Quando nel 2004 Nick White scattò una foto all'esterno del Vortex, ritraendo molti dei suoi musicisti più affezionati e cooperativi, stavano per compiersi gli ultimi giorni del celebre club londinese presso l'amata sede in Church Street a Stoke Newington. Vi avrebbe fatto seguito un anno di dolorosa inattività, ma poi il Vortex riaprì più in forze che mai in Gillett Square a Dalston, dove tuttora risiede. A vent'anni di distanza è giunto il momento di rinnovare quello scatto fotografico, dice Oliver Weindling, direttore assieme a Colin Daly, Jeremy Hill e Alex McGuire di uno dei luoghi sociali e culturali via via divenuto - con immutati, e anzi accresciuti, meriti sulla scena musicale internazionale - tra i più attivi e vivaci dell'intera area. L'invito a tutti i musicisti disponibili è per questo pomeriggio, alle 16.30.

The Vortex Jazz Club is one of the UK’s premier jazz venues, programming almost 400 performances a year in an intimate space. We were winner of the Live Jazz Award category at the 2013 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. As a volunteer-led jazz club in North London, Dalston, we have been given the accolade of being one of the world’s best, and have even been singled out by the prestigious Downbeat magazine as one the top 150 jazz venues in the world. Most of the concerts are programmed by the club itself, exercising a judicious balance between quality and accessibility. This contrasts us with other venues, which just act as places for various outside promoters to use.

For years, the club has been serving as a platform for jazz, improvised and experimental music. Our mission is to support ‘jazz’ in some of its various forms, bringing the music to a wider audience while nurturing new and emerging talent through innovative programming that recognises the continuity as well as development of the art form. It is our wish to promote the Vortex as a place where stimulating dialogue, creative and entertaining musical performances meet, and demonstrate the value of small independent cultural organizations; volunteer-led; working collaboratively while making an important contribution to the cultural life of the local area and its economy.

https://www.vortexjazz.co.uk
https://www.vortexjazz.co.uk/history-of-the-vortex
https://www.vortexjazz.co.uk/a-great-day-in-dalston

 

Molti già conoscono il pianista e compositore Matthew Bourne per i suoi lavori nel campo del cinema, delle arti visive, dell'elettronica e per le performance di solo pianoforte - avendone tra l'altro apprezzato il talento in varie occasioni dal vivo a fianco di Keith Tippett e di Mike Westbrook - e sono al corrente anche del suo singolare approccio al mondo di strumenti in disuso e rari, rovinati o malfunzionanti. Qualche ulteriore meraviglia la riserba l'ascolto del nuovo album per Discus Music, Harpsichords, dove Bourne si cimenta nell'assalto (anche fisico, e definitivo) a tre decrepiti clavicembali del conservatorio di Leeds assieme a Glen Leach e Nike Ticciati, con successiva trasposizione tecnologica in dialogo con i due Nightporters, Mark Slater e Adam Martin.

"Three harpsichords in various states of disrepair were kindly offered to me by Leeds Conservatoire - spiega Bourne - I accepted, and a memorandum of understanding was swiftly drawn up. The offer was made under the condition that I might make some music from them, given my penchant for infirm instruments, and their conventional worthlessness to anyone wishing to use them for their intended purpose. There seemed to be an auspiciousness surrounding these harpsichords, the stories they might reveal, and more importantly, the promise of setting them alight in some sort of sacrificial bonfire after their usefulness had expired. In making this music, no one could have anticipated just how generously these instruments would surrender, or the extent to which they were capable of generating music of such singularity and belligerence."

https://www.matthewbourne.com

 

E' oggi il giorno della pubblicazione in via ufficiale dello splendido album di esordio della Band of Bands di Mike Westbrook, posticipata di qualche settimana rispetto alle previsioni iniziali ma ricompensata ora con un piccolo premio - anzi, due - per chi ha atteso fin qui: i testi dei brani in scaletta, non pubblicati nell'edizione in cd, e un brano aggiuntivo disponibile solo in download (Illusions, di Friedrich Hollaender). Con Mike ci sono Kate, Chris Biscoe, Pete Whyman, Karen Street, Marcus Vergette e Coach York. Le registrazioni sono state effettuate dal vivo il 25 novembre 2023 all'Arts Centre di Ashburton, nel Devon (Regno Unito): è lo stesso luogo da dove ieri sera è stato trasmesso in diretta streaming l'ultimo concerto di stagione del quartetto Groove Study Live di Yumi Hara con Pierre Chevalier, Toshiaki Sudoh e Chris Cutler.

