Cuneiform Artist News

The latest from Cuneiform Records:

Ahleuchatistas

Ahleuchatistas Artist News January 2007

Ahleuchatistas is putting the finishing touches on the compositions for their fourth full length album, which will be their second release on the Cuneiform imprint, scheduled for release in September 2007. They will be in the recording studio in Asheville, NC through the winter and spring. There will be a few hometown shows during this period, and in March, they will do a mini-tour through the Mid-west, hitting Chicago and three other cities. In April, they will tour for two weeks in Europe and perform at Donau Festival in Danube, Austria. On May 12, Ahleuchatistas will perform at Orion Studios in Baltimore, MD.

http://www.ahleuchatistas.com
http://www.myspace.com/ahleuchatistas
artist news
Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic

BIRDSONGS OF THE MESOZOIC
Notes from the Mesozoic
January 2007

EXTREME SPIRITUALS

Extreme Spirituals is a unique collaboration between Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and Atlanta-based African-American spiritual singer Oral Moses. A recording of this work was released by Cuneiform in September. Oral Moses is internationally known for his extensive repertoire of spirituals and art songs, and for his striking bass-baritone voice. Extreme Spirituals includes live and processed vocals by Moses with innovative instrumental arrangements by Birdsongs. Live performances have been presented recently in Boston, Hartford, and Atlanta. The next Extreme Spirituals concert will take place in Boston on Tuesday, February 27th, at Berklee Performance Center at 8:15pm.
http://www.oralmoses.com/
http://www.berkleebpc.com/

“Extreme Spirituals is one of the most exciting CDs I`ve heard for a long time!”
Hans Voigt, radiOrakel, Oslo, Norway

“An album rich with meaning and musical power. Very highly recommended.”
Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

1001 REAL APES

1001 Real Apes, Birdsongs’ acclaimed collaboration with award-winning storyteller and Duplex Planet creator David Greenberger, was released on CD in May. Recorded in 1999 after a 3-year string of widely successful live performances, the CD’s release was much anticipated, and the band is excited that it is finally publicly available.
http://www.duplexplanet.com

SIDE-PROJECT NEWS

Erik Lindgren has released his third solo CD, Classical-a-go-go, with acoustic ensemble The Frankenstein Consort. The disc includes original compositions, arrangements of 4 Raymond Scott selections, Erik Satie’s transcendental “Reverie,” and an irreverent hip hop remake of the Edgar Winter Band’s 1972 chestnut “Frankenstein.” The CD concludes with Lindgren’s first serious work, “Baroque-a-go-go,” which dates back to 1973 and was conceived as a parody of progressive rock. Instrumentation consists of flute, clarinet, bassoon, acoustic piano, and percussion, with guest appearances by noted Boston-area musicians on laptop, drums, percussion, and strings. The disc is available from Wayside Music.
http://www.WaysideMusic.com

Ken Field and his Revolutionary Snake Ensemble have completed tracks for a second CD, to be titled Forked Tongue. The disc will be a follow-up to the Ensemble’s award-winning debut Year of the Snake, available from Wayside Music. The Snake Ensemble has been invited to march with the Krewe of Muses for their annual Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans on February 15th. The group will be traveling to New Orleans on the Amtrak Crescent train, playing along the way for fellow passengers, with a stop in Washington, DC for a performance at 6pm on February 11th at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
http://www.RevolutionarySnakeEnsemble.org
http://www.Amtrak.com/
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

Field’s original score for the Bridgman/Packer Dance piece Under the Skin has been released on Innova Recordings as part of their select “Short Run” series. The dance, with live music by Field, will be presented at the National Dance Theatre in Budapest, Hungary on April 23rd, and at Jacob’s Pillow and the Bates Dance Festival in August. Field will be a resident fellow at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire in May 2007.
HYPERLINK “http://www.bridgmanpacker.org/
http://www.innova.mu/

http://www.birdsongsofthemesozoic.org
artist news
Shawn Persinger (ex-Boud Dean)

Shawn Persinger is Prester John has been laying low in 2006 but a World Tour is being planned for 2007. Look for Spring dates in Europe and Asia coming soon.

Shawn has also been contributing articles to Guitar Player and Frets magazine. See the Winter issue of Frets and Jan. 2007 of Guitar Player. More to come!

artist news
Graham Collier

Graham Collier Artist News January 2007

Graham Collier opens his 70th birthday year with the issue on Cuneiform of the previously unreleased Hoarded Dreams, recorded by an all-star international band (Ted Curson, John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Tomasz Stanko and others) in 1983. One reviewer said of the concert ‘This was something special in jazz writing; something that was reflected in the inspiration which the piece gave to the soloists’, while another commented that ‘The whole conception was bold and the playing magnificent’.

