Dewey Redman "a capella" LP on Tuff City

[JSngry]

19 second .wma sample here: http://www.tuffcity.com/audio/47346.wma

Also: http://www.tuffcity.com/html/HipHop.asp?Se...seAlbumList=550

And look - Joseph Bowie's got one too!

http://www.tuffcity.com/html/HipHop.asp?Se...seAlbumList=551

What is this stuff anyway? Music Minus One in reverse?

As always, thanks in advance!

[bertrand]

Holy crap,

So this is a sampler with tracks from different artists, and Dewey also has an entire album?

Recording dates??????

As Jim said, WTF?????

Bertrand.

[bertrand]

Bummer,

Looks like Dewey's is not available currently. Dang.

Bertrand.

[JSngry]

The possibility exists that these are illicit rips from a multitrack copy of legit sessions. You know how "the underground" can be...

The possibility also exists that these are new recordings done specifically for this release. You know how "the underground" can be...

Investigation, such as it is, is ongoing. I'll let y'all know what, if anything, I find out.

Anybody who already knows, please speak up!

[bertrand]

I'll set aside $9.95 from my music budget just in case this can be purchased somewhere. I'm a Dewey nut!

He did tell me a year or so ago that he was plannning to use his Guggenheim grant to do some sort of video of a solo performance. I doubt this is connected, however.

Bertrand.

Edited November 20, 2005 by bertrand

[JSngry]

Just found out that this is a legit recording, done especially for this purpose.

[bertrand]

Do we have a track listing on this thing? The site just has 'Redman 1' parts 1-6. Of course, since it seems to just be an improvised session, this may be all the titles Dewey could be bothered with.

This could be a dud, or, like the solo piece 'S 126 T' (another great title there) from 'Red and Black In Willisau', it could be a masterpiece. I NEED to hear this!

Bertrand.

Edited November 21, 2005 by bertrand

[bertrand]

'Just found out that this is a legit recording, done especially for this purpose.'

Did Dewey tell you where we could scare up a copy when you spoke to him about this

Bertrand.

[Chuck Nessa]

Of course, since it seems to just be an improvised session, this may be all the titles Dewey could be bothered with.

Bertrand.

←

That sounds kind of condescending to improvisation. Would the music have greater value if Dewey transcribed it and deposited in the LOC?

[bertrand]

Doesn't change the value of the music, but titles (even on improvised pieces) sometimes can give you an idea of what might be going on in the improviser's head as he is improvising. Even if he/she titles them after the fact, I think it still can add to the enjoyment of the music. This is a purely subjective view, of course. A lot of people don't care, but I do.

Whether or not they get copyrighted is his problem.

Bertrand.

[bertrand]

An example, which doesn't exactly apply, but is parallel.

Some of the pieces in the Hill Mosaic select were titled recently and originally were untitled in the discography. For example, 'Monkash' is now named after a doctor who is a friend of Hill's and who (based on a web search I did) is obviously a big jazz fan.

Clearly, Hill did not write the song for him, but perhaps as he was titling the untitled tunes, he thought that this piece reminded him of his friend, and he decided to dedicate it to him.

For me, it adds to my enjoyment of the piece (not that it is not great in its own right). Again, purely my subjective way of enjoying the music. I'm not an abstract kind of guy.

Bertrand.

[bertrand]

Another example are 'Diversion One' and 'Diversion Two' from Woody Shaw's Iron Man. I think these were improvised by Shaw/Abrams/McBee, but I like the fact that they have a title.

Bertrand.

[Chuck Nessa]

So "Diversion One" does more for you than "Redman 1".

[bertrand]

Yes.

Bertrand.

[ep1str0phy]

Doesn't change the value of the music, but titles (even on improvised pieces) sometimes can give you an idea of what might be going on in the improviser's head as he is improvising.  Even if he/she titles them after the fact, I think it still can add to the enjoyment of the music.  This is a purely subjective view, of course.  A lot of people don't care, but I do.

Whether or not they get copyrighted is his problem.

Bertrand.

←

What about Braxton, whose compositions are characteristically well-formed but whose titles are almost uniformly incomprehensible (to the layperson)?

