Downbeast - music blog

Hey there, welcome to Downbeast. Check in for the latest in avant-garde, improvisational jazz music rants, musings, reviews, and more. From Cryptogramophone Records, Downbeast.com is a new music blog concept we hope you enjoy.

We can finally see the horizon on Cryptogramophone's upcoming Summer 2007 releases: Spinning the Circle from pianist/Goatettee David Witham and The Nels Cline Singers Draw Breath from...oh, you know. The drop date for both is JUNE 26th.

With barely two weeks left, we've already pre-released tracks from the new Nels Cline CD -- "Caved-in Heart Blues," "Mixed Message," "Recognize II" and "Confection" -- on Nels' MySpace page and the Crypto homesite. We also decided to get a jump on the reviewers and offer "pre-reviews" of both for your dining and dancing pleasure. [WARNING: Mixed metaphors will be used]

With just fifteen -- no, make that FOURTEEN -- days to go before we double-drop our twin Crypto summer releases The Nels Cline Singers Draw Breath and David Witham's Spinning the Circle, we're offering a little preview of each for your audiophilic interest.

David Witham is a monster musician—and we mean not just his in-demand chops but the fact that the guy is around 6' 6'' with a big booming voice, linebacker’s gait and ham-sized hands that can lightly caress the 88 keys on a piano and then crush a metal napkin dispenser.

Spinning The Circle, David Witham’s second solo album since 1988’s self-released On-Line, shows the pianist’s versatility with jazz, world beat, and jamband influenced originals—from the breakbeat electronica of "The Neon" to the gentle balladry of "Who Knows." But he brings some heavy-hitters along for the ride. “My associations with the members of this ensemble span the last thirty-some years, basically the course of my musical career thus far,” Witham writes in the liner notes. They include guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Scott Amendola are both on board, as are pedal steel guitarist (and frequent Bill Frisell collaborator) Greg Leisz, bassist Jay Anderson, woodwind player Jon Crosse, and percussionist Luis Conte.

It's been about a month since we dropped the deux Crypto releases The Nels Cline Singers Draw Breath and David Witham's Spinning The Circle. Recently, Nels was profiled by Siddhartha Mitter of the Boston Globe. Check it out here.

After finishing up his May/June mini-tour with George Benson, our rez piano wizard David Witham is currently on tour with the Ernie Watts Quartet. (He has a cool blog about life as a touring artist, which you can check out on his MySpace page.)

Yes, we realize that the word "legendary" -- especially in jazz and blues circles -- is tossed around to the point where it nearly becomes meaningless, but it sure doesn't apply when it comes to multi-reedist/composer/bandleader Bennie Maupin.

The Maestro

For anyone who wants to see the master in action, Mr. Bennie will celebrate the release of his new recording Early Reflections on Cryptogramophone Records, Friday, April 18th at Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood, CA. There will be two sets, at 8:00 PM and 10:00PM.

As anyone with a modem should know by now, Bennie Maupin's "comeback" (one might argue the man never left) came in a one-two punch with the release of the critically lauded Penumbra in 2006 and the re-release of his classic 1974 album The Jewel in the Lotus last year. Early Reflections is a beautiful recording of Maupin's Polish quartet featuring Michal Tokaj on piano (Tomasz Stanko's pianist), and guest vocalist Hania Rybka on two tracks. Joining Maupin, Tokaj and Rybka for this performance will be bassist Darek Oles, drummer Michael Stephans, and percussionist Munyungo Jackson. The ensemble will also be performing in New York City at the Jazz Standard, April 26-27 as a part of Cryptonights at Jazz Standard. Early Reflections will be released April 22nd.

(OK, he didn't announce them personally -- we got a forwarded email. But hey, the guy's busy...)

(Cool photo, Daniel Brielmaier!)

Anyhoo, barely decompressing after Wilco's Spring 2008 tour, Nels Cline will drag his "Singers"
-- bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Scott "Pops" Amendola -- out on the road for a brief early Summer sprint.

