Archive: August, 2007

michael pierre vlatkovich | black triangles, yellow corn, and pink medicine drops

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

Michael Vlatkovich, trombonist, composer, and arranger, is one of the leading talents among Los Angeles improvisational players. Located on the West Coast since 1973, he is an emotionally charged performer, comfortable in a variety of jazz and world music styles. Vlatkovich has performed extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe. His improvisionally free music expresses raw power and beauty in a minimally structured format.

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black triangles, yellow corn, and pink medicine drops [12:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

artist portrait, podcast | Comments (0) | 575 Views

connie crothers

Monday, August 13th, 2007

Connie Crothers was born in Palo Alto, California on May 2, 1941. When she was nine years old, she began piano lessons. She also began composing. She performed frequently in concerts and recitals, sometimes performing her compositions. At the University of California in Berkeley she majored in music with an emphasis on composition. She moved to New York City in 1962 and began studying with Lennie Tristano. In 1972 he began presenting her in performances for invited audiences in his home. In 1973 he presented her in solo concert at Carnegie Recital Hall. He produced two other solo concerts in Carnegie Recital Hall, in 1977 and 1978. The Lennie Tristano Jazz Foundation produced a solo concert in Carnegie Recital Hall in 1979. In 1974, she recorded “Perception” for the SteepleChase label, SCS-1002, solo and and trio with drummer Roger Mancuso and bassist Joe Solomon. Gary Giddens, in a feature review in the Village Voice, wrote,“Her mastery of the piano is not to be gainsaid. It is her own enigmatic personality that gives this disc its special, haunting character. It clearly heralds the arrival of a pianist of stature.”

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artist portrait, video, podcast | Comments (0) | 487 Views

“trans”

Sunday, August 12th, 2007

The Mason Center, San Francisco

PERFORMANCES OF: JULY 29, 1978 at the Blind Lemon, Berkeley; AUGUST 5, 1978 at Pangaea, San Francisco; AUGUST 6, 1978 at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco

Davey Williams / electric guitars, banjo, mandolin, etc., La Donna Smith / viola, violin, piano, voice, percussion, Theodore Bowen / bass, tenor saxophone, musette, etc.

folk music trans museq 2

Williams, Smith, Bowen: as above.
Recorded: January 22, 1978 & Winter 1977-78, Alabama.

What immediately struck me about “Trans” was the high level of musicianship, the players’ virtuosity which, though apparent on the group’s first recording (trans museq 1), was partially obscured by the overall impact of their music.

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bells | Comments (0) | 223 Views

davey williams and transcendprovisation

Sunday, August 12th, 2007

My introduction to the music of Transcendprovisation, an improvising group from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was in the form of two tapes - Trans 2: Group Music and Figure II. Group Music didn’t affect me particularly - it consists of as many as seven musicians playing many different instruments in many combinations, every track featuring a different configuration of players and instruments. I’ve never understood the utility of playing more than one instrument, it seems to me to consist fundamentally of an unnecessary division of energy, and Group Music tends to sound like just another of those groups of players who wander about picking up instruments and tooting or manipulating them for brief intervals before moving on.

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bells | Comments (0) | 245 Views

farouq z. bey w/northwoods improvisers | detroit international jazz festival saturday september 1st. 1:30 pm pyramid stage

Sunday, August 12th, 2007

Dear Mike, thanks for your snail-mail !

ayler - Farouq Z. Bey w/Northwoods Improvisers - 19 MOONS [9:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

podcast | Comments (0) | 268 Views

mark weber | poems & doodles

Sunday, August 12th, 2007

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poetry | Comments (0) | 458 Views

todd moore | outlaw poetry

Friday, August 10th, 2007

Todd Moore is a poet in the shockism style. He says, “For your information gansta poetry in this country isn’t Bukowski’s invention, it’s mine. I’ve been making this kind of stuff since 1970 give or take. And, it has nothing to do with Bukowski’s style or subject matter. Bukowski was the pornagrapher of pussy and a damned good one at that. I’m the pornographer of violence.”

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Todd Moore and the Michael Vlatkovich Ensemble [6:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup
Todd Moore -Lady on the radio [1:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup
Todd Moore - Dillinger backed away [0:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup
Todd Moore - When I got [0:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup
Todd Moore - Billy and I [0:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup
Todd Moore and Mark Weber - Cherokee Hawkins breezy conditions [8:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

podcast, poetry | Comments (6) | 1,246 Views