ReR Megacorp, presente!

Anche KoSmïk muZïk reindirizza ai propri archivi e dà consigli per sfuggire alla morsa della Bestia: Idees-pour-confinees-en-confinement.

Un sito web in progress con tutto quanto riguarda il compianto Misha Mengelberg (1935-2017), e una fondazione dedicata a curarne e promuoverne l'archivio storico: Stichting Misha Mengelberg.

https://www.mishamengelberg.com
http://www.icporchestra.com/news/2020/3/9/misha-mengelberg-foundation

Tra l'ottobre e il novembre 1972 Steve Miller, Lol Coxhill e Laurie Allan gironzolarono allegramente per concerti in Belgio, Germania e Olanda con il nomignolo Greenaway Pils & Doom. Spulciando negli archivi dei fratelli Miller Aymeric Leroy ne ha ricostruito le mosse, all'incrocio delle traiettorie tardo-Delivery e proto-Hatfields, producendo uno splendido audiodiario di quasi quattro ore ora disponibile in Phil Miller-The Legacy: "Assembled from various cassettes in Steve Miller and his brother Phil's archives, here's a unique document of the European tour undertaken in October-November 1972 by the trio of Steve Miller, Lol Coxhill and Laurie Allan. Clocking in at nearly four hours in total, this is a unique chance to follow a creative trio as it reinvents itself nightly over the course of a tour, and an ideal listen for this unique time when we, unexpectedly and otherwise frustratingly, have a lot of time to do just that – listen. So, in anticipation of a better future, enjoy!"

https://philmillerthelegacy.com/music/gpd-european-tour-1972

Non è affatto certo che il londinese Cafe Oto possa proseguire le attività, pur limitatissime e rigorosamente a porte chiuse, quali i concerti trasmessi in streaming la settimana scorsa. In attesa di tempi migliori ne rimane traccia preziosa negli archivi, a fianco di numerosi altri documenti audio e video di passate stagioni: "The past week has seen some incredible performances livestreamed from the empty space. Due to the lockdown we've had to put these on hold for the time being but you can rewatch or catch any that you missed right now in our archive. Thank you so much to our amazing staff for making these possible at such short notice and doing them with such style and quality! Thanks also to all the musicians who came out and responded to the situation with extraordinary performances. You have all made the past week more bearable."

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/archive

Nell'offerta radiofonica della londinese Resonance FM, ancor più intensa in questo disgraziato periodo, ha trovato spazio l'altro giorno un affettuoso ricordo di Carole Finer: One Finer Day, una selezione di quasi sette ore dal programma settimanale Sound Out che la musicista ha curato per anni per l'emittente, con grande varietà di temi e proposte di ascolto. Alcune puntate sono archiviate integralmente presso Mixcloud: da non perdere ad esempio è uno degli ultimi episodi, quello dello scorso 3 marzo, con ospite Dave Smith.

We are saddened to share news of the death last week of Carole Finer, who made the Sound Out series for Resonance for well over a decade. Sound Out reflected Carole's wide-ranging interest in - among other things - bluegrass and old timey music; the contemporary classical avant-garde (particularly the pool of performers around The Scratch Orchestra, of which she was a member); free improvisation; painting and fine art; and field recording. In the late nineteen sixties Carole was vividly involved in a unique cultural moment and more than most she retained throughout her life a spirit of enquiry that extended to embrace, encourage and inspire many younger artists in a variety of fields. A pivotal figure at Resonance FM, through Sound Out Carole celebrated the lives of her friends old and new, played and collected their music, attended their concerts and exhibitions, learned from them - and shared her discoveries with our audience.

https://www.resonancefm.com
https://twitter.com/jezrileyfrench/status/1241023803708379143
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/playlists/sound-out

In omaggio a Carole Finer, musicista e ricercatrice ben nota nel giro dell'improvvisazione britannica, recentemente scomparsa a causa del temibile coronavirus, la London Improvisers Orchestra offre il brano Hive, registrato con lei poche settimane fa in uno degli appuntamenti mensili presso l'Iklectik londinese. La conduzione è di Adrian Northover.

https://londonimprovisersorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/hive

Il nuovo album si intitola Decoy For A Dognapper ed è pressoché pronto per l'etichetta Cordelia Records. L'inatteso - per loro in primis - ritorno in attività dei Chrysanthemums è anticipato da un extended play dal titolo quanto mai adatto al momento: Splendid Isolation. "Think of it as your jolly soundtrack to the imminent zombie apocalypse."

