(Downtown Music Gallery) Featuring Dennis Palmer on assorted synthesizers, Col. Bruce Hampton on vocals & incantations, Jessie Lurie on alto & tenor saxes, flute, percussion, vocals & sweet potato, Frank Pahl on banjo & whistles and Bob Stagner on drums, guitar, mandolin, percussion & voice. The Shaking Ray Levis were a strange duo from Chattanooga, Tenn, who released a half dozen discs between 1986 & the early aughts. They consisted of Dennis Palmer on keyboards & synths and Bob Satgner on drums & percussion. They collaborated with other mutants/creative musicians like Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Amy Denio, Killick Hinds and Borbetomagus. Dennis Palmer passed away in Feb of 2013. This the last recording that Mr. Palmer worked on before his passing. He has gathered a strange crew of musicians from varied backgrounds or scenes. Col. Bruce Hampton was the lead singer/madman for the legendary Hampton Grease Band and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jessica Lurie is a longtime member of the Billy Tipton Memorial Sax Qt & Zion 80, Frank Pahl has worked with Klimperei & Only a Mother while Bob Stagner was half of the Shaking Ray Levis. Each piece here has its own odd sound and can't be described as rock or jazz or prog or whatever. Mr. Palmer's synths are at the center of each piece with layered saxes, spooky voices and effective drumming or percussion. Col. Bruce Hampton, who also passed away a few years back, doesn't really sing lead as much as play an assortment of strange characters. He is perfect for his part in this. Jessica Lurie is one of the better and more distinctive saxists of the current Downtown Scene. Here she adds odd sax licks and occasional vocals and fits well within the unexpected twists and turns. As weird as this is at times, it sounds like a compelling view of an altered reality. Ever since listening to the Mothers of Invention at the ripe age of 13 in 1967, I've learned to appreciate those who show us the other side of normality. We are united by the ridiculousness of life and this is our current soundtrack. A most impressive detour through life as we know it. - Bruce Lee Gallanter
(Felt Hat) Public Eyesore has been releasing improvised and experimental music for over two decades and it never ceases to amaze me how interesting line ups Bryan who leads the label is coming up with. White Wuff is by any means no exception. When I read the liner notes I knew it is going to be a great musical adventure. Beautifully designed and released as a cd with 12 tracks that comprise different moods, travelling through genres. It's a pretty eclectic hybrid of various bits put into one mammoth of an album. Free jazz rock and no wave would be probably the best description of it but it wouldn't give the justice since every single track is a rabbit in your headlights or rather a massive deer. The improvisations are on the verge of something dadaistic - frenetic and having this wild animal quality - one minute it's quiet and sombre, another minute is jumping at you with the claws and sharp teeth showing all the kaleidoscope of different hues and shades. It is a journey between atonality and wonderful and feisty tunes that are both cheerful and humoresque at the same time - especially when Jessica Lure comes in - she is an absolute star on this album - she is on a few instruments here. Rock energy, dadaistic and absurd trajectories of experiments, jazzy improvisations, ethnic drumming, vocal hysteria and usage of different objects that add up a special sound to the whole album. Just a wonderful, colourful gem of collaborative work - musicians that you might have heard in different line-ups. - Hubert Napioski
(Bad Alchemy) White Wuff ist eine posthume Würdigung von DENNIS PALMER (1957-2013) als Synthesizer-Wizard, der 1986 in Chattanooga, TN, mit einem Faible für Derek Bailey & Co. das Improv-Duo Shaking Ray Levis mit dem Drummer Bob Stagner formiert hatte, das „Coelacanth“ (10“, 1992) mit Borbetomagus und „False Prophets or Dang Good Guessers“ (Incus, 1993) eingespielt hat. Wes Geistes Kind er war, verrät auch seine Coverkunst für Amy Denio, Only A Mother und Gino Robair. Und auch hier, wo sein Synthesizer und seine Stimme erklingen mit, neben Stagner an Voice, Drums, Percussion, Guitar, Mandolin, Gongs, auch noch Jessica Lurie (The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet) an Alto & Tenor Sax, Percussion, Flute und Singsang sowie Whistles & Banjo von Frank Pahl (Only a Mother) und Vocals & Incantation von Col. Bruce Hampton (The Late Bronze Age, Fiji Mariners, The Codetalkers), der den Kult seines Hampton Grease BandAlbums „Music to Eat“ (1971) 2017 mit ins Grab nahm. Und, verdammt, so launig und spleenig wie das groovt – mit auch noch Maultrommel oder Melodica –, kratzt und frischeschockt das einem derart die Lederohren, dass das Gehirn, lustvoll überrascht, im ersten Schreck zurückspringt in die 80er. Dabei ist es anno 2012 entstanden (wie auch „Fishers O'Wufmen“ von Pahl & Shaking Ray Levis). Als ein Füllhorn kunterbunt gewitzter Miniaturen, dazu als Longtracks das afrojazzige 'Chongo' und das nippon-theatralisch gegurgelte, von Lurie besänftigte 'Feeling Fine'. Als durchwegs Stoff von jener Art, die 1984 Bad Alchemy entzündet hat. - Rigo Dittmann
