Playlist, Week of 2025-02-16

Kris Davis's rhythmic impulse and impeccable sense of timing is on full display on Rob Mazurek's Desert Encrypt Vol. 1... plus some of Mazurek's best playing... Two interesting things to note about the "Dark Star"-related jams by Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats in 1968: they are all effectively guitar-bass duets (whether it's Phil Lesh or Jack Casady on bass), and these jams are the first time, however sparingly, that someone (probably Bill Kreutzmann) plays full drum kit in the song... before, with the Dead, and with most of the Hartbeats versions, the percussion accompaniment up to this time was mostly shaker, gong, and guiro... A month's worth of new improvisations from New Ting here... it's good to be playing again... plus, a new solo release from Jimmy Ghaphery: Fife Studies...

Playlist 2025-02-17:

*Johann Sebastian Bach: Violin Concertos (Alina Ibragimova/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra)
*Johann Christian Bach: Six Favorite Overtures (Christopher Hogwood/Academy of Ancient Music)
*Beatles: The Beatles' Second Album (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Something New (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)
*Black Host: Life in the Sugar Candle Mines
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 95 (For Two Pianos)
*Anthony Braxton: 2 Compositions (Ensemble) 1989/1991
*Anthony Braxton/Fred Simmons Trio: 9 Standards (Quartet) 1993 (disc 1)
*Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch
*Dustin Carlson: Air Ceremony
*Patsy Cline: The Patsy Cline Collection (disc 3)
*John Coltrane: The Mastery of John Coltrane, Vol. IV: "Trane's Modes" (side 3)
*Miles Davis: 1969-05/06? Village Gate, NYC (CDR)
*Miles Davis: Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West (side 2)
*J Dilla: Donuts
*Nick Dunston: Colla Voce
*Duke Ellington: 1949 NYC "The Tattooed Bride"
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (discs 2, 3, 4)
*Kate Gentile: Find Letter X (disc 1)
*George: Letters to George (side 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1968-09-02 Sultan WA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1968-10-12 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven"
*Grateful Dead: 1968-10-13 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: Sunshine Daydream (Veneta, Oregon 8/27/72) (disc 2) "Playing in the Band"
*Mary Halvorson: Cloudward
*Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats: 1968-10-08 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats: 1968-10-10 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star Jam"
*Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats: 1968-10-30 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star Jam"
*Henry Cow: In Praise of Learning (Cow Box Redux)
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 2 (disc 1)
*Rob Mazurek: Desert Encrypts Vol. 1
*Charles Mingus: The Complete Debut Recordings (discs 5, 6)
*Roscoe Mitchell/Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble: Three Compositions "Quintet #9 for Eleven"
*Ikue Mori: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
*New Ting: 2025-02-10 "Farberware" (wav)
*Opeth: The Last Will and Testament
*Plymouth: Plymouth "Manomet"
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (sides 1, 2)
*Santana: Lotus (side 1)
*Devadip Carlos Santana/Turiya Alice Coltrane: Illuminations
*Soft Machine: Høvikodden 1971 (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Saturn Research: Rarities and Oddities (CDR compilation) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Music from Tomorrow's World
*Sun Ra: The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (side 1)
*Sun Ra: Astro Black (side 2)
*Sun Ra: At the Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (disc 1)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (sides 1, 2)
*Joe Tex: From the Roots… …Came the Rapper
*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 2)
*UYA: 1993-03-02 And the Fritos? Sure (wav)
*UYA: 1993-07-17 Dik-Plexiglass Ass 95 Remix (side A) (wav)
*Various artists: Turn Me Loose White Man (disc 4)
*Various artists: Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults
*Weird of Mouth: Weird of Mouth
*Mary Lou Williams Trio: Free Spirits
*Tony Williams Lifetime: (Turn It Over) (side 1)
*Yes: Yesterdays (side 2) "America"
*Lester Young: The Aladdin Sessions (side 3)

New Layers of Memory Release

Now available on Bandcamp: the new release by Layers of Memory, Hence Thrice. Enjoy!

New Release: (More) Layers of Memory

Following up on our release from earlier this year, here comes the sequel: (More) Layers of Memory. The original trio of Gary Rouzer on cello and objects, Jimmy Ghaphery on saxes and flute, and Sam Byrd on drums and percussion is augmented by Robert Andrew Scott on guitar, electronics, and voice. Ghaphery adds clarinet to his arsenal, and Rouzer adds accordion on one track. Free improvisation, new and different sounds, nothing but fun...check it out!

New Release: Layers of Memory

f

Just released on Bandcamp: Layers of Memory, the fruits of a December trio session with Gary Rouzer on cello and Jimmy Ghaphery on saxes and flute... check it out! Mostly improvisations, some guided concepts, some post-recording editing and manipulation by Gary.

New Release from Jimmy Ghaphery: Songs for Cosmos

Jimmy Ghaphery has a new audio release on Music Is Big Place: Songs for Cosmos. Music played mostly on poemophone, a kind of typewriter-based kalimba. Check it out!

Barbiero-Byrd-Ghaphery Live Set Recording

The recording of the Barbiero-Byrd-Ghaphery trio set at Rhizome last weekend is now up for free streaming and download at Rhizome's page on archive.org. Please check it out! 25 minutes of acoustic free improvisation.

Barbiero/Byrd/Ghaphery Trio Photos

The recording of the trio set with Daniel Barbiero and Jimmy Ghaphery turned out great. The acoustics at Rhizome are wonderful--we were able to play quite quietly and still were able to capture a great amount of detail. I think the file will be showing on the Rhizome page at archive.org soon. In the meanwhile, here are some photos, courtesy of Jeff Surak. Enjoy!

