Cuneiform Records FEBRUARY 2022 Newsletter

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Cuneiform Records                                       view this email online FEBRUARY 2022 Newsletter: New Releases & Concerts   jump to on computer, or scroll down on mobile: ~~~~~~ NEW RELEASES!!  COMING OUT FEBRUARY 25, 2022  ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS YANG – DESIGNED FOR DISASTER European dual-guitar progressive quartet led by composer Frédéric L’Épée ~~~~~~ OUT NOW! RELEASED JANUARY 22, 2022  ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS LUKE STEWART'S SILT TRIO – THE BOTTOM DC/Chicago jazz /creative trio (Luke Stewart / Brian Settles/ Chad Taylor) ~~~~~~ OUT NOW! RELEASED  DECEMBER 17, 2021 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS LE TOUT SUR LE TOUT – ALL ABOUT ALL Never-released archival live recording from 1995 by this jazz / creative music improv ensemble ~~~ RICK BIDDULPH – SECOND NATURE Reissue of this UK Canterbury musician's only solo album, a jazz/rock classic ~~~~~~ SNEAK PEEK!  COMING OUT  MARCH 25, 2022  ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS SOFT MACHINE – FACELIFT FRANCE & HOLLAND Video & audio recordings (2 CDs+DVD) from the Soft Machine quintet's 1970 Facelift tour of France and Holland; electric jazz/rock at its volcanic origins   ~~~~~~ CUNEIFORM ARTISTS ON TOUR:   LIVE CONCERTS & TOURS ~~~~~~ STAY WARM IN THIS SNOWY MONTH WITH CUNEIFORM RECORDS ONLINE: • Explore Cuneiform Records'  SOCIAL MEDIA;  BANDCAMP PAGE; YouTube Channel • Purchase music from100s of labels at WaysideMusic.com, our sister store estab.1980 • Missed seeing a Cuneiform Newsletter? Access prior issues at cuneiformrecord.blogspot.com/  ~~~~~~ COMING OUT FEBRUARY 25, 2022 on CUNEIFORM RECORDS: YANG DESIGNED FOR DISASTER File under: ROCK / PROGRESSIVE ROCK / ART ROCK / GUITAR Label: Cuneiform Records Catalog #: Cuneiform Rune 494 Format: CD, Digital Release Date: February 25, 2022   Uneasy Listening: YANG’s new Designed for Disaster Captures the Tenor of Our Times listen/share on Soundcloud: "Flower You" from Yang's Designed for Disaster credits: Frédéric L’Épée: guitars, synth, chorus  Laurent James: guitars, chorus Nico Gomez: bass, chorus Volodia Brice: drums, chorus  with Ayşe Cansu Tanrikulu: voice       As a child in France, YANG's composer and guitarist Frédéric L'Épée suffered from an exaggerated fear of loud sounds—a condition that was not alleviated by growing up in a musical family. “Every noise, even music, was frightening to me,” he recalls. “I liked music that I could hear on the speakers, for example, or something that was a little bit far away. But if my grandfather was playing accordion, I had a kind of baby phrase I would say: ‘Please don’t play accordion to my ears,’ because it was unbearable for me. And when my father played violin as well, it was too loud when it was in the room.”   Discovering the electric guitar changed all that, although this revelation could easily have gone very wrong. L'Épée recalls an early experiment in electrification that literally ended with a bang, when he mistakenly plugged his first instrument into an AC power outlet instead of the family stereo. But the young musician persevered, forming his first serious band, Shylock, in his teens and waxing two now highly collectible albums with that formation; moving on to the instrumental-oriented combo Philharmonie, which produced a further five full-length LPs; and then working with YANG since 2004.   The European quartet’s fourth release, Designed for Disaster—its second for Cuneiform Records—just might be its loudest yet.   But it’s always purposeful noise, as demonstrated by the new album’s fifth track, “Words”. Over an ominously martial beat, L'Épée and his bandmates shout single-word slogans: “Stark”, “Frei”, “Fight”, “Klang”, “Bruit”, et cetera. These are almost but not quite drowned out by a barrage of distorted electric guitars; the effect is that an unknown and threatening authority figure is issuing enigmatic orders, with consequence for those who don’t obey. It’s eerie, and unsettling.   “I’m very happy to hear that, because that’s certainly my intention,” L'Épée comments. “I don’t want people to really follow the words and try to explain what is being said; it’s mostly to feel things.” L'Épée’s use of words—a new development for YANG, which has previously concentrated on instrumentals—is “meant to communicate an impression and not a meaning”, he points out. “Descendance”, Designed for Disaster’s opening track, is similarly uncanny;  backed by a surging bassline, guest vocalist Ayşe Cansu Tanrikulu intones “If the moment feels unsafe/maybe easy again to disconnect”.      “How to explain that?” L'Épée muses. “For me, like a lot of other people, I feel that that something is wrong in the world. And with this latest adventure that we’ve gone through with COVID, I felt that as people we’re lost, completely lost. And we are going wrong as we evolve, because people are too egocentric, too much concerned with themselves, and they don’t open enough to others. They only want to protect their own belongings and wealth and habits and comfort. They’re not ready to really go somewhere with humanity as a species.”   