https://chrysanthemums.bandcamp.com/album/splendid-isolation-ep

Una raccolta di valzerini di inconfondibile fattura Klimperei per far due balli in salotto e prender respiro in tempi di rimuginio e deprivazione: Les plus belles valses de Klimperei, compilazione in audiocassetta del 1994 ripresa in copia conforme all'originale da Tribe Tapes.

https://tribetapes.bandcamp.com/album/les-plus-belles-valses-de-klimperei
https://www.discogs.com/Klimperei-Lesplus-Belles-Valses/master/1621361

Se ora come ora i concerti dal vivo sono soltanto un bel ricordo, o un buon auspicio, un'idea può essere quella di recuperarne qualcuno dagli archivi: dal Coed Jail Tour del 2017 David Thomas suggerisce per esempio una data dei Pere Ubu particolarmente tribolata - ma musicalmente indimenticabile - a Jarocin (Polonia), da pubblicare per Cherry Records come By Order Of Mayor Pawlicki assieme a brani da Marsiglia, Heidelberg e Zagabria tra il 2013 e il 2018. E un'imperfetta - ma imperdibile - ricostruzione del concerto al Pirate's Cove a Cleveland (Ohio) del 2 giugno 1977, spesso circolato in bootleg e ora disponibile in proprio come In The Shadow Of The Aeronautical Shot Peening Co.

http://www.ubuprojex.com
http://www.ubuprojex.com/pawlicki.html
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/pere-ubu-by-order-of-mayor-pawlicki
http://www.ubuprojex.com/download.html

Mike Westbrook, che oggi festeggia il suo ottantaquattresimo compleanno, commenta e descrive in dettaglio la scelta dei brani destinati al concerto - ahimé annullato, così come i due prossimi appuntamenti dell'Uncommon Orchestra - in programma al Pizza Express di Soho a Londra, in coppia con Jonathan Gee. Il bel testo, pubblicato al Westbrook Notice Board, conclude lasciando nell'aria una nota sospesa: "It is strange to have written a commentary on a concert that can’t take place. In the months ahead, and with the scene in lockdown, we’ll have recordings to listen to but what happens to live music? Perhaps musicians around the world will give ‘virtual’ concerts to keep us in good heart, or we’ll just have to describe what we would have played if the gig had not been cancelled."

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/smithsboard/index.shtml

Chi mai ci salverà? Bob Drake un'idea ce l'ha: Rescue Serpent! "Just my 2 cents to help bring a bit of a lift to those who may need it during this viral "self-isolation" period."

https://bdstudio.bandcamp.com/track/rescue-serpent

Analoghe misure prende a Londra il Cafe Oto, con la sospensione e il rinvio di quasi tutti gli eventi in calendario e l'intenzione di trasmettere in streaming almeno alcuni concerti, quelli che sarà possibile effettuare senza pubblico. Questa sera, per esempio, ci saranno in solo Charles Hayward, Rie Nakajima, Merlin Nova e Alexis Taylor, domani Matt Wright, Hannah Marshall e Alexander Hawkins in trio - con un solo di Hawkins in apertura - mentre sabato suoneranno in solo e in duo John Edwards e Steve Noble.

We have made the decision to close our doors for all upcoming evening shows until further notice. This is obviously a very difficult decision for us to make, and leaves us in a particularly precarious financial position, but given the current circumstances, we want to make sure that we aren't putting anybody at unnecessary risk of infection. We are working hard to reschedule as many of the affected shows as we possibly can and will contact all ticketholders as soon as we have more information on each event. In the meantime, we're very pleased to say that we'll be live-streaming the scheduled shows in the venue (just minus audience!) for the next few nights directly from our website. We're currently assembling a line-up of artists for future live-streamed shows and hope to be broadcasting as many evenings as we can over the next few weeks.

