Cuneiform Records JUNE 2021 Newsletter

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view this email  in your browser Cuneiform Records JUNE 2021 Newsletter scroll down, or jump to: ~~~~~~ NEW RELEASE!  JUNE 2021 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS THE FOURTH WORLD QUARTET – 1975  jazz / classical // impovisation/ composition ~~~~~~ THEY ARE OUT: CUNEIFORM'S SPRING  RELEASES!  Released  MAY 2021 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS JACK O' THE CLOCK – Leaving California Americana/ avant progressive / alternative rock Released  APRIL 2021 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS DESERTION TRIO - Numbers Maker alt-jazz/ out-jazz from Nick Millevoi's Philadelphia trio ~~~~~~ SNEAK PEEK! COMING OUT JULY  28 ON CUNEIFORM RECORDS NO SAFETY alt-rock/ art rock/ avant-progressive from early 90s NYC band featuring Chris Cochrane,  Zeena Parkins & others  – Spill – Live at the Knitting Factory – Live in Italy ~~~~~~ CUNEIFORM ARTISTS ON TOUR:   LIVE CONCERTS & TOURS ~~~~~~ EXPLORE CUNEIFORM RECORDS ACTIVITIES ONLINE • Join us on SOCIAL MEDIA • Discover new artists & albums on Cuneiform Records BANDCAMP PAGE • Enjoy performances on Cuneiform Records YouTube Channel • Purchase music from100s of labels at WaysideMusic.com, our sister store, estab.1980 ~~~~~~ COMING OUT JUNE 25, 2021 on CUNEIFORM RECORDS: THE  FOURTH  WORLD  QUARTET 1975 File under:  JAZZ / CLASSICAL / / IMPROVISATION / COMPOSITION Label: CUNEIFORM RECORDS CATALOG #: Cuneiform Rune 481 Format: CD / DIGITAL UPC: 0-45775-04812-3   From '60s exploratory psychedelia to Detroit’s experimental art/punk Destroy All Monsters [featuring members of Stooges and MC5] and  Boston’s explosive Mission Of Burma and Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic's chamber rock: THE FOURTH WORLD QUARTET is the missing link, a wellspring of inspiration and fertile ground for musical exchange  listen / share a track, "The Transformation of Oz", on SoundCloud   BENJAMIN MILLER: alto saxophone, electric guitar, composer LAURENCE MILLER: bass clarinet, composer ROGER C. MILLER: piano, percussion, cornet, composer JACK WATERSTONE: alto saxophone, composer  The brothers Miller grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They came of age during the Summer of Love when revolution and the White Panthers were livening up their hometown. They formed their first band together in 1967, covering 13th Floor Elevators and Mothers of Invention. Two years later they were engaged in freeform rock improvisations and started their first all-original rock band Sproton Layer. Their summer 1970 recording, With Magnetic Fields Disrupted, was released in 2012 on the German label World in Sound. During this time, they would see the MC5 at a free concert in the afternoon, then head over to the University of Michigan New Music department to hear Stockhausen at night. John Sinclair's Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival a couple years later definitely had an impact on their world-view. In 1975 the three brothers attended Thomas Jefferson College, a small Art School in the middle of Michigan. Benjamin and Laurence had recently absorbed the advanced jazz of Eric Dolphy and Anthony Braxton while at school in Boston, playing in the Nova Mob with Don Davis (later of Microscopic Septet). Roger had maintained an active interest in the music of Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky in Ann Arbor.   The Fourth World Quartet, with school-mate Jack Waterstone rounding out the quartet, was born out of this mash-up of free improvisation, classical music and jazz. All members composed, ranging from fully scored pieces to graphic scores or mere verbal instruction. Laurence arranged the Art Ensemble of Chicago's "Tnoona" for the group and Roger arranged the main theme from Igor Stravinsky's mini-opera "Renard the Fox". The boundaries were wide. Three horns and a piano is already unusual, but add Benjamin's post-psychedelic guitar work and Roger's occasional "wall-of-piano" stylings, and things definitely stepped out of any traditional ensemble setting. Gentle melodies bump up against atonal bebop. Tightly structured forms contrast immediately with open improvisation. Wailing horns blaze over contained piano ostinati. In a few months the band put together this repertoire, a testament to focus and extreme creative activity. If they only played two shows and lasted only a very short time, the connections into the