Cuneiform Records MAY 2024 Newsletter

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CUNEIFORM RECORDS MAY 2024  NEWSLETTER: New Releases & Concerts read this newsletter online, or: – on laptop/computer:  click menu links & jump – on mobile: scroll down ~~~~~~   To celebrate MAY 2024 – Cuneiform Records' 40th Anniverary Year & Month – we present a VERY special archival release: CUNEIFORM RECORDS' MAY 2024 RELEASE SOFT MACHINE –  HØVIKODDEN 1971 Limited edition, 4 album box set of two concerts in Norway from 1971, featuring Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge, & Robert Wyatt. [UK]  – Press  Release – LP / CD / Digital Box Sets – More Soft Machine on Cuneiform Records – Videos w/ light show artist Mark Boyle  ~~~~~  OUT NOW!  RELEASED APRIL 2024 TOMEKA REID QUARTET –  3+3 3rd release by cellist, composer & MacArthur Fellow Tomeka Reid's all-star Quartet with Jason Roebke, Tomas Fujiwara, & fellow MacArthur Fellow Mary Halvorson. [USA] ~~~~~   OUT NOW! RELEASED MARCH 2024  PRESENT  – THIS IS NOT THE END Belgian Chamber Rock/ Post Rock/ Post Classical/ RIO ensemble PRESENT release the album composer/ leader Roger Trigaux was completing at the time of his 2021 death [BELGIUM] ~~~~~ SNEAK PEEKS with SOUNDS:  COMING OUT JUNE 2024 on CD & Digital JANEL & ANTHONY –  NEW MOON IN THE EVIL AGE DC's premier duo of cellist Janel Leppin & guitarist Anthony Pirog release a double album [USA] +  JANEL LEPPIN'S ENSEMBLE VOLCANIC ASH –  TO MARCH IS TO LOVE Cellist/ composer/ bandleader Janel Leppin's DC jazz group, Ensemble Volcanic Ash, release their 2nd album on Cuneiform  [USA] ~~~~~   MORE SNEAK PEEKS COMING OUT LATER IN 2024 A LENGTHY LIST OF UPCOMING JAZZ, ROCK, ELECTRONIC & CLASSICAL MINIMALIST RELEASES ~~~~~ CUNEIFORM ARTISTS ON TOUR: LIVE CONCERTS & TOURS   ~~~~~ ENJOY A WORLD OF MUSICAL ADVENTURE with  CUNEIFORM RECORDS ONLINE:   • EXPLORE Cuneiform Records'  SOCIAL MEDIA //  BANDCAMP PAGE // YOUTUBE CHANNEL //  SOUNDCLOUD PAGE ~~~~~ • Purchase music from 100s of labels at WAYSIDE MUSIC, our sister store, estab.1980 ~~~~~ • Missed seeing a CUNEIFORM NEWSLETTER? Access prior issues at cuneiformrecord.blogspot.com/   ~~~~~   2024 IS CUNEIFORM RECORDS' 40TH ANNIVERSARY! FOUR DECADES in the biz: this MUST be an avant-music micro-business landmark.    Throughout our anniversary year,  we're releasing at least one album of innovative, genre-defiant music each month, in both physical and digital formats,  by rock, jazz, electronic and contemporary classical musicians from around the world. This month, May 2024, is the 40th Anniversary of Cuneiform Record's first release – the anniversary of our founding. To celebrate, we're releasing a sumptuous box set – in LP, CD and digital formats, with liner notes and historic photos - of archival recordings from 1971 by jazz-rock pioneers Soft Machine. We hope that you discover new music to love on Cuneiform throughout our special year, whether by fast-rising stars like cellist/ composer Tomeka Reid – whose new Tomeka Reid Quartet album, 3+3, came out last month – or longstanding legends like Soft Machine. We thank you for your support; without you, our 40 years of releasing new music into the world would not have been possible.   ~~~~~ read this newsletter online return to top                   HØVIKODDEN 1971                       SOFT MACHINE                                                       – VINYL, CD & DIGITAL –                              COMING OUT                                        ON                         CUNEIFORM RECORDS                             MAY 31, 2024                                       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. HØVIKODDEN 1971 captures them during two consecutive nights not long before the longest lived and best known version of the band – ‘the classic quartet’ of ELTON DEAN, HUGH HOPPER, MIKE RATLEDGE, and ROBERT WYATT – was about to end. listen/ share a track via SoundCloud: Bio information: SOFT MACHINE Title: Høvikodden 1971 (Cuneiform Rune 530/531/532/533) Format: CD box set  / VINYL box set / DIGITAL www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER: ROCK / JAZZ-ROCK   Soft Machine’s two concerts at the Henie-Onstad Art Center near Oslo, Norway, on February 27 and 28, 1971 were special in several respects. The circumstances, of course, were unusual: in a museum space, as part of an art exhibition by the Boyle Family, and Mark Boyle’s films were projected during the performances. But more significantly, both shows were recorded, and superbly at that, providing a rare glimpse into how, at this stage in the band’s existence, the music could change significantly from one night to the next, even when the setting didn’t.   Mark Boyle, with his partner Joan Hills and their Sensual Laboratory light-show, had accompanied Soft Machine on many of theirs gigs in 1967–68, initially in the London underground clubs, then abroad in Europe and, most memorably, in North America on a tour supporting the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Since parting ways in March 1968, there had been a couple of reunions of which this was the next to last. Soft Machine med M.Boyle 27-28.02.1971.foto.bærumfotokl         Soft Machine likely owed the opportunity to perform in Norway to their association and friendship with Boyle, as they were still relatively unknown in the country. Indeed it would be five years before a band bearing that name (but containing none of the same musicians) would again visit Norway, as part of a European tour supporting John McLaughlin’s Shakti. This being said, a small but dedicated contingent of local Soft Machine enthusiasts did exist, and indeed demand for the Saturday concert was sufficient for a second one to be added on the Sunday.   In the audience for both concerts was fan Hans Voigt. “I’d discovered Volume Two—still my favorite of their albums—about a year before. It was love at first listen! Within a short time I also acquired the first album and Third. I was totally hooked! When I heard rumors that they were coming to Norway, I couldn’t wait. The concerts gave me almost all I wanted—I say ‘almost’ because they didn’t play “Moon in June,” and Robert no longer sang much at that point. Meeting the band before and after the concerts, I got the impression that although the performances were fantastic, the atmosphere within the band wasn’t the best. Later that year, as you know, Robert left the band.…”   Robert Wyatt photo by Einar Braathen Voigt would later play a crucial role in unearthing the tapes of both concerts. “I knew they’d been recorded. A colleague of mine at the Norske Teatret, where I worked as stage manager in the ’70s, was sound engineer Meny Bloch, and I actually remembered seeing him at the gigs with his tape machine connected to the mixing desk.” The German-born Bloch was hired for important recordings at the art center. For these he used a Studer A62 2-track recorder and a pair of Neumann microphones. “I got in touch with the library, and someone there located the actual master tapes; the new transfers from Norway's National Library are exceptional, and have been further improved by expert mixing and mastering.”        