Tatsuya Nakatani FIM #116 Ely Center 4/10/26

 The Ely Center has been evicted. I don’t know the details, but the address change from the cushy Trumbull Street cabal of lawyers and therapists to the polluted waterfront hood of James Street reeks of financial distress. The space afforded by this lo-fi location allows for a small concert space amongst a sizable gallery for showcasing local art. The FIM fellas have been positively reviewed in this blog many times. At 116 gatherings, these noiseniks keep a steady schedule of improv performances in and around the New Haven area. Caleb Duval on standup bass, Luke Rovinsky on guitar, and Kaelen Ghandi on saxes are joined by Japanese percussion legend Nakatani. I arrive to the sound guy patching cords and setting up mics, apparently the performance will be recorded. After a lengthy sound check, the improv starts. Luke bends strings and warps sounds. Caleb uses a variety of kindling to capo the strings while using stabbing motion for a shrill sound. Ghandi’s yelps are punctuated with asmr whispering. Nakatani is the main attraction. His credits include stints with Eugene Chadbourne, Acid Mothers Temple, and Mary Halvorson. He has a standard drum kit with two large gongs. His playing is anything but standard, employing a variety of cymbals and shakers that he rubs and scrapes on the snare drum. He uses mallets, sticks, brushes, and bows to coax sound from all sides. Using the bow on the side of the cymbal while scraping the snare made this crazy metallic sound. He bowed the gongs and looked like he was slicing deli meat. The improv fills the room for the twenty brave souls who call this “music”. Based in Boston, Tatsuya travels the region spreading the free improv gospel.

Laraaji 4/4/26 Wesleyan University Memorial Chapel

 Ambient New Age mystic Laraaji stops in Middletown for an improv performance at this historic campus church. The altar has his setup of electric zither, dulcimer, piano, electronics, mbira, and several small bells. He is joined by his life partner Arji Oceananda who plays electronics and cloud bowls. The performance is put on by an outfit called Ambient Church who pair meditative musicians with trippy visuals in unusual venues. The performance starts with bells and cloud bowl, not unlike a yoga practice. Laraaji moves from zither to dulcimer to electronics weaving a tapestry of sound. Arji complements the sound with electronics and percussion of her own. The church became completely dark as the video appeared on the wall and ceiling behind the altar. Liquid visuals blobbed and oozed at lava lamp speed, which must be a thing for the synaptically challenged. Sun rays, repeating patterns, melting colorful swooshes were calming with the musical backdrop. Laraaji sang some wordless vocals then a full tune while playing some excellent piano. Born Edward Larry Gordon some 82 years ago, Laraaji spent many years busking in Washington Square Park. Legend has it that one park denizen was post-Roxy Music Brian Eno who took a shine to the Laraaji zitherin. Eno produced some early slabs and ran with the ambient concept for his own seminal Music For Films, Music For Airports among others. Laraaji is a sight, a light skinned black man who dresses exclusively in orange. Orange hat, orange shirt and pants, orange jewelry (last time I saw him and was able to view his feet, orange crocs). The card tables on the altar were also draped in orange fabric. This music gets a bad rap, syrupy improv background sounds that lack the bite in the jazz world. That is the point, music that subtly invades instead of melting one’s face. Excellent show of meditative music and visuals.

