LDS 047: Miles Davis Sextet featuring Stan Getz mega-rare restored LP “A Very Special Concert” Birdland, NYC 1950-02-18

*Miles Davis at ‘Just Jazz’ concert, Los Angeles, 1950

One of the rarest Miles Davis recordings in circulation, this restore is one of the most prized recordings I have ever obtained and it brings us great pleasure to share with all of you an era in which Miles was taking Europe by storm and as the video at the bottom states, he was the Godfather of jazz. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD via Mediafire

The original notes from audio restoration master Doinker:

Miles Davis Sextet Featuring Stan Getz – Mega-rare Restored LP “A Very Special Concert” Birdland, NYC 1950-02-18 speed-corrected and rejoined (whadya know… that’s today!) SB great show (mp3 sample included)

From the great Boris Rose collection, here’s one that isn’t listed as being released. According to the great jazz site Jazzdisco.org, the only source for this material is this album and two Italian bootleg copies. According to Amazon.com, the only Miles Davis Birdland material is from the following year. Hopefully there’s no other commercial release I can’t find, so here goes!

Miles Davis Sextet:

Miles Davis
Stan Getz
Art Blakey
JJ Johnson
Tadd Dameron
Max Roach

Conception
Ray’s Idea
That Old Black Magic
You’re Driving Me Crazy
Max Is Making Wax
The Way You Look Tonight

Dick Hyman Trio:

Dick Hyman
Sonny Stitt
Max Roach

Fine And Dandy
Honeysuckle Rose

Miles Davis Sextet (same personnel as before)
Woody N’ You

Lineage: Boot LP Ozone 1 ->major speed correction on turntable ->Sound Forge -> FLAC via TLH, level 6, sectors aligned and verified, FLAC integrity checked

Enjoy!

A DoinkerTape

Categories: LDS Tags: ,

BFTP Vol 294: Stockyard Blues by Floyd Jones

Floyd Jones

Today in our first Blast From The Past article we look at the Chicago blues player Floyd Jones. Originally born in the Delta, his guitar musings started at a very young age and his travels to Chicago would implant him as one of the darker and the mysterious blues man of the Chicago scene. Floyd Jones evolved with the state of change going on in Chicago during that time to emerge with all of the other post war Chicago blues players. There is a raw and ethereal affect from Floyd Jones that has its heart in the bleak realities of the Delta life and the soul, passion and evolution of Chicago life. Born in 1917, Jones was born into a very different reality than the one we all know today. By the time 1970 came around, Floyd Jones had come full circle with his influence on the world and his inclusion on the historic 1970 film Chicago Blues stands as one of most definitive video representations of his power. For anyone who really loves this video and it’s the first time you are checking it out. If you can get your hands on the, I highly recommend grabbing The Chronological Floyd Jones: 1948-1953. Also check out the influential 1950′s piece from Floyd Jones ‘Dark Road’. I don’t hear many people talk about the blues these days; if you love the blues and are reading this, we would love to hear from you.

-Erik Otis

Creator Wave Vol 37: Cristina Francov

Cuatro Caras de una Virtud (Four faces of a Virtue)

Energies in the context of art are constantly shifting, constantly becoming that new thing that the future will call standard one day. Painting is one medium that I have always marveled at from the ideas and realities that are implied with the art. No piece of painting is origin-less or future-less, there is always a moment before it and after that is to transpire and this becomes a huge canvas of thought when I analyze works. A new artist to the eyes of the Sound Colour Vibration who has taken this reality to very different worlds is Cristina Francov. Highly textured and otherworldly, her works speak a presence and timeline that seems to stretch into a past that goes much further back then her date of birth. At the heart of her pieces is an escape of her current realities and a stepping into the cosmic under side of art meditation. Sound Colour Vibration’s very own Valentina Camila Apparat led us to this artist and requesting her for our online art gallery Creator Wave with an interview was mandatory. Here is the results of these interactions. It is artists like this that are pushing the envelope and breathing new identities into the art world. Creator Wave Volume 37 with Cristina Francov.

-Erik Otis

You’re from Aguascalientes, Mexico, and the social and political atmosphere is heavier than ever. How do you apply your cultural, political, and social surroundings to your work and creative process?

