BANDCAMP is back with their Fridays when they waive their revenues to support us, artists and labels. An incredible gesture and to make this unique occasion we try to pay our respect and gratitude to you, the listener, for your support, with extra discounts, etc.
So we added a special discount to catch upon with the releases on A NEW WAVE OF JAZZ.
A stunning 35% discount on any older or new title (physical and digital) of A NEW WAVE OF JAZZ. Code : bcfridayaugust23 Valid through August 4th, 2023. https://newwaveofjazz.bandcamp.com/
The absolute fantastic FREE JAZZ WITH FRED – the long-running radio show hosted by Fred Kellogg on KAOS Community Radio (Olympia, WA. USA) continues to support our label as his latest episode features large cuts from our recent live compilation LIVE AT PLUS-ETAGE. A 3CD that unites 3 concerts we hosted at Baarle-Nassau’s PlusEtage venue. The release is still available here.
Super excited to announce that PROJEKT/Sam Rosenthal just launched a KICKSTARTER campaign for the newly remastered edition and vinyl release of SAM ROSENTHAL and VIDNA OBMANA‘s critically acclaimed 1992 album ‘TERRACE OF MEMORIES‘. Read all about this here below. Sam and Dirk will also throw a listening party on bandcamp which you can join. Go to the KICKERSTARTER here.
In the words of Sam Rosenthal : Today I’m asking for your pledge on this Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to create a remastered edition of Terrace of Memories, my 1992 collaboration with Dirk Serries (aka: VidnaObmana.) Your donations will make this rerelease possible. The $8000 we need to raise all goes to manufacturing the three physical formats: 140-gram color vinyl, CD, and MiniDisc.
I’m excited to create this reissue with the help of people who believe in our art and want to see this campaign succeed – people like you! Backing this campaign is like preordering and a lot like being a patron of the arts.
Terrace will be a single 140-gram vinyl LP in your choice of two color options. Limited to 250 each.
Tell me how I can help
Kickstarter is all or nothing; we need your pledge to help us pass the goal so the campaign succeeds. This lovely new edition will exist through pledges from people like you — our patron of the arts. Select the reward tier for LP, CD, or MiniDisc. If you want to go the extra mile, you can support at higher levels with CD & LP bundles plus opportunities to get your name in the credits.
Credit cards are not charged until the campaign is over.
Reward tiers are on the right side of your web browser or the rewards tab on mobile.
Every contribution is important — whether you give $5 or $200!
Your support is integral to the album’s existence. Your involvement allows me to make physical formats I would not be able to otherwise create: deluxe editions with extra detail and attention. And love.
By pledging, you become part of the team that realizes this release.
You can listen to the remastered album right now at Bandcamp. And while you’re there, RSVP for the July 22nd Listening Party.
Memories of Terrace of Memories
Back in 1992, England’s Music from the Empty Quarter wrote: “More than ever before, Sam lets his emotions run away on a tide of ambient turbulence. Five drifting movements ride the intake of senses, breathing the air of life and surrounding beauty. As fullsome as the cycle of seasons, cascading visions of past and present contact loop and collide. A very deep personal intrusion into the mind & heart, represented by a dark, mysterious and sensual music. Cast adrift into the caring hands of this truly original and honest artist who not only lives within himself, but sheds his soul through others as well.”
Barry from MFTEQ’s praise certainly also applies to the work of my collaborator, Dirk Serries; a few months ago he masterfully remastered the album for this reissue.
Here’s Dirk’s recollection of the project: “Back in the days, pre-internet, we traded a lot of tapes by mail. Projects and collaborations took much longer to complete due to the longer waiting times, waiting for the postal system to do their work. When I started to correspond with Sam in the mid-80s, I was very into the albums by his Black Tape For A Blue Girl band. The eerie atmospheres and ambience surrounding the songs were really mesmerizing, and I could imagine a blend of Sam’s sound-structures with my ambience. I sent him sources on tape. But with every collaboration release back then, time moved by before something was completed, again due to the slower way of communicating. I appreciated Sam’s brilliant interaction and additional performances. Terrace of Memories is a real Sam Rosenthal & vidnaObmana collaboration, and I truly wonder why we never did a follow-up. Enjoy.”
