Toral was born in Lisbon. This is a single track album, that threads together twelve distinct episodes into a flowing whole, _Spectral Evolution_ alternates moments of airy instrumental interplay with dense sonic mass, breaking up the pieces based on chord changes with ambient ‘Spaces’. - bandcamp. Click link for Pitchfork review

"Discovered this via Tom Moon's substack. There is little information on Morin. S/he? Had 63 subscribers on Youtube channel. Nada on Discogs or Bandcamp. If ye find more, please send my way. [email protected] "

"Refaat Alareer (1979-2024) was a Palestinian writer, poet, professor, and activist from the Gaza Strip. He taught literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza and co-founded the organization We Are Not Numbers, which matched experienced authors with young writers in Gaza, and promoted the power of storytelling as a means of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. On 6 December 2023, Alareer was killed by an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, along with his brother, sister, and four of his nephews, during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Euro-Med Monitor released a statement saying that Alareer was apparently deliberately targeted, _surgically bombed out of the entire building_, and came after weeks of _death threats that Refaat received online and by phone from Israeli accounts._ On 26 April 2024, his eldest daughter and his newborn grandchild were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their Gaza City hom. This is described as the last poem he wrote, posted to social media on Nov 1. - wiki"

"DePlume (aka Angus Fairbairn b: 1981) is an English jazz musician, saxophonist, spoken word poet, composer, and activist. Pitchfork (see link) describes him as a . Wki lists 6 studio albums to date (2015-2023), and one EP released in 2020 that I drew on quite a bit in the early Pandemnity in the Margin programs. "

"This American folk band was started as a solo project of Justin Vernon (b: 1981/Eau Claire, WI) in 2006. Bon Iver (Good Winter) has released 4 studio albums to date (this is their 2nd). The band has grown to include Sean Carey (drums, keyboards, vocals), Michael Lewis (vocals, baritone guitar, guitar, violin, saxophone), Matthew McCaughan (drums, bass, vocals), Andrew Fitzpatrick (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Jenn Wasner (guitar, keyboards, vocals).with an additional group of touring musicians. Vernon writes the music, sings, and plays guitar. "

Weston (1926-2018) recorded this (according to YouTube notes) in in 1980. I like this version slightly better than the recorded version from his 1992 _The Spirits of our Ancestors,_ though both are wonderful. From obit by Giovanni Russonello...._Reviewing a concert in 1990, Peter Watrous of The New York Times wrote of Mr. Weston, “Everything he played was edited to the essential notes of a phrase, and each phrase stood on its own, carefully separated from the next one; Mr. Weston sat rippling waves of notes down next to glossy and percussive octaves, which led logically to meditative chords.”_ He stood 6'7_ in his prime. Weston’s papers are archived at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. Obit, click link.

A collection of DIY home recordings, transferred from blank and repurposed brown and black wax cylinders, dating back to the early years of widespread phonographic technology, between the late 1800s and early 1900s. '_Cylinder phonographs first entered the parlor in the late 1890s and stayed until displaced by newer technologies in the 1920s. They brought professional entertainers into our homes and let us command their performances at will. They also gave us the power to record. For the first time in human history we could take sonic selfies, audio snapshots with friends, and aural portraits of loved ones. Our phonographs captured the sounds of everyday life, both silly and serious: the baby’s squalling, Johnny’s naughty joke, Grandma’s favorite hymn as only she could sing it, our letters to loved ones in foreign lands or 100 years in the future. In our own homes we spoke unfettered by commercial concerns or ethnographers’ expectations. Our phonographs observed who we were and what we valued without interference or judgement._ – David Giovannoni via Bandcamp. Recordings courtesy of The David Giovannoni's Collection of home cylinder recordings housed at the University of California, Santa Barbara cylinder audio archive'

"Sandoval was born June 24, 1966, in Los Angeles, to Mexican-American parents and raised in East Los Angeles.Her father was a butcher and her mother worked for a potato chip manufacturing company. She has one sibling and seven half-siblings. Her parents separated when she was a child and she was raised primarily by her mother. During live performances, Sandoval prefers to sing in near-darkness with only a dim backlight, playing the tambourine, harmonica, glockenspiel or shaker. She has a reputation for shyness. Her stage presence has been described as _idly withdrawn, barely acknowledging the audience_. She lives now in Berkeley, CA - wiki"

Frissell (gtr), Downes (pipe organ), and Cyrille (drums). _The decision to record at St. Luke in the Fields, Greenwich Village, New York, was not made randomly or just out of convenience. Sun Chung run founded Red Hook and had worked with all three musicians and conceived of this ensemble. He visited over two dozen churches in and around New York City before settling on this church with its English village-like architecture and a meticulously maintained Baroque-style organ. With its 27 stops and 1,670 pipes, the organ required Downes to adapt quickly to its unique characteristics, presenting an infinite range of possibilities. This is conceptual, highly improvised music that takes some getting used to.  Yet, just the fact that these three could pull it off is a testament to their musicianship, keen listening, and ability to let go of any preconceived notions. Stepping back a bit, though, accepting that the configuration is unique, the sonic and resulting induced moods resemble several ECM projects and, for this listener, Brandon Ross’s Phantom Station’s Off the End, a highly improvised live recording. Both are so fluid that once you’ve committed to listen, you’ll need to hear it in its entirety, as each track seamlessly segues to the next._ - Glidemagazine.com (click link for full review)

