All artists filed by last name under M, N, O and P :
From piece to piece the music moves smoothly from accurate melodies to intense interaction then soft and mysterious textures that allow poet Mark Weber’s poetry to come through. Through many gestures that could be modal, harmonically static, bebop harmony, dense or open, vertical or horizontal, there is a lot more conversation going on than in many standard jazz quintets. — Francis Lo Kee Continue reading
“NOTES FROM NEW YORK” is a sampler of the New Artists’ catalog, not so much a “greatest hits” collection, as an overview that features virtually all the talented musicians that have recorded for the label. Each of the performances rewards repeated listenings… This independent label’s future looks quite bright as it continues to infuse jazz with feeling, creativity, and fresh ideas.” — Scott Yanow, Editor, All Music Guide To Jazz. Continue reading
Anbian is a raw mixture of poet, preacher, seer, and rebel… these poems are unlike anything else on the market. Anbian the angst-catcher, has captured both his subjects and his responses in vision-charged, some times Whitmanesque, direct statements. – Choice Continue reading
Sunnyoutside Press strives to publish works of the highest quality and present them in a manner that enhances the reader’s experience. Our aim is to approach the production of our work the same way a poet approaches the poem — everything has a purpose. Continue reading
I hope this record will serve to introduce Don’s genius to the many who I know will want to hear how he works. I am grateful to him for helping to bring all of my music full-circle and into complete contemporaneity.” — Henry Kuntz Continue reading
percaso production was established in 1986 by Swiss saxophonist and composer Christoph Gallio who operates the label singlehandely. percaso production is a “subjective” label not charakterized by certain musical styles, but rather a selection by director’s choice. Quality of musical expression counts; commercial determinans not. percaso production collaborates with visual artists in packaging. Danish graphic designer Anne Hoffmann places the format and image into context making the medium a message as well as the music. percaso production releases are created with utmost loving care. All in all: music produced by and for the audiophile. Continue reading
Featuring Kevin Frenette on guitar Andy McWain on piano, Todd Keating on bass and Tatsuya Nakatani on drums. I am previously familiar with just 2 members of this quartet. Boston pianist, Andy McWain, has had a couple of strong discs on this same label, a quartet date with Assif Tsahar and a trio with Albey Balgochian & Lawrence Cook that I reviewed. Former Boston-based percussion wiz, Tatsuya Nakatani, remains one of the best and most distinctive of all improvising drummers and moved to Pennsylvania a couple of years back. Although Kevin has nice round jazz guitar tone, his playing is quite free and focused. Both he and pianist, Andy McWain, have a special relationship as they swirl layers of notes around one another with a magical connection. The other magic is the way the acoustic bass and drums also swirl freely at an astonishing pace that is sparse and well-connected simultaneously. It is as is there are two incredible duos playing at the same time yet they are subliminally always connected. — Bruce Lee Gallanter Continue reading
Zeitgeist Press started in 1986 to publish work from a group of poets generating tremendous heat at the Cafe Babar readings in San Francisco. It was originally a collective more than a traditionally structured press, which explains both the press strengths and weaknesses. All the way back to the late 1950s North Beach Coffee Gallery, there was a Thursday night open reading in San Francisco. This community spawned some incredible poets– Bob Kaufman, Richard Brautigan, Jack Micheline. Other top poets of the era passed through as well– Diane di Prima, Ginsberg first drafted Howl at a cubbyhole in North Beach, Jack Gilbert, Corso & Kerouac, Rexroth, Ferlinghetti, etc. The reading had died down, lost energy, by the mid-1980s when it moved to the Mission District in 1985. Bruce Isaacson and David Lerner, Julia Vinograd, Bana Witt, were the original partners in the 4 books that came out on Zeitgeist Press at the end of 1987. Lerner named the press and did publicity. Isaacson handled the business side, the mechanics, and acted as publisher. Both edited books by various authors, as did poets and others. Continue reading
Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie who form the heart of Bayou Seco, have been researching and playing the music of the Southwest USA – from the Mississippi to the deserts of Arizona – for twenty two years. Respectfully drawing from these traditions and from their own ancestors, they present to the public an exciting and informative overview of Southwestern music on diatonic accordions, fiddles, guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmonica. Continue reading
Noisy People is a new feature length video documentary, presenting portraits of eight sound artists and musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area. Tim Perkis says about his film: “At first I thought I was simply stepping in to do a job I wished someone else had done, documenting a little-known musical scene with an interesting story. But it soon became clear that the film also touched upon a more basic question: what is the nature of a creative life, and how can one live it?” Continue reading