Added to these sociopolitical concerns is a relatively new interest in ancient Chinese culture, expressed here in the concision of L'Épée’s wordplay. “In ancient Chinese poetry, there are very few phrases, very few adjectives,” he explains. “Sometimes, but not that much. It’s mainly done with images. With a succession of images, Chinese poetry is supposed to put people in a certain atmosphere—a certain ambience, let’s say—that makes them able to feel the spirit of what the poet wanted to express. And in that piece [“Descendance”], it’s the same.”   L'Épée adds that he’s in the process of learning Mandarin so that he can more easily learn how to play ancient Chinese music. With Designed for Disaster, however, his compositions primarily have their genesis in Baroque music, minimalism, and of course the progressive rock he gravitated towards as a teenager, with King Crimson’s Robert Fripp as his acknowledged influence. The new record’s last track, “Despite Origins”, is almost a textbook example of these interests, opening with an intricate fugue for electric guitars, moving into a surprisingly accurate (and quite lovely) pastiche of ’70s blues-rock guitar heroism, and ending with a bleak recitative that invokes both the digital future and the mock-liturgical feel of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.   “My favourite composer of all composers is Johann Sebastian Bach,” L'Épée says. “To me, Bach is the maximum music can go to. And Bach, in some way, is also minimalist, because he uses very, very tiny musical materials, and builds from them cathedrals. Of course my father was a violinist and he was mainly interested in Romantic music, so I’ve heard that a lot. And when I came into my own as a musician I started listening to other things: very experimental stuff like spectral music, which I use when I play solo and also sometimes when I compose, and minimalist music as well.” Indeed, there are passages on Designed for Disaster that sound very much like what Steve Reich, say, might have arrived at had he been writing for two guitars, electric bass, and drums rather than for percussion ensemble. But there are other factors that L'Épée, as YANG’s sole composer, constantly takes into consideration. One of these has to do with the group of accomplices he’s assembled: bassist Nico Gomez, he notes, has a gift for melody; guitarist Laurent James has a complementary ear for texture; and drummer Volodia Brice is capable of negotiating the most complex time signatures.   “I write for people,” he says. “I’m also a classical composer, so I knew how to write for orchestras. But I have to take account of the possibilities of the instruments and also the personalities of the people. And with YANG, I know very well these guys; we are very good friends, and we never fight together. I really imagine every note played by them, each time I compose.   “What is happening is that every musicians plays with his own personality, and I compose with those personalities,” he adds. “For another lineup, I would not compose the same at all.”    And then there’s you, the listener.    “I’ve always been persuaded that without the audience, music is dead,” L'Épée concludes. “So when the audience listens to something, it influences the composer and the musicians, and when a song is listened to, the song is living. It’s the same with everything in music and also in poetry: communication with the people makes it really alive. And it’s a collective work, of course.”   So prepare yourself for discovering YANG’s new record. If you’re new to the group this will likely lead you on to YANG’s earlier work, the Shylock and Philharmonie albums (including four Philharmonie albums on Cuneiform Records), and L'Épée’s prodigious solo output, but we promise you this: it’s a fascinating and worthwhile journey.   pre-order on Bandcamp: return to top OUT NOW!! released JANUARY 22, 2022 on CUNEIFORM RECORDS: LUKE STEWART'S SILT TRIO THE BOTTOM File under:  JAZZ / IMPROVISATION / SPIRITUAL JAZZ / CREATIVE MUSIC / DC MUSIC Label: Cuneiform Records Catalog #: Cuneiform Rune 487 Format: CD, Digital Release Date: January 22, 2022 listen/share on Soundcloud: "Roots" from Luke Stewart's Silt Trio's The Bottom   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ First recording by this DC/Chicago trio of fast-rising stars, led by DC bassist Luke Stewart   Called “one of the 25 most influential jazz artists of his generation” by DownBeat Magazine and a member of several earth-shaking ensembles, including Irreversible Entanglements and Heroes Are Gang Leaders, polymathic bassist Luke Stewart, a creative catalyst on the Washington D.C. (and beyond) music scene for almost two decades, introduces his protean Silt Trio with Chicago drum legend Chad Taylor and powerhouse DC saxophonist Brian Settles. A casual observer of the Washington D.C. music scene could easily get the mistaken impression that there are four or five guys coincidentally named Luke Stewart playing leading roles in a disparate array of musical communities. In fact, Stewart is a singular, uncontainable artist whose work as a bassist, producer, and all-around mover and shaker has deepened and extended the District’s legacy as a hotbed for creative music.   