DAVIS, MILES Lift To The Scaffold (OST) (Doxy) lp 24.00
Deadly cool, existential, and cruelly absurd, Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (aka Lift To The Scaffold, or Elevator To The Gallows) is one of those brilliantly black humored French noir films about an ingenious murder plan gone awry due to a random turn of events. Directed by Louis Malle and starring Jeanne Moreau, this 1958 crime thriller also featured a beautifully understated score by Miles Davis. Working with French musicians on bass, piano and tenor saxophone, along with ex-pat American drummer Kenny Clarke, Davis alternates between mostly somber processionals with a slow stalking bass and plaintive trumpet motifs, to occasionally a scurrying and frenetic bop pace depicting the seductively modern lifestyle of these carefree and careless criminals. Davis handles the noirish vibe perfectly, resonating deeply with the doom-laden mood but with a light yet foreboding touch that draws you in and entraps you long before you realize you're a goner. Very Recommended!!!!!!

DAVIS, MILES Live At The Fillmore East: March 7, 1970 (Columbia) 2cd 23.00
Recorded a few months before the release of 1970's astonishing Bitches Brew, these nine tracks have never been previously released (so don't confuse this album with heavily-post-produced Live at the Fillmore -- this live material has not been messed with). Opening for Steve Miller and Neil Young, Davis introduced his new rock-influenced sound. The In a Silent Way album (1969) had seen Davis experimenting with rock's tonalities, sure, but that was quiet, ethereal, and floating (how many of today's post-rock bands wish they could sound like In A Silent Way, I wonder)... whereas the "rock" that Davis flirts with here on Live at the Fillmore East is chaotic, throbbing and turbulent. It wasn't really rock, of course -- this is fucking brilliant jazz -- but the amplification and instrumentation, not to mention the audience there for the headlining acts, led many to question whether or not he was in fact playing rock. Today we call it fusion. And it rules.
With Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Chick Corea (Fender Rhodes electric piano), Dave Holland (bass), Jack deJohnette (drums), Airto Moreira (percussion) -- this album documents the first official recording from this lineup, one of Davis' great sextets. Within days Shorter would leave the group to found Weather Report with Joe Zawinul.
Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "It's About That Time / The Theme (excerpt 1)"
RealAudio clip: "It's About That Time / The Theme (excerpt 2)"
RealAudio clip: "Spanish Key"

DAVIS, MILES Live-Evil (Columbia/Legacy) 2cd 24.00
Recorded from 1970-74 and shamefully, until now, only available as imports, this album, along with 4 other albums from Miles' kozmik groove electric period, has been properly issued. Limited edition format (which probably means they'll be available in 2 months, a little cheaper and in jewel cases) features the original gatefold LP graphics, digipak & booklet with new essays, rare & previously unpublished photos. Stretched out experimentation, sometimes ferocious, always enlightening. With the talents of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, Joe Zawinul, Ron Carter, etc.

DAVIS, MILES Live-Evil (4 Men With Beards) 2lp 25.00

DAVIS, MILES Love Songs (Columbia Legacy) cd 13.98
Predating his improvised jazz/funk experimentation of the 1970s, these love ballads have finally been collected into one consistently pretty listen.

DAVIS, MILES Miles Electric: A Different Kind Of Blue (Eagle Eye Media) dvd 21.00
You know when you buy a present for your boyfriend (or girlfriend) and it's really so you can enjoy it yourself -- also fondly called Homer Simpson gifting? Well, I have to admit my own HSG guilt, the gift being this Miles Electric dvd. Honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect. But man, am I glad I bought it for "our" enjoyment. It's an incredible look inside later period (electric) Miles Davis. With in-depth and well-edited interviews of his Isle Of Wight era musicians (Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea) as well as Carlos Santana, and others, this documentary explains how the Electric took shape in the eyes of Miles, in the studio (with Bitches Brew) and in juxtoposition to the acoustic jazz establishment from which Miles' electricity exploded to a seriously unprepared audience.
The unfolding dramatization culminates with the 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival performance by Miles and his septet before 600,000 festival-goers in its 38 minute entirety. Some extra talking head style interviews give further explanation of Miles at that time. The film itself could be critiqued at length, though its interviews render such a full story, there should be no doubt of this documentary's importance.