6/01 The Dakota (Minneapolis, MN)
6/02 High Noon Saloon (Madison, WI)
6/03 Martyr’s (Chicago, IL)
6/04 The Jazz Kitchen (Indianapolis, IN)
6/05 The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI)
6/06 Paramount Theatre (Charlottesville, VA)
6/08 Suoni per II Popolo Festival (Montreal, Quebec)

Mr. Cline will go into the studio next week ("at an undisclosed location" -- hopefully not the same one Dick Cheney uses) to record his next solo Crypto drop. Tentative title: Coward. (Release date: TBA.) As if this is any surprise, he'll also be playing out in L.A. a few dates next week with Banyan.

"If you start it well and end it well, it doesn't matter what you do in the middle."
-Our Fearless Leader

As of Sunday night -- as far as we know -- O.C.D. ("Original Crypto Drummmer") Alex Cline's new record Continuation -- his first since 2001's The Constant Flame -- is in the can!

"Baba" Cline [Photo by Ethan Pines]

Rehearsals took place at Crypto Central on Thursday & Friday (April 10 & 11) and recording took place at the wisteria-covered Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank on Saturday & Sunday (April 12 & 13). Present for the sessions were Myra Melford on piano and harmonium, Fearless Leader Jeff Gauthier on violin, Peggy Lee on cello, Scott Walton on bass and Rich Breen on the mixing board -- not to mention bassist/Buddhist John Graves (who kindly converted the charts into digitally rendered notation via Finale software) and photog Anne Fishbein, who crept with stealth around the action to snap album pics.

STILL HOLDING THE NOTES AFTER 10 YEARS
Local avant-garde jazz record company Cryptogramophone celebrates its milestone with a retrospective.
by Gina McIntyre, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Jeff Gauthier, president of the Culver City-based jazz factory Cryptogramophone, has spent the last 10 years releasing the work of avant-garde performers with a passion for both improvisation and melody -- people like percussionist Alex Cline, bassist Mark Dresser and bass clarinet player and saxophonist Bennie Maupin, the last of whom appeared on classic albums like Miles Davis' 1969 electric landmark Bitches Brew and popular '70s recordings with Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.

Da Crypto Boyz (photo by Anne Fishbein)

It was an unlikely turn for the former classical and studio violinist, who admits that his father had suggested he might want to study business at one point -- just in case. But Gauthier felt strongly that these artists deserved wider exposure, and after a friend, bassist Eric von Essen, who played with Gauthier in the seminal '80s chamber-jazz group Quartet Music, died from heart failure in 1997, he was determined to take action.

OK, the taxes have been paid; the checks are in the mail. Time for some enjoyment; time for YOU. As it so turns out, today's YOUR day: both Bennie Maupin's Early Reflections (review) and the Crypto 10th Anniversary comp Assemblage, 1998-2008 (review) are out-out-OUT. Why not treat yourself? I mean, we already have copies...

We caught Mr. Maupin with his awesome (as in "awe-inspiring") new band at their much-publicized gig at Catalina's last Friday. (Check out a review here.) This killer ensemble -- pianist Michal Tokaj, bassist Darek Oles, percussionist Munyungo Jackson, drummer Michael Stephans -- performed cooking versions of ER's "Escondido" and "Inner Sky." But the highlight (at least in Your Humble Blogger's ears) was when Bennie brought out the lovely and bewitching Polish folk singer Hania Chowaniec-Rybka (flown in from Warsaw!) to improvise on extended versions of "ATMA" and "Spirits of the Tatras." The proud Poles in the audience (and there were quite a few -- Solidarność!) cheered loudly and pounded their tables. One can only imagine the turnout this weekend when Mr. Maupin closes out Crypto's 10th Anniv. celebration at The Jazz Standard in New York. Unlike last year, YHB will not be attending, but I'd like to put out the call for anyone in the 5 Boroughs who plan on attending any of this week's concerts to post any of your experiences on our "Comments" board. We won't even correct the spelling. Honest!

Maestro Maupin will be busy elsewhere soon on another cool project with recently-relocated-to-UCLA Mr. James Newton, showcasing the music of L.A. native son Eric Dolphy with vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, drummer Billy Hart, and our own Darek Oles. (It's pronounced "Dah-rek," not "Deh-rek" -- and don't ever make that mistake boyo.) The ensemble will play at the upcoming Heraldsburg Jazz Festival and record an album for old friend ECM. What's particularly exciting about "Celebrating Eric Allan Dolphy" -- besides the titanic talent involved, of course -- is that the group will be resurrecting music left behind by Dolphy when he embarked on his 1964 tour of Europe with the Charles Mingus sextet. (And, as we know, didn't come back.)