Given his many pursuits, a single album can only capture a small portion of Stewart’s oceanic sonic continuum, but The Bottom offers a deep dive into a particularly inviting pool with his loose and limber trio making their debut here. Photographer: No Land   A highly cohesive triumvirate in close communion, the band plays with the conversational ease of longtime, comfortable friends. Untethered to any particular stylistic convention, particularly bebop’s head-solo-head format, the music’s ebb and flow feels utterly in the moment. “I approached the recording session as closely as possible to playing a set, arranging the sequence with that in mind,” says Stewart, who was born and raised in Mississippi. “Like a set compositions are coupled by moments of free improvisation, but that free improv is contextualized by what happened before and after. It’s a journey, and the recording session reflects that.”    pre-order on Bandcamp: tracks: 1. Reminiscinc // 2. Roots // 3. Angles // 4. The Bottom // 5. Circles// 6. Dream House   Photographer: No Land LUKE STEWART'S SILT TRIO: Luke Stewart - bass Brian Settles - tenor sax Chad Taylor - drums, mbira return to top OUT NOW on CUNEIFORM RECORDS in Digital Format – RELEASED DECEMBER 17, 2021 –   LE TOUT SUR LE TOUT ALL ABOUT ALL File under:  JAZZ / IMPROV / CREATIVE MUSIC / EXPERIMENTAL Label: Cuneiform Records Catalog #: Cuneiform Rune 3358 Format: Digital Release Date: December 17, 2021     Never-released archival live recording made in Switzerland in 1995 by this visionary jazz / improv / creative / experimental music ensemble     listen to/share a track from  Le Tout Sur Le Tout'S All About All  on Soundcloud credits: Jacques Demierre, piano, keyboard Sylvie Courvoisier, piano, keyboard Gergely Suto, clarinets, taragot Adrien Kessler, double bass, voice Jim Meneses, drums Recorded live November 7, 1995 at L’Usine, Geneva, Switzerland   tracks: 1. L - Mercredi 3 - Divine Reprise      16.36 2. Schumann in Africa                       7.58 3. Calorife Bis                                   7.43     4. Jodel                                            7.37 5. Leonorus Cardiaca                         9.15 6. Paul et Henriette - Nonne Hante! - Le Tout Sur Le Tout      13.38     All compositions by J. Demierre / TST, except "Paul et Henriette", by A. Kessler / TST Cover by Alexandre Simon Recorded live November 7, 1995 at L’Usine, Geneva, Switzerland Original recording remastered by Andy Kravitz, Studio Four West, Los Angeles, California    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ TST, Le Tout Sur Le Tout, was founded in January 1994 by Jacques Demierre in Switzerland, during the New Jazz Festival On Tour '94. The original members were bandleader/composer Jacques Demierre (piano, keyboard), Sylvie Courvoisier (piano, keyboard), Gergely Suto (clarinets), Adrien Kessler (double bass, voice), and Andreas Valvini (drums), who was replaced by Jim Meneses in 1995. Together they created music combining the power of rock and the energy of improvised music, experimentation and song, strict writing and free improvisation, electric and acoustic sound, reflecting the musicians' diverse backgrounds in  jazz, contemporary music, rock, and experimental music.   BUY on Bandcamp: return to top   RICK BIDDULPH SECOND NATURE File under:  ROCK / AVANT PROGRESSIVE / FUSION / JAZZ-ROCK Label: Cuneiform Records Catalog #: Cuneiform Rune 3357 Format: Digital Release Date: December 17, 2021   Reissue of this UK Canterbury musician's only solo album, a jazz/rock classic   “...these long pieces develop a musical depth and intensity fascinating in their variety, addictive in their harmony….. Every track is like cinema - a mental picture of sea, mountains, far landscapes, beauty."  – Canterbury-Nachrichten, Germany   listen to /share "The Hillman Effect" from Rick Biddulph's Second Nature on Soundcloud “The general mood is one of brooding intensity, producing evocative atmospheric music that is ideal for untethering one’s imagination to….. the awesome splendour of the natural world is vividly realised in these compositions. Listen and marvel." - Facelift, U.K.   credits: Rick Biddulph : Guitars, Basses, Guitar Synth, Balalaika, Minimoog, Vocals, Sequencing, Programming Pierre-Marie Bonafos : saxes (1, 7, 10, 11) Suzanne Bramson : backing vocals (3) Barbara Gaskin : backing vocals (8) Jim Howard : trumpet (10) Colin Humphries : clarinet, wooden flute (3) Andy Reynolds : midi drums, samples, egg, additional keyboards and arrangements (1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12) Dave Storey : brush snare (8) Perry White : piano (11) Composed, recorded and produced by Rick Biddulph.   "If our First Nature lies in the wild and lonely places, somewhere along the way we recognized our Second Nature of art and invention. The pieces on this album, some of which stem from work on music for emotive environmental films, owe much to this First Nature. I have a strong sense of location for them all. Due to unforeseeable technological circumstances inherent in the Second, much of what might be taken for keyboards on this album was played on, or generated from guitar and bass; much of what might be taken for drums was played on a keyboard. I blame the manuals." – Rick Biddulph ~ ~ ~   Bio Info: Rick Biddulph Guitarist/ bass player Rick Biddulph is a well-known musician to fans of the Canterbury scene due to his involvement in bands such as Caravan Of Dreams and Mirage, as well as other associations with musicians such as Hugh Hopper, Dave Stewart and Richard Sinclair.  Read Aymeric Leroy's bio of Rick Biddulph, which details his involvement in numerous Canterbury music projects and releases, his work with folk groups (Spirogyra) and French musicians (Anaid), and his soundtracks for Greenpeace videos on https://www.calyx-canterbury.fr/mus/biddulph_rick.html   ~ ~ ~ “...impressive atmospheric soundscapes, musical fantasies that evoke the most beautiful slides before your eyes'” – Background Magazine, Holland   BUY Second Nature on Bandcamp :   “His music is fluid, graceful, and quite personal; very easy to get inside and enjoy….. melodic rather than ambient, filled with grace and inner beauty." - Music Uncovered, U.S.A. “It’s a release that grows with each listen; remarkable for its simplicity, yet stunning in its ability to convey emotion." – Exposé, U.S.A. return to top SNEAK PEEK! COMING OUT ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS ON MARCH 25, 2022: Soft Machine - Facelift France and Holland - Official Trailer SOFT MACHINE FACELIFT FRANCE & HOLLAND Bio information: SOFT MACHINE Title: FACELIFT FRANCE AND HOLLAND (Cuneiform Rune 495/496/497) Format: 2 CDs  + DVD / DIGITAL FILE UNDER: ROCK / JAZZ-ROCK   listen/share on Soundcloud: "Out - Bloody - Rageous" from Soft Machine's Facelift France and Holland From their beginnings as a psychedelic rock band in 1966, sharing stages with Pink Floyd and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, to being one of the originators of electric jazz/rock by early 1969, Britain’s SOFT MACHINE were restlessly creative. Facelift France and Holland captures them at a pivotal moment in the first quarter of 1970 as a short-lived quintet, just before they recorded and released their breakthrough album Third. SOFT MACHINE : Elton Dean :  Alto sax, saxello Lyn Dobson : Soprano and tenor sax, flute, harmonica, vocals Hugh Hopper : Bass Mike Ratledge : Hohner Pianet, Lowrey Holiday Deluxe organ Robert Wyatt : Drums, vocals   As broadcast on the French TV programme Pop 2, the film of Soft Machine’s concert at Paris’ Théâtre de la Musique, which constitutes the main course of the present release, stands as an exceptional document of the band at, arguably, its artistic peak. It is also the only video footage known to exist of the quintet line-up that was active from January to March 1970, and contains the only professionally-recorded performance of “Out-Bloody-Rageous” with Lyn Dobson on second sax, as well as the only professionally-recorded alternative performance by the quintet of “Facelift” .   Until the release, nearly 30 years later, of Noisette (Cuneiform Records), “Facelift” on Third (itself edited to include segments from other studio and live tapes) had remained the quintet’s sole recorded legacy. Noisette presented the rest of the Fairfield Halls concert of January 4, 1970 captured by sound engineer and band friend Bob Woolford, and has often been singled out as the best of the many Soft Machine archival releases. Another album, Breda Reactor, was taken from a poorly recorded Dutch gig later that same month, with an identical setlist save for the inclusion of a brief section of the future “Out-Bloody-Rageous” during “Esther’s Nose Job.” By the time of the Pop 2 performance, it had grown into the Ratledge tour-de-force that would later occupy the last side of Third.   Another new Ratledge composition—then untitled but soon to become the first half of “Slightly All the Time”—was unveiled on the French tour. Unfortunately, as the audience recording of the Théâtre de la Musique concert (included as a bonus on the DVD) reveals, this, along with nearly half of the second set, was left out of the edited broadcast (compared to just five minutes from the admittedly much-shorter first set, i.e., “Mousetrap” and “Noisette”). Because of its historical significance and despite its inferior sound quality, “Slightly All the Time” has been inserted back into the performance as presented on Disc 1, along with a brief excerpt of “Moon in June” which smoothens the transition to Robert Wyatt’s vocal improvisation.   And to make this release an even more complete representation of Soft Machine’s live set during this period, Disc 3 presents a previously unreleased performance at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw from January 1970 from a soundboard source. Heard in excellent sound are Hugh Hopper’s “12/8 Theme” (never recorded in the studio, and save for Hugh’s solo rendition on Monster Band, unheard until Noisette) and a complete “Esther’s Nose Job,” unlike the truncated version shown in Pop 2.    