And my recollections: “As far as I can recall, I began working on this collaboration with Vidna after the recording of A chaos of desire in 1989. Dirk sent me cassette tapes of music, and I worked on my 8-track but got distracted by other projects. The project was pushed to the back-burner, and the album wasn’t finished and mixed until 1992. Quite honestly, I only have the vaguest memory of working on it in my The Lush Garden studio in Los Angeles. I remember that even a few weeks after I finished a piece, it was hard for me to tell which parts I played and which parts were Dirk. Aside from the low cello sound on my eMax, and the very slight vocals on the one track, who played what is a blur. That’s cool. It’s a great ambient blend.”
The fine print:
Each physical item tier includes the digital download, an album cover sticker, & a 2023 4×6 photo of a cover shoot outtake.
1️⃣ FORMATS — All of your pledges go towards manufacturing the LP, CD, & MiniDisc. Each contains the remastered 5-track album. The CD is a 4-panel digipak. The LP is in a standard jacket signed on the back by Sam (see ☆ below.)
2️⃣ LP COLORS — The colors in the graphic are approximate.
4️⃣ KICKSTARTER ADD-ONS allow you to include additional items in your reward, a bit like a shop. For example, select the “$25 Vinyl LP” tier and Add-On a copy of the Terrace of MemoriesMiniDisc or Poster.
How to add an Add-On: Select a reward, enter your pledge amount and click the green “continue.” You are taken to the “Configure Reward” page where you can select the Add-Ons you want to include in your pledge.
5️⃣ SHIPPING — USA MEDIA MAIL POSTAGE is added to your total when you pledge. INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING will be charged as a separate PayPal payment after the campaign ends when your package is ready to ship; ie: international postage is not part of the pledge you made.
☆ European LPs ship from Germany. To reduce the delay of LPs traveling from the plant in Prague to Portland Oregon, to the consolidator in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and then back to Europe, your LPs ship from our friends at DeeJayDead in Germany. This means your LPs will not be signed on the back by Sam. If you want your LP signed, I can ship from the USA, which will mean more expensive shipping & handling charges. You will confirm your preference in October, when the LPs are getting ready to ship.
☆ Other international packages ship via consolidator from Philadelphia with the best shipping & handling rates we can get in the USA.
6️⃣ TIME FRAME — CDs & MiniDiscs ship in October, vinyl in January. By now you’ve heard about vinyl delays worldwide. Even though LPs are *scheduled* to ship from Prague in early November, I’ve built in a 2-month buffer just in case (November ➡ January). Premiums with CD + LP ship together when LPs arrive.
This is my 17th Kickstarter; it’s how I fund my releases in the modern version of the music industry. Crowdfunding is a wonderful connection I make with people who love my art. I enjoy chatting and hearing your experiences with the music. So often, I’m told my albums were there for you at a tough time in life. A breakup, a death, a personal crisis; it’s rewarding to know the sounds I created for my own emotional reasons were helpful when you needed them.
I appreciate the connection this makes with people who love my work — your generosity flows to my campaign which gives me the freedom to manufacture these beautiful reissues. I love the way this circle connects and the art grows because of it. Thanks! Sam
Risks and challenges
I’ve run 16 Kickstarters; all successfully funded with all premiums fulfilled. I’ve run the Projekt label and webstore for 40 years; I’m experienced following through on projects, boxing things up and getting them into the mail. I have a long history meeting budgets on over 410 releases including complex limited editions. I foresee no delays in meeting the fulfillment deadline, aside from possible unexpected delays at the vinyl plant. Vinyl production times are much more predictable after years of growing worldwide demand and limited production capacity. But you never can be sure, so I have a bit of a buffer in the schedule for that. I value your enthusiasm for the music I’ve created over the past 40+ years. Thanks for making this release a reality. Thanks so much for supporting my art.
