king ubu

I was uhm... sort of carried away, it seems! Apologies! But still I don't consider VAT a valuable instrument of politics, really. It's just a lame excuse...

which should answer your question I guess. Cheers, Tjobbe ← Thanks! The Basie would be a steal, but... I just decided against getting it *now* - I hope JPC has the sets for a while! 16% and rising, my God! And now with the "grosse Koalition" and Stoiber sabotaging everything, they will probably raise it to 50% in order to be able to skip any necessary reforms... and it's such an utterly *fair* form of paying taxes, istn't it? First of all it's clear to everybody why and what for one pays it, and second - and that's the best part of it - everybody pays the same amount. That's what I call leninist-trotzkist!

Do they deduct "Mehrwertsteuer" for foreign orders? Amazon does - it's 12% or something similarly crazy, and the mad(wo)men you just elected plan to raise it even higher!

Well, I wouldn't like having to kill one... so far either the cat brought it in dead and ate it up (most of it, that is...), or she brings them in and looses interest. We're quite used to catching mice by now, so we catch them and bring them back outside (where probably a few minutes later the cat will finish them off... but still, at least I don't have to do it).

Big fan of that Distel package here! (Did you read here that I, too, am by now in possession of all the JiP, except for the latest Django, which I still need?) Sounds like you'll have fun in Strasbourg! Have two or three 1/4 on me!

Has anyone heard the Joe Giardullo? Playing this one (just picked it up) Sounds pretty good! Some sonic problems on track 2 or 3, but the music is cool.

I see them pretty often in secondhand shops at half that price. Did not check the official price at the big stores here... ← And I just was in that store which has them, and they're not 50 but 80 to 85€!!! Well, they also had "No Material" (Ginger Baker, Brötzelmeister, Sonny Sharrock, Nicky Skopelitis and Jan Kazda) for 10€

As far as I know, there are only these two studio LPs by the full quintet. The Tokyo one has Kronberg missing already (and isn't that a live LP, anyway?). I think the latest live recording I've heard that still is in the NJR "bag" is from 1966 - but then I have only 3 tunes, all together, from 1966 onwards. Only one of these 3 is in the collective mode, the others are more straight. Thanks for letting me know about this music, in the first place!

Don't forget to look for the albums at the FNAC in central Strasbourg! They should have all these Francis/Schwarz sets at better prices than the Harmonia Mundi stores. Wish I could join you for a choucroute dinner at one of the riverside winstubs! Strasbourg is a beautiful city! ← What's a good prize for these sets, brownie? I've seen them here, but at minimum 50€...

Happy birthday, Chris! And echoes of all the warm feelings and gratefulness above!

Thanks Vint! I'm afraid the bass is not that great on this webstream (neither is the drums, btw). Lenz is a terrific bass player with a huge boomy sound of wood. Got to love him!

You need real-player to play the show. And it only starts around 1:44 into the stream, and is likely cut a little bit at the end, too. And in case anyone wonders: I'm the guy doing all the short talking parts, the lenghty biographical sketch that follows the first tune is done by my friend. And the weirdo language we're using is Swiss German, btw

The group had a freshness and earthiness (not of the clichéd funky hardbop kind, though) that still today simply blows me away. Below is the cover for the 1964 album, their stone-classic "Now Jazz Ramwong" (now *that* would be one for Sony/Legacy to keep in print! Hellyeah!)

Hi folks! On sunday night I did a radio show again, after a long break. It was fun to do it, but even more fun (and grand... what's the noun? grandity? ) was the music we played. To honour the recenly (July 25, to be exact) deceased Albert Mangelsdorff, probably the singlemost important jazz musician Germany ever produced, we did an overview on his quintet. He founded the group in 1961 and kept it going up to 1971 (although in the end the alto sax player was gone, leaving it a quartet). You can hear the show online here Here's the line up: Albert Mangelsdorff - trombone Günther Kronberg - alto sax (plus occasional tenor and baritone sax) Heinz Sauer - tenor & soprano sax Günter Lenz - bass Ralph Hübner - drums Our playlist: 1. 1. VARIE (A.M.) (7:33) 2. BALLADE FOR JESSICA ROSE (A.M.) (3:59) from “One Tensions” (rec. Juli 1963) 3. NOW JAZZ RAMWONG (A.M.) (9:00) from “Now Jazz Ramwong” (rec. June 1964) 4. FAJUMATA (?) (7:59) Live, Jazzclub Tuttlingen (DE), 1962 5. THREE JAZZ MOODS (Ravi Shankar-A.M.) (6:11) 6. THEME FROM VIETNAM (A.M.) (0:57) (SOLO) 7. ES SUNGEN DREI ENGEL (TRAD.) (7:29) 8. BURUNKAKA (A.M.) (3:26) (TRIO) from “Now Jazz Ramwong” (rec. June 1964)

Sounds like I should add "Nomis" to my list... sounds really good!

