end of all things. The end of all. Things themselves. The core again. Mother. Core resistance. Uplift against a fallen angel. A slight wingbeat, a feather in the void.

Moving Beyond the Misnomer of Chaos 11:38
A falls falling, as the falls falling. A hand grasping at signals. A wave, a wave. Metallic foam on the crest, a wave of liquid light. In the deeps, the refrain holds. A shadow casts its own diamond shadow. The waves race across themselves. The abyssal. Crystals tumbling down the slope, free fall into darkness.

Albatera 07:39
A saccade across the surface of the sun. Time compression. Stutter, We. Why, the below, the above, the hum sawtoothed upon itself. Iridescence, putrefaction, rebirth. The core returns. I, Thou. We. The saw-edge. Force. I turn to face the sun. My eyes run black. Seeing within sight, I see again. I turn to myself. My eyes run white. A swarm, an arc, a blade against the plasma saws. Devour all. Kali, your arms swarm. Your foot holds the enemy. Darkest mother, your necklace. Fire. 
I, Thou. We. Our water on the barkless branch. Only faith. Only faith for life. ‘Love is the law, love under will.’

The Veriest Delusion 06:06
A walk forward and backward. A falling, falls falling. The transmission again, a deep rumble below. A whirling. Hands blur. A thread of blood through the depths. The geometry of the phrase is liquefied. A bell in motion. The clay. The ore. The furnace cold. The bell cools. The bell’s architecture flows. Time. The crack. A liquid whistle, a hum.

Unsheathed Again 11:26
Axiom. Echo. A Law. The waves intersect. Axiom. Echo. A desert fire, a wind, a tornado, a whirlwind lifting dust. Explosion of the forward wave. Dust in our eyes, the wave behind. A river of glittering dust. A flame upheld. A core breach. A pressure inversion. The dust scatters. Wings afire, we hold the cup high. Dust. On fire. Dust whirling in glittering flame. A pillar of gold in the conflagration. Unity. Echo. A Law. A body laying in the desert snow. An eye slowly blinks. The cave. The bell.

Puerta al Sur 09:21
Seeking. Seeking. An attempt to articulate. A whirlwind, a lashing. The bodies in phase.

A gate standing. Sleeting hail of electrons. Time compression, orbit. An attempt to articulate. A whirlwind, a lashing. The bodies phase again. Phase shift, sleeting light. Erosion, torsion, flux.

Seeking, seeking, the point of collapse. A tight coil, a glittering. An eye forms… electron flux. The eye collapses in. A position. A gesture, a supplication. The bubble grows. The bubble is gone, and we float in emptiness. Silence. The dark. And then a sudden light. All flows down. The roots of the ash tree. Æ. Star food, light, blood. The leaves burst forth.

Fiat Lux - Ed Keller

Álvaro Domene: compositions, seven string electric guitar, live electronics.
Recorded (January-March 2021), mixed, and mastered by Domene at Singularity Studio, Kingston (New York).
Ed Keller: liner notes
Published by Dometone Music BMI 2021
High quality audio files, 24-bit/96kHz. Better than CD.

Dean Granros / Zacc Harris / Chris Bates / Jay Epstein - Taller Tales (July 2021 Shifting Paradigm Records)

After what was supposed to be a one off gig in 2014, with long time trio of Dean Granros, Chris Bates Jay Epstein being joined by a second guitarist, Zacc Harris, an audience member offered to pay for that lineup to record in the studio. In early 2015, the band did just that, spending two days at the Terrarium in Minneapolis, tracking around 15 tunes. Seven of those resulted in the 2015 release TALL TALES. During the months of isolation from the pandemic, Harris tracked down the unreleased takes and mixed and mastered them, resulting in this new release, TALLER TALES. Thanks to Jason Orris of the Terrarium for taking the time to find these tracks in their archives, and to Dylan Nau of Rocket Snake Records for his incredible guidance during the mixing process.

