sonic1

Purpose? That is a good question. I think the answer varies: -what is the purpose/intent of the artist? -what is the purpose/intent of the listener? I can only speak for myself, but I listen for a lot of reasons. I think music expresses what is impossible in words. I am not in it just for the purpose of entertainment-though at times I admit I do want to be entertained. I listen because I love music, love the way it makes me feel, love the way it helps me learn, love the way artists cull from nothing, something beautiful. Boy, this a big question and I run into problems already with my own thinking here. I will have to get back to you on this.

Jazzmoose, I agree that the more we learn about music the more that we hear in the music. But I also think our "knowledge" of music can get in the way of hearing music too. Our assumptions about what we are hearing because we have heard it before begin to take place of actually hearing the music. Especially if a lot has been written about music. I also find that when I listen to music, in different settings, or around different people, that will also have an effect on the music. Particularly if I try to play music that requires more attention for people who don't have the ability to give such. And I also wonder how my own moods, states of mind effect the music. It is much like going hiking: I spend a lot of time hiking here in Arizona. When I come home, my house feels different to me. Sometimes even my neighborhood looks different. It is much the same with music. And so I wonder how much of my own mind is imposed in that which I experience-like in this discussion, music.

I WANT CANDY!

Anticipating the arrival of my own copy of the Albert Ayler box set, and reading up again on Ayler to refresh my memory of his history I have been playing a lot of the Ayler records I have, as well as a lot of other jazz albums I have of this kind-whatever you want to call it. I noticed a pattern I have developed in my listening habits. Within the idiom of jazz and other related improvised musics I find that I tend to swing back and forth between what is generally considered the “classics” of jazz, to the “outskirts” making pit-stops each time in music that is somehow settled between “out” music and “in” music. All these categories are synthetic to me, created by critics and an audience that needs to group and taxonomize their interests. But I used the map myself. I just have to remind myself that most important is what the artist intended-not what the critics decide about the artists. That said, I find myself oscillating between the extremes. But the effect is positive. When I listen to Ayler (who is really playing folk music) it makes me love and understand Sidney Bechet more. When I play Duke Ellington, I find myself searching out Brötzmann. When I play Keith Rowe I understand more the music of Rollins. These musicians don’t reference each other that much (though Sidney Bechet was a huge influence on Ayler). Instead they cleanse my ears. Instead of expecting or anticipating the next line from Cecil Taylor’s piano, because I immersed myself just previous in the language of Django Reinhart, I find my ears are freshened and ready to really hear Cecil. I find that sometimes when I drench myself in a particular type of music, or artist, I begin to stop listening-because I already “know” what is happening or if I am conscious of this happening, I struggle not to anticipate-an action which itself is already stealing energy from my listening ability. But when I keep my listening varied and (as I often say) promiscuous, it allows me to effortlessly listen without distraction or imposition. Has anyone else experienced this to be true? The only exception to this rule is if I am trying to learn something (transcribing) or if I have discovered something totally new (as I have with EAI over the last year or so). I have an excellent memory for music and it becomes familiar very quickly. This has some good effects, but mostly I damn my memory because it takes away from the sheer enjoyment of music. I suspect that this is what keeps me back as a musician myself-besides my current lack of time. Familiarity quickly diminishes the power of music, makes it dead to me quickly-UNLESS I do as I described above. That is hard to do with my playing. I quickly become bored and struggle to do something else. Often I put down my horn and play months later-in which time I have recharged. I have not touched my guitar in way too long-over a year. So I have been pulling out albums lately I have not played in a while (Brötzmann, Ayler, McPhee, Shepp, Saunders, Late Coltrane, etc) and realizing how much I have NOT listened to these albums. It is either THAT or that I have forgotten having heard what I am now hearing in the music- how diverse it is, all the various corners, etc. I realized really that I am just hearing the music again. I am for a moment turning off my “knowledge” and truly being lucid, awake, alive to the music. We all think we know so much about all this music, because we all listen sooooo much, collect sooooo many albums, but really I wonder how much we are all listening? How much of this shit is just talk? I say this as someone who has spent a lot of time intently listening to music, not as a lay listener. I really mean, among all us here-how often honestly are we really there, and not tuning out, or just jotting down landmarks for an album review? Jared

Anthony Braxton's albums on arista

Great album. Cheesy cover.

