CD

Konono Nº1

2017

"Konono No.1, Orchestre Tout Puissant Likembe, from Kinshasa, Congo, was founded more than 25 years ago by likembe (thumb-piano) virtuoso Mingiedi Mawangu. The band was one of the first groups to use electric amplified likembes. They built everything themselves. The pick-ups were made from hammered bits of car starter-motors, handwound with copper-wire; they made wooden microphones and jack-plugs from bits of copper-wire and branches. With a 25 watt amplifier on a car battery and the typical "lance voix" field speakers they play fast, powerful, distorted music with the energy and rawness of a punk band. Konono No.1 plays music based on the tradition of the Bazombe, a tribe living on the border of Angola and Congo. Their style is also the basis of modern Congolese music like Zaiko Langa Langa. They have three likembes (solo, accompaniment, and bass), three drummers (congas [ngoma], cowbells, and a kind of hi-hat from metal plates), two singers, three women dancers and the mysteriously moving "president". It is a rough type of urban Congolese music. The lyrics are a bitter comment on the social situation in the Congo. This CD is a tribute to Konono No.1, to that first ever gig in Holland. It's a rough recording, recorded in stereo directly from the mixing-desk. But the music speaks for itself. PLAY LOUD!"

2017

"Konono No.1, Orchestre Tout Puissant Likembe, from Kinshasa, Congo, was founded more than 25 years ago by likembe (thumb-piano) virtuoso Mingiedi Mawangu. The band was one of the first groups to use electric amplified likembes. They built everything themselves. The pick-ups were made from hammered bits of car starter-motors, handwound with copper-wire; they made wooden microphones and jack-plugs from bits of copper-wire and branches. With a 25 watt amplifier on a car battery and the typical "lance voix" field speakers they play fast, powerful, distorted music with the energy and rawness of a punk band. Konono No.1 plays music based on the tradition of the Bazombe, a tribe living on the border of Angola and Congo. Their style is also the basis of modern Congolese music like Zaiko Langa Langa. They have three likembes (solo, accompaniment, and bass), three drummers (congas [ngoma], cowbells, and a kind of hi-hat from metal plates), two singers, three women dancers and the mysteriously moving "president". It is a rough type of urban Congolese music. The lyrics are a bitter comment on the social situation in the Congo. This CD is a tribute to Konono No.1, to that first ever gig in Holland. It's a rough recording, recorded in stereo directly from the mixing-desk. But the music speaks for itself. PLAY LOUD! credits "

Yannis Kyriakides

2016

Joe Morris & Do Yeon Kim

2018

"Do Yeon Kim is a masterful performer on the gayageum or kayagum, a kind of zither or harp from Korea. Joe Morris is the better-known performer here, playing guitar on this album. Their duo is an impressive and captivating example of incredible skill and a diversity of approaches from both players, including pointillistic improv, rich rivers of chords, languid moments of beauty, and moments where it's difficult to discern who's playing what. It may take several listens to embrace the "space" they occupy in performance, but the mix of exotic interplay and the fascinating challenge of hearing a unique combination of instruments that yields unexpected results draws in the listener. Morris and Kim are clearly captivated by their own playing, and their focus and flow in their dialogs keeps this album interesting from start to finish."

Maja af Svea

2012

Territory Band-3

2004

Ken Vandermark

2011

Mats Gustafsson / Massimo Pupillo / Brian Chippendale

2016

Joe Morris

2014

"Recorded in October of 2011 with longtime collaborators Steve Lantner on Yamaha electric piano and Jerome Deupree on drums, the disc’s five improvised pieces revolve around a core set of ideas that seek to employ the guitar as a post-Hendrix sound generator. The past two entries in the project, Sweat Shop (1990) and Racket Club (1998) explored various avenues of melodic composition with detours into ostinato and groove forms. Here the structures are more open-ended and concerned with color, texture and weight. To that end Morris breaks a rule set earlier in his career (although discarded with increasing regularity these days) by incorporating effects pedals into his sound and eschewing clean single-note runs. "

Ballister

2013

Frode Gjerstad Trio

2011

Paal Nilssen-Love

2010

Frode Gjerstad Trio

2015

"Frode again this time with different long time fellow players the excellent drummer Paal Nilseen Love and bassist Jon Rune Strom Recorded on tour in Japan in Miyazaki Three great tracks from masters of the art form."

Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests

2006

"it is a magnificent melding of cultures. [...] Moa Anbessa is a great introduction to Mekurya for rock fans. The Ex doesn’t cut their intensity a bit – heck, they need it all to keep up with Mekurya, still going strong in his seventies. This is a powerful, rocking record that will thrill even listeners who’ve never bought a “world music” album in their lives."

Ken Vandermark

2016

"Each disc on this collection has its own distinct feel, presenting six individual journeys within the whole. All of the musicians are acutely aware of their surroundings, and the inspiration that they drew from one another was palpable (Tim Niland, Music and More)"

Ken Vandermark

2017

"Both discs of this installment of Momentum offer exciting developments in Vandermark’s discography. Incorporating electronics, composed themes, and free form sections, the arrangements are edgy and captivating throughout. The double disc set contains extensive liner notes by the musician and offers an excellent documentation of his continuing musical evolution." -Paul Acquaro "Free Jazz Blog"

The Thing

2011

"At this juncture The Thing and its members need little by way of introduction. Individually their output plots a course through much of the territories mapped by contemporary improvised music, shines a light on its more outré reaches, and stretches the wallets of even the most committed listener. Moreover, seeing any of their names affiliated with a project has become a seal of quality, much as the FMP logo did a generation prior."

FME

2006

Extra Large Unit

2018

"When writing music, I search for extremes, pushing boundaries: physical, dynamic, instrumental limitations, if any, how fast and how slow can one play, how loud and how quiet. I search for unusual ways of thinking. I want to give the musicians trust and have them take initiative and to feel the responsibility of what it is to be an individual player in a group context. -Paal Nilssen-Love"

The Young Mothers

2018

"“Then Young Mothers roared out of the gate with fierce, jarring visceral power. Theirs is a dense, multi-layered sound where Ivesian contrapuntal lines often divide the ensemble into competing units -- How fortunate 30 or so of us were that they docked in Deep Ellum last night. I'll be anxiously awaiting their return.” -Ken Shimamoto "