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Observations of Deviance

@obsofdeviance.bsky.social
3.8K followers 1.5K following 6.3K posts

"Observations of Deviance has become a Wire deadline weekend staple." The Wire (UK) David Mittleman DJ @wfmu.bsky.social Vinyl collector Writing @ We Jazz Magazine wfmu.org/playlists/OV

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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
ALVIN CURRAN Roman Ruins CD WE INSIST! Records CDWEIN37 Release date: October 21 weinsist.bandcamp.com
Much has been written about improvisation… probably the most
ancient of musical languages that Homo Sapiens has “spoken” in
the last 40-50,000 years, and today collective free improvisation
has become an art and musical field unto itself. But like the grand
gamelan orchestras of Bali and Java, the massive Alpenhorn
orchestras in Switzerland, or our own great symphonic orchestras
and choruses – bringing large numbers of people together to
make music is nothing new, and practiced worldwide based on
proven traditions.

So, to make music based on “nothing” collectively with many
people may appear as an act of futility, even stupidity. Yet,
knowing that anything can happen, even transcendent beauty, is
for me reason enough to continue the pursuit of this evanescent
magic. 

Alvin Curran, Rome, 20.10.2024
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Don Cherry #vinyl Original vs Reissue @wewantsounds.bsky.social The Third World-Underground by Dollar Brand, Don Cherry, Carlos Ward
Both front Both backReissue1974 Japan original
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Just Landed #vinyl @wewantsounds.bsky.social DETAILS ➡️ wewantsounds.bandcamp.com/merch
Don Cherry 

Ziad Rahbani
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If memory serves Ornette talks about KC in this film. I can’t remember the exact quote. Something about how KC was a millionaire.
ORNETTE
MADE IN AMERICA
A FILM BY
SHIRLEY CLARKE
PROJECT SHIRLEY, VOLUME THREE
RESTORED BY MILESTONE AND THE UCLA FILM & TELEVISION ARCHIVE
"THE RESTORATION AND REISSUE OF ORNETTE: MADE IN AMERICA... IS CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION -both for its value as a movie and for its exploration of Coleman's art.
RICHARD BRODY, THE NEW YORKER
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
New episode archived @wfmu.bsky.social STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
See link in post for full track list

CECIL TAYLOR

JULIUS HEMPHILL

IRAN

SWEDEN

NORWAY

BRAZIL

PAT THOMAS

RONALD SHANNON JACKSON DECODING SOCIETY

MELVIN GIBBS

MIKE REED

OUT OF YOU HEAD

PLANET MU

HYPERDUB

OCORA
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Lots of new jams bsky.app/profile/obso...
new jams
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We are now living in an episode of Mr. Show “Cute, friendly, lovable!...Pit-Pat! A magical pansexual non-threatening spokes thing!”
on top PIT PAT from Mr. Show

below

"advertising’s newest spokescharacter, Liberty Biberty. What started as a flubbed line in a Liberty Mutual Insurance commercial, Liberty Biberty is now a fuzzy yellow puppet who is ready to talk insurance. And he’ll be hitting the airwaves"

Liberty Mutual's New Commercial Character Offers Insurance Against
Ad-Avoiding Consumers

What’s yellow, fluffy and has a name that’s likely to get stuck in your head? The insurance sector’s newest TV star.

Liberty adds to the coterie, with “Liberty Biberty,” a fuzzy anthropomorphic character
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
#Ocotillo is the official plant of the next episode of my radio show. Sat, Sept 26, 7-10pm(ET) @wfmu.bsky.social STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
 Plant Fact Sheet: Ocotillo
Identifying Features

Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) are one of easiest plants to identify in the desert. They are a large shrub with long cane-like unbranched spiny stems that grow from a short trunk. Small 2 inch leaves will grow from the stems when there is enough moisture. Dense clusters of red tubular flowers grow from the end of the stems from March through June.

 


Habitat

Ocotillo prefer a habitat that is open and very rocky, and where the soil is well drained. Areas such as rocky slopes, mesas, washes and desert grasslands.

Range

Ocotillo are common in most areas of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. They are also found in western Texas through to southern California.

Life Span

There is much discussion on exactly how old Ocotillo can live. A good estimate is 60 years although some studies indicate they can live well over 100 years

Size

Ocotillo can reach heights of up to 20 feet.

Quick Facts

The Ocotillo is called many different names including Candlewood, Slimwood, Coachwhip, Vine Cactus, Flaming Sword and Jacob's Staff.
The Ocotillo is often use as "fencing" because its spines stop people and animals from passing through.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
David Moss on 1980s/90s NYC tapers youtu.be/4YrSvhwbrFI?...
I didn't record myself because I couldn't. David, you know, it was hard enough to set up a sound-check and play a gig, but to run a recording of yourself at the same time, we all couldn't do it. We all failed at it. We all wanted to do it. But we do have recordings available to us from several of the freaks at the time, the recording freaks who followed us around, who made cassettes.  I think they were a maximum four, minimum two guys who were, three of them were Japanese and one of them was probably French.

They were recorders. They didn't play. They were totally devotees of the improv scene. They turned up at almost every gig and stood in the back of the room with a handheld microphone going into their cassette machine. And it wasn't always a pro walkman. It could have been something very low level. And they recorded with this one handheld mono or stereo mic. They recorded whatever they could on cassettes. And we didn't even most of the time ask them for copies of the tapes because we weren't... The ethic of the times was we did the music, it's over. Let's go to the next thing. 

