Sunday, March 30, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Celebrating Cecil Taylor - Painted Bride Center, Philadelphia, March 8, 2014
I decided to drive up from DC to Philadelphia for the "Celebrating Cecil Taylor" show, sponsored jointly by Ars Nova and Painted Bride. As a celebration it was a bit odd: no documentary clips, no interviews, no benediction from the Master, etc.
As a marketing strategy, it was prescient: Painted Bride was sold out.
What there was, though, was a group of Cecil alumni - Andrew Cyrille, Henry Grimes, William Parker, Bobby Zankel--who put on a killer concert. Yes, include Dave Burrell too, not exactly a Cecil alum, more of a makeshift Cecil in place of actual Cecil. They played hard, and they played long, a little over 2 hours with a short intermission. Zankel, whom I've not seen before, sounded inspired--or maybe he always plays like this- but he played his ass off. Cyrille had a masterful 10 minute solo. Grimes sounded like back in the day. Parker added thunder to Grimes bass, creating a deep pulse throughout the evening. And Burrell played free and fast yet without coming off like a Cecil clone. He's got his own thing.
It was an exciting evening. Still a little groggy from I-95, cheesesteaks, great music, and a late night return, but ---worth it.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
February 2014 Listening
1.
“Atemwende” Nate Wooley with Mivos Quartet [Ignoring
Gravity Music IGM 12-13 CD]
2.
“Sand City” Steve Gunn & John Truscinski [Three
Lobed Recordings TLR-083 LP]
3.
Sam Rivers & Dave Holland [Improvizing
Artists 373843 LP]
4.
“For Olim” Cecil Taylor [Soul Note SN 1150 LP]
5.
"White Light/ White Heat 45th Anniversary Edition" The Velvet
Underground [Polydor LP]
6.
“Ballads” Derek Bailey [Tzadik TZ 7607 CD]
7.
“Mingus at Antibes 1960” Charles Mingus with Eric
Dolphy, Ted Curson, Booker Ervin, Dannie Richmond & Bud Powell [Atlantic SD
2-3001 LP]
8.
“A Love Supreme” John Coltrane with Elvin Jones,
Jimmy Garrison & McCoy Tyner [Impluse! GR-155 LP]
9.
“Relayer” Yes [Atlantic SD 19135 LP]
10.
“Monorail & Satellites” Sun Ra
11.
“Sleeper” Ty Segall [Drag City LP]
12.
“Hair” Ty Segall with White Fence [Drag City LP]
13.
“What the Brothers Sang” Bonnie Prince Billy and
Dawn McCarthy [Drag City DC-555 LP]
14.
“Bonnie 'Prince' Billy” Bonnie Prince Billy LP
15.
“Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg
Series Vol. 10” Bob Dylan [Columbia LP + CD]
16.
“Distant Effects” Major Stars with Wayne Rogers [Squealer
SQLR036 LP]
17.
“Perles Noires vol. II” Sunny Murray with Sabir
Mateen, Oluyemi Thomas & John Blum [Eremite Eremite 046 CD]
18.
“God is Good” Om with Al Cisneros & Chris
Hakius [Drag City DC404 LP]
19.
“Half Smiles of the Decomposed” Guided By Voices
[Matador OLE 612-2 CD]
20.
“Creative Orchestra (Koln) 1978” Anthony Braxton
[Hatology 2-644 CD]
21.
“Boneshaker” Mars Williams, Paal Nilssen-Love
& Ken Kessler [Trost Records Trost 113LP LP]
22.
“Intermodulations” Bill Evans & Jim Hall [Verve
V6-855 LP]
23.
“Rock On - The Bunch” Richard Thompson, Sandy
Denny and others [Carthage Records CGLP 4424 LP]
24.
“Strawberry Jam” Animal Collective
25.
“Guitarrotists” Various Artist including J
Mascis, Sonic Boom, Wayne Rogers, Steve Albini, etc [No. 6 Records CD]
26.
“Morning Phase” Beck
27.
“Verisions” Zola Jesus
28.
“Honey's Dead” Jesus and the Mary Chain [Warner CD]
29.
“Roomsounds” Califone [Perisable CD]
30.
“Tompe Le Monde” Pixies [Elektra E261118 CD]
31.
“Heartland” Magda Mayas [Another Timber AT25 CD]
32.
“Endless Summer” Fennesz [Mego 035 CD]
33.
“Nuggets: Original Artifacts from the First
Psychedelic Era 1965-1968” Various Artist [Rhino R2 75466 CD]
34.
“Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers” Wu-Tang Clan [BMG
BG2 66358 CD]
35.
“Stankonia” Outkast [Arista ARCD 6072 CD]
36.
“The Complete Black Lion & Vogue Recordings”
Thelonious Monk [Mosaic MR4-112 LP]
37.
“Polar Satellites” Nathan Bowles & Scott
Verrastro [MIE 019 LP]
38.
“Totem Three” Master Musicians of Bukkake [Important
Records LP]
39.
“Howlin' Wind” Graham Parker [Mercury SRM-1-1095
LP]
40.
“Improvisations” Roscoe Mitchell with John
Edwards & Tony Marsh [Otoroku ROKU006 LP]
41.
“The Congregation” Johnny Griffin with Sonny
Clark, Paul Chambers & Kenny Dennis [Blue Note B1 077 7 89383 1 6 LP]
42.
