Author Archives: Joseph Neff

Remembering Sonny Rollins. —Ed.

Sonny Rollins’ name met the marquee of The Village Vanguard in the fall of 1957, and by November 3rd the saxophonist had honed his group to basic rudiments and figured out exactly what he wanted to do. With drummers Elvin Jones and Pete La Roca and bassists Wilbur Ware and Donald Bailey, he delivered one of jazz’s core documents, the undyingly superlative A Night at the Village Vanguard.

According to Leonard Feather’s liner notes for the original 6-track LP documentation of Sonny Rollins’ ’57 Vanguard stand, the saxophonist first hit the stage for a week with a quintet including trumpet and piano. Not happy with the results, he ditched the other horn and grabbed a new rhythm section for week two. Dissatisfied with the quartet lineup as well, Rollins then decided upon a sax-bass-drums trio. And that’s what we hear on the still startling A Night at the Village Vanguard. If Rollins’ rapid-fire retooling seems odd for a concert engagement, understand that he was basically using the bandstand as a live laboratory, experimenting loosely and approachably for proprietor Max Gordon’s hip urban clientele.

Though the Vanguard opened its doors in 1935, based on Feather’s notes, through the ‘40s and well into the next decade most live jazz had moved uptown, and Gordon’s club had then only recently underwent a substantial return to its now legendary intersection of serious jazz and bohemia. In attempting to steer his joint back in the direction of the cutting edge, Gordon casually inviting Rollins to spontaneously create in his spot was an extremely bright maneuver.

For at this point in his career Sonny Rollins was at an early peak. Frankly, the previous sentence is understating the case almost criminally; from ’56-’58 he cut 17 LPs as a leader, and by my count (and I’m far from alone in this arithmetic) at least ten of those recordings are classics. The performances corralled on A Night at the Village Vanguard arrived in the midst of all that activity, and the vinyl configuration’s slim but thoughtful annotation of the significant invention presented by these group’s (there are two, each with individual characteristics) remains an absolute masterpiece.

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Bass clarinetist Jason Stein, double bassist Damon Smith, and drummer-percussionist Adam Shead constitute an improvising unit with two prior releases as a trio plus two in combination with pianist Marilyn Crispell. With Five Nights in the Midwest, the threesome explodes back onto the scene with a 3CD set documenting a tour from December of 2025. The seven improvisations, presented with no edits or cuts, retain the continuity of the tour and reinforce the sheer brilliance of the trio as they personify free jazz at its very best. This astounding release is out now from Irritable Mystic Records and Balance Point Acoustics.

The tour, encapsulated in Five Nights in the Midwest, ran from December 9th to the 14th across five performances in four states, starting at the Sugar Maple in Milwaukee, WI, moving on to State Street Pub in Indianapolis, IN, then Spot Tavern in Lafayette, IN, after that Dissonant Works in St. Louis, MO, and last, Reverberation Records in Bloomington, IL.

These five gigs are represented by seven improvisations. The Spot Tavern performance consists of three pieces from two sets, as the other locales found the group unfurling one improv, most of them over 25 minutes long. Interestingly, the first Spot Tavern set is Five Nights in the Midwest’s longest by a whisker at 29:26.

The music created by this triangle is intense but never grueling. It expands the potentialities of free jazz at its most energetic, tapping into the Fire Music-Ecstatic root while mapping distinct territory and more than doubling their output as a trio; they debuted in 2022 with the Volumes & Surfaces CD and followed up that disc with Hum the next year.

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Hailing from Vancouver, the Modernettes stand as one of Canada’s consistently undersung early punk bands. They released their debut recording, the EP “Teen City,” in 1980 on Quintessence Records. Energetic catchiness is the default mode as the six songs straddle the power pop and new wave. If falling a little short of a masterpiece, the set is still a worthwhile acquisition, so it’s sweet that the 45th Anniversary Edition Custom Vinyl is out now from Porterhouse Records.

If the Modernettes don’t get enough credit, they are far from forgotten. If the discography is slim, nearly everything has been reissued at least once. The band’s classic trio lineup was in place for the debut, consisting of John Armstrong, aka Buck Cherry, on guitar and lead vocals, Mary Armstrong, aka Mary-Jo Kopechne, on bass and vocals, and John McAdams, aka Jughead, on drums and vocals.

Buck Cherry had previous experience playing guitar in Active Dog, a short-lived band that released one 45, “Rat Race” b/w “Good Filthy Fun” in 1979 and landed one song, “Fun While it Lasts,” on the compilation Vancouver Complication alongside such heavy-hitters as D.O.A., Subhumans, Pointed Sticks, No Fun, and Dishrags.