Really, there was a big, big unspoken rule, another one in the scene, which was You do the music, you don't talk about it, and you go to the next one. That's it. No analysis, no listening back. What's done is done. Go ahead. Really, that was a big thing. So if you wanted to talk about something you liked in a piece, you have to be very careful because nobody wanted to go back and try to remember everything. They really, it was interesting that way. 

So, okay. These guys, we saw them at almost, I mean, not every gig, but enough. I would say 65% of our gigs of duo trios and quartets and bigger ones were recorded by these people. And some of them got in contact with us later and said they have an archive of tapes and would we like copies of certain things and we could get them free if we wanted. And so that was good. Some of it was capturable by us after the fact, which we like to have for…
030
Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Albert Ayler #vinyl $12,716.17 www.discogs.com/release/5049...
Albert Ayler – The First Recordings Vol.2

Label:
Bird Notes – BNLP 2
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Test Pressing, White Label
Country:
Sweden
Released:
1963
Genre:
Jazz
Style:
Free Jazz

According to www.ayler.co.uk this issue is referred to as Vol. 2 - version 2 (also known as Vol. 3), because Vol. 2 - version 1 supposedly predates this.

Extremely rare, maybe only 5 to 10 pressed
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Jazz Is My Religion BY TED JOANS www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...
Jazz Is My Religion
BY TED JOANS
Jazz is my religion   and it alone do I dig   the jazz clubs are
my house of worship   and sometimes the concert halls   but some
holy places are too commercial (like churches)   so I don’t dig the
sermons there   I buy jazz sides to dig in solitude   Like man / Harlem,
Harlem USA Used to be a jazz heaven where most of the jazz
sermons were preached   but now-a-days due to chacha cha and
rotten rock’n’roll alotta good jazzmen have sold their souls   but jazz
is still my religion   because I know and feel the message it brings
like Reverend Dizzy Gillespie / Brother Bird and Basie / Uncle
Armstrong / Minister Monk / Deacon Miles Davis / Rector Rollins /
Priest Ellington / His Funkness Horace Silver /   and the great
John coltrane   and Cecil Taylor   They Preach A Sermon
That Always Swings!!   Yeah jazz is my religion   Jazz is my story
it was my mom’s and pop’s   and their moms and pops from the
days of Buddy Bolden who swung them blues to Charlie Parker and
Ornette Coleman’s extension of Bebop   Yeah jazz is my religion
Jazz is a unique musical religion the sermons spread happiness and
joy   to be able to dig and swing inside   what a wonderful feeling
jazz is / yeah boy!!   jazz is my religion and dig this: it wasn’t for
us to choose because they created it for a damn good reason   as   a
weapon to battle our blues!   jazz is my religion   and its
international   all the way   jazz is just an Afroamerican music
and like us it’s here to stay   So remember that jazz is my religion
but it can be your religion too but jazz is a truth that   is always
black and blue   Halleluiah I love jazz so   Halleluiah I dig jazz so
Yeah  jazz   is   my   religion

Notes:

This poem is part of the folio “Ted Joans: Surreally I Is” and is reprinted by permission of  the Ted Joans estate. Read the rest of the folio in the September 2026 issue of Poetry.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
#Tucson history 1996's World's Largest Cockroach Contest ARNOLD ROACHENEGGER WON it at 1.75 inches long! VIDEO ▶️ youtu.be/kj6jOwJE_qA?...
1996 Tucson the "World's Largest Cockroach Contest" Arnold Roachenegger won it at 1.75 inches long! This video highlights our 1997 Cockroach Contest and gives Arnold a mention.
020
Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
New episode archived @wfmu.bsky.social Dense Full House: David Moss Interview STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
Creative improvising drummer and vocalist David Moss was a central figure in the Downtown NYC creative music community of the 1980s and early 1990s. He recorded and performed with some of the leading figures of the scene—Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Arto Lindsay and John Zorn to name a few. Moss discusses this vibrant community, and the August reissue of his Full House and Dense Band albums, in an exclusive interview.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
EWI Electric wind instrument
Marshall Allen and EWI
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Jonas Cambien Jazz on an Ace Tone Top 5 combo organ jonascambien.bandcamp.com/album/popula...
One of the more common combo organs is the AceTone TOP-5.  A fairly limited instrument in many ways, it does seem to have the bare-essentials required of a good combo organ.  
Just read these glowing reviews from two satisfied TOP-5 owners:

"I think [the TOP-5] nails a great combo sound for recording and performance. Granted, if ... you're looking for a lot of variability (if you were going to play it all night, say, and wanted lots of different sounds for lots of different songs), then it would probably be too limited. But if you're looking for a great, strong, clear combo sound, then look no further than the Top-5.  On top of it's sound it's also very small, and also reliable. I bought mine and it worked then and works now, and I can't say that about very many of my instruments. It's the Toyota of the combo world: not too much glamour, but when you get in, it starts and gets you where you're going."

"The more I record, the more I find my Top-5 is my organ of choice... The Top 5 may not sound 'Good' by organ standards, but I find in the context of a mix, it more often sounds "right". The few sounds that it can produce, are all the sounds that one needs...I LOVE MY TOP 5!!!"