Pop 2, which aired from April 1970 to December 1973, was the brainchild of producer Maurice Dumay (a former program manager for Europe 1 radio), who chose to surround himself with a young team spearheaded by director Claude Ventura, whose innovative, reportage-like camera work had already been a trademark of Tous en Scène, recently taken off the air for blasphemy. That a French TV show about rock music should choose to devote its entire premiere, as well as another subsequent edition, to Soft Machine, may seem incredible in retrospect, and probably merits an explanation.   The band's love story with France had begun in the summer of 1967, when the original lineup had somehow found itself providing live musical accompaniment to happening artist Jean-Jacques Lebel's production of Picasso's Le Désir attrapé par la queue during its ill-fated sojourn on the French Riviera. The play became that summer's succès de scandale, and made “La Machine Molle” instant stars: Eddie Barclay hired Soft Machine for his ultra-hip Nuit Psychédélique in Saint-Tropez, and leading magazine Le Nouvel Observateur promptly dubbed them “the new Beatles.” When they crossed the Channel again to perform at the Paris Biennale that autumn, they were duly invited to appear on several high-profile TV shows (Dim Dam Dom, Caméra III, Bouton Rouge), and by the time they played at La Fenêtre Rose—France's answer to London's 14-Hour Technicolor Dream—in November 1967, their status as one of the top British groups was established.   Despite disappearing for the whole of 1968, first touring America with the Jimi Hendrix Experience and then temporarily disbanding, when Soft Machine returned to Paris in June 1969 to headline a festival at the Bataclan showcasing the new generation of French bands, they had lost none of their popularity, and once again they appeared on French TV's rock programs of the day—Forum Musiques and the above-mentioned Tous en Scène.   The band's commercial potential seemed big enough to its French agent Norbert Gamsohn that he set about organizing a major tour of the country's new Maisons de la Culture circuit. Such was the scale of the eventual itinerary—over 30 dates, divided into two legs, the first in December 1969, the second in February–March 1970—that it allowed the trio to afford what they'd been contemplating for a while already: add a brass section, mostly borrowed from the Keith Tippett Group. Regrettably, that septet line-up was already history by the time the second leg took place: for practical as well as economic reasons, it had been trimmed down to a quintet.   The venue chosen for the Soft Machine’s Paris concert was the Théâtre de la Musique, originally (and better) known as a fine example of Second Empire architecture, it had been built in the early 1860s, soon becoming Paris' most popular showplace when it hosted Offenbach's most famous operettas. With some notable exceptions like the 1918 Ballets Russes season, the 20th century proved less sympathetic to the theatre, which by the early 1960s, lay virtually abandoned as a music venue. It was briefly revived in 1970, and in addition to the Softs, the venerable 1,500-capacity hall also hosted memorable concerts by Magma and Gong. Various attempts at reviving the venue, including as a museum, were short-lived, although recently, it began hosting concerts (and other events) again as La Gaîté-Lyrique.   In order to accommodate the program's 40-minute format, the edited concert was broadcast in two segments: the first on its April 30 premiere, and the second on July 23, ostensibly to coincide with the band's scheduled (but ultimately cancelled) midsummer appearances in several festivals in the South of France.   There is little to fault with either the sonics or visuals of the footage—the occasional, disconcerting and annoying outbursts of fake applause and cheers, mixed in at seemingly random intervals on the original broadcast, have been minimized here, thanks to the discovery in the INA archives of an earlier, work-in-progress edit of the first set and, wherever else the issue manifested itself, using the audience source as patches. All in all, no effort has been spared to ensure that this is the best this performance has ever sounded and looked.   And good it certainly looks. There is a cinematographic quality to Ventura's choice of unusual camera angles, for instance when he films the band from behind the stage, capturing otherwise unseen activity—like Softs roadie Tony Wigens chatting with Elton Dean or maneuvering Robert Wyatt's overhead mic in time for his scat solo during “Esther's Nose Job.” Yet his camera never strays away from the main action for too long. The visual dimension adds much to the enjoyment derived from the music. One gets a better sense of Wyatt's physical abandon, both as drummer and singer—his Echoplexed vocal improvisation here, graced with uncharacteristically sympathetic backing from the rest of the group, is among his best; of the introverted yet asserted presence of Ratledge and Hopper; and of the surprisingly well-behaved playing of dual saxists Dean and Dobson—although the latter gets quite a bit wilder during the drone section in “Facelift.” Oddly enough the only drinks in sight are Orangina bottles, prominently displayed on top of the amps in lieu of the usual beer—clearly not your average rock group!   