BUG MELTER

One third of the followers of this blog are former members of the Ragged Bags...

2011-04-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

(Actually, the blog just lost one of its six followers, so now 40% of the followers are former members of the Ragged Bags...)

Which is neither here nor there. Right now I am blogging in a vain attempt to hold onto what's left of my sanity. I would have liked to be at this gig:

Eli Keszler/Adam Bohman/Steve Beresford live at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, 04/01/11

Or at any of the three performances of the musical that Talibam! wrote and performed with Sam Kulik: "Talibam! Goes To Bed with Sam Kulik and Discovers Atlantis" (click on the header and read more, if you care, or dare, to...)

Mea culpa...Happy Belated Birthday to Waldo Drogulus

2011-04-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Waldo Drogulus's birthday, as well as being April Fools Day. Here are some things that might amuse him:

Full Blast Trio

Peter Brötzmann, reeds
Marino Pliakas, bass
Michel Wertmuller, drums
Recorded at Norrköping Museum of Art, Sweden 2011-03-03

extrait du film RAGE ! de Bernard Josse, Photos de Gérard Rouy

This was at 361,136 views when I looked at it last...

Happy Birthday to Ornette Coleman

2011-03-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

Born March 9th, 1930, in Fort Worth, Texas. By the way, what year was it when he surpassed Miles Davis as the best-dressed man in jazz?

Germany, 1978 (Thanks, Weasel...)
Ornette Coleman: alto saxophone, trumpet
James Blood Ulmer: guitar
Bern Nix: guitar
Fred Williams: bass guitar
Denardo Coleman: drums
Ronald Shannon Jackson: drums

"Macho Woman" live in Germany July 1978

Roma, 1974
Ornette Coleman: saxo ; James Ulmer: guitarra ; Sirone: bajo; Billy Higgins: batería

Ornette in black and white, outside the Beacon Theatre, NYC, 09/10/10

The Other Green Phlegm

2011-02-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Waldo for being concerned about my absence. It was partly due to connection problems, from being in Tremont, then due to the storm, and partly due to band commitments and not finding much of anything that I wanted to post about. Her's something, a U.K. artist named Phlegm:

As usual, you can click on the header for more info. If I understand correctly, he either lives or frequently works in Sheffield, an old steel town, and home of Derek Bailey.

Gayle & Gale

2011-01-19T13:05:00.000-08:00

Charles Gayle Trio @ Cafe Oto, London, 01/14/11
Charles Gayle - Saxophone, Piano
Christopher Sullivan - Bass
Michael Thompson - Drums

Shot by Shuffleboil

Microdisney, "Gale Force Wind"
(Sorry I couldn't find the rabid Charity Concert version, but:
" saw a dead man in the street today,
And he'll stay there because he never paid,
He was a stranger who would not go home,
Blinded by sun on the streets of gold.")

Toronto Basement

2011-01-10T16:13:00.001-08:00

Weasel Walter/ Peter Evans/ Mary Halvorson

At least I think it's a basement...

Tonguing on Monday, 01/10/11, at Now That's Class

2011-01-09T12:27:00.001-08:00

(Nate, but not with Tonguing. Shown here with Jack Wright.)

More info here: http://tonguing2010.blogspot.com/

Crinkle Cut is a good cut.

2011-01-07T16:25:00.001-08:00

Life and career advice from a man who had played Frankenstein's monster to a man who would play Frankenstein's monster:

"More or less, you know..."

Steve Noble - drums
Fyfe Hutchins - piano
@ the Vortex, London, 12/19/10. Filmed by shuffleboil.

Luvverly. Reminds me of the Steve Beresford/Han Bennink LP, "Directly to Pyjamas."

I could have sworn that I posted this before...

2010-12-18T15:03:00.000-08:00

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, "Ant Man Bee" off of "Trout Mask Replica"
Video by alargedog
Rest In Peace, Don Van Vliet

11:11 on 12/11/10 (11/12/10 if you're in the UK)

2010-12-11T16:24:00.000-08:00

Quaqua Tutti - opening set at Mopomoso November 2010

(Mopomoso= Modernism, Post-Modernism, So What?)

Tutti - opening set at Mopomoso, the Vortex, London, 11/21/10
Filmed by shuffleboil.

Yoko Arai (piano)
Lol Coxhill (soprano saxophone)
Max Eastley (arc)
Satoko Fukuda (violin)
Dominic Lash (bass)
Henry Lowther (trumpet)
Hannah Marshall (cello)
Phil Minton (vocals)
John Russell (guitar)
Hideaki Shimada (violin)
Roger "What's the plan, Jack?" Turner (drums, percussion)

You can check out the Mopomoso website, newly adorned with Christmas lights, by clicking on the header.

I like the way the doodads fly...

2010-12-10T21:03:00.000-08:00

The stridulating sounds of Steve Noble:

Steve Noble @ Boat-ting, London, 11/15/10

Decoy @ the Vortex, 11/20/10
Steve Noble - Drums
John Edwards - Bass
Alexander Hawkins - Hammond Organ

Both shot by Shuffleboil

Yes, they are rockin' it.

2010-12-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

Catatumbo : Ingrid Laubrock, Olie Brice, Javier Carmona @ the Vortex, 11/10/10

Ingrid Laubrock, John Edwards, Mark Sanders @ the Vortex, 08/10/10

Both shot by Shuffleboil

The Fearless Four- "Rockin' It"
1982 Enjoy Records.
Side B- "Instrumental".
Musical Accompaniment by Pumpkin & Friends.
Music based on Kraftwerk- "The Man Machine".
Produced by Bobby Robinson.
They also brought us "F-4000" & "Problems Of The World" & "Fearless Freestyle".
Old School New York Electro / Rap!

Should Bbob and I grow our hair long again, or wear wigs?

2010-11-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

The Tom Rainey Trio was one of Nate Scheible's touchstones when forming his new band...\

>

at Jazz and More festival, Sibiu, Romania, 10/17/10.