Did Active Dog land on a Killed by Death boot? Yes indeed, #17, in fact, plus Bloodstains Across Canada and Hyped 2 Death #5. Wasted Lives, with Mary-Jo Kopechne on bass, were also included on Vancouver Complication. Kopechne also played in Big Black Puppets prior to the formation of the Modernettes. A split 45 featuring Wasted Lives and Big Black Puppets was released in 1979.

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Wide of range and stylistically diverse, the output of the Sublime Frequencies label is a vast repository of global revelations. The latest addition to the catalog exemplifies the sense of discovery that has become the undertaking’s norm. Himba Hymn: Ghosts Of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast sheds considerable light onto a style of music heretofore unheard beyond its country’s borders. Recorded and produced by esteemed and dogged musical researcher Ian Brennan, these wild sounds flower out there far beyond any reasonable expectations, available now on vinyl and digital.

For many, the persevering interest in global sounds stemmed from, if not boredom, then certainly sustained restlessness with an overabundance of variations on the same old thing. And that thing was a deluge of different sub-things: pop-rock, alt-rock, indie, punk, Americana, electronica, etc.

Often described as a musical boom period, the 1990s were also a time when interested listeners began seeking something other than the standard contemporary kicks. There was the impulse to give earlier eras and styles a deeper investigation, a curiosity that wasn’t anything particularly new, especially regarding the music of distant cultures.

The reason the Nonesuch Explorer Series released recordings from 1967 to 1984, with numerous reissues to follow, was clearly due to unflagging consumer interest. And Nonesuch Explorer wasn’t alone, as Folkways broadened outward from US shores, and the 1980s brought an influx of labels including World Circuit, Hannibal, Original Music, Shanachie, and more.

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Drummer William Hooker is a constant traveler on the elevated plains of consciousness, and on Convergence: Live in China, he’s joined for some rich dialogues of blistering potency by guitarist John King. Recorded at the B10 Festival in Shenzhen, China, the hour-long performance is being released by ORG Music, with seven selections on the LP and three more on the CD, and completing the digital download. In totality, it is a whirlwind of powerhouse interaction.

Across the last half-century, drummer, bandleader, and composer William Hooker has risen and maintained his stature as one of the major figures in the fertile and diverse landscape of avant-jazz. A Connecticut-born West Coaster who migrated back East to emerge as part of the New York loft scene, he debuted on record with … Is Eternal Life, a 2LP set released in 1977 on Hooker’s own Reality Unit Concepts label.

Largely a live performance document that includes contributions from saxophonists David S. Ware and David Murray, … Is Eternal Life endures as a crucial document of undiluted exploratory jazz. It took Hooker a while to get another record out, Brighter Lights, released in 1984, also on Reality Unit Concepts, but once he hooked up with the terribly undersung Silkheart label, issuing Lifeline in 1988 and The Firmament Fury the following year, his release schedule picked up considerable momentum.

As it was for many persevering beacons of musical freedom, the 1990s were a discographical boom time for Hooker as he had a slew of stuff in the store racks courtesy of Homestead, Knitting Factory Works, Silkheart, and a bunch of one-shots on various labels, a remarkable stretch that continued deep into our current century.

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Celebrating George Alexander, born on this day in 1946. —Ed.

Of the three records the Flamin’ Groovies made upon regrouping in the second half of the 1970s, Flamin’ Groovies Now isn’t the most celebrated, but it does deliver a covers-heavy good time from start to finish. Released in 1977 and produced by Dave Edmunds, the disc’s 14 songs offer sturdy, inspired guitar-pop classicism that still sounds fresh 45 years later. 

These days the Flamin’ Groovies’ best-known album is probably Shake Some Action, the band’s first record without founding member Roy Loney, with guitarist Cyril Jordan stepping up as leader after a hiatus. As Flamin’ Groovies Now’s immediate predecessor, Shake Some Action attained its stature in no small part due to its opening title track, the song sitting amongst the band’s most beloved, alongside “Teenage Head” (the title cut to their 1971 album) and “Slow Death” (a non-LP 45 from ’72).

There is classicism and there is the revivalist impulse, and even at their best, the Flamin’ Groovies walked the fine line in between. This is in fact part of their appeal, a state of being consistently out-of-step with what was contemporarily popular that solidified them as one of the foundational bands of cult fandom and an enduring proto-punk act.

Cover songs are a constant in the Groovies discography but really entered the equation during the Cyril Jordan-era, alternately called their Sire Records period, as Shake Some Action, Flamin’ Groovies Now, and 1979’s Jumpin’ in the Night were all issued by Seymore Stein’s punk-affiliated label prior to another longer run of inactivity (there wasn’t another “new” Groovies album until 1987’s One Night Stand, which is a dive into covers and previously recorded originals cut live in the studio).