Let’s leave the final word to Lyn Dobson, who left the band soon after this performance. “I think that what Soft Machine did was totally original. Robert, Hugh and Mike.… Between them it was a fantastic combination. There was a kind of chemical difference between them, but it was out of that tension that something amazing happened. Later it became more watered down, more like everything else that was around—what they called jazz-rock. But what we did was something else altogether.… More like rock-jazz, if you like. Very powerful music!”  Indeed.   return to top CUNEIFORM ARTISTS ON TOUR 2022 CALENDAR IMPORTANT COVID REMINDER: In an evolving COVID-19 world, these dates are ALL tentative. Please check with venues, close to the concert date, to confirm. We're ecstatic that live concerts are resuming in many locales, and look forward to music venues and concert halls opening worldwide, when health and safety measures allow. See also the Tours Page at Cuneiform Records. BLUE CRANES  "The first time I saw Portland's Blue Cranes live, I walked away trying to compare what I'd seen to anything I'd encountered before. I couldn't do it, and I still can't - the band is a force of nature.... Call it "creative music" or "post-jazz" or whatever you like, but the Blue Cranes sound is steeped in the ideas and concepts of jazz....a beautifully improvised sonic experience." - NPR/A Blog Supreme February 26 - PDX Jazz Festival - Alberta Abbey - 126 NE Alberta St. - Portland, OR [free!] Listen to & buy: Swim GHOST RHYTHMS A remarkable, eclectic and electric "Jazz and beyond" large ensemble, Ghost Rhythms perform across France in 2021, celebrating their new disc on Cuneiform, Spectral Music, their sixth release and their second on Cuneiform.  ___________________________________________________________ February 23 -  La Dame de Canton - Port de la Gare - 75013 Paris. France Listen to & buy: SPECTRAL MUSIC,  LIVE AT YOSHIWARA       THE GREAT HARRY HILLMAN The exuberant Swiss jazz/ pop/ beyond group - named after the American triple-Gold Medal winner at the 1904 Summer Olympics - are one of the most active groups on the European festival and club circuit, top-notch live performers ceaselessly honing their skills. March 22 - Jazzkantine - Luzern, Switzerland March 23 - Prozess - Bern, Switzerland March 24 - Rank - Zurich, Switzerland March 25 - Rank - Zurich, Switzerland March 26 - Rank - Zurich, Switzerland October 27 - Tango Brücke - Einbeck, Germany Listen to & buy: Tilt JANEL LEPPIN / VOLCANIC ASH ENSEMBLE  DC cellist /composer Janel Leppin's post-jazz ensemble   March 25 - Rhizome DC - 6950 Maple St NW - Washington DC 20012 [with: Luke Stewart / Brian Settles / Anthony Pirog / Kim Sator / Sarah Hughes / Larry Fergusen] JANEL & ANTHONY DC's fave post-jazz/rock/ambient, beyond-genre duo, composed of Janel Lepin (cellist /composer/vocalist/electronics) and Anthony Pirog (guitarst/composer/electronic musician). Both musicians also lead their own ensembles, and perform and record with others internationally.   February 13 - Rhizome DC - 6950 Maple St NW - Washington DC 20012 [opening: Devin Hoff solo] HENRY KAISER Grammy winner Henry Kaiser is widely recognized as one of the most creative and innovative guitarists, improvisers, and producers in the fields of rock, jazz, world, and contemporary experimental musics. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– THE HENRY KAISER MONTHLY SOLO SERIES, presented exclusively on the CUNEIFORM RECORDS YouTube Channel  When Covid pandemic lockdowns began in 2020, Henry Kaiser began curating & presenting a weekly series of pre-recorded music videos exclusively on Cuneiform's YouTube Channel for music lovers isolating at home. These "live" concerts are taped beforehand and not streamed - Henry discusses the process in a Guitar Moderne interview, "The New "Live"".  Many videos in the series depict duets and larger bands, despite the program being called the "Henry Kaiser Weekly Solo Series".  While many depict new or recent performances, other videos in this series are vintage footage of performances not available elsewhere (The Valentines' 1994 concert in the Fukuoka Dome). After lockdowns began to lift In April 2021, the series celebrated its one-year anniversary and converted to a monthly format, which continues. All 52 videos from the Henry Kaiser's Weekly Series and everything in the current Monthly Series are archived & available on Cuneiform's YouTube Channel.  We invite you to visit Cuneiform Record's YouTube Channel to see the videos that Henry presents on the first of every month. Because all videos are archived on our YouTube site, you can watch anything in the series at any time.   