Pianist MARTINA VERHOEVEN has been part of the label since day one. Over the years she played together with a significant number of outstanding UK musicians so naturally when there’s something to be celebrated, the decision is easily made to do this in London, one of the main hubs in the UK for the free improvised Martina and we, as the label, like so much. Tomorrow she, along with guitarist DIRK SERRIES, is surrounded by this stellar line-up of UK musicians: ANDREW LISLE (drums), BENEDICT TAYLOR (viola), CATH ROBERTS (baritone sax), CHARLOTTE KEEFFE (trumpet, flugelhorn), COLIN WEBSTER (alto sax), DANIEL THOMPSON (acoustic guitar), TOM JACKSON (clarinet) and TOM WARD (bass clarinet, flute). For this special event artist GINA SOUTHGATE, renowned for her live concert paintings, will capture the full band on canvas. The place to be: Sunday April 23rd – CAFE OTO, London 2pm
As we’ve been counting down to this exceptional event, next Sunday pianist MARTINA VERHOEVEN celebrates and invites an exquisite bunch of British improvisers to join us in this ‘big band’ constellation at Cafe Oto. Showdown is at 2pm. Her comrades for this free impro event are ANDREW LISLE (drums), BENEDICT TAYLOR (viola), CATH ROBERTS (baritone sax), CHARLOTTE KEEFFE (trumpet, flugelhorn), COLIN WEBSTER (alto sax), DANIEL THOMPSON (guitar), DIRK SERRIES (guitar), TOM JACKSON (clarinet) and TOM WARD (flute, bass clarinet).
UK’s MUSIQUE MACHINE just reviewed our recent KODIAN PLUS album ‘Disengage’. Read the lovely review here below and the album is still available from our bandcamp store.
“Disengage is the first sonic statement from five-piece Kodian Plus, which brings together some of the great names in the British and European improvisation scene. The four-track album is a decidedly varied and rewarding affair- which moves between textured minimalism, manic free jazz workouts, and building/ expanding jam-outs. The release appears on A New Wave Of Jazz as a CD. And surprisingly it steps away from the label’s normal sparse grey box and white text format, for a rather grimly arty mini gatefold, featuring atmospheric pictures of churned up & shadow bound earth. The CD is limited to just three hundred copies, and these can be purchased directly from the label. Kodian Plus brings together Charlotte Keeffe: trumpet, flugelhorn,. Andrew Lisle: drums. Dirk Serries: electric guitar. Martina Verhoeven: piano, and Colin Webster: alto saxophone. The album was performed, recorded, mixed and mastered in just one day in March of 2022 at the Sunny Side Inc. Studio, Anderlecht, Belgium. The release opens with the wonderfully entitled “Latching Effect”, and this is the longest track here at just over the twelve-minute mark. It opens with around two minutes of moodily jittering ‘n’ twitching static grain(I‘m guessing this is either created by guitar picks/ and or sax fiddle) which slowly but surely start to weave together manic circling, compressed flits, and subtle forks. As the tracks move on jarring key darts are added, along with more snaking ‘n’ twittering honks, and this sort of roaming tone swell. Slow but surely the growing weave of tones & textures grow- creating this great feel of atmosphere, unbalance, and a sort of violent if slightly playful vibe. By the seventh minute, we’ve gone into a wonderful manic freefall of layers of key dart ‘n’ bound, crashing snaking percussion, guitar scrub, and reeling horn piping. In its last few minutes, we move into a glumly descending mix of piercing & billow sustained horn work, high note key tinkle, and cymbal heavy percussive workouts. As we move through the album, we come to just over eleven minutes of “The Five-headed Anomaly”. This opens with a tight sonic noose of crashing ‘n’ rolling percussion. Fairly soon the horns appear all fired-up and angular- and you think we going to drop into straight-out free jazz- then all of a sudden the scratching and fiddling guitar is added, as well as the darting/ shifting Piano tones. At points we get moments that almost start towards a strut or a groove, at others it’s manic honk ‘n’ twitch. With the percussive circling drop in & out- when it’s there it feels tense & on the edge, but when it’s gone it feels more playful in its intent. The album plays out with “Kinds Of Things”. This clocks in at around the nine-minute mark- it opens with a blend of stretched honk & static grain drag- which is surrounded by high baying tone pulls. As we move on roll/crash/then stop percussion tones appear- along with more piping to wondering horn work, key cascades and drifting guitar strums/hacks. I do hope that Disengage was not just a one-off album/ collaboration- as these five play together with such flare, spirit and invention. If you enjoy unpredictable and eventful improv/ free jazz- you’ll be wanting to grab a copy of this.” Musique Machine – UK
To give you that chance to get updated with your music collection, we’re doing a Summer Sale on most of our bandcamp shops. 20% off of any digital or hard copy (or use it as an extra discount if you want to buy the full digital discography).
