Latest on Rune Grammofon from Supersilent's trumpeter Arve Henriksen. Here Henriksen eschews the glitch and electronics, these tracks purely acoustic and untreated as far as we can tell, but still beautifully layered with sweet sounds from Arve's instrumental ensemble - in addition to his own breathy trumpet playing, and piano, there's violin, hardanger fiddle and viola d'amore from Nils Okland, cello played by Svante Henryson, double bass by Mats Eilertsen, subtle drumming from Audun Kleive, and more violin and hardanger fiddle courtesy of Gjermund Larsen. Together, this group creates some quietly melodic, rather melancholic, slow-moving chamber music, the aural equivalent of watching drops of water slowly streaking down a windowpane on a rainy day, as tree branches gently sway in the wind outside, against the whiteness of the overcast sky beyond. It seems very Scandinavian, indeed, and aligned with classic ECM "jazz" stylings. Loveliness incarnate. Most of the tracks are calm and restful, though a few towards the end of the disc display some more active, uptempo inclinations. The perfect soundtrack to a sleepy Sunday sitting in the garden.
We first got an earful of P.E. Hewitt on that recent Spiritual Jazz comp, and we knew we had to hear more, we just didn't realize that it would end up being an massive triple cd / triple lp boxset collecting Hewitt's first three albums in their entirety. But we're definitely not complaining, this is some incredible stuff, especially considering that these three records were recorded when Hewitt was but a teenager, between the ages of 16 and 19, yet already an accomplished vibraphonist and composer. These albums, as good as they sound now, went mostly unheard then, the first, Jawbones, was released in an edition of 50 copies, his second and third, Since Washington, and Winter Winds in runs of 100. So until now, only 250 copies TOTAL of these three albums existed for the last 40+ years.
Listening to these now, it's hard to believe what could have happened had Hewitt's fortunes shifted just a bit, record deals, world tours, there's really no reason someone so accomplished as a teen shouldn't have gone on to sit aside other legends in the jazz pantheon, but as it turned out, until the eighties, Hewitt stopped playing music entirely.
There's loads more about Hewitt's life and music in the massive booklet, as well as a lengthy interview conducted right here in SF last year, not to mention original liner notes from the three records, tons of photos too, but it's still all about the music, and the sounds on all three records are some of the most amazing jazz you've never heard, not far out or free or freaky, not skronky or avant, instead, these records are classic, masterful, emotional and intimate and spiritual, the vibes warm and melodic, his equally young band tight and incredible, modal jazz that swings and grooves, rhythmic and soulful, piano, bass, drums, sax, trumpet, vibes and flugelhorn, occasionally vocals, not traditional jazz scat, but instead, Hewitt provided rhythmic words that functioned more as some sort of invented language, the result, again, mysterious and so soulful. So so recommended. Anyone who has been digging the recent spate of obscure jazz reissues from folks like Lloyd Miller, Nathan Davis and of course that Spiritual Jazz compilation will LOVE this, as will anyone into classic, timeless, lost genius jazz.
Both the 3cd and the 3lp come in super deluxe boxes, with each record housed in exact reproductions of the original artwork, and a huge booklet of liner notes, photos and interviews.
John and Peter Hinds (of Sun Ra Research 'zine fame) return with their second album of hybrid jazz/electronica grooves. The mix includes drum'n'bass beats, dub elements, spacy synth, faux-classical compositions, AND incoherent interviews with homeless people
The Brothers Hinds return with another eclectic release. Don't let the title fool ya, this is a far cry from a typical dub mix collection. It's a super trippy meltdown of jazz, drum'n'bass, and yes, some dub too. As always, well executed and with a few unexpected twists thrown into the mix.
The brothers responsible for the locally-produced, fab, & obsessive "Sun Ra Research" zine have released this very original and enjoyable electronica/jazz recording, kinda like a meeting of Muslimgauze and Bill Laswell. Organic grooves. Recommended.
Without knowing why or how, the idea of the recently more soulful, perpetually Beach Boys obsessed pop group His Name Is Alive tackling a record of tracks by legendary jazz saxophonist Marion Brown, seems not just unlikely but maybe even ill advised.
So we were pretty surprised and thrilled when we finally wrapped our ears around this disc. A dark smoldering expansive ambient jazz sprawl, His Name Is Alive, seriously channeling the spirit of Marion Brown, in such a way that is at once totally faithful but also, quite modern and radical.