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/support

Con lo stop forzato a ogni attività aperta al pubblico ora anche il tenace Iklectik londinese deve correre ai ripari, e chiede aiuto ai propri sostenitori: "In response to rapidly evolving Covid-19-related concerns and following the last government health policy, we decided to prioritize the health and safety of our staff, artists, visitors and we will remain closed to the public until further notice. Iklectik is a self-funded non-profit art organisation, which relies only on our audience and private bookings. Unfortunately, we have already experienced the first wave of cancellations and we don’t know how long this situation will last. We have created a donation page to keep Iklectik alive, any contribution will help us to continue our activities and support our artists in the near future. We will remain strong. These are difficult times for all of us, it is the time to be together. Thanks for your support, stay safe!"

https://iklectikartlab.com/support-us

Naturalmente non è tutta colpa del solo Covid-19: Keith e Julie Tippett, per esempio, dovranno rinviare le sedute di registrazione dell'atteso nuovo album di Couple in Spirit per motivi - e malanni - ben più personali e contingenti, quali la salute ancora cagionevole di Keith e soprattutto il brutto incidente occorso a Julie il mese scorso. Un periodaccio: 'Possibly the worst period of our married lives... still nothing compared to the poor refugees in Syria and Yemen, or the homeless in this country!!!'

https://discus-music.co.uk/catalogue-mobile/dis90-241-detail

Altro colpo inferto dall'emergenza Coronavirus è al concerto di Mike Westbrook con Jonathan Gee previsto al PizzaExpress Jazz Club di Soho a Londra sabato prossimo nell'ambito dello Steinway 2-Piano Festival. Periodaccio.

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk
https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/venues/soho-jazz-club

Tra i rinvii e le forzate rinunce di questo periodaccio spicca la cancellazione del giro americano di Dog Stab!, il nuovo concept dei Residents per i loro prossimi concerti dal vivo con i materiali di Metal, Meat & Bone e Duck Stab. Proprio ora che avevano dismesso le maschere dal becco lungo, quelle dei medici della peste...

"Yes, it’s true The Residents are postponing their eagerly awaited DOG STAB! American tour! This was not a decision that came easily for the Cryptics or THE UNDEFINED FOUR but these are STRANGE TIMES and while The Residents easily embrace odd, sickness, especially the enabling of disease among their loyal fans is something else - MONDO UNCOOL! But for you lucky dudes and dudettes in Europe, nothing is changed. The Residents will be cooling their eyeballs in the old country in January and February of next year! Meanwhile, WASH YOUR HANDS… and stuff like that!"

https://residents.com

Un'antologia di racconti del crimine e altre storie maledette tutti ispirati dalle canzoni di Joni Mitchell: si intitola The Beat of Black Wings ed è curata da Josh Pachter per Untreed Books, in uscita ad aprile. In indice alcuni grandi classici che già lasciano immaginare: Both Sides Now, Big Yellow Taxi, River, Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire, Shades of Scarlett Conquering, Blue Motel Room, The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines, Sex Kills, Ray's Dad's Cadillac e Harlem in Avana.

With nine Grammys, multiple lifetime achievement awards, inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and a Top Ten ranking on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time," Joni Mitchell has established herself as one of the most important singer/songwriters, not only of her generation, but in the history of popular music. In this collection, 28 crime writers pay tribute to Joni's musical legacy with short stories inspired by her lyrics, representing each of her seventeen studio albums from 1968's Song to a Seagull to 2007's Shine.

https://jonimitchell.com/library/viewmedia.cfm?id=153
http://bolobooks.com/the-beat-of-black-wings

E se davvero la realtà è più strana della finzione?

E se Little Red Riding Hood Hit The Road ti manda all'altro mondo?

E se Sea Song diventa Soap Song?

Un breve rapporto su alcune musiciste attive nell'area dell'improvvisazione e delle musiche di ricerca: lo ha proposto per l'8 marzo Blanca Regina su Resonance FM. Ora è anche in Mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/8-march-2020

Bisognerà aspettare l'inizio dell'estate per poterlo apprezzare pienamente in concerto, intanto il secondo album di Kate Westbrook con la sua Granite Band è già pronto (o quasi). Si intitola Earth Felt the Wound e oggi disvela un suo primo, riconoscibile tesoro: The Streams of Lovely Lucienne.

Hard on the heels of her ‘epic and groundbreaking’ Granite album, Kate and the Granite Band with producer Jay Auborn are back with a vengeance. Recorded at singer Joss Stone’s studio in the depths of the Devon countryside, mixed and mastered at dBs studios in Bristol, Earth Felt the Wound deploys state-of-the-Art recording to stunning effect and draws from Kate perhaps her greatest vocal performance to date.
The songs of Earth Felt the Wound range from hard-hitting truths about the perilous state of the natural world - Threat of Natural Disaster, Storm Petrel - to the tenderness of the ballad Once Upon a Time. The album opens with one of the Westbrooks’ most lyrical songs, The Streams of Lovely Lucienne and concludes with the joyfully comical Rooster Rabelais. Kate’s original texts deal with contemporary issues of climate change and the destruction of the planet, with poetry, wit and irony.
Musically Mike and Kate still don’t acknowledge boundaries. They ensure that there are excursions into outright Rock, Chanson, Jazz and even Opera, all brought together with that unmistakable Westbrook sound. With the Granite Band they have assembled a company of brilliant young musicians. Earth Felt the Wound takes their creative collaboration with producer Jay Auborn to new heights.