The performances follow the long-established Soft Machine tradition of two continuous sets, plus an encore. By early 1971 the repertoire had settled down, much like the band itself following several line-up changes in 1969–70, and would indeed remain unchanged until Robert Wyatt’s departure after the July 1971 US tour. The lion’s share of the set came from Third and the newly-released Fourth, with a few extras—“Neo-Caliban Grides,” soon to appear on Elton Dean’s self-titled solo album; "All White,” the only new composition in the set (and the only one to utilize Ratledge’s newly-acquired Fender Rhodes piano); and “Pigling Bland,” which, despite appearing alongside “All White” on 1972’s Fifth, actually dated back to 1969, having been written as a new ending for the septet arrangement of “Esther’s Nose Job.”   Fourth showed the band at a crossroads, its contents ranging from “Teeth,” Mike Ratledge’s last (and arguably most successful) attempt at ambitious episodic structures, to the out-and-out free improv of “Fletcher’s Blemish” (notwithstanding the occasional unison riffs that pop up here and there), while Hugh Hopper’s sidelong, 4-part “Virtually” explored a middle ground.     While the two sets from the second night (February 28, 1971) have been released before, they have been unavailable for over a decade. Cuneiform Records' Høvikodden 1971 box set is the first time that the entire two-night stand has been released. Half of this set is previously completely unreleased material by the classic Soft Machine quartet of Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, MIke Ratledge and Robert Wyatt, essential material for Soft Machine fans.  As for the set's sound quality, Høvikodden 1971 is a excellent, stereo recording of the band performing in a relatively small hall. While the instruments are not perfectly balanced, there is no other recording by Soft Machine that sounds as much like the band are performing *right* in front of you!  Additionally, Cuneiform was able to improve in a modest but definitely noticeable way the not-perfect balance between the instruments on this complete presentation of both night’s performances. Released in May 2024 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Cuneiform Records' May 1984 founding, Høvikodden 1971 is one of the most sumptuous projects that the storied label has ever released.  The box set is published in three different formats:  a limited edition LP box set; a limited edition CD box set; and a digital set via Bandcamp.  Each physical set contains 4 albums of recordings and a booklet with archival photographs and liner notes by Aymeric Leroy, stored in a high-quality cardboard box with artwork and layout designed by Chester Hawkins. The digital set is available in either a standard or high definition digital format, and includes all four albums, liner notes, photos and artwork. Over the past four decades, Cuneiform Records has released numerous archival recordings by Soft Machine, as well as solo and other projects by its band members Robert Wyatt, Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper. In addition to its Soft Machine releases, the label's extensive catalogue includes archival and contemporary recordings by an impressive selection of other British jazz and rock artists, including Chris MCGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Harry Miller's Isipingo, John Surman, Empirical, Led Bib, Paul Dunmall, Mujician, Graham Collier, Nucleus, National Health, Lol Coxhill, Michael Gibbs and many more.  The Høvikodden 1971 box set is a fitting tribute to a British band that detonated boundaries between jazz and rock, by a record label that, for over 40 years, has championed music that transcends and progresses beyond genre borders, releasing innovative, cutting-edge music from around the world.                                  ~~~                                                                                                          photo credit:  ALBUM CREDITS Elton Dean : alto sax, saxello, Hohner pianet Hugh Hopper : bass Mike Ratledge : Hohner pianet, Lowrey Holiday Deluxe organ, Fender Rhodes Robert Wyatt : drums, vocals Original recordings engineered by Meny Bloch at the Henie-Onstad Art Center, Høvikodden, Norway, February 27-28, 1971. Mixed and mastered by Ian Beabout at ShedSounds Studio. Liner notes by Aymeric Leroy. Photos: Baerum Photoclub, Einar Braathen, Guro Bjørnstad, Svein S. Hole and supplied by the Henie-Onstad fotoarkiv. Design by Chester Hawkins. Release coordination and direction by Steven Feigenbaum for Cuneiform and Hans Voigt, who coordinated the logistics and permissions needed from Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter for this release and materials and the accompanying photographs. ~ ~ ~ Listen to / Pre-Order Soft Machine's Høvikodden 1971 on Bandcamp: Standard Resolution / CD/ LP                                               Digital High Definition                  SOFT MACHINE HØVIKODDEN 1971 LP BOX SET         ~ ~ ~ SOFT MACHINE HØVIKODDEN 1971 CD BOX SET   return to top listen to / buy additional Soft Machine Releases on Cuneiform Records   The Dutch Lesson                             Facelift France and Holland .      Virtually                                                    NDR Jazz Workshop            Switzerland 1974                                              Backwards            .           Middle Earth Masters                                               Live In Paris                  Noisette                   Grides           Spaced      return to top Click image to hear visual artist Mark Boyle (Sensual Laboratory) interviewed by Aymeric Leroy about doing light shows for Soft Machine  Click image to watch a snippet from Dutch TV, featuring a 1967 Soft Machine concert accompanied by with Mark Boyle's Sensual Laboratory projections  return to top                                                     !! OUT NOW !!                                             ON                 CUNEIFORM RECORDS                         RELEASED APRIL 26, 2024                        – VINYL, CD & DIGITAL FORMATS –                                    TOMEKA REID QUARTET                              3 + 3                                  Cellist, composer and MacArthur Fellow                                     TOMEKA REID                 explores new improvisational math with                                            3+3,               the third release by her all-star quartet and               her most adventurous project as a leader yet.  Featuring JASON ROEBKE on bass, TOMAS FUJIWARA on drums,         and fellow MacArthur Fellow MARY HALVORSON on guitar.                    listen/ share a track – "Sauntering with Mr. Brown" –  via SoundCloud:               Bio information: TOMEKA REID QUARTET Title: 3+3 (Cuneiform Rune 525) Format: CD  / VINYL / DIGITAL Label: Cuneiform Records FILE UNDER: JAZZ   No artist over the past decade has done more to bring the cello from the margins to the center of the contemporary jazz scene than Tomeka Reid. Nurtured by the creative hothouse of Chicago’s AACM, she’s recorded prolifically since making her debut on flutist Nicole Mitchell’s 2002 Black Earth Ensemble album Afrika Rising. But with 3+3, Reid takes a major step as a composer with a bold and protean approach to designing settings for group improvisation.    