Most of the tracks are languorous and laid back, and sometimes sound like a jazzier No Neck Blues Band, a sort of fluttering free folk, the sounds drifting like smoke, the percussion sizzling and shuffling, the horns moaning softly, lots of tinkling chimes and little flurries of piano, gorgeously soft focus and hypnotic.
There are a few live tracks, which is where the band really cut loose, and embrace the noisier side of Brown's oeuvre, "Capricorn Moon" the first live track, is much boppier, the drums and bass locked into a sort of muted exotica, while the horns bleat wildly over the top, the sound very African, and dipping into some serious Ethiopiques territory here and there. The next few songs return to the blissy jazzy tranquility of the first few, until "Bismillahi 'Rrahmani 'Rrahim", which starts off all dreamlike, but by the end, is a squall of thick distorted guitars and skronky saxes, a serious free jazz duel.
The two part "Geechee Recollections" is another slow burning jam, all exotic percussion and thick rubbery basslines, wailing sax, shuffling skittery drum lines, moody meandering piano, the second half a super minimal late night jazzy sprawl, like a less repetitive Necks, but the same sort of mysterious murky swirl.
The record finishes off with a live version of the opening track, sticking close to that same smoky late night shimmer, but with the horns more active and up in the mix, the drums a bit more propulsive, some wah guitar, managing to sound just a bit more fierce, but without losing that blurry blissy sultriness...
This is so good. We used to love love love His Name Is Alive. They even played an instore here, which was a blast. They sort of lost us though lately with their ever intensifying soul leanings, but this record is absolutely gorgeous, and has definitely restored our faith in Warn Defever and company, plus anyone so into Marion Brown is aces in our book.
A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this cd goes to the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation, which is also quite cool...
Recorded in 1955, 4 years before her untimely death, here are eight masterful torch songs sung by the undisputed queen of the genre. Get ready to get blue. Comes with cd.
What a crazy release! Imagine a drug-addled Doug Blunt turning his outsider RnB synth grooves into something even more strange and rarefied, as if he somehow discovered a primitive synthesized folk-blues through ritual sculpture building and obsessive, constantly shifting meta-narratives about space and technology.
Lonnie Holley has quite the backstory. Born in 1950 in Alabama, the seventh of twenty-seven children (!) and the byproduct of the state's poorly regulated foster care system, Holley had a difficult childhood that he overcame through art and music which he developed on his own, his creative output manifesting itself through drawing, painting, sculpture and performance (examples of his artwork are included in the booklet that comes with this cd). Holley had never recorded his music previous to this release, which marks the first time that the Dust-To-Digital label has brought an artist into the studio and it's unlike anything we've heard on the label before. While Holley may look like a Sun Ra type eccentric, and this record was in fact recommended as being very 'Sun Ra-ish', there really isn't a whole lot of that kind of instrumentation or jazz sound, instead, the minimalistic music is mostly layered and woozy psychedelic synth washes and percussion. What's most noticeable and remarkable is Holley's vocals, which come across as a shamanistic Arthur Russell as he sings a primitive-futuristic brew of blues mantras that twist into strange abstracted vocalizations, evoking at first an old-world sound until he starts going off about cellphones and other modern technology. This is a pretty amazing release for folks with a penchant for bizarre outsider figures such as Ariel Pink, Doug Blunt and Jandek. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is definitely wholly original!
Eucademix is the second solo album from the more esoteric half of the sadly defunct, beloved US-based Japanese electronic pop duo Cibo Matto. Once again Ms Honda traverses a broad expanse of style and mood. However unlike her last solo experimental pop effort which was, for lack of a better word, more 'serious' (i.e, more experimental than pop) and on which there really wasn't a hint of her former band's sound (which some C.M. fans found to be somewhat alienating), on Eucademix she actually brings some of her playful, funky Cibo Matto side back into view. Just check out the first two engaging tracks "Humming Song" and "I Dream About You". From there she roams through cirrus and altocumulus cloudlike formations of atmosphere'n'rhythm-rich space jazz, groovy beats, psych guitars, pretty chamber strings, and more. Much lighter in mood and perhaps more palatable to a broader audience than her previous album Memories Are My Only Witness, Eucademix very well might be the most accessible release on Tzadik. Helping to keep her trippy flying carpet aloft are her pals Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas), Marc Ribot, Petra Haden (That Dog), Timo Ellis and... Miho Hatori her former C.M. partner! Recommended.
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NYC energy drummer Hooker live in San Francisco with local powerhouse saxophonist Glenn Spearman and "illbient" DJ Olive (of the fab We). Surf over to Marc's web site [http://www.slip.net/~insulin/wormwood.html] for a look at the interview he did with Mr. Hooker right after this show!