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/katewestbrook
https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/katewestbrook/earth_patron.shtml
https://soundcloud.com/jazzsouth/the-granite-band

E' dedicato alla moglie Kate il nuovo - e imperdibile, anche dal punto di vista storico - album di Mike Westbrook Love and Understanding: Citadel/​Room 315 Sweden '74, pubblicato per splendida iniziativa di Jon Griffiths per la sua etichetta My Only Desire Records. Nel cuore delle note raccolte da Daniel Spicer è Mike stesso a indicarne il motivo: "It's very much about our early days together. The whole piece is about falling in love". E Kate aggiunge: "While Mike was working at the piano, writing the piece now known as Love and Understanding, I was within earshot much of the time. I started to sing the words 'love and understanding' and that became the title. Citadel/Room 315 was written not long after our meeting and look where it led, 45 years later."

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk
http://www.myonlydesirerecords.com
https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/love_understanding_cd
https://myonlydesirerecords.bandcamp.com/love-and-understanding

Torna di tanto in tanto in circolazione la registrazione radiofonica mai resa ufficiale del bel concerto del sestetto di Mike Westbrook al Festival de Jazz di Montreux del 1968: era il 15 giugno, e con Mike c'erano John Surman, Mike Osborne, Malcolm Griffiths, Harry Miller e Alan Jackson. Qualche settimana più tardi gli stessi - in formazione però estesa a dieci, la Concert Band - avrebbero gettato le basi per il fenomenale Release (Deram, 1968).

http://inconstantsol.blogspot.com/mike-westbrook-sextet-montreux-jazz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFXwTBRe7Z8
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/galatabridge/1960.htm

Quattro appuntamenti da oggi all'8 marzo al Cafe Oto londinese per celebrare gioiosamente - e giocosamente - i settant'anni del grande Steve Beresford: Piano, Noise, Music & Toys. Auguri!

Steve is a central figure in UK free improvisation. Piano, Noise, Music & Toys brings together a diverse group of artists to celebrate, reflect and create. Steve Beresford will be in conversation with Robert Worby at Oto on Sunday afternoon. Performances at Cafe Oto include a different DJ each night Mark Ainley, Zakia Sewell, & Howard Williams. Old and new collaborators and friends will perform, including Alterations (Terry Day, Peter Cusack, David Toop, Steve Beresford), Douglas Benford, Hyelim Kim, Crystabel Riley, Martin Vishnick, Satoko Fukuda, Rie Nakajima, Mark Sanders, John Butcher, Angharad Davies, Max Eastley, Najma Akhtar, Blanca Regina, Pat Thomas, Mandhira de Saram & Rachel Musson. Other Beresfords will be playing guerilla roles throughout. Visual installations by Blanca Regina and Pierre Bouvier Patron.

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/piano-noise-music-toys-steve-beresford-at-70

Tre giorni di concerti e di festeggiamenti per i cinquant'anni di attività della London Jazz Composers' Orchestra: li promuove in Polonia il festival Krakow Jazz Autumn in apertura del proprio programma a partire da domani.

Five decades of music, seventeen improvisers and three extraordinary evenings in one extraordinary city. At the beginning of March, improvised jazz lovers will have something really special to look forward to! As a prelude to this year’s 15th Krakow Jazz Autumn, a unique series of concerts will be held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra.
Double bass virtuoso Barry Guy needs no introduction to Kraków’s dedicated audience. In March, we’ll have the unique opportunity to witness the performances of seventeen LJCO members in various configurations. The three-evening series will include two evenings of smaller formations (6 March in Alchemia & 7 March in the Manggha Museum), and the final concert of the entire orchestra on 8 March at Manggha Museum, preceded in the first set by Flow 1 and Flow 2 (free groupings of various LJCO members). We will hear, among others, Harmos (a favorite both with the audience and the musicians themselves) in a completely new version. Barry Guy is a frequent guest in Kraków – he has performed at Kraków Jazz Autumn with the Barry Guy New Orchestra, Blue Shroud Band, and in a duo with Ken Vandermark, among others.
Over the course of these last 50 years, almost 50 musicians from different countries, backgrounds and schools have contributed their ideas and their talent to the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra. During these five decades, the group has been united by two things. The first one is their common goal to discover new, uncharted musical terrain. The second, Barry Guy’s captivating, inspiring talent.

