Axe Du Fou

Drummer and composer Patrick Forgas has been releasing jazz-rock gems that showcase his compositional and and arranging skills for over 30 years. Axis of Madness (L’Axe du Fou) is the fourth album by his current band; a 7-piece instrumental ensemble of skillful young musicians, performing on saxes/flute, trumpet/flugelhorn, violin, guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. The group perform music that combines the most attractive aspects of jazz and rock composition with inspired solos. The quality of the music and performances is obvious from the first note and we’re pleased that it isn’t only us who noticed; press has been unbelievably enthusiastic towards this group’s music!

Composer Ashley is profiled.

In the mid-’70s, Michigan-born composer Robert Ashley discovered a rare commodity in the art world: a niche. Lamenting that his homeland lacked the rich operatic tradition of Europe, he sought to invent a distinctly American art form, mixing dense sound environments and amorphous narration to create something he called “opera-for-television” (with the “television” part mostly referring to the works’ division into 30-minute “episodes”). He clearly wasn’t courting a mass-media audience, though: In early efforts like Music With Roots in the Aether and Perfect Lives, the black humor of the avant-garde is on full display, with chants about “geriatric love” and recipes for Pear Jello Salad flashing across the screen.

From New York’s RUCMA:

Start: 01/12/2009 - 7:30pm
End: 01/12/2009 - 10:00pm
Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

Seth Meicht Quartet
Monday, January 12 @ 7:30 pm
Yippie Café: 9 Bleecker Street, near Bowery
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors: $7
Jam Session @ 9pm: $5

Seth Meicht, saxophone
Aaron Meicht, trumpet
Adam Lane, bass
Mike Pride, drums

Seth Meicht was born in 1976 and grew up in the Philadelphia area. He studied saxophone at the University of the Arts and studied privately with Ron Kerber, David Murray, Odean Pope, and Ben Schachter.

Seth leads his own trio as well as being a founding member of The Meicht Group and The Sepia Trio. The Meicht Group garnered critical acclaim for the recordings Dig the Sound Live (2000) and Loud Like Hemlocks (2001) which were released on Scrapple Records. The Sepia Trio’s newest release is on Utech Records and is entitled cleft. The Seth Meicht Trio has just released its debut CD on Cadence Jazz Records (CJR1196) and, adding Matt Bauder, has released Illumine on C.I.M.P. (#350).

Seth has shared the stage with such luminaries as Michael Brecker, James Carter, Ravi Coltrane, Byard Lancaster, Prince Lasha, Joe Lavano, David Murray, Odean Pope, and Bobby Zankel. Seth is a member of the Odean Pope Saxophone Choir and also the Lars Halle Jazz Orchestra.

www.sethmeicht.com

From Free Jazz:

Monday, January 5, 2009
Blaise Siwula & Carsten Radke - Projection: Zero (Konnex, 2008) ****

Sunday, January 4, 2009
Michael Marcus - Lotus Symphony (Not Two, 2008) ***½

Saturday, January 3, 2009
Zbigniew Seifert - Solo Violin (Polonia Records, 2008 re-issue) ****

Though on on their web site yet, the Nu Band begins a European tour this week.

THE NU BAND EUROPEAN TOUR

Mark Whitecage – alto sax, clarinet
Roy Campbell, Jr. – trumpet, flugelhorn
Joe Fonda – bass
Lou Grassi – drums

Where:
Wednesday, January 7 - De Werf, Brugge, Belgium
Thursday, January 8 - Grand Theatre, Groningen, Netherlands
Friday, January 9 - Sunside , Paris, France
Saturday, January 10 – Le Moulin à Jazz , Vitrolles, France
Sunday, January 11 – open
Monday, January 12 – Aufsturz-Klub, Berlin, Germany
Tuesday, January 13 – IG JAZZ Freiberg , Freiberg, Germany
Wednesday, January 14 – open
Thursday, January 15 – Alchemia Club, Krakow, Poland
Friday, January 16 – Club Zak, Gdansk, Poland
Saturday, January 17 – Club W71 , Weikersheim, Germany
Sunday, January 18- L’Archiduc, Brussels, Belgium
Monday, January 19 - Oben Kino, Cottbus, Germany