I've posted this in the other thread already, but I figure it may actually belong in this forum, and this is the only thread here... albeit with a bit of a peculiar subtitle... here comes my post from the other thread again, then: I picked up this box while doing some frustration-shopping (having lost at 120GB drive containing around 95-100 GB of FLAC-compressed and not yet backed-up music files...). Discs 1-4 I have listened to, so far, and wow! I knew the sides from "The Great Ray Charles" and the sessions with Milt Jackson (I *love* Billy Mitchell! He's one of the reasons why the Thad Jones Mosaic is so tasty!), but most of the rest was new to me. I loved the early sessions on disc 1, and of course I love the jazz sides. It's a kind of jazz that you won't hear elsewhere, very soulful (yet not in the groovy, finger-poppin' style, rather soulful and bluesy), and no one is showing off here. Same applies to the Fathead album (which I've heard for the very first time on Saturday). Another terrific set new to me is the Newport appearance - love "In a Little Spanish Town"! Sound is terrific, beginning with the 1952 sessions. I'd dare to say that there are not many sessions from '52 that sound so good! The book is very nicely done, too. The only thing I miss there is some short descriptions going with the photos. As for the programming/sequencing, I don't care it's not in album sequence. The only album I had before, that I assume being a "typical" Charles fifties Atlantic album is "The Genius of Ray Charles." Still my guess is that even if I knew more of the original albums, I don't think the chronological sequencing could be bettered by any alternative. The only thing I don't enjoy is an aspect of the packaging: if you put the discs into the box as I figure they should be put in (they were all loose when I picked it up, so I don't really know), you have trouble getting the ones lying lowest out (discs 4 and 8, I assume, rather than 1 and 5, but as I said, I took them all out and had to figure out first how to put them in properly). All in all, though, this set is a definitive winner!

All except the officially released tunes were up on dime a few months ago... so it definitely *is* crazy. Selling boots for such prizes on Ebay is something I find quite a bit more annoying than sharing this stuff... but as long as there are people willing to pay these prizes, why not...

Hey Tony! Good to see you here again! Was so busy, I didn't even answer your mail(s)!

And here's some info on the new (haven't seen it yet) Lüscher/Studer/Käppeli disc: I have seen the three playing Voerkel tunes live at Unerhoert festival in Zurich, back in... when was that? 2003? They were on a double bill with Steve Lacy (less then half a year before he died, a terrific solo concert), and did more than well. Käppeli is also all over the place. Quite a great drummer, in my opinion... last time I saw him was with Day & Taxi, the trio of Christoph Gallio (alto & soprano sax, a Lacy scholar) and a double bass player from Zurich (Christian Weber it was, I think... I think he was with the Lüscher Trio also, when I heard them, not Studer, whom I don't know).

Voerkel was sort of a father figure for swiss (or rather Zurich) free music. A highly revered musician (by peers, mainly), and I still remember the sadness all over the Zurich scene and newspapers when he died. There's a 2CD release on Intakt that may be the best way to get to know him. I am no expert, and don't have this release, but it's been on my radar for some time now: Urs Voerkel Propinquity Zwischenzeitstueck Aria Urs Voerkel: Piano Gabriela Scherrer: Voice Priska Walss: Trombone Jacques Widmer: Drums Irène Schweizer: Drums Paul Lovens: Drums CD 1 Voerkel-Lovens-Duo CD 2 Scherrer-Walss-Voerkel-Widmer-Quartett Voerkel-Schweizer-Duo And (taken from here) the liner notes, written by Patrick Landolt, head of Intakt records, are pretty informative, and with the other musicians being mentioned (Nat Su, Irene Schweizer, Priska Walss etc. etc.) give a good impression of Voerkel's importance for this kind of improvised music, in and around Zurich: I have not checked if any of hte Unit or FMP discs are available in any form (my guess is they're long OOP, at least the FMPs), but I've heard parts of his classic and classy solo LP, "S'Gschänk" some time ago. WIM (being mentioned in the liners above) is still up (they have a website), doing weekly concerts. I was there only once so far (to see Zen Window, the trio of Gianni Gabbia, Matt Goodheart and Garth Powell - a great concert!), and since their concerts are usually tuesday night, it's not so easy to make it there regularly. As for Lüscher, I don't know much, but I've got "Smada", his duo LP with Nat Su, and in my opinion, it's excellent all over!

Is this the thread to discuss the music? Or would that be the other one (formatting problem-thread)? Whatever, let's start here... I picked up this box while doing some frustration-shopping (having lost at 120GB drive containing around 95-100 GB of FLAC-compressed and not yet backed-up music files...). Discs 1-4 I have listened to, so far, and wow! I knew the sides from "The Great Ray Charles" and the sessions with Milt Jackson (I *love* Billy Mitchell! He's one of the reasons why the Thad Jones Mosaic is so tasty!), but most of the rest was new to me. I loved the early sessions on disc 1, and of course I love the jazz sides. It's a kind of jazz that you won't hear elsewhere, very soulful (yet not in the groovy, finger-poppin' style, rather soulful and bluesy), and no one is showing off here. Same applies to the Fathead album (which I've heard for the very first time on Saturday). Another terrific set new to me is the Newport appearance - love "In a Little Spanish Town"! Sound is terrific, beginning with the 1952 sessions. I'd dare to say that there are not many sessions from '52 that sound so good! The book is very nicely done, too. The only thing I miss there is some short descriptions going with the photos. As for the programming/sequencing, I don't care it's not in album sequence. The only album I had before, that I assume being a "typical" Charles fifties Atlantic album is "The Genius of Ray Charles." Still my guess is that even if I knew more of the original albums, I don't think the chronological sequencing could be bettered by any alternative. The only thing I don't enjoy is an aspect of the packaging: if you put the discs into the box as I figure they should be put in (they were all loose when I picked it up, so I don't really know), you have trouble getting the ones lying lowest out (discs 4 and 8, I assume, rather than 1 and 5, but as I said, I took them all out and had to figure out first how to put them in properly). All in all, though, this set is a definitive winner!

At least you haven't lost your humour! All the best, Alan!

Thanks for specifying, Mike!

how about giving the Wilen credit to the Gil Cuppini album? ← I thought so, but he's smoking on the Lewis/Distel - a close call, though! some others: J.R. Monterose on René Thomas' "Guitar Groove" Bill Evans on Mingus' "East Coasting" Clarence Shaw on Mingus' "Tijuana Moods" Doug Watkins (tough call!) maybe on "Introducing Lee Morgan" John La Porta on "Mobley's Message"? (don't know that many of his appearances, but there he kills!)