Tom Rainey - drums
Mary Halvorson - guitar
Ingrid Laubrock - tenor saxophone

Thanks to jaddmec

Do Not Adjust Your TV Set

2010-11-25T23:58:00.000-08:00

Adjust your computer instead, because this stuff is absurd!

Tamio Shiraishi
Live at the Silent Barn,10/29/10.

Rye.
Same gig.

Andrew Smiley, dry ice performance with Liquid State Bypass

What the guys from "Moonlighting" did

2010-11-24T12:44:00.001-08:00

when they found out what was really happening...

Polish Festival at Cafe Oto, London 2010
Shot by theuglyonewithjewel

Moonlighting is a 1982 British drama film written and directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It is set in the early 1980s at the time of the Solidarity protests in Poland. It stars Jeremy Irons as Nowak, a Polish builder leading a team working illegally in London.

A Dogon good groove...

2010-11-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

Versions of Julius Hemphill's "Dogon A.D.":

First ten minutes of the album "Dogon A.D". Recorded in 1972
Julius Hemphill - alto sax, flute
Baikida E.J. Carroll - trumpet
Abdul Wadud - cello
Philip Wilson - drums

Defunkt - "Dogon A.D." - Live in Stuttgart 1996

pianist Vijay Iyer, double bassist Stephan Crump & drummer Marcus Gilmore play "Dogon A.D"

Haiku

2010-11-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

Check out Waldo Drog-
ulas's spanking new blog
It is called sh1tt3r

(Click on header.)

Slapp Happy, "Haiku"

chris corsano & massimo zu & antoine chessex @ Music Unlimited 24, Wels
shot by muzicadevest

"I see longer arrows are back in fashion..."

2010-11-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

N.E.W. @ Music Unlimited 24, Wels, Austria, 11/07/10
Steve Noble - Drums
John Edwards - Bass
Alex Ward - Guitar

Chris Corsano, John Edwards,Paul Dunmall @ Music Unlimited 24, Wels, Austria, 11/07/10

Both shot by Shuffleboil

Sax's Birthday

2010-11-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

Seymour Wright, Martin Küchen, Keith Rowe

Darius Jones Quartet At Roulette New York July 2010
Darius Jones Matt Mitchell Trevor Dunn and Ches Smith

Film: Simon J Harper

Nate Scheible & Dan Wenninger Duo at Bela Dubby

Space Travel, Time Travel, We Do It All

2010-09-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

Peter Brötzmann - "German Blues"

Full Blast!

2010-09-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Please pardon my long absence; I just got back from my space-cation...
To help make up for it, here's some brand-new footage of Peter Brötzmann and Full Blast:

@ A38, budapest 2010

F16 taking off with afterburner switched on and doing a few loopings.

Presented at the Airshow in Berlin-Schönefeld on May, 20th 2006 near the airport.

If you have a subwoofer, turn the volume up to full blast and enjoy the roaring afterburner sound. while annoying your neighbours! ;-)

Sound distortion occurs at 0:14, no faulty camera microphone!

Do not attempt to annoy your neighbours! ;-}

feliz aniversário, caetano veloso!

2010-08-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

"Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (born August 7, 1942), better known as Caetano Veloso, is a composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist."

"De Cara" / "Eu quero essa mulher" [ "Araçá Azul" - (1973) ]

"É proibido proibir" (1968) Caetano sings while an audience riots because of his using a rock band for accompaniment.

"O Estrangeiro" (1989)

Not The Horns From Hell

2010-08-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

And that is not a five-dollar trombone...

Ian Smith, Ricardo Tejero, Katarzyna Kuchnicka @ Boat-ting, London, 08/02/10

Ian Smith: Trumpet
Ricardo Tejero: Sax
Katarzyna Kuchnicka: Trombone

Shuffleboil presents Straight Horns & Tubs

2010-08-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

Steve Noble (drums), Shabaka Hutchings (clarinet) @ Boat-ting, 07/05/10

Paul Dunmall (soprano sax) (also tenor), Chris Corsano (drums) @ Cafe Oto, London, 07/23/10

Lol Coxhill (ss), Steve Noble (dr), John Edwards (bass) @ Boat-ting, London, 08/02/10

So fresh and so clean

2010-08-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

Andrew D'Angelo leads his big band through a blazing version of his song "Gay Disco"...I'm tired listening to it, let alone having to play it.

At the Bleecker Theatre, NYC, May 2010

“The artists alone decide what you will hear on their ESP-Disk."

2010-07-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

And, for a limited time, you can get those sounds cheaper...with the ESP-disk Summer Sale, which runs through Monday, August 9th. Includes the Albert Ayler "Holy Ghost" box set, nine CDs plus book, for $40.00, a slew of CDs for $6.50 and $9.00, even some vintage vinyl (I almost wrote "even a seal" from the 70s commercial for the clothing stud kit: "Seven free patterens; patterens like owl, mushroom, star, guitar, male-female symbol, even a seal!" Yes, the announcer couldn't pronounce 'patterns'...)

(From Alan Roth's "Inside Out In The Open," an hour-long documentary on DVD, included in the sale)

ESP 4058 Paul Dunmall & Chris Corsano - "Identical Sunsets"

Giuseppi Logan - "Mantu"
Giuseppi Logan: alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Milford Graves: drums, percussion
Reggie Johnson: bass
Don Pullen: piano
recorded 01/05/65, Town Hall, NYC

from "More" (ESP 1013)

The Ex & Brass Unbound

2010-07-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

RAUCHVERBOT mit cowbell...

the ex & brass unbound @ konfrontationen 2010, http://www.muzicadevest.ro

The Ex & Brass Unbound - UK Tour - Long from Mintonfilm on Vimeo.

Christine Sehnaoui & Andy Moor
Konfrontationen 2010, shot by Shuffleboil

Like a stripped-down Roxy Music,

2010-07-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

like a bride re-dressed by her bachelors, even, Kurzmann & Vandermark & Brandlmayr at Konfrontationen 2010:

Click on the header for a slew of clips from the Konfrontationen festival, shot by MuzicaDeVest...