Woeish Me Bop

Captain Beefheart’s music is the quintessential ‘outsider art music’ of the second half of the 20th century. Despite the fact that he retired from music over 25 years ago, his music resonates more strongly than ever as an influence on contemporary music. Fast ‘n’ Bulbous offer a unique slant on the songbook of one of contemporary music’s most idiosyncratic musical figures. The band features seven great, well-regarded musicians drawn from the rock and the jazz worlds: co-leaders guitarist Gary Lucas (who was in the final incarnation of Beefheart’s Magic Band) and saxist/arranger Phillip Johnston (of the Microscopic Septet) as well as drummer Richard Dworkin, and baritone saxist Dave Sewelson (both also of the Micros), trombonist Joe Fieldler (Ed Palermo Big Band and Satoko Fujii’s big band), bassist Jesse Krakow (of Time of Orchids and Doctor Nerve) and trumpeter Rob Heinke (also of Doctor Nerve). With a strong, creative line-up like this, you know that you will be getting something more than just a ‘cover band’ and you indeed are. Heartfelt, exciting and it both rocks and swings!

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From Portland Eye and Ear Control:

1/13/09: The Naked Future, Dead Western, Oregon Artificial Limb Co.
The Naked Future
Dead Western
Oregon Artificial Limb Co

Tues. Jan. 13th
9pm. Donation.

Valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny

From Musique Machine:

Heavensore - Asmodai
Asmodai rather nicely alternates between being grim, strange and skull crushingly heavy. Mixing together bone snapping doom dischargers, chugs and crawls; bleakly punked intent, with murky, arty and strange sound making/ guitar scaping, doomy and ritual air with cello and organ weaves and drones and the odd peppering of noise matter.

Sepentina Satélite - Nothing To Say
Peru based Sepentina Satélite make epic spacey and psychedelic rock scapes based around guitar, bass and drums. Nothing to say is thier debut full length after an ep a few years back –it’s also the first release on New label Trip In Time.

Verilöyly/Candy Cane/Navigations/Cahier - Split
In addition to Candy Cane’s excellent Fay-ra-Doowra (see review), this four-band split disc makes a very good introduction to some of Finland’s most interesting new bands. Instead of taking the more fashionable path of big acts such as Stratovarius and Nightwish, the four bands here seem to draw from very different sources, namely Suomi’s legendary black metal scene and the school of experimental rock that took the Finnish by storm in the late 60s.

From Dusted:

Artist: Cecil Taylor / William Parker / Masashi Harada
Album: CT: The Dance Project
Label: FMP
Review date: Jan. 6, 2009

Artist: Tony Malaby Cello Trio
Album: Warblepeck
Label: Songlines
Review date: Jan. 6, 2009

Artist: Parts & Labor
Album: Receivers
Label: Jagjaguwar
Review date: Jan. 5, 2009

From Chicago’s Umbrella Music:

Wednesday, 7 January 2009
The Hideout
10:00PM | Indigo Trio
Nicole Mitchell - flutes
Harrison Bankhead - bass
Hamid Drake - drums
two sets
$10 cover
PLUS | DJ Sets : Corbett vs Abrams - Round I

Sunday, 11 January 2009
The Hungry Brain
10:00PM | Vox Arcana
Tim Daisy - drums
James Falzone - clarinet
Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello
11:00PM | New Fracture Quartet
Tim Daisy - drums
Jaimie Branch - trumpet
Dave Miller - guitar
Nate McBride - bass

Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Elastic
9:00PM | Vandermark 5
Ken Vandermark - reeds
Dave Rempis - saxophones
Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello
Kent Kessler - bass
Tim Daisy - drums
two sets

Wednesday, 14 January 2009
The Hideout
10:00PM | Bishop/Parker/Abrams/Drake
Jeb Bishop - trombone
Jeff Parker - guitar
Josh Abrams - bass
Hamid Drake - drums
PLUS | microgig : Fred Lonberg-Holm/Asimina Chremos
Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello
Asimina Chremos - dancer & sounder
The microgig will be performed during the intermission
in an unconventional location.
microgig is supported by the Crosscut Program, a partnership of
Experimental Sound Studio and Links Hall.
11:00PM | Bishop/Parker/Abrams/Drake, Second Set
Jeb Bishop - trombone
Jeff Parker - guitar
Josh Abrams - bass
Hamid Drake - drums
$8 cover
PLUS | DJ Sets : Corbett vs Dempsey - Round I

