Author: Mike

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic will stage a free concert Saturday September 6th at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

The Ruins are touring the US in July, with the following dates announced:

RUINS US TOUR – July
12th NY/Tonic
13th Baltimore/Ottobar
14th Atlanta
15th Memphis
16th Chicago/Schubas
17th Seattle (tba)
18th SF (tba)

Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida is also appearing on tour with Zorn’s Painkiller and Samla Mammas Manna this summer.

The Muffins will be putting on their only live show of the year this Saturday in Philadelphia.

Blurb: “This Saturday, June 21, legendary 70s jazz rock legends The Muffins will perform at the Sedgwick Cultural Center in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. Local avant noisemakers The Red Masque will open.

This will the band band’s ONLY performance this year as they are currently recording in the studio.“

Parker’s latest, entitled “Scrapbook” will be release on June 17th, on Thirsty Ear.

This long-running series will have an all day show on Sunday June 15th in New York. Highlights include Amy X Neuburg, Carla Kihlstedt and Two Foot Yard, and DJ Spooky, as well as other artists playing music by John Zorn and Louis Andreisson, Aphex Twin, and more.

Oliver Lake has a new release entitiled Cloth that has just come out under the ‘Oliver Lake Big Band’ name.

Blurb: “Expect tossing, blaring, and enthusiastic arrangements, poised between song and pure energy. The band includes: Trumpets Duane Eubanks, Winston Byrd + flugelhorn, Baikida Carroll, Peck Allmand;Alto sax, Oliver Lake and Bruce Williams; Tenor Sax, James Steward + flute and Erica Lindsay; Baritone Sax, Ron Blake; Trombones; Josh Roseman, Al Paterson and Aaron Johnson; Piano, Michael Cochrane; Bass, Mark Helias; Drums, Otis Brown and Jonathan Blake! All tunes (except Bouncin Back) composed and arranged by Oliver Lake“

Robert Rich’s summer tour is underway, including a number of major cities in the US.

Sez Robert: “I’ll be heading out for my 2003 Summer tour in about a day, and I’m finishing up some small updates to the website, rehearsing, packing the van, doing laundry and all that. I plan to play some old pieces on this tour, some that I never performed live before. I’ll be dragging around the modular system as well, to make squelching noises for Bestiary and Outpost. Some people have asked if I will play pieces from Temple of the Invisible. I wish I could, but that album lives in a strange hermetic place. I couldn’t perform it live unless I had an ensemble of 6 or 8 people, with access to a dozen instruments. Maybe someday I’ll get the ‘Rites of the Bronze Age’ ensemble off the ground to make that happen. In the meantime, I’ll play the handful of compositions and improvisations that feel good to me in concert. There will be some surprises, though. In the meantime, Temple of the Invisible has received some generous press, and I hope that people get a chance to hear this very different direction for my musical inquiries. I hope to see you on tour during the next few months.“

Quirky German 70’s band Exmagma has received the CD treatment with their self-titled first album and second album “Goldball” being released on one CD. Supposedly their unreleased third album will appear as well.

No relation to Magma of course.

Israeli label Mio Records has a new release by French flautist Jean Cohen-Solal. Included on 1 cd are his two releases “Flute Libres” from 1971 and “Captain Tathopom” from 1973. Cohen-Solal is a name which is included in the famous Nurse with Wound list of essential recordings.

Steve Lacy’s official website includes tour schedules, a discography, recent releases, and more.