Tag Archives: album release

12/23 | Album Release – “The Gil Suite EP” by Bashiri Asad

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BASHIRI ASAD PRESENTS:

“THE GIL SUITE: A TOAST TO GIL SCOTT-HERON & BRIAN JACKSON“

~ from Bashiri:  “As an artist it is our responsibility to provide the soundtrack (visual or audio) to the life and times that we’re living in.  As a singer, I feel it’s my obligation to pay tribute to those that have paved the way for me and my contemporaries.  This project is a tribute to an icon, one that inspired me and provided so much to a generation of emcees, singers and poets.  Executive Produced and arranged by dr. Bass + vicelikemiami (@dbvlm), and including a host of great musicians, this is my offering to our life and times.  Ladies and Gentlemen: The Gil Suite“

Notes on “Vildgolia (Deaf, Dumb, & Blind)” – produced by BRAIN GRIMMER

When I received the drum, vocal, and sax stems from Dace & Matt, I excitedly went to work on finishing this arrangement & tweaking the mix.  I had been listening to Gil Scott-Heron vinyl all month in preparation for this project.  Just then, Ferguson happened.  Now, a few months on, cold injustice has once again been served, and served, ||: … and served :|| …  The passion & message in this music is inseparable from solidarity towards an end to the continued oppression of people of color.  Bashiri, while paying tribute to a great social & racial justice poet, is reminding us all how true Gil’s words ring in the present day.  We are not yet living in a “post-racial” America, and whiteys: don’t be fooled in to thinking so by your favorite talking-head or politician.

Stand together in peace.  Black lives matter.  Much love and respect.

post script – Thanks to Bashiri, Dace & Matt for inviting me to participate on this project!  Thanks to Rob Dixon (sax) and Justin Brewer (drums) for playing on the track!  If y’all are sleepin’ on dr. Bass + vicelikemiami – WAKE UP!  This production-squad is killin’ it.  I was happy to contribute some guzheng parts for their April, 2014 release EP1.  Bashiri’s vocals are heavily featured on this ep – check dbvlm out, get on that train!

SiLas Be Ritchie & Brian Tairaku Ritchie: ‘Tea Life: Wabi Sabi Remixes’ Released!

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Back in June, 2013 painter & musician SiLas Be Ritchie went in for a double lung transplant.  Silas had been ‘on call’ for a while & we all knew this could come at any time.  An unfathomable situation to me – you wait & wait, then out of the blue a phone rings, “hey, we’re ready to rip that giant organ out of your chest and replace it with a new set”…  I certainly didn’t imagine that I’d be out of town when the call came – in Indianapolis, performing the horror-score to NoExit Performance production of “This Is Not Shakespeare’s MACBETH“.  We had received the stems for this remix project prior to the surgery.  When I heard SiLas was going in, I went right to work on a BRAIN GRIMMER contribution ~ trying to send out sonic good-vibes to Si while he was in procedure & recovery.  We’re all grateful that he came out of surgery just fine and has been living his life full of breath!

Fast forward to November, 2014, the more recent good news is… the Tea Life: Wabi​-​Sabi Remixes album has finally dropped!  It has been well worth the wait to hear the wonderfully crafted and varied interpretations that have resulted in these remixes.  Kudos to Si for putting this together!

”  Wabi-Sabi is the second track off of Tea Life 2, the sophomore record by Silas Be and Brian Tairaku Ritchie (Shakuhachi master & bassist of Violent Femmes). The 4 stems of music that assemble the song (Drums, Flute, Bass, Chime samples) were sent to an array of musician friends. I asked my friends to create a new composition using any amount of the original music, except zero. What returned are these transmission. Enjoy.  “

If you choose to pay $25 for the album, include your address in a message, and I will create and send to you an original Silas Be watercolor painting.

Album Cover Art: Silas Be

Track Art by: Andrew Jay (except “Ghost” by John Praw, Image by John Praw, and Wabi-Sabi art by Silas Be)  

The BRAIN GRIMMER contribution, ‘crop dance’, is one of my favorite tracks that I’ve worked on… it’s also been the most difficult to mix & master.  For the last 3 months I’ve been working on/off towards re-mastering the track.  I’ll be releasing a new BRAIN GRIMMER ep some time in early 2015, comprising of remixes, guest-producer features, and cover songs from the last 2 years.  More on that in the coming months!

6/17 | New Album THE IDEATING KNELL for sale on Signal Dreams

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‘The Ideating Knell’ by BC Grimm is now available on Signal Dreams!

Limited Edition CD
16 tracks 70 mins $7
Order your copy today!

