John Ehlers

-Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy-, x2 LPs of long-form, lyrical, groove-based free improv by acclaimed guitarist & composer Jeff Parker's ETA IVtet is at last here. Recorded live at ETA (referencing David Foster Wallace), a bar in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood with just enough space in the back for Parker, drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Anna Butterss, & alto saxophonist Josh Johnson to convene in extraordinarily depthful & exploratory music making. Gleaned for the stoniest side-length cuts from 10+ hours of vivid two-track recordings made between 2019 & 2021 by Bryce Gonzales, -Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy- is a darkly glowing séance of an album, brimming over with the hypnotic, the melodic, & patience & grace in its own beautiful strangeness. Room-tone, electric fields, environment, ceiling echo, live recording, Mondays, Los Angeles.

A bit more of a purist album than the usual collection of retro-swingers, All Aboard includes several jump blues (the best of which are "The Indigo Swing" and "Regular Joe") plus a good downtempo swinger, "(Today's the Day) I'm Glad I'm Not Dead," and an intriguing cover of Willie Dixon's "Violent Love" (previously done by bands ranging from Dr. Feelgood to Skankin' Pickle).

Delmark recording artist Rockin' Johnny Burgin is the new modern king of Chicago West Side blues. He recorded "Greetings from Greaseland" with the cream of the crop of the San Francisco Bay blues scene at California's funkiest studio, Greaseland. This CD, his sixth, features Aki Kumar on harp, Kid Andersen on gtr, Vance Ehlers on bass and June Core on drums. It also features the first recordings of Johnny on harp. There's some great chemistry and blues feeling on display on his first ever California recording with these great Bay area blues players.

The work is a vibrant traverse through soul, disco, jazz and funk, before the duo up-the-tempo to bumpier house grooves, tinges of jungle, and their own sublimely crafted electronica. The highlight-heavy compilation includes two brand new Maribou State productions, ‘Mother’ and ‘Strange Habits’, alongside a delicate and uplifting re-work of Radiohead’s ‘Reckoner’. A beautiful collaboration with Pedestrian under the North Downs moniker is also weaved into the final work.