Concert Review: The Whammies - Wind-Up Space, Baltimore, MD, January 19, 2013

There are many good musicians (I think at times too many, like bait fish in an overcrowded stream depleting the oxygen supply), some great musicians, and only a very few inimitable musicians.  Steve Lacy is one of the last category. Therefore I'm always a bit skeptical when good musicians, or even great musicians try to "play the music of Steve Lacy." I might as well try to write the stories of Ernest Hemingway or novels of James Joyce. Ideal Bread tried it and fared only adequately in my estimation.

Now come The Whammies, looking like a rump version of the ICP, with Mary Oliver and (the great) Han Bennink, and led by Jorrit Dijkstra. According to his bio, Dijkstra studied with Lacy before Lacy's death in 2004.  And Bennink played with Lacy. Some Lacy cred there.

The Whammies are dedicated to the music of Steve Lacy and so, not surprisingly, the performance was all Lacy. The performance consisted of two 55 minute sets, quite generous.  The generosity might not have been entirely altruistic however; one of the band members told me they were preparing for another recording of Lacy music the next day and this performance was a tune-up, so to speak. Anyway, the performance was good, and got better as the first set moved along.  The second set sounded even better as the musicians became deeply immersed in Lacy's repertoire. Shows like this do keep Lacy's memory and musical legacy alive. The "music of Steve Lacy"?  Yes.  The soul of Steve Lacy?  No.

Concert Review: Barry Altschul 3dom Factor @ Wind-Up Space, Baltimore, January 13, 2013

3 dome Factor is Barry Altschul on drums, Joe Fonda on bass, and Jon Irabagon on tenor sax. I went to  check out this group mostly out of curiosity.  The main object of my curiosity was Jon Irabagon.  I was not overly impressed by his recordings, nor am I a fan of MOPDTK.  I had seen Irabagon shortly before, in Mary Halvorson's Quintet, and I thought he had acquitted himself well, albeit playing in the front line with trumpeter Jonthan Finlayson. Now I wanted to see how he would do in the naked environs of the trio format. I had already seen Altschul and Fonda before.

Alas, none of the three turned in a memorable performance. Irabagon can play, but the performance mostly lacked inspiration. At one point in his improvisation, he broke into a 60s Blue Note style ballad (like his Monk award album).  He seemed more comfortable there. Irabagon might be on his way, but he is not there yet.

Joe Fonda was playful and energetic, but superficial.

The trio is a drum-driven group.  Altschul made that abundantly clear. I know his semi-legendary status, and I have seen him before and liked him--in other people's groups. But his ownership of this group proved unhealthy. Altschul seemed to have a bad case of Buddy Rich-itis.  Loud, flashy, rather bombastic playing (blowing a whistle repeated?  WTF?) .  He played at least several solos in what was a short set (shortest I have seen at Wind-Up). Oddly, the single set ended on a drum solo.  I have not seen that before.  There was no indication that the group wanted to provide an encore, and the crowd did not seem overly desirous of one.

New Year's Resolutions and More

A number of major life events--buying a house, getting married and starting a new company--conspired to limit my listening time last year. Here are my New Year's resolutions for 2013:

• Buy and listen to more CDs. After my CD player died a few years ago, I temporarily forswore the medium and focused on vinyl and cassettes. I found that whittling down the universe of physical objects made it much easier to limit my intake. However, this approach has its downsides: Not only have I missed out on a ton of great music, but CDs (especially used) often offer better value than the LP market.
• Listen to more Free Jazz. For whatever reason, I find myself listening to less and less free jazz, especially newer releases. Some of this stems from my informal moratorium on CD purchases, though I suspect there's also a lot of material coming out that simply retreads old ground. I have a handful of names that I'd like to hear more of in 2013, including Ingrid Laubrock, Francois Guionnet and some other 3A favorites. Bill and Tony, I'm all ears if you guys have any suggestions.
• Attend more live music. Relocating to Wilmington, NC, meant giving up the steady stream of performances that took place in DC and Baltimore. Squidco's concert series has come up clutch, and I hope to become more involved with building a local audience for these musics. 

Here's what I've been jamming in the new year.

Graveyards, Formless Music from a Coming Age (American Tapes LP): My dog's favorite band. Slow-motion scraping and screeching.

Quiet Evenings/Former Selves, Split (Constellation Tatsu Cassette): Dig the Quiet Evenings side. Not sure if it's old age, but these mellow soundscapes really do it for me these days.

