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ubu - I saw ICP in July and my take is much the same. Ab Baars was by far the least interesting musician on stage that night (and know that not all were in the best of their forms) and, for me, Michael Moore stole the show. The cello maniac, I think, would be Tristan Honsinger And I was lucky enough to also see a long-ish and much entertaining duo section with Wolter Wierbos and Tobias Delius.

I heard these, once - as someone was seeding more discs of live unreleased Brownie and most were better music, actually - and my impression then was that it's ok but that, yes, I'd rather listen to Dolphy from 4-5 years after and onwards. Not all that distinctive and playing in a style where I'd find a good deal of others preferable to him. I'm with chuckyd4 here, I think, I try to buy more as a fan of this music and less like a collector/completist.

I quite like Diaspora Soul and would recommend it - definitely up to the cantorial transcriptions (but not Diaspora Blues, for instance, and the one time I saw Sex Mob live was good fun but I don't think I'd every pay for their records).

Whilst I stand by what I said about London I'm not sure I'd agree that it suffers in comparison with Boston. I'm sure it does with regards to price but I'd have said that the selection was as good, if not better due to the larger number of outlets. Unless of course I was looking in the wrong places when I was in Boston I meant to say, though didn't of course, with regards to second-hand discs, at least in Boston (and then, you get to buy more, of course, what with the ridiculously high prices in London - and around Europe, more generally). But in general, I'd much rather go to NYC than London if I were shopping for either classical or jazz cd's.

I think the deal excluded tracks longer than a certain duration, 15-20 minutes perhaps?

Yes, there's not much in London, especially if you're used to the selection and prices I've seen here in NYC and Boston, for instance. The one store I remember being happy with in Amsterdam is Concerto. They have both new and used and a decent (though understand I mean decent for an independent - non megastore - type store) classical and jazz section - and though you would still find prices to be high, they regularly have sales on recent classical releases and you can readily find a fair bit of music by the many very able musicians associated with the Dutch scene. They should be on Utrechtsestraat 54-60.

ubu - I have not heard that Der Rote Bereich but neither of the other two I've heard was a keeper. Seeing them live and hearing the music once might be fun but it's definitely not the sort of thing I'd return to. I hope the one you have is the best of the bunch, though. I listened twice to the new Roscoe Mitchell, Turn, on RogueArt and it's not bad at all. The music covers a fair bit of ground, as is usual with Roscoe's albums and what I can say so far is that this certainly won't disappoint if you are a fan.

Peh. RIP, Mr. Bailey.

I recommend Wingspan. Recorded in 1987, with Kenny Garrett, Steve Nelson, Charnett Moffett, and Tony Reedus (and percussionist Rudy Bird). Strong playing by all, but especially the soloists, throughout the album. Not easy to come by, I think, being a 32 Jazz release, but a good one (The Sequel on MaxJazz really pales in comparison)

Of the others D.D. posted, I recommend Keith Tippett's Mujician III (though I still prefer Mujician I & II over it). I saw Dunmall playing solo bagpipes this summer at Jazz a Mulhouse and it was so-so, I thought - too few ideas & development to make most of the concert interesting.

I'd had this for more than a year and though I did try to get into it, it never did much for me. Traded it recently. I also agree with the later comments on how this compares with Lindberg's discs.

Oh yes, sorry. This is the US version, with 8 tracks.

I'm currently in NYC and have can mail this from here. The disc's in excellent shape, the barcode's crossed over with a pen, if that bothers you. It's yours for $5.50 plus shipping, at cost - or we can trade. I also updated my main for trade/sale list, if you are interested, but any item there I can only mail upon my return to France, in the first week of January. *SOLD*

I'm pretty sure the reissue Nate mentions is: John Stevens Works - SME Big Band & Quintet (Konnex),

About the Giuffre trio albums - Yes, I've not immersed myself as much in the reunion stuff, for which there might be a reason, but from what I've read and heard, certainly go for the two double disc sets, on Hat and ECM, and Free Fall, first.

