Cuneiform Records MAY 2025 Newsletter

CUNEIFORM RECORDS MAY 2025 NEWSLETTER:  New Releases & Concerts   read this newsletter online   read email on LAPTOP/ COMPUTER:  navigate via colored links or scroll down MOBILE:  scroll email or read online if images don't open ~~~~~~       COMING OUT MAY 30, 2025  SKULLCAP – SNAKES OF ALBUQUERQUE JAZZ / ROCK / BEYOND Instrumental jazz by DC / Baltimore-based trio Skullcap, featuring Janel Leppin (Ensemble Volcanic Ash, Janel & Anthony) on cello & minimoog; Anthony Pirog (Messthetics, Janel & Anthony) on guitar, and Mike Kuhl (Mike Kuhl Trio) on drums and percussion. [USA] – Additional albums w Janel Leppin and /or Anthony Pirog on Cuneiform Records OUT NOW! RELEASED APRIL 25, 2025 LUKE STEWART / SILT REMBRANCE ENSEMBLE – THE ORDER JAZZ New recording by jazz quintet ensemble featuring members of Luke Stewart's Silt Trio  – Luke Stewart (bass), Chad Taylor (drums), and Brian Settles (sax) – with Remembrance Quintet members Jamal Moore (sax & percusison) and Daniel Carter (sax & trumpet)) [USA] – Related albums on Cuneiform Records ~~~~~~ OUT NOW! RELEASED MARCH 28, 2025 CURLEW – EAST / WEST / ALSO JAZZ Previously unreleased 1990 concert recordings by the ‘classic quintet’ line-up (Pippin Barnett, George Cartwright, Tom Cora, Ann Rupel, Davey Williams) of Curlew, best live band of the Knitting Factory / Downtown NY scene  [USA] – Additional Curlew albums on Cuneiform Records ~~~ CHRIS COCHRANE'S COLLAPSIBLE SHOULDER BIG BAND – LIVE 2019: A MAP OF BOOKS ROCK Recorded live at Brooklyn's Roulette, composer / guitarist/ vocalist Chris Cochrane leads his 19-piece Collapsible Big Band through thrilling big band versions of his original works and tunes written by Robert Pollard, Fred Frith, This Heat & Erik Satie [USA] – Chris Cochrane's albums with No Safety on Cuneiform Records ~~~ PATRICK FORGAS – COCKTAIL JAZZ / JAZZ ROCK / PROGRESSIVE ROCK Reissue of the legendary 1977 album by drummer / composer Patrick Forgas – hailed as France's answer to England's Canterbury sound  – with 13 additional tracks. [FRANCE] – Patrick Forgas' albums with Forgas Band Phenomena on Cuneiform Records ~~~ THE REFERENCE GROUP – FILE UNDER UNPOPULAR ROCK Sole extant recordings by The Reference Group (2007-2008), a Swedish avant rock band featuring composer/ drummer Michael Maksymenko,  composer/ bassist Ralf Nygård and guitarists Jimmy Ågren and Mathias Danielsson. [SWEDEN] ~~~~~~ OUT NOW! RELEASED MARCH 15, 2025 HAPPY FAMILY – 4037 AVANT PROGRESSIVE / ZEUHL / ROCK A new studio EP made by Japan's Happy Family celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Cuneiform Records and the 37the Anniversary of Happy Family as a band. [JAPAN] – Official video "Pygmalion" for Happy Family's 4037 – Additional Happy Family albums on Cuneiform Records ~~~~~~ SNEAK PEEKS WITH SOUNDS COMING OUT JUNE 30, 2025 HEAT ON – HEAT ON JAZZ Debut release from new Chicago quartet led by composer / drummer Lily Finegan and featuring Nick Macri [bass], Ed Wilkerson, Jr (of 8 Bold Souls) [saxes] & Fred Jackson, Jr [saxes] [USA] ~~~~~   SNEAK PEEKS OF WHAT'S COMING OUT IN 2025 A LIST OF UPCOMING JAZZ , ROCK, & EXPERIMENTAL/ ELECTRONIC 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/    ~~~~~                                                                                                 read this newsletter online     return to top COMING OUT   MAY 30, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS SKULLCAP SNAKES OF ALBUQUERQUE Bio information: SKULLCAP Title: SNAKES OF ALBUQUERQUE (Cuneiform Rune 539) Format: CD / LP / DIGITAL Release date: May 30, 2025 www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER: JAZZ / ROCK / BEYOND Skullcap’s cellist Janel Leppin, guitarist Anthony Pirog and percussionist Mike Kuhl promise a joyful and emotional escape just when we need it most!   listen to / share "Journey to the Sunset" on Soundcloud from Skullcap's' Snakes of Albuquerque   Snakes of Albuquerque is the debut recording from the rock and jazz, free improvising, classically informed, adventurously rhythmic, and memorably tuneful power cello trio Skullcap. Just as the bands' namesake is defined by indigenous medicine, Skullcap is an herb used to ease depression and anxiety. A kind of road movie soundtrack, it twists through wild emotions, and as the album artwork shows, the music navigates wildly different terrain from Tennessee to Monterey.   "We have something to fight for. We can’t abandon this place or the people living here for all of its conflicts and challenges.” Janel Leppin says as she reflects on the music being a voyage across the troubled United States. "This record is a way to step into our power as we meet this serious moment full on. We’ll need to access joy and courage moving forward and the music speaks to that."     photo by Peter McElhinney   As Americans find themselves under incredible stress, music can certainly be a way to navigate uncertain times. As Snakes of Albuquerque fully indicates this is not a band that is easy to pigeonhole. The song titles offer a kind of road map through its unpredictable terrain. '‘Journey to the Sunset'’, ‘'Snakes of Albuquerque': these suggest Gothy darkness, jumper cable skronk, and an internationalist mindset, all qualities apparent in Skullcap’s sound.   But tying those attributes to a single genre? Not going to happen.   “I’m sorry, but I cannot help you with that at all,” says Anthony Pirog, laughing. “I mean, when we’re writing, someone will initiate an idea and the piece would come together. We’re not trying to fit into any description or genre. We have this pool of influences and inspirations that we draw from, and it’s not limited by how we want to be seen. We’re just writing music that we want to play”.   The way the band writes holds a major key to figuring out Skullcap. Mike Kuhl says "Our writing process is as old as the hills. There are no lead sheets or scores. We write together, bringing in basic ideas - not much information is given. I bring in some sort of groove or vibe, and then I let Anthony and Janel do what they do. All of our material is composed together - there is 100% trust within this group.” Janel Leppin and Anthony Pirog, a married couple who have been playing together for over two decades, consider themselves to be somewhat telepathic while writing and when onstage.  "Being in bands with your life partner is special. We trust each other enough to write parts for one another. Anthony wrote my bass line and I wrote his melody for "Route 40" for example.” The trio primarily write in Leppin/Pirog’s basement rehearsal studio just North of D.C..   photo by Peter McElhinney   Janel and Anthony met Mike while working in the DMV (DC/MD/VA metro area) around fifteen years ago and have been working together in different contexts ever since. The three first met while being a part of Adam Hopkins' Out of Your Head Collective in 2010 where he put together random ensembles at monthly concerts in Baltimore. OOYH Collective included the likes of Susan Alcorn and jaimie branch. This is the environment where the three first became aware of one another’s skills as improvisers. Leppin recalls, “We always wanted to work with a drummer and thought of Mike as a powerhouse on drums. In fact, I’ve called him Mike "Hurricane" Kuhl for years. His style is so technically fluid and powerful. We were elated when he said he’d like to work with us."  In 2013 Pirog’s sextet, which included Leppin and Kuhl, opened for a Capital Bop event presenting Peter Brotzmann and Joe McPhee at Union Arts. The speed with which they compose and learn the pieces together shows a band working on all five cylinders. Each player is at the top of their game technically and creatively. They mention an intuition that is undeniable in their improvisation and while writing. They also discuss a willingness to connect with all aspects of their musical knowledge; and could be a reason Skullcap’s music is so hard to categorize.    Snakes of Albuquerque happened from “pure instinct coming from decades of playing. We're not afraid to come full circle,” Kuhl says, "It could've been one of the first beats I learned but it was just right.” The drummer reflects that he didn’t feel the need to make the beat more complicated for the sake of showing off. Kuhl continues “We trust each other so much. It could almost sound happy go lucky but we’re not messin' around when we play something. It’s from the heart.”   A key instrument that sets the band apart as a trio is the inclusion of the cello. Leppin brings a solid foundation nimbly interweaving with Kuhl’s intricate drum work. The cello is rarely used like a bass and in this case she draws references to the music of Julius Hemphill and Dirty Three as inspiration. Leppin says “I almost always look to bass, guitar or saxophone players for inspiration. I am careful not to sound like other players of my instrument. I have a distinct voice and that is what is needed in this world: new sounds! I’m just doing my thing."   