Live @ Blackbird Tattoo 2016-08-27 (Video)

Thanks to Kevin Reilly from Relative Pitch Records for providing this video -- enjoy!

Playlist Week of 2016-08-27

* Gong: Gong est Mort, Vive Gong (Kaleidoscope 2LP)

* Camel: Mirage (Deram LP)

* Camel: Stationary Traveler (Decca LP)

* Locrian: Infinite Dissolution (Relapse LP)

* Alice Coltrane: Journey In Satchidananda (Impulse! CD)

* Alice Coltrane With Strings: World Galaxy (Impulse! LP)

* Don Cherry & The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra: Relativity Suite (JCOA LP)

* Saor: Aura (Northern Silence 2LP)

* Saor: Roots (Northern Silence 2LP)

* Jimmy Lyons Quintet: Wee Sneezawee (Black Saint LP)

* Jimmy Lyons Quintet: Give It Up (Black Saint LP)

* Jukka Tolonen: A Passenger To Paramibo (Sonet LP)

* OM: Variations on a Theme (Holy Mountain LP)

* Klaus Schulze: Mirage (Island LP)

* Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band: Solar Live 11.15.13 (Electric Ragtime LP)

* Deuter: Cicada (Kuckuck LP)

* Kip Hanrahan: Conjure: Cab Calloway Stands In For The Moon (American Clave LP)

* Sonny Sharrock: Black Woman (Vortex LP)

* Norman Connors: Dark of Light (Buddha/RCA LP)

* Norman Connors: Dance of Magic (Buddha LP)

* Ryley Walker: Golden Sings That Have Been Sung (Dead Oceans 2LP)

* Brother Ahh: Sound Awareness (Strata East/Manufactured LP)

* Brother Ahh & Sound Awareness: Move Ever Onward (Divine/Manufactured LP)

* Brother Ahh & Sound Awareness: Key To Nowhere (Divine/Manufactured LP)

* Murray McNabb Group: Every Day Is A Beautiful Day (Sarang Bang CD)

* Gianmarco Liguori: Ancient Flight Text (Sarang Bang CD)

* Les Cooper: Moving To The Light (Planetary Heart CD)

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Commentary:

The gig went well! The theme of the evening was: solo instruments plugged into effects pedals and I think I held my own up there.

Sadly, I neglected to get a recording -- however, a video apparently exists, which I will share with you if/when I get ahold of it.

Thanks again to Jessica Pavone, Ava Medoza, and the folks at FMRL for a wonderful evening!

[iPhone photo by Liz]

Jessica Pavone/Ava Mendoza/Rodger Coleman @ Blackbird Tattoo on August 27

I'm honored to be opening for Jessica Pavone and Ava Mendoza (who will playing solo and as a duo) this coming Saturday, August 27 at Blackbird Tattoo & Gallery in here in Nashville. I will be doing a solo electric guitar set similar to my last performance at Portland Brew in January, which went pretty well. It's certainly a bit intimidating to share the stage with such incredible musicians.

Thanks again to the fine folks at FMRL for bringing the music to Music City!

Doors open at 8:30, music starts at 9:00. Hope to see you there.

Playlist Week of 2016-01-23

* Boulez: Répons, etc. (Enemble InterContemporain/Boulez) (DG CD)

* Sonny Clark Trio: The 45 Sessions (Blue Note CD)

* John Abercrombie: Timeless (ECM LP)

* John Abercrombie/Dave Holland/Jack DeJohnette: Gateway (ECM LP)

* Terje Rypdal/Miroslav Vitous/Jack DeJohnette (ECM LP)

* Mary Halvorson Octet: I-Beam, Brooklyn, NY 2015-12-14 (AUD WAV)

* Kris Davis: Massive Threads (Thirsty Ear CD)

* Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Perihelion (master) (WAV)

* Rodger Coleman: Portland Brew 12 South, Nashville, TN 2016-01-20 (AUD WAV)

* Tangerine Dream: Alpha Centauri/Atem (Brain 2LP)

* Tangerine Dream: Tangents 1973-1983 (d.4-5) (Virgin 5CD)

* Klaus Schulze: Live (Brain 2LP)

* Soft Machine: Triple Echo (Harvest 3LP)

* Steve Roach: Structures from Silence (Fortuna CD)

* Steve Roach & Robert Rich: Soma (Hearts of Space CD)

* Robert Rich: Seven Veils (Hearts of Space CD)

* David Sylvian: Gone To Earth (Virgin 2LP)

* Porcupine Tree: Stars Die: The Delirium Years 1991-1997 (KScope 2CD)

* Earth: The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Head (Southern Lord 2LP)

* Sunn O))) & Ulver: Terrestrials (Southern Lord LP)

* Ryley Walker: All Kinds of You (Tompkins Square LP)

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Commentary:

Although the day started out snowy and awful, the weather cleared up enough to make it downtown for the gig on Wednesday night. I was more than a little anxious about whether or not I could pull off a solo guitar set -- but it went even better than I could have possibly expected.

