Evan Parker at the Stone, High-Energy Improvising With a Shifting Cast

October 14, 2009 — Mike

Evan Parker’s recent run at the Stone is reviewed.

The saxophonist Evan Parker projects an intensely concentrated energy through his music. Now 65, he has spent more than 40 years in the trenches of the British avant-garde, metabolizing the ideas of free jazz and perfecting his own strategies of sound, which skew atonal but often lyrical. He’s hailed as a virtuoso of extended techniques — circular breathing, multiphonics, sculptured overtones — and lionized for his solo excursions. He’s also a tireless collaborator, secure in his footing and perpetually primed for engagement.

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Expo 70 at Metropolis Underground October 20

October 14, 2009 — Mike

From Syracuse’s Metropolis Underground:

Expo ‘70 is the main driving improvisational essence of Justin Wright. Having started the project in Los Angeles in 2003, Wright has pushed his project to new levels, releasing a number of albums as cdr’s and 2 full-length albums. Expo ’70’s first album “Animism”, which debuted in 2007 on Kill Shaman, is an eclectic mix of krautrock, ambient drone, space exploration and minimal compositions. Comparisons range from Brian Eno, Ash Ra Tempel, A.R. & Machines, SunnO))) and Earth, but not directly sounding like any of those artists in their entirety.

Wright’s recent release “Black Ohms” on Beta-lactam Ring Records brings new life to the term drone. A world of sounds that catches the listeners subconscious and drifts them to alien lands and foreign terrain while maintaining a dreamlike quality with shifting melodies and moods. Mostly comprised of single guitar improvisations, Wright manifests rich textures and brooding low end passages full of energy that tend to sound like long synth compositions akin to early Tangerine Dream and early minimalist composers like Terry Riley.

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Cryptonight at the Museum of Neon Art in LA

October 14, 2009 — Mike

We recently received word of this upcoming Crpytonight show, taking place November 6th:

Cryptonight @ MONA presents Onibaba

Museum of Neon Art
136 4th Street
Los Angeles 90013
United States
Show on Map
Tel: (213) 626-0775
Web: www.neonmona.org

Daren Burns, ONIBABA performs post Jazz/Rock explorations featuring:
Ulrich Krieger (Lou Reed, Lee Ranaldo, Andrew W.K., Merzbow) – Woodwinds
(http://www.ulrich-krieger.de/)
Daren Burns (Vinny Golia, Drumbo, Wadada Leo Smith)- Fretless Bass
(http://www.darenburns.com)
George McMullen (Tom Waits, Vinny Golia, Stevie Wonder)- Trombone
Eric Klerks (The Magic Band, Drumbo)- Guitar
Craig Bunch (JDrumbo, Vinny Golia, The Magic Band)- Drumset
Kio Griffith – Video

Onibaba exists between composition and improvisation and is described as being somewhere between the light and the dark, the ethereal and the earthly – Creative Music. Created by Daren Burns in 2006, the band synthesizes its sound by using elements of the Chicago avant-garde, jazz, rock, world, techno, noise, and classical, to create a new type of fusion that is definitely not the smooth, funky jazz of the 80’s and 90’s, but a new living music.

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Upcoming Releases From Porter Records

October 14, 2009 — Mike

We have not covered Porter Records in some time, and of course, they have an nice lineup of new material issuing in the coming weeks.

Trayer “One Over Zero” (Feb/2010)
CHLL PLL “Aggressively Humble” (Oct/20/09)
Matthew Welch “Luminosity” (Nov/17/09)
Katherine Young “Further Secret Origins” (Nov/17/09)

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Okkyung Lee Interview

October 14, 2009 — Mike

From Roulette NYC:

Using her solid classical training as a springboard, Cellist Okkyung Lee incorporates jazz, sounds, korean traditional music, noise with extended techniques to create her own unique blend of music. On Thursday October 22 at Roulette Okkyung collaborates with video artist Kjell Bjørgeengen using pre-recorded sounds from the cobble stone street outside Location 1 as a source material to blur the physical boundaries between the venue and the outside.

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Coming to the ISSUE Project Room

October 14, 2009 — Mike

From NY’s ISSUE Project Room:

10/14 @ 8pm – Marco Cappelli, Noah Kaplan, Giacomo Merega with special guest Hampton Fancher and Mauro Pagani
Marco Cappelli guitar solo music by Ponce, Ginastera, Henze, Kim Cappelli/Kaplan/Merega special guests: Hampton Fancher (writer/filmmaker, Blade Runner) and Mauro Pagani (violin, PFM – F. De Andre`) Idiosyncratic guitarist Marco Cappelli is joined on this date saxophonist Noah Kaplan and bassist Giacomo Merega. Inspired by painter Paul Klee, the trio improvises soundscapes that depict the coexistence of musical figures [...]

