sidewinder

Did your hearing survive the 'barage of sound' from "Supersilent", David ? Mine is only just coming back to normal ..

Were you sitting at the front and more in the middle Bev? There was a guy with a laptop computer and cameras on the table next to me, if that helps to locate things. I think the Hill performance got some mixed reactions from the punters at the fest but maybe this was unfamiliarity with the style. I think it helped to be familiar with Hill's concepts and methods. Certainly you had to listen very carefully to the nuances of this one but the efforts were well and truly rewarded. Didn't catch the Schweizer/Favre in the Guildhall but did see the Tracey/Wellins at this location. Couldn't get into the swing of things at the Workshop de Lyon's performance I'm afraid. Left me a bit unengaged, as did the Mathew Bourne. I'm more of a 'has-been Blue Note groover' so the Guy Barker was right up my street. The Italian altoist he had with him in this group (Rosario Giuliani) was a revelation (a bit like James Spaulding crossed with Jackie Mclean ) and the organ player had a definite hint of Larry Young about him. :rsmile:

Fantastic gig - I'd seen Trovesi several years ago featured in Enrico Rava's 'Carmen' so was expecting the goods but this was even better than expected. This one had everything - great arrangements, wonderful solos (I liked the work of Trovesi, the guitarist and the tambourine maestro) and fantastic humour. Almost up there in the Sun Ra class ! According to my listings the tambourine player is a guy by the name of Carlo Rizzo. Those tambourine breaks had to be seen to be believed (a first in jazz?). A colleague also reckons that he saw him on TV one year on the Eurovision Song Contest, or something of this ilk. Certainly, that Marcel Marceau routine with the audience participation looked very familiar Awesome !! :rsmile:

This is a good summing up, Bev. It captures quite a few of my thoughts and observations of the concert, which was one of the best at this years fest (Gianluigi Trovesi and Guy Barker yesterday being the other highlights for me). I couldn't believe the seat I got for the Hill concert. Table right at the front just behind the piano - which gave me a great vantage point to check out Hill's direction. Charles Ives? Spot on !! Hindemith also came to mind, with this emphasis on large brass textures and atonality. When it worked, it was just exquisite. In particular, the slow number featuring contrasting flutes had a particular beauty that just took the breath away. The rhythm section was just right - they gave the music an impetus and spring in the 'ad lib' sections that created great freedom and possibilities. I think the trumpet player doing some of the direction must have been Ron Horton, who was well featured in one of the numbers and seemed to have a cast-iron grip on the intricasies of Hill's music. Yes, I think there were at least 2 encores, possibly 3. I suspect that Andrew and co. were enjoying the gig so much and with this being the last performance of the tour they just carried on. Our gain . That front mike was also switched off - I think he gave up in the end ! As mentioned, this didn't help on the stage presence front and may have bemused much of the audience. As mentioned in my separate post, Mr Hill in person turns out to be a very amiable character ! Not much piano was featured as you mention, however when he did solo it was an absolute revelation. Anything but predictable. Particular kudos too to the solo work that night. Messrs Baptiste and Tardy were superb in their exchanges. Fine work from the brass, too. Looking forward immensely to the Radio 3 broadcast ..

Wasn't this the place that Aric used to buy his vinyl ?

I saw Andrew Hill and his US/UK Big Band play at the Bath fest on Saturday night and somehow managed to get back stage and meet Andrew after the concert. Got about 10 minutes opportunity to chew the breeze with him as he smoked a ciggy and tried a local beer brew after the show. As noted above, he's a nice guy, fairly quiet and very unpretentious, appreciative of feedback. Good sense of humour too ! I wish I'd seen the above posts before I got to meet him but I did get brief chance to ask him about the BN material. He is looking forward to seeing 'Compulsion' and 'Dance With Death' eventually released on CD but confirmed that other unreleased session material was likely to come out before then. He was very complimentary to the work of John Gilmore on the former. He didn't seem to have any problems with recalling those BN years with affection but I would strongly recommend not hitting him with 'anorak' type high detail discographical questions, especially before or after a demanding gig .. (personally I would just HATE that if I were in his shoes ...) Also asked him about some of the material for the big band. Very much an 'open score'/head arrangement approach it would seem, with addition of textures and interjections (on Hill's direction to the various horn sections) on stage. I wished I'd asked him about the composing influence of Hindemith, which seemed very obvious listening to the band's music. It was also very clear that he was very proud of this UK/US big band and has had a lot of fun touring with it around the UK. I got the impression that he was keen to head back over here with this band and do some more gigs. Next gig on return to North America was confirmed as somwhere up in Vermont. He was even kind enough to personalise and sign my Mosaic booklet and a couple of Conns ('Smokestack' and 'Judgement') before I left . I departed Bath a very happy camper indeed that night ... :rsmile:

I'm at the Bath performance tonight - will post my thoughts and observations during the week. Good preview of the Hill show by John Fordham on Radio 3 'Jazz on 3' last night. Slowly but surely Hill's profile is increasing big time over here. There was also a short write up last week in the Daily Telegraph (one of their interviewers actually took a short piano lesson with Hill. He was extremely patient, apparently). I've noticed also that the Hill Mosaic's don't hang around on ebay these days either ...

