In commercio lo si trova forse ancora nella versione in VHS curata negli anni novanta dalla Rhino Home Video, oppure lo si rintraccia provvisoriamente su YouTube. Willard's Wormholes lo ha riproposto ai suoi lettori qualche giorno fa: 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee è lo special televisivo statunitense blandamente psicoattivo prodotto e girato da Jack Good e Art Fisher sul finire del 1968 in favore dei Monkees, con Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity veri protagonisti, e Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Little Richard e Buddy Miles tra gli illustri ospiti. Utter bloody shambles...

Charles Darwin the famous evolutionist takes The Monkees through various stages of evolution until they are ready to brainwash the world via commercial exploitation. Hatched in giant test tubes, the four are stripped of all personal identity and names: Micky Dolenz becomes Monkee #1, Peter Tork becomes Monkee #2, Michael Nesmith Monkee #3, and David Jones Monkee #4. Each Monkee attempts to regain his stripped personal identity by thinking his way out of captivity into his own world of fantasies. Monkee #1 (Micky) performs an R&B up-tempo duet remake of "I'm A Believer" with Julie Driscoll; Monkee #2 (Peter) reclines on a giant cushion in eastern garb and, to the lilting backing of sitar and tabla, performs "I Prithee (Do Not Ask For Love)," a gentle number concerning spiritual values. Monkee #3 (Michael), in an inventive splitscreen number, sings a country tune, "Naked Persimmon (The Only Thing I Believe Is True)"; and Monkee #4 (David) capers about in short pants and frill collar in fairytale land, singing and dancing to the tune of "Goldilocks Sometime." But Darwin is alarmed by their fantasies and tries breaking them down by his own hypnotism via "Only The Fittest Shall Survive," a slab of swirling psychedelia laden with congas, drums, jungle noises, cyclonic winds, explosions and heavy breathing.
After The Monkees perform "Wind Up Man" in the stiff-legged form of robots, and "I Go Ape" disguised in white gorilla costumes, they are regenerated to Darwin's taste and, hypnotized, plasticized, psychoanalyzed, and sterilized, they make their debut at the Paramount Theater on December 7, 1956, dubbed "the greatest rock 'n' roll singers in the world." The four, dressed in outlandish 1950s vocal group gear, are then immediately launched into a classic '50s rock medley: "At The Hop," "Little Darlin'," "Peppermint Twist," and more. Backing them up are Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, The Buddy Miles Express, and The Clara Ward Singers. Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll interrupts the proceedings and announces they have decided to give David, Micky, Michael and Peter complete and total freedom, resulting in a brief snippet of David Jones' "String For My Kite," Peter Tork's harpsichpord rendition of "Solfeggietto" by C.P.E. Bach and all four Monkees performing "Listen To The Band," with Michael on Black Beauty (Gibson Les Paul Custom), Peter on keyboards, Micky on drums, and David on tambourine as an affectionate swan song performance by all four Monkees. As the song progresses, they are joined by hippies and all of 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee's guest musicians from The Trinity to The Buddy Miles Express, resulting in a climactic frantic cacophony.

http://www.monkeesrule43.com/33rpm.html
http://tinyurl.com/nj9asx3

Território da Música ha intervistato Daevid Allen, con Kavus Torabi e Fabio Golfetti, in occasione dei concerti dei Gong in Brasile a inizio mese.

http://www.territoriodamusica.com/noticias/?c=35357
https://www.flickr.com/photos/72157641916206543

Se altri sogni canterburyani restano per ora chiusi nel cassetto - Nine Feet Underground, A Visit to Newport Hospital, Share It - uno almeno esce alla luce del giorno per il quartetto di Bristol Schnauser: As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still, loro primo singolo in vinile per Fruits de Mer Records. Ecco il perché: "We have always been big fans of the Soft Machine and love how in the early days they took elements of jazz, rock, nonchalant, witty lyrics and uncompromising improvisation and wrapped it all up into a vague approximation of what a perfect pop song should be. As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still is one of our standout tracks from Soft Machine Volume Two, which we have been playing in our set for around a year. Written by Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge as a bittersweet tribute to the departing Kevin Ayers, it gained added poignancy with the passing of Kevin last year. For our version we initially stay fairly close to the feel of the original, a 7/8 groove of fuzz organ and jazzy bass before we set the controls for almost Gong territory with an extended maelstrom of delay / wah / fuzz improvisation disappearing into a fog of reverbed smoke with Alan’s tribute to Wyatt’s vocal yelps and tics cutting through the gloom".

http://www.schnauser.co.uk

http://schnauser.bandcamp.com

http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/schnauser.html

http://thestrangebrew.co.uk/articles/say-yes-to-schnauser

Da alcune sessioni di improvvisazione alle Hawaii a metà anni novanta fu tratto un album dal titolo The Origin of Man, felicemente ricordato dai titolari Joe Gallivan, Brian Cuomo ed Elton Dean, ma che all'epoca non ebbe amplissima diffusione. Oggi lo recupera Inconstant Sol.

