V.A. In His Own Sweet Way, A tribute to Dave Brubeck (Japan, 2000)

Fourteen Downtown (or Downtown-related) avantgardists celebrate the work of the famous jazzman, pianist, composer Dave Brubeck (who passed away just recently -December 2012). The artists not only leave the clear mark of their own idiosyncracy on the compositions but in many occasions their imaginative approach creates a surprisingly big distance from the originals. Nevertheless this "unfaithfulness" seems to work fine! The music is amusing and very eclectic; the overall result gives true honours to the innovative side of the legendary artist, revealing as well the deep influence of Brubeck's spirit in some of the most forward-acting musicians of the recent times. Released on John Zorn's Avant label in 2000.

01 Dave Slusser Blue Shadows In The Street
02 Uri Caine Far More Blues
03 Pachora  In Your Own Sweet Way
04 Bill Frisel Summer Song
05 Ruins Blue Rondo A La Turk
06 Medeski, Martin &Wood Tokyo Traffic
07 Antony Coleman The Duke
08 Eyvind Kang Calcutta Blues
09 Slowpoke Sixth Sense
10 Erik Friedlander Winter Ballad
11 Sex Mob Jumping
12 Dave Douglas Nomad
13 Joey Baron Three To Get Ready
14 David Krakauer Golden Horn

In His Own Sweet Way

"Smarnamisa! Resia Valley Music" (1997)

Resia Valley is a very small municipality-region lying in North Italy near the borders with Slovenia and Austria. Resian people, who nowadays are numbered in about a thousand, have slavic origins and speak a very idiomatic slavic dialect ("rozajanski"), strongly influenced by archaic  lingual elements. Located between the two peninsulas (the balkan and the italian), but in fact isolated due to its surrounded by mountains alpine position, Resia has, in spite of its size, a rich folkloric history with unique customs and traditions.

"Smarnamisa!" compilation, an Avant Records release, is a rare document of traditional resian music created by fiddle ("citara"), cello ("bunkula"), "percussive'' feet, vocals, narrations etc.

Perhaps attractive mainly to ones with traditional folk tastes or ethno-musicological interests, but valuable and sympathetic as valuable and sympathetic a voice of an unseen dot of the world can be.

Smarnamisa! (feb 2013 updated)

AVANT Label: In the Constellation Of John Zorn

Japanese AVANT label was formed by John Zorn and Kazunori Sugiyama in 1992 as a home for music created by Zorn, his colleagues and yet plenty other avant-gardists, jazzmen and related artists. Part of the broad and ambitious Zorn's music plan, AVANT label reflects a spirit similar as its founder's, innovative, adventurous and subversive. Apart from labelman, composer and performer John Zorn has been involved himself in many other artists releases as a producer and although his music visions has been served since 1995, mainly by his own TZADIK label, AVANT continued offering up to the middle of the next decade exciting episodes of contemporary open-minded art, counting overall about 80 releases.

A selection of essential AVANT moments compiled by LaFolieDuJour:

WAYNE HORVITZ - FOUR PLUS ONE ENSEMBLE crispin and lisa's duet

("From A Window", 2001)

ANTHONY COLEMAN trend man

("Disco By Night", 1992)
DIM SUM CLIP JOB jive stalking
("Harmolodic Jeopardy", 1995)
JOE MANERI why don't you go away
("Paniots Nine", 1998)
SLOWPOKE sixth sense
(V.A. "In His Own Sweet Way", 2000)
CYRO BAPTISTA dansa do indio branco
("Vira-Loucos / Villa-Lobos", 1997)
IKUE MORI, MARC RIBOT, ROBERT QUINE mojave
("Painted Desert", 1995)
WAYNE HORVITZ - FOUR PLUS ONE ENSEMBLE willy's music
("From A Window", 2001)
DRAGON BLUE fragments realm
("Hades Park", 1998)
VIVIAN SISTERS a gift from france
("Vivian Sisters", 2001)
DAVE SOLDIER graffiti from a ninth century manuscript
("Smut", 1994)
HARRIET TUBMAN chief of police
("The Prototype", 2000)
JENNY SCHEINMAN QUARTET 25 at 2525
("Live At Yoshi's", 2000)
MARK FELDMAN, SYLVIE COURVOISIER gugging

("Music For Violin and piano", 1999)

Avant Label Compilation