White Wuff by Dennis Palmer

 

Public Eyesore has been releasing improvised and experimental music for over two decades and it never ceases to amaze me how interesting line ups Bryan who leads the label is coming up with.

 White Wuff is by any means no exception. When I read the liner notes I knew it is going to be a great musical adventure.

Beautifully designed and released as a cd with 12 tracks that comprise different moods, travelling through genres.

It's a pretty eclectic hybrid of various bits put into one mammoth of an album. Free jazz rock and no wave would be probably the best description of it but it wouldn't give the justice since every single track is a rabbit in your headlights or rather a massive deer.

The improvisations are on the verge of something dadaistic - frenetic and having this wild animal quality - one minute it's quiet and sombre, another minute is jumping at you with the claws and sharp teeth showing all the kaleidoscope of different hues and shades. 

It is a journey between atonality and wonderful and feisty tunes that are both cheerful and humoresque at the same time - especially when Jessica Lure comes in - she is an absolute star on this album - she is on a few instruments here.

Rock energy, dadaistic and absurd trajectories of experiments, jazzy improvisations, ethnic drumming, vocal hysteria and usage of different objects that add up a special sound to the whole album. Just a wonderful, colourful gem of collaborative work - musicians that you might have heard in different line-ups.  

Note from the Public Eyesore.

Dennis Palmer w/ Jessica Lurie, Frank Pahl, Col. Bruce Hampton, & Bob Stagner

White Wuff was in the works and slated for release on Public Eyesore in 2013 when Shaking Ray Levis founder Dennis Palmer passed away unexpectedly that February. With final recording, editing and mixing for the album incomplete, the project was put on hold. Dennis was a friend to the label, having drawn the PE logo and was a frequent collaborator of a number of artists on the label. During the decade that follwed, Shaking Ray drummer Bob Stagner and recording engineer Steve Hickman slowly finished mixing and arranging the original sessions into a solid album and we are super honoured to help bring it to life on Public Eyesore.

Chattanooga, TN native Dennis Palmer, was a singular vocalist and non-traditional musician, called "the world's most colourfully inventive synthesizer player" by Creative Loafing, he co-founded the acclaimed free improvisation group The Shaking Ray Levis with drummer Bob Stagner in 1986, which was the first American band to record an album for the legendary British label Incus Records. Palmer has performed internationally with collaborators including Derek Bailey,

Steve Beresford, Reverend Howard Finster, David Greenberger, Col. Bruce Hampton, Shelley Hirsch, Frank Pahl, Roger Turner, and Davey Williams.

Jessica Lurie is an American composer, performance artist and woodwind player, originally hailing from Seattle and now living in Brooklyn, New York.Lurie first gained notice as a member of The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, an all-female horn ensemble who released its first album in 1993. In 1995, she also had a first release with the group Living Daylights, which performs jazz-jamband music.

Frank Pahl is a Michigan-based musician/composer, working in several styles including "toy pop", or music made with toys. He works primarily in Wyandotte and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and has exhibited his work in Canada, Europe and Japan, as well as the United States.

Col Bruce Hampton (April 30, 1947 – May 1, 2017) was a key figure in the Atlanta, Georgia music scene, mentoring numerous other musicians who became national stars. His own musical style was avant-garde, combining elements of jazz, fusion, southern rock and jam band styles. He first rose to prominence as the leader of the Hampton Grease Band.

Bob Stagner is an American drummer and percussionist who has worked with a wide range of artists in every discipline, from Blueground Undergrass to Derek Bailey and Howard Finster. Stagner and Dennis Palmer co-founded the free improvisation duo the Shaking Ray Levis and the Shaking Ray Levi Society, an arts education organization that supports emerging artists in performance, art and film. Stagner also works with The Rhythmic Arts Project, founded by drummer Eddie Tuduri.

Dennis Palmer - synthesizers, vocals

Jessica Lurie - vocals, percussion, alto and tenor sax, flute, sweet potato

Frank Pahl - whistles, banjo

Col. Bruce Hampton - vocals, incantation

Bob Stagner - voice, drums, percussion, guitar, mandolin, gongs

Arranged by Steve Hickman and Bob Stagner

Mixed, mastered and engineered by Steve Hickman

Original recordings by Phil Prouty

Public Eyesore

Bandcamp