The music tells a powerful and diverse story. Moving from the doom-laden cello feature "Snakes of Albuquerque" into the calming and decidedly jazzy "Orange Sky" is not, for instance, an obvious segue. “It doesn’t make any sense to me conceptually,”  guitarist Pirog concurs. “But when you know the arc of the record, it does, because it takes you through a series of feelings or moods or vibes.”   photo by Pierre Toureille Some of those moods are abstract, like the clanging, mysterious "700 miles", in which Leppin bows almost singing in the highest end of her instrument, Pirog’s behind-the-bridge guitar fuses seamlessly with Kuhl’s bazaar-find percussion.  “That one happened solely in the studio,” the drummer says. “It’s improvised, and I used a 150-year-old strand of sleigh bells, combined with some camel bells. I was in Cairo one time and I went to this one little bazaar there and they had all this touristy stuff in the front, and I went up to the guy and was like ‘Where do you keep the good stuff?’ He looked at me, and then he took me in the back where I checked out all these incredible camel bells and all this stuff I’d never seen before. So it’s a big mass of all of these really old bells.”   Whether inspired by Leppin and Pirog’s cross-country zag or Kuhl’s global search for cool sounds, much of the music on Snakes of Albuquerque is linked by Skullcap’s penchant for forward and upward momentum, both sonically and on an emotional level. The group’s three members make music to please themselves, but they’re just as determined to offer their listeners relief and inspiration.   Opening with a whistle and funky groove, Kuhl kicks off "Journey to the Sunset". It feels like a wild dance party for a time that feels like the end of the world. Pirog plays a noisy, skronky guitar solo shifting to accompaniment while Leppin bows a chromatic staccato melody.   Leppin’s doomy cello progression on title track "Snakes of Albuquerque" moves into a heavily melodic lead recalling her affiliation with her time recording and working with various artists in Seattle’s doom and experimental world. Pirog’s fuzz pedal helps fill out the progression while Kuhl lays a heavy groove that leans into the floor tom and with driving eighth notes on the cymbals.   Leppin has an affinity for flipping the beat back in a subtle way and citing a Jeff Parker record she was particularly inspired by, the band listened to it and Kuhl recalled some of his Venezuelan merengue studies to help inform "Orange Sky". The rhythm section vibed on the groove and came up with a unique sound which audiences barely perceive but are meant to feel a slight shift throughout the piece to help drive it forward.   Snakes of Albuquerque is in a world all its own. The thing holding it all together is the trust each player has for each other’s abilities and creativity. "We believe in each other's ideas, interests and visions. This is a supportive environment.” says Leppin. The band hopes to take this same trip defined on the album artwork as a tour across the states in 2025-2026. "That would really complete our vision for this adventure of a record.”.   photo by Janel Leppin CREDITS: Janel Leppin - cello, Minimoog Anthony Pirog - electric guitar Mike Kuhl - drums, percussion All compositions by Skullcap. Recorded at The Brink Analog and Digital Studios in Richmond, VA on December 27–28, 2023. Engineering, mixing and mastering by Mike Reina. Produced by Mike Reina. Cover photography by Janel Leppin. Cover design by LA Johnson and Skullcap. ~~~                                                                               Pre-Order /  listen on Bandcamp:                                                                                                     Pre-Order /  listen to SNAKES OF ALBUQUERQUE  in High Definition 24/96 on Bandcamp:       return to top Listen to & buy additional releases with JANEL LEPPIN and/or ANTHONY PIROG on Cuneiform Records       JANEL & ANTHONY                                                                  NEW MOON IN THE EVIL AGE                                                             WHERE IS HOME               JANEL LEPPIN / ENSEMBLE VOLCANIC ASH TO MARCH IS TO LOVE                                                                                   ENSEMBLE VOLCANIC ASH         ANTHONY PIROG                               PALO COLORADO DREAM  POCKET POEM                                                                   (w/ MICHAEL FORMANEK & CHES SMITH)             LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION (ANTHONY PIROG / MICHAEL FORMANEK / MIKE PRIDE) DAMAGED GOODS   FIVE TIMES SURPRISE  (HENRY KAISER / ANTHONY PIROG / TRACY SILVERMAN / JEFF SIPE / ANDY WEST)         FIVE TIMES SURPRISE                                       THE SPELLCASTERS (JOEL HARRISON, ANTHONY PIROG, DAVE CHAPPELL, JOHN PREVITI, BARRY HART)                        MUSIC FROM THE ANACOSTIA DELTA                                                     return to top !! OUT NOW !!   RELEASED APRIL 25, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS LUKE STEWART / SILT REMEMBRANCE ENSEMBLE THE ORDER Bio information: SILT REMEMBRANCE ENSEMBLE Title: THE ORDER (Cuneiform Rune 534) Format: CD / DIGITAL www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER: JAZZ New recording by a jazz quintet ensemble featuring members of Luke Stewart's Silt Trio  – Luke Stewart (bass), Chad Taylor (drums), and Brian Settles (sax) – with  Jamal Moore (sax & percusison) and Daniel Carter (sax & trumpet)) [USA]   Bassist LUKE STEWART isn’t afraid of blurring boundaries and blending bands, with astonishing results. An essential creative force in the fertile jazz and improvised music scenes of the East Coast and beyond for nearly two decades, he seized a promising moment to combine musicians from two volatile working combos.     listen to / share "Commandments" on Soundcloud from Luke Stewart/ Silt Remembrance Ensemble's The Order   As the name suggests, his new Cuneiform Records album credited to Silt Remembrance Ensemble, brings together two players from his Remembrance Quintet (introduced on an eponymous 2023 album on his own label) – Jamal Moore on reeds and percussion and veteran master Daniel Carter on alto sax and trumpet – and Silt Trio, featuring powerhouse tenor saxophonist Brian Settles and drum maestro Chad Taylor.    What had initially been planned as an album release concert for the Remembrance Quintet project Do You Remember? evolved into an entirely new situation. Stewart had an opportunity to perform at Tonal Park Studios in Takoma Park, MD, around the same time that Silt Trio was recording Unknown Rivers, “and I used the opportunity to gather this special mix of those two groups,” he says. The recording isn’t a document of the two-hour-plus concert. Rather, Stewart crafted the album after the fact, distilling and sequencing the music to create its own narrative arc, “editing and arranging the performance so that it would make sense in an album form,” he says.     Stewart resides at the center of a tangled skein of relationships running between the four other players. They’re joined on several pieces by spoken word artists Janice Lowe and No Land, with verse that ties this music to the Remembrance Quintet album. They’d both collaborated with Stewart in the multi-disciplinary ensemble Heroes are Gang Leaders. Themes of ancestral recall, the flow of time and water, and the preciousness of shared moments run through the session, starting with the opening convocation “Memory.” A setting for text by No Land designed to feature Carter, it’s a trio piece with Stewart that prepares the audience for the “molten experience” to come.      The full band joins for “Remember,” a piece harkening to the first Remembrance Quintet album with multilayered percussion and a serpentine saxophone conversation between Carter, Settles and Moore that gathers momentum over the churning rhythm section. A very different sense of motion prevails on “River Road” as Stewart’s heartbeat pulse buoys Carter’s delicate trumpet work. It’s an extended piece that builds to a gale and then gently subsides, an enthralling sojourn intended to highlight Carter’s “unique tone,” Stewart says.   “It puts him in a context he hasn’t usually been in over the past few decades, bringing his sound into a different world and letting him shine. He’s the wind guiding the river down the road.”    In many ways, the session exists in a multiverse of musical possibilities. The spacious, well-aerated piece “Survive,” which opens with a bass drone and fluttery flute, references In Order to Survive, a band that Carter and bass legend William Parker led with various trumpeters. “All of the names are invitations for rumination as you listen, with multiple meanings,” Stewart says. In much the same way, he doesn’t describe his approach as free improvisation, as many pieces evolve out of specific lines or themes he introduces “but without telling the band what it is,” Stewart says. “I’m trying to anticipate and almost intuit in a focused way, how is this line going to survive in this situation? How will it move the spirit of the ensemble?”   