Una dedica a John Coltrane segna fin dal titolo la personale retrospettiva - ricca di inediti e rarità - che Alan Skidmore ha affidato a Confront Recordings, A Supreme Love: "John Coltrane has had a profound effect on my life for over sixty years, I had never heard the tenor saxophone played the way he played it. And I never will again: that would be impossible. And what an amazing composer. So thank you Trane for all your help and spiritual guidance. It has been an incredible experience listening to you all these years. It truly has been A Supreme Love."

How do you represent a seven-decade career in only six CDs? In our favour, Alan Skidmore’s vast private archive: from every stage of his professional life, there are radio, concert, and studio recordings surviving in very good order. But what to leave out? We begin in 1961, with Skid’s radio debut, playing with his father Jimmy. He was just 19. This was the year he witnessed John Coltrane’s famed appearance in Walthamstow. Coltrane’s impact was immediate, and Skid’s love and respect for him has lasted a lifetime. Throughout the recordings, we hear how Skid absorbs Coltrane’s music and transforms it into his own. With just a handful of exceptions, the tracks in this box are previously unreleased. They include collaborations with some of Skid’s most talented contemporaries. You’ll hear him with Alexis Korner, Humphrey Lyttelton, Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Tony Oxley, Wayne Shorter, Tony Levin, Paul Dunmall, Joe Zawinul, John Surman, Mike Osborne, John Taylor, Elvin Jones, Colin Towns, and many others. There is much to discover along the way, and Skid’s seriousness and respect for the music are obvious everywhere. Our journey concludes in 2019, with Skid’s beautiful - and only - rendition of Coltrane’s “Psalm” from A Love Supreme. A stunning finale to this crucial portfolio. (Mark Wastell)

https://alanskidmore.info

https://confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/a-supreme-love

 

Oggi che ricorre l'anniversario della nascita di Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Mike Westbrook offre in suo omaggio Says the Duke in un'inedita versione orchestrale presentata per la prima volta l'anno scorso a Londra, al Ronnie Scott's, con l'Uncommon Orchestra. E' su Bandcamp.

This big band version of Says The Duke was premiered by The Uncommon Orchestra at Ronnie Scott’s in London in April 2022. It was part of a new, expanded version of ‘On Duke’s Birthday,’ a piece commissioned by festivals in Amiens and Angoulême in 1984 to mark the 10th anniversary of Ellington’s death. Originally written for and recorded by an 11-piece ensemble, ‘On Duke’s Birthday’ has been adapted and extended over the years. The latest, 23-piece version was premiered at Ronnie Scott’s, London in April 2022. A new addition to the suite was a big band arrangement of Says The Duke, originally recorded in a 7-piece version during lockdown by the Granite Band. Kate’s lyric is based on quotations from the Duke and Mike’s orchestration is full of Ellingtonian references. There are cameo appearances by the Orchestra’s soloists, notably Alan Wakeman on tenor, Roz Harding on alto, Chris Biscoe alto, Pete Whyman on clarinet, Dominique Pifarely, violin, Frank Schaefer, cello, Marcus Vergette bass, Jesse Molins on guitar and Sam Massey trumpet, with Graham Russell on lead.

https://mikewestbrook.bandcamp.com/says-the-duke-2

 

Torna per Jazz in Britain in edizione ampliata e aggiornata - accompagnata da un cd con rarità e brani d'archivio - la discografia di Ian Carr (1933-2009) amorevolmente curata da Roger Farbey: Elastic Dream.

This book, a comprehensive, annotated discography, discusses the great British trumpeter Ian Carr’s recorded works and includes up to the minute additions to the Carr canon. It is the most complete discographical text on the works of Ian Carr. The discography is divided into two parts with archival releases being covered in the second part. Three appendices detail Carr’s appearances in the Melody Maker jazz polls, biographies either by or about him, and finally details of Ian’s miscellaneous media contributions, including television, radio and film work.

The object of this book was to write a comprehensive critique of the musical works of Ian Carr. It was intended to be comprehensive enough to cover everything that could be located to listen to, but not intended to be an in-depth review of every piece. The main intent was to draw attention to the music of Ian Carr as it was felt that it had not gained the recognition it deserved.

