Simon Weil

It might have been Deep. Or other stuff. He runs his own list and website, book out...Speaking for myself, I thought it would get worse and didn't post from around then for a while. Dunno... Simon Weil

He turns up on rec.music.bluenote occasionally (I think yesterday, for example). Simon Weil

The BNboard just got too successful - It became really a premier place to post on the net - so that, like Jim says, it needed more moderation to remain healthy. It also, doubtless, proliferated well beyond Bluenote's initial intent - which was to market their product. From the fan's perspective this was good and excellent. But what is good an excellent to a fan ain't necessarily good and excellent to a record company executive. Could be largely a waste of corporate time. I mean, why employ more moderators to enforce board standards if the board is largely talking about non-Bluenote related things? To me that's the hard, boring, financially-based reality of it. So, yes, in that narrow sense, we killed the bluenote board. There was plenty of nasty stuff. And it never should have been there. But, the reality is that, without moderation, all Jazz discussion groups suffer from destructive people and/or postings. By the time Bluenote pulled the plug, it had clearly gone too far there. But one still has to deal with the reality of the necessity of moderation on Jazz groups. To me, bluenote just lost interest in that board. When they pulled Bo and replaced him with, well nobody really, the writing was on the wall. And it was for the board in general. I just have no interest in Bluenote Europe's board at all. Simon Weil

I think Tim Berne tried for a long time to put this out on Screwgun (his record label). He did put out Hemphill's Blue Boye. But, in the end, whoever owns the masters turned him down. He was really torn up about it apparently, because, indeed Hemphill was absolutely central to him coming into the music. I think (from memory) Berne went to Anthony Braxton for a lesson - who put him onto Hemphill. And then Hemphill was basically Berne's "master" while he was growing up Jazzwise. Berne says a lot of it wasn't the music, the lessons were sort of about everything. I think he found Hemphill an inspiring figure in all sorts of ways. Hemphill has this elegant blues vibe and an avant-garde sensibility to go with it. In a way, I see him the tradition of "lighter" blues players like Johnny Hodges than the more full-throated roar of r+b derived guys. He seemed like a true intellectual. Like the path not taken, in that respect, in Jazz. Simon Weil

Sounds like a bumper sticker or T-Shirt or something. I keep hearing that song "I fought the law and the law won". Simon Weil

I bought _People in Sorrow_ as a Nessa LP off Impetus years and years ago, before they moved. I think they were part of the (long-defunct) Impetus magazine (Jazz going into Avant anything music). On the basis of what they were, I do doubt they are rip-off artists. The whole vibe just seemed to have been "for the music". Anyway, this appears to be the contact info (from Ken Hyder's Discographical page): 10 High Street, Skigersta, Ness, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, HS2 0TS, Scotland Tel 01851 810809 or 01279 430201 (Numbers for UK dialing, also 01851810808) Impetusrecs@aol.com If necessary, I can always try ringing them from the UK. Simon Weil

Here's a different aspect. The whole thing you get with "the sublime" in Romantic thought is to do with awe, vastness, wonder. But there's also a thing to do with extreme emotions in there - of terror, pain and fear. And, more particularly there's an aspect of violence of emotion. Not, necessarily, of violent emotion, note - but of extremely intense bursts of emotion. Both these things, violence and emotion, create problems in the context of Afro-American expression, because of the stereotype of blacks and violent and emotional, as they don't for art produced by other peoples. So, in my opinion, you can get these things in Afro-American art but you have a real problem articulating that fact. Because immediately you start talking about them, people start thinking about that stereotype of blacks as uncontrolled, emotional and violent - and it just blocks them out from thinking any further. So, I'm quite convinced that Coltrane is a great artist (and I hear his music as controlled) in these final years. But I think the nature of the content of his art in these final years - of its closeness in content to "the sublime" in Romantic art produces real difficulties for its appreciation - because people worry that in talking about emotion and violence they are getting too close to the racial stereotype for comfort. It's like a thing that cannot be said or a zone that cannot be got into. But the fact is Coltrane's later music is like that, it is great, and these things are part of the reason why. And talking about them helps people to understand the music, IMHO. Simon Weil

Oh, I agree. But truth can be a terrible thing. Simon Weil Maybe the fact that it indeed CAN be terrible makes it such a strong emotional experience to listen to (late) Trane? For me, listening to Coltrane's music - moreso for the later, say, beginning with "Crescent" - has something very personnal, something very moving, emotional. "Truth" is certainly a rather good word in this context, "spirituality" would be another - and this then is a quality I perceive very strongly, although I do not consider myself a person open for spiritual things and experiences, usually. ubu I think he's getting in a zone a bit like "the sublime" in Romanticism (particularly I'm thinking about Romantic painting) as for example in: [High Force or Fall of Tees by JMW Turner] Kind of like "the sublime" coming out of the Afro-American tradition. Simon Weil

Oh, I agree. But truth can be a terrible thing. Simon Weil

I was trying to encapsulate some aspects of late Coltrane for myself and one key word that came up was awe. This is awesome music with the awesome nature front and centre. And, in fact, if you look up awe in the dictionary (or my dictionary) it says "reverential fear or wonder". So there you are... And I do think there is something fearsome about Coltrane's later music, which is not to say that it's not Great, because I do think it's Great. But it's definitely not cuddly. Incidentally, if you google "Coltrane awe", you come up with a hell of a lot of entries, by no means all for this later period. So the awe thing is not an original thought. Though the underlining of the fearsome aspect is. That was just part of his sensibility, in my opinion. Simon Weil

