New Release: Imaginary Vinyl

I am pleased to announce the digital-only release of our new album Imaginary Vinyl over on Bandcamp. Put the imaginary needle on the imaginary record....

Playlist, Week of 2017-02-26

Playlist 2017-02-27:

*Beethoven: The Early String Quartets (Juilliard String Quartet) No. 5, 6
*Beethoven: Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 (Berlin Philharmonic)
*Luciano Berio: A Portrait, Part I (CDR) (disc 1)
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me
*Anthony Braxton: 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (discs 5, 6, 7, 8)
*Nels Cline/Larry Ochs/Gerald Cleaver Trio: 2016-12-08 Philadelphia (CDR)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: Imaginary Vinyl
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 16 (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington: The Reprise Studio Recordings (disc 5)
*Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: The Conny Plank Session
*Jimmy Ghaphery/Erik Schroeder: 2017-01-28 LoveJail, Richmond VA (mp3)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-02-20 "Ash Pass Surprise" (wav)
*RAIC: 2017-01-28 LoveJail, Richmond VA (mp3)
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2016-07-01 NYC (CDR) (disc 2)
*Wadada Leo Smith: Kabell Years 1971-1979 (disc 2)
*David Torn Prezens: 2008-01-10 Cologne (CDR) (disc 2)
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. I,  disc 5)
*Various artists: Hot Violins
*Tony Williams Lifetime: 1970-11-06 Newcastle, England (CDR)
*Hannibal Montana: Martial Arts in the Time of Firearms
*Henry Cow: 1972 or 1973 Explorer's Club, London (wav)
*NRBQ: High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective (discs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
*Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Stop!
*UYA: 1990-08-21 Texture Finger (wav)
*UYA: 1990-08-29 Finger (wav)
*UYA: 1990-09-13 Police Ticket (wav)
*UYA: 1990-09-16 UYA and Friends (wav)
*Various artists: Take Me to the River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977 (disc 2)
*Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans (2016 remaster) (side 3)

Reading List, Week of 2017-02-26

Excellent dark comic fiction, grim and strange.

Reading List 2017-02-27:

*King, Frank. Walt and Skeezix, Vol. 2: 1923-1924 (started)
*Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. The Push Man and Other Stories (started/finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Kirby, Jack, and Stan Lee. Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 3 (reread/in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2017-02-19

Have they ever. Persevere...

Playlist 2017-02-20:

*BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: 2016-11-19 Glasgow (Braxton: Comp. 27, 63; Fei; Bynum) (CDR)
*Tim Berne: Fractured Fairy Tales
*Anthony Braxton: 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (discs 2, 3, 4)
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 4)
*Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter the Plustet
*Convergence Quartet: Owl Jacket
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Such Sweet Thunder
*Duke Ellington: The Reprise Studio Recordings (discs 2, 3, 4)
*Globe Unity Orchestra: 2016-11-04 Berlin (CDR)
*Mary Halvorson Octet: Away with You
*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: 2017-01-04 NYC (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock: Serpentines
*New York Hot Trumpet Repertory Company: 1983-12-17 DC Space, Washington DC (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra: 1998-09-10 Cologne, Germany (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Sextet: 1998-09-10 Cologne, Germany (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor: 1978-07-22 Antibes, France (wav)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: This Brings Us To, Volume 1
*Various artists: 3 Nights at Cafe Oto (disc 3)
*Tony Williams Lifetime: 1969-12-19 Village Gate, NYC (CDR)
*Tony Williams Lifetime: 1970-07-28/29 Ungano's, NYC (CDR)
*David Bowie: Live Santa Monica '72
*Impressions: Times Have Changed
*NRBQ: High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Rolling Stones: Blue & Lonesome
*Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Organ Transplants Vol. 1
*Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Organ Transplants Vol. 2
*UYA: 1990-07-22/25 How Many Chords? (wav)
*UYA: 1990-08-01 No Carpet (wav)
*UYA: 1990-08-15 Banana Burn (wav)

Reading List, Week of 2017-02-19

Reading List 2017-02-20:

*Sorrentino, Gilbert. Something Said: Essays (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Kirby, Jack, and Stan Lee. Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 3 (reread/in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

The Artistic Necessities of Gilbert Sorrentino

Gilbert Sorrentino on his writing concerns:

The writers who influenced me [among them Joyce and Flann O'Brien] did so because of the deeper influence of genetic coding. They agreed with my own artistic necessities, which are: an obsessive concern with formal structure, a dislike of the replication of experience, a love of digression and embroidery, a great pleasure in false or ambiguous information, a desire to invent problems that only the invention of new forms can solve, and a joy in making mountains out of molehills. (from "Genetic Coding," in Something Said: Essays, p. 265)

Playlist, Week of 2017-02-12

Damn, but Andrew Hill is brilliant. Doesn't hurt that he's got John Gilmore on two albums here, playing at his absolute best outside the Arkestra. There's also Point of Departure. Damn.