During the 1960s and 70s Carr and his peers, such as Graham Collier, Michael Garrick, Michael Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, John Surman and Keith Tippett moved the goalposts of contemporary jazz in Britain. Jazz prior to 1960 in the United Kingdom was highly influenced by American traditional jazz, bebop and big band swing. After 1960, music experienced seismic changes thanks to the pop/rock/blues explosion and by the mid-1970s British and European jazz began to find its own distinctive voice. Although the focus of non-American jazz subsequently shifted, to some extent, from the UK to mainland Europe and Scandinavia, partially thanks to the burgeoning success of ECM Records and international bands such as The United Jazz and Rock Ensemble (of which Ian Carr was a key member), the 1960s–1970s in Britain were especially innovative.

The author, Roger Farbey, knew Ian personally for the latter part of his life and was well aware of the toll taken by Alzheimer’s. But Carr’s spirit was indomitable; all those who knew him will remember him as the friendly firebrand of jazz and one of the true innovators of the genre. This book is Roger’s small attempt to “take revenge” on Carr’s final illness and keep the memory of the man and his music 

https://jazzinbritain.co.uk/elastic-dream-the-music-of-ian-carr

 

E' ormai pronto per Aurora Metro & Supernova Books il libro biografico su Giorgio Gomelsky (1934-2016) scritto da Francis Dumaurier, e tra pochi giorni è atteso a Londra - nei luoghi dello storico Crawdaddy Club a Richmond - il primo degli eventi per il suo lancio pubblicitario: For Your Love. 

The book, called Giorgio Gomelsky For Your Love, will have its first release party on Sunday April 30th, 2023, at One Kew Road, the place where the original Crawdaddy Club was founded by Giorgio Gomelsky in the back room of what used to be the Station Hotel in Richmond back in 1963. From this location, Giorgio launched the career of the Rolling Stones. They became so popular he had to move to a larger venue at the Richmond Athletic Ground. When the Rolling Stones moved on, he found the Yardbirds with Eric Clapton to replace them. Gomelsky would go on to manage and produce records for many new artists including Daevid Allen in Soft Machine and Gong, Magma, John McLaughlin’s first solo album, Keith Tippett and Julie Driscoll just to name a very few on this lengthy list.  

In the late 1970’s Gomelsky moved to NYC and did the very first recordings of the band that would become Bill Laswell’s Material. He remained living in NYC for the rest of his life where he spent many years carousing with the book's author, Francis Dumaurier.

https://www.aurorametro.com
https://rickrees.substack.com/p/gomelsky-book-by-francis-dumaurier
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tribute-to-gomelsky-the-man-behind-the-yardbirds-stones-magma-et-al-tickets-572885404667
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOx6265GFK4

Uno speciale evento per i novant'anni di Morton Subotnick si è tenuto a New York pochi giorni fa al Roulette, con il compositore presente in sala: a festeggiarlo sono intervenuti in vario modo David Behrman, Miguel Frasconi, Earl Howard, John King, Joan La Barbara, Ikue Mori, George Lewis, Rhys Chatham, Charlemagne Palestine, David Rosenboom, Carl Stone, Lois V Vierk, Willie Winant e Zeena Parkins tra gli altri. Il concerto è stato trasmesso in live streaming e lo si può ora rivedere su YT.

This is a collective celebration of Mort Subotnick’s 90th birthday, from friends, family, former students, and those who have been significantly influenced by his music and innovations. Mort’s music and ideas are central to all that will be presented, including excerpts from his compositions and music from his seminal works (Silver Apples, Butterfly series, Wild Bull, etc.). Subotnick is one of the pioneers in the development of electronic music and multi-media performance and an innovator in works involving instruments and other media.

https://roulette.org/morton-subotnicks-90th-birthday-celebration
https://youtu.be/mGzQ0xUnrcM

 

Wyattando, il concerto dedicato a Robert Wyatt tenuto lo scorso agosto a Bari in apertura del Sound Waves Festival, viene trasmesso da Radiotre Suite Jazz questa sera a partire dalle ore 20.30. Con Heidi Heidelberg, Mauricio Velasierra, Annie Whitehead, Karen Mantler, John Greaves e Chris Cutler.

https://www.raiplaysound.it/Il-Cartellone-del-25042023

 

Tre distinti album tratti dai concerti europei delle scorse settimane, più due nuovi capitoli nella sempre attuale serie dell'orrore ultimati ancora in viaggio in quegli stessi giorni: Eugene Chadbourne ha riaperto il bazar!

