This latest KLOF mix has been incubating for a little while now. Two albums drove this one – Certain Reveries (main image), the latest offering from Ben LaMar Gay that was released in November on International Anthem and JJJJJerome Ellis‘ The Clearing, actually released in 2021, but I only discovered it for the first time late last year after being captivated by one his live performances.
I’ve included two tracks from Gay’s Certain Reveries although you should really listen to the whole album in one sitting as it is a long-form composition by Gay, performed in duo with percussionist Tommaso Moretti.
In the tradition of toddler crayon scribbles on perfectly painted bedroom walls, multi-freshness composer Ben LaMar Gay expands on the teachings of Alabama star spirits and presents a collection of work involving sound, fabric, movement, rivers, shadows, Lagosian memories, light and listening.
‘Certain Reveries’ is a long-form composition by Gay, performed in duo with percussionist Tommaso Moretti. It was originally filmed by Chris Strong for EFG London Jazz Fest’s 2020 live-stream program. Gay presented the original Certain Reveries visual program for EFG LJF in three parts, with the live performance portion dissected by a mesmerizing short film (or “revery”) he conceptualized, choreographed, and directed, alone in his Chicago apartment, as a tribute to the late inventor/composer Eddie Harris. This new album release is the first time the unedited audio from the live performance portion of that program is made available.
This is the first mix I’ve included JJJJJerome Ellis whose music I’ve been listening to a lot of late, especially in the evenings. Why the multiple Js? Jerome has what’s called a glottal block — a form of speech dysfluency that creates silent gaps in his speech. He calls these gaps “clearings” and the word he stutters most with is his name, so he adopted the practice of spelling it this way. His album ‘The Clearing‘ is both a book and an album. In case you missed out on the first print, a second edition is being published this month and is available to order via Wendy’s Subway. Ellis argues that stuttering—much like music—challenges and “breaks up” time as we know it: “My thesis is that Blackness, dysfluency and music are forces that open time. Opening brings possibilities: temporal refusal, temporal escape, temporal dissent.” Ellis goes on to suggest that disabled speakers and certain types of people, especially Black folks, are subjected to related forms of temporal regulation and oppression that seek to pathologize and criminalize: “Temporal subjection enacted against Black people occurs in many spheres. Brittney Cooper examines several in her work: Black women’s reproductive health; legal and extralegal murders of Black people; racially skewed correlations between zip code and life expectancy; and the conceptualization of history itself.” He later adds, “I hope this album offers the listener some of what my stutter offers me: an opportunity to imagine new ways of being in time.” Read more here.
The mix opens to Complete Moutain Almanac, which was reviewed very recently here. Two quote from the press: Sometimes, two artists come together and transcend mere musical collaboration. Herein, the perfect example. Rebekka Karijord and Jessica Dessner met by chance in Brooklyn in the late ‘00s. Immediately taking an immense liking to one another, their friendship and shared artistry has produced one of the most important projects of both of their careers, now 15 years on.
It’s followed by a track from the Japanese psych-indie-pop duo Tenniscoats, featuring Saya & Takashi Ueno. It’s taken from last year’s remaster of Tan-Tan Therapy, originally released in 2007. They’re known for their collective spirit and ongoing collaborations, and later in the mix, you can hear them as Spirit Fest (Anohito), a collaboration with Markus Acher (The Notwist, Rayon), Cico Beck (Aloa Input, The Notwist) and Mat Fowler (Jam Money, Bons).
I’m a big Don Cherry fan, especially the Organic Music Societies era, so the inclusion of Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble‘s new single Harvest Time was a must. The single is from the forthcoming album ‘Spirit Gatherer’ out March 10th via Spiritmuse, and is a celebration of Cherry.
‘Harvest Time’ is Chicago giant Kahil El’Zabar’s re-imagining of Pharoah Sanders’ classic. Mesmerising, inspiring, spiritual jazz with El’Zabar leading on African balafon, Dwight Trible uplifting with his divine vocals, masters Alex Harding & Corey Wilkes on horns and legend David Ornette Cherry’s dynamic piano – his very last recording, adding to the groove.
“Pharoah Sanders was the most popular village griot of the avant-garde jazz movement”, says El’Zabar of the late, great saxophonist. “So, when Pharaoh did songs like ‘Harvest Time’, they became something that the entire community embraced. In the same way, Don Cherry was the griot of the community”, and there’s no better way to pay tribute to these noble ‘warriors’, than connecting their spirits in music.
Performed by a group of artists who intimately understand the profundity of Don Cherry’s contribution to universal musical and artistic culture, Spirit Gatherer is a powerful, spiritualised tribute to one of the giants of twentieth-century music.
Reds for a Blue Planet is the new single (download here) from Bobby Lee taken from his forthcoming new album Endless Skyways on Tompkins Square who share: Returning to the full band sound of his debut, the name Endless Skyways is borrowed from a line in Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land, one of the cornerstones of American music. That song’s mix of the terrestrial (“ribbons of highway”) and celestial consciousness encapsulates Lee’s brand of widescreen cosmic americana; a duality also evident in the album’s split between deep-fried rural rock and ambient country. Dusty boots but third eye open.
Opener and lead single “Reds For A Blue Planet” inhabits a geographically different realm to any of Lee’s previous work, equal parts Michael Chapman’s Anglo-Primitivism and Tinariwen’s desert-choogle. Slowdive/Mojave 3’s Ian McCutcheon turns in a muscular drum performance, with just a hint of sleng-teng creeping into Mark Armstrong’s bassline. The title hints at an ecological frustration which radiates through the taut, spiraling, modal grooves.
FİDAYDA, is the new single from Turkish downtempo specialist Islandman featuring legendary percussion innovator Okay Temiz and contemporary saz virtuoso Muhlis Berberoğlu, taken from their unique one-take recording for Night Dreamer’s ground-breaking Direct-To-Disc series. The release finds them expanding beyond their electro-acoustic DJ formula into a wider sound world of experimental instruments, neo-traditional rhythms and folk improvisation. You can pre-order Direct-to-Disc Sessions via Bandcamp here (out on 10 March)
Joshua Burnside released It’s Blowing a Gale Outside last year, a collection of experimental pieces from the sound installation ‘It’s Blowing a Gale outside’ at Vault Artist Studios, Belfast. I’ve been waiting for a good opportunity to fit one of the tracks into a mix, and this seemed the perfect opportunity.
He says: The idea for this project came about when I found a load of cassettes in my studio when I moved in 4 years ago. The cassettes were about 15-20 years old, from when these studios were a college. They contain performances, interviews, debriefs and all sorts of strange and wonderful voices and sounds. I had already been using samples of people talking and other found sounds in my music, and the weirder the words/voices the better, so these tapes were like buried treasure to me.
I began to make tape loops with these, mixing them with other sounds (organs, piano, fiddle etc) as well as drawing and using thread and needle to create visual representations of the compositions… Find out more here.
Also, released last year, is a track from Everest Magma‘s ‘Alto//Piano‘. Everest Magma’s career over the past 10 years has been slowly building one of the most ecstatic and singular paths of the Italian underground scene. His dense and beautiful three albums were not afraid to cross boundaries with a mix of hypnotic tape beats, digital wonk, psych folk tropicalia and kinetic dub. This new offering ‘Alto//Piano’ once again sees him in uncharted territories, where nature is sublimated into a personal alien vision mixing acid-folk fingerpicking, tonal ambience, psychedelic eccentricity and Italian 70s minimalism.
There is also music from Benjamin Clementine‘s debut album At Least For Now (2015); Adrianne Lenker‘s Songs (2020); Brigid Mae Power‘s Burning Your Light (2021 – reviewed here); Maxine Funke‘s Pieces of Driftwood (2022 – reviewed here); Buck Meek‘s Two Saviors (2021) and Aisha Burns‘ Life in the Midwater (2013).
Music Played
Complete Mountain Almanac – September
Tenniscoats – まあるいひと / Marui Hito / Everyone (2022 Remaster)
Ben LaMar Gay – Salt Air
Kahil El’Zabar, Corey Wilkes, Alex Harding, David Ornette Cherry, Dwight Trible – Harvest Time
Benjamin Clementine – Adiós
Islandman ft Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoğlu – FİDAYDA
Ben LaMar Gay – You Ain’t Never Lied
Bobby Lee – Reds For A Blue Planet
Adrianne Lenker – ingydar
JJJJJerome Ellis – Dysfluent Waters
Joshua Burnside – Kelly’s Character
Brigid Mae Power – May Morning Dew (Traditional)
Maxine Funke – Nicest Thing
Buck Meek – Dream Daughter
Aisha Burns – Shelly
Spirit Fest – Anohito (Till The Gate)
Everest Magma – Ponte