Building on the deeply intuitive language explored by the quartet on her acclaimed Cuneiform Records debut, 2019’s Old New, Reid set out to explore extended themes with bassist Jason Roebke, drummer Tomas Fujiwara and guitarist Mary Halvorson. Over the course of three pieces that flow together much like a set the group plays in concert, the album captures the state-of-the-art ensemble moving with unhurried grace, constantly calibrating the evolving conversation.    “I see the whole album as a suite,” says Reid, who moved back to Chicago in 2020 after about four years in New York. “Previously I’d written shorter pieces and felt like I had to write ‘jazz pieces’, and for this album I wanted to write longer forms. I do a lot of free improvisation and wanted to reflect that more on my records. There are tunes on this too, but it’s more open.”   Reid wrote the 3+3 music with the support of a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Commission and she ended up writing the pieces while an artist in residence for the Moers Jazz Festival in 2022. The quartet premiered it during her residency at the Stone in August 2023, an apt setting to navigate the ebb and flow of a freely improvised and tunes-based program. The music gathers momentum over the course of several movements, not so much tracing a narrative arc as circling through a series of loose and limber themes and tempo shifts.    Part of what’s new for Reid is her expanded sonic palette, which can make it difficult to tell where her bow work and Halvorson’s electronics diverge. “As a string player, I used to be anti-electronics,” she says. “I love the acoustic cello sound. But playing with Mary, I really love how it’s part of her voice, not something extra. So, previously, I strived to make electronic sounds acoustically using different preparations as that was something I was earnestly exploring and now I feel ok incorporating electronics.”                                                                                                      photo credit: Lawrence Miner The opening “Turning Inward/Sometimes You Just Have to Run with It” builds to a simmering, cymbal-propelled groove with extended statements by Reid and Halvorson that eventually converge in a gorgeously rough-and-tumble pas de deux. Opening with Reid’s muscular pizzicato solo, “Sauntering with Mr. Brown” captures the quartet’s well-honed practice of eliding the usual delineation of foreground and background. “I think about not having people in specific roles,” Reid says. “There are places where I’m doing an arpeggiated part that normally a guitar would do. I’m always thinking about how to loosen conventions that might limit us.”    Set up by Halvorson and Tomas “Exploring Outward / Funambulist Fever” features some of Reid’s most exquisite playing. The quartet’s arresting use of space, with quiet, abstract passages bleeding into denser group improv and brisk call and response themes, maintain dramatic tension until the dramatically abrupt conclusion. It’s liberatory music that takes these well-traveled musicians into places and spaces where unheard facets of their sounds are revealed.    If Reid’s music seems to draw on a multiplicity of sources, that’s because she’s absorbed a mind-boggling array of influences over the past 15 years via collaborations with veteran visionaries connected to Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Since the mid-aughts she’s performed and recorded with Anthony Braxton, Nicole Mitchell, Roscoe Mitchell (no relation), and the collective he co-founded, the Art Ensemble of Chicago. She’s also worked closely with contemporaries such as drummer Mike Reed, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, and Angelika Niescier.    In recent years she’s toured with and recorded two acclaimed albums as part of pianist Myra Melford’s Fire and Water Quintet (which also features Halvorson). Reid is a member of the Julius Hemphill Stringtet, a string quartet dedicated to the work of Julius Hemphill, and is also laying plans for presenting her own Stringtet, a 16-piece ensemble made up of string improvisors.    Embracing her role as a champion of creative string players on and off the bandstand, she founded and runs the Chicago Jazz String Summit. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Among the many honors and awards she’s garnered are being voted 2022 String Player of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association and named a 2022 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow.    Currently, an Artist in Residence at Dartmouth College, Reid grew up outside of Washington D.C., and came to the cello relatively late. Concentrating on classical music in her teens and early 20s, she started investigating jazz her senior year at the University of Maryland, College Park when her undergrad mentor encouraged her to start exploring the tradition. “He came up with this book of Rufus Reid bass lines and I would read them and do these little gigs around DC,” she recalls. Moving to Chicago in 2000 to attend a graduate music program at DePaul University she reconnected with flutist/composer Nicole Mitchell, whom she had met in a classical orchestra in the summer of 1998 and a relationship that recalibrated her entire aesthetic orientation. While she was embraced by the improv music scene, Reid learned to make her own way, which was both liberating and extremely challenging.    “After I met Nicole she introduced me to the Velvet Lounge where I encountered members of the AACM and learned about their work and various aesthetics. While attending the Velvet Lounge, I was often the only string player,” Reid says, referring to the South Loop jazz spot that was then owned and run by tenor sax great Fred Anderson.    She found the ideal outfits for evolution as a member of several celebrated Chicago bands, including Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble, vocalist Dee Alexander’s Evolution Ensemble, and drummer Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly. “They were really working bands, and I got to play a lot,” Reid says. “With Nicole sometimes I’d play the bass role and sometimes as a lead instrument. I was also doing harmonic stuff, playing melody and I developing a comping style. With Dee, the instrumentation was bass, cello, violin, voice, and percussion, and I often doubled bass lines. And with Mike Reed I was more of a horn player, getting pushed more into soloing.”    When the time came to launch a band to play her original music, she sought out advice from both Nicole Mitchell and Mike Reed, who suggested Halvorson and Fujiwara. Reid was already working with Fujiwara and Halvorson in Mike Reed’s fascinating Sun Ra-inspired ensemble Living By Lanterns (which released the acclaimed 2012 Cuneiform album Old Myth, New Science). Approaching both players made eminent sense. Halvorson and Fujiwara already played together in the collective trio Thumbscrew with bassist Michael Formanek, and power Formanek’s Ensemble Kolossus.    