king ubu

Years before? Coltrane's "real" career was about a dozen years long ... in late 1955 he joined Miles with whom he played the following year, 1957 was a major watershed year (with the Monk gig probably the decisive moment), 1958 was the return to Miles ("Milestones", and that great date with "Love for Sale") ... Coltrane's music and his playing evolved amazingly fast and quick, took new turns ... might well be that "Giant Steps" is kind of a summary of that period ... but it's the Prestige stuff where you can hear it evolve, where you can hear how Trane gets more and more focused (after all he does sound focused already on plenty of the 1956 dates ... the album with Dameron is the prime example there, dig that wonderful sound!) and strides in big steps towards the fine things that would follow ... kind of, if you want, from his own sax style to his own music. Much of it is about getting there, being there is just a quick stop for anyone with a curious mind, after that it's on to the next mark or level or whatever ... pursuance, resolution, serenity ... and to bring things into perspective, after all, it took Coltrane a while to get it down with Impulse ... not to put down "Ballads" or the albums with Hartman and Ellington, they're wonderful, but there are only a few glimpses of that constantly moving spirit that shines up very much so on the live recordings from the Village Vanguard ... sure, there's the wonderful and mellow "Coltrane", some grand studio material on "Live at Birdland" (Alabama!), but it's only with "Crescent" that he made a studio album that's of one as are the best on Prestige ("Soultrane"!) and Atlantic. Also to get the full story you'll need the live material, too ... the Carnegie Hall concert w/Monk (also from 1957 of course), the 1960 tour with Miles that's been mentioned several times, the NYC airchecks with Dolphy, the European tours of the early sixties and more ... it kinda all falls together, it was such a short and intense period of work, to split it up too much into different periods makes little sense in the end, though of course we all do that constantly, to make our lives easier ... but with Coltrane, I really wouldn't want to do anything other than try and wrap around my mind about all of it, the entirety of his legacy (and yes, of course my mind is threatening to burst, throbbing constantly ...)

OK, now I see that the Vee Jay was issued with a Buddy DeFranco LP, and then again with a whole set of alternates. So I actually have what was issued in the 70s under Yusef's name as Contemplation - which was also reissued as standalone CD, but no alternates. Wondering if those alternates are worth re-purchasing. It's been a while, need to listen again ... There's a third with Ricky Ford. But somehow I never really liked those all that much, not even 'teefski and Vonski. There seems to be a good quartet disc from the same period that I've meant to check out for some time ... anyone knows it? As for prime late Lateef, I very much love the 2005 2CD set with the Belmondo Brothers! www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000A0HG52/1388061844

Lambert gives the names for one of the tunes ... there's a Gildo Mahones trio track and then one or two with LH&B joining them. And in the end, there's Lambert fooling around with an electric keyboard live in the studio. Great stuff! I think it's only one or two tunes early on where the singers are unknown/unnamed.

Great stuff, Chris - many thanks for sharing! :tup

I'm still eyeing it ... I think I want it too, eventually!

Savoy, Prestige, Riverside, Argo, Verve ... can't go wrong! Add the Adderley sextet, the Vee Jay (led by Louis Hayes, there's an one-fer with bonus tracks), abd the Impulse albums, too ... he rarely went "out" for good, you'll get plenty of unusual sounds though, such as gongs, finger cymbals, the argol, the rebab, and of course some glorious oboe (favourite: "Trouble in Mind" on "Cannonball in Europe!" - just 'teef & rhythm). Had I to pick one, it might be "Live at Pep's", great Lateef, poised Richard Williams (now there's an unsung musician) and a great rhythm section led by Mike Nock.

merry krismas indeed ... just returned from the first of two consecutive nights of eating, drinking, tearing open gifts, tearing open old wounds, discuss stuff that's usually snuck tightly beneath the surface ... family stuff, as usual ... actually it went along more relaxed than ever before, so I'm cool (and having some drinks to cool and some Dylan to cap things off ... finally got the Self Portrait box, dang!) ... tomorrow should be more relaxed anyway (my folks, tonight was mère ubu's folks, they sure iz krazy!)

There's a documentary film about him by a couple of Swiss guys, "Brother Yusef", that i found very good: http://www.swissfilms.ch/en/film_search/filmdetails/-/id_film/2146532280 I really hate myself for not having been aware of his concert at Cully Jazz Festival in 2006 (with the Belmondo bros) - that was a helluva concert and I wasn't there. The one time I saw him - with Archie Shepp in Nov. 2012 - he didn't seem to bother too much (and Shepp, well, he was being Shepp ... they had a *great* rhythm section backing them though, with the late Mulgrew Miller, Reggie Workman and reggae drummer supreme Hamid Drake).

