Pentatonic è una nuova, squisita storia breve di Jonathan Coe uscita per Penguin come e-book: nel formato testuale la si trova tramite Amazon, mentre la versione audio realizzata assieme a Danny Manners - collaboratore di Coe già in 9th and 13th, con Louis Philippe - si ottiene anche tramite iTunes: "I spent some time in the late summer/early autumn writing the short story ‘Pentatonic’, and then working with Danny Manners on the audio version, which we performed live twice in the UK in September, and then recorded at the studio of our good friend Ken Brake near Regent’s Park in London. We’re both very happy with the result, and I hope that some of you are motivated to download it".

Pentatonic, written and read by Jonathan Coe, is a daring and original story about family and memory, originally inspired by the accompanying music from Danny Manners. When a family celebrates the prize-giving day at their daughter's secondary school, thoughts turn to their own childhoods. The father remembers his living room piano recital, recorded on a well-worn cassette tape. The mother remembers her own father's war tragedy. As the father searches for the physical reminder of his past and the mother longs to forget her own, they confront the breakdown of their marriage in the present. In Pentatonic, Jonathan Coe movingly explores the memories that unite us and the experiences that drive us apart.
Text by Jonathan Coe. Music by Danny Manners. Produced by Ken Brake at Regal Lane Studios.

http://www.jonathancoewriter.com
http://tinyurl.com/d88gvvc

Paul Carr, docente e musicologo presso l'Università di Glamorgan a Cardiff, ha curato una raccolta di saggi accademici su Zappa, per Ashgate Publishing: Frank Zappa and the And. Il capitolo di introduzione - The Big Note, Xenochrony and All Things Contextual - si legge in anteprima in www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Frank-Zappa-and-the-And-Intro.pdf mentre un parere sull'opera lo esprime Ben Watson in http://idiotbastard.com/Reviews/AndTheAnd.htm.

This collection of essays, documented by an international and interdisciplinary array of scholars, represents the first academically focused volume exploring the creative idiolect of Frank Zappa. Several of the authors are known for contributing significantly to areas such as popular music, cultural, and translation studies, with expertise and interests ranging from musicology to poetics. The publication presents the reader with an understanding of the ontological depth of Zappa's legacy by relating the artist and his texts to a range of cultural, social, technological and musicological factors, as encapsulated in the book's title - Frank Zappa and the And. Zappa's interface with religion, horror, death, movies, modernism, satire, freaks, technology, resistance, censorship and the avant-garde are brought together analytically for the first time, and approached non chronologically, something that strongly complies with the non linear perspective of time Zappa highlights in both his autobiography and recordings. The book employs a variety of analytical approaches, ranging from literary and performance theory, 'horrality' and musicology, to post modern and textually determined readings, and serves as a unique and invaluable guide to Zappa's legacy and creative force.

http://paulcarrmusings.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/FrankZappaAndTheAnd
http://tinyurl.com/cnckgs8
http://idiotbastard.com/Reviews/AndTheAnd.htm

Prove, revisioni, versioni provvisorie e alternative dei materiali confluiti in Wing Beat Fantastic, inclusi gli schizzi iniziali dei pezzi scritti con Andy Partridge: Mike Keneally raccoglie tutto in Wing Beat Elastic e... whoopee!

"We’d originally thought that Wing Beat Elastic might be a download-only collection, a low-profile side dish to Wing Beat Fantastic, but after arriving at the song sequence and listening to it a lot, we came to love it and wanted to give it a full CD release treatment. We still love making physical products and I think we always will. Atticus Wolrab has created a beautiful digipak design that accurately reflects, in its color and mood, how this album relates to Wing Beat Fantastic and fits into the WBF universe. I think that the 53-minute Wing Beat Elastic: Remixes, Demos & Unheard Music is a beautiful listen, and seems to work equally well in headphones and in cars, and in its full glory on elaborate home stereo systems (some people still have those, yeah?). We hope that, if you enjoyed Wing Beat Fantastic, you’ll also enjoy this probe into the layers of that album’s songs, be interested to hear some of the demos I did with Andy, and appreciate the chance to hear some unreleased music from the sessions as well".

http://store.keneally.com/products/mike-keneally-wing-beat-elastic-remixes-demos-unheard-music
http://store.keneally.com/products/mike-keneally-wing-beat-fantastic
http://tinyurl.com/cubcx5h

