27 settembre 2008


Mike Westbrook ricorda con grande affetto e riconoscenza Margery Styles, scomparsa dopo lunga malattia lo scorso marzo, sul numero di settembre 2008 del periodico Smith's Academy Informer fondato da lei e dal marito nel 1985. Il 'giornalino' cessa di circolare su carta per essere d'ora in poi pubblicato - e anche inviato gratuitamente in posta elettronica, facendone richiesta - in http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/sai/sai.shtml

Many of our readers will already have heard the sad news of Margery Styles’ death or will have inferred from the Informer’s long silence that all was not well. Having borne severe health problems of recent years with great courage, Margery succumbed to cancer back in March. A tribute to Margery appears on page three of the current issue.
The loss of Margery is a grave blow to her many friends and colleagues. It also has serious implications for the SAI. For it was Margery who, with her husband John, started the magazine in 1985. After John’s untimely death in 1989, Margery decided to continue. She dealt with the printing and mail out of the magazine, handled the finances and managed the mailing list of Informees, many of whom she knew personally, met and corresponded with. In all this, as in so many other ways, she’s irreplaceable.
Quite recently, Margery took part in lively discussions about the future of SAI in the computer age, when some of its functions, notably the diary, are also covered on the website. At the time, the topic was unresolved. Now we have to take the plunge. Henceforth the Informer will be published online and circulated to Informees by email. It will be free of charge, and will be in Adobe Acrobat format which can be downloaded and printed off, for those who wish to continue to file a paper copy. Grateful thanks to webmaster Chris Topley for effecting the transition.
Those already on our mailing list will be receiving a letter explaining the changes. They, and new readers who would like to receive the SAI regularly in the future, are asked to simply let us have their email addresses (to
admin@westbrookjazz.co.uk please).
That the Styles’ idea of a quarterly newsletter about the activities of the Westbrook Band should have borne such fruit, and that the SAI should have notched up 25 years is the cause of much pride, and no little astonishment in the Smith’s Academy Staff Room. Long may it continue, as John and Margery intended, to comment, entertain and above all, inform.

25 settembre 2008

Il secondo numero di Eartrip - un progetto di David Grundy sottotitolato 'a journey for your ears' - è appena stato ultimato ed è scaricabile liberamente in formato pdf da http://eartripmagazine.blogspot.com/2008/09/eartrip-issue-2.html. Oltre a molte recensioni di dischi, concerti, video su dvd e su YouTube ci sono scritti su John Zorn e Alexander Hawkins, un'intervista a Hugh Hopper, un interessante contributo audio di Anthony Whiteford su jazz e politica.

23 settembre 2008


Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse e Danielle Palardy Roger hanno pronto un nuovo album: si intitola Phénix, e per il loro trio - Les Poules - si tratta della terza uscita dopo Les contes de l’amère loi (del 1986) e Prairie orange (del 2002). Ambiances Magnétiques ha in catalogo quasi tutti i lavori delle tre musiciste, sia insieme in Wondeur Brass e Justine sia in molte altre situazioni in solo, duo, piccolo o grande ensemble con numerosi musicisti della scena di Montréal. Di Danielle Palardy Roger in duo con Fred Frith esce in questo stesso periodo Pas de deux, tratto da due loro concerti del 2006.

Troisième disque du trio Les Poules, cette toute nouvelle réalisation témoigne une fois de plus de la vitalité du trio d’improvisatrices Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse et Danielle Palardy Roger. Enregistré au retour d’une tournée concerts en France et en Belgique, Phénix révèle une approche de la musique improvisée conceptuelle et minimaliste; musiques de sons et de bruits, de plus en plus inventifs, subtils et raffinés. Cet enregistrement offre une abondance de constructions sonores à la fois drues et concises. La matière est façonnée à partir de 24 pièces miniatures de une, deux ou cinq minutes réunies dans un ensemble de six mouvements élégants et homogènes. Bruits de bouches, bruissements sourds et clochettes sont toujours au rendez-vous. Les trois improvisatrices, complices de longue date, nous présentent ici un disque où la densité respire; un univers intense, à la fois calme et serein qui s’inspire de l’éternelle renaissance du légendaire Phénix.

