New this week
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Drummer Charles Downs was a mainstay of the New York City free jazz scene in the 1970s, mainly as a member of Ensemble Muntu with saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc. In those days, he went by Rashid Bakr — a tribute to fellow drummer Rashid Ali who performed with Sonny Rollins and both John and Alice Coltrane. In…
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Up top in the notes that accompany the glorious debut by Chicago duo Potliquor is a reference to Hakim Bey’s temporary autonomous zone concept. Bey — born Peter Lamborn Wilson — defined it as a space in which formal control structures are prevented. Bey, who passed in 2022, was a U.S. anarchist author, philosopher and poet.…
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The inclusion of electronics in contemporary jazz music is still sufficiently unorthodox that new releases in the sub-sub-genre have to be approached with a bit of caution. Are they there solely for decorative purposes? Are they added post-production? It’s still a rare thing to see an electronic musician contribution to a jazz record in a…
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Dr. Ayman Fanous works out of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix, where he is a professor and chair of the psychiatry department. Fanous’ field is psychiatric genomics research, specifically genetic risk factors for psychiatric illness. In the ample spare time afforded by that career choice, Fanous has earned a reputation as…
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Eric Boivin, the Montreal field recording and sound artist, introduced me to the idea of glitch art with an off-hand remark one Sunday night at CKLN-FM in Toronto. A CD he was playing started to malfunction on-air. The laser diode bounced around the disc’s content with a kind of beautiful abandon. “These discs are so…
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Brazil’s Ivo Perelman has delivered a breathtaking set of improvisational works in collaboration with three of jazz’s great guitarists: Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp and Joe Morris. The three-disc box landed today on Mahakala Music. The prolific saxophonist with more than 100 LP credits on his resume played the guitar as a child, but gave it…
The Moderns 