In her liner notes titled _The Feminization of Society_, Ono writes _What we need now is the patience & natural wisdom of a pregnant woman, an awareness and acceptance of our natural resources, or what is left of them. Let's not kid ourselves and think of ourselves as an old and matured civilization. We are by no means mature. But that is alright. That is beautiful. Let's slow down and try to grow as organically, and healthfully as a newborn infant. The aim of the female revolution will have to be a total one, eventually making it a revolution for the whole world. As mothers of the tribe, we share the guilt of the male chauvinists, and our faces are their mirrors as well. It's good to start now, since it's never too late to start from the start_ Thomas Bartlett on keyboards & electronics. First published in 1971

"Yu-Hui Chang b. 1970), born in Taichung, Taiwan, is a many-award winning Taiwanese composer based in the United States. She is the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfiled Professor of Music position at Brandeis University. "

"Xiu Xiu (SHOO-shoo) is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart (the only constant member since formation), Angela Seo, and percussionist David Kendrick. The band's name comes from the Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, which has influenced the sound of their music, according to Stewart... its first tracks matched the 'rotten realness' spirit of the film, 'that sometimes life turns out with a worst possible case scenario.' Stewart said Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car', which Xiu Xiu covered on A Promise, had a similar theme>- wiki"

"Rani (aka Hanna Raniszewska, b: 1990) is a Polish born pianist, composer and musician who splits her life between Warsaw, where she makes her home, and Berlin where she studied and often works. She has written for strings, piano, voice and electronics. - discogs"

"Neruda (1904-1973) was Chilean writer, diplomat and politician and one of the most influential and widely read poets of the 20th-century. He wrote in a variety of styles and his body of work includes surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. In 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out and Neruda traveled in and out of Spain to gather money and mobilize support for the Republicans. Neruda's outspoken sympathy for the loyalist cause during the war led to his recall from Madrid in 1937. He then moved to Paris and helped settle Spanish republican refugees in Chile.Neruda returned to Chile in 1938 where he renewed his political activity and wrote prolifically. When the Chilean government moved to the right, they declared communism illegal and expelled Neruda from the Senate. He went into hiding and left Chile in February 1948. While in exile visited the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, and Mexico. During those years he wrote and published Canto general (1950). In Mexico, he met Matilde Urrutia, a Chilean woman whom he had first encountered in 1946. Their marriage would last until the end of his life, and she would inspire some of the most passionate Spanish love poems of the 20th century. - Youtube notes"

John Lennon produced this in 1973 with Roy Cicala and Dan Barbiero on vocal production & engineering. In steps son Sean Ono Lennon to do a new treatment

Canadian violinist and music maker. For this performance, Whitley is playing the 1700 _Taft_ Stradivari, generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. -bandcamp

"Havens, who died of a heart attack in 2013 aged 72, is best known for his opening performance at the historic 1969 Woodstock festival. He had been scheduled to go on fifth, but major traffic snarl-ups delayed many of the performers, so he was put on first and told to perform a lengthy set. He entranced the audience for three hours, being called back time and again for encores. With his repertoire exhausted, he improvised a song based on the spiritual Motherless Child. This became Freedom, his best known song and an anthem for a generation. He was born in Brooklyn in 1941, the eldest of 9 children and started his musical life on the street corners singing doo-wop with friends. Fulll obit, click link"

Asher Simiso Gamedze (b: 1989) is a cultural worker, drummer and band leader born in Bristol UK and relacted to Cape Town, South Africa where he's now based. His music is published out of Chicago's International Album label, and his group is comprised of Tumi Pheko – cornet; Garth Erasmus – alto’ Jed Petersen – tenor; Ru Slayen – percussion; Athi Ngcaba – trombone; Tina Mene – vocals; Fred Moten – words; Nobuhle Ashanti – piano; Sean Sanby – bass; Asher Gamedze – drums

A ram's-horn trumpet used by ancient Jews in religious ceremonies and as a battle signal, now sounded at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur…observations of Atonement/Forgiveness & the New Year. Here is a blend of the shofar sounding at sunrise in Jerusalem leading to a long (8 hour) meditation. We will listen only to a small portion of the latter! This followed by a Jewish prayer recited as part of mourning rituals. It is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew (except for the last line, Oseh Shalom, a Hebrew prayer for peace). Even though this prayer is associated with death and mourning, it does not actually mention death. It's rhythmic recitation of praises can bring comfort to mourners. Finally we hear Saad Al Qureshi in a prayer from the Koran asking for strength of forgiveness. - Youtube notes

Tmpt, Takuya Kuroda; Bass, Solomon Dorsey; Drums, Nate Smith; Elec pno, Kris Bowers; Tmbn, Corey King; Vocals, Jose James (b: 1978) & Solomon Dorsey. James is of Panamanian descent, born in Minneapolis. Solomon Dorsey is a bassist, singer and producer hailing from Kansas City, Missouri. He studied classical viola and opera at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. - wiki (Dorsey is also (apparently) an excellent cook.... click link)