Roebke is similarly expansive. He’s a member of the Jeb Bishop Trio, Jason Adasiewicz’s Rolldown, Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isidore, Mike Reed’s People, Places, and Things, and Jorrit Dijkstra’s Flatlands Collective & Pillow Circles. With his sonic resourcefulness and capacious textural palette he’s an ideal creative catalyst for Reid’s quartet, a group for which she’s profoundly grateful.   “They’re incredible artists and I’m honored to have them as bandmates,” she says. “They’re always open to what I bring to them, and I’m always thinking about how can I best feature them. How can I create settings they can do something magical over? On this album I wanted it to sound like a gig or a show, instead of something for a recording, and they ran with it.”                                                                                         photo credit: Lawrence Miner                         ~~~                                                                                                          photo credit: Lawrence Miner ALBUM CREDITS   Tomeka Reid, cello Jason Roebke, bass Mary Halvorson, guitar Tomas Fujiwara, drums Recorded, mixed and mastered by Nick Lloyd at Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT, August 20-21, 2023. Album art by David Brown. Layout by Chester Hawkins Produced by Tomeka Reid All compositions by Tomeka Reid ~ ~ ~ Buy / Listen to Tomeka Reid Quartet's 3+3 on Bandcamp:                    Standard Resolution / CD/ LP                                               Digital High Definition                ~ ~ ~ OTHER TOMEKA REID QUARTET ALBUMS ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS The 2019 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll 3. Tomeka Reid Quartet Old New (Cuneiform) "The cello, in jazz, has always taken a back seat to the double bass. While Ray Brown, Oscar Pettiford and Ron Carter have certainly helped move the instrument forward, Akua Dixon made “jazz cello” a stand-alone category... Now 20 years into the new millennium, with Old New, Tomeka Reid has firmly positioned the cello in its rightful place — out in front. On songs like “Niki’s Bop,” as the D.C. native engenders the vision of AACM,... she relishes a kind of unbridled freedom, perhaps one not fully enjoyed by her predecessors."   —Shannon Effinger return to top                                !!OUT NOW!!                                         ON                      CUNEIFORM RECORDS                   RELEASED MARCH 29, 2024                                   – CD AND DIGITAL FORMATS –                        PRESENT             THIS IS NOT THE END  Bio information: PRESENT Title: THIS IS NOT THE END (Cuneiform Rune 528) Format: CD  / DIGITAL (HD and Standard) Label: Cuneiform Records Release Date: March 29, 2024 FILE UNDER: Avant-Progressive / RIO (Rock In Opposition) / Chamber Rock / Post-Rock/ Post-Classical     Legendary Belgian Avant Garde / Post-Rock / Post-Classical / RIO / Chamber Rock Ensemble – PRESENT –  Release the Album Their Composer/ Leader ROGER TRIGAUX (October 26, 1951–March 10, 2021)  Was Completing at the Time of His Death    Despite it’s title, This is NOT the end, is, indeed, the final release by the legendary Belgian Rock In Opposition (RIO) band Present, as founder and composer Roger Trigaux died during its recording.  Present's music is a striking blend of heavy rock with classical and zeuhl influences. The compositions, all penned by Trigaux, utilize repetition, complex counterpoint, intricate interplay between the instruments, rapidly shifting time signatures, and a strong instrumental attack. The final result is blindingly precise works of syncopated instruments, all seemingly coming from different angles but ultimately working together as a cohesive whole.   Trigaux admits that “I use lengthy repetition and polyrhythmics to push not only the listener but myself to a paroxysm on the intensity.” In this sense, Trigaux’s music can be compared to that of the late Nigerian rock musician Fela Kuti, who gradually built his lengthy songs through repetition and rhythm to generate a visceral experience, and whose live performances were legendary. Also like Fela, Trigaux’ music has an intellectual, thematic subtext, hidden beneath the music’s physical sound.   Those hearing Trigaux's work now for the first time will find it a mesmerizing revelation; Present's music sounds startling, shocking, and alarmingly, cathartically NEW. But Present has been around for a long time – since 1979, when Trigaux left Univers Zero, a Belgian ensemble he'd co-founded, to create a new band whose classical-rock compositions embraced increasing rock ferocity. Over the decades, Present released 10 albums, toured globally, and played at specialty / avant garde music festivals to fiercely devoted international audiences. Today, 45 years after Trigaux founded Present, the band's genre-defiant post-classical / post-rock music is ripe for wider public recognition. Post-genre and other avant garde musical concepts have gradually infiltrated the mainstream. Finally, it is PRESENT time.                    Present is widely acknowledged and celebrated as one of the leading lights of the Rock In Opposition (R.I.O.) / avant-progressive scene, a global music scene emerging from the European avant-garde, and notable for producing genre-transcendent, composition-intensive non-commercial music outside of (“in opposition to”) the mainstream music industry. As part of this movement, during the last quarter of the 20th Century,  Francophone bands like Magma, Art Zoyd, Univers Zero and Present created music that shattered the boundaries of classical, opera, rock and jazz, giving birth to new hybrids which followers called Zeuhl and Chamber Rock. Since its founding 40 years ago, in 1984, Washington DC-based Cuneiform Records has been one of the leading international supporters of Rock in Opposition music and Chamber Rock, both global movements today. Cuneiform's third release, in 1985, was Present's 2nd album, Le Poison Qui Rend Fou, and was soon followed by Cuneiform reissuing Present's debut, Triskaidékaphobie, originally released on Belgium's Atem. Over subsequent years, Cuneiform released numerous Present albums and forged deep friendships with Trigaux and Present's members, who stayed at the Cuneiform founders' Silver Spring home when touring the USA.                      Cuneiform is deeply honored to release Present's final album, and we remain heartbroken by Trigaux's death. Everyone who loved Trigaux thought he was eternal, a hybrid vampire / air plant who survived on music, caffeine and cigarette smoke. He never revealed or discussed the state of his health. A composer and superb guitarist, he defied confinement by illness, adopting new instruments as his physical dexterity decreased. Until the very end, Trigaux prolifically, relentlessly, and vehemently continued to compose. The great composer/musician resolutely refused to let illness prevent him from creating his music. But ultimately, he was unable to defy physical death, and died during the recording of this album. And thus, the title of this album – This is NOT the end - is brutally accurate, on multiple levels. Roger Trigaux, the brilliant, iconoclastic Belgian composer and musician, leader of PRESENT, will live forever through his music.  