Swinger Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Howard Riley: The Day Will Come,Angle I decided to make a "radical" decision and to buy those two cds without knowing what kind of music I'm going to hear.Am I going to hear structured music with improvisations or something between mainstream& Avant-Garde jazz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 I haven't heard Angle, but The Day Will Come is a marvelous record — deserving, I think, of the crown the Penguin Guide awards it. To my ears, the album is very structured while still improvisationally free (if that makes any sense). I sometimes wonder if Marilyn Crispell (slightly pre-ECM) listened to Riley, or if Riley ever heard Don Friedman when they were both developing their own respective approach to playing. At any rate, Riley, in my book, is a rare breed of pianist: forward-looking, but never without a sense of control. I love Cecil Taylor, but Riley is an altogether different branch of the Free Tree, and a branch that probably is a lot less commented upon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartjewkes Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Searched high and low for a thread on Riley and this is all I found. I'm shocked! The man is stunning. I've just struck it lucky with the following on vinyl, £8 for the pair: Riley and Tippett - In Focus Riley and Byard - Live at the Royal Festival Hall Nearly at the end of In Focus and I'm blown away. It is incredibly musical and not as abstract as I assumed it would be. There are even a few jolly moments thrown in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Can't remember who...someone was telling me some good stories about the Riley/Byard tour... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 What a rubbish start...can't remember the story now...just that it was funny... I'd say don't give up the day job, but I'd probably earn close to the same living as a raconteur as a musician, and check out this post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Late's perception of Riley is spot-on, especially the Crispell connection (I think I made the same reference in a review of a disc by the Guy/Crispell/Lytton trio). It's interesting to hear the progression of his music across the trios in the '60s/early '70s - always with Barry Guy, and Jon Hiseman, Alan Jackson and Tony Oxley occupying the drum chair. The electro-acoustic improvisation of the Oxley years is great, but I have a fondness for the structures of The Day Will Come (Guy wrote a lot of the pieces there) and the supple-yet-agitated swing of Discussions, his first as a leader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 (edited) Listening to Gyroscope by the Gordon Beck trio featuring Oxley earlier...I have to say, I like Oxley a lot better when not playing 'time' (p.s. a comment not meant to sound barbed in any way - I like his 'time' just fine, but don't think it's nearly as exceptional as his 'free' playing). Edited August 10, 2008 by Red Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 (edited) That Gordon Beck record is pretty good. Oxley's a fine "time" player, sort of reminiscent (to me) of Joe Chambers or a young Tony Williams. Certainly, his more "sound"-oriented structural work in improvised music is of a piece, and quite unique. I think they have to be taken differently, and the latter within the context of either his own compositions or frameworks that allow him to work in "abstract" areas. Edited August 11, 2008 by clifford_thornton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 I know what you mean, although I think Oxley thinks 'time' even in free contexts. I agree though, where everything is more abstracted, he is more distinguished... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted August 13, 2008 Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Well, Oxley's more abstract playing still has meter and motion, but I think of it as a sequence of events strung together in a rhythmic fashion. Time as relationships, in effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romualdo Posted August 18, 2012 Report Share Posted August 18, 2012 Just picked up this magnificent 6CD solo set from the Lithuanian "NoBusiness" label The Complete Short Stories 1998-2010 2CDs were released on the ESP Productions label (in 1998?) & another 2 on the Slam label, the last 2 most recent recordings are unreleased Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted August 18, 2012 Report Share Posted August 18, 2012 A nice clip of Howard's trio... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted August 18, 2012 Report Share Posted August 18, 2012 A nice clip of Howard's trio... Yes...VERY nice, thank you. All that hair.....you wonder how they could see what they were doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romualdo Posted August 18, 2012 Report Share Posted August 18, 2012 A nice clip of Howard's trio... Yes...VERY nice, thank you. All that hair.....you wonder how they could see what they were doing. Thanks for the link - didn't recognise Barry Guy with the "Baldrick" coiffure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmce Posted August 18, 2012 Report Share Posted August 18, 2012 I've been looking for Day Will Come and Oxley's Baptised Traveller for a reasonable price ever since I first picked up the Penguin Guide. Still no avail ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted August 19, 