Links 'n' Links 'n' Links: March 7, 2025

New old music from Leo Records

Joe Maneri (photo: Joël Gélys)

Famous economist Tyler Cowen read my book! He calls In The Brewing Luminous: The Life & Music of Cecil Taylor “well-informed and properly appreciative,” and says, “It induced me to buy another book by him”(!). There’s some interesting discussion in the comments, too. In The Brewing Luminous is available from Amazon, Abebooks, and (if you’re in Europe) directly from Wolke Verlag.

Buy some music! It’s the first Friday of the month, which means Bandcamp is waiving its usual share of revenue and passing all monies from sales straight to artists and labels. Another batch of Leo Records digital reissues has gone live on the site today. We usually put up 20, but this month there are just 13, as we’re coming to the end of a cycle — in April, we’ll be launching a months-long effort to reissue all the Leo titles by saxophonist Ivo Perelman, more than 60 in all, so get ready for that.

In the meantime, today’s releases are:

Lotte Anker/Craig Taborn/Gerald Cleaver, Triptych: a mix of live and studio recordings from 2003 by a sax/piano/drums trio

Frank Gratkowski Quartet, Le Vent Et La Gorge: live recordings from 2007 and 2011 by reeds player Gratkowski, trombonist Wolter Wierbos, bassist Dieter Manderscheid, and drummer Gerry Hemingway

Masashi Harada Electric Trio, Obliteration At The End Of Multiplication: a 1998 studio recording featuring Mat Maneri on electric baritone violin, Philip Tomasic on electric guitar, and Harada on percussion and vocals

Joe Maneri/Masashi Harada, Pinerskol: studio duos from 2003 featuring Maneri on alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet, and vocals, and Harada on piano, flute and vocals

Joe Maneri Trio, The Trio Concerts: a double disc of live recordings from 1997 and 1998 featuring Maneri senior on alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet, and piano; his son Mat on electric six-string and baritone violins and viola; and Randy Peterson on drums

Joe Maneri Quartet, Get Ready To Receive Yourself: a studio album from 1993 featuring the Maneris, pere et fils, on reeds and violin, respectively; John Lockwood on bass; and Randy Peterson on drums

Joe Maneri Quartet, Let The Horse Go: a studio album from 1995, same personnel as above

Sainkho Namchylak/Ned Rothenberg, Amulet: a collection of live and studio recordings from 1992-1995 by vocalist Namchylak and reeds player Rothenberg

Ned Rothenberg, The Crux: Selected Solo Wind Works (1989-1992): exactly what its title indicates; Rothenberg plays alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and shakuhachi

Wally Shoup/Paul Flaherty/Thurston Moore/Chris Corsano, Live At Tonic: a three-track free jazz/noise-rock blowout from September 2002 with Shoup and Flaherty on saxes, Moore on guitar, and Corsano on drums

Jason Stein, In Exchange For A Process: solo bass clarinet recordings from 2008 by one of the contemporary masters of that instrument

Aki Takase, Le Cahier Du Bal: a solo piano album from 2001, inspired by dancer Anzu Furukawa

And finally, we’ve got a big-ticket item:

Anthony Braxton, Piano Music (1968-2000): originally a limited edition 9CD set released in 2008, this features about a dozen of Braxton’s compositions performed by pianist Geneviève Foccroulle

All of these albums are available now on the Leo Records Bandcamp page, along with more than 100 other titles. Head over there and pick something up!

If you’re a paying subscriber, there’s a bunch of interesting stuff behind the paywall. If you’re not, I’ll see you on Tuesday, when we’ll have an interview with guitarist Ray Suhy, an accomplished jazz player who’s also in the death metal bands Six Feet Under and Waking The Cadaver. In the meantime, here’s a parting gift: an entire Van Halen concert from October 1982.