Interviews to commemorate the release and the birthday celebrations are slated for JazzWise, All About Jazz and Cadence, and are being discussed with other web and print magazines.

Live work during 2007 includes concerts in Holland,Sweden and England during March, with further appearances being arranged later in the year in Canada, Italy, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia and England.

Graham’s early work – all available for download from eMusic, iTu≥nes and other on-line stores – is still attracting attention, with a very high average star count in the latest Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, which calls them ‘remarkable recordings’ using ‘advanced compositional ideas’.

One early track, ‘Aberdeen Angus’ from the highly acclaimed 1969 LP Down Another Road, was included on Back to the Bus Babyshambles, a compilation of the music Pete Doherty’s group listen to on the tour bus. Their view, expressed in the notes, is that ‘Aberdeen Angus’ was recorded ‘before jazz went “middle class” and “tame”’…

For further information and soundbites from ‘Aberdeen Angus’ and other Graham Collier compositions go to http://www.jazzcontinuum.com

artist news
Dr Nerve

Doctor Nerve Artist News January 2007

Bone: Bone performs live! Nick’s trio with Hugh Hopper (bass) and John Roulat (drums) had their premiere performance on 12/14/06 at The Stone in NYC, as part of Bruce Gallanter’s and Manny Lunch’s monthlong festival blast. Born as a studio project, we never really expected Bone to perform live, but after these two very intense sets, we are eager to play again (and again). http://www.doctornerve.org/bone/

Tube Mouth Bow String: Nick’s new CD of music for electric guitar, string quartet, and electronics has arrived. Entitled Tube Mouth Bow String (Pogus Productions), this CD features a piece for string quartet and four talkboxes. With Sirius String Quartet and guest Barbara Benary on Chung Hu. CD release concert Jan 6, 2007 at ISSUE Project Room, Brooklyn, NY. http://www.pogus.com/

Swim This: Nick’s new trio with Gerry Hemingway and Michael Lytle, Swim This released their first CD by the same title on Nick’s Punos Music label. Over an hour of deeply explored improvisation, recorded in exquisite detail at The Experimental Intermedia Foundation. Visit http://www.punosmusic.com/swimthis/

Music With A View @ Flea: Nick will present his automatic composition software at this event at NYC’s Flea Theatre on Sunday, January 7 @ 3pm. The audience will be prompted for compositional parameters, the software will crank out a piece, and a lucky winner will receive it as a door prize. This is a family friendly event at 3pm. Music With a View is a series curated by Nerve’s Kathleen Supove. http://www.theflea.org/musicbytes/index.html

Ethel and Kevin Gallagher’s Electric Kompany: Nick received a composition grant from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust to compose a new piece for a stupefying octet comprised of the amazing Ethel string quartet and the uncanny Electric Kompany rock quartet.

Ice Cream Time: watch for the release of Nick’s piece “Ice Cream Time” for ARTE Sax Quartet, Thomas Dimuzio, and ND, to be released this summer on New World Records. http://www.punosmusic.com/pages/icecreamtime/index.html

artist news
Far Corner

Far Corner Artist News January 2007

Far Corner’s 2nd CD Endangered was released on January 16, 2007, and the group has a CD-release concert scheduled for February 16 at Shank Hall (shankhall.com) in Milwaukee, WI. In December, Far Corner performed for the Milwaukee Arts Experience in which they gave an informative presentation of their music including performances of pieces from the first CD, Endangered, Improvisations, and a premiere of a new work.

Members of Far Corner William Kopecky, Dan Maske, and Craig Walkner also have a new band put together by William called Snarling Adjective Convention which includes Joe Kopecky on guitar and Roger Ebner on saxophone and wind synth. The group recently finished mastering their first CD, “Bluewolf Bloodwalk,” which was recorded in early autumn at Studio One in Racine, WI.

Far Corner launched a new web site in October which includes a new design, more/updated info, new photos, and sound samples. Please visit http://www.far-corner.com and http://www.myspace.com/farcornerband.

artist news
The Mahavishnu Project

The Mahavishnu Project Artist News January 2007

The Mahavishnu Project will tour throughout the world in support of their new CD, “Return To The Emerald Beyond”. The group will make appearances with both the new expanded 11-piece band, as well as the original quintet.