The album’s themes surface explicitly again with Stewart’s recitation on the brief “Repeat,” text with multiple layers of meaning, including the incantatory musical device so often deployed during the session. The title track, a headlong tag-team sprint over broken ground, embodies the mind-meld of two ensembles becoming one, while the hand-percussion powered “Lion’s Den” welcomes the fearless Daniel Carter, who maintains the searing mid-tempo intensity without a scratch. The energy arcs on “Claimed,” a densely packed liberation that speaks to the possibilities of making unfettered choices and the obstacles to that path. It’s an ecstatic performance by all the horn players that bristles with shared purpose.      As if summoning the village after their communal outpouring, “Chain Gang” is an extended, percussion-forward piece that explores multiple approaches to rhythmic improvisation. The title’s obvious reference to forced hard-labor speaks to Jim Crow history and less explicit forms of coercion faced by musicians, though the music itself celebrates the act of self-liberation. With the closing track, “Commandments,” Stewart and his companions reconfirm the prime direction, “playing the spirit of the moment, the spirit of the ancestors,” he explains. “You receive the commandments on Mt. Sinai.” It’s a struggle to get there, but these musicians walk the walk, and The Order reflects their triumphant journey.    Stewart’s vision and music has increasingly reached far beyond any location. Last December, he presented a major multimedia work commissioned by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the landmark exhibition “Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt 1876–Now.” It was the first time the Met presented a new work in conjunction with an exhibition, and by expanding his Blacks’ Myths duo (with drummer Trae Cruddup) with special guests such as Silt Remembrance’s Jamal Moore, flutist extraordinaire Nicole Mitchell, poets Moor Mother and Thomas Stanley, he created an acclaimed hour-long production with video, dance, and costumes.    “I always try to bring worlds together,” he says. “At the Met, I was bringing together Blacks’ Myths and new collaborations. It’s the same thing with Silt Remembrance Ensemble. Daniel and I are always in talks about doing something, and there was this great opportunity to bringing together this multigenerational community.” A major force on the New York jazz scene since the early 1970s, Carter is a dauntingly prolific saxophonist and trumpeter who has collaborated with a dazzling constellation of improvisers and ensembles. Best known for his long, multi-faceted collaboration with pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker, including the quartet Other Dimensions In Music with the late trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr. and drummer Rashid Bakr, he’s recorded more than four dozen albums as a co-leader. Sought after by many leading artists, he’s recorded with DJ Logic, Yoko Ono, The Negatones, Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo, Soul-Junk, and Anne Waldman. As his 80th birthday approaches on Dec. 28, Carter’s status as a creative force with a singular fire-and-ice aesthetic remains undimmed.       The Order  represents another step in Carter’s relationship with Stewart. Born in Florida and raised in Mississippi, Stewart grew up in Ocean Springs, a small town on the coast just east of Biloxi. There was little access or exposure to jazz and improvised music in grade school, and he played alto sax in his junior high and high school concert and marching bands. Taking up electric bass at 13, he played in a punk band with high school friends while delving into electronic music and hip hop. He discovered jazz on his own and started a process of self-education, digging through record bins and sharing discoveries with similarly music-obsessed friends.    “The good part of growing up in Mississippi was not having any sort of big overriding cultural force telling you what to do, which gave us the freedom to explore whatever we wanted to do,” he says. “The group that I found myself in, we were all voraciously into checking out all different types of music.”    Attending the University of Mississippi on scholarship he majored in international studies and minored in music, but a summer internship in Washington DC turned into a new life path when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, including his hometown. He transferred to American University and ended up graduating with a double major in international studies and audio production. He arrived in town equally committed to the alto sax and electric bass, until his jazz band professor, Dr. Will Smith, encouraged him to take up double bass. “It was a transition for sure,” Stewart says. “I was fascinated and enamored by investigating this instrument and immediately felt the spirit of it.”     After some informal lessons with veteran players like Herman Burney he started going to jam sessions and connecting with established musicians. His creative development has been rooted in DC’s verdant and often overlooked legacy of Black music and culture. Since then, over nearly the past two decades he’s woven himself into a myriad of scenes and idioms. Stewart played bass and saxophone in the DC-based Afropunk band Laughing Man. As an electronic artist, he’s performed alongside legendary hip hop artist Grap Luva, and D.C. beatmaker Damu the Fudgemunk. He was also a member of the experimental electronic trio Mind Over Matter, Music Over Mind. On the jazz side, he is also a member of Trio OOO, a collaborative ensemble featuring saxophonist Aaron Martin and drummer Sam Lohman. He’s also presented numerous concert series and festivals both independently and via CapitalBop.com, a DC-based jazz website and 501c3 non-profit organization that he co-founded.    For many years, Stewart was the production coordinator for the Pacifica radio station WPFW (89.3 FM) and host of his own weekly eclectic jazz program. Through WPFW he collaborated with seminal figures in music and the fight for social justice, including Chuck Brown, Yusef Lateef, Randy Weston, Muhal Richard Abrams, Juma Sultan, and Amiri Baraka. He credits his work at WPFW and mentorship by veteran DJ Jamal Muhammad with connecting him to the jazz scenes in D.C. and Harlem dating back to the rise of bebop.     Since the mid aughts Stewart has been a presence on the New York scene, engaging in a number of activities and scenes. Based in Red Hook, Brooklyn for the past six years, he has taken part in a community of musicians and organizers while deepening musical relationships. After earning a Master’s degree from the New School, he has worked as an adjunct professor there, teaching “Socially Engaged Artistry” and private lessons in bass, improvisation, and music history.    Each artist in Silt Remembrance Ensemble has burrowed into a similarly rich local scene. A Washington D.C. native, Brian Settles performs regularly with some of modern jazz's leading groups, including Tomas Fujiwara and The Hook Up, Michael Formanek's Cheating Heart and Big Band Kolossus, and bands led by Jonathan Finlayson. A protégé of Stanley Turrentine, he released two albums as a leader focusing on his buoyant, pithy compositions. On 2011’s award-winning Secret Handshake (Engine) he featured the quintet Central Union, and followed up with 2013’s trio album Folk (Engine).   A force on the vibrant Baltimore music scene, Jamal Moore forged a distinctive vision doing graduate work at Cal Arts, studying and playing with Wadada Leo Smith, Michael Session and Jesse Sharp in the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, and the late Calvin Gantt and Nicole Mitchell in the Calvin Gantt Ensemble. A member of the politically charged Konjur Collective, Moore has turned his studio in the roiling Baltimore performance space Le Mondo into a bustling creative hub.   It’s hard to overstate Chad Taylor’s contributions to improvised music over the past three decades. A composer, scholar and educator as well as a capaciously inventive percussionist now living in Philadelphia, Taylor is probably best known as co-founder of the Chicago Underground Duo with trumpeter Rob Mazurek (and the numerous Underground iterations that have spun off of that original partnership). A professional on the Chicago scene from the age of 16, he became a rhythmic muse for many of the most celebrated artists in improvised music, including Fred Anderson, Pharoah Sanders, Nicole Mitchell, Matana Roberts, Ken Vandermark, Darius Jones, James Brandon Lewis, Derek Bailey, Marc Ribot, and Peter Brötzmann. He’s also led numerous acclaimed ensembles of his own, including the trio with Settles and pianist Neil Podgurski he documented on the acclaimed 2020 Cuneiform album The Daily Biological.    Together, these players share a depth of knowledge and spirit of adventure that makes The Order a milestone collaboration that excavates and honors the past while embracing the unknown.    ~~~   Pre-Order /  listen to THE ORDER on Bandcamp: Pre-Order /  listen to THE ORDER  in High Definition 24/96 on Bandcamp:     CREDITS: Daniel Carter – alto saxophone, trumpet Brian Settles – tenor saxophone Jamal Moore – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, woodwinds, percussion Luke Stewart – bass Chad Taylor – drums, percussion return to top OTHER JAZZ GROUPS LED BY SILT REMEMBRANCE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS  ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS LUKE STEWART'S SILT TRIO THE BOTTOM LUKE STEWART – Bass BRIAN SETTLES – Tenor Sax CHAD TAYLOR – Drums, Mbira   "New York/Washington D.C. via Mississippi bassist Luke Stewart seems to be everywhere these days, not just as a musician working in Irreversible Entanglements, Black Hosts, Heroes Are Gang Leaders, among others, but also presenting concerts, giving lectures, and writing. He’s nominally led some bands, but none as convincing as this trio with tenor saxophonist Brian Settles and percussionist Chad Taylor... This meticulously pitched effort was designed to mirror the flow of a concise live set ---- a gripping album that largely relies of subtlety and insinuation to register its uncanny power. " – Peter Margasak, The Quietus     CHAD TAYLOR TRIO    THE DAILY BIOLOGICAL CREDITS: CHAD TAYLOR – Drums BRIAN SETTLES – Saxophone NEIL PODGURSKI – Piano   "The album, composed of all originals pieces by the trio members, is startling, music that verges on "free" yet there are times when the beat is so powerful it feels as if the drums could knock you off your feet... if you listen deeply, will change your idea of "power trios." No over-amped guitars, fuzzy bass lines, no ponderous drums; instead, this is music teeming with ideas, interactions, inventive solos, intelligent writing, and more. Such an auspicious recorded debut for the Chad Taylor Trio...There is so much to enjoy in the hour+ recording." – Steptempest    return to top                   !! OUT NOW !!                    RELEASED MARCH 15, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS HAPPY FAMILY 4037 Bio information: HAPPY FAMILY Title: 4037 (Cuneiform Rune 4037) Format: CD / DIGITAL www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER: AVANT PROGRESSIVE / ROCK / ZEUHL   "The EP title, 4037, holds...significance: the "40" celebrates Cuneiform's milestone anniversary, and the "37" marks the years since the founding of Happy Family. This album stands as a gesture of gratitude towards Cuneiform and its founder, Steve Feigenbaum, who reignited our momentum and inspired this return. ... In honor of 40 years of perseverance and creative passion." – Kenichi Morimoto, Happy Family    listen to/ share "Pygmalian (excerpt)" on Soundcloud Honoring both past and future, the album 4037 celebrates both Happy Family's creative rebirth, and the rich past of both the Japanese band and its American record label, Cuneiform Records. Above all, the album celebrates artistic collaboration and its enduring fruits.      Happy Family bandmember Kenichi Morimoto describes 4037's origins:   "Following the release of our previous album, Minimal Gods (Cuneiform Records), and a European tour, we found ourselves slipping into a state of near burnout, leading the band into a complete hiatus that stretched over a decade, with no sign of revival in sight. During this dormant period, we were fortunate to receive an offer from Cuneiform Records to participate in their 40th-anniversary celebration.  After much deliberation and numerous twists and turns, we are proud to announce the release of our new EP, 4037. In our first rehearsal in ten years, we experienced a gratifying reconnection with our ensemble sound, showing no trace of the long gap and moving smoothly into the composition of new pieces we had prepared. The EP title, 4037, holds particular significance: the "40" celebrates Cuneiform's milestone anniversary, and the "37" marks the years since the founding of Happy Family. This album stands as a gesture of gratitude towards Cuneiform and its founder, Steve Feigenbaum, who reignited our momentum and inspired this return. In an unprecedented approach, each of the four members contributed an original piece, crafting a distinctive album of collaborative expression. Additionally, and uniquely, all tracks were recorded without prior live performances. For the piece “Itchu” each member performed individually, with their recorded performances layered sequentially to create a composition that emerged entirely through an online session. We are now thrilled to see how, after this long silence, the world's progressive rock community will respond to this new work from Happy Family. And we eagerly look forward to the day we can perform it live for all of you. In honor of 40 years of perseverance and creative passion." Each of the band members composed a track on 4037, as described here: Pygmalion (Takahiro Izutani) A nod to the Pygmalion effect in psychology, this opening track reflects the evolution of both Happy Family and Cuneiform Records. From its haunting muted piano intro to its explosive finale, "Pygmalion" captures the struggles, triumphs, and ongoing journey of a band reborn. Hypocrisy (Hidemi Ichikawa) Inspired by personal struggles and a transformative period in bassist Hidemi Ichikawa's life, “Hypocrisy” channels raw emotion into a dark, heavy riff-driven piece. The track reflects the dual nature of apology and humanity’s capacity for sincerity and deceit, offering listeners an intense sonic journey. The Flying Man (Kenichi Morimoto) Keyboardist Kenichi Morimoto's “The Flying Man” is a high-speed homage to avant-garde influences, including the works of Henry Cow and Scandinavian experimental band Jaga Jazzist. Inspired by Kobo Abe’s enigmatic unfinished novel, this track showcases the band’s intricate interplay and dynamic shifts. Itchu (Keiichi Nagase) Named after a Zen meditation practice, drummer Keiichi Nagase’s “Itchu” is an improvisational masterpiece born entirely of online collaboration. Each member layered their contributions sequentially, resulting in a meditative yet chaotic composition that embodies the band's spirit of innovation. ~~~   Buy / listen on Bandcamp: CREDITS: Kenichi Morimoto - keyboards Takahiro Izutani - guitar Hidemi Ichikawa - bass Keiichi Nagase - drums   recorded by Naoki Hayami at Orpheus Studio, Tokyo, Japan. mixed by Takahiro Izutani. mastered by Soichiro Nakamura.   TRACKS: 1 "Pygmalion" written by Takahiro Izutani 2 "Hypocrisy" written by Hidemi Ichikawa 3 "The Flying Man" written by Kenichi Morimoto 4 "Itchu" written by Keiichi Nagase Happy Family - "Pygmalion"" (Official Video) from 4037  (Cuneiform Records) return to top   ADDITIONAL HAPPY FAMILY ALBUMS ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS                                       MINIMAL GODS   "Skewered blasts of noisome, Red metal shatters through rough and tumble landscapes of shuddering percussion, ominous, gravelly basslines and wheezing synths. An all-instrumental bulldozer of an album..." – i/e                                                      "Happy Family make no bones about their desire to create off-kilter, highly complex music with a savage nature....This is blistering, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping stuff, a must hear for anyone into instrumental prog, avant-garde, and jazz-fusion. 4.5 / 5 stars"   – Sea Of Tranquility "influenced by the likes of Magma, Univers Zero and heavy metal. … the music is loud, raucous, and uncompromising. … the drive is similar [to Magma]. However, while Vander’s inspiration comes from Coltrane, Nagase’s seems to come from Black Sabbath.  … this visceral music is intriguing and grows with every listen.” - Option                                                                          TOSCCO "...a fully formed & highly individual voice. Tossco is a real find. (5 stars (highest) rating)" – Alternative Press   "This Japanese combo has once again delivered a shock to the progressive music world. The instrumental inventiveness and aggressiveness of this band are things that must be heard to be believed. Highly recommended.” – Exposé                     HAPPY FAMILY "Monster Japanese Zeuhl; the spirit of Magma, Univers Zero, Weidorje and King Crimson locked together in a furious fusion..." – Audion     "An all-instrumental bulldozer of an album that doesn’t just redirect Crimson’s current - it nukes the circuit.” – Music in Flux return to top !! OUT NOW !!   RELEASED MARCH 28, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS CURLEW EAST / WEST / ALSO Bio information: CURLEW Title: EAST / WEST / ALSO (Cuneiform Rune 3371) Format: DIGITAL www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER: JAZZ  / ROCK / 80s DOWNTOWN PUNK JAZZ / AVANT-GARDE   EAST / WEST / ALSO showcases previously unreleased live recordings made in Stockholm and San Francisco by  famed Downtown NY band CURLEW  on a Knitting Factory 1990 tour of Europe & the West Coast Featuring the Curlew quintet of PIPPIN BARNETT, GEORGE CARTWRIGHT, TOM CORA, ANN RUPEL & DAVEY WILLIAMS listen to/ share:  "Kissing Goodbye" from Curlew's East/ West/ Also on Soundcloud   Digitally released on Cuneiform, East / West / Also features one complete show [DNA Lounge, San Francisco, California] and one nearly complete show [Fasching Club, Stockholm, Sweden] from fairly late in the timeline of the Barnett / Cora / Cartwright / Rupel / Williams line-up of the band.   