"Excellent quality live recordings made with studio level equipment were happily a regular happenstance on this tour through five countries, originally more than 40 concerts scheduled but in the end 36 realized after sorting out the French train strike. 

1.  30 Formiche comes from the live duo show with Doc Chad and Schroeder in Rome.  

2. Rocking in the Freiburg is the latest from the Doc Chad Contemporary Rock Trio with Schroeder and Jan Fitsjen, acoustic line up with guitar, banjo and baritone guitar plus drums, live at the cozy Babeuf kneipe.

3.  From a Train is an all banjo program with selection highlights from five different French concerts, material by Tim Buckley, Kacey Musgrave, Dolly Parton, Nick Drake, Black Sabbath, originals.

4. Horror Series, Volume 15 - The Odyssey was premiered during the tour. It is an instrumental treatment of the Ulysse's road trip featuring John Zorn, Dan Clucas, Jamison Williams, Florian Nastong and Marcello Delbosco.

5. Horror Series, Volume 16 - edited and released in the last weeks of the tour, working with recently unearthed archive material. The program is entitled Schizo Vs. Children of the Damned. Warning: features rake and plunger solos."

https://eugenechadbourne.com

 

Il magmatico quartetto One Shot torna in questi giorni alla ribalta con concerti in Francia e un nuovo lavoro, 111, nella stessa formazione con doppio tastierista che l'anno scorso, interrompendo un lungo periodo di inattività, si ritrovò a Le Lilas per porgere omaggio all'amico e co-fondatore del gruppo, James Mac Gaw (1968-2021). L'album esce in cd e in vinile per l'etichetta del club Le Triton e ha tra i suoi pezzi forti un brano, Mérovée, che YT conserva ancora in una precedente versione dal vivo (del 2014) con il compianto chitarrista impegnato in uno dei suoi ultimi assoli.

Il y a tout juste un an, au plus grand bonheur de tous les amoureux de la Zeuhl, One Shot se refondait, à l’occasion d’un concert devenu mythique en hommage à James Mac Gaw. Depuis, le groupe n’a eu de cesse de jouer, de répéter, d’explorer pour parvenir à retrouver un vrai son de groupe sans guitare. Avec des claviers mûrement retravaillés, un répertoire inédit et ce tout nouvel album qu’ils nous présentent ce soir, on peut dire qu’Emmanuel Borghi, Daniel Jeand’heur, Philippe Bussonnet et Bruno Ruder ont transformé l’essai, et même mieux que cela. Aussi enivrant et puissant que le One Shot d’origine, c’est bel et bien un nouveau groupe qui est né. Un groupe qui nous emporte très loin et qui continue d’écrire sa magnifique histoire, nous rappelant ainsi que “les bonnes idées n’ont pas d’âge, mais seulement de l’avenir”.

https://www.letriton.com/one-shot-111

 

Due danzatori del Balletto dell'Opéra di Parigi, Loup Marcault e Ida Viikinkoski, trasfigurati virtualmente con forme conturbanti entro scenari sbalorditivi, interpretano uno dei brani più vivaci di Kartëhl in quello che è il primo video prodotto dai Magma in oltre cinquant'anni di carriera: Hakëhn Deïs, con la regia di Nino Lou Le Chenadec.

https://youtu.be/UmgJkEajQUo

 

Un box antologico contenente varie esecuzioni effettuate nel corso degli anni in studio o dal vivo e due concerti ad hoc in programma a Parigi a inizio ottobre: stanno già delineandosi le iniziative dei Magma per festeggiare il cinquantenario di Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh. Hamtaï!

Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh is considered by many to be the ultimate Magma masterwork. Recorded in 1973 at the Manor Studios in Oxford by a completely new line-up, the sole survivors from the previous incarnation of Magma were Klaus Blasquiz and, of course, Christian Vander himself. A long piece in seven movements, M.D.K. had an extended gestation period before reaching its final, definitive form. The previous band had recorded a short version – dominated by the brass section – which was released on a 45 rpm single. The progression from this simple version to what is heard on the album is astounding. The entire credit for this achievement is down to Christian Vander, who by this time had taken the artistic destiny of Magma fully into his own hands. Although the performance of the band was an order of magnitude more powerful than before – notably with the arrival of Jannick Top on bass, whose playing complemented Christian Vander’s music so perfectly – then perhaps the most striking characteristic of M.D.K. was the epic sound produced by the vocal team. Driven by a colossal, giant-stepping rhythm section and dynamically reinforced by a female backing group – with Stella Vander appearing for the first time – the voices of Klaus and Christian come to haunt our souls through these magnificent songs which seem to emerge from our collective memory, conferring Magma’s music with a timeless and universal character.

http://kosmikmu.blogspot.com
https://www.instagram.com/magma.officiel

 

Tre concerti di fila al Romantic Moon più una conversazione pubblica da ascrivere alla bella serie Song Talk. Sono gli impegni di Dave Stewart e Barbara Gaskin (con Beren Matthews) a partire da domani per un weekend a Tokyo del tutto speciale: "We're happy to confirm our live appearances for 2023, all featuring the line-up of Barbara Gaskin (vocals), Dave Stewart (keyboards) and Beren Matthews (guitar), with our eagle-eared sound engineer Ted Hayton controlling the mix. This April we'll be playing three shows at Romantic Moon, Aoyama, Tokyo, an intimate venue with friendly staff and an excellent sound system - this will be our fourth visit! The setlist will differ from night to night and include several unreleased songs, all drawn from the 100-song Stewart-Gaskin catalogue. We'll also be hosting a Song Talk Live event at the same venue on Saturday April 22nd in which the four of us chat about our music with translation by Tomoyuki Osawa of Real & True."

https://davebarb.com
https://www.moonromantic.com

 

Per avvicinarsi al compianto Karl Berger (1935-2023), alla sua lunga esperienza di strumentista e compositore e ai suoi illuminanti insegnamenti, oltre che rivolgersi alla sua vasta discografia è d'obbligo la lettura del testo The Music Mind Experience (Wolke, 2022), tratto da una fitta serie di conversazioni con Rick Maurer. 

The Music Mind Experience is all about how we can transform our playing and listening into convincing performances and satisfying meditations every time. No neuroscience here: this book is thoroughly practical, intuitive, chock-full of simple practices and deep, common-sense insights. 'A fantastic resource. Karl’s purpose is to reach beyond all intellectual concepts and feel the magic of intuitive playing and listening that we are all born with. Very easy to read and follow', says the world-renown keyboardist John Medeski. The Italian composer Luciano Troja adds: 'Karl’s book is miraculous because it speaks in a simple but profound way to musicians and listeners of any background. It opens worlds'. 

The Music Mind Experience speaks for all kinds of music and styles, because it addresses the elements common to all the music in the world. The great guitarist John Scofield comments: 'Karl’s book reminds me of what I‘ve learned from conversations with the great musicians I've known. These masters spoke the truth about getting in the ‘flow’ and the best mental attitude while playing. I‘ve found that these techniques are universal.' In this book we emphasize the extraordinary power of our intuitive minds. The masters' ‘techniques’ that John Scofield is referring to are all explored here in surprisingly simple practices and exercises. We learn to integrate them into our daily routines of musical practice and listening with astounding results: our satisfaction and confidence is growing strong and steadily. 

Pianist/composer Carla Bley refers not just to this book only, but to Karl Berger‘s life-long work at the now world-renowned Creative Music Studio when she says: 'Karl has made it ok for hoards of musicians to explore their particular and personal identities without fear of censure'. The German composer Markus Stockhausen says: 'Karl shows us that we all have a hidden capacity of unexplored, infinite creative potential'. And he concludes: 'Listening is the key to all the music mind.'