http://www.actuellecd.com

22 settembre 2008


Norman Whitfield, produttore e autore di molti moderni classici soul e rhythm'n'blues - tra cui War, Just My Imagination, I Know I’m Losing You, Smiling Faces Sometimes e I Heard It Through the Grapevine - è morto pochi giorni fa all'età di sessantasette anni. Sua la firma, assieme a quella di Barrett Strong, di grandi successi di Marvin Gaye, Edwin Starr, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Undisputed Truth e Temptations. Tra la fine degli anni sessanta e i primi anni settanta la sua direzione musicale visionaria e innovativa condusse le produzioni Motown ad abbandonare cliché e luoghi comuni per aprirsi anche al rock e alla psichedelia, oltre che ad accendersi di impegno politico. Indiscusso capolavoro dell'affiatata coppia Whitfield-Strong è Papa Was a Rollin' Stone: The Temptations ne diedero nel 1972 una sofferta ed estesa versione destinata ad influenzare enormemente la musica 'nera' contemporanea e degli anni a seguire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Whitfield
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Was_a_Rollin'_Stone

20 settembre 2008


Scott Parker, uno dei maggiori conoscitori della discografia zappiana - non soltanto quella ufficiale - ha da poco ultimato il suo terzo lavoro, The Zappa Supplement One, dedicato stavolta al famigerato cofanetto di dodici LP del 1969, mai pubblicato da Zappa, The History And Collected Improvisations Of The Mothers Of Invention e alle vicissitudini dell'etichetta Mud Shark, specializzata in bootleg, assai attiva tra il 1979 e il 1981. Anche questo testo di Parker, come i due precedenti, è autoprodotto e stampato (quasi) in proprio: informazioni e ordinativi al sito www.scottparkerbooks.com

19 settembre 2008


All'età di settantasei anni è scomparso pochi giorni fa a Colonia, dove risiedeva da oltre cinquant'anni, il compositore argentino Mauricio Kagel. Ne ricordano la personalità e il ruolo nel panorama della musica contemporanea diversi articoli sulla stampa - Il Manifesto, The Guardian, The Washington Post tra gli altri - e in concerto l'Ensemble Modern, che a Francoforte esegue la prossima settimana quattro sue opere (tra cui la splendida Exotica, del 1971). Musiche e film di Kagel si trovano in rete negli archivi di UbuWeb e Avant Garde Project, mentre una sua intervista di qualche anno fa si legge tuttora in http://www.beckmesser.de/neue_musik/kagel/int-e.html

16 settembre 2008


L'etichetta ASC Records fondata da Steve Plews accompagna la pubblicazione del cd The British Piano con due serate di concerti a tema il 24 e 25 settembre 2008 presso il londinese The Vortex Jazz Club.

Wednesday 24 8.00pm

Steve Plews Trio
Winner of the Peter Whittingham Award for Composition in 1994, Steve has released four well-received CDs under his own name and is a champion of new music, setting up the ASC record label to promote artists in the fields of contemporary classical and jazz.

Howard Riley
Improv-based piano exploration from one of Europe's most original pianists.

Jonathan Gee & Mika Myllari
The celebrated British pianist and Finland's leading trumpet soloist present the 'Northern Star People Project' – combining piano and trumpet with computers and electronics in a suite of music exploring the 'metaphysical properties of snooker balls'.

Vladimir Miller with Aleks Kolkowski
Vladimir Miller was brought up in exile in the West and now divides his time between Russia and London where he is based. He has toured Russia extensively both playing and teaching in conservatoires. He is Director of the Moscow Composers Orchestra.