2012 Report Share Posted August 19, 2012 A nice clip of Howard's trio... Yes...VERY nice, thank you. All that hair.....you wonder how they could see what they were doing. Thanks for the link - didn't recognise Barry Guy with the "Baldrick" coiffure Great footage - thanks for the link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I've been looking for Day Will Come and Oxley's Baptised Traveller for a reasonable price ever since I first picked up the Penguin Guide. Still no avail ... The Tony Oxley turns up fairly frequently on ebay and usually goes for reasonable prices. There's one on there now: Tony Oxley - Baptised Traveller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmce Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Thanks, I'll keep an eye on that. As a side note, this seller has been pissing me the fuck off for the last year and a half clogging up my Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor searches with their ludicrously overpriced CDs. The price for the Oxley, obviously, is a shade more reasonable. But if no one has paid $150 for your Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 CD in the other 50 times you've listed it, what makes you think they would now? And why are you asking $80 (initially $200!!) for Willisau 1991 when you admit your copy is missing a slipcase and disc 3 is unplayable? End rant, sorry. I spend too much time on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 Thanks for posting that clip, Alex. On the strength of it I went straight to Emanem and purchased Synopsis - what a terrific album. Don't know how this trio passed me by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) Thanks for posting that clip, Alex. On the strength of it I went straight to Emanem and purchased Synopsis - what a terrific album. Don't know how this trio passed me by. Whilst I agree that "Synopsis" and the trio with Tony Oxley is excellent, I still prefer Howard's two albums with Alan Jackson on drums - "Angle" and in particular, "The Day Will Come". Unfortunately, as mentioned above, both are now OOP and pretty hard to find at a reasonable price. Edited August 23, 2012 by Head Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 I picked up a CD copy of 'Angle' quite recently for £5. Still looking for the 'Day Will Come' and the Oxley for that price ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 I first posted in this thread ... eight years ago! Finally found, and purchased, the CD of Angle. I must say, I think it's just as good as The Day Will Come. The later record likely has more memorable compositions — melodically, that is — and it feels more cohesive as a whole, but the earlier record is a little wilder, and in a good way. Barry Guy's playing is just phenomenal. The stand-alone duo track on Angle (Riley on piano, and Barbara Thompson on flute) is not a distraction, as I initially thought it might be. In fact, it's a very nice reprieve from the high energy of the proceedings. It's through-composed, and very short, even though it's in three movements. Sounds very much like contemporary classical, which isn't actually surprising given Riley's education and interests. What's especially nice about both Angle and The Day Will Come is that they were so well-recorded. Guy's bass is a joy to listen to. It's a small crime to humanity that these two CDs aren't out in the marketplace — at least readily and affordably. The CDs were initially issued in 1999. I remember when Dusty Groove sold them. (I think their price was $12.99.) I can't see Sony (unfortunately) issuing them again, but who knows? Searching for Howard Riley (without quotation marks), I hit upon this recording. Never have heard it, don't know who the artist is, but the title (given the thread here) struck me as humorous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinger Posted April 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2013 I recently listened to Angle and The Day Will Come again and oh man they sound really nice They were indeed very well recorded and I still enjoy every minute of them. It's a crying shame they are not anymore easily available (the same goes with Tony Oxley: The Baptized Traveller which came in same serie). I recently bought the 6CD boxset The Complete Short Stories 1998-2010 mentioned above and although I like his playing very much, I still prefer those those early albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted April 27, 2013 Report Share Posted April 27, 2013 I recently listened to Angle and The Day Will Come again and oh man they sound really nice They were indeed very well recorded and I still enjoy every minute of them. It's a crying shame they are not anymore easily available (the same goes with Tony Oxley: The Baptized Traveller which came in same serie). I recently bought the 6CD boxset The Complete Short Stories 1998-2010 mentioned above and although I like his playing very much, I still prefer those those early albums. I agree with you that these are his two most enjoyable albums. I think it has lot to do with the drummer on the two dates. At that time Alan Jackson was probably the best jazz drummer in London and it's always been a mystery to me as to why he's not better known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted April 28, 2013 Report Share Posted April 28, 2013 Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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