For the Record: August 9, 2024.
The prestigious Leo Records catalog is coming to Bandcamp next month, courtesy of Burning Ambulance—plus new arrivals and upcoming releases.
For the Record rounds up details about new and pending recordings of interest to the new-music community: contemporary classical music and jazz, electronic and electroacoustic music, and idioms for which no clever genre name has been coined, on CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital-only formats… you name it.
This list of release dates is culled from press releases, Amazon, Bandcamp, and other internet stores and sources, social-media posts, and online resources such as Discogs. Dates cited typically correspond to initial U.S. release, and are subject to change. (Links to Amazon, used when all else fails, do not imply endorsement.)
These listings are not comprehensive—nor could they be! To submit a forthcoming recording for consideration, email information to nightafternight@icloud.com.
All opinions expressed herein are solely my own, and do not express the views of any employer.
The lead-in.
Big news this week from Phil Freeman, dexterous purveyor of the Burning Ambulance empire – the webzine, the newsletter, and the record label – as well as the author of several esteemed books on music, including a new Cecil Taylor biography. In a statement issued earlier this week, Freeman announced that his label has partnered with the venerable creative-music label Leo Records to bring the latter catalog to Bandcamp.
This news will certainly be welcome to admirers of Taylor, who made several sorely overlooked albums for Leo in the years just after his longtime creative partner Jimmy Lyons died. Issued in 1988, Live in Bologna (recorded on Nov. 3, 1987) and Live in Vienna (Nov. 7, 1987) featured a Unit that included Carlos Ward on alto saxophone and flute, Leroy Jenkins on violin, William Parker on bass, and Thurman Barker on percussion… and when Barker took to his marimba, especially, the sound was like nothing else Taylor had done previously. Those recordings were edited for release on single CDs, but uncut on double vinyl; I trust they’ll be offered intact on Bandcamp.
Chinampas, also from 1988, is of vital interest as the first album-length offering of Taylor’s performance poetry—and ideally will adopt the individual track breaks featured on the CD version. Completing the 1988 cycle is Tzotzil Mummers Tzotzil, which on vinyl featured one side of poetry from the Chinampas sessions, recorded in London on Nov. 16 & 17, 1987, and one side with the aforementioned Unit recorded live in Paris on Nov. 13, 1987. (Might there be more material from that concert available?)
Fans of Anthony Braxton, as well, have much to rejoice about with Leo’s arrival on Bandcamp. High atop most lists of essential Braxtonia are the three concert recordings taped during the 1985 U.K. tour recounted in Graham Lock’s crucial book Forces in Motion, featuring the essential quartet of pianist Marilyn Crispell, percussionist Gerry Hemingway, and new-kid bassist Mark Dresser. Those three sets – Quartet (London) 1985, Quartet (Birmingham) 1985, and Quartet (Coventry) 1985 – are essential documents; the Coventry volume includes the added benefit of Braxton speaking with Lock for an hour about his influences and compositions.
The Leo catalog features a lot more Braxton, some records more vital than others but all worth exploring. Recommended especially warmly are Composition No. 96, an orchestral piece dedicated to Karlheinz Stockhausen; Knitting Factory (Piano/Quartet) 1994, Vol. 1, a standards set with Braxton at the piano alongside Marty Ehrlich, Joe Fonda, and Pheeroan ak Laff; Quintet (London) 2004, a BBC recording featuring Taylor Ho Bynum, Mary Halvorson, Chris Dahlgren, and Satoshi Takeishi; and Quartet (Moscow) 2008, with Bynum, Halvorson, and Katherine Young. It’s also worth checking out at least one of early Ghost Trance Music sets Braxton recorded at Yoshi’s in 1997; dip a toe in with Ninetet (Yoshi’s) 1997, Vol. 1, and see where it leads.
Beyond those crucial records, Leo documented a nascent Russian avant-garde of the Soviet era, bringing to Western ears important recordings by the Ganelin Trio and Sergey Kuryohkin. The voluminous catalog also includes items of interest by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra, Marilyn Crispell, Joe and Mat Maneri, Keshavan Maslak, Evan Parker, and many, many more.
The first batch of digital releases from Leo, including titles by Braxton, Crispell, Sun Ra, and Amina Claudine Myers, is scheduled to arrive on September 6—not coincidentally, the next Bandcamp Friday. Freeman estimates he’ll post the catalog at a rate of 20 titles per month—people, get ready.
New this week.
Bosque Vacio (Leena Lee and Guillermo Guevara) - Cantera Oriente (Flaming Pines)
Daniel Carter, Leo Genovese, William Parker, Francisco Mela - Shine Hear, Vol. 2 (577 Records)
Leo Chadburn - The Primordial Pieces (Library of Nothing)
Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, Tony Levin - The Good Feelings (577 Records)
Luc Ferrari - Complete Works 06 (Maison INA)
Krononaut (Leo Abrahams & Martin France) - Krononaut II (Palomino)
Lux Quartet (Myra Melford, Allison Miller, Dayna Stephens, Scott Colley) - Tomorrowland (Enja/Yellowbird)
Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão - Chico Mello/Helinho Brandão (Black Truffle, originally released 1984)
Jim O’Rourke - Steamroom 62 (self-released)
Ivo Perelman/gabby fluke-mogul - Duologues 2: Joy (Ibeji)
Upcoming releases.
August 15
Ivo Perelman with Fay Victor - Messa Di Voce (Mahakala Music)
Ivo Perelman, Iva Bittová, Michael Bisio - Vox Populi Vox Dei (Mahakala Music)
August 16
Willi Bopp, Camille Émaille, Gianni Gebbia, Heiner Goebbels, Cécile Lartigau, Nicolas Perrin - The Mayfield (Intakt)
Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey - The Brink (Intakt)
August 20
Jules Reidy - Instants & Their Echoes - Jules Reidy, Zinc & Copper (Hospital Hill)
September 6
Kyle Jessen - I Don’t Want to Take You Anywhere (Personal Archives)
September 20
Anthony Vine - Sound Spring (Kuyin)
October 18
Camila Nebbia/Angelica Sanchez - in another land, another dream (Relative Pitch)
Find many more upcoming releases in For the Record: The Master List, here.
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.
That's fabulous news about the Leo catalog, which contains many treasures. I worked for the New Music Distribution Service when they were distributing the label in US. Somewhere I may have a copy of the press release I wrote for 'Chinampas' when the album came out.