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Featured CD:


Firestorm is an intense and musically assaultive release of killer, balls-out free jazz that will appeal to those who long for the most bombasic works of Broetzmann, Ayler, Takayanagi and Cecil Taylor! This release reveals many shades of intensity and mood while remaining frenzied and inventive at all times. Featuring Taylor alumni Marco Eneidi (alto), Marc Edwards (drums), Lisle Ellis (bass), Elliott Levin (tenor), Sun Ra Arkestra legend Marshall Allen (alto), bassist Damon Smith and manic Austrian reedist Mario Rechtern, Firestorm is a delerious concoction of new energy music that pushes beyond the stratosphere of sound!

You can send a paypal for $15 pp to damon@balancepointacoustics.com If you would like one. Buy This CD


A few copies of "Healing Force" are available You can send a paypal for $15 pp to damon@balancepointacoustics.com If you would like one.

Vinny Golia-reeds
Aurora Josephson-voice
Henry Kaiser-guitar
Mike Keneally-piano, guitar and voice
Joe Morris-guitar and double bass
Damon Smith-double bass
Weasel Walter-drums


Seven major figures from the art-punk, free-jazz, brutal prog, improvisational and modern jazz world come together for a ROCKING tribute to the unfairly ignored, misunderstood and vilified late period works of Albert Ayler. These late period songs have always seemed to me like they may have been some of the most personally spritually resonant for Ayler, but the musicians and the culture of the late 1960s were possibly not able to successfully translate and perform his concept of spirituality, free jazz, boogaloo, nursery rhythms, marching bands, blues and r'n'b, and certainly the free-jazz following public was not ready to accept it. Now, 40 years and many stylistic mash-ups later, perhaps these works can be better enjoyed.

“Albert Ayler's later works (Love Cry, New Grass and Music is the Healing Force of the Universe) seem to be generally reviled. Through meditations, dreams, and visions, the players on this project were given the message to once again attempt to send the people of earth a message of love, peace, and spiritual understanding. We selected a representative set of tunes for this material and essentially let it play itself through us. We hope you will be as surprised as we still are by the results of this invocational experiment. We hope you will like this record.”
- Henry Kaiser, producer and guitarist Buy This CD


Limited copies of the "Noisy People" dvd are available here. It is a Film by Tim Perkis featuing Damon Smith and other Bay Area Musicians. Includes footage of Gratkowski/Bryerton/Smith and Wolfgang Fuchs' Six Fuchs Project. Buy This CD


Improvised music form Oakland and Tel Aviv from the Jerusalem based Kadima Label.
Aurora Josephson - voice
Ariel Shibolet - soprano saxophone
Jen Baker - trombone
Scott R. Looney - piano
Damon Smith - double bass Buy This CD


"Ghetto Caylpso" Peter Kowald/Marco Eneidi/Damon Smith/Spirit out now on NOTTWO records. Buy This CD


New from Nuscope Records: Biggi Vinkeloe, alto saxophone, flute; Damon Smith, double-bass; Kjell Nordeson, drums, vibraphone Buy This CD

Forthcoming CD's

BPA 013 "Pepper Spray" Ariel Shibolet/Jen Baker/Damon Smith/Jerome Bryerton

Bertram Turetzky/Damon Smith ThoughtBeetle

2009-12-07
1510 8th st.

Monday, Dec 7 2009 8:00 PM Studio 1510 1510 8th Street Oakland $6-10

Set 1 Gianni Mimmo - saxophone Scott R. Looney - piano Gino Robair - percussion

Set 2 RECIPROCAL UNCLES (Italy) Gianni Mimmo - saxophones Gianni Lenoci - piano

Set 3 Gianni Mimmo - saxophones Gianni Lenoci - piano Damon Smith - double bass Kjell Nordeson, Gino Robair - percussion

http://www.amiranirecords.com/gianni.html http://www.amiranirecords.com/gianni_lenoci.html http://www.balancepointacoustics.com http://myspace.com/smithdamon http://www.myspace.com/damonsmithsolo


2009-11-08
21 Grand

Sunday, Nov 8 2009 8:00 PM 21 Grand 416 25th St @Broadway Near 19th Street BART Oakland $6-10

Hans Koch (CH) - reeds
Damon Smith - double bass
Kjell Nordeson (SE) - percussion

Hans Koch: 1948, Biel, Switzerland; bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, electronics.

