AGM Playlist for June 2013

June contained two trips:  to Upstate NY for a week, and to NYC for a week for Vision Fest. Very nice trips with the side benefit of reducing the playlist for the month (you should be grateful). Throw in a concert appearance in DC by Brotzmann, and you have a very nice month.

1) HERE COMES FRANK FOSTER: Frank Foster Quintet. Blue Note-Toshiba Japan.
2) SANTANA:  Eponymous. Mo-Fi LP.
3) TRACKIN': Lew Tabackin Quartet. RCA & RVC Japan Direct Master 45rpm. It's OK but I really bought it for the sonics, and it was cheap.
4) TENOR MADNESS:  Sonny Rollins. OJC LP.
5) CECIL TAYLOR- SOLO:  Trio Records Japan LP.
6) SORROW TEARS AND BLOOD: Fela Kuti and Afrika 70. Knitting Factory LP.
7) I DO NOT PLAY NO ROCK AND ROLL: Mississippi Fred McDowell (bottleneck guitar). Capitol LP.
8) LOVE ON THE SUDAN: Billy Harper. Nippon Columbia LP. Have had an interest in BH ever since I saw an old video of him playing with Lee Morgan, but I can't say I really "get" him.
9) SYMPHONY No.5: Neilsen, Bernstein, NY Phil. Columbia mono LP. Reputedly a classic recording.
10) COLEMAN HAWKINS ENCOUNTERS BEN WEBSTER: Like it says. Verve Polydor Japan LP.
11) THE MAHOUT: Haslam, Bergman, Hession, Slam CD.  Good stuff,
12) LOUDER THAN BOMBS: The Smiths
13) MAX ROACH + 4 NEWPORT (1958):  Mercury Nippon LP.
14) THE STRAIGHT HORN OF STEVE LACY:  Like it says. Barnaby LP. Everytime I see Roy Haynes name on the credits I am a little bit startled. A classic albums.
15) THREE FOR A QUARTER, ONE FOR A DIME: Archie Shepp, Roswell Rudd, et al. Jasmine LP.
16) MANUEL PONCE: John Williams (g). CBS LP.
17) SHOWCASE: Philly Joe Jones. Riverside/Victor Japan LP.
18) BREAKING NEW GROUND: Mal Waldron, Ed Blackwell, Reggie Workman. Eastwind  Japan LP. Made for Japan market, mostly covers from Michael Jackson ("Beat It") to Erik Satie (a lovely "Gymnopedie #2").
19) HUB CAP: Freddie Hubbard Sextet. Blue Note/King Japan LP.
20) UNGLEICH: Urs Leimgruber, Adelhard Roidinger. hat Jazz CD. UL is superb here.
21) THE FOUR SECTIONS & MUSIC FOR MALLET INSTRUMENTS:  Steve Reich, composer. MTT, conductor, LSO.  Elektra Nonesuch LP.
22) THE KINK KRONICLES:  The Kinks. WB 2LP.
23) LIVE! Vol. 2. RECORDED LIVE AT LENNIE's: Jaki Byard Quartet. Prestige LP.
24) DANCE WITH DEATH: Andrew Hill Quintet. Blue Note LP. Both this album and #23 have Joe Farrell on tenor; the guy keeps turning up).
25) ROTHKO CHAPEL & WHY PATTERNS: Morton Feldman, composer. California Ear Unit. New Albion CD.
26) ROMAN: Louis Sclavis. FMP CD.
27) GRASS ROOTS: Andrew Hill. Blue Note LP.