Call Him Ishmael

2010-07-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith recently had a residency at the Cafe Oto in London. Here are a couple of clips shot by Shuffleboil:

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith & Pat Thomas at Cafe Oto, 07/25/10

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith & Mark Sanders at Cafe Oto ,07/24/10

Welcome, Neil.

2010-07-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

I so seldom have a new follower that I thought I'd take this opportunity to welcome Neil Packer (click on the header) with a Neil-centric post...

Neil Diamond, "The Pot Smoker's Song," from "Velvet Gloves and Spit"

Jim Dvorak, Neil Metcalfe, John Edwards, Dave Fowler
Dvorak (trumpet), Metcalfe (flute), Fowler (drums) and Edwards (bass) at Mopomoso free improvisation night at the Vortex Jazz Club, London. Filmed by Helen Petts on 04/19/09

Blood Stereo with Neil Campbell at Rowf Rowf Rowf Fest in Manchester, August '09

Neil Landstrumm, "Sniff And Destroy"

time and chance happeneth to them all...

2010-07-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

Werdna Kemilk of Bug Melter/Bug Me Later and Waldo Drogulus of Rugged Bugs will perform together for the first time in 19(?) years.*

"Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica" (Ironic, huh?)

Nalle

2010-07-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

The reclusive Nalle have a new album coming out, so have been doing concerts lately...

Kenji Suzuki (鈴木健二, Suzuki Kenji?, born 16 January 1950, in Japan), universally known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木)

2010-07-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

Damo Suzuki's Network live at Gheroartè (MI) with Xabier Iriondo, Paolo Cantù and Cristiano Calcagnile

Happy Birthday, Albert Ayler

2010-07-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Albert Ayler
July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970

Albert Ayler - Nuits De La Fondation Maeght 1970 "Spiritual Reunion"

"New Ghosts" (demo fragments)

"Truth Is Marching In"
Albert Ayler (tenor saxophone), Donald Ayler (trumpet), Michel Samson (violin), Bill Folwell (bass), Beaver Harris (drums).

Recorded November 3, 1966 at Berlin Philarmonie: Berlin, Germany.
From "Holy Ghost - Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962-70)", Revenant Records

George Gershwin's "Summertime"

Some tributes to Albert Ayler:

Tongues Of Fire: "New Ghosts"

Peter Brotzmann Quartet ''Die Like A Dog'' ( Berlin , 1995 )

Joe McPhee, Roy Campbell, William Parker and Warren Smith quartet: a tribute to Albert Ayler
live at A38 in Budapest, Hungary on September 5th, 2008

Broetzeseinkumpel, "Long Live Albert Ayler!"

"Go ahead."

2010-07-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

Chick Corea, Roy Haynes

and many other friends play

James Brown @ Ghent Jazz (2010)
Shot by TheLumixusMan

The Flying Lizards, "Sex Machine"

The Real Deal, live at l'Olympia, Paris, 1971

On the Mike Douglas show, 1971

Lean Left Last Night

2010-07-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's loud. And short.

The Ex guitars meet the Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love Duo
Paal Nilssen-Love er et kjent og kjært navn for alle med hang til frijazz. Verdens største jazznettsted "All About Jazz" har uttalt: "He has taken the drums to new creative levels". Ken Vandermark framstår ofte som en kraftfull og energisk saksofonist, men eksponerer også mer neddempede og lyriske sider. The Ex er et underlig band som det er vanskelig å sette navn på, noen har prøvd med anarcho-punk og punk-rock. Gitaristene fra The Ex: Terrie Ex og Andy Moor bidrar til voldsom, tøff og energisk musikk, fredag 9. juli kl 22.00 på Det Lille Extra

Don't Jones Me...

2010-07-10T04:45:00.000-07:00

Darius Jones (Sax), Adam Lane (bass),Jason Nazary (drums)
Local 269, NYC, 06/21/10
"Take the A Train".

Shot by Shuffleboil

Do the Dance

2010-07-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Do the Dance
Do the Dance
Do the Dance

Arto Lindsay em Laranjeiras
No further data at this time. Is that Moreno Veloso playing with Arto?

As Albert Ayler once sang...

2010-07-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

There's a New Generation. Of course, that New Generation is kind of old by now, but there's a new New Generation:

Little Huey's Sextet + @ Campos Plaza playground, NYC, 06/21/10

Lewis Barnes - trumpet
Asim Barnes - guitar
Shayna Dulberger - bass
William Parker - horn thing & composition
Gerald Cleaver - drums
? - vocals
Children - Percussion and vocals

Filmed by Shuffleboil. I was wondering why he hadn't posted anything recently; I guess it's because he was on his way to New York...and here is some stuff he shot in my old neighborhood:

Chris Lightcap's Big Mouth @ Red Hook Festival, Brooklyn, 06/20/10
Chris Lightcap - bass
Chris Cheek - Sax
Craig Taborn - Fender Rhodes
Gerald Cleaver - Drums
Tony Malaby - Sax

Some American Freedom Music

2010-07-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

For this weekend...

Marc Edwards & Slipstream Time Travel
Live at the Yippie Cafe, NYC, on Tuesday, 06/15/10
Part IV - 'Mystic Mountain'
L-R: Takuma Kanaiwa - Electric Guitar; Marc Edwards - Drums, Twirling Tubes, & Bells; Gene Janas - Bass, Tor Snyder - Electric Guitar

Dot Stuff

2010-06-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Mary Halvorson discusses her guitars and guitar-playing in a couple of new videos courtesy of Gearwire:

"Be sure to spot Mary's hidden superpower - the ability to spontaneously wear a jacket."

Also, Stop! Everyone WILL be searched for beer and liquor...

(Click on the header for a pic of Mary as a suedehead.)

(Also, you can have a crutch WITH ornamentation on it, like jewels or sequins.)