Thursday 25 8.00pm

Julian Joseph
Virtuoso pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger and broadcaster, Julian Joseph has been a leading figure on the international jazz scene for over two decades. Acclaimed by critics and audiences the world over, he never fails to inspire with his mastery of the keyboard, the versatility of his musicianship, and the seemingly limitless scope of his creative imagination. Julian’s musical ideas reflect the eclectic influence of all forms of music in the history of jazz: from classical to rock and pop, everything is relevant, challenging and innovative.

John Law
Promoting his two recent solo piano CDs – 'The Ghost in the Oak, the Art of Sound Volume 2' and 'Chorale, The Art of sound Volume 3'. 'A formidable improviser, with a pianistic resourcefulness that could be compared to Jarrett without exaggeration (Jazz UK).

Mike and Kate Westbrook
The Westbrooks have toured worldwide and produced a huge variety of music from original songs and jazz ballads to music theatre.

Julian Hellaby
Julian plays a wide-ranging repertoire from Bach to 20th century works and jazz and has appeared as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician throughout the UK.

The Vortex Jazz Club
11 Gillett Square
London N16 8JH
Tickets: £10
020 7254 4097
http://www.vortexjazz.co.uk/this-months-programme.html#piano

15 settembre 2008


All'età di 65 anni è morto oggi Richard Wright, membro fondatore di Pink Floyd e responsabile alle tastiere di gran parte del fascino del suono del gruppo in ogni sua epoca: in particolare negli anni sessanta, con l'efficace accoppiata Farfisa-Binson Echorec a fondamento non soltanto di capolavori quali Astronomy Domine e Interstellar Overdrive - e della discografia floydiana almeno fino a Ummagumma - ma anche elemento distintivo e imprescindibile dell'intera era 'psichedelica' londinese. "He was such a lovely, gentle, genuine man and will be missed terribly by so many who loved him." (David Gilmour).

In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright was seen as a dominant musical force in the group (though not as much of one as Syd Barrett, the band’s chief songwriter and front man at the time) and he wrote and sang several songs of his own during 1967–1968. While not credited as a singer on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, he sang lead on Barrett-penned songs like "Astronomy Domine" and "Matilda Mother," as well as notable harmonies on "Scarecrow" and "Chapter 24." Examples of his early compositions include "Remember a Day", "Paintbox" and "It Would Be So Nice". As the sound and the goals of the band evolved, Wright became less interested in songwriting and focused primarily on contributing his distinctive style to extended instrumental compositions such as "Interstellar Overdrive", "A Saucerful of Secrets", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", "One Of These Days" and to musical themes for film scores (More, Zabriskie Point and Obscured by Clouds). He also made essential contributions to Pink Floyd's long, epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother", "Echoes" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". His most commercially popular compositions are "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them" from 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon.

14 settembre 2008


Debutta a Roma il prossimo 20 settembre con un concerto per A.L.I. [Arts Learning Institute] il quartetto Faces: Mike Cooper, Fabrizio Spera, Luca Tilli e Luca Venitucci. Due giorni prima, giovedì 18 settembre alle 22:50, Radio Tre mette in onda Truth In The Abstract Blues - il titolo rimanda esplicitamente a un celebre album di Oliver Nelson - con Leila Adu, Mike Cooper e Fabrizio Spera, un concerto registrato lo scorso giugno.


A.L.I. [Arts Learning Institute]
230, via di S. Giovanni in Laterano
00184 Roma
tel 06.70040907, info: 347.1580324
www.ali-rome.com
info@ali-rome.com

13 settembre 2008


The Avant Garde Project prosegue nella meritoria azione di recupero in formato digitale di alta qualità di registrazioni assai rare o introvabili di musica sperimentale, elettroacustica e classica contemporanea con due lavori per contrabbasso di Iancu Dumitrescu. Un'antica conversazione tra Dumitrescu e Tim Hodgkinson, interprete e solista in molte opere del compositore rumeno, trascritta per Resonance più di dieci anni fa, si trova in http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/utah/549/tim.html