The rumors are flying. Well, at least on all the underground hip-hop blogs they are. Who is Clutchy Hopkins? Could he really be this Ted Kaczynski type hermit living in a cave somewhere out in the Mojave Desert but who perhaps sometime in the '80s recorded these recently discovered and amazing instrumental funk-jazz tracks? And then came out of hiding briefly to put a new record out on Ubiquity only to then disappear once more? Seems doubtful. Details are shady at best. No one has really seen him, except for some less than trustworthy sources. There are only some old photographs of him looking like some serious Moondog cave hippie, like if Gnarls Barkley was an actual person maybe. It's an interesting back story which adds an exciting twist to the origins of these killer tracks, but would they be less killer if the rumors going around were true that maybe this is in fact an alias band project for either Money Mark, Madlib, Cut Chemist, or DJ Shadow? (Our guess? Kid Loco. Seems like he's been in a cave for awhile.) It shouldn't matter, because this shit is good. And who wouldn't rather believe we live in a world where cave-dwelling hermits could make such awesome grooves. Originally released in 2005, it has 12 untitled tracks ranging from flute groovers, and spy chases to strange percussive interludes. We will review the Ubiquity release on a later list, as this one here we like a bit better and want to make it available to you before it, like Clutchy, disappears into the ether.
Last list we featured a release by the mysterious Clutchy Hopkins, a hippie recluse who was the son of a Motown engineer, and who recorded these amazing instrumental jazz funk tracks sometime in the eighties or early nineties and then disappeared. Rumors have been circulating that this was actually an alias for DJ Shadow or Cut Chemist, as like Bigfoot, only a few people claim to have seen Clutchy Hopkins.
Well, Ubiquity, has released another batch of Clutchy tracks along with a dvd with clips from an unreleased documentary about this mysterious figure. Of course this does little to shed any light on whether this is fact or fiction or a little bit of both. According to the dvd, the tapes were found with a bunch of homemade and middle eastern instruments by a junk collector in Hawthorne, CA. The homemade instruments including a really cool flute wired up to a wah device, a modified electric kalimba, and a mini-electric organ were kept by the collector while the tapes were sold to a friend. Supposedly there were enough tapes to release ten albums, and they were shopped around to various places, and two full albums (including this one) were released. The rest of the tapes were allegedly stolen back and hidden by the junk collector who is now in prison somewhere in Southern California. Other testimonials come from a masked Mexican record collector who fought over the same record, a hippie lady in Venice Beach who lived with Clutchy for three months before he disappeared and a Seattle record store who has some grainy footage of someone believed to be Clutchy shopping. Meanwhile we learn from these testimonials that Clutchy was not only an amazing multi-instrumentalist, but an artist, visionary architect and spiritual philosopher as well. On paper, it sounds so absolutely far-fetched, yet most of the folks on the dvd actually seem quite genuine. So we're really confused. But like the last review, we're gonna stick with our gut and just wholeheartedly buy into this. Why, because the music is awesome for one, and this release also shines a light on another soul obscurity, Darondo, who guest vocals on a track. Whether Darondo recorded the song with Clutchy or was added in later is still a mystery, they didn't include him in the interviews. Recommended!
NB. the dvd portions of this review don't apply to the vinyl format...
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Avant-jazz keyboardist Horvitz (best known for his role in John Zorn's Naked City) and his Seattle-based band Zony Mash return with this new disc, dedicated in part to Pharoah Sanders, whose "Upper Egypt" is performed here, hence the title. Zony Mash is a tight and funky quartet, fitting for a band named after a Meters tune.
From his dixieland roots in New Orleans in the 60's and continuing through to today, saxophonist Noah Howard has done the rounds of free music heavies, playing with Sun Ra, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, and tons more. Like so many jazz musicians, he seems to be way better known in Europe than in the U.S. This recording, on Swedish label Ayler Records, finds Howard playing alto and tenor in Chicago with the help of Bobby Few on Piano, Wilber Morris on bass, and Calyer Duncan on drums. Helpfully translated from Swedish on the Ayler site: "He opens with a simple, kind of to the gallery melody on the alto saxophone. The other musicians back up. Tests his ideas and peels of the ephemeral of the music, its superficial beauty. In order to drill deeper, down towards one reflection of the music and its absolute being. Then everything closes to a new, beautiful syntheses."