DAVIS, MILES On The Corner (Columbia / Legacy) cd 12.98
This 1972 Miles Davis album stands as one of our favorites and one of the most played at AQ over the years. And for good reason, it seriously is one of the most gritty, dirty, funked out jazz records of all time. Influenced by his then wife, Betty Davis's vision of raw, nasty funk, this was Miles at his most forward thinking, inventive, deep hitting, psychedelic and purely bad ass!
Part of the concept of On The Corner, was to try to get black youth engaged and brought back into the world of jazz, as Davis saw that the jazz scene was getting so straight laced, watered down and stale. This album really served as his biggest 'fuck you' to the jazz establishment, all the squares that wanted him to just make pretty sounds with his trumpet and not rock the boat. But Davis was interested in much more then what jazz was traditionally considered to sound like, as this is an album equally influenced by psychedelic rock, true funk, and spiritual ritualistic music.
It's an album that has found such a devoted and diverse following. Hip-Hop heads and krautrock alike count On The Corner as sacrosanct! Distorted guitar, fucked up organs, these sounds laid the foundation for so much of our favorite music of the last several decades. While Bitches Brew, always gets the most attention, On The Corner might just be THEE one, and quite possibly one of the most brilliant and game changing albums of all time!
MPEG Stream: "On The Corner"
MPEG Stream: "Helen Butte"

DAVIS, MILES The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 (Sony / BMG) 6cd 117.00

DAVIS, MILES The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (Columbia Legacy) 4cd box 65.00
Four cds packaged in a stunning full color book, bound with blue metal, in a silky fabric covered box.

DAVIS, MILES The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (Columbia) 5cd 56.00

DAVIS, MILES The Cool Jazz Sound (Disconforme) dvd 14.98

DAVIS, MILES /BILL LASWELL Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974 (Columbia) cd 16.98
A "reconstruction and mix translation" by Laswell, long awaited and hotly debated...

DAVIS, NATHAN Best Of: '65-'76 (Jazzman) cd 17.98
From the same label that brought us the amazing reissue of Lloyd Miller's A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz comes another killer collection, this one from Nathan Davis, a frustratingly under appreciated musician in the US, whose records for the most part remain out of print, but who in Europe was quite a sensation, performing with Eric Dolphy, Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Johnny Griffin, Sonny Stitt and loads more. This relative obscurity was due in part to Davis' avoidance of the limelight, as well as his early flight to Europe. But he would later return to the US and become a pioneer in Jazz education.
This collection gathers up some of Davis' best tunes, sonically varied, from bop to modal, spiritual jazz, seventies funk, even some ethnic Turkish jazz (which will for sure appeal to fans of that Lloyd Miller), which makes sense as he would become a professor of Ethnomusicology. The first half of the record is totally classic sounding, inspired and emotional, with cool passages of dark mystery butted up against soaring ebullience, as the record progresses, the sounds become more exotic, "A5" is a brooding moody drifter, very haunting and mysterious, with a distinctly 'exotica' feel, "Mandingo's Pad" offers up some gorgeous flute, over languid piano and slippery bass, "Uschimaus" is another flute driven number that sounds like an abstract version of "My Favorite Things", all shuffle-y and serene, "Cecen Kizi" sounds like it could have been taken from a Sublime Frequencies collection, funky and soulful and very Eastern sounding, while "Atlanta Walk" sounds like the soundtrack to a chase scene in a seventies cop show, and the last few tracks follow a similar path, dark and smoldery and funky, barring the record closer, an alternate version of "A5" that's way more raw and dirty, and a bit more sweaty and sultry. Killer stuff for sure. And like the Lloyd Miller, and incredible booklet packed with tons of liner notes, about the tracks, and Davis' life, photos as well, all part of a fantastic, and long overdue introduction to this unsung jazz legend.
MPEG Stream: "B's Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Sconsolato"
MPEG Stream: "Theme From Zoltan"
MPEG Stream: "A5"

