Cuneiform Records releases May 2008
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Topic: Cuneiform Records releases May 2008
Posted By: Dick Heath
Subject: Cuneiform Records releases May 2008
Date Posted: May 14 2008 at 18:24
5 NEW CUNEIFORM RELEASES (RELEASE DATE: MAY 13 2008!!!!!)
UNIVERS ZERO *UNIVERS ZERO* [formerly 1313] (Cuneiform Rune 1313)
FILE UNDER: ROCK / NEW MUSIC / CHAMBER ROCK / CLASSICAL / EXPERIMENTAL
“It’s stunning how well Univers Zero’s 1977 debut holds up, musically and sonically, compared to…
anything else happening in so-called new music.” – Keyboard
More
than 30 years ago, a group of seven unknown, mostly Belgian musicians
gathered in a small basement studio to record their first album, which
they released themselves in a tiny edition of 500 copies. The album was
untitled, the cover bearing only the band’s name, but the catalogue
number on the first, limited pressing – 1313 – would in later years be
used as its name. The power and originality of this album – the first
recording by the Belgian band Univers Zero – stunned listeners at the
time. At some point during the album’s numerous subsequent reissues,
the album was renamed 1313. Each reissue delighted existing fans and
attracted new audiences; decades later, the album continues to astound.
Today, Univers Zero is acknowledged to mark the birth of “chamber
rock”: a new and startlingly original musical genre – a perfect hybrid
of classical music and rock – that may conceivably be the Francophone
world’s most significant [unique/distinctive/singular] contribution to
late 20th Century New Music. Featuring music that was simultaneously
medieval and modern, merging influences from early 20th C. classical
composers such as Bartok and Stravinsky, with the power and iconoclasm
of rock music, Univers Zero marked the debut of one of the greatest
avant-garde ensembles of all-time.
This reissue by Cuneiform
restores Univers Zero’s debut album to its original look – the cover
reproduces that of the original pressing, with its original name –
Univers Zero as opposed to 1313, while enhancing the album’s original
sound – the music is completely remixed. Remixed from the original 1977
multi-track tapes and remastered, the nuances of Univers Zero’s unique,
primarily acoustic, and primarily classical instrumentation come to the
fore: bassoon, violin, harmonium, viola, oboe, and spinet, interwoven
with guitar, bass and drums. In addition to the studio album – which
featured Univers Zero bandmembers Michel Berckmans (bassoon), Daniel
Denis (drums, percussion), Marcel Dufrane (violin), Christian Genet
(bass), Patrick Hanappier (violin, viola, pocket cello), Emmanuel
Nicaise (harmonium, spinet), and Roger Trigaux (guitar) – this reissue
also includes a live, 28 minute bonus track. A 1979 performance of “La
Faulx” that was recorded by B.R.T. (Belgie Radio Televisie), the live
track features Berckmans (bassoon and oboe), Denis (drums), Hanappier
(violin), Guy Segers (bass and vocal and noise effects), and Trigaux
(harmonium and guitar). The CD reissue is accompanied by a 16pp.
booklet containing a history of the band’s early years written by music
historians Renato Moraes and Aymeric Leroy and illustrated with
archival photos. Reproducing the original artwork, the cover features
only the band’s name – Univers Zero; for the CD’s catalogue number,
Cuneiform has used the number 1313. Such careful restored packaging is
befitting this album’s landmark status: a seminal album in the history
of rock, as well as a lodestar for the future of classical music. By
the close of the 20th C., chamber rock’s influence on avant-garde rock
would extend beyond the French-speaking world to the rest of Europe,
Scandinavia, North America, Japan, and beyond. Today, in the 21st
Century, the classical music world is discovering Univers Zero, whose
music reveals a new direction for classical music, injecting new vigor,
attracting new audiences and breathing new life into the scene.