"No one could say that the great English composer and bandleader Mike Westbrook has settled into pipe-and-slippers mode for his late career. Although he was 87 when this was recorded and is 88 now, his latest ensemble Band of Bands is a fiercely Westbrookian outfit that shares the same passionate commitment and many of the same gifted personnel as his prolific musical past. As an arranger, he also gets an unfeasibly brassy big band sound from a smallish six piece instrumental line-up that swings like the clappers all the way.The combination of Karen Street’s accordion with the twin alto-doubling-soprano saxes of Chris Biscoe and Pete Whyman is a masterstroke of casting. Each of them has been with the master for thirty years plus - almost fifty in Biscoe’s case, evidently - but their of necessity exposed front-line is wickedly effective, coaxing a bold and gloriously bluesy sound from relatively slender means. Street is particularly essential at conjuring up a thick, horn-chorus feel that somehow creates the illusion that there’s a trumpet in the line-up hidden somewhere, and maybe a trombone too. The rhythm team of Marcus Vergette on bass and Coach York on drums enhances the intensity of the front-line by grounding the gospelly wails and bluesy ornaments of Whyman and Biscoe with emphatic, rock solid time and driving momentum." (Phil Johnson)

https://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk/bob-cd
https://mikewestbrook.bandcamp.com/mike-westbrook-band-of-bands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjx_c_773mI

 

Tornano disponibili tramite Bandcamp due rarità d'epoca dal catalogo del prestigioso Delta Saxophone Quartet: una composizione di Geert van Keulen, Kwartet, registrata nel 1996 quando in formazione c'erano Stephen Cottrell, Pete Whyman, Pete Seago e Chris Caldwell, e l'intero album Formosa, registrato nel 2003 tra non poche difficoltà - era il tempo della prima pandemia di Sars-Cov-1 - quando in formazione con Caldwell e Whyman c'erano Christian Forshaw e Gareth Brady. I brani sono di Karl Jenkins, Michael Torke, cinque movimenti dello splendido Mishima di Philip Glass e un paio di arrangiamenti originali di brani della tradizione bulgara.

https://www.deltasax.com

 

Su quali materiali autentici - o personali fantasie - abbia invece deciso di lavorare María Trénor per realizzare il 'suo' Rock Bottom lo si capirà presto: da tempo ne circolano brevi anticipazioni, comunicati e trailer, ora è stato presentato integralmente al Festival internazionale del film d'animazione di Annecy (Francia).

Inspirada en la música y la vida de Robert Wyatt, Rock Bottom es una historia de amor autodestructivo entre Bob y Alif, una joven pareja de artistas inmersos en la vorágine creativa y rompedora de la cultura hippy de principios de los 70. Las drogas convertirán un verano apasionado en pesadilla en un viaje por los temas de la música Wyatt: la euforia y la angustia de la creación artística, la fascinación inconsciente por las drogas, el desencanto por la rutina y la degradación física y mental.

https://youtu.be/o8CcZNYVidE
https://www.loco-films.com/presskit
https://programme.annecyfestival.com

 

Su quali materiali autentici abbiano potuto studiare i fortunati allievi di Guillaume Gilles all'Université Paris 8 di Saint-Denis (Francia) iscritti al suo seminario Play It Again, basato quest'anno sull'album Rock Bottom di Robert Wyatt e presentato in concerto a fine corso un paio di settimane fa, lo documenta il docente stesso, pubblicandone le tracce in una dispensa (Rock Bottom Songbook) prontamente resa disponibile da Jean-Paul Marillier presso l'impagabile Une discographie de Robert Wyatt.

L’atelier Play It Again, constitué d’étudiant·es de master du département musique, reprend chaque année un album phare de la culture pop. Cette année, l’atelier Play It Again met à l’honneur l’album Rock Bottom, du musicien anglais Robert Wyatt. Sorti en 1974, peu après un grave accident qui lui coûtera l’usage de ses jambes, ce deuxième album solo poétique et tempétueux annonce la carrière de songwriter de l’ancien batteur du groupe Soft Machine. Inspiré par son histoire d’amour avec Alfreda Benge et par un séjour à Venise durant sa convalescence, Robert Wyatt s’écarte du jazz rock alors en vogue pour une écriture plus personnelle, dans laquelle chansons et improvisations s’entremêlent dans un paysage sonore inspiré des fonds marins. Entouré d’amis musiciens prestigieux qui vont contribuer aux six plages que constituent Rock Bottom, l’album produit par Nick Mason (claviériste de Pink Floyd) s’impose dès sa sortie comme une œuvre singulière. Ni pop, ni jazz, ni folk, ni expérimental, Rock Bottom s’affranchit des genres pour une expressivité personnelle et émouvante. C’est avec cette approche décloisonnée que le collectif Play It Again a abordé sa réinterprétation de Rock Bottom, un travail à la fois attaché à faire vivre les mélodies des chansons de Rock Bottom, mais également à jouer de la liberté que cet album continue d’inspirer aujourd’hui.