Sun of Goldfinger 4/3/26 Firehouse 12

 I was relegated to the second set as set one sold out in advance. Sun of Goldfinger is a jazz power trio consisting of veteran guitarist David Torn and sax wailer Tim Berne alongside relative newcomer Ches Smith on drums. The trio were warming up to record the following day. Torn and Berne inhabited the early days of Manfred Eicher’s ECM label. Torn, and his group Prezens explored the nexus of jazz and prog with effects laden and looped guitar work. Berne, and his Snakeoil project found success in free jazz blowing, like the 90s John Zorn groups. Ches Smith needs no introduction in this blog. He is a Firehouse staple and recent viewings of him with his Haitian big band and Mary Halvorsen groups have been excellent. Torn, with his long gray hair and beard, looked like a mad scientist Gandalf with a bevy of pedals to channel his sound. Berne, also grizzled with round glasses, looked like the Tootsie Pop owl crossed with Pharaoh Sanders. Ches is always fun to describe, lanky and in constant motion, he looked like a free jazz car dealer balloon man behind his kit. They played one long piece that flowed easily. Berne started out bird like squawking before settling into extended runs. He had a knack for repetitive phrasing that he would change slightly, like a game of “pass it down” with himself. He seemed genuinely in awe of the noises coming from the other two. Torn did appear to be the mad scientist, sometimes surprising himself with the treated sounds from his rig. At one point, he put the guitar on the floor and noodled from his knees. All guitarists have an inner shred function, Torn took one opportunity to unleash some fierce playing, lest we think he is all about pedals and knobs. Ches also took his “electronics” playing to the mix. In addition to his regular kit, he had a table with what looked to be a Simon ( the light up children’s memory toy), another box with a slide rule that emitted slurry electronic bleeps, and a small Moog. In a trio setting it was a treat to get a good view of his playing. The music was challenging, but to view these masters at work allows you to appreciate the skill needed for this racket.

Chuck Prophet and his Cumbia Shoes 3/29/26 The Kate, Old Saybrook

 Chuck Prophet has nine lives. It was news to me that this Bay Area rocker spent one in a health scare a few years back. I have been a fan since the early 2000s and count his No Other Love record from this period as a near perfect recording. He has always been a smartass, but community minded with his approach. At one Green Riverfest, Chuck enlisted a slew of local high school musicians to accompany his set. On this evening, he is joined by his “Cumbia Shoes”, a backing band fluent in the genre. Originally from Colombia, cumbia spread through Latin America and tickled the US southwest. The gist has a metronomic drumbeat, forward bass as a backdrop for guitar, pedal steel, or percussion workouts. The show leaned heavily on his 2024 release Wake The Dead. The setlist: C’Mon Everybody ( Eddie Cochran cover), Same Old Crime, Wake The Dead, Wish Me Luck, Cumbia de los Pajaritos (Los Mirlos cover), Jesus Was a Social Drinker, Betty’s Song, First Came The Thunder, Give The Boy a Kiss, Killing Machine, Sally Was a Cop ( co- written with Alejandro Escovedo),  In The Shadows ( for Elon) OneLie for Me, One For You, West Memphis Moon, Sugar Into Water, Ford Econoline ( “the best thing to come out of Detroit besides Iggy and The Stooges”),  You Did ( Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp) and encored with the poignant heartfelt It’s A Good Day To Be Alive, and Wooly Bully ( Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs cover). The band had Chuck on electric and acoustic, Mario on percussion, drummer, bass, lead guitar ( sometimes pedal steel), and another multi instrumentalist who played guitar and keys. The sound was full for the largely gray haired, near capacity audience. Nine lives is a lot, glad that Chuck Prophet has a few more up his sleeve.