Anche YT offre molti materiali importanti e di grande interesse: una bella intervista di Monk Rowe al Maestro e alla compagna di un'intera vita, Ingrid Sertso, con continui riferimenti alla storia del Creative Music Studio, un ricco contributo di Steven Bernstein, ampi stralci da seminari, laboratori e concerti più recenti e del passato, un paio di estratti dal film Music Mind di Julian Benedikt e Axel Kroell presentato nel 2018 al Woodstock Film Festival e presto disponibile anche in dvd. C'è anche una breve testimonianza dell'esperienza condotta in Italia con l'Artchipel Orchestra nel 2014.

http://www.karlbergermusic.com
https://www.karlberger-derfilm.de
https://www.wolke-verlag.de//the-music-mind-experience

 

Mike e Kate Westbrook dialogano con Camila Oliveira a proposito di William Blake: A Music Celebration of William Blake: Mike and Kate Westbrook. E' uno speciale appuntamento proposto via Zoom dalla Blake Society, domani sera con inizio alle 20.00 (ora di Londra).

Mike and Kate Westbrook are the forerunners in the use of Blake’s poems set to music for theatre productions. This evening’s event is an online conversation between Mike Westbrook, Kate Westbrook and Camila Oliveira about the relevance of William Blake in contemporary culture and the challenges of setting Blake to music blending classical and popular music traditions.

https://blakesociety.org/product/westbrooks

 

Un'inedita versione norvegese del celebre Glad Day di Mike Westbrook, con i testi di William Blake adattati da Adrian Mitchell e Kate Westbrook, è stata proposta a inizio mese a Lillehammer da un ensemble di musicisti e cantanti - denominato per l'occasione William Blake/Mike Westbrook Ensemble - guidato da Knut Laasbye: 'Funny, exciting and a little scary'.

Musikken Lillehammer WIlliam Blake/Mike Westbrook Ensemble har med seg på turen er av den engelske komponisten og jazz-pianisten Mike Westbrook. Den ble bestilt av Thames TV i England i 1977 i forbindelse med 150-markeringen for William Blakes død i 1827. Musikken har paralleller til den mange kjenner fra "Les Miserables", men også til Kurt Weill, Ketil Bjørnstad og Tom Waits musikk. William Blakes tekster tar oss med inn London på 1700-tallet, der brutal industrialisering, fattigdom, håp, tro og tvil står i grelle kontraster til hverandre, i ei tid da liv, moral, uskyld og ny erfaring virkelig blir satt på harde prøver, i overgangen mellom opplysningstida og den industrielle revolusjonen. Blakes radikale holdninger, hans forfatterskap, billedkunst, filosofi og religions- og samfunnskritikk forteller oss mye om både William Blake og denne tida.

Både musikken og tekstene er utfordrende og spennende, og samarbeidet med komponist Mike Westbrook har vært til stor hjelp i ensemblets arbeid. Mike Westbrook har gitt ensemblet muligheten til å benytte verket "Glad Day" fritt og har oversendt notene til alle verkets arrangementer og gitt ensemblet fritt leide til å legge dem til rette slik ensemblet ønsker å framføre dem. Hele verket "Glad Day" i Mike Westbrook Ensembles innspilling finner du på f.eks. Spotify. Blakes billedkunst kan dere gjøre dere bedre kjent med på nettet på www.blakearchive.org. Mange av Blakes tekster er også integrert i hans billedkunst, noe du vil få se i programheftet.

Lillehammer WIlliam Blake/Mike Westbrook Ensemble består av Håvard Skaadel, piano/harmonium - Anders Fongen, bass - Knut Laasbye, sang/resitasjon/altsax/tilrettelegging - Dag Leonardsen, flügabone - Arne Schanche Andresen, tenorsax - Jan Andresen, altsax/sopransax - Sang: Sissel Sælleg, Elisabeth Slettnes, Anne Slettnes, Kjell Joar Rognstad og Aksel Mohn.

https://www.lillehammer.com/william-blake-mike-westbrook-ensemble

 