Guillaume Gilles, Eliot Allegrini, Augustin Lavault, Romain Rongier, Mathias Rivera De Hoyos, Garance Schirmann, Vivien Sladic.

https://www.univ-paris8.fr/Rock-Bottom

Université Paris 8
UFR Arts, Philosophie, Esthétique
2 rue de la liberté
93526 Saint-Denis
France

 

Ben più ampia possibilità, pur se non incondizionata, ha avuto Amjad Doumani per offrire un ritratto di Robert Wyatt agli ascoltatori della sua trasmissione Deep Mix Music & More presso la statunitense WAKT We Act Radio a Toledo, in Ohio: una lunga diretta il 15 giugno (oltre quattro ore) e un'altra il 22 (altre quattro ore) per indagare gruppi storici, album da titolare, partecipazioni, collaborazioni, versioni, dediche e omaggi. E molto ancora ci sarebbe...

https://toledoradio.org
https://www.mixcloud.com/Deep_Mix_Music_and_More

 

Dieci brani in cinquanta minuti per tessere le lodi di Wyatt autore e interprete: Sea Song, Dedicated to You But You Weren’t Listening, O Caroline, Signed Curtain, Memories, Shipbuilding, At Last I Am Free, Caimanera, The Age of Self e Insensatez. Li sceglie Michka Assayas per un episodio di Very Good Trip su Radio France: Éloge de Robert Wyatt.

https://www.radiofrance.fr/very-good-trip

 

Non è a Hovikodden 1971 che vorrà rivolgersi oggi chi segue strettamente il calendario lunare: lì Moon in June non si trova. Però, quanto altro!

Soft Machine’s two concerts at the Henie-Onstad Art Center near Oslo, Norway, on February 27 and 28, 1971 were special in several respects. The circumstances, of course, were unusual... in a museum space, as part of an art exhibition by the Boyle Family, and Mark Boyle’s films were projected during the performances. But more significantly, both shows were recorded, and superbly at that, providing a rare glimpse into how, at this stage in the band’s existence, the music could change significantly from one night to the next, even when the setting didn’t.

Mark Boyle, with his partner Joan Hills and their Sensual Laboratory light-show, had accompanied Soft Machine on many of theirs gigs in 1967-68, initially in the London underground clubs, then abroad in Europe and, most memorably, in North America on a tour supporting the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Since parting ways in March 1968, there had been a couple of reunions of which this was the next to last. Soft Machine likely owed the opportunity to perform in Norway to their association and friendship with Boyle, as they were still relatively unknown in the country. A small but dedicated contingent of local Soft Machine enthusiasts did exist, though, and indeed demand for the Saturday concert was sufficient for a second one to be added on the Sunday.

In the audience for both concerts was fan Hans Voigt: "I’d discovered Volume Two about a year before. It was love at first listen! Within a short time I also acquired Volume One and Third. I was totally hooked! When I heard rumors that they were coming to Norway, I couldn’t wait. The concerts gave me almost all I wanted - I say ‘almost’ because they didn’t play Moon in June, and Robert no longer sang much at that point. Meeting the band before and after the concerts, I got the impression that although the performances were fantastic, the atmosphere within the band wasn’t the best. Later that year, Robert left the band..."

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/hovikodden-1971

 

Torna dal vivo il progetto Groove Study di Yumi Hara con tre concerti ravvicinati in Germania e Regno Unito: oggi a Schiphorst per l'inaugurazione del rinnovato/ridimensionato Avantgarde Festival di Jean-herve Peron (e compagnia bella), il 24 a Bonn per un nuovo episodio della Dissonant Series dell'inarrestabile In Situ Art Society - trasmesso come sempre in live streaming - e il 27 all'Arts Centre di Ashburton, Devon, con una speciale estensione strumentale offerta dall'organo a canne presente in sede: in quartetto con Yumi ci sono Pierre Chevalier, Toshiaki Sudoh e Chris Cutler.

https://x.com/YumiHaraMusic
https://midsummer-specials.com
https://kreuzung-helena.de
https://ashburtonarts.org.uk

 

Quattro giorni di gran festa a conclusione di un lungo ciclo di celebrazioni per i cinquant'anni di attività dell'illustrissimo Kronos Quartet: quattro distinti programmi di musiche ed eventi d'eccezione da domani presso il Miner Auditorium del San Francisco Jazz Center, con la partecipazione di ospiti e amici da tutto il mondo e l'annunciato addio di due suoi storici componenti, John Sherba e Hank Dutt. Congratulazioni!

