Best of January 2014 AGM Playlist

I'm glad I decided to do a "best of" instead of a comprehensive list, as this month I had listened to over 130 LPs and CDs. When you're a bad typist like I am, it's no fun typing that out.  Instead, I keep it in my hand-written journal.  Anyway, you are probably not missing much by the short(er) list.  Plus deciding which records made the strongest connection for me (only in that way "best") in a month helps me focus and assess on an ongoing basis. Something I need to do. Anyway, in chrono order:

McLean, Jackie:  IT's TIME. BN/King Japan LP.
"                  "       NEW SOIL. BN LP
"                   "      NEW AND OLD GOSPEL
The McLeans were my New Years listening, ritualizing the passage of time and all things.

Coltrane, John.  TRANSITION. Impulse Japan CD.

Art Ensemble of Chicago.  THE COMPLETE LIVE IN JAPAN, APRIL 22, 1984, TOKYO. DIW
2LP.  I deeply wish I could have seen the AEC in performance at the height of their art.

I love this picture of them in performance!

Archie Shepp NY Contemporary 5 /Bill Dixon 7-Tette. CONSEQUENCES. BYG LP.

Dixon, Bill. INTENTS AND PURPOSES. Int'l Phonograph CD.

Hemphill, Julius.  DOGON A.D. Int'l Phonograph CD.

Braxton, Anthony. B-X/NO-1-47. Affinity LP. w/Leo Smith, McCall, Jenkins.

Mitchell, Roscoe.  LIVE AT 'A' SPACE 1975. Sackville CD.

Abrams, Richard.  LEVELS AND DEGREES OF LIGHT.  Delmark LP. Much of what MRA does sails by me, but this one doesn't. Early genius is best.

Stevens, John. BIRDS OF A FEATHER. BYG LP. I played other SME this month but this will stand for all. When I think of true geniuses, whose influence is profound, Stevens is on the list, also Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell come immediately to mind.

Murray, David. SOLO LIVE  VOL.1.  CECMA LP.  DM is as uneven as the Rockies, but this one burns.

Coltrane, John.  IMPRESSIONS.  Impulse! Japan CD.

Monk, T.  MISTERIOSO. OJC Remaster series CD.  Monk, Griffin, Haynes/Blakey. This session rocks (to use a term).

Jooklo Duo with Chris Corsano. LIVE IN VITTORIO VENETO ITALY. Troglosound LP. This recording actually lives up to its buzz (one of the few lately).

The Thing.  BOOT! The Thing Records LP.  This is another one!

Osborne, Mike.  ALL NIGHT LONG. Ogun CD. w/Harry Miller, Moholo.

Davis, Miles. BLACK BEAUTY: MILES DAVIS AT FILLMORE WEST.  Everything Bitches Brew and after is getting much more interesting to me.

Coltrane, John. SUN SHIP. Impulse! 2LP. Iconic, anthemic, aspirational, real......

Mitchell, Roscoe.  DUETS WITH TYSHAWN SOREY (& Guest Hugh Ragin). Wide Hive CD. I like this better than the  recent double LP; has more of Roscoe's idiosyncratic genius.

Mitchell, Roscoe. MORE CUTOUTS. CECMA LP. Not a great copy (none seem to be), played badly on my old TT, but sounds surprisingly much better now (credit the AudioNote cartridge or my standards have dropped a mile). No doubt about the music though.

Lacy, Steve.  THE GAP.  America CD. I like that more aggressive Lacy we see in the 60s and 70s.

Futterman, Joel.  INTERACTION. JDF LP. with Jimmy Lyons. Rather amazing this even came about.

Taylor, Cecil.  THE WORLD OF CECIL TAYLOR. Candid Japan LP. Love this era CT.

Gallio, Christof, et al.  TIEGEL. Atavistic CD.  Plucked from the bargain bin, complete surprise to me. Very FMP.

Parker, Evan, with Steve Beresford, John Edwards, Louis Moholo.   FOXES FOX and FOXES FOX: LIVE AT THE VORTEX.  Both Emanem CDs. What an amazing group, Listen to Beresford on the "Live" version. These recordings bang along from the first note.

Doyle, Arthur and Sunny Murray. LIVE AT GLENN MILLER CAFE. Ayler CD.  With 3 tracks with Frippe Nordstrom. This is one of 3 concerts that Doyle did on a tour of Sweden. The concert before this is on YT.  Must be seen,  Haven't found the 3rd concert.

Mingus, Charles.  MINGUS MINGUS MINGUS.  Impulse! Speakers Corner LP.

Coltrane, John.  MY FAVORITE THINGS & GIANT STEPS.  Atlantic CDs.

Young, Larry.  MOTHER SHIP.  BN LT/Japan. Falls between the BN and free crowds, but I like that.

Parker, Evan with Crispell, Guy and Lytton. AFTER APPLEBY. Leo 2CD. Played some Crispell because I was talking smack about her on Peter's list.  Here..........she's pretty good.

Bradford, Bobby.  LOVE'S DREAM. Emanem LP. With Trevor Watts, Kent Carter, John Stevens. This is one of those really good albums that stays really good.

Charles, Denis. CAPTAIN OF THE DEEP. Eremite CD. With Moondoc, Breedlove (what happened to him?), and DeJoode (interesting that he would be in this session).  This is a terrific Moondoc session, with due respect to DC.

COMPANY 6&7.  Bailey, Braxton, et al.  I'm still green with envy that Bill picked up a Company LP box at **** at all, not to mention well under market value ( :-) , this will have to do for me until lightning strikes.  That Incus stuff is freakin' hard to get.

COREA, Chick.  THE COMPLETE "IS" SESSIONS. BN 2CD.  Bennie Maupin, Woody Shaw, Dave Holland, et al.  Have you listened to this lately?  It's just a great free blowing session, no wonder BN buried it.  It's like Corea listened to "Machine Gun" then decided to try it himself.

Now I see I went way over my intended 10 or 12 recordings.  I also see that many of the usual suspects made the list. "It is what it is," as people around my old office used to say.  BTW, I've been checking out some prog stuff, mostly Soft Machine and King Crimson, just to vary the diet a little. A lot of the Brit prog guys had connections with the Brit improv guys, various interactions back and forth, so it fills out the picture a little.