MahaProj members Gregg Bendian, Adam Holzman and Glenn Alexander are currently working on a project called “MP-B3” which features interpretations of the music of Mahavishnu, along with the music of Miles Davis and Tony William’s Lifetime, performed in the classic organ trio format.

Gregg Bendian is also at work on guitarist Richard Leo Johnson’s newest project, a recording for found guitars accompanied by found percussion instruments. Bendian continues to compose music for the CBS television program, “48 Hours Mystery” and is planning a CD release of his solo percussion music.

Band Contact:
info@mahavishnuproject.com

Websites:
http://www.mahavishnuproject.com
http://www.greggbendian.com

Booking:
North America (projectobject@earthlink.net)
Europe (info@wiventertainment.de)

artist news
The Microscopic Septet

Microscopic Septet Artist News Winter 2006

The Microscopic Septet Reunion Tour, following the release of their Cuneiform Cds, Seven Men In Neckties & Surrealistic Swing included successful performances at The Iron Horse (MA), World Café Live (PA) & Joe’s Pub (NY). They performed live on John Schaeffer’s “Sound Check” (WNYC-FM), * Phillip Johnston & Joel Forrester were interviewed on Irene Trudell’s show on WFMU-FM, and on NPR’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” for which the Micros recorded the theme music. That can be heard online at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6549018

The Microscopic Septet will be touring Europe in late 2007 (and possibly playing a couple more dates in the US around that time). Individual Micros news and contacts:

Phillip Johnston (http://www.phillipjohnston.com) is back in Sydney, writing music for film & theater. ”Stolen Life” a machinima sci-fi/film noir feature film, won a “Mackie” for “Best Original Score” at the 2007 Machinima Film Festival in New York.

Joel Forrester (http://joelforrester.com/) continues to play solo, duo and quartet gigs around New York, including Monday nights at Louis 649, Tuesday nights at the Brandy Library and Friday nights at Galangal (CT); see his web site for exact dates.

Paul Shapiro’s most recent release is “It’s In The Twilight (Tzadik); he recently was featured in Lou Reed’s performance of his “Berlin” album at St. Ann’s Warehouse. (http://www.paulshapiromusic.com/)

Don Davis has a new recording self titled “Davis & Deleault” with Don Davis on saxophone, Joe Deleault on piano, and guest artists Glen Velez on percussion & Eugene Friesen on Cello. Info at: http://www.jjrproductions.net or musicdondavis@aol.com.

For news on other Micro activity, see the Micros website below.

http://www.microscopicseptet.com

artist news
Thinking Plague

Thinking Plague News December 2006

Regrettably, TP?s latest efforts at putting together a tour and/or festival shows (and pulling together a “revised” line-up to do it) has been frustrated by logistics, time, money (lack-of), time and life. For now. Sorry to all those (6 or 8) fans who have been waiting patiently to see TP live. Someday we hope.

Meanwhile, Mike is at work on new material, and is very excited about it. With the demise of the latest “live” undertaking, he has chosen to focus on the next CD, and wants to insure it will be the best CD it can be. Hence, he has asked Dave Kerman to “return” to the band for this project, to which he has readily agreed. Also, excitingly, Stevan Tickmayer (Science Group mastermind) has agreed to play keyboards and samples. The rest of the line-up will be the In Extremis/History of Madness crew: Perry, Harry and Willey. And perhaps some interesting guests. The band plans to record all or most of the CD at Bob Drake?s Maison Isole? in France, and Bob will be in charge of producing and mixing. Estimated release?..hmmmmm?.dangerous speculation.. Maybe 2 years from now. Again, good things take time.
TP website: http://www.generalrubric.com/thinkingplague/index10.html?ahom3.jpg

Meanwhile, quasi-sister band Hamster Theatre is performing and developing new ideas, in the aftermath of their latest CD, The “Public Execution of Mister Personality/Quasi Day Room”. Inquiries are welcome: dwhamster@comcast.net
HT website: http://www.generalrubric.com/hamster/main.html

Also, work has resumed on Dave Willey?s “Tin Box Papers” project, based on poetry by his dad, the late Dale Willey. The project features, Dave, Hugh Hopper, Deborah Perry, Dave Kerman, Bob Drake, Mike Johnson and others. Keep an eye on the Hamster site, and the Cuneiform artist news.