Si rinnova questa sera a Milano il felicissimo incontro dell'Artchipel Orchestra con le musiche di Jonathan Coe, con lo scrittore presente in scena nella doppia veste di compositore e musicista: al Teatro Fontana di via Boltraffio, alle 21.00.

https://teatrofontana.it/artchipel-orchestra-e-jonathan-coe

 

Bob Drake intanto si fa di nuovo in quattro per il banchetto di stasera presso uno dei luoghi più ameni dell'Isola dei Lupi: Spotty Under The Trees.

https://bdrak.com

 

Un nuovo album di Dave Kerman, realizzato a intermittenza tra il 2016 e il 2020 quasi completamente da solo in casa - però con l'apporto da remoto di musicisti e collaboratori amici, tra cui Dave Willey e Bill Gilonis - è atteso tra qualche giorno per Cuneiform Records, rispolverando a sorpresa la gloriosa sigla 5uu's: The Quiet in Your Bones. Con lo zampino di Bob Drake, naturalmente.

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/the-quiet-in-your-bone

 

Guigou Chenevier ricorda l'incontro - forse irripetibile - promosso qualche anno fa assieme a un drappello di giovani rockettari francesi con sei maestri del gamelan di Giava da cui prese vita il progetto Balungan: l'entusiasmante concerto tenuto nel 2017 a Cavaillon, vicino ad Avignone, è ora documentato in cd per Cuneiform Records, Kudu Bisa Kudu. “On different occasions journalists would ask us why we were doing this project,” he says. “And generally the Javanese people, they were answering in a way that a French guy never would, which was that it was just about fraternité. That was very beautiful and very simple, and at least as important as the rest of the project: the human exchange, the way they welcomed us when we were there, and also the incredible places where we played some concerts in Java. They were just amazing. I never could have imagined such a thing before.”

Will he imagine such a thing again? That remains to be seen, Chenevier admits. Between the Covid-19 pandemic, hardening racial attitudes in France, and the perils of the global economy, it seems unlikely that Balungan will have a second act - although his memories of this beautiful project and the circumstances that shaped it will remain. Even now, he says, he still dreams of all-day rehearsals in the heat and humidity of Central Java, the cooling rains that would come every night, and the hair-raising scooter rides home afterwards. “It’s a strong memory,” he says, “a very deep impression that will stay inside me forever.” And listeners may well feel the same once they hear this music.

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/kudu-bisa-kudu-2

 

La musica delle immagini
(Roberto Masotti, 1947-2022)

 

Per diciotto anni il sito web francese Le son du grisli ha rappresentato un importante punto di riferimento e di consultazione riguardo a segnalazioni e recensioni di album, pubblicazioni, interviste, concerti ed eventi speciali nell'ambito delle musiche innovatrici, con particolare attenzione a jazz, ricerca, improvvisazione e avanguardie. Ne è stato il curatore Guillaume Belhomme assieme a una nutrita schiera di collaboratori, con frequenti contributi da parte dei musicisti stessi. Una selezione dei materiali prodotti è stata data via via alle stampe tramite la consorella Lenka lente: oggi si giunge al sesto volume antologico, di tutti il più corposo (finora).

http://www.lenkalente.com/le-son-du-grisli-6
https://www.lespressesdureel.com

 

Uno dei progetti che ha tenuto occupato David Janssen negli anni di inattività di Renaldo & The Loaf è The Darkening Scale, di cui si è saputo poco o nulla prima che Klanggalerie si mettesse d'impegno a (ri)pubblicarne i materiali, organizzandoli in forma di album. Con Hydrogen Kaleidoscope si giunge al quarto. 

http://www.klanggalerie.com/gg369
https://klanggalerie.bandcamp.com/hydrogen-kaleidoscope

  

Il film che narra l'incredibile storia di Renaldo & The Loaf, presentato in questo periodo in diverse sale cinematografiche europee - in alcune occasioni con la presenza dei due stessi protagonisti, David Janssen e Brian Poole - è disponibile anche in BluRay: 23rd Century Giants.

"It seems almost unreal to us that a feature length film telling the Renaldo & The Loaf story has been made, recounting our journey from 1970 to almost the present day. We think it very skilfully balances an overall narrative with just enough ‘fan-centric’ detail to keep everybody happy. We had to plunder the depths of our archive to discover things we’d almost forgotten about, images, anecdotes and some musical archaeology plus notably an 8mm backwards film study we made in about 1981 that we’d not seen for almost 40 years! There is also a section covering our one and only official live show in 2018. Alex Wroten and Lindsay Wolfe-Wroten interviewed a host of our friends and associates, those at Ralph Records, international fans and our Portsmouth friends, some of whom were with us from the 70s onwards. The BluRay is currently available through various outlets internationally, and more info on the digital release will follow. We won’t exclaim ‘Buy Or Die’ like our Residents friends do, how about ‘Acquire or Expire’ - sounds slightly more British!"

https://www.renaldoloaf.com

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14950158

 

Costretti dal Covid a rinviare più volte i concerti di Dog Stab! previsti per festeggiare il loro cinquantenario, i Residents sono al momento impegnati a riportare in scena il loro God in 3 Persons, nuovamente nella versione teatrale e filmica concepita con John Sanborn e presentata al MoMa newyorkese un paio d'anni fa, ma stavolta riprendendo integralmente l'album del 1988. Solo due le rappresentazioni pubbliche in programma, più una a porte (quasi) chiuse per produrne una registrazione video: a San Francisco il mese prossimo, al Presidio Theatre.

The Residents’ God in Three Persons is a propulsive and brooding musical about madness. The Residents’ anonymous lead singer performs as disgraced preacher Mr. X, who tells an improbable tale of encounters with a pair of ambiguously gendered conjoined twins, who might be miracle workers. God in 3 Persons confronts audiences with the horrors of losing your soul while attempting to attain perfection. This version will contain all of the songs from the album for the first time, making it the definitive version of the show.

God in 3 Persons is a live video/theater work, adapted by media artist John Sanborn, from The Residents’ groundbreaking 1988 album of the same name. Sanborn also fills the mind’s eye with “hallucinogenic” visuals to take us deep into the disturbed psyche of Mr. X. Anonymous since their 1972 debut, The Residents provide live accompaniment, performing here as a six-piece musical ensemble with a featured vocalist. Renowned gender queer porn star Jiz Lee portrays the twins, seen only on screen. Travis Chamberlain directs the work for the stage with musical direction by Joshua Raoul Brody, sound design by Jake Rodriguez, puppet and prop design by Leigh Barbier. Steve Saporito produces.

https://residents.com
https://www.indiegogo.com/god-in-3-persons-video-shoot-in-sf

 

Altra perla d'archivio è Subterranean Modern, riportata alla luce in questo periodo dall'austriaca Klanggalerie di Walter Robotka nell'ambito del cinquantenario dei Residents. L'album uscì nel 1979 per la storica Ralph Records, primo tentativo dell'etichetta di estendere il proprio catalogo a musicisti diversi da Residents e Snakefinger; vi presero parte Chrome, Tuxedomoon, MX-80 Sound e naturalmente i Residents - con questi ultimi anche Fred Frith - tutti alle prese, ciascuno a suo modo, con la celebre I Left My Heart In San Francisco.

http://www.klanggalerie.com/gg400

 

A distanza di trentacinque anni - la data è quella del 15 ottobre 1987 - emerge dagli archivi dello storico club newyorkese CBGB's uno splendido concerto inedito dei Curlew, il quintetto di George Cartwright con Tom Cora, Davey Williams, Ann Rupel e Pippin Barnett. L'iniziativa è della Cuneiform e di Steve Feigenbaum, che li vide in azione per la prima volta proprio in quel periodo. Ricorda Cartwright: "Curlew gigs at CBGB's were always packed, with Tom Cora inventing the truly modern cello, Ann Rupel hurling the bass like never before, Pippin Barnett drumming from one of the more esoteric surrealist places, Davey Williams inventing the guitar again and again, and I played sax, hung around on stage and hoped for the best."

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/cbgbs-nyc-1987

 

All'epoca vennero pubblicati due soli album, Creatures of the Night (1977) e Silent Promise (1978). Oggi Jazz in Britain compone per Turning Point un terzo titolo, recuperando negli archivi qualche brano inedito e alcune versioni alternative: Vanishing Dream, con Pepi Lemer, Dave Tidball, Brian Miller, Jeff Clyne e Paul Robinson.

https://jazzinbritain.co.uk/album/vanishing-dream

 

Tra le promesse di primavera più allettanti c'è un nuovo capitolo del lungo sodalizio tra Julie Tippetts e Martin Archer: Illusion, due lunghi brani - Circle Of Whispers e Illusion Suite - in doppio cd pronto a giorni per Discus Music.

https://discus-music.co.uk

 

When The Fire Grows Cold

 

Nella nuova sezione Opus del sito web Phil Miller-The Legacy prende il via la pubblicazione dell'opera completa del benamato chitarrista, raccogliendo le diverse versioni esistenti di ogni sua composizione e documentarne - anche ai fini di studio - le stesure iniziali, le annotazioni, le eventuali modifiche e variazioni intervenute nel tempo. Si inizia con Second Sight.