http://www.hulloder.nl/ed-90.html
http://www.bandtoband.com/band/joe-gallivan/the-origin-of-man
http://inconstantsol.blogspot.com/2014/03/joe-gallivan-brian-cuomo-elton-dean.html

Per Slowfoot Records è pressoché pronto il secondo album del Monkey Puzzle Trio, formato da Charles Hayward, Viv Corringham e Nick Doyne-Ditmas: si intitola The Pattern Familiar, e se ne può sentire un primo estratto via SoundCloud. Il trio presenterà l'album in concerto il mese prossimo a Londra, al Cafe Oto.

Walking a tightrope between song, improvisation and sound­as­sound, Monkey Puzzle Trio is an ongoing project which features drummer Charles Hayward [This Heat, About Group, Massacre], bassist Nick Doyne-­Ditmas [Pinski Zoo, Crackle] and the words, voice and textures of singer and sound artist Viv Corringham. Their music is driven by the restless energy, invention and power of Hayward’s drumming underpinned by the languid and exploratory double bass playing of Doyne­-Ditmas, to which Corringham adds, with the aid of a loop pedal, her unique collage of words and sound. Together they create a distinctive sound world, both exhilarating and immersive, which relies on the sensitivity and experience of all three musicians. All three musicians are obsessed with song as an ideal, and are adept and fast thinking improvisers.

The Pattern Familiar is the second album from Monkey Puzzle Trio and sees them expanding on the blueprint laid down on their acclaimed debut White World (2010). Harvested from three days of improvisation, the only watchwords ‘aim towards song’ and ‘leave space for the brass section’. Shaped by Corringham’s lyrics, what unfolds is an abstract narrative about separation, loss and acceptance, a vibrant and energised song cycle that proffers a stark and resonant refusal of despair and the absurd. In spite of the subject matter, this is not a depressing music. Just say yes. The music is an act of rebellion. Brass overdubs, orchestrated by Hayward and Doyne­-Ditmas (and performed by Nick aided by Tom Marriott, Rob Mills & Tom Scott), are tightly conceived and highly organised, complementing, while contradicting, the spontaneous funk and sound art of the original improvisations, which have been savagely edited to further endorse the shapes and outlines of song.

http://www.slowfoot.co.uk/thePatternFamiliar.html
http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/monkey-puzzle-trio-prescott-2014.shtm

Al compimento del suo settantesimo compleanno il chitarrista Ian Brighton riprende lo strumento dopo lunga inattività e dedica alcuni brani ad amici e colleghi della stagione dell'improvvisazione radicale della scena britannica dei primi anni settanta, di cui fu tra i protagonisti. Ci sarà presto un ricordo per Lol Coxhill, ma il primo pensiero è per Derek Bailey: "Start recording today a series of themed guitar improvisations. Themed in the sense that they will be about a particular focal point in my mind. The first one A voice you left behind will be focused on my late friend and mentor Derek Bailey as it was about this time of year 44 years ago that I met this most genial of gentleman . It wasn't about his playing that I admired but the advice and counselling he gave me about an approach to improvising. He was always there on the end of the telephone to talk to, no matter how many years since we last met. He was an inspiration as a man not just as musician." Gli esiti si sentono via SoundCloud.

https://www.facebook.com/ianbrightonartandmusic
https://soundcloud.com/ian-brighton/a-voice-you-left-behind

Un ritratto dell'inimitabile Ivor Cutler attraverso le sue storie, le poesie, le canzoni: The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler, una produzione teatrale di Vanishing Point in collaborazione con il National Theatre of Scotland, con primi appuntamenti pubblici tra aprile e maggio 2014. Una sbirciatina alle prove è in un video in http://vimeo.com/88890702

The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler is a musical and visual journey based on the songs, stories and poems of one of Scotland’s most iconic exiles. A Jewish, Scottish, Londoner, Ivor Cutler was a wholehearted eccentric whose music and words range from the whimsical to the disturbing; had he been born in Russia he'd perhaps be a Danil Kharms or a Gogol. Here, Mr Cutler stands alone. A true maverick, Ivor Cutler was the only artist to have been played on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4. He was signed by all the major record labels, influenced the Beatles and was championed by John Peel. The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler weaves together the music, prose, poetry and biography of Ivor Cutler to tell the story of a remarkable life, from birth, through boyhood, to old age and death. Whether you are already a fan or want to explore his music and life story for the first time, The Beautiful Cosmos celebrates the work of one of Scotland’s truly unique artists in a production by the ever inventive Vanishing Point in collaboration with the National Theatre of Scotland.

http://www.ivorcutler.org
http://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/content/default.asp?page=s1121
http://www.vanishing-point.org/productions/the-beautiful-cosmos/synopsis
http://vimeo.com/88890702

A oltre trent'anni dalla sua prima uscita torna in circolazione North Marine Drive, album di debutto di Ben Watt pubblicato nel 1983 a pochi mesi dall'e.p. Summer into Winter, cui collaborò Robert Wyatt: titoli riportati integralmente in unico cd, come già nella precedente edizione di questa compilazione (Cherry Red, 1987). L'iniziativa si somma alle molte altre che investono Watt in questo periodo, tra cui la ripresa dell'attività propriamente concertistica, la produzione di un nuovo album solista (Hendra) e la pubblicazione di un secondo lavoro narrativo biografico e autobiografico, Romany and Tom.