'It is a dream come true to have been involved in the birth of so many important compositions, to have experienced all the major halls and their audiences, to have performed with an astonishing array of guest artists, to have worked with our amazing manager, Janet Cowperthwaite, our staff, and our KPAA board, to have made many recordings, and most importantly, to have been surrounded by the incredible Kronos players, past and present,' said violinist Sherba. 'I can’t believe I am approaching 70! I have decided, with a lot of contemplation, to free up my calendar, retire from Kronos, spend more time with my family, and spontaneously pursue my many other passions.'

'I cannot imagine a career more artistically rewarding than the past 47 years I have spent with the Kronos Quartet,' said violist Dutt. 'Every day has been an adventure with a steady stream of collaborations with new composers, new musicians, and old friends. But for every thing there is a season. Having celebrated Kronos’ 50th anniversary, I feel now is the moment for me to step back and let a violist from the next generation further the Kronos tradition. I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life in music.'

'Words can hardly express the depth of gratitude and appreciation I feel for the immense energy, dedication, and single-minded devotion Hank and John have given Kronos every day during all of these years,' said Harrington. 'Their expertise, good cheer and friendship have been at the heart of all of our work. I wish them everything good in their onward journeys. And now Paul and I happily welcome Gabriela Díaz and Ayane Kozasa to the Kronos family! We are inspired and thrilled by the imagination, skill, and bold ideas that they will bring to the future work of Kronos. This next chapter will be full of big adventures!'

https://kronosquartet.org/kronos-festival-2024

 

Congratulazioni al Cafe Oto a Londra e al KM28 a Berlino per l'importante riconoscimento ottenuto dall'Instant Award in Improvised Music di quest'anno, che di entrambi ha voluto lodare l'esempio e premiare il continuo impegno. Bravissimi!

Underwritten by an anonymous patron and musical devotee, the 2024 Instant Award in Improvised Music is presented for the very first time to two outstanding venues. Both are outstanding beacons of dedicated programming, excelling in excepional Imorovised and other Musics. The venues will reveice an unrestricted award of $50,000 each. Previous Instant Award recipients are Susan Alcorn, Raymond Boni, Peter Brötzmann, John Edwards, Satoko Fujii, Milford Graves, Mats Gustafsson, Okkyung Lee, Arto Lindsay, Paul Lytton, Joe McPhee, Ikue Mori, Sam Newsome, Evan Parker, Alexander von Schlippenbach, LaDonna Smith, Henry Threadgill, Nate Wooley, Tristan Honsinger, Tobias Delius, and Christian Lillinger.

2024 recipients are Cafe OTO, London, and KM28, Berlin. "The jazz club, with its dim lighting and closely packed tables, looms large in our collective imagination." As Giovanni Russonello has stated in the New York Times: "But the real blood-pumping moments - the shows where you can sense that other musicians are in the room listening for new tricks, and it feels like the script is still being written onstage - have been happening most often in venues that don’t look like typical jazz clubs. They’re spaces where jazz bleeds outward, and converses with a less regimented audience." Venues today are often times driven by non-for-profit organisation that operate from tiny desks with big hearts. Total devotion, no work-life-balance, and great great music year in and year out. These venues are the heartbeat of the ever-changing precarious greatness of the contemporary music scene. They make the things happen that push the envelope and the music inch by inch into the present of the future. And they are loved by musicians and audience alike. For all the best reasons. We think Cafe OTO and KM28 are two of the best of these and the Instant Award in Improvised Music wants to acknowledge and support these exemplary structures wholeheartedly.

Cafe OTO
18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston
London E8 3DL
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk

KM28
Karl-Marx-Str. 28
12043 Berlin
https://www.km28.de

 

Chi è a Londra ed è a passeggio stasera a Soho provi a vedere se trova un posto da Foyles per la presentazione ufficiale del nuovo bel libro di Jon Savage The Secret Public-How LGBTQ Performers Shaped Popular Culture (Faber, 2024), importante ricostruzione di fatti individuali e collettivi che nel mondo della cultura, del cinema e della musica pop, rock e disco hanno contribuito a dar forza, consapevolezza, valore estetico e risonanza globale ad alcune istanze delle comunità gay, lesbica, queer e transgender in anni cruciali di lotta ed emancipazione contro tabù, stereotipi e discriminazioni. L'autore ha scelto il periodo dalla metà degli anni Cinquanta fino alla vigilia della tragica diffusione dell'Aids a fine anni Settanta: ne parlerà in dettaglio con il pubblico (e con Tom Robinson).