The Numero Group label starts 2007 on the softer side of things with this obscure British gem from singer Catherine Howe. For those of you who enjoyed the Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies Of The Canyon compilation, that the Numero Group released last year, then this might just be up your alley. Mellow and melancholic, Howe has a soulful voice that's similar to Dusty Springfield or Bobbie Gentry, underscored by soft orchestral jazz arrangements (courtesy of Bobby Scott) that remind us of early A&M records or John Cameron soundtracks like Kes. In fact this seems more like the kind of soft British album Trunk records would have re-issued, but that goes to show what an unpredictable label Numero Group really is. Recorded for Reflection Records in 1971, What A Beautiful Place sank into obscurity when the label folded shortly thereafter. While we have never heard of her before this, Howe recorded two more albums after this one and has recently started recording again. This is a perfect record for a rainy day or Sunday morning with a nice hot cup of tea.
The duo of drummer Thomas Stronen (Food) and keyboardist Stale Storlokken (Supersilent) are back with a second album of playful, percolating improvisation on the ever-reliable Rune Grammofon label. Now these Norwegians are calling themselves Humcrush, which was the title of their album from last year, issued under their own names. Whatever they call it, the music they make is pretty neat. It's a restless blend of live instruments and electronics that somehow sounds catchy and composed, even though this is live-in-the-studio improv. Maybe it's too obscure of a reference, but Humcrush could perhaps be likened to a collision between the Shaking Ray Levis and Autechre. Inventive, very much rhythmically alive and full of glitchy abstraction, some of Hornswoogle would make groovy music for a jungle-themed lounge populated by dancing robots. Other parts feature cinematic atmospheres, or bleepy bloopy computer jingles, or sitar-y keyboards, or what sound a bit like fractured calypso beats... all very exotic and inventive and (importantly) quite listenable, considering it's just Stronen and Storlokken shaking out their respective bags of tricks, on the go. And then the final track, "Cyborg I" takes a turn for the uneasy. It's like the part of a horror film where the doll comes to life and kills everybody (sez Pam).
Now these are the sounds we've been waiting for! From reading our lists it may appear that we aren't big -modern- jazz enthusiasts as there usually aren't tons of newer jazz titles on our lists, but the truth is just not much of the newer sounds coming from the jazz underground really excite us, or maybe we're not hearing 'em. Of course there are some exceptions here and there and this album by Dave Hurley is a refreshing reminder of how alive, soulful and transcendent modern freeform jazz can be.
Channeling the sounds and spirit (and you'll note, the album cover look) of '70s cosmic and out jazz luminaries like Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Steve Reid, Khan Jamal, etc., and with an understanding of how to craft a lush musical journey armed with a full palette of sounds that brilliantly touch on different areas with such a dynamic sonic scope. From majestic moments to full on freak outs and so much in between this is by far one of the most exciting and well crafted out-jazz records we've heard in such a long time. Hurley is a major player in the San Diego music scene and has appeared on records by folks like The Shining Path and Habitat Sound System (who also tapped into a warm and vintage '70s reggae sound on their debut). He's also one of the drummers in free-jazz legend Byard Lancaster's new ensemble. What makes this record so cool is that as well as the psychedelic jazz influences, there are some really intense and freakish moments that could be at home on some improv jam by Japanese psych bands like the Ruins, Boredoms, or Acid Mothers Temple. Hurley knows that it's not just about how loud you can skronk, but instead how much impact each sound has and what you draw from those sounds, and what those sounds can eventually evoke and illuminate. Too many in the modern free jazz scene rely on a one-trick pony philosophy of brute force that just doesn't have the soul and spirit to make it anything but noise. Thankfully, Hurley and his crack band understand how to to bring such fullness of sound and richness of delivery in creating music that is truly transcendent. Highly recommended!
You don't see too many street music ensembles with this kind of pedigree. This Chicago-based 9 piece jazz group, who have spent years touring and honing their craft on street corners worldwide, at least when they're not backing Erykah Badu on a song or opening for the recently reunited Blur at Hyde Park, also features eight sons (from two different mothers) of legendary Chicago trumpeter and A.A.C.M. co-founder Philip Cohran on horns! 2 trombones, 4 trumpets, one sousaphone and a euphonium. The drummer is the only member not related to the jazz great. Formed over a decade ago, after a tragic murder of a younger brother brought the rest of the brood back to Chicago, the brothers united and have been performing and touring ever since. Three self-released and recorded cd-rs have been in circulation since 2004, but this is their first studio effort, afforded them by Alan Scholefield of Honest Jon's who first heard them outside his London Record Store. Not jazz exactly, what the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble play is a form of complex instrumental hip-hop, one player locking in on rhythmic loops and grooves while some orbit in and around the center and others keep the low end steady. There are no solos or "out" moments, the ensemble performs as a single interlocked unit. We bet this would be really amazing live! As a studio effort it sounds great, but like listening to any full on brass ensemble or marching band, there is minimal overall variation, so the sound tires out a bit after awhile. But still, you don't see horn ensembles like this too often, and with pieces by Moondog and Philip Cohran himself, this is still quite a worthwhile listen!