(Vital Weekly) Dennis Palmer left this earthly plane in 2013. This is what I found on Tiny Mix Tapes, which took this from a site called Creative Loafing, based in Atlanta; the original message isn’t available on that site anymore: “Sad news came yesterday when word spread that Dennis Palmer of the Shaking Ray Levis died Friday night. A life-long resident of Chattanooga, Tenn., Palmer, 55, was dedicated to playing and raising awareness about the possibilities of free, improvised music for both listeners and performers. While playing synthesiser for decades alongside percussionist Bob Stagner, Palmer also worked with a long list of collaborators that includes the Rev. Howard Finster, guitarists Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, and Eugene Chadbourne, the Duplex Planet editor David Greenberger, Borbetomagus, John Zorn, and Col. Bruce Hampton, just to name a few. Since 1986, the Shaking Ray Levi Society has functioned as a quintessential advocate for the arts in Chattanooga, bringing diverse music to town, including Anthony Braxton, Cat Power, the Olivia Tremor Control, and Laurie Anderson. Among Palmer’s most recent activities, the Shaking Ray Levis will be featured on a few songs on Duet For Theremin & Lap Steel’s forthcoming CD, Collaborations. There’s also a forthcoming David Greenberger and the SRLs CD, titled ‘Tramps That Go Think In the Night’, and a collaboration with vocalist Shelley Hirsch. Palmer was also finishing a solo album titled ‘White Wuff’.” That last record is now available on Public Eyesore Records. Other personnel on this records are: Jessica Lurie (vocals, percussion, alto and tenor sax, flute & sweet potato (sic!)), Frank Pahl (whistles & banjo), Col. Bruce Hampton (vocals & incantation) and Bob Stagner (voice, drums, percussion, guitar, mandolin & gongs). Bob Stagner was the other half of the Shaking Ray Levis. The music shares many similarities to the music made by Only A Mother, of which multi-instrumentalist Frank Pahl is the founder, especially their record Naked Songs For Contortionists, which I bought on seeing the cover alone and the eclectic range of the instruments used, somewhere in the nineties at the Staalplaat record shop in Amsterdam. It still is one of my favourite records. Shorter songs are limited to two minutes, unlike those on a Bakelite record. Mind you: these are fully developed songs, not just a half-baked idea put to disc. This was already a working method for the Shaking Ray Levis, with even shorter durations. The music ranges from catchy soundtrack tunes (Limpet, Chongo) to the noisier part of the ambient and impro spectrum (My Damey, Man Alive) and everything in between. Ever Loving Normberg features a kind of doom metal, sludge drawn-out demon voice. Quite cool. Just as the rest of this record. This release deserves to be heard by many people. So what are you waiting for? - Mark Daelmans-Sikkel
(KFJC)Dennis Palmer was a keyboard player who died in 2013. These are his final recordings lovingly put together by his friends. The 12 tracks have different moods, and travel through genres like free jazz, rock, and no wave. The improvisations are frenetic and have a wild animal quality - one minute quiet and sombre, another minute jumping at you with the claws and sharp teeth showing. Feisty tunes that are both cheerful and humoresque at the same time. - AArbor
(Record Plug) The late synth/sampler improvisor/visual artist Dennis Palmer passed away nearly twelve years ago, yet here we are, our faces still red with the slap of loss. These aren't just times, but over the past few months, Palmer's fans have been blessed with two releases to calm their grief, last October's DP2:David Pajo and Dennis Palmer(Sacred Frame)and now White Wuff, Palmer's final recordings. Here, he and his collaborators achieve unreachable orbit through play, error, chaos, and convergence,culminating in "Chongo," the album's centerpiece, and its aftershocks. Caught in the back-and-forth of consonance and dissonance,lost in the album's final moments where the music refuses to end, the musicians in a standoff to be the last to lay down their instruments, you understand this isn't the frenzy of last rites; this is the affirmation of a life made beautiful by community and sonic curiosity. Fondly reminds us of: Derek Bailey, Davey Williams, Gastr Del Sol. - Charlie Farmer