***
LARS HOLLMER *VIANDRA* (Cuneiform Rune 271)
FILE UNDER: ROCK / POPULAR / INSTRUMENTAL
“…Hollmer should be considered a composer in the league of Piazzola…” –All Music Guide
Swedish
composer/accordionist/keyboardist Lars Hollmer – “Swedish king of all
things with keys” [AMG] – creates popular instrumental music that
transcends modern musical genres and evokes the heart and soul of
traditional Scandinavian folk music. In a career spanning 4 decades,
based in the ancient university town of Uppsala, he has recorded
scores of albums and created a highly distinctive body of solo and
collaborative work, that can best be characterized as a kaleidoscope of
musical influences forged through a singular Nordic lens. Interweaving
traditional folk musics with popular music of the present and near-past
(rock, jazz, film scores, carnival and circus music) and influences
from classical composers, Hollmer’s music infuses danceable melodies
with complex time signatures, and invites instruments long associated
with the common folk (accordions, harmoniums etc) to the fore, to dance
alongside classical (bassoons, oboe) or modern popular (jazz and rock)
instrumentation. The resultant sound is melodic and accessible,
intelligent and complex, and above all, heartfelt and sincere, spanning
human emotions from joy to despair. Revered in his native country, who
awarded this “giant in the Swedish musical society” a Swedish Grammy
Award for solo work in 1999, Hollmer’s music has begun to receive more
widespread, popular recognition outside Scandinavia, due to his
ongoing, high energy international projects. His recent projects
include membership in the accordion supergroup, Accordion Tribe, the
subject of an award-winning European documentary; collaborations with
French Canadian (Jean Derome, FanFare Pourpour, Miriodor) and Japanese
musicians (Sola, with Ruins’ drummer Tatsuya Yoshida); appearances at
countless high-profile music festivals; and a series of recordings
released in Germany, Canada, Japan and the USA.
This recording,
Viandra – whose title, says Lars, is derived from Vi=We and
Andra=Others – is Hollmer’s 12th solo album and his first to be
released in the USA, by Cuneiform. It may well be the most
‘accessible’ of Hollmer’s solo recordings to date – especially in
physical terms, through global release and distribution. Composed
between 2001 and 2007, Viandra chronicles solo work that Hollmer felt
compelled to create during one of his career’s most active periods of
international artistic collaboration, and one of the most eventful
periods in his personal life. As such, it is a uniquely personal and
contemplative work. Speaking of Viandra, Hollmer notes that: “My music
has always been a mirror of my life…and this time more than ever, I
believe.” Recorded at the Chickenhouse – the Uppsala studio where
Hollmer’s artistic soul comes home to roost – Viandra features Hollmer
on a myriad of instruments (accordion, various keyboards, harmonium,
glockenspiel and more), playing with some of his most beloved
collaborators, including long-time associate (and Univers Zero member)
Michel Berckmans on bassoon, oboe and French horn, and Santiago Jimenez
on violin. The music is pure Lars Hollmer: defying convention while
paying homage to the past, Viandra transcends modern musical genres to
transport the listener on a journey through the heart of humanity, on
the wings of a Nordic soul.
****
WADADA LEO SMITH’S GOLDEN QUARTET *TABLIGH* (Cuneiform Rune 270)
FILE UNDER: JAZZ / IMPROVISATION
“…one
of the most poetically concise improvisors in American music. … He
describes his state of mind when he’s improvising in almost mystic
terms, and in fact there’s probably little distinction between music
and spirituality in Smith’s mind.” – Coda
Lauded as “one of
the most vital musicians on the planet” by Coda, Wadada Leo Smith is
one of the most visionary, boldly original and artistically important
figures in contemporary American jazz and free music, and one of the
greatest trumpet players of all time. As a composer, improvisor,
performer, music theorist/writer and educator, Smith has devoted a
lifetime to navigating the emotional heart, spiritual soul, social
significance and physical structure of jazz – both free and composed –
and world music to create new music of infinite possibility and
nuance. Since the 1960s, when Smith became a founding member of AACM
and debuted as a composer on Anthony Braxton’s 1968 *Three
Compositions of New Jazz*, he has released nearly 30 albums under
either his own name or his bands’ on ECM, Moers, Black Saint and other
labels, including numerous releases on his own Kabell label in the
‘70s-‘80s and on Tzadik, Pi Recordings and Cuneiform (Yo Miles!) in the
‘90s and 2000s. IN 2004, Tzadik released a highly acclaimed boxed set
of his early work, called *The Kabell Years 1971-79*. In 2005, Smith’s
music was spot-lit as the subject of a three-day Creative Music
Festival held at RedCat in Los Angeles. The crowning highlight of that
festival, headlining on November 19, was a concert by Wadada Leo
Smith’s Golden Quartet, a musical project especially dear to his heart.