We asked George Cartwright, Curlew's leader, saxophonist and archivist, for some memories of the concerts these tapes were made at, and the 1990 Knitting Factory tour:        "Recorded on the Knitting Factory’s tours of Europe and the West Coast. The Knitting Factory gigs were great. Different places good venues, big fun. Hang with other musicians.            In San Fran we played in a cavernous place with what must have been 40 foot ceilings which was fortunate because Davey [Williams] could only go up to 30 feet and bat around dropping flaming globs of love, truth and surreal/dada fire down to the audience’s open hearts and brains. Hands, too, if they chose.          Ann Rupel stayed stage-bound and flacked out those huge bass notes and rhythms like an old gator slaps his tail against the recalcitrant.          Tom Cora liked to toss his bow (cello) flaming naturally way up through the rafters after solos and draw it ever so slowly back to his hand like he was slyly drinking a glass of cool water and send out notes and sounds and love like flocks of puffins and even dragons.         Pippin Barnett trapped and slammed and caked and kicked and hit the drums like nobody's business into rhythms that swang, swung, and peppered the world with shoes of heart and soul.         The ole saxophone player? Well, the story has it that he [George Cartwright], yes he did, stood in front, played his parts when they came along, improvised when it was his turn, played many, many solos set deep into the band, and generally enjoyed himself greatly. Feeling quite fortunate to be on the bandstand (and hang!) with these very such people and musicians.   And Davey said." – George Cartwright     buy / listen on Bandcamp: CREDITS: George Cartwright - saxophones Ann Rupel - bass Pippin Barnett - drums Tom Cora - cello Davey Williams - guitar 1-8 : Fasching Club - Stockholm, Sweden, April 2, 1990 9-18 : The DNA Lounge - San Francisco, CA, May 1990   ~ ~ ~ return to top Listen To / Buy Other Curlew Releases on Cuneiform Records: "...one hell of a group..." – The Wire “The best of the unsigned, genre-busting downtown groups” – The New York Times "Curlew is an amazing band. ...where’s Manfred Eicher’s head, that he hasn’t signed these guys?” – Camera Obscura   North America    //        CBGBs, NYC, 1987    //      Live in Berlin                 ''Jazz record of the week...one of the best of New York's downtown bands, & [Live In Berlin] captures the group at its most intense, roadhouse best." – The New York Times “The resulting album is nothing short of spectacular. Each track exists in a world of its own without any acknowledgement of the musical boundaries collapsing around it.” – Exclaim!    Bee //  Live at the Knitting Factory/ Live at D.C. Space // A Beautiful Western Saddle                     DownBeat: Best CDs of the ‘90s: 4 1/2 star reviews: Curlew: A Beautiful Western Saddle DownBeat:  Downbeat’s 41st Annual International Critic’s Poll 1994 : Electric Jazz Group TDWR: Curlew “The group’s internal chemistry from this album borders on the telepathic” – The Nation, March 22, 1993     Paradise    //   Phantasmagoria 1998 + WFMU 1997 //  Fabulous Drop         “Cartwright’s songs tap into some quintessential American soul…It’s an example of extraordinary artistry, and a singularly joyful one at that.” – Boston Rock    Meet the Curlews               //     Mercury         “Curlew’s knotty, off-center melding of jazz, rock and blues is esoteric enough to be highly regarded among the experimental music cognoscenti–for which The Knitting Factory is ground zero–but it's also catchy, funky and wry. If the right side of your brain had a foot, it'd be patting happily throughout these 10 tunes.” – Jazz Times return to top !! OUT NOW !!   RELEASED MARCH 28, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS COLLAPSIBLE SHOULDER BIG BAND LIVE 2019: A MAP OF BOOKS Bio information: COLLAPSIBLE SHOULDER BIG BAND Title: LIVE 2029: A MAP OF BOOKS (Cuneiform Rune 3394) Format: DIGITAL www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER:  ROCK  Guitarist / composer / vocalist / bandleader CHRIS COCHRANE leads the thrilling 19-piece COLLAPSIBLE SHOULDER BIG BAND through his original compositions and tunes by Fred Frith, Robert Pollard, The Heat and Erik Satie. Recorded live at Brooklyn's Roulette.   listen to/ share:  "Interdependence" by The Collapsible Big Band  from Live 2019: A Map of Books on Soundcloud “Sounds great, and live too. The album sounds focused but wide at same time.  Far out guitar, Wow! Feel good about Saigon, dig the harmonies.” – Charles Hayward Cuneiform Records is proud to announce the release of Chris Cochrane’s Collapsible Shoulder Big Band's album, Live 2019 : A Map Of Books.  Co-produced by Cochrane with Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, the album features performances by a host of luminaries.  This recording is comprised of two concerts of the band recorded live at Roulette in 2019 and 2020, with a small amount of studio work to shore things up, but the atmosphere and energy of the band playing in the venue is captured. The recording consists primarily of original compositions by Cochrane, and also cover tunes by Robert Pollard, Fred Frith, This Heat, and a bit of Erik Satie thrown in for good measure.  From 2016-2020 the Collapsible Shoulder Big Band became an annual event made up of an array of musicians based in New York, with other special guests coming through town. “I started doing this as an annual birthday concert, gathering musicians together from many projects and eras and we’d collaborate on these one-time gigs,” Cochrane says. “As the band grew more diverse in membership we began making more elaborate arrangements, and taking advantage of member’s history of improvisation, composition and vocal arrangements.”   The band members are Chris Cochrane, Gordon Beeferman, Brian Chase, Richard Dworkin, Kato Hideki, Stuart Popejoy, Sulynn Hago, Marlon Cherry, Stew Stewart, Gelsey Bell, Syd Straw, Sarah Bernstein, Eszter Balint, Kevin Bud Jones, Jim Pugliese, Hanna Fox, Eddie Gormley, Killian Karlsson, Zeena Parkins, and John Thayer. Collapsible Shoulder's music is drawn from its member’s years in the international, downtown NYC and Brooklyn music scenes: neo-psychedelic, electro-acoustic, with unpredictable twists and turns. Cochrane formed Collapsible Shoulder in 2014, which included Mike Duclos, and later Kato Hideki, Brian Chase and Kevin Bud Jones, who remained at the core of this recording. “We originally thought it to be a quartet of two guitars, bass and drums, but through a happenstance injury, one guitarist was unable to play, and so he cobbled together a lot of analog synth components, instead of guitar, which greatly changed the dynamic, and gave us an immediate new sound.” Cochrane is a Brooklyn-based musician, guitarist, improviser, noise maker, collaborator and composer. He has worked with many musicians including Zeena Parkins, John Zorn, Tim Hodgkinson, Billy Martin. Loren Connors, Marc Ribot, Jamaaladine Tacuma, Gabby Fluke-Mogul, Brandon Lopez, Gelsey Bell, Galvin Weston, Stew,  Eszter Balint, and many others. Chris formed the band No Safety with Zeena Parkins and was a member of Curlew. He has also composed music for dance, theater and film since arriving full time in NYC, over forty years ago. He plans to continue to collaborate and make music as long as he able to.    Chris Cochrane, photo by Peter Gannushkin “Chris Cochrane is one of my favorite guitarists.” – Marc Ribot buy / listen to Collapsible Shoulder Big Band on Bandcamp: CREDITS: Chris Cochrane – guitar / vocals Gordon Beeferman - keyboards Brian Chase – drums Richard Dworkin – drums Kato Hideki – bass Stuart Popejoy – bass Stew Stewart – vocals Gelsey Bell – vocals Syd Straw – vocals Marlon Cherry –vocals Sarah Bernstein – violin Eszter Balint – violin and vocals Kevin Bud Jones – electronics Jim Pugliese – drums, vibes and additional percussion Hanna Fox – drums - percussion Eddie Gormley – drums - percussion Killian Karlsson – guitar Zeena Parkins – harp John Thayer – drums and electronics   All tunes by Chris Cochrane (BMI) unless otherwise specified. All songs SAFNO Music BMI, unless otherwise indicated Kato Hideki – Open Circuit Music BMI Produced by Chris Cochrane and Brian Chase. Mixed and edited by Brian Chase and Chris Cochrane. Mastered by Myles Boisen at Headless Buddha Studio. Cover Art – Nayland Blake. Booklet and gatefold layout and design – Kevin Bud Jones. return to top Listen To / Buy Chris Cochrane's releases with the Band NO SAFETY on Cuneiform Records: "No Safety only released three albums during their half dozen years as one of the most vibrant bands in the maelstrom of Downtown experimentalism." – Kurt Gottschalk   Spill         Zeena Parkins - keyboards, electric harp, accordion, vocals Chris Cochrane - guitars, sampler, vocals Ann Rupel - bass, vocals Tim Spelios - drums, percussion Doug Seidel - guitars   Live at the Knitting Factory    Ann Rupel - bass, vocals Chris Cochrane - guitar, tape, tambourine, vocals Zeena Parkins - harp, sampler, eggs, vocals Doug Seidel - guitar Tim Spelios - traps   "The ominous tone that drifts through the 17 works isn't unusual for No Safety; the group has long been fascinated by the way modern dilemmas -- from sexism to urban deterioration -- are addressed in society." - The New York Times   Live in Italy 1994 Chris Cochrane - guitar, vocals Kato Hideki - guitar, vocals Zeena Parkins - electric harp, keys, vocals Ann Rupel - bass, vocals Tim Spelios - drums, vocals   "...No Safety disappeared without the heralding it deserved. Now, for a momentary flash, they’re back." – Kurt Gottschalk return to top !! OUT NOW !!   