Del suo precoce esordio ricorda Watt: "Of all my early recordings, Summer into Winter is perhaps the one I am still proudest of. Precocious and nineteen, I managed to get Robert Wyatt's phone number and talked him into singing and playing on it with me. He played two takes of piano on Walter and John and suggested keeping both, panned left and right. The stuttering interplay of the two parts is really lovely. His voice is so great too. He also played a little solo on A Girl in Winter. If there is a naivety to the lyrics here there is also a great amount of heart. The guitar was a Gretsch 1963 Clipper that I bought from Potter's music shop in Richmond, Surrey. I still have it, and played it recently on my gigs at The Slaughtered Lamb. The muffled reverberating echo was provided by an Evans Echopet EP50."

E di quel primo album: "I have mixed feelings about my debut album. At its best I love its fearless use of warm jazz-flavoured chords, the tiny crystalline piano lines, the gauzy atmosphere and sense of mystery. It sounds both ardent and conceptualized and was clearly unlike anything else around at the time, which is something to be proud of, I suppose. If I have reservations it is about the lyrics. Too often the earnestness and desire to be open tips over into flagrant self-commiseration, although it didn't feel like that at the time. If felt honest and real. But hey, I was nineteen and in love! North Marine Drive is the name of a road in Bridlington, but I turned it from a rather ordinary residential road in Bridlington to 'a road curling round by your sea' picturing in my mind Marine Drive beneath the castle in Scarborough."

http://benwatt.com

http://benwatt.com/work/tracks/summer-into-winter
http://benwatt.com/work/tracks/north-marine-drive

Bertrand Burgalat fa visita a due club parigini (Trois Baudets e New Morning) in due diverse occasioni (ottobre 2013 e gennaio 2009) e con due diversi gruppi (A.S Dragon e Aquaserge) per presentare in pubblico alcuni gioielli della sua collezione glamour più recente, attorniato da ospiti e amici dell'euforico giro Tricatel: ne ricava un album, La Nuit est Là, pubblicato in cd e vinile in due diverse versioni. E a parte, lontano dallo sguardo dei più, rispolvera anche una perla vera, donata anticamente da Louis Philippe a Simon Fisher Turner (anzi, The King of Luxembourg): The Rubens Room.

http://www.tricatel.com
http://tricashop.com/boutique/product.php?id_product=62
https://www.facebook.com/Bertrand.Burgalat

Il concerto di Albert Marcœur con il Quatuor Béla Si oui, oui. Sinon, non tenuto a Chaux-de-Fonds (Svizzera) il 28 gennaio 2014 è stato trasmesso domenica scorsa dell'elvetica RTS all'interno del programma Musique d'avenir. Lo si riascolta in http://www.rts.ch/espace-2/programmes/musique-d-avenir/5656070-musique-d-avenir-du-16-03-2014.html

Comme on le dit des nombres qui ne sont divisibles que par eux-mêmes et par l’unité, Albert Marcœur est un “musicien premier”: un modèle irréductible à un quelconque genre, et même à ce titre simplificateur de “Frank Zappa français” qui lui fut décerné dans les années '70. Marcœur est un rare, oui, et d’un métal d’autant plus précieux qu’il ne s’est jamais posé en rebelle officiel. Aux jeux de massacre de ceux qui prétendent “déconstruire” codes et traditions, lui a toujours préféré les assemblages musicaux et poétiques dictés par son esprit d’escalier, sa faculté de relier ce que le tout-venant de la création s’obstine à séparer, son regard amusé et/ou interdit sur l’absurdité du quotidien. Chansons, compositions, saynètes, montages sonores, concerts, maniement du verbe et de la parole: toute forme et expérience, chez lui, épouse les courbes, angles et perspectives d’une vision du monde éminemment subjective. Sa rencontre avec le Quatuor Béla ajoute une étape de choix dans son parcours de figure libre. Avec ces quatre jeunes gens engagés dans les vents turbulents de la création contemporaine, les échanges prennent des accents qui brouillent les limites entre musique et comédie, art populaire et exécution savante, réalité et chimère. Depuis quarante ans, c’est une constante dans les apparitions scéniques d’Albert Marcœur: son répertoire, sa pratique, sa présence même, sont systématiquement remis en jeu. Voilà bien une règle à laquelle on n’ira pas lui reprocher de ne jamais faire exception.