Code : Summertime2023 Valid through August 31st, 2023 or while stock lasts.
A special day requires a special gathering. Belgian photographer and pianist Martina Verhoeven invites some of her kindred spirits and collaborative musicians, and hosts an evening of rotating configurations in the context of a full-on free impro event at Cafe Oto on Sunday July 23rd 2023. Two hours of improvisations without borders, rules and/or commitments. FREE IS THE SPACE.
Martina Verhoeven : Initially playing the fretless bass and double bass before going straight and full force on the piano. As critic Guy Peters wrote : “To Cecil Taylor, the piano itself sounded like an orchestra, and occasionally, something similar seems to be going on for Verhoeven. The piano is an instrument she inhabits, turning the 88 tuned drums into a generator for rhythm, shapes, turbulence and a sheer endless provocation of sounds and ideas.”
A prime example of high-tension free improvisation by a very energetic and unique female pianist. Her MARTINA VERHOEVEN QUINTET has received raving reviews and met a very enthusiastic audience at a full house during 2022’s ROADBURN festival in The Netherlands.
For this gathering MARTINA VERHOEVEN (piano) will be accompanied by some of the best musicians in the UK free improvisation scene, with whom she already collaborated in live (UK, Belgium, The Netherlands) and recording sessions for labels like Klanggalerie, Raw Tonk Records, Fort Fruit Evil and A New Wave Of Jazz :
ANDREW LISLE / drums BENEDICT TAYLOR / viola CATH ROBERTS / bariton saxophone CHARLOTTE KEEFFE / trumpet COLIN WEBSTER / alto saxophone DANIEL THOMPSON / acoustic guitar DIRK SERRIES / electric guitar TOM JACKSON / clarinet TOM WARD / bass clarinet, flute
This unique event will be captured by painter Gina Southgate. Well known on the London free music and jazz scene where she has painted live at gigs for 30 years. Gina works with the frisson of the music observing the relationship between the musician and instrument, to capture the energy and essence of the gig in the real time.
For tickets and all info visit the CAFE OTO website.
SUMMER SALE
To highlight this upcoming celebration event at Cafe Oto on July 23rd, we’ve selected nine albums from the A New Wave Of Catalogue in which she plays a pivotal role. You can now buy these 9 albums for a nice price of only 65 EUR (incl. postage worldwide). Click here to order. This offer is valid through July 31st. Go here to order : https://newwaveofjazz.bandcamp.com/merch/martina-verhoeven-9cd-bundle
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To give you that chance to get updated with your music collection, we’re doing a Summer Sale on most of our bandcamp shops. 20% off of any digital or hard copy (or use it as an extra discount if you want to buy the full digital discography).
Code : Summertime2023 Valid through August 31st, 2023 or while stock lasts.
