30 aprile 2018


Grande apprensione sta suscitando tra pubblico, estimatori e colleghi - tra cui notoriamente i Westbrook - la notizia dell'improvviso aggravamento delle condizioni di salute di Jon Hiseman, storico fondatore di Colosseum e Tempest impegnato proprio in questi giorni in un giro di concerti in Europa a sostegno del nuovissimo album Heroes (Repertoire, 2018) realizzato in trio con Clem Clempson e Mark Clarke in memoria degli amici ed eroi musicali di sempre, tutti scomparsi: Graham Bond, Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ollie Halsall, John Mole, Larry Coryell e Allan Holdsworth.
L'annuncio della cancellazione dei concerti è esplicito: "Jon Hiseman was taken ill during the course of the tour and was discovered to have a cancerous brain tumour. He will be undergoing life-saving brain surgery as soon as possible and wishes you all to know how touched he is by the overwhelming show of support. It is our hope that he will be well enough to resume the tour later this year. Thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this time."
Auguri Jon!

http://www.temple-music.com
http://jcmband.com
https://www.facebook.com/Colosseum.Band

29 aprile 2018


Altro merito di Emotional Response è la recente ripubblicazione di Flagellation - in origine era su etichetta It's War Boys, nel 1983 - invitando così a ripercorrere la traiettoria di una stella minore della dinamica galassia Murphy (e The Homosexuals): con nome di copertura Just Measurers erano Lepke Buchvalter, Jim Whelton e Chris Grey, alleati a Sara (libera da Amos).

Newly released from captivity, the acclaimed 1983 avant-punk masterpiece album featuring the dark and humorous genius of Narki Brillans, C.D. Greyt, and Yakko Banovic, with special guest Sara Fancy. The lone Just Measurers LP, originally an edition of 300 copies on the It's War Boys label, has rarely been seen in the wild during the past 3 and a half decades (although was recently spotted on Discogs for $450!). The band consists of members from other essential under-the-radar 80s UK DIY luminaries, such as Milk From Cheltenham, The Homosexuals, The Murphy Federation, Die Trip Computer Die, L.Voag, Amos and Sara, The Work. Playful and unsettling, the 16 tracks contained within are as vibrant and challenging as the day they were conceived...

https://emotional-response-recs.bandcamp.com/album/flagellation
http://jenandstew.com/item/THE-JUST-MEASURERS-flagellation/364

28 aprile 2018


Ci pensa l'americana Emotional Response a mettere un po' in riga trent'anni di irregolare carriera di Robert Storey, molti dei quali spesi sotto mentite spoglie nelle appassionate (e appassionanti) vicende dell'Orchestre Murphy, con le variabili The Murphy Federation, Up Murphy Street, The Murphy Love Experience e Murphy No Geisha, poi in Nobodies e The Plain People of England, con Atsuko Kamura, Croque Madame e Florence Raynaud. E con Bing Selfish naturalmente, fin dall'inizio (ma anche di recente, con il brillante The Indefatigable Logic Of Bing & Bob). L'antologia si intitola Come Up And Hear My Etchings 1986-2016 ed è disponibile sia in vinile sia in digitale.

Unsung hero of the DIY underworld, Robert Storey has been plowing his own furrow with a quiet fervor and understated elegance since the late '70s. Part of the London collective Club Integral and Resonance FM, Storey regularly pushes experimental music from the more interesting but less celebrated side of the scene, spreading a message of sonic exploration and creativity. As the heralded “dark heart of the Murphy Foundation in all its guises”, Storey’s playful ear for balancing melody and sonic experiments has led to a fascinating back catalogue chock full of quality works. Emotional Response are proud to release this career spanning compilation, encompassing engaging highlights from a remarkable man with a back quality catalogue.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/2551254-Robert-Storey
https://www.facebook.com/EmotionalResponseRecs
https://emotional-response-recs.bandcamp.com/album/come-up-and-hear-my-etchings-1986-2016

27 aprile 2018


Julie Driscoll risalta in tutto splendore anche in un'altra antologia, Marylebone Beat Girls 1964-1967, realizzata lo scorso anno da Ace Records con perle varie prelevate dagli scrigni Parlophone, Columbia e HMV: c'è Don't Do It No More nella versione in vinile e anche la celebre I Know You Love Me Not (scritta da Brian Godding, suo cognato) nella versione in cd.