Aside from a minor technical glitch which forced me to re-start the second piece, things went smoothly and  I found myself "in the zone" (or "that other, better world") and was amazed at the end to discover that I had easily filled up my allotted time. And, by the time my set was over, the place was pretty well packed with attentive and appreciative listeners, with some folks even coming up to me to compliment my performance. One dude told me, "Man, that's the most creative music I've ever heard played on a Paul Reed Smith guitar!" Haha. I will take that as a compliment here in Guitar Town!

It was delightful to see Susan Alcorn again and her set was, of course, utterly sublime, including an impromptu tribute to the late Paul Bley.  I was truly honored to be sharing the stage with such an amazing musician and her kind, effusive words regarding my music were sincere and deeply inspiring. I do not pretend to be at her level -- but I am encouraged to just keep doing my thing.

Then, to top it all off, Carissa Stolting posted photographs and wrote a fantastically poetical review at the Left Bank blog which, honestly, took my breath away. It is so unbelievably gratifying to know that my music had an effect on someone. Go read the whole thing; it's wonderful! But this line made me laugh out loud: "Coleman for sonic president: let no sound go unemployed!" Right on.

Thanks again to FMRL and Portland Brew 12 South for making this (and so many other wonderful events) happen.

You can hear an audience recording of my set on SoundCloud. Please let me know what you think!

Playlist Week of 2016-01-16 (+ A Gig!)

* Geminiani: Cello Sonatas, Op.5 (ter Linden/Mortensen) (Brilliant Classics CD)

* Miles Davis: The Bootleg Series Vol.4: At Newport 1955-1975 (d.4) (Sony/Legacy 4CD)

* Ornette Coleman: Chappaqua Suite (CBS 2LP)

* Eric Dolphy: This Is Eric Dolphy (Fuel 2000 2CD)

* Wayne Shorter Quartet: Without A Net (Blue Note CD)

* Bobby Hutcherson: Cirrus (Blue Note LP)

* Bobby Hutcherson: Natural Illusions (Blue Note LP)

* Bobby Hutcherson: Linger Lane (Blue Note LP)

* David Murray Octet: Ming (Black Saint LP)

* David Murray Quartet: Morning Song (Black Saint LP)

* Tony Scott: Music For Zen Meditation (Verve LP)

* Sam McClellan: Music of the Five Elements (Sprit LP)

* Deuter: Call of the Unknown: Selected Pieces 1972-1986 (Kuckuck 2LP)

* David Torn: Only Sky (ECM CD)

* Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Perihelion (mixdown) (WAV)

* Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life (Tamla/Universal Blu-Ray)

* Sidney Miller: Linguas de Foyo (Som Livre/Sol Re Sol LP)

* Soft Machine: Six (Columbia 2LP)

* Soft Machine: 7 (Columbia LP)

* Harald Grosskopf: Synthesist (Sky/Bureau B LP)

* Opeth: Deliverance & Damnation (Music For Nations/Sony 2CD/2DVD)

* Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup (Elektra/1972 2LP)

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Commentary:

I am excited to announce an upcoming gig, opening for the amazing pedal-steel guitarist, Susan Alcorn, on Wednesday, January 20 at Portland Brew 12 South.

This will be my first ever solo electric guitar set so I uploaded a recent studio recording to my SoundCloud page to give people an idea of what to expect. Much to my surprise, The Nashville Scene picked up on it and put it up as a featured track on "Nashville Cream."  Stephen Trageser describes me as "an experimental musician with an affinity for punk" and says, "This prepared guitar piece is altogether different from the heaviness I associate with drones." Cool.

If you like what you hear, I hope to see you on Wednesday. Portland Brew is located at 2605 12th Avenue South, Nashville 37204. Doors open at 8:30, music starts at 9:00. Huge thank you to the fine folks at FMRL for making this happen!