This CD, Tabligh, the first release by Wadada Leo Smith’s
Golden Quartet on Cuneiform, was taped live at the November 19th 2005
concert. The third CD by the Quartet, it is the first one to feature
the group’s new acoustic-electric lineup: WADADA LEO SMITH on trumpet,
VIJAR IYER on piano, Fender Rhodes and synthesizer, JOHN LINDBERG on
bass, and SHANNON JACKSON on drums. Smith had brought these gifted
composers/improvisers/performers together in 2004, and in the spring
2005 they did an extensive European tour. Their world premiere at the
Banlieues Blues Festival was filmed for *Eclipse*, a DVD documentary
recently released by La Huit Productions. In contrast with the DVD,
which features the same lineup, this CD features the Quartet performing
on its home turf, after it had spent time touring together. On Tabligh,
the musicians converse like old friends, speaking Smith’s musical
language with ease and performing four of his compositions. The music
on the *Tabligh* CD is both riveting and reverent, offering
breathtaking vistas across and interpretations of a jazz landscape that
encompasses sound as well as silence, abstraction as well as grooves.
In both its form and its content, the music on Tabligh is one of the
purest expressions of Smith’s creative ideals.
This year, WADADA
LEO SMITH'S GOLDEN QUARTET – with IYER–piano, LINDBERG–bass, and Art
Ensemble of Chicago member FAMOUDOU DON MOYE–drums (the lineup of
*Tabligh* except for the drummer) – will play on the main stage June
13, 2008 at the Vision Festival XIII in NYC – THE premier festival for
improvised music in the USA.
****
COSMOLOGIC: EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD (Cuneiform Rune 263)
FILE UNDER: JAZZ / IMPROVISATION / FREE JAZZ
"With
motivated and talented young musicians of this calibre, there's no
doubt that jazz can be a creative force. Long gone are the days when
things West Coast were considered pallid in relation to anything East
Coast, and for any of the doubters out there, here's the proof
positive." – Marc Chenard, Coda Magazine
Based in
the San Diego area, the group Cosmologic traverses the broad terrain of
creative jazz and improvised music, integrating high-energy playing,
intense introspection, rich grooves, open textures, and collective
alchemy. Central to the group’s sound is a shared commitment to
developing organic, original pieces that incorporate both composition
and improvisation, and an ongoing pursuit of new ideas. While
profoundly dedicated to improvisation, Cosmologic also performs
complex, structured pieces that are composed by an individual member
and then transformed through extensive group work. This process often
leads the quartet into complex musical landscapes, while drawing on the
individual strengths of each member.
Cosmologic was founded as
a composers’ and improvisors’ collective in 1999, and still consists of
the original four musicians: JASON ROBINSON (reeds) and NATHAN HUBBARD
(percussion), MICHAEL DESSEN (trombone), and SCOTT WALTON (bass &
piano). Cosmologic’s new CD, *Eyes in the Back of My Head*, is the
band’s 4th album and first release on Cuneiform. A studio recording
made in December 2006 and containing 8 tracks, the CD features
compositions contributed by each of the members and improvisation
contributed by all. Featuring some of the most creative, vibrant
creative modern jazz produced today, *Eyes in the Back of My Head* both
celebrates the band’s past decade of existence, and points towards a
shining future for this group.
****
REVOLUTIONARY SNAKE ENSEMBLE *FORKED TONGUE* (Cuneiform Rune 269)
FILE UNDER: JAZZ
"Musical innovator Ken Field...[drags] the brass band into the 21st century." – Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Eagle
Dressed a la Mardi Gras in feathered masks and multi-colored, sequined
costumes, playing music that riotously combines the rhythms of New
Orleans brass bands with improvisation and heaping undercurrents of
funk, the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble inhabits that rare musical
planet on which Sun Ra, James Brown, George Clinton & Parliament
Funkadelic and a myriad of New Orleans marching bands jointly reside.