DAVKA Judith (Tzadik) cd 15.98
From the obi: "Based in San Francisco, Davka is an acoustic group at the forefront of the new Jewish Rennaissance. These three masterful musicians have been performing modern Jewish music together since 1992 and Judith, their latest release, features their flowing melodic compostitions and magical interplay in ten distinctive compostitions drawing upon Sephardic and Ashkenazi traditions, jazz, and classical chamber music. Beautiful, soulful music performed with astonishing technique and passion.

DAVKA Lavy's Dream (Tzadik) cd 16.98

DAVKA Live (Tzadik) cd 15.98

DAVKA The Golem (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Veteran San Francisco klezmer/jazz outfit Davka are certainly a good choice to take on the task of providing a soundtrack to the 1920 silent film classic Der Golem. Davka violinist Daniel Hoffmann wrote the score and performs it along with Paul Hanson on bassoon and clarinet, Kevin Mummey on dumbeq and zarb and Moses Sedler on cello. It's 32 short tracks seamlessly stitched together, ranging from almost loungey, exotica flavored sketches to more creepy and melancholic evocations -- but you could easily listen to this without getting creeped out, it doesn't come across like a horror-film score, just well-played, Old World influenced chamber jazz full of life, definitely for fans of John Zorn's Masada in their Bar Kokhba mode.
MPEG Stream: "The Golem track 8"
MPEG Stream: "The Golem track 12"

DEARIE, BLOSSOM Teach Me Tonight (El / Cherry Red) cd 17.98
Even at her most melancholy, how can anyone be sad listening to the warm and wonderful Blossom Dearie? Perfectly timed just as the weather got nicer, Dearie's light and dry vocal delivery, with its wry yet daffy effervescence and seemingly effortless syncopated acrobatics, is the perfect soundtrack for long sunny afternoon walks in the city.
Truly one of the great jazz vocal stylists especially amongst the white female singers such as Annie Ross and Anita O'Day whose sharp wit and roller coaster delivery delightfully stunned audiences at jazz festivals nationwide in the fifties and sixties. Dearie was perhaps the least deadly of the three, but definitely the most carefree and playful. She was even one of the voices for Schoolhouse Rock!
Sadly, this is also available just in time as a tribute to her life as she recently passed away just a few weeks ago. RIP Blossom, you were truly one of a kind!
MPEG Stream: "Tea For Two"
MPEG Stream: "Surrey With The Fringe On Top"
MPEG Stream: "Moonlight Savings Time"

DEATH AMBIENT Drunken Forest (Tzadik) cd 16.98

DEMERLE, LES Spectrum (Get On Down) cd 14.98
We're a sucker for the drummer as band leader. You don't really see that so much any more, but back in the fifties and sixties, plenty of drummers led their own bands, there are the obvious ones, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Max Roach, and then there's Les Demerle, a drummer / band leader you probably have never heard of. We hadn't either but holy heck is this record ruling, originally released in 1968, when Demerle was 22, Spectrum demonstrates not only Demerle's incredible drumming, but also is knack for arranging, seeing has a handful of these tracks are covers, including a killer version of the Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" and "A Day In The Life".
The record opens, as all drummers' albums should, with a drum solo, and it's a killer, wild and jazzy, loose and a little chaotic, a super energetic intro, which leads directly into the band's version of "A Taste Of Honey", which is appropriately drum heavy, opening with an ominous horn driven James Bond like groove, the song so swinging, arranged for some extra kick ass drumming, little flurries here and there, but some seriously monster drumming that somehow manages to not sound out of place. There's some more standard jazzy jams, many leaning more toward a sort of funky psychedelic sixties jazz, groovy and hippy but tight as hell. And then there's the Beatles covers, the arrangement of "A Day In The Life" is laid back, a little bit dark, a little bit funky, with some killer soloing as well as more bombastic drumming, while "I Am The Walrus" is another funky groover laced with plenty of wah wah guitar. They also cover the Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius", which gets a little bit funkified, with some awesome horns, some weird psychedelic buzz, as well as, yep, another DRUM SOLO, as well as a killer breakbeat coming out of the solo, that we imagine must have been sampled, and if not, it won't be long now. And while the covers and reinterpretations are fantastic, we almost wish there were more Demerle originals, cuz the 8+ minute epic "Deflections 1, 2, 3 & 4" might be the best track here, with its wild tangles of psychedelic guitars, its frantic drumming and constantly shifting arrangement, more killer horns, amazing solos, wah wah guitar all over the place, the sound totally psychedelic and funky, and that track has us hoping there's another record of all originals out there somewhere, cuz we can't even begin to imaging how amazing that might be.
Psychedelic sixities jazz pop reissue of the year hands down!!
MPEG Stream: "Spectrum"
MPEG Stream: "Dio Dati (God Gives)"
MPEG Stream: "Deflections 1,2,3 & 4"
MPEG Stream: "A Day In The Life"