Medium II is for solo double bass, and Cogito / Trompe L'Oeil is for two double basses, prepared piano, and percussion. In Medium II, the sounds produced by the double bass explore the edge between tones and noise, and yet an everpresent tonal center is provided by the notes produced by the open strings, giving the excursions into higher tones something of the feel of a raga. The rhythms of the piece remind at times of the breathing of some great beast or of the surge of the ocean through a tidal cave. The addition of more instruments in Cogito introduces further tonal centers and still more timbral complexity, with considerably more sound energy in higher registers. Dumitrescu describes Medium II as the hidden, mysterious reverse of Cogito, and suggests that the two works could even be played simultaneously.

12 settembre 2008


Si tiene a Tokyo dal 19 al 21 settembre prossimi il festival di musica improvvisata Amplify 2008: light promosso dall'etichetta Erstwhile. Il programma:

September 19 (Friday) :
Katsura Yamauchi solo
Keith Rowe/Taku Unami
Ami Yoshida/Toshimaru Nakamura

September 20 (Saturday):
Mitsuhiro Yoshimura solo
Sachiko M solo (contact mike only)
Keith Rowe solo

September 21 (Sunday):
Keith Rowe/Sachiko M
Katsura Yamauchi/Mitsuhiro Yoshimura
Keith Rowe/Toshimaru Nakamura

11 settembre 2008


Rachel Unthank & The Winterset nella loro ben nota versione del brano di Robert Wyatt Sea Song in due recenti video su YouTube: http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=gozagpzqGaA&NR=1 e http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=09PRtSYPS_Y&feature=related

10 settembre 2008


Da Parigi giunge notizia della morte due giorni fa di Hector Zazou, compositore e produttore piuttosto noto a livello internazionale - con collaborazioni di prim'ordine con John Cale, Björk, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jon Hassell e Laurie Anderson solo per citare alcuni nomi - e apprezzato soprattutto negli ambienti della 'world music' più incline a confluenze con la canzone e con l'elettronica: un suo nuovo lavoro di ispirazione indiana, In The House Of Mirrors, è proprio ora in via di pubblicazione per l'etichetta che lo ha fedelmente rappresentato fin dai primi anni ottanta, la belga Crammed. Zazou aveva sessant'anni, e lascia immutato nel ricordo di molti di noi il sorriso e l'arguzia degli esordi satiani e 'patafisici' siglati ZNR assieme a Joseph Racaille: Barricades 3 (del 1976, poi rilanciato anche da Recommended Records) e Traité De Mécanique Populaire (del 1978).

Algerian-born French composer/producer Hector Zazou had a surprise waiting with each new record: twisted rock, neo-classical compositions, world music (from Africa to Central Asia), string quartets, pieces for wind instruments, voices or synthesizers, he's been using a wide variety of genres to create the most unexpected and subtle blends, as witnessed by a discography containing many original and often groundbreaking albums, such as Barricades 3 (his 1976 debut), Noir et Blanc (the album which, way back in '83, laid the foundations for Afro-electronic fusion), Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses (which earned him a "Victoire de la Musique" - the French Grammy - in 1992), Sahara Blue (1992, with John Cale, Bill Laswell, Khaled...), Songs From The Cold Seas (1994, with Björk, Suzanne Vega, Siouxsie), Lights In The Dark (1998, with Brendan Perry, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Peter Gabriel) and about fifteen others, which all earned him a reputation of excellence worldwide.
Admired and respected by his peers, Hector Zazou has collaborated with an amazing collection of singers and musicians, including Jon Hassell, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Manu Dibango, John Cale, Harold Budd, David Sylvian, Khaled, Lisa Gerrard, Suzanne Vega, Björk, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Peter Buck, Jane Birkin, Lisa Germano, Laurie Anderson, Asia Argento and Gerard Depardieu. He was also an in-demand producer, and worked a.o. with Tibetan vocalist Yung Chen Lhamo and Uzbek singer Sevara Nazarkhan (both for Real World)
Crammed enjoyed a long, friendly and fruitful relationship with Hector since the early 1980s, releasing 10 of his albums to date. The eleventh is 'In The House Of Mirrors', a wonderful and sadly posthumous opus which was recorded earlier this year in India, and is due for release imminently. Hector Zazou will be greatly missed.