Una scoppiettante girandola di piccole formazioni derivate dalla New Orchestra di Barry Guy, con Evan Parker, Hans Koch, Mats Gustafsson, Trevor Watts, Johannes Bauer, Herb Robertson, Per Ake Holmlander, Agustí Fernandez, Maya Homburger, Raymond Strid e Paul Lytton, oltre naturalmente al leader. E' quanto presenta Mad Dogs, con registrazioni tratte dal 5th Jazz Autumn Festival di Cracovia (Polonia), dal 16 al 19 novembre 2010. Il box di 5cd, a tiratura limitata, è dell'intraprendente Not Two Records.

http://www.barryguy.com
http://nottwo.com
http://www.productsfrompoland.com/servlet/Detail?no=1278

Tornano gli appuntamenti dal vivo con Cinema Soloriens, le performance multimediali ideate più di diciassette anni fa dal regista James Harrar e dal sassofonista Marshall Allen quale ideale connubio di jazz e psichedelia, poesia e cinema sperimentale, meditazione ed elettronica. Per il ciclo che si inaugura domani - The Half a Crown Tour, una decina di date in Francia, Regno Unito e Germania - saranno della partita anche il percussionista Rogier Smal e nientemeno che Daevid Allen. Informazioni: www.cinemasoloriens.com

Cinema Soloriens is a multi-media performance consisting of James Harrar’s experimental and highly personal film and video images with a live musical rendering of soundtracks for each film. The project places attention on artist collaboration, exploring the moving image with live performance and when combined, an attempt to reveal deeper levels of interpretation within Harrar’s visceral film poems. These presentations also celebrate the early beginnings of cinema, providing live music to support and elevate the silent movie experience. Any musical incarnation of Cinema Soloriens reveals a group possessing a penchant for psychedelic rock, outre ethnological improvisations and Marshall Allen approved jazzy stomps of which these performances deliver in equal measure.
On The Half a Crown Tour (winter/spring 2013) all musical concepts are created, directed and performed by Harrar (tenor sax, flute, bulbul tarang, reeds, voice and effects) with Marshall Allen (alto sax, flute, keyboards, EVI and effects), Daevid Allen (guitar, effects and voice) and Rogier Smal (percussion and electronics).

http://www.cinemasoloriens.com/Cinema_Soloriens/Home.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/cinemasoloriens
http://www.planetgong.co.uk/gigs/future.shtml#daevid

Bell'impegno si è preso il curatore di Robert Wyatt Video: raccogliere in ordine cronologico presenze e apparizioni del Nostro in televisione, film e documenti video, incluse le riprese amatoriali. I materiali raccolti finora - ma il lavoro è decisamente in progress - vanno dal 1967 al 2012. Da vedere!

http://robertwyattvideo.blogspot.com

Debutta oggi Canterbury Sans Frontières, per iniziativa di Matthew Watkins, già curatore di Canterbury Soundwaves. Il primo episodio in podcast è in ricordo di Kevin Ayers. Auguri!

"Today sees the launch of my new podcast, Canterbury Sans Frontières. As with Canterbury Soundwaves, a new three-hour episode will be released with each full moon. I decided to wind down Canterbury Soundwaves so that I didn't end up (i) repeating myself, (ii) scraping the bottom of the Canterbury barrel, or (iii) becoming increasingly tangential.
This new podcast broadens the musical remit, so it'll be about one-third 'Canterbury sound', together with progressive/psychedelic/experimental music from the Canterbury of today, the remainder being a mix of music from various times and places which I feel to be in a similar spirit of creative adventurousness. I'll be doing a lot less talking, and the programme will be less expository – so no interviews, barely-listenable bootlegs, etc.
I also plan to include guest one-hour mixes from various musicians from the current music scene in Canterbury (Episode 2 will feature a mix from Neil Sullivan from Lapis Lazuli). This episode, however, is dedicated to Kevin Ayers who passed away less than two weeks after the final episode of Canterbury Soundwaves went out, so there's an hour of his finest work embedded in the middle of the programme."

http://canterburywithoutborders.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/episode-1.html

La britannica FMR raccoglie in uno strepitoso box l'intera collezione di 50 cd finora prodotti per l'etichetta da Paul Dunmall, con un ricco portfolio artistico e fotografico curato dal sassofonista stesso: "To celebrate its first 25 years FMR proudly releases a series of special limited box sets the first featuring our most prolific artists, the incredible Paul Dunmall!!! The box set has an out sleeve detailing the releases and individual limited edition serial number of 100 and is signed by Paul himself. Inside the strong magnetic clasped box is a specially prepared 273 page full colour book and a ring binder containg the 50 cds. The book contains not only all the information and anecdots and notes re. the 50 releases, but Paul's complete 'Music in the Big Key', many many pages of colour photographs, and much of his art, full colour etchings, drawings and paintings!!!"

