T.D.

I read the Parker biography Universal Tonality (by Cisco Bradley) a few years ago and don't recall many (if any) mentions of Parker playing with white "Downtown" artists. But I read it through interlibrary loan, my recollections can't be trusted, and I don't have it on hand to check. Just requested the book again, so by next week I'll be able to research that issue.

Couple of the many recent Futura/Marge reissues:

Yeah. I loved the box set on Confront, so am likely to get this. Only one piece is up on bandcamp at this time. Judging from that sample, sonics might not be audiophile quality (bass seems kind of high in the mix), but I'm almost always OK with tape sourced recordings.

From Jazz in Britain, ETA June 4:

Roger, no intent to be critical. 😊 I meant to say that Neil Ardley is the only name in my "BGO collection" that you hadn't mentioned in the earlier post.

Just shipped.

Great label. Aside from the above posted Arthur Blythe "4 LP on 2 CD", all the releases I have are "British jazz". Neil Ardley is a name Roger didn't mention.

I went to a microtonal concert last night (Lyraccord - Timothy Hill and Sasha Bogdanowitsch) and found out that composer Michael Harrison passed on 17 April. RIP. I only have this old piano recording on his own label, but there's a more recent release on bandcamp https://michaelharrison.bandcamp.com/album/revelation (also on Cantaloupe Music).

I think he's also trying to project an image as an "outsider critic" of sorts. I don't often read Burning Ambulance. Sometimes I visit the site because people link to discussions of subjects that interest me. I've usually been somewhat disappointed by the reviews/discussions/whatever. Missed the Bird thing, which is just as well.

Both were geographically downtown: Ornette's loft in Soho (Prince St.) and Slug's in the East Village ("Alphabet City"). Where the line is drawn is hazy. The Kyle Gann essay I linked to says "below 20th St.", but says that's arbitrary because The Kitchen is now on 19th. I think the region might be expanded to Chelsea (which is itself vague, with northern boundary either 34th St. or "upper 20s"), because (for instance) the W. Eugene Smith loft was on 6th Ave. near 29th St. "Downtown" refers to downtown Manhattan, below 20th Street (I'll pick that as an arbitrary boundary since the Kitchen, an important Downtown performance space, is now on 19th Street).

RIP. I discovered him via Traffic and still have a copy of Alone Together. He played nearby (Bearsville Theater) in 2015 but I was too cheap to go. Now I regret that.

Somewhat off-topic, but "Downtown music" is a thing in classical/"new" music as well. Kyle Gann dates the scene (but not usage) to 1961 (Yoko Ono's loft 🙂), see https://www.kylegann.com/downtown.html I'm going to look into when that usage first appeared in print.

I saw that at a film festival last fall. Thought it was OK but didn't measure up to all the reviews it later received.

Best "current" film I've seen in a long long time. Agreed on all counts.

Long Play 2026 – Bang on a Can A lot of diverse programs with a significant number of jazz shows.

I preordered back in January and it shipped today.

Those credits are for the entire album (The Fastest Train), 1 CD of the box. I don't know the instruments on that specific track. Parker is credited on keringot, hochiku, shakuhachi in D & A, stereophonic bamboo flute, Ojibway overtone bass flute, pocket trumpet, malakan flute, Chinese shakuhachi.

Cribbing from the booket, the Parker was recorded in Amsterdam with Coen Aalberts (conch shell, winti flute from New Guinea. cricket sounds, bird sounds, bamboo brushes, whistles, drum set) and Klaas Hekman (dogon flute, shakuhachi, bass Indian flute, piccolo, C flute).