WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Evan Parker show from Bryce on WFMU

Following up Nat Roe's Evan Parker post and to whet your whistle still further. I was riveted last Friday listening to Bryce's show on WFMU. Chock full of prime Evan Parker. Check it! 

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Live at Le Poisson Rouge on WFMU

Long overdue post, busy summer! Back in the middle of July I had the opportunity to record Darcy James Argue's Secret Society at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC for air on WFMU.  DJA's Secret Society is an 18-piece big band that pairs a healthy adoration of the history of big band jazz with a playful modern sensibility, infusing meticulous arrangements with noise and free passages, Afro-funk beats or minimalism.  I was taken with their debut record, Infernal Machines, almost immediately because it represents a freeform approach to a music that has thrown genres into the toolbox only incrementally.  Darcy has a large palette to work from and he uses it.

And, you know, let's face it, it's ballsy to have a big band in 2009.  Despite the fact that this music has some support (the record was partially fan funded), and some favorable press (there was a piece in Newsweek, of all places, not to mention the fawning jazz press), it's not exactly economical or convenient to tour with a big band, record with a big band, or even play one-off shows.  Plus, the logistics of periodically reassembling this cast of excellent musicians, all in demand players with their own projects to boot, is somewhat mindboggling.  There is an audacity, a punk rock ethos, and a purpose that pervades this project, and it's worthy of some appreciation.

That said, the music is also wonderful. Have a listen. And, maybe peruse Darcy's excellent blog while you're at it.  Special thanks to Le Poisson Rouge and Darcy James Argue for being so accommodating.  Engineered by Matt Duane.

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society; Le Poisson Rouge 07/15/09

1. Zeno (soloist: Ryan Keberle, trombone)
2. Flux in a Box (soloists: Ben Kono, alto saxophone; Mike Holober, piano)
3. Hard Up on the Down Low (soloist: Ingrid Jensen, trumpet)
4. Jacobin Club (soloists: Sam Sadigursky, tenor saxophone & Mike Fahie, trombone)
5. Ferromagnetic (soloist: Nadje Noordhuis, trumpet)
6. Obsidian Flow (soloist: Erica vonKleist, alto saxophone)

Encore: The Perils of Empire

Full list of personnel and more photos after the break.

Glows In the Dark Live on WFMU (mp3s)

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hosting Richmond, VA's Glows in the Dark on WFMU.  Representing a nice little active scene in Richmond, Glows exists on an axis where avant jazz and film soundtracks meet.  And while that may sound on paper like it could be a mess, in reality the seamlessness between the two styles is pretty astonishing.  So when I marveled to guitarist/chief songwriter Scott Burton at the audible effortlessness of moving between driving four-on-the-floor beats to free scree to lounge music to creeping horror film scores, he confessed that the band spends a lot of time working on transitions.  That work pays off. 

The comparison that Glows brings to mind is a less bludgeoning version of John Zorn's Naked City, yet I can't help but position Glows as part of a tradition of jazz's relationship to the movies, whether it's the appearence of countless big bands in talkies during the Ellington/Basie era, to Miles Davis's soundtrack Ascenseur pour L'Echafaud and Herbie Hancock's The Blow-Up, to the funk jazz of blaxploitation and crime films and beyond.  Check out their album, Music to Listen to Glows in the Dark By.  Someone should hire this band to score their next film!  Thanks to Sean Austin for engineering.

The Long Rally; Air date: June 10, 2009; Engineer: Sean Austin

Scott Burton, guitar, composition; Scott Clark, drums; John Lilley, sax; Reggie Pace, trombone; Cameron Ralston, bass

1. Through a Glass Darkly
2. The Fog > Across the Roof > Halloween 3 > Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter medley)
3. The Silence

Aaron Siegel, Katherine Young, Alex Chechile, Woody Sullender, Matt Bauder, Jeremiah Cymerman Live Improv on WFMU (mp3s)

About a year ago, when I started in earnest to feature live improvisational music on The Long Rally, I had a grandiose vision of how it might ultimately go down.  I imagined a weekly rotating door with musicians of all genres and personalities coming by to improvise live at 11pm in casual self-appointed groups: locals with out-of-towners passing through, adventurous rockers and noize dudes with straight up jazz musicians, the drone with the lyrical, the acoustic with the electric and electronic, the classically-trained with the self-taught. Sometimes a gumbo's just a gumbo, and sometimes it's the best fucking food you've ever tasted in your life.