28) FLOATING 1...2...3:  Michael Moore, Peggy Lee, Dylan Van der Schyff. Spool Line 18 CD. Well-done.
29) ANCIENT VOICES OF CHILDREN & MUSIC FOR A SUMMER EVENING: George Crumb, composer. Nonesuch CD.
30) JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE: Traffic. UA LP.
31) HOME: David Murray Octet. Black Saint LP. Mazing collection of talent in this group.
32) ALBERT AYLER IN GREENWICH VILLAGE: Albert Ayler. Impulse! LP.  Another amazing collection of talent.
33) MARE OF THE MOLE: The Residents. Ralph Records LP.
34) MISFITS:  The Kinks. Mo-Fi LP.
35) FOR SAMUEL BECKETT: Morton Feldman, comp. New Music Berlin. CPO CD.
36) A.H.O. & HIS ORCHESTRA: Daunik Lazro. Bleu Regard CD. Excellent.
37) LED ZEPPELIN III: Led Zeppelin. Atlantic LP.
38) SUNNY MURRAY: Sunny/Sonny with Coursil, Byard Lancaster, Alan Silva, Jack Graham. ESP/Get Back LP (this might be 200g from the heft). Gets an official Kick-Ass rating.
39) AIR TIME:  Air. Nessa LP. Like a rump faction of the David Murray Octet, this is a wonderful group, perhaps rather under-rated.
40) HIS MAJESTY KING FUNK: Grant Green, Harold Vick, Larry Young, et al. Speakers Corner LP. What can I say? I like GG, and I like Speakers Corner vinyl.
41) A NONESUCH RETROSPECTIVE. Elliot Carter, comp. Disc 1.
42) NOTATIONS & PIANO SONATAS: Pierre Boulez, comp. Pi-Hsien Chen, piano. hat[NOW]CD
43) RAZOR BLUE: Flaherty, Colbourne. Tulpa LP.
44) LIVE IN ANTIBES, VOL. 2: Archie Shepp & The Full Moon Ensemble (Alan Shorter, Clifford Thornton, et al). Actuel 39 reissue. LP.
45) AIR: Cecil Taylor Quartet (Shepp, Neidlinger, Charles). Barnaby LP.
46) BALLETS: Steve Lacy & Sextet. Hat Hut 2LP. Ballsy, confident, masterful playing by Lacy.
47) TENDER FEELIN'S: Duke Pearson trio. Blue Note/Classic 200g mono LP.
48) WARNE MARSH QUINTET: (Marsh, Ted Brown, Ronnie Ball...) Imperial/Classic 200g LP.
49) DUETS 1976: Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams. Arista LP. Braxton plays an arsenal of instruments and is damn brilliant, to the point that Muhal is practically comping for him.
50) PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: Mussorgsky, comp, Chicago SO, Fritz Reiner, conducting, RCA Shaded Dog mono LP.
51) SPRING SYMPHONY: Britten, comp & cond, Orch & Choris of the Royal Opera House. Peter Pears, tenor. London black label LP.
52) LIVE AT MAYA RECORDING FESTIVAL: Parker, Guy, Lytton. No Business CD.
53) CHARLES TYLER ENSEMBLE: Tyler, Moffett, Grimes. ESP-Disk LP. A lovely, wild LP.
54) FRENCH GIGS: Coxhill, Frith. AAA LP. I'm always really happy when I find a new Coxhill LP, especially a very pretty copy like this, with first-rate performance.

