#jemeel moondoc

[soundgrammar]

Listen/purchase: FOR JEMEEL - FIRE FROM THE ROAD by STEVE SWELL'S FIRE INTO MUSIC (STEVE SWELL, JEMEEL MOONDOC, WILLIAM PARKER, HAMID DRAKE)

[onetwofeb]

Steve Swell: trombone Jemeel Moondoc: alto saxophone William Parker: double bass Hamid Drake: drums

[deepartnature]

Ebba Jahn - A Jazz Film (1984)

“In 1984, before Tonic or CB's Lounge or even the Knitting Factory and Rudy Giuliani, New York City was a rough-and-tumble place filled with a wonderful array of musicians in a state of hyper-creativity. Some of them had come out of the loft scene of the '70s or even earlier and were reconciling all the shades of the avant-garde while others were creating entirely new vocabularies still being solidified today. German filmmaker Ebba Jahn made ‘A Jazz Film’ that year with interviews, musical performances and fascinating visuals of the city before it became sterilized. ... Many of the musicians featured are still active players: Charles Gayle, William Parker, John Zorn, Jemeel Moondoc, Irene Schweizer, Peter Brötzmann. And unsurprisingly, the film captures many who have departed firmly in their element: Charles Tyler, Don Cherry, Denis Charles, Peter Kowald. ...”

All About Jazz

lluminating Downtown's Dark Years. (Video)

Criterion Channel (Video)

[buttererer]

Rising Tones Cross (1985)

Rising Tones Cross is easily one of the best film documents of Free-Jazz from the late 70’s and early 80’s. Made by Ebba Jahn, and released by FMP in 1985, it features Charles Gayle, Rashied Ali, Peter Kowald,  John Zorn, Billy Bang, William Parker, Jeanne Lee, Charles Tyler, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter,  Don Cherry,  Peter Brötzmann, Jemeel Moondoc, David S. Ware and Frank Wright among many others.

[dustedmagazine]

Protomartyr — Ultimate Success Today (Domino)

Photo by Trevor Naud

Protomartyr have always sounded simultaneously urgent and dour, revelling in their clenched, morose ferocity. Though they’ve yet to release a subpar record, the sarcastically titled Ultimate Success Today laser-focuses both their song writing and sound into what may be their defining statement to date, especially apposite for these grim times. They’ve always had a pugilistic post-punk edge, yet the production on UST sharpens their attack into a savage, piercing roar that shares characteristics with multiple sub-genres of metal I’m not sufficiently familiar with to identify accurately (I’m sure Dusted’s resident metal expert, Jonathan Shaw, would be able to pin this down from a single listen). Let’s just say that Protomartyr 2020 is thrilling and brutally effective, creating the kind of hectic, clanging rush you can imagine on the soundtrack to an urban thriller, rendered with enough light and shade to prevent it from coalescing into a featureless blare.

There are two notable points of departure from previous Protomartyr albums. The first is the inclusion of welcome instrumental color from Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax), Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute) and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello). The second is Joe Casey’s subtle development as a vocalist. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what’s changed for Casey this time around. He slurs and barks all over these songs as brilliantly as ever, throwing out plenty of memorably sardonic lines, such as “In that story of the happy thief / Who provided content to that ceaseless chill-out stream” (“The Aphorist”), “Summer in the city / Bringing me low” (“June 21”) and “Submit your face into the scanner!” (“Processed By The Boys”). Yet he seems to have sufficiently honed his vocal timbre and delivery to the point where there’s less of a nagging sense that he’s aping Nick Cave or Mark E. Smith.  

In terms of songs, UST has so many high points that fresh favorites take their turn on subsequent listens (it’s currently the fuzz-bass-driven “Tranquilizer”). Opener “Day Without End” sounds like a sleazy cop show theme, complete with greasy saxophone (echoed later on “Michigan Hammers”). It builds and builds, threatening to explode, only to cut off into silence. The explosion comes with stunning single “Processed by the Boys” and its incessant jabbing guitars. On early standout “I Am You Now,” the bass and guitar take turns in articulating the strident melody, then explode into ferocious distortion bordering on industrial metal. “June 21” features the vocals of Nandi Plunkett (Half Waif), who casts a shaft of light through the music’s murky backstreets, only for the song to burn out in a haze of woozy, pitch-bent guitars and the sound of buzzing flies. Details such as this help to carry the listener from one song to the next, such as the unexpected coda to “Modern Business Hymns,” one of several songs that include the album title in the lyrics. By the time doomy waltz “Bridge & Crown” and slow-burning single “Worm in Heaven” bring the album to a down-tempo close, all energy has been expended, nothing left to be said.  

