Mary Lattimore at Acme Records and Music Emporium in Milwaukee on December 8, 2021

I was going to follow up my recent recording of Jeremiah Chiu at Acme Records back in October with Mary Lattimore's headlining show, but wanted to first share an earlier recording of her -- one from an incredible concert at Acme back in December 2021.

Harpist Mary Lattimore is a perennial favorite of the crowds at Acme Records for an excellent reason -- her compositions are exquisitely beautiful. One thing I enjoy about watching her perform live is seeing her process the sounds. She will use a combination of effects and a looping pedal, manipulating the box with her left hand as she plucks with her right. I would have liked to be able to get some short video clips of the performance, but the stage was extremely dark at this show.

Buy her most recent album here.

Recording information:

MARY LATTIMORE
2021-12-08 

Milwaukee, WI
Acme Records and Music Emporium

Mary Lattimore: harp, effects

Setlist:
01 For Scott Kelley, Returned to Earth (9:13)
02 On the Day You Saw a Dead Whale (7:53)
03 Don’t Look (6:06)
04 Wawa By the Ocean (10:31)
05 Silver Ladders (4:50)
06 Otis Walks Into the Woods (7:22)

Total time = 45:55

Source: 1) mono soundboard 2) Beyerdynamic MC930 stereo pair in NOS at stage lip
Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre 6 at 24/48
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (211 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files 105 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

Jeremiah Chiu at Acme Records and Music Emporium on October 26, 2023

 Jeremiah Chiu is an electronic composer currently living in Los Angeles. He recently appeared at Acme records as opening support for Mary Lattimore. For this concert he performed with several synthesizers and also the slightly battered spinet piano which lives on stage at the record store.

This show took place less than a month after the release after the release of "In Electric Time," his most recent album on the wonderful Chicago-based label International Anthem recorded at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Los Angeles.

I was absolutely captivated by Jeremiah's improvised performance and I am so grateful that he allowed me to share it here. 

Buy his most recent album here.

Recording information:

JEREMIAH CHIU
2023-10-26
Milwaukee, WI at Acme Records

Jeremiah Chiu: synthesizers, piano

Tracklist:
01 Untitled improvisation (37:09)

Total time = 37:09

Source: mono soundboard and pair of Line Audio CM3 mics in NOS at stage lip
Recorder:: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

Recorded with artist permission by Richard Hayes

downloads:

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (181 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files (90 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

David Lord at the Jazz Gallery in Milwaukee on March 17, 2024

David Lord came to Milwaukee a few weeks ago to perform at the Jazz Gallery as opening support for the group Hanami.

He has recorded three excellent albums of jazz guitar at cult recording studio Big Ego, both solo and with such players as Jeff Parker, Chris Schlarb, and Chad Taylor. He composes intricate, thoughtful, and concentrated pieces which repay repeated listening quite well.

All the pieces he played in this 37-minute set were named after various kinds of mushrooms.

Purchase his most recent album here.

Recording information:

DAVID LORD
2024-03-17
Milwaukee, WI at the Jazz Gallery

David Lord: guitar

Setlist:
01 Cloud Rust / Clouded Yellow / Swallowtail / Spot Puffin
02 Old Man of the Woods
03 Pale Orange Chantelle
04 Wolf's Milk Slime Mold
05 Tapering Russula
06 Fiery Agaric
07 Brush Footed Butterfly
08 Elemental Orb
09 Mossy Maze Polypore
10 Club Foot
11 Two Tone Brain Fungus / Mushroom Weeds
12 The Forest Butterfly
13 The Darkening Armillaria
14 Luminous Chanterelle
15 Giant Puffball

Total time = 37:14

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 pair in NOS in front row + Shure SM58 on floor in front of guitar amp
Recorder: Sound Device MixPre6ii at 32/96
Software: Audacity, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (120 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files (87 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

William Tyler at Cactus Club in Milwaukee on January 24, 2024

William Tyler arrived at the Cactus Club with his band The Impossible Truth ready to shake the walls with full band versions of his catalog. He was in support of his recent live album 'Secret Stratosphere' which was released last year featuring the same band.

Along with a representative sampling of Tyler's past work, the band performed an excellent and creative version of Kraftwerk's "Radioactivity."

Purchase his most recent album here.

Recording information:

WILLIAM TYLER
2024-01-24
Milwaukee at the Cactus Club

William Tyler: guitar
Luke Schneider: pedal steel guitar
Jack Lawrence: bass
Brian Kotzur: drums

Setlist:
01 We Can’t Go Home Again (8:32)
02 Gone Clear (6:50)
03 I’m Going To Live Forever If It Kills Me (5:02)
04 Highway Anxiety (6:36)
05 Radioactivity [Kraftwerk] (8:39)
06 Whole New Dude (14:18)
07 Area 601 (13:35)

Total time = 62:31

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in NOS
Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (363 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files (208 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

BCMC (Bill MacKay and Cooper Crain) at the Trumpet Blossom Cafe in Iowa City on October 19, 2023

The prospect of the pairing of Bill Mackay and brilliant keyboardist Cooper Crain (Bitchin' Bajas and Cave) had a lot of expectations to live up to -- and their debut album last year fulfilled them all. It was one of my albums of the year for 2023 and I strongly recommend purchasing it if you haven't already.