Controls: 

Knobs:Volume, Vibrato D., Vibrato S.
Tabs: Flute, Organ, Horn, Oboe, String, Vibrato
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
On the next episode Dense Full House: David Moss Interview Sat, Sept. 19, 7-10pm(ET) @wfmu.bsky.social STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
Creative improvising drummer and vocalist David Moss was a central figure in the Downtown NYC creative music community of the 1980s and early 1990s. He recorded and performed with some of the leading figures of the scene—Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Arto Lindsay and John Zorn to name a few. Moss discusses this vibrant community, and the August reissue of his Full House and Dense Band albums, in an exclusive interview.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Ace Hardware, from Tucson
The full quartetGuitarist
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Daniel Rossi’s MESS
Daniel behind the drums, microphone in hand, between songs
130
Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
There he is
Jan Esbra guitar
120
Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Devin Gray 🥁
Drumming in Tucson
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Getting prepared for the evening’s festivities
Tucdon, Arizona
Hotel Congress
The Century Room
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Tonight #Tucson bsky.app/profile/obso...
Devin Gray
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Twelve of Brooklyn's Best, 1986
LEFT TO RIGHT: KELVYN BELL (GUITAR): MARVIN "SMITTY" SMITH (DRUMS): KEVIN HARRIS (BASS): JIMMY COZIER (SAX): GERI ALLEN (KEYBOARD): STEVE COLEMAN (SAX): CASSANDRA WILSON (VOCALS): GRAHAM HAYNES (TRUMPET) JEAN-PAUL BOURELLY (GUITAR): MARK
JOHNSON (DRUMS); TERRI-LYNN CARRINGTON (DRUMS): GREG OSBY (SAX).
PHOTOGRAPH BY BILL HAYWARD.
Twelve of Brooklyn's Best, 1986
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Penny's Groove by Penny (AfroSynth 2026) originally released in South Africa 1985 www.rushhour.nl/record/vinyl...
Obscure disco gem from 1985. Singer Penny Mtya, like many others, journeyed from small-town South Africa to the bright lights of Johannesburg in search of fame. There her path collided with Muntu Semenya, the son of long-exiled stars Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu, who had recently arrived from the US and was making his mark in SA as a producer and keyboardist. There demo secured a deal with the local office of WEA Records and they soon entered RPM Studios with co-producer Thokoza Memela to record three tracks.

‘Cassanova (Stop That Game)’ is a seven-minute Afrofunk workout reminiscent of Kiki Gyan or Sylvester, showcasing Penny’s sultry vocals and Semenya’s stabbing synths. On the flip side, ‘I Feel It’ is a chugging instrumental climaxing in a fuzzed-out solo from session guitarist Jethro Butow. Defying expectations again, the album closes with a Motown-worthy slow jam, ‘Memories’, a duet with Yandy Mgolombane featuring Mike Faure on sax.

Titled Penny’s Groove, the three-track EP received little promotion on its release and quickly disappeared into obscurity, with the label perhaps unsure of how to market the polished ‘international’ sound and diverse components. The tracks were never performed live and everyone involved in the studio project soon parted ways. Semenya and Mgolombane laid low while Penny returned disenchanted to her home in the Eastern Cape, where she remained active in music but never realised her dream of solo stardom.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Karin Krog unreleased recordings from 1970, from German radio and TV 🇸🇪 www.instagram.com/p/DdRKWhUDO8B/
Öppet Fyra will be dedicated to incredible Norwegian singer KARIN KROG. To be released 23 October during Umea jazzfestival. Mats Gustafsson and Roger Bergner have dug deep and found unreleased recordings from 1970, from German radio and TV that is simply indescribably good.

Four tracks with a temporary Scandinavian septet, performing music written by Berndt Egerbladh:

Karin Krog – vocals & electronics
Lars-Göran Ulander – alto sax & flute
Calle Neumann - alto sax & flute
Berndt Egerbladh – piano & organ
Terje Rypdal – electric guitar
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen – bass
Sten Öberg – drums
And three duo recordings with
Karin Krog – vocals & electronics
Pierre Favre – drums & percussion
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Desert Drone | Devin Gray (Berlin) / Daniel Rossi's Mess (NYC) / Ace Hardware (Tucson) The Century Room #Tucson Thu, Sep 17 at 6:30 PM dice.fm/event/v3xayl...
An evening of drummer-led experimental music, anchored by some of the most restless percussionist-composers working today.

Devin Gray is a drummer, composer, and bandleader based in Berlin. A fixture of the international creative-music scene, he’s collaborated with Dave Liebman, Tim Berne, Kris Davis, Michael Formanek, and Gerald Cleaver, and leads his own Rataplan Records. For this performance he presents his acclaimed solo work for drums + electronics, comprising of stunningly detailed playing that All About Jazz described as “a cross between Fritz Hauser and Roy Haynes.”

Daniel Rossi’s Mess is an ever-evolving experiment from the New York drummer, guitarist, and composer. Rossi has drummed for Haley Heynderickx, Fievel Is Glauque, and Weyes Blood; with MESS, he folds those wide-ranging instincts into a project that fuses jazz, progressive rock, and free improvisation.