And as for his music – its time for discovery by wider audiences and for performances by ensembles worldwide has just begun. Dark and tempestuous, the music of Roger Trigaux and Present is THE classical music for our brooding and turbulent 21st Century, our dark New Millenium, the New Dark Age. This album marks a new beginning for Trigaux's compositions.                      listen to/ share on Soundcloud "This Is Not the End, part 1 (excerpt)"                                               ~ ~ ~             Michel Besset, Trigaux’s long-time friend and manager and               Director of the Rock In Opposition (RIO) Festival–France,                                 recalls the making of this release:   Summer 2018. During the summer, my wife Rosine and I decided to head north to visit Jean-Pierre Soares (trumpeter for Art Zoyd) and the Trigaux family in Brussels, Belgium. Indeed, with PRESENT not being scheduled to perform at the 11th Rock in Opposition Festival (which I headed), and having no recent news from Roger Trigaux, I wanted to find out what he envisioned for the continuation of the group, which seemed to have dissolved. If that was the case, it would obviously need to be relaunched. I couldn't bring myself to allow PRESENT to no longer exist, as much because of the long history that linked me to the musicians as because of my close friendship with Roger. In Brussels, we stayed with Martine de Bruyn (Roger's ex-partner and primary support), because with Roger’s ill health, his little apartment could not accommodate us. I have always loved this city, where I had many memories, forged over numerous visits, in contact with the musicians of Univers Zéro [co-founded by Roger with Daniel Denis] and attending the group’s numerous rehearsals in the cellar (which gave its name to “Ceux d’en bas”) of Roger’s house at the time.  Brussels…where I was able to discover and absorb this city’s very special atmosphere. Taste the solar darkness of a Belgian sky, inseparable from the raw and sensitive humanity of this music which is both organic and spiritual. And those harsh, dark and endless nights that never seemed to want to end, because the friendship, the humor and the beer kept us screwed to the seat..                                     .   Roger wasn't expecting us. It was impossible to contact him. He was ignoring email and the phone. He lived almost as a recluse and his only activity was composing the music for what would be PRESENT's last album. He was overjoyed to find us in front of his door. And immediately told us that we absolutely had to listen to his latest work. LOUDLY. PRESENT’s music should be listened to very loudly.                                     My first sensation was it reminded me of the atmosphere of the first Univers Zéro albums [recorded with Roger prior to Present]. This very distinctive spirit of dark, slow and complex music, so réaliste that listening requires an effort and is sometimes difficult - because that is this music’s price. The idea of recording this music immediately came to my mind.  Then it was lunch in this district of Brussels, under a gray and humid sky… Roger was happy in front of his American fries which he wolfed down greedily (which was rare, he ate very little). The humor (Belgian?) was there, the joy of dear friendship found again, the feeling of being in tune with someone with whom one shares the same kind of lucid and disillusioned humanity but also and above all precisely the same humor.                                                                            Out of the blue, I asked Roger if he wanted to record this music. He hadn't thought about it. But also, the musicians were separated and no projects were planned for the future. Without it having been formally said, PRESENT had ceased to exist.   I insisted. For me this music had to come out of the walls of his room, it was not “the end yet”.    Roger ended up saying OK if the musicians wanted to do it.   This project took 5 years.  Roger died in the middle of its gestation, the finalization of which was taken care of by Pierre Chevalier and Udi Koomran.  But the work is done, accomplished, complete.  All of Roger’s friends have not finished talking about Roger the Magnificent, about the Heroic Deeds of the rebellious and die-hard anti-hero that he rightfully was.   Of course, this was the price you paid, Roger, to achieve such a Work. To the point of sacrificing your life.  We always knew – and  we know more since you left us – that you will remain in the hearts (and brains) of all those who love Music.  Rest in peace?, Roger.                                                                                         – Michel Besset / November 20, 2023                                                      photo credit: Stéphane Fougere ALBUM CREDITS Roger Trigaux – keyboard, vocal, composition François Mignot – guitar Pierre Chevalier – piano, keyboards, vocal Dave Kerman – percussion Keith Macksoud – bass Kurt Budé – sax, clarinet, bass clarinet Liesbeth Lambrecht – violin Udi Koomran – sound Recorded by Udi Koomran at Studio Simonnes, Rhode-Saint-Genèse, Belgium. Violins recorded by David Minjauw at Studio Simonnes, Rhode-Saint-Genese, Belgium. Pianos recorded at Raphaël Terlinden's home studio, Brussels, Belgium. Mixed and mastered by Udi Koomran and Pierre Chevalier, at the Pergola, Holon, Israel. ~ ~ ~ Buy / Listen to PRESENT'S This Is Not the End  on Bandcamp:  Standard Resolution                                                               Digital High Resolution       PRESENT performing in 2015 at the Rock In Opposition (RIO) Festival in France Listen to & buy other PRESENT releases on Cuneiform Records “…a neoclassical, odd-metered set of instrumentals whose roots go back to Gentle Giant, Stravinsky…Trigaux’s vision is disturbing on several levels. Partly it’s the abrupt rhythms, non-triadic chords, and multi-dimensional counterpoint; partly it’s the vigorous live ensemble work (with little or no electronic processing), which puts the music right in the room with you; and partly it’s the stark absence of humor and lyricism. Cuneiform continues to astound us with these uncompromising releases.” – Jim Aiken, Keyboard Magazine Triskaidekaphobie                   Le Poison Qui Rend Fou                  “…Present shows that when it came to cross-breeding rock and classical musics, the (continental) Europeans were actually able to make stuff sane people want to hear. …their concept of “classical” didn’t stop at Beethoven but was a continuum that extended up through 20th century heavyweights like Bartok, Babbit, Cage, Stockhausen, Stravinsky, etc…” – Lang Thompson, Sounds Like Live                                    "Dark, Bartok-like arrangements driven by Gothic rock percussion and the tortured guitar of Roger Trigaux. This is classical rock with an industrial vengence..." – DownBeat    Certitudes                                     A Great Inhumane Adventure           .      "..these avatars of an anguished, angular muse have unleashed their ultimate tour de force...this is a turbulent masterpiece." 