future were many. Included here are two songs by Roger that would later appear on the first Birdsongs of the Mesozoic record: "The Transformation of Oz" and "Winter's Dream" - the latter name changed to "Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous" by the time it graced Birdsongs' freshman release. Their friend Rick Scott who recorded this session and later became a member of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, used the same Braun 1/2 track that Martin Swope would use for tape loops in Mission of Burma. And if Roger's adaptation of "The Rite of Spring" for Birdsongs was more ambitious than his arrangement of "Renard the Fox", still, here is where that idea began. By 1977 punk rock had kicked in, and Laurence (guitar) and Benjamin (alto sax) went back to their rock roots and joined the Detroit punk band Destroy All Monsters which included Ron Ashton from the Stooges and Michael Davis from the MC5. In 1979, Roger co-formed Mission of Burma in Boston, which went on to be influential on the indie rock movement. Give this a listen. Music from a pivotal time period. That expanded not long afterwards.   pre-order CD and/or digital on Bandcamp: CD also available via WaysideMusic.com   return to top OUT NOW!  Released MAY 28, 2021: JACK O' THE CLOCK LEAVING CALIFORNIA Street Date:  May 28, 2021 File Under:  AMERICANA / AVANT PROGRESSIVE / AVANT-GARDE / ALTERNATIVE ROCK Label: CUNEIFORM RECORDS Catalog #: Cuneiform Rune 477 Format: CD / Digital UPC: 0-45775-04772-0 “One of the most original and compelling groups I know, playing some amazing compositions that seem to tread effortlessly between Van Dyke Parks and folk music from an as-yet-unidentified culture, while making all the things you've always thought of as difficult sound as effortless and natural as breathing... Amazing production. Extraordinary compositions. You need to hear it.”   – Fred Frith   listen / share via SoundCloud: "Jubilation":                        Jack O' The Clock reveal their deep musical roots on                     Leaving California, a wide-ranging musical adventure                                                        six years in the making.   Jack O' the Clock‘s Leaving California is a highly-detailed musical adventure that reveals new layers with repeated listens, from the opening strums of “Jubilation,” which introduces the record with whimsical folksy fanfare, to the angular harmonized violin lead on the closing track, “Narrow Gate.” Throughout, the songs of bandleader Damon Waitkus recall artists such as David Sylvian, Fairport Convention, and Elliott Smith, while creative musical arrangements showcase the band’s high-level compositional and instrumental chops. Upon first listen, Leaving California offers plenty of hooks, but this is music that truly reveals its depth upon the scrutiny of repeated spins. In the title track, “Leaving California,” the album’s most direct and emotional song, Waitkus grapples with environmental and cultural themes that surround his experience in California while also revealing a personal dimension that informed the album. Waitkus and violinist Emily Packard, who are married, made the decision to move a few thousand miles away from the Bay Area to Brattleboro, VT in 2019, thus separating themselves from the rest of the band with whom they’ve been playing since 2007. Ultimately, the song “Leaving California” provides a mission statement for the album amidst lush acoustic guitar and string arrangements and a supple groove driven by bassist Jason Hoopes and drummer Jordan Glenn.   Elsewhere on Leaving California, the message is more enigmatic, which is reflected by the music on tracks such as “The Butcher,” where windy riff-age leads the song’s verses into a dramatic chorus. The song’s ever-shifting feeling settles into the jazz-inflected instrumental sections that develop through refined group interplay. It’s here and on tracks such as “You Let Me Down” and “Narrow Gate” that reveal Jack O’The Clock at their most progressive.   The group initially met as students at Oakland’s Mills College and since 2013, Hoopes and Glenn have played in the Fred Frith Trio with their former professor and one of the original visionaries of British progressive rock. Waitkus initially conceived the band as an acoustic songwriting group, but a wide range of influences — from jazz and free improv to folk musics from around the world — and his own experiences as a contemporary classical composer helped create what he has referred to as “majestic junk folk.” Since Jack O' the Clock’s first record — 2009’s Rare Weather — Jack O' the Clock has become a tight and formidable ensemble whose music has evolved through a prolific stretch of releases.   