Wyatt ne sottolineò l'originalità già all'epoca della sua prima uscita, otto anni fa: "Witty, melancholy songs, arranged and performed with such careful skill and a natural unforced originality; David Garland and his friends have done it again!". Oggi torna disponibile con una nuova veste Conversations with the Cinnamon Skeleton, con il merito - tra i molti - di richiamare l'affettuoso ricordo della scomparsa Anne. Lo si ottiene tramite Bandcamp.

Conversations with the Cinnamon Skeleton makes use of its components the way a gallery shows its works: sounds, words, instruments and guest musicians each feature as distinct and respected pieces. Woven together, these varied parts form hued structural songs that refigure the experimental New York sound into songs that have a sleeves-up accessibility. Garland’s baritone is a compassionate guide that accompanies listeners through studied verses into addictive choruse. This confidence to combine the avant garde with everyday musical tactics reflects Garland’s engaged knowledge of both underground and aboveground music scenes.

https://davidgarland.com
https://davidgarland.bandcamp.com/cinnamon-skeleton

https://www.hibou-anemone-bear.com/2011/07

Torna in circolazione in digitale via Bandcamp - ma copie fisiche dell'album, prodotto nel 1998, sono ancora disponibili presso la casa madre Cuneiform - una delle migliori pubblicazioni postume dei Soft Machine, Virtually: contiene la storica registrazione per Radio Bremen del 23 marzo 1971 e la formazione è quella dei 'Magnifici Quattro' (Ratledge, Dean, Hopper e Wyatt).

The previously unreleased show captured on Virtually, recorded 3/23/71, presents the classic quartet Softs [Elton Dean/Mike Ratledge/Hugh Hopper/Robert Wyatt] during their final European tour & just 4 months before their dissolution. The recording [licensed from German radio & taken from the master tapes] is superb for the time period, & the performance really sparkles, with everyone shinning, although special note must be made of Robert's drumming, as he plays with more gusto on this show than most from this period. With versions of all the tracks from Fourth, most of Third and much more, this 78' release, which captures the entire concert, is absolutely essential for any Soft Machine fan.

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/virtually
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/Softmachine.html

Il compleanno di Wyatt è festeggiato anche con articolo e intervista pubblicati nel numero di marzo 2020 della rivista britannica Uncut, che già ne pubblica un estratto in anteprima: "Once Soft Machine took off, Wyatt was playing all the time, from UFO and Middle Earth to touring America with Jimi Hendrix. “Playing the gigs required such concentration, listening to each other and keeping it all flowing, that I’d hardly register where we were, exactly. Talking of places like UFO, I remember that us and Pink Floyd used to watch each other when we played the same venues, and there was just total mutual respect – you couldn’t be rivals when you were trying to do completely different things. I’m just grateful to the brilliant musicians I got to play for. Supporting Hendrix was very scary – if you’re in an aircraft hangar with 5,000 Texans in it, you’ve gotta fuckin’ get on with it and not stop until your half-hour is up. But it meant we came back to the UK really able to hit the ground running.”"

https://www.uncut.co.uk/robert-wyatt-supporting-hendrix-was-very-scary

Mentre spuntano ovunque sul web immagini e messaggi indirizzati a Robert Wyatt nel giorno del suo compleanno - e sono settantacinque! - alcuni programmi radiofonici diffondono in gran quantità le sue musiche: negli Stati Uniti, ad esempio, lo fa a Nashville Lauren Bufferd per WXNA 101.5 FM nell'ultima puntata del suo Different Every Time, e a Santa Fe ci pensa Mark R Kuechle per KSFR 101.1 FM nell'episodio odierno di Map Is Not Territory. Un po' di Wyatt lo si sente nel provino con cui Dave Larder, da Louth, inaugura lo spazio podcast del suo Lincolnshire Arts and Music Bulletin presso Spreaker; e sempre Larder pubblica un suo Robert Wyatt 75th Birthday Mixup su Mixcloud. Con Wyatt parla poi Miles Ellingham per Morning Star ('Always finding nice things in a tragic situation', Robert Wyatt at 75). Nel frattempo, dietro le quinte, Shlomo Polonsky lavora alla riedizione dello stupefacente Little Red Concert. Dalla Russia con amore, ancora...

https://www.wxnafm.org/broadcasts/14761
https://www.ksfr.org/programs/map-not-territory
https://www.spreaker.com/user/laamb-radio-show
https://www.mixcloud.com/robert-wyatt-75th-birthday-mixup
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/robert-wyatt-75
https://www.hibou-anemone-bear.com/search?q=shlomo