Young and exciting downtown NYC scene drummer Ibarra, best known for her work alongside William Parker and Matthew Shipp in David S. Ware's group, presents her first recording as a leader, on John Zorn's Tzadik label. Asian traditional influences (she's Filipino-American) meet free jazz improv and experimental minimalism on "Flower After Flower". Featuring an fantastic and unusual lineup of musicians, with the clarinets of Chris Speed and Assif Tsahar, the trumpet of Wadada Leo Smith, and the drone accordion of new music legend Pauline Oliveros (among others in Ibarra's ensemble)!
Downtown NYC drummer Susie Ibarra presents her second disc on John Zorn's Tzadik label, a project featuring piano, violin, electronics, and percussion, with the celebrated electronic percussionist Ikue Mori as "special guest". Moody, cross-cultural
This, the 9th-or-so cd from guitarist Gentry Densley's Salt Lake City based musical collective Iceburn, comes packaged in a 6x8 manilla envelope containing the cd and also an eight-part essay discussing the band's evolution from their Victory-label
The recording itself documents a two-guitar + saxophone and percussion incarnation of the ever-shifting Iceburn lineup, recorded live to minidisc with "bass ghosts" overdubbed later by guest Adam Lane.
Ambient drone and itchy improv clatter collide with some really intense out-guitar demolition on this disc. As the liner notes suggest, fans of Rudolph Grey's Blue Humans (and other like minded heavy guitar skronk) will be pleased. Avant-hardcore-free improv done with passion, sincerity, dedication, and most importantly, inspiration.
The latest, self-released effort by this unusual band, a Utah-based collective lead by guitarist Gentry Densley. Their career saw them begin as a Victory-label skate-punk outfit, touched on metal and prog, and now finds them hovering comfortably in the realms of outside jazz improv! This disc follows the "double trio" format (shades of recent King Crimson!) with two guitar/sax/percussion units, one in the left channel and one in the right. 23 tracks, recorded live and edited "for continuous flow" by Gentry. Energy and beauty comingle in Iceburn's explorations, and you can tell that each of the players probably own a stack of Coltrane-era Impulse! label recordings. Nicely packaged in a screenprinted black folding wallet.
Maybe not your typical jazz trio, this Japanese group. Not that we'd expect anything typical from the Doubtmusic label. Bandleader Imai Kazuo (of Marginal Consort) plays amplified acoustic guitar, Suzuki Manabu is credited with electronics, and the third member of the trio, Ito Atsuhiro, performs on something called an "optron". As near as we can tell, that unusual instrument is a homebuilt device resembling a florescent tube light fixture. In fact, it IS a florescent light fixture, with some modifications.
Kazuo's "controllable instrument" the guitar handles the orthodox musical content here, playing some lovely, recognizable melodies and jazzy chords, though he switches to sudden atonal outbursts of frantic skronk sometimes too. But it's the other two members of the trio who really bring the noise and nothing but, the "uncontrollable" electronics and optron outputting a varied, often quite cacophonous improvised barrage of buzzings and cracklings and feedback, all fritzed and glitched like malfunctioning mad scientist laboratory equipment! It can be calm, as with their version of avant composer/vocalist Annette Peacock's "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway" that features Imai picking out slow, sparse notes on his guitar amidst near-ambient hum and static from Ito's optron and what sounds a lot like video-arcade machine sounds emulated by Suzuki's electronics.
But at (many) points, this gets pretty intensely dense with distortion and noisiness. Definitely a crossover from straight jazz into full-on, Hijokaidan or Merzbow style Japanese noise territory, as on the totally freaked out title track, another composition by Annette Peacock. These guys are REALLY into Peacock, there's in fact four of her pieces on the cd, alongside tunes originally by Cole Porter, Thelonious Monk, Lee Konitz, Georges Brassens, and even J.S. Bach! The inclusion of several well-known standards serves to make this seem even noisier, yet also more accessible at the same time. For instance, Cole Porter's "So In Love" sounds like you're hearing it via a shortwave radio transmission, with heavy hissing atmospheric interference.