I never noticed that the women in Brooklyn were especially little...

2010-06-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Little Women | NYC @ 538 Johnson Apt 202 | 06/04/10

Bass & Other

2010-06-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Gus Garside (double bass) and Dan Powell (other) at Mopomoso Free improvisation night at the Vortex Jazz Club in London. Filmed by Helen Petts, 06/20/10.

Two Bass Hit

2010-06-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Actually, it's two clips of one bass; Guillame Viltard, filmed by Helen Petts at Mopomoso, London, 06/20/10...

Play them simultaneously for optimal confusion.

Saxophone & Other

2010-06-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

Darius Jones (saxophone) & Martin McCavitt (other) at the Ratward in Hampton, Virginia, 08/11/04

You could make a fire with the seats. You could boil up some [...] dips. Or get into the subway for the icecream to come around.

2010-06-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't like some bass clarinet for a sunny Sat'day afternoon? Esp. paired w/ bull fiddle and guitar?

Misha Feigin gtr.
Ned Rothenberg bs. cl.
Kevin Ray bs.

At The Stone, NYC, 04/23/10

Perhaps you'd prefer some balalaika:

I'm searching for the now. I'm looking for the real thing, yeah. Head through a blue haze. Waiting for the musical craze...

2010-06-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

Pat Thomas shown here...

han bennink-drums
pat thomas-piano and electronics
john coxon electric guitar

surreal gig @ pizza express dean street, london, 05/26/10

And a rare chance to just experience Han at the kit, without him getting up to play chairs or kick cymbals around (even though he is good at it...).

One of Cleveland's Contributions to Out Music

2010-06-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

along with, say, Albert and Donald Ayler and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, is Elliott Sharp, shown here in London with John Butcher, John Edwards, and Tony Marsh:

At Cafe Oto, 06/05/10
Shot by Shuffleboil

Unfortunately, this cuts off shortly after the beginning of a duo passage between the two Johns...here you can go directly to it, if you so wish:

And here is Sharp in a solo spot:

"We like Birdland, we like Birdland!" and the 'imperfections' of filmmaking

2010-06-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

George Landow Aka Owen Land - "Film In Which There Appear Edge Lettering, Sprocket Holes, Dirt Particles, Etc" (1965-66)

Huey "Piano" Smith and The Clowns - "We Like Birdland"
I didn't get hip to this song until I saw Half-Japanese do it at Folk City...

Steve Noble

2010-06-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

One day in the late 80s or early 90s, I was woken by a familiar Southern voice and an unfamiliar English voice, while in the small guestroom/storage-space at a friend's apartment on E. 13th Street in NY. The voices belonged to Davey Williams, the great guitarist from Alabama, and Steve Noble from England. I got up, said Good Morning, and I think I babbled something nonsensical to Noble about how impressed I was with the sound of his bass drum at the gig I had seen him at the night before (don't remember who else was playing...). That may have been the same trip where I was leaving the apartment and the NYPD grabbed me, threw me down on the floor, and put a gun to my head, etc. (Upon further reflection, I think I was on my way out to see Noble play with Ernst Reijseger at the old Knitting Factory when New York's Finest decided that I was a Public Enemy...)

Steve Noble Quartet @ the Vortex, London, 05/19/10.
Steve Noble with Orphy Robinson (e-vibes), Jason Yarde (Sax), John Edwards (Bass)
Shot by Shuffleboil

At this point I would like to comment on the unit on Jason Yarde's scalp; it looks like a brilliant synthesis of the singer from Stump, and Sonny Rollins when he sported a mohawk...

Further research reveals that Noble and Williams recorded two albums with the tuba player Oren Marshall...

Say What! with Steve Noble, Oren Marshall, 1992
Transmutating with Steve Noble, Oren Marshall, 1993

This week in Cellular Chaos

2010-06-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

Weasel Walter & co. bring the heat:

Cellular Chaos live at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn, New York City, 06/02/10.

Filmed and Edited by (((unartig)))
Audio Recorded and Engineered by Weasel Walter

Braxton at 65

2010-06-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

"MUSC293: Music of Sun Ra and Karlheinz Stockhausen" @ Wesleyan University, Spring 2008

Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet live in Moscow, DOM Cultural Centre, 06/29/08

Anthony Braxton - alto, soprano, sopranino, baritone, bass and contrabass saxes, electronics,
Taylor Ho Bynum - cornet, flugelhorn, piccolo, bass trumpet, trumpbone, mutes and shell,
Mary Halvorson - electric guitar,
Katherine Young - bassoon
Category:
Music

Anthony Braxton and Richard Teitelbaum, NY 1994

Braxton with William Parker and Don Moye
Pomigliano jazz live 08/11/09

Brötzmann/Van Hove/Bennink

2010-06-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Some vintage footage of this redoubtable trio:

Recorded live on February 4, 1974 at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk Jazzworkshop held at the NDR Funkhaus in Hannover, DE.

Peter Brötzmann - reeds
Fred van Hove - prepared piano, percussion
Han Bennink - drums, percussion, reeds

"Einheitslied" by Hanns Eisler

You can vote for your favorite band member; just click on the header...

Stylophones & Sunglasses

2010-06-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

Tania Chen and Steve Beresford in an improvised duet at the Usurp Gallery in London, 05/30/10, Beresford well-dressed and pressed as per usual, and Chen is sporting some hip shades:

Tania Chen and Steve Beresford duo at Usurp Gallery from Tania Chen on Vimeo.

Speaking of sunglasses, here is Tania Chen discussing her collection of vintage eyewear:

Perhaps somewhere in here there is possibly a solution

2010-06-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

to the undersea hemorrhaging of oil taking place in the Gulf of Mexico. But probably not. At any rate, here is an odd little performance by Adam Bohman
on amplified objects and Steve Beresford on electronics performing at the Usurp Gallery, Harrow, filmed by Helen Petts. Worth seeing full-screen.