Last weekend, we tuned into NPR's Off Ramp with John Rabe and stumbled upon "My Teacher Alma," which profiled the great pianist/teacher Alma Hightower. It's short but sweet, and a nice intro for those interested in a bit of Black L.A. musical history.

We got 'em! The next Crypto releases have come back from the pressing plant and we've literally just ripped the cellophane off of the Jeff Gauthier Goatette's House of Return and Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors. Drop day is June 10, but here's a little preview of both. First up, House of Return:

Fancy the cover art? It's by Nels' friend Angela DeCristofaro

We've just torn the wrapper off Tiny Resistors, Todd Sickafoose’s new Crypto drop that will hit all Capitalist Aural-Stimuli Dispensing Centers on JUNE 10TH.

cover art by Grady McFerrin & Gareth Jiffeau

Todd is familiar to most alt-music hounds in his role as righteous babe Ani DiFranco's house bassist for eight touring months out of the year—indeed, no less than The New Yorker called him “Ani DiFranco’s secret weapon.” (Go here for a short clip of them performing "Coming Up" from Imperfectly at Ann Arbor in 2006.) Mr. Sick is a versatile chap whose two previous solo records as a leader show his interest in obliterating the musical boundaries between jazz, chamber music, punk, folk, indie rock, and experimental electronic improvisation—or, more to the point, creating new ways of joining and bridging such disparate musical styles. It reminds me of a line from the LA Weekly’s fireplug music critic Greg Burk: “There are no styles any more, only music.”

Hey Kids. Here's a taste of the new CD, "House of Return" by the Jeff Gauthier Goatette, to be released June 10th. It features Nels Cline on Guitar, Alex Cline on drums, David Witham on keyboards, and Gauthier on violin and electric violin. Check it out. To order this CD, please go to www.crypto.tv.

OK, he never really left, but it's been a few months since Jeff Gauthier has played out in his hometown.

2/5s of the Goatette: Jeff Gauthier & David Witham

O.F.L. will celebrate the release of his new CD House of Return on Thursday evening, June 26 at 8PM at The Palmer Room (3387 Motor Ave. in West Los Angeles, behind Cucina Paradiso). Tickets will be $10 at the door for two sets. There will be a full bar and a special bar menu for concertgoers. This concert will be recorded live to video by DiMarkco Chandler. For more information please call 213-276-6461. House of Return features pianist David Witham, bassist Joel Hamilton, drummer/percussionist Alex Cline and guitarist Nels Cline and will be released June 10, 2008.

Fun!

Jeff and pianist David Witham will also be playing MONA in an evening of electronic and acoustic soundscapes inspired by neon art. On Friday, June 6th at 8PM, these two wacky fellows will take inspiration from MONA's extensive collection of rare and unusual neon art, and use it as a launching pad for electronic and acoustic duo-improvisations. The concert will take place at the Museum of Neon Art (136 W. 4th St., in Downtown LA's burgeoning arts district). Parking is available on the street, and in adjacent parking lots. Tickets are $10 at the door.

NEW RELEASES BY TODD SICKAFOOSE & JEFF GAUTHIER OUT TODAY!

On Tiny Resistors, bassist and composer Todd Sickafoose matches violinist/looper Andrew Bird and iconic singer Ani DiFranco with his 8-piece New York band (with Skerik and Adam Levy) to create a jazz record with the muscle and scope of an indie-rock orchestra. The music evokes images: the mysterious flora of a future epoch, a secret message scribbled in invisible ink, an exodus of buzzing bees, and the silent sadness of an underwater piano, drowned in the waters of Lake Pontchartrain. It is these visions, and others, that inspire the 11 original compositions on Tiny Resistors, Sickafoose's third and most lushly-produced release to date.

House of Return, Jeff Gauthier's 5th recording as a leader, moves effortlessly from moody acoustic jazz to creative new music, to skronk fusion and electronic space jam. Voted a "Rising Star" as violinist and producer in the 2007 Downbeat Critics Poll, Gauthier continues his subversive plot to destroy all musical boundaries. House of Return features Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, drummer Alex Cline, pianist David Witham, and bassist Joel Hamilton.