Scrive Herm: "Welcome to Opus - the complete works of Philip Paul Brisco Miller. On these pages you will find all Phil’s compositions together with all the information we have been able to gather. This initially comprises performances recorded throughout his career and will eventually include his scores – both hand written manuscripts and Sibelius files, plus Masterclasses by Fred T Baker. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly. We also have unpublished works in various stages of completion (scores only) which we will also include in due course."

https://philmillerthelegacy.com

 

Iniziano oggi tre intensi giorni di passione al Roode Bioscoop di Amsterdam: non sono i riti pasquali, bensì i festeggiamenti per Han Bennink, che domenica compie ottant'anni. Hantastic!

The Han Bennink 80 Passion will encompass a three-day festival at the Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam – one of Han’s favorite venues, thanks to the intimate setting, the casual atmosphere and the direct contact with the audience both during and after the concert. 

For this Passion, Han has gathered musicians with whom he has performed all over the world these past few years. The three-day festival will open on Good Friday (15 April) with the trio Picatrix, originally assembled by Han: Greetje Bijma (vocals), Nora Mulder (piano), Mary Oliver (violin, viola). On this occasion they are joined by Joris Roelofs on bass clarinet and Han on snare drum and cajón.

His beloved ICP Orchestra will then perform as an octet: Michael Moore, Ab Baars and Tobias Delius (reeds), Wolter Wierbos (trombone), Mary Oliver (violin, viola), Guus Janssen (piano), Ernst Glerum (double bass) and the birthday boy himself on drums.

Easter Saturday will be a piano evening par excellence, with three key friends from various dimensions of improvised music: Guus Janssen (1951), Oscar Jan Hoogland (1983) and Timothy Banchet (1987).

Finally on Easter Sunday Han will perform with Reinier Baas (guitar), Ben van Gelder (alto sax) and Joris Roelofs (bass clarinet), followed by a trio with guitarist Terrie Ex and viol(in)ist Mary Oliver – a tried and tested line-up which performed in London recently and will now make sure the triple Han Bennink Passion festival at the Roode Bioscoop will go out with a bang.

https://www.hanbennink.com

 

Altro Maestro loquace è Steve Reich, che consegna ad HarperCollins un corposo dossier di dialoghi e colloqui - tenuti perlopiù a distanza, nel recentissimo periodo pandemico - con amici, collaboratori e ammiratori, tra cui Robert Hurwitz, David Harrington, Nico Muhly, Brian Eno, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Michael Tilson Thomas, Russell Hartenberger, Julia Wolfe, Beryl Korot, Colin Currie e Brad Lubman: Conversations.

In the book, Reich speaks with collaborators, fellow composers, musicians, and visual artists influenced by his work, to reflect on his prolific career as a composer as well as the music that inspired him and that has been inspired by him. The New York Times calls the new book "a surprising, enlightening series of conversations that shed new light on the music and career of our greatest living composer." The New Yorker says: "Through this series of insightful, wide-ranging conversations starting from his student days to the present pandemic, we gain a compelling glimpse into the mind of the most original musical thinker of our time."

https://stevereich.com
https://tinyurl.com/5n8mzx3z

 

Torna uno degli album più estroversi di Terry Riley - con rivelazioni oniriche, incantesimi linguistici e disegnini da flippato che neanche Daevid Allen - in una versione ben dissimile da quella in solitaria pubblicata da Tzadik una dozzina d'anni fa: Autodreamographical Tales, con il Maestro qui loquacissimo accompagnato dal sestetto più che simpatetico di Bang on a Can All-Stars alle prese con gli arrangiamenti in gran parte suggeriti dal figlio Gyan.

Playful, eloquent, intimate and existentially cool, Terry Riley’s Autodreamographical Tales is a musical dream diary - a no-holds-barred journey into the creative unconscious, rendered with a compelling joie de vivre by one of the most influential composers of our time. Each of these ten songs offers an uncommonly special connection with Riley, who narrates, sings and adds his signature minimalist piano filigrees to a sprawling narrative that can turn poetic, picaresque or downright kaleidoscopic.