Sounds like there are quite a few varied opinions on this issue - all of them quite valid. Ultimately you must go with whatever works for your particular system implementation. For analogue circuitry, the switch-on oscillations are not really an issue. Transistor noise though (attributable to random, thermal and shot noise sources) does require time to settle and is minimised when the ambient environment is nice and steady. The cumulative effect though depends on the spec of the transistors, the regime in which they are operated and the design of the stages. Implementation dependent so go with what your ears tell you ..

Affirmative ! I leave my system powered up day and night. It is actually recommended by the manufacturer of my pre and power amp amp (Naim) and the justification is, as you say, that it minimises thermal shock and allows the power transistor stages to settle and do their stuff with minimum distortion. Similarly, Linn turntable power supplies take a while to settle down to steady state too. I always notice an appreciable difference when the system is powered down and up - it takes a few hours to get back to normal optimum sound. Particularly noticeable when playing very good vinyl !

Just a hint of Hosea in the 'C' section after another spin, just able to pick out the alto/tenor harmony. Nothing more than that I'm afraid. Sorry ! :rsmile:

I remember when that first couple of batches of Conns came out. 'True Blue', 'Congregation', 'Judgement', 'Some Other Stuff'. I can remember picking up TB (maybe I should rephrase that) in that Tower Records on Broadway in NYC. It was on special too. Ah ..... those were the days ...

Another winner from Mosaic. Not only JJ at his peak but fine Bobby Jaspar, Freddie Hubbard and Nat Adderley. Also nice to hear again that particular fave of mine - 'Touch of Satin'. JJ, Vic Feldman, Sam Jones, Louis Hayes. 'Bloozineff'........ 'Nuff said ..

Another firm recommendation for that Mosaic box. As previously mentioned, the booklet is a truly fantastic read (one of their best) and the music (short as many of the snippets are) really illuminates the genius that was Charles Parker. There's something almost hipnotic about this material ! To me, its this sort of set, unusual though it is, that really brings out the Mosaic label's particular strengths ..

It was a hard one. Either Farlow, Montgomery or Metheny really should have got my vote but I've gone for Pat Martino. His recordings are always a total knock-out (from the early Prestiges through to 'Live at Yoshi's') but extra kudos (squared) for the recent performance in London and being so approachable and genuinely friendly after the show. I was damned impressed !

That's a relief - I thought I was totally and utterly losing it !

"Gloster" in this part of the world .... Good cathedral, interesting locals, not a lot else ...

The Linn Axis can be a good second-hand buy. Particularly if you can find one with the Akito arm, as supplied on LP12s ....

It would have been Henry 'Red' but - in his absence - it's between Roy and Buck. Roy by a gnat's whisker ... B) 'Hot Lips' Page would figure well up there on my list too ..

Don't remember Asman's, John. Most of my searching around that time was at Mole and Honest Jon's - but of course as a mere impoverished student I could never afford those lovely King and Toshiba imports that were forever taunting me from the racks. It was the bargain cut-out bins for me ! Talking about test pressings, I noticed one on ebay a while back for Alan Shorter's 'Orgasm', on Verve. The seller was from Argentina - I really should have taken the plunge on that one but the purchase looked a bit messy ... Seller from Argentina - couldn't have been Gato, could it ?

There's the CD set up on ebay right now ...

No problems at all to my ears with the 'Byrd/Adams'. A mighty fine set

Can just about pick out the alto but it's marginal (man, this one is driving me crazy ). It's probably a bit easier to differentiate on headphones - admittedly not helped by Joe H's higher register unison work. Unfortunately, my all-Naim set up doesn't allow such 'heretic sonic transgressions' as headphones so I'm left with the speakers. Will have to look out for the JRVG for the bonus tracks. Suspect that the Toshiba LP version would be a straight copy of the original session tracks but if I ever see it I'll probably snag it anyway (perhaps Hiroshi can help...) I'll hang on to my McMaster and use my imagination to conjure up the alto ..

I wish I'd checked out those 2nd hand London bins 20 years ago John with the same manic scrutiny that I do these days. Sadly, I don't think there's too much chance of picking up more Andrew Hill test pressings anytime soon. Truly a wonderful find ! Let me guess - Colletts maybe? Mole? Honest Jon's? PS - It's entirely possible that I might have skipped over this and other such gems in the racks, totally oblivious !