5 stars [highest rating] – Alternative Press return to top ! SNEAK PEEK WITH SOUNDS ! COMING OUT ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS IN JUNE 2024 JANEL & ANTHONY NEW MOON IN THE EVIL AGE DC's premier duo of cellist Janel Leppin & guitarist Anthony Pirog release a double album, introducing a surprising mix of vocals and expanded instrumentation to their established sound  [USA] listen to/ share "Pacific Grove Monarch" from New Moon In the Evil Age by Janel & Anthony listen to/ share "Fly Over Iceland" from New Moon In the Evil Age by Janel & Anthony credits: Janel Leppin - cello, modified cello, vocals, bass, synthesizers, piano, koto, hammered dulcimer Anthony Pirog - electric and acoustic guitars, guitar synth, synthesizers, bass, percussion ~ ~ ~   JANEL LEPPIN / ENSEMBLE VOLCANIC ASH  TO MARCH IS TO LOVE Cellist & composer Janel Leppin's DC jazz group Ensemble Volcanic Ash (Larry Ferguson, Sarah Hughes Anthony Pirog, Brian Settles Luke Stewart) release their 2nd album on Cuneiform  [USA] listen to "As Wide As All Outdoors" from To March is To Love by Janel Leppin's Ensemble Volcanic Ash credits: Larry Ferguson : drums Sarah Hughes : alto saxophone Janel Leppin : cello, copositions Anthony Pirog : guitar Brian Settle : tenor saxophone Luke Stewart : bass return to top SNEAK PEEKS OF DISTANT TREASURES   COMING OUT IN 2024 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS (Listed in alphabetical order. Sound samples to come out in future newsletters)   ~~~~~ JAZZ GHOST RHYTHMS – MISSING TIMES  (new studio album by young French avant progressive ensemble [FRANCE] ~~~~~ LUKE STEWART / SILT REMEMBRANCE ENSEMBLE COMING OUT OCTOBER 2024  (new jazz recording by a quintet ensemble featuring Luke Stewart, Chad Taylor, and Brian Settles – the members of Luke Stewart's Silt Trio – with Jamal Moore (sax & percusison) and Daniel Carter (sax & trumpet)) [USA]   ~~~~~ ROCK YANG – REJOICE! COMING OUT JULY 2024 (Yang, the French quartet led by guitarist & composer Frederic L'Epée, release a new disc featuring vocals by guest Carla Kihlstedt (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Tin Hat Trio) [FRANCE]   CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL  /  ELECTRONIC  MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO. / DAVID BORDEN –  MAKE WAY FOR MOTHER MALLARD COMING OUT AUGUST 2024  (Two discs of previously unreleased music - one from 1970s, one from 2010s - by electronic music pioneer/ classical minimalist composer David Borden and his band, Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co.) [USA] ~~~~~   ELECTRONIC – ROCK   ~~~~~~  RADIO MASSACRE INTERNATIONAL – GALACTIC FURNACE  (New double album by longstanding prolific UK electronic trio) [UK]   return to top CUNEIFORM ARTISTS ON TOUR 2024 CALENDAR IMPORTANT COVID REMINDER: In an evolving (and now endemic) COVID-19 world, and with adverse weather "events" happening in increasing frequency, these dates are ALL tentative. Please check with venues, close to the concert date, to confirm. We're ecstatic that live concerts are happening worldwide, but we remain aware that emergent variants - as well as severe weather - can unexpectedly affect schedules. See also the Tours Page at Cuneiform Records.   A LIGHT SLEEPER “…not quite rock, not quite jazz, not quite worth labeling, but most certainly worth hearing.” — smilepolitely.com _______________________________ May 4 - Tritriangle - 1550 N Milwaukee Ave.,  Floor 3 - Chicago, IL. May 17 -  Zhou B Art Center - Chicago, IL   Listen to & Buy:  Equaiverpoise      ANTISTATIC After releasing their debut album in early 2024 on Cuneiform, Danish quartet Antistatic tour Japan. “Recommended: experimental trance rock album from Danish Quartet Antistatic…exponents of what Keith Richards once called “the ancient art of weaving”, bringing two-guitar interplay to new levels of complexity and sophistication.” — Klof Magazin _______________________________ May 3 - SPOT Festival - Aarhus, Denmark October 9 - Wildside - Tokyo, Japan October 10 - CHOP Ikebukoro - Tokyo, Japan October 11 - Growly - Kyoto, Japan October 12 - Soto - Kyoto, Japan October 13 - Makeshift - Kobe, Japan October 16 - Environment Og - Osaka, Japan   Listen to & Buy:  Relics      CHEER–ACCIDENT Cheer-Accident celebrate Vacate, their upcoming Cuneiform Records studio release:                  "...one of the most impressive concerts I saw was the Dragon Drop/Cheer Accident/Free Salamander Exhibit show in Indianapolis. ...Cheer Accident blew me away... The music was innovative and powerful and brave and everything I’d hoped it would be."- Proglodytes "Cheer-Accident are the quintessential Chicago post-rock band... They've been exploring head-scratching, creatively fucked-up time signatures and sideways guitar shenanigans for 20 years now, leaving a pronounced influence on the Windy City's art-rock scene. Their playful musical approach is a ripe aesthetic of absurdist humor." – Pitchfork _______________________________ May 2 - Robert's Westside - Forest Park, IL   Listen to & buy  Chicago XX, Putting Off Death,          No Ifs, Ands or Dogs, Fear Draws Misfortune      "Tons of weird rock records have streamed out of Chicago over the past two decades, but none have blended pop smarts and avant-garde impulses as skillfully as this marvelous brainteaser..." – Time Out New York JANEL & ANTHONY Washington DC's premier music power duo, Janel & Anthony individually are internationally acclaimed master players and composers who lead their own ensembles. In June 2024, they'll release a new, double-disc studio recording on Cuneiform Records, called New Moon In the Evil Age - their second duo release for the label. New Moon In the Evil Age   "Janel & Anthony - guitars and 'cello respectively - play a haunting and humbly virtuosic form of music wherein the elements of electronics, looping, and lo-fi timbres live both in intimacy and in majesty in the same house as acoustic instruments and folk/blues-inspired melodies. As such, it is both timely and timeless..." – Nels Cline   June 28 - Record release show! - Rhizome - Washington, DC Listen to & buy: Where Is Home                       "The result is a marvelous surprise at every turn, as the duo...two absolute virtuosos...create atmospheres that at times evoke the music of Steve Tibbetts, Brian Eno, even soundtrack music" – DownBeat 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). Over time, the series converted to monthly and currently, a quarterly release schedule.  All 52 videos from the Henry Kaiser's Weekly Series, the entire two year Monthly Series and all current quarterly videos are archived & available on Cuneiform's YouTube Channel.  