(Lost In A Sea Of Sound) Many digs on this composition by Dennis Palmer. The balance of so many different sounds is absolutely perfect. Music and melody colliding with noise and mayhem. Nothing is overdone, everything nestles together making White Wuff a composition to delightfully get lost in. This might come across as a strange connection, but many times i keep hearing Snakefinger cadence and rhythms. Just a thought, cause White Wuff gambols around the more singular style of Philip Charles Lithma. The energy is there though, playfulness and creativity, the joy of great sound and structure. Dennis Palmer pushes towards the fringes but does this in such away listeners are comfortable and connected. Like "Ever Loving Normberg" and "July Screech Dragon", perfect sonic implosions to keep the conscious from sinking. And "Chongo", the longest track with a tasty inland jungle feel. Diving into Les Baxter with a slight grin for how far we are now. White Wuff growls at us with a guttural beauty and a laid back smoothness. Difficult qualities to combine but done with absolute brilliance. Released on the Public Eyesore label in compact disc format. Copies are currently available. Well worth noting are all the musicians on the album, Dennis Palmer, Jessica Lurie, Frank Pahl, Col. Bruce Hampton and Bob Stagner. See the bandcamp notes or cd back cover for the diverse instruments each member plays. - Ken Lower
(Disaster Amnesiac)Dennis Palmer was an American musician who participated in the Free Improvisation scene, starting in the 1980's era, a time that Disaster Amnesiac imagines to have been pretty challenging for its participants. Regardless of the adversity, players such as Palmer got on with their pursuits, and in the case of Dennis, started an influential improvising band in Shaking Ray Levis along with making professional connections with the likes of Derek Bailey, Steve Beresford, and Col. Bruce Hampton. At the time of his unexpected passing in 2013, Palmer had been working with Public Eyesore Records on White Wuff. Obviously the production stopped as his collaborators grieved for their loss, the loss of a person whose influence greatly affected them. A decade and change later, and the album has been completed and released by Public Eyesore, the label that describes Palmer as a friend and frequent collaborator. As White Wuff has spun out of my speakers I have heard what sounds to me as two albums. Towards the start of its duration, it presents shorter pieces that dip in and out quite quickly, in the fashion of vignettes. The most compelling one of these for this listener has been My Damey, a track that sounds as if Jethro Tull had been dosed with some potent Owlsey acid by the Grateful Dead crew at some island music festival in the late 1960's. Disaster Amnesiac means that in the most endearing of ways, and every time that the track has played it's been a stone crack up. Palmer's skill with the synthesizer is on full display within another shorter cut, I Adore, the actual opener of White Wuff, during which his surreal yet very human sound world is introduced. This music, while being quite experimental, always evinces a characteristic warmth, which makes it very accessible and even inviting. Not exactly an easy task within the Avant Garde. As to the second part of White Wuff, the listener is treated to longer tracks in which Dennis, saxophone player Jessica Lure, banjo player Frank Pahl, drummer Bob Stagner, and vocalist Col. Bruce Hampton get into some seriously interactive group jams. It's within tracks such as Chongo and Evolvement that the real meat of the album is served. There is no way of knowing whether or not these jams are presented as they occurred in real time, or if overdubbing processes were utilized in their production, but, either way they feature top flight playing from all of their participants. Chongo has consistently been an absolute mind blower track for Disaster Amnesiac: its blending of synth tones that evoke the older MIDI sounds with earthy, yet absolutely free, drumming and saxophone tones make it a real winner. I've played it dozens of times and it doesn't lose its freshness and hipness. And whoever is doing that shamanic chanting during Evolvement....wow. They went deep into the psychic depths for that performance. Getting back to the bifurcated nature of White Wuff, this structural aspect of the album makes it so that the listener is never fatigued. It's an album that flows impeccably, and whomever did the sequencing deserves a lot of credit for their thoughtful work. American primitive Folk painting images add to its appeal as a physical object. Pick up yours over at Public Eyesore and pay some homage to a musician that was taken away from his scene way too soon. Getting a bit choked up just pondering that. - Mark Pino