DERAKUSHI s/t (PSF) cd 17.98
First heard these guys (and girl, it appears) on Tokyo Flashback Vol. 7, now here's their PSF full-length, packaged in a nice miniature-lp style gatefold sleeve. Very little information is available about 'em. So we'll just make do with describing the music. Avant garde free jazz improv, kinda, but also psychedelic free rock too, from a quartet consisting of alto sax, guitar, drums, and bass. Sometimes super heavy distorted bass! Definitely a lot of electricity to this unit. Along with plenty of human-powered pounding and screaming... PSF compares 'em to Borbetomagus, but that's not quite right. They're wild, but not -quite- that dense and noisy. PSF's own Ahousen would be a better comparison, if you liked that, you should check out Derakushi too. Sax honking and squealing, bass shuddering, guitar stabbing, the pipe fighting percussion sometimes skittery, sometimes straight up rocking, right through the freakout, and it's not at all wall-to-wall freakout, there's dynamics and stop and go and sudden silence... Emotional, mayhemic, yet controlled. Derakushi know how to do it, or they wouldn't be on PSF. The dark psych guitar rock elements that bleed into their freeform "jazz" are what grabs us about this, and that's also a definite PSF specialty.
MPEG Stream: "Gateway"
MPEG Stream: "Pegana"

DETENTION Warp & Woof (Arrival Records) cd 14.98
Detention are an improv group of students in detention hall after school. No, that's not true. Would have been cool though. Detention is a duo featuring Montreal musicians Sam Shalabi (whom you may know from the lovely psychedelica of the Shalabi Effect, as well as his band Molasses, etc.) and Alex MacSween, playing guitar and drums, respectively. This is an improv session, and sounds like it.

DEWAR, ANDREW RAFFO Six Lines Of Transformation (Porter) cd 14.98
Porter Records strikes again. And again and again and again and again... We've been overwhelmed with releases from this one-man-run label juggernaut, we might even have to hire another person just to keep up. But until that happens, we'll just have to pick our favorites, and do our best to get them reviewed and on the list. And with all the stuff Porter keeps digging up it really is difficult to pick favorites, but this one definitely hit the spot.
Two long form pieces, both composed by a youngish composer Andrew Raffo Dewar, the first, "Six Lines Of Transformation" is a sprawling drift of deep swells, soft trills, fluttering woodwinds, dizzying melodies, haunting percussion, and plenty of space. This is a swirling soft cloud of free jazz flutter, peppered with some strange music concrete, and some almost folky melodies. Nearly a half hour, beginning tranquil and a bit droney, with the various instruments, sliding down descending scales like musical rainfall, the piece gets more and more spare until the last movement when things get really strange, and players start huffing through the mouthpieces, bits of bizarre percussion surface, buzzing drones, really cool, and pretty strange for sure.
But it's the second piece that is worth the price of admission. The title says it all, "Music For Eight Bamboo Flutes", 40 minutes of layered woodwind drone, subtly shifting tones, a slowly unfurling melody spread out over the whole 40 minutes, what sounds like crickets in the background, as if it was performed and recorded outside (maybe it was?), the piece goes from soft and breathy to dense and densely layered, tons of overtones, soft fluttery high end, swirling clouds of drones and tones shifting and shimmering, swelling to intense crescendos, then drifting back down to a hushed whir, so very simple, yet richly textured, so primitive and primeval and mesmerizing and beautiful. Absolutely essential listening for the drone inclined, and jazzbos with a thing for far out, space-y and static sounds...
MPEG Stream: "Six Lines Of Transformation 1"
MPEG Stream: "Music For Eight Bamboo Flutes 1"

