The Poison Pie Publishing House presents:

April 1, 2025
"This tiny thing?" mused King Minos, when Melite stood before him. "She's just too small, that's all. From this day forward, not only shall the tribute from Athens hail from noble blood but there shall also be enforced a minimum size requirement. The bull can't feast on mice!" The king's gaze scathed the courtiers, daring any to contradict him. His eyes settled on Melite, an expression of tepid disgust on his face. "As for this one," he said with a sigh, "if the Minotaur wants her not, then let the behemoth have her."

written while listening to:  Laboratorio Permanente di Ricerca Musicale - out-vestigation (Jazz Engine, JE8013, 2009, Italy, cd, discogs.com)

April 2, 2025
In this manner, Melite came to know that the king had more than one dreadful beast at his beck and call. Such an outlandish idea had not occurred to her, although in retrospect his vast kingdom might well contain any number of monstrosities, natural and otherwise, inhabiting its caves, mountains, swamps, rivers and lakes. As for the high priest, he was content to see the girl perish, so long as her blood was not on his hands. Let King Minos defy the heavens to his heart's content; his deeds had already provoked the ire of the gods, several times over.

written while listening to:  Guillaume Gargaud - Solo (self-released, no catalog #, 2017, France, cd, discogs.com)

April 3, 2025
Melite had already left the court when several arguments belatedly occurred to her. First among them, she desired to clarify a misunderstanding and explain to the king that the Minotaur had certainly not rejected her because of her height. All her life she had heard the remarks and jests directed to those of short stature. It struck a sore point with her that the rather well-managed dissolution of her courtship with the Minotaur was now cast as a fault of her physical person. Of course, Melite had no chance to set the record straight, which was, upon subsequent reflection, probably just as well.

written while listening to:  Sabine Vogel, Magda Mayas & Michael Renkel - phono_phono (absinthRecords, 014, 2007, Germany, cd, discogs.com)

April 4, 2025
Setting personal indignities aside, Melite also harbored a desire to return to the king and express another thought. The exchange played out in her mind like a drama—he on his raised throne, she before him humbly pleading her case. "My lord," she addressed him, "I forgive you for, having failed to kill me once, desiring to do so again. I escaped death the first time more by luck than any trick on my own part and I resolve not to employ any deceitful ruse this time around as well." In her imagination, the king's stony mien softened not a whit at her words.

written while listening to:  Derek Bailey Plus One Music Ensemble - untitled (Nondo, DPLP 002, 2012 (rec. 1973 & 1974), United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

April 5, 2025
Apparently, no one was in any haste to deliver Melite to her new demise. Perhaps, she supposed, they waited for an auspicious date as before. Meanwhile, she wasn't entirely sure what manner of beast constituted a behemoth. Andromeda had been offered as sacrifice to Cetus before Perseus had saved her. Were sea monsters considered behemoths or leviathans? Likely, a behemoth was a creature of the land. Was a chimera or a cyclopes large enough to qualify as a behemoth? With such idle speculation did Melite pass a few more days of waiting.

written while listening to:  Keiji Haino - My Lord Music, I Most Humbly Beg Your Indulgence..., sides C & D (Black Editions/Purple Trap, BE-1004/PT005, 2022, United States/Japan, lpx2, discogs.com)

April 6, 2025
The high priest would allow no chance of Melite's survival in her second sacrifice. He subtly encouraged his king to make a public spectacle of her doom. In an attempt to put the matter behind them quickly, the priest suggested transporting the behemoth to the theater in Knossos, where an audience of four hundred could bear witness. When this suggestion reached the theater manager, the official raised such a ruckus about the beast damaging his precious stage that, despite the priest's objections, the site was changed to the arena at Lato.

written while listening to:  Joëlle Léandre & Ryoji Hojito - Sapporo Duets (Jazz'Halo, TS 013, 2000, Belgium, cd, discogs.com)

April 7, 2025
Forty miles east of Knossos, the town of Lato had been built on a hilltop. It lay a two hour hike from the coast of the eastern gulf of Crete, through a territory of valleys and gorges. In recent years, civic planners had taken advantage of the local geography, converting a natural depression into a public arena, where several thousand could gather on the slopes. In the center, a field had been leveled and reseeded. A stream flowed into the bowl and formed a watery margin on one side of the field, before exiting beside a road through a gap in the rock.