ᄼᄽᄿᄽᄿᄼᄾᄼᄽᄾᄿᄽᄿᄼᄾᄼᄽᄾᄿ
A few words on the album from Signal Dreams

“  Madison, WI-based avant-jazz explorer BC Grimm is well known locally not just for his phenomenal cello work in live collaborations with artists like Julian Lynch, Spires That In The Sunset Rise, and the mighty Db Pedersen (to name just a few), but also the mind-blowing improvisational chops he showcases with his brother A.J. Grimm in cello-guitar duo The Brothers Grimm and his worldly and detailed production work as Brain Grimmer. More recently, Grimm’s work has been shifting focus toward his intriguing work with two different Chinese zithers, Guqin and Guzheng. We’re extremely proud to present ‘The Ideating Knell,’ a staggering album that combines Grimm’s deep experimentation with the zithers with his love of detailed processing. Honestly, nothing we could say about it could match the beautiful clarity of this statement from BC Grimm himself:

“‘The Ideating Knell’ is an experimental acoustic album of compositions for two ancient Chinese zithers, Guqin 古琴 & Guzheng 古筝. This record includes 6 ‘doppler phase’ pieces for guqin, emulating tape composition techniques to create the movement of sound to/from the vanishing point on the horizon line to/from the listener’s ears. There are 6 pieces for prepared guzheng using: dulcimer hammers, cajon brushes, chopsticks, mate straw, metal bowls, broken teaware, clay sculpting tools, snare wires, & seashell strands. 3 pieces revisit the title track composition from BCG’s 2011 solo guqin album, “Flock Migrates Over The Pines”: with re-recorded, reconstructed versions in two custom tunings, and a new variation on the theme in a traditional tuning. The actual notes in the composition’s score visually depict various forms & shapes of birds taking off into flight, or in formation during flight. Also, specially devised for this project is a new ‘Pentatemperment’ tuning system on guqin, which splits the octave into 5 equal steps, instead of 12 [ low to high: C-40c D0c E+40c G-20c A+20c C-40c D0c ]. Guzheng 古筝, a 21 string bridged zither spanning 4 octaves, and Guqin 古琴, a 7 string fretless zither spanning 1 octave, tune to pentatonic scales. Both instruments share a culturally important performance history stretching back about 2,500 years to the Warring States period.”

Artwork by Nathaniel Ritter. Price is postage paid in the US. Please see shipping rates for Canada/World.  “

This Signal Dreams batch also includes: Troy Schafer ‘Untitled No. 1‘ & Derek Rogers ‘Prevais‘.

∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ ∵∴ 

Solo Guqin Album F.M.O.P. Remastered + Upcoming Release “The Ideating Knell” on Signal Dreams

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FLOCK MIGRATES OVER THE PINES [2011] by BC Grimm
a solo GUQIN album for meditation, yoga, & relaxation

June, 2014 – remastered & availalbe digitally for $8 on GrimmusiK.bandcamp

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FMOP has been remastered in anticipation of a new solo zither album, The Ideating Knell by BC Grimm coming out next Tuesday, 6/17 on Signal Dreams records.  Stay tuned for more details, follow Signal Dreams on bandcamp & soundcloud!

GD07  “The Ideating Knell”  available 06/17/2014 on Signal Dreams 
An experimental acoustic album of compositions for two ancient Chinese zithers, Guqin 古琴 & Guzheng 古筝. This record includes 6 ‘doppler phase’ pieces for guqin, emulating tape composition techniques to create the movement of sound to/from the vanishing point on the horizon line to/from the listener’s ears. There are 6 pieces for prepared guzheng using: dulcimer hammers, cajon brushes, metal chopsticks, mate straw, metal bowls, broken teaware, clay sculpting tools, snare wires, & seashell strands. 3 pieces revisit the title track composition from BCG’s 2011 solo guqin album, “Flock Migrates Over The Pines”: with re-recorded, reconstructed versions in two custom tunings, and a new variation on the theme in a traditional tuning.  The actual notation in the composition’s score visually depicts various forms & shapes of birds taking off and in formation during flight.  A new ‘Pentatemperment’ tuning system on guqin has been specially devised for this project – splitting the octave into 5 equal steps, instead of 12 [low to high: C-40c D0c E+40c G-20c A+20c C-40c D0c].  Guzheng 古筝, a 21 string bridged zither spanning 4 octaves, and Guqin 古琴, a 7 string fretless zither spanning 1 octave, both tune to pentatonic scales.  These instruments share a culturally important performance history stretching back about 2,500 years to the Warring States period.

Brothers Grimm farewell show at Color Field Ensemble Festival For Contemporary Music | 2013 KARJAKA Studios | http://karjaka.com/

Brothers Grimm farewell show at Color Field Ensemble Festival For Contemporary Music | 2013 KARJAKA Studios | http://karjaka.com/