Based physically in Boston since forming in 1990, the horn and
percussion-based group is led by saxophonist/composer Ken Field, who
describes it as "a funk and street beat brass band, playing New Orleans
and other modern improvised celebratory styles." The Snakes' music is
rooted in the New Orleans tradition of jazz funerals – a tradition
unique to the birthplace of jazz – which began with a 'first line'
procession to the burial ground, a brass band playing hymns in a
funeral dirge. Afterwards, there was a celebration of the deceased's
life, with a 'second line' of musicians playing up-tempo music
celebrating the miracle of life. Playing Field's original compositions
and rearrangements of traditional tunes, opening up new avenues for
improvisation, the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble celebrates, expands,
and transforms the brass band tradition – a tradition, in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina, that is now in diaspora.
The Revolutionary
Snake Ensemble's 2nd release, Forked Tongue, is their first release on
Cuneiform. In the New Orleans brass band tradition, Forked Tongue
opens with a New Orleans' funeral dirge, "Just a Closer Walk", before
exploring more upbeat fare. Containing a total of 12 tunes, the disc
showcases a wide range of the Snakes' repertoire. It includes unique
arrangements of traditional New Orleans marching music and spirituals
and of music by such diverse songwriters as William Broad (aka Billy
Idol), Ornette Colemen (this may be the first disc ever to feature both
Idol and Coleman!), Norman Span, and Jay Livingston & Ray Evans, as
well as original material by Field. The album features Field on alto
sax, whistles and percussion; Andrew Hickman on tenor saxophone, Jon
Fraser on trumpet, Lennie Peterson on trombone, Kimon Kirk on acoustic
bass, and on drums and percussion, both Erik Paull and Phil Neighbors
(who also contributes electric bass). Guest musicians include vocalist
Gabrielle Agachicko performing Field's stunning minor key arrangement
of the traditional classic "Down By the Riverside." Other guests
include Karen Aqua (djembe, tambourine), Andy Pinkham (electric bass),
and Jesse Williams (bass). Recorded in 2006 at Boston's Mortal Music
Studios with engineer/owner Andy Pinkham, it was remixed by
Minneapolis' Balanced Productions and mastered in Los Angeles by Bob
Demaa.
***********
WINTER RELEASES:
THE BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH – *ECLIPSE AT DAWN* – CD (Rune 262)
FILE UNDER: JAZZ
Featured
musicians: Chris McGregor (piano), Louis Moholo (drums), Harry Miller
(double bass), Harry Beckett (trumpet), Mark Charig (trumpet), Nick
Evans (trombone), Malcolm Griffiths (trombone), Dudu Pukwana (alto
sax), Mike Osborne (alto sax), Alan Skidmore (tenor sax), Gary Windo
(tenor sax)
In an era not known for its jazz big bands – the
1970s – the Brotherhood of Breath emerged from adversity and did the
impossible. Based in London and led by white South African Chris
McGregor, the Brotherhood made music that both swung in the big band
tradition of Duke Ellington and Count Basie from days long past, and
sqwonked in shared spirit with the new avant jazz improvising groups
like the Globe Unity Orchestra – all at the same time, in a single
tune. Fueling and firing it all were the rhythms of kwela, high life
and other traditional African musics from the core band members’ youth.
The result – joyous and jubilant, sounding like no one else – was not
merely a breath of fresh air for British jazz, but a revelation. As
*All About Jazz* notes: “...it can be argued that it was the arrival of
the Blue Notes…and their eventual metamorphosis into the core of the
Brotherhood that rescued British jazz and gave many young players...a
forum to make their mark....” While now cultural fusion is the norm in
popular music and audience crossover a mainstream goal in the music
industry, McGregor’s work with The Brotherhood of Breath and its
predecessor, The Blue Notes, a racially-mixed band based in South
Africa, was groundbreaking politically, socially, and musically in its
time. Cuneiform Record’s newest release by Chris McGregor’s
Brotherhood Of Breath, *ECLIPSE AT DAWN*, continues the label’s efforts
to introduce the Brotherhood’s music to a new generation of fans.
Cuneiform’s releases have sparked a renaissance of interest in the
vibrant jazz scene surrounding the South African expatriate musicians
in London in the ‘60s-70s – a scene whose roots lay in the adversity of
Apartheid.