“Mahler Sympony No. 4” Reiner with Chicago
Symphony [RCA Living Stereo LSC-2364 LP]
43.
“Warrior on the Edge of Time” Hawkwind
44.
“Infinity” Neokarma Jooklo Octet Feat.Makoto
Kawaba
Monday, February 3, 2014
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.
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.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
January 2014 Listening
1.
“Whirl of Nothingness” Paul Flaherty [Family Vineyard
CD]
2.
“[9] Syllables” Nate Wooley [Mnoad CD]
3.
“Fearless Leader” John Coltrane [Prestige PRCD-30059-2
CD]
4.
“Live at Zebulon” Peter Evans, John Hebert &
Kassa Overall [More is More Records MIM 131 CD]
5.
“Goo” Sonic Youth [DGC 9 24297-D2 CD]
6.
“Village Life” Derek Bailey, Louis Moholo & Thebe
Lipere [Incus CD 09 CD]
7.
“The Black Dirt Sessions Jack Rose [Three Lobed
Recordings TLR 066 LP]
8.
“Sun Ship” John Coltrane with Elvin Jones, Jimmy
Garrison & McCoy Tyner [Impluse! IMPD-167 CD]
9.
“Superwolf” Bonnie Prince Billy & Matt
Sweney [Drag City DC179CD]
10.
“Singles Collection Volume 3” Thee Oh Sees [Castleface
Records]
11.
“Future Days” Can [Spoon SACD]
12.
“New Orleans Festival Suite” Kidd Jordan with William
Parker, Alvin Fielder & Joel Futterman [Silkheart SHCD 152 CD]
13.
“Now! - Other Dimensions in Music” William
Parker, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter & Rashid Bakr [Aum Fidelity AUM 006 CD]
14.
“Live at in the Valley” Die Like a Dog with Peter
Brotzmann, William Parker, Hamid Drake & Roy Campbell [Eremite MTE018 CD]
15.
“Far Cry” Eric Dolphy with Booker Little Jaki
Byard, Ron Carter, and Roy Haynes [Prestige OKC20 400-2 CD]
16.
“Skull Worship” The Warlocks [Zap Banana]
17.
“Different Class” Pulp [Island 12 24165 CD]
18.
“Will They Turn You On Or Will They Turn On You”
Magic Hour with Wayne Rogers Kate Biggar, Damon Krukowski, & Naomi Yang [Twisted
Village CD]
19.
“Dawn of a New Vibration” Arthur Doyle & Sunny
Murray [Fractal009 CD]
20.
“Alabama Feeling” Arthur Doyle [DRA Records CD]
21.
“Land of Lurches” Kevin Drumm [Hanson HN104 CD]
22.
“Cliff Craft” Cliff Jordan with Sonny Clark Art
Farmer, George Tucker & Louis Hayes [Blue Note CDP 7243 8 56584 2 6 CD]
23.
“Conference of Birds” Om with Al Cisneros & Chris
Hakius [Holy Mountain 5QXF3 CD]
24.
“Tchaikovsky Symphonies 1-6” Antal Dorati with London
& Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra [Mercury Living Presence 475 6261 CD]
25.
“Damon & Naomi with Ghost” Damon Krukowski, Naomi
Yang, Masaki Bathoh, Michio Kurihara, & Kazuo Ogino [Sub Pop SPCD 501 CD]
26.
“Girls, Girls, Girls” Elvis Costello [Columbia C2K
46897 CD]
27.
“Snakeoil” Tim Berne with Ches Smith Oscar
Noriega & Matt Mitchell [ECM 2234 CD]
28.
“Duo Exchange” Frank Lowe & Rashied Ali
29.
“Cherry Box” Marco Eneidi, William Parker & Don
Robinson [Eremite-025]
30.
“Dance with Death” Andrew Hill, Charles Tolliver,
Joe Farrell, Victor Sproles and Billy Higgins [Blue Note 7243 4 73160 2 9 CD]
31.
“Colour Them Gone” Jailbreak with Chris Corsano &
Heather Leigh [Nyal Recordings 7 CDr]
32.
“The Ascension” Glenn Branca [Acute Records ACT
002 CD]
33.
“Flyin the Fannel” Firehose with Mike Watt [Columbia
CK 47839 CD]
34.
“Slow Globes” Mouthus [Troubleman Unlimited CD]
35.
“En Corps” Eve Risser, Benjamin Duboc and Edward
Perraud [Dark Tree Records CD]
36.
“Anthology 25 Years” Can Spoon [CD 30/31 CD]
37.
“Delay 1968” Can [Spoon]
38.
“Soundtracks” Can [Spoon]
39.
“Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy” The Who [MCA 37001 LP]
40.
“Walk a Mile in My Shoes - The Essential 70s
Masters” Elvis Presley [RCA 07863 CD]
41.
“The Definitive” Otis Redding [Rhino R2 71439 CD]
42.
“Moanin' in the Moonlight” Howlin' Wolf [Chess CH-9195
LP]
43.
“Howlin' Wolf” Howlin' Wolf [Chess CH-9183 LP]
44.
“Tempest” Bob Dylan [Columbia LP + CD]
45.
“Peter Gabriel” Peter Gabriel [Atco - SuperDisc SD
16615 LP]
46.
“Gilded Eternity” Loop [Beggar's Banquet SITU 27
LP]
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