http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mljco.html
https://www.facebook.com/krakowskajesienjazzowa
https://en.kjj-festiwal.pl/program/50th-anniversary-of-the-london-jazz-composers-orchestra

Prodotto in luminoso vinile trasparente, Siberia Extreme documenta l'incontro avvenuto una quindicina di anni fa tra la cantante tradizionale Valentina Romanova - in arte Chyskyyrai - con Tim Hodgkinson e Ken Hyder, a compimento di una reciproca conoscenza intrapresa nei primi anni Novanta al tempo dei viaggi dei due nelle zone più remote della regione siberiana e delle loro appassionate indagini su sciamanesimo, musiche rituali e spiritualità. La pubblicazione è iniziativa di Misha Maltsev in seno all'associazione Indigenous Lifeforms, collettivo multiforme con sede a Londra che promuove forme di scambio interculturale tra artisti innovatori della Siberia e resto del mondo.

Chyskyyrai, a female singer from the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Siberia, creates evocative, passionate, powerful and dynamic music by employing a wide variety of traditional vocal techniques. Chyskyyrai is deeply rooted in tradition, embodying the Sakha character of a menerik woman, one possessed by the spirits. Her vocal style could be described as shamanic hysteria, drawing on oral epics, folk songs and animal imitation, creating highly emotional vocal episodes.

The songs presented on this LP capture a period of her life when she met with Tim Hodgkinson and Ken Hyder who had been performing together since 1978, and are well-known for their explorations in the field of shamanic cultures and free jazz. Their collaboration with the Soviet Jazz Federation goes back many years until finally in 1990, the duo went on an extensive tour in Siberia as Shams during which they also visited Yakutia. Since then they have made numerous trips to Tuva, Altai and Buryatia playing with the local musicians and studying shamanism.

https://indigenouslifeforms.bandcamp.com

Torna a farsi sentire da Seattle (Stati Uniti) il nucleo di pronto intervento zappiano Z.E.R.O. - ovvero The Zappa Early Renaissance Orchestra - con un nuovo appello internazionale rilanciato da Cordelia Records: Bläther.

Z.E.R.O. was formed in 2012 to explore the potential of the ukulele in Frank's music. It has since grown from that early concept into something far larger. The membership is variable, ranging from a live trio to a virtual 17 piece band featuring comedy musicians from the world over. Bläther is an international project involving over 30 musicians from 7 different countries working together to re-explore the music of Frank Zappa. Includes performances by Prairie Prince of the Tubes, Craig Twister Steward from the Mothers, Sandro Oliva from The Grandmothers, Inventionis Mater, MagNiFZnt, Tante Tofu and many more.

http://www.cordeliarecords.co.uk
http://zeroensemble.com
https://zeroensemble.bandcamp.com/album/blather

Presto il mondo vedrà cosa è riuscito a mettere insieme Alex Winter per il suo documentario su Frank Zappa, un progetto largamente sostenuto e atteso dai fan fin dal primo annuncio cinque anni fa - e la cui campagna di finanziamento stabilì un vero record per Kickstarter - approvato perfino da Gail Zappa, poco prima della scomparsa. Attingendo a fonti e materiali mai resi disponibili in precedenza, la durata del film si è infine assestata attorno alle due ore, cambiando il titolo nel più sobrio Zappa dopo l'iniziale Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa (Save the Vault, Tell the Story). Prima proiezione pubblica tra pochi giorni al South by Southwest di Austin, in Texas, e poi ovunque.

http://www.zappamovie.com

https://www.facebook.com/ZappaMovie
https://twitter.com/zappamovie

C'era posto anche per lo Squalo Giallo originale - che tante ne ha viste! - al concerto zappiano dell'Ensemble Modern ad Amburgo la settimana scorsa. Ricca la scaletta, con il meglio da Yellow Shark e Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions governato egregiamente da Jonathan Stockhammer. E ricco anche il programma che per tutto l'anno accompagnerà il quarantennale dell'inarrivabile gruppo orchestrale: https://www.ensemble-modern.com/en/calendar