Not surprisingly, it turns out that the 54 year old Imai had been a student of the late great guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, who pioneered some of the noisiest jazz ever but also performed traditional stuff too. (In the '70s, Imai briefly played with Takayanagi's New Directions Unit - and also the Taj Mahal Travellers and East Bionic Symphonia too!). So if Imai were to "play pretty" it makes sense he would do so in a context such as this.
And, packaged along with the cd in the thick, gatefold miniature LP style sleeve, there's also a 40-minute dvd disc included here too, wherein you can see the optron in action, intermittently blinking brightly in Ito's lap as it makes its strange sounds. In close up shots, it's as if the trio is performing amidst flashes of lightning. The dvd features alternate takes of a couple of the tracks from the cd, as well as three Imai originals and yet another composition by Annette Peacock. As with the cd, this material was recorded live in the GOK Sound studio... some of the tracks in front of a studio audience, all of whom are politely acknowledged by name on the sleeve.
The entity that released the phenomenal and weighty 10-cd wooden box set known as "Improvised Music From Japan" (box, label, website) is now also a magazine. Printed in both English and Japanese, this squarebound, digest-sized debut issue runs to about 132 pages (with the Japanese text occupying the second half, or first if you read it back-to-front Japanese style). And, it comes with a cd compilation bound inside the front (or back) cover. Reviews, interviews and essays by and about the likes of Otomo Yoshihide, Seiichi Yamamoto, Ami Yoshida, Uchihashi Kzuhisa, Phew, Aki Onda, Taku Sugimoto, Sachiko M, Toshimaru Nakamura, Utah Kawasaki, and many others make for fasinating reading if you're the sort of avant-garde music fan at all curious about the underground Japanese improvising scene. There's a review of, and translated excerpts from, a book called "The History Of Japanese Free Jazz" which us English-only types will find to be extremely tantalizing. Perhaps a full English translation of the book could be future project for the industrious Improvised Music From Japan folks? Info about such artists as Masayuki Takanyangi, the Taj Mahal Travellers, and Kaoru Abe is certainly hard to come by in the West, so it would be nice...
Meanwhile, on the compact disc, there's works by Toshimaru Nakamura, Haco, Yoshio Machida, Masahiko Okura and others. Creaking door ambience, silence, acoustic guitars, shortwave static crackle, field recordings, laptop computers, trombone drone... it's a really nice disc, proof of why this scene deserves such a journal.
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Oh Lordy, it's here. Weren't you just asking us about when the next issue of Improvised Music From Japan was going to arrive? All 200 pages (half in English, half in Japanese) of it, plus two compliation cds. Do any of these names interest or excite you: Kazue Sawai, Aki Onda, Kazuo Imai, Tetuzi Akiyama, Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Sachiko M, Taku Sugimoto, Haco? Then this is for you, and you probably *were* asking us about it... All those folks and more appear in these pages, along with a bunch of tantalizing reviews. And there's a special section from Otomo Yoshihide all about making connections with the Korean free jazz scene, in which he interviews saxophonist Kang Tae Hwan. So, if Japanese free jazz / 'onkyo' / improv electronics etc. is your thing, here you go, plenty of good readin'. Not to mention listenin', as the two discs are crammed with all sorts of interesting and diverse performances from many of the artists mentioned above. We were particularily chuffed to check out the "improvised extreme optical core unit" Optrum who provide five noisy tracks on disc two.
The wait is over -- now that it's 2006, the 2005 edition of Improvised Music From Japan is here! It's an indispensable journal to those of you, like us, who are confirmed musical Japanophiles and/or into the extremes of improvised sound activity. This time around, IMJ consists of a beautifully designed 128 page digest-sized book accompanied by two cds tucked under its front and back covers. The print portion of this is devoted entirely to write-ups about new albums from 2004 and 2005, over 350 of them (of which 21 are Merzbow releases!). Some are full articles all about a particular artist, others are briefer descriptions or impressions of the music, sometimes written by the artist in question (so we won't call these "reviews" in the consumer-guide sense, though this could be used that way). As always, the text is presented in both Japanese and English, along with thumbnail album cover pics. Besides all the Merzbow, there's plenty of names you might know here, and plenty more you probably don't. And you also find some non-Japanese artists in here as well (David Grubbs, Bastard Noise, Carl Stone, etc.) included because they've been released on a Japanese label or have collaborated with Japanese musicians.