DIAZ, FELIPE The Latin Jazz Quintet (Palladium) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The title of the album is a bit of a misnomer, being that there are six people in this group, or maybe it's that leader Felipe Diaz forgot to count himself in. Who knows. though there's no recording date, by the sound of it, I'd guess it was recorded in the sixties. Diaz leads his group on vibes and, whether he was first or not, sounds just like Cal Tjader. But the weirdest thing about this album is that it features jazz head Eric Dolphy filling out the wind section with flute, clarinet, and alto sax.

DICTAPHONE M.=Addiction (City Center Offices) cd 14.98

DIKEMAN, JOHN A Combination Of Events (aRCHIVE) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the same label that released the amazing and now out of print live Growing cd, as well as exclusive, limited and long gone releases from Sunn 0))), Boris, and the mighty Keiji Haino. This most recent release comes from free jazz saxophonist John Dikeman. Four extended pieces. The first, a pecussion / sax duo, a beautiful moody, skronky romp, the final two tracks, extended jams with Dikeman and full quartet, wild and spastic, lots of chaotic drumming, splattery percussion and free jazz skronk. Our favorite though has to be the second track, a solo sax / harmonica piece for modern dance (the picture on the front of the sleeve shows dancer Zack Fuller all ablur along side Dikeman and his sax), the harmonica wheezes out extended drones, the sax careening through ear piercing high ends, moaning out rumbling bleating lowend, thw whole thing desnse with the big empty room reverb. Quite nice! Packaged in a gorgeous full color oversized sleeve.
LIMITED TO 250 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "Track 3"

DILL, STEFAN TRIO Run For Heaven (Transparency) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New Mexico-based guitarist Stefan Dill has spent the better part of the last decade concentrating solely on solo acoustic flamenco guitar, and so recently felt the need to play some loud electric guitar again (presumably a return to his teenage roots?). With bassist Dave Nielsen and drummer Dave Wayne (who, from the cd booklet/tray photos, both look pretty much identical to Stefan himself -- it really appears from the photos that they're all the same guy!) he formed this jazz fusion trio to crank it up and rock out. Loud, burning, skronky stuff (although, they do calm down at times and indulge in some more restrained, quiet passages). It's all very beautiful if you're into this sort of thing, definitely for fans of Mahavishnu John McLaughlin and Nels Cline!! Cool.
RealAudio clip: "Wrath Of God"

DOLPHY, ERIC Out To Lunch (Blue Note) cd 11.98

DOLPHY, ERIC Out To Lunch (Blue Note) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Hat And Beard"
MPEG Stream: "Something Sweet, Something Tender"

DOLPHY, ERIC Out To Lunch (Blue Note) lp 12.98

DOLPHY, ERIC WITH HERBIE HANCOCK Gaslight 1962 (Get Back) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Miss Ann"
MPEG Stream: "Left Alone"

DOLPHY, ERIC WITH HERBIE HANCOCK Gaslight 1962 (Get Back) lp 16.98

MPEG Stream: "Miss Ann"
MPEG Stream: "Left Alone"

DONEDA, MICHEL / BENAT ACHIARY / KAZUE SAWAI Temps Couche (Victo) cd 14.98

DORGON + LAURA CROMWELL Mar (Jumbo) cd 12.98

DORGON + LAURA CROMWELL Upsidedowncross (Jumbo) cd 12.98

DOROUGH, BOB Devil May Care (Bethlehem) cd 11.98
Cult jazz pianist turned vocalist whose style jazz critic Leonard Feather deemed, "curious, nervous and attractive." This collection features a mix of Tin Pan Alley tunes, jazz standards, and originals. Reissue of the 1956 classic.