Last night is the closest I've gotten to my fanciful and somewhat naive dream when a cast of NYC's best and brightest made the trip out to our humble Jersey City home.  Jeremiah Cymerman, who played a solo clarinet/electronics set on the show last year, assembled the group of musicians, and together we came up with a loose concept of configuring them in little ensembles for short improvisational pieces.  Neither the musicians nor I knew what the formations would be or what would be played until a few minutes before kickoff. Between pieces whoever wasn't setting up would join me in the studio for some chat, and we'd end with the full group going at it.

The result was a relaxed and convivial atmosphere, some unexpectedly wacked out high points, and ultimately a wonderful set of live and spontaneous music!  Catch all of these folks at the Telluric Currents Series at Ibeam in Brooklyn this weekend.  I'm off the schedule for the summer, but who knows, maybe my live improv dreams will come true in the fall, after all.  Thanks to Sean Austin for engineering.

I. (Matt Bauder, electronics; Alex Chechile, modular synth; Aaron Siegel, percussion)
II. (Katherine Young, bassoon; Matt Bauder, sax; Jeremiah Cymerman, clarinet)
III. (Woody Sullender, banjo; Jeremiah Cymerman, clarinet; Alex Chechile, modular synth)
IV. (Aaron Siegel, percussion, Matt Bauder, baritone sax; Katherine Young, bassoon; Alex Chechile, electronics; Woody Sullender, banjo; Jeremiah Cymerman, clarinet.)

Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans Live on WFMU

A year or so ago I briefly exchanged e-mails with Weasel Walter about possibly doing a live improv set for WFMU on one of his whirlwind trips through NYC.  I have long been a fan of the Flying Luttenbachers and also many of the other more aggresive "punk" "rock" projects he's been a part of including XRBRX, Burmese, To Live and Shave in LA 2, etc.

For the past few years Weasel's musical involvement has been strictly in full-on improvisational settings with a who's-who of collaborators in the Bay Area like Damon Smith, Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, Henry Kaiser, and in NYC with bassist Reuben Radding and trumpeter Nate Wooley.  So when our esteemed music director Brian Turner wrote me to say that Weasel was interested in doing something at the station on his next trip through town, I jumped at the chance and left it up to Weasel as to who he wanted to invite along.  I could not have been more ecstatic with his selections--Mary Halvorson (guitar) and Peter Evans (trumpet)--two artists who have played on my show in the past, and are both on my shortlist of the finest instrumentalists/improvisors/composers working in music in '09.

I expected a serious improv tussle from three total pros (at one point I asked Weasel if he needed a music stand and he just giggled!), but what I didn't expect was the pure sense of camaraderie and common vision that is evident from the first note.  After all, these three seldom play together as a group and this was their first meeting on this trip (there is a multi-camera DVD coming of one of their gigs, as well as an extremely limited CD-R of a handful of performances from last year, both on ugExplode).  After the set they embarked on a week of shows in Europe and I can hardly imagine the type of transcendence and lucidity they must have achieved by the end of the week, considering where they started on this night.  Thanks to Weasel for setting this up and to Mary and Peter for killing it!  Special thanks to Jason Sigal for coming through in the clutch and engineering.

