L'edizione di quest'anno della festa (anche) musicale Gig in the Garden si è tenuta domenica scorsa nella magnifica ambientazione del Priory a Louth (Regno Unito), nel pieno dei festeggiamenti per i duecento anni dalla fondazione. Con Robert Wyatt quale ospite d'eccezione, intervenuto a ricordare il profilo storico della prestigiosa sede e il valore sociale di molte iniziative benefiche messe in atto dall'ente promotore.

https://youtu.be/Vmegb_32_8I
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1359887
https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife/priory-hotel-celebrating-200th-birthday-1853504

Fabio Lugaro ha seguito le gesta degli Alterations - senza Terry Day, ma con Max Eastley - nei giorni della loro residenza artistica al Cafe Oto londinese la settimana scorsa: alcune sue immagini sono su Flickr.

http://www.unpredictable.info/project/alterations-residency-2018
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fabiolug/albums/72157698955631861

Wings On Our Shoes, Emperor's New Guitar, Heavy Heart, Ride the High Atlantic, Levi Stubbs' Tears, Arms of Miklosko, Let Me Sleep Tonight, Summer In The City, Different World, Cloths of Heaven, Afraid of Clowns con Walking the Dog e Shakin' All Over nei bis: questa la scaletta dello strepitoso concerto di Dave Stewart e Barbara Gaskin - con Beren Matthews e Gavin Harrison - a Londra la settimana scorsa, con molti nuovi brani tratti dall'imminente Star Clocks.

https://davebarb.com

L'unico concerto dei Magma del 2018, in attesa di altri speciali eventi l'anno prossimo in occasione dei festeggiamenti del cinquantesimo compleanno, si è tenuto a Vienne (Francia) lo scorso 11 luglio, con una formazione rinforzata - se mai ce ne fosse bisogno - da un'efficace sezione fiati. Diventerà presto un documento ufficiale: https://www.facebook.com/zeuhlwortzmekanik

https://www.facebook.com/robert.guillerault/photos

Altro racconto d'estate, affatto diverso e ad altra latitudine, è quello di Bill Wells con l'ineffabile National Jazz Trio Of Scotland: Summer's Edge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_i5EsNAXrs

Phil Howitt è stato a Deià sulle tracce di Daevid Allen, Kevin Ayers, Lady June e Robert Graves - facendo tesoro dei sacri testi, ovviamente - e ne ricava il suo racconto d'estate: A Mallorcan Adventure.

https://canterburyscene.com/2018/08/20/canterbury-deia-and-tomas-graves-a-mallorcan-adventure

Kempian

(Lindsay Kemp, 1938-2018)

Una puntata di Battiti interamente dedicata a Phil Miller: è quella dello scorso 18 agosto, a dieci mesi esatti dalla scomparsa del Nostro.

https://tinyurl.com/ydythked

Giunge finalmente al termine la spasmodica attesa per il concerto londinese di Dave Stewart e Barbara Gaskin: l'appuntamento è domani alla Bush Hall di Uxbridge Rd alle ore 20.00 (ma le porte si aprono mezz'ora prima). Shaking All Over!

A rare chance to see one of the UK's most respected, innovative and intelligent pop acts, whose music has continued to evolve since their radio hits of the eighties. The Stewart / Gaskin band will perform a selection of songs from the duo's current repertoire and forthcoming new album.

Dave and Barbara began their careers as band members in the late '60s: Barbara was vocalist of the Canterbury psychedelic folk band Spirogyra, while Dave played keyboards with Egg, Hatfield and the North and National Health. During this time Dave won a reputation as a leading keyboard player and composer, while Barbara's pure, unaffected English vocals wowed the listeners of the day.

In 1981 the two joined forces and enjoyed immediate success with their debut release 'It's My Party', a worldwide hit which occupied the number one spot in the UK singles chart for four weeks. A succession of colourful cover versions (including 'I'm in a Different World' and the quirky, surreal 'Busy Doing Nothing') followed, leading to a lifelong partnership which has seen the duo's unique exploratory pop style develop and flourish over the years.

Dave & Barbara release their music on their own independent Broken Records label (distributed by Burning Shed) and occasionally perform live as a trio or quartet. For this concert they'll be joined by longstanding colleague Gavin Harrison (an outstanding drummer known for his work with Porcupine Tree, The Pineapple Thief and the current incarnation of King Crimson), and new member Beren Matthews, an exciting and dynamic guitarist whose band Grip-Like Vice are flying the flag for original UK power pop.

https://davebarb.com
https://burningshed.com/store/davebarb/stewartgaskineticket
https://bushhall.seetickets.com/event/dave-stewart-barbara-gaskin/bush-hall-london/1234068

Quattro giorni di concerti, incontri, presentazione di materiali e laboratori musicali con gli Alterations, collettivamente e individualmente, con il piccolo aiuto di grandi amici: a Londra negli spazi del Cafe Oto, dentro e fuori, da domani fino a domenica. Imprevedibili!