1. Blue Sparrow
2. Boats
3. Miss America 1983
4. Cowboy Hat
5. I Mean You
6. Wingless Transportation

Dean Granros - guitar and compositions
Zacc Harris - guitar
Chris Bates - bass
Jay Epstein - drums

Recorded February 2015 at The Terrarium, Minneapolis, MN
Engineered by Rob Oesterlin
Mixed and Mastered by Zacc Harris
Cover Design and Photo by Zacc Harris
All compositions by Dean Granros, except "I Mean You" by Thelonious Monk

Kippie Moketsi & Hal Singer - Blue Stompin' (July 2021 We Are Busy Bodies)

Reissue of Kippie Moketsi and Hal Singer’s collaborative album, Blue Stompin’. This release is in partnership with the legendary As-Shams/The Sun Records. Remastered by Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel Mastering. Artwork and text restoration by Steve Lewin.

1. Blue Stompin' 11:19
2. Hang On There 06:39
3. Scrap Iron 10:53
4. Yes Baby 12:38

Národní Divadlo - Antropocén (July 2021 Stoned To Death)

"The photo used on the cover comes from the demolition of a never completed miner's hostel belonging to the coal mines in Frenštát, which has long been a threat to the Beskydy landscape and a symbol of the arrogance with which we treat our surroundings. But the end of coal is just a tiny fragment in the kaleidoscope of what we must do to make the anthropocene not just an age of destruction, but a time that will leave behind the anthropocentric worldview and allow us to truly coexist with the other species with whom we share our living space."

Národní Divadlo - Antropocén

-----

Přemýšlím, jestli vůbec nějak zvládnu mapovat tradici volné improvizace v Čechách mimo metropolis. Kolik se asi v okresních a menších městech nachází individuií, kteří jsou ochotni zalézt do zkušebny, chvíli se neřídit absolutně ničím a jen podlehnout pocitu a euforií z formující se masy chaosu, který vypustili na cestu, ovšem všemi směry? A kolik z nich pak ještě někdy vleze do studia nebo zapne na zkušebně rekordér a tohle svoje počínání nějak zaznamená?

Eviduji aktivní scénu na Ostravsku (Massola, aktivity Martina Režného), severočeské Eine Stunde Merzbauten, budějovickou scénu, která tlačí improv skrz rockové tendence (Microvomit, Rek atd.), věci kolem herr majora Čundi, Zabloudila apod. Národní Divadlo do téhle skládačky pasuje též, ale podobně jako pardubičtí Frisk se vymykají nižším zatížením noisových vlivů a většímu tíhnutí k tradiční formě. Trochu vlnobití na hladině, ale nepříliš daleko od břehu, takže by se z toho dalo ještě vyplavat trochu intenzivním kraulem. Anebo se nechat na chvíli stáhnout pod hladinu a doufat, že mě na konci vyhodí polonahý Poseidon trojzubcem na pláž.

Na frenštátské Národní Divadlo mě upozornil odběratel a suportér Stoned to Death extraordinaire Petr Jahoda a děkuji mu za to. V českém prostředí jsem si jen těžko dokázal představit trio muzikantů, z jejichž zvuku sálá inspirace Fredem Frithem, Derekem Bailey nebo štěpivou atonalitou Anthonyho Braxtona. Hudební abstrakci naopak rozrážejí konkrétním vizuálem, ve kterém upomínají na destruktivní plán minulého režimu, který plánoval rozšířit uhelnou těžbu ve Frenštátě až pod severní svah Beskyd.

Pokud jste zrovna dojedli pozdní oběd, tak vám přeji hezké trávení, tady máte zhruba sedmdesát minut kvalitní pohody. 

Národní Divadlo - Antropocén

1. Vítr v remízkách, kde ptáci 07:45
2. Za dobou středník 01:39
3. Z jakého dřeva jsou ostrévky 05:20
4. Pravý hák Arthura Cravana 04:22
5. Torza mostů 07:13
6. Stožáry vysokého napětí 06:06
7. Vysychání 00:51
8. Vodojemy 07:24
9. Archeologie (Josefu Bláhovi) 10:53
10. Skleněná louka 05:19
11. Rýhy v březích 09:22
12. Šipky k rozvalínám města UR 07:31

Národní Divadlo
Marek Tragan – acoustic guitar
Lukáš Fojtík – drums
Jiří Štěpán – bass

Recorded April 25th, 2020, Frenštát pod Radhoštěm

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Lukáš Fojtík