I like and recommend, Hommage to Carla (Owl), solo Partners (Owl), duo with Gary Peacock Time Will Tell (ECM), trio with Evan Parker and Barre Phillips, I have not heard Sankt Gerold nearly as many times but I like this better Not Two, Not One (ECM), trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian Bebop (Steeplechase), with Bob Cranshaw and Keith Copeland is also good. Most importantly, these albums are all fairly different, yet Bley is pretty much himself on all of them. I'm less fond of the solo albums which contain longer tracks (like the recent Nothing to Declare).

I know Harald (Hult), of Blue Tower, had a copy for sale at last year's Perspectives festival. I remember that it was quite pricey and thus didn't ask him for this when I was in his store a few months ago. I do not have contact information for him handy, though.

Yes, Masada's Live in Seville, Live in Middleheim, and Live in Tonic (probably in that order, Seville first, for sure, the order might switch for the others) are all recommended. Derek Bailey's Ballads is one of the best things I've heard of late, and on Tzadik. And as John B said, of the Birthday Series I have heard, the ones worth keeping are the duo with Graves and the Masada String Trio (I don't think any of the Masada discs in this series, acoustic and electric, are out of the ordinary). I would also recommend Steven Bernstein's Diaspora Soul (but not Diaspore Blues, have not heard Diaspore Hollywood) - mostly unassuming playing over nice, funky and there is also a percussionist, iirc, grooves. Except for the cantorial transcriptions, I recommend this disc highly, in fact. The Golden Quartet, I like so-so, though I'm in a very minor, and distinct, minority on that one (as it happens, my copy is up for trade/sale, if you are interested, without the obi). An interesting alto, and soprano, saxophone player on Tzadik is Daniel Zamir. I liked his initial disc, his trio with Zorn guesting on a few tracks, traded the live disc because the bass player really bugged me, and am also mostly positive on the disc with a killer backing sax section, called Children of Israel, though Zamir takes all the solos (and perhaps Zorn one) - actually it starts very good, I think, and the last few tunes get weaker and weaker, so perhaps download the first half to give it a try. If it is added, I will certainly check out Misha Mengelberg's Senne Sing Song and many others, now that there's an affordable way to sample a lot of stuff I was curious, but not too, about.

Sing me up for #61, please (May 2009, then).

Which I think would do nothing to change your impression of Douglas. I like the album (certainly more than The Infinite, which I traded some time ago) but thought I'd let you know that Chris Potter, not your favorite, is given more than his share of the solos - not that this bugs me, I think he does at least as good a job as anyone else does. I really could have done without those composition heavy tunes, going too close to Frisell Americana, which I, know, is somehow missing the point but there's a reason why it's been a long time since I bought any Frisell albums. And on topic, the one I'd be interested in would be the live set(s).

Exploding Customer's first album on Ayler, Live at Glenn Miller Cafe, is recommended (and it comes from Kjell Nordeson's first gig after he joined the band). Though I have not yet heard it, I'm sure this new release is at least as good since Martin Kuchen (the sax player and composer of all almost all of the band's material) told me that they were very happy with the music on this new release (this was before his gig with Looper, joined by John Tilbury, in Stockholm).

I am looking forward to meeting you, too, Steve. Just do show up, please. Nate's wish comes true, and good news for those of us without the LP - News from the Shed being reissued by Emanem, with 18 minutes of extra material. link

Oh one more thing, I will be in New York (city) from the 28th of November until the 3rd of January. This is mostly for work but I will have some free time (especially in the evenings and before noon), will anyone be around?

No, I did not - as I decided, purely because of lack of money, to pass on the Emanem (and Leo) summer sale. Yes, PLM had recommended Optic but pretty much every other review I'd read of it was making it just above a mild recommendation. Anyway, since I very much like what Butcher discs I have and you seem to like this a lot, too, I will pick it up at the next opportunity.

Mark Shim also plays on Steve Lehman's Artificial Light (Fresh Sound New Talent). I would recommend this disc, only it is a little odd - in part heavy on composed material and generous, and for me undue, solo space given to the vibes player. I find it a joy to hear Lehman, who sound a little more, perhaps too, comfortable, or Shim solo and trade. Unfortunately, this does not happen much, relatively speaking.