written while listening to:  Dan Deacon - All Light Everywhere, sides A & B (Canadian duck tapes, CDT09, 2024, United States, lpx2, discogs.com)

April 8, 2025
When the king was ready, his entourage set out for the port. They would make the journey to Lato along the coast in a single day. It had been deemed both unseemly and unlucky for the condemned to travel in the royal vessel. Therefore, Melite too followed the northern coast, but she traveled by road and had left two days earlier. From a cart, she could not ignore the harbingers of spring. Sea daffodils sprouted from beach sand, while in the mountains the almond blossoms cheered her with white and fuschia blooms and a sweet scent on the wind.

written while listening to:  Lage Lund Quartet - Most Peculiar (Criss Cross Jazz, 1412, 2023, The Netherlands, cd, discogs.com)

April 9, 2025
Melite did not see the arena until the appointed day of her destruction. She was made to wait inside an enclosed wagon, parked on the road outside the premises. Through the thin wooden walls of the carriage, she heard the sound of cascading water as it navigated its way down the mountain. Soon, this soothing melody was marred by the growing hubbub of a crowd arriving in waves by another route. The audience spread out on all sides of the slope, save the narrow path by which the stream descended into the arena and the gap by which it left.

written while listening to:  The Urge Trio - Live in Toledo (Veto Records, veto-records/exchange 010, 2014, Switzerland, cd, discogs.com)

April 10, 2025
A special viewing box, constructed for King Minos and select members of his court, sat empty for the time being. Families ate what food they had brought, enjoying a picnic while they waited for their sovereign to arrive. A brilliant sun lit the clear blue sky and warmed the throng on the slopes. Many were locals of Lato and surrounding rural parts, who treated this event as a holiday with the anticipation of festive entertainment. The publicity had described a predestined meeting between a gargantuan beast of hideous aspect and, no less repugnant, a debauched darling of immoral Athens.

written while listening to:  Kunzwana #1 - Tour Documentary 2014 (Pamberi Trust, no catalog #, 2014, Zimbabwe, cd, discogs.com)

April 11, 2025
The entrances of the three stars were choreographed for separate reactions. First, the royal retinue escorted King Minos into the venue. He made his way along the top of the retaining wall, which protected the audience from the wild creature to be loosed upon the field. The crowd cheered fiercely for he who had elevated their island nation to the mightiest of all kingdoms. Forgotten today were his sundry depredations on the populace. The king raised a hand to acknowledge their adoration, the cries ceasing only when he took his seat.

written while listening to:  Leo Smith - Divine Love (ECM Records, ECM 1143, 1979, Germany, lp, discogs.com)

April 12, 2025
Next entered the behemoth, bristling in a massive, wheeled cage pulled by a team of four horses. The driver made a lap around the perimeter of the field to display the beast and to position the horses to face the exit once the creature was released. Children shrieked in terror at the enormous quadruped. Vicious fangs jutted upward from its jaw when it opened its maw to release a rumbling bellow. Older members of the throng howled in horrified delight. Never had they experienced the thrill of such close proximity to a monster of legend.

written while listening to:  Don Cherry, Marion Brown, Evan Parker & John Stevens - Free Jazz Meeting Baden Baden '67 (Hi Hat, HHCD3107, 2018 (rec. 1967), Cyprus, cd, discogs.com)

April 13, 2025
The handlers had some experience with the behemoth, which had been acquired and transported, it was said, from distant Kemet, far to the south. They had a fair idea of the limitations of the lumbering beast. The horses could outrun it, though it might well outsprint a man. They had already lost two reckless companions, trampled beneath its webbed feet. Hanging from the edge of the cage, the men released the ropes that lowered the ramp and opened the rear wall of the cage. With shouts and much jabbing of blunt staves they prodded the beast to leave the wagon.

written while listening to:  Hans Lüdemann TransEuropeExpress Ensemble - On The Edges 2 (Budapest Music Center Records, BMC CD 319, 2023, Hungary, digital files, discogs.com)