http://www.marcoeur.com/index.php
http://www.quatuorbela.com
http://vimeo.com/78725754

Dedicato a François 'Faton' Cahen il libro di Michel Martens per Edilivre: Du rêve en bandoulière. Un breve estratto iniziale è visibile in anteprima in http://www.edilivre.com/frontwidget/preview/viewer/id/541507

Faton est né le 24 juillet 1944. Fils et petit-fils de musiciens. Sept ans d’études d’architecture aux Beaux-Arts de Paris. Membre fondateur de Magma (1969) et ZAO (1973). Il enregistre ses compositions à New York en 1980, jouées par Miroslav Vitous, Jack DeJohnette et Michel Seguin, fait un duo avec Didier Lockwood (1982) et crée Faton Bloom avec Didier Malherbe (1984). Compositeur de musiques de films pour Philippe Garrel, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Laurence Ferreira-Barbosa, Raymond Depardon, il fait aussi des concerts de piano solo et des tournées dans le monde entier. Formation du groupe Faton en 1994, reformation de ZAO en 2004, tournées au Japon et en France et enfin, création du Faton Cahen Quintet avec François Causse en 2008.

Ce livre, extrêmement vivant, se présente sous une forme humoristique d’enquête policière sur la musique de Faton. Martens a interrogé une dizaine de musiciens parmi tous ceux qui ont travaillé avec Faton, entre autres Didier Lockwood, Christian Vander, Didier Malherbe, Yochk’o Seffer. Il a aussi interrogé des amis. Puis il a assemblé ces pièces de puzzle pour comprendre et restituer le grand talent musical de ce pianiste et compositeur. Michel Martens, auteur de polars et de scénarios de films et téléfilms, est un vieil ami de Faton Cahen qu’il a connu en 1962. Il a écrit ce livre à propos de Faton, décédé en juillet 2011.

http://fatoncahen.com
http://www.edilivre.com/du-reve-en-bandouliere-une-ballade-de-michel-marte

Annunciando la graduale chiusura di Destination:Out - blog tra i più seguiti e stimati nel campo del jazz d'avanguardia e molto legato in particolare all'etichetta FMP, del cui catalogo ha almeno in parte assicurato la reperibilità in digitale in anni assai difficili - i due titolari, Jeff Jackson e Jeff Golick, rassicurano i propri affezionati che il prezioso archivio di segnalazioni e guide all'ascolto costruito in oltre otto anni di attività rimarrà online per future letture e consultazioni.

Tra le iniziative che accompagnano il lungo addio c'è anche un premio per i più fedeli: "As we wind down, in our own slow fashion, we are thrilled to be able to go out with a bang: we are giving away a copy of the limited run FMP box set, Im Rückblick - In Retrospect. This massive set includes 12 CDs, including many previously unreleased recordings, plus a beautifully produced large-format book that illustrates and elucidates the FMP journey in words and pictures. The book includes a complete discography, tons of amazing photographs by Dagmar Gebers, and contributions from Peter Brotzmann, Ken Vandermark, Alexander von Schlippenbach, and many others. It’s out-of-print and fetches hundreds of dollars on eBay."

http://destination-out.com
http://destination-out.bandcamp.com
http://www.fmp-online.de

Venti nuove composizioni, venti diverse formazioni per eseguirle: è la presentazione del terzo ciclo zorniano del Masada Songbook, The Book Beriah. In anteprima stasera, alla Town Hall di New York.

An epic event featuring 20 new compositions by 20 different ensembles in one marathon evening - all performed for the first time. One of the most important composers and musicians of his generation, John Zorn has spent two decades building upon his exceptional Masada Songbook, now comprising 613 compositions.
The world premiere of John Zorn’s Masada Book Three: The Book Beriah is the newest addition to Zorn’s ongoing work and the last in the series, following 1993’s Masada Book One and 2004’s Masada Book Two: The Book of Angels. The newest Masada songs will be presented in a special marathon “shuffle” concert featuring no less that 20 different bands and more than 50 musicians from wildly divergent backgrounds - jazz, rock, classical, world music, pop and more. The premiere of The Book Beriah (Beriah means World of Creation) will be an unforgettable evening of new Jewish music that runs the gamut of emotions, influences and styles. The Book Beriah will feature John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Uri Caine, Secret Chiefs 3, Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, John Medeski, Jon Madof and Zion 80, Klezmatics members Frank London and Matt Darriau, Abraxas, Cyro Baptista and Banquet of the Spirits, Many Arms, Sofia Rei, Eyvind Kang, Ikue Mori, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Jamie Saft, Cleric, Uri Gurvich and many more.

masada-book-3-liste-des-titres
http://thetownhall.org/event/524-john-zorns-masada-book-three-the-book-beriah