After the success of Alterations Festival in 2016, Alterations (Peter Cusack, David Toop, Terry Day and Steve Beresford) plus guests will be back to perform at Cafe Oto in London, and present workshops, some of their archives and artworks at Oto Projects, responding to nature, history and music. Guest artists include John Butcher, Gina Southgate, Pierre Bouvier Patron, Cath Roberts, Max Eastley and Blanca Regina.

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/alterations-residency-2018
http://www.unpredictable.info/project/alterations-residency-2018

Due album appena usciti dal giro della Uncommon Orchestra di Mike Westbrook: Wodgi, in capo al New Brew guidato da Dave Holdsworth (con l'altro 'veterano' Alan Wakeman, Roz Harding, Marcus Vergette e Coach York) e Supermood, prodotto dal trio della bravissima Roz Harding con Mike Outram e Jim Bashford. Si ascoltano e si richiedono tramite Jazzcds e Bandcamp.

http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/albums/index.shtml

Ai materiali già pubblicati dall'associazione culturale Kuda.org prodotti nel corso del Festival in Opposition-Art and Politics of Improvisation, tenuto dal 26 al 29 ottobre 2016 presso il CK13 di Novi Sad (Serbia), si aggiunge il cd Conspiracies, con l'esecuzione del brano ideato da Chris Cutler effettuata a conclusione del seminario condotto in quei giorni. Lo produce in quantità limitata la stessa associazione, lo distribuisce ReR Megacorp, lo recensisce Julian Cowley sul numero di settembre 2018 di The Wire.

Limited release by Kuda, in Novi Sad, of a time and rule-based composition drawn up by Chris Cutler as part of the final workshop concert of one of Kuda’s Indefatigable Residencies at their Festival in Opposition. There were 12 participants, electric, acoustic, traditional and invented - and they certainly rose to the occasion. Chris Cutler and Howard Slater are the two non-locals involved.

https://tinyurl.com/y6vrgeb2
https://archive.org/details/SempleScoreConspiraciesChrisCutler
http://kuda.org/en/audio-cd-published-kudaorg-conspiracies-chris-cutler
https://www.hibou-anemone-bear.com/search?q=ck13

Richard Williams toglie momentaneamente il silenziatore al suo blog The Blue Moment per onorare Aretha Franklin ('Forever Aretha') e invita a contemplare una perla autentica - e rara - della Regina del Soul: Sweet Bitter Love.

https://thebluemoment.com/2018/08/17/forever-aretha
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/16/aretha-franklin-obituary
https://youtu.be/-wW5Q0pMUdo

Quello lì

(Claudio Lolli, 1950-2018)

Quella volta che R. Stevie Moore telefonò in radio e dopo neanche cinque minuti diede la sua versione dei fatti: God Song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAq_cVF15So
http://www.moorestevie.com/live/bsr505.html
http://www.phoningitin.net/shows/45-R-Stevie-Moore

Anche Liron Leist - che dopo Blade Runner 2049 si fa chiamare Stelline - si è fatto un tuffo dove l'acqua è più blu (con LibbyL): Sea Song.

https://soundcloud.com/user-699133072
https://tinyurl.com/yajy9rzn

Tra le istantanee più memorabili del Ferragosto di quest'anno c'è anche il cavallo che nella gran calura si gode - più o meno - un po' di Soft Machine:
https://tinyurl.com/y7kf6ps6

Prende il via tra pochi giorni l'edizione 2018 del festival francese Météo - già Jazz à Mulhouse - con un programma particolarmente appetibile e un'avveduta politica dei prezzi di biglietti e abbonamenti. Un'anticipazione su contenuti e luoghi di svolgimento di concerti ed eventi collaterali è offerta oggi dal programma Moacrealsloa di Radio Panik.

