Rabshakeh

Bill Dixon - Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12, 2019) I haven't listened to this one for a while, and I had forgotten how good it is. Five ethereal trumpets gliding over and through a swamp of bass clarinet, cello, double bass and marimba. Perhaps more work might have been done on the rather generic cover.

Thanks. Listen to Zongs right now actually, which is just as good as hoped.

Actually, I did not. That can go on the list too.

Thanks for these!

Not sure if this is the correct thread for this, but I've fallen pretty hard for Pourtant Les Cimes Des Arbres by Daunik Lazro, Benjamin Duboc and Didier Lasserre recently. The mixture of emotional lyricism with free improv musical austerity is hitting all the buttons. Plus, Lazro's baritone playing is fantastic. It has an emotional intensity that this sort of music sometimes lacks. If anyone knows the album and has any recommendations in a similar vein or with similar players, I'd be grateful to hear them.

Moshi by Barney Wilen (Saranah, 1972). I'm never that sure about this one. The idea of the mix between field recordings, jazz funk and free playing seems great on paper, but there's something a little dilettentish about the project and Wilen's playing in particular. Now on to Music from the Source by Cecil McBee (Enja, 1978). Such a great album. One of Chico Freeman's strongest performances, which plays to his strengths at the time. The Steve McCall / Don Moye percussion section works so well, too. There's lots of moments of exciting group interplay all round. With thanks to Hutchfan for reminding me to put this one on.

I like this one a lot. Andrew Cyrille's leader dates as a whole are underrated, I think, but particularly this one. The younger and slightly more pushy David S Ware works well on this album.

Burton Greene Quartet - S/T (ESP, 1966). Marion Brown is particularly good on this, and I have always found Greene's work more convincing than some critics apparently did.

The Berlin Concert by Angelika Niescier (Intakt, 2017). I'm particularly taken by Tyshawn Sorey's drumming on this one. It is a lot more traditional than his more abstract work on e.g., Pillars - less ground breaking perhaps, but it's nice to hear the mixture between the extraordinary dynamics of his recent work and a more conventional drummer's role.

It's balm for a Sunday night.

Damn. I saw this in a shop today and passed it up in a "rational" moment. Yep. I have it on my wantlist, but purely out of interest. Seeing that price tag would keep anyone grounded. This evening's work: Clinkers by Steve Lacy (Hat Hut 1978) The Heatin' System by Jack McDuff (Cadet 1972) Then: Constellation by Sonny Stitt (Cobblestone 1972). Fly or Die by Jaimie Branch (International Anthem 2017), with Tomeka Reid in full flight.

The only other example I can think of off the top of my head is Third World by Abdul Al Hannan, which uses them prominently.

It's pretty funny that Shipp was retiring from recording even back then.

Thanks!

I love the duet with the steel drums on the second side of this.

Thanks. I had been wondering why noone was posting quotes. I can see why now.

Triple thumbs up, times two.

Does anyone have a link to the FB discussion on the Cecil point? I've been trying to locate it, but Google isn't helping.

Thanks for cross-posting this. I'd also be interested in knowing of any good books that cover material similar to the blog. I have a lot of books that cover the more Avant Garde side (Val Wilmer etc), but there seems to be less on the sort of great straight ahead, soul jazz and fusion-oriented hard bop stuff that you have also been posting. Most of this stuff doesn't even get a mention in generalised jazz history books covering the period, which tend to just touch on late Coltrane, the AACM and electric Miles and then move on to the 80s. There's obviously a lot more there.

Thanks. That definitely looks like something I'd like to get round to reading.

Jack McDuff - The Heatin' System (1972) Some medicine for a monster hangover. Take as needed for pain.

Thanks. I hadn't made the connection, but I like POD on the days when I have enough of an attention span. Is it exclusively about the Avant Garde, then, or does it cover fusion, straight ahead and soul jazz too?

What's this one like? Would you recommend it?

Ooh. I don't know this one. It looks like a lot of fun. One to check out. I'm a total sucker for these sort of match ups.

Agharta was one of the albums that first got me into jazz as a teenager. I couldn't believe what a racket it was but yet how it managed to feel so precise. We've grown apart during the years but it is time for a reunion.