[bertrand]

Braxton is an interesting case. In theory, his titles may mean something to him, and may represent what he feels the composition expresses. A title does not necessarily have to evoke the same feeling in the listener as it does in the composer. In this case, the title may express something to him, and nothing to the listener.

Or you may argue that he's a fraud and a poseur, and that his titles are just a put-on made to fool gullible pseudo-intellectuals

I'm not going to argue either side, having hardly ever heard his music. One exception is the Woody Shaw album mentioned above. His playing gives me the feeling that I do not find his tonality on the sax particularly attractive, which is probably why I didn't really dig further.

You will only get an argument from me if you refer to his song titles as 'mathematical'. They are most definitely not.

Bertrand.

Edited November 21, 2005 by bertrand

[ep1str0phy]

From my experience, most people react to Braxton's "song titles" in the same manner. The real issue (for me, anyway) is that there is most certainly an underlying meaning to his symbols/numbers/etc.--so there's no real question of "depth" or "effort" on Braxton's part. Either he's pure jive or fairly unfathomable--I, for one, enjoy his intellectual rigor. That semblance of meaning is enough to provoke a reaction from this listener.

But if Braxton's symobls aren't quite as meaningful to me, do they matter at all? If I dig Braxton now, wouldn't I probably enjoy him regardless?

I, too, take joy in the whole song title thing--it's an art unto itself, a remarkably simple means of invoking deep concepts. As far as true "relevance" to the music (itself), however, I'm often left wondering. A lot of late period Coltrane, for example (what we have on record), was named posthumously. Ornette has been known to rename his compositions constantly. Red Planet and Miles' Mode are (basically) the same tune--does the title matter at all?

To get back to the central topic--anyone going to get the LPs?

[JSngry]

The Dewey LP is OOP, but I've heard that "you can find them at any record store that caters to hiphop DJs". That's from somebody in NYC who is involved in that whole scene, so "any" to them might be a big "?" for a lot of us.

But now we know, so let the search begin.

[JSngry]

Haven't found the Dewey side yet, but the cuts on Riff Mania whet the appetite for the full album. A helluva lot more than you might expect from a "riffs for DJs" type thing.

Same hold for the Eddie Bo organ cuts. Attention must be paid!

There's a whole series of thse things, it appears. http://www.tuffcity.com/html/HipHop.asp?Av...ShowFormat=CDVY

Don't know how fruitful they all are, but still...

Discographers, take note!

[clifford_thornton]

A lot of late period Coltrane, for example (what we have on record), was named posthumously. Ornette has been known to rename his compositions constantly. Red Planet and Miles' Mode are (basically) the same tune--does the title matter at all?

Depends on whether you're Dolphy or Coltrane (as per your post above).

[Chuck Nessa]

Depends on whether you're Dolphy or Coltrane.

Don't matter to them but it do to their estates.

Edited December 12, 2005 by Chuck Nessa

[ep1str0phy]

A lot of late period Coltrane, for example (what we have on record), was named posthumously. Ornette has been known to rename his compositions constantly. Red Planet and Miles' Mode are (basically) the same tune--does the title matter at all?

Depends on whether you're Dolphy or Coltrane (as per your post above).

I was speaking from the perspective of a listener, versus the artist him/herself (to which song titles are, often, eminently important). To qualify that statement, the importance of song titles to the artist can have some bearing on the listner's enjoyment (as well). Regardless, I think the issue is contentious (as you may agree).

On the topic of the LPs--glad someone's been looking into it (JSngry). Anyone else listening in for this stuff?

[clifford_thornton]

"Miles' Mode" and "Red Planet," being the same tune, are variously attributed to both Trane and Dolphy as composers. Hence... the humor attempt.

Edited December 13, 2005 by clifford_thornton

[Chuck Nessa]

"Miles' Mode" and "Red Planet," being the same tune, are variously attributed to both Trane and Dolphy as composers. Hence... the humor attempt.

I understood that.

[ep1str0phy]

"Miles' Mode" and "Red Planet," being the same tune, are variously attributed to both Trane and Dolphy as composers. Hence... the humor attempt.

I understood that.

And I have trouble with irony. Goodnight, folks.