Playlist Week of 2015-05-09

* Handel: Complete Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi CD)

* Luciano Berio: Berio Conducts Berio (RCA LP)

* Miles Davis: Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige/DCC CD)

* Miles Davis: Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige/DCC CD)

* Miles Davis: At The Fillmore (d.3) (Columbia/Legacy 4CD)

* Return To Forever: Where Have I Known You Before? (Polydor LP)

* Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Cornelia St. Café, NYC 2013-06-28 (AUD WAV)

* Ingrid Laubrock Quintet: Barbès, Brooklyn, NY 2014-01-22 (AUD WAV)

* Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Heeltop Home Studio, December 2014 (selections) (WAV)

* Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol.30: Academy of Music, NYC 3/72 (bonus disc) (GDP 4+1HDCD)

* Grateful Dead: Daves’ Picks Vol.14: Academy of Music, NYC 3/26/72(+) (GDP/Rhino 3+1HDCD)

* Dr. John: Dr. John’s Gumbo/In The Right Place (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)

* Lucinda Williams: West (Lost Highway CD)

* David Sylvian: Dead Bees On A Cake (Virgin CD)

* Robert Rich: Seven Veils (Hearts of Space CD)

* Robert Rich & Lisa Muskow: Yearning (Hearts of Space CD)

* Kevin Braheny: The Way Home (Hearts of Space CD)

* Kevin Braheny & Tim Clark: The Spell (Hearts of Space CD)

* Steve Roach: Structures From Silence (Fortuna CD)

* Ray Lynch: The Best of Ray Lynch Vol.1 (Windham Hill CD)

* Steven Wilson: The Raven That Refused To Sing (KScope CD) †

* Meshuggah: Catch Thirtythree (Nuclear Blast CD)

* Meshuggah: Nothing (Nuclear Blast CD/DVD)

* BORIS: New Album (Sargent House CD)

* Flying Lotus: You’re Dead!!! (Warp 2LP) †

* Watter: This World (Temporary Residence LP) †/‡

* Intronaut: Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones) (Century Media CD)

* Ryley Walker: Primrose Green (Dead Oceans LP) †

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Commentary:

I am absolutely thrilled to be appearing with Sam Byrd at The Black Box Theatre in Centennial Park here in Nashville this coming Friday, 5/15/15—an auspicious date, to be sure! This will be only the second time we have performed live since we recorded Indeterminate (Improvisations for Piano and Drums) at (the old) Zeitgeist Gallery back in 2012. I want to thank Mike Teaney at Metro Parks & Recreation for extending us this invitation to take it to the stage. What an honor! I also want to thank Sam in advance for driving all the way over here from Richmond, Virginia to make it happen (I couldn't do it without you!). We go on at 9:00 and admission is FREE. I can't wait.

Sam and I are really excited about the new direction our music has taken—or, rather, how it has gotten back to our punk-jazz Boston roots. It feels good to be playing the electric guitar again, along with keyboards and piano, to create a densely layered sound-world which recalls UYA at its most spaced-out. Although I plan to make a rudimentary recording of Friday's gig, we will also get to spend some time in my home studio while Sam is here, as work on the forthcoming LP continues. You can check out our new/old sound on our latest digital-only release, Aphelion, which is available for free (or pay what you want) over at Bandcamp.

After the demise of the band in 1995 and my relocation to Nashville in 1997, I never expected to play another gig ever again. In fact, there was a time when I hardly touched an instrument and, if it weren't for Sam's annual visits to the area, I might have withdrawn completely from the world of music-making. But Sam's enthusiasm has been unflagging and infectious over the decades. He always believed in what we were doing, even if I did not. I am eternally grateful to Sam not only for his loyal friendship, but for his encouragement (and living example) to never give up searching for "that other, better world" in sound. I am also thankful to L. Lesley Beeman and Lain York at Zeitgeist Gallery who listened to some of our crude recordings and asked us to perform at "Indeterminacies," much to my astonishment. And if it weren't for my nephew, Brian Totoro (who engineered Indeterminate, re-built Heeltop Home Studio and taught me how to use Pro Tools), NuVoid Jazz Records would be but an empty dream. None of this would be even remotely possible without the support of these kind and generous people. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

So it looks like Sam and I have another gig lined up at the prestigious Sonic Circuits Festival in Washington D.C. in September. Kudos to Sam for working that out--totally amazing! Who knows where this all goes from here, but Sam and I are in complete agreement: we have finally found our sound are making some of most interesting, vital and uniquely personal music ever. The possibilities are limitless! See for yourself on Friday.