01. Mystery
02. Meat

These tracks are also streaming/downloadable from the FMA, as is a track from Weasel Walter & Mary Halvorson's duo release, Opulence.  There are also two releases with Peter Evans & Weasel Walter available from Weasel's ugExplode label (Oculus Ex Abyssus duo LP and Evans/Fei/Smith Walter CD-R), and I recommend them both without reservation, as well as the Mary Halvorson Trio release Dragon's Head, and The Peter Evans Quartet.  And speaking of the FMA, both Mary's set and Peter's set from past episodes of the Long Rally are available there as well.  And, in case that wasn't enough, check out the  new solo trumpet double CD from Peter Evans, Nature/Culture, on Evan Parker's Psi label.  Whew!  More photos after the jump.

The live audio in this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.

From Bacteria to Boys Live on WFMU

Brooklyn drummer/hustler Mike Pride brought his wonderfully named jazz quartet From Bacteria to Boys to WFMU recently to record a set for The Long Rally.  Mike plays in tons of bands in a range of genres and non-genres so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I knew he'd bring a freeform approach to jazz.  I was not mistaken and happily blown away by the musicians in the band; each one brought a burst of personality to Mike's rugged and zigzagging tunes.  Darius Jones (whose debut as a leader will be a trio with Cooper-Moore and Bob Moses coming soon!) totally wails on alto.  Peter Bitenc and Alex Marcello (bass and piano, respectively) were real eye-openers, two musicians who I had not heard before but will be checking on in the future.  They both killed it.  From behind the kit, Mike Pride directed these difficult twisting songs and made it look easy!  MP3s from the set are below or streaming/downloadable/mixtapeable, etc. on the Free Music Archive page.  For more please check out Mike Pride's Funhole Records or his MySpace page.  Thanks to Mark Triant for engineering.

From Bacteria to Boys
Rec. Date: April 6, 2009
Air Date: April 8, 2009
Engineer: Mark Triant
Show: The Long Rally with Scott McDowell

12 Lines for Build > It Doesn't Stop
Rose
Reese Witherspoon
Bole-Bole
Inbetweenwhile
Emo Hope

More photos after the jump.

The live audio in this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.

Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo Live at WFMU

Taylor Ho Bynum and Tomas Fujiwara stopped by recently for a Sunday brunch set at WFMU.  The drums/cornet duo met in high school and have collaborated ever since, playing together in a plethora of bands/musical settings.  Playing a mix of composed and improvised music, and drawing on a broad spectrum of jazz styles from Ellington to Bill Dixon to smoldering grooves and who knows what else, the duo sounds loose and relaxed on the five tunes below.  Thanks to Mark Triant for engineering.

Their latest project together, The Thirteenth Assembly (a quartet with Jessica Pavone on viola and Mary Halvorson on guitar), has a brand new record on Important called (Un)sentimental.  Also, if you're in the midwest, they'll be playing a tour April 5-12 hitting Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago, where they'll play as a duo and in various configurations with a bunch of amazing Chicago musicians as part of the Umbrella Music Series.

Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo - Basie/Wisdom
Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo - Keys, No Address
Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo - Untitled
Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo - Leaning Reflection
Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo - Ikuru

The live audio in this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.

More photos after the jump.

Zola Jesus Live on WFMU

Coming off two killer 7"'s and on the verge of releasing the excellent Tsar Bomba EP on Troubleman, Zola Jesus was nice enough to drop by for a brunch-hour set on a winter Sunday morning.  The Madison, WI-based band is led by the warped caberet chanteuse vocalizing of Nika (sometimes aka Zola Jesus, actually) who constructs and plays the tunes herself on the recordings.  The live band version consists of Max Elliott (floor tom), Lindsay (ex-Pink Reason, bass) and Dead Luke (synth).  Zola Jesus stirs up a charming mix of synth-mired darkwave and lo-fi bedroom haze with charisma to spare.   The Jersey Boy bagels were a big hit with the band.

Zola Jesus - Odessa
Zola Jesus - Dog
Zola Jesus - Orthodox
Zola Jesus - Last Day

The live audio in this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.

Lucky Dragons Live on WFMU

Equally adept at community building, sonic exploration and art making, Lucky Dragons brought all sides for a live set recorded just before the holidays for the Long Rally.  It's one long track of computer gamelan, echoed out flutes, and tiny percussion.  Take a listen or download away.  Thanks to Jason Sigal for engineering.  And for all LD all the time, hit up the website, Hawks and Sparrows.

