S/D: Tompkins Square Records

Searching In Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert is a previously unissued recording of jazz icon Mal Waldron's mesmerizing performance at the "Five Days of Jazz" series in Grenoble, France on March 23, 1978.

Waldron was Billie Holiday’s final accompanist, played on classic sessions with John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy among others, and recorded dozens of solo albums as a leader before his passing in 2002.

Originally produced by the legendary André Francís and transferred from the original Radio France tapes, this is the first official release of this music in cooperation with the Mal Waldron Estate and Ina (The Institut national de l'audiovisuel). The beautifully designed, deluxe 2-CD set includes photos by K. Abe, Brian McMillen and Raymond Ross; an extensive 24-page booklet with a heartfelt statement by Mal's daughter Mala Waldron, plus essays by producer/"Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman, journalist Adam Shatz and Ina's Pascal Rozat; and interviews with modern jazz piano luminaries Ran Blake and Matthew Shipp. Searching In Grenoble features classic Waldron originals such as "Soul Eyes" and "All Alone," and jazz standards "You Don't Know What Love Is," "It Could Happen to You" and "I Thought About You.”

The 2CD set will be available worldwide September 23rd on Tompkins Square (TSQ5906), and was produced for release by Zev Feldman and Josh Rosenthal.

Tompkins Square has released jazz recordings by Sonny Clark, Ran Blake, Calvin Keys, Bola Sete, Giuseppi Logan, Charles Gayle, and Bern Nix among others.

Pre-Order Links :

bandcamp / Amazon / Indie

I know he's not exactly the usual Tompkins Square type, but I was really glad to see there's another Harvey Mandel record coming out. A trio record this time with Andy Hess (former Gov't Mule) on bass and Ryan Jewell on drums.

Yep--

HARVEY MANDEL - WHO'S CALLING
NEW ALBUM OUT DECEMBER 9th, 2022

Harvey Mandel is among the most innovative guitarists to emerge from the Chicago blues scene of the late 1960s. His career began at Twist City and other local hotspots, sharing stages with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy. He came up in that scene alongside Charlie Musselwhite, Mike Bloomfield, Barry Goldberg and Steve Miller, leading to an invitation from Bill Graham to open for Cream at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium in August 1967.

Mandel was a member of Canned Heat, appearing with them at Woodstock. He played on numerous John Mayall albums, and on the Rolling Stones' 1975 LP Black and Blue ("Hot Stuff", "Memory Motel"), having auditioned for Mick Taylor's job, which ultimately went to Ron Wood.

Who’s Calling is the 16th album under Harvey Mandel’s name as a leader, and his second for Tompkins Square following the 2016 acclaimed comeback, Snake Pit. Joined by drummer and co-producer Ryan Jewell (Ryley Walker, Laraaji) and bassist Andy Hess (Gov't Mule, Black Crowes), Who’s Calling finds the 77 year old guitar legend as vibrant and creative as ever. Despite unspeakable health setbacks and of course a Covid shutdown, Harvey has emerged miraculously stronger, proclaiming he’s never played better than on Who’s Calling.

REMEMBERING RICHARD CRANDELL
March 30, 1943 - October 28, 2022

Before we launch into the usual release announcements and sales this new year, we want to take a moment to remember guitarist Richard Crandell.

He died without a mention in the music press, or even among our little circle of guitar fans. It's strange that someone with a body of work as strong and beautiful as Richard's could pass with nary a mention ... but I guess that's our world. Everything moves so fast.

Such is the case with our friend, Richard Crandell. Hopefully this email blast with help rectify this ! If you are a media person, we hope you will share Richard's music with your readership or listening audience, so that he is remembered. If you are a fan of Tompkins Square, we hope you will share some of the links in this email, so that he is remembered.

Richard wasn't exactly ignored in his lifetime. His 1980 debut album, In The Flower of Our Youth, was reissued by Tompkins Square in 2008. We (and other folks) consider it one of the finest solo acoustic guitar records of all time, a quintessential "rainy day" record. "Rebecca" from that LP was covered by Leo Kottke on his album Chewing Pine. When Essential Tremor derailed his guitar playing, Richard turned to the mbira, recording for John Zorn's Tzadik label. NPR's All Things Considered ran a story about his progression in 2009.

Richard recorded about a dozen albums, including two wonderful guitar duet records with Bill Bartels, two with koto player Masumi Timson, appears on Imaginational Anthem vol. 3 and a Numero Group guitar comp, and released a collection of unreleased guitar tunes spanning 25 years in 2016 via Tompkins Square entitled Then and Now ; the set was reviewed in depth by Joseph Neff at Vinyl District, and UNCUT gave it an 8/10 ("gorgeous guitar hypnosis").