  

Combining virtuosity with a Krautrock-inspired ambient mood, their music is simultaneously hypnotic, relaxing, and invigorating.

  

  

I was happy to drive to Iowa City to catch them on their Midwest tour at the Trumpet Blossom, a cool vegan cafe in a very pleasant Big Ten college town. The acoustics were perfect and I was able to blend a high quality soundboard feed with a pair of Beyerdynamic cardioid mics to create a an appropriately spacey soundscape.

Buy their album here.

Recording details:

BCMC
2023-10-19
Iowa City, IA at the Trumpet Blossom Cafe

Bill MacKay: guitars
Cooper Crain: synthesizers

Tracklist:
01 Foreign Smokes (8:01)
02 The Swarm (9:05)
03 Ripple at High Tide (8:27)
04 Sunset Saturn (4:59)
05 Unknown (8:18)
06 Unknown (9:12)

Total time = 48:02

Sources: mono SBD + Beyerdynamic MC930 in NOS
Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (209 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files (110 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

Hanami at the Jazz Gallery in Milwaukee on March 17, 2024

Milwaukee was fortunate in having guitarist Andrew Trim move here from Chicago a few years ago. Whether subbing for Russ Johnson in the Dave Bayles Trio at the raucous Uptowner bar, or laying down fiery John McLaughlin-inspired jazz rock chaos in Retroreflector at the legendary rock club Cactus Club, he has been a real highlight for the Milwaukee jazz scene recently.

The band Hanami came to the Jazz Gallery in Milwaukee for an hour of warm jazz on a cool and dark night not much suited to a cherry blossom viewing party. Inside the venue, however, there was plenty of sunlight and color.

   

I think the promotional material for their latest album describes their background quite well:

"When guitarist Andrew Trim and multi-reedist Mai Sugimoto came together in 2011 to raise funds for the victims of Japan’s Tohoku tsunami, it was intended to be a one-off concert. But the concert turned into band “Hanami,” (named for the Japanese custom of experiencing the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms), and the band recorded a debut album (modern jazz takes on traditional Japanese songs), and the wheels were set in motion for something much larger than the initial concept. While Trim and Sugimoto, both of whom lived in Japan as children, were reluctant to record many more Japanese songs for fear of being branded a cover band, dreams of that country still swim through this latest album, which is all originals except for a cover of the 1901 song “Kojo no Tsuki,” or “The Moon over the Ruined Castle."

   

  

Buy their latest album here.

Recording information:

HANAMI

2024-03-17

Milwaukee, WI at the Jazz Gallery

Andrew Trim: guitar

Mai Sugimoto: alto sax

Jason Stein: bass clarinet

Charles Rumback: drums

Setlist:

01 Hanaikada (7:38)

02 Haru no Umi (15:13)

03 Shira Ito No Taki (9:27)

04 Miyagete Goran Yoru No Hoshi Wo (8:03)

05 The Only Way to Float Free (7:27)

06 Cloud’s Theme (Final Fantasy VII) (9:29)

07 Donmai! (12:13)

Total time = 69:30

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in NOS in front row

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

Recorded with explicit artist permission by Richard Hayes

downloads:

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (367 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files (117 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible 

Kikagaku Moyo at the Majestic Theater in Madison, WI on May 23, 2022

Kikagaku Moyo were a Japanese psychedelic band which was active between 2012-2022. They were known for a high degree of technical prowess using sometimes unusual instruments (such as sitar and recorder). 

For a band that started out performing in record stores in its initial US tour (including an acoustic set at Acme Records in 2016), it almost felt surreal that they were selling out large theaters and generating a buzz among music fans by the time of their farewell tour in 2022.

At this concert in Madison's Majestic Theater, the band performed for an enthusiastic crowd for almost two hours. It's sad to contemplate an end to the band's musical output, but I have to admire their determination to end the band at its peak of popularity.

Purchase their last album here.

Recording information:

  

KIKAGAKU MOYO

2022-05-23

Madison, WI at the Majestic Theater

Go Kurosawa: vocals, percussion, guitar, flute

Tomo Katsurad: vocals, guitar, percussion

Kotsu Guy: bass

Daoud Popal: guitar

Ryu Kurosawa: sitar, keyboards

Setlist:

01 Green Sugar (22:27)

02 Dancing Blue (8:21)

03 Zo no Senaka (6:50)

04 Smoke and Mirrors (9:50)

05 Entrance (3:39)

06 Dripping Sun (8:31)

07 Orange Peel (6:45)

08 Yayoi, lyayoi (7:52)

09 Kodama (5:20)

10 Streets of Calcutta - Gatherings (17:30)

11 Monaka (9:37)

Total time = 106:43

Sources: mono SBD + Beyerdynamic MC930 pair in NOS

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

Tremendous thanks to Eric Lemke who provided super high quality FOH sound and access to the mixer feed

Recorded by Richard Hayes with explicit artist permission.

downloads:

 

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (546 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that

320 kbps mp3 files (316 MB)

highest quality possible lossy mp3 files