For the Record: March 22, 2024.
Veteran British improviser Steve Beresford needs our help—plus listings for new 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.
I’m sorry to say I had no time to write anything new this week… but that’s okay, because there’s something more urgent to share. Steve Beresford, a brilliantly anarchic British pianist and electronics improviser, has posted that he needs financial assistance in light of pandemic setbacks and anticipated medical concerns. Earlier this week, he launched a GoFundMe campaign, modestly titled “Musician needs a hand.”
Hi. I am Steve Beresford. I’ve played the piano since I was 7 and now I’m 74. Sometimes I was a university lecturer. I mainly play improvised music and up until Covid had an OK time. But my savings went during Covid, my pension is small and post-Covid gigs are sparse. I need financial help, not least because I’ll be having an operation for a thing I’ve had since birth. I’d appreciate your help.
Beresford has been a towering presence on the British jazz and free improvisation scenes for decades, under his own auspices and with artists like Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Han Bennink, John Zorn, John Butcher, and Otomo Yoshihide. But his credits are broader still: Ray Davies, The Slits, The Flying Lizards, Prince Far-I, Christian Marclay, Ilan Volkov—on and on and on.
The bulk of Beresford’s major work isn’t available on Bandcamp. But you can hear the delightfully droll Signals for Tea – on which Beresford sings and plays with a backing band comprising John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, and Kenny Wollesen – on YouTube and the other usual streaming platforms. Also to be found there are Double Indemnity, Beresford’s tremendous duo with the late cellist and kindred spirit Tristan Honsinger, and both Cue Sheets and Cue Sheets II, his releases for Tzadik’s Film Music series.
Present on YouTube sans authorization are classic records like The Bath of Surprise, a frenetic solo session, and Deadly Weapons, a chic quartet outing with Zorn, David Toop, and Tonie Marshall). You’ll also find, here and there, scattered selections from Emanem and Psi releases by Foxes Fox, the fiery collective of Beresford, Evan Parker, John Edwards, and Louis Moholo-Moholo.
But if you’re inclined to shop on Bandcamp, flag these choice selections, which cover a pretty good amount of stylistic territory—and then buy them two weeks from today on the next Bandcamp Friday, April 5:
Steve Beresford - Fish of the Week (scatterArchive)
Steve Beresford/John Butcher - Old Paradise Airs (Iluso)
Steve Beresford/Angharad Davies - TRWST (Shrike)
Sarah Gail Brand/Steve Beresford/John Edwards/Mark Sanders - All Will Be Said, All To Do Again (Regardless)
Foxes Fox (with Mark Sanders) - Louis Moholo-Moholo Benefit (Vortex Jazz Club)
Otomo Yoshihide/Steve Beresford - Museum of Towing & Recovery (Hot Air)
As I write this on Friday afternoon, Beresford is less £1,000 away from his initial fundraising target. Pitch in if you can, however you can—and make some time to appreciate this inimitable musician.
One more thing: One Way or Another, Vol. 2, a new collection of original music intimately performed by the singular, sublime singer, pianist, and composer Robin Holcomb, is coming out on May 31. Since I didn’t get to write much of anything new this week, I hope you’ll consider reading what I wrote about Vol. 1 back in Oct. 2022—and then consider dropping ten bucks on the new volume.
New this week.
Timo Andres - The Blind Bannister - performances by Timo Andres, Inbal Segev, and Metropolis Ensemble/Andre Cyr (Nonesuch)
Guy Birkin - Rushed Snares (Superpang)
Dante Boon - Gaza (strings) (2024) - Denis Sorokin (self-released)
Claire Dickson - The Beholder (New Amsterdam)
Christopher Hoffman - Vision Is the Identity (Out of Your Head)
Jlin - Akoma (Planet Mu)
Eli Keszler - LIVE 2 (LUCKYME®)
Cassie Kinoshi’s seed. - gratitude (International Anthem)
Jessica Meyer - I long and seek after (New Focus)
Jordan Nobles - The Night Sky - Janelle Nadeau (Redshift Music)
Dustin O’Halloran - 1 0 0 1 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Bill Orcutt - Four Guitars Live (Palilalia)
Prism Quartet - Heritage/Evolution, Vol. 3 - compositions by Melissa Aldana, Matthew Levy, Stephen Sondheim, and Terell Stafford (XAS Recordings)
Ryan Seward & Andrew Weathers - On a cloudy day, wind mostly out of the SSW (emic)
Rodney Sharman - Known and UnKnown - Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa (Redshift Music)
Upcoming releases.
April 4
Paola Prestini and Nelson Patton - Ancient City (VIA Records)
April 6
Ephemeris (Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Carol Liebowitz, Tom Blancarte, John Bernard Wagner) - Ephemeris (Marsken)
April 22
Stacy Garrop - Terra Nostra - Michelle Areyzaga, Leah Dexter, Jesse Donner, David Govertsen, Uniting Voices, Northwestern University Chorale, Alice Millar Chapel Choir, Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra/Stephen Alltop (Çedille)
April 23
Jules Archive - Platonic Tales (Hidden Harmony)
April 26
Christina Kubisch & Trondheim Voices - Stromsänger (Important)
Rama Parwata - Ceases (Cassauna)
Tomeka Reid Quartet - 3+3 (Cuneiform)
May 10
Elaine Mitchener - Solo Throat (Otoroku)
May 17
Layale Chaker & Sarafand - Radio Afloat (In a Circle)
ETHEL & Layale Chaker - Vigil (In a Circle)
James Ilgenfritz - Stay Logged In on This Trusted Device (Infrequent Seams)
May 24
Mazz Swift - The 10000 Things: PRAISE SONGS for the iRiligious (New Amsterdam)
May 31
Robin Holcomb - One Way or Another, Vol. 2 (Westerlies)
Find many more upcoming releases in For the Record: The Master List.
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.