ep1str0phy

Hi, Adam - sorry I missed this! Quite anxious about the coming week, but I'm hoping that the heightened state of preparedness means that the worst stretch of danger is over. Let's absolutely connect on FB (if you need help finding me, just DM me). There is a story to be told about everything that has transpired in the past few weeks, but I take some heart in knowing that the music community has done a tremendous job of taking care of its own. Bobby and Roper will land on their feet - I think it's just a matter of triage right now, on top of the incalculable personal loss.

I meant to post this in Bobby and Roper's thread, but I might as well add here- This is a master list of active resources and gofundmes related to the fires. If anyone wishes to help musicians who have been affected, this is a good resource: Support The Music Community - Fire Loss Funding

Adam, that was my post! I'm so glad it's making the rounds. I hope you and your home stay safe. In the past few days, I've had countless conversations about the state of things in LA. There are demographic, cultural, and optical factors at play that are just depressing. But the outpouring of support in the midst of this crisis has been truly astounding.

On top of the personal loss, the destruction of all that vinyl is devastating. On a brighter note, the sheer volume of people who have reached out with offers of aid is truly humbling. Music people take care of music people. It's a truly beautiful thing.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, kind words, and consideration! Lest it go unsaid, I'm happy for others to post any and all fundraisers for other musicians. It's an extremely chaotic situation. To those not attuned to the situation, Altadena was a musicians' haven of sorts. According to my understanding, about half of the area was burned down. The personal loss is immense, and we also lost a tremendous amount of history. Bobby's home alone was a storehouse for a lot of things that the jazz and creative music worlds will sorely miss. Any and all help is appreciated. As far as I can tell, basically all of the fundraisers have been run by friends and other musicians. Only hands can wash hands, etc. If you're in or near LA right now, please stay safe. And much love to everyone.

Hello, all- (Apologies in advance if this thread seems inappropriate for the artists subforum) Long story short, Bobby Bradford and William Roper - two LA creative musicians whom you may be familiar with - recently lost their homes in the 2025 LA wildfires. About half of Altadena was destroyed, and countless musicians were affected. Bobby actually lost his horns, escaping only with the clothes on his back. We have started two (official) fundraisers to help the aforementioned gentlemen get back on their feet. Contributions are of course extremely welcome, but any help spreading the word, etc., would be hugely appreciated. Bobby: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bobby-bradford-rebuild-after-wildfire Roper: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-william-roper-rebuild-after-wildfire All the best, K/ep1str0phy

I was just about to post this- I enjoy this recording. W/regard to your point - although I think that Barron acquits himself well, it also sounds like there's a bit of a remove there. Barron very much strikes me as a post-bop cat who was fluid enough to hang with open structures. But Cecil's music is rooted in motivic interplay (e.g., the unit structures thing), which almost necessitated the invention of a new idiom on multiple instruments. It's the fine line that separates Jimmy Lyons from Ken McIntyre or, speaking in broader terms, Andrew Cyrille from, say, J.C. Moses. Speaking in pure hypotheticals, this is the kind of free idiom that I can see McLean getting close to. Late Coltrane had a constant (if not static) rhythmic engine, which is at odds with the momentum-oriented playing that McLean excelled at. I can imagine McLean slotting into the Lyons role well, especially if supported by a drummer as literate as Cyrille.

Hello, all- I figure that this one may be of interest - our mutual friend Alex Hawkins is going to be visiting the Bay Area next week. We'll be playing some of my compositions + free improvisations, and the bands are fantastic. In the off chance that some O board longtimers are out west, it might be worth the visit. Hits: • Monday, October 14, 2pm, Palo Alto, CA // at Earthwise (600 EAST MEADOW DRIVE Palo Alto, CA 94304) // w/Jenny Scheinman and co. // Reservations HERE • Tuesday, October 15, 7pm, San Francisco CA // Jazz at the Make-Out: Alexander Hawkins (UK), Low Bleeds (3225 22nd Street, SF, CA) // No Cover/Donations Accepted • Thursday, October 17, 8pm, Berkeley, CA // Alexander Hawkins Quartet, Bruce Ackley Solo at Tom's Place (3111 Deakin Street, Berkeley, CA) // Donations Accepted The band features Lisa Mezacappa, Jordan Glenn (Fred Frith Trio; 10/14 and 10/15 only), and Donald Robinson (10/17). We'll be tackling some a handful of old standbys, including music from our recent record with Tatsu Aoki and Michael Zerang: https://sluchaj.bandcamp.com/album/what-else-is-there

To be fair, I think that Jackie's experiments with free tempo music were earnest and purposeful. I just think that there was disconnect between how he understood things like harmony and forward motion and how the more naturalistic free players dealt with those concepts. My sense is that there were plenty of players who understood free music on some level but did not play it - e.g., openminded people like Gerald Wilson. Then there were players who could play in more open idioms, but whose approaches were somewhat incompatible with pure free playing - e.g., McLean, Dennis Charles, Bill Barron, etc. Then there were guys who were capable free players but probably didn't want anything to do with the music in a longterm sense - e.g., Rahsaan, Art Taylor, and so on.