Go to www.crypto.tv to find CDs by Bennie Maupin, Nels Cline, Alex Cline, Trio M, David Witham, Alan Pasqua, Myra Melford, Ben Goldberg, Scott Amendola, Mark Dresser and others. Also check out www.indiejazz.com where you can find creative jazz from over 200 different artists.

Wow, here's a pair of odd bedfellows for your plans this weekend: Jeff Gauthier and Chip Fitzgerald.

Tonight at 8pm our Fearless Leader continues his subversive plot to destroy all musical boundaries by leading his Goatette -- keyboardist David Witham, bassist Joel Hamilton and percussionist Alex Cline (no, L.A. Times, Nels will NOT be playing) -- in the CD release party at West L.A.'s Palmer Room for the ensemble's new Crypto drop House of Return. Not to miss -- and I'm not just saying that because he's the boss...hahhhaahahhh (trailing off weakly)

Our friend Greg Burk has a cool metal/jazz blog called, you guessed, it, Metal Jazz. Read his interview with Mr. Gauthier here.

Beginning at noon on Saturday in Leimert Park, at the KAOS Network/Project Blowed space, there will what be a day-long series of events in support of Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald, the longest incarcerated Black Panther in the United States. (38 years -- and Fitzgerald's parole hearing is set for July 2.) Documentary films will be shown, people will speak -- including former Black Panther Elaine Brown (whose Seize The Time, her 1969 collaboration with Horace Tapscott was just reissued). For more info on Fitzgerald and his case, go here. To read a compelling account of more fallout from that ugly, volatile time in American life, check out Matthew Fleischer's LA Weekly article Children of the Revolutionary.

"When the world is running down..."

Cinema du Musique PostScript: if you're not too tuckered on Sat. night, they're running a new documentary downtown on the glory days of the famed L.A. session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew (California Plaza Amphitheatre, 350 S. Grand Ave., dwntwn; Sat., June 28, 8 p.m. Admission free). Then, have a good sleep (after watching the rebroadcast of the very first Saturday Night Live with the recently vacated first host George Carlin), go check out an early music-film masterpiece in the comfort of an outdoor graveyard. Cinespia will be showing Steve Binder's 1964 concert doc The T.A.M.I. Show, featuring Chuck Berry, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and, of course, the showstopping, career-making performances by Ike & Tina Turner and James Brown. Then, go home and collapse and have someone put a cape over you.

Thursday night's CD release party for the Jeff Gauthier Goatette's House of Return at West L.A.'s Palmer Room was a bit of a surprise. Our fearless leader didn't just showcase tracks from the new record -- "Satellites and Sideburns" (the Nels Cline-penned tribute to Weather Report's Joe Zawinul) and Eric Von Essen's "Dissolution" were particular standouts -- but took the capacity crowd on a pocket journey through his entire five album repertoire, including "Seriously Twisted Blues" from 1994's Internal Memo and the opening song, a sparkling version of "Ephemera," from 2001's Mask, which included a muscular bass solo from Joel Hamilton and an insistent but light-on-its-feet tribal rumble from Alex Cline. Next was a supple take on Eric Von Essen's "Biko's Blues," easily the standout track on the new album as well as the first set. Keyboardist David Witham ruled on the following "Sofflicka"; his electric piano intentionally distorted to create an unsettlingly "dirty' sound, as if the keys were encrusted with sand grit. The biggest surprise was the cover of "From Gagarin's Point of View" by the recently deceased Swedish pianist Esbjörn Svensson. This in turn led into a short freefall improv (in which Mr. Cline and Mr. Gauthier really shined) that metamorphed into a rollicking "Friends of the Animals" from the new album. (During the show, Mr. Bennie Maupin strolled in, looking incognito in baseball cap and long beige jacket, ordering a cranberry and pineapple juice. Nice touch!)

Luckily, the concert was recorded live to video by our friend DiMarkco Chandler, so we'll get some footage up for you ASAP!

SET I
1. Ephemera (For Eric)
2. Biko's Blues
3. Solflicka
4. Gagarin's Point of View / Improv / Friends of the Animals

SET II
1. Heart Wisdom (for Thelma)
2. Seriously Twisted Blues (for Richard Grossman)
3. Improv / Dissolution
4. Satellites and Sideburns

(For an even more in-depth review of the show, including some terrific in-performance pics, check out Kellen Yamanaka's blog Song With Orange.)