Ace Hardware is Tucson’s own free-improvising supergroup: Jeffery Gordon Evans (flute/percussion), John Welsh (guitar), Ryan Wheless (banjo + FX), and Greg Saunier (drums)
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
New episode archived @wfmu.bsky.social Underground Impresario: Gerard Cosloy Guest DJ @gerardcosloy.bsky.social SREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
Even if you don’t know the name Gerard Cosloy, you’ve heard the music he’s brought into the world. Since the 1980s he’s been associated with, or begun, some of the most influential alternative/underground music labels - e.g. Matador, 12XU, Homestead. Cosloy curated a special mix for OoD and sat with host David Mittleman for a conversation about his life in the music biz.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Saturday #vinyl find Perhaps somewhat common in Europe, I’ve never seen a copy in the wild. Overall nice & clean. Spare piano/bass jazz arrangements with Swedish folk flavor. Calming and centered.
JAZZ
svenska
stereophonic
mflp s4
Uyuklig
HeleguOr
JANJOHANSSON SVENSKA FOLKLÄTARJAZZ PA SVENSKA
JAN JOHANSSON PIANO
GEORG RIEDEL BAS
Stereophonic
megaion
MFLP S 4 A
NCB
33⅓ RPM
Sida 1
All rights reserved
Made in Sweden
VISA
(Från Utanmyra) 4'27"
GANGLEK
(Från Aivdaten) 1'57"
POLSKA
(Från Medelpad) 2'29"
VISA
(Från Rätfvik) 3'19"
BRUDMARSCH EFTER LARSHOGA JONKE
(Från Medelpad) 2'00"
VALLAT
(Från Jämtland) 1'52"
Arr. Jan Johanssonstereophonic
mflp s4
JAZZ
pa
svenska
Jan Johansson, piano
Georg Riedel, bas
Anteckningar från Jan Johanssons notblad:
Sida 1
Visa frän Utanmyra - 4'27*, inspelad 28. 2. 62. Ăr văl knappast från Utanmyra, men råkade bli upptecknad
där i den bok där jag hittade den. Text Olof von Dalin.
En av verserna: Det är den tyngsta sorg,
som jorden mânde bära, at man skall mista bort, sin aldra hjertans kara.
Det år den tyngsta sorg,
som solen övergâr, at man skall älska ten, man aldrig nånsin far.
Melodien har använts av Kurt Atterberg som mellanspel i en opera.
Gänglek frân - upptecknad i Älvdalen - 1'57", inspelad
6. 5. 64. Den för svensk folkmusik karakteristiska moll-
dur-växlingen finnes här. På inspelningen har vi försökt kombinera svensk och amerikansk folkmusik den senare sådan som Jimmy Giuffre brukar spela.
Polska från Medelpad - 2'29", inspelad 18. 10. 63. Pols-
kan var u
en dans, men en del polskor brukade man
ej dansa till utan endast lyssna till, och kanske var denna en sådan. Jag tycker ibland att man hör mera skog i låtarna från Norrland.
Visa från Rättvik
3'19", inspelad 18. 10. 63. Enligt
Torgny Erséus i tidskriften "Musik och skola" nr 1 1964 sidan 28: "... Visa från Rättvik har trots sin 3-takt
nästan koralartat högtidliga drag.
Den visar sig också
vara en variant - eller grund - till psalmen Gå varsamt, min kristen, Sv. Ps. 344..."
Brudmarsch efter Larshöga Jonke - 2'00", inspelad
18. 10. 63. Denne var en berömd spelman i Jämtland.
Dur - moll.
Vallât från Jämtland - 1'52", inspelad 28. 2. 62. Ăr en vallát från Jämtland. Georg Riedels lága D - en helton under basens normala omfång, E-strängen något slappare spänd än vanligt - skall som alla förstår skildra de milsvida skogarna.
Sida 2
Emigrantvisa - 3'27", inspelad 6. 5. 64. "Vi sålde våra hemman, vi sålde våra kor..." för att få pengar till
en enkel biljett till Amerika. Antalet verser ar mycket stort.
Visan var mycket populär och förekom i flera,
ganska olika varianter.
Berg-Kirstis polska - 3'30", inspela…
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
On the next episode Underground Impresario: Gerard Cosloy Guest DJ @gerardcosloy.bsky.social Sat, Sept 12, 7-10pm(ET) @wfmu.bsky.social SREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
Even if you don’t know the name Gerard Cosloy, you’ve heard the music he’s brought into the world. Since the 1980s he’s been associated with, or begun, some of the most influential alternative/underground music labels - e.g. Matador, 12XU, Homestead. Cosloy curated a special mix for OoD and sat with host David Mittleman for a conversation about his life in the music biz.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
ZONING Wednesday #vinyl find
ZONING
MARY LOU
WILLIAMSZONING
MARY LOU
WILLIAMSMARY LOU
ZONING
WILLIAMS
I begin to write these notes on Easter Sunday afternoon, April 14
1974, almost three months to the day after
place.
the tirst recording
session for this LP. The making of this record was piecemeal it
The great beauty of this music called Jazz, and its particular
feeling, is nowhere more apparent to me on this record than in Holy
did not emerge complete in one sitting but was spread out across many sessions, oddly spaced, in the studio. The experience of the
Ghost (written by bassist Larry Gales) and here played by Mary Lou
music came to me, therefore, in bits and pieces. It is only now, as
Williams and bassist Bob Cranshaw, a musician fine and rare. both play together, moving forward intuitively through the
Here
com
I listen to the tapes in their final form, that am able to get the whole of it to hear what an extraordinary album it is the best
position. The proper placing of bass notes, the right bass notes, played with sensitive feeling, is rarely heard these days,
and is al-
record of Mary Lou Williams' recording career the first to show the power and scope of her playing and give some idea of what one
most always from those three or four special bassists on the scene.
Mary Lou's playing in Holy Ghost is even more beautiful than usual
of her concerts or club performances is like only now am I able to understand how the totality is zoned.
because of the inspiration she drew from Cranshaw's smooth and
What is this thing called Zoning? The usage here is new -a piece
lovely feeling.
The compositions are almost all by Mary Lou Williams, including
of freshly coined slang invented by Mary Lou Williams to describe what must be done by the composer or musician in performance if
two most exciting versions of Praise the Lord and Gloria (both from
true musical art is to result. Zoning is a new word to describe the
Mary Lou's Mass) - here in instrumental versions for the first time.
creative process of at least one true composer and musician. When
They…
1192
Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A scan of the first page of CREEM's Leon Thomas Interview is publicly available. Here it is, and I used an image to text program to spit out the text, also here. Any help with the rest would be greatly appreciated!
an interview with Leon Thomas

(Leon Thomas first became known to us through Pharoah Sanders album Karma (Impulse). His near-yodel "the moaning of spirits known and unknown" as it has been called, fascinated both myself and many others. It was like the crying out of the father after the son and a million other everyday occurences immediately relatable, as real and inteme as Sander's own work.