https://acerecords.co.uk/marylebone-beat-girls-1964-1967
https://acerecords.co.uk/marylebone-beat-girls-1964-1967-1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ych5UqY9p4M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2doWhI5TF8

26 aprile 2018


La copertina dylaniata colpisce facile facile l'occhio e il cuore - come già in passato un ottimo Bing Selfish - ma l'occasione è comunque buona per riascoltare la versione di I Am A Lonesome Hobo offerta nel 1967 da Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity (con la produzione di Giorgio Gomelsky): è Take What You Need - UK Covers Of Bob Dylan Songs 1964-69, tema lanciato l'anno scorso dagli specialisti di Ace Records citando tra i molti anche Marianne Faithfull, Manfred Mann, Ian Campbell, Fairport Convention e Sandie Shaw.

http://www.acerecords.co.uk/take-what-you-need
https://theartsdesk.com/new-music/take-what-you-need
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWhR7AXoF6M

25 aprile 2018


Le conseguenze del malanno occorsogli lo scorso febbraio e qualche successiva complicazione sembra impediranno al caro Keith Tippett di riprendere pienamente e in breve tempo le sue attività. Amici e colleghi stanno coordinando azioni per aiutare lui e la sua famiglia a superare questo momento di difficoltà, anche economica, rivolgendosi per ulteriore aiuto all'attenzione di appassionati e sostenitori.

Scrivono Riccardo Bergerone e Roberto Ottaviano: "Il pianista compositore e band leader Keith Tippett, straordinario artista e persona di grande sensibilità, è stato vittima qualche tempo fa di un infarto il cui indebolimento generale lo ha portato a contrarre nelle settimane passate un forma di polmonite con conseguenze infettive che lo costringeranno all’inattività per i prossimi mesi. Dal momento che le scelte non commerciali e prive di compromesso fatte da Keith nel corso della sua carriera di sicuro non gli garantiscono una sicurezza economica a medio termine, è evidente che un periodo di pausa forzata lo mette in condizione di grande difficoltà. Si stava pensando quindi a quale efficace gesto di amicizia e solidarietà si potesse attuare al fine di aiutare un amico ed un artista che tanto ha dato al nostro mondo. La disponibilità di Hazel Miller, che per tanto è stata una figura di riferimento per la sua discografia attraverso l’etichetta Ogun, giunge provvidenziale a raccogliere ogni aiuto possibile da parte nostra, nella speranza che la situazione si risolva al più presto e che Keith torni a regalarci quella poesia musicale che gli appartiene e che ci ha reso tutti in qualche modo migliori."

E questo scrive infatti Hazel Miller, indicando l'indirizzo cui inviare tramite PayPal ogni eventuale aiuto e contributo: "Dear Ogun friends around the world, I am pleased to say our friend Keith Tippett has survived another heart attack and pneumonia and is now able to return home. His recovery however will mean that we shall be deprived of his wonderful music for at least another few months as he will not be able to work. Ogun Records, to which Keith has contributed so much over the past decades, has started a rescue fund to help the Tippett family over this difficult period. Any contributions will be gratefully accepted and can be sent to the Ogun PayPal a/c using the email address: ogunrecords@googlemail.com.
I will ensure that it will be forwarded to Keith as soon as possible. Many thanks for your help and consideration."

Altro suggerimento viene da Martin Archer, ed è quello di acquistare lo splendido lavoro di Tippett con il suo Ottetto The Nine Dances Of Patrick O’Gonogon direttamente presso Discus Music (e non ad esempio tramite Bandcamp): "As you have probably seen elsewhere, Keith recently suffered a heart attack followed by some nasty complications. He’s back home and recovering, but it will take time. With Keith’s specific permission I’m adding Discus Music’s support to this initiative. Keith’s latest Octet release, "The Nine Dances Of Patrick O’Gonogon" has now covered all of its costs - which means that 100% of any sales will benefit Keith directly and regularly. A great way of showing your appreciation and solidarity with this major composer/improviser would be to support him by buying his CDs. While you can also buy it via Bandcamp, please don’t, as that method will cost you more (VAT) and Discus will get less (Bandcamp commission). Your support will be massively and genuinely appreciated by Keith, and you will get yourself an absolute gem of a CD."