We are delighted to welcome Jon Savage - acclaimed author of England's Dreaming - to Foyles for the special London launch for The Secret Public-How LGBTQ Performers Shaped Popular Culture (1955-1979) which chronicles the era-defining shifts in music and entertainment history that forged a path for the LGBTQ+ movement. Jon will be talking with Tom Robinson, the pair will be discussing this new book and answering audience questions, followed by a signing. The Secret Public provides an electrifying look at key moments in music and entertainment history between 1955 and 1979, which helped move gay culture from the margins to the mainstream and changed the face of pop forever - from the ambiguous sexuality of stars such as Little Richard in the 1950s through to David Bowie, glam rock and Sylvester's You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real). The Secret Public is a searching examination of the fortitude and resilience of the gay community through the lens of popular music and culture; it reflects on the freedom found in divergence from the norm and reminds us of the need to be vigilant against those seeking to roll back the rights of marginalised groups. As to be expected from Jon - a cultural historian nonpareil - this book is timely and essential.

https://www.faber.co.uk/the-secret-public

 

Circola una sua immagine leggermente fuorviante nei panni di Jonathan Cow - accompagnata da immancabile autoironia ('New career getting off to a good start') - ma lo Scrittore in verità è attesissimo a novembre con la sua nuova creazione letteraria, The Proof of My Innocence. Ancora per Viking Penguin: “It’s now 30 years since Penguin signed up my novel What a Carve Up! I’m thrilled that our relationship has endured so long and has now entered a dynamic new phase with Isabel Wall as my editor. I’m also grateful to the readers who’ve stayed loyal to me over so many years, and hope that they enjoy this latest blend of politics, comedy and murder mystery.” 

https://linktr.ee/coelinks
https://www.penguin.co.uk/the-proof-of-my-innocence

 

In passato ha esposto con fervore le sue preferenze musicali e letterarie, con attenzione soprattutto ai sommi poeti beat americani, ma è con gli autobiografici The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness (Picador, 2017) e On Agoraphobia (Picador, 2022) che Graham Caveney ha narrato in maniera acuta e drammatica - e con linguaggio sempre antiretorico - le passioni, gli abusi e le inquietudini di una vita intera. Ora, prima che la malattia prenda del tutto il sopravvento, c'è appena il tempo per un terzo capitolo, lucidissimo e doloroso come i due precedenti, stemperato soltanto dall'inedita serenità offerta dalla nuova compagna di vita e dall'arcana vicinanza, fisica e simbolica, di alcuni cigni sull'acqua: The Body in the Library (Peninsula Press, 2024). Avverte un amico di lunghissima data, Jonathan Coe: "A book that will take hold of your heart and never let go".

When Graham Caveney was a child the word ‘cancer’ was unspeakable, only uttered in jokes told by people too frightened to say the word in any other context. Now the boy with perpetual nervousness is a fifty-something man, and the oncologist in front of him is saying words evacuated of all meaning: Inoperable. Incurable. In this startling and deeply moving memoir from one of the great chroniclers of British working-class life, Graham Caveney charts a year of disease from diagnosis to past ‘original sell-by-date’. Shot through with Northerness, tenderness, and Caveney’s trademark humour, The Body in the Library reflects on an unfinished lifetime filled with books and with love.

https://www.grahamcaveney.com
https://peninsulapress.co.uk/the-body-in-the-library

 

Fatti, notizie, eventi di rilievo e curiosità nel mondo della pop music richiamati per ciascun giorno dell'anno dall'impareggiabile Justin Lewis, grande esperto di anniversari, ricorrenze, effemeridi e calendari. 'A brilliant musical almanac, compiled by an engaging writer whose musical knowledge is not just detailed but wide-ranging and generous', secondo Jonathan Coe: Don't Stop the Music, ora in edizione tascabile per Elliott & Thompson.

With entries for every day of the year, ranging from mini-essays to pithy and engaging sentences, Don’t Stop the Music is a novel musical companion – a way of charting your year through the major events and tiny incidents in the lives and careers of pop stars and recording artists, spanning 130 years of unmissable musical milestones from 1894 to the present day. Whether it be when pop became newsworthy; when future stars attended notable gigs; when that K-Pop act issued their first single; or when Elvis Presley found himself on TV singing ‘Hound Dog’ to a basset hound, there are surprising and enlightening events from the history of popular music for every single day of the year. And esteemed music writer Justin Lewis has compiled them all for you, informatively and divertingly.

https://eandtbooks.com/dont-stop-the-music
https://wearecult.rocks/justin-lewis-talks
https://www.facebook.com/justin.lewis.944
https://x.com/WhenIsBirths
https://firstlastanything.squarespace.com

 

Anche l'atteso nuovo libro fotografico di Žiga Koritnik dal titolo Brötzmann, In My Focus è pressoché pronto, serve solo un piccolo aiuto: su Kickstarter.