The influence of Thomas has not gone unnoticed in either jazz or rock circles. Tim Buckley is said to be patterning his new act after Thomas vocal style. And Leon is featured on two new album his own Spirits Known and Unknown (Flying Dutchman) and Pharoah Sanders' latest, Jewels of Thought (Impulse). The Pharoah Sanders group, featuring Leon Thomas, is perhaps the first group which has made the New Music relatable for white rock audiences. (Others who might be mentioned in the same context are Miles Davis new group, Tony Williams' Lifetime and Albert Ayler's album New Grass).

Definitely a vanguard performer, Thomas discusses here some of the elements which make. up what has been variously called everything from The New Music to avante garde jazz to a jazz- tock fusion. At any rate, all it really is is a Black man discussing Black Music That's enough, Dave Marsh)

CREEM: To go back a little bit, the first time I ever remember hearing your name was from (Pharoah Sanders album) Karma Who were you wah before that?

THOMAS: Well, I recorded with Mary Lou Williams and (Count) Basie. I worked with Basic about two years

CREEM: How long ago was that?

THOMAS: That was about sixty...sixty-five, sixty-three to sixty-five. And with Randy Weston, Roland Kirk, with Roland Kirk mostly. And Tom Scott. And recorded with Mary Lou, did some concerts with her and did a live recording at Carnegie Hall. Then playing and gigging around subsequently hooking up with Pharoah

CREEM: How did that happen? Had you met Pharoah previously?

THOMAS: Yes, I'd known Pharoah since be was with Trane. And we'd …
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Anyone have a subscription to CREEM? I’m looking to get a transcript of this Leon Thomas interview. 🙏 www.creem.com/archive/arti...
AN INTERVIEW WITH LEON THOMAS
(Leon Thomas first became known to us through Pharoah Sanders' album Karma (Impulse). His near-yodel, "the moaning of spirits known and unknown" as it has been called, fascinated both myself and many others. It was like the crying out of the father after the son and a million other everyday occurences; immediately relatable, as real and intense as Sander's own work.
April 1, 1970| Dave Marsh
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
#Vinyl For Sale See second image for details.
* R. Buckminster Fuller "Tunings" (Tanam Press 1979)
$190.00
NM / EX
ARCHIVE COPY!!! VINYL IN STUNNING CONDITION!!!
Jacket only has slight ring wear, small bump to one corner, overall excellent, TOP COPY!!!
* John Berberian And The Rock East Ensemble "Middle Eastern Rock" (Verve Forecast 1969) $65.00
NM / NM - white label promo
ARCHIVE COPY!! VINYL IS BEAUTIFUL!!! STILL IN SHRINK!!* R. Buckminster Fuller "Tunings" (Tanam Press 1979)
$190.00
NM / EX
ARCHIVE COPY!!! VINYL IN STUNNING CONDITION!!!
Jacket only has slight ring wear, small bump to one corner, overall excellent, TOP COPY!!!

* John Berberian And The Rock East Ensemble "Middle Eastern Rock" (Verve Forecast 1969) $65.00
NM / NM - white label promo
ARCHIVE COPY!! VINYL IS BEAUTIFUL!!! STILL IN SHRINK!!
131
Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Pat Thomas - electronics and piano Khabat Abas - cello and self-built instruments Alya Al-Sultani - voice Manara منارة beacon /ˈbiːk(ə)n/ noun 1. a fire or light set up in a high or prominent position as a warning, signal, or celebration. discusmusic.bandcamp.com
DISCUS MUSIC 215CD
Artist: Alya Al-Sultani / Pat Thomas / Khabat Abas
Title: Manara
Release Date: 25th September 2026
Recorded: 2022

Manara is a trio that emerged from a love of poetry, a shared interest in the musical traditions of the Middle East and poetry as political resistance.

The musicians had worked together before separately – Alya and Khabat performed together in Suleimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan as part of the Space 21 Festival, and Alya and Pat have improvised together in several ensembles over the past decade.

Alya had arrived at a time where she was desperate to explore the performance of more poetry in her mother tongue – she wanted to find a vehicle for free improvisation that was not orientalised and captured the complexity of the identity of exiled individuals and those who think and feel differently to their surroundings. Having always admired and loved Pat and Khabat’s work, she believed that coming together would achieve that sound.

In the tradition of classical Middle Eastern music, the compositions start with a poem placed into the hands of a singer.

In this case, a poem by Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour for which she was punished by imprisonment for 4 years;

“Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist the colonialist’s onslaught.
Pay no mind to his agents among us
Who chain us with the peaceful illusion.”

And words by Palestinian-Jordanian writer Khadija Muhaisen Dajani,

“Qahr”.“There is no English equivalent to the Arabic word qahr قهر. The dictionary says “anger” but it’s not. It is when you take anger, place it on a low fire, add injustice, oppression, racism, dehumanization to it, and leave it to cook slowly for a century.”

The trio is honoured to have the blessing of both poets to explore their work in this album.

The trio follows the poems’ beacons in spontaneous collective composition.

