BURNING AMBULANCE 2

I haven't made a big deal about it here, other than posting a link in the right-hand column, but I'm the editor of an intermittent journal of the arts called Burning Ambulance. We call it a "quarterly," but the first one came out in late February and #2 is out, well, now.

The idea's a pretty simple one: I gather a bunch of smart, funny, talented writers and talk them into long-form pieces about subjects that interest them. I write one or two myself. That's it. No consideration for what "everyone" is talking about this month; no worries about timeliness; nothing but love.

This issue features a cover story, by me, on alto saxophonist Darius Jones; a profile of the New Orleans metal band Eyehategod by "Grim" Kim Kelly (plus a half dozen poems by their vocalist, Mike IX Williams); an exploration of the music of Cris Aflalo and Heloisa Fernandes, two neotraditionalist composer/performers from Brazil whose work is much more interesting than a lot of what comes out of that country these days; a fantastic essay on Hollywood's attempts to come to grips with (and exploit) punk rock in the late '70s and early '80s by Phil Nugent, whose blog should be a daily stop for you and everyone you know; a beginner's guide to J-pop; and a tribute to Bill Dixon by musicians who worked with him, including William Parker, Alan Silva, Barry Guy, Rob Mazurek, Warren Smith, Joe McPhee and others. You get all that for just $10 (plus shipping), or $5 if you want a digital download instead of a handsome, perfect-bound hard copy. Interested? Click here.

STEPHEN HAYNES, "PARRHESIA"

Stephen Haynes is a trumpeter and longtime student of/collaborator with the late Bill Dixon. He can be heard on several Dixon albums, including In Italy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur and Tapestries for Small Orchestra. He also recorded a 2008 double trio album with Taylor Ho Bynum, which I reviewed for The Wire.

Parrhesia, which comes out on Tuesday, is his debut as a leader; the disc also features Joe Morris on guitar and Warren Smith on drums, percussion and vibes. It's a sparse and abstract disc, full of smeared horn phrases, sudden rattles, lots of space between bursts of sound, and micro-melodies that never resolve into traditional song form. Haynes and Morris don't dialogue much, but they always seem to be listening to each other and thinking very carefully about what they play and why. Perhaps even more importantly (from my point of view, anyhow), Smith (who recites a poem on the sixth track, "Yet and Still"—you've been warned) plays the drums in a fully engaged way, avoiding the diffident brushed-cymbals-and-tiny-gongs approach that makes so much capital-I improv the ideal soundtrack to a nap.

Haynes is a friend and collaborator (he wrote a terrific session diary about Tapestries for Small Orchestra, including observations from some of the other musicians present, for Burning Ambulance). But even if he was a total stranger to me, I'd say you should definitely check this disc out.