09 settembre 2008


Rimaste inutilizzate su nastro per oltre trentacinque anni e mai uscite allo scoperto, alcune registrazioni private di inizio anni settanta di Kevin Ayers - effettuate per lo più in solitudine, ma c'è l'apporto anche di David Bedford, Mike Oldfield, Archie Leggett, Eddie Sparrow e Robert Wyatt - vedono oggi la luce in un cd dal titolo What More Can I Say... Lo annunciano con giusto orgoglio Mike King e Miki Dandy, titolari dell'eccellente etichetta Reel Recordings e artefici del prezioso recupero: "Today, September 1, 2008, is the release date for the latest analogue buried treasure from Reel Recordings. RR009-Kevin Ayers "What More Can I Say..." has been enthusiastically received by friends, family and fans with accolades for the vintage songs and delicious sound quality. A buzz for this joyous CD is spreading internationally, proving that the music of Kevin Ayers does indeed make the 'whole world' a happier place!"

Kevin Ayers listened to this recently discovered collection of his private demo recordings and out-takes, and found them to be a refreshing reminder of a musical innocence, unique to the nineteen seventies. Much more than nuggets from a golden era, these songs remain compellingly personal in their simplicity, and sit alongside sunny instrumentals featuring friends David Bedford, Mike Oldfield, Archie Leggett (1944-1997) and Robert Wyatt. Of special note is the fourteen minute private demonstration for the Doctor Dream suite, a stunning 'audio letter' synopsis with acoustic performances and wry commentary. Never has Kevin Ayers' voice and guitar been captured in such natural intimacy. These beautifully recorded reel-to-reel tapes are an indispensable portrait of an artist as a young man. Or to convey the response from manager Tim Shepard, "This is Kevin's Holy Grail!" What more can we say?

08 settembre 2008


E' pronto The Ogun Collection, l'atteso cofanetto antologico di 5 cd contenente tutte le registrazioni pubblicate dall'etichetta Ogun dei leggendari Blue Notes: Louis Moholo, Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani, Mongezi Feza, Nick Moyake e Chris McGregor. Sono presenti, con aggiunta di diversi inediti, gli album Blue Notes for Mongezi (1976), Blue Notes In Concert (1977), Blue Notes For Johnny (1986) tutti per la prima volta su cd, e Blue Notes Legacy-Live In South Afrika (1964), già uscito su cd ma in un'edizione limitata esaurita da anni. Imperdibile!

Cadillac Jazz Distribution
15 Kings Exchange
Tileyard Road
London N7 9AH
tel: 0044[0]207.619.9111 / fax: 0044[0]207.619.0901

07 settembre 2008


Alle iniziative che quest'anno celebrano il centenario della nascita del geniale compositore americano Raymond Scott (1908-1984) - tra queste un film prodotto dal figlio Stan Warnow e diversi album inediti e antologici - si iscrive la puntata di oggi di Spinning on Air, la bella serie radiofonica curata settimanalmente da David Garland per l'emittente newyorkese WNYC-FM 93.9. Con Garland sarà in studio Irwin Chusid, uno dei maggiori conoscitori ed esperti della vasta e multiforme opera di Scott assieme a Jeff Winner, responsabile del sito web http://raymondscott.com

September 10 marks the centenary of Raymond Scott, inventor, musician, band-leader, and composer of unusual, joyful, jazzy pieces such as “Powerhouse”, “Reckless Night on Board an Ocean Liner” and “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals”. Spinning On Air has long championed Scott’s music, and this show brings long-time listeners up to date on Scott discoveries and releases, or can serve as an introduction to the work of this one-of-a-kind pop experimentalist. Host David Garland is joined by Irwin Chusid, Director of The Raymond Scott Archives.