Fu con un album di Harry Beckett, Still Happy, che iniziarono quattro anni fa le pubblicazioni autoprodotte a Londra da Jon Griffiths per la sua etichetta My Only Desire Records, con attenzione al recupero di rarità e inediti dell'età dell'oro del jazz britannico, a cavallo tra gli anni Sessanta e Settanta. E' di questi giorni la notizia che la prossima uscita ad aprile sarà dedicata a Mike Westbrook, con la registrazione inedita della prima esecuzione di Citadel / Room 315, effettuata dalla radio nazionale svedese a Stoccolma nel maggio 1974, quasi un anno prima dell'album ufficiale su RCA. Il titolo sarà Love and Understanding, e avrà un'edizione in vinile e una in cd, quest'ultima poi disponibile per Westbrook Records.

Recorded originally for Sveriges Radio in May 1974 the world premiere of Citadel / Room 315 is to be released on vinyl and cd on Jon Griffiths’ My Only Desire label. Composer Mike Westbrook and featured soloist John Surman performed with the 16-piece Swedish Radio Jazz Group, led by saxophonist Arne Domnérus and the Argentinian trumpet player Americo Bellotto. The group comprised many of the finest players on the Swedish scene including trumpeters Jan Allan and Bertil Lövgren, saxophonist Lennart Åberg, guitarist Rune Gustafsson, pianist Bengt Hallberg and drummer Egil Johansen. The Mike Westbrook Orchestra’s well-known version of Citadel, also featuring Surman, was recorded for RCA the following year. Taking its title from one of the sections of the piece, Love and Understanding, will be officially released on April 3rd. The cd will be available from Westbrook Records.

http://www.myonlydesirerecords.com
https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/mikewestbrook/news.shtml
https://www.discogs.com/Mike-Westbrook-Orchestra-feat-John-Surman

La vita e le opere di Harry Beckett (1935-2010) descritte e raccolte in modo organico per la prima volta a dieci anni dalla scomparsa: ci ha pensato John Thurlow per Jazz in Britain.

Scrive Matt Parker, l'editore: "The Many Faces of Harry Beckett is the first publication dedicated to the life and work of the legendary Barbados-born British progressive jazz trumpeter. It fulfils author John Thurlow’s lifelong ambition of creating a book which would pay a fitting tribute to his hero. Harry’s career spanned more than fifty years, encompassing thousands of gigs across the globe, and over 220 currently known recordings. His exquisite playing led him to perform with many of the world’s most famous acts in a myriad of different genres – from African highlife music in the 1950s with the likes of Ambrose Campbell; through rock in the 1960s with Jack Bruce, Keef Hartley, Colosseum and others; to progressive jazz in the 1970s, most notably with bassist/composer Graham Collier, Harry’s dear friend guitarist Ray Russell, and in his own groups. During the 1990s Harry could even be found playing dub and dance music with a founding member of Public Image Limited, bassist Jah Wobble.
This book is in part a biography, and in part a compendium of articles written contemporaneously about Harry and his co-musicians, drawing from an enormous pool of resources. John Thurlow acts as a guide through his incredible collection of paraphernalia, and his extraordinarily in-depth, forensic knowledge of Harry’s career, including the most comprehensive Harry Beckett discography ever published, alongside rarely seen photographs from various stages in Harry’s long and illustrious life. It represents an absolutely essential addition to any jazz collector’s bookshelf."

http://www.themanyfacesofharrybeckett.org
https://jazzinbritain.org/product/the-many-faces-of-harry-beckett

E da domani per due giorni il Cafe Oto londinese offre spazio a Iancu Dumitrescu per nuove avventurose composizioni assegnate all'Hyperion Ensemble e a una serie di formazioni ad hoc scelte tra la dozzina di musicisti partecipanti. Ci sarà anche occasione (rara) per vedere in azione lo stesso Dumitrescu in un solo di violoncello.

Iancu Dumitrescu, the enfant terrible of Spectral Music, returns to Cafe Oto for two evenings of primordial sounds and spectral explosions. The first evening will be dedicated to ensemble work and will be performed by the latest incarnation of the Hyperion Ensemble, consisting of some of the UK’s finest improvising musicians and conducted by Dumitrescu. The second evening, Charismatic Numbers, will be dedicated to small groups and will include a rare cello solo set played by Dumitrescu himself. Participating musicians: Angharad Davies, Mayah Kadish, Hannah Marshall, Gwen Reed, Otto Willberg, Mark Sanders, Chris Cutler, Sarah Gail Brand, Alex Paxton, Yoni Silver, Tim Hodgkinson and John Edwards.

