In 1963 lawyer Bernard Stollman started a record label to issue an LP of songs and poems in Esperanto. He thus named his label ESP-Disk'. Later that year he began talking to saxophonist Albert Ayler about issuing an album that ended up being the epochal Spiritual Unity, and the label's true destiny became issuing avant-garde jazz and underground/outsider music. Not for nothing was ESP's slogan "You never heard such sounds in your life." Soon, ESP-Disk' had launched the careers of not just Ayler but also Pharoah Sanders, Burton Greene, Tom Rapp's Pearls Before Swine, Patty Waters, and more. Over the fifty years since its first LP, ESP-Disk' has had its ups and downs, but experienced a revival over the past decade. By the end of November, ESP-Disk' will have released 18 albums on CD and/or vinyl this year, along with a multitude of digital releases....
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In 1963 lawyer Bernard Stollman started a record label to issue an LP of songs and poems in Esperanto. He thus named his label ESP-Disk'. Later that year he began talking to saxophonist Albert Ayler about issuing an album that ended up being the epochal Spiritual Unity, and the label's true destiny became issuing avant-garde jazz and underground/outsider music. Not for nothing was ESP's slogan "You never heard such sounds in your life." Soon, ESP-Disk' had launched the careers of not just Ayler but also Pharoah Sanders, Burton Greene, Tom Rapp's Pearls Before Swine, Patty Waters, and more. Over the fifty years since its first LP, ESP-Disk' has had its ups and downs, but experienced a revival over the past decade. By the end of November, ESP-Disk' will have released 18 albums on CD and/or vinyl this year, along with a multitude of digital releases.
To celebrate the label's 50th anniversary, ESP-Disk' has planned a concert for Sunday November 17 (3-9 PM) at JACK, a rising venue in Brooklyn. Tickets are just $10! Featured performers will represent the past and present of ESP-Disk': multi-instrumentalists Kali Fasteau (Sea Ensemble), Giuseppi Logan, and Alan Sondheim hail from the label's 1965-75 heyday, while saxophonist Elliott Levin (New Ghost) and trio Tiger Hatchery (ESP-Disk's latest signing) show that the scene and the label continue to produce exciting artists. Additionally, former Sun Ra Arkestra member Michael D. Anderson will perform, and the ESP-Disk' 50th Anniversary Concert will benefit the Sun Ra Music Archives. The latter part of the concert will be a jam session featuring a variety of guests.
3:00 PM doors open
3:30 PM Tiger Hatchery, ESP’s newest signing
4:15 PM Alan Sondheim reunion with Rafi Zabor
5:00 PM Giuseppi Logan Quartet
5:30 PM Michael D. Anderson (ex-Sun Ra Arkestra)
6:10 PM Elliott Levin (New Ghost)
7:00 PM Kali. Z. Fasteau (ex-Sea Ensemble)
7:45 PM jam session
JACK (www.jackny.org) is a new arts center in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn led by Artistic Director Alec Duffy (Three Pianos, Shadows). Its mission is to serve as a cultural hub in Clinton Hill, presenting cutting-edge theater, music, and dance performances, expanding access to the arts, bridging audiences, and educating youth. JACK was co-founded in 2012 by Duffy, Mimi Lien, Steve Leffue, Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., Nikaury Rodriguez, Prentice Onayemi, Ike Ufomadu, Amy Laird Webb, Jennifer Kidwell and Andreea Mincic. OBIE Award-winning theater company Hoi Polloi is the resident company of JACK. Steven Leffue, JACK's curator of music, put together the week-long music festival of which the ESP-Disk 50th Anniversary Concert is the closing event.
JACK is located at 505-1/2 Waverly Ave, Brooklyn NY 11238 between Fulton St. and Atlantic Ave. in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. It is easily accessible by taking the C train to the Clinton-Washington stop, one block away from JACK, or the G train to Clinton-Washington, a few blocks away. There is also free street parking available on Waverly Ave.
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