Backed by the ever-flexible Bang on a Can All-Stars, Riley challenges the ensemble by digging deep into a wide range of musical flavors that include free jazz, blues, rock, pop and classical. And through the vivid storytelling of Long Bus Ride and Zucchini, to the Jabberwockyan wordplay of Science Fiction and the raucous confessional Cannabis, Riley also bends and stretches the very limits of language - conveying a multivalent message for these times that is pithy, uplifting and powerful.

https://bangonacan.org/autodreamographical-tales

 

Music Is ...

 

Tutto pronto - e nessun posto più disponibile, pare - per i due concerti domani e dopodomani di Mike Westbrook con la Uncommon Orchestra al Ronnie's Club londinese. Dopo ripetuti rinvii nell'arco di due anni a causa del Covid, sarà questa la prima volta che On Duke's Birthday viene presentato a Londra nella sua forma orchestrale integrale. Oh to be there!

Mike Westbrook and The Uncommon Orchestra return to the club with one of Mike’s best known and most loved works, On Duke’s Birthday, dedicated to the memory of Duke Ellington. This is the first time that the full-scale version of the piece will be performed in London.

Compositions for Jazz Orchestra have been a thread running through Mike Westbrook’s career since the 1960s. Regarded as Classics, works like Marching Song, Metropolis, Citadel/ Room 315 and The Cortège were widely performed at festivals throughout Europe and the UK. His Big Band Rossini was the first jazz work ever to be performed in the BBC Proms. A three-day festival in Catania, Sicily in 1992 devoted to Mike’s work for the Orchestra, is commemorated in his recent album Catania.

The Uncommon Orchestra is a West Country-based big band formed ten years ago. The band is now established internationally through its performances, including Ronnie Scotts in 2019, a triumphant tour in Italy and the release of two highly acclaimed albums, A Bigger Show and In Memory of Lou Gare.

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk
https://www.ronniescotts.co.uk

Se Nuke the Whales guarda in modo unitario ai quattro album ufficiali dei Pere Ubu del periodo 2006-2014 - per l'occasione tagliando, cucendo, aggiungendo e ritoccando i materiali in modo non indifferente - On the Air raccoglie alcune sparse sessioni radiofoniche offerte dal gruppo in assetto ridotto, provvisorio ed estemporaneo (ma non meno interessante) nella prima metà degli anni Novanta: Petit Ubu. 

Pere Ubu had an offshoot in the 90s, called Petit Ubu. Available members of Pere Ubu would answer the call for radio sessions with largely improvised and always good humored sets, sometimes making use of fire extinguishers as impromptu drum sets, just letting the songs go into what they were going to be that day. This album is the cream of all those recordings that were made from those sessions.

https://pereubu.bandcamp.com/on-the-air-petit-ubu

 

Disponibili (per pochi) al banchetto del Cafe Oto ieri sera c'erano le prime copie del volume Long Live Pere Ubu! - The Spectacle prodotto da David Thomas per illustrare retrospettivamente la versione di Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi presentata in forma di concerto una dozzina d'anni fa. A qualcuna di esse era allegato in cd l'audio di una delle rappresentazioni teatrali londinesi dell'aprile 2008. 

A 107 page full colour plate book with exclusive pictures and info, as well as the entire script. Plus free a 2cd of the previously unheard performance (in its entirety) from the London South Bank Queen Elizabeth Hall. It’s spectacular: an incredible book that is everything you ever needed to know about Long Live Père Ubu! - The Spectacle. It has been a long awaited wish for all the info to be collated and here it is in full technicolor with introductions, behind the scenes insight, the full (current day) script and masses of photos. 

Long Live Père Ubu! - The Spectacle is the concert version of Pere Ubu's theatrical production, Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi, an adaptation of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi. As should be expected from Pere Ubu it is a production without precedent. The boundary between musical and dramatic performance is obliterated. The very notion of what a rock band can and should achieve on stage is turned on its head. David Thomas plays the parts of both Père and Mère Ubu. Members of the band perform the music, choreography, as well as all dramatic roles. The instrumental line-up is augmented with electronica artist Gagarin. As with the full theatrical production, the staging is framed by large screen projections of bespoke animations from legendary film-makers The Brothers Quay.

http://www.ubuprojex.com

http://www.crocusbehemoth.com/spectacle.html

 

Al Cafe Oto londinese torna stasera la proposta dei Pere Ubu nella sua forma più aperta ed esplorativa, quella che David Thomas tempo fa ha voluto chiamare Moon Unit e che già ha trovato qualche riscontro nella discografia ufficiale del gruppo. A fianco di Thomas stavolta ci sono Gagarin e Alex Ward, con entrambi i ragazzi pallidi Andy Diagram e Keith Moliné. Non è escluso che si possano sentire in anteprima alcuni materiali preparatori in vista del nuovo album, per il quale si indica - unica suggestione al momento - 'a synthesis of Peter Blegvad, Johnny Cash and Adam Ant'.