The Suzuki Method

2010-05-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

is pretty similar to the Chuck Berry method; Damo Suzuki comes to a town, and the promoter has a band of local musicians set to back him up...except he's not doing Chuck Berry songs (or songs by Can, for that matter), he's doing all improvisations.
Here are clips of some recent performances:

DAMO SUZUKI feat. CHATEAU LAUT - LIVE @ AUSLAND, BERLIN, 04/30/10

REnDeR PLaNT & Damo Suzuki
Part of a three-day Experimental Music Festival at the Luminaire in Kilburn in May 2010

Damo Suzuki and The Vultures, The Luminaire, 05/03/10

Damo Suzuki and the Dominic Lash Quatertet, The Luminaire, 05/03/10
Ricardo Tejero (sax), Javier Carmona (drums), Dominic Lash (bass), and Rodrigo Montoya (Japanese shamisen), perform at the Luminaire in the vicinity of Kilburn.

And sometimes the Chuck Berry method works really well:

I don't have much to say about...

2010-05-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

the recently deceased Dennis Hopper, but I won't pass up an opportunity to put up some beatnik jazz combo music, especially if it's in a cellar joint. It would have been even better if they could have gotten Steve Lacy or Ornette...

Dennis Hopper and Linda Lawson in Curtis Harrington's "Night Tide" (1961, the upside-down year)

Here's some more common Bug Melter fare:

Diagram A Live @ basement show in Providence, R.I.

Tiger Hatchery, 05/09/09 @ Now That's Class Champagne Of Fests
Shot by Loumnz

No knife-fight...

2010-05-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

...but this guy sometimes bears one in his teeth:

You will probably need that pic because this video is so dark...

浦邊雅祥(Masayoshi Urabe) live @ Shinjuku URGA, 02/22/10

"I am so happy to see he is performing again." posted one viewer.
If you can call that seeing...

Two Wongs don't make a Wright...

2010-05-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

as you would know if you were a fervent viewer of Woody Allen's movie "What's Up, Tiger Lily." Here is Jack Wright, not with two guys named Wong, but rather Pascal Battus from France and Michael Johnsen from the Pittsburgh area:

Pascal Battus (France) : Objects, contact mics
Jack Wright : Reeds
Michael Johnsen : original electronics
04/21/10 at the Red Room, Baltimore, Maryland
(a/k/a Bal'More and Charm City)

Videos courtesy of Dennisovich

That's the Long and Short of It...

2010-05-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

Jack Wright/Johan Nystrom/Forbes Graham/Pascal Battus
Dad City, Amherst, MA
04/13/10

Jack Wright/Pascal Battus duo

That's not really short, is it?

This is:

Pascal Battus/Jamie Coleman/Sebastian Lexer

The microphone guitar finally rid of her.

“The artists alone decide what you will hear on their ESP-Disk”.

2010-05-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

And I guess I decide what you hear on Bug Melter...here is Sonny Simmons in London:

Sonny Simmons Quartet with Pat Thomas, John Edwards, Louis Moholo Moholo @ Cafe Oto, London, 05/14/10
Shot by Shuffleboil

Sonny Simmons Quartet with Alexander Hawkins, John Edwards, Charlie Collins @ Cafe Oto, London, 05/13/10
Shot by Shuffleboil

The Sonny Simmons Quartet

With Derek Saw (trumpet & valve trombone), John Jasnoch (guitar & oud)
and Charlie Collins (drums & cajon)
The Vortex, London
Shot by Dzgast

B & W trumpet and drums

2010-05-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Wadada Leo Smith, Louis Moholo, Steve Noble
Filmed by Helen Petts at Freedom of the City festival, 2010, London

Must bust in early May

2010-05-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

Or possibly Free Games for May...films courtesy of Helen Petts:

John Butcher (saxophones), Okkyung Lee (cello) and - in the dark - Christian Marclay (turntables) and Steve Beresford (electronics). Cafe Oto, London, 05/07/10.

Beresford & Marclay

Lee & Beresford, 05/08/10

Lee & Marclay, 05/07/10

Marclay & Butcher, 05/07/10

Former Fall Guy conducts Orchestra

2010-05-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

The London Improvisers Orchestra conducted by Dave Tucker, with Steve Beresford on piano and guest soloist Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet at the Freedom of the City Festival, London 2010. Filmed by Helen Petts.

More Ex, more Unbound (Unbounder?)

2010-04-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

Świetny koncert w ramach lubelskiego festiwalu jazzowego z kwietnia 2010.
04/26/10

Hidegen fújnak a szelek

Vandermark has grown his hair out...

2010-04-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

justifying his position as the Madonna of the jazz world (click on the title)...

Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen-Love, John Edwards @ Cafe Oto, London, 04/23/10
Shot by Shuffleboil, as was this:

Eddie Prevost, Guillaume Viltard, Philip Somervel @ Cafe Oto, 01/22/10

Pretty Music

2010-04-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

Heddy Boubaker At Mopomoso, London, 04/18/10. Filmed by Helen Petts.
Category:

Little Women, et al., live in Lakewood

2010-04-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

Little Women at Bela Dubby on Friday, 04/09/10, performing "Throat part 1" from the album "Throat" (Aum Fidelity Records)

Travis Laplante, tenor sax; Darius Jones, alto sax; Andrew Smiley, guitar; Jason Nazary, drums.

Shot by westsalemcongress...

The dark circles on the wall are paintings done on 12" vinyl records (Bela Dubby is a cafe and gallery; it also serves beer). My favorite non-musical part of their set was during one of the segments where the saxes drop out and the guitar and drums duet. Darius Jones stood over by one of the walls in front of one of the record paintings, and it looked like he had a black halo...