I took windows media player off my computer so I can't check the link. I have some recordings with bix doing it, and they are the closest to what I have heard. Scratch that coleman hawkins statement. I mixed them up for whatever strange neurological reason. That is certainly the right track. I will have to see if the bix recordings I have are of the Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra. I think they are. Jared

A long long time ago I heard a very old recording of Three Blind Mice. It was an amazing rendition of the song. Very repetitive, almost minimalistic, with short solos hovering above the melody. It was an old recording. The closest recording I have found to it was a few Coleman Hawkins renditions, but those recordings were similar in that they were probably the same date. That is where the similarities end. This was such an interesting recording that it was almost avant-garde-though it was recorded way before any avant-garde recordings I know of, even before Tristano's work. Can anyone help me on this one? Jared

Could that have been: Also to be found at: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/music/jazzb.html Three blind mice. PERFORMERS: Art Blakey, drums, with Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Curtis Fuller,trombone ; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone ; Cedar Walton, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass. DOUGLASS COMPACT DISC CX10940 v.1+ .2 I also recall James Blood Ulmer playing with the tune on "Are You Glad to Be in America?" -- that fits your "rough" description, but not "obviously a very old recording." That sounds very cool but I don't think that was it. This was a very dated recording. Sounded like a very very early recording which is why it was so interesting. I may start another thread about this. Jared

I always thought Anthony Braxton's thing was to just play his thing despite the constraints, which is why on so many standards he DOES go over. Nate I know you know this already. Are you saying that he SOUNDS more lost than usual? It is odd that they would put such poorly performed material in the "parker project" unless what is considered poorly performed was intentional. I will have to do a closer listen to this album-I have not really combed it at all. I will say that upon my listen I really was not drawn to playing it often (I may have played it twice, never paying too much attention to it), not because it was bad but just that there is so much other AB I would rather listen to. I think his playing of standards is much like having a conversation with him. He is not going to necessarily stick to the subject or even answer your question, but what he does say is fascinating. Which makes him maybe a little eccentric and self-absorbed. But what a mind to be absorbed in! Jared PS doing transcriptions of Braxton would be totally frustrating/annoying and fascinating at the same time.

I found jazz via the Vassar College Radio station in Poughkeepsie NY. I listened to the station because they played all kinds of stimulating music. One night they played a whole lotta jazz. Among what most caught my ear that night (which I had recorded on a cassette tape and played over and over again) was a freely improvised piece of music from Anthony Braxton (on the first or second "in the tradition" album). Also there was the coolest rendition of three blind mice, an obviously very old recording, that was totally out of this world. I still have yet to find that recording. It was very rough, with a repeating of the melody over and over again, almost in minimalist fasion, with a few soloists doing incredible things in those shorts little spaces-it was almost avant-garde. I have heard many renditions of that song over the years but nothing comes close to this version. Anyway I was a teen and changed forever. I would eventually search out all corners of jazz. I still love Anthony Braxton's work. But I really dig the whole genre (with the exception of fusion--need to give this subgenre more of a chance). Jared

I really don't like thinking about a world without jazz. But I listen to a lot of different music. Everything from Classical music to rock to old country-anything but most of what is on the radio!

We'll see how you feel about it in July. (laughing) yeah, the cost of avoiding freezing temps. But I I'll have the last laugh if we compare home mortgages!

