JOE BITHELL: JAZZ SINGER & HIS SILICON GULCH JAZZ BAND

Perfect for a lazy, hot afternoon that gradually morphs into a sweaty, intoxicated evening surrounded by friends. Unpretentious Dixieland jazz played by a long running crew of Bay Area aficionados who graced Prince Of Wales Pub in San Mateo every Tuesday for more than twenty years. It's fun music...innocent music. It's good music. For those in doubt....check the 6:16 mark of "Milenburg Joys" and if you aren't converted then you just don't know how to swing. And locals, you'll want to party with these maniacs, still active since band leader Joe Bithell's passing in 2005. 

WONDERFUL WORLD OF JAZZ

GATEWAY JAZZ

The title of this comp couldn't be more appropriate. Gateway Jazz is a brilliant collection of tracks from mandatory starter artists like DAVIS, COLTRANE, MINGUS, MONK, COLEMAN presented alongside deep cuts from MULATAS ASTATKE, JACK McDUFF, COLEMAN HAWKINS, LAST POETS and more. Prepared by one of my pals and presented by another one, this tape was much anticipated at TEHQ, and expectations were surpassed. There's a reason why people think making a mix tape is an art...and there's a reason why some people are revered as artists.

GATEWAY JAZZ

JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL // CLAUDE BOLLING

If you are anywhere near my age and had parents who gave a shit about music in a casual normal person way while you were growing up, then chances are good that there was a copy of this 1975 release in your house. Described as a "crossover" composition (just not the kind of crossover frequently covered in these annals), jazz pianist/composer Claude Bolling wrote this piece for a jazz trio and flute because...well, because no one had done that before. His approach to jazz is relatively standard - no freakouts here, no incomprehensible time signatures, the kind of jazz your vanilla ass parents could totally get down with. He kinda shreds the piano in "Sentimentale" though, and he was pals with Oscar Peterson, so respect. Jean Pierre Rampal, for his part, was a square ass French flautist (that's a person who plays the flute, you imbecile) who played a solid fukkn gold flute (true story). Bolling wrote the shit, Rampal joined his trio, and BOOM they sold millions of records to people like my parents. I picture this record in the living rooms of adults who owned 20 LPs, and this was the beginning and end of their "cultured" genre, proving that they didn't just listen to Bob Seger or (in my parents' case) THE CARPENTERS. That said, it's actually a pretty pleasant listen, even today. It doesn't slay or anything like that...but it's pretty easy on the ears, and I guess it kinda sounds like spring....whatever that means. Also, I not only still have my folks' vinyl copy, but this cassette that I have kept hauling around with me for twenty plus years for some unknown reason...so I guess that makes me a square grown up now.

SUITE FOR FLUTE AND JAZZ PIANO

SPY VS. SPY

The first time I heard this record, I had no idea what I was listening to. I was getting promo shit from Elektra for my small town Oklahoma new wave radio show, which meant I got the new SUGARCUBES record before the other dozen weirdos in town had heard of them, and I got early copies of all the 12"ers from Disintegration, so that was cool. But this...it simply made no sense at all. I knew it wasn't noise, but I didn't think it was jazz either - it was just chaos. For the uninitiated, SPY VS. SPY was the result of one of countless John Zorn collaborations (he has done more than simply bring horns to hessians via PAINKILLER and NAKED CITY and his promotional "radio hour," also received from my friendly Elektra rep while I was still in high school, was my first exposure to NAPALM DEATH and DIE KREUZEN and pre-Thrash Zone DRI). Listening with my 40+ year old ears, these tracks are so much more next level than the teenaged wizard could have possibly grasped. Layers upon layers of pure shred, two manic saxophones simultaneously devouring, demolishing and reinventing Ornette Coleman with blast after blast of fury. I played it for my friends at the time, not so much to say "hey, you will dig this" as to say "hey, what is this?" but they all hated it (of course) and thought I was weird(er). But I stuck with it, I used this tape as a reference and a starting point, and this presentation of selected works of a jazz legend is still one of the most insane and innovative records that I own. Fortunately for you, I have supplemented my collection with a cassette copy as well.

SPY vs. SPY: THE MUSIC OF ORNETTE COLEMAN

VERACIDAD

The primary vibe on VERACIDAD's 1999 demo is a branch from the MINUTEMEN tree, though there's something more aggressive at work - like maybe these are dudes into hardcore and jazz and '90s basement hardcore and are just trying to cram it all into one band. The 5 minute "Repostas" was a bit much on initial listens, but now it's probably my favorite - exercises in patience and focus translated to cassette. Whatever their intent, the result was a smashing success.

VERACIDAD

BIBLE LAUNCHER

As I have probably mentioned before, in the late '90s I worked in a bagel shop in downtown San Francisco. I stole whatever I could (ask anyone who bought FUCKFACE shirts on our 1996 tour) and gave as much free food as possible to elderly Russian women and bike messengers and punks. There were a lot of positives and very few negatives, it was a good gig and I met a lot of nice people, many of whom I am still friends with today. One of my regular free food takers was talking about music one day, and mentioned that he was in a band that was about to have a release on Tzadik. Naturally I assumed he was full of shit, because I held Zorn and his label in high regard and had a hard time imagining that some schmuck delivering packages downtown could possibly be involved in a project that had warranted the interest of John Zorn...actually, he was a pretty nice dude and I was probably jealous of the potential, but nonetheless I was suspicious. Well, he brought me a tape and of course it never came out on Tzadik so I was kinda vindicated - but there was obviously a LOT of effort spent on this project...manic dirges, sax drenched bursts of avant insanity, gratuitous samples from adult films and preachers. Total weirdness in an extremely (but indescribably '90s) way, perfectly suited for Tzadik - even if Zorn never gave the record a proper release (apparently it was the samples that caused the roadblock, and San Francisco's Radical House eventually distributed this recording, as well as BIBLE LAUNCHER's 1998 follow up). Sometimes you give away a few bagels and you get something in return that has some serious staying power.

BIBLE LAUNCHER

For the brave Terminal Escape follower, there was this DAVE DAVE recording on the flip side of the BIBLE LAUNCHER tape and I might as well share it today since without context it would be quite a nonsensical post. Primarily just drum and bass, and while it appears to be just a jam session cassette (and the first four tracks are the same riffs played over and over and over again), there are some weird bits worth checking out: tracks 05 & 06 are just treated drums but they stand well as minimal pieces of avant sound, track 08 introduces vocals and innocence before the side descends into astronomical weirdness for a few tracks and then closes with several tracks of treated drums that are bizarre and mesmerizing. This is certainly not for everyone, and perhaps it is little more than an unearthed cassette oddity, but those who find themselves interested might have a good time over the next 45 minutes.

DAVE DAVE

ALSO: From the same family of free food takers was a bike messenger named Anthony who would lounge in the general vicinity of my shop for what seemed like hours, wandering in when it there was a lull and we would chat and he would eat. He played in GAY BARBARIANS... AND OR JAURWAURS (whose "Bohemian Special" CD is a near masterpiece) and an exercise in amplifier abuse called NAPPYTIME JUNCTION. 17 years later, his drummer is the master tenant in my studio and their 2001 live set from Mission Records is available on Escape Is Terminal. I don't know...it's a good band and the connection seemed at least vaguely relevant.

NOTEWORTHY: My Mediafire issues have been resolved (at least for the time being), so you should find the links on older Terminal Escape posts active once again. As always, please email me about dead links and I will repair/replace them whenever possible.