http://www.ubuprojex.com

 

A raccontare le storie di Molkaya - e dell'Altrove, e dell'Antialtrove - ci pensa invece Massimo Giuntoli, l'unico davvero in grado di farlo: Cronache Molkayane, per Giazira scritture.

https://www.massimogiuntoli.com/cronache-molkayane
https://www.giazira.it/cronache-molkayane

 

A raccontare le avventure - e le disavventure, non poche - degli amati Etron Fou Leloublan è Guigou Chenevier in persona, con un gustosissimo diario ricco di annotazioni e riflessioni riguardanti il periodo esteso tra il 1967 e il 1991: Une histoire d'Etron Fou Leloublan, pubblicato in questi giorni da Lenka lente in collaborazione con Anima, in doppia versione francese e inglese.

http://www.lenkalente.com/une-histoire-d-etron-fou-leloublan

 

Sarà facile ritrovare ancora Julie Driscoll nelle prossime uscite a nome di Brian Auger, nel quadro di ristampe e riedizioni di materiale edito e d'archivio predisposto per lui dalla giovanissima etichetta londinese Soul Bank Music. Così annuncia il curatore, Greg Boraman: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to fully re-issue nearly everything Brian has released, but to also finally unleash the vast number of musical gems from Brian's own archive that have never been heard before, including live concerts and radio sessions, collaborative projects with equally legendary artists, alternate versions and out-takes - it’s a goldmine of sounds from across his entire 60-year career". Si comincia con l'antologico Auger Incorporated, dove tra le tracce più storiche spicca la celebre Save Me nella versione dal vivo catturata al Piper Club di Roma nel maggio 1968.

https://soulbankmusic.bandcamp.com/auger-incorporated

 

Keith Tippett è presente, seppur in minima parte, anche in Workers' Playtime, album del 1971 dei B.B. Blunder tornato attuale nell'edizione aumentata appena pubblicata da Cherry Red. Presentissima fin dalla copertina è invece Julie Driscoll - assieme ad altri ospiti quali Brian Auger, Mick Taylor, Marc Charig e Nick Evans - a fianco dei tre titolari Brian Godding, Brian Belshaw (le due B del nome) e Kevin Westlake, precedentemente insieme nei Blossom Toes, cui sempre Cherry Red ha dedicato grande attenzione con le generose riedizioni di We Are Ever So Clean e If Only For A Moment.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/artist/bb-blunder
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/artist/blossom-toes

 

Dal concerto del marzo 2016 tenuto a Londra nell'ambito dello Steinway 2-Piano Festival è tratto il documento dell'ultimo incontro, ahimè irripetibile, di Howard Riley con Keith Tippett: Journal Four, pubblicato da NoBusiness Records con le note di Richard Williams.

Ne scrisse anche Geoff Winston per LondonJazz News: "Together they displayed an extraordinary, intuitive understanding in an absorbing, extended duo set. Perhaps the best way to describe their complex, poetic confection is as an intense meditation on the piano, defying neat boundaries, blasting Rachmaninov and Debussy with the blues, and maverick turns of phrase with technical runs of hyper-velocity. This was a harmony of exploration, guided by a sense of the primacy of the creative flow and given structure, as Riley had discussed earlier, by their experiences as composers as well as performers and interpreters. Rhythmic rolls gave way to Township jive, deep in Tippett’s experience, Joplin’s piano rags, children’s rhymes and pianistic games of of hide and seek. The layered juxtaposition of ideas was both breathtaking and absolutely rooted. A dense chordal build-up led in to the final sequence - a glorious improvised duet around Blue Monk. After the applause had died down, Tippett summed up the experience perfectly, ‘Before you ask for anything else, that’s all we know!’ That really was it - Riley and Tippett had given so generously, nobody could have asked for more."

http://nobusinessrecords.com/journal-four

 

Saggia decisione quella di ripubblicare individualmente i quattro storici album dei Blue Notes che nel 2008 componevano il box The Ogun Collection, introvabile ormai da tempo. Si tratta di Legacy-Live In South Afrika 1964, Blue Notes For Mongezi, Blue Notes In Concert e Blue Notes For Johnny. Si ottengono dalla Ogun via Bandcamp.

https://ogunrecording.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/OgunRecordings
https://bluenotessouthafrica.bandcamp.com

 

Vicinissimo a Piekut c'è Henryków. In Polonia.
(e non è un pesce d'aprile)