Snow? Oh, I think I have read about that stuff. God, it's freezing here today. I think the high will only get to 65 degrees F. Brrrrrrrrr........ From Tucson, Jared

Yes, beautiful Tucson. Palm=Phoenix canariensis cactus= Opuntia ficus-indica flowering shrub=Cassia artemesioides (now classified as a Senna) heres another version of that photo:

This thread makes me want to go back and listen to stuff I haven't heard in a while. I just browsed quickly but did anyone mention Anthony Braxton? There is a giant heap of music there to check out and not all of it is just free blowin' sessions (not that I mind free blowin' sessions). Did you get the Ayler box set that is newly out? That is some amazing stuff! Also check out Tony Williams album Lifetime (not the band) on blue note-especially the first tune is a quieter out piece. Some other recs: Frank Lowe: Black Beings John Zorn: Masada live in Sevilla 2000 Lennie Tristano: intuition (the earliest recorded free jazz I know of, I think already mentioned) Usually his stuff is pretty in, I wanted to make sure you got THIS particular album. The Chronological Classics Lennie Tristano 1947-1951 also has those free jazz recordings. Charles Gayle: Touchin on Trane Clifford Thornton: Freedom and Unity (find at Atavistic.com) Joe Morris: start with Underthru. He is a kind of "in" sounding out musician. Very smart music! Willem Breuker Kollektief In Holland (find this at Cadence records) The Ganelin Trio: russian free jazz. Try Con Affetto Joseph McPhee: Nation Time Manfred Schoof: European Echos If you need help finding any of this stuff ask me I will send you in the right place. If you want more recs. I can spew recs all day long! Jared

Show us your beautiful children. This is Jaya, my almost 3 year old. She is already a book worm and music freak. Favorite non-kid music: Coltrane-the village vanguard recordings which interestingly enough I played a lot when she was in utero. Favorite book: Frog and Toad are Friends.

referring to the president in office now: "He was born on third base and think he hit a triple." and... "He's all hat and no cattle."

this is becoming a texan sayings thread. Here is a folksy asian-american immigrant saying that always cracked me up: "likea hot monkey love"

.....like a one-legged rockette. ....dumb as a box o' dirt.

I really like A View From the Window and agree with most of what is said of the above. I have yet to really check out a lot of the "lowercase" idiom. I appreciate the recs. Joe, elaborate on Matt Davis?

I love Roy Campbell. My recs: Ethnic Stew New Kingdom Communion La Tierra del Fuego

I will be giving some reactions to some EAI albums I have been listening to: Axel Dörner/Kevin Drumm erstwhile 015 personnel: Axel Dörner: trumpet Kevin Drumm: guitar, electronics Axel Dörner is quickly becoming one of my new favorite voices in EAI. His vocabulary is very similar to Ami Yoshida. However in the recordings I have heard of the two, Dörner is more successful than Yoshida at becoming part of the music as a whole (just my opinion). At the beginning of this album Dörner starts off with his wispy thuds in front of Drumm's short lived drone. As the album starts off I actually find Drumm's playing a bit much. I prefer it when he sticks to one voice for a little longer than he did starting off this album. His playing comes off as a little A.D.D. There are times when his spasmotic tinkering swamps Dörner. I find it more interesting when he sticks to something rather than just throwing out a lot of undigestible attacks. But as the album progresses they seem to accomplish some sort of unity, making exchanges of statements. Or maybe I got accustomed to the short-lived statements by each musician. At any rate they seem to work together much better especially about 10 minutes into the first track. Drumm also starts to modulate into his noisier statments rather than just barging in which seems to work better in this recording. He also begins to make statements on the guitar that are somewhat faded, some which will come to the surface and others that stay in the background-sort of like the photo on the cover of the album, a sign with one very highly contrasted stencil, with the other side being faded. His guitar playing is very different from what I have heard on most EAI albums. It is refreshing. There is a wide spectrum of volume on this album. If you listen to it with a lot of background noise some of the more quiet parts of the album will get lost without turning the volume way up. Driving to work I could not hear these parts of the album well. When I got home I listened again and there was a lot of stuff going on that the traffic noise drowned out. I particulary like a few sections where it seems Axel Dörner sprays out fine thin threads out into blackness. There is also some really great but unfortunately undescribable guitar work in some of those silent passages. In general I really like this album and have been playing it a lot since I got it. I am especially looking forward to hearing more from Dörner. I am familiar with Drumm from the BoxMedia label. His work on this album is much more strongly stated than I have heard before. It is almost if not already out of print. So if you want to hear it you better hurry and get it. Otherwise you will have to beg Abbey to reissue it and wait a while.

I love the beach boys. Just wanted to say that.

I would never frown on a man who champions Andrew Hill!