We invite you to visit and follow Cuneiform Record's YouTube Channel to see the videos that Henry regularly presents. A must see: the WINTER 2024 video is HENRY KAISER QUARTERLY #4: BARITONE GUITAR SPECIAL, featuring Henry's awesome guitar work along with Special Guests: Luciana Bass, Jim Clark, Janet Feder, Sandy Ewen, Vanessa Gould, Sandor Nagyszalancy, Anthony Pirog, Gregory Stephen, Sid Stephen, & Carl Weingarten. In addition to his video series, Kaiser occasionally presents special videos:  some focusing on current events and guitar legends, and some providing free guitar lessons, focusing on tunes associated with legendary guitarists. His September 2022 guitar lesson video, focusing on the whole tone scale and Sonny Sharrock, is titled The Whole Tone Scale! Sonny Sharrock’s DICK DOGS lesson with Henry Kaiser. Besides his work as a musician, Kaiser is also a scientific diver and underwater videographer in the U.S. Antarctic program. Several of his Solo Series videos on the Cuneiform channel feature Henry's stunning underwater videography in addition to his guitar playing, as in this stunning video from May 2020:  HENRY KAISER : Cuneiform Weekly Solo #2 : Under The Ice Again . Because all videos are archived on the Cuneiform Records' YouTube Channel, 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   JANEL LEPPIN /  ENSEMBLE VOLCANIC ASH A composer and cellist who’s honed a singular synthesis of composition, orchestration and improvisation, Janel Leppin is one of DC's leading avant-music stars. Besides performing as half of the experimental duo Janel and Anthony, which she co-leads with her husband guitarist Anthony Pirog, she leads the seven-piece chamber-jazz Ensemble Volcanic Ash, as well as performing and recording with other jazz, rock, and experimental  groups. In June 2024, Cuneiform releases Ensemble Volcanic Ash's second album,  To March Is To Love                                                                         "An Absolute Virtuoso - 4 Stars" - Downbeat Magazine "Leppin is a rarity..ahhh-vant garde at its finest." - Capital Bop May 18 - Chicago Jazz String Summit 2024 [performing in trio with Brian Settles and Chad Taylor - University of Chicago Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E. 69th St. - Chicago, IL 60637 June 8 - IMOO 2024 - Glebe-St. James United Church - Ottowa, Ontario, Canada June 20 - Jazz at SAAM - Smithsonian American Art Museum - Kogood Courtyard - Washington, DC June 28 - Record release show! - Rhizome - Washington, DC See also separate listing for JANEL & ANTHONY concerts   Listen to & buy: Janel Leppin Ensemble Volcanic Ash Janel & Anthony, Where Is Home BEN MILLER Michigan native Ben Miller is a saxophonist and composer. He's featured on three Cuneiform albums: two by the Fourth World Quartet and the other by Miller Twins (Ben and his twin brother Laurence).  BEN MILLER'S 11th HOUR June 24 - Trinosophes - 1464 Gratiot Ave - Detroit MI (parking lot in back) [Ben & company play Terry RIley's 'In C' on Terry's birthday!] Listen to & buy:  The Miller Twins, Early Compositions 1973-1976 "In 1973, the idea of a wind ensemble backed with bass guitar and drums was quite revolutionary, and I can’t think of any other examples outside of jazz — which this clearly isn’t, although there’s a bit of influence." – Expose The Fourth World Quartet 1975  //  Grand Bland Vapid Rapids         ROGER CLARK MILLER Roger Clark Miller is a guitarist, pianist, bassist, composer, singer, percussionist and occasional cornet player. His career officially began in 1979 when he co-founded the influential post-punk band Mission of Burma on guitar and vocals. He formed Birdsongs of the Mesozoic on piano in 1981, and from 1983-1989 he began his Maximum Electric Piano work. Miller joined the Alloy Orchestra in 1998 - "the best [orchestra] in the world at accompanying silent film" says Roger Ebert – which continues today as The Anvil Orchestra. He recently released new solo looping-based music on Cuneiform - Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble.. Boston Globe: "Less a recital than a musical minefield... Miller is a man in constant motion, a one-man symphony."   May 18 - Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble - Crystal Ballroom at the Somerville Theatre - Somerville, MA [with The Messthetics]   Listen to & buy: Roger Clark Miller, Eight Dream Interpretations for Electric Guitar Ensemble      Birdsongs of the Mesozoic Dawn of the Cycads, The Fossil Record       The Fourth World Quartet, 1975 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! –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Don't miss seeing the ED PALERMO BIG BAND live!  Their shows often sell out, so buy your tickets well in advance. ~~~~ May 20 - Iridium - 1650 Broadway (corner of 51st and Broadway) - New York, NY 10019 June 22 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 July 29 - Iridium - 1650 Broadway (corner of 51st and Broadway) - New York, NY 10019 August 24 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 September 30 - Iridium - 1650 Broadway (corner 51st & Broadway) - New York, NY 10019 October 26 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 November 18 - Iridium - 1650 Broadway (corner of 51st and Broadway) - New York, NY 10019 December 21 - 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                               ANTHONY PIROG "[Palo Colorado Dream] covers a sprawling musical terrain–avant jazz, atmospheric soundscapes, earthy Americana, math-rock...with an arsenal of effects hardware and studio production techniques..." – JazzTimes "One of jazz’s most reliable conduits to a living, breathing audience is electric-guitar heroism, and Anthony Pirog, from Washington...seems poised to become a hero of the instrument." – The New York Times ________________________________ Pirog in Duos See separate listing for JANEL & ANTHONY concerts   Pirog featured with  The Messthetics &  James Brandon Lewis: May 3 - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD May 6 - Club Cafe - Pittsburg, PA May 7 - MOTR Pub - Cincinnati, OH May 9 - Turf Club - St. Paul, MN May 10 - Cactus Club - Milwaukee, WI May 11 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL May 12 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI May 13 - Bell's Eccentric Cafe - Kalamazoo, MI May 14 - Velvet Underground - Toronto, On, Canada May 15 - The 27 Club - Ottwawa, On, Canada May 16 - Bar Le Ritz - Montreal, QC, Canada May 17 - The Thing In The Spring - Keene, NH May 18 -  Crystal Ballroom at the Somerville Theatre - Someville, MA [with Roger Miller / Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble] May 19 - Bowery  Ballroom - NYC, NY   Listen to & buy: Anthony Pirog: Pocket Poem; Palo Colorado Dream .       Janel & Anthony, Where Is Home      in other groupings: Five Times Surprise The Spellcasters, Music from the Anacostia Delta   Janel Leppin Ensemble Volcanic Ash   TOMEKA REID QUARTET 2022 MacArthur Award winning cellist Tomeka Reid's all-star Quartet  (Jason Roebke-bass,Tomas Fujiwara-drums, 2019 MacArthur Award recipient Mary Halvorson-guitar, Reid-cello) plays new material while also celebrating Old New, its second release and first on Cuneiform Records. Both accessible and adventurous, Old New became a critically acclaimed 2019 jazz favorite, prolifically reviewed and featured on Best of Year lists worldwide. On April 24, 2024, Reid and an ensemble performed a commissioned piece at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. And two days later, on April 26th, the TomekaReid Quartet released a new album, 3+3, on Cuneiform.   3+3   May 24 - Green Mill  - 4802 N Broadway Ave - Chicago, IL [CD release weekend!]   May 25 - Green Mill  - 4802 N Broadway Ave - Chicago, IL [CD release weekend!]   