I got one coming from England ... not matter how long it takes, it's worth the wait!

You need a new cup I'm afraid that won't do the trick I've tried since the 1960s and it never really worked for me. Hard for me to wrap around my mind about that ... his playing is very touching and direct to me. Straight to the heart of it (and of me, too). But vive la différence and all that ...

You need a new cup

might help to buy a boombox instead

http://www.gazettenet.com/home/9933070-95/yusef-lateef-grammy-winning-musician-composer-dies-at-93

Oh dammit no... no, no, no! This is too sad. I love Lateef's music, have done so since my early teens ... glad I saw him live, at least once. r.i.p. - eternal thanks for the great music

Yeah, seems they translated the digipack and "can" boxes into cardboard sleeves. The original edition has a hardcover book, no idea if the new one has, too ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heavyweight-Champion--Complete-Atlantic-Recordi/dp/B00E5R5TAA/

Enjoying this one an awful lot! Sound isn't great, on the second disc (the Hat album) it's pretty dull really, but show me anything like "Hymn of the Dragon Kings" ... as a whole, this box kinda makes me compare it to the Cleveland tapes in the big Ayler box ... sub-par sound, but some terrific stuff happening and us being allowed to be the fly on the wall of some noisy and funky spots. Playing disc four now, I notice the line-up given is probably not accuarte, at least for #1-2. There's only one horn player there, I think, McPhee, on tenor (on "Nation Time" and in the first solo on "Untitled") and on trumpet (second solo on "Untitled"). Tyrone Crabb, the bass player, announces the band at the close of "Untitled", and mentions but McPhee (sayting "trumpet" only), Mike Kull (organ) and Bruce Thompson (drums), in addition to himself. So the line-up given for disc four is the one for #3-6 only. For #1-2 it most likely is: Joe McPhee, tenor sax, trumpet Mike Kull, organ Tyrone Crabb, bass Bruce Thompson, drums Too bad such errors happen on such sets ... this is your typical failing major label quality control, it would seem, not a thing to happen with enthusiasts at work.

Okay ... that's about when I saw him, too - Circulasione Totale Orchestra with a wonderful Bobby Bradford guesting ... Paal Nilssen-Love the second drummer, if I'm not mistaken. Good concert! Going from memory, I'm not sure I've seen him any other time ... don't think so. Would love to catch him in a small combo ... in duo with Irene Schweizer for instance, or with Alexander Hawkins (the CD on Ogun is mighty good!)

Doesn't he play the US? Would sure be nice to catch some oral history like stuff from the few survivors ... but this book, and even more so the tapes, really open up a whole new vista on ZA jazz, I think! Very, very glad to have it all!

If harmonic interest is what you want, the first choice from that general group of players probably would be Lennie Niehaus. Hey, Andre Hodeir thought that, so it must be true. BTW, Niehaus (b. 1929) is still with us. As stated in post #23 above Btw, my first notion of Niehaus came via these: Took me quite a while to realize this guy was a real musician and not just some teacher or clinician ...

Damn, still don't have it ... how would it compare to "Sea Breeze" on Fledg'ling?

Got my copy of the book a few days ago - marvellous! Only flipped through so far, there's some stuff to read, too ... hopefully I'll fnd the time to do so in the next few days. There's also a double page in the January issue of The Wire - a most positive review of the book and the tapes already up at electricjive.

Same as the Mingus then, which also holds the same (or nearly same) booklet.

Thanks a lot! Found this on de la Fuente: http://www.muziekencyclopedie.nl/action/entry/Leo+de+la+Fuente

One that's not been mentioned at all so far, and that I grew to like an awful lot: Black Pearls ... it's dark, it's brooding, it might sound meandering at spots ... but it's Trane on his journey and he's destined and in charge, I think: "Soultrane" and some others aren't "jams" at all to my ears (nor is the debut "Coltrane", which sounds very well thought out - and those thoughts were implemented well, too!) ... this one might be, but it's also - to me - something of a late 50s counterpart to, say "One Down, One Up" (or the oft-mentioned Paris concert w/Miles from 1960) - you get Coltrane in full action stretching it and taking it to the limints. There's nothing easy about "Black Pearls".