RELEASED MARCH 28, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS: PATRICK FORGAS COCKTAIL Bio information: PATRICK FORGAS Title: COCKTAIL (Cuneiform Rune 3396) Format: DIGITAL www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER:  JAZZ / JAZZ-ROCK / FUSION / PROGRESSIVE ROCK  Composer / drummer PATRICK FORGAS has been hailed as “the French answer to the Canterbury scene” ever since his debut 1977 release COCKTAIL (recorded with members of MAGMA and ZAO). Cuneiform Records is proud to reissue that famed album, augmented with 13 bonus tracks from the same period.   listen to/ share 2 tracks:  "Automne 1969" and "Monks (La Danse de Moins)"  from Cocktail on Soundcloud   Patrick Forgas talks about his 1977 debut album, Cocktail :   “I'd just turned 20. I decided to write and perform my own music. Soon after, in 1973, I quit my job and we found a two-room flat on the Sentier de Montézy in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in a house with a garden. I had put enough money aside to afford a little equipment - a guitar and a 4-track tape recorder - and since I was unemployed, I could dedicate myself to music full time. I began by recording solo demos, overdubbing myself.  Once I'd assembled enough demos, I began shopping them to various labels. I shopped them to Fabrice Cuitade of Barclay, who was in charge of their foreign catalogue, which had music that was closer in style to mine, notably the German groups like Tangerine Dream. He quite liked my demos, and we kept in touch. But after a while, nothing seemed to be happening, so | wrote him a rather virulent letter, saying | was fed up of going nowhere and it was time that somebody gave me a chance. And it worked! He called me to tell me he had booked their studio in the avenue Hoche.   Fabrice played the tape to various people, and it caught the attention of Jean-Marc Bailleux, a journalist at Rock & Folk, which was about to form the label Gratte-Ciel in partnership with José Ferré, who was a publisher at RCAI. One day, | got a call from José, and he told me he and his partners - José Alvarado and Jean- Marc Patra - had found my demo very interesting and were OK to produce an album.   Patrick Forgas, photo by José FERRE   When I listen back to Cocktail  today, I'm still proud of it. Of course, I am not objective, but | find that it sounds as good as it did thirty years ago. Not every record from this era has aged as welll It's a music that has its own identity, you can hear the musicians can play, and even though certain details aren't perfect, I think we all did a pretty good job. Some musicians are ashamed when they listen to what they did when they were twenty or twenty-five years old, but I'm not.”   – Patrick Forgas, Interviewed by Aymeric Leroy, February 2007   buy / listen on Bandcamp     CREDITS: Patrick FORGAS - drums, vocals, percussion, guitar, toy organ, musical box, bass, synthesizer with Jean-Pierre FOUQUEY - keyboards (1-10) Laurent ROUBACH - guitar (1-4, 6-8, 10) Gérard PREVOST - bass (1-8, 10) Patrick TILLEMAN - violin (1, 2, 10) Patrick LEMERCIER - violin (1, 3, 4, 6) François DEBRICON - saxophones & flute (2, 3, 7, 9) Bruce Grant - saxophone (10) 1-9: Recorded at Studio Mannderly, Ste-Gemme, France, June/July 1977 Recording & mixing: Guy PAQUIER 10: Recorded at Studio Adam, Roissy-en-Brie, France, March/April 1977 Recording & mixing: Philippe BEAUCAMP bonus tracks : 11: Recorded at Studio Barclay, avenue Hoche, Paris, France, autumn 1975 CREDITS: Patrick FORGAS - drums, vocals Dominique GODIN - keyboards & saxophone Didier THIBAULT - bass 12-23: 4-tracks demos recorded by Patrick FORGAS in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France in 1973/74 (13-15, 19, 20, 23); in Clamart, France in 1975/76 (12, 18, 21); in Asniéres-sur-Seine, France in 1979 (16, 17); in Paris, France, avenue Pierre ler de Serbie in 1979 (22) CREDITS: Patrick FORGAS - drums, vocals, all instruments with Patrick TILLEMAN - violin (12) Francois DEBRICON - saxophones & flute (18) Patrick LEMERCIER - violin (21) Graphics & Photos: José FERRE Mastering (2007) : Claude PLANCHE return to top Listen To / Buy on Cuneiform Records PATRICK FORGAS' releases with his Band FORGAS BAND PHENOMENA: "Composer and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Forgas has been making music for the last four decades, and now in the heart of his fifth one, he still has not run out of ideas to put into musical forms...[Forgas’s writing] and arrangements display elements of orchestral-jazz, ambient-rock, and progressive-bop with ethnic accents based in Eastern Europe cultures, the Middle East, and the Latin World. It is as if he pulls various influences out of the air, and transforms these bits and pieces that he grabs into magnificent complexes of multi-textured broths. " – Jazz Review L’Oreille Électrique (The Electric Ear)                                                      Extra - Lucide        For those of you who grew up on the Return to Forever / Mahavishnu Orchestra / Weather Report strain of modern jazz, you will love this group. There's no mincing words about the Phenomena tag this band is proud to own — terrific music made by a wonderful band that cannot be a trade secret for too much longer. Viva Forgas!" – All-Music Guide     Acte V / Live at NEARFest 2010                                        L’Axe du Fou • Axis of Madness "...blurs idiomatic considerations so extensively they render stylistic definitions irrelevant. No one can accuse bandleader and principal composer Patrick Forgas of being tame or conservative in his writing and arrangements.... He's been leading various editions of the Forgas Band since the mid-'90s, and this version has a...frontline ably suited for works whose opening melodies quickly give way to furious exchanges, spirited solos and passages bouncing back and forth between avant-garde jazz and shorter, rock-tinged statements." – JazzTimes Soleil 12                                                               Roue Libre  "...thoroughly composed jazz-rock brimming with purpose at every twist and turn. The large number of instruments allowed for a great variety of expression, as they tended not to play all at once. Think Arti E Mestieri arranged for a jazz orchestra and you get a rough idea (of what this is about). I can't say enough about how good these guys are." –  Expose return to top !! OUT NOW !!   RELEASED MARCH 28, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS THE REFERENCE GROUP FILE UNDER UNPOPULAR Bio information: THE REFERENCE GROUP Title: FILE UNDER UNPOPULAR (Cuneiform Rune 3398) Format: DIGITAL www.cuneiformrecords.com FILE UNDER: ROCK    Founded by composer/ drummer Michael Maksymenko and composer/ bassist Ralf Nygård with guitarists Jimmy Ågren and Mathias Danielsson, the short-lived (2007-2008) Swedish band THE REFERENCE GROUP made a lasting impact on the few who heard its music during its lifetime.   FILE UNDER UNPOPULAR, featuring eight previously unreleased original tunes, presents this great Swedish rock quartet's only extant recordings to the public for the first time   listen to/ share:  "Leatherreport" from File Under Unpopular by The Reference Group on Soundcloud “I am so happy to see THE REFERENCE GROUP tracks, that have been in my secret archives for years, finally available to everyone on the planet.  So many of my favorite things are in these tracks! Ågren, Maksymenko, Magic Band influences, amazing drumming, amazing slide guitar. I could  listen to the recordings every day and be a more merry and clever person from that listening." – Henry Kaiser   The Reference Group existed for a short period in the years 2007-2008. The group was formed by Ralf Nygård and Michael Maksymenko with the aim of playing their own original compositions, partly from previous musical activities but also new material.  The idea was to perform only instrumental music. It was a follow-up to an earlier, 1989 collaborative project between Nygård and Maksymenko, called Dynamo Remont, which completed an acclaimed tour of Europe.  The Reference Group was completed when guitarists Jimmy Ågren and Mathias Danielsson joined.    The Reference Group only managed to play live in front of an audience once. However, during the short time the group existed, they managed to record 8 songs, seven of which were recorded under normal studio conditions and one only recorded with a digital hand-held recording machine on 2 channels (track 8). All of them can be found on this digital album, File Under Unpopular.  