Cristina Francov: It isn’t something crucial in my work because they are things on which I’m not immersed (by choice); just maybe, in the social, but more than taking influence my work, I look my work and other artist’s work to reach society. We like to touch upon the awakening of consciousness because we believe that the individual can never achieve improvement in its environment if it is not aware of what it needs, what it has and what contaminates. Also, try to throw ourselves to open paths and other spaces for emerging artists, to encourage support in the guild, send a message of unity that will benefit not just art, but many areas that might rise up our current fragmented social structure.

There seems to be a presence of fantasy in your work, along with an ethereal darkness as well. How would you characterize and describe the emotion behind your paintings and illustrations?

Cristina Francov: Sometimes the fantasy is just a reflection of personal cosmogony. This medium shows in a subtle way colloquial events of a world which is different and stranger every day, but has been tarnished by a regular and preconceived reality. There are ambiguities, light and dark, just when hunches are ambiguous too and we aren’t able to read them properly, there is love and fear, its opposite; it’s life. Within each absurd scene, there are handfuls of metaphorical reality. Not more than life itself embodied with personal symbols, messages from dreams whose meaning will always remain a mystery and, finally, is the constant journey to find a place within this universe.

There are some illustrations I saw in your portfolio with an abrupt application of nudity and artistic vulgarity. Would you say your work has a lot of emotion and commentary directed towards gender and sexuality in a social context?

Cristina Francov: Usually when work pictures with nudity, I have not weighed them in a manner that violates or tie stereotypes, or focusing in shooting a sexual context, but rather to serve as a human vessel, without gender, for a greater end. Except for a very few examples of a fertile woman who procreates both creatures and ideas, a Witch whose sexuality is a gift of nature. Some others (very few and rare ones) have an explicit content of sexual criticism, like “Caen los Reyes” (“Kings’ Fall”) in which I drew a social contention where men oppresses women psychologically with material wealth and she, directly, decreases herself in exchange for security and a false hope of love.

What role does the narrative play in your art and creative process?

Cristina Francov: Hard to define… I divide the attention upon telling a story and let the story be told by itself. The work that comes from someone, an artist in this case, will always come imbued with its hunches and philosophy, so once I’m ready to dream and awake unwillingly, I take what I saw and I add what I mean. As mentioned before, the subconscious and their messages are an imminent mystery, I feel that by adding my part of the story, both my subconscious and I are creating unique patterns.

Although art is an evolutionary process, what is it you try to preserve in each and every piece that enables you to maintain that signature authenticity?

Cristina Francov: I take the visions of my dreams and I propose them in a style that seems appropriate to my intuition and my part of the story, that’s a stamp of authenticity quite hard to breach. I feel I’m still polishing my style, I still experiment a lot, but taking care of some things: I try not to miss or overload anything, keeping on not to lose of sight that this is not about making a painting if you also take a photograph and vice versa, I like to keep that game. I try to always find a balance within the chaos that comes from a dream and the order of the message, because I don’t want to deviate attention on accidental or unnecessary adornments. Make eyes flow and let the characters visible to tell their part, like in a theater.

What I love about your photography is your emphasis and enhanced focus on color. Do you find there to be a particular emotional or meaningful dimension captured with color in photography, that’s not as evident in black and white photography?

Cristina Francov: Thank you. Would you enjoy a desaturated sunset in the same way that one in full color? Black and White photography is wonderful but for me, a little inappropriate for certain mental manifestations such the kind of art that portrays visions. Color plays a huge role in symbolic and physical aspects, seals harmony of poetry in each work. In “Temple of Ether,” the pale tones and texture, are a reflection of disturbed and suffocated mind, as a result of a mood with the same features; the color changes abruptly in later series because it speaks of nature, energy, macro and micro universe and its richness of correspondences.

I know you’re the youngest of a family with an inherent artistic and creative character. Was your family fully supportive of your decision to choose art as your career, rather than simply as a hobby or side creative venture?

Cristina Francov: It was tough at first, but now is different, they rely great hope in my person. We understood that we should not live lives that aren’t ours.