"May this upcoming photo album serve as just one document of Peter’s exceptional artistic creation. I wish I could have followed his work much earlier. I am genuinely grateful for having heard so many of his incredible concerts, seen his art firsthand, had the opportunity to know him, be occasionally near him, and learn so much from him. And that he allowed me to fulfil my mission - photographing."

http://zigakoritnikphotography.com
https://www.kickstarter.com/brotzmann-in-my-focus

 

Dopo i tre preziosi dvd (e relativi materiali aggiuntivi) proposti gli anni scorsi nella trilogia Romantic Warriors, Adele Schmidt e José Zegarra Holder sono ora in dirittura d'arrivo per concludere un'altra loro importante trilogia, quella dedicata ai gruppi più innovativi del rock tedesco degli anni Settanta. Il terzo e ultimo volume è pressoché pronto, serve solo un piccolo aiuto: su IndieGoGo.

"We are Adele Schmidt and José Zegarra Holder, the directors and executive producers behind the Romantic Warriors-A Progressive Music Saga documentary series. We're excited to share that we are nearing the completion of Krautrock 3, the third installment in our 'Krautrock Trilogy' and the sixth film in our series. This documentary explores the zeitgeist, evolution, and ongoing impact of pioneering German Krautrock bands from Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich, with a special emphasis on the Berlin School of Music. We are excited to announce that we have a rough cut of our film, running approximately two hours. Our planned release is set for September 2024, but we need your support to make it happen. We're reaching out to our community to contribute to our crowdfunding campaign and help us reach our goal."

https://www.progdocs.com
https://www.indiegogo.com/krautrock-3

 

Le composizioni di Phil Miller (1949-2017) sono ora pubblicate al completo nella sezione Opus del sito The Legacy dedicato al compianto chitarrista, con tanto di partiture, differenti versioni in ordine cronologico, documenti audio e video e tutorial di primissima mano per studenti, studiosi e curiosi. Lo annuncia oggi Kyle, con comprensibile soddisfazione: "A few stragglers aside, we are happy to announce that, pretty much, all of the original scores, scanned and digitised by Herm are now available in PDF format on our Opus page." Grazie Miller!

https://philmillerthelegacy.com/opus

 

Se mai dovessero essere recuperati i nastri originali del concerto presso il glorioso Rainbow Theatre londinese la sera della sua annunciata - ma non definitiva - chiusura, il 16 marzo 1975, si potrebbe godere per intero dell'esibizione degli Hatfield and the North, solo in minima parte documentata nell'album ufficiale che ne uscì subito dopo per Chrysalis (Over The Rainbow-The Last Concert, Live!, 1975). Prova a ricostruirne la scaletta Richard Sinclair, mettendo insieme come può spezzoni da varie fonti ahimè poco o per nulla ascoltabili. Ma pazienza: Somehow Over The Rainbow.

https://richardsinclairsongs.bandcamp.com/somehow-over-the-rainbow

Ha mantenuto lo storico acronimo - anche se ora lo si intende per Beautiful Young Generation, senza il riferimento originale ai cognomi dei suoi tre fondatori, Fernand Boruso, Jean-Luc Young e Jean Georgakarakos - e come logo, inconfondibile, il piccolo buddha sorridente tanto caro a uno di loro: a mezzo secolo di distanza la francese BYG rivive oggi tramite Charly Records, creazione di Young, con una serie di riedizioni deluxe in cd e vinile degli importanti album prodotti a raffica tra la fine degli anni Sessanta e i primissimi Settanta. Finora è toccato ad Archie Shepp, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Don Cherry, Sun Ra, Aynsley Dunbar, Musica Elettronica Viva, Areski con Brigitte Fontaine, anche Daevid Allen e Gong: dopo Magick Brother e Banana Moon ora è il turno di Camembert Electrique.

Charly begins the first major reissue campaign of legendary French independent record label BYG. Definitive editions of original BYG albums reissued as deluxe LPs edition on 180-gram vinyl and expanded CDs in deluxe gatefold digi-sleeves. Newly remastered by Nick Robbins from recently discovered original BYG tapes. Each format comes with in-depth sleeve notes by authors and music journalists Kevin Le Gendre and John Masouri in fully illustrated booklets and LP inserts.

https://www.bygrecords.com
https://bygrecords.bandcamp.com/camembert-electrique

 

Torna finalmente a farsi vivo David Thomas, dopo varie vicende personali e importanti novità, rassicurando amici e sostenitori che il lavoro al nuovo album dei Pere Ubu prosegue, così come proseguono le trasmissioni di suoi materiali video - perlopiù inediti, come il Mirrorman di pochi giorni fa -via DPK TV. E segnala due documenti resi pubblici or ora presso Bandcamp: Greenland (David Thomas and foreigners, 1999) e Shockheaded Peter (David Thomas and two pale boys, 2002).