Dopo l'app dedicata al pianoforte preparato, anche il celebre manifesto cageano 4'33" diventa gadget per l'iPhone: www.johncage.org/4_33.html

4'33" was John Cage’s most famous and disruptive composition, and now it can be performed by you! Cage’s work, which teaches us that there’s no such thing as ‘silence’ (and that there’s joy to be found in paying close attention to the sounds around), is available as an official release from the John Cage Trust and Cage’s long-time publisher, C.F. Peters. Users are able to capture a three-movement ‘performance’ of the ambient sounds in their environment, and then upload and share that performance with the world. They’re also able to listen to the performances of others, and to explore a worldwide map of ever-growing performance locations. As a bonus, the 4'33" app features a recording of the ambient sounds at play in John Cage’s last New York apartment, which he found a source of constant surprise, inspiration, and delight.

http://www.johncage.org/4_33.html

Un bell'articolo di Jon Rose su improvvisazione, Internet, dominio digitale e senso di sé, scritto con i ritmi di una terapia trasfusionale e zeppo di analogie, contraddizioni, smascheramenti e metafore, campeggia nel numero di marzo 2014 di Point of Departure: The Improvising Algorithm.

"Normally, when a discourse on improvisation takes place, metaphors are set up which determine what improvisation is like – like eating, like gardening, like taking the dog for a walk, like language, like therapy, like sex, like stumbling through a dark forest with occasional off-putting or delightful apparitions. I’d like to reverse the metaphorical flow.
It strikes me that our hooked-up, online world of fast-moving, illusive moments is becoming exactly like improvisation – like improvisation has always been. We are all living and acting like improvisers, whether we have signed up for the deal or not. I’m not saying a world of improvisation is good or bad, freedom or bondage; it’s just how we have become, and to ignore this actuality is to dig a hole in the sand...
An improv session gets underway, and immediately we are on the end of a multitude of algorithms; we are aware of some of them, we ignore most for the sake of sanity. By an inadvertent or spontaneous click here and there, we contribute to the noise, too, and change it by that contribution, no matter how slight. Propositions jump up in front of us, we grab a few of them, most end up in the trash because we are in real time and there is no time to engage with the sheer amount of information coming our way. By now, most people are aware that every click on our range of mobile devices is sending a continual trackable metadata trail in the opposite direction, ending up in some algorithm somewhere and mostly owned, operated, and sold by some smiling shithead corporation. With every aspect of our lives going online, the ability to stay outside is being couched in pressurised marketing negatives of not being alive, not being in touch, not being involved, not up to speed, not there. Take a selfie to prove you exist."

http://www.pointofdeparture.org
http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD46/PoD46Algorithm.html
http://www.jonroseweb.com/f_projects_k-bow.html

Nuova occasione per avvicinarsi dal vivo alle ipnotiche trame sonore intessute dal corposo ensemble di tastiere, distorsori, bassi elettrici e percussioni guidato da Andy Saunders e accompagnato dalle immagini di Ian Owings: Himmel (in precedenza, Pimmel), Music for Massed Fuzz Organs. In formazione ci sono tra gli altri Chris Cutler, Mick Hobbs, Glyn Perrin, Kath Gifford, Debbie Googe, Graham Carlow, Andrew Manson, Mike Barnes, Jason Slade, Chris Anderson e Bela Emerson. Questa sera al Cafe Oto, a Londra.

29 musicians, 25 vintage electric organs, two drum kits, two bass guitars and three projectors. Himmel’s music spans the territory between drone minimalism, krautrock and cosmic jazz, creating a powerful live musical spectacle at the edges of the known. Himmel’s music contains minimal landscapes of intense beauty contrasting with the elemental power of a rock band in full spate. The complexity and awe of this experience is magnified by the layered compositional strength of an orchestra of massed, vintage electric organs played through fuzzboxes. Two tolling Fender Rhodes, two bass guitars and two drummers lay the foundation for a mosaic of distorted shifting harmonic drones and submerged melodies.
Himmel was founded in 2008 by Andy Saunders and the experimental arts collective Lewes Arts Lab. Andy Saunders is a founding member of Towering Inferno, whose album Kaddish, released on Island 1995, fused chanting rabbis with heavy-metal guitar and hypnotic systems music. Ian Owings is a multimedia artist whose work includes paintings, video, large scale installations and digital billboard imagery.
Focusing on the relationship between film and music, this is an exploration of the combined power of massed fuzz organs and minimal abstract visuals.

