Funny Rat

[John B]

and thoughts will be posted.

I'm looking forward to hearing this one!

Edited March 29, 2005 by John B

[John B]

also, based on recommendations here, I ordered Grand Marquis from Squidco as well as a few AMM discs I have been coveting. I'll post my thoughts once I have a chance to give it a listen or two.

Edited March 29, 2005 by John B

[Guest Chaney]

John: I'm also sending along (read: disposing of) a certain Sketch title (rhymes with chianti) praised ( ) by both David and I. You MUST have a listen and post your thoughts.

[John B]

I will endeavor to do it justice. It looks like I have a lot of listening, thinking and posting to do when I get back home...

[Nate Dorward]

Jon--well I virtually expect musicians to edit out the negative stuff when it's used in publicity, it's a sad fact of life.... it's just when editors mangle reviews that I go through the roof!

[king ubu]

Just got an e-mail from Joe McPhee who responded to my question about the possibility of the continuation of his work with Johnny McLellan. The answer is no. Joe mentions he would elaborate when we meet in Switzerland next month (concert in quartet with Brötzmann, oh yes).

So you'll be there for goon, on April 17?

They are playing here in Geneva on April 15th (http://www.amr-geneve.ch/prog2005/jazzfest/affiche.htm), so unless I am exceptionally inspired to make a 250km drive, I won't make it your way. Who are they playing with in Zürich?

Very same group, David.

You'll be here for Gebbia? (April 12, I think)

I meant, if there is any other band playing the same night with them.

For Gebbia, I will try to come.

Just the Brötz group that night. It's not part of a festival as it is in Geneva (please give me the RSR/Espace2 broacast dates if you have them, for this year's AMR concerts!)

[Д.Д.]

Transformations of my perception of music are perplexing sometimes.

This weekend I listened to Nailed (FMP), which is a quartet of Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, Tony Oxley and Barry Guy. This is the CD I enjoyed immensely when I got it. I though it was wild, brutal and cathartic music.

Well, I could hardly listen to it till the end this time. I tried it again next day with the same result. Now I can hardly find what is possibly there to enjoy. First and foremost, Parker is extremely repetative here, spitting out bursts of ultra-fast sounds. These 3-second bursts could have easily been sampled, looped and played all through the set -they are absolutely identical to my ears. The sound itself is not particularly interesting either: very "compressed" to my ears - as if after being "extracted" from the instrument it is immidiately captured, without time to unfold and breathe and to really "play". Overall, nothing intellectual, but nothing particularly emotional either - very mechanistic instead. Listening to his playing I was reminded that Don Cherry gave a "Machine Gun" nickname to Brötzmann - I think applying it to Parker on "Nailed" would have been much more appropriate.

Cecil does not treat us to too much variety either here (some piano-bass-drums passages are particualrly meandering here), and