55) AINSI LA NUIT (Dutilleux) & METAMORPHOSES NOCTURNES (Ligeti):  Quator Via Nova String Quartet. Erato LP.
56) OLD QUARTET: Roscoe, Bowie, Favors, Wilson. Nessa LP.
57) PHILLIP WILSON QUARTET LIVE AT MOERS FESTIVAL: Wilson, Daru, Lowe, Williams. Moers LP. Listening to this again, this now strikes me as much stronger than when initially heard.
58) WATKINS AT LARGE: Doug Watkins, Mobley, Byrd, et al. Transition/Classic 200g.
59) IMPROVISATION: Derek Bailey, solo guitar. DIVerso/Cramps LP. Love this.
60) TURNING POINT: Benny Golson, Kelly, Chambers, Cobb. Mercury Polygram Japan LP.
61) SCHOOL WORK: Ethan Iverson, Dewey Redman. Mons CD.
62) CRACKLEKNOB: Wooley, Halvorson, Radding. hatology CD. A classic. Would love to see a true analog LP of this album.
63) BELL TROVE SPOOLS: John Butcher, solo ts, ss. Northern Spy CD. It occurred to me that Butcher is at the very pinnacle of this form of performance, and it is time for him to go back to playing more with other musicians and groups. It's getting solipsistic.
64) CECIL TAYLOR QUARTET IN EUROPE:  CT, Sam Rivers, Jimmy Lyons, Cyrille. Jazz Connoisseur LP (semi-respectable bootleg).
65) BLUES FOR FALASHA: Glenn Spearman, Larry Ochs et al. Tzadik CD. Damn, this is strong.
66) THE PSYCHE: Revolutionary Ensemble. Mutable CD. Like the AEC, there is a truth to everything they play.
67) M.A.P: Leimgruber, John Wolf Brennan, Norma Winstone (trks 12-14). Bellaphon CD. Another exemplary UL performance.
68) INDESTRUCTIBLE: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. Blue Note LP.
69) BIG STUFF! : Gil Evans and large group, includes Steve Lacy, Lee Konitz). Prestige LP.
70) DUO (1): Braxton, Bailey. Emanem LP.
71) WEIGHT/COUNTERWEIGHT: Bill Dixon. broken research 2LP.
72) STRING QUARTETS: ST/4, TETRAS, TETORA, ERGMA: Xenaxis, comp. Jack Quartet. Mode CD. The Jack Quartet is really good.
73) ORNETTE ON TENOR: Ornette, Cherry, Garrison, Blackwell.. Atlantic LP.
74) GOO:  Sonic Youth. DGC CD. Very very belatedly I find I like SY.
75) RIF: Maarten Altena Quartet. hat Now CD.
76) DRAGONFLY: Jimmy Giuffre 4. Soul Note LP. Becoming a Giuffre fan.
77) THE ECTASY OF THE MOMENT: Morton Feldman, comp. The Barton Workshop. Disc 1 of 3. KTC CD.
78) HUNTINGTON ASHRAM MONASTERY: Alice Coltrane, Ron Carter, Rashied Ali. Impulse! LP. I'm harped out.
79) THE HUMAN ARTS ENSEMBLE LIVE IN TRIO PERFORMANCES, Vol. 1: Charles Bobo SHaw, Luther Thomas, John Lindberg. Circle Records LP. Very hip.
80) THE TUBA TRIO, Vol. 2: RECORDED LIVE AT THE BIMHUIS: Sam Rivers, Joe Daly, Warren Smith.
81) TOO HIGH TO DIE: The Meat Puppets. London CD.
82) BROT & HONIG: Evan Parker and the Ton Art Ensemble. True Muze CD.
83) FRAMEWORKS: Spontaneous Music Ensemble- Stevens, Rutherford, Watts, Wheeler, Winstone, Julie Tippetts.  Emanem CD. Great music!
84) LIVE: Bill Frisell. Gramavision CD.
85) GRASS ROOTS: Darius Jones, Alex Harding, Sean Conly, Chad Taylor. Aum Fidelity CD. Hard-blowing group.
86) TRIO PLAYING: Bailey, Butcher, Oren Marshall. Incus CD.
87) THE INFORMATION: Beck, Interscope 2CD. Damn, CD 1 is 70 min long! It might be a while before I visit CD 2.
88) HOMAGE TO JOHN COLTRANE: Dave Liebman and group. Owl LP.
89) TRILOGY OF WORKS FOR ELEVEN INSTRUMENTALISTS: John Lindberg, Hugh Ragin, Marty Ehrlich, et al. Black Saint LP.
90) RODAN: Soto Michihiro, conduction and tsugaru shamisen (kind of a Japanese sci-fi banjo in appearance), large group includes Frisell, Hemingway, Rothenberg, Mori, et al). hat Jazz CD.
91) DIRTY: Sonic Youth. DGC CD. A useful album for driving fast.
92) JOHNNY GRIFFIN's STUDIO JAZZ PARTY: Like it says. Riverside Victor Japan LP.
93) RETURN OF THE GRIFFIN: Johnny Griffin. Galaxy LP.
94) DIVERSE:  Lol Coxhill solo and in quartet. Ogun LP. You know it's real good!
95) DIGSWELL DUETS: Lol Coxhil, with Simon Emmerson (electronics) and Veryan Weston (Piano). Random Radar Records LP.  More greatness from Lol.
96) RHYTHM X: THE MUSIC OF CHARLES BRACKEEN: Brackeen, Cherry, Haden, Blackwell. Strata-East LP. More than a little tinge of Ornette.
97) NEW YORK EYE AND EAR CONTROL: Ayler, Cherry, Tchicai, Rudd, Peacock. Murray. ESP LP. Ayler-esque and Ornette-ish elements mix it up.
98) TINDERBOX: Siouxsee & The Banshees. Geffen LP.
99) BIRTH OF THE COOL: Miles Davis & Nonet. Capitol LP.
100) JAZZ REALITIES: Carla Bley, Mantler, Steve Lacy, Kent Carter, Aldo Romano. Fontana LP. Great album.