https://www.facebook.com/groups/23038694008

24 aprile 2018


Richard Williams ha seguito il concerto di Peter Hammill a Londra venerdì scorso e ne è rimasto assai colpito; ne scrive al suo blog The Blue Moment, e nel contempo recensisce l'ultimo splendido album del Nostro, From The Trees. Qualche ripresa dell'evento è su YT:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCah8sY6VvjXR4LOS0CWRDeg

As skinny as a bread-stick, his white hair cropped almost back to his skull, an outfit of loose white shirt and trousers giving him (somewhat deceptively) the austere, elevated air of a Zen monk, Peter Hammill took the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall last Friday with only a grand piano and an acoustic guitar for company. He was welcomed by an audience which recognised that at this stage of a 50-year journey that started with the rock band Van Der Graaf Generator, he is one of the few members of his generation who still has something to say.

https://thebluemoment.com/2018/04/24/peter-hammills-from-the-trees

23 aprile 2018


Speciale episodio la scorsa settimana di Obscured by the Light, programma curato da Michael Hodges per One World Music Radio, poiché a raccontare e a scegliere le musiche c'era Didier Malherbe in persona: Charlie Parker, Daevid Allen e Gong, Faton Bloom, Hadouk in trio e quartetto, Phil Miller con In Cahoots e molto molto altro. Lo si riascolta da Mixcloud, dove l'audiointervista è disponibile anche per esteso con il titolo The Uncut Life & Times of Didier Malherbe.

22 aprile 2018


Anche Guy Segers è stato protagonista di uno speciale curato di recente da Nico Bogaerts per il programma Moacrealsloa su Radio Panik: la puntata è quella dello scorso 10 aprile, con oltre tre ore di conversazione e brani tratti dalla discografia ufficiale, alcuni inediti e diversi spezzoni dal vivo. Molto Univers Zero e Present, ovviamente, ma anche Electric Maybe Band, Emergent Sea, Gurumaniax, Morton Fork Gang, un passaggio dallo Zappanale 2009 assieme a Daevid Allen, Makoto Kawabata e Mani Neumeier, Uneven Eleven dal vivo a Brighton nel 2013 di nuovo con Makoto Kawabata e Charles Hayward, e lo storico inedito d'epoca Henry Cow Hold to the Zero Burn, Imagine (ovvero Erk Gah) infine ricomposto nel 1994 da Tim Hodgkinson per il suo Each In Our Own Thoughts.

http://www.radiopanik.org/emissions/moacrealsloa/guy-segers

21 aprile 2018


Ampi estratti dal concerto dello scorso 14 marzo all'Ancienne Belgique a Bruxelles, alcuni ascolti dalla discografia ufficiale e un'articolata intervista divisa in due podcast: è il bel ritratto di Philip Jeck prodotto da Nico Bogaerts per il suo programma del martedì Moacrealsloa, su Radio Panik.

http://www.radiopanik.org/emissions/moacrealsloa/philip-jeck
http://www.radiopanik.org/emissions/moacrealsloa/philip-jeck-2-2

20 aprile 2018


Prosegue con virtuosa parsimonia l'ineffabile serie di (finti) Standards proposta da Bill Wells e il suo National Jazz Trio of Scotland, inaugurando con questo, il quarto volume, un breve ciclo di episodi affidati ciascuno a una sola delle voci in seno al gruppo: tocca qui alla brava Kate Sudgen, mentre a seguire saranno presto Gerard Black e Aby Vulliamy. Dice Wells di Kate: "It’s just a case of her being a brilliant singer. I feel that she’s underrated. She’s as good as people like Liz Fraser. It’s almost like her voice sounds like it’s double tracked without it being double tracked, like Gerry Rafferty or Robert Wyatt. There’s a graininess to it. [...] I suppose I like things to be very plain. I do like people who can hit notes, but I can’t stand most jazz singers because they over-sing. I think sometimes the more emotional you are, the less emotion you convey. With Kate, it’s very deliberate, it’s all very considered, and in a way people like that are the best jazz singers. It might sound quite casual, but there’s a lot of thought behind it."

https://www.facebook.com/NJTOS
https://karaokekalk.de/releases/the_national_jazz_trio_of-scotland_standards_vol_4
https://thenationaljazztrioofscotland.bandcamp.com/album/standards-vol-iv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9XjK6FwRP4