Having studied at the Conservatory in Biel and Zurich, Hans Koch began his musical career as a classical clarinetist, working from 1973 to 1980 at the Music College of Winterthur. In 1978, he met Martin Schütz, also at the Conservatory, and they formed a jazz trio at the beginning of the 1980s, finally settling with the drummer Marco Käppeli. Performances eventually led to a recording of the trio on ECM and then a second disc the following year (1988) on Sound Aspects. In 1985 he won the best soloist award at the Jazzfestival Lugano and in 1986 was awarded the "Kulturpreis from the city of Biel". During the same period, Koch was also a member of Werner Lüdi's Sunnymoon, along with Martin Schütz, Stephan Wittwer and Paul Lovens. In 1987 he undertook a 6-month residence in New York and played in a wide variety of situations: with Andrew Cyrille, Butch Morris, Shelley Hirsch and David Moss & many others. This resulted in regular performances at Willisau and Nickelsdorf and a recording for FMP of X-Communication (Morris, Hirsch, Schütz, Lovens, Hans Reichel, Jason Hwang and J.A. Dean). In 1988, Koch was a member of the Cecil Taylor European Orchestra, the recording of which was released in the much-prized In Berlin box set from FMP, as well as the ground breaking all reed trio Holz Fur Europa with Wolfgang Fuchs and Peter Van Bergan

Hans Koch's solo CD, Uluru was recorded in 1989 and at the end of 1991 CHOCKSHUT (a near anagram of Koch and Schütz) was recorded, a sextet that included Fredy Studer. This was the beginning of the trio "Koch-Schütz-Studer", though their first recording with the descriptive and provocative title of Hardcore chamber music was not recorded for another three years, by which time Koch was working with electronics as an extension of his reeds, as well as with sampling/sequencing. In the ten years that have followed, the trio has recorded frequently and collaborated with a wide variety of musicians: from Egypt, from Cuba, with DJs, and with poetry/spoken word.


2009-10-27
Zebulon, Brooklyn

Zebulon 258 Wythe Ave Brooklyn, NY 11211-3914 (718) 218-6934

10/27/2009 8:00 PM

Jack Wright - saxophone

Mike Pride - drums

Damon Smith - double bass


2009-10-25
Moonstone Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA

Lucky Old Souls Sunday, October 25, 2009 6:30pm - 11:00pm Moonstone Arts Center (aka Robin's Books) 110 S. 13th St., 2nd Floor Philadelphia, PA Lucky Old Souls and Dan Peterson present... a special Sunday dinner concert at Moonstone Arts Center with music from... TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCE TRIO Dan Peterson, reeds Matt Stein, bass Doug Hirlinger, drums JASON STEIN solo bass clarinet JACK WRIGHT Quartet Jack Wright, sax Jason Stein, bass clarinet Damon Smith, double bass Mike Szekely, drums


2009-10-23
Venue: Plays and Players Theater, Philadelphia

OVER-NITE SENSATION:

Autumn Edition

Venue: Plays and Players Theater, 3rd Floor 1714 Delancey Place

presented with Plays and Players

Friday, October 23, 8pm Damon Smith - solo double bass + many other short sets


2009-09-19
Heaven Gallery Chicago 1510 N. Mil

For the 2007 release Ausfegen (Balance Point Acoustics), this transcontinental quartet—bassist Damon Smith and guitarist Kristian Aspelin from the Bay Area and saxophonist Paul Hartsaw and drummer Jerome Bryerton from Chicago—set out to pay homage to German conceptual artist Joseph Beuys. But as Smith explains in the liner notes, they weren’t sure it was worthwhile to simply claim they were inspired by Beuys, so they decided to make the connection more explicit. For the art piece he called Ausfegen, Beuys swept Berlin’s Marx-Engels-Platz, then encased the broom and all the detritus he’d collected in a vitrine. On the album Ausfegen, the cuts have titles like “Garbage,” “Sand,” and “Paper,” and for one track Aspelin laid his guitar flat and played it with a broom. Of course that’s not to say the listener needs to know any of this to appreciate the group’s tensile and tactile free improvisation. The clanging and clattering commotion is daubed with terse, fluid phrases—a postbop gesture by Hartsaw, a rumbling arco flurry by Smith—and each player manipulates fast-flying extended technique in carefully calibrated communication. —Peter Margasak


2009-01-13
21 Grand

Two Sets with Legendary Bassist John Lindberg Tuesday Jan. 13th @ 21 Grand $6-10 416 25th St @Broadway Near 19th Street BART Oakland

Set 1: JazzHopRevolution Featuring John Lindberg & Rahman Jamaal

"The compelling ensemble dynamically creating a cross-genre marriage of jazz and hip-hop."