The Reference Group ceased due to the logistical problems involved for the geographically far-flung members to rehearse.   THE REFERENCE GROUP:  BAND MEMBER BIO INFORMATION Jimmy Ågren: Electric slideguitar Permanent member of Mats & Morgan Band 1996-2005. Founder of Jimmy Ågren band 1989 - present - six solo albums. He has played with Freddie Wadling, Eric Bibb, Denny Walley and Henry Kaiser. He wrote film music for the short film Situation Frank. He appears on the tribute album The Music of Captain Beefheart. He is currently working on three new albums that he hopes to release in 2025: The Ågren Brothers - Jimmy and Morgan with guests, Jimmy Ågren BeastMachine and one with the Jimmy Ågren Band. Mathias Danielsson: Electric guitar Mathias Danielsson hails from the western suburbs of Stockholm where he began channeling his spirits through the guitar in 1984. He is a graduate of the bands Gösta Berlings Saga, Makajodama, My Brother The Wind, Oresund Space Collective, Roy Handcuff and Archimedes Badkar. As guitarist and pedal steel guitar player he can be heard on 40+ albums. Always exploring and scavenging for inspiration. But he is not a seeker mind you, he is a finder. A musical shaman, truly a force to be reckoned with.  Ralf Nygård: Digital bass with a Zanzithophone or Casio Digital Horn (made in Japan in the mid eighties when MIDI first was implemented, for school kids to make them comfortable with computers. It uses recorder fingerings because the kids already played recorder in school). Ralf Nygård is founder, main composer, and wind instrumentalist of Boojwah Kids 1974-present.  Solo album In the Year of the Välklädd Torsk 1986. He also played woodwinds, harmonica and synthesizer with the Swedish cult band Dom Dummaste 1979-1990. Michael Maksymenko: Drums and drum arrangements on all tracks. Voice on track 6, as well as delivery of (inaudible) lyrics via semaphore flagging on the same track (unfortunately the text has been lost). Michael Maksymenko is founder of, drummer and composer in the Swedish band Kräldjursanstalten who released a mini-LP, Som ett fyllo i ett minfält/Nu är det allvar (1980) and an LP, Voodooobogie (1981). Solo album Nu kan det sägas (1984). 1986-89 member of Crazy Backwards Alphabet, with Henry Kaiser, Andy West and John "Drumbo" French which resulted in 2 albums, Crazy Backwards Alphabet and  Crazy Backwards Alphabet II, as well as a single with a famous cover of ZZ Top´ s “La Grange” – in Russian, “Sarayushka”. The retrospective album, Businesscide, was released in 2008 on Recommended Records, UK. He also appears on Henry Kaiser's albums Five Heavenly Truths and Those Who Knows History are Doomned To Repeat It. He has also frequently performed as a guest-drummer with the legendary Swedish improvising group Lokomotiv Konkret. He is also very proud over the fact that he is drumming on the re-started Swedish cult-band Mögel´s two songs “Mitt orange kuvert” and “Hypokondri”. ~ ~ ~ “Many thanks for the recordings. That’s a pretty great band.” – Chris Cutler [author of  File Under Popular: Theoretical and Critical Writings on Music]     buy / listen on Bandcamp: CREDITS: Jimmy Ågren : Electric slideguitar Mathias Danielsson : Electric guitar Ralf Nygård : Digital bass Michael Maksymenko: Drums,  rap on track 1 Cover art : Marco Balletti return to top ! SNEAK PEEKS WITH SOUNDS! COMING OUT JUNE 30, 2025 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS HEAT ON – HEAT ON  Introducing HEAT ON,  the Chicago powerhouse, multigenerational jazz quartet led by drummer and composer  LILY FINNEGAN featuring saxophonists  EDWARD WILKERSON JR. & FRED JACKSON JR. and bassist NICK MACRI listen to / share "RSJ" on Soundcloud from HEAT ON credits Edward Wilkerson Jr. - tenor saxophone Fred Jackson Jr. - alto saxophone Nick Macri - upright bass and electric bass Lily Finnegan - drums composed by Lily Finnegan return to top SNEAK PEEKS OF DISTANT TREASURES   COMING OUT IN 2025 & BEYOND 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] ~~~~~ LED BIB – HOTEL PUPIK (New studio album from these award-winning UK stalwarts; now a quartet) [UK] ROSA ENSEMBLE – ODDMENTS Five piece band who often specialize in music for theatre, this time doing music specifically meant for an album. With Jeroen Kimman of Brown vs. Brown [The Netherlands] ~~~~~~     ROCK ~~~~~~ BALLOONS FOR THE DOG – WICKED FORMS OF OLD SNOW Creative rock band from the late 70s/early 80s fusing new wave, new music and more. [USA] ~~~~~~ MIKE JOHNSON – GARDEN OF LOSS (Mike Johnson, leader/ composer/ guitarist of Thinking Plague, releases an album under his own name featuring orchestration - strings, brass reeds, etc - combined with rock instrumentation.) [USA] ~~~~~~ KRAKHOUSE – BASTARDS OF PROG  Krakhouse is Jesse Krakow (Time of Orchids, Fast ’n’ Bulbous) and he’s got a THREE ACT treatise on PROG ROCK, y’all! [USA] ~~~~~~ GILLES LAVAL – 100 GUITARS SUR UN BATEAU IVRE  [100 GUITARS ON A DRUNKEN BOAT] (100 electric guitars, conducted by Gilles Laval. Designed for public performances) [FRANCE] ~~~~~~ LAWRENCE MILLER – MY GYMNASIUM MUSEUM One of the Miller Twins and Fourth World Quartet members [USA] ~~~~~~ NEBELNEST – LIVE AT PROGDAY 1999 (Hard hitting, French instrumental, zeuhl / dark symphonic rock ensemble)  [FRANCE] ~~~~~~ NEBELNEST – unreleased fourth album  (Previously unreleased 4th album by this hard hitting, French instrumental, zeuhl / dark symphonic rock ensemble) [FRANCE] ~~~~~~ SWRM SWRM is Aleck K. Redfearn on analog synthesizers and vocals and Matt McLaren on drums. AKR and MM are also members of Alec K. Redfearn & The Eyesores. Synth-songs with a twist. [USA] ~~~~~~ return to top CUNEIFORM ARTISTS ON TOUR 2025 CALENDAR IMPORTANT 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.   GILLES LAVAL'S  100 GUITARES SUR UN BATEAU IVRE 100 electric guitars, conducted by French guitarist  and experimental musician Gilles Laval. Designed for public performances [FRANCE]   New release out on CUNEIFORM in late 2025 _______________________________ July 12 - Pouillat, France       CHEER–ACCIDENT Cheer-Accident celebrate Vacate,  released in Cuneiform Records 40th Anniversary year.                  "...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 _______________________________ June 28 - Platypus - 4501 Manchester Ave - Saint Louis, MO July 18 - The Credit Union - Muskegon, MI July 19 - Cafe Bourbon Street - Colombus, OH July 20 - Poetry Lounge - Pittsburgh, PA July 21 - tba July 22 - Avalon - Catskill, NY July 23 - tba July 24 - The Rotunda - Philadelphia, PA July 25 - Rhizome DC - 6950 Maple St., NW - Washington, DC July 26 - tba July 27 - tba - Columbia, SC July 28 - tba July 29 - The Pilot Light - Knoxville, TN July 30 - Woodward Theater - Cincinnati, OH July 31 - Whirling Tiger - Louisville, KY August 1 - The Healer - Indianapolis, IN August 2 - Martyrs - Chicago, IL   Listen to & buy Vacate  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 EMPIRICAL Featuring Nathaniel Facey (alto saxophone), Shaney Forbes (drums), Lewis Wright (vibraphone) and Tom Farmer (bass), Empirical buildson the extroverted improvisational ethos of the 1960s New Thing, embracing oblique harmonies, translucent textures and jagged, quick shifting rhythms, transformed for new generations.   "The coolest of Britain's young jazz bands." – Daily Telegraph May 8 - Music Spoken Here - Worcester, UK May 9 - Derby Jazz Club - Derby, UK May 15 - The Nutshell Arts Centre - Winchester, UK   Listen to & buy:        Connection                            "[Empirical] remains enthusiastically devoted to remaking jazz for a contemporary audience... This fine set is a significant renewal of Empirical’s commitment to giving 1960s hard bop and free jazz (probably still their deepest loves) a 21st-century identity." – John Fordham / The Guardian HEAT ON HEAT ON is a Chicago powerhouse, multigenerational jazz quartet led by drummer and composer LILY Finnegan featuring saxophonists Ed Wilkerson Jr. & Fred Jackson Jr. and bassist Nick Macri. Cuneiform's latest signing! Release out in June. July 6 - The Hungry Brain - Chicago, IL July 8 - The Jazz Gallery - Milwaukee, WI July 19 - Trinosophes - Detroit, MI September 27 - Hyde Park Jazz Festival - Chicago, IL   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.   "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 2025 May 22 - The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum - 701 21st St. NW - Washington, DC 20052   Listen to & buy:  New Moon In the Evil Age                                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. Just released, the SUMMER 2024 video , HENRY KAISER QUARTERLY SHOW #6 : You Can't Get There From Here, features Morgan Ågren  Jennifer Burnes,  Jaya Drats, Trey Gunn, Killick Hinds, Michael Manring,  Ed Petterson, Damon Smith, Jim Thomas, and Bill Walker. 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. For instance, 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.  His video for 2025's 1st quarter, HENRY KAISER QUARTERLY SHOW #8 : The Backwards Guitar Solos Lesson, is both instructional for players and highly entertaining for non-musicians. 