The artwork (created by Al-Sultani), is handmade paper within which is embedded indigenous wild flowers and seeds. The poetry of both poets
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
On the next episode Underground Impresario: Gerard Cosloy Guest DJ @gerardcosloy.bsky.social Sat, Sept 5, 7-10pm(ET) @wfmu.bsky.social SREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
at. Sep 5th, 7pm - 10pm: Underground Impresario: Gerard Cosloy Guest DJ
Even if you don’t know the name Gerard Cosloy, you’ve heard the music he’s brought into the world. Since the 1980s he’s been associated with, or begun, some of the most influential alternative/underground music labels - e.g. Matador, 12XU, Homestead. Cosloy curated a special mix for OoD and sat with host David Mittleman for a conversation about his life in the music biz.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Upcoming @wfmu.bsky.social 9/5 Underground Impresario: Gerard Cosloy Guest DJ 9/19 Dense Full House: David Moss Interview 10/17 Leap Life: Saul Williams Interview 11/7 The Secret of the Cooler: Eugene Chadbourne Interview 11/21 Stochastic Parrot: Mike Cooper Interview ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/OV
Even if you don’t know the name Gerard Cosloy, you’ve heard the music he’s brought into the world. Since the 1980s he’s been associated with, or begun, some of the most influential alternative/underground music labels - e.g. Matador, 12XU, Homestead. Cosloy curated a special mix for OoD and sat with host David Mittleman for a conversation about his life in the music biz.

Creative improvising drummer and vocalist David Moss was a central figure in the Downtown NYC creative music community of the 1980s and early 1990s. He recorded and performed with some of the leading figures of the scene—Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Arto Lindsay and John Zorn to name a few. Moss discusses this vibrant community, and the August reissue of his Full House and Dense Band albums, in an exclusive interview.

Poet, musician, actor and activist Saul Williams has been a leading artistic visionary for over three decades. The list of his collaborators is as long as it is deep: e.g. Rick Rubin, Ryan Coogler, Trent Reznor, David Murray, Carlos Niño, Underground Resistance. In an interview with David Mittleman, Williams discusses his life and latest creations: the album Leap Life (Big Dada) and the book Songs My Mother Taught Me / Why The Artist Must Take Sides (Haymarket Books).

Eugene Chadbourne moves to the beat of his own, slightly bent, drum. Whether it’s Indie Rock (Shockabilly, Sun City Girls, Camper Van Chaboourne), Free Jazz (Anthony Braxton, Charles Tyler, Frank Lowe) or County & Western music, Chadbourne’s sui generis style of guitar, banjo and electric rake playing has captivated audiences for over fifty-years. In an exclusive interview with OoD, the good Doctor Chad talks draft avoidance, his Holocaust survivor mother and playing creative improvised music at the highest levels.

Guitarist, composer, producer and Hawaiian shirt aficionado Mike Cooper has led a musical life like no other. He’s moved effortlessly between folk, rock, free jazz, experimental music, field recordings and ev
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
"Painting In Sound positions the listener inside a fully three-dimensional sound field. Greenfield treats space as an equal compositional voice...Greenfield composes not only with notes but with spatial placement and movement through the immersive field" sunnysiderecords.bandcamp.com/album/painti...
Hayes Greenfield’s third Sunnyside release, Painting In Sound, expands the horizon and perception of what jazz–and binaural, spatially immersive music–can be. An acclaimed jazz musician, composer, and electroacoustic artist, Greenfield draws from decades of traditional and improvisational mastery to create a sonically exploratory recording that is as architecturally precise as it is emotionally resonant.

Captured with Max/MSP and SPAT spatial and binaural software, Painting In Sound positions the listener inside a fully three-dimensional sound field. Greenfield treats space as an equal compositional voice: shaping air, distance, proximity, and motion with the same sensitivity he brings to melody, harmony, and rhythm.

Greenfield composes not only with notes but with spatial placement and movement through the immersive field. Lines arc and spiral; instruments and textures shimmer, recede, orbit, and hover; and tones appear, approach, and dissolve. Greenfield’s sound palette is wide with acoustically driven sources, like alto and soprano sax, flutes, bass and alto clarinets, kalimba, harmonica, and voice, finding new tones and textures through effect pedals and loopers.

Subtle resonances, overtones, and timbral shifts reveal new layers with each listen, creating an immersive sonic environment in which movement, depth, and perception become essential elements of the music.

Rooted in jazz’s spontaneity yet reaching beyond traditional form, Hayes Greenfield’s Painting In Sound blurs the line between performance and environment. Every tactile gesture feels alive, offering an intimacy that redefines the recorded experience. It is an expansive statement from an artist pushing jazz into bold and new perceptual dimensions. 
credits
released May 15, 2026

