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- THE CHADBOURNE LUCK: EDDIE CHATTERBOX THE LOST YEARS VOLUME ONE
THE CHADBOURNE LUCK: EDDIE CHATTERBOX THE LOST YEARS VOLUME ONE
THE CHADBOURNE LUCK: EDDIE CHATTERBOX THE LOST YEARS VOLUME ONE
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.
VOLUME ONE: SECOND CHANCE AT JAZZ
Featuring Eugene Chadbourne on banjo & guitar, Phil Minton on vocals, Tony Trishka on banjo, Barry Mitterhof on mandolin, Lenny Kaye on pedal steel & electric guitar, Julian Kytasty on bandoura, Evan Rappaport on soprano & alto saxes, Walter Malli on soprano sax, Chris Turner on harmonica and Jeff Cohen on bass. Doc Chadbourne has long had a reputation for finding like-minded musicians from varied scenes, far & near, to work with. If you look closely at the selection of musicians on this disc we find that they are front all over: Tony Trishka & Barry Mitterhof, Jersey-based bluegrass greats, wacky singer Phil Minton & Chris Turner (UK improv scene), Lenny Kaye (from the Patti Smith Band), Julian Kytasty & Walter Malli (both worked with Derek Bailey). Doc Chadbourne has just released a series of six CD’s called the ‘Project Omnibook’ series, this ‘Volume 1’. Since this year, 2020, is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, Chadbourne has included a number of Bird’s songs throughout his new series. This disc opens with “52nd St. Theme” which soon mutates into something stranger, freer. There are some scary monster movie growling vocals along alternating banjo and electric guitar lines woven within, which keep increasing in tempo and then slowing back down. Doc Chad seems to enjoy having several collages of sound intertwining, snatches of conversations, perhaps live or from a TV, along with noisy guitar fragments and sped up banjo weirdness. Unexpected segments from different musicians like Julian Kytasty on bandura, (a zither/lute combination). All of the pieces flow together with different sounding small ensembles accompanying him. Although I do enjoy most of this, I often wish that I knew who was playing on each piece, otherwise it is a constant guessing game. There is a section where Doc Chad and Lenny Kaye (I guess) are trading guitar licks, quickly back & forth, and then other instruments sail in: harmonica or soprano sax. Kind of like the endless jam. At 76 minutes, this is quite a bit to take in, especially when things become a bit mind-numbing. Perhaps this might work better if I just listened to it in spurts. And this is only Volume 1, lots more to go. Hmmmmmmmm.
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.
VOLUME ONE: SECOND CHANCE AT JAZZ
Featuring Eugene Chadbourne on banjo & guitar, Phil Minton on vocals, Tony Trishka on banjo, Barry Mitterhof on mandolin, Lenny Kaye on pedal steel & electric guitar, Julian Kytasty on bandoura, Evan Rappaport on soprano & alto saxes, Walter Malli on soprano sax, Chris Turner on harmonica and Jeff Cohen on bass. Doc Chadbourne has long had a reputation for finding like-minded musicians from varied scenes, far & near, to work with. If you look closely at the selection of musicians on this disc we find that they are front all over: Tony Trishka & Barry Mitterhof, Jersey-based bluegrass greats, wacky singer Phil Minton & Chris Turner (UK improv scene), Lenny Kaye (from the Patti Smith Band), Julian Kytasty & Walter Malli (both worked with Derek Bailey). Doc Chadbourne has just released a series of six CD’s called the ‘Project Omnibook’ series, this ‘Volume 1’. Since this year, 2020, is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, Chadbourne has included a number of Bird’s songs throughout his new series. This disc opens with “52nd St. Theme” which soon mutates into something stranger, freer. There are some scary monster movie growling vocals along alternating banjo and electric guitar lines woven within, which keep increasing in tempo and then slowing back down. Doc Chad seems to enjoy having several collages of sound intertwining, snatches of conversations, perhaps live or from a TV, along with noisy guitar fragments and sped up banjo weirdness. Unexpected segments from different musicians like Julian Kytasty on bandura, (a zither/lute combination). All of the pieces flow together with different sounding small ensembles accompanying him. Although I do enjoy most of this, I often wish that I knew who was playing on each piece, otherwise it is a constant guessing game. There is a section where Doc Chad and Lenny Kaye (I guess) are trading guitar licks, quickly back & forth, and then other instruments sail in: harmonica or soprano sax. Kind of like the endless jam. At 76 minutes, this is quite a bit to take in, especially when things become a bit mind-numbing. Perhaps this might work better if I just listened to it in spurts. And this is only Volume 1, lots more to go. Hmmmmmmmm.
In the year of the Charlie Parker Centennial comes a six volume set documenting the mysterious “lost years” of Eddie Chatterbox, pursuing a study of Charlie Parker—at all costs! The documentarian behind a great deal of this work, Mucty Munchose, was once considered a heavyweight political thinker…but then he got caught up in the Chatterbox lifestyle. In this initial volume Chatterbox is tracked through the New York jazz scene, seeking his fame and fortune. He casts in his lot with some bluegrass pickers looking for kicks and, just for the hell of it, they wound blocking traffic on Houston Street for hours.