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Remembering Bobby Darin, born on this day in 1936. —Ed.

Although quite far afield from our current pop charts, Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer were once thoroughly of the commercial mainstream. However, their full-length collaboration, originally released on Atco in 1961, finds the pair in a nostalgic and jocular mood. Loaded with older tunes and a theatrical, at times vaudevillian rapport, Two of a Kind succeeds through expert delivery, obvious mutual respect, the bulls-eye backing of Billy May and His Orchestra, and the production expertise of Ahmet Ertegun. 

Waxing autobiographical as a record reviewer can be a dangerous move (though rock scribes have often successfully flouted the “rule” against it), but in considering Two of a Kind’s saturation of personality it feels appropriate to plunge deep into the realm of the first-person. And so; allow me to confess that pre-rock pop vocalizing in the big band mode has never been my favorite scene, and has in fact persistently nagged around the edges of blind spot.

There are of course exceptions, most of them jazzy and female, but the flat fact is I’ve never been that enthusiastic over Bing. Or Sinatra. Or Bennett. Or Dean (sorry, Nick Tosches). Or Torme. Though I do like Louis Prima, especially with Keely Smith (that better, Nick?) And hey, as relevant to this piece, I’ve long been fond of Bobby Darin.

Due to his early hits, Darin is sometimes pegged as a rock ‘n’ roll-era figure who broadened his horizons upon youth music’s decade-closing stumbling block, but he was actually a singer-songwriter, and a solid one at that; “Splish Splash” was reportedly co-written on a dare, and “Dream Lover” stands up as a likable example of ’50s teen pop crooning.

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Primitive Ring is a new Los Angeles-based power trio that features Bert Hoover on bass and vocals, Charles Moothart on guitar and vocals, and Jon Modaff on drums. The three share solid backgrounds in prior bands (more info below) but are kicking it into high heavy rock gear with their self-titled full-length debut, which comes out May 15 on vinyl and digital through In the Red Records. The album’s 11 songs are a fuzzy, psych-tinged, hard-rocking good time.

Along with Primitive Ring, Bert Hoover’s credits include Cab 20, GROOP, Mind Meld, Jesus Sons, and Hooveriii. Charles Moothart has contributed to Fuzz, the Ty Segall Band, GØGGS, The Preverts, Charlie & the Moonhearts, and CFM. Jon Modaff has taken part in Sweet Country Meat Boys, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, GROOP, and Hooveriii.

This supergroup-ish joining of forces commenced in 2024 and the following year the band cut four 45s beginning with “In the Ground” b/w “Golden in Your Eyes” on Greenway Records, followed by “Poisonous Gift” b/w “TV City” on In the Red, then “Luck” b/w “I’ve Been Waiting For You” via The Reverberation Appreciation Society, and finally “Rolling Greed” b/w “Cocaine Man” on Fuzz Club.

These are all worthy efforts that establish the extended pummeling of this full-length set, which finds Primitive Ring ramping it up a few tangible notches, as opener “Fire and Brimstone” swaggers with an almost glam punk feel. “The Last Gold Mine” extends this heavy groove and then “Lies from the Other Side” picks up the pace and solidifies the power trio stature with an utter torcher.

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The New York City-based outfit Suss has been extant for roughly a decade, starting as a quintet before trimming down to a trio lineup that’s remained in place since. Specializing in ambient country (their chosen descriptor) across a series of highly regarded full-length releases, their latest album is Counting Sunsets, its ten pieces offering exquisite, sunbaked, drifting resonances on LP, CD, and digital available May 15 through their label Northern Spy. This richly textured recording captures a band with an unusually heightened aptitude for cohesiveness honing a sound that’s organic and contemporary while lacking in clichés.

Suss is currently Jonathan Gregg on pedal steel and dobro, Bob Holmes on mandolin, baritone guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, violin, and keyboards, and Pat Irwin on electric guitars, National guitar, eBow, harmonium, keyboards, melodica, and loops. William Garrett departed the band in 2020, and Gary Leib passed away in 2021.

The two main elements in the style that this group has been steadily refining since debuting with Ghost Box back in 2018 are easy to recognize and absorb. The band can move with an exquisite graduality, reverberating with a calmness that fits pretty comfortably into the atmospheric, indeed ambient scheme of things, but without an overreliance on standard formal maneuvers.