Listen to & buy: Albums by Henry Kaiser & Friends  on Cuneiform A Love Supreme Electric [Vinny Golia / John Hanrahan / Henry Kaiser / Wayne Peet / Mike Watt]: A Love Supreme Electric: A Love Supreme and Meditations  Yo Miles!: Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith: Sky Garden & Upriver     Five Times Surprise [Henry Kaiser / Anthony Pirog / Tracy Silverman / Jeff Sipe / Andy West]:  Five Times Surprise Henry Kaiser & Ray Russell:  The Celestial Squid Henry Kaiser: Lemon Fish Tweezer; Fred Frith & Henry Kaiser: Friends & Enemies     Healing Force [Vinny Golia • Aurora Josephson • Henry Kaiser • Mike Keneally • Joe Morris • Damon Smith • Weasel Walter]: Healing Force:  The Songs of Albert Ayler                       V.A.: 156 Strings: Nineteen Totally Original Acoustic Guitarists THE ED PALERMO BIG BAND "Twenty-first century big-band music doesn’t get more exciting and impressive than this." – Jazz Times An astounding 18 piece jazz ensemble of five woodwind players, four trumpeters, three trombonists, two keyboardists, guitar, violin, bass and drums, led by arranger, composer & saxophonist Ed Palermo, one of America's most singular arrangers who draws on jazz, pop and rock tunes for his top-notch band. There are a number of ensembles performing the music of Frank Zappa, one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century, but no one does it with the ease, skill and originality that Ed and his band do! –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– The ED PALERMO BIG BAND returns to the live stage! ~~~~ February 26 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 February 28 - City Winery - 25 Eleventh Avenue (at 15th St) - NYC, NY March 28 - Iridium - NYC, NY April 2 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 June 4 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 August 6 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 September 3 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 October 29 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 December 17 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542   Listen to & buy: Ed Palermo Big Band albums on Cuneiform: The Adventures of Zoyd Zundgren;  The Great Un-American Songbook Vols. 1&2;  One Child Left Behind;  Oh No! Not Jazz!!;  Eddy Loves Frank;  Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance                   RICHARD PINHAS One of France's major experimental musicians and a key figure in the development of electronic rock, guitarist and electronic musician Richard Pinhas will perform in 2021 in France and beyond in various groupings. _______________________________ April 8 - Cafe Oto - 18-22 Ashwin St - London E8, UK   Listen to & buy releases by Richard Pinhas & friends on Cuneiform: Process and Reality,  Desolation Row,  Metatron,  Metal/Crystal,  Tranzition,  Event & Repetitions                 Richard Pinhas & Oren Ambarchi: Tikkun   Richard Pinhas & Merzbow:   Keio Line / Rhizome / Paris 2008           Schizotrope (Richard Pinhas & Maurice Dantec):  The Life & Death of Marie Zorn   TOMEKA REID QUARTET “Cellist Tomeka Reid has been on a serious tear lately; perhaps you noted her on the commanding new album by The Art Ensemble of Chicago, or with the chamberlike Artifacts Trio. Old New is Reid’s second album with [her] rough-and-ready [quartet].... If the title calls to mind an Art Ensemble rallying cry, “Ancient to the Future,” that’s probably not a mere coincidence.”  – Nate Chinen / WBGO In the hands of Tomeka Reid, the cello is an essential vehicle for unfettered jazz exploration. Old New, the second album by the Tomeka Reid Quartet, exemplifies why she’s quickly become a definitive figure on the 21st century jazz scene. As a composer, arranger, improviser, bandleader, and impresario, she embodies jazz’s progressive ethos. _____________________________ June 3 - Moers Festival 2022 - "Improvisor In Residence" - Moers, Germany June 4 - Moers Festival 2022 - "Improvisor In Residence" - Moers, Germany June 5 - Moers Festival 2022 - "Improvisor In Residence" - Moers, Germany June 6 - Moers Festival 2022 - "Improvisor In Residence" - Moers, Germany Listen to & buy:  OLD NEW    RAY RUSSELL "Like contemporaries Sonny Sharrock and Terje Rypdal, Russell makes it sound as if the guitar is not enough, as if he's reaching for something wilder...like a Pollock painting mounted with guitar pickups, the sound of explosions. Russell makes it sound as if the guitar is not enough...” – Jim O’Rourke   “Russell isn’t merely a fine jazz player, but a truly original music thinker and an improvisational force to be reckoned with.” – All Music Guide "I believe in the sonic signature. Gil Evans used to say, 'Everyone has a cry. Without it, only notes come out of the instrument.'" – Ray Russell _____________________________ February 7 - 606 Club - 90 Lots Road - London, SW10 0QD, UK [album launch party for Fluid Architecture] Listen to & buy: Ray Russell: Fluid Architecture; Secret Asylum; Goodbye Svengali              Henry Kaiser & Ray Russell - The Celestial Squid      SCHNELLERTOLLERMEIER "The Best Music of 2015: A Banner Year for the Bold: …here are a dozen albums released in 2015 that I savored repeatedly for their musicality, clarity of statement and courage. …“X” by Schnellertollermeier marries brutality to avant-garde rock and jazz. A classic power trio from Switzerland, the band plays with punk fury and dazzling technical dexterity to create booming, bone-rattling music that stalks, confronts and astonishes.” –The Wall Street Journal Schnellertollermeier's clear-cut approach burns itself into one's memory; audiences who have seen the trio (bassist Andi Schnellmann/ guitarist ManuelTroller / percussionist David Meier) live describe their music as “stunning”, “minimalist”, “brutal”, “decisive”, “monumental”, “angry”, “controlled”, “captivating” or “radical”.  