Bruce Langhorne, The Hired Hand (Scissor Tail LP reissue): Solid slab of Western sounds.

Luc Ferrari, Presque Rien (Recollection GRM LP): I'd heard shitty sounding mp3s of Ferrari's Presque Rien pieces--the LP was a real ear opener. I've jammed this several times and hear something new on each occasion.

Tatsuya Nakatani, Nakatani Gong Orchestra (Taiga LP): No way around it, this shit is cool. Looking forward to seeing him again in February.

Axel Dorner & Jassem Hindi, waterkil (Corvo LP): A surprise Christmas gift. This LP has grown on me after two listens. Titillating crescendos.

Cecil Taylor, Solo Garden (Hat Hut LP): The master.  

 

AGM Playlist for 1/1 to 1/12 2013

1) JOURNEY IN SATCHIDANANDA - Alice Coltrane - Impulse 180g LP. First album of 2013.
2) GIANT STEPS - John Coltrane - Rhino Heavyweight Box, LP. A great album, arguably among the best 3 jazz albums.
3) COLTRANE's SOUND- John Coltrane - Rhino Heavyweight Box, LP.
4) RIFFS- Jimmy Lyons - Hat Music LP. Jimmy's playing is wonderfully clear and articulated.
5) METAMORPHOSIS - Arthur Blythe - India Navigation LP.
6) BALLS - Peter Brotzmann - Cien Fuegos LP.  Less "balls to the wall" than one might expect.
7) VARIOUS COMPOSITIONS - Wytold Lutoslawski - Berlin & Hamburg S.O., Arthur Gruber, cond. Candide LP.
8) FREAKADELIC - Jooklo Stellar Tribe - Troglosound LP.  Jooklo in New Age mode, I prefer the harder hitting duo.
9) CITY GATES - George Adams-Don Pullen Qt. -Timeless LP.
10) IN C - Terry Riley- Bang on a Can- Cantaloupe CD.
11) THE TRIP - Art Pepper - Contemporary LP. Art got me started in jazz, still dig him.
12) LIVE AT THE EAST - Pharoah Sanders - Impulse LP. If they haven't made this into a CD yet, they should, or maybe a 180g LP reissue.
13) THE BOLOGNA TAPES - Elton Dean - Ogun LP. Excellent album.
14) THE CHEQUE IS IN THE MAIL - Elton Dean (Joe Gallivan on synth), Kenny Wheeler- Ogun LP.  Different than "Bologna" but quite fine in its own way.
15) NIGERIA 70: SWEET TIMES- Afro Funk, High Life, and Juju from 1970's Lagos - Misc artists. 2LP Strut.  Terrific music, very well presented.
16) DETTO FRA DI NOI: LIVE IN PISA, 1981- Schlippenbach, Parker, Lovens. PoTorch 2LP. Absolutely fantastic double album.  They come roaring out of the gate from the first note. One of my better LP finds!
17) BORBETO JAM- Borbetomagus and some free jazzers.  A good free jazz album but not a Borbetomagus album. Cadence Jazz LP.
18) HIP TWIST - Shirley Scott - Prestige LP. (So. Washington label).
19) APPLECORES - Sunny Murray's Untouchable Factor- Philly Jazz LP.  Just what you would imagine a Sunny Murray jam would be. I found out that Philly Jazz was a local label, based in Silver Spring.
20) SATURN SINGS - Mary Halvorson. Firehouse 12 CD.Would have been nice on LP.
21) IN GRASSETTO - Ig Henneman - Wig CD. I met Ig in Baltimore and have been checking out her music.
22) LINES - Urs Leimgruber - hat Art CD.
23) ALBEIT - Urs Leimgruber - Jazzwerkstatt CD.
24) QUARTET NOIR- Leimgruber, Crispell, Leandre, Hauser.
25) VOLDE - Brotzmann - Idiolect CD.
26) AVENTURES - Gyorgy Ligeti - DG/Echo 21 Cd.
27) LOVE-IN - Charles Lloyd Quartet (included Keith Jarrett). Fillmore, 1966. 4Men with Beards LP.
28) STRAIGHT AHEAD - Oliver Nelson with Eric Dolphy. OJC LP.
29) HISTORY OF ELMORE JAMES - LP1 Trip 2LP. The real blues.
30) LED ZEPPELIN II - Atlantic LP.
31) DETAIL - Dyani, Gjerstad, Stevens. Excellent album. Impetus LP.
32) LUCIA NEGRO (piano) - music of Blomdahl, Hilding Rosenberg, Brahms. Caprice LP.