Lucky Dragons - Desert Rose/Band Hammer

The live audio in this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.

Scott McDowell's Top 10 for 2008

Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Trio/Quartet - It's fun to watch Anthony Braxton reinvent his group sound with such assurance.  And - oh yeah - he continues to inspire a much younger generation of musicians to be relentless. 

Mary Halvorson Trio - Dragon's Head (Firehouse 12) / Mary Halvorson & Weasel Walter - Opulence (ugExplode) - As Peter Evans did last year, Mary Halvorson reaffirmed my abiding love of music by soaking decades of jazz in buckets of paint.  Her tough and nimble guitar playing and the warped sense of lyricism in her tunes are totally dazzling. Charlie Christian and Sonny Sharrock are hi-fiving somewhere.

Zola Jesus  - Poor Sons 7" (Die Stasi) / Soeur Sewer 7" (Sacred Bones) / Tsar Bomba EP (Troubleman) - This type of downer, synth-flecked darkwave is normally not my thing, but ZJ came out of nowhere to become one of my favorite new artists.  This stuff just oozes charisma.

Tom Carter & Christian Kiefer - From the Great American Songbook (Preservation) - The single most played thing on my show in '08, it's a sublime reinterpretation of public domain tunes done in an abstract drifting drone-space and also a major guitar record.

Vetiver - Thing of the Past (Gnomonsong) - I think my favorite year in music is 1971. This album is the 2008 version of the audio version of the year 1971.

Mary Halvorson Trio Live on WFMU

To mark the release of her new recording, Dragon's Head, on Firehouse 12, Mary Halvorson brought her trio down to the WFMU studios to throw down a fire breathing live set for The Long Rally.  The band features Ches Smith on drums (Xiu Xiu, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog), John Hebert on bass (Uri Caine, the late Andrew Hill, his own band, Byzantine Monkey), and Mary Halvorson on guitar (People, Anthony Braxton, duo with Jessica Pavone).  They tore through four of Mary's craggy tunes (three songs from the album plus a ballad called, "No. 11") and left all in attendence speechless.   Pick up the album, you won't be sorry, and catch the band live on February 13th at Roulette.  Thanks to Trent Wolbe for engineering.

Mary Halvorson Trio - "Too Many Ties (No. 6)"
Mary Halvorson Trio - "Momentary Lapse (No. 1)"
Mary Halvorson Trio - "Dragon's Head (No. 9)"
Mary Halvorson Trio - "No. 11"

The live audio in this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.

Happy Holidays from Cleve Pozar

This one's only up for a limited time.  Original BotB post about Cleve Pozar can be found here.  He's also got a MySpace page with lots more videos and info.

Jeremiah Cymerman Live on WFMU

Clarinet wizard Jeremiah Cymerman stopped by the WFMU studios recently to record an improvised set of solo clarinet and electronics for The Long Rally.  Be sure to check out his strange and wonderful solo record from earlier this year on Tzadik, In Memory of the Labyrinth System.  Thanks to Trent for engineering.

Jeremiah Cymerman - Kerplunk!! (Live at WFMU, recorded 11/25/08)

Blowhole

Blowhole were a prolific and ever-rotating cast of characters spearheaded by Jeph Jerman who played Borbetomagus-style bludgeoning and scraping jazz of the free variety.  They released a steady stream of cassettes and LPs in the early-mid 90s of a consistently high quality.  Despite the shrinking or expanding size of the band or even the instrumentation, Blowhole had a style and a sound, marked by tight-rope improv and the layering of gunk and buzz, and while they never exactly became a household name there are countless examples today of the Blowhole steez (for example, the new Klangmutationen comes to mind), proving they were indeed ahead of their time.  Below find two tracks from the excellent 1990 LP Guerilla Jazz, including their nearly unrecognizable take on Ayler's "Ghosts".