On the other side of the equation, Suss’ country bona fides are rooted in the instrumentation listed above, but the playing is strengthened by a steadfast avoidance of hackneyed Americana-isms. By steering clear of excessive twang as a shortcut to mood infusion, the band is able to conjure up environments that are legitimately transportive.

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Celebrating Greg Dulli, born on this day in 1965. —Ed.

From humble beginnings, Cincinnati’s Afghan Whigs grew into one of 1990s more appealing Alternative success stories. Featuring guitarist Rick McCollum, bassist John Curley, drummer Steve Earle, and vocalist-guitarist-songwriting powerhouse Greg Dulli, they came on strong with 1990’s Up in It and sharpened their sound with ‘92’s Congregation; covers EP “Uptown Avondale” signaled the departure of Sub Pop for the majors. 

Up in It emerged in 1990 and was an immediate breath of fresh air. A whole lot of loud and heavy stuff was steamrolling toward a point of detonation, but the Afghan Whigs essentially came out of nowhere and infused the template with better than average songwriting right out of the gate. The LP’s best song is its opener, “Retarded” an almost ridiculously catchy hard rocker reinforcing that Dulli and company weren’t just hitched to a trend on the upswing. It’s sort of cut that can get stuck in one’s head for days, as this writer can attest, and reinvestigation has proved this capability undiminished.

Had Up in It been the only record the Whigs released…but wait. They do in fact have a prior record under their belt, 1988’s Big Top Halloween, issued on their own Ultrasuede label in an edition of 1,000 copies, one of which landed in the hands of Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman. Except for three tracks tacked onto the end of the Up in It CD (“Big Top Halloween,” Sammy,” and “In My Town”), nothing from the record has been legitimately reissued. Unbreakable: A Retrospective 1990–2006 chronologically cuts it out of the band’s history.

This is understandable. Although not terrible, Big Top Halloween (notably engineered by Wayne Hartman, who did the same for another Ohioan debut, the “Forever Since Breakfast” EP from Guided by Voices) is somewhat schizophrenic. Initially tapping into a Replacements vibe, across the disc there’re numerous structural nods to hardcore, doses of college jangle, a rather bogue country-ish number (“Life in a Day”), and the earliest nod to R&B-soul in the group’s discography (“But Listen”).

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Many ears were hipped to Indigenous folksinger, poet, filmmaker and activist Willie Dunn by the 3LP/2CD set Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985. Issued by Light in the Attic in 2014, that one’s received a recent repress, and in even better news, the next volume in the series is Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology, which gathers tracks from his four albums and more, with everything remastered by John Baldwin. The icing on the cake for vinyl buyers is the inclusion of Willie Dunn Notes, the 24-pg newsprint insert with exhaustively researched liners assembled by the set’s producer Kevin Howes. 

Willie Dunn’s best-known song is “I Pity the Country,” in large part because it was one of two recordings featured on Native North America (Vol. 1). That revelatory compilation, GRAMMY®-nominated and prominent in numerous year’s best lists including the top 10 reissues offered by this very website, smartly placed “I Pity the Country” as track one on side one.

When a musician attains a belated boost in profile, their best-known song often just happens to be their best song period, but that’s not the case with Willie Dunn, as Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies begins with the nearly 10-minute powerhouse “The Ballad of Crowfoot.” Now, that song is arguably the artist’s greatest composition (as it plays it sure feels that way); that the ensuing 21 songs here are unmarred by even a hint of anticlimax is testament to Dunn’s talent.

“The Ballad of Crowfoot” is included on both his debut and its follow-up (both eponymous, released in 1971 and ’72 with an overlap of six tracks), but neither of those shorter versions are the one that’s heard on Creation Never Sleeps. The recording collected here is sourced from the soundtrack of the short film of the same title that was made in 1968 by the National Film Board of Canada’s Indian Film Crew, of which Dunn was a member.

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The 6-song EP can be a splendiferous thing, especially when is loaded with songs by The Wedding Present. Back in 1995, this august UK band released “Mini,” a set with a loose driving theme, and now, 30 years later, we have “Maxi,” a fresh half dozen from the current lineup, led as always by David Gedge, with the contents covering the same subject from six distinct angles.

The red and black 12-inch vinyl released by Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is sold out on Bandcamp, but copies are still available in brick-and-mortar stores. A 10-inch pressing is also out now through the band’s label Scopitones, but it is going fast. Compact discs and digital downloads are also there for the purchasing.

A concise synopsis of The Wedding Present would, of course, situate them as top-tier indie pop specialists with an aptitude for guitar jangle at its most sublime and, occasionally, hyperactive. The other main characteristic is the band’s founder and constant frontman, David Gedge’s handiwork with a love song, and in fact, a whole big book of love songs.