Un nesso tra Mike Westbrook e Mary Quant? C'è, e lo rammenta Paul Kelly in seguito alla recente scomparsa della geniale stilista: "I am sad to hear that Mary Quant has died. I discovered a fascinating trail to her in 2018 when I staged the Parry 100 Festival commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Bournemouth-born composer Sir Hubert Parry, best known for the much-loved ‘Jerusalem’. The Festival programme included Mike Westbrook’s Glad Day - The Westbrook Blake a work I have long-loved. The connection to Parry was tenuous and in the run-up to the performance I did some research to see if I could establish anything a little more credible than just Jerusalem with words by Blake and which is not even in Westbrook’s wonderful amalgam of Blake’s writing. Quite unexpectedly research turned up a glorious trail that led from Parry right to Mary Quant’s front door (as it were). Hubert Parry and his wife had two daughters and the younger of those, Gwendoline, married a celebrated Irish Baritone, Harry Plunkett Greene who had sung the title role in Parry’s opera 'Job', amongst other things. Harry and Gwendoline had three children: Richard, David, and Olivia who in the 1920s became part of that set known as the ‘Bright Young Things’. The three children periodically would go to New York to ‘have their trousers altered’ what that’s a euphemism for I’m not quite sure. There they frequented the Harlem Jazz Clubs and fell in love with jazz and both Richard and David themselves became jazz musicians and jazz composers, though of what calibre, I know not. Richard Plunkett Greene married Elizabeth and they had one son, Alexander, who in the 1950s met and married the now late lamented fashion designer Mary Quant. So, here we have fragments of family, history, story and connecting cultures across the decades and centuries. In my on-stage introduction to The Westbrook Blake - which by the way was terrific - I concluded by saying that both Quant and Westbrook had each created small cultural revolutions in that fervent period that was the 1960s. Health and happiness to Mike Westbrook and RIP Mary Quant."

https://www.facebook.com/paul.kelly.3110567
https://www.facebook.com/groups/westbrookgroup

 

Altri due piacevoli appuntamenti oggi e domani con Bob Drake via Twitch, alle 19.00. Con qualche novità: "Amidst the sprinkling of tunes from my various albums and so on, there are two brand-new songs about bells and bell-ringing I'll play for you. So if you have an hour or so to spare and looking for something to do, hope you can tune in! Always love to see you all there and play for you."

https://www.twitch.tv/bob_drake

 

Momenti di altro chitarrismo li suggerisce anche Christophe Petchanatz, che in questi stessi giorni ha tempo di dedicarsi ugualmente a organo e pianoforte (ed Erik Satie): su Bandcamp.

https://klimperei.bandcamp.com/18-guitar-pieces
https://klimperei.bandcamp.com/organ-pieces
https://klimperei.bandcamp.com/piano-tracks
https://klimperei.bandcamp.com/erik-satie

 

Momenti elettrizzanti offre anche il primo volume di Musica varia di Luciano Margorani, dove al già notevole assortimento chitarristico si accompagnano felicemente intuizioni e allusioni, citazioni e sottintesi, colpi di mano e scherzi di parole. Brani dal 2019 a oggi cui partecipano, da vicino o lontano, Dave Newhouse, Martin Archer e Carla Sanguineti tra gli altri.

https://lucianomargorani1.bandcamp.com/musica-varia-vol-1

Momenti straordinari sono anche quelli procurati da Roots Magic lungo l'avventuroso percorso intrapreso sulle tracce del jazz più insopprimibile e vitale degli anni Sessanta e Settanta e il blues più autentico delle origini. Nel verso di antiche indicazioni, ma con deviazioni proprie e originali: Long Old Road.

https://www.roots-magic.com
https://cleanfeed-records.com/long-old-road

 

Momenti irripetibili di una sera di novembre in Messico, dondolandosi in terrazzo con la chitarra (e qualche altro aggeggio) all'ora del tramonto, con in mente Morton Subotnick e Bob Ostertag: li rievoca Mike Cooper in Extraordinary Moments @ Hotel Palenque, per Room40.

https://room40.org/extraordinary-moments-hotel-palenque

 

Se per allietare la Pasquetta davvero si è inclini a qualche aforisma frippiano oggi si può optare per Discipline oppure Silence oppure Love, tre distinti mazzi di carte illustrate tratti dal Guitar Circle assai più pratici (e sexy) del tomo madre da portar con sé in viaggio o al picnic.

https://robertfripp.mymerch.studio/aphorisms-decks
https://burningshed.com/robert-fripp_the-guitar-circle_book

 

Caccia alle uova su Bandcamp. E chi cerca, trova...

 

Lo straordinario album Amarcord Nino Rota (Hannibal, 1981) viene rievocato questa sera a New York presso il Roulette a tre anni esatti dalla scomparsa del suo geniale ideatore, il compianto Hal Willner (1956-2020).

Hal Willner, former Roulette board member and Saturday Night Live music staffer, was a music producer who knew something about embracing the joy of experimentation, pushing boundaries, and expanding singular ideas into large-scale productions. Released in 1981, Amarcord Nino Rota was Willner’s first “concept album”. The producer invited an eclectic assortment of musicians - including Carla Bley, Jaki Byard, Bill Frisell, Chris Stein and Debbie Harry, Steve Lacy and Wynton Marsalis - to take a variety of approaches to the composer Nino Rota’s music for the films of Federico Fellini. In doing so, Willner had established the template for his entire aesthetic in one fell Felliniesque swoop: the record as sonic cinema. To celebrate Hal and pay tribute to the creative community that he fostered throughout his life and career, an ensemble of 19 musicians, including Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson, Steven Bernstein, Teddy Thompson and Curtis Stewart, will bring these arrangements to life. 

https://roulette.org/hal-willners-amarcord-nino-rota

 

Nell'anno dei suoi settanta, che si annuncia pieno zeppo di occasioni per omaggi e festeggiamenti, John Zorn spende qualche rara e sincera parola per autorappresentarsi. Lo fa dalle note di copertina di Incerto: 

"My life has been marked by vigorous defiance and a steadfast refusal to compromise - a life of fierce independence, of swimming upstream, always against the grain. The rebellion began at home against my parents, continued in school against my teachers and professors, and then broadened in my musical life against critics, academics, promoters, label executives, club owners, grant panels - any authority figure or gatekeeper that attempted by physical means, or the power of their will, to diminish my vision, to bend me to conform, to strip me of my freedom, or to stray me from my chosen path. But no words or actions will ever stop me from doing what I believe in and rather than distracting me from my sense of purpose, the challenges encountered throughout my life have, instead, inspired - resulting in a deepening of my convictions, a strengthening of my will, and an expansion of my vision and poetics. In my world challenges have always been opportunities.

My ability to say "fuck you" was acquired early, and has angered and confused many. It has been said that through the years I have managed to alienate almost everyone that could have "helped" me. The deeper truth is that their concept of "help" has often had strings attached - strings that threatened my sense of freedom. And the most important thing for an artist is freedom. One profound truth about freedom is that it is not a gift - it must be fought for every day of your life.

My hard-earned reputation for irascibility has helped me keep the posers, floaters, brokers, and users at bay. It has also enabled me to forge everlasting bonds with like-minded artists who enthusiastically embraced uncompromising integrity and dedication to a unique artistic vision, often in the face of outright hostility, antagonism, or worse - a community of outsiders that are on the outside looking OUT. Milford Graves, Lou Reed, Terry Riley, Jack Smith, Meredith Monk, Richard Foreman, Charles Wuorinen, Harry Smith, Derek Bailey, Lee Konitz are a few of the free spirits that have aided me in developing a true sense of inner worth. Exemplars of artistic acomplishment and inner strength, who have often manifested impatience with the ignorant and closed-minded, these artists, along with many others, have, by example, inspired me to work hard - and to put my Art first and foremost. They have loved me for who I am, for what I do, for my strong work ethic, rugged individualism, and for my inborn ability to resist the powerful and toxic societal pressures to conform. They started as major influences, eventually became friends, and will always remain amongst my heroes, along with Blake, Einstein, Artaud, Van Gogh, Varese, Rimbaud, Brando, and others."

http://john-zorn.blogspot.com

 

Altro classicissimo che torna alla ribalta in questi giorni è Music for 18 Musicians di Steve Reich, nella nuova interpretazione - pronta per essere data alle stampe - che lo specialista Colin Currie e il suo gruppo, con gli immancabili Synergy Vocals, hanno realizzato lo scorso novembre nei 'mitici' Abbey Road Studios londinesi. Un'anticipazione è su YT.

