GONG - PULSING SIGNALS

• gong: pulsing signals
      (2022, 2lp, uk, kscope)

Recorded in concert during the Universe Also Collapses tour in 2019, this is Gong (obviously) without the late Daevid Allen, who passed away in 2015.

This current line-up was picked by Daevid Allen and consists of Kavus Torabi (guitar, vocals), Fabio Golfetti (guitar, vocals), Dave Sturt (bass, vocals), Ian East (flute, sax) and Cheb Nettles (drums, vocals).

Energetic & uplifting.
A fine album.

Out on 2LP and 2CD on the Kscope label.

ECHOES OF ZOO

After having released an EP in 2019, Belgian ensemble Echoes Of Zoo released their first full album in 2021. The EP (10" vinyl and/or CD) was called "First Provocations", the album (LP) "Breakout".

• Falk Schrauwen: drums
• Lieven Van Pée: double bass
• Bart Vervaeck: electric guitar
• Nathan Daems: tenor sax and nyahbingi drum

Bandcamp is also offering package deals for both, but these are without the digital download !

Recommended listening !

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TWO POSTS ON SUN RA

 A bit of reading :

http://madshoesmusicology.blogspot.com/2022/01/sun-ra-sun-song-1956.html

http://zerosounds.blogspot.com/2014/08/sun-ra-and-his-solar-arkestra-other.html

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN AND MAHAVISHNU - ADVENTURES IN RADIOLAND

• john mclaughlin and mahavishnu: adventures in radioland
      (1986, cd, usa, relativity)

John McLaughlin released "Aventures In Radioland" in 1986.
The above album cover is from the 1993 re-issue.

I've got this on and off relationship with the music of John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu. I love the fusion jazz melodies and guitar playing and I'm a big fan of the Indian influences but I'm no fan of the machine-gun-like note-spitting. My ears like melodies and phrasing...
Anyway, when my buddy Harald told me that "Adventures In Radioland" features synclavier digital guitar, I knew I had to give it a listen.

"Adventures In Radioland" has 10 tracks.
John McLaughllin on guitar, Bill Evans on sax, Mitch Foreman on keyboards, Jonas Hellborg on bass, and Danny Gottlieb on drums.
There are indeed some amazing pieces to be found on "Adventures In Radioland" (contributed by the band members !!), and John's synth guitar playing sounds fabulous. Add the superb sax lines by Bill Evans and Jonas Hellborg's amazing electric bass and you have one great album.. 
Too bad about Danny Gottlieb's sound on the electronic drums, but that might have been an eighties thing. I don't know.

In all, a very nice listening session.

ECLECTIC MAYBE BAND - AGAIN ALORS?

• eclectic maybe band: again alors?
      (2022, cd, uk, discus-music)

"Again Alors?", the latest release by the Eclectic Maybe Band presents 8 tracks.
Common denominator Guy Segers assembled the material from different sessions and locations.
The Bandcamp liner notes give additional information:
"Using different groupings from within a large ensemble cast, which includes many well-known names, Guy has created an album where half the tracks are drawn from live improvisation in the studio and half are created from the ground up with players adding their composed or improvised parts one at a time. In both cases Guy assumes the role of master arranger, taking the improvisations as raw material and sculpting them into finished pieces."

The result is a very varied album. It guarantees quite a number of beautiful surprises and invites to multiple listening sessions.
Out on Martin Archer's Discus Music label and available through the Discus Music Bandcamp page.

https://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/again-alors-130cd-2022

I went for the CD (mainland Europe distribution from Berlin, so no VAT issues !!).
Next to the fact that it's nice to cherish, the CD also has detailed info for each track (participating musicians, recording session,...).
Featuring Guy Segers, Dirk Wachtelaer, Catherine Smet, Joe Higham, Michelle Delville, Martin Archer, to name just a few.
Mastered by Pierre Vervloesem!

Beautiful.
Check it out.

FRED FRITH - FREEDOM IN FRAGMENTS

• fred frith: freedom in fragments
      (2002, cd, usa, tzadik)

Twenty years ago, Fred Frith released "Freedom In Fragments" on the Tzadik record label.
The album presented 13 compositions, performed by the Rova Saxophone Quartet.
Track number seven, 'T Square Park Lark' was dedicated to Frank Zappa.
Over nine minutes long, the piece combined mother-esque melodies next to orchestrated chaos.
Quite experimental, but a beautiful tribute.

HERMETO PASCOAL

Everything is Sound: The Storied Career of Hermeto Pascoal

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/hermeto-pascoal-planetario-da-gavea-interview

SOLIS LACUS

Sdban Records is re-releasing Solis Lacus' eponymous 1975 album !!

Solis Lacus is the cult group around renowned Belgian pianist Michel Herr, a pioneer of electric jazz in the 70's in Europe. Michel Herr rose to international prominence after winning the first prize at the jazz festival in Loosdrecht, The Netherlands, in 1971. He accompanied many European and American jazz stars on foreign tours and ran the group Jazztrack with saxophone player Wolfgang Engstfeld in Germany. At the same time, he set up his own band Solis Lacus, which consisted of Belgian musicians who had all made a name for themselves on the national jazz scene of the 1960s including Richard Rousselet and Bruno Castelluci both from Placebo. Inspired by the reigning jazz-rock sound of the day, Herr expanded his musical vocabulary and started to play electronic keyboards. Solis Lacus recorded its only album in the course of 1974 and 1975, before the members of the group headed in their own direction.

 

MIKE MILLER SUPER ALLSTARS IN CONCERT AT THE BAKED POTATO TONIGHT

https://www.thebakedpotato.com/events/mike-miller-super-allstars-friday-march-11-2022

 

LE SUN RA AND HIS COSMO DISCIPLINE ORHCESTRA - A NIGHT IN EAST BERLIN

Originally Sun Ra's "A Night In East Berlin" got released as a cassette on Sun Ra's Saturn label in 1986.

1. Mystic Prophecy
2. Beyond The Wilderness Of Shadows
3. Prelude To A Kiss
4. Interstellar Lo-Ways
5. Space Is The Place
6. We Travel The Spaceways
7. Shadow World
8. Rocket #9
9. Second Stop Is Jupiter

One year later, Leo Records re-released an edited version both as an LP and as a CD: LR149.

Unfortunately, Leo Records did not use the correct track titles or even track divisions. The 38 minutes  from 'A Night In East Berlin' were released as one long track where it should have been separated in a number of different tracks.

Tracks 2 to 4 are from different source.

1. A Night In East Berlin
2. Images
3. Love In Our Space
4. Space Is The Place

In 1995, Leo Records released "A Night In East Berlin / My Brothers The Wind & Sun N.9".
Again as LR149, but with the correct separation & titles.

1. Mystic Prophecy
2. Beyond The Wilderness Of Shadows
3. Prelude To A Kiss
4. Space Is The Place/We Travel The Spaceways
5. Interstellar Low Ways
6. The Shadow World
7. Rocket Number Nine
8. My Brothers The Wind And Sun N.9

Tracks 1 to 7 are from East Berlin, while track 8 is from a different location.
Don't know why Leo Records did not go for 'Second Stop Is Jupiter', also present on the original tape...