Qualche brano da Music in the Big Key si legge nel numero di questo mese di Point of Departure: "Paul Dunmall’s “Big Key” concept, in music theoretical terms, is a surprising and radical contribution. It is a way of re-thinking music from the inside out, without essentially altering any of its components; a clear, communicable idea that exponentially expands the musical space around the player, opening up vast new possibilities and radically altering how he/she utilizes these components; a re-drawing of existing boundaries, and a multi-dimensional route-plan for re-orienting one’s playing in terms of what is actually possible, rather than what we have been bound by convention – and many conservative jazz theory textbooks – to believe and to follow".

http://www.fmr-records.com
http://www.fmr-records.com/pdffiles/BOXSET1.pdf
http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD42/PoD42BookCooks_Dunmall.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/videocronista

Umberto Fiori e Luciano Margorani oggi sono a Milano all’Auditorium ex Chiesetta Parco Trotter per iniziativa dell'associazione “Casa della Poesia” in occasione della Giornata Mondiale della Poesia: Sotto gli occhi di tutti, alle ore 18.30.

http://www.myspace.com/fiorimargorani/shows
http://poesia.corriere.it/2013/03/22/giornata-mondiale-della-poesia5-domani-a-milano-letture-di-poeti-e-spettacolo-di-umberto-fiori
http://www.edt.it/libri/sotto-gli-occhi-di-tutti
http://www.lucianomargorani.it/radiopop/index.html

Compie quarant'anni di attività il Western Front di Vancouver (Canada), uno dei centri culturali canadesi più a lungo impegnati a promuovere nuove musiche e arti contemporanee. Alle commemorazioni e ai festeggiamenti si uniscono la pubblicazione in LP di uno storico concerto di Evan Parker del 1978, Vaincu.Va!, e di un nuovo concerto del sassofonista questa sera come allora, stesso posto, stessa ora: http://front.bc.ca/events/evan-parker-concert-and-lp-launch

Established in 1973 the Western Front is one of Canada’s leading artist-run-centers for contemporary art and new music. We produce and present visual art, exhibitions, new music concerts and workshops, media-art residencies, performance art and other artist driven initiatives. The Western Front currently maintains programs in Exhibitions, Media Art and New Music, as well as an extensive archive of audio-visual materials. Through this diverse programming we continue to be a crucial platform for interdisciplinary, experimental art practices in Canada and internationally.

The Western Front was founded in 1973 by eight artists (Martin Bartlett, Mo van Nostrand, Kate Craig, Henry Greenhow, Glenn Lewis, Eric Metcalfe, Michael Morris, Vincent Trasov) who wanted to create a space for the exploration and creation of new art forms. It quickly became a centre for poets, dancers, musicians and visual artists interested in exploration and interdisciplinary practices. As a focal point of experimental art practice through the 1970’s and 80’s, the Western Front, in connection with other centres like it, played a major role in the development of electronic and networked art forms in a national and international context.

Over its nearly 40 year history the Western Front has promoted critical investigations into and surrounding interdisciplinary, media-based, anti-object, and ephemeral practices with particular attention to the contexts and economies in which art is produced. While general curatorial priorities have remained dedicated to these practices, the Western Front’s internal structure has continued to evolve and a number of distinct programs have been established and retired over the years including Performance Art, Movement Arts, Literary Arts and Front Magazine. The Western Front still continues to program events and exhibitions related to these genres, but no longer supports fully dedicated departments.

On the occasion of the Front’s 40th anniversary, the release of Vaincu.Va! is part of an ongoing archival project that highlights visits from influential artists like Parker, whose unmistakable sound and ideas have left an indelible mark on our creative music scene. Vaincu.Va! was recorded at the Front’s Grand Luxe Hall, in the final concert of Parker’s epic 29-date (in 31 days) tour of North America in 1978.

http://front.bc.ca/western-front
http://front.bc.ca/events/evan-parker-concert-and-lp-launch

Esce per Room40 il lavoro di Mike Cooper sul film muto Ombre bianche (1928) di W. S. Van Dyke e Robert Flaherty: White Shadows In The South Seas.

White Shadows In The South Seas is Cooper's latest offering and follows up directly from his lauded Rayon Hula album. It’s a pacific sunset-like dream spanning the horizon in pulsing waves of richly coloured rhythms, tropical sound fields and pacific-inspired slide guitar.

http://room40.limitedrun.com/products/512318-mike-cooper-white-shadows-in-the-south-seas
http://www.cooparia.com/projects/silent-movies/white-shadows-in-the-south-seas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Shadows_in_the_South_Seas

Ni Vu Ni Connu produce in soli mille esemplari uno splendido souvenir del festival Just Not Cricket! tenutosi a Berlino dal 6 all'8 ottobre 2011: un box con quattro LP in vinile, programma originale, libro fotografico con saggi, interviste e anticipazioni del film - girato in quei giorni da Antoine Prum, e anch'esso in via di pubblicazione entro l'anno - sulla storia e le vicende della musica improvvisata in Gran Bretagna. Al festival parteciparono tra gli altri Steve Beresford, Lol Coxhill, Tony Bevan, Gail Brand, Rhodri Davies, John Edwards, Phil Minton, Eddie Prévost, Orphy Robinson e Trevor Watts, con Stewart Lee a coordinare conversazioni e incontri con i musicisti.
Informazioni, dettagli e materiali informativi sono in http://ni-vu-ni-connu.net/music/just-not-cricket

The Just Not Cricket! Festival took place from 6 to 8 October 2011 at HBC (former Haus Ungarn) in Berlin-Mitte. On three consecutive days it presented a unique programme of concerts featuring some of the most influential players on the current British Improvised Music scene. Just Not Cricket! was curated by Antoine Prum in collaboration with British saxophonist Tony Bevan and Helma Schleif, long-time coordinator of the Total Music Meetings in Berlin. The concerts also marked the beginning of a documentary film on the history, past and present, of the British free improvised music scene. As part of this film (to be released in 2013), Just Not Cricket! has invited the acclaimed stand-up comedian and long-time supporter of improvised music Stewart Lee to chat with the musicians over the course of the festival.
In a cross-generational confirmation of the vibrancy and relevance of the music they pioneered, legendary figures such as Lol Coxhill, Phil Minton, Eddie Prévost and Trevor Watts played in never-before-heard combinations with their younger peers, including Rhodri Davies, Shabaka Hutchings, Matthew Bourne and Alex Ward.
A luxury box-set of 4 heavyweight 180g LPs is documenting the highlights of the festival with its unique line-up of 16 musicians from 4 different generations of British Improvisors.

http://ni-vu-ni-connu.net/music/just-not-cricket
http://nivuniconnu.bandcamp.com
http://justnotcricket.net
http://tinyurl.com/c4l2uek
http://www.youtube.com/user/videocronista

Si è svolto dall'8 al 10 marzo a St. Johann in Tirol (Austria) il festival di jazz e musiche di improvvisazione Artacts, per molti versi affine al Music Unlimited di Wels. Tra i nomi di spicco dell'edizione di quest'anno c'erano Evan Parker, Hans Koch, John Tilbury, Franz Hautzinger, Jérôme Noetinger, Burkhard Stangl, Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson e Barry Guy, quest'ultimo impegnato alla guida della sua New Orchestra e in vari altri contesti più ridotti. Documentazione fotografica dei tre giorni è nei reportage di Andy Newcombe, Peter Gannushkin e Žiga Koritnik.

http://www.facebook.com/artacts
http://tinyurl.com/d58ughe
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jazztourist/sets/72157632985642859
http://downtownmusic.net/2013
http://tinyurl.com/c86rhfz

Chris McGregor e una Brotherhood of Breath appena ricostituita - con il solo Harry Beckett della formazione originale - poco prima di entrar in studio con Joe Boyd per produrre Country Cooking. Dal vivo ad Antwerp (Belgio), il 14 agosto 1987: http://inconstantsol.blogspot.it/2013/03/chris-mcgregors-brotherhood-of-breath.html

Hux Records dà veste finalmente ufficiale a un documento dell'Incredible String Band noto da tempo agli estimatori del gruppo: è la registrazione del concerto tenuto da Robin Williamson e Mike Heron a New York al Fillmore East il 5 giugno 1968 a sostegno della radio WBAI, una delle voci più importanti della controcultura statunitense di allora. Il repertorio è quello più classico, e l'esecuzione è vibrante, forte anche del favore del pubblico agli album The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter e Wee Tam & The Big Huge di recente o recentissima stampa all'epoca del concerto. Nel libretto che accompagna il cd c'è qualche nota storica di Williamson, e in una recente intervista - la si legge in  http://tinyurl.com/cqpuxdt - così ricorda Heron: "WBAI is a listener supported radio station in New York. It was very supportive of the String Band and stuck out among the other USA chart based commercial stations with its eclectic play list. As it relied on listener donations to exist it had many fund raising concerts and events. The ISB played quite a few gigs for them but the one at Bill Grahams Filmore East was the biggest. It was a key gig as it came during a tour in 1968 when the material for the first five Elektra albums was available to me and Robin, prior to the arrival of Likky and Rose. So the songs are intimate and performed as a duo".

Listening to this concert and the related 1968 recordings of the ISB, one realizes that Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, although experts at traditional folk song structure, were attempting to free themselves of these musical constraints. This unconventional approach allowed greater depth and exploration in their songs. This aspect of their music is what has continued to reach new fans almost 40 years later.

http://www.huxrecords.com/cdsales137.htm
http://www.makingtime.co.uk/beglad/cdfilmore1968.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBAI
http://tinyurl.com/cqpuxdt

Il quartetto di origine turca Dead Country incontra Alfred 23 Harth per produrre Gestalt et Death, fiore all'occhiello della coraggiosa etichetta libanese Al Maslakh. Così in Touching Extremes: "Gestalt Et Death sounds pretty coarse in terms of recording quality – one would think to a precise artistic preference, sort of a “let’s combine ingredients in the alembic and see what happens”. The force deriving from the interfusion hits right on the chin, the recordings – uneasy to ingest on the introductory attempts in spite of Dead Country’s sparse usage of rock-ish constitutions – possessing the staying power and the emblematic qualities of albums that do not need technical attires and fatuous facades to invite the listener, warranting significant substance instead".

Back in 2000, after 15 years of civil war and a decade of post war rehabilitation, the situation of alternative art and especially music was very poor in Lebanon. From Arabic pop songs to hard rock bands, passing by new age and techno beats, everything you could hear in Beirut was most likely a bad “arabised” copy of old or new western musical fashions. The jazz scene for instance was mostly interested in playing standards, be-bop or fusion.
Things began to change around 2000 with the arrival of a new generation of musicians, born at the beginning and during the war, more interested in experimental art forms than in fame or glory. After a couple of gigs in Beirut, three musicians formed MILL, an association to promote and develop the practice of free improvised music in Lebanon. MILL became in 6 years the reference for the avant-garde musical scene both as an exchange platform for different Lebanese musicians coming from improv, free jazz, contemporary composition, noise music and alternative rock, and as the organizer of IRTIJAL, the biggest festival for experimental music in the Middle-East and the Arabic region.
The idea to create a recording label in order to document the nascent scene existed ever since the scene itself was born. However, it took 5 years to become a reality. In 2005 the name Al Maslakh (The Slaughterhouse in arabic) was chosen – for reasons that we let you figure out – and the label launched with two first records. Our constantly growing catalog - publishing exclusively projects involving Lebanese musicians or projects of international musicians recorded in Lebanon – offers with each new release a different and unique musical / sound experience.

http://www.almaslakh.org/about.php
http://www.almaslakh.org/catalog_mslkh15.php
http://alfredharth.blogspot.com
http://touchingextremes.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/dead-country-featuring-alfred-23-harth-gestalt-et-death/

Il trio di Hardcore Chambermusic - Hans Koch, Martin Schütz e Fredy Studer - incontra l'impareggiabile Shelley Hirsch: Walking And Stumbling Through Your Sleep, su Intakt Records, con registrazioni tratte da una seduta del novembre 2010 per la radio svizzera e dall'esibizione al Jazzfestival Saalfelden in Austria pochi mesi dopo, nell'agosto 2011.

http://www.intaktrec.ch/201-a.htm

http://www.koch-schuetz-studer.ch
http://www.shelleyhirsch.com

Prende il via a Ravenna la sesta edizione della rassegna Transmissions, curata quest'anno dal musicista inglese Daniel O'Sullivan: intervengono tra gli altri Charlemagne Palestine, Daniel Higgs, Stephen O’Malley, Steve Noble, Charles Hayward e Phil Minton con il Feral Choir: "Transmissions’ overarching motif will be “transcendence”. The artists involved in the festival embody a fixation with the illusory and malleable nature of time and space".

http://www.bronsonproduzioni.com/lab/transmissions-vi

Da un concerto del giugno scorso a Londra al Cafe Oto proviene l'album Three Babies, di Steve Beresford, Martin Küchen e Ståle Liavik Solberg. Lo pubblica in cd-r l'etichetta Peira, in soli cento esemplari: "This work is another shining example of free improvisation at work. No edits, nor second chances. They meet, they play, they create. Sometimes perfection is best achieved through naturalness and simplicty."