You’ve worked on numerous album covers. Are there any collaborations that we can look forward to in the future, and what are some of your dream collaborations that you’d love to be a part of in the future?

Cristina Francov: I love the work developed underground, and since genres like Ambient, Ritual, Drone, Experimental and alike are some of my favorites, it is my wish to offer my skills for many projects of this kind. Last year I was lucky to get in touch with a couple of leaders of my favorite projects, although nothing is certain about this, some collaborations have been considered for the future. Also some books, and a musical project of my own which involves visuals and plenty story telling.

Thank you so very much for the time you’ve shared with Sound Colour Vibration. We really appreciate and admire your work, and wish you all the best in your career. We look forward to seeing what you have in store for the future. Best of luck.

Cristina Francov: Good luck and success to you too and thanks so much for this.

++++

Creator Wave Vol 37: Cristina Francov

Official Site / Facebook / Twitter

4 de noviembre (november 4th)

11 de noviembre (november 11th)

Auto Inducido Rinco¦ün del Vientre (Self Induced Womb-Lair)

Caen los Reyes (Kings' Fall)

Hechizo (Spell)

La Discusio¦ün (The Discussion)

La loca Sofi¦üa (Sofia, the mad)

Malas Ciencias (Wretched Science)

Ora¦üculo de las Impresiones Erradas (Oracle of Wrong Impressions)

Nunca te voy a perdonar (I'll never forgive you)

Introspeccio¦ün Son¦âando (Introspection while dreaming)

El Banquete Magne¦ütico (The Magnetic Banquet)

Efectos del Cosmos (Effect of Cosmos)

De lo eterno y lo lu¦üdico (Of the eternal and the playful)

Consolamentum

Apo¦ücrifo (Apocryphal)

Tartaros

Concertando el Secreto del Silencio (Concealing the Secret of Silence)

El tri¦ügono de las lesiones (Injury triangle)

Mt. Washington Takeover @ Beat Cinema 2/28/12

Mt. Washington takeoever @ Beat Cinema 2/28/12

Main Performers: Alter / Cohen / Pbdy + Special Guest From Hell

Residents: GabeReal / Rickylove
/ Deevo / DmnSlyr / Arti

Patio Sets: Gypsymamba / Dropdead / Dmm + Rotating Residents

Visuals: Major Gape

21 and over
full bar
2 areas

$5 entry

Beat Cinema was started by dj Rickylove and started off as a movie night on the patio of the Hip Kitty in Claremonent, CA with dj sets during the intermission. With the inter-workings of the Southern, CA electronic and hip hop production worlds merging as one in the post 2000 era, there have been dozens of events centered around this energy and only a few that have stood the test of time. Rickylove first reached out to Brainfeeder alumni’s The Gaslamp killer and Ras G to perform for this new evening in Claremont, CA and decided to call the night “Beat Cinema” from this interclashing and foundation of dj/film nights and the bewildering chamber of power that producers like The Gaslamp Killer and Ras G bring to their live sets. This occurred back in August of 2009 and legendary sets from the best around have sat right along side underground performances that hold the same weight and shock value on contact. No matter the level of the artists, everyone brings a really raw and vibrant sense to their set as the closed in atmosphere of the Hip Kitty bar allows for a level of intimacy in a professional setting unlike any place I have experience. The evening with Daedelus proved to be one of the most intense and successful nights for Beat Cinema, a show everyone in attendance will remember for years to come.

Epic Sleep

Beat Cinema became an expanding functioning family after the birth in 2009 as Demon Slayer was put on board for visual designs, booking and dj’ing and other local dj’s Deevo (Smashcartel), Arti (My Hollow Drum), Phyzz Edd (Kday) and Dropdead entered the fold of Beat Cinema in perfect succession. The beat production world has been enhanced in a way most have not, where the informal nature of one or at most 3 people on stage gives immediate divergence for the crowd to the visuals. Master visualist Major Gape has been a part of the Beat Cinema family since the beginning and is paving a new sense of visual identity, much like Strangeloop has done with the Brainfeeder world. The final element, and what is a make or break aspect to any live production, was the addition of a heavy hitting sound system. This was gathered after some shows as prolific Southern, CA producer, engineer and dj GabeReal stepped in to make the Beat Cinema family complete.