Thursday, 15 January 2009
Elastic
10:00PM | Double Quartet Round Two : Williams/Baker/Sandstrom/Hunt vs Rempis/Bishop/Kessler/Zerang
Jeb Bishop - trombone
Mars Williams - saxophones
Dave Rempis - saxophones
Jim Baker - piano/electronics
Kent Kessler - bass
Brian Sandstrom - bass/guitar
Steve Hunt - drums
Michael Zerang - drums
two sets

Sunday, 18 January 2009
The Hungry Brain
10:00PM | Nakatani/Baker/Abrams
Tatsuya Nakatani - drums
Jim Baker - ARP, piano
Josh Abrams - bass
11:00PM | Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly
Greg Ward - alto sax
Jason Adasiewicz - vibes
Tomeka Reid - cello
Josh Abrams - bass
Mike Reed - drums

Ok, one more list of the Best New Avant-Jazz Albums of 2008, courtesy of Dusty Wright’s Culture Catch.

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The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet recorded quite a few pieces from major composers, and now many of these have been posted for free download on their web site. Of particular interest are two works of Elliott Carter.

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A few new releases from Ambiances Magnétiques, a French-Canadian label.

Sébastien Cirotteau/Brigitte Lacasse/Catherine S Massicotte/Éric Normand-Face à la Dérive
“During a ten days residence in Rimouski (Québec), the artists made documentary sounds recordings: interviews and soundscapes. They listen to the sounds heard along the St Lawrence River, underwater, and to the voices of peoples living around. Based on a dinamyc use of these recordings, “Face à la dérive” is a cycle of improvised performances using both musical intruments and acousmatic sounds.”

Michel F. Cote/Isaiah Ceccarelli-Vulgarities
“Bored of the future, two drummers meet and ask each other: what can we do when we’re just two drummers? “We can be vulgar” was the answer. They put together a few vague ideas and obsessions. For the sake of amateurism, they added their respective failures. This meeting is the audible result of being overworked. What comes out of it is a sullen form of grace, an elegy for the destruction of things. In short, this CD features the sound of a plethora of objects being struck and stroked.”

Ensemble Super Musique-Y’a du Bruit dans ma Cabane
“Y’a du Bruit dans ma Cabane, Ensemble SuperMusique’s second CD, marks a serious side step from its debut Canevas +, which culled excerpts from concerts presented in Montréal between 1998 and 2004, and featured various facets and line-ups of the group. This brand-new release is the product of a single line-up and features some tasty homogeneity. One really hears a group sound from beginning to end. One can feel the unity of breath, the deep and intense cohesion existing between Jean Derome, Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, Danielle Palardy Roger, Pierre Tanguay, and Martin Tétreault. Built from concepts suggested by Derome, Hétu, Labrosse, and Roger, this lively shack full of adventurous sonic outbursts is inhabited by a true family, a team of improvisation champs. A fun shack where sonic brilliance has been enhanced by Paul Dolden’s magic ears.”

Philippe Lauzier/Pierre-Yves Martel/Kim Myhr/Martin Tétreault-Disparition de l’usine éphémère
“Disparition de l’usine éphémère is the first release of a quartet consisting of prominent improvisers from Québec and Norway. The peculiar combination of old and new instruments renders a poetic image of a faded, bygone industrial plant. The quartet works within both narrow and broad acoustic areas: sometimes focusing on a tiny vibration, other times a polyphonic orchestra of pipes, pumps, wheels, objects, bells and motors ring together: a multiplicity of cogwheels spinning in different tempos, all working together to create a large machine of acoustic and electronic sounds.”

Joelle Leandre/Quentin Sirjacq-Out of Nowhere
“If a book is not to be judged by its cover, as the saying goes, here is one recording whose title should not be mistaken as a collection of jazz standards. But all of the music contained in these eleven tracks literally comes from out of nowhere, the result of an impromptu encounter of two like-minded players. By now it may well be unnecessary to introduce Joëlle Léandre, but it’s worth noting here that “Madame Contrebasse” has always thrived in these intimate duo settings, a fact borne out in her considerable discography. Almost 25 years her junior, pianist (and fellow countryman) Quentin Sirjacq heralds from a different generation; yet, improvisation enables the keyboardist to bridge the gap with his former Mills College teacher-mentor and carve out a very personal musical space à deux. Don’t expect them to fall into any of those soloist and accompanist routines, or contests of wits and chops; instead, these collaborations are full of nuance and detail, like chiaroscuro effects floating gracefully over their soundscapes. Primarily introspective, with a couple of more jaunty escapades along the way, the music is warm and inviting, but never does it lapse into a kind of facile easy listening ambiance. Beyond all labels and descriptions, this offering will reach both heart and mind alike.”