http://www.peira.net/pm19.html
http://peira.bandcamp.com/album/pm19-three-babies

In Rant & Dawdle William E Smith pubblica uno splendido omaggio a Lol Coxhill: In the Ear of the Beholder. E tra i ricordi personali c'è anche quello del loro primo incontro, a Londra nel 1977, per una convocazione della Company di Derek Bailey: "Me and Lol first met in London at one of Derek Bailey’s Company events, a splendid night at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) theatre, in May 1977. The program featured ten musicians from different parts of the world; Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Lol and Steve Beresford from England, Maarten van Regteren Altena and Han Bennink from Holland, Tristan Honsinger from Canada/USA, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton and Leo Smith from America. All had mutually agreed to meet and create unplanned music, presenting the sound of surprise not only for the audience, but in many cases for the players themselves. Derek selecting, like a magician pulling tricks from a hat, the players names on pieces of paper, the random selections hidden from view. Out from behind the backdrop curtains came Lol, Steve, Maarten and Han. Steve took to wandering about with his collection of wind-up toys – a talent that at that time I did not appreciate – and Lol’s sliding, twisting, rhythmic melodies leading always into another dance. A young, excited Japanese spectator, seated in the front row, leapt up onto the stage in the middle of the performance, thinking he could participate, thinking anyone could join in."

http://rantanddawdle.ca/2013/03/11/on-the-wall-3

La puntata di Clear Spot di giovedì scorso, su Resonance FM, era interamente dedicata alla voce e alle espressioni del canto: Voice Extraordinaire, con ospiti in studio Sharon Gal, Elaine Mitchener, Phil Minton e David Toop a presentare in anteprima un loro concerto in programma al Cafe Oto domani sera, e con un intervento al telefono di Robert Wyatt. Scene dell'opera di David Toop Star-shaped Biscuit, citata durante il programma, si trovano in http://soundcloud.com/david-toop/tracks, mentre l'intera puntata si riascolta in http://soundcloud.com/resonance-fm/20-00-00-clear-spot-256kbps-21

Voice Extraordinaire features Sharon Gal, Elaine Mitchener, Phil Minton and David Toop – all celebrating a love of voice and exploring the wide range of vocal expression; discussing Toop’s opera, Star-shaped Biscuit; performing live in the studio; and phoning Robert Wyatt to share his thoughts about voice and his favourite vocalists.

http://resonancefm.com/archives/11563
http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/blog/david-toop-interview
http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/Voice-Extraordinaire-Sharon-Gal-Elaine-Mitchener-Phil-Minton-Steve-Beresford-David-Toop.shtm

Inizia oggi dal Centro Stabile di Cultura a S. Vito di Leguzzano (Vi) una fitta serie di appuntamenti in Italia di Ned Rothenberg, con esibizioni in solo, seminari e collaborazioni in varie forme e in varie sedi tra cui Palermo, Roma, Cremona, Brescia e Padova. La scaletta completa dei concerti è in http://www.nedrothenberg.com/home.html#schedule

After his recovery from a devastating accident in 2010, Ned Rothenberg will return to the crux of his musical oeuvre, solo work, in 2012-13. The focus will be on sound and space, with a series of concerts in churches and other resonant and serene locations. Here the beauty and complexity of Rothenberg’s sound world can create a rich, sensual environment and the listener experiences visceral rather than just intellectual stimulation. These performances will offer an inviting alternative to today’s multi-tasking world. In addition to acoustic qualities, spaces will be sought where the audience can escape the conflicting energies of daily life and find singular focus. No clubs, no bars, no social hubbub. However, the goal is not just relaxation, it is a place where this unique music can speak in all its vibrancy.

http://www.nedrothenberg.com

Per la serie Soul Music ('exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal'), Natalie Steed ha prodotto per la BBC Radio 4 un episodio dedicato a Shipbuilding: è disponibile in www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0g4h

The song from 1982 was written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer for Robert Wyatt and has been recorded in several versions by Elvis Costello himself, Suede, June Tabor, Hue and Cry, Tamsin Archer and the Unthanks. Its blend of subtle lyrics and extraordinary music makes this a political song like no other. It transcends the particular circumstances of its writing: the Falklands War and the decline of British heavy industry, especially ship-building.
Clive Langer and Elvis Costello describe how the song came to be written and how the legendary jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, Chet Baker came to perform on Costello's version.
Richard Ashcroft is a philosopher who wants the song, which he describes as a kind of secular hymn, played at his funeral because it gives a perfect expression of how he believes we should think about life. Not being able to feel the emotion of the song would, he feels, be like being morally tone-deaf. If you don't like this song, he'd find it hard to be your friend.
The song's achingly beautiful final couplet about "diving for pearls" makes the MP Alan Johnson cry and has also inspired an oral history and migrant integration project in Glasgow. Chris Gourley describes how the participants found a way to overcome their lack of English and communicate through a shared understanding of ship-building practice.
Other contributors include Hopi Sen, a political blogger who was an unusually political child, and the Mercury Prize winning folk group The Unthanks. They toured their version to towns with ship-building connections as part of a live performance of a film tracing the history of British ship-building using archive footage.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r0g4h