This Tuesday, Beat Cinema is offering a very special night as all of the people on the bill live together in Mt. Washington,  an area on the Eastide of Downtown. With a very special guest who has been shattering speakers for years, this is one Beat Cinema that is bringing the organization full circle and is another launching pad for the future identity of the organization. Beat Cinema will be having live screen printing on the patio where the busy hands of Epic Sleep will be printing on shirts for free if you bring your own shirt, sweater, bag, or anything else that can have screen prints burned onto it. If you don’t have anything, Beat Cinema has you covered as WISETOO will be selling some during the entire evening.

-Erik Otis

Beat Cinema presents Mt. Washington Takeoever February 28, 2012 w/ a very special guest! (event page)

Want to win tickets for this?! To win a set of two will call tickets for BEAT CINEMA – MT WASHINGTON TAKEOVER, SCV and Beat Cinema are joining to offer a set of three trivia questions for people to win tickets. 3 sets of 2 will call tickets will be given out. To enter, you must be over 21 years of age.

First question: What mix for SCV’s online radio station with Mixcloud showcases the group Broadcast for the first time out of any mix in our collection?

Second question: What is the only mix for SCV’s online radio to include an excerpt of 2Pac’s last interview?

Third question: What was the first comprehensive mix to focus on one label?

http://www.mixcloud.com/sacvs/

email your answer to: rick@theepicsleep.com

The video included below comes from the performance legendary scratch innovator and prolific musician D-Styles held at the Beat Cinema last year. This video was shot & edited by Erok for Criticalbeatdown Media.

Beat Cinema w/ D-Styles

High Places release the official music video ‘The Pull’ with Thrill Jockey Records

High Places Rob Barber and Mary Pearson are some of the brightest and most dedicated diy artists out today. With three completely self produced albums on the Thrill Jockey imprint since 2008, they are one of the leading groups for electronic musings on the label and have expanded their framework to push towards more complex and dynamic productions from release to release. Visuals always serve as a very important means of introduction in the reactionary state towards music and as Thrill Jockey explains, “Visual art plays an important role in Mary and Rob’s collaboration. The two make video projections for their stage shows, keep a photo blog that documents their travels, and create their own album artwork. In this way and others, Mary and Rob challenge the conventional parameters of a rock band and instead give us a multisensory aesthetic partnership that continually defies expectations.” There is as much ambiance as there is foundations in the deep heavy sounds of distant electronic scenes with High Places. There is even a mystic sense to the whole with the earthly tones that make thousands dance together that center the music constantly. It’s musical bliss and one of our favorite finds at SCV in the few years.

The new video we are presenting for the song ‘The Pull’ at Sound Colour Vibration comes off the latest High Places release Original Colors. Released by Thrill Jockey last year, this was a record we are still trying to wrap our minds around. This video was directed and shot by Rob and Mary and is the type of visual additive to an album that we live for.

-Erik Otis

The two mix their particular internal rhythms with a long-standing love of UK and US dance sensibilities such as that of UK garage, drum and bass, Chicago/NYC house, Detroit techno, dub reggae, and electro dancehall. The early influence of visceral live experiences of NYC/Philly hip hop of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s is evidenced in the band’s massive sound system. With Original Colors, they are at once pushing forward with much heavier and more complex beats, but also returning to their more gritty, electro-acoustic roots. – Thrill Jockey Records

Dublab’s all night, ambient music happening “Tonalism” 
comes to El Cosmico in Marfa, Texas on Saturday, March 10th

What a beautiful world we live in when the fine people at dublab come together to curate an all night ambient music showcase in the middle of the Texan desert. Yes, you read that right, dublab are curating “TONALISM” – a captivating and illustrious 12 hour ambient music festival in the gorgeous backdrop of Marfa, Texas. Yes that is the same Marfa, Texas that was the brilliant scenery in one of our favorite films, Paul Thomas Anderson’s THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Bring your tee pees, tents, and all your other camping materials because this dusk-til-dawn event will be going down at the El Cosmico camping grounds in Marfa. The thought of sleeping under the starry skies of the beautiful Texan terrain while artists such as Matthewdavid, Sneaky Snake, Sun Araw, and many others comfort your ears, eyes and heart with their colorful soundscapes. This is truly an extraordinary music and art event that will go down the weekend before SXSW, so if you’re coming to Texas early, make sure to spend the night at El Cosmico with the lovely dublab and friends. Dublab turned 12 last year and we were fortunate enough to be on site for a complete photo set. Artists include Take, Teebs, Daedelus, The Gaslamp Killer and more, check out the full photo set here.