19 aprile 2018


Michael Björn è (non immotivatamente) entusiasta del nuovo Sternpost, Anti-Clock, e nello scriverne per POPgruppen cita tra le influenze ammesse dal titolare - Petter Herbertsson, dei Testbild! - anche Lindsay Cooper e Chris Cutler: "Petter himself describes the music on “Anti-clock” as a sound collage, but it could really fit into a number of genres, such as ambient, experimental, electronic, musique concrète. Or progressive rock. Although Peter cites Lindsay Cooper and Chris Cutler as inspirations, I would rather describe this as National Health filtered through Karda Estra and imagined as the soundtrack to a film about a world where humans never regained language capacity after being punished for building the tower of Babel."
Anche Richard Wileman, chiamato in causa, ne ha un'ottima impressione: "Two kaleidoscopic 20 minute tracks bringing to mind a surreal landscape where Jonny Trunk rumages around Salvador Dali's record fair looking for unearthed Studio G library music while turning a dial on a radio broadcasting fragments of found sound, uneasy narrations and bursts of Rattigan Glumphoboo's beautiful writing and arrangements. Fab."
Le copie in vinile sono esaurite, ma presso la casa madre Dilettante Productions l'album si può scaricare anche in digitale.

www.dilettante.se

18 aprile 2018


ReR annuncia un nuovo lavoro del grande Allen Ravenstine dal titolo Waiting for the Bomb, pronto probabilmente per fine giugno. Chi ne prenota una copia ora riceverà anche un libretto con alcuni scritti dell'autore, comparsi a suo tempo su un quotidiano di Cleveland, The Plain Dealer, o raccolti nei preziosi volumetti ReR Quarterly.
Dell'album scrive in termini entusiastici Chris Cutler: "Allen and I worked for several years together in the second coming of Pere Ubu before we both decided to quit at around the same time. I carried on playing – and running the ReR label; Allen became a commercial airline pilot and designed simulator stress tests for other airline pilots. Now retirement has brought him back to music and modular synthesis and - in this unusual recording - he arrives at a hybrid musical form that is more or less without precedent: discursive, digressive and disrupted by generic and emotional shifts; a music in which real-world sounds and real-world instruments occasionally argue with - or complement - the electronic current; there’s agon here - and narrative. Narrative. Narrative. Narrative. For a largely abstract and instrumental recording, that’s a real achievement. These pieces – and the interactions between them – cumulatively capture an historical moment - allusively and elusively, out of the corner of their eyes - and, I dare to say, that’s not just an achievement, it’s a great achievement."

https://tinyurl.com/ycedakak

17 aprile 2018


Peter Blegvad e Slapp Happy sono stati ospiti a Den Haag (ovvero L'Aja, Paesi Bassi) del progetto Feedback, un programma pluriennale di conferenze e incontri in diverse sedi internazionali - tra cui appunto Den Haag, Berlino, Leipzig, Parigi e Toronto - dedicato ai temi dell'ecologia dell'informazione e al ruolo della letteratura e delle arti nell'era dell'elettronica e dell'informatica. Il concerto si è tenuto lo scorso 28 settembre nell'ambito di un affollato simposio intitolato a Marshall McLuhan: lo si ritrova in video negli archivi di West o su Vimeo.

Exploding out of the wreckage of World War II the early cyberneticists Norbert Wiener and Claude Shannon, sketched out a future where even thinking could be automated. In the electronic information of global instantaneous mass-communication of the satellite and TV age Marshall McLuhan saw the end of the rational tradition of enlightenment Humanism, and the emergence of a ‘Global Village’ and ‘Global Theatre’ where people would be caught up in their interconnectivity and develop new social art forms.
The pace of technological transformation, automation and globalization has resulted in massive human migration, precaritization, displacement and new transitional modes of existence. The Internet, built to maintain command and control of the US military in an extreme emergency has become a commercialized infrastructure where unprecedented new forms of communication and exchange are emerging. Publics are formed and dissolved algorithmically according to need, no longer at the level of opinion or knowledge, but according to advanced social cybernetics of politics and the advertising economy. The medium is the message.

http://www.westdenhaag.nl/exhibitions/17_09_McLuhan
http://www.westdenhaag.nl/films/Slapp_Happy
https://vimeo.com/257152050

16 aprile 2018


Quattro concerti consecutivi a Londra dedicati esclusivamente al repertorio dei primi due album dei Pink Floyd, The Piper At The Gates of Dawn e soprattutto A Saucerful Of Secrets. Li propone Nick Mason in persona, con un gruppo ad hoc denominato appunto Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets. Al Dingwalls di Camden e all'Half Moon di Putney, dal 20 al 24 maggio prossimi. Ovviamente i biglietti sono andati esauriti nel giro di pochi istanti dopo l'annuncio.

Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets are Nick Mason, Gary Kemp, Guy Pratt, Lee Harris and Dom Beken. This is a unique opportunity to experience Pink Floyd’s celebrated and significant early body of work played live including songs from albums The Piper At The Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful Of Secrets. Very few bands are as culturally important as Pink Floyd. They are one of the best selling music artists of all time and Nick Mason is a founder and the only constant member of the band performing on all of their albums as well as all of their live shows. This will be Nick Mason’s first live musical outing since Pink Floyd played at the 2005 Live 8 concert in London.

http://www.thesaucerfulofsecrets.com

15 aprile 2018


A un anno di distanza dalla scomparsa, le note di Allan Holdsworth (1946-2017) risuonano forti e chiare negli omaggi che amici e colleghi hanno organizzato in questi giorni in California, ieri a San Pedro (Alvas Showroom) e oggi ad Anaheim (Phoenix Club). Dal canto suo Leonardo Pavkovic di MoonJune Records, amico di Holdsworth e produttore di suoi innumerevoli concerti, condivide un pensiero degli indonesiani simakDialog (Water on the Brain, pt. 2) e rimette in circolazione una personale dedica con le parole di Tony Levin (Crack in the Sky) siglata a suo tempo da Dewa Budjana e Stick Men.

https://www.facebook.com/allanholdsworthmusic
https://www.facebook.com/groups/361803263942657
https://tribute-to-allanholdsworth-moonjune.bandcamp.com
https://simakdialog.bandcamp.com/tribute-to-allan-holdsworth

14 aprile 2018


Da un altro luogo londinese divenuto nel giro di pochi anni pressoché imprescindibile per arti e musiche di ricerca e innovazione - l'Iklectik in Carlisle Lane, a Lambeth - giunge un nuovo documento ufficiale, stavolta un doppio cd prodotto dal London Experimental Ensemble contenente l'esecuzione integrale del Treatise di Cornelius Cardew proposta in concerto a gennaio dell'anno scorso con l'ausilio di proiezioni a scorrimento in tempo reale della celebre partitura grafica a beneficio (anche) del pubblico. Esce per l'etichetta Split Rock Records con le note esplicative di Eddie Prévost, sotto la cui guida molti dei musicisti coinvolti hanno fatto pratica.

The full two-hour performance of Cornelius Cardew's entire 193-page legendary Treatise graphic score, performed at Iklectik in London, England on January 28, 2017 in an 11-member ensemble of some of London's most interesting improvisers including participants in Scratch Orchestra, in a double CD release with liner notes by AMM founder Eddie Prevost.

http://iklectikartlab.com/treatise-cornelius_cardew
https://www.discogs.com/London-Experimental-Ensemble-Cornelius-Cardew
http://www.squidco.com
https://www.hibou-anemone-bear.com/The+Mount+Everest+of+graphic+scores
http://www.spiralcage.com/improvMeeting/treatise.html

13 aprile 2018


Il primo concerto al londinese Cafe Oto si tenne il 13 aprile 2008, una domenica pomeriggio di dieci anni fa esatti. C'era poco di pronto, la pittura ancora fresca alle pareti, e un impiantino scadente. Eppure!

"Hi there. Ten years ago today we hosted our first concert. At the time we had no idea how long we would be doing this or where it might lead. Thank you to all of you who have supported us over the past decade.  It’s been an intense, exhausting and life changing experience. OTO is only here because so many people have contributed in different ways over the years. To mark the occasion we've just posted a free download of a set from Saya of Tenniscoats, recorded at that first concert we hosted here. Enjoy. Thank you all!"

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk

12 aprile 2018


Phil Manzanera diffonde in questi giorni una traccia inedita registrata in studio all'epoca di Cuckooland (ottobre 2006) assieme a Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno e Yaron Stavi: The Unknown Zone.