April 14, 2025
The behemoth stood alone on the green field, seemingly oblivious to the tumult of the crowd. It scanned the ground for something to eat, for it had been starved in an attempt to kindle its temper during the performance. Content to be left in peace, it paid no heed to the departure of the wagon, dragging the ramp behind it. Meandering through the vegetation, it began to take stock of its surroundings, as if it were some ordinary animal, perhaps a hairless ewe, malformed and bloodthirsty, magnified in bulk thirty times or more.

written while listening to:  Jamison Williams - The Lesser Key of Solomon - Bael (Relative Pitch Records, RPRSS033, 2024, United States, cd, discogs.com)

April 15, 2025
Outside the arena, the road through the gap widened sufficiently to allow the cage-wagon to pass the vehicle holding Melite. Her driver could not convince the horses to enter the gap beyond which waited the behemoth. In response to the impatient calls of the crowd, Melite was ordered out of the carriage. She wore the same white gown and sandals as in the labyrinth. Two mounted soldiers took up flanking positions about her. They escorted the silent woman on foot past the gate, through the shadowed chasm and onto the sunlit field.

written while listening to:  Matt Mitchell - A Pouting Grimace (Pi Recordings, PI71, 2017, United States, cd, discogs.com)

April 16, 2025
Melite entered to a roar of boos and chants for blood. She, who had never endeavored to hurt anyone, could not perceive the convoluted logic of a world in which the raucous, collective condemnation of her person had been allowed to come to pass. Not even the whim of fate seemed a viable justification. Incomprehension overwhelmed any emotional reaction that she might otherwise have felt to the calls of derision. Her failure to react was interpreted as the haughty dismissal by a noble of the needs of the common man, further enraging the crowd.

written while listening to:  Ido Bukelman - Then I heard the clear voice of the flute (Ramble Records/Torto Editions,RAM188/TRT022, 2025, Australia/Italy, cassette, discogs.com)

April 17, 2025
The two mounted soldiers accompanied Melite halfway between the gate and the beast before turning to make a hasty retreat. Despite the presence of the audience, she felt utterly alone. The crowd thought her possessed of a death-wish as she continued to walk of her own volition toward the beast, stopping but thirty feet from it. The creature decided then to acknowledge her presence. The woman stood to its side, so it turned its thick neck to fix both round, amber eyes upon her. The two ostensible combatants gazed at each other, while the crowd hushed, sensing a moment of tension before the beast charged its prey.

written while listening to:  Andrew Hill - Verona Rag (Soul Note, SN 121 110-1, 1988, Italy, lp, discogs.com)

April 18, 2025
The meeting of Melite and the behemoth did not immediately result in bloodshed. The beast's appraisal of the woman found her unlike its keepers. She was much smaller and dressed all in white. She did not shout at it or brandish a staff. It detected in her neither threat nor sustenance. The grass had grown longer and greener along the edge of the field bordered by the stream. Hungry, it wandered off in that direction, leaving Melite in the center of the arena to suffer the howls of the disappointed throng on her own.

written while listening to:  Chet Baker - You Can't Go Home Again (A&M Records/Horizon, SP 726, 1977, United States, lp, discogs.com)

April 19, 2025
The king too was unimpressed. He had spent a considerable sum to bring the behemoth to Crete. He found its debut performance sorely lacking. The dull show reflected poorly on him and he grew angry. He ordered an aide to get the handlers back on the field, with instructions not to leave until the crowd was appeased. Those responsible for preparing the behemoth would think of creative ways to provoke its ire or pay with their lives for their incompetence. Minutes later the two men who had released the beast made another appearance.

written while listening to:  Hank Mobley - Poppin' (Blue Note, GXF 3066, 1980 (rec. 1957), Japan, lp, discogs.com)

April 20, 2025
The handlers shouted at Melite to get closer to the behemoth. When she hesitated, one man jabbed her in the ribcage with his staff, as if she were the beast to be kept at safe distance. She walked obediently toward the behemoth, which seemed content to pull tufts of grass and reeds from the edge of the field. The ground grew sodden beneath her sandals. In redirecting the stream, the architects of the arena had unintentionally created a kind of dam at the exit, which allowed the waters to spread behind it, transforming a portion of the field into a marsh.

written while listening to:  John Zorn - Filmworks IV (Tzadik, TZ 7310, 1997, United States, cd, discogs.com)