The Brotherhood made only a handful of recordings
during their lifetime. In the 2000s, to augment the Brotherhood’s
scarce (and mostly out of print) recorded output and reawaken interest
in the band, Cuneiform began to release previously unreleased live
recordings of Brotherhood concerts. Cuneiform Record’s newest release
by Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath, *ECLIPSE AT DAWN*, features
a previously unreleased live recording of the Brotherhood’s performance
at the Berliner Philharmonie on November 4, 1971 as part of the
Berliner Jazztage Festival. The CD is accompanied by a 16-page booklet
containing liner notes by Marcello Carlin and historical photos of the
band, taken by Roberto Masotti at the actual Berliner Jazztage Festival
concert. *ECLIPSE AT DAWN* is essential listening for anyone
interested in: jazz big bands, 1970s and 1980s jazz, world music, jazz
& world-music fusions, the anti-apartheid movement and the African
diaspora, and British jazz.
Press commentary on Cuneiform's past Brotherhood of Breath releases:
“…a
new Brotherhood of Breath live CD reminds us of what a wild party they
were – and a smack in apartheid’s face. … This stuff is raw and
unfiltered. It is as potent as backwoods moonshine. And it is beyond
indispensable.” – Ken Egbert, *Tone Clusters*
“Theirs is a
story that should be known by heart by all those claiming a scholarly
interest in jazz, as it exemplifies that pain and grace that give voice
to the music. For those who don’t know their story, take this disc to
the woodshed.” – Bill Shoemaker, *Jazz Times*
*********
BEAT CIRCUS – *DREAMLAND* – CD (Rune 264)
FILE UNDER: ROCK / POST-ROCK / POST CABARET / NEW WEIRD AMERICANA
Produced
by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, The Dresden Dolls, Barbez), Beat
Circus’ *DREAMLAND* is an astonishing CD: a dark American epic,
cinematic in its scope. It is the first part in a Weird American Gothic
trilogy of song cycles written by singer/songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist Brian Carpenter, the leader of Beat Circus – a
band aligned with Boston’s internationally recognized post-cabaret
music scene (The Dresden Dolls, Reverend Glasseye and HUMANWINE). The
*DREAMLAND* song cycle is based on historical fact – real people and
events in the turn of the century Coney Island amusement park of the
same name – interwoven with Carpenter’s fictional tale of an
impoverished, alcoholic gold miner who makes a pact with the devil
before fleeing eastward to work in Dreamland’s sideshows. In
Carpenter’s own words: “…tis a tale of dreams and nightmares, the
conscious mind and the subconscious mind, responsibility and
consequence.” To bring his historical fiction to life, Carpenter
created a 150 page musical score that blends Vaudeville, cabaret,
parlor songs and other old-time, pre-jazz American popular musical
forms with modern composition and post-rock. The resulting music is a
surreal new-folk Americana, resounding and brutal in musical and
emotional power. Blurring the lines between past and present, fact and
fiction, nightmares and the American Dream, Beat Circus’ *DREAMLAND*
exists in a perverse and magical netherworld, where reality shifts like
sand on Coney Island’s shore.
Beat Circus' *DREAMLAND* CD is
filled with unforgettable melodies and dark, gripping narratives.
Outside of the music, the *DREAMLAND* CD is, as a physical package, a
gorgeous object in and of itself, beautifully designed and lovingly
researched and assembled. It contains a 12-page, full-color booklet
that provides song titles, musician credits and lyrics (where
applicable) for each track, gorgeously laid out by Dave Bias amidst
original artwork and historical photos whose visuals expand and augment
the meaning and mood of each song. The original cover art was created
by Brian Dewan, a NY-based multimedia artist/musician/filmmaker. The
gorgeous visuals supplied by Bias and Dewan augment the meaning and
mood of the music on *DREAMLAND*, and serve to further blur the line
between historical fact and artistic fiction behind the Dreamland tale.
*DREAMLAND*
is Beat Circus' second release, and its first recording on Cuneiform.
Reviewing the band's debut, *All About Jazz* noted: “Their narrative
songs evoke cabaret, Wild West saloons, circus sideshows, and Old World
gypsies…but the prodigious musicianship and stylistic miscegenation is
all modern; the results, refreshingly entertaining.” Beat Circus would
likely please fans of Tom Waits, Carla Bley, Nick Cave, Sleepytime
Gorilla Museum, Kurt Weill, Bernard Herman and Danny Elfman.