Opening were the duo of Dan Wenninger on tenor sax and Nate Scheible on drums:

Rounding out the show was Mike Forbes (also of Tiger Hatchery and the Forbes/Young/Walter trio) on tenor and J. Guy Laughlin on drums:

*********************************************************

Coming up at the same venue:

http://ruggedbugs.blogspot.com/2010/07/wednesday-august-11-2010.html

***************************************************************

Bonus pics of Little Women in Cleveland, 2008, by Lou Muenz:

http://www.pbase.com/tremont/image/91926460

http://www.pbase.com/tremont/image/91927573

Lean Left

2010-04-20T04:28:00.000-07:00

Vandermark, Nilssen-Love, & The Ex guitars...

im the bling bunny shinin so bright haters cant even see my dummy i lean left jerk right front back side to side ride bounce rims spin bass ...

shot by jacquestourneur

Not another guitar on the table video...

2010-04-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's a string of pedals on the table (and one lamp) ("Rampu"!) on the table video.
Alan Licht (in Mulhouse, France?):

Like watching paint dry.

2010-04-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

Interdisciplinary at THE BONNINGTON with Steve Beresford [electronics, etc.], Tom Chant [soprano saxophone] and Marcus Heesch [eggtempera] - filmed by Chikae Tomiyama and Richard H. Parry.

Live in London, 08/18/03

trumpeter Axel Doerner and trombonist Toshihiro Koike
painter Marcus Heesch
Realtime improvisation at David Adam's atelier in Berlin, 03/09/04

Guitar is the new drum...

2010-04-16T08:27:00.001-07:00

as James Brown or Lydia Lunch might say. Weasel Walter in some recent appearances:

WW-drums
Reuben Radding-bass
Daniel Carter and Aram Shelton-reeds
At Goodbye Blue Monday, 03/21/10

Cellular Chaos, Silent Barn, Queens, 04/08/10
WW-guitar
Ceci Moss-bass
Marc Edwards-drums

Michael Forbes, Andrew Scott Young, Weasel Walter @ Death By Audio, BKLN, 04/11/10

http://nowave.pair.com/ugexplode/af.html

Weasel Walter / Sheik Anorak / Mario Rechtern Trio - live Hamburg, 04/19/10
Shot by elkessommer

My money, such as it is, i.e., not much, is on the black...

2010-04-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Roulette, a performance space in NYC, specifically Manhattan (and that's becoming a rarity, with most of the action now taking place in Brooklyn, and probably eventually in Queens, Staten Island, or Yonkers...and doesn't that just roll off the tongue) has put up some interesting video tidbits on Vimeo. I suggest you watch these while downing a bottle of Vitameatavegamin:

Roulette TV: MARY HALVORSON from Roulette Intermedium on Vimeo.

MARY HALVORSON QUINTET:

Jon Irabagon- alto saxophone
Jonathan Finlayson- trumpet
Mary Halvorson- guitar
John Hébert- bass
Ches Smith- drums

Roulette TV: DARIUS JONES from Roulette Intermedium on Vimeo.

DARIUS JONES QUARTET

Lisle Ellis: Bass
Angelica Sanchez: Piano and Wurlitzer
Jason Nazary: Drums
Darius Jones: Alto Sax and Composition

Mr. Jones was just in town (CLE) with his collaborative combo Little Women, a gig to be treasured by all who were there...

Oh yeah, and click on the header to be taken to an hour of Henry Threadgill, commissioned by Roulette with funds by the Baisley Powell Elebash Trust.

************************************************************************************

Lagniappe:

Travis LaPlante, the tenor player in Little Women, shown here not at Roulette, but at 751 Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn, 03/31/10...apparently shot by Michael Snow on a balance board.

Two Views of Mats at Oto

2010-04-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

Is that a tongue-twister?

Mats Gustafsson, Phil Minton, John Russell @ Cafe Oto, London, 04/10/10
Shot by Shuffleboil...

Shot by Helentonic

Dare I say it? I guess I will...one of the worst puns, Sax and Violins...

2010-04-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

Mats Gustafsson, Pat Thomas, Phil Wachsmann @ Cafe Oto, London, 04/09/10

Jon Rose and Chris Cutler @ Cafe Oto, 04/08/10

Both filmed by Shuffleboil

Tony Conrad, Genesis P. Orridge, Morrison Edley - 1st Piece (live at F Serralves)

Toy Killers & the Derelicts of Dialect

2010-04-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

Toy Killers features Mark E. Miller - Drums, Voice; Charles K. Noyes - Bass; Kathleen Supove - Piano; & Weasel Walter - Electric Guitar. Filmed at The Stone, New York City, NY on 04/04/10 by Marc Edwards.

3rd Bass, "Derelicts of Dialect" (SD50 remix)

For some reason, Stumbleupon apparently makes this the main stop for people searching for "Derelicts of Dialect" (at least I assume this many folks aren't looking for info on the Toy Killers), so I thought I'd revisit this post and add a few things to it. I like bits and bobs of a lot of different musics, and dislike gobs of it, as I'm a bit of a snob, but I do dig 3rd Bass, and "Derelicts of Dialect" is one of my favorite hip-hop albums, one that I go back to year after year.
I saw them live once, at the Masonic Auditorium in downtown-ish Cleveland, on a bill with Digital Underground, and, I believe, Queen Latifah. There aren't a lot of live clips of the group, but here's a decent "Gas Face":

This is one of my favorite bug-out pieces from "DoD"..."Al'z A-B-Ceez":

The group split up after "DoD," with MC Serch going solo, and Prime Minister Pete Nice doing a duo album with Daddy Rich, a bit forward-looking, with samples of Can and the Velvet Underground, among others. Here is "The Sleeper," which uses "The Gift" by the VU:

And here is "Here It Comes" from Serch's solo album "Return of the Product" (1992).
And here is a down note...Serch stopped by the record store that I used to work at when he was doing a promo tour for the album not long after it dropped, and he was distraught...I'll have to paraphrase, because it was so long ago, but Serch said things like "dead in the water" and "this is a bomb." He was probably the most crestfallen artist I've ever seen, at least of the people who had major label distribution.

And to end on the keep-it-surreal tip, here is a promo for the Toy Killers CD:

Dolphy00 (Party over, oops, out of time!)...