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/iancu-dumitrescu-two-day-residency

Per quattro giorni a partire da oggi The Residents saranno ospiti del prestigioso MoMA newyorkese con tre repliche dello scandaloso God in Three Persons in versione integrale - una prima mondiale a tutti gli effetti, se non si contano il laboratorio proposto a Bourges l'anno scorso e la prova pubblica di qualche giorno fa a San Francisco - e un film in due parti che ripropone misteri e leggende del gruppo attraverso i suoi più celebri video: A Brief History of the Residents.

God in Three Persons
The Residents, in collaboration with media artist John Sanborn, present the world-premiere live performance, directed by Travis Chamberlain, of their landmark 1988 album God in Three Persons. The story of a ruined evangelist and his twisted obsession with a pair of gender-fluid conjoined twins he claims are miracle workers, the album is among the most critically acclaimed in the Residents’ catalogue, yet it has never been performed live. Compositing the lead vocalist using an innovative video-projection platform, this theatrical adaptation is a propulsive, hard-rock oratorio with a deep Southern twang. Swinging in style from animated cartoon to film noir, it’s a twisted tale of moral corruption that takes its audience on a kaleidoscopic journey to the dark side of human desire.

A Brief History of the Residents
Compilation of videos created by legendary art collective the Residents. From Third Reich ’n Roll (1976) to Dyin’ Dog (2019), this program charts the evolution of “the most mysterious band in the world,” including their notable collaborations with video artists John Sanborn and Bill Domonkos.

https://residents.com

https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/6136
https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5191

Le musiche geniali e avveniristiche di Raymond Scott nelle pubblicità della paleotelevisione commerciale dell'America di sessanta e passa anni fa: sono raccolte in The Jingle Workshop, prodotto in doppio cd e vinile da Modern Harmonic con il sottotitolo Midcentury Musical Miniatures 1951-1965. Un documento di grande valore. E un autentico spasso!

For over a decade Scott earned a solid living composing, arranging, and recording catchy ditties for Revlon, Delta Airlines, Stuckey's, Alka-Seltzer, Sprite, the Ford Motor Company, and other major sponsors. Hear Dorothy Collins, Mel Tormé, and dozens of unnamed session vocalists and musicians serenade you about beer, ice cream, gasoline, cigarettes, more beer, bread, shampoo, cars, mouthwash, and MORE beer. The Jingle Workshop collection includes finished spots, outtakes, rehearsals, alternates, demos, unused instrumental beds, studio chatter, and irresistible earworms about mid-20th century consumer goods. The styles range from cool jazz to percolating Latin, from lush orchestrations to piano & voice; the arrangements feature soloists, vocal duets, and group harmony. There's even some stray electronic works discovered after the release of the all-electronic compilation Manhattan Research Inc.

https://www.raymondscott.net
http://www.modernharmonic.com
https://raymondscott.bandcamp.com/the-jingle-workshop
https://www.discogs.com/The-Jingle-Workshop
https://youtu.be/mbZoWfkSIUs

Compirebbe oggi 71 anni Phil Miller, e ce lo ricordano con affetto la vedova Herm con il figlio Kyle dalle pagine del sito web a lui dedicato: con un bel ritratto, con la promessa di pubblicare presto il video dei concerti celebrati in suo omaggio un anno fa presso il Vortex londinese, e con l'annuncio di ben due nuove uscite discografiche nel corso dell'anno. Una è quella, attesissima, dell'Artchipel Orchestra, l'altra è una raccolta di duetti di Phil con Fred Baker - fortunatamente non andati smarriti, come invece si temeva - che grazie al lavoro di recupero del fido Benj Lefevre daranno presto seguito all'ottimo Double Up (Crescent Discs, 1992).

"The long-awaited second Miller/Baker Duo CD is on its way! Phil and Fred Baker have been recording the music for this CD ever since they brought out the original cd Double Up in 1992. It has been an ongoing project that occupied them every time Fred came to stay with us, whether he came for In Cahoots rehearsals, the Guildhall Summer School, gigs or whatever, he and Phil would be working away in his studio. When Phil died and Fred and I looked for this material. We were mystified as search as we might we just couldn’t find it. More than 2 years later I found the tapes! They had been there all along but I had foolishly thought they were video tapes that I had been unable to play. This is because the recording had been done via Phil’s Adat machine which uses 8 track tapes that look identical to the old video tapes of yesteryear. The wonderful Benj Lefevre took them to a studio in Brixton and had them transposed into .wav files and has been busy mixing the tracks. We hope to bring out the new cd Double Up 2 in the not too distant future under the Crescent Discs label."

