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Face of the Bass

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  3. New Artie Shaw bio

    in Jazz In Print - Periodicals, Books, Newspapers, etc...

    Posted

    Nolan's book is no bargain IMO. In particular, his overuse of emphasized words in quoted speech -- e.g. "So I said to Lou Fromm, take it down a little or you're fired" (not an actual quote but my recollection of how things go) -- is not only maddening in itself but also tends to make everyone sound the same. That is, if Shaw himself spoke that way, OK --though if he did, I'd appreciate a note to that effect from the author. But when everyone speaks that way, it feels like a damn carnival ride.

    I agree with this. I found the italicization of so many words so irritating that it actually caused me to put down the book. Really unnecessary intervention on the part of the author.

  4. Favorite Free Jazz/Avant Garde Box Sets

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    OK, so....here's a confession: I can really only think of one "Avant Garde" box set I own, and that's the Sam Rivers Mosaic set. Of all the eras and genres in jazz, Free Jazz and Avant Garde are so poorly represented in my collection compared to big band and small group jazz. I took a listen to the Braxton and Threadgill sets on the Mosaic website and wish they had longer sample tracks. I know this is a "Favorite Free Jazz" box sets thread, and I don't want to hijack the thread, but I need some consultation and advice to beginning a free jazz collection.

    I find a big emotional connection to Ellington and Basie, I love 50s and 60s bop/hard bop, I have a pretty broad collection/appreciation of music OTHER than free and avant garde.....I think it's time for me to grow up and learn to appreciate the "freer" music.

    So, lay it on me! What should I get/ask for Christmas this year?

    Thanks Everybody!!!

    Do you have Ornette Coleman's Beauty is a Rare Thing? To me that would be one place to start.

  5. Forthcoming ECM releases

    in New Releases

    Posted

    There are many wonderful albums on ECM, but the problem is that, when it comes to jazz, the label now seems to have an almost factory mentality whereby every release is in the same general area, with the same brooding dark covers, with the same smoothed out sound. The music strikes my ears as being far too deep into the tepid waters of Baby Boomer New Age narcissism. And I can't help but notice that some artists who record for the label (Marilyn Crispell comes immediately to mind) did their best, edgiest work before falling into the ECM stable and disappearing into the musical equivalent of a scented candle shop.

  7. Favorite Free Jazz/Avant Garde Box Sets

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted · Edited by Face of the Bass

    Document: New Music from Russia, the 80s [Leo Records] was a revelatory listen on its release and has proved worthy of revisiting over a long period now.

    Didn't even know about this one. (This was actually my entire (selfish) motive for starting this thread, hoping that someone would reference something I'd never heard of.)

    I just got into Soviet jazz through the Leo Records sale, and have been really turned onto the music.

  9. Favorite Free Jazz/Avant Garde Box Sets

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    Two things I love are avant garde jazz and the box set. Avant garde jazz is the closest thing I've ever found in this world to the kind of beauty I can understand and connect to, while the format of the box set feeds my desire for a sense of narrative in the music I listen to. While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some of my favorite box sets covering avant garde jazz....I'd be curious to hear what others like most. For my list I'm focusing mostly on post-Coltrane/Ornette/Ayler free jazz...

    1. Jimmy Lyons - The Box Set (Ayler Records) --Love the first couple discs especially on this one.

    2. Anthony Braxton - Complete Arista Recordings (Mosaic) -- This set seemed to be an urban legend for several years and when it finally appeared it more than lived up to all the hype.

    3. Bill Dixon - Odyssey (Self Released) -- This might be a more idiosyncratic choice...but I love solo trumpet music and no one was better at making it than Dixon.

    4. 1967/68: The Art Ensemble (Nessa)-- It has been too long since I last listened to this one, but it is a wonderful document of a critical time period in the development of the Chicago school of free jazz...

    5. Cecil Taylor -- Two Ts For A Lovely T (Condanza) --been too long since I heard this one too...

    What say you?

  12. The end.

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    I think these predictions are premature. Yes, the major labels are clearly moving away from CDs, but I suspect small labels will be releasing CDs well past 2012. We are human beings, and the physical artifact will always retain some importance. At least I hope so.

    But this seems entirely generational. The majority of Millennials do not care about physical artifacts and actually prefer not to have those bulky CDs laying around, so I do think the end is in sight, even if it doesn't come in 2012.

    But you know -- 2012

    It's starting to make sense...

    I don't know if it's entirely generational. I'm 34 and pretty much hate MP3s, except when I'm traveling and want my music with me. But when I'm at home, the physical object matters. The fact that I have yet to see a convincing model of the MP3 whereby you can hear the music and have all the liner notes, personnel listing, etc. with the music has been the biggest disappointment. Everybody keeps acting like music is better than it's ever been from the perspective of a listener, and I think that's only the case if you don't care about sound quality and don't care about having basic information of the recording when you listen to music. If you do care about those things, then MP3s are a tremendous loss when compared to the CD era.

  13. The end.

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    I think these predictions are premature. Yes, the major labels are clearly moving away from CDs, but I suspect small labels will be releasing CDs well past 2012. We are human beings, and the physical artifact will always retain some importance. At least I hope so.

  16. Massive Leo Records sale

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Just wanted to check to see if anyone ordering from the States has got their order. I placed my first order two weeks ago, and then another order one day later. The order shipped one day later arrived this past Monday, while the older order has not yet arrived. Is this sort of thing common with international shipping from the UK to US? i.e. should I be worried about that first order?

    This has been my first exposure to Soviet jazz, and so far I'm really digging it.

  24. Anyone else here bought some CDs that you haven't listened to yet?

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Quite a few. I'm still working through three different box sets: Riverside Wes Montgomery, the FMP retrospective box, and the Ictus box. And according to the postal service I have a fourth box arriving tomorrow. Plus a stack of Sun Ra Transparency stuff I haven't listened to yet.

    I really need to slow down, not so much from a money perspective as from a time perspective. But I can't seem to help that I have very broad tastes and like a lot of variety in the things I listen to. I used to worry a lot about not listening enough to each CD that I bought...now I don't keep track anymore and just allow myself to enjoy my collection when and how I am able to do so.

  25. LF: Anita O'Day Mosaic

    in Offering and Looking For...

    Posted

    I've been looking for the Anita O'Day Mosaic for some time, but every time I look the only thing I can find are jacked up copies on Amazon going for $500-600. So I thought I'd post here and see if there might be anyone with a copy willing to unload at a more reasonable price. Please pm me if you have any leads.

    Thanks!

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