Beat Circus will tour the East Coast USA in February.
Featured
musicians on *DREAMLAND* include: Steven Berson (cello), Holly Brewer
(vocals), Brian Carpenter (vocals, harmonica, harmonium, toy piano,
drums, trumpet, slide trumpet, tambourine, Mellotron, outside talker,
stomping), Ron Caswell (tuba), Brian Dewan (electric zither; also did
cover illustrator), Frank Difficult (electronics), DJ Hazard (chain
gang, outside talker), Orion Rigel Dommisse (vocals), Curtis
Hasselbring (trombone), Michael Hearst (theremin) [One Ring Zero],
Käthe Hostetter (violin), Chris Jenkins (viola), Julia Kent (cello),
Briggan Krauss (alto & baritone saxophones), Matt McLaren (drums,
washboard, percussion/stomping), M. McNiss (chorus vocals, chain gang,
outside talker). Alec K. Redfearn (accordion, jaw harp, stomping), Todd
Robbins (piano) ragtime pianist & sideshow historian: Exec.
Director of Coney Island USA & star of www.americancarny.com],
Brandon Seabrook (banjo, mandolin), Sxip Shirey (bells, extended
pennywhistle) multi-instrumentalist, Jesse Sparhawk (harp), Helen Yee
(violin).
**********
MATS/MORGAN BAND - *HEAT BEATS LIVE* + *TOURBOOK 1991-2007* by MORGAN AGREN
CD+DVD (Rune 265-266)
FILE UNDER: ROCK / JAZZ-ROCK / FUSION
Singled
out by iconoclastic genius Frank Zappa while youthful prodigies and
invited to join Zappa’s touring band before his death, the Swedish
musicians Mats Öberg (keyboards) and Morgan Ågren (drums) remain today
one of the longest-running (over 25 years!!) and most musically
successful collaborations in the universe of fusion and progressive
rock. Their Mats/Morgan Band has released eight albums and played
countless festivals and concerts, and the two have also played and
recorded with other bands, including appearing on a Grammy Award
winning 1994 release by Zappa’s Universe. In addition, both have
successful independent careers; among other projects, Mats recently
released a solo recording and a CD with his band G.U.B.B..
Concurrently, regarded as “Sweden’s top drummer” [Sabian Cymbals],
Morgan has played with Roine Stolt’s group Kaipa, Fredrik Thordendal
(guitarist for Meshuggah), Simon Steensland, Artis the Spoonman, Glen
Hughes, Terry Bozzio, Mike Keneally, Dennis Walley, his own brother,
guitarist Jimmy Ågren, the electrified string group Fleshquartet, and
many others. Mats and Morgan’s latest collaborative release, *HEAT
BEATS LIVE*, a double-disc set from Cuneiform, showcases the matured
promise that Zappa saw in the Swedish wunderkinds decades before.
This
new double-disc Cuneiform release contains *HEAT BEATS LIVE*, a CD
featuring recent live recordings by the Mats/Morgan Band at Stockholm’s
Club Fasching in May 2005 and April 2007, and in France at Le Triton, a
club near Paris, in Sept. 2007. Besides Mats and Morgan, the live CD
features performances by Tommy Tordsson (bass), Simon Steensland
(baritone horn), Erik Steinberg (tenor sax), Martin Steinberg (alto
sax), Jimmy Ågren (guitar), and Robert Elovsson (keyboards). Morgan has
said in interviews that “Mats/Morgan is first of all a live band,”and
*Expose* has noted that “the two most striking things when seeing them
live is that keyboardist Mats Öberg, who is blind, plays like a
monster, and that drummer Morgan Agren is a beast. …they are a
fusion-ish instrumental band of almost impossible virtuosity and a
palatable sense of fun.” *HEAT BEAT LIVE* shows the Mats/Morgan Band
hot and grooving at its fiery, chopfest best. The Mats/Morgan Band
would be of interest for fans of Allan Holdsworth, King Crimson,
National Health, Return To Forever, Stevie Wonder and Frank Zappa.