https://philmillerthelegacy.com

Il nuovo anno segna una drastica svolta ecologista per la Confront Recordings - etichetta londinese guidata dall'attivissimo violoncellista Mark Wastell - che per le proprie pubblicazioni passa dal caratteristico contenitore in alluminio a un assai più sobrio cartoncino riciclato, ripiegato senza uso di colla. Primi titoli del 2020 sono Transversal Time, composizione dell'arpista Rhodri Davies ripresa in concerto a Cardiff con un ensemble di nove elementi, e Bricolage, performance solista del chitarrista Rex Casswell (già in Stock, Hausen & Walkman) registrata a Louth poco più di un anno fa.

https://www.confrontrecordings.com
https://confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com

E al Cafe Oto londinese è stato a far visita pochi giorni fa un altro gigante, a sorprendere tutti per forza e vitalità: Peter Brötzmann. La recente cancellazione di due concerti con Full Blast non ha molto a che fare con ragioni di salute o età, però dal suo sito web il Nostro avverte: "Friends, if you look at my agenda you will realize that it’s cooling down for the rest of the year and beginning of next year. This has two reasons:
1. During the last 5 years I was working hard and (especially the duo with Heather Leigh which will of course go on) I covered what there is to cover in Europe, the US, South America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand... naja, the usual circle, a lot of work for an old man.
2. Everybody knows that my lungs are damaged and that’s why the body needs some regeneration (but if you want me, I am ready...).
And one more little reason: I am still busy with ink and paper, boxes and objects, canvas and oil and there is so much in my little brain I want to try… need some time for that. I am sure you will understand and of course I am still alive."

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/day/2020/01/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh2k4BtDLi4

Tre giorni appena trascorsi al Pardon, To Tu di Varsavia, tre giorni da oggi al Cafe Oto londinese e poi altri tre all'Alter Schlachthof di Wels (Austria) a partire dal 23 gennaio: e ovunque ha sorprese per tutti il quartetto di Anthony Braxton - con Alexander Hawkins (piano), Neil Charles (basso) e Stephen Davies (batteria) - dedicato a classici, versioni celebri e standard, da Andrew Hill a Thelonious Monk a Paul Desmond. Eleanor Rigby e Bridge Over Troubled Water, perfino...

Seit über einem halben Jahrhundert gehört Anthony Braxton als Komponist, Multiinstrumentalist, Musiktheoretiker, Pädagoge, Mentor und Visionär zu den Schlüsselfiguren der zeitgenössischen, avantgardistischen Musik. Braxton selbst nennt seine Musik „creative music“, Werke, die gleichermaßen aus dem Jazz, der europäischen Kunstmusik und der Musik unterschiedlicher Weltkulturen Anregungen beziehen. Anthony Braxton ist seit den 60er Jahren des vorigen Jahrhunderts als einer der herausragenden Komponisten der kreativen internationalen Musikszene bekannt. Außerdem gilt er auch als einer der besten und einzigartigesten Interpreten der Werke anderer Komponisten.

1945 in Chicago geboren, ist er als Komponist, Saxophonist und Multiinstrumentalist einer der großen Erneuerer und Avantgardisten des Jazz, wobei auch Komponisten wie Edgard Varèse, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Frederic Rzewski, Karlheinz Stockhausen oder Vinko Globokar auf seine Kompositionsverfahren eingewirkt haben. Braxton hat sich sowohl live als auch bereits auf Tonträger einige Male mit dem beschäftigt, was man heute als „Standards“ bezeichnen könnte. Dabei hat er sich das „Great American Songbook“ vorgenommen, aber auch Werke aus der Feder der führenden Komponisten und Interpreten des Jazz, eben Musiker wie Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Warne Marsh, Andrew Hill, Lennie Tristano, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter und viele andere mehr.

Diese Interpretationen von Standards sind dabei genauso farbenfroh wie Braxtons eigene Musik. Man vergleiche zum Beispiel die Herangehensweise seiner Band „Circle“ und das dabei 1971 entstandene Werk „No Greater Love“ mit den Melodien der Standards auf „Solo, Pisa“ von 1982. Oder die Version von „Ornothology“ mit seinen Kumpanen Tete Montoliu, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen und Tootie Heath („In The Tradition“ Band) mit der Version, die er im Duo mit George Lewis aufgenommen hat („Elements of Surprise“).

https://cafeoto.co.uk/events/anthony-braxton-standard-quartet
http://www.waschaecht.at/programm/detail/?event_id=918
https://airmail.news/issues/2020-1-11/hes-got-swing