-Pouya Asadi

From dublab.com

TONALISM 
an all night ambient music happening in Marfa, Texas

Saturday, March 10 2012
6:00 PM – 06:00 AM

DUBLAB, El Cosmico & Marfa Public Radio present:

TONALISM
an all night ambient music happening

Under the desert skies of Marfa, Texas at El Cosmico.

Tonalism will be broadcast live on the airwaves of KRTS 93.5fm, Marfa Public Radio.

Live performances by:
Diva

J D Emmanuel
M. Geddes Gengras
Matthewdavid
Sneaky Snake
Sun Araw
+ More

DJ sets by:

dublab sleepytime soundsystem
David Hollander
Daniel Chamberlin
+ More

Video projections by:

dublab
CineMarfa

Tickets:
Music ticket only: $20
Music ticket + Saturday night camping pass: $32
Purchase tickets here.

This happening is the weekend prior to SXSW so if you’re headed to Austin from the west coast come join us on the way!

For more information please visit:
 dublab.com / elcosmico.com / marfapublicradio.org

About Tonalism:

Tonalism is s dusk-to-dawn event inspired by La Monte Young’s “Dream House” as well as the work of musicians and composers such as Terry Riley, Yoko Ono and John Cage. Tonalism combines harmonious textures in a surround sound system with visual elements to create an atmosphere where the audience is encouraged to bring pillows, cushions and sleeping bags to lay down, listen and watch for an extended period of time. DJs, live musicians and video artists play and perform throughout the night; starting at sunset and ending at sunrise. Complimentary tea and water are provided to all who attend.

Open wide to a new world.  Expansive radiance awaits in this environment of elevation.  We have entered a glowing landscape of transformative tones.  The horizon line fades and every edge softens.  Natural laws dissolve as we float on pure sound particles.  Vibration has become the new vision and your being beams brightly, blurring into harmonic hum with the universe.  “You” and “I” are no longer.  This is all together.  Transformation complete.

For the full description of the camp grounds and natural terrain that Tonalism is held at, please visit dublab’s event page.


Matthewdavid’s “Outmind” (Brainfeeder 2011)

The Tonalism Playbutton

dublab’s Tonalism Playbutton is here!!! This is a wearable, ambient music experience. You can turn your favorite, soft sweater into an article of sheer, soothing sound by pinning this gorgeous collection of music to your chest.

Playbutton is an innovative and incredible music format and we’re thrilled to have been invited to compile one of their earliest releases. Click here for the full list of Playbuttons now available.

The first batch of these Playbuttons were sent around the world as “thank you” gifts to dublab listeners who generously supported us during our “Sounds of Symmetry” Proton Drive fundraiser.

Tonalism Playbutton Compilation Track Listing:

Playbutton Track Listing:

  1. Lucky Dragons “Changing Tempers”
  2. Golden Hits “Shimmer”
  3. SFV Acid “Stanley’s Dream2″
  4. Julia Holter “Cordula: Murder Ballad” (Free MP3 Download)
  5. Marcus Fischer “Three Drifts”
  6. Pharaohs “By Moonlight”
  7. Windy & Carl “Live at The Cave”
  8. Julianna Barwick “Threads”
  9. White Rainbow & Matthewdavid “Jungle Hassle Struts”

Mastered by: Jake Viator

camera operators : jason valdez & chuck fry
edited by : chuck fry
additional editing by : neil goodman
music by : james pants
shot on : Gopro HD, Gopro SD, Flip HD, Flip SD, Kodak Playtouch

Color in Motion Vol 149: “Blue Nude” by Romare Bearden (1981)

Blue Nude, Romare Bearden, 1981

From The Romare Bearden Foundation:

