REVIEWS

p 10 Derek Bailey & Greg Goodman Duets Woody Woodman's Finger Palace, September 6, 1992

"Nice Day," says Derek Bailey. Enthusiastic nods from the audience. "Better than saying nothing," he reflects. Through the window I see wind rippling trees. Birds chirp. Sunlit and shadowlit leaves dance. Nice. In the Finger Palace, Greg Goodman and Derek Bailey play together, Bailey taking a leisurely lead with Goodman ambling close by, inside the piano. The first piece ends with a falling minor third. The counterpoint has been very close, the tow voices nearly merged. Derek looks up and comments, "Strange thing to be doing on a Sunday afternoon." Putting aside the questions of: when would such music not be strange? and: what does he usually do on Sundays?

I have to say that the music I have just heard is not the least bit strange. No stranger than the bright sunlight, or that the number of listeners at this free concert is 13 (two having just left after the first piece). Bailey then starts a busy solo, but everyone's talking softly and looking for a bathroom, so I guess it's not the second piece; it must be that doodling that guitarists do between pieces, when everyone's a Derek Bailey and you wish they would forget about the next tune and just keep going, with the audience quietly moving in and out of the kitchen for no reason. But the concert starts again, which later all turns out to be completely agreeable too. You know: Greg gets louder, thicker, more repetitive ... into a dense rhythmic chorus ... Derek rubs and squeaks over an E(?)7+9 chord; Greg plays spinningly, uses a mallet on all kinds of plates in the piano, like a steel drum ... and Derek gets real loud ... then both are soft, and Greg's mallets on low strings are like a pig grunting. Perhaps it is this sound which queues on of the 13 listeners to begin to snore quietly. A woman laughs gently, and I notice guiltily that I too was on the verge of dropping off. When I look up, there are small cows on the piano. During the next piece they will have turned to face the opposite direction ... Greg and Derek play an entire phrase in unison, pause, play a single note in unison, pause, then separate ...

It was a Sunday afternoon and pleasant, with moments in which magic happened almost imperceptibly; the best kind of magic for the time of year. -Daniel Plonsey

pp 10, 11 Life Burn musicians: Bruce Ackley, saxophone; Marc Crawford, percussion; Henry Kaiser, guitars; Shintaido practitioners led by Mr. Ito; action painter Kazu Nobu Yanagi

I get there late not knowing that I'm looking for an impossible intersection finally found at the Theatre of Yugen by accident. Inside it's quiet with lots of anticipation gravity. Mylas has been into Shintaido for a long time so I know that they're aiming at that same general area as improv: no filter heartworld sans verbal confusion and judgmental thinking. A painter too; more made visible. What's all this outpouring gonna be like?

Loud. Especially cuz with so many different toys and noises Henry can construct a dizzying universe which makes Bruce's reedy breathing a seamless single spun thread of continuity while charming curly guitar hairdos swoop around above it. Marc lunges the gong for a while kinda like soft piles of dirt for the Shintaido artists to play in.

Having been otherwise engaged I am surprised myself to get a painting in my eye. It is different from the one that fell in earlier, different again the next movement always changing in a tense dance of unexpected perception now beautiful now ugly now neither now. He is most respectful of himself, cooperatively dancing with the musicians and Shintaido artists and the rest of us all together. A lot of faces get sweaty and then the music is ending before I want it to.

I haven't described this thing very much so I'll try now -- Five persons dressed in white robes, four men one woman Mr. Ito was their leader. I T O. They move around like seaweed zombies bumping into each other with the changing current or brandishing sticks in a mock contest of contest; they must have been very awake to do it right. Engaging with the musicians emigrating like three guys having fun in the garage making songs for elephant, dogs, rabbits. Behind them colors and shapes changed ugly beautiful. But, the whole time we were watching segregated by our chairs arranged congregation style. Feet itching.

I think it might be fun to actually do Shintaido. You can try it for yourself on the beach or at Mission Dolores or in the Oakland Hills. Sometimes there's music. Sometimes it's Henry. And you'll have to do your own painting conversation too, just to see what it's like. If it's anything like this experience it will be always original, never gummy, amplified squinty eyed recollections. Have fun. Tell us what you learn. -Miss Helen Troy

p 11 The Manufacturing Of Humidifiers The Eulipians September 16, 1992

Dan: "She Walks Well in the Dark." Yeah, like the red curtain hanging from the dark ceiling of The Heinz. Meandering, warm, slightly coquettish; winding with the moonlight suddenly licking her forehead - bending, dancing. Clumsy, graceful; alternating lightning-like crazy... "Crazy Confidence". You must be crazy to be confident ... in "Blues For Alice" the bass and guitar players kiss for the first time flying furiously towards the finish. Ward's thing becomes a funk as Dan ceremoniously pulls the string of the talking-toy-camera. "Hava Nagila" is played backwards incredibly slowly, how do you dance the Hora? Then a guest, Bira Almeida comes up to join in, engaging in wondrous rhythms from Brazil on the berimbau. The "M OF H" can really jam on anything with anything, and Randy proves it on the autoharp.