BStry best new release of 2012

Brotzmann - Satoh - Moriyama "Yatagarau" (Not Two Records)
Brotzmann / Miller / Moholo "The Nearer the bone…" (Cien Fuegos)
Peter Evans & Nate Wooley "High Society" (Carrier)

Aych "As the Crow Flies" (Relative Pitch) Jim Hobbs, Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum
Jooklo Duo and Bill Nace "Scratch" (Holiday records) limited edition 350
PJ Harvey "Let England Shake" (Island)
Albert Ayler Quintet, Albert: Stockholm, Berlin 1966 (Hatology)


Ty Segall Slaughterhouse (In the Red)

Music to End a Year-- and Start a New Year

Maybe it is the spirit of the moment, maybe an attempt to bargain with karma, or maybe a mere peccadillo, but I usually take some additional care with the music I play at year's end, and year's beginning.  Looking over my notes, I ended 2010 with John Stevens and Evan Parker's THE LONGEST NIGHT (Ogun LP), a terrific album. The title seems consistent with New Years Eve. 

I started 2011 with Coltrane's SUN SHIP and A LOVE SUPREME (Impulse LPs). This might be my bargaining with karma mode. Anyway, does the music get much grander than this? 2011 came to a close with Miles' MILES AHEAD (Columbia LP). Not sure why, really, but I guess a case of forward thinking. 

Having had a couple of challenging years, 2012 started with MUSIC IS THE HEALING FORCE OF THE UNIVERSE (Impulse LP). It's a karma thing again. This was followed in rotation by:  Coltrane STELLAR REGIONS (Impulse LP);  Ayler, NEW GRASS (Impulse LP); Coltrane, GIANT STEPS (Atlantic LP); Van Morrison, ASTRAL WEEKS (the excellent 180g WB LP).  My "traveling the Spaceway" mode. 

Coincidentally, 2012 ended with John Stevens and Evan Parker's THE LONGEST NIGHT (Ogun LP).  Until I checked my notes today, I had forgotten I played this at the end of 2010. Odd, it just seemed to come to hand. 

Maybe because of getting older, I have come to appreciate Alice Coltrane's music and spirituality, so 2013 started with JOURNEY IN SATCHIDANANDA (180g Impulse reissue). Alice proposed the album as a form of meditation and spiritual awakening. Can't hurt to start the year in that way.

If you are traveling the Interwebby Spaceways and care to tell us what you play at year's end and beginning, please do. 

PS best of 2012

Coyote Image Classic, Coyote Image Classic (Hooker Vision)
Diamond Terrifier, Kill the Self That Wants to Kill Yourself (Northern Spy)
Vanessa Rosetto, Exotic Exit (KYE)
Inez Lightfoot, Three Weaving at the Well (Biological Radio)
Nate Wooley, Christian Weber, Paul Lytton, Six Feet Under (No Business)

Eli Keszler, Catching Net (Pan)
C. Yantis, Strung Figments (Avant Archive)
Woods, Bend Beyond (Woodsist)

Angel Olsen, Half Way Home (Bathetic)

Talk West, Old Wired Fault (Tapedrift)

TM best of 2012

ICP 50 Box

William Parker box
DKV box
At Oto- Matt Shipp and John Butcher
Brotzman/Hairybones- SNAKELUST
Meetings with Remarkable Saxophonists, Vol. 2- Butcher, Viltard, Prevost
The White Spot - Way Out Northwest (Butcher)

Parker, Evan, Lee- The Bleeding Edge
Mary Halvorson - Bending Bridges
The Thing with Barry Guy - Metal!  (vinyl)
The Cien Fuegos Brotzmann vinyl releases, most recent  oneI think - The Nearer the Bone, the Sweeter the Meat --is 2012 release.
Scorch Trio with Mars William - double LP (I know I'm in the minority --of one-- on this)
Red Trio with Nate Wooley - Stem

Brotzmann in DC 2000-04-18

This is a picture of Brotzmann at the Mr Henry's in Adams Morgan on April 18, 2000 with Roy Cambell, William Parker and Hamid Drake.