David Fiuczynski’s KiF 3/27/26 Firehouse 12

 David “FuZe” Fiuczynski is a downtown guitarist who cut his teeth on the maelstrom melting pot of the 90s Knitting Factory scene. Bending jazz, rock, improv, and prog to their polyglot notions of music was fascinating to watch as a young musical omnivore. FuZe starts the evening by explaining the KiF project. He was tapped to go to Morocco and play at a festival where he was part of a backing band for 40 local groups. Vocal groups, odd instruments, microtonal playing, proved to be mind blowing and challenging. Many musicians approached him to say “did you know that Hendrix stayed and performed here?” While he was not familiar with that part of Jimi’s life, he could not help but notice the impact the master made on these foreign musicians. What then if Hendrix was alive and moved forward with his love of this music, KiF and essentially rocking the casbah was formed. Dave plays the most unique guitar. Double-necked, double stringed, it’s essentially a small guitar fused to a normal sized one. With the addition of effects pedals, he could change the sound at will. He would play a passage on one, then seamlessly jump to the other, made me want to chat him up about Hendrix. He was joined this evening by a young asian woman on keys, six string (maybe fretless?) bass, and drums. The odd sounds and tunings from Dave were perfectly matched by the keyboards. One portion had the keys melodica sounding and Dave’s microtonal slurring transporting the listener to Marrakech. The rhythm section was tight, with the bass looking for a  jamband workout. The players were probably students of Dave, he heads up the MicroJam Institute for advanced microtonal studies at Berklee. The first set at the Firehouse had a nice near capacity crowd to see this master. The group rolls through some originals before jumping in to a King Gizzard and then a Mononeon cover.  Dave has passages that sound like Jean Luc Ponty followed by Zappa-esque runs. Closed with two jams Friday Night Prayer Meeting and Macro Magnificat. Glad to have the Firehouse back for the spring season.

Sam Wells 3/25/26 Wesleyan

 Trumpeter and electronics musician Wells is one third of the Philly based Splice Ensemble. They perform electro acoustic soundscapes that emphasize the integration of technology with musical performance.. Introduced by Uber nerd and Wesleyan prof Paula Mathussen, Sam takes the stage at the comfortable Ring Family Auditorium. He performs his piece “Pillors and Strata” written in 2024. Sam went to a place called the Tank Center in Rangley Colorado. Abandoned large metal tanks that were used in the steam engine industry were the perfect location for Sam to experiment with sound. The Pillors piece was birthed in a 90’ by 20’ metal cylinder, with literally no flat surfaces, the echo would last for almost a minute. He played trumpet and an odd looking flugel with a variety of straight and cup mutes. The sound was computer looped to approximate the tank echo. Sam said the high plains desert location of the tank center was experiencing high winds on his rental day. Instead of ditching the project, Sam embraced the background hum from the wind. Imagine walking on the moon with Miles Davis and you’ll get the picture. Tones looped and processed made for a heady stew of modern composition. I am always amazed at the level of creativity in music, playing one’s trumpet in a desolate large metal Tylenol capsule is a new one on me.

Cass McCombs 3/20/26 Spaceland

 A personally viral ear worm has taken over my playlist. You know the type, a random addition occasionally shuffles its way to the top and gives a mainline hit to your smile bone. The Cass McCombs 2023 single “Vacation From Thought” is one such worm. Upon inspection, it appears to be a one-off collaboration with an unknown band named Weak Signal. That song was enough to get me off the couch for this Friday night performance. Cass is a quirky singer songwriter from California who has been churning out under the radar nuggets since the early aughts. On this evening, Cass and band high light the recent recording Interior Live Oak. The setlist: Priestess, Miss Mabee, Asphodel, A Girl Named Dogie, Home At Last, Missionary Bell, Harmonia, Peace, I Never Dream About Trains, Your Mother and Father, Big Wheel, Music is Blue, I’m Not Ashamed, Bum Bum Bum, Sleeping Volcanoes and encored with County Line and Sacred Heart. The band was excellent, lead guitar, lefty bass, drummer, and occasional pedal steel. Cass started on electric and stretched out the slow burn of A Girl Named Dogie to excellent effect. He switched to acoustic and  performed the beautiful Missionary Bell. One further move had Cass doing a few tunes on keys. You don’t call yourself a touring musician for twenty years without attention to concert detail, and Cass controlled a beautiful arc. Soft ballads, slow building jammers, off beat lyrics made for an enjoyable show. One of the best tribute recordings in recent memory is the mammoth Day of The Dead (Grateful Dead) recording arranged by uber-hipsters The National. The sprawling release is a Who’s Who of indie rockers and hippie jammers. Cass has the coveted spot of performing Dark Star with none other than Joe Russo. The moral of the story is trust your ears, and the worms that may inhabit them.