Whoa - my initial post was from 17 years ago. Mercifully, all of this stuff is now readily available. The landscape for digital media completely changed in the interim between then and now.

A (possibly) bizarre post, but most certainly of interest - this is essentially a reunion show for the One Step Beyond band. Of particular note is that Jackie isn't even on this recording. According to the YouTube comments, he was in a car accident. James Spaulding subs. Woody Shaw and Ron Carter also feature, with Moncur, Hutcherson, and Williams returning. The lack of McLean robs this music of some necessary surrealism, but Spaulding acquits himself well. The heads are a little shambolic, and "Frankenstein" in particular sounds like it was performed with only minimal rehearsal. Overall, however, the music is excellent. Tony and Ron are playing in full-on maximalist/VSOP mode, but it works here. Moncur sounds like his old self, Hutcherson is appropriately lyrical, and Shaw offers a bit of vintage fire. I was at an open air gig last Saturday where the bandleader had us play "Ghost Town" off of lead sheets. It was not great. What I came to realize - and this was confirmed by a quick spin of the record later that day - is that the One Step Beyond music is largely very "in." It's all modal structures with few hairy edges. The abstraction is derived from the band's interplay and the energy of the performances. I guess I had misremembered things. When McLean did veer into actual free jazz later in his Blue Note tenure, the music lost some of its identity. To me, this both (a) reconfirms the primacy of that stretch from Let Freedom Ring to '65 or so, which is truly unique in character, and (b) validates the notion that the free jazz music of the '60s wasn't just something you could slump into, regardless of good intentions.

Ted is a fantastic bandleader/keyboardist, too, for anyone who doesn't know. Some of the most insightful Dolphy stories I've heard come from Sunny Murray. (I head the stories secondhand, relayed to me by the great Bay Area saxophonist David Boyce.) I can only paraphrase what I was told, but apparently Dolphy was occasionally in danger of physical attack. The hulking Murray, who was a Golden Gloves winner, sometimes had to serve as his bodyguard. Murray also characterized Dolphy's living conditions as very spare - a bed and some protein. IIRC George Russell said more or less the same thing.

It's Bobby Bradford's birthday today - he turns 90. I'm certain that his music means plenty to everyone on this board. Bobby's longevity - and his continued creative excellence - more than merits celebration. (I've had the good fortune to know and play with Bobby for a number of years now, and he's one of the sharpest and most astute musicians I've ever met - and a deeply kind, generous, and funny guy.) In recognition of the moment, I thought I'd paraphrase an anecdote that Bobby always tells me to share (I'm recounting this from memory, so apologies for any minor inaccuracies) - Ornette's free jazz quartet only convened twice. Any information to the contrary is apocryphal. The second occasion was a performance in the midwest. The band was comprised of Ornette, Steve Lacy, Bobby, Don Cherry, Jimmy Garrison, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins, and Ed Blackwell. The performance never happened. It was advertised as a "Free Jazz" concert (read: Free Jazz, like Free Chicken Nuggets, rather than "Free Jazz"), which fostered confusion among the audience. The band was customarily paid upfront for engagements of that nature, and the miscommunication about the advertising caused some issues with the promoter. Long story short, the band never took the stage and they went straight home. Subsequent articles played up the alleged "free jazz performance" as a source of controversy, but it was all pantomime on the part of the local music media. There was no controversy because the music never happened. An amusing wrinkle: Ed Blackwell didn't have drums for this gig. When he arrived at the airport, all he had were rhythm logs. (He played these on Shepp's The Magic of Ju-Ju.) Ornette was livid. Someone - whether the promoter, Ornette's manager, or whomever - called ahead to see if any local drummers were willing to lend Blackwell a kit. When the band arrived for the gig, three different drummers were willing to lend their gear. It was an honor to have those cats in town.

Sorry to hear this. I love her playing. Not only was she a great improviser in a vacuum, but she helped to establish the vernacular of piano playing in free music. I'd be hard pressed to find another player of her generation who was so deft at integrating into so many different stylistic environments. Her duo records are incredible, especially the recital with Louis Moholo-Moholo. That album should be required listening for anyone who wishes to understand how traditionalist idiomatic conceits can coexist with total free improvisation. They play a ton of tunes, but the composed content never gets in the way of the abstraction (and vice versa). You have to cherish the masters while they're still around.

I find this comparison fascinating. As someone who comes from a blues background, repetitive riffage is just part of the idiom. There isn't that much separating Grant Green from a Buddy Guy or Albert King. Green is only exceptional in that he's exercising these techniques in a more conventional jazz context.