Part of what makes this inclination for the amorous so impressive is how the songwriting has developed within the band’s indie-pop sound, which is very British and robust enough to be described as melodic rock (never have they been twee). The Wedding Present is not a band of grand stylistic detours and/or trend-hopping, although this shouldn’t suggest that the discography is predictable. Recognizable, sure, but predictable? No.

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First there was The Churchills, followed by a switch to Jericho Jones and then simply Jericho, essentially the same band in different stages of development. Formed in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a transition to the UK, an album was cut under all three names, and all three albums have been reissued on vinyl by the ever-dependable Guerssen Records of Spain. We give proper consideration to this trio of platters below.

The story here begins with the legendary UK producer Joe Meek. A new version of the Meek-affiliated band The Tornadoes (of “Telstar” fame), notably with no original members but formed through the auspices of Meek, were doing that “struggling in the 1960s” thing when they secured a six-week run of gigs in Israel.

After arriving, the arrangement fell through (naturally), but they still managed to play some shows and crossed paths with an Israeli band, The Churchills (or Churchill’s). At this stage in this region, all successful rock-oriented bands were essentially cover bands, and Tornado Robb Huxley began dishing a 30-minute set of soul belters live with The Churchills.

During this period, Huxley also met Canadian Stan Solomon, who became a musical collaborator who convinced Huxley to remain in Israel. Guitarist-vocalist Huxley and lead vocalist Solomon eventually joined a version of The Churchills with guitarist-mandolinist-vocalist Haim Romano, bassist-vocalist Miki Gavrielov, and drummer Ami Triebich.

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Born in Seoul, South Korea, and currently living in Brooklyn, NYC, DoYeon Kim sings and plays the Korean instrument the gayageum, an ancient Korean zither. She’s also a composer and improviser of considerable skill, with all of her talents driving the brilliance of her debut album as leader Wellspring, which is available on vinyl, compact disc, and digital May 1 through the TAO Forms label. Featuring creative cyclones Tyshawn Sorey on drums, Mat Maneri on viola, and Henry Fraser on bass, the record’s contemporary resonance is abundant. It will assuredly be among the best of the year.

As a fan of free jazz, avant-improv, and associated exploratory musics, it can be a treat to hear instruments from outside of the standard sphere of reeds, valves, keys, drums, and bass. Mallet axes, guitars, and bowed-string contraptions (such as the viola as heard on this album) are less prevalent but still common enough that they don’t deliver a level of anticipatory excitement that’s comparable to sitting down at a quality restaurant and unexpectedly dining on a rare delicacy.

Accordions, hurdy-gurdies, mbiras, harps, synthesizers, Theremins, harpsichords, didgeridoos, bagpipes, sitars, harmoniums, gayageums: what ultimately elevates these unusual timbres and textures far above mere novelty is heightened ability combined with the sincere desire to express.

DoYeon Kim’s journey to the strikingly powerful Wellspring is an interesting one. She began playing the gayageum as a hobby before moving on to serious study that eventually led her to the New England Conservatory. It was there that Kim’s initial encounters with free improvisation left her perplexed and unimpressed.

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Maisy Owen is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in that musical hub of Nashville, TN. After debuting with a 7-inch last October, she is releasing her debut long-playing record on classic black vinyl on May 1 through Tompkins Square. Dark on a Sunny Day is an assured set that excels through nimble fingerpicking, sturdy string bowing, and boldness of voice. The connection of folk music’s rich, long tradition is readily apparent.

As Dark on a Sunny Day unfolds, the songs are engaging and fresh while avoiding the tentative. Opener “My Youth Is All for You” connects like a tune that’s been passed down from older generations while eschewing the dustiness of a relic. Unsurprisingly released as Owen’s first single on a vinyl 45 in stereo and mono versions (copies still available), the track establishes a timelessness the artist alternately embraces and keeps at arm’s length.

“Letters” sounds like it could’ve been dished out solo for a few coffeehouse diehards on a slow, chilly New England weeknight, but this guitar and vocal core (this idyllic folk vision) gets fortified with bass played by the album’s producer Robin Eaton and viola that’s credited to Owen. The title track is a sturdier strummer, with some gentle electric fuzz tones in the weave. The drumming of John Radford gives the song a folk-rock feel that’s appealingly casual.

“The Rest of Me” exudes the gorgeous fragility of the best of Brit-folk, wispy gal picking and intoning on a haybale division, but sorta miraculously without affectation. “On My Way Down” is a more forceful affair, Owen strumming alone in singer-songwriter mode save for Eaton’s bass.

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