O Caroline, nella versione proposta qualche giorno fa a Cesena per Soupsongs: http://tinyurl.com/cxmwb9h. Con Annie Whitehead c'erano Brian Hopper, Mark Lockheart, Jennifer Maidman, Janette Mason, Tim Harries e Liam Genockey, e inoltre Sarah-Jane Morris e Cristina Donà.

http://tinyurl.com/cxmwb9h
http://tinyurl.com/csdtf24

Inizia oggi a Bergen (Norvegia) il festival di musiche, arti e letteratura Borealis, che quest'anno con il tema programmatico The End indaga sulla fine di luoghi, persone, cose e linguaggi, evocando epiloghi e risoluzioni, vecchiaia e obsolescenza, decadimento e abbandono, apocalisse e morte. Tra i primi a intervenire, con un lavoro site-specific dal titolo Eschatology, il collettivo londinese Langham Research Centre assieme a Peter Blegvad.

Eschatology, a major new soundwork for Borealis, explores endings – the end of land where we take to ships, the end of radio contact where white noise fills the receiver; the end of individual sounds as they echo and decay in diverse Bergen locations, from the Hurtigrute boat horn bouncing off the mountains, to the ten second echo in a cave under the mountain. Poet, songwriter, cartoonist and Oulipean Peter Blegvad weaves a tale of Ballardian end-times: “A liner at sea, heading for a port which no longer exists. Gradual realization among passengers that they’ve escaped a general devastation, but they might be the last human beings on earth.”
The text – in Norwegian and English – written and performed live by Peter Blegvad – also explores historical doctrines of The End, from the physician Hermann von Helmholtz in 1854, to Ragnarök in Norse mythology. New home-made electronic instruments and vintage tape machines develop sonorities derived from field recordings. The performance is accompanied by Jeremy Welsh’s meditative high definition video of shipping off the East coast of England in the North Sea. This is a contemplative work that encourages us to consider how it would feel to witness the end of the world.

http://www.borealisfestival.no
http://www.borealisfestival.no/program-2
http://soundcloud.com/langham-research-centre
http://idiot-dog.com/music/blegvad.peter

C'è su YouTube un breve estratto dal laboratorio musicale tenuto a Oumi Hachiman dai quattro Artaud Beats - Geoff Leigh, Yumi Hara Cawkwell, John Greaves e Chris Cutler - il giugno dello scorso anno, durante il giro di concerti in Giappone documentato estesamente dalla stessa Cawkwell nell'Archive Box prodotto e distribuito qualche settimana fa in poche decine di esemplari. Il filmato non è incluso nel box: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_245mwzkXw

http://www.youtube.com/user/Spockminder
https://www.facebook.com/theartaudbeats
http://www.youtube.com/user/videocronista

Incostant Sol recupera un raro album dei primissimi anni ottanta, Es herrscht Uhu im Land, frutto dell'incontro creativo di Alfred Harth, Heiner Goebbels e Christoph Anders con Rolf Riehm, Annemarie Roelofs e Paul Lovens. Fu prodotto da Thomas Stöwsand per l'etichetta Japo, collegata alla Ecm, titolo a lungo introvabile e mai ripubblicato in cd; informazioni di prima mano e background storico sono in http://goebbelsharth.blogspot.de.

http://inconstantsol.blogspot.it/2013/03/es-herrscht-uhu-im-land-japo-1981.html
http://alfred-harth-vinyl.blogspot.it/2006/11/es-herrscht-uhu-im-land.html
http://www.heinergoebbels.com/en/archive/works/complete/view/245

Stuart Maconie ha dedicato a Kevin Ayers buona parte della puntata di ieri sera del suo programma radiofonico Freak Zone, per BBC Radio 6 Music, proponendo Whatevershebringswesing album della settimana. A ricordare l'amico è intervenuto al telefono per circa un quarto d'ora Robert Wyatt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r2mqg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015sxdr

Il concerto di Keith Tippett e Giovanni Maier a Trieste l'anno scorso, alla decima edizione del festival 'Le nuove rotte del jazz', è ripreso in un cd pubblicato da Long Song Records: Two for Joyce-Live in Trieste.