10/16 @ 8pm – Larkin Grimm MV & EE Barn Nova Release
Larkin Grimm I have been using magick in the form of music to guide me in my daily life ever since my logical, academic world came toppling down while I was studying Architecture at Yale University in 2002. I had been exploring the ins and outs of rural communal life hoping to find “green” alternatives to modern housing and [...]

10/17 @ 8pm – Glenn Branca Ensemble – THE ASCENSION: THE SEQUEL
From left to right, guitars: Evelyne Buhler, Eric Hubel, Reg Bloor and Greg McMullen, conductor: Glenn Branca, drummer: Libby Fab, bass: Ryan Walsh (photo by Tony Cenicola) The new Glenn Branca Ensemble will be performing the entirety of the soon to be recorded album ”The Ascension: The Sequel” at Issue Project Room on Oct. 17th. The set will be about [...]

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A Jazz Big Band Worth Blogging About

October 14, 2009 — Mike
Darcy James Argue & Secret Society
Image by Nicken05 via Flickr

NPR discusses Darcy James Argue’s musical and blogging efforts.

Argue writes frequently about jazz and modern music, with forays into politics and pop culture. His secretsociety.typepad.com has become one of the most popular jazz blogs.

But his site also functions as an information hub for his band, Secret Society. He’s posted downloadable recordings of nearly every gig that Secret Society has ever played — more than 30 sets in all.

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Mary Halvorson In October

October 14, 2009 — Mike

Some upcoming Mary Halvorson shows.

Musically speaking, guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson’s month will be focused on her week-long European duo tour with violist and longtime collaborator Jessica Pavone, but she’ll also perform tomorrow night at Roulette with Myra Melford’s Happy Whistlings, on Thursday night with Ms. Pavone at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn, and on October 30th with the Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtainwall Trio at JazzFestival Frankfurt.

Myra Melford’s Happy Whistlings
10/14 :: Roulette (New York, NY)

Mary Halvorson/Jessica Pavone Duo
10/15 :: Pete’s Candy Store (Brooklyn, NY)
10/25 :: Studio Odeon (Brussels, Belgium)
10/26 :: Cladestino (Faenza, Italy)
10/27 :: Auditorium Parco della Musica (Rome, Italy)
10/29 :: Voruuit (Gent, Belgium)
10/31 :: Botticino Jazz Festival (Botticino, Italy)*
11/01 :: PiM Spazio Scenico (Milan, Italy)
11/02 :: Museo (Catanzaro, Italy)

*with special guest Taylor Ho Bynum

Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtainwall Trio
10/30 :: JazzFestival Frankfurt (Frankfurt, Germany)

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You Won’t Find These Poisson Rouge Performers in the 45s Section

October 14, 2009 — Mike

From NYTimes.com:

At the early concert, Rachel Grimes, a pianist and composer who writes in a charming if lightweight Impressionistic style, played the 14 vignettes from her recent “Book of Leaves” disc on a split bill with the new-music pianist Sarah Cahill. Ms. Cahill performed selections from “A Sweeter Music,” a series that brings together new works about war and peace and will no doubt become a recording.

The late show was a collaboration between the cellist Matt Haimovitz and the composer Du Yun. They played most of Mr. Haimovitz’s new recording, “Figment,” a challenging collection of harmonically and rhythmically complex works by Elliott Carter, Ana Sokolovic, Luna Pearl Woolf, Steven Stucky, Gilles Tremblay and Ms. Du, linked here by quirky improvisations in which Ms. Du provided electronic sound and spoken texts.

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Fred Anderson CD Release / Douglas Ewart & Inventions at the Velvet Lounge

October 14, 2009 — Mike
Mwata Bowden
Image via Wikipedia

In related pieces of news, Fred Anderson has a CD / DVD set coming out and Douglas Ewart will play the Velvet Lounge in Chicago.

On Tuesday, October 14th the Velvet Lounge in Chicago will present Fred Anderson’s release party for 21st Century Chase DVD & CD on Delmark records, which was recorded live at the Velvet Lounge on on Fred’s 80th birthday, March 22, 2009. The ensemble features Fred Anderson on tenor sax, Harrison Bankhead on bass/cello, Avreeayl Ra on drums/mbira/percussion.

Then this weekend, Douglas Ewart & Inventions will be performing at the Velvet Lounge on Saturday, October 17th. Douglas Ewart & Inventions features Douglas Ewart on woodwinds and percussion, Mankwe Ndosi on vocals, Mwata Bowden on woodwinds, Ed Wilkerson on woodwinds, Darius Savage on bass, Dushun Mosley on drums, and Duriel Harris on vocals.

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