Despite their steady release schedule, the songs on Leaving California have been gestating for about six years of rehearsals and performances up and down the West Coast, and Waitkus knew the time had come to document this music before he and Packard left for Vermont. The result is a set of songs performed at the height of the band’s collective powers, recorded and mixed by Waitkus from between 2018 and 2020 and mastered by Myles Boisen. Leaving California is a testament to Jack O ’The Clock’s patient and committed process and it encourages listeners to keep coming back for more for quite some time.   “It’s like hearing some of my favourite 'Old Timey' fiddle and guitar records...updated with compositional ideas worthy of a Stockhausen or a Boulez.”  – The Sound Projector Damon Waitkus – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin, keyboards, hammer dulcimer Emily Packard – violin  Jason Hoopes – bass  Jordan Glenn – drums  Thea Kelly – vocals  Ivor Holloway - clarinet on track 3 and saxophones on track 7  Josh Packard - cello on track 4  Myles Boisen - pedal steel on track 5  Produced, recorded, and mixed by Damon Waitkus in Alameda and Oakland, CA and at Orchard Hill Studio, Brattleboro, VT, 2018–2020.  Mastered by Myles Boisen. order on Bandcamp: return to top OUT NOW! Released APRIL 23, 2021  DESERTION TRIO NUMBERS MAKER File Under:  JAZZ / ELECTRIC JAZZ / AVANT GARDE / BRUTAL JAZZ Label: CUNEIFORM RECORDS Catalog #: Cuneiform Rune 479 Format: CD / Digital UPC: 0-45775-04792-8 Street Date:  April 23, 2021   "[Desertion Trio] hits the sweet spot between Neil Young's exploratory      Crazy Horse jams and a spaghetti western soundtrack." – NPR   listen to / share "Albion" via SoundCloud: Philadelphia's fiery Desertion Trio throw down in front of a live studio audience on the thrilling new Numbers Maker, taking edgy, dark cues from spy guitar themes, electric-era Miles Davis, and much more. JOHNNY DEBLASE – bass JASON NAZARY – drums  NICK MILLEVOI – guitar             All songs by Nick Millevoi except “Taboo” by Margrita Lecuona & Al Stillman. buy on Bandcamp: “...the band’s tunefulness and delicate touch—even during its most punishing passages—have a universal profundity..." – Chicago Reader return to top SNEAK PEEK! COMING OUT JULY 23, 2021 on CUNEIFORM RECORDS: digital releases of three albums from '90s NYC by  alternative rock / art rock / avant-progressive band NO SAFETY featuring CHRIS COCHRANE, ZEENA PARKINS & more ––– SPILL listen/share the track "Sad" from Spill via Soundcloud: ––– LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY listen/share the track "Take Me" from Live at the Knitting Factory via Soundcloud: ––– LIVE IN ITALY listen/share the track "A MONKEY DEFINITION" from Live in Italy via Soundcloud: return to top CUNEIFORM ARTISTS ON TOUR 2021 CALENDAR In an evolving and recently re-surging COVID-19 world, these dates are ALL tentative. Please check with venues, close to the concert date, to confirm. We look forward to live concerts resuming AS SOON as it is safe to do so. Regarding online  Thank you.  See also the Tours Page at Cuneiform Records. GHOST RHYTHMS A remarkable, eclectic and electric "Jazz and beyond" large ensemble, Ghost Rhythms perform across France in 2021, celebrating new discs, including Live in Yoshiwara, their fourth release and their first on Cuneiform.    _________________________   September 28 - Les Disquaires - Paris, France  November 12 - La Péniche Antipode - Paris, France December 10 - Le Sunset - Paris, France Listen to & buy: LIVE AT YOSHIWARA THE GREAT HARRY HILLMAN The exuberant Swiss jazz/ pop/ beyond group - named after the American triple-Gold Medal winner at the 1904 Summer Olympics - are one of the most active groups on the European festival and club circuit, top-notch live performers ceaselessly honing their skills. August 7 - BeJazzSommer - Bern, Switzerland October 7 - JazzChur - Chur, Switzerland October 9 - Zoglau 3 - Reut, Germany October 24 - Saxstall - Pohrsdorf, Germany Listen to & buy: Tilt 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). In April 2021, after lockdowns began to lift, the series celebrated its one-year anniversary and converted to a monthly format. All 52 videos from the Henry Kaiser's Weekly Series and everything in the current Monthly Series are archived & available on Cuneiform's YouTube Channel.  