June - Japanese tour! - dates soon   Listen to & buy: Old New   UZ JSME DOMA When Uz Jsme Doma (pronounced "Oozh (rhymes with 'rouge') Smeh Dough-Ma) (in English, “Now I Get It”) were founded in Teplice, Czechoslovakia in 1985, rock was freedom and freedom was illegal. It wasn't until the fall of the Communist government that they were able to record and tour, which they then proceeded to do with a vengence. Their music combines the energy of punk rock while adding more complex structures taken from avant-garde and avant-progressive bands and even from folk music. They are living, fire-breathing, alternative rock legends: one of “the two great Bastions of the Czech alternative scene” said the Prague Post, who ranked them in importance beside the Plastic People of the Universe. "...fierce commitment to the freedom inherent in Western art-damaged music. Uz embody the absolute unpredictability in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention primarily, but also the multi-influence, anti-pop clatter of the Residents, Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, 1977 punk, and...prog. You won't know what they're singing about in Czech, but the limitless hyper-energy and collision of styles piling on each other with remarkable precision, always turns ears....It's glorious..."  – Jack Rabid  _____________________________ FALL 2024 USA TOUR [extensive list of tour dates to be announced soon] October 31 - Ottobar - 2549 North Howard St - Baltimore, MD   Listen to & buy: Jesknye / Caves               To set up press and radio interviews with Cuneiform Artists while on tour or at home, please contact: promo@cuneiformrecords.com return to top SPEND 2024 WITH MUSIC & VIDEOS ONLINE !   CUNEIFORM RECORDS has a treasure chest of interesting music to serve as soundtrack, inspiration and solace during these evolving and challenging times. Our mammoth catalogue of over 500 releases by artists from around the world includes many of avant music's most esteemed icons as well as young rising stars, and is available for purchase in digital and physical formats at the CUNEIFORM RECORDS BANDCAMP store, and in physical formats at one of our sister companies, WAYSIDE MUSIC as well as in RECORD SHOPS worldwide (see our DISTRIBUTORS).  Your purchases of our CDs, LPs, and digital downloads supports or indie musicians, indie labels, and small businesses.    • VISIT the official CUNEIFORM RECORDS WEBSITE  for extensive information on the artists and recordings on our label,  upcoming concerts & much more.   • WATCH VIDEOS on Cuneiform Records' YOUTUBE CHANNEL Cuneiform Records has an extremely active YouTube Channel which you should bookmark as a favorite:  free music videos, videos of live shows, & samples from 500+ adventurous releases!   And we began expanding our video content during the pandemic, most notably with an ongoing video series curated  and produced by guitarist Henry Kaiser.  • PURCHASE & LISTEN to releases on CUNEIFORM RECORDS BANDCAMP PAGE  Discover new music on our Bandcamp Page, and support artists & our indie label by purchasing music.   • PURCHASE music from100s of LABELS from around the world at  WAYSIDE MUSIC, our sister store.  At our internet store, WaysideMusic.com (established in 1980!), you can purchase hard-to-find CDs and LPs from ALL your favorite labels!  • ENJOY and SHARE SAMPLES of music by releases of countless Cuneiform artists on the Cuneiform Records' SoundCloud Site. • VISIT, LIKE & FOLLOW  Cuneiform Records' Official FACEBOOK PAGE.  • JOIN the Cuneiform Records FACEBOOK GROUP:  FANS Of Cuneiform Records.  • FOLLOW @CuneiformRecord on TWITTER (now X) • LICENSE music from Cuneiform for movies, ads etc via our sister site TheMusicOutpost.com. • SIGN UP for the CUNEIFORM RECORDS NEWSLETTER if you're not already one of our subscribers, and  get BOTH this monthly newsletter in your email box AND receive 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 half price. • VISIT our TOURS PAGE for upcoming concerts WORLDWIDE by our artists.   • ACCESS PRIOR ISSUES of the CUNEIFORM RECORDS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER at cuneiformrecord.blogspot.com/     Cuneiform Records' Monthly Newsletter announces and gives in-depth info on ALL of the label's NEW RELEASES - both physical and digital formats - and also provides TOUR / CONCERT info from its artists. return to top CUNEIFORM RECORDS SOCIAL ONLINE Cuneiform YouTube Cuneiform Website Facebook FanGroup Facebook Page Cuneiform Twitter Cuneiform SoundCloud Cuneiform Bandcamp Instagram Email Cuneiform return to top Cuneiform Records' Monthly Newsletter is compiled by Joyce (Joy) [Nalewajk] Feigenbaum, DIRECTOR OF THE MUSIC OUTPOST – PUBLICITY FACEBOOK PAGE: MusicOutpostPublicityAndLicensing TWITTER: @TheMusicOutpost return to top WELCOME 2024! IT'S CUNEIFORM RECORDS' 40th ANNIVERSARY   Since its birth in 1984 in the Washington D.C. DMV, Cuneiform Records' mission has been to spotlight cutting-edge, boundary-defying New Music from around the world: music ignored by major labels and the mainstream music industry. To our founder Steve Feigenbaum, this music was too interesting, too important to ignore. Dynamic and progressive, it held the keys to music's future. Musicians globally were crossing geographic and musical borders, destroying genre borders between rock and classical, electronic and jazz; reexamining and imploding musical traditions and creating new hybrid genres and forms. Steve wanted to open music lovers' eyes and ears to music they'd otherwise have missed, and to give avant garde musicians opportunity for their recordings to be released, distributed and promoted around the world. With offices on DC's border in Silver Spring, Cuneiform Records became an international platform for musicians progressing beyond staid tradition, the visionary musicians paving music's future course.   Steve Feigenbaum   Cuneiform Records released albums by both up and coming stars (Schnellertollermeier, Tomeka Reid Quartet) as well as established icons of the avant garde (Wadada Leo Smith, Soft Machine, Richard Pinhas/Heldon & more). Over 4 decades, we've released and promoted over 540 albums in a variety of formats and galaxy of genres by artists from around the world. Our releases have placed in countless Best of Year lists in multiple musical genres (jazz, rock, electronic, 'beyond') worldwide and, in 2017, one won the DownBeat Jazz Album of the Year Award for Smith's America's National Parks. Cuneiform & Wayside Music staff in 2017 with DownBeat Album of the Year Award A lifetime releasing non-commercial music has not been easy – the road less travelled is inherently bumpy and hazard strewn. In 2018, the evolving digital landscape required us to rigorously streamline operations.  But Cuneiform Records survived that transition, as have our smiles: we've always released music that we believed in, and we look forward to releasing a world of music to come. We gave edgy, creative music the spotlight. And hopefully, once you saw what treasures lay on the tip of every wave, the cutting edge of each musical genre, you now believe in this music, too. Many of the radical musical innovations forged by artists we spotlit generations ago have since been absorbed by the mainstream. We know that more jaw dropping innovations lay ahead, and look forward to bringing them to you.  We thank each and every one of you for the support, love and encouragement you've given us for nearly a half-century. Onward! – Cuneiform Records   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