Blowhole - Ghosts

Blowhole - Strung Out

Music is the Healing Force of the Universe

As the election approaches, I find myself being drawn to music birthed of the ol' revolutionary American spirit.  Music with the intention of cleansing the world of corruption and ills with a searing blast of freedom.  I'm talking about Alan Silva's 3LP masterwork on BYG/Actuel, a big band curtain of wailing souls (listen to this one straight through!).  I'm talking about Albert Ayler, Mr. Healing Force himself.  I'm talking about the new freedom of Peter Evans, et al., (especially his two stellar recent collabo documents with Weasel Walter).  I'm talking about Anthony Braxton's new Diamond Curtain Wall bands, intensely controlled compositions laced with electronic drones and scrawling noize.  And I'm talking about Arthur Doyle, he of the direct connection to some other planes of there.  Not much to say other than if you're sick, like our country is, it's high time to get healed. 

Development - a) BaBi Music for Milford & Huge b) Alabama Soul for Arthur c) Ramie & Master Charles of the Trombone - Arthur Doyle Plus 4 (from Alabama Feeling)

November 8th or 9th - I Can't Remember When - Arthur Doyle/Takashi Mizutani/Sabu Toyozumi (from Live in Japan, 1997)

Strike a Pose, There's Nothing to It

I missed this back in August (perhaps because I'm not a subscriber) but the images are striking.  A 16-page Vogue India fashion spread features "average Indians" modeling the latest in luxury trends: a Fendi bib, a Burberry umbrella, a bejeweled Hermes handbag.  (via NY Times)

Jazz Apples, $2.49/lb.

via Chow.

Bird Notes: Bengt Nordström & Don Cherry

Swedish musician Bengt "Frippe" Nordström intersected with many of the American free jazz artists on their travels through his country.  He was blown off the trad jazz course by Ornette Coleman's music, sitting front row for the concert that was released as "At the Golden Circle" on Blue Note. He played a white plastic saxophone like the one Ornette sported.  A few years earlier, Nordström became a key footnote in jazz history when he, in a right-place, right-time bit of luck, recorded Albert Ayler's first LP on his portable recording equipment.  It's a collection of rather staid standards with Ayler backed by a Swedish trio, unheard by many Ayler fans until it resurfaced on the Ayler box released on Revenant a few years back.  Nordström went on to have a successful career and by all accounts had achieved a kind of emeritus status to the free jazz scene in Sweden before his death in 2000.  His last public performance was a guest spot with Sunny Murray and Arthur Doyle.

Back in 1963 though, Nordström had the opportunity to record with Ornette Coleman's trumpeter Don Cherry, only one 12-minute duet of improvisation, that found it's way on to a record from Nordström's own label, Bird Notes.  The piece was curiously bookended by a Bo Skoglund drum solo and an 18-minute Nordström saxophone solo.  There are rumors that only five copies of this record were ever released, in a crude handwritten inner sleeve without a proper jacket.  I kind of suspect that to be collector lore, but no matter.  It is twelve minutes of two boundless spirits making music, and if you weren't one of the original lucky five, (or dozens more who grabbed this from the late, lamented Church Number Nine blog like I did), take a listen below.

Bengt Nordstrom/Don Cherry - Duet (from Bird Notes 03)

Uninhabitable Mansions Live on WFMU

Brooklyn future sensations Uninhabitable Mansions stopped by the WFMU studios to record their jaunty tunes for the Long Rally.  Featuring members of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Au Revoir Simone, UM shakes up a frothy combination: 1/3rd early Rough Trade, 1/3rd gauzy New Zealand pop, and 2/3rds classic '90s indie rock.  Wait, that's too many thirds. 

Engineered by Trent.

01 - That's Fine with Me
02 - This Drift
03 - Do You Have a Strategy
04 - I've Been Waiting a Long Time
05 - Watertower
06 - We Misplaced a Cobra in the Uninhabitable Mansion
07 - I Dream So Vividly

The live audio in this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license.

 

Frankie Newton Orchestra - Romping