"This disc is an entire concert from May of 2012 and it is just incredible; This is well recorded, the balance perfect - we are in the first row center. Wow!Writer James Joyce is obviously an inspiration to both musicians here. The give and the take, the flow of ideas back and forth is mind-blowing, the line are always connected, inseparable. Occasionally and selectively Tippett uses a small block of wood or plays inside the piano, always to great effect. The duo take their time, slowly building from sparse beginnings. They work their way through themes, combining ideas, pushing each other deeper and deeper into unknown territory but coming up with a completely connected story. The waters become more turbulent as the piece evolves, the waves crashing more powerfully as the forces erupt together. About midway through, something remarkable takes place: the duo sound as if they have slipped into some sort of lullaby with Tippett playing these enchanting, melodic, muted phrases along with Maier's superbly plucked bass harmony. From there onwards, they take off at an astonishing tempo soaring for the stratosphere and beyond. The natural flow of events just feels right and ends in a more calm, no less magical way. There is a rather scary section towards the end when Mr. Tippett's puts that pedal down and creates those dark waves which threaten to sweep us away deeper and further into the depths. This is the first true masterpiece of 2013! How can you live without it?!?" (Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG)

http://www.longsongrecords.com/discography/two-for-joyce

http://tinyurl.com/a25uedt

Him through Me è l'appassionato ritratto del compianto sassofonista Gary Windo composto da Pamela Windo, sua compagna e moglie per molti anni, e amica di una vita intera. Dopo alcune versioni abbozzate e abbandonate, il testo è ora pronto e disponibile - in formato pdf - chiedendolo direttamente all'autrice: www.pamelawindo.com. Un album con registrazioni inedite di Pam e Gary Windo (e amici), Avant Gardeners, è stato amorevolmente prodotto qualche anno fa da Reel Recordings.

"A decade ago I sat down to write about the gifted musician I’d known and who’d transformed my life. I chronicled the facts and dates and famous names relating to his life in music. But I did not capture his spirit. I went on to another attempt but this proved to be a Pandora’s Box of our two lives and I abandoned it too. I only recently began writing this memoir, a portrait, a celebration, and an elegy, of a man whose life had been entwined with mine since early childhood. I will use only the things I witnessed and knew of him—his actions, ideas and gestures—and the main events of his life. Rather than romantic reminiscence, I want to give as clear and true an account of the man he was as I can, using the language—trite or clichéd as it may now seem—that accompanies my memories: it was the language of the times we lived in. So many remarkable things happened to him and to us, that it is taking me a long time to sort through and write only what is essential, with the guiding principle that less is more."

www.pamelawindo.com
http://reelrecordings.org/pam_gary_windo.php

Nuovo lavoro per gli svedesi Testbild!, una collezione di musiche composte per alcune opere brevi del regista Henrik Möller, prodotte a Malmö tra il 2010 e il 2012, alcune delle quali disponibili su YouTube.
Della collaborazione dice il regista: "Jag mötte Petter alias Testbild! första gången i Malmö på en krog när jag var full. Han sa att han ville göra filmmusik till mina filmer och en del andra grejer jag inte minns, för jag var trött och deprimerad vid tillfället. Jag gick hem och lyssnade på Myspace och vad som mötte mig var ett musikaliskt anfall som skräddarsytt för mig: nostalgiska barnprogramsjinglar á la sjuttiotal, sidenmjuka jazzrytmer, drömska vansinnesvirvlar ned till avgrundsdjupa inälvshål vrålande av outhärdlig ångest som sedan kvävs av en ocean purpurfägat vatten bebott av sällsamma urtidsfiskar rätt ner i lungorna. Vidden på innehållet var galaktiskt och fortsatte att expandera framför mig medan vårt samarbete fortlöpte. Det är en färgstark beskrivning men inte mindre sann för Petter Herbertsson alias Testbild! är inget mindre än en ett geni, en konstnär av sällsamt skådat slag, en hittills oupptäckt skatt i musikvärlden och jag tycker han är långt bättre än de flesta av de där internationella banden han själv hyllar som förebilder."

Musik från en handfull kortfilmer av Henrik Möller è prodotto e distribuito dall'etichetta Zeon Light Kassett sia in formato digitale sia su supporto fisico, inviato su richiesta e in pochi esemplari secondo prassi care alla mail art e alla cassette culture dei decenni scorsi: lo si recupera via Bandcamp, mentre in SoundCloud c'è la raccolta 20 Poems, un pugno di brani offerti in dono perché 'rendono migliore il mondo'.

www.testbild.org
http://zeonlight.bandcamp.com
http://zeonlight.bandcamp.com/album/testbild-musik-fr-n-en-handfull-kortfilmer-av-henrik-m-ller
http://www.youtube.com/user/HenrikMoller
http://www.youtube.com/user/videocronista
http://soundcloud.com/zeon-light/20-poems-ett-blandband-av