I always assumed they were trying to tell you Albert's beard was the New Grass...Or something. It did seem like a jolly weird cover. A cynical view might be that someone was saying that Albert had it all upside down...Or maybe the world was upside down. Or maybe the designer was from Australia... Simon Weil

I like it too, though I'm hard pressed to see why. It's kind of patchy, but it has a nice vibe. "Quite good", I guess, is how I see it. There's lots of little things that add up - the solo and little arrangement on track 1, the cod-calypso of New Ghosts, the authentic r&b... I agree with Lon that it seems a development of Love Cry. Simon Weil

I wouldn't really call them children. It's a specific, adult mode of behavior that you get on internet (or usenet) discussion groups. There's a particular sort of poster who makes intrusive aggression against others part of their online persona. That is they, partly, come online to spit on people. These are internet "characters" of a certain sort and you always end up paying for them, because by accepting them you effectively accept spitting on people. Quite often they can have quite interesting angles on Jazz (I can think of a few examples) - which makes it hard to decide to get rid of them. They'll always have a few supporters because of it. But really you have to set that against the constant dragging threads down into the mud - which these guys do, and which tends to set the tone of a group. If I were a moderator, I would get rid of the worst offenders. Simon Weil

Albert Ayler: His Life and Music by Jeff Schwartz Albert Ayler website And a very good one.... I may have an article on Ayler coming up at some point. Simon Weil

Yeah, I like Tabnik too. There's something I find quite addictive about his playing. I have "In the Moment" and it is good. Tabnik and a lot of other, I guess you'd call them, Tristano-schoolites, are on New Artists Records. Perhaps this is a Tristano School record label. I've got a sampler of their stuff: "Notes From New York". It's fun - might be a way in for the curious. New Artists Records Simon Weil

That is a lovely movie. Simon Weil

Happy Birthday to the man who made a million (?) and may he do so again. Simon Weil

Happy Birthday to the man who gives politics a (fairly) good name. Simon Weil

All of those early records of the AEOC (or related) have something special about them, but, for me, People in Sorrow has always stood out as 'great'. I've got a LP copy on Nessa and just bought the Pathe Masters one. It just has that weight. Simon Weil

The general view seems to be that Proper boxes have sound that varies with source material. It's generally alright if you're not an audiophile (I'm not). I have the Bechet, Navarro and Hawkins. I think the Navarro is the best - for me an outstanding box. The Bechet and Hawkins I have as resources to listen to bits. The Lester Young I don't have, but won a Jazz Journal record of the year. It's supposed to be very good. Tune selection is pretty good to good on Proper (in my experience). Simon Weil

Agree w/you on that. I think he gives 1965--a huge year in the Coltrane canon--all of 4 pages. And the 1961 VV sessions w/Dolphy hardly get mentioned at all. Curious omissions in an otherwise fairly solid book. Porter's book is a lot better than "fairly solid" IMHO. Loads of good stuff in there. It is soundly written and his style fits your description, but in terms of Coltrane scholarship, it's a Giant Step (Sorry, couldn't resist). It's very hard to write about Coltrane's 65-67 era, just as it is to write about Ayler. Just not being able to tie things down musically (because they went outside standard musicological zones) leaves you up in the air. In one respect, "fairly solid" is a good description of Porter, in that he lacks (IMHO) a certain level of imagination. This allows him to avoid "filling in the gaps" with kind of unabased emotional response - which provides the soundless of the book, but it also means that certain sorts of poetic insight are denied him. Maybe that's what the 65-67 period requires, poetic insight. Simon Weil

I found Infinity used for about $12, about 11 years ago and I like it. But I am a fan of Alice Coltrane and I like her string arrangements. I've got Journey into Satchi(etc etc) and like it very much. But I do think she has a tendency to gloop. Going Home is heading that way, but I still like it. Basically it's (as I read it) her conception of heavy spiritual beauty. I don't think the gloop resides in her string arrangments, but is part of her aesthetic. But one person's gloop is another's spiritual ecstacy. Simon Weil

I have both Cosmic Music (MVJC-19141) and Infinity (MVJC-19159). Infinity is the one with overdubbed strings. I found it gloopy and have only listened to it once. Cosmic Music isn't dubbed. It's a good record, although not in the same league as (say) Meditations. The tracks without Coltrane are not negligible. I got mine from a Japanese dealer through Gemm for ca $20. Simon Weil

I am aware of that, Guy. I just wanted to point out that there is a certain element of "Waiting for Godot " with Wynton, which I myself have suffered from - and that that attaches to a lot of things he does. I was making a general point, but I do also have intuition (bordering on certainty) that Redman won't be able to buck the trend. Simon Weil

In my opinion, Wynton has the knack of creating expectations in his audience. I don't think it's a conscious thing, rather I think it's a character trait. This goes way back to his days as a "Young Lion" - i.e as a promising young player - someone of whom great things were expected. What he's managed to do, all throughout his career, is keep his audience focused on the future. Even while his output has been patchy, he still manages to retain that aura of expectation - both about specific projects and his career in general. He plays on people's willingness to believe. In my opinion the guy is the master of false hope. Simon Weil