DOUGLAS, DAVE A Thousand Evenings (RCA) cd 15.98

DOUGLAS, DAVE Five (Soul Note) cd 15.98
Hard-to-find Italian import of this trumpeter recently heard with John Zorn's Masada. Mark Feldman on violin, plus Erik Friedlander on cello, Drew Gress and Michael Sarin. Excellent.

DOUGLAS, DAVE Moving Portrait (DIW) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

DOUGLAS, DAVE Stargazer (Arabesque Recordings) cd 15.98
"Music by and for Wayne Shorter" featuring John Zorn's Masada members trumpeter Douglas and drummer Joey Baron, along with Chris Speed, Joshua Roseman, Uri Caine, and James Genus.

DOUGLAS, DAVE The Infinite (RCA/Victor) cd 16.98
Masada's trumpeter teams up with some of Downtown NY's hardest working sidemen for six new original pieces and covers of Rufus Wainwright, Mary J. Blige and Bjork! Yeah! Feelin' it! The sssmooove sssoundsss of jazzzzzz!
RealAudio clip: "Unison (Bjork)"

DOWNES OPEN MUSIC, BOB Episodes at 4 A.M. (Paradigm Discs) cd 18.00

DOYLE, ARTHUR & SUNNY MURRAY Dawn Of A New Vibration (Fractal) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two "outside" jazz legends in a duo together: Arthur Doyle on tenor saxophone, flute & vocals; Sunny Murray on drums. Studio recording made March, 8, 2000. Vibrate.

DOYLE, ARTHUR & SUNNY MURRAY Live at Glenn Miller Cafe (Ayler) cd 15.98
Arthur Doyle has had a fascinating career, winding through bebop, the New York ESP free jazz scene of the sixties, and No Wave when he played with the Blue Humans around 1980. He released an acclaimed album of Ayler influenced free jazz in 1978 when such music was far out of fashion in US jazz cirlces, then spent years in prison in Paris on false charges where he composed hundreds of songs anyway, and ended up making lo-fi bedroom recordings in Endicott, NY (hey, just like the much-maligned by everyone at AQ but me experimental pop weirdo Gary Wilson!). In his multi-decade career, characterized by under-recognition, he has played with everyone from Sun Ra and Pharaoh Sanders to Keiji Haino and Thurston Moore. Throughout, he has honed his uniquely raw tenor sax, flute and vocal stylings. This recording is from his 2000 European tour with drum legend Sunny Murray. Consisting of primarily just Murray and Doyle, with a bit of help from Swede Bengt Frippe Nordstrom on alto, the amount of racket conjured is pretty amazing. Just as the textures available from only sax and drums start to become repetitive and uninteresting, Doyle livens things up with simultaneous flute and vocals, at points interjecting emotive guttural vocalisations on their own. Murray starts fast and furious, but becomes more spare and textural as Doyle's intricate flute and vocal manipulations take center stage. This sounds like it would have been awesome to witness live, and it ain't half bad on record either. Another step toward deserved wider recognition for the highly interesting Arthur Doyle, although not one that challenges 1978's "Alabama Feeling" in the consensus of his best recordings.
RealAudio clip: "Spontaneous Creation Part 2"
RealAudio clip: "Spontaneous Creation Part 3"

DRESCH QUARTET Riding The Wind (November) cd 16.98

DRESSER, MARK Marinade (Tzadik) cd 16.98

DRESSER, MARK, FRED FRITH AND IKUE MORI Later ... (Victo) cd 15.98
Recorded at the Great American Music Hall in 1994, this monster improv trio amble, tweak and scrape through nine pieces of downtown avant jazz.