Quatuor Bozzini-Arbor Vitae
“The sixth volume of the collection, Arbor Vitæ, pays homage to the Canadian-American composer James Tenney with performances of the complete quartets and quintets. These works were composed over a period of more than 50 years, from the first string quartet, written at 21, to the last, posthumous quartet. Through various acoustic and musical phenomena, Tenney creates broad, open musical spaces, making music that is both rigorous and sensual. We feel privileged and honoured to be associated with these works by one of the most important North American composers of the 20th century.”

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• An offbeat ensemble
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From All About Jazz:

Paul Bley
Barrage (ESP Disk)
Reviewed by Lyn Horton

05-Jan-09 Alexander von Schlippenbach
Piano Solo ‘77 (FMP Records)
Reviewed by Henry Smith

03-Jan-09 Avishai Cohen
Flood (Anzic Records)
Reviewed by J Hunter

03-Jan-09 Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet
Asphalt Flowers Forking Paths (Hatology)
Reviewed by Troy Collins

From DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET:

January 03, 2009
Nicole Mitchell’s Sonic Projections II, The Stone
David Boykin, Tomas Fujiwara, Mary Halvorson, Nicole Mitchell

Twelve Cups Records is a new label that just put out their first release:

Twelve Cups Records presents a collection of music written for dance and theater. “Ravish - And Other Tales For the Stage” features 15 tracks of haunting instrumental pieces composed by members of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

It is available at CD Baby.

According to the Spiral

For over 20 years, Cheer-Accident have been a creative, interesting force in rock music. They constantly strive to surprise their audience and themselves with constant reinvention. Fear Draws Misfortune is their 16th release and arguably their best release and their album which strives the furthest towards a powerful balance between personalized and unique studio techniques and the excitement of a visceral, live, well-honed rock band. Which is saying something. It is a strongly compelling and high-reaching album that uses a wide variety of ideas, styles and studio techniques, resulting in a cohesive and ambitious album of art-rock. The basic band is a trio who between them perform on vocals, keyboards, trumpets guitars, bass and drums, but they are augmented by 15 additional musicians who, each in their own way, bring their own musical gifts to the album. Fear Draws Misfortune reveals a fortuitous intersection of between Cuneiform and Cheer-Accident, both of whom have long admired the other and both of whom finally decided to do something about it! This long overdue marriage, which neatly coincides with a timely (and quite lengthy) cover-feature article in December 2008’s Signal To Noise magazine, promises to hurl Cheer-Accident into into wider recognition.

From Musique Machine:

Verilöyly/Candy Cane/Navigations/Cahier - Split
In addition to Candy Cane’s excellent Fay-ra-Doowra (see review), this four-band split disc makes a very good introduction to some of Finland’s most interesting new bands. Instead of taking the more fashionable path of big acts such as Stratovarius and Nightwish, the four bands here seem to draw from very different sources, namely Suomi’s legendary black metal scene and the school of experimental rock that took the Finnish by storm in the late 60s.

Minus Pilots - Superior Proof Of Cinema
When I put the needle into the groove I wondered what happened the lp. There was an amount of static that made you wonder if this album was second hand instead of being a brandnew limited edition release of the equally brandnew Panic Arrest imprint.

Various Artists - Fabriksampler v2
In these days of ‘partymix’ and ’shuffle’ on one hand and the emphasis on being able to customize everything to your own personal choice as we have to remember we’re inviduals above all, one can wonder if there’s room for a compilation.

Bong- Ra - I am The God of Hellfire
This is a reissue of Bong- Ra’s 3rd and highly respected album from 2005 which mixers up a dark and heady electroinca storm and melds together elements of Breakcore, techno, rave, dark pop, dark ‘n’ hazed raga & the odd metallic edger’s.

George Cartwright’s Gloryland Ponycat
“God Has Smiled on Me” (mp3)
from “Black Ants Crawling”
(Innova Recordings)

Buy at eMusic
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

From Portland Eye and Ear Control:

1/5: Daniel Higgs, The Naked Future, Power Nap
Daniel Higgs (ex-LUNGFISH)
The Naked Future
Power Nap

at 229 Shaver (Shaver & Vancouver)
Saturday January 3rd
8pm
please bring donation for Daniel