NHIC 11/22/14 Firehouse 12

Fall installment of New Haven Improvisers Collective Firehouse 12 show. Usual suspects: Bob Gorry and Jeff Cedrone on guitars, Brett Bottomley on Chapman stick, Paul Maguire on saxes and great bass recorder, and Paul Riccio on drums. Songs have some basic instruction before moving into the improv zone. Gorry and Cedrone play off each other with eye contact. The Chapman stick looks like a dulcimer played upright while sitting. Bottomley weaves a backdrop that begs for an improv overlay. Maguire's sax work vascillates from skronk to melody. The great bass recorder looks like a cross between a bassoon a bong and a table leg that sounded native american and then asian in the same song. Song titles like "Sculpin", "Scaly when Wet", and "We Spoke of Kafka" give you an idea of the scope of improv. I was struck by the group's ability to move from beauty to abrasive.

Andrea Parkins 11/21/14 Firehouse 12

Brief (40min) second set at the Firehouse. Parkins on accordion, electronics, and objects: Nate Wooley on trumpet, and Chris Corsano on drums. Hard to pass up a show with accordion and electronics. Parkins spent much time in and around her laptop and seemed unsatisfied with her sound. She had this museum quality accordion, but used it sparingly. The sounds that did emanate from the accordion seemed like they could have just as easily come from the computer. "Objects", at least for the second set, consisted of a sequence where she rubbed some rocks together into the mic. Local drummer phenom Corsano is always fun to watch, spending much of his time with brushes. Wooley laid low, making spare and guttural sounds from the trumpet. At times, Wooley appeared not to play as if he was Parkins's Trumpet Object that made no sound. The one song set moved from drum-led flourishes to electronic squalls. At one point Parkins electronics sounded as if she was strangling R2D2 in a closet. It is always suspect when a short, one song set ends with the artist saying "thanks for coming, time for whiskey!"

Orchestra of Spheres 10/29/14 Bar

Space-quartet from New Zealand. While this trippy combo was hardly an "orchestra", their appearance and music was otherworldly. The instruments looked homemade, so I will have to describe. The ring leader wore a Sun Ra type outfit with fez, shades, and Muslim robe. He switched between a 3-stringed banjo and a six key "keyboard". The banjo gave a full synthesized sound and seemed like it had to have more than three strings. The keyboard looked like a NZ version of the game Simon. A young woman played a traditional keyboard, sang, and played multiple percussion items that ranged from shakers to whistles, she wore a face obscuring mask. Also masked, was a female keyboard bassist. This keyboard looked like it was fashioned in wood shop, but it spewed a creamy bass tone when the keys were struck. Her feverish playing almost knocked the thing off of its stand. A pretty standard drummer (also disguised), rounded out the quartet. The vocals were hard to discern, and the thick NZ accent further obscured their message. No matter, this group was about sound and vision. The music ebbed and swelled and had elements African beats. Imagine four NZ twenty something's playing Touareg,Sun Ra, dervish music while spending time at Tim Leary's cabin and you're close to Orchestra of Spheres.

Rise and Fall of Paramount Records Battelle Chapel Yale 10/28/14

Distinguished panel discussion regarding Wisconsin's Paramount Records which was in existence from 1917-32.  A furniture factory aiming to capture the new wooden phonograph cabinet market, set about to obsessively record african-american blues and jazz artists during this pre-library of congress time-frame. Blind Lemon Jefferson, Skip James, Charley Patton, Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter, Fats Waller, and Louis Armstrong were on the roster.
   Moderated by Yale's Daphne Brooks, the panel consisted of Dean and Scott Blackwood (Revenant Records), Greil Marcus (Rock critic), Adia Victoria (emerging southern blues wailer), and Jack White ( White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather, and Third Man Records). The Blackwoods and Third Man teamed up to explore the history and preserve this mammoth collection of music which is a cultural influence on much of what we listen to today. Each panelist picked two songs from the catalog, and explained some relevant insight before listening to them in their entirety. The chapel was packed with hipsters who waited in line for an hour to get a free glimpse of Jack White. It should be noted that two of the picks were Skip James' I'm So Glad, and the standard Spoonful, which were popularized by Jack Bruce and Cream. Bruce passed away earlier in the week, a true titan of jazz rock.