Simply fantastic. _____________________________ February 4 - Ear We Are Festival - Alte Juragarage - Adam-Göuffi-Strasse 18 - Biel/bienne, Switzerland Listen to & buy: 5, Rights, X                 To set up press and radio interviews with Cuneiform Artists while on tour or at home, please contact: promo@cuneiformrecords.com return to top   It's FEBRUARY 2022!!   HAPPY NEW YEAR HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY   Please take care of yourselves, your loved-ones, and your fellow man by getting vaccinated & boosted and using caution as the world begins to open while Covid 19 variants continue to arise   Thank you for supporting live music while following health protocols as venues reopen, while also enjoying music at home via ACTIVITIES ONLINE !     The pandemic has taught us that the only thing certain is uncertainty.  Our optimism about life returning to normal this past holiday season was shattered by the Omicron variant, and we now realize that caution should be our long-term companion.  We'll eventually adapt to whatever the New Normal is.  Until then, let's take comfort where we can. Music can make a positive difference in our lives, and help us survive in evolving and uncertain times.  We are sooo pleased to be able - at least sometimes, in controlled circumstances - to experience live music again. Please remember to always check with the venue to make sure a concert is happening. Covid surges are causing numerous last-minute closures. Besides cautiously seeing live music, we'll continue to also enjoy music at home, and we hope that you continue to enjoy recorded music as well on your technology of choice.  You can explore tracks from nearly 500 recordings released by Cuneiform Records since 1984 on cuneiformrecords.com, our website, or on our Bandcamp, SoundCloud or YouTube sites, and also watch recordings of recent and vintage concerts that we regularly post on YouTube.  Cuneiform Records has a treasure chest of interesting music to serve as soundtrack, inspiration and solace during these evolving and challenging times. We have a mammoth catalogue of releases by some of avant music's most esteemed icons as well as young rising stars, available for purchase at the Cuneiform Records Bandcamp store and at one of our sister companies, Wayside Music. Your CD and LP purchases support indie musicians, indie labels, and small businesses.  • Discover new music on Cuneiform Records' BANDCAMP PAGE :  support our artists & our indie label by purchasing music.   • Visit our internet store, WaysideMusic.com (established 1980!), to purchase  music from ALL your favorite labels!  We also have a ton of FREE entertainment for your enjoyment on several online platforms:   • Enjoy hours on Cuneiform Records' YouTube CHANNEL:  free music videos, videos of live shows, & samples from 400+ adventurous releases!   And we've expanded our video content during the pandemic, most notably with an ongoing video series curated  and produced by guitarist Henry Kaiser.  • Enjoy and share samples of music by releases of countless Cuneiform artists on the Cuneiform Records' SoundCloud Site. • Visit & Like & Follow our Facebook PAGE for Cuneiform Records. • Join our Facebook GROUP: Fans of Cuneiform Records. • Follow @CuneiformRecord onTwitter • Visit the CuneiformRecords.com official WEBSITE for extensive information on the artists and recordings on our label,  upcoming concerts & much more. • Media professionals: find music to LICENSE from Cuneiform for movies, ads etc via our sister site TheMusicOutpost.com. • Were you forwarded this email from a friend?  If so, make sure you sign up for the Cuneiform NEWSLETTER to  get this monthly newsletter in your email box, in addition to receiving notices for Cuneiform's weekly "$5 Friday" offers – Cuneiform selects a special album from its archive each weekend,  to be sold in download format via Bandcamp, that weekend only,  for $5. • Cuneiform Records announces all of its releases - physical (CD, LP) and digital formats - in its monthly newsletter.  Newsletters contain in-depth info on each release.  If you missed seeing an issue, Newsletters are archived on the Cuneiform Blogspot. WE LOOK FORWARD TO BEING YOUR 2022 NEW YEAR COMPANIONS, ONLINE!   Cuneiform YouTube Cuneiform Website Facebook FanGroup Facebook Page Cuneiform Twitter Cuneiform SoundCloud Cuneiform Bandcamp Instagram Email Cuneiform return to top Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* Cuneiform Records, All rights reserved.   Washington, DC // Silver Spring, MD Our mailing address is: Cuneiform Records P.O. Box 8427 Silver Spring, MD 20907 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Was this email forwarded to you from a friend? Subscribe to the Cuneiform Records Newsletter. Read this email online   return to top