Spinning On Air with David Garland
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 7 pm

06 settembre 2008


Ottimo ripescaggio in mp3 per Mick Hobbs e Officer! in Continuo's Weblog: due nastri del 1984 e 1985, rari già allora, pubblicati da Ayaa a lato delle uscite ufficiali su vinile, l'omonimo Officer! e Ossification. Dopo Family Fodder, The Work, The Momes, Kalahari Surfers (e qualche puntata anche in Orchestre Murphy), Hobbs è stato in tempi più recenti a fianco di Jad Fair (Half Japanese), con il quale ancora condivide l'esperienza Strobe Talbot.

05 settembre 2008


Per Transart 2008 si terrà a Bolzano il prossimo 10 settembre un concerto dell'Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie, gruppo di allievi dell'Ensemble Modern di Francoforte. Il programma è interamente dedicato a musiche di Steve Reich: Cello Counterpoint, for amplified cello and multichannel tape; City Life, for amplified ensemble (1995); Different Trains, for string quartet and tape (1988); Drumming - Part One, 4 pairs of tuned bongo drums (1970-71); Piano Phase, for two pianos (1967).
Qualche giorno dopo, il 19, il 'vero' Ensemble Modern sarà a Bressanone (BZ) con un programma di musiche di Mauricio Kagel.

Bolzano, Officine FS
via Macello 24, ore 20.30
tel 0471 673070
http://www.transart.it
info@transart.it

04 settembre 2008


Sabato 6 settembre alle 22.30 RadioTre Suite trasmette il concerto di AMM (John Tilbury ed Eddie Prévost) tenuto lo scorso 11 marzo all'Aula Magna dell'Università La Sapienza di Roma; in apertura il solo Tilbury esegue due brani di Cornelius Cardew, Piano Solo with Accompaniment e Unintended Piano Music.

03 settembre 2008


Inizia domani a Lodi la dodicesima edizione del festival ContemporaneaMente, diretto nella sezione di musica contemporanea e improvvisata Il suono nell’istante da Alberto Braida e Giancarlo Locatelli. Numerosi i concerti in programma fino a domenica 7 settembre, cui intervengono tra gli altri Mazen Kerbaj, Irvine Arditti, Ossatura, Emanuele Torquati e il 'supergruppo' Perfect World.

http://www.musicacontemporaneamente.com

02 settembre 2008


Tradizionale sfornata di nuovi album di inizio settembre per l'etichetta Cuneiform: stavolta ci sono un doppio Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic d'annata restaurato e arricchito di inediti, un cd con dvd per gli italiani Deus Ex Machina registrati entrambi presso il celebre club Le Triton a Les Lilas (Francia), un nuovo capitolo per The Microscopic Septet dopo le ristampe due anni fa di ben quattro loro album, l'incontro di Richard Pinhas e Merzbow e soprattutto l'atteso Golden Section per Isotope, collezione di inediti dal vivo tutti dell'epoca in cui del gruppo faceva parte anche Hugh Hopper.