On March 3, 2013 Richard played WOW Hall with Daniel Bachman in his hometown of Eugene, OR. Before the show, Richard banged out an improvised tune on an old upright piano in the hallway. Raggy, bluesy, heady and inside out, it was pure Richard - the same clever, surprising phrasing that could be found in his guitar recordings. Just a pure musician.

We hope you will revel in the joy of discovering Richard Crandell. A gentle soul, a dedicated swimmer, and one amazing Obscure Giant of Acoustic Guitar. In the pantheon, forever.

2016 post about Crandell, with his own comments:

Eugene-based guitarist Richard Crandell's 1980 private-press LP
In The Flower of Our Youth is one of our favorite rainy day / road trippin' solo guitar records. Reissued on Tompkins Square in 2008, it captures the aura of the Pacific Northwest in unique and powerful ways.

Crandell's struggle with Essential Tremor moved him toward the mbira (African thumb piano), and he recorded on the instrument for John Zorn's Tzadik label. But Richard has returned to the guitar at times. Then And Now is comprised of material recorded over the past 25 years, some recorded this year, all previously unreleased.
https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/swallowtails-by-richard-crandell

Here is Richard's own take on the new album, Then And Now :

"Most of these recordings were discovered about five years ago. They were recorded on a DAT recorder in the '90s. "Road Trip" was in standard guitar tuning, capo on the 2nd fret, inspired by my 50-state 'American Friends' tour. "Funk Dat" (love the blues), "Haley Suite" (love Bach) and "Route 22" (love Tennessee) were tuned in DADEAD, capo on the 2nd fret. "Over/Under" (love John Fahey) was in dropped D tuning with the capo on the 2nd fret. "V-Blues" (love Scott Joplin) was in DADGAD, capo 2. It was the only tune which I've written that has a modulation by "brute force." "American Friends" was my 12-string rendition of a Bill Bartels' classic, reflecting his Virginia roots. "Swallowtails" was a solo 12-string version of a duet which I wrote in the early '80's. I like my foot-tapping on this one. The duet was originally on Oregon Hill with Bill Bartels. "Unknown Lament" was a 12-string piece from the same album. This solo version has a unique coda. "Down to Earth" was recorded 3 years ago. and was written in CGDGBE, a tuning which Tim Danforth showed me. The last tune, "Cinema Verité", was recorded a couple of weeks ago, on Kyle Lindros' ukulele. It is my only uke composition. Kyle's dad Billy, named it, as well as In The Flower Of Our Youth and many of my other tunes. English is my second language. Music is my first. Especially rhythm. Enjoy!"

Then And Now is now available via every digital service, worldwide.

Dorothy Moskowitz & The United States of Alchemy - Under an Endless Sky - Available via Tompkins Square - March 17, 2023

Under An Endless Sky represents the interchange that took place between electronic composer Francesco Paolo Paladino, composer and writer Luca Chino Ferrari, and the legendary Dorothy Moskowitz, an icon of underground culture who broke all kinds of new ground as a member of The United States of America. Led by the charismatic composer Joseph Byrd, the band released their lone eponymous album on Columbia Records in 1968. It has taken on a mythic status that has grown through the years, sampled by Diplo and Mac Miller and widely acknowledged as a visionary psychedelic classic.
Francesco Paolo Paladino, an avant-garde Italian composer contacted Dorothy, inviting her to sing on some of his compositions. When she heard his 2021 CD release of Barene & Other Works, she recognized that they shared a similarly experimental point of view and she accepted his invitation. Paladino is known for his collaborations with Martyn Bates, Allison O'Donnell, Simon Fisher Turner, and other world-renowned contemporary composers, as well as his own sought-after 1985 debut LP Doublings and Silences Volume 1.

Francesco has long collaborated with Italian writer Luca Chino Ferrari, author of biographies of Nick Drake, Third Ear Band, Captain Beefheart, Tim Buckley and Syd Barrett. He submitted lyrics to Dorothy and together they began a profound and unique collaboration on the adaptation of lyrics to music, delving into words and meanings, phonetic properties and their singability. “Lyrics that have the audacity to deal with complex themes of human existence, real philosophical cutaways that look at reality and question it, often without offering answers,” says Ferrari.

Moskowitz's extraordinary voice and modal melodies float over Paladino's magical musical textures. There are no guitars, bass, drums or other technological devilry, but only virtual sounds (sometimes without even keyboards) upon which are grafted some acoustic interventions: violins and violas, woodwinds and percussion entrusted to excellent musicians such as Italians Riccardo Sinigaglia, Angelo Contini, Stefano Scala, Trio Cavallazzi and Gino Ape, and English folker Sean Breadin.

Recommended If You Like : Late-stage Marianne Faithfull, Mercury Rev, Terry Riley, Flaming Lips, Italian electronic music, The United States of America.

American Primitive OG Harry Taussig releases '80' on his 82nd birthday, March 31st, 2023

Released as a short-run private press LP in 1965, Fate Is Only Once has long been a coveted collectible among American Primitive guitar enthusiasts. The album presages the broader movement. Acoustic musicians were still largely stuck in a rigid "folk" mindset in 1965, and there are just not that many other examples of the exploratory guitar sounds found on Fate from this time period. Alternating between haunting originals and jaunty blues-based traditional numbers, the private press LP was reissued by Tompkins Square in 2006. Taussig's only other recorded works appeared on the long out-of-print Takoma compilation Contemporary Guitar Spring '67 alongside John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Max Ochs and Bukka White. Taussig spent years as an educator, published instructional guitar books, and traveled extensively to photograph weird museums.

Taussig returned to music in 2012 with his first album in 47 years, Fate Is Only Twice, and followed with Diamond of Lost Alphabets, Too Late To Die Young, a split album and tour with fellow Takoma pioneer Max Ochs, and a remix album by Kid Millions (Oneida).

Harry Taussig on '80' :

"With a perspective of about 60 years, I finally understand what I’ve been trying to do in my musical compositions over these six decades. I grew up with two musical streams – at home it was European classical music, at college it was American folk music. And I bathed in both streams.

Like several of my contemporary guitarists, I wanted to extend the American folk guitar tradition into previously unexplored territories. Each found their direction: blues, psychedelia, etc. Mine was using the theories of classical musical forms, both traditional and contemporary.

One of the delights of classical music is that the composer will constantly play with the listener, allowing him or her to guess where the music is going and then surprise them by not going there at all, but going to another place unexpected but equally logical. This seems to be the throughline in my musical heroes: Bach, Schoenberg, Glass, and many others. I have adopted many of their structural schemes, rhythmic devices, and harmonic stratagems to counter the comfort and predictability of folk (and popular) music. I delight in the response, “You can’t do that … oh, I guess you can.”


01 – Etude in G Major #7 (take 1)
02 – Etude in D Major #2
03 – Lullaby in D Modal
04 – Etude in G Major #9
05 – Recessional for Banjo in D Major
06 – Etude in D♭ Major (take 1)
07 – Etude in D♭ Major (take 2)
08 – Sugar Babe
09 – Etude in G Major #4
10 – Etude in G Minor #3
11 – Etude in G Major #7 (take 2)

SURPRISE LP DROP : SHEFFIELD UK-BASED MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST BOBBY LEE REISSUES ORIGIN MYTHS via TOMPKINS SQUARE !

The 2021 black vinyl LP sold out in a flash.

"Milky Myths" off-white / clear vinyl version available NOW !

North America : Exclusively via bandcamp

x-NA : Shops, online stores, Bobby's bandcamp

(Note : The digital version has 8 songs ; the LP has 12 songs)

“Overdriven drum-machine low slung choogle" - MOJO (4 stars)

“The further Bobby unmoors himself from songs and heads towards long-form abstraction, the more engrossing it becomes” - UNCUT (8/10)

COMING SOON : Endless Skyways
Cassette available now for early adapters !
via Bandcamp:
Endless Skyways is Bobby Lee’s third full album and second release on Tompkins Square. Returning to the full band sound of his debut, the name “Endless Skyways” is borrowed from a line in Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land, one of the cornerstones of American music. That song’s mix of the terrestrial (“ribbons of highway”) and celestial consciousness encapsulates Lee’s brand of widescreen cosmic americana; a duality also evident in the album’s split between deep-fried rural rock and ambient country. Dusty boots but third eye open.

Opener and lead single “Reds For A Blue Planet” inhabits a geographically different realm to any of Lee’s previous work, equal parts Michael Chapman’s Anglo-Primitivism and Tinariwen’s desert-choogle. Slowdive/Mojave 3’s Ian McCutcheon turns in a muscular drum performance, with just a hint of sleng-teng creeping into Mark Armstrong’s bassline. The title hints at an ecological frustration which radiates through the taut, spiraling, modal grooves.

Origin Myths’ “Impregnated by Drops of Rainbow” is revisited here in full band garb, shifting gear from the 117 seconds of skeletal krautrock into almost 7 minutes of soaring Kosmiche Country, complete with a glistening pedal steel solo from Joe Harvey-Whyte. Neu Riders of The Purple Sage, if you will.

“Thunder Travels To Loftier Mountain Heights” is a gradually evolving waking dream of gently chugging tremolo and delicate interplay between Piano (a rare foray away from the drums from Guy Whittaker) and Fender Rhodes, redolent of Brightblack Morning Light, or Spirit of Eden-era Talk Talk. Picture the scene; a gang of slow movin’ outlaws briefly glimpsing eternity after a rare downpour in the desert. McCutcheon’s drums echo through the canyons and out into space…

The woozy swamp rock of “Acid Grassland” is a return to more familiar territory for Bobby; an ancient drum machine moseys along with a loping groove and riff straight outta Cosmo’s Factory. Joe Harvey-Whyte appears again with the most fuzzed-out pedal steel this side of Sneaky Pete on “Christine’s Tune”.

Oh yeah, xpost Origin Myths is already out, except on the updated, tricked-out vinyl pimped above; here's the Bandcamp pitch (alb is streaming there too):

Digital out worldwide March 5th.
Ltd Ed (600) LP out May 7th with FOUR extra songs

“Overdriven drum-machine low slung choogle" - MOJO

“The further Bobby unmoors himself from songs and heads towards long-form abstraction, the more engrossing it becomes” - UNCUT

Bobby Lee trades in a wide screen brand of cosmic country-folk, full of space and pawn shop guitars. There are touches of JJ Cale's analogue Americana, the swampy groove of Tony Joe White and Richard Thompson's sinewy, modal guitar work. Amps hum in the warm afternoon sun, kids and dogs snooze on the grass and broken drum machines keep time with the universe... Open sky/scorched earth improvisations recorded to four track tape during the rare moments of solitude afforded by lockdown and early fatherhood. Bobby Lee's "worn-denim psych-country" remains, but the ancestral spirits of Ashra, Popol Vuh and Terry Riley are present here too. Time and technological limitations have been embraced. A song dreamt up, tracked and mixed in an afternoon, never to be tampered with again. Imperfections allowed to stand; knowing that nothing is ever truly finished. The Bob Ross school of philosophy.
credits
released March 5, 2021

Bobby Lee: Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drum Machine, Organ, Acoustic Guitar, Dulcimer, Lap Steel, recording, mixing and artwork.

Tompkins Square is proud to announce a NEW 5CD BOX SET, OUT JUNE 16th !

Rick Deitrick - The Unguitarist : Complete Works, 1969-2022 (Ltd. ed. of 500)

Pre-order starts today via bandcamp

Listen to "Free and Easy", recorded in 2022, via every digital service, worldwide

The box set contains :

Disc 1: Gentle Wilderness - 1978 album. Tompkins Square LP reissue out of print. First time on CD
Disc 2 : River Sun River Moon - Recorded 1977-78. Tompkins Square LP out of print. First time on CD
Disc 3 : Coyote Canyon - Recorded 1972-75, except one song 1999. Tompkins Square LP almost out of print. First time on CD
Disc 4 : Homegrown : Recordings 1969 - 1979 - First time in a physical format
Disc 5 : Sage & Sand - Recorded 1969-2022 - CD of previously unreleased material

Plus :
- A litho card hand-signed by Rick
- Notes by Rick Deitrick and Acoustic Guitar Editor, Adam Perlmutter
- Transcription of Rick’s “Ballet La Jeunesse"
- Design by D. Norsen

Ohio-born Rick Deitrick took up the guitar at 16 and decided to approach his playing as if he was the only guy on an island and the instrument had just washed ashore one day. According to Rick, "I completely divorced my playing from any formal music knowledge, but it was very important to me to use original tuning. During those years, the ‘60s/70's, there was a lot of acoustic guitar playing, often using open tuning as a base. I wanted to create whole tones without de-tuning and keep access to the complex sounds stock tuning provided."

Rick pressed 500 LPs of his tranquil solo guitar record, Gentle Wilderness, in 1978. He gave copies to libraries and left a few in the middle of the wilderness, next to trails, "so people would find them." Rick sought inspiration in nature and in particular the various rivers scattered around the Western United States, often composing songs while seated beside them.

Now, Tompkins Square is proud to present a 5CD retrospective box set, Rick Deitrick - The Unguitarist : Complete Works, 1969 - 2022 , which makes a strong case for Rick as one of the most individual voices in acoustic guitar music over the past half century.

TSQ 5913
856225005913

Thanks for the heads up on that one!

Welcome---Tompkins' prev Rick releases are streaming on their very generous Bandcamp:
https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/music

maginational Anthem vol. XII : I Thought I Told You - A Yorkshire Tribute to Michael Chapman. Available on Cassette, CD, LP and digital October 20th

Hear Henry Parker's cover of "In the Valley"
https://ingrv.es/in-the-valley-r98-7

Michael Chapman (1941-2021) released his debut album Rainmaker in 1969 on Harvest. He went on to release over fifty albums and influence many with his evocative songwriting and guitar prowess. From heady jams to expressive ballads to experimental noise, Chapman’s work continues to inspire. Tompkins Square recruited Henry Parker to curate a collection of covers by working musicians from Chapman’s home turf in Northern England. With stunning artwork by local artist Bunty Marshall mapping the important places in Michael’s life, and package design by D. Norsen, this 12th volume of Tompkins Square’s Imaginational Anthem series is the ultimate tribute to a very dearly missed artist.