king ubu Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 (edited) Have been listening to some radio recordings I made from the Willisau festival which took place last weekend. Thursday saw a great opening by a group led by swiss bass player Heiri Känzig (he was with the Vienna Art Orchestra a long time), featuring Christy Doran on acoustic guitar, Fabian Kuratli (d), and Mark Feldman (v). Then, E.S.T. - still not getting too much love from me... Friday night had a group around swiss rapper Nya (who gained some notoriety by appearing with Erik Truffaz' group, on some Blue Note CDs), another electronic/funk/rock group led by Adrian Sherwood, featuring Doug Wimbish and Bernard Fowler, among others (haven't heard them, weren't broadcasted). The last group on Friday was DJ Spooky with the Matt Shipp 3 (Parker & Brown). Pretty boring, I think. A friend burned me "Optometry," and even if his playing there is very tame, it seems Joe McPhee makes a difference. There are several tracks on the CD I like quite well. Saturday: afternoon was guitars (haven't yet heard it): Elliot Sharp with Melvin Gibbs (b), and Lance Carter (d), group called "Raw Meat." The second group featured the resurrected Henry Grimes, a quartet by Marc Ribot, "Spiritual Unit," dedicated to Ayler's music. Roy Campbell (tp) and CHad Taylor (d) were the others. Saturday night was Rebekka Bakken (currently spinning, rather boring), then Dave Liebman solo, in top form! A marvellous concert! To end that night was Josh Roseman's Unit (with Peter Apfelbaum, Barney McAll, Liberty Ellman, and Gabe Jarrett) - not bad, but I only heard 20 minutes of their set. On Sunday, the afternoon had the trio of Irène Schweizer, Fred Anderson, and Hamid Drake. Only heard half an hours worht, but great music! Then Portal's Minneapolis schtick... Sunday night, to end the festival: a chinese improvising duo, Xu Fengxia (I think I saw her life a couple of years ago in another setting), and Wu Wei, both playing trad. Chinese instruments in a decidedly non-traditional way. Pretty intense, pretty good, but not jazz. Then, the VAO ended things with world premiere of the new programme, "Big Band Poesie" - as usual lately, polished, good, but not too exciting. I hope to hear the rest of the Schweizer/Anderson/Drake, Liebman, and Känzig concerts, as well as the full Sharp and Ribot sets... I guess the festival was mediocre, which is a bit sad, as it was the 30th anniversary edition. ubu Edited September 1, 2004 by king ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 Have been listening to some radio recordings I made from the Willisau festival which took place last weekend. The last group on Friday was DJ Spooky with the Matt Shipp 3 (Parker & Brown). Pretty boring, I think. A friend burned me "Optometry," and even if his playing there is very tame, it seems Joe McPhee makes a difference. There are several tracks on the CD I like quite well. I own Optometry and am really underwhelmed by it. I can't get past the first few tracks without getting really bored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 I will be out in Chicago next weekend and just found out that our visit will coincide with most of the 26th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival. The festival is free, so I think I will be able to convince everyone to go with me on Sunday night. I am really excited by the prospect of these two shows: 5:05 – 5:55 Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake 7:10 – 8:10 The Monksieland Band with Don Byron, Roswell Rudd, Dave Douglas, Jean-Jacques Avenel, and John Betsch Dedicated to the late great Steve Lacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 What a fantastic disc! HELLYEAH! This is some of the best no-nonsense jazz I hear, lately! If I remember correctly, there is a really powerful and quite "out" version of Footprints on some Freeman live CD. If it is on this one, then this CD is worth hearing if only for this track alone. I think I also have a CD of Von Freeman with Chico Freeman (BIrthday at Blue Note or something like that) and I remember it being pretty boring, mainly due to Chico's playing which I find absolutely bland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 I really must spend some quality time with the Nessa AEC set. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gianni Gebbia's Arcana Major is now OOP! Hi Tony, Unfortunately, it is out of print. However, I expect to get some as returns from my distributor in the next month or two, so have your friend check back with me then. cheers, ginorobair While it's nice that it sold out, it's a shame that it's OOP. I would assume Gianni has about 494 copies left. Anybody in terestd in geting a copy can contact him directly: gebbia@giannigebbia.com. BTW, from Gebbia's website: "... then two new recordings at Sonoma State Music College one new solo and the second one a deep duo with Gino Robair who also played piano!". I want both, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 While on vacation, I was not forgetting about my Rat duties, so I was listening (attentievely, for once) to a bit of music. Will elaborate later, so just a snapshot of the horrors is to come: Kate Bush "Dreaming" Joelle Leandre / Mat Maneri / Joel Ryan / Christophe Marguet "For Flowers" (even , I would say) Old and New Dreams (ECM) Viram Jasani / Gurdev Singh / Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan "Rags, Malkauns and Megh" Beaver Harris "African Drums" Sunny Murray / Charles Gayle "Illuminators" Gene Ammons "Boss Tenor" Lovano /Osby "Friendly Fire" Michel Portal "Arivederchi le Chouartse" Pharoah Sanders "Live At The East" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Welcome back David! (I'd post more but I'm just so exhausted right now... AND it's only 8:33 p.m.! ... Long day. Good to see you back, bro.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Sorry, but a question. Has anyone ever ordered a Road Cone title? Back on July 30, 2004, I placed an order for and paid by personal check. A month having passed without my order being filled, I sent a e-mail to Mike Hinds on August 29. No response. (I'll have to check if my check has cleared.) Anyone know this outfit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Sorry, but a question. Has anyone ever ordered a Road Cone title? I've been curious about this CD for quite some time now! - but was not sure about how active the label still is... Ask our friends at indiejazz - they might be able to procure it for you. Or any of the musicians invovled, perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 (edited) While on vacation, I was not forgetting about my Rat duties, so I was listening (attentievely, for once) to a bit of music. Will elaborate later, so just a snapshot of the horrors is to come: Joelle Leandre / Mat Maneri / Joel Ryan / Christophe Marguet "For Flowers" (even , I would say) Viram Jasani / Gurdev Singh / Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan "Rags, Malkauns and Megh" Beaver Harris "African Drums" Sunny Murray / Charles Gayle "Illuminators" Michel Portal "Arivederchi le Chouartse" Pharoah Sanders "Live At The East" welcome back! I'm surprised by some of the discs that you panned. I'd really be interested in hearing your thoughts on the ones I quoted above. After not listening to any music for almost a week I've been listening to eai pretty much nonstop at work. MIMEO with John Tilbury - The Hands of Caravaggio, Gunter Muller / Voice Crack - buda_rom, Otomo Yoshihide / Voice Crack - Bits, Bots and Signs, Gunter Muller / Le Quanh Ninh - La Voyelle Liquide, Toshimaru Nakamura / Keith Rowe - Weather Sky, Sachiko M / Toshimaru Nakamura / Otomo Yoshihide - Good Morning, Good Night, Keith Rowe / Franz Hautzinger / Axel Dorner - A View from the Window, AMM - Newfoundland as well as the last Sonic Youth album and some Bardo Pond. I'll start back in on some jazz tomorrow. Ive been anxious to hear Last Exit's Koln disc and a few albums by and Vijay Iyer. Is anyone familiar with their work? I highly recommend Black Water, by Mahanthappa, as well as Panoptic Modes and Blood Sutra, by Iyer. Great albums! Edited September 2, 2004 by John B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 What a fantastic disc! HELLYEAH! This is some of the best no-nonsense jazz I hear, lately! If I remember correctly, there is a really powerful and quite "out" version of Footprints on some Freeman live CD. If it is on this one, then this CD is worth hearing if only for this track alone. I think I also have a CD of Von Freeman with Chico Freeman (BIrthday at Blue Note or something like that) and I remember it being pretty boring, mainly due to Chico's playing which I find absolutely bland. "Footprints" is on this CD - a marvellous version, indeed! Yesterday picked this one up cheap: No chance yet to listen. "African Drums" is a real winner, it seems! Will be interested to hear the "Arrivederci..." review - haven't heard it yet, but somehow I still like Sclavis, and the library I frequent in Zurich has quite many of his CDs. ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Got this one from the library: Solid, unpretentious modern mainstream, I'd call this. Good, but not outstanding. Not sure how much of Blythe's sound I could take at a time. However, it was good late night listening yesterday. Now spinning: ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Sorry, but a question. Has anyone ever ordered a Road Cone title? I've been curious about this CD for quite some time now! - but was not sure about how active the label still is... Ask our friends at indiejazz - they might be able to procure it for you. Or any of the musicians invovled, perhaps? I'll give it a bit more time. If I don't get my disk, I believe I'll send an e-mail to Garth Powell and Matthew Goodheart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Listening to the second (1965) concert on this disc: (actually I don't have this version, but the cheapo one on Laserlight) Great stuff! Don Friedman on piano, and Barre Phillips on bass - how I wish they had recorded in the studio, a couple of albums or more... a beautiful trio, just as fascinating as the Giuffre-Bley-Swallow one! They're certainly less filigrane (does this adjective exist in english?), more powerful, less "head"-music (though that doesn't bother me if the outcome is as good as teh Giuffre-Bley-Swallow unit's is). Giuffre plays quite some tenor, the French (as they usually did in those years - see Miles wiht Coltrane, George Russell... conservative lot!) whistle quite some... Good one, for sure. Pick it up if you find it cheap. It seems our Zweit-friends do have some of the Laserlight releases for good prizes! ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.L.M Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Listening to the second (1965) concert on this disc: (actually I don't have this version, but the cheapo one on Laserlight) Great stuff! Don Friedman on piano, and Barre Phillips on bass - how I wish they had recorded in the studio, a couple of albums or more... a beautiful trio, just as fascinating as the Giuffre-Bley-Swallow one! They're certainly less filigrane (does this adjective exist in english?), more powerful, less "head"-music (though that doesn't bother me if the outcome is as good as teh Giuffre-Bley-Swallow unit's is). Giuffre plays quite some tenor, the French (as they usually did in those years - see Miles wiht Coltrane, George Russell... conservative lot!) whistle quite some... Good one, for sure. Pick it up if you find it cheap. It seems our Zweit-friends do have some of the Laserlight releases for good prizes! ubu These records has change of editor but are exactly of the same quality. And they are selling at the same price (at last in France and in Belgium.) So getting one or the other doesn't change anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 so, I've been relistening to this disc today: Rudresh Mahanthappa - Black Water (Red Giant) Mahanthappa - Alto Vijay Iyer - Piano Francois Moutin - Bass Elliot Humberto Kavee - Drums This is a fantastic album! It reminds me a lot of the Pullen / Adams discs I have heard in its balance between "out" and "in" playing, although I feel that it stays more in the pocket than not. Great playing and nice tunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Sorry, but a question. Has anyone ever ordered a Road Cone title? I've been curious about this CD for quite some time now! - but was not sure about how active the label still is... Ask our friends at indiejazz - they might be able to procure it for you. Or any of the musicians invovled, perhaps? I'll give it a bit more time. If I don't get my disk, I believe I'll send an e-mail to Garth Powell and Matthew Goodheart. Heey, looks like you can bu it from some market sellers at amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3DB...7415423-1149435 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Heey, looks like you can bu it from some market sellers at amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3DB...7415423-1149435 SON OF A PUP! -_- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnhrtg Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 so, I've been relistening to this disc today: Rudresh Mahanthappa - Black Water (Red Giant) Mahanthappa - Alto Vijay Iyer - Piano Francois Moutin - Bass Elliot Humberto Kavee - Drums This is a fantastic album! It reminds me a lot of the Pullen / Adams discs I have heard in its balance between "out" and "in" playing, although I feel that it stays more in the pocket than not. Great playing and nice tunes. Seconding this recommendation. I saw Iyer and Mahanthappa as a duo, Raw Materials, at this summer's North Sea Jazz Festival an Mahanthappa smoked - lots of shaking my head in disbelief at his playing, accompanied by slightly audible "owwww"s and "poooof"s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 (edited) so, I've been relistening to this disc today: Rudresh Mahanthappa - Black Water (Red Giant) Mahanthappa - Alto Vijay Iyer - Piano Francois Moutin - Bass Elliot Humberto Kavee - Drums This is a fantastic album! It reminds me a lot of the Pullen / Adams discs I have heard in its balance between "out" and "in" playing, although I feel that it stays more in the pocket than not. Great playing and nice tunes. Seconding this recommendation. I saw Iyer and Mahanthappa as a duo, Raw Materials, at this summer's North Sea Jazz Festival an Mahanthappa smoked - lots of shaking my head in disbelief at his playing, accompanied by slightly audible "owwww"s and "poooof"s. OK, I am persuaded Edited September 2, 2004 by Д.