101) JIMMY GIUFFRE FOUR BROTHERS:  Giuffre, Jack Sheldon, Bud Shank, et al. Affinity LP.
102) HAPPY DAZE: Elton Dean's Ninesense: Dean, Malfatti, Beckett, Keith Tippett, Harry Miller, Moholo, et al. Ogun LP. Excellent. Don't think anyone noticed before I bought it, maybe just thought some former owner had scribbled on the sleeve, but when I actually looked at it, turned out it is inscribed and signed by Tippet, and also signed by Dean. Doesn't mean much, but kind of nice.

Well, turns out things went longer than I thought they would. I might go to a two-week list to keep it bearable.

SundaySundaySunday!

Upon first arriving at the earnestly offbeat ambience of Sonic Circuits, I thought I might have made a mistake in not finding a Monster Truck meet to attend. But I soon changed my mind.

First up was Weed Tree, Amanda Huron, drums, and Layne Garrett, guitar (al la Fred Frith).  You know my antipathy to dial twiddlers, and Layne was doing a lot of that at first. Amanda made Meg White look like Elvin Jones.  Suddenly, things changed when Michael Thomas Jackson loped on stage, first doing a little dial twiddling of his own, but soon wielded a clarinet, and from that moment things got interesting, nay, exciting. You can get a sense of it from the clip:

Next up was Sarah Hughes, playing saxophone, somewhere in Diamond Terrifier territory.

Jack Wright was next.  I thought it was a very fine set.  Jack has a bass player, Evan Lipson,  and a percussionist, Ben Bennett, who are well-worth watching. The trio played with empathy and intensity. 

So, in the end, it was better than a Monster Truck meet.  Lesson learned. 

Pictures From an Exhibition

Scenes From A Festival Life

Day 3: Vision Festival, June 14, 2013: The French American Peace Ensemble

Day 3 closed with the absurdly named, but talent laden group, The French American Peace Ensemble, consisting of Kidd Jordan, Francois Tusques, Louis Sclavis, William Parker, Hamd Drake.

Sclavis found himself caught up in a hard-blowing group- not his metier really--but acquitted himself quite well.  Still, it seemed a missed opportunity. Kidd Jordan was blowing really hard, but he seemed barely able to stand at the end of one of these solos. I can't give much of a report on Francois Tusques because it was rather hard to hear him over the din.  In particular, Hamid Drake's thunderous drumming just rolled over Tusques.  I usually like Hamid's drumming, but this night it just seemed loud. Drake and Parker entertained themselves but did not pay sufficient attention to what the rest of the group was doing. Nevertheless, there were many fine moments.

Day 3: Vision Festival 18: East West Collective

The East West collective is an ad hoc group consisting of Larry Ochs, tenor; Sylvain Kassap, clarinets; Xu Fengxia, guhzeng; Didier Petit, bass; Miya Masaoka.

I'm a big Larry Ochs fan, so was glad to get a chance to see him. Kassap was quite interesting, maybe a little tentative during the performance (I picked up some of his CDs for a closer listen). French bassists seem to come with eccentricities, and Petit was certainly no exception, as you will see from the last video. I enjoyed this set.

Day 3: Vision Festival: Bern Nix Quartet

The Quartet is Nix on guitar, Matt Lavelle on trumpet, Francois Grillot on bass, and Reggie Sylvester on drums. Never heard of Reggio before this. Grillot was fine. Lavelle goes on my "Worst of the Festival" list.

