VOLUME THREE;  CURTAINS FOR EDDIE

Volume 3 of the Project Omnibook series features Doc Chadbourne on guitar & banjo, Tony Trischka on banjo, Toshinori Kondo on trumpet, Martin Klapper on cheap electronics & to, Philly Ransom on guitar & vocal and Herman Muntzing on homemades. Again, Dr. Chadbourne has chosen an odd crew of musicians from different scenes, places or backgrounds. I know banjo player Tony Trischka from the bluegrass scene of yesteryear and trumpeter Toshinori Kondo from his early Downtown days with Fred Frith, John Zorn, Henry Kaiser and others. Again, like the other parts of this series, we get a few songs by Charlie Parker, celebrating the 100th year of his birthdate. The first thing we hear is Doc Chadbourne playing in a vehicle that is moving through the countryside with birds chirping in the background. We hear what sounds like a collage of sounds with some quiet electric guitar and banjo (Chad & Trischka) flowing through, jamming together, exchanging exciting lightning-like licks, but mostly having a long, thoughtful conversation. The duo eventually break into Bird’s “52nd St. Theme”, which blends bebop & bluegrass with a daredevil sense of humor. One of the things which holds this together is the ongoing collage-like blend of tapes, TV & radio samples, old records buried in the mix, cheap electronics with the constant flow of one or two guitars and banjos, erupting at unexpected sections. The use of collages is something I recall from the early Downtown Days (early eighties), which was effectively employed by the Mothers in the sixties and then by Daevid Allen, Shockabilly and Skeleton Crew in the early eighties. There are often several layers of sounds going on simultaneously. Sometimes quiet and restrained, other times the collages and jamming get more dense & intense. There are several layers of interaction going on throughout so we often have to adjust our attention to hear everything going on. Sometimes it is not about soloing but weaving the various layers effectively taking us on a journey or and telling a story. A challenging and often fascinating disc from the current (Sept of 2020) series of six titles

 Project Omnibook:  the Bruce Gallanter reviews

            As the main force behind Downtown Music Gallery and one of the most avid music listeners and gig-goers in history, the comments of Bruce are something I take seriously, once past the basic watermark of not giving a flying fuck what anyone thinks about anything I do. 

             Herewith are his comments regarding the six volumes in the Eddie Chatterbox “Omnibook” series. Enthusiasts who are mystified by the content of these recordings may find Bruce’s comments enlightening. 

         Bruce’s patience and love of weirdness is truly appreciated. As an artist the chance to comment on a review is too rare to pass up when circumstances dictate, so in response to some of Bruce’s comments about collage techniques, I would trace my own interest in this to recordings heard as a teenager on underground radio in Boulder by Charles Ives, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tod Dockstader and George Crumb; the latter two also had a local presence during this period.  Further on I became quite inspired to get deeper into this art by things I heard during my travels, two events stand out in particular: (1) an encounter between several large machines of demolition and a large concrete block building in Amsterdam (the machines made by the Van Vliet company!) and (2) listening to simultaneous sets by a rock band (upstairs) and a jazz band (downstairs) at the Court Tavern,  New Brunswick, New Jersey.