Perusing this, you're gonna start making a list of releases you hadn't heard of before to try and hunt down -- we certainly did. One revelation was that Omoide Hatoba released a new album in 2004, we hadn't known that!! Gosh. Gotta get a hold of that somehow.
Meanwhile, the cds, like the magazine, feature both relatively well-known improvisers and (to us) newcomers. Among the 21 tracks spread across these two cds, you'll find pieces by familiar names like Toshiya Tsunoda, Merzbow and Kiyoshi Mizutani. But also you'll be introduced to the likes of VOIMA, sim and Tetsuya Umeda (whose track "Error Piano", featuring Yasuhisa Mizutani improvising on the piano whilst Umeda "loiters" nearby, with a portable radio, is indicative in its peculiarity and spontaneity of the variety of music to be heard on these discs and read about in the pages of the magazine). Out-jazz, mimimal electronics, brutal noise, all of the above and everything in between, that's the IMJ aesthetic”a good match for many curious AQ customers wethinks.
The Swedish musical oddities never cease to amaze us, whether it be the hermetic psych of Joakim Skogsberg or the voodoo heaviness of Goat, Swedish musicians always seem to extremely commit to whatever thematic conceit informs their musical output. When we first got this release by Ixtahuele, we thought it was indeed a reissue of some obscure pagan exotica record from the fifties, but a closer look at the photo of the blonde lads on the back cover decked out in forties tuxes, one wearing a fez, just seemed a tad too modern and lo and behold, we realized Ixtahhuele is indeed a modern ensemble mining the sounds of Arthur Lyman, Les Baxter and Martin Denny! Using classic exotica instrumentation, of you know, marimbas, piano, stand-up bass, and all sorts of exotic percussion: bongos, gongs, taiko drums and cymbals, this group does a pretty stellar job of performing original classic sounding music without trying to put a modern spin on the sound. Instead of overdoing the hipster tropes of tiki bars and island girls, the band does its best to get to the heart of the alluring spell-binding qualities of true exotica: ritual dances, evil flora, island fever, stone relics and sun gods, the music oceanic and dreamy, beautifully hypnotic and sometimes fraught with an uncertain sense of danger, mystery and intrigue. Nice!
Kiyoshi Izumi may or may not have had anything to do with a really early incarnation of the Boredoms, although his previous outing for Rephlex a few years back made such claims. "Orange Sunshine" is Izumi's most recent collection and has nothing really to do
Over the last several years Jazzman has become one of our favorite labels, reissuing some of the richest deep grooves and finest obscure soul and spiritual jazz, stuff that never got the due it deserved in its day (Nathan Davis, Lloyd Miller, regional funk burners from Florida, the Carolinas, and more!), as well as putting out new sounds from modern day spiritual funk makers like The Natural Yogurt Band.
So there's no doubt that the music in the Jazzman vaults would be a crate digger and DJ's Shangri-la. That's exactly what J-Rocc got to do on this totally smoking, flowing and immaculate mix. Digging deep into those Jazzman archives, J-Rocc has created a nonstop soulfunk jazzjam that exquisitely brings the worlds of deep soul, spiritual jazz, funk and beyond into a seamless mix that keeps the tempo up but always holds on to the underlying core and soul of the songs. You can tell how much love and respect J-Rocc has for the artists he's bringing new life to, this is not one of those cheesy and offensive Verve remix like projects. J-Rocc proves that if you do have the skill, true love and respect for sounds of the past, you can inject a new energy into them without making them some flavor of the day, all 'hip' and 'modern' and ready for a slick Volvo commercial. J-Rocc has been around the block, with roots reaching back to the '80s Hip-Hop/Boogie scene and then his seminal work in The Beat Junkies as one of the pioneers of turntableism along side folks like Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Z-Trip and Q-Bert.
This is one of those mixes that anyone who has DJed just has to drop their jaw in appreciation and envy as this is a master showing how it's done. And whether you're a DJ or just want a stream of amazing sounds blasting through your speakers when you want the energy to be high, and soak up sounds full of soul then it just doesn't get any better than this!
Another incredible unsung jazz gem rescued from obscurity by the awesome Jazzman label, this one comes from Bobby Jackson, a name even the most seasoned jazz obsessives might not recognize. He was a Minneapolis bassist and big time jazz booster, having put on shows for Roland Kirk, Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard and more, at his Cafe Extra-Ordinaire, a small coffee bar jazz bistro he started as a place for live jazz. A place he worked at serving coffee, booking bands, and somehow still finding time to play. His story is incredible, trials and tribulations, drugs, cops, crazy jazzheads, and a record, this record, that was recorded in 1970 but took 8 years to be released, and even then, outside of their tiny circle, no one heard it, until now.