'A few years ago when Robert Wyatt was recording Cuckooland at my studio Eno popped round for dinner, a chat, and an overdub or two and after a few bevvies we had a jam. This track, The Unknown Zone grew out of that night's improvisations, as did my track 50 Minutes Later'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=hccWMwtqKy4
https://burningshed.com/store/phil-manzanera_the-unknown-zone
https://twitter.com/dark_shark/status/484490926807453696

11 aprile 2018


Due nuove importanti occasioni per le musiche di Lindsay Cooper in concerto: a Londra (Cafe Oto) il 16 giugno e a Bad Doberan (Zappanale #29) il 21 luglio prossimi. L'iniziativa prende le mosse dall'esperienza Half the Sky adottando stavolta il nome Lindsay Cooper Songbook: ci sono Yumi Hara, Chlöe Herington e Dagmar Krause con Tim Hodgkinson, John Greaves e Chris Cutler.

Yumi Hara formed Half The Sky in 2015 to perform Lindsay Cooper’s songs in Japan: "The original group was entirely Japanese, with the exception of original drummer and lyricist Chris Cutler. This group - with small personnel changes - was later invited to Europe, when it was joined by the songs’ original singer Dagmar Krause. For these new European concerts the line-up adds two more members of Henry Cow, for whom much of this material was written, and we call ourselves Lindsay Cooper Songbook. As was true of the original bands Henry Cow and News From Babel - the new line-up retains an equal gender split."

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/lindsay-cooper-songbook
http://www.zappanale.de/de/programm-29/lindsay-cooper-songbook-uk.html

10 aprile 2018


Quelli di Bisou Records volevano un album per bambini, ma lui se ne è uscito con una raccolta deviante tutta dedicata a mostri e film dell'orrore. Ben spalleggiato da Steve Beresford e Alex Ward nel corso di un'unica sessione agostana in uno studio londinese di gran lusso, Eugene Chadbourne ha trovato poi modo di traviare, citandolo nel titolo, anche l'amatissimo Phil Ochs: Pleasures Of The Horror.

Bisou a demandé à Eugene Chadbourne de faire un album pour les enfants et il a proposé un album sur les films d’horreur et les monstres. Certains morceaux sont des références évidentes comme ‘The Thing’, ‘Blacky Lagoony’, certains parlent de personnages étranges ‘Vampire Tiger Girl’, et certains sont des reprises (Sam and The Shams, Shockabilly). C’est probablement l’album en groupe le mieux enregistré d’Eugene Chadbourne. Eugene a rencontré Steve Beresford et Alex Ward à Londres à Eastcote Studios (où Adele, Duran Duran, Aswad, Tindersticks et Depeche Mode ont enregistré!). Ils ont utilisé une bonne partie des instruments disponibles (piano à queue, orgue en bois, beaucoup d’amplis, plein de claviers).

http://www.bisou-records.com/produit/pleasures-of-the-horror-lp
https://bisourecords.bandcamp.com/album/pleasures-of-the-horror

09 aprile 2018


L'avventurosa storia del club newyorkese The Stone - ben tredici anni nella sede all'angolo di East 2nd Street e Avenue C - raccontata in poche battute da Sasha Frere-Jones e John Zorn. Ora le attività si sono pienamente trasferite presso The New School Glass Box Theater: https://www.artforum.com/music/sasha-frere-jones-on-the-closing-of-the-stone-s-second-street-location-74880

“From the beginning, the driving idea behind The Stone has been to provide a home for avant-garde musicians to perform in an intimate and supportive environment. The New School and The Stone are natural partners in their fundamental belief in the importance of freedom of thought and expression. What is more, the venue has always been, and will remain artist-centric,” says Richard Kessler, Executive Dean of College of Performing Arts and Dean of Mannes School of Music. “It has been a joy to work with my hero, John Zorn, to bring The Stone and The New School together.”
The partnership between The Stone and The New School began in 2013 when Kessler and Zorn began a monthly series of half-day residencies at The New School, “The Stone Workshops at The New School, Curated by John Zorn”. With The Stone itself now in residence, the partnership will deepen and will also include opportunities for students at The New School to attend performances, attend open rehearsals, work with The Stone through production internships, collaborate and learn from Stone artists, and more.
Located in Arnhold Hall at 55 West 13th Street, The Stone at The New School will operate Tuesday through Saturday evenings, presenting one show a night. Designed by architectural firm Deborah Berke Partners, the Glass Box Theater is a state-of-the-art ground level performing arts space surrounded by windows to the street.