http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/himmel.shtm

http://vimeo.com/83537031

Musica Jazz dedica il numero di marzo 2014 alla sempre maggiore presenza femminile nel jazz contemporaneo, e a mo' di premessa pubblica l'intervista di Val Wilmer a Lindsay Cooper apparsa in Jazz Magazine nel marzo 1979. L'originale si recupera in http://tinyurl.com/p347zq9in

http://musicajazz.it/le-donne-che-stanno-cambiando-il-jazz

Classici di Brecht e Weill, di Leiber e Stoller, di Cole Porter e Ira e George Gershwin, un omaggio a Jimmy Yancey, pagine da On Duke's Birthday, Platterback e London Bridge is Broken Down, brani originali e inediti - alcuni in italiano - con dediche a Margery e John Styles, a Danilo Terenzi e Tony Marsh, i sacri testi di William Blake, uno di Siegfried Sassoon, uno ispirato a T.S. Eliot... Tutto questo (e altro) nel concerto generoso e bellissimo che il Westbrook Trio ha offerto al pubblico dell'auditorium del Civico Istituto Musicale Breraa Novara sabato scorso. La scaletta: D.T.T.M., London Song, A Poison Tree, Blighters, Five Voyages, Death Letter Blues, Brazilian Love Songs, Alabama Song, Wild Cyclamen North of Rome, My Lover's Coat / My Lover's Heart, The Streams of Lovely Lucienne, Love for Sale, A Foggy Day, Is That All There Is?
Commenti e immagini sono alla pagina FB del Novara Jazz, una recensione è in Tempi Dispari, una ripresa video è su YouTube. E di nuovo dal vivo, domani sera al Cafe du Soleil di Saignelégier (Svizzera).

http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk
http://www.tempi-dispari.com/2014/03/11/mike-westbrook-fa-sognare-almeno-un-po
https://www.facebook.com/NovaraJazzFanPage
https://www.youtube.com/user/photocronista
http://www.cafe-du-soleil.ch

Gong in azione a San Paolo (Brasile) lo scorso 6 marzo: Daevid Allen, Kavus Torabi, Fabio Golfetti, Ian East, Dave Sturt e Orlando Allen. Dynamite!

http://www.planetgong.co.uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5_Al3v8WDo

Peter Blegvad è stato ospite del Festival Internazionale del Fumetto di Angoulême (Francia) lo scorso gennaio, premiato con il Prix Révélation per il suo Le Livre de Léviathan (The Book of Leviathan, 2000), recentemente adattato in francese dall'editrice L'Apocalypse. Ripreso durante gli 'incontri internazionali' in programma nei giorni del festival, il suo intervento è ora su YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWP2MnPrzi4

http://www.bdangouleme.com
http://www.lapo.fr/018-le-livre-de-leviathan
http://www.lapo.fr/int-leviathan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWP2MnPrzi4

Una versione corretta dell'album Skylarking degli XTC, con l'apparato grafico previsto in origine da Andy Partridge, l'inclusione del brano Dear God e problemi tecnici - tardivamente scoperti - finalmente risolti, apparve tre anni fa in un'edizione in doppio vinile andata subito esaurita. E' imminente ora l'uscita anche in cd: lo si può prenotare tramite Ape House / Burning Shed.

Produced by Todd Rundgren, the album was famously the most troublesome recording experience of XTC's career, yet the combination of the 'quintessentially English' band and the American 'studio wizard' resulted in one of the most successful and artistically accomplished albums of the mid-late 1980s.
When it came time to master the album on vinyl in 2010, Andy Partridge - still never entirely happy with the overall sound of the finished album - took it to award-winning mastering engineer John Dent, who noticed something that had never previously been spotted. Somewhere, possibly in the transfer from the multi-channel tape to the stereo master, a polarity had been reversed. This is not the same thing as a reversed left/right channel which puts a stereo picture out of phase & makes the sound unlistenable, but a much more difficult to pin down event that can be triggered by something as simple as a badly wired plug in the overall system which, nonetheless, removes some of the punch & presence from a finished recording.
With the polarity corrected, the album complete with original artwork & Dear God was issued on vinyl.
Now, some 28 years after its initial recording & release, Skylarking finally appears on cd as it was originally intended to sound & in the packaging as initially envisaged. The end of the world is also 28 years closer, but probably not imminent. Plenty of time then, to hear afresh the most popular album by one of the finest pop groups of that or any other era.

http://chalkhills.org
https://www.burningshed.com/store/ape/product/351/5557/add/5557

La californiana Superior Viaduct si prende cura della ristampa in vinile di due perle del catalogo storico dei Residents: il singolo del debutto, Santa Dog, circolato - si fa per dire - nel 1972, e una versione estesa dell'antologico Residue of the Residents apparso nel 1983.

