ROB MAZUREK & THE EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA

Two digital albums arrived in my mailbox recently. Both by Rob Mazurek and his Exploding Star Orchestra.

• Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra: Live At The Adler Planetarium
      (2024, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2024, cd, --,international anthem recording co iarc0087) - also out on LP

• Rob Mazurek / Exploding Star Orchestra: Spectral Fiction
      (2024, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2024, cd, --, corbett vs. dempsey cvsd cd104)

Conceived in 2005 as a vehicle to unite the various threads of Chicago’s improvised music scene, the Exploding Star Orchestra serves as Rob Mazurek's "mothership"—the conceptual and philosophical core of his expansive, cross-disciplinary art.
A psychedelic fusion of avant-garde jazz, cosmic electronics, minimalist classical textures, and global rhythms. 

If you like Sun Ra, or The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, you have to check them out !!

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AN ED PALERMO UPDATE

October 24 at The Falcon:
The Ed Palermo Big Band

NEW SUN RA COMPILATION ALBUM OUT ON BANDCAMP

Sun Ra And His Arkestra
"Elleptical Orbits"

A set of works recorded by Sun Ra & His Arkestra ca. 1965 in New York. Some of these tracks originated at sessions which produced the albums The Magic City and The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra. Most of these tracks were previously issued on various independent labels. All tracks have been newly mastered.

The Bandcamp link:

-- info: Jan van Kemenade

J.M. SMIG - MENTAGERIE

New music by J.M. Smig !!

Next to 'Forty-Eight And A Day', from 2017, J.M. Smig's "Mentagerie" also present three recent pieces of music.

FREAK OUT AND MORE

Saturday had two surprises for me.
Not only did I receive the (delayed) ZAPPAtite package, but the FREAK OUT package arrived as well.

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GU-RU

I received these little snippets of music by GU-RU in my reels while scrolling Facebook.
In this particular case, I'm glad that the algorithm worked.

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - FLIGHT B741

• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Flight B741
      (2024, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2024, cd, --, )

After "Alien Metal", the latest KG&TLW album, I absolutely needed some recalibration.
"Flight B741" is a 2024 album by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.
More 1970s rock oriented.
Love it.

Tapping into the country-fried 70s American rock on which they were all raised – along with the ornery garage-rock roots from which their mighty discography sprang – Flight b741 is lightning caught inside a bottle. Across its 10 ragged, glorious barnburners, King Gizzard flesh out rough skeletons of songs with their inspired improvisations, inimitable grooves and a unique pass-the-mic approach to vocals that saw every member of the band raise their voice and sing. “We’re having a lot of fun, but we’re often singing about some pretty heavy shit,” Mackenzie adds, “and probably hitting on some deeper, more universal themes than usual. It’s not a sci-fi record, it’s about life and stuff. But the record is like a really fun weekend with your mates, you know? Like, proper fun.”

ANDY SHEPPARD - SALT CATCHERS

• Andy Sheppard, Rita Marcotulli, Michel Benita: Salt Catchers
      (2026, cd, --, ecm)

British saxophonist Andy Sheppard returns with "Salt Catchers", a collaboration with Italian pianist Rita Marcotulli and French double bassist Michel Benita.
No guitars, no drums, just saxophone, piano and double bass.

Beautiful but also sounding almost sad, with Carla Bley's 'Lawns' fitting in perfectly alongside Andy Sheppard's original pieces.

-- info: Danny Mathys

MAGMA - LIVE

• Magma: Live
      (2017, 2cd, France, seventh rex X-XI)

My recent trip to Brussels added two Magma albums to the shelves. Next to the "Retrospectiw I-II-III" set, I also bought the "Live" 2 CD set. It's re-issue of the 1975 2 LP set with two bonus tracks.

Remastered and in a beautiful digipak.
And a superb concert.
Recorded in 1975 at L'Olympia in Paris, France, and featuring two keyboard players, Benoît Widemann and Jean-Paul Asseline), a (at the time) new bass player (Bernard Paganotti), the mesmerizing Kobaïan vocals of Klaus Blasquiz and Stella Vander, and, of course, violinist Didier Lockwood and bandleader Christian Vander.

This remastered re-release is from 2017 !
Out on the Seventh record label.

TERJE RYPDAL - CONSPIRACY

• Terje Rypdal: Conspiracy
      (2020, cd, --, ecm)

Having released "Melodic Warrior" in 2013, Norwegian guitar maestro Terje Rypdal only returned to the studio in 2019 to record "Conspiracy".

Blasting through the speakers of the United Mutations Headquarters at this very moment, this album is right up my alley.
Rypdal teamed up with keyboardist Ståle Storløkken, drummer Pål Thowsen, and bassist Endre Hareide Hallre. Together, they craft a beautifully dark, meditative, and texturally rich environment.

Terje Rypdal's long and weeping notes have a sharp edge to them. Not in an aggressive way, but perfect to give them extra emphasis. What a great sound.

At just 35 minutes, "Conspiracy" is a short, punchy album.
It will absorb you.
Recommended listening.

-- info: Danny Mathys