Alexander Hawkins

I don't think the Mail permits the use of the word "buttocks", does it? Of course not - too many syllables...

Some footage of Sam with Dizzy...

Ah! I was just listening to that collaboration with Henri Chaix... That track 'Conversation Piece'...whoah...I assume Lester Bowie was a fan? (In the most positive sense possible!!!)

Oooooooh...fwiw (although I guess it's the week after half term, rather than the week of the break!) - we're doing this in London a few days before the Milan gig listed here...hopefully some of the Spirits Rejoice era tunes!!! That looks wonderful! Sadly, a bit out of reach for me. Sheffield Crucible is a nice venue! Absolutely - I hope we can take the band out a bit more...it should be fun!

That July 3rd, 1941 small group session from LA with Lawrence Brown, Ben Webster, Harry Carney, Duke, Blanton, and Sonny Greer (Menelik, Subtle Slough, etc.) may be just about my favourite session in the history of sound - I love Rex Stewart.

Oooooooh...fwiw (although I guess it's the week after half term, rather than the week of the break!) - we're doing this in London a few days before the Milan gig listed here...hopefully some of the Spirits Rejoice era tunes!!!

On a different tip I guess, and the vocalist and pianist are one and the same, but Amina Claudine Myers' 'Salutes Bessie Smith' on Leo is a wonderful record IMHO.

dang! you beat me to it alexander gnhrtg - if something happens and alexander can't get this, i'm next in line Thank you for your interest. I will reply to the pm's now. I was pleasantly surprised to get in there first I have to say

Just thought I'd flag this piece up - something I enjoyed in this month's Point of Departure.

PM sent on John Carter - Fields (Gramavision) fading/yelliowing on front and back trays, this is a 1988 release, $7 Anthony Braxton - Four Compositions (GTM) 2000 (Delmark) $5

Just for anyone into Zooid...they played a truly phenomenal show at the London Jazz Festival a couple of weeks back...some of the most wonderful live music I've ever heard (the chemistry in that band is almost scary)...fwiw it was broadcast on the BBC this last week - available to listen again for a couple more days. I actually did a guest spot on this programme, talking a little about Threadgill's music...skip that if you will , but don't miss the concert, which was magnificent!!!

We played 'Nuru Light: The Prince of Peace' - I did a version on my first Ensemble record which I gave to Wadada a few years ago; and he'd just recently reworked it into an orchestral piece (I believe it was performed in Washington DC a few weeks back)...so we thought it would be a nice one to do...the original is on Nessa in fact - 'Procession of the Great Ancestry'.

Mark - great to see you! Thanks for the kind comments about the duo...that was a real honour, it goes without saying...as you say, that solo was spectacular though...wow. Talk about playing the silence...

Just 'up', to drum up any last minute support for the Oxford Improvisers Orchestra with special guest composer/trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith tonight - we're at the Jacqueline Du Pre in Oxford. I can't really convey how inspirational it's been to work with Wadada this week, and this should be a fitting culmination...two compositions from Wadada; a 'trumpet concerto' by myself; and a conduction from Pat Thomas...should be a good'un!

Wow...so it's extremely beautiful here in Dartington. And I'm of course too late, but, if anyone can make it in the next 90 minutes, it would of course be great to see you! Also - 'up', for those tempted by anything during the rest of our Convergence Quartet tour. The new book of material is very exciting!

RIP - very sorry I never got to hear him in person.

Ah yes...a couple of weeks early...half term this week I think?!?

Yep. Set with Robert Mitchell, then (I think) an improv free-for-all. Dom's on it, too! 2pm. Then I'll park the contraption somewhere and we'll have "NUFF" jokes; and then in the evening get to the deep listening... Ah nice! I'll try to make it to an afternoon set too...I may have a commitment in the day so can't be sure, but I'll give you a bell...can't wait for the evening one though! BTW - for anyone in the London area on the fence - Maestro McPhee was on absolutely blazing form last night...do come down to catch us this evening if around!

No problem - hope to catch you soon!

Corey - you said it - only one thing on my mind on the Saturday - no, not playing! Are you playing during the day? Afraid nearest I'll be are the Wadada Leo Smith shows in Oxford..!

Yes - and I will introduce myself (lucky you!). Great!

Thank you all for the kind words about the album with Joe. It's a real honour to get to play with him, and indeed the other guys in that band...and I may have said it before, but it bears repeating: not only is he a wonderful player, but one of life's true nice guys. Mark - it'd be great to see you at those gigs! Do say hello! Steve - I suspect we may get to see the NYC guys in general a little more than vice-versa, but I completely take the point. I think the problem from our point of view is that the work visas are so prohibitively difficult to obtain...Recently, I can only think of Evan and John Butcher who've been over; them, plus there was a Vandermark/Lytton/Wachsmann tour a couple of years back, IIRC. As for Steve and John - I'm not sure...Canada may have been the closest they've been! I for one would love to make it over, but it's really hard! David - ah - too bad...hopefully soon though!

Have a few nice gigs coming up, so thought I would indulge in one of my periodic plugs...as ever, would be great to see anyone at a show... So this Friday, October 28th, in Novara, Italy - a duo with one of my heroes - the great Louis Moholo-Moholo. Very excited about this, and hopefully more news soon - we're in the studio tomorrow... On Saturday and Sunday (29th and 30th October), it's back to London, for a two-night residency at Cafe Oto: Decoy (Steve Noble, drums, percussion; John Edwards, and yours truly on Hammond B3) with maestro Joe McPhee. Here's some of what we got up to last time we played; the concert was released as this album. Here's a sound sample. The next week, the Convergence Quartet hits the road. This is a collective quartet comprising Harris Eisenstadt on the drums; Taylor Ho Bynum on the cornet; Dominic Lash on bass; and myself on piano - we all contribute compositions. Our last album was on Clean Feed, and we'll have copies in tow, although for anyone who caught the last tour, it'll be all new material this time around. The dates: 7/11: Dartington Hall 9/11: Churchill College, Cambridge 10/11: The Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle 11/11: Clothworkers' Centenary Hall, Leeds University 12/11: The Rising Sun Arts Centre, Reading 13/11: London Jazz Festival: Vortex Jazz Club In addition, at lunchtime on 10th November, Harris and I will be performing a duo concert at Newcastle University. On November 14th, I'm debuting a new group of mine: a quintet featuring Neil Charles, b; Otto Fischer, g; Shabaka Hutchings, tenor and bass clarinet; and Tom Skinner, d. This one is back at Cafe Oto. And on November 18th - do come down to the Southbank Centre, where I'll be guesting with Turkish firebrand Ilhan Ersahin at the London Jazz Festival's 'Nublu' show... Then at the end of the month, I'm taking part in a special event for the Oxford Improvisers Collective: on the 24th and 26th of November, we are welcoming Wadada Leo Smith to town...lineups tbc, but watch this space...

Although a version did exist in the 1960s, I'd argue they were really a band of the 1970s...the first record was 1971, off the top of my head... Now the Blue Notes...

1968 was a pretty extraordinary year...giving us both 'Machine Gun' and 'Karyobin'. I think an important record in any survey might also turn out to be Lacy's 'The Forest and The Zoo'...