This incredible reissue of VIDNA OBMANA’s swansong : a trilogy of albums inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Inferno poems which originally was released on the legendary metal label RELAPSE RECORDS / RELEASE ENTERTAINMENT got the ZOHARUM treatment with this fine reissue, fully remastered and with the breathtaking photography by Martina Verhoeven. Belgium’ SIDE-LINE magazine just reviewed this 3 CD set and gave it a 8/10 rating ! Get your copy here.
Background/Info: Polish Zoharum label moves on re-releasing albums from Vidna Obmana’s back catalog. Belgian artist Dirk Serries started this legendary project in the 80s and the “Dante Trilogy” belongs to the latest productions of the project. “Tremor” 2001), “Spore” (2002) and “Legacy” (2002) were originally released as separate albums by Relapse Records. Zoharum brings this trilogy now together in a massive, single, and remastered, work.
Content: There clearly is a connection between the 3 records. The albums can be described as an offspring between Dark-Ambient and Cinematic music with Tribal rhythms on top. Serries mixed electronics together with real instruments like overtune flutes, percussion, guitar, ebow harmonics, dreampipe ao. Several guest artists also contributed to a few tracks on the different albums. One of the most renowned artists was Marc Verhaeghen (The Klinik) who played trumpet on a song featured at “Spore”.
+ + + : This trilogy remains to me the most accessible and best work ever composed by Vidna Obmana. The artist composed a very unique sound experience which you can’t compare to any other artist. He brought genres together creating his own style and sound DNA. The slow rhythms definitely inject something special while the mysterious atmospheres created by overtone flutes were just like the red line throughout this trilogy. Sometimes anguishing and characterized by a strongly inhibited approach this work still sounds accurate today. It’s really great to see this trilogy being released as one album featuring a great, artistic, digipak. Zoharum did a great work on this.
– – – : The single reproach I would make is the rather repetitive and predictable sound which comes true after a while.
Conclusion: Back to the mysterious sound of Vidna Obmana which found its apotheosis by this magic, conceptual, trilogy.
Best songs: “Mindtunnel”, “The Seeker And The Spell” + Skin Strip”, “Beyond The Shaman”, “Resonant Gore” + “Bloodshift”.
A nice review on the JAZZ & MO website, courtesy of Guy Peters. The album is available through our bandcamp store.
“Met drie studioalbums, vier live-releases en een aantal tournees heeft het Belgisch-Britse Kodian Trio een aardige reputatie opgebouwd binnen de Europese improvisatiescene. Het trio verenigt de aandacht voor textuur en detail die vaak geassocieerd wordt met de ‘Engelse school’ met de felle urgentie van de ‘fire music’ van de jaren zestig en zeventig. Het resultaat is een wringende cocktail op de wip tussen Europese vrije improvisatie en snedige freejazz. Dirk Serries’ ontregelde spel op de elektrische gitaar fungeert daarbij regelmatig als ideaal contrast voor de indrukwekkende beheersing van saxofonist Colin Webster (hier op alt) en de veelzijdigheid en intuïtie van Andrew Lisle. De titel – ‘Disengage’ betekent zoiets als ‘loskoppelen’ – suggereert al een koerswijziging, en die heeft vooral te maken met de aanwezigheid van twee gasten: pianiste Martina Verhoeven (Serries’ partner), een autodidact die een heel eigen stijl ontwikkelde, en trompettiste Charlotte Keeffe, die goed op weg is om een sleutelspeler van de Britse scene te worden. Zij zorgen voor een verbreding van de groepssound, die aanvankelijk minder puntig en explosief lijkt, maar eigenlijk gewoon het geweer van schouder verandert. Er zijn volop momenten die gevuld worden met een pointillistisch klankenspel en ingetogen heen-en-weer-gekaats van ideeën, maar zodra de collectieve motor aanslaat beland je in een krachtige wervelwind van geluid. Die jaagt een verfrissende en soms genuanceerde wind door het Kodian-universum, dat zo in beweging blijft met een halsstarrig negeren van die automatische piloot.” Jazz&Mo – Belgium
dirkserries.com 