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king ubu

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Posts posted by king ubu

  1. *** Cecil Taylor ***

    in Artists

    Posted

    Back to the points of drummers with Cecil: in his early years (make them 1956 to 1961, from "Jazz Advance" to the Candid stuff, the tracks from "Into the Hot" being the link to the next phase beginning in '62 with "Nefertiti"), Taylor played/recorded with the following:

    - Dennis Charles (on "Jazz Advance", "Looking Ahead", and most of the Candid sessions)

    - Rudy Collins (on "Love For Sale")

    - Billy Higgins (on some the large group and two trio tracks for Candid)

    - Louis Hayes (on the album with Coltrane, "Hard Driving Jazz")

    Who of these drummers do you think fit best with Taylor and why? As I stated already, in my opinion, Charles (who most often was Taylor's drummer) does not always fit in perfectly. I like the way he's swinging, but face to face with Cecil it just seems a little stiff from time to time. On "Jazz Advance", however, and maybe on "Looking Ahead", too, Charles is still relatively well-fitting into the music, Taylor being only on his way then to develop his unique rhythmic conception.

    The Coltrane date is a whole other affair. An intriguing thing, yet not successful, I think. I cannot comment on Hayes (nor on Israels) as I would have to listen seriously to that again.

    Rudy Collins, in my opinion, does a very good job on "Love For Sale" - I particularly like the three Cole Porter tunes done with just the trio. I would need a closer listen to this album as well to make more comments.

    Now Billy Higgins: he seems a rather improbable partner for Taylor, but, to my surprise, he is great on the (freely improvised?) trio track "Cindy's Main Mood" (from "New York City R'n'B", Candid), and he's also better than Charles, in my opinion, on the "O.P." Oscar Pettiford tribute (the Higgins version is on the NYC R'n'B album, the Charles on some other CD, probably "Cell Walk For Celeste", Candid, too). I still have to listen to the larger group, however for my ears, the swing/time/general playing style of Higgins fits in quite well with Taylor. He's laying a much denser foundation, providing more sound in general than Charles, and I do like this.

    Other opinions here?

    Or how about some discussion on Taylor's later drummers? The masterful Sunny Murray, who changed a whole lot, and arrived in the right time to join in with Jimmy Lyons and some other new faces.

    Andrew Cyrille is another master, judging from the few things I heard with him.

    Then there were Ronald Shannon Jackson, Marc Edwards, later Tony Oxley, and some others (whose work with Taylor I do not know very well).

    ubu

  2. *** Cecil Taylor ***

    in Artists

    Posted

    The recently re-issued STUDENT STUDIES contains prime C.T. from the mid-60's, with Lyons, Silva and Cyrille. Essential listening, IMHO; one of the most welcome reissues of 2003.

    g05721supb6.jpg

    I got this last week and found time for a (rather casual but not fully distracted) listen on sunday. Like it very much!

    thanks for that recommendation!

    ubu

  5. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    Thanks, John - sounds even better now! German amazon has it for 62 euros, shipping to switzerland they will deduct vat, which would make it maybe 55 euros, then add some 10 to 15 euros for customs again... if not for that last part, I'd consider this a very good prize!

    Hey, in our older tradition of recommending record labels: I got this from the Vijay Ayer thread in the Artists section, and I do think it does look interesting:

    http://www.482music.com/

    Anybody knows some of their releases?

    ubu

  7. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    yeah, please do!

    The site does look interesting - however it does not offer a complete view of the catalogue, which is rather a pain...

    Actually I should stop buying CD just as you posted recently. Too much unheard stuff lying around, and being short of money all the time also starts getting on my nerves.

    ubu

  9. BYG Actuel Series

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    No wonder this Byg label business looks complicated. BYG has been a mess from start to finish. The label was founded by three independents: Jacques Bisceglia, Jean-Luc Young, and Jean Georgakarakos whose initials made the name of the label. Georgakarakos was the money man in the operation. He had made a small fortune producting pop music. He also became notorious by being involved in a number of shady deals inside the music business.

    Georgakarakos also started a magazine called Actuel around 1967. The BYG label was launched shortly after. At first they reissued material from the Savoy catalogue. By 1969, BYG was producing the ACTUEL series which released some 60 records, mostly avant-garde jazz. The label went broke after the infamous 1969 Amougies Actuel festival which was supposed to have been held in Paris, then had to be moved outside of France because the post-1968 government did not want a major Woodstock-type festival to be held in Paris or its vicinity. The festival was exiled to Amougies, Belgium, a few kilometers away from the French border. And almost everything went wrong there, except that some pretty adventurous music was produced. There was a separate thread on that festival on that Board a while ago.

    After the festival financial disaster, the partnership was broken up. Young went on and created the Charly label, Bisceglia remained independent and Georgakarakos changed his name to Jean Karakos and launched the Celluloid label in New York among other ventures.

    I was present at some of those ACTUEL sessions. The Archie Shepp, Grachan Moncur, Alan Silva, Dave Burrell ones among others.

