David Izenzon

[Chuck Nessa]

From what I understand - and somebody may know more about this - the recordings were badly marred by distortion and the only salvageable (then) material was issued via ESP. I don't know the state of the tapes now or whether any more salvageable music has been found from that concert.

Don't know about the sound quality of the bass solo (Taurus) but the "salvageable" material was enough for BN to prepare masters for 2 lps and make test pressings. Interestingly the ESP issue duplicates the program of BN's 2nd volume (4211). The first volume (4210) remains unissued and consists of 4 performances by the trio.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Chuck Nessa

[AndrewHill]

Does Ornette have the BN masters or does BN have them?

[Peter Johnson]

In about 1993, just having graduated from college, my jazz field of vision was relatively narrow, consisting of much of "the obvious" from family upbringing (Time Out, KOB, etc.) and some slightly deeper stuff from exposure in music courses (Ellington, Strayhorn, Bitches Brew). Needless to say, "discovering" Something Else would then have been transcendant; "discovering" AEC--well, not so much.

That all changed one Saturday morning when I went into Bop Street Records in Seattle (some of you may know/have been there; it was in the Ballard neighborhood and not sure if it still exists). The owner, Dave, was notorious for not pricing his records until point of purchase, having stacks and stacks of unsorted wax everywhere, and having the odd gem hidden among the crap. Apropos of nothing that morning, he walked over to his beat up Thorens turntable and put (what I later discovered was) Volume 1 of the Golden Circle recordings on. I was MESMERIZED! Now that I know what I do about this music, I'm not ashamed of the the following exchange, about 15 minutes into the first side:

Me: "What the hell is this?"

Dave: "Ornette Coleman."

Me: "Who?" [seriously.]

Dave: "Dude. Here, just take the record and read about it."

So he handed me the jacket, and of course, the first thing I noticed was, "Blue Note! I must own this!" The second thing I noticed was "Volume 1". Oh man, there was more of this? Then I noticed, as was mentioned above, that the sound just JUMPED out of the speakers--izenson, moffett, Ornette cutting through everything with his particular blend of sane madness (remember, I had NEVER heard anything like this before). It was a transcendant listening experience, one of those "big ones" you never forget.

Long story short, I asked him how much he would sell me this original press of Golden Circle Volume 1 for. "I'll let you have it for five bucks--it's pretty wrecked," he said with a twinkle in his eye. It was not beat at all--it was in nearly perfect condition. It might go without saying that I have sense gone on to adore Ornette's music and much else from the "genre", and his curmudgeonly ways aside, I'll always be grateful to Dave at Bop Street for turning me on to it.

[kh1958]

Yup, we were posting simultaneously... when did "Body Meta" come out, in 1976 as AMG says? In that case it wouldn't really be a belated second helping...

My Dancing in Your Head LP says copyright 1977, and my Body Meta LP says copyright 1978.

Both were recorded in December of 1976.

[king ubu]

Yup, we were posting simultaneously... when did "Body Meta" come out, in 1976 as AMG says? In that case it wouldn't really be a belated second helping...

My Dancing in Your Head LP says copyright 1977, and my Body Meta LP says copyright 1978.

Both were recorded in December of 1976.

Ok, so I was wrong... I read something somewhere that suggested "Body Meta" came out several years later.

What would be really cool would be more of the session with the Master Musicians of Joujouka, though!

Now back on topic - I had no idea that the Town Hall concert was ever scheduled for release on Blue Note! Now that would definitely be a great addition to the Ornette and Izenzon (and Ornette/Izenzon/Moffett trio) discography!

[clifford_thornton]

Thanks to Chuck for clearing that up.

Bernard had said something to the effect that the recordings were in "bad sound" and that he had Richard Alderson clean up what he could in order to issue on ESP, as Blue Note wasn't moving on it. But clearly it's not that simple. I didn't realize that test pressings of the BNs were even made.

[kh1958]

The Body Meta booklet discography references some "private tapes" of the Moffett, Izenson group:

Oct. 1965 (Berlin Jazz Festival)

Feb. 1966 (New York City)

March 1967, adding Charlie Haden on second bass (Village Theater, New York).

[jeffcrom]

I pulled out the Joseph Scianni Man Running album (Savoy 1965) tonight for the first time in awhile. It's a really excellent and interesting album - it doesn't sound quite like anything else I've heard. All the tunes are by Scianni, and there's not really a key center most of the time. Scianni calls it pantonal rather the atonal, and that seems about right to me. Scianni's left hand is very active, playing complex polyphony with his right hand. Izenzon is amazing, both arco and pizzicato - he supports, plays counterpoint, takes the melody. A great duet.

[king ubu]

The Body Meta booklet discography references some "private tapes" of the Moffett, Izenson group:

Oct. 1965 (Berlin Jazz Festival)

Feb. 1966 (New York City)

March 1967, adding Charlie Haden on second bass (Village Theater, New York).

Yes, some boots are in circulation.

There are also these two from Gambit:

http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Concerts-1965-...119&sr=1-18

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-1968-Italia...207&sr=1-24

The second, it seems, has Izenzon AND Haden (and Blackwell). I have none of these shows, I think (at least not in their Gambit incarnations).

[clifford_thornton]

I pulled out the Joseph Scianni Man Running album (Savoy 1965) tonight for the first time in awhile. It's a really excellent and interesting album - it doesn't sound quite like anything else I've heard. All the tunes are by Scianni, and there's not really a key center most of the time. Scianni calls it pantonal rather the atonal, and that seems about right to me. Scianni's left hand is very active, playing complex polyphony with his right hand. Izenzon is amazing, both arco and pizzicato - he supports, plays counterpoint, takes the melody. A great duet.

Welcome.

I got a "new" copy of that LP and the pressing noise was louder than the music. Too bad.

Edited March 5, 2009 by clifford_thornton

[Chuck Nessa]

I pulled out the Joseph Scianni Man Running album (Savoy 1965) tonight for the first time in awhile. It's a really excellent and interesting album - it doesn't sound quite like anything else I've heard. All the tunes are by Scianni, and there's not really a key center most of the time. Scianni calls it pantonal rather the atonal, and that seems about right to me. Scianni's left hand is very active, playing complex polyphony with his right hand. Izenzon is amazing, both arco and pizzicato - he supports, plays counterpoint, takes the melody. A great duet.

Welcome.

I got a "new" copy of that LP and the pressing noise was louder than the music. Too bad.

Mine is like that too. Bought it in the mid '60s.

[paul secor]

Seems like doing cheap pressings was a way that Mr. Lubinsky made even more $.

[jeffcrom]

Welcome.

I got a "new" copy of that LP and the pressing noise was louder than the music. Too bad.

Thank you.

Yeah, my copy, which I found used about five years ago, looks mint, but is pretty noisy. Too bad, given the dynamic range Scianni and Izenzon use.

[AmirBagachelles]

Chuck's post suggests that unissued BN 4210 trio music might not have encompassed Taurus anyway. Wow, plot thickens. I really want to hear Taurus. And the ESP-Disk issue is in almost ideal sound to my ears, doesn't seem like the fruits of a reclamation.

[Chuck Nessa]

Chuck's post suggests that unissued BN 4210 trio music might not have encompassed Taurus anyway. Wow, plot thickens. I really want to hear Taurus. And the ESP-Disk issue is in almost ideal sound to my ears, doesn't seem like the fruits of a reclamation.

Correct on both counts.