Playing selections from their recent album: Tha Sound of Truth (Planet Arts/LindyEditions)

Set 2: Vinny Golia reeds John Lindberg & Damon Smith Double basses Weasel Walter Drums

www.johnlindberg.com www.jazzhorevolution.com www.myspace.com/rahmanjamaal www.myspace.com/johnlindberg www.balancepointacoutics.com www.ninewinds.com http://nowave.pair.com/weasel_walter/ www.21grand.com


2008-06-10
21 Grand

Tuesday, Jun 10 2008 8:00 PM 21 Grand 416 25th St @Broadway Near 19th Street BART Oakland

John Butcher - soprano & tenor saxophones
Damon Smith - double bass, laptop
Weasel Walter - percussion

John Butcher (UK) is one of the most innovative and original saxophonists of any era. He is Joined at this concert of free improvised music by the prolific Oakland rhythm section Weasel Walter and Damon Smith.

http://www.johnbutcher.org.uk
http://nowave.pair.com/weasel_walter/
http://www.balancepointacoustics.com
http://myspace.com/smithdamon


2008-06-03
The Empty Bottle

Tuesday 06/03/08
9:00 PM
Empty Bottle Chicago, IL

Guillermo Gregorio - alto saxophone, clarinets
Damon Smith - double bass
Jerome Bryerton - percussion


2008-03-29
Westwerk

29-3-08, 9pm
Westwerk, Admiralitätstr.74, Hamburg
Lise-Lotte Norelius, live-electronics (Stockholm)
Damon Smith, double bass (Oakland, CA)
+ Nordzucker:
Birgit Ulher, trumpet
Lars Scherzberg, saxofon
Michael Maierhof, cellos


2008-03-23
Archiduc

March 23 Archiduc Brussels, Belgium 9pm.

Fred Van Hove - Piano
Peter Jacquemyn, Damon Smith - double basses
Changed from 5 to 9pm


2008-03-20
Blue Tomato

March, 20 2008 at ITCHYSCRATCHY AUDIODAZE
damon smith - bass, tom zlabinger - bass, andreas menrath - drums, hans falb - turntables, martin siewert - guitar, marco eneidi - alto saxophone Blue Tomato - Vienna


2008-03-13
HaTeiva

13-3-08, 8pm
HaTeiva, corner of Salame/Yerushalaim, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel
Damon Smith - double bass
Birgit Ulher - trumpet
+
24Limbs Orchestra:
Ariel Shibolet - soprano sax
Yoni Silver - bass clarinet
Roni Brenner - guitar
Michel Mayer - guitar
Shmil Frenkle - doublebass
Ofer Bymel - drums


2008-03-08
Pyramida

8-3-08, 8pm
Pyramida, Madregot Miller 6, Haifa, Israel
Damon Smith - double bass
Birgit Ulher - trumpet
+
Tanaka:
Adi Snir - soprano & tenor sax, clarinet
Roni Brenner - guitar
Michel Mayer - guitar
Ofer Bymel - drums


2008-03-01
H7_Club für improvisierte Musik, Blinzelbar

1-3-08, 9 pm
H7_Club für improvisierte Musik, Blinzelbar
Gr. Bergstr.158, Hamburg

Liz Albee, trumpet, electronics (Oakland, CA)
Birgit Ulher, trumpet
Heiner Metzger, soundtable
Raed Yassin, electronics (Beirut)
Michael Maierhof, cello
Damon Smith, double bass (Oakland, CA)


2008-02-09
Hagada Hasmalit

14-3-08
Tel Aviv Improvised Music Meeting
Hagada Hasmalit, Echad Ha'am 70, Tel Aviv, Israel
with Tanaka, Ariel Shibolet, Damon Smith and Birgit Ulher amongst others


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