http://www.ubuprojex.com
https://pereubu.bandcamp.com/greenland
­https://pereubu.bandcamp.com/shockheaded-peter

 

In omaggio a Frank Crijns (1960-2024) l'olandese Concertzender ha in programma a metà luglio quattro speciali appuntamenti nella serie Contemporary Music Nights per approfondire la conoscenza delle musiche del compianto chitarrista e compositore, scomparso appena pochi giorni fa. Nel frattempo ha tratto dagli archivi una selezione di suoi brani eseguiti dal vivo da varie formazioni tra il 1996 e il 2012: Blast naturalmente, Aart Strootman, Mr. Probe, il duo Dubbeldue, l'Amsterdam Bridge Ensemble e il Quasar Saxophone Quartet.

It was with great sadness that we heard that Frank Crijns, the idiosyncratic Tilburg guitarist and composer, passed away on May 27. Frank played in a number of his own ensembles such as Blast and Betonfraktion, but above all he was a special composer who moved across the entire spectrum of contemporary music. The Concertzender has recorded a lot of his music in the past and offered a selection of these recordings in an extra broadcast of Concertzender Live on June 3. A series of four Contemporary Music Nights will start on July 17 in which all the known work by Frank and his ensembles will be broadcast. The Concertzender wishes Frank’s family and friends strength in this sad time.

https://www.concertzender.nl/concertzender_live

 

E sempre in tema di ricorrenze e festeggiamenti, si è celebrato l'altro ieri ad Amsterdam un doppio omaggio a Misha Mengelberg e Louis Andriessen - accomunati non solo da genialità e gran talento, ma anche dal giorno di compleanno pressoché identico - trasmesso in live streaming da Bimhuis TV e ora conservato su YT: "We celebrate the the birthdays and the enduring legacies of two titans of contemporary music: Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 - 3 March 2017) and Louis Andriessen (6 June 1939 - 1 July 2021). Both were respected composers and improvisers whose contributions have shaped not just the Dutch soundscape but echoed across the world. They were also good mates and occasional collaborators. Expect an evening of innovation and friendship, featuring an array of performances by kindred spirits."

http://www.icporchestra.com/misha
www.louisandriessen.com
https://youtu.be/vz2m5h1zB14

 

Il nuovo direttore artistico sarà Matt Mehlan e lavorerà in coppia con Jamie Burns, direttore esecutivo: ma il cambio della guardia alla testa del Roulette a New York non avverrà prima di aver celebrato come conviene i 45 (!) anni di guida da parte del suo fondatore - inizialmente con David Weinstein, Dan Senn e Laurie Szujewska - e infaticabile artefice, il trombonista e compositore James S. Staley. Oggi gran festa di gala in suo onore, con attestati di stima e riconoscenza da parte di tutti: tra i musicisti presenti ci saranno sicuramente John Zorn, Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori, Yuka Honda, Nels Cline e Henry Threadgill, amici e compagni di innumerevoli avventure. Grazie Jim!

Jim Staley has become an iconic staple in shaping and forever changing the experimental music scene of New York City. However, many don’t realize that Roulette’s origins began well before its founding in his Tribeca loft. After graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Staley enlisted in the U.S Army, where he spent three years playing trombone in military bands. While stationed in Berlin from 1971 to 1973, Staley became inspired by the collectivist, envelope-pushing spirit of the German avant-garde music scene; Slide Hampton had a particular influence on Staley while he played in Hampton’s band abroad. After his service period, he returned to Champaign-Urbana, where he was tasked with caretaking for a family property. Staley immediately turned the property into a space where artists and students could live, create, and experiment at little to no cost - affectionately coined “Staley Manor” - and where he ultimately met Roulette’s co-founders before moving to New York in 1978 and establishing Roulette. In 1991, Staley founded Einstein Records.

Since those early days, Roulette has not only survived, but modernized and thrived under Staley’s care. What began as a small experiment in his home has evolved into an internationally recognized venue, presenter, and producer of experimental work by some of today’s most extraordinary minds. He received the 2005 Susan E. Kennedy Memorial Award, the 2012 ASCAP award, and was named a 2018 Champion of New Music by the American Composers’ Forum for his years in support of artists. And yet, he has never been honored here, at his home, by the people he’s amassed around him over the past 45 years. Now is that time. As Roulette looks to the future, for the first time in its history, Roulette’s Board of Directors, co-founders, staff, and community invite you to join us in honoring James S. Staley for his 45 years of visionary leadership at Roulette. The evening commemorates an incredible milestone, as Staley will be stepping down from his post as Artistic Director at the end of the season. Come celebrate him with us on this special day.