DRUM CIRCUS Magic Theatre (Garden of Delights) cd 21.00
Here's a pretty cool, jazz-damaged, percussion-heavy Krautrock obscurity that we just got hip to, thanks to this recent cd reissue on Garden Of Delights. As you might expect from something called Drum Circus from 1971, this has a definite hippy attitude, full of Om-drones and space-jazz piano and cosmic Eastern raga moves. It's a bit like Alice Coltrane meets Lothar And The Hand People meets early (pre-robotic) Kraftwerk. On the 21+ minute title track you'll groove to martial drums, unison chanting of mystical slogans, ominous organs...what's not to like? I mean, this has got both free-jazz freakouts and ranting incantations -- with lotsa lyrics by none other than Timothy Leary! And Drum Circus then get into some '70s Miles Davis styled funk on the aptly titled "Groove Rock". There's even some nice melodic elements too -- Andee thinks the male singer on "All Things" sounds like Roger Daltrey. But overall though, this will probably appeal more to say, folks partial to recent Boredoms output than to fans of The Who...
MPEG Stream: "Magic Theatre"
MPEG Stream: "Now It Hurts You"

DRYER / HEULE / LINDSAY Idea Of West (Creative Sources) cd 13.98
When we first got this record in, we thought we had it totally figured out. Just take a look at the lineup: Tony Dryer, an accomplished double bassist and former touring member of the Flying Luttenbachers, Jacob Lindsay, local clarinet free-jazz virtuoso, and last but not least, Jacob Heule, a member of SF's only acoustic free/death/grind duo Ettrick! So naturally we figured this record would be a chaotic frenzy of fierce free jazzy madness. And while it is definitely loosely composed and rather abstract, the trio delve into some unexpected territory here. We checked out Heule's website and he describes the Idea of West as an album of "quiet and static acoustic musical territories explored through the pragmatic application of compositional and improvisational structures". Damn, and we thought we had this one figured out!
"In Order to Reroute the Wind" starts things off on a rather minimal note. Rickety scratching and scraping that sound like creaking boats swaying in a harbor of sizzling electric waste. Quiet industrial, barely there type of sound meanderings, a reserved and delicate sound for these ferocious free jazz contemporaries. On first listen, the jazz aesthetic of Idea of West is a bit hidden underneath a more ambient guise. Don't get us wrong, this sounds more like a jazz collaboration than a drone/ambient record, but it defiantly lacks the smack you in the face ferocity of other releases put out by these dudes. But that doesn't mean Idea of the West isn't an awesome piece of work in its own right. On the contrary, the trio confidently evolve Idea of West into a beautifully arranged aural invitation into a strange world of alchemic precision and skilled musicianship. Like a sorcerer who meticulously adds ingredients to a potion, paying careful attention to every detail in hopes of casting the perfect spell, these dudes play with close attention to detail. The record builds up and dissipates as the trio feed off each other's playing, letting chance determination sculpt their meditations into a hauntingly beautiful sonic narrative. Perfect for those of you aQ-addicts open to the weirder, more mystical side of free jazz!! And most certainly recommended by us!
MPEG Stream: "Before There Was Mass"
MPEG Stream: "Light From Another Light"
MPEG Stream: "Meant And Memory"

DUNN, TREVOR TRIO-CONVULSANT Sister Phantom Owl Fish (Ipecac) cd 17.98
The former Bungle and current Fantomas bassist unleashes the second album of spazz-jazz from his Trio-Convulsant (following up one from long ago that we can't get anymore). Ranging from hard (almost metallic) to soft (cocktails, anyone?), and generally pretty high on the notes-played-per-unit-of-time count. Complex compositions and loose improv coexist here, and the playing is at a very high level, from Dunn as well as his cohorts Mary Halvorson (guitar) and Ches Smith (drums). If you have Zorn, Cline, Ribot, that sort of stuff in yr "jazz" collection, you'll find that the Trio-Convulsant fits in there quite nicely too.
MPEG Stream: "Liver-colored Dew"
MPEG Stream: "The Single Petal Of A Rose"