2010-03-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

...has posted some clips of a recent performance in Paris 2010 by Jack Wright and Claude Parle

Jack Wright (as, ss) & Claude Parle (acc)
Societe de Curiosites - Paris
03/23/10

Saw, Sax, etc.

2010-03-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE:

On Saturday, November 2nd, 1996, I participated in an event in Pittsburgh entitled "High Evil" organized by Edgar Um Bucholtz that took place in a building that's now demolished. This event was significant for me as one of the 1st shows I participated in after moving to Pittsburgh & as possibly the only time I ever used the toy VideoPainter as a video improvising tool. Since I've been too poor most of my life to afford 'professional' equipment, I've often used toys & borrowed &/or broken equipment. The broken equipment in this instance being a WJ MX-12 AV mixer that I STILL use & that's STILL broken. Providing improvised sound were Sharyn Lee Frederick: child's violin, measuring cups, voice; Michael Johnsen: saw, amplified oboe, baritone sax; Greg Pierce: records, intercom, guitar, alto sax, dictaphone; & Dave W(Ho)le Shim: 4 track cassettes. I contributed projected video mixing. This brief movie is probably a simulation of the visuals done at home - since the actual conditions of the show probably didn't involve any video recording. For more info, see entry 201 @: http://www.fyi.net/~anon/MereOutline1... - February 16, 2010

You can see/hear much more Michael Johnsen by clicking on the header...

Git-boxes, etc.

2010-03-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

Paul G. Smith (piano) and John Russell (guitar) at Mopomoso free improvisation night at the Vortex Jazz Club, London. Filmed by Helen Petts on 03/21/10.

Pascal Marzan at Mopomoso free improvisation night at the Vortex Jazz Club, London. Filmed by Helen Petts on 03/21/10.

DJ /rupture & Andy Moor: Live Improvisation on guitar + turntables. Recorded in Orleans France, March 2007. Slideshow fotos by Andy Moor.

Parker/Bailey can't lose:

Derek Bailey and Evan Parker, 04/22/85, The Arts Theatre - Incus Festival London, England

Nor can Bailey/Stevens:

Another Kind of Drum 'n' Bass

2010-03-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

Brötzmann / 本田 / 田中 / 荒巻 / Nicholson - SuperDeluxeでBrötzFest 2009

最初のセット：
Peter Brötzmann (saxophone)
本田珠也 (drums)
田中徳崇 (drums)
荒巻茂生 (contrabass)
Todd Nicholson (contrabass)

Courtesy of Merzbird

And another:

Dominik Burkhalter plays the drums on the roof at Orchard Street, Lower East Side, NYC, 09/03/08

Chapter 19: Mucilage

2010-03-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

Dave E.'s words had cadence and clarity.
"Like duck blinds, the ones I used to live in, I pass them all the time
Spin age blasters radio cortex falls on screen
Like video images of myself I like them to be seen
Happens all the time"

Thanks to Environihilist for this confection...

The Bible says the Last Supper took place on a Passover evening but gives little detail on specific foods besides bread and wine.

"There's nothing else mentioned. They don't say there's a fruit cup or carrot cake," though other foods such as fish, eel, lamb and even pork have appeared in paintings through the years, Brian Wansink said.

"A little taste of honey
When I have the money...
God must be
In my refrigerator"

Do Yoo Doo Right?

2010-03-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Alan Courtis and Aaron Moore doo...

Side Cinema, Newcastle, 02/12/10
Courtesy of cs0sor

Meanwhile, in 2009:

ALAN COURTIS & AARON MOORE live at Culture Lab, Newcastle, 02/20/09
Thanks to nofinewcastle

By the way, Aaron Moore is a member of Volcano the Bear, playing trumpet and drums in that group, although not at the same time. He is not a member of the Connecticut Moores.

I enjoyed this performance

2010-03-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

(At least I enjoyed these little films of this performance, presented here in reverse order.)

Cut Paste Featuring Weasel Walter,

Peter Evans,

Cory Smythe, Steve Lehman

@ Le Poisson Rouge, NY, 03/16/10

Shot by MarcEdwards5050

But then again, I am also enjoying researching videos by Wendy & Lisa...

"I did not enjoy this performance...

2010-03-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

...but it's pleasing to see this sort of thing being played in Belfast."

Why?

Free Improv Trio Faint (Pedro Rebelo - piano, Franziska Schroeder - saxes and Steve Davis - percussion) live at the Sonic Arts Research Center in Belfast/Northern Ireland, October 2007

Spooky/Shipp

2010-03-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

The prequel to Butcher/Shipp?

DJ Spooky & Matthew Shipp - Optometry // live at Banlieues Bleues, 03/19/03 // a film by Jacques Goldstein // DJ Spooky - turntables, samples / Matthew Shipp - piano / William Parker - bass / Guillermo Brown - drums, laptop //

McPhee, Corsano, Dunmall, Edwards

2010-03-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

Joe McPhee, Chris Corsano, John Edwards, and Paul Dunmall @ Cafe Oto, London, 03/09/10, courtesy of Shuffleboil

What did that bass ever do to Edwards? Beautiful.

(Click on the header for some bonus beats...the Bald Soprano and the Short-Back-and-Sides-Soprano.)

Almost Autumn in South America

2010-03-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Alan Courtis en Santiago de Chile

Lee Ranaldo in Chile, 03/28/09

São Paulo Underground, video by Akin

Springtime Addendum:

"Dark 'N' Lovely," as Stevie Wonder might say...