Playlist 2017-02-13:

*Shostakovich: The String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet) (disc 3)
*Tim Berne: Science Friction
*Anthony Braxton: 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 3)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2015-05-15 Centennial Park Black Box Theater, Nashville (mp3)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2016-12-28 Nashville (wav) (selections)
*Kris Davis: Duopoly
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 15 (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Reprise Studio Recordings (disc 1)
*Andrew Hill: The Complete Blue Note Andrew Hill Sessions (1963-66) (disc 4)
*RAIC: 2017-02-01  "Balance of the Three" Richmond VA (mp3)
*RAIC: 2017-02-03 "Balance of the Three" WRIR Party, Renaissance Ballroom, RVA (mp3)
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2016-07-01 NYC (CDR)
*Manfred Schoof Sextett: Manfred Schoof Sextett
*Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suite (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Planets of Life or Death, Amiens '73
*Various artists: 3 Nights at Cafe Oto (disc 1)
*Nate Wooley: Battle Pieces
*Serenus Zeitblom Oktett with Ingrid Laubrock: 2016-09-06 Sardinia, Italy (CDR)
*David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name
*Deerhoof: The Magic
*Flaming Lips: Oczy Mlody
*Grateful Dead: Anthem of the Sun
*Grateful Dead: American Beauty
*Hatfield and the North with Robert Wyatt: 1973-01-02 Paris (CDR)
*Listening Woman: Getting Mystic
*Microdisney: The Clock Comes Down the Stairs
*Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Oh My Bag!
*Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Ventilating Deer
*Various artists: Take Me to the River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977 (disc 1)
*Various artists: WSAM: Hour of Power (CDR compilation)
*Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (selections)
*Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans (2016 stereo instrumental mixes) (sides 1-4)

Reading List, Week of 2017-02-12

A worthy successor to his 1599, Shapiro's enjoyable book avoids making too many easy assumptions based on scanty evidence.

Reading List 2017-02-13:

*Kirby, Jack, and Stan Lee. Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 3 (reread/started)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/started)
*Sorrentino, Gilbert. Something Said: Essays (started)
*Shapiro, James. The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

The Art of Drumming

Henry Cow

Chris Cutler on the art of drumming:

As a drummer I was used to - in fact I was wholly dependent upon - the minute differences in sound that arise out of the subtle interactions between the tuning of an instrument, the acoustic space in which it resonates, the material with which it is exited (hit, scrape, bounce), the exact pressure, velocity and nature of the stroke and the precise location of that stroke (every drum or cymbal produces different overtones and resonances at every point on its surface). Any variation in any one of these parameters makes a difference, and all the skills of expressive playing depend on knowing (or feeling) exactly how hard, exactly where and exactly with what, to hit, agitate or caress some resonant material in order to make it sound the way you need it to sound. In addition, drums is a multiple instrument and a drummer is always playing several different things at the same time - all of them in close proximity - so inevitably they affect and modify one another: bass drum resonating through floor tom, overtones and frequencies blending.... and of course, such a setting-of-a-system-in-motion is an important part of the controlled gestalt of playing - and therefore of the vocabulary of an experienced player. (Chris Cutler, "The Electrified Kit")

RAIC WRIR Gig

      Joey Wharton Photography

Full-band photo from the RAIC performance at the 2017 WRIR Party for the Rest of Us. Big noise

Playlist, Week of 2017-02-05

More goodness from Taylor Ho Bynum, whose creative orchestra vocabulary keeps expanding. Wonderful textures and inspired playing from all involved! Large ensemble comprovisation at its finest.

Playlist 2017-02-06:

*Big Satan: Souls Saved Hear
*Anthony Braxton and the AIMToronto Orchestra: Creative Orchestra (Guelph) 2007
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 2)
*Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter the Plustet
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2016-12-28 Nashville (wav) (selections)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 15 (disc 1)
*Luc Ex’: Assemblée
*Jimmy Ghaphery/Erik Schroeder: 2017-01-28 LoveJail, Richmond VA (mp3)
*Mary Halvorson Octet: Away with You
*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey/Kris Davis/Ralph Alessi: Lark
*Ingrid Laubrock: Serpentines
*Roscoe Mitchell: Conversations I
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2016-12-11 "Burrito Response" Bandito's, RVA (wav)
*Paraphrase: Pre-Emptive Denial
*Charlie Parker: Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes (disc 2)
*Bud Powell: Tempus Fugue-It (disc 2)
*Prezens: Slipped on a Bar
*RAIC: 2017-01-28 LoveJail, Richmond VA (mp3)
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2016-07-01 NYC (CDR)
*Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suite (disc 1)
*Spanish Donkey: Raoul
*Henry Threadgill Ensemble Double Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
*Various artists: Wavelength Infinity: A Sun Ra Tribute (disc 2)
*Animal Collective: Painting With
*David Bowie: Pin Ups
*Cream: 1967-10-15 Detroit (CDR) (disc 1)
*Hatfield and the North with Robert Wyatt: 1973-01-02 Paris (CDR)
*King Crimson: Live in Toronto (disc 2)
*Jon Hassell/Brian Eno: Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics
*Opeth: Sorceress (Limited Edition) (disc 1)
*Todd Rundgren: Box o'Todd (disc 3)
*Stock, Hausen, and Walkman: Hairballs
*UYA: The Unrealized Sessions of UYA (High Noon ADAT Mixes) (disc 1)
*Wings: Wild Life
*Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention: Road Tapes, Venue #3 (1970) (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2017-02-05

Reading List 2017-02-06:

*Shapiro, James. The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 (started)
*Murakami, Haruki. 1Q84 (transl. Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel) (finished)
*Showcase Presents: Legion of Super Heroes, Vol . 1 (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

RAIC Gig at WRIR Party This Friday

I am pleased to be playing with RAIC (Richmond Avant Improv Collective) this Friday at WRIR's 2017 Party for the Rest of Us. It's a large ensemble, with three drummers, three saxes, two guitars, bass, and cello (see the full lineup here). We're going on first, at roughly 7, and we're playing on the main stage. There will be a rough outline for our 25 minute-ish set, and the rehearsals have been fun and invigorating. Here's a shot from last night's; that's my kit on the far left. That's Jimmy on sax.