Little is known about the group's origins or its members' identities, although it is widely believed that they are based out of San Francisco, California. When their debut release, Santa Dog, first appeared in 1972 on the equally enigmatic Ralph Records / Cryptic Corporation, the few hundred copies quickly fell on deaf ears and blind eyes. Rumor has it that then-President Richard Nixon sent his record back. True to their "Theory of Obscurity" concept, The Residents cultivate mystery to ensure artistic integrity. With different musical personas for each of its four tracks, Santa Dog is a fully-formed avant-garde pastiche of musique concrète, Raymond Scott-esque exotica, television sound effects, and the group's own mutilated take on rock 'n' roll that later became known as their trademark aesthetic.
Residue Of The Residents collects out-takes, rare tracks and other experiments from this legendary San Francisco collective. Originally released on Ralph Records in 1983 and spanning The Residents' career up to that point, this first-time vinyl reissue has been expanded to a double LP and contains 26 songs from the late '70s and early '80s – the group's most fertile period. Balancing the group's conceptual impulses with a dark palette of electro-esotericism, Residue Of The Residents is an intoxicating collection that serves as an ideal starting point for the uninitiated.

http://www.residents.com
http://www.superiorviaduct.com/collections/the-residents

Nell'episodico e imperscrutabile piano di ristampe in vinile avviato dalla famiglia Zappa non sfuggano intanto Uncle Meat (1969) e Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), titoli cruciali nell'intero catalogo.

Both albums are released by Zappa Records/Barking Pumpkin Records and distributed by Universal Music Enterprises. Uncle Meat was Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention’s fifth studio album.  Released in 1969, the acclaimed experimental double LP peaked at no. 43 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Roxy & Elsewhere, Frank Zappa and the Mothers’ 1974 double live album, culled from the performances of three December 1973 nights at the Roxy in Los Angeles, as well as from May 1974 concerts at Edinboro State College in Pennsylvania and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. Produced by FZ, and recorded live with studio overdubs.

http://www.analogplanet.com

Mike Westbrook, Kate Westbrook e Chris Biscoe sono questa sera al Novara Jazz: Three into Wonderfull. All'auditorium del Civico Istituto Musicale Brera di Novara, con inizio alle ore 21.00. E poiché è l'8 marzo...

The Westbrook Trio is the longest established and most widely travelled of all Mike Westbrook’s ensembles. The Trio’s mix of composition, song and improvisation has been at the heart of many Westbrook projects, from the seminal Brass Band of the ‘70s to the New Westbrook Orchestra. From the early ‘80s, Kate, Mike and Chris have continued to perform regularly throughout Europe as well as touring in Canada, Australia and the Far East. The group’s geographical and musical adventures are commemorated in their 20th Anniversary album L’ascenseur/The Lift of which Observer critic Dave Gelly wrote “No one has succeeded in creating a more distinctive body of work than Mike and Kate Westbrook. Their mixture of jazz, music-theatre, poetry, street entertainment and visuals is rich and unique. That just three people can create such a variety of sounds is hard to believe."

http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk
http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/westbrooktrio/index.shtml
http://www.freenovara.it/8-marzo-con-mike-westbrook-trio

https://www.novaratoday.it/westbrook-trio-brera-8-marzo

Geoff Winston ha seguito il doppio concerto di Keith Tippett al Cafe Oto a Londra lo scorso 25 febbraio, in duo con Julie (Couple in Spirit) in apertura di serata e successivamente con il suo ottetto (The Nine Dances of Patrick O'Gonogon). Ne scrive un gran bene su LondonJazz, anticipando che una nuova occasione per risentire il lungo e articolato brano eseguito quella sera dall'ottetto, frutto di una commissione di Richard Wiltshire, si presenterà il prossimo 11 aprile, al Vortex.
Prima di allora, Tippett sarà in Italia per reincontrare il contrabbassista Giovanni Maier, il 15 marzo a San Vito al Tagliamento (Pn).

https://keith-tippett-julie-tippetts-at-cafe-oto-25-february-2014
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1o44y1V7bR

Avrebbe compiuto ottantaquattro anni tra pochi giorni, se n'è andato invece lunedì scorso il compositore americano Robert Ashley, autore di opere originali e innovative quali Perfect Lives, Atalanta (Acts of God), Now Eleanor’s Idea e Celestial Excursions, basate su un esteso uso della voce narrante in contesto drammatico-musicale e caratterizzate dall'impiego di diversi medium espressivi e tecnologici. Tra i suoi ultimi lavori compiuti ci sono Mixed Blesssings, Indiana e l'opera Crash, di cui stava personalmente seguendo le prove in vista del debutto il mese prossimo alla Biennale del Whitney Museum of American Art a New York.
Lo ricorda Kyle Gann, autore di una sua recente biografia: "Having published a book on him fairly recently, I don’t know how much else I can say. But the reason for writing the book wasn’t because I thought I’d get much from it academically or monetarily, just for the opportunity to spend 28 hours interviewing the most scintillating personality I’ve ever known. He was so incredibly brilliant and original and alert and non-repetitive. His enthusiasm was unremitting and contagious. My every visit with him left me in a joyous, hyped-up mood, buoyed by his devil-may-care Aries courage. I’d ask a question about his music (I say this in the book), and he’d close his eyes and start telling a seemingly unrelated story, and I’d think maybe he was getting senile, but half an hour later he’d get around to answering my question, which needed a nested set of stories to be intelligible. I’d ask about a piece he wrote thirty years ago, and he’d sit down and play the chord progression it was based on on the piano. Once, out of the blue, I needed the chord structure for eL/Aficionado, and he reached over, picked up a piece of paper, and said, “Here it is.” For a wild creative type, he was the most organized person, inside and out, I’ve ever seen. He seemed to have total recall of his entire life and his entire output. He was bitter that he hadn’t gotten more attention for his astonishing creative achievements, but the bitterness only burst out in moments, and his sunny enthusiasm for everything in life would quickly crowd it out again. He was a fabulous role model. And let it be set down, Bob was one of the most amazing composers of the 20th century, and the greatest genius of 20th-century opera. I don’t know how long it’s going to take the world to recognize that. And it hardly matters. He knew it. That the world was too stupid to keep up was not his problem."