El jueves, 04 de marzo de 2010
Espacio Ecléctico, Humberto Primo 730
Buenos Aires

Nicolás Diab: Bajo
Fernando de la Vega: Batería
Alan Courtis: Guitarra

Courtisy (heh) of Suciotraporojo

Born on 03/04

2010-03-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

Halim, El-Dabh, composer, born on 03/04/1921:

Angus MacLise, musician and poet, born 03/04/38:

Angus MacLise - Drum Solo (NYC 1968) from "Brain Damage In Oklahoma City"

Jan Garbarek, musician, born 03/04/47:

Jan Garbarek - "Beast of Kommodo" from "Afric Pepperbird" (1970)
Jan Garbarek (Sax, Flute)
Arild Andersen (Bass, Xylophone, Piano),
Terje Rypdal (Guitar, Bugle),
Jon Christensen (Drums, Perc.),

Buck 65 (Richard Terfry ), rapper, songwriter, born 03/04/72:

Buck 65, "Food," video by Deanvideo

El-P (Jaime Meline), rapper, producer, born 03/04/75:

"Sunrise Over Brooklyn," El-P featuring The Blue Series Continuum Services

People at the Foot of the Mountain*...

2010-03-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

...have been stopping by here recently to check out Roscoe Mitchell and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, so I thought I'd put up a few more things that I've stumbled upon.

From the "Jazz Solos" series by Daniel K. Berman

Roscoe Mitchell + Muhal Richard Abrams + George Lewis

Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell have a new album out on Mutable Music. For more info, click on the header.

*From Piemonte/Piedmont in Italia/Italy.

The Banjo is a Lovely Instrument

2010-03-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

...as are the electric guitar and the AM radio. Here they are in this new video from Ted Flynn of Theodore Vril and Scarcity of Tanks fame, "Magic Eye":

Freaky Dancing in Poland

2010-03-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

...with the Art Ensemble of Chicago:

1995, Poznań Jazz Fair
Lester Bowie - trumpet
Roscoe Mitchell- tenor sax
Malachi Favors Maghostut - bass
Don Moye - drums

Poznań is "twinned" with Toledo, Ohio. Maybe they could have a cultural exchange with Tony Packo's.

Place? Date? Don't know, but it is funky.

And a sweet tribute to Lester Bowie, replete with accordion:

Joe Bowie, Antonello Salis, Gerald Brazel, Don Moye, Riccardo Lay, Mauro Ottolini, and Sousaphonix - Remembering Lester Tribute to Lester Bowie - part 1 - European Jazz Expo 2009 Jazz in Sardegna

(Spot the former Contortion...)

Spring Heel Jack & John Tchicai

2010-02-27T08:37:00.000-08:00

Spring Heel Jack & John Tchicai, at "An Insolent Noise" festival,Verdi Theatre, Pisa,
12/02/07...

John Tchicai on bass clarinet and vocals, Orphy Robinson on vibraphone, John Edwards on bass, Tony Marsh on drums, John Coxon and Ashley Wales, electronics

Tchicai has quite an interesting trajectory, going from the New York Contemporary Five, the New York Art Quartet, and Coltrane's "Ascension" to working with Hans Joachim Irmler (ex-Faust) and members of Nalle...

Butcher/Shipp

2010-02-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

Nice, could be the title of a "Saw"/"Hostel"-ish zombie bloodbath movie...

Matthew Shipp, John Butcher duet @ Cafe Oto, London, 02/14/10, filmed by Shuffleboil

Here's some solo Shipp:

At A38, Budapest, September 2008.

Click on the header for some Matthew Shipp bonus beats.

Hamid Drake

2010-02-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

Some recent Hamid Drake clips...he did a gig in Paris, but the only clip is of him playing a frame-drum:

Hamid Drake Solo at Souffle Continu, Paris, 01/27/10

And if you're in the market for a reggae version of Thelonious Monk's "Well You Needn't," here you go...

Napoleon Maddox, voice - beat box
Jeff Albert, trombone
Jeb Bishop, trombone
Jeff Parker, guitar
Joshua Abrams, bass - guimbri
Hamid Drake, drums

Chair vs. Chair

2010-02-24T06:24:00.000-08:00

Chris Cooper : guitar
Nick Becker : moog, electric guitar
Stewart Mostofsky : electronics

High Zero, Baltimore, MD, 09/12/09
Video by Dennisovich

OTO (CAFE)

2010-02-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

Chino Shuichi, Alex Ward, John Russell, Roger Turner, Phil Wachsmann @ Cafe Oto, 02/17/10.

Video by Shuffleboil.

"Eric!"

2010-02-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop

Antibes Jazz Festival, Juan-Les-Pins, France, 07/13/60

Ted Curson (tpt); Eric Dolphy (as); Booker Ervin (ts); Charles Mingus (bass, pno); Dannie Richmond (dr); Bud Powell (pno).

Eric Dolphy - "Epistrophy" -
ERIC DOLPHY(as･bcl･fl)
MISHA MENGELBERG（p）
JACQUES SCHOLS（b）
HAN BENNINK（ds）

Recorded at Hilversum,Holland, 06/02/64

Broohaha - "The Eric Dolphy Shopping Spree" - Pulse Bar, Barnsley, 02/18/10

The title comes from an anecdote that Kyle Farrell (click on the header) told me about a visit to NY; he was outside The Stone when a guy walked by carrying a 'cello, and, thinking it might be Erik Friedlander, he hollered "Erik!"

"Hello, Mr. Seoul"

2010-02-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

Unidentified bass player in Seoul, Korea.

Where Oscar Wilde went to Gaol...

2010-02-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well, that's how they used to spell it. And he wasn't incarcerated in the Rising Sun Arts Centre, 30 Silver Street, Reading, RG1 2ST, but in a real prison.

Corey Mwamba, Dave Kane, Joshua Blackmore @ the Rising Sun, Reading, 02/13/10

Video by Shuffleboil

"Over the piano was printed a notice: Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best."

YOKO (ONO), w/ Mirror and Dash

2010-02-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

Plastic Ono Band w/Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, "Mulberry," 02/16/10

Update: the link in the header now leads to Mirror's new blog, NYC Ghosts & Flowers & Cream, instead of a clip of Henry Flynt holding forth in front of 112 Chambers Street, site of the building where Yoko Ono had her loft and produced a historic series of concerts in the early sixties.