A Lark Ascending

I got an Anthony Braxton one track record off e-music for 30p or so a while back. New line for pound shops, perhaps, next to the bag of pegs and the chocolate bars from Paraguay.

Alongside the McLaughlin bio mentioned elsewhere: Really enjoying this. Starts in pre-Anschluss Vienna and moves through Kristallnacht to wartime London. Will be looking out the others in the series. Should appeal to David Downing and Alan Furst fans.

Yes I saw that. I'm still awaiting the two TUM discs I ordered a couple of weeks back - one Aaltonen, one Haarla. Though I did secure a copy of the disc with Workman/Cyrille from deepest Gloucestershire. Perhaps this thread could widen to Finnish jazz in general. I'm curious.

Yes, the Frame book is very good. So far (I'm up to '64) it's more about the London R'n B scene. Probably because there's not a great deal to work with - that should come later. McLaughlin comes across as a rather quite, intense young man. The most exciting thing he's done so far is fall off the stage on a chair after taking something he shouldn't have. Interesting to read about his initial musical influences - mostly classical and flamenco! Though he seemed to be an omnivore.

Just noticed this. Guy recorded Radio Rondo with the LJCO a few years back. Be interesting to hear how the version here differs. A fair number of the same musicians.

Yes, very enjoyable. I love the opening where he goes all philosophical about jumping into pools and then says I hope you don't use that, it's bollocks. Now if only BBC 4 could do one of its Friday evening specials on Evan Parker....and Barry Guy...and John Stevens... There are tales to be told, I suspect. Has there ever been a biography?

I think Harper is a rock/folk journalist primarily. Maybe his jazz knowledge is not so strong. Though this seems to be a rather large howler that should have been picked up by someone checking his script. I'm enjoying reading it (much more than the Heining book that covers the same era which was probably the worst book I've read this century!). At present it's laying the foundations in the 50s/60s (just got to Graham Bond). Just fear it's going to go a bit hagiographic later on. I can remember the Mahavishnu Orchestra appearing in the the early 70s (saw them on Disco Two or The Old Grey Whistle Test, can't recall which) in 1972. At that time they could do no wrong and were treated as almost the Second Coming. Then, as they became superstars, critical opinion shifted and they were denounced as excessive, all technique and no heart etc - I suspect that had more to do with the British rock press reaction against 'clever' rock in general and their search for 'authenticity' in the likes of pub rock and The Stooges, a route that would lead to The Third Coming in the person of the Sex Pistols and punk. I get the impression that Harper is a bit locked into the first mindset. Might be wrong. I enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) the first MO but they never touched me the way King Crimson or Henry Cow did. The one time I saw them (Bristol Colston Hall, June 1973) it was very exciting at first but overlong and the orgasmic ecstasy started to wear a bit thin after a while. Never had any time for the spirituality stuff but I was freshly lapsed at that time so there was no chance it was going to wash.

Yes, many thanks. Recommendations and enthusiasms here have opened up countless trails to explore, some of which have become permanent listening fixtures.

Read the first few chapters. Interesting, though I've a few worries. Reads like the joining together of his research notes and quotes, sometimes not exactly flowing. A paragraph appears out of nowhere just mentioning a daughter born, marriage, then another daughter. Then back to the musical events. Seems like it was dropped in. There's also mention of '[trumpeter] Tubby Hayes'. Proof reading? Early days though.

Yup. Goes as far as Afterword. Says there's another 105 000 words in the bonus part.

No idea. Imagine the publishers would only allow it to grow to a certain length bookwise but that Harper wanted to get the other material out.

My copy just arrived. It says at the back that the extra material in the e-version will also be available to download at some point so as not to penalise those who bought the print version. Nice fat book of nearly 500 pages. The first half is set in Britain up to '68.

Not sure of the details (yet!) but he was very much in that 60s Blues Rock scene (and elsewhere too!). Am looking forward to reading the story written by a good writer. My copy got dispatched today. Will make a nice Easter holidays read.

I suspect these are no longer available but as single disc compilations they're a great intro for the years up to 1941. I bought a lot of other records on the back of them:

You can't do much better than Allen Lowe's 'That Devilin' Tune' series (he of this board) - 4 boxed sets of 9 CDs each. A wonderful miscellany of tracks in four broad time periods up to the very early 50s. Search the title on the board search engine and you'll find a lengthy thread full of enthusiasm (actually, you'll find rather a lot of threads on the topic!).

John Stevens, Trevor Watts, Ron Herman, Julie Tippetts from 1971 Lost in action?

Being dispatched to the Northern Marches as of yesterday. We are clearly in need of the sustenance, holding down these rebellious lands.

Due this week. Looks like its going to be as interesting for the light shed (that bathing was a good idea) on the Brit jazz scene of the 60s as for the rise of McLaughlin up to his incarnation as Mahavishnu man (man).

Another two to look forward to this Friday 28th March (well, for those of us with rock/folk alter egos): 9.00 Robert Plant: By Myself http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vy78w 10.00 The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk Blues and Beyond http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03tdd6m Pity about the 'Genius' hyperbole. I'd have preferred "The Jolly Good Music of Bert Jansch". ****************** And then in early April (swapping to the classical hat): The Music That Made Britain - Patriotism, Pleasure And Perfection In The 18th century: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2014/14/the-music-that-made-britain.html

The reason it hasn't come out to date is that it's Neil's least favorite record. I like it, though it's a mess. It's interesting as much as a psychodrama as for the music. Neil's doing too much drugs, he fires his friend Danny Whitten on the eve of a huge, high-profile tour, Danny then dies by his own hand, and Neil has to go out and face huge audiences expecting to hear Harvest. The record is an incredible document of those encounters. As for the format in which it's being re-released, it's been noted since the '70's that those 4 records are "of a piece" - call it The Danny Crronicles (I know, I know, Bruce Berry too). It's the journey of a man going through hell, and emerging the other side. As for why now, and in this format, it's for Record Store Day. it's good to support the survival of record stores. Not exactly. He hasn't reissued it yet because of the way it was mastered. The recording and mastering were done straight to the CompuDisk (or what his producer David Briggs called the CompuFuck), so there is no way now for it to be remastered, remixed, anything. He has said that it would sound terrible on CD. So just reissue it at as cheap a price as is economical* in its flawed form, maybe just as a 'crappy mp3', and let the buyer make the decision. It's 40 odd minutes of entertainment that some people are curious about, not holy writ. * I can't imagine it wouldn't quickly recoup its costs.

Saw the Bath Fest performance of that one (late May/early June). Even got to have a chat with Mr Hill after the show as he was having a beer and he signed some CDs and the Mosaic booklet for me (in really scrappy hand-writing !). A very nice person and really glad I got to meet him. I think I was at that one too. Was it really 2003? Or did he come back again later? Remember really enjoying it and going back to his more recent records as a result.

There seem to be two threads on this accidentally started. Any chance of a join?

Collier's later recordings don't get much attention but I've found them to be very strong. Especially liked this one: Like the line-up of musicians on these two new discs. As it says on the web blurb, friends old and new: