Free Jazz and Improvisation on Vinyl

How about this? An old fashioned paper book by Johannes Rød called "Free jazz and improvisation on vinyl 1965 - 1985. A guide to 60 independent labels." (Rune Grammofon 2014), and believe it or not - it might be just what you need!

Johannes Rød writes in his intro that "The aim of this book is to present a selection of independent record companies and their record releases in the field of free jazz, abstract jazz, avant-garde jazz, free improvisation and instant composing. It is a book of lists, numbers and chronologies, as well as record designs and musicians" and "The selection of labels in this book is subjective, and it is important to stress that this project does not take encyclopedic approach".

There are also forewords by Rune Kristoffersen and Mats Gustafsson and a conversation between Rune Kristoffersen and Rob Young.

A lot of records to check out here, even if we can´t get them on vinyl (*digital ouch*), and of course it will make you go through your own collection to see what you have got already (some of mine below), rediscovering old gems! Anyway, you better be careful on eBay after reading this book.

At last a typical WyattAndStuff note:

Alfreda Benge made the cover to the first album on Rift Records: Frith/Kaiser/Cusak/Rowe/Chadbourne/Williams/Ljima "Guitar Solos 3" (1979).

Tyshawn Sorey at The Stone (NY)

We already posted a fresh video with Tyshawn Sorey at The Stone (NY), and here are two more!

- With Henry Grimes - bass, words and Dave Burrell - piano

- With Jen Shyu - voice, percussion, dance

Make sure you check out Don Mount´s YouTube channel!

Jenny Hval and Susanna: "I Have Walked This Body"

Jenny Hval & Susanna's collaboration 'Meshes of Voice' from 2009 will be released as an album on the label SusannaSonata in August 2014.
Recorded live at Henie Onstad Arts Centre together with Jo Berger Myhre and Anita Kaasbøll. Jenny Hval & Susanna has composed the music and lyrics.

Album to be released:
in Norway and Germany 15th of August
in UK 18th of August
in USA 19th of August

All info from SoundCloud.

Pamela Windo: Him Through Me

I finally got around to read Pamela Windo´s "Him through me. Making love and music in the Sixties & Seventies" (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014 - adaptation of original e.book from 2013).

This is the story of the careers and lives of Gary Windo (1941 - 1992) and Pamela Windo. We get the music, the musicians (a lot of regulars from this blog), the drugs, love in an "open" marriage and the struggle to make room to develop her own music while being a mother and a woman in an man´s, man´s musical world.

A touching and entertaining read!

Since this is "Robert Wyatt and Stuff" just remember that Gary Windo plays on Wyatt´s "Rock Bottom", "Ruth is Stranger than Richard" and "Theatre Royal Drury Lane..", and you will also find him on the collection "Flotsam Jetsam".

Robert Wyatt is on the Gary Windo albums "His Master´s Bones" (1996), "Anglo American" (2004) and "Steam Radio Tapes" (2013).

The book has discographies and concert lists for both artists.


A digression:

I heard Gary Windo live only once, as he played with the Carla Bley Band at Molde International Jazz Festival in 1978. I can´t remember much of the concert, but I remember this guy walking over to a friend of mine and me, while we were relaxing on the Island of Hjertøya near Molde, a popular place to swim.
That was Gary Windo and he was very interested in all the sheep shit laying around on the island. He ended up suggesting we started to produce "sheep shit jackets". That never happened unfortunately.

He also wanted to swim to Molde from the Hjertøya island, but was a bit worried about sharks! We assured him there were no sharks there, but begged him not to try because of the cold water and the distance (a couple of kilometers!), and he probably went back by boat.

The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band

How about this one?! The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band with Syd Barrett and Fred Frith: "Six Hour Technicolour Dream" (Easy Action 2014). Probably been on bootlegs already, but what do I know?

Live recording from Cambridge Corn Exchange January 27th 1972 of a band With Twink (Tomorrow, Pretty Things, Pink Fairies), Jack Monk and Brice Pain, with Fred Frith Syd Barrett guesting.

One of the tracks already on Vimeo, accompanied by an animation video:

Still Drinkin' That Wine - The Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band w/ Syd Barrett from Muddy_Roger on Vimeo.

Robert Wyatt Interview 15th June 1983

Robert Wyatt interviewed by Mark Ellen for the John Peel Show 15th June 1983.

"The nearer you get to success, the more people you get telling you what to do".

Noisy Stuff from Norway

Those of you interested in the more aggressive parts of the Norwegian music scene, should check out the new albums from Noxagt and Brutal Blues on Kjetil Brandsdal´s Drid Machine Records.

Noxagt is now Kjetil Brandsdal (b), Jan Christian Lauritzen (dr) and John Hegre (g), and the music is heavy, monotonic and deeply fascinating.

Brutal Blues present themselves with first names only; as Steinar (g, voc) from PSUDOKU, Parlamentarisk Sodomi and BxSxRx (none of the band names are familiar to me) and Anders (dr, voc) from a. o. MoHa!, Noxagt, Circulasione Totale Orchestra and Ultralyd, so this is obviously Anders Hana (who used to play guitar).

Drid Machine on Brutal Blues: "Are you ready for 100% authentic deluxe delta blues from Mississippi? Too bad, because Brutal Blues is a grind band from Norway".
Fast and furious it is, and this record is one sided and runs on 45 rpm.