Hayes Greenfield - alto & soprano saxophones, C & alto flutes, bass & alto clarinets, kalimba, harmonica, voice, effect pedals, and loopers
license
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Weird! Here's a press photo of the two together.
Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana - Beneath Lifted Skies
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Some Notes
AKA PYGMIES
(Central African Republic)
The Aka are one of the three groups of Pygmies found in the Central African Empire today. They live in the southwest of the country, in the Lobaye region, a zone of particularly dense forest interspersed by marshy expanses. They are monogamous and settle in small family encampments that comprise parents,
children, sons- and
daughters-in-law and offspring, groups of thirty to forty persons organized in democratic communities. There is no formal position of chief, this authority devolving de facto on the eldest, the founder of the encampment, the pater familias.
Only a short while ago, these Pygmies were totally nomadic, living in the great equatorial forest and emerging only now and then to barter with the Africans of the surrounding villages : exchanging game for salt — an extremely precious commodity - and metal, in the form of assagais, knives and blades. The forest supplied all their other needs: clothes of bark from felled trees, nourishment from hunting, fishing and gathering (fruits, roots, berries, honey and caterpillars), dwellings of small huts made of branches and covered with large leaves.
Today, the Pygmies stay in the great forest only during the rainy season, which is about half the year. There, several famiy encampments group together to organize communal hunts. Intermarriage between encampments takes place on the occasion of these gathe-rings. During the dry season, the Aka installthemselves in small encampments on the edge of the forest, close to African villages with which they exist in a client relationship, exchanging their services for modest material goods. But as soon as the rainy season returns, the whole encampment returns into the great forest, men, women and children, bag and baggage.
The social activity of a Pygmy encampment has no apparent hierarchy.
Each person
seems to enjoy total liberty; however, life is rigorously organized according to implicit plans,
imperceptible to the uninitiated
observer. As we shall see, Pygmy music, in the image of all their social activities,
pre-
sents very similar characteristics, that is to say, relative autonomy of each participant within implied but strict structures.
The recordings of this anthology, the first to be devoted to a single African people offer, in addition the distinctiveness of having been made in a single encampment, that of the old hunter Mbonzo, a group barely larger than forty persons. Because of this, these discs bear witness not only to the extraordinary variety of the musical patrimony common to all the Aka, but, also - and this is particularly notable - to the perfect knowledge of this patrimony by each of the members of such a small community.
Among the Pygmies (just as in other African societies).
music is closely associated with
the social and religious life of the group. It plays a central role in all its manifestations: there is no day without music. In spite of certain points in common with other traditional music of this region, that of the Pygmies sets itself radically apart through the practice of a highly elaborated vocal polyphony.
The ways of performing this music do not, at first, present any sign of hierarchy. One individual assumes the functions of leader of both singing and dancing, the two being closely associated. But he is not required to be the most skillful dancer nor to have the most beautiful voice. His role is to begin the singing and keep it going…song and the preceding one is abandoned forthwith (disc I, side B-2). Or, one song gives way to a series of rhythmic cries
- OT
a constant percussion base - before another song bursts forth (disc II, side B-1). Or still more simply, when fatigue sets in, the music ceases progressively. Just as the polyphonic edifice is built up gradually from the beginning of a song, so.is it disassembled once it has been completed.
There also is no observable hierarchy in the distribution of parts within a piece; thus, anyone can at any moment move to the musical foreground, then retire into the group.
On hearing the singing of a Pygmy chorus, that is to say all the members of an encamp-ment, one retains the extraordinary
impression
of an
intertwining of voices and
vocal timbres in which the technique of yodeling, the alternation of chest and head voice, predominates. One notices no dynamic nuance, neither crescendo nor dimi-nuendo, at least intentional. One also finds neither rallentando, nor accelerando, rubato: once the tempo is given, it never
As for form, one may define the Pygmy polyphonies as ostinatos with variations, cyclic music founded on a principle close to that of our passacaglia - unwritten, natu-rally, because music, like the other elements of this culture, is transmitted only by oral tradition. Thus, each piece of music is based on the repetition of periods of constant duration, indefinitely repeated, but outfitted with multiple variations. It is precisely this characteristic that, for the Pygmies, distinguishes the musical from the nonmusi-cal: for there to be music there must be periodicity. This is why the chanting of hunters (disc I, side A-5) derives for them from the techniques of hunting and not from those of music.
These songs,
with their dense textures,
derive indeed from a "polyphony of conso-nances": within the musical period there are points of intersection, principally at the fifth and at the octave, making numerous transient dissonances possible every…that is his own cultural apprenticeship - cach member of the community knows per-fectly, at any point in the period of each song, and in relation to such a point, which variations he can execute,
As great as the
improvisation may seem, it is thus restricted to within this framework that is simultaneously metric,
rhythmic and melodic.
Metric, because it is limited by a certain number of beats,
the period; rhythmic,
because it is
dependent on
defined
formulas; melodic, because it is determined by a scale.
In addition, within a period, each of the constituent segments must maintain an
extremely precise vertical relationship with the very strict rhythmic substructure that supports the musical edifice.
This technique is the fruit of long apprenti-ceship. As soon as they are able to walk, the children take part in the life of the community and thus in one of its principal manifes-tations, music. Musical performances are organized in two choruses: the men with the boys, the women with the girls. And, just as every child learns to speak by hearing speech, so does the Pygmy child learn to sing by hearing singing,
the boy with his
father, the girl with her mother. Thus, the children progressively acquire the repertory of formulas that later, in their turn, they will use and pass on. This is the sole means, purely organic, of learning polyphony.
Therefore, there is no reason to be astonished at the variety of improvisations executed in the course of a sung polyphony. All the members of the population can draw on a stock of formulas, kinds of melodic modules suitable for each piece and usable at this or that precise moment of the basic period.
Just as the speaker of a language can at any moment in the phrase he is uttering choose among several terms of similar meaning, so can each Aka choose intuitively, at the appropriate moment, from the melodic for-mulas, the one he prefers to use at that stage of the singing. Also, in their "horror of uni-son," these amazing musicians are o…
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
One of the all time great #vinyl boxsets “Centrafrique Anthologie De La Musique Des Pygmées Aka” OCORA 3-LP 1980 repress, originally released 1978, recorded 1972-77
Anthologie
de la Musique des Pygmées Aka
Centrafrique
Musiques traditionnelles vivantes
I. Musiques de tradition orale
ocoraVinyl x3Booklet detail, b&w photo of two drummersBack