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - Dawn of the Cycads
Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic began in 1980 as a side project by half of Boston’s famed rock band, Mission Of Burma: Roger Miller and Martin Swope. Miller and Swope joined forces with Rick Scott and Erik Lindgren. Perhaps because of their tie to the ever-popular Burma or perhaps because of their sheer excellence Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic earned international recognition for their innovative sound. The New York Times called them “the world’s hardest rocking chamber music quartet.” Their unlikely mix of rock, punk, classical, minimalism, and free-form sound appealed to a broad range of musical tastes. As Roger remembers in the liner notes, “If I had to say what I thought was most unique about the band, it was that we actually played rock clubs and basically pulled off this rather unorthodox thing. Well sure, we pissed off some rockers (“Just look at ’em up there, shuffling their papers!”), but that wasn’t really our concern. If this odd quartet wasn’t about as different as you could get and still play those venues, well at least we put up a pretty good fight.” Rick Scott comments, “We were always the square peg in a world of round holes. Our instruments weren’t bass, guitar, and drums, but guitar, three keyboards, and drum machine (with turntable, water can, washboard, and clarinet thrown in for good measure!). We played in rock clubs, but read from sheet music. We shared the stage with three-chord rockers, but played music from Brian Eno and Igor Stravinsky, and covered the theme from ‘Rocky and Bullwinkle’. It boggles the mind how we got away with it.” For the first time ever, all of the band’s 3 recordings for Ace of Hearts (Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Magnetic Flip and Beat of the Mesozoic) are reissued in their entirety and in the order in which they were originally heard when they were issued. In the the words of Erik Lindgren, the remastering, “sonically makes the ‘Sonic Geology’ package irrelevant.” The package comes with a 20 page booklet of notes and photos and there is a huge wealth of totally cool CDRom material - 175 photos, art files, set-lists, dioramas, letters, documents and more, (including the long-forgotten letter I wrote to them in 1984 where I attempted to poach them away from Ace of Hearts!) Additionally, there are two studio tracks and seven live tracks, none of which have ever been heard before, for over 45' of bonus material.

Deus Ex Machina - Imparis
A sextet of violin, analog keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and vocals, Deus ex Machina’s sound is a unique and unequaled blend of aggressive jazz-rock mixed with complex rhythms, 1970s-style hard-rock guitar and hints of Rock In Opposition-style avant-progressive rock, all topped by the incredible vocals of Alberto Piras, one of the most extraordinary vocalists working in rock today. For this album and for their 20th anniversary as a group, the band wanted to do something different and came up with an idea that presented a fun challenge to themselves. They had never played in France and on the outskirts of Paris, there was a world-class nightclub - Le Triton - that also featured a full recording studio as well as the ability to do a professional video shoot during performances. The band rented Le Triton for 3 days and spent two days recording. They also played a concert which was filmed. The result is Imparis, a double set that comprises a studio album of new material by the band as well as the band’s first-ever DVD. The studio CD contains 45' of new material while the DVD functions as a career overview of their last 10 years, featuring two songs each from their albums Equilibrismo Da Insofferenza, Cinque and Imparis. The concert program of the DVD is 60 minutes of professionally shot and edited live footage of the band performing completely live - there are no ‘fixes or sweetening’ of the performances and consequently, fans should find it more realistic and representative of a genuine live musical performance by a great, tight band than a typical ‘live’ DVD. Also included are extras: interviews (funny and enlightening) + Paris backstage + a short, fascinating, avant-garde, prepared piano performance by Fabrizio of a one of the album’s works + excerpts from Chapel Hill [USA 1996] + a totally over the top Italian TV performance [1996] + an charmngly dated music video that the band did in 1993. Total time of DVD is about 2 hours. Since they probably won’t be coming to your hometown this week/month/year/decade, this is probably the only way for you to see them, making this one is a no-brainer for their many fans.

Isotope - Golden Section
Isotope were one of the major (and earliest) British jazz-rock bands of the 1970s, coming along chronologically only just behind Soft Machine and Nucleus, the two UK pioneer bands in the genre. Isotope was formed by guitarist Gary Boyle in 1972. After about a year, the band signed with a major U.K. management company who got the band signed to a independent label which was owned by a film company and things really took off. By the time of their second and best-known album, Illusion, the band consisted of Gary, ex-Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper keyboardist Laurence Scott and drummer Nigel Morris. This version of the band lasted nearly 2 years and played hundreds of shows. Golden Section is over 65' of all unreleased material, taken from 3 different dates, all from the period when Hugh was a part of the band and lent his strongly distinctive style to the group; from the opening notes of the album, it’s readily apparent that Hugh is in the house! More than half the CD is a program recorded by Radio Bremen in Germany for broadcast. During this time, the band included a fifth member, percussionist Aureo de Souza, who played with the group for several months during spring/summer 1975 and added a definite Weather Report-inspired flair, but whose tenure with the group has never before been documented on record or heard! In addition to the music, Golden Section includes a 12 page booklet with exclusive interviews with the musicians, conducted by Aymeric Leroy, that gives an overview of the entire history of the band and tells the full story of the period covered by these recordings. Also included are never-before seen photographs of the group.