Upcoming Gig in DC

A great space for quiet explorations... also loud ones... at any rate, always a pleasure to play with Jimmy and Dan!

Barbiero/Byrd/Ghaphery at Rhizome

                                                                      Phong Tran

Lot of fun playing at Rhizome this week! Great space for dynamics, and we were able to get quite quiet at times. The set is up for listening and free download at archiv.org.

Nice Poster for Gig, Tuesday March 21

Barbiero/Byrd/Ghaphery Trio: Gig In DC Next Week

Chris Videll

Daniel Barbiero, Jimmy Ghaphery, and I will be improvising at Rhizome in DC next week. Double bass, alto sax (and maybe clarinet?), and drums/percussion/coffee cans.

Details are here, and there's a Facebook page. We'll be sharing the evening with Sahba Sizdakhani and Jim Strong. Rhizome is a great space for our kind of quiet(-ish) improvising.

Here's a video of our last performance there, last summer.

If you're in the DC area, check it out!

RAIC Video, September 1 2016, Sound of Music

Here is video from the RAIC (Richmond Avant Improv Collective) gig a couple of weeks ago at the Sound of Music Studio here in Richmond. The lineup:

Samuel Goff: drums, percussion, electronics, vocals
Sam Byrd: drums, percussion
Jimmy Ghaphery: tenor sax, clarinet, conch shell
Justin Shear: guitar
Jake Snider: tenor guitar, electronics
Jeremiah Shriver: bass, electronics

Barbiero Byrd Ghaphery Video, Rhizome, DC 2016-08-27

Here's video from the trio performance last weekend:

Barbiero-Byrd-Ghapery Trio, Rhizome, DC 2016-08-27

Here's a photo from the trio gig Saturday night. The space was really nice, the folks there even nicer.

     L to R: Jimmy Ghaphery, Sam Byrd, Daniel Barbiero. Photo by Chris Videll.

Upcoming Gigs!

I'm so pleased to be playing with Daniel Barbiero this weekend in DC! And of course, it's always a privilege to get to play with Jimmy Ghaphery...I'm spoiled because he's in town and we play most weeks. But this trio event promises to be very special....this will be our first trio performance outside of the context of dance.

I will also be playing as part of a large ensemble put together by drummer Samuel Goff, along with Jimmy and members of the Harry Partch Appreciation Society, on September 1, here in RVA, details forthcoming. Go here for a taste of what it might sound like. Should be interesting (and probably very, very loud!).

oralhistory

Exciting new release from bandmate Jimmy Ghaphery. No sax this time: it's all manipulated sound, with the sources being the interludes between sentences from oral histories old and new. It's a fascinating concept, and it works really well, especially when the manipulation gets heavy (the so-called "timely" tracks). Abstract, jarring, and yet soothing at the same time. Check it out!

New Loft at RVA Noise Fest IV

Good time at the RVA Noise Fest IV last weekend. Ting Ting Jahe's set was a loud groovy gas. For our set, as New Loft (Jimmy and me), we decided on a three-part structure for our 15-minute slot: 5 minutes of circular breathing and constant pulse, 5 minutes quiet, 5 minutes loud. It worked out well, I think; check out the set here, or right below. I only had a snare, a can, a Chinese cymbal, a bell, and some chopsticks. Playing with just a snare always feels so naked. I just kept my head down and had at it.

Upcoming Gigs

May is going to be an exciting month gig-wise!

On Saturday, May 2, I will be playing in duo with Jimmy Ghaphery as part of the RVA Noise Fest IV, at Strange Matter here in Richmond. We're billed as "The New Loft," but I'm still mentally (as opposed to physically) thinking of us as New Ting Ting Loft, even though there'll only be two of us. Note: Tommy and Ben are also performing, as Ting Ting Jahe. I will post more details when I know them. We will be playing for 15 crisp minutes, I think around 6:30. I'll be playing a reduced kit, probably just a snare and hi-hat (plus toys).

nashville.gov

On May 15, I will be playing in duo with Rodger Coleman at the Centennial Black Box Theater in Nashville on Friday, May 15, as part of their Free Form Friday series. This will be our second live duo performance (well, not counting the duet we did as part of the MIT Libraries' staff concert in Killian Hall back in UYA days!), and Rodger will be playing guitar and synth (in addition to piano? not sure). We'll be expanding on territory we explored back in December, as evidenced on our new digital-only release (see next blog post!).

The Convergence of Parallel Lines

New release from Dan and Jimmy, available for free download and streaming here: The Convergence of Parallel Lines. "Three improvisations and one composition for winds and double bass, and one live improvisation for winds, double bass, percussion and three dancers." Congratulations to both of them for a gorgeous-sounding, thoughtful release of reeds/bass conversations. Full (and proud) disclosure: I appear on the last track, taken from our Pyramid Atlantic show last summer. Enjoy!

New Ting Ting Loft Solo Projects

I want to call your attention to a couple of items from members of New Ting Ting Loft:



1. Jimmy Ghaphery's new solo project: 904F. In his own words:

Stretching time, ideas, and texture. Listening patiently to repetition and improvisational counterpoint. Two long pieces clocking in at 90 minutes each, both using the same 90 minute guitar improvisation as a common layer. The first piece adds a repeated 45 minute clarinet improvisation with a ninety minute wooden flute improvisation in the distance. The second piece adds a series of themes for alto sax with liberal ornamentation. The final piece is a short 10 minute sax quartet assembled from 4 of the sax tracks found on the previous piece.

He really is going for the long form here! Layers of sound recede in the distance, like the fog on the beautiful album cover (pictured above).

2. A video of Tommy Birchett's fantastic solo performance at the MoMA PS1 Print Shop in New York City in December. 8-track hijinx and even a bit o' swing! Plunderphonically phun: