A Sweet Experiment at Zebulon Bar

Loud, discordant sounds emanated from the small black stage, seeping out from the amplifiers and filling the small bar with noise. The shrill cacophony pushed the boundaries of the very definition of music as it flowed and skipped and dove over and into the ears of the contemplative-chic audience, dressed mostly in black coats and fedora hats.

Cellist Okkyang Lee performed an ear-piercing, yet somehow harmonious, duet with trumpeter Nate Wooley. Alan Sondheim strummed a series of guitars of various shapes and sizes, producing sounds simultaneously evocative of Spanish guitar ballads and a plane taking off. Avant-Garde free Jazz trio, made up of guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil, bassist Tom Blancarte and drummer Andrew Drury, performed their gritty, aggressive, intense mix of sounds, ranging from scrapes to shrieks, accompanied by an irregular drum beat.

ESP-Disk Live, or Sunday night’s curious performance at Zebulon bar, was an experiment by Brooklyn-based Avant-Garde music label ESP-Disk, designed to test whether the possibility of a regular monthly concert of experimental music could become a reality.

Currently, ESP-Disk holds a monthly series at the notoriously open-minded Bowery Poetry Club, where artists from the label are showcased. A second series at Zebulon would potentially create new opportunities for the label’s artists, and allow for further explorations into the Avant-Garde music scene since smaller venues in Williamsburg are oftentimes more open to experimentation, said Bernard Stollman, the label’s founder. Besides liberal venues, Stollman believes there is a very good chance for experimental music to thrive in Williamsburg due to the predominance of alternative young people.

“Williamsburg is a perfect breeding ground for promising new artists,” he said.

Brooklyn residents Marques Toliver and Timmy Mislock, who came to Zebulon by chance, proved Stollman’s theory of the receptivity of the local audience correct. They were not familiar with experimental jazz, but were happy to find such an interesting performance taking place.

“It is unpredictable and strange, but definitely something worth listening to,” said Toliver.

ESP-Disk was founded in 1966, and has released a large number of innovative jazz and rock n’ roll records over the years. Some of the artists featured on the label have include famed saxophonists Marion Brown and Albert Ayler, Latin jazz tenor Gato Barbieri, Jazz vocalist Patty Waters and controversial composer, pianist and philosopher Sun Ra, among many others. Sadly, three years after its launch ESP-Disk was driven out of business by Philadelphia bootleggers who pirated the label’s top-selling anti-Vietnam war LP’s by the Fugs and Pearls Before Swine. Stollman, who was also lawyer, continued to produce records on a smaller scale in Europe and Japan, but when funding ran out, he became an Assistant Attorney General for New York State. In 2005, after a long hiatus, Stollman felt it was time to bring the label back, and ESP-Disk began manufacturing albums once again. The latest releases are now being distributed internationally by retailers, and via iTunes and other online venues.

At the end of the show on Sunday night, Zebulon co-owner Joce Soubiran told Stollman that they are, in fact, interested in hosting ESP-Disk’s monthly series, beginning in March. That was music to Stollman’s ears, as well as fans of free experimental music all over New York City.