Д. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Got this one from the library: Arthur Blythe "Retroflection. Live at the Vanguard" Solid, unpretentious modern mainstream, I'd call this. Good, but not outstanding. Not sure how much of Blythe's sound I could take at a time. However, it was good late night listening yesterday. I don't have this one, but I have some other post-Columbia - pre-Savant releases, and I can imagine what this one can sound like. SINOW. I also have some early Blythe stuff (on India Navigation), and it also does not exactly click with me for some reason - all the components are there, but something just does not work out. However, I would highly recommend Blythe's recent work: Arthur Blythe - "Focus" (Savant, 2002) I think here everything goes together just perfectly. A very nice band (interesting configuration: alto-tuba-marimba-drums), Blythe's sound is rich and beautiful here (and it is far from that on his earlier recordings), solid compositions (some of them are pretty old ones) with great variety - from ballads to New Orleans (and tuba sets some nice grooves here) to some (slightly) more out stuff. Blythe playing here is very authoritative and mature - you feel the man knows where he is going and is happy about himself. Marimba adds additional warmth and tuba makes at all more tight and direct, IMO. And they play "In a Sentimental Mood"! Not entirely satidfying version, but it is such a gorgeous composition that hearing it even in a non-optimal performance is a treat. Original. Savant website has some samples. Blythe released on more CD after Focus, also on Savant, and I'll be getting it in dure course as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 I believe the only Blythe I have as a leader is Hipmotism, on Enja. This is another disc that would fall under the patented SINOW description, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Read about this Blythe, and heard one tune of that group, but from the late nineties. Will keep it in mind. You know "Lenox Avenue Breakdown"? I think that one's great. It was on Columbia, and Koch did a reissue. And what again is SINOW? I'm too lazy to search (and I hate abbreviations - they're usually used in places like armies, so I really think we ought to keep the rat free from them...) "Hipnotism" is of the same vintage it seems as "Retroflection." As I only get these from the library, I am not too hard on them, the most I can lose is a CDR I hardly listen to anymore... ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 And what again is SINOW? I'm too lazy to search (and I hate abbreviations - they're usually used in places like armies, so I really think we ought to keep the rat free from them...) To quote Chaney and D.D., from back in May: "QUOTE (Д.Д. @ May 18 2004, 02:23 PM) Both are solid, if not outstanding works. I like this and so I've decided to honor it with a newly created acronym - full credit to David - we'll split the royalties: SINOW So often, when I've wanted to recommend a particular CD, I've searched for the proper words to convey the idea that you'll like this one alot but it probably won't change your life. A good, solid effort which you'll enjoy but may not revere. SINOW Doesn't quite roll off the tongue but it'll do." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 And what again is SINOW? I'm too lazy to search (and I hate abbreviations - they're usually used in places like armies, so I really think we ought to keep the rat free from them...) To quote Chaney and D.D., from back in May: "QUOTE (?.?. @ May 18 2004, 02:23 PM) Both are solid, if not outstanding works. I like this and so I've decided to honor it with a newly created acronym - full credit to David - we'll split the royalties: SINOW So often, when I've wanted to recommend a particular CD, I've searched for the proper words to convey the idea that you'll like this one alot but it probably won't change your life. A good, solid effort which you'll enjoy but may not revere. SINOW Doesn't quite roll off the tongue but it'll do." Thanks, makes sense! Let me again recommend the Giuffre I mentioned above - I am impressed by the tracks with Phillips/Friedman. ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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