Various - Assemblage Crypto Gramophone

assemblage 1998-2008 is a deluxe 2-cd plus dvd compilation / retrospective of the us west coast cryptogramophone label - featuring audio tracks from 18 of their artists including nels cline, bennie maupin, myra melford, jenny scheinman, erik friedlander, alex cline, alan pasqua, mark dresser, scott amendola, ex-zappa cohort don preston and many others. the excellent previously unissued dvd material is of nels cline and friends playing the music of andrew hill, and the bennie maupin quartet in poland. cryptogramophone, although fundamentally a jazz label, covers an extraordinarily rich spectrum of contemporary music, often difficult to categorize. so, heres a wealth of music on 2 audio cds and 1 dvd for the price of one cd - with cover art by the respected californian painter, david ivan clark, and liner notes & label history by founder & musician jeff gauthier.