Which is a shame, cuz like most of the other holy grail reissues on Jazzman, if things went a little differently, if the right people in the right places found out about these jams, all of these folks could have, SHOULD have been huge. Which is precisely the case with Jackson, this is an incredible collection of deep spiritual modal jazz, opener "Paul's Ark" is an instant classic, the horn melodies recalling Roland Kirk, Jackson's bass busy and melodic, the drumming skittery and smooth, so so good. And from there on out, it remains total spiritual cosmic jazz bliss, the piano playing is incredible, flurries of notes swirling over insanely busy drumming, Jackson't bass holding it all together, the songs slipping from sweet jazzy coffee house grooves to frantic frenetic hard bop workouts, the sort of wild frenzied playing that would have most jazz crowds on the edge of their seats on on their feet!
Huge booklet packed with liner notes, interviews, photos, the story of the record, of Jackson, of the club, including some funny stuff about Sun Ra, Prince (it is Minneapolis after all) and more...
The '80s aren't the first decade most people think of when it comes to rich, deep and spiritual jazz. But Khan Jamal is one of those special artists who has kept his integrity fully intact from his beginnings in the early '60s, playing vibes for Byard Lancaster, as well as creating a free-jazz masterpiece called Drumdance To The Motherland in 1973, with his Creative Arts Ensemble, which was finally given a proper release a couple years back after being a private press only LP. Through the years, he's also played with folks like Sunny Murray and Frank Wright, his mighty vibes often defining the sound as much as that of the band leaders themselves.
This newly reissued 1989 album finds Jamal in top form, again, behind the vibes, performing with dizzying perfection in a quartet that also features cello, bass and drums. There is a sonic breadth displayed on Cool, from blistering fast flurries to the more slow and spiritual and even moments that almost sound like proto-Stereolab, as well as some amazing brooding almost Klezmer that would be right at home on Tzadik! One of those albums that jazz freeks for sure will enjoy, but even those who aren't usually down for jazz, there's much to latch onto in these sounds. So many sounds and samples that we think J Dilla would have loved to plunder and that Flying Lotus just might incorporate into future outings. These grooves have the most amazing vibes (pun most definitely intended!).
We had never even heard of Jooklo Duo until recently. Even though they have oodles of records and cd-r's out, many of them on their own Troglosound imprint. No use kicking ourselves, all we can do is dig in and catch up, which we're doing big time. Not only do we have this kick ass, super limited tour only cd-r, available only at shows on their current US tour OR from aQuarius, nowhere else, we're copresenting their show at Cafe Du Nord on April 21st (more on that elsewhere on this week's list), we're also hosting a Jooklo Duo instore on April 20th (also more about that elsewhere on this list). So by all means, come to the instore, go to the Du Nord show, and buy one of these cd-r's before they're gone, you won't regret it.
So for those of you, like us, who are relatively new to the magic of the Jooklo Duo, are the Italian duo of Virginia Genta on sax, flute and voice, and David Vanzan on drums and percussion, they're sort of free jazz, but also just sort of spaced out avant improv, as at home jamming with Burnt Hills or No Neck as they are on a jazz bill, maybe more so. They incorporate all sort of haunting vocals and chants, into their constantly shifting skittery improvised mystical sound explorations. Eastern melodies, Gamelan sounds, it's free, and improvised, but also mystical, occultic, spiritual, the sound of revolutionary sixties free music, channeled through the spirit of today.
On High, available only at aQ and at shows, the duo are on fire, maybe one of their most intense recordings ever, the sax is blown out, in the red, fierce and fiery, the drums, wild and octopoidal, the two instruments, dancing around each other, frenzied and frantic, and about as heavy as free music gets, they're heavily influenced by Coltrane and Ayler and Cherry and Coleman, and it's easy to hear that on High, it's like post post POST bop, the sax is a lethal weapon, the drums laying down suppressive fire, a totally transcendent, epic, mind blowing, next level, free jazz blowout. WAY recommended, as are the upcoming shows.
LIMITED TO ONLY 100 COPIES. Each one hand numbered. We got about half, you can only get them here at aQ, or at the shows on this tour, they're packaged in super swank paste on cardstock sleeves, with a super striking miniature full color version of the SF show poster inside. For more on the tour, the SF show, the other bands playing, the cd-r, and the Jooklo Duo in general, go here: http://troglobloger.blogspot.com