We invite you to visit Cuneiform Record's YouTube Channel to see the videos that Henry present on the first of every month. The video posted on June 1, 2021/Monthly Solo #3 is Walk My Way: The Singles Collection.   Listen to & buy: Albums by Henry Kaiser & Friends  on Cuneiform A Love Supreme Electric [Vinny Golia / John Hanrahan / Henry Kaiser / Wayne Peet / Mike Watt]: A Love Supreme Electric: A Love Supreme and Meditations  Yo Miles!: Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith: Sky Garden & Upriver     Five Times Surprise [Henry Kaiser / Anthony Pirog / Tracy Silverman / Jeff Sipe / Andy West]:  Five Times Surprise Henry Kaiser & Ray Russell:  The Celestial Squid Henry Kaiser: Lemon Fish Tweezer; Fred Frith & Henry Kaiser: Friends & Enemies     Healing Force [Vinny Golia • Aurora Josephson • Henry Kaiser • Mike Keneally • Joe Morris • Damon Smith • Weasel Walter]: Healing Force:  The Songs of Albert Ayler                       V.A.: 156 Strings: Nineteen Totally Original Acoustic Guitarists THE ED PALERMO BIG BAND "Twenty-first century big-band music doesn’t get more exciting and impressive than this." – Jazz Times An astounding 18 piece jazz ensemble of five woodwind players, four trumpeters, three trombonists, two keyboardists, guitar, violin, bass and drums, led by arranger, composer & saxophonist Ed Palermo, one of America's most singular arrangers who draws on jazz, pop and rock tunes for his top-notch band. There are a number of ensembles performing the music of Frank Zappa, one of the greatest American composers of the 20th century, but no one does it with the ease, skill and originality that Ed and his band do! –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– [To accommodate Covid restrictions, Ed is performing these shows with a septet – “Eddy’s Chemistry Set” – and not the Big Band] June 5 - The Falcon - 1348 Route 9W - Marlboro, NY 12542 "Eddy's Chemistry Set": Ed Palermo/ Bruce McDaniel (back from touring in Todd Rundgren's "Clearly Human" Virtual Tour!) / Robbie Mangano/ Ray Marchica/ Paul Adamy/ Ted Kooshian/ Bob Quaranta    Listen to & buy: Ed Palermo Big Band albums on Cuneiform: The Adventures of Zoyd Zundgren;  The Great Un-American Songbook Vols. 1&2;  One Child Left Behind;  Oh No! Not Jazz!!;  Eddy Loves Frank;  Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance                   RICHARD PINHAS One of France's major experimental musicians and a key figure in the development of electronic rock, guitarist and electronic musician Richard Pinhas will perform in 2021 in France and beyond in various groupings. _______________________________ June 24 - Sonic Protest Festival - Paris, France    Listen to & buy releases by Richard Pinhas & friends on Cuneiform: Process and Reality,  Desolation Row,  Metatron,  Metal/Crystal,  Tranzition,  Event & Repetitions                 Richard Pinhas & Oren Ambarchi: Tikkun   Richard Pinhas & Merzbow:   Keio Line / Rhizome / Paris 2008           Schizotrope (Richard Pinhas & Maurice Dantec):  The Life & Death of Marie Zorn   SCHNELLERTOLLERMEIER "Schnellertollermeier marries brutality to avant-garde rock and jazz. A classic power trio from Switzerland, the band plays with punk fury and dazzling technical dexterity to create booming, bone-rattling music that stalks, confronts and astonishes." – The Wall Street Journal Brutal-jazz power trio Schnellertollermeier doesn't compromise. Their fresh and uncompromising mix of jazz, punk, rock, sound and free improvised music, combined with great musicianship, interplay and intense energy, has awed audiences at festivals of jazz, rock, pop and experimental music worldwide. In celebration of their new release on Cuneiform, the album 5, they tour Northern Europe this coming Fall 2021. _____________________________ October 1 - ISC Club - Neubrückstrasse 10 - Bern, Switzerland October 2 - Le Singe - Untergasse 21, Biel, Switzerland October 9 - Guten-Morgen-Eberswalde - Eberswalde, Germany October 12 - Dexter - Vindegade 65 - Odense C, Denmark October 14 - Rotondes - Rue de la Rotonde - Luxembourg, Luxembourg October 15 - LantarenVenster - Otto Reuchlinweg 996 - Rotterdam, Netherlands October 16 - LOCH - Bergstraße 50 - Wuppertal, Germany Listen to & buy: 5, Rights & X      To set up press and radio interviews with Cuneiform Artists while on tour or at home, please contact: promo@cuneiformrecords.com return to top SUMMER HAS ARRIVED in the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE!! And here in DC, the 17 Year Cicadas have arrived. Their otherworldly, all encompassing and LOUD sonic drone forms the soundtrack to our days. CELEBRATE WITH THE CICADAS, and take part in  CUNEIFORM RECORDS' ACTIVITIES ONLINE ! Summer 2021 has arrived, and thanks to the increasing availability of vaccines, we're gradually emerging from the dark pandemic tunnel, removing our masks in outdoor sun, not unlike the 17 Year Cicadas now blanketing Washington DC.  