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 LED BIB “This is the sound of a band having fun… like a hot chainsaw through butter." — The Wire "You’ll be hard pressed to keep the lid on this explosive tour de force of ensemble intelligence" – The Independent "One of the UK’s most adventurous groups" – Jazzwise Described as “a lean, mean, improv-rocking jazz machine” by Time Out, Led Bib’s ability to blend groove, improvisation, thrash and everything in-between means that live shows by these UK 2014 Mercury Prize nominees have become renowned for carrying along their audiences with an infectious energy.   June 8-9 - Moers Festival - Moers, Germany September 15 - Puzzle Hall Inn - Halifax, UK September 16 - The Cube - Bristol, UK September 17 - Peggy's Skylight - Nottingham, UK September 18 - Hare & Hounds - Birmingham, UK September 19 - Moth Club - London, UK September 20 - Rose Hill - Brighton, UK October 4 - Freakshow Festival - Würzburg, Germany     Listen to & buy: The Good Egg, The People in Your Neighbourhood      Bring Your Own,  Sensible Shoes      JANEL LEPPIN A composer and cellist who’s honed a singular synthesis of composition, orchestration and improvisation, Janel Leppin is an avant-jazz luminary. 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 released Ensemble Volcanic Ash's second album, To March Is To Love "An Absolute Virtuoso - 4 Stars" - Downbeat Magazine, reviewing the first EVA album "Leppin is a rarity..ahhh-vant garde at its finest." - Capital   JANEL LEPPIN with ENSEMBLE VOLCANIC ASH May 31 - Milton New Music and Wind Festival - Federal St. Field at the Milton Trail crosswalk - Milton, DE [rain date - June 1] June 22 - Rust Library - Leesburg, VA [2:00 pm]   JANEL LEPPIN RESIDENCY May 19, 2027 - The Stone - Stone Residency - 55 West 13th St - NYC, NY May 20, 2027 - The Stone - Stone Residency - 55 West 13th St - NYC, NY May 21, 2027 - The Stone - Stone Residency - 55 West 13th St - NYC, NY May 22, 2027 - The Stone - Stone Residency - 55 West 13th St - NYC, NY   Listen to & buy: Janel Leppin Ensemble Volcanic Ash  To March Is To Love                 Ensemble Volcanic Ash Janel & Anthony New Moon In the Evil Age,   Where Is Home          LAURENCE BOND MILLER  Laurence Bond Miller is a bass clarinet player and composer based in Michigan. Cuneiform recently released several albums featuring his '70's compositions, under the name The Miller Twins and Fourth World Quartet. He currently performs as Tinn Parrow with his Clapford Platune and other ensembles.    LAURENCE BOND MILLER  [4th World Quartet / Miller Twins] as Tinn Parrow   May 2 - Trinosophes - 1464 Gratiot Ave - Detroit, MD 48207   Listen to & buy: The Miller Twins Early Compositions 1973-1976 ---------- 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. In February 2025, he releases his second album of solo looping-based music structured on dreams on Cuneiform - Curiosity 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."     Roger Clark Miller performing Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble May 8 - Normals - 424 E 31st St, Baltimore, MD - Baltimore, MD May 9 - Rhizome DC - 6950 Maple St., NW - Washington, DC May 10 - Pageant: Soloveev -  Philadelphia, PA May 15 - Myrtle - Providence, RI May 16 - Thing in the Spring Festival - Keene, NH May 17 - Lilypad - Cambridge, MA May 31 - Francis Kite Club - 40 Avenue C - New York, NY June 1 - House Concert - Hamden, CT July 25 - Brattleboro Art Museum - Brattleboro, VT August 29 - Dromedary Festival - Catskill, NY   Listen to & buy: Roger Clark Miller Curiosity for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble   Eight Dream Interpretations for Electric Guitar Ensemble           --------- The Fourth World Quartet, 1975 ---------- Birdsongs of the Mesozoic Dawn of the Cycads // The Fossil Record       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 SELL OUT, so buy your tickets well in advance. ~~~~ May 19 - Iridium - 1650 Broadway (corner of 51st and Broadway) - New York, NY 10019 June 28 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 July 28 - Iridium - 1650 Broadway (corner of 51st and Broadway) - New York, NY 10019 August 23 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 October 25 - The Falcon - 1348 Rte 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 December 20 - 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, guitarist/ electronic musician / writer Richard Pinhas is a key figure in the global development of electronic rock via his group Heldon and solo projects. In 2025, he'll tour in England and beyond. __________________________ May 30 - Punctum - Krásova 27 - Praha 3, Czech Republic   Listen to & buy releases by Richard Pinhas & friends on Cuneiform: Richard Pinhas: Process and Reality, Desolation Row, Metatron, Metal/Crystal, Tranzition, Event & Repetitions                      Richard Pinhas & Oren Ambarchi: Tikkun    Richard Pinhas & Merzbow:  Keio Line, Rhizome, Paris 2008        Richard Pinhas & Yoshida Tatsuya: Welcome in the Void    Schizotrope (Richard Pinhas & Maurice Dantec): The Life & Death of Marie Zorn   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 ________________________________ Anthony Pirog [featured with  The Messthetics] May 31 - Milton New Music and Wind Festival - Federal St. Field at the Milton Trail crosswalk - Milton, CT [rain date June 1] June 19 - Malcolm X Park - Washington, DC [free show] June 28 - Atlantis Club - Washington, DC July 3 - Different Sounds Festival - Lublin, Poland July 4 - tba - Warsaw, Poland July 7 - Cafe Oto - London, UK July 8 - Cafe Oto  - London, UK July 9 - tba - Cambridge, UK July 11 - Festival Cruilla - Barcelona, Spain July 12 - Siren Festival - Arena in Fiera - Cagliari, Italy July 16 - Kino Siska - Ljubljana, Slovenia July 17 - Community Center Rojc - Pula, Croatia July 18 - Inntöne Jazz am Bauernhof - Diersbach, Austria Listen to & buy: Anthony Pirog: Pocket Poem; Palo Colorado Dream .       Janel & Anthony,     New Moon in the Evil Age,     Where Is Home            in other groupings: Location Location Location: Damaged Goods Five Times Surprise: Five Times Surprise The Spellcasters, Music from the Anacostia Delta   Janel Leppin/ Ensemble Volcanic Ash To March Is to Love,  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 material on tour from 3+3, its 2024 release on Cuneiform Records and Old New (2019). Both releases have been prolifically reviewed and featured on Best of Year jazz lists worldwide. In 2025, they tour northern Europe. Reid was recently named THE top Miscellaneous Instrumentalist (cellist) in Downbeats' 2024 Jazz Critics Poll.   "as transportingly good as jazz gets." – All About Jazz The Wire - July 2024, Issue 485 TOMEKA REID QUARTET May 3 - Long Play Festival - Bric Ballroom - 647 Fulton Street - Brooklyn, NY June 16 - Rhizome DC - 6950 Maple St., NW - Washington, DC September - Europe - tba     Listen to & buy: 3+3 //  Old New         REVOLUTIONARY SNAKE ENSEMBLE Since 1990, Boston's fun & fantastic Revolutionary Snake Ensemble has expanded the parameters of brass band with influences ranging from free jazz to New Orleans second line to contemporary funk to experimental.     June 18 - Maynard Jazzfest - Sanctuary Cultural Arts Center - 82 Main Street, Maynard, MA 01754 September 13 - Harwich Cranberry Arts & Music Festival - 100 Oak St - Harwich Center, MA 02645 October 4 - Regattabar - 1 Bennett St - Cambridge, MA 02138 [new release show for 'Serpentine'] February 21 - Scullers [Mardi Gras show] - 400 Soldiers Field Road - Boston, MA 0213   Listen to & buy: Forked Tongue   SKULLCAP Skullcap features Janel Leppin (Ensemble Volcanic Ash, Janel & Anthony) on cello & minimoog; Anthony Pirog (Messthetics, Janel & Anthony) on guitar, and Mike Kuhl (Mike Kuhl Trio) on drums and percussion. On May 30, the DC / Baltimore Rock & beyond trio  releases  their debut album on Cuneiform, Snakes of Albuquerque.     May 30 - Current Space - 421 North Howard St - Baltimore, MD 21201 June 12 - Rhizome DC - 6950 Maple St., NW - Washington, DC June 20 - Belmont Arts Collaborative - Charlottesville, VA 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 2025 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.   ~ ~ ~ AMERICAN FLAG ON CLIFF IMAGE AT TOP OF THIS SECTION: The American flag flown upside down is an official / US flag code signal of dire distress or extreme danger for the country and/or person flying it.  On February 23, 2025, a group of rock climbers from the thousands of National Park Service & federal/public land employees fired by the Trump administration & DOGE mounted an upside-down flag at the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Our nation – long respected for its devotion to democracy & rule of law – and our national parks & public lands – America's national treasures – are in danger. RIGHT: Photo of American folksinger/ songwriter Woody Guthrie, who wrote "This Land Is Your Land", with his famous anti-fascist guitar   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 Copyright © 2025 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