https://roulette.org/history
https://roulette.org/staff-and-leadership
https://roulette.org/gala

 

All'enigmatica e controversa Grande fuga in Si bemolle maggiore op. 133 di Beethoven, e alle difficili condizioni esistenziali e di salute del compositore nei suoi ultimi anni di vita, Elliott Sharp ha dedicato l'opera multimediale Die Grösste Fuge, presentata per la prima volta a Bonn quattro anni fa e ora pronta per il debutto newyorkese al Roulette tra qualche giorno. Ad essa è rivolto il primo episodio della serie Studio zOaR Podcasts, con vari estratti musicali e il racconto dello stesso Sharp: "With the loss of the physical sensation of hearing, Beethoven's musical creativity would be channeled into his 'inner ear', the true voice of his seemingly boundless sonic imagination. Fueled by the poetry and philosophies of Goethe and Schiller as well as Egyptian and Indian mythology, energized by news of scientific advances, he remained utopian in his outlook despite the pain of his existence. Beethoven revered the infinitude of the natural universe and it inspired many of the thoughts underlying his compositional approach. He created Die grösse Fuge in an act of separation from his String Quartet Nr. 13 (Opus 130) and in the light of history, it may be seen as a work that leaps out from the classical age and into the timeless future, the first 20th century String Quartet."

https://elliottsharpoperas.bandcamp.com/die-grosste-fuge

https://roulette.org/elliott-sharp-die-grosste-fuge

 

Una decina di composizioni di Carla Bley, tra le più celebri, scelte da Carl Zinsius e reinterpretate assieme al suo quintetto, qui al debutto: Five Banana-The Music of Carla Bley.

"Somebody asks: what kind of music do you listen to? It‘s the music that resonates with you. The one that touches you inside. Be it beautiful, energetic, strange, soft, colourful or anything else. Being able to transport feelings and to reach everybody is what I search for in a composition. Music that stands for itself and transports you inside of it. Carla Bley has achieved this in the course of her career in an incomparable way."

https://carlzinsius.bandcamp.com/five-banana-the-music-of-carla-bley

 

Una dozzina di canzoni di Phil Ochs scelte da Phil Odgers e reinterpretate con l'aiuto - a distanza, giacché si era in pieno periodo pandemico - di John Kettle: Far Rockaway-The Songs of Phil Ochs.

"This album presents 11 songs which particularly resonated with me on one level or another. It’s a mixture of politically themed and some of Ochs' more personal or introspective songs - ones that he’s, perhaps, less widely known for. The political songs are as relevant today as when they were written. The more reflective ones have been chosen based on their beauty and poetry, their sincerity and, in places, melancholy. I also wanted to be careful not to tread ground already covered by others - well, not too much - and have taken some liberties with arrangements, melodies, tempos. I hope Phil would approve of the sentiment. Phil Ochs died on 9 April 1976, Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. This album is respectfully dedicated to his memory and lasting impact he made on people, music, and politics."

https://philodgers.bandcamp.com/far-rockaway-the-songs-of-phil-ochs

 

...battito d'ali...
(Battiti per Ale)

 

Uno speciale omaggio allo storico concerto tenuto al Rainbow Theatre di Londra esattamente cinquant'anni fa da Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno e Nico - con tra gli ospiti Robert Wyatt e Mike Oldfield - si tiene questo pomeriggio per iniziativa del suo ideatore di allora, Richard Williams - produttore anche del celebre album che ne fu tratto, per Island Records - affiancato da musicisti, giornalisti, scrittori e illustri testimoni dell'evento: June 1, 1974 - 50th Anniversary, presso The Social (Soho).

50 years ago saw a sell-out gig at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park that boasted the extraordinary line up of Kevin Ayers of Soft Machine fame, the former Velvet Underground members John Cale and Nico, and a newly solo Brian Eno. Further musical ballast was provided by Robert Wyatt and Mike Oldfield, the latter's chart topping album Tubular Bells had been released just the previous year. The concert and resulting live album, June 1, 1974 were conceived and produced by Richard Williams, then at Island Records. Attendees included: Phil Manzanera, the Roxy Music guitarist who would eventually come to record with all of the main headliners of that day; music writer Allan Jones, the future editor of Melody Maker and Uncut; saxophonist John Altman, who has played with everyone from Nick Drake to Amy Winehouse and travelled to the gig with Ayers' guitarist Ollie Halsall. Joining them in conversation, hosted by the author Travis Elborough, will be the singer-songwriter Galen Ayers. A song or two will come from the wonderful Emma Tricca, Darren Hayman with David Sheppard, author of On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and TImes of Brian Eno, David Lance Callahan and DJ set by the marvellous Melanie Xulu of Moof magazine.

https://www.thesocial.com/events/june-1st-1974