Tim Clarke

[radiophd]

khan jamal quintet -- african rhythm tongues

[diyeipetea]

JazzX5#272. Jemeel Moondoc Tentet Jus Grew Orchestra: "The Blue Dog - Blues for Earl Cross" [Live at the Vision Festival (Ayler Records, 2003)] [Minipodcast de jazz] Por Pachi Tapiz

JazzX5#272. Jemeel Moondoc Tentet Jus Grew Orchestra: “The Blue Dog – Blues for Earl Cross” [Live at the Vision Festival (Ayler Records, 2003)] [Minipodcast de jazz] Por Pachi Tapiz

Desde Tomajazz realizamos en JazzX5 un homenaje sonoro a Jemeel Moondoc, fallecido a finales de agosto de 2021. Suena el tema “The Blue Dog – Blues for Earl Cross”. Jemeel Moondoc Tentet Jus Grew Orchestra: Live at the Vision Festival (Ayler Records, 2003) Jemeel Moondoc, Zane Massey, Michel Marcus, Roy Campbell, Nathan Breedlove, Steve Swell, Tyron Hill, Bern Nix, John Voigt, Gerald Cleaver. ©…

[historybetweenthepages]

1980

https://www.thejumpingfrog.com/product/2053352/CODA-174-Leroy-Jenkins-Jemeel-Moondoc-Eddie-Jefferson-Charles-Brackeen-8-1980-

[onetwofeb]

Jemeel Moondoc

[quarantineroulette]

2020 Releases that I listened to more than once / stuck with me in some way.

Excuse my pessimism, but 2020 was a year in which finding solace in music was of little use to me. I also had less time than ever to listen to music. I spent the worst of the pandemic displaced and with limited internet access, then moved to another city and switched careers, two changes which I still haven’t fully comprehended. I also spent 98% of my free time feeling too anxious about the future as a whole to do any sort of listening, focused or passive. 

Things eventually got settled enough that I could at least check out what various music publications were fussing about in their year-end round ups. Not the most ideal avenue for discovery, but this has been a hard, tiring year and, despite some very promising releases and trends, I still feel a bit hopeless. I can’t even really be bothered to do any sort of ranking or make things even with a “20 for 2020,” so instead here’s a summary of some music that stood out to me. I can promise there are at least 15 releases mentioned - you can do a “choose your own adventure”  and rank them as you wish. 

Without a doubt, the only 2020 record that truly elevated me to a place where I stopped stressing out about things was Protomartyr’s Ultimate Success Today. These guys are by far my favorite band right now and their fifth album gave me so many new reasons to love them, from the propulsive “Michigan Hammers” and its stock footage masterpiece of a music video to elegant closer “Worm in Heaven.” Saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and multi-instrumentalist Izaak Mills were deployed on most tracks and, rather than merely serving as a garnish for songs, their contributions added as much tension, heft, and brutal beauty as Protomartyr’s core members. Add in Half Waif’s Nandi Rose guesting on the Very Sad “June 21,” and you have one genuinely faultless release. In a similar vein, Algiers released their third and arguably strongest full-length, There is No Year, back in January and it served as a powerful, prescient (the title alone!) and just plain awesome reminder to keep fighting in even the darkest of times. 

This year I occasionally found myself praying for disco and I’m pretty sure Doja Cat’s sorta Chic-inspired “Say So” was the song I listened to the most in 2020 (yes, shame on me for a million different reasons). But little did I know 2020 was such an abundant year for mirrorball-indebted releases. Kylie Minogue’s Disco was a given, but what especially thrilled me were Roisin Murphy’s Roisin Machine and Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure? Murphy’s outstanding “Murphy’s Law” especially sounds like a lost classic from the ‘70s, while Ware’s titular “What’s Your Pleasure” is as fitting a Donna Summer tribute as any you could come across in the past 40 or so years. Ware’s record became slightly less cool when I realized she’s a podcasting mom who is friends with Adele, but What’s Your Pleasure?’s irresistible procession of Great Pop Moments solidifies it as one release I’ll keep coming back to. 

(Bonus: if you favor a no-wave / post-punk spin on disco, then look no further than Public Practice’s Gentle Grip). 

Ware and Murphy have been particularly prevalent on many of the major year-end lists, but I still carry a bit of skepticism about such things. Therefore, discussions such as this sub-Reddit (sorry) thread on regional picks has been useful in thinking outside the US and UK-favoring ranking systems (although there’s still a lot of anglo shit listed there as well). I’m hoping to listen to more releases from oft-overlooked countries thanks to some of these Redditors’ suggestions, although I’ve already spent a bit of time with Einsturzende Neubauten’s Alles in Allem and remain Team Blixa (if such a team exists). Despite my aforementioned trepidation, The Quietus’  list did compel me to check out the wonderfully somber offerings of Closed Circuits. This Portuguese artist describes himself as “Leonard Cohen being bothered by Coil,” and if that doesn’t entice you, I fear you may be a lost cause.  

This year we moved to Philadelphia, which means...A lot of things, but relevant to this summary, we found ourselves driving past some provocative graffiti stating “Make America Nothing Again” numerous times. Eventually I put two and two together and gave Nothing’s The Great Dismal a listen. Having not expected much beyond the clever marketing, I was pleasantly wowed by the quartet’s moody post-shoegaze offerings. I can barely discern any of the lyrics, but on vibe alone, The Great Dismal perfectly captures the heavy despair that permeated 2020. Add in Korine’s gloom-pop The Night We Raise and I can confidently say that Philly’s music scene is in good hands. 

I might have lied a bit at the start of this post - in saying I didn’t listen to music throughout 98% of the pandemic, I’m overlooking the many car rides spent revisiting Fontaines D.C.’s brilliant 2019 debut, Dogrel. While it didn’t impress me quite as much, this year’s A Hero’s Death was a mostly worthy successor, interspersing a few tranquil moments among the band’s more confrontational offerings. Not all of those moments worked for me, but these new directions were enticing enough for me to officially consider Fontaines a Band To Watch, if that’s still something people say. Oh yeah, and the video for the title tune slams. 

Speaking of music videos, I don’t usually rely on this medium for discovering bands, but that changed this year with Dehd. The trio’s videos are vibrant, conceptually clever, and relentlessly fun. Thank goodness that the music lives up to Dehd’s visual knack, with Flower of Devotion at times recalling The Jesus and Mary Chain and Roy Orbison in equal measure (especially on the stunning “Letter”). Emily Kempf’s versatile singing reminds me of everyone from Jana Hunter of Lower Dens to Carla Bozulich of The Geraldine Fibbers, yet it’s still bracing enough that every word she sings sounds utterly gripping. Who knows when gigs will happen again, but Flower of Devotion rocketed these folks to the top of my post-Covid gigging wishlist.  

Sparks is one act I can happily say I’ve seen numerous times. They are never ones to disappoint but, nearly 40 years into their career, the Mael brothers owe us nothing. Yet A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip is somehow an instant classic. It’s nothing short of astonishing that, at 75, Ron Mael can crank out a song that is equal parts insanely catchy, effortlessly humorous and deceptively sad, but he yet again nailed this trifecta with “Lawnmower,” to name but one. Russell Mael’s invincible vocals are in full effect throughout, particularly on the straight up lovely “Pacific Standard Time.” I would never even entertain the idea of using the term “pop / rock juggernaut,” but if it was regarding Sparks, I would at least not dispute it. 

(PS, special shout out to another singular duo of relatives, Prima Primo, who this year released my favorite song about Madonna since Sparks’ very own Madge tune, featured on 1988′s Interior Design.)

Finally, this list would absolutely be incomplete if I didn’t give mention to Bob Dylan’s fabulous Rough and Rowdy Ways. More than ever, 2020 felt like a year rife with stupid decisions, stupid actions and praise for mediocrity. A return to form from perhaps the greatest lyricist of all time is something many of us probably didn’t know we needed, but boy am I thankful for it (not as thankful as I would be for a second stimulus check, but still - next best thing). Dylan also gave us the fun bonus of having Fiona Apple guest on the outstanding “Murder Most Foul,” and of course Apple’s own Fetch the Bolt Cutters both featured her dogs as percussion and further solidified her place in the socio-political songwriting canon. Maybe there is something to be said for music after all!  

[projazznet]

Jemeel Moondoc ‎– The Zookeeper’s House (Full Album)

The Zookeeper’s House is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded in 2013 and released on Relative Pitch. It was his first album leading a full band in over a decade.

[freethejazzblog]

Free The Jazz #49 [for Mathangi Arulpragasam]

1 - Irreversible Entanglements - Fireworks (from "Irreversible Entanglements", 2017 International Anthem)

2 - Jemeel Moondoc - Flight (From The Yellow Dog) (from "Muntu Recordings", 2009 NoBusiness)

3 - Platform - Début (from "Flux Reflux", 2017 Clean Feed)

4 - Ingrid Laubrock - Pothole Analytics (from "Serpentines", 2016 Intakt)

5 - Angles 9 - Pacemaker (from "Disappeared Behind The Sun", 2017 Clean Feed)

6 - Akira Sakata / Giovanni Di Domenico / Roger Turner / John Edwards - Tornado (edit) (from "15.01.14", 2016 OTOroku)

7 - Wayne Shorter - Witch Hunt (edit) (from "Speak No Evil", 1966 Blue Note)

8 - The Master Musicians of Jajouka Led by Bachir Attar with Material - The Bird's Prayer (edit) (from "Apocalypse Live", 2017 M.O.D.)

Listen to a new show each week on 8K, and find previous shows over at Mixcloud.

[eildotcom]

JAZZ Vinyl & CDs at eil.com this week includes Tubby Hayes, The Pentangle, Jemeel Moondoc and more

JAZZ Vinyl & CDs at eil.com this week includes Tubby Hayes, The Pentangle, Jemeel Moondoc and more

Ain’t nothing but a jazz thing here at eil.com this week with a vast array of top jazz rare vinyl and CDs coming through the doors, here’s a few to whet your jazz whistle, see them all in our Jazz collectors store.

Tubby Hayes – Return Visit!: Rare original Dutch issue black & silver Fontana label 5-track mono vinyl LP of the 1963 album recorded live in New York on 23rd June 1962, front…

[fearnoarts]

Jemeel Moondoc

[steamedtangerine]

New World Pygmies (Jemeel Moondoc, William Parker, Hamid Drake) - Vision XXIII - May 28 2018