Recognized as one of the most creative and original visual artists of the twentieth century, Romare Bearden had a prolific and distinguished career. He experimented with many different mediums and artistic styles, but is best known for his richly textured collages, two of which appeared on the covers of Fortune and Time magazines, in 1968. An innovative artist with diverse interests, Bearden also designed costumes and sets for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and programs, sets and designs for Nanette Bearden’s Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Among Bearden’s numerous publications are: A History of African American Artists: From 1792 to the Present, which was coauthored with Harry Henderson and published posthumously in 1993; The Caribbean Poetry of Derek Walcott and the Art of Romare Bearden (1983); Six Black Masters of American Art, coauthored with Harry Henderson (1972); The Painter’s Mind: A Study of the Relations of Structure and Space in Painting, coauthored with Carl Holty (1969); and Li’l Dan, the Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story, a children’s book published posthumously in September 2003.

Picture source: http://kosblog.tumblr.com/

Categories: Color in Motion Tags:

LDS 046: Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie w/ Stan Kenton and His Orchestra Portland 1954

February 23, 2012 1 comment

Torrent Download: http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=392643
Mediafire Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?3vr0h26022budm2

Here are the original notes from Flambay, one of the best independent audio restoration members in the rare recording trader communities:

CHARLIE PARKER & DIZZY GILLESPIE with STAN KENTON & HIS ORCHESTRA
Civic Auditorium
Portland, OR (USA)
February 25, 1954 Sound cleaned and Pitch Fixed

Uploaded to Dime 2012 February 5 by u014945

a Flambay – u014945 production

The Sound was good. There were just 2 clicks in the first 2 tracks and one in the following 3 tracks (7 clicks in total). Nothing else was done.

Dime > Audacity (noises cutting ) > TLH ( SBE – Flac 8) > dime

Charlie Parker (as on tracks 1 – 3)
Dizzy Gillespie (tp,announcements on tracks 4 – 6)

with Stan Kenton & his Orchestra:
Sam Noto, Vic Minichiello, Buddy Childers, Don Smith, Stu Williamson (tp),
Milt Gold, Joe Ciavardone, George Roberts, Frank Rosolino tb),
Charlie Mariano, Dave Schildkraut (as), Mike Cichetti, Bill Perkins (ts),
Tony Ferina (bs), Stan Kenton (p), Bob Lesher (g),
Don Bagley (b), Stan Levey (dr), Candido (cga on track 5)

01. NIGHT AND DAY (2:42) 2:47
02. MY FUNNY VALENTINE (3:17) 3:23
03. CHEROKEE (3:03) 3:09
04. ON THE ALAMO (2:50) 2:56
05. MANTECA (5:56) 6:11
06. A SHORT ONE (0:22) 0:24

Total time: 18:13 18:55

On the right timing after pitch Correction

Sound: B

Lineage: 7″ blank disc @ 33 1/3 r.p.m > CDRec > CD > Nero (flac 8) > HDD

Note: As to the best of my knowledge these recordings are/were only available on various bootlegs (EPs, LPs, CDs); no official release is known.

Discographical information: Piet Koster: Bird Lore, a revised Charlie Parker Discography (Names and Numbers, Almere 2005) Chris Sheridan: Dizzy Gillespie Discography (not yet published but in progress)

Video credits: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie perform Hot House on U.S. television, 1952.

Personnel:

Charlie Parker – alto sax
Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet
Dick Hyman – pian

* Photo credit: Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie, NYC, 1949 by H.Leonard

Beirut releases the new music video ‘Vagabond’

From Sunset Television:

‘Vagabond’ tells the story of a group of soldiers and sailors flirting with nurses and hard-living local girls at a dance. It was shot at the beautiful Warsaw dancehall in Greenpoint and inspired by the look of Milos Forman movies from the 60′s. There were a couple of live chickens on set who were surprisingly easy to work with and natural onscreen. They also tended to sh*t the moment the camera was on them. With all the smoking, drinking, and advanced pregnancy, the video will probably be banned from MTV, so we hope lots of people enjoy it on the Internet.