Part of Brood X, these cicadas live underground for 17 years before emerging from the earth en masse. Exposed in sunlight, they shed bland shells, unfurl irridescent wings, open scarlet eyes and fly to trees. In the trees, they  climb to the skies to drone, to sing, to party like its...YEAR 17.  Humans are more aware of our tenuous position on this planet than the 17 year cicadas are of theirs. Now, with the vaccine and herd immunity within sight, it's important to be mindful and not throw caution to the wind. Be patient; the pandemic is not yet crushed.  Live concerts are slowly resuming, with precautions; outdoor activities are flourishing. Until concerts and other activities resume fully in your town - and afterwards - we invite you to visit us online and enjoy the music and videos we present for your enjoyment!   Music can make a positive difference in our lives, and help us survive prolonged weird and tumultuous times.  Until concerts calendars  fully resume, we can enjoy music at home.  You can explore tracks from over 400 recordings released by Cuneiform Records since 1984 on our website, or on Bandcamp, SoundCloud or YouTube, and also watch recordings of recent and vintage concerts that we regularly post on YouTube.  Cuneiform Records has a treasure chest of interesting music to serve as soundtrack, inspiration and solace during these challenging times. We have a mammoth catalogue of releases by some of avant music's most esteemed icons as well as young rising stars, available for purchase at the Cuneiform Records Bandcamp store and at one of our sister companies, Wayside Music. Your purchases support indie musicians, indie labels, and small business.  • Discover new music on Cuneiform Records' BANDCAMP PAGE :  support our artists & our indie label by purchasing music.   • Visit our internet store, WaysideMusic.com (established 1980!), to purchase  music from ALL your favorite labels!  We also have a ton of FREE entertainment for your enjoyment on several online platforms:   • Enjoy hours on Cuneiform Records' YouTube CHANNEL:  free music videos, videos of live shows, & samples from 400+ adventurous releases!   And we've expanded our video content during the pandemic, most notably with an ongoing video series curated  and produced by guitarist Henry Kaiser.  • Enjoy and share samples of music by releases of countless Cuneiform artists on the Cuneiform Records' SoundCloud Site. • Visit & Like & Follow our Facebook PAGE for Cuneiform Records. • Join our Facebook GROUP: Fans of Cuneiform Records. • Follow @CuneiformRecord onTwitter • Visit the CuneiformRecords.com official WEBSITE for extensive information on the artists and recordings on our label,  upcoming concerts & much more. • Media professionals: find music to LICENSE from Cuneiform for movies, ads etc via our sister site TheMusicOutpost.com. • Were you forwarded this email from a friend?  If so, make sure you sign up for the Cuneiform NEWSLETTER to  get this monthly newsletter in your email box, in addition to receiving notices for Cuneiform's weekly "$5 Friday" offers – Cuneiform selects a special album from its archive each weekend,  to be sold in download format via Bandcamp, that weekend only,  for $5.   WE LOOK FORWARD TO SPENDING THIS SUPER-SPECIAL SUMMER  WITH  THE  SEVENTEEN-YEAR  CICADAS AND WITH YOU, ONLINE!   Cuneiform YouTube Cuneiform Website Facebook FanGroup Facebook Page Cuneiform Twitter Cuneiform SoundCloud Cuneiform Bandcamp Instagram Email Cuneiform return to top Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* Cuneiform Records, All rights reserved. Washington, DC // Silver Spring, MD Our mailing address is: Cuneiform Records P.O. Box 8427 Silver Spring, MD 20907 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Was this email forwarded to you from a friend? Subscribe to the Cuneiform Records Newsletter. read this email online   return to top