Frank’s three releases in the year 1970 consisted of Burnt Weenie Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, recordings by the original Mothers of Invention tweaked and edited by Zappa, plus Chunga’s Revenge, which bridges the gap between the old Mothers and the new version of the band that Zappa would soon unleash.
Continue reading Frank Zappa Released Three Records in 1970Category Archives: Avant Garde/Improvisation
Laurie Anderson collaborates on Songs from the Bardo
Laurie Anderson, musician and visual/conceptual artist, has made her bones exploring the intersection between the deep philosophical ruminations of fine art and the commercial world of popular culture, with results that are by turns fascinating, hilarious, sad, and chilling. Her latest collaboration, Songs from the Bardo, looks deeply into the Tibetan Buddhism that she has studied and whose ideas she has incorporated into previous work.
Continue reading Laurie Anderson collaborates on Songs from the BardoWendy Carlos, Beethoven, and Kubrick
How Wendy Carlos created the groundbreaking soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange
Continue reading Wendy Carlos, Beethoven, and KubrickKing Crimson: 1981-2019
Part 1: King Crimson: 1969-1974 ** Part 2: Robert Fripp: Crimson Hiatus 1974-1980 ** Part 3: King Crimson: 1981-2019
Part 3: King Crimson: 1981-2019
1981 brought a new development to the musical landscape that was very surprising and confusing to many music fans: Robert Fripp announced the formation of a new version of King Crimson that would go on tour as well as releasing a new album. While the return of King Crimson was unexpected, it didn’t create the kind of controversy and confusion that the actual band did. Fripp, of course, was the only original member of the band, and he brought drummer Bill Bruford, a member of the group’s 1973-74 model, to the table as well.
Continue reading King Crimson: 1981-2019Yoko Ono: Approximately Infinite Universe & Feeling The Space
In 1972 and 1973 Yoko Ono released two of her most successful albums, Approximately Infinite Universe and Feeling the Space. Both of these albums are focused on issues of women’s rights and the pain of living in a male-dominated world, and they contain some of Ono’s sharpest and most interesting songwriting as well as an attempt to create music that sounded like rock music of the time in order to carry her message forth.
Continue reading Yoko Ono: Approximately Infinite Universe & Feeling The SpaceGato Barbieri
Fire and Ice
Gato Barbieri is frequently remembered for his Academy Award winning soundtrack the 1972 Bernardo Bertolucci film Last Tango In Paris, but his musical career is much wider than that.
Continue reading Gato BarbieriDon Cherry: Symphony For Improvisers
Related: Don Cherry: Musician of the World
Trumpet player Don Cherry was pretty much Blue Note’s premiere find in the 60s avant-garde jazz sweepstakes. The label was a bit late to the party, and though they ended up releasing excellent recordings by formidable avant-garde names such as Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor, that was only after these musicians had already done groundbreaking work on other labels who proceeded to drop them eventually.
Continue reading Don Cherry: Symphony For ImprovisersDon Cherry: Musician of the World
by Marshall Bowden
Read about Don Cherry/Symphony for Improvisers
Don Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, OK in 1936 and raised in Los Angeles, where he first began to play the trumpet and later piano. According to Cherry, his upbringing had everything to do with his interest in music:
Continue reading Don Cherry: Musician of the WorldGoGo Penguin’s Transmission From a Humdrum Star
GoGo Penguin, the piano trio from Manchester UK that has received a great deal of attention since its debut in 2012, utilizes the services of sound engineer Joe Reiser. Reiser began working with (joined?) the group with the release of their second album 2.0, along with bassist Nick Blacka, another essential element who joined at the same time. Reiser produced both 2.0 and the group’s recent album, Humdrum Star, sharing production with Brendan Williams. Reiser is generally acknowledged as the band’s fourth member, and integral to the band’s live sound as well as to their recording process.
Continue reading GoGo Penguin’s Transmission From a Humdrum Star