MU
528]x 3
558 526/27/28
Anthologie de la Musique des Pygmées Aka
(Centrafrique)
Disque 1
Face A
1 à 4. Rituel précédant le départ à la chasse (Zoboko)
S. Appels de chasse (Mongombi)
6. Chants pour le retour de la chasse (Nzombi)
Face B
1. Danse après avoir tué un éléphant (Monzoli)
2. Rituel précédant la collecte du miel (Mobandi)
Disque 2
Face A
1. Berceuse (Mo boma)
2. Chant pour l'enfant dont la mère est enceinte (Ndosi)
3 a 5. Trois jeux d'enfants chantés
6 et 7. Musique pour la
danse Mbenzele
Face B
1. Musique pour la consécration d'un nouveau campement (Mokondi)
2. Musique pour la
danse Ngbolu
3 et 4. Musique pour la danse lombe
Disque 3
Face A
Tet 2. Deux chantefables:
"L'Oiseaux (Nyodi) et
"Taille-fine" (Nanga-ningi)
3. Chant de déploration sur le cadavre (Boyiwa)
4 et 5. Musique de divination
(Bondo) : Dikobo, Diye Face B
TaS. Musique de divination (Bondo):
1. Apolo
2. Koko ya ndongo
3. Yaya
4. Mbola
S. Mbola
Enregistrements stéréophoniques, notice et photos : Simha AROM
Documents recucillis de 1972 a 1977. au cours de missions effectuées dans le cadre du Laboratoire des Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale du
Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, Paris.
Traduction David Stevens
Gravure : François Terrazzoni
Pressage : M.P.O.
Secrétariat d'édition : Alliramy Brochand
Collection dirigée par : Pierre Toureille
® 1960. Rodition en coffret - comportant une nouvelle gravure des enregistrements.
Cette "Anthologie de la Musique des Pygmées Aka - Centrafrique" a obtenu la plus haute distinction jamais accordée à une publication de cet ordre (Grand Prix International du Disque / Académie
Charles Cros/Prix du Président de la République 1978.
DISTRIBUTION EXCLUSIVE
MUSIDISC-EUROPE
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
New episode archived @wfmu.bsky.social STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
see link in post for full track list, 4x4 grid of 16 album covers
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Bo Diddley, New Mexico 1971 🎸
"August 1971 - Bo Diddley played the University of New Mexico in Alburquerque. A couple of months prior, he had been in ABQ for a smaller, impromptu show at the city's famous "Roach Ranch West" head shop, along with Cookie, Manuel Barje on bass and Mike Fleming on drums. In remembrance of Manuel, who supplied me with these pics and who sadly passed earlier this year"photo 2photo 3
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
On the next episode Lotsa Norma Winstone + New Music, New Reissues & Rare Vintage #Vinyl Sat, Aug 29, 7-10pm(ET) @wfmu.bsky.social STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
Norma Winstone  / Gilles Peterson presents Norma Winstone Norma Winstone Live at Maida Vale

The Mike Westbrook Concert Band / Love Songs

Ian Carr With Nucleus / Labyrinth

Norma Winstone / Edge Of Time
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Just got off a Zoom call with one of my favorite guitar players/composers/producers; the one and only MIKE COOPER! We discussed folk, humor, jazz, Polynesia, Hawaiian shirts & his recent albums for @room40.bsky.social Stay tuned for a 3hr special @wfmu.bsky.social DETAILS ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/OV
Mike Cooper, screenshot from the zoom call, he's in Valencia, Spain, wearing one of his signature floral Hawaiian shirts and a straw hat, blue sky behind him
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Pathe Phonograph Record Flange Sigh 🐓
Double sided tin litho flange sign for Pathe Phonographs and Records in poor condition with paint loss and rust to both sides. Measures 18.5″ wide, 13″ tall. From the Allen Koenigsberg collection.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Double Sided Porcelain Victor Records Sign
Beautiful double sided porcelain hanging outdoor sign for Victor Records. In overall VG condition with a few small porcelain chips mainly near the upper mounting holes. Measures 20″ in diameter. From the Allen Koenigsberg collection.
081
Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Columbia Grafonola Advertising Sign Trumbauersville, PA
Single sided tin litho dealer sign advertising Columbia Grafonolas and Records for Chas. H. Reinhart Trumbauersville, PA. In overall VG original condition with slight paint loss and a few minor scratches. Has mounting holes top and bottom. Measures 21″ wide, 14.5″ tall. From the Allen Koenigsberg collection.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Columbia Grafonola Tin Advertising Sign Modern Phonograph
Tin litho advertising sign for Columbia Grafonola dealer Chas. W. Norton of Farmington, Maine. In overall VG original condition with a few light scratches. Has mounting holes along the top and bottom. Measures 24″ wide, 17.5″ tall. From the Allen Koenigsberg collection.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Edison Phonograph Tin Advertising Sign FULL STOCK OF RECORDS
Single-sided, embossed tin litho sign advertising The New Edison Phonograph for dealer Fred Osborne of Camden. In overall VG condition with a few scratches. Mounting holes on top and bottom. Measures 23.5″ wide,12″ tall. From the Allen Koenigsberg collection.
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Observations of Deviance @obsofdeviance.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Eartha Kitt
"the unforgettable"
EARTHA KITT
LaS
Vegas
EL RANCHO VEGAS

Eartha Kitt • original Circa 1960’s 5x9” inch flyer card
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