One of Steve Reich’s most famous and enduring works, Music for 18 Musicians first caught the attention of percussionist Colin Currie in the 1980s. Over the years that followed, Currie dutifully built his library of Reich scores and recordings, but it was this work in particular that truly captured his imagination, holding him in its epic grasp ever since. Of Reich’s comprehensive catalogue, it is this warm and resonant composition that signifies a major breakthrough in the sphere of minimalist music. “The perfect musical beehive” is how Currie describes performing the piece - and it’s easy to see why, with each musician purposefully teasing the material along, playing their own brilliantly contained part, yet contributing to something greater that hums with life. Following the success of his previous Steve Reich albums, Steve Reich: Drumming (2018) and Colin Currie & Steve Reich Live at Fondation Louis Vuitton (2019), Currie is joined on this album by his closest musical colleagues and companions, the Colin Currie Group and Synergy Vocals, who recorded the work at London’s Abbey Road Studios in November 2022. Notably, this is the first iteration of Music for 18 Musicians to be made available in spatial audio.

https://stevereich.com
https://www.colincurriegroup.com

 

Una specialissima esecuzione del classico-dei-classici di Terry Riley, In C, è stata realizzata e trasmessa in tempo reale lo scorso 6 febbraio da due diversi ensemble di musicisti e studenti presso due diverse sedi della Juilliard School a più di undicimila chilometri di distanza, una a New York e una a Tianjin. Con tanto di coreografia preregistrata e ambientazione scenica interattiva, oltre a mille accorgimenti tecnologici atti a garantire un'effettiva sincronizzazione: il risultato lo si rivede su YT.

https://www.juilliard.edu/sites/files/2.6_in_c_1.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/In-C

 

Left Handed Dream
(Ryuichi Sakamoto, 1952-2023)

 

Promotrici di alcune delle più importanti iniziative individuali e collettive sulla scena musicale innovatrice a Montréal degli ultimi decenni, Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse e Danielle Palardy Roger ricevono oggi uno speciale omaggio dai numerosi musicisti che gravitano attorno all'Ensemble SuperMusique, con nuove interpretazioni di loro brani risalenti all'epoca di Wondeur Brass, Les Poules e Justine, tra canzone, composizione e improvvisazione: Musiques Émeraude.

Scrive Danielle: "L’album Musiques Émeraude est dérivé d’un projet réalisé dans le cadre du 40e anniversaire de Productions SuperMusique. Les pièces qui le constituent sont extraites de 8 vidéos créées en hommage aux fondatrices Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse et Danielle Palardy Roger. On y entend des arrangements de pièces composées par celles-ci entre 1985 et 2010. Magali Babin, Isaiah Ceccarelli, Lori Freedman, Émilie Girard-Charest, Pierre-Yves Martel, Terri Hron, Vergil Sharkya’ et Scott Thomson ont ainsi rénové des chansons ou des musiques instrumentales jouées par Wondeur Brass, Les Poules, Justine ou diverses autres formations. Leurs propositions amènent avec force 8 versions inédites et transformées de pièces de répertoire. L’interprétation de ces musiques a impliqué 40 instrumentistes gravitant autour de l’Ensemble SuperMusique. Regroupés en 8 petits groupes de 3 à 8 instrumentistes, ces formations aux instrumentations variées sont emblématiques de la pratique de la musique actuelle et improvisée."

https://ensemblesupermusique.bandcamp.com/musiques-emeraude

 

Ana da Silva e Gina Birch, due delle celebri Raincoats, affidano a WePresent un loro manifesto con dieci regole di vita. Keep moving. Keep open. Keep aware...

http://theraincoats.net
https://tinyurl.com/the-raincoats

Think of Me with Kindness
(Ray Shulman, 1949-2023)