Nix is certainly different, doesn't sound like anyone else on guitar on the current scene, which I think is in his favor.  Anyway, Ornette liked him I guess, so there's that.

(I realize there is a duplicate vid here, but could not get rid if the bugger)

Day Two: Vision Festival: Roscoe Mitchell

The highlight of Day 2 was clearly the set with Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Grimes and Tani Tabbal.

(The lowlight was uncontestedly Roy Campbell's Akhenaten Band, but if you ask me very nicely, I will publish a clip).

Before I get to Roscoe, a word about Henry. Watching him closely on stage, that dude is LOCKED IN on the music and the other musicians.  His communication with the other musicians is high-level. Pretty interesting.  I like his bass playing; he gets big fat bass notes out of that green bass, and I like that.

Roscoe's set built from level to level.  IIRC, he started with sopraninos, moved to shakahachi (I think), finally to the alto sax. I think the vids are in sequence, so try to watch that way. BTW, before the set, I found myself standing in the back of the theater with Roscoe.  I looked over and there he was.  I was kind of startled.  I said, "Good luck with your set." He kind of gave me that look, and replied, "Thanks." Yes, a great moment, LOL.

More Opening Night at Vision Festival, NYC June 12, 2013: Milford Graves, Roswell Russ, Charles Gayle

Just a sizzling set. I found Roswell Rudd particularly interesting to watch (and listen to).

Dispatches from Vision Fest 18, Roulette, Brooklyn, NY 2013

Milford Graves? Kidd Jordan? Charles Gayle? Roswell Rudd? You know you want to be there! Some very hot performances last night at Vision Fest. Some quick clips and pics, more to follow.

Lately Listening

Not too much jamage in my life over the past two weeks. Checked out Wayne Horvitz playing a bunch of duos at the Stone, but was unable to met up with Kevin for the Nate Wooley gig--perhaps next time.

1. Henry Flynt, Graduation (Superior Viaduct LP): There's a solid single LP here. The first LP occupies the middle ground between Nova Billy and the dronier stuff like Ascent to the Sun. The first side of the second LP in this two-LP release--wow, it's cheesy-bar-band awful.

2. Earn, Living Wage (Digitalist Tape): Pedal steel and tape fuckery.

3. David S. Ware, Onecept (Aum Fidelity/Rank LP): Two bonus tracks. Picked this up for about $20. Already had the CD.

4. Jeremie Grandsenne, Ritorno a la Vide, Ritournelle (Space Slave Tape): Very spare solo piano. I've played this a number of times. Really enjoying it.

5. Paul Metzger, Tombeaux (Nero's Neptune LP): Another solid entry in Metzger's discography.

6. Sheldon Siegel, 3 Euro Breakfast (House of Alchemy Tape): Hits and misses, but there is some fiery free jazz at points.

7. Tuluum Shimmering, Raag Wichikapache/Lake Mapong (Space Slave Tape): Drone.

8. Geoff Mullen, Filtered Water (Type LP): Really digging this one.

9. Masayuki Takayanagi, Eclipse (PSF CD): Restores my faith in humanity. Holy shit.

10. Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt, The (Palilalia LP): Immensely disappointed that I was unable to see this tour in Raleigh.

11. Ashley Paul, Line the Clouds (REL LP): Don't mind the vocals on this on. Lots of plinking and plunking.

12. Cactus Truck, Brand New for China! (Public Eyesore LP): A freebie. Decent first effort.

13. Afteroomed, Tallgrass (Tabs Out Tape): Critical mass.

14. Kaoru Abe, Solo 1973.3.30 Pitt Inn Tearoom (PSF CD): We're lucky his brief career is so well-documented.

15. Diamond Terrifier, The Subtle Body Wears a Shadow (Terrible LP): Even better than the last one.

16. Cough Cool, 29 (Bathetic LP): Gauzy rock fuzz.

Brotzmann & McPhee at Union Arts & Manufacturing, Washington DC; June 9, 2013

Brotzmann & McPhee in Concert Washington DC June 8, 2013

A very hot set. Nice to see McPhee in top form again. Brotzmann of course was fantastic.  Check out the clip >>>>