Beirut Tour Dates:

Sun. April 15 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
Sun. April 22 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
Sun. May 27 – George, WA @ Sasquatch
Tue. Aug. 28 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues Boston
Wed. Aug. 29 – New York, NY @ Rumsey Playfield

Official video of ‘Vagabon’ by Beirut from Sunset Television

*Photo by Kristianna Smith

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra at the Troubadour, Los Angeles February 8, 2012

Efrim Menuck, David Payant, Jessica Moss, Sophie Trudeau and Thierry Amar are the latest incarnation of the forever evolving Constellations Records alumni Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra or for short, Silver Mt Zion. With shades of European classical tonalism that color all the pieces in instant beauty, juxtaposed aggressive under pinning melodies that stretch to a utopian world and the anything goes ethics of the 80′s diy punk scene combine for one of the most unique presentations of music in Canada’s history with the arts. There are very few orchestral avant garde chamber rock ensembles in the fore front and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra is paving the way in cycles of momentum. Every member is connecting to dozens of projects, so when the members get together like they have done this year, you know something is in store for release.

Sound Colour Vibration’s head photographer Oliver Walker was on press assignment with the Troubadour to document Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra’s performance last month and his pictures were a set that we had to include at SCV. The Troubadour is a very historic club in America culture that housed some of the best in the LA region. They have facilitated a level of quality in the history of Los Angeles live music for over half a century and to see Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra grace their stage further sheds light to the power and weight the band harnesses live. With the size or lack their of in the Troubadours main room and the very dark and auspicious setting despite the array of lighting present, there is a dark yet veracious in the building. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra flourished in this setting as their set really made way. It has been 2 years since Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra released their last full length Kollaps Tradixionales and the Troubadour performance more then made up for this wait. Sonically menacing and even in some moments terrifying in a cinematic approach, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra is a band you have to experience live.

-Erik Otis

Setlist:

13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
There is a Light
What We Loved Was Not Enought (Part 1 & 2)
Black Waters Blowed/Engine Broke Blues
Blindblindblind
Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River
Horses In The Sky

Encore
Psalms 99

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra’s musical forays sit squarely at the crossroads of free range jazz and punk rock roots. As opposed to the short brutal passages of punk rock, SMZ builds 5-15 minute compositions full of both grit and grace. Melodic valleys and climaxes building the backbone over which guitarist and singer Efrim Menuck admittingly “fumbles” vocals with masterful yet frail textures. This eerie overlay of threatening tension is what qualified these genre spanning noise experiments to be termed somewhat of a spiritual heir to the punk rock ethos. Hints of disestablishment in the lyrics and the occasional violin biting by Jessica Moss doesn’t hurt either.

Between songs Efrim answered questions, after saying that while his trips to Los Angeles are always interesting and the weather is wonderful it is a complete mystery to him how one lives there. Song two of the setlist was “There is a light” with an offered explanation “because there is, but it’s very dim.”

A drunk on the left side of the crowd caught the ire of Efrim after the second song, but provided a buoyant moment after shouting that “I am america,” to which Efrim responded that a lot of people were angry with him and that he wasn’t as rich as he used to be. The analogy was lost on the young man.

Their was actually quite a bit of tongue in cheek humor in the moments in between songs:

1. Stephen Harpers portrait was upside down because they thought it would make him go away

2. Black Waters Blowed is about Saddam Hussein in skinny jeans and (the other half of the composition) Engine Broke Blues is definitely not

3. Pretending to not be able to hear any questions concerning other festival-playing bands Efrim is involved with, and just asking people to repeat the question until they gave up

My favorite (non-musical) moment came when an audience member asked why SMZ decided to start including vocals in his music to which Efrim divulged that he sat down and looked through the chart-topping hits of all time and that “besides some Lawrence Welk tunes and disco instrumentals every one of the songs I looked at had vocals in it so I decided to give it a shot.” I’ve always thought quick humor was a result of constant awareness and an apt mind.

-Oliver Walker


Kollaps Tradixionales by The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (Constellation Records)

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Troubadour, Los Angeles February 8, 2012
All photography by Oliver Walker

www.tra-la-la-band.com

Given the orientation, it seems that SMZ does not appreciate Stephen Harper.