The
Cuneiform release also includes the first-ever DVD released by either
of the band’s leaders, titled TOURBOOK 1991-2007, which features live
and studio video footage of Morgan Ågren. *TOURBOOK 1991-2007* is a
drum extravaganza: a 16-year overview of Morgan’s work. Containing
nearly two hours of music in 65 tracks, it features Morgan playing both
solo and with his “favorite musicians”, including the Christer Karlberg
Trio, Frederick Thordendal, Fleshquartet, Simon Steensland, P.
Tjernberg, Jannis Eliasson Band, and playing Beefheart and Magma
tributes. Most notably, the DVD features Morgan playing with the
Mats/Morgan Band on numerous tracks – these are the first-ever DVD
recordings released of that band.
Mutually pleased with their
collaboration on *THANKS FOR FLYING WITH US* (their first release on
Cuneiform) and *HEAT BEATS LIVE*, Mats and Morgan and Cuneiform Records
recently signed a deal for Cuneiform to reissue, with bonus material,
Mats and Morgan’s first six recordings, originally available only in
Sweden. Limited promo copies of Cuneiform’s Mats & Morgan reissues
will be available to the press on special request. The first of these
reissues is now available:
Also available this month: MATS/MORGAN BAND *TRENDS AND OTHER DISEASES* - CD (Rune 267) - CUNEIFORM reissue
**********
PLANETA IMAGINARIO – *BIOMASA* – CD (Rune 268)
FILE UNDER: ROCK / JAZZ ROCK / FUSION
Biomasa
features the octet of bandleader Marc Capel Nadal (keyboards), Vasco
Miguel Trilla Gomes dos santos (drums), Josep “Manre” Manresa Zafra
(fretless bass), Eneko Alberdi Laskurain (guitar), and a four-piece
wind section that includes The-Hien Trinh (trombone), Herman “Mehl”
Baureker (alto sax), Rafa Gómez López (tenor saxophone), and Guillermo
Villa Vald´s (trumpet, flugelhorn).
The band Planeta Imaginario
(Imaginary Planet) is an extraordinary eight piece Spanish
jazz-rock/fusion group that plays creative, genre bending electric
fusions. Founded in Barcelona in 1999, the band is named after a
radically creative children's TV show from the early 1980s. In its
music, Planeta Imaginario takes listeners on a magical, sonic journey
to a musical Utopia, touching like a time capsule on three decades of
jazz and rock and creating unique, new musical fusions of psychedelia
and progressive rock. On *BIOMASA*, Planeta Imaginario blends
geographically and temporally disparate musical influences, from the
English Canterbury School (National Health, Gilgamesh, Hatfield and the
North) of progressive rock, Chick Corea’s Spanish fusions, American
guitar rock (a la The Allman Brothers Band), West African and
Mediterranean rhythms into a fantastically creative, imaginative,
evocative and uplifting musical brew.
A studio recording,
*BIOMASA* is Planeta Imaginario’s second album and its first release
outside Spain, on Cuneiform. More mature and elaborate than the band’s
previous compositions, *BIOMASA*’s songs include a world of musical
references – everything from A to Z, Allman Brothers to Zappa, and
influences from continents ranging from Africa to North America, Europe
and beyond. Fans of instrumental music (especially various fusions,
jazz-rock, progressive rock and related musics) are encouraged to
explore the work of this remarkable Spanish band, whose music should
appeal to listeners of such diverse artists as: Anekdoten, AKA moon,
Area, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, King Crimson, Avishai Cohen, Steve
Coleman, Deus ex Machina, Gabriel Faure, Gilgamesh, Hatfield at the
North, Pat Metheny, Nucleus, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf Generator,
Frederic Mompou, National Health, Weather Report, Kenny Werner, Frank
Zappa, and John Zorn.
Eurock: “If complex music is your thing,
then this instrumental octet…will have your head spinning. Powerhouse
fusion guitar is blended with symphonic keyboards and [a] wind section
into a fusion of powerful arrangements and soaring solos…”
Thank you for your interest in adventurous music.
best regards,
joyce
director of publicity & promotion
cuneiform records
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The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS.
CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php
Host by PA's Dick Heath.
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Replies:
Posted By: Mellotron Storm
Date Posted: May 15 2008 at 12:35
Thanks for the updates,i'm a Wayside regular.
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"The wind is slowly tearing her apart"
"Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN
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