Cuneiform Records recupera invece in digitale per Bandcamp l'album dal vivo Upon Both Your Houses che l'etichetta del Nearfest pubblicò nel 2004 per documentare la partecipazione dei Thinking Plague all'edizione del festival del giugno 2000. La formazione è la stessa che vedemmo in azione appena qualche settimana dopo, nei tre concerti prodotti dal Circ.a che segnarono la loro prima visita in Italia: Mike Johnson, Dave Kerman, Mark Harris, Deborah Perry, Matt Mitchell e Dave Willey.
A curare missaggio e resa sonora del cd fu Bob Drake: "The songs are in the order performed at the concert. Due to time constraints and pacing I shortened the gaps between songs, cut a few repeats of the final chord of Matt's piano solo (track 8) and repaired an unintentional pause in Warheards. There are no overdubs. Mixed and mastered for wide dynamic range; no attempt to compete in the 'loudest cd in the changer' contest. Turn the volume back up a notch and enjoy."

https://www.generalrubric.com/thinkingplague/main.html
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/upon-both-your-houses

La belga Sub Rosa recupera in cd e vinile un album piuttosto raro degli ultimi Univers Zéro, uscito cinque anni fa per Arcàngelo nel solo Giappone: Phosphorescent Dreams.

Available for the first time outside Japan, and on LP and CD, Phosphorescent Dreams is another epic album of symphonic schizophrenic avant-rock from Univers Zéro, originally released - only on CD - on the Japanese label Arcàngelo. Phosphorescent Dreams presents at the same time, in the same track, even on a single moment, the complex musical schemes and ways of Univers Zéro, ranging from maximalism to minimalism, classical avant-garde with a 2020 vibe in a constant flux. In a blend of tension constantly emerging from a subtle dialogue between avant-rock and contemporary influences, harmonies and dissonance, Phosphorescent Dreams is a balanced formula of old-school know-how reshaped almost 40 years after the released of the seminal LP Univers Zéro.

https://www.subrosa.net/univers-zero-phospho.html

Ottima accoppiata anche a Madrid proposta da Conde Duque: ieri un seminario pubblico con David Thomas e Chris Cutler alla scoperta delle segrete gioie dell'improvvisazione in contesti di rock sperimentale, e oggi il concerto dei Pere Ubu nella tenace formazione a quattro - Thomas e Cutler, con Gagarin e Keith Moliné - che da qualche tempo sta proponendo dal vivo The Long Goodbye (e altro).

Taller de música 
La banda de rock Pere Ubu ofrecerá una masterclass gratuita el miércoles 15 de enero a las 19:00 h en el Auditorio de Conde Duque. David Thomas y Chris Cutler ofrecerán un taller instrumental, en el que invitan a los músiscos de Madrid a venir a tocar con ellos, y decubrir con ellos los secretos de la improvisación en el contaxto del rock experimental.

Concierto Pere Ubu
Los míticos Pere Ubu regresan con The Long Goodbye, definido por la Rolling Stone como una obra sublimada de “electro-garage”. La banda de rock experimental con Gagarin en los sintetizadores y las cajas de ritmos, Keith Moliné en la guitarra y el legendario Sr. Chris Cutler en la batería y la percusión. La improvisación no está reñida con el rock y Pere Ubu es una buena muestra, pues en su caso lo inesperado es marca de la casa, como ejemplarmente han mantenido desde sus inicios, con álbumes antológicos como The Modern Dance y Dub Housing.

Suena Conde Duque

Suena Conde Duque continúa su labor, esta vez, tejiendo comunidad musical, con el concierto del mítico grupo de rock experimental Pere Ubu. La respuesta del público de Madrid a la propuesta de programación de Suena Conde Duque ha sido reveladora. Numerosos conciertos con entradas agotadas, los talleres Sound It Yourself funcionando como un lugar de encuentro para adolescentes ávidos de aprender sobre música, las masterclasses conectando al público con el lado más cercano de los músicos… la escucha activa que propusimos al público al iniciar la programación musical del centro se ha hecho realidad, los asistentes no sólo han venido a escuchar, sino a participar, a tomar la iniciativa en el aprendizaje y la creación musical. Ahora, al presentar la nueva programación para el periodo de septiembre de 2019 a enero de 2020, queremos continuar con esta labor iniciada, afianzando lo logrado, y haciendo crecer la comunidad musical alrededor de Conde Duque. Así, Suena Conde Duque continúa su labor, esta vez, tejiendo comunidad musical. Para ello, tras el verano volverán a arrancar los conciertos semanales, caracterizados por un eclecticismo estilístico y por el compromiso con los artistas que buscan tener una voz propia. En esta ocasión, además, una parte de la programación estará dedicada en exclusiva al jazz, lo cual nos da una oportunidad de explorar territorios jazzísticos desde nuestra perspectiva ecléctica de Suena Conde Duque.

https://www.condeduquemadrid.es/talleres/masterclass-pere-ubu

https://www.condeduquemadrid.es/actividades/concierto-pere-ubu

Accoppiata perfetta. A realizzarla ci ha pensato Jazzdor a Strasburgo (Francia), mettendo due volte al centro dell'attenzione uno dei massimi lavori frithiani, nel suo rilievo storico e nei suoi attuali sviluppi: proiezione del film e incontro con Nicolas Humbert, uno degli autori, domani (Step Across the Border) e concerto dal vivo dopodomani con Frith, di nuovo Humbert e Marc Parisotto (Cut Up the Border).