The Microscopic Septet - Lobster Leaps In
Originally active from 1980-1992, the “Micros” started with a basic reeds-and-rhythm texture that was sonically similar to the sound of the Swing Era, but used influences from the entire continuum of jazz. The result was a brilliant blend of fresh-sounding ideas, compositions, arrangements and inspired soloing. The Micros were one of the most celebrated of the many cutting-edge units associated with experimental music’s best-known venue, the Knitting Factory, during the peak years of the “Downtown” music movement in the late ’80s and early ’90s. In 2006, Cuneiform reissued their four albums as two double CD sets, which gained stupendous praise, attention and sales and the Micros reunited to play a few shows to celebrate their release and had such a good fun that they decided to make their reunion ‘an occasional regular thing’. So, the Microscopic Septet are back with their first album in 20 years! Their sound is the sound of jazz in America; ALL of it, from Ayler to Zorn, bebop to Basie, Ellington to Thelonious. The Microscopic Septet distill the essence of jazz into a sound that swings – a music that is intelligent, sometimes humorous, and always good fun. They aren’t afraid to have some fun with the great jazz tradition while also paying homage to it. The band came back from a well-received, two week European tour and went right into the studio to record “Lobster Leaps In” and they were in terrific form; despite the long lay-off, I think that Lobster Leaps In is their best album yet! This is a charming album filled with inventiveness and good-humored, swinging fun.

Richard Pinhas and Merzbow - Keio Line
Richard and Merzbow are both among the best-known figures in electronic rock music today. Merzbow is considered the originator of Japanese noise music and the single best-known artist in noise music today. While Richard’s work wouldn’t be considered to be strictly in the ‘noise’ arena, many of the artists in the field have expressed great interest in his pioneering use of synthesizers and electronics in rock and contemporary music from the 1970s until the present. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, they had long expressed admiration for each others work. Given all of this, it is probably not surprising that the most important electronic musicians of France and Japan should finally collaborate together! During Richard’s second tour of Japan in the fall of 2007, he performed with Merzbow in what Richard called, “an incredible concert”. A week later, at the end of this tour, they booked two days in the studio to work together again, this time on a recording. All material was recorded completely live by the two musicians, with extensive work done in the mix and re-mix stage. Keio Line (the name refers to the name of the train Richard and Masami would take from downtown Tokyo to the recording studio) is a two CD set, released at a special price, that is violent, soothing, hypnotic, noisy and trance-inducing. All aboard the Keio Line!

Note informative ed estratti audio sono in http://www.cuneiformrecords.com. Nella sezione 'Tours' del sito sono periodicamente indicati gli appuntamenti dal vivo con gruppi e musicisti di cui l'etichetta produce e pubblica gli album: per l'Italia ci saranno presto Guapo, Ahleuchatistas e Picchio dal Pozzo.

01 settembre 2008


Dave Stewart e Barbara Gaskin pubblicheranno un nuovo album a primavera 2009, in concomitanza con alcuni loro concerti - da sempre rarissimi - fissati a Tokyo dal 20 al 22 marzo e per i quali i due saranno accompagnati dal fido chitarrista Andy Reynolds e assistiti dal tecnico Ted Hayton. I concerti si terranno presso il club Tsuki-miru-kimi-omohu di Aoyama, dove si festeggeranno anche i cinque anni di una serie denominata 'Real & True Live'.