    The sessions I attended were held at the Studio Davout in eastern Paris. There were great and usually relaxed gathering of musicians who had come to the French capital in that glorious summer. But one of the problem I remember is that the regular engineer left (this was in August 1969) while more sessions were to be recorded. He was replaced by another (but less good) engineer.

    What would be interesting would be if somebody could work from the original tapes. I have not checked on the sound of reissues but am familiar with some rather negative comments on the audio quality of most of them. I have no idea who actually owns those tapes by now.

    Thanks a lot for these comments, brownie! Really appreciated. I did not know the origin of the Charly label. And neither did I know about the BYG label.

    I'll look for that thread on the festival. Missed that one.

    ubu

  11. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    how come you think Knitting Factory is out of order? Their website does not look like that! They state that their store is under repair, nothing more.

    I only have that Charles Gayle 2CD set I mentioned here some days ago, and from Knit Classics I have the Dizzy for President disc (not that good, but I could pick it up very cheap, too), and the great Wildflowers 3CD set.

    Any essential records from either KF or Knit Classics?

    ubu

  12. BYG Actuel Series

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    I picked up the Taylor "Student Studies" CD last week - and it is great! Soundwise not, however. I'm no audiophile, but I would like to hear Alan Silva if he's already listed on the cover... Liners by... Scott Yanow (lol - he does not much more than four short bios of the musicians).

    In stores here I saw three different series of BYG reissues:

    - one on some strange italian label - not sure it's get back, ugly mini-LP-gatefold covers, cheap looking, much overprized (something like 25$ at least). Original LPs, so you pay 50$ to get the two Cherry "Mu"s which could fit on one CD, I think. Crazy.

    - Charly reissues, rather cheap, coupling LPs together when possible (I saw the Moncur in this incarnation recently)

    - Fuel2000 - covers not bad, sound not great, judging from the Taylor disc.

    Anyone understands why there is not ONE label doing DECENT and WELL REMASTERED and annotated reissues of this material??

    ubu

  13. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    The steamboats are on their way. I hope at least our dear russian friend receives his in time for x-mas, maybe the europeans, too, but I guess John B, Geoff and Chaney will have to be patient...

    Got the steam from ubu. Thanks a lot. Will listen today.

    cool!

    that was almost fast for x-mas time and generally rather slow postal services...

    Please tell me how you like the Ortega, too!

    ubu

  14. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    Д.Д., you have this one? (since you did subscribe)

    078.jpg

    I found it used (but new, maybe from some reviewer who didn't like it) for some 6 CHF (which, mind me, is a FUCKING good prize for an Intakt release, no?), and I really like it! That track with Farfisa is cool, and the balance they find between free improvisation and (at times rather smooth) grooves is very cool with me!

    ubu

  17. *** Bill Evans ***

    in Artists

    Posted

    Yeah, that one was one side the Sextet session to which you refer (minus LFS) and one side Ascent to the Scaffold soundtrack. Never has been reissued in that form either. Rarer than hen's teeth.

    I knew the details, but hell, that 58 session would have made an album right up with "Milestones" and "KoB", no?

    Glad I got that box set!

    (and the Ascenseur soundtrack is around in better - and complete, which is worthwhile for every Wilen fan - reissues)

    ubu

  18. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    "Ho-ho" my foot! Send me a copy, you know my address  :w

    ubu

    I'll send you some Cannible Corpse music instead...

    Now what the hell is "cannibale corpse music"? Has this got something to do with that favorite movie of mine, "Cannibal Holocaust"?

    ubu :wacko:

  20. *** Bill Evans ***

    in Artists

    Posted

    Regarding Evans with horns - well, I know we all love the music he made with Miles, but me thinks Evans is responsible for some of the highlights of that studio date that never actually was released on a separate album from 1958. That date that yielded a great version of Love For Sale with one of my favorite Bill Evans solos...

    ubu

  24. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted · Edited by king ubu

    I've been into 50s musical movie soundtracks since I picked up a pile of old vinyl albums some weeks ago. Lovely corny string arrangements.  :w

    :ph34r:

    ATTENTION! FREE JAZZ POLICE!

    :ph34r:

    I like to watch movies from the fifties! Forties, too, and of course early sixties!

    Any favorites, couw? (Soundtrack- or otherwise)

    ubu

    edited for spelling

  25. Funny Rat

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    It's Friday - slow day in the office, so I can afford to do a little free jazz positn (but only free jazz).

    Ubu, I do listen to pop music sometimes (when free jazz police is not watching). I addition to Sade, I like Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Tom Waits (I am not sure it's pop -who gives the fuck about all these labels anyway, though), Geff Buckley, Tinderstick, Bjork and a lot of heavy metal stuff (that's where I started, after all).

    Posting this quick before free jazz police is awake.

    Let me step in here, too: no heavy metal for me, NON!

    But: Love Waits, Dylan (saw him live early october, very good show), Björk HELLYEAH!, Hendrix and such stuff, Janis Joplin. Sometimes stuff like Goldie, Morcheeba, Tricky, 4Hero, but compared to my jazz listening time, this all is maybe 1%...

    ubu

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