Step Across the Border
Documentaire sur le musicien nomade Fred Frith toujours à la recherche de nouvelles rencontres, de nouveaux sons et de nouvelles musiques qui transgressent les frontières et les classifications. Le film est à l’image du personnage de Frith: pas de structure pré-établie ni de narration claire et précise, mais un montage fondé sur des liens sonores insolites. Cette “improvisation sur celluloïde” nous montre qu’il existe un cinéma libre et improvisé comme le free jazz peut l’être: sauvage, étincelant et surprenant. Le film a gagné le Prix Arte du documentaire européen de l’année, en 1990.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2189900261306172

Cut Up the Border
Trente ans après sa réalisation, les bandes sons originales du mythique film “Step Across the Border” sont redécouvertes! Des producteurs de radio en Allemagne proposent alors à Nicolas Humbert d’imaginer une oeuvre radiophonique à partir des sons retrouvés. En collaboration avec l’artiste sonore Marc Parisotto, ils composent “Cut Up the Border”. Fred Frith, protagoniste principal du film improvisera “live” sur le mix en direct de ces bandes ressurgies du passé!

https://www.facebook.com/events/790203498071727

Jazzdor encourage l’émergence de musiciens autant qu’elle accompagne les projets les plus novateur. Qu’ils soient issus de la scène régionale, nationale ou internationale, Jazzdor favorise, et provoque, les rencontres entre musiciens. Jazzdor inscrit son action sur un large territoire en s’associant au plus grand nombre de lieux dédiés ou non au spectacle vivant et au jazz, localement mais aussi de l’autre côté du Rhin. Cette implication dans la constitution d’un maillage culturel local autant qu’international fonde une particularité forte de Jazzdor dans le paysage culturel. Multiplier les portes d’entrée, désacraliser en s’approchant de l’acte de création, modifier un certain nombre de préjugés entourant le jazz, ses formes contemporaines en particulier, et contribuer ainsi à l’élargissement et au renouvellement des publics. Tels sont les objectifs des actions d’accompagnement des publics de Jazzdor.

http://www.jazzdor.com

Siccome la verità è più strana della finzione, questa sera al Mojo di Tokorozawa, poco fuori Tokyo, suonano i Saitamachine (Yumi Hara, Louis Inage, Yuya Osabe). Carino il posto. E carino anche il poster...

https://tinyurl.com/sxttann
https://tinyurl.com/rerjm5s
https://tinyurl.com/t5fpan3

E tra le promesse più grandi del 2020 c'è certamente la realizzazione dell'album con le musiche di Phil Miller interpretate dall'Artchipel Orchestra, che peraltro nell'anno del proprio decimo anniversario avrà più e più modi per festeggiare e far felici ammiratori e sostenitori: "In January we will once again enter the studio to record our new album - dice Ferdinando Faraò - which will see original arrangements of beautiful compositions by Phil Miller's musical genius. It will be the first event of 2020, a very important year for us, which will represent the orchestra's 10 years of activity." Artchipicchia!

https://www.facebook.com/ArtchipelOrchestra

https://sites.google.com/site/artchipelorchestra

https://www.facebook.com/videos/254561472153308

https://philmillerthelegacy.com

Non solo quella di Jak Kilby, anche la dipartita di Wolfgang Dauner (1935-2020) in questi stessi giorni, all'inizio dell'anno e all'esordio di un nuovo decennio, lascia un gran vuoto nella scena musicale. Eppure la vita va avanti, osserva Carla Bley, ed è uno dei pensieri (quotidiani) più grati: Life Goes On.