http://www.robertashley.org
http://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/2014/03/robert-ashley-1930-2014.html
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/04/composer-robert-ashley-dies-aged-83

Prende il via oggi a Lione (Francia) la rassegna d'arte Biennale Musiques en Scène, con un programma multidisciplinare fitto di appuntamenti fino a fine mese: al centro dell'attenzione Heiner Goebbels, con un'ampia selezione di sue produzioni per il teatro, la danza e la musica (Max Black, Stifters Dinge, I Went To The House But Did Not Enter, Songs Of Wars I Have Seen, Surrogate Cities, Genko An 69006).

http://www.bmes-lyon.fr
http://www.heinergoebbels.com

Una serie di collaborazioni inedite tra musicisti di diversa provenienza internazionale e artisti danesi: è quanto promuove lo spazio sul web Unseen Recordings, giunto in poco tempo a sfiorare la ventina di produzioni. Tra le più recenti c'è quella di Zeena Parkins con August Rosenbaum e Lars Greve. "Three musicians who each in their own way experiment with music come together in this recording and create fragile and crackling figures of sound. It is the sound of a subtle collision of details delicately lured out of their respective instruments – the harpe, clarinet and harmonium. The minimalistic lightning is created by the Danish groundbreaking visual artists Dark Matters."

Unseen Recordings is a web channel for experimental music. Every recording is unique, unfiltered, live and done in one take. The music here is boundary pushing and genre challenging, it is adventurous to the bone. Unseen Recordings will present 70 new recordings each year with Danish and international artists.

https://www.facebook.com/unseenrecordings
http://unseenrec.com/recordings/zeena-parkins-august-rosenbaum-lars-greve

Solo trecento copie in vinile per il nuovo album di N.E.W., il trio formato da Steve Noble, John Edwards e Alex Ward: si intitola Motion, e lo pubblica l'etichetta Dancing Wayang Records. Le note di copertina sono di Thurston Moore, che per tutti spende una buona parola. Di Edwards, per esempio, dice: "John Edwards is the most ready-to-play motherfucker on the scene with the skill level to match any and all interweavers. He seemingly is chain linked to his contrabass and can be heard playing on rooftops, cellars and every loci in between in constant practice and exploration and extending/expanding the language in respect to his craft and instrument of choice".

Un estratto dall'album è in SoundCloud, mentre il trio è ritratto in azione al concerto dell'ultimo dell'anno a Londra al Cafe Oto in due filmati su YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIH8KHTdsr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B33w9V96-U

https://www.facebook.com/dancingwayang
http://dancingwayang.com/n-e-w-s-motion-lp-out-today
http://dancingwayangrecords.limitedrun.com/products/524160-n-e-w-noble-edwards-ward-motion
https://soundcloud.com/dancing-wayang-records/n-e-w-betting-on-now

Valerio D'Onofrio con nobile intento su Robert Wyatt per Idee in/oltre: Robert Wyatt, il comunista. Mah!...

http://ideeinoltre.blogspot.it/2014/02/robert-wyatt.html

Quarant'anni son passati dal suo primo apparire, ma ancora non ha smesso di sorprendere e divertire: è l'album di esordio degli Hatfield and the North oggi a festeggiare. E noi con lui! Should be a laugh certainly!

Formed in 1972 and named after a motorway road sign, Hatfield & The North were one of the most original and musically adventurous English bands of the 1970s. The group wrote and played fearlessly creative music, became a legend with music fans in Europe, America and Japan, but broke up in 1975 just as its reputation began to build. Hatfield's music was a unique blend of its four members' ideas and compositions, comprising the dreamy lyrical songs of Richard Sinclair, Phil Miller's intricate jazz-tinged melodies, Dave Stewart's complex instrumentals and the free-flowing compositions of Pip Pyle, who also contributed lyrics. During its brief life span, the group recorded two highly acclaimed albums (Hatfield & The North and The Rotters' Club), played numerous live gigs and recorded four BBC radio shows.

Hatfield-And-The-North