Conçu dans les années 80 comme un festival d’envergure internationale dédié au jazz contemporain et à la free music, le festival mulhousien, intitulé alors Jazz à Mulhouse, s’est ouvert petit à petit à l’improvisation libre, aux musiques expérimentales et contemporaines. Rebaptisé Météo en 2009, en référence au caractère imprévisible de l’improvisation, le festival revendique aujourd’hui une forme de généralisme et défend toutes les musiques inventives et créatives d’aujourd’hui, qu’elles lorgnent du côté des musiques improvisées et expérimentales, de la musique contemporaine, du rock et de l’électronique, tout en n’oubliant évidemment pas ses profondes racines jazz.

http://www.festival-meteo.fr
http://www.radiopanik.org/emissions/moacrealsloa/meteo-2018

Registrato in parte a casa della divergente compositrice australiana Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-1990) a Sydney, e a lei dedicato, è il nuovo avventuroso lavoro di Jon Rose realizzato assieme a Chris Abrahams, Peggy. L'album esce per ReR Megacorp, e così lo presenta Cutler: "Jon Rose and Chris Abrahams (of The Necks), after four decades of being parts of other projects, finally got around to recording as a duo. Jon uses a number of violins, including the bird - a specially made tenor hardanger fiddle with sympathetic strings; his tunings are non-standard, and create complex microtonal dissonances with the standard keyboard. Abrahams is unfazed and somehow manages to make the conversation coherent; they’re still speaking one language – probably because these are both virtuosi and they’ve been around the block a few times. So this is not easy music; the simple problems aren’t stimulating, so these negotiations begin at masterclass level. Though pitch and counterpoint are the main topics, the third extended piece pushes timbral exploration to the edge; piano and violin are typecast as ‘classical’ but here they sound more electronic and industrial. Probably not for everybody, but the real innovators seldom are."

https://tinyurl.com/y78vhkh7
https://www.realtime.org.au/jon-rose-chris-abrahams-and-peggy
https://www.cyclicdefrost.com/2018/05/jon-rose

Due nitide sequenze di alterazioni elettriche per chitarre orchestrate e giustapposte ripescando il buon vecchio strumentario del multitraccia, senza distorsori, senza effetti speciali: le produce Frank Crijns, sempre molto attivo in proprio al di là degli impegni con Blast, Betonfraktion e Fraqx, e le affida a Bandcamp col nome di Altered Circuit[s].

http://www.frankcrijns.nl
https://alteredcircuits.bandcamp.com/releases

Prosegue con il secondo volume la serie di ripubblicazioni in CD di Secret Signals, preziose antologie di versioni alternative, rarità e improvvisazioni tratte dagli archivi storici del gruppo The Muffins a suo tempo diffuse in formato audiocassetta grazie a Wayside Music. Lo si trova presso Manna Mirage, scrivendo direttamente a Dave Newhouse: "These are some of the earliest recordings that The Muffins were able to archive throughout our 'career'. We didn't have access to a record label when we first started out (we would later put together our own label, Random Radar Records), but we did own some of the early TEAC 4-Track 1/4" reel-to-reel tape recorders that had begun to go on sale at the time, and we took advantage of that fact, recording anything and everything that we could get our Muffiny hands on. It was a time of intense creativity, camaraderie, love, struggle, hunger, and joy. These 3 Secret Signals CDs were eventually mass produced as cassettes. Wayside Music was kind enough to sell the entire run when they appeared in the 80s. This is the first time that they've been available since then."

http://www.mannamirage.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/biz/The-Muffins-139444456082920

Le registrazioni sono pronte fin dal luglio dell'anno scorso, ma l'uscita di Stad, nuovo capitolo Testbild!, è prevista solo a novembre, tra l'altro in poche copie in vinile. Stuzzica la curiosità l'apripista rétro Stjärnor som, già disponibile su Bandcamp, assieme a un allusivo comunicato: "Testbild!'s new album was recorded at Sonores Studios in Gothenburg, deep inside a hidden shelter where saxophones and mellotrones may howl and buzz as much as they want without the rest of the city hearing. Van Der Graaf Generator and Nürnberg 47 are lurking behind the facades, the flashing and crackling of stars falling down into a dark pond at night."

http://www.testbild.org
https://www.facebook.com/Testbild-94350211151
https://kalligrammofon.bandcamp.com/album/stad

Aymeric Leroy indaga e rivela dettagli e retroscena di una delle più pittoresche immagini di copertina mai apparse nel firmamento canterburyano, Of Queues and Cures, splendido album dei National Health concepito e realizzato esattamente quarant'anni fa, nell'estate 1978. Il post è presso Legends In Their Own Lunchtime.

https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/2018/08/07/a-closer-look-at-the-cover-for-national-healths-of-queues-and-cures

Alcune riprese del concerto del Lindsay Cooper Songbook allo Zappanale 29 sono su YT, mentre un paio di gallerie fotografiche si trovano direttamente al sito web del festival:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Spockminder/videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHq11bGaF6eUXm8WDSUj35w/videos
https://www.zappanale.de/de/component/phocagallery/category/351-lindsay-cooper-songbook.html

Filmino d'estate 1967 a Saint-Tropez. Chi c'era?

https://tinyurl.com/y79ev9nm
https://tinyurl.com/ybabu9aq
https://tinyurl.com/ybjg5m2w

Why... Why... Why... Why Are We Schwepping?

Carla Diratz trova finalmente il coraggio di affrontare la wyattiana Sea Song, si fa aiutare da Pascal Vaucel e affida il risultato a Bandcamp. A parte poi confessa: "Like many others of you here my friends, I have a long "love story" with Robert, a story that started (late) in 1971. I even kneeled in front of him in his wheel chair and kissed his hands in 1975 (... thank god he does not remember it). Meeting my friend Andrea (aka Sister Andrea), who is a close friend of his, gave another dimension to my relationship with him. A few months ago, he was kind enough to take the time to listen to the Diratz record with Dave Newhouse, Bret Hart, Jerry King, Mark Stanley, Sean Rickman, and even reviewed it after Andrea had nicely, generously sent it to him. So... when my Beloved Sister asked, insisted on me doing THE Sea Song there was no way I could have refused even though I felt nervous, anxious, intimidated etc. but with my friend-partner-collaborator Pascal and his fine sharp ears and huge talent, here it is... voilà!"

https://carladiratz-pascalvaucel.bandcamp.com/track/sea-song-robert-wyatt
https://www.facebook.com/carla.diratzjoyeux
https://musicaficionado.blog/2016/08/23/sea-song-by-robert-wyatt

Tra gli aggiornamenti e le novità presso il sito Une discografie de Robert Wyatt curato da Jean-Paul Marillier compare da qualche giorno una nuova utilissima sezione dedicata ai testi cantati da Wyatt:
http://www.disco-robertwyatt.com/images/Robert/lyrics/index.htm

A seguire la più recente esecuzione di Paintbox Jane di Westbrook & Company - a St Ives in Cornovaglia presso il celebrato St Ives Jazz Club, l'ultimo prima di New York - c'era Angela Jianu: ne scrive per lo Smith's Academy Notice Board.

"The narrative in Paintbox Jane revolves around the French painter Raoul Dufy (played with panache by Tim Goodwin) as he paints an imaginary portrait of a female friend. It shares with A Bigger Show the quintessentially Westbrookian fusion of jazz, musical, cabaret and theatre, but on a smaller scale. The powerful big orchestra sound of the earlier show is here replaced by the more intimate music made by piano, vocals, saxophone and bass. On that summer evening of 24 July at the St Ives Jazz Club, this jazzy chamber music sounded perhaps more enthralling than ever before. The vocals provided by Kate Westbrook, Martine Waltier and Billie Bottle soared above Mike Westbrook’s broody keyboards, Alan Wakeman’s groovy saxophone and Marcus Vergette’s dramatically pounding double bass. Jane Mann – for whom the show was commissioned – was among an audience who appeared mesmerised by both music and lyrics."

http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/PaintboxJane
http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/smithsboard/index.shtml#angela

La fitta trama verbale impressa da R. Stevie Moore al recente The Embodiment of Progressive Ideals può aver distolto l'ascoltatore dalle molte arguzie finemente annodate nel tappeto sonoro dal contitolare Alan Jenkins (con The Kettering Vampires). La versione solo strumentale dell'album, disponibile tramite Bandcamp, offre la possibilità di coglierle appieno: https://rsteviemoore.bandcamp.com/album/embodiment-progressive-ideal-instrumental

"Nashville's greatest underground music explorer makes a return with a new album of odd ditties, strange sermons and recitations retrieved from discarded product packaging and advertisement blurbs. Assisted by Deep Freeze Mice guitarist Alan Jenkins and The Kettering Vampires, R. Stevie Moore lets blurt a plethora of miniature monologues, the bulk of which sound like they have been composed using the William S Burroughs / Brion Gysin cut-up method. Hilarious, manic and tinged with a sense of despair, Moore's latest laconic commentary on his own life, and the continually warping world we all share with him, is a revelation."

http://www.cordeliarecords.co.uk
https://rsteviemooreandalanjenkins.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.rsteviemoore.com/cd/embodiment.html

Poche copie in vinile non potevano bastare, lo si sapeva, e bene ha fatto perciò Andy Partridge a produrne una versione anche in cd: è l'EP con le sue sgargianti ri-creazioni - cinquant'anni dopo - di Apples & Oranges (Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd) e Humanoid Boogie (Neil Innes, The Bonzo Dog Band), in mono e stereo oggi come allora.

https://tinyurl.com/yc3pntbc
https://burningshed.com/apples-and-oranges_humanoid-boogie_vinyl
https://burningshed.com/apples-and-oranges_humanoid-boogie_cd