A striking album of new music from pianist/composer Carla Bley, whose trio with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow is now in its 25th year. Individual associations among the players go back much further: bassist Swallow first recorded music by Carla in 1961. So when Bley says “Life Goes On”, a lot of life is alluded to. The album, realized in the Auditorio Stelio Molo Studio in Lugano in May 2019, with Manfred Eicher producing, takes the form of three suites. The title piece begins as a stoical blues, at first melancholic then hopeful. “Beautiful Telephones”, inspired by a US president’s first observation on entering the Oval Office, has plenty of Bley’s dark wit. And “Copycat” explores the notion of call-and-response in fresh ways as the improvisers continue each other’s thoughts. Throughout, Carla’s distinctive piano, with its hints of Monk and Satie, is beautifully framed by Swallow’s eloquent, elegant bass guitar and Sheppard’s yearning saxes. This trio has a unique collective sound, reflecting musical mastery of a rare order.

http://www.wattxtrawatt.com
https://www.ecmrecords.com/carla-bley

The Glorious Prince

(Jak Kilby, 1949-2020)

Fianco a fianco tra le proposte di ascolto a cavallo dell'anno vecchio e quello nuovo si sono ritrovati felicemente insieme Robert Wyatt (in Rock'n'roll Stories, per la belga Fréquence Plus Andenne) e Hugh Hopper (per SquareRootRadio, nella Repubblica Ceca), ora su Mixcloud:
https://www.mixcloud.com/robert-wyatt-sur-radio-frequenceplus
https://www.mixcloud.com/hugh-hopper-was-a-friend

Tra gli album citati nell'aggiornamento di fine anno di Une discographie de Robert Wyatt c'è l'antologico Les Mémoires D'Un Ventriloque, doppio vinile prodotto da Staubgold con Cougouyou Music ‎che ripropone il frutto di collaborazioni più o meno occasionali ed eccentriche promosse dall'incontenibile Pascal Comelade tra il 1981 e il 2018, finora circolate - ma non troppo - su singoli, compilazioni o varie altre raccolte. Ci sono PJ Harvey e Enric Casasses, Jean-Hervé Peron e Jac Berrocal tra i nomi più illustri; Wyatt è presente con la splendida versione di September Song - classico broadwayano degli anni Trenta, firmato Kurt Weill e Maxwell Anderson - apparsa tale e quale sull'omonimo mini-album pubblicato vent'anni fa da Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'Acier. Val la pena di procurarselo, quest'ultimo, per sentire anche Signed Curtain (e, senza volere, 24 mila baci, Come prima, L'italiano...)

http://www.pascal-comelade.fr
http://www.staubgold.com/les-memoires-d-un-ventriloque
http://disco-robertwyatt.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Song

E giunge puntuale anche lo sguardo omnicomprensivo di Jean-Paul Marillier alle cose wyattiane emerse nell'anno appena trascorso. E' l'aggiornamento #48 al suo magnifico sito web Une discographie de Robert Wyatt, fonte imprescindibile per discografia, rassegna stampa, recensioni e archivio storico. Merci beaucoup!

http://disco-robertwyatt.com/index
http://disco-robertwyatt.com/news48
http://lesot.space/rw

Uno sguardo al proprio passato lo rivolge anche Bob Drake, ripescando per Bandcamp l'album d'esordio come solista, What Day Is It?, ampliandolo per l'occasione con una messe di brani aggiuntivi, dimostrativi e preparatori, tutti inediti: "My first solo album, written performed and recorded by me between 1991-93, at home and at Studio Dee in Burbank California. Released by myself in an edition of 1000 CDs in 1994, re-released by the no-longer existent Ad Hoc Records in 2005. Out-of-print for many years, now here it is again in downloadable form with lots of extras..."

https://bdstudio.bandcamp.com/album/what-day-is-it-expanded-edition

Uno sguardo creativo e anti-nostalgico a quello che all'epoca rappresentò un punto di sintesi e di svolta nella sua carriera di musicista esploratore e giramondo: Fred Frith torna ai diari di viaggio di Step Across The Border - un centinaio di nastri, editi ovviamente solo in minima parte - assieme allo specialista del suono Marc Parisotto e a uno degli autori di quell'eccezionale documento, il regista Nicolas Humbert. Proposto già da qualche tempo dal vivo, ora è anche un cd per RogueArt: Cut Up The Border.

"One hundred tapes. Recorded by Jean Vapeur on the now legendary Nagra IV S tape recorder. A box full of the original sound recordings for Step Across the Border, the film Werner Penzel and I travelled around the world to make in 1988-1989 with musician Fred Frith. Just before the collapse of Socialism and the digital take-over of the world. Twenty minutes on every tape. That is, thirty-three hours of sound material. In the end, only ninety minutes of it are in the film. The rest of the recordings have been slumbering away in an old crate, and trailed along on our every studio move, surviving icy winters and even a flood in our archive vault.
All the material that reappears again. Moments, life stories, drifting tracks. Wonderful Tom Cora with his cello. Died way too young, just a few years after Step Across the Border appeared. But the unmistakable sound of his cello remains. The voice of Jonas Mekas, free spirit and clown of independent cinema. And the voice of Robert Frank, the great American photographer and chronicler of the Beat Generation, who invented the cut-up montage that is the basis of our sound composition. Our subway ride with him to visit his son Pablo at a psychiatric clinic in the Bronx. Now Jonas Mekas and Robert Frank are no longer alive. Both died in the half-year after the Berlin premiere of Cut Up The Border.
So many life stories, sounds, music, voices reappear in this material. Trails of noise, recordings: of New York streets at night, game arcades in Shibuya, cicada fields in Provence, seagull cries in Yorkshire. Tapes depicting time itself, like geological strata. French sound artist Marc Parisotto and I opened the box again and re-composed the raw material together with Fred Frith into an imaginative journey through meandering soundscapes and echoes of the past. 1 hour out of 33 hours." (Nicolas Humbert)

