A Lark Ascending

Thanks for the reminder! Now listening. Lots of interesting stuff this week! Never heard the Hayes/Gonsalves before. As each are represented separately in my record collection, I think it's time I got them together! Loved the Morton piano - and piano and vocal by Ottilie Patterson. Saw her sing with Barber a couple of years before this record was made. Armstrong's "Basin Street Blues" - another blast from the past! - a friend of mine wore the 78 of this thin playing it on an autochange for days while he revised for his O Levels. Some surprisingly modern things here - Louis was miles behind the beat and Arvell Shaw's bass solo reminded me of the uproar on the occasion when he quoted "Anthropology" in a solo - all this against the background of his boss declaring bebop rubbish. And the extended Miles electric track was great. Indeed - that extra half hour really allowed the programme to spread. Could do a little detour into contemporary Scottish jazz without losing the mainstays. I was really taken by a Patterson track back at the start of the year - before my time but what a voice. The Morton caught my ear too. The Miles track at the end was marvellous - will have to dig out that disc.

Happens all the time here. But the assertion of A over B is defended as the expression of 'strong opinions'. And 'strong opinions' always trump reason, careful consideration, balance and humility (take a look at the Hersch thread). Worrying about where A, B or C fit in the hierarchy always seems silly to me, given the variety of contexts listeners come from. But it is ever popular.

JRR 90 minutes tonight - payback for the Valkyries.

That's a wonderful collection. Along with a few of the complete concerts - some in very good sound - that can be downloaded from DGM, you get a very good representation of the live band (though there's not much with Muir who was only around for a few months).

It's a great album - I've known it since it came out in early '73. I'll certainly get the double CD set as the album was always a bit flat in sound (I saw them 6 months before it came out and again the month it appeared, and was a bit disappointed that it lacked the power of those gigs) and I'm hoping for a bit more presence. But 15 CDs of different takes?...box set craziness to my mind. The one annoying thing about these 40th Anniversary sets is Fripp's constant need to fiddle. On 'Red' there was a gorgeous, snakey solo on 'Mati Kudesi' that was removed on the 80s CD reissue. On the 30th Anniversary edition the original was restored as an extra track; but it's nowhere to be seen (or heard) on the new version. I suspect Fripp decided the solo was out of character with the 80s band but I'm afraid I hear it the way of the original and miss the solo. There's also an odd bit of extraction at the start of the long 'Lizard' track. New listeners would never notice it but when you've lived with the album for over 40 years it is just a bit annoying.

Dutton-Vocalion seem to be migrating to e-music with their downloads (still in an early stage). The McNair is there. I also notice one Dutton Epoch title - their excellent imprint that specialises in off the wall British classical from the last 150 or so years.

It's easy, MG. It's been in the UK for 2 or 3 years. I have to say I use it occasionally but still prefer to have a 'thing'. Don't want to spoil the excitement of hearing a new disc (or download) blind. Pure materialism, I suppose. Good for previewing something you are unsure about.

"Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your lack of taste."

I was at that concert in Oxford. It was freezing - in a strange C of E church that had decoration that looked Greek or Russian Orthodox. I enjoy Hersch, but not all of the time. I go for ages without listening to him and then have a splurge. He is at the softer edge of things and I can see why he wouldn't appeal to many listeners. I particularly like that Rodgers and Hammerstein disc - lots of jazzers do Rodgers and Hart but very few to Rodgers and Hammerstein. I suspect the rich, Romantic harmony is off-putting; Hersch seems to like exploring that zone.

Which Wheeler is this? Maybe missed it? I have a couple of radio shows of John Taylor with Kenny from the 70s which are excellent and I also wonder what else would be still in the archives in Europe. Complete BBC Kenny Wheeler would be a treat This one mentioned above:

Not as much applause as a drummer at the end of the blessed drum solo.

My favourite comment on Bob Dylan was from some unsympathetic reviewer which went to this effect: "How someone can play mouth organ professionally for half a century and still show no signs of progress is beyond me." Wouldn't want to be without that wail but the comment still makes me chuckle.

A perfect evocation of Paul Bley's music on the cover.

No - I wish I'd listened to them when they were broadcast here.

Maybe you should move the thread to Politics and Religion.

Worth remembering that the desire for 'the best possible sound' and extensive liner information is probably limited to a small part of the marketplace. Not enough to make it a priority for the music industry as a whole. Many of us musical obsessives are content with very good sound and just need access to the basics of who is playing, date of recording etc (though I do like a pretty, iconographic picture for a sleeve). In terms of documentation many classical site are miles ahead already - you can download all the artwork, librettos, details etc from the site, even without purchasing the recording. Makes sense to me as it makes possible updating the information and removing errors. I tend to grap the front cover and the basic track/personnel info and leave the rest.

Dylan's lyrics have always baffled me so I don't need them to make sense; but I do notice over these last few records an awful lot of stock phrases frompopular music used. Maybe it's what I recall reading in a book about the Liverpool Poets many moons ago - the rejuvination (or was it reinvigoration) of the cliche.

One of the things I like about the albums of the last 10 or so years is that it sounds like a great bar band but with a take on a wide range of American vernacular music. The sad thing is that you'd never get to hear it in a bar; just an aircraft hanger somewhere.

Seems to be locked there. Here's one I have from yonks ago:

Heard some snippets on the World Service in the middle of the night. I'll give it a go this weekend.

My favourite Abercrombie in a while. I have mixed thoughts about the new one. It's a retrospective and he didn't write the tunes, so it's really different from a typical ECM album by Abercrombie. He's quite a prolific composer. I just found the Abercrombie/Feldman combination a bit too samey over the last few records. I like Mark Feldman in other contexts, but prefer the saxophone on this recent disc. And I think they spin the covers enough to keep them fresh. Just a personal preference, not an evaluation of worth.

My favourite Abercrombie in a while.

Lyle Lovett. One track on an early morning religious/philosophical programme - 'Step Inside This House' - and I was off.