08 aprile 2018


L'avventurosa storia di Jacky Barbier e del suo club A l'Ouest de la Grosne a Bresse-sur-Grosne (Francia) raccontata a puntate da Aymeric Leroy al sito web Legends In Their Own Lunchtime, riprendendo e ampliando un suo contributo incluso nella pubblicazione uscita nel 2007 a cura del Centre régional du jazz en Bourgogne (Editions de l'Armançon). Il primo episodio è in https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/chez-jacky-1

Ancien du 'Café de la Gare' parisien qu'il a créé avec Romain Bouteille et où il a côtoyé Miou-Miou, Patrick Dewaere, Coluche et Gérard Depardieu, Jacky Barbier est le fondateur du club 'A l'Ouest de la Grosne' dans le village clunisois de Bresse-sur-Grosne. Pendant 28 ans, ce café-concert a accueilli un grand nombre d'artistes et de musiciens de tous bords, notamment de jazz, français et étrangers. Le lieu fut à la fois une scène tremplin pour les groupes régionaux, une étape sur leur tournée pour les artistes confirmés, et un espace de rencontre et de création pour tous. Outre des concerts réguliers, il proposait un studio d'enregistrement et des stages de formation aux techniques de masterisation.

https://audio.archives71.fr/campagnes/detail_campagne.php?campagne=7
https://www.hibou-anemone-bear.com/search?q=Ouest+de+la+Grosne

07 aprile 2018


L'avventurosa storia dei Matching Mole raccontata a spizzico da uno dei suoi impareggiabili protagonisti, Bill MacCormick. Una decina di episodi, per ora, su FB: https://www.facebook.com/bill.maccormick

06 aprile 2018


La vita e le opere di Graham Collier (1937-2011) sono oggetto di un nuovo importante studio di Duncan Heining: Mosaics, fresco di stampa per l'editrice accademica Equinox.

Mosaics draws extensively on Collier’s personal archive, as well as on interviews with fellow musicians, ex-students and colleagues from the Royal Academy of Music. It locates Collier and his work within the social and cultural changes which occurred during his life and, particularly, in relation to developments in British and European jazz of the 1960s and 70s. Collier’s work as a composer-bandleader represented an attempt to resolve the paradoxes inherent in jazz between composition and improvisation, familiarity and spontaneity and change and tradition. In this regard, Mosaics compares Collier’s work with other composers such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Mike Westbrook, Stan Tracey, Barry Guy and Butch Morris.

https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/mosaics-music-graham-collier
http://www.grahamcolliermusic.com
http://jazzcontinuum.com
http://thejazzcomposer.com
http://www.londonjazznews.com/2018/03/interview-dr-duncan-heining
http://www.londonjazznews.com/2018/03/book-review-duncan-heining

05 aprile 2018


(Cecil Taylor, 1929-2018)




04 aprile 2018


(Michiko Hirayama, 1923-2018)




03 aprile 2018


L'incontenibile slancio creativo di Kavus Torabi trova ora sbocco anche nell'attività solistica, con un programma di concerti questo mese in Inghilterra nei panni del musicante solitario - voce, chitarra, armonium, viaggi in treno senza accompagnatori e con bagaglio a mano - e un imminente album a proprio nome registrato tra le mura domestiche. Un'anticipazione è nell'EP Solar Divination, con grande soddisfazione: "I couldn't be happier with how it has turned out, currently it's my favourite thing I've done."

http://www.thegenepool.co.uk/items/1837.htm
https://kavustorabi.bandcamp.com/releases

02 aprile 2018


In attesa dell'onnicomprensivo Blegvad Bandbox Clive Bell scrive di Go Figure sul numero di aprile della rivista inglese The Wire: "The warmth and ingenuity of Peter Blegvad are undiminished as the ex-happy slapper completes a series of small combo albums begun in 1988".

E l'annuncio di ReR: "This CD will be part of the 6-CD Blegvad Bandbox, containing all the Blegvad Trio and Quintet studio releases: Downtime, Just Woke Up, Hangman’s Hill and Go Figure, re-mastered and repackaged, plus two additional CDs of rarities, unreleased studio recordings and live performances, mostly featuring songs not available on any of the studio CDs and a handful of other obscure related items - as well, of course, as a fat, definitive, book of photographs, memorabilia, drawings, documents and recollections by the main actors, other witnesses and friends. All in a sturdy box."

https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/410

01 aprile 2018


Un nuovo Harvey Cow, wow!