https://roguart.com/product/cut-up-the-border/145
https://tinyurl.com/yzc8z65a

Fuochi d'artificio - se non proprio dinamite! - ogni domenica sera da qui in avanti fino a metà marzo al club La gare nel cuore di Parigi, con ospiti annunciati e a sorpresa - specialmente il 23 febbraio, per il compleanno a cifra tonda - invitati da John Greaves. Allez hop!

Tous les soirs des concerts à participation de libre de jazz pas chiant qui donne la banane. Les meilleurs musiciens français et internationaux, et tu donnes ce que tu veux, ce que tu peux. Dans une gare de la Petite ceinture, avec 2000 m2 de jardin et terrasses en plein Paris.

La gare
1, avenue Corentin Cariou
75019 Paris
France

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008147448817
https://www.facebook.com/events/530280717703158

The Watts in concerto al Ganz toi, toi, toi di Osaka (Giappone) lo scorso 30 novembre: Yumi Hara, Tim Hodgkinson e il festeggiato di oggi, Chris Cutler. Auguri!

https://youtu.be/OcMuZ_lhODE

Come ogni anno a quest'epoca Dame e ActuelleCD a Montréal propongono a prezzo promozionale numerosi titoli in catalogo, tutti di interesse, vecchi e nuovi: tra questi ultimi si segnalano per esempio Voir dans le vent… dell'Ensemble SuperMusique, Si tu le veux di Castor et compagnie, Jean Derome con Somebody Special, la Ratchet Orchestra con Coco Swirl e Tortues vapeur del duo di Susanna Hood con Martin Tétreault, disponibile come tutti i titoli della nuova sottoetichetta Mikroclimat in solo formato digitale. Di grande interesse sono anche due testi sulla scena musicale innovatrice e d'opposizione dell'area del Québec, storica e attuale: Jazz libre et la révolution québécoise, di Éric Fillion, e Musique actuelle-Topographie d'un genre di Réjean Beaucage.

https://actuellecd.com
https://actuellecd.com/en/boutique/rabais
https://www.ambiancesmagnetiques.com/en/accueil

Lui ringrazia noi, ma ovviamente siamo noi a ringraziare Steve Feigenbaum. Quarant'anni fa esatti dava vita a Wayside Music. Come fu? "40 years ago, on January 2, 1980, I trudged to the back of the post office with some thousand bulk-rate sorted, hand-typed out catalogs I was mailing out as the culmination of the steps I had been pursuing for the previous 4-6 months or so, leading up to the launch of Wayside Music, which I hatched while on the bus going to college when I realized I wanted to be involved in the business side of music, but in the field of the music that I was genuinely interested in. How to do this? A specialty shop was a cool idea, but could I really develop enough of a clientele with a fixed location for such esoteric offerings? Probably not. Hmmm. Think, scheme, scheme, think. At the time, the idea of bringing the specialty store to the person, instead of trying to bring the person to the store, as a specialized vendor through the mails was not a new idea, but it was still pretty different in the pre-internet days when brick & mortar still reigned...
And here we are, 40 years later! Some of you have been here the entire time (!!) and some of you have been here for 2 weeks. But I would like to say thank you to every one of our customers, who have each helped to keep this vessel, launched on a crazy, idealistic idea, afloat for 40 years! Thank you!"

http://www.waysidemusic.com
https://www.discogs.com/it/label/238447-Wayside-Music
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com

Inizia prestissimo il nuovo anno concertistico per i Westbrook, con un impegno imminente del Quartetto (Mike, Kate, Roz Harding e Marcus Vergette) nella ripresa di Love or Infatuation-The Hollywood Songs of Frederick Hollander. A Bath (Regno Unito) dopodomani, al Widcome Social Club, nell'ambito del Bath Jazz Weekend. Auguri!

https://www.bathjazzweekend.com/festival-program
https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/mikewestbrook/loveinfatucd.shtml