Eulipians are from Eulipia, and anyone can tell. And GOD DAMN IT, THEY ARE WILD. Jazz from the future. John Shiurba plays a post-punk/dissonantly-harmonic-feedback-drone guitar style that sets me on the edge of my chair -- every note perfectly in place. With articulate one-liners John invents a new language for jazz (?) guitar. But could you please turn it down a little so we can hear Bruman's magnificent melodious sax sound! ... "Brutrain" is a slippery, slightly silly composition; played with incredible skill. These Eulipians sound really great together! -Hillary Double D Fielding

p 12 Better Hose and Garters, Crawling With Tarts, The Foundation For Public Broadcasting The Heinz Afterworld Lounge, September 10, 1992

A well-attended assault on everyone's sensibilities. Brian Hall of Better H&G (Limbic System, Non-Whites) wore a dashing red white and blue ensemble over his dreads offering liver pate (was that Marilyn Quayle's donated organ of choice) as he rolled through the crowd. Karen, Lexa, Laurence and Paula sang sweetly as various appliances droned through a digital delay. The family values of certain U.S. Power-Wives and the L.A. riots courtesy of Jim Cribley gave us TV to look at. Heartwarming... You never know what's next with that wonderfully conceptual tribe, Crawling With Tarts. Suzanne Dycus is the master of electric bass feedback. She caused the thing to sing as she danced through one very real but unreal sub-pop number, Mic thrashed and bashed and Cliff Neighbors guitarred. I walked outside and could suddenly hear some kind of constructed melody during the third song. Beneath the hepatitis sallow glow of lamplight, a young man about 5 inches shorter than I, in a slightly trembling mumble asked me if I wanted a "hit." I said, "No thank you. If I did that sort of thing I'd probably be dead." He then lambasted me with a long story about this girl he knew at Davis who went to medical school. "She was stoned the entire time on weed and acid and made straight A's." Time was running out, his ploy was starting to annoy me. "After she graduated she broke up with her boyfriend and made enemies of all her relatives and friends. No one could figure out what happened to her." "Maybe it finally got to her," I said. I suddenly realized that I'd been watching one of those marvelously surreal Fellini flicks of the 60's. The young man vanished. I'm sure FPB was great. -Hillary Double D Fielding

p 12 Improv Archive If you love documentation as much as I do, maybe you'd be interested in helping establish an archive of improvised music. To begin, let's take a Bay area focus, collect articles, photographs, posters, recordings, publications, oral histories, etc. in conjunction with the other activities of the IMA. From there, the potential exists to go national, publish a book, and become an international resource for this music while its greatest performers are still alive and active.

We need: * Archive material (published and unpublished texts, photos, articles discographies, any media documents of potential historical value) * Recordings (preferably LP or CD, or outstanding tapes) * Posters and other memorabilia * Organizational help * Financial assistance to maintain and preserve the archive, and perhaps establish a small office space.

Long-time members of the improvised music community are especially encouraged to contribute material and ideas. Think of your music as history in the making! Get in touch with Myles at (510) 835-9333.

-=- Freeway Improv Compilation Tape Insert excerpts-=-

--------- HENRY KUNTZ and somewhere SOUND OF LIGHT we require PASSING what silence requires

Instruments: Two Balinese and one Javanese gamelan, one Balinese wood xylophone. Recorded: August 20, 1992. Time: 4:32.

This four-track free improvisation is an alternately playful and exalted tribute to the spirit of play and whimsical genius of John Cage. It is representative, as well, of a way I've recently been creating music, utilizing multi-tracking as a concentrated means of expanding the sound content and cultural framework of improvisation and extending its formal contours.

For information on other recordings or for bookings in various live formats, contact HUMMING BIRD RECORDS, 1921 Walnut #1, Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 843 7357.

F and C 1992 Humming Bird Records

-------------- Program 3 Wow, man, Jass! 1:06 Utter improv Recorded August, 192 Radical House Music Engineered by Ron K. M. Stevens - Sampler 99 Hooker - Saxophone

----------------- scattertactics is: CLICK DARK, drums H DeKomposition, Guitar STEVE HOROWIZ, Bass Hidden Agenda, Produced by Steve Horowiz at THE CODE Digital Editing by Steve Horowiz at SoundLab For more information call (415) 681- 5547 For more info Call (415) 346-4063

------------ Pluto * Ethel merman (3:14) Ralph Carney, Steve Clarke, Len Paterson, Kent Randolf, Dave Stusser, Russ Schoenwetter, Marc Weinstein

---------------- NON-WHITES Contact c/o Jeezus Mosquito Music 410 Fairmount Ave #206 OAK CA 94611 510-444-2055

recorded at Nighttost by RON ANDERSON & JIM CRIBLEY

----------------- OVARY ACTION reagan & bush

Thea Farhadian: violin, metronome, washboard Hillary Fielding: electric guitar, egg beater, vocals Kris Mueller: sampler, vocals Catarina Sdun: bass, pepper, drill, measuring tape, vocals

Typed by C.Vega 2-8-96