April 21, 2025
The behemoth paused its meal when Melite drew within a dozen feet of it. The breeze carried her unfamiliar scent to it; she smelled neither of man nor of any predator in its memory. It supposed she was a species of ibis, a slender, white form standing in shallow water as she searched for minnows, frogs and water bugs. This fleeting recollection brought the behemoth a moment of nostalgia, as it thought of the home, which it had involuntarily abandoned. It tolerated the ibis for such birds stood as sentinels, providing warning of any danger that escaped its notice.

written while listening to:  Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra Small Unit - Spectral Fiction (Corbett vs. Dempsey, CvD | CD104, 2024, United States, cd, discogs.com)

April 22, 2025
With a gesture from the king, an order was conveyed to the handlers to speed things up. Melite received a second jab, harder than the first, which caused her to yelp in pain. The behemoth interpreted her call as it might the alarm call of an ibis, alerting it to the presence of a predator. It already harbored a grievance against the handlers and needed no further prompting. In an instant, the creature was moving at full speed. It rushed past Melite, less than six inches separating them. Her gown fluttered in the draft of its wake.

written while listening to:  Jim O'Rourke - To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye, disc 4 (Sonoris, sns-16, 2019, France, cdx4, discogs.com)

April 23, 2025
The behemoth made a bloody pulp of the handler who had stood just behind Melite. Despite their ferocious aspect, the prodigious upward-thrusting teeth were not put to use. Instead the beast knocked down the man with a bull-rush, ran over him once at speed, then came to a stop. It turned and retraced its steps, coming to rest over the mangled corpse. Once it was convinced that the threat had abated, it returned to the bank of the stream, again passing within inches of the ibis, who demonstrated the proper etiquette to nod in gratitude.

written while listening to:  The Miles Davis Quintet - Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quartet (Prestige, PRLP 7129, 1958, United States, lp, discogs.com)

April 24, 2025
In the spur of the moment, the second handler judged whatever punishment might lie in the future for abandoning his post preferable to the certain death should he remain. To a chorus of catcalls, he raced from the field. The bloodlust of the crowd was somewhat appeased by one killing, but they had come to see an Athenian noblewoman die, not some hapless peasant from a neighboring village. The audience began to chant in unison, "Closer! Closer!" as if they might compel Melite to her death simply by the force of their words.

written while listening to:  Ahmad Jamal - Blue Moon (Jazz Village, JV 570001, 2012, France, cd, discogs.com)

April 25, 2025
Melite obeyed the resounding command. Any thought of self-preservation struck her as futile, a delay rather than a proper reprieve. The behemoth had discovered a patch of succulent reeds and felt little competition for this bounty from the ibis. Melite stood beside the beast, dwarfed by its mass. Its shoulders rose above her head. What had she to fear? She had already spent close company with the Minotaur, a brute of fiercer appetite. She leaned her head against its shoulder and felt the thick, textured skin against her brow. Placing a hand upon it, she felt the warmth of its body, not so different from her own.

written while listening to:  Colin Stetson - when we were that what wept for the sea, sides A & B (self-released, no catalog #, 2023, United States, lpx2, discogs.com)

April 26, 2025
The crowd observed in disbelief the truce between the behemoth and its intended victim. No amount of heckling, regardless of volume, proved effective at inciting further violence. A sense of comedy spread through the audience and some began to chuckle at the unexpected outcome. The poor were accustomed to not having events turn out as they liked. The silver lining in this case lay in the fact that the humiliation for the failure of the beast could not be laid at their feet. Rather, King Minos, the despot, was to blame for his lackluster beast.

written while listening to:  Frank Paul Schubert, Kazuhisa Uchihashi & Klaus Kugel – Black Holes Are Hard To Find (Nemu Records, NEMU 028, 2022, Germany, cd, discogs.com)

April 27, 2025
Had the king appreciated the undercurrent in the laughter rippling through the crowd, he would not have left the arena until either the behemoth or the woman, or perhaps both, were slain. As it was, he adopted the lofty perspective of the father of a nation, who experienced on a daily basis the many highs and lows of rulership. As setbacks went, this one struck him as rather inconsequential. To demonstrate solidarity with his subjects in the audience, he too let out a few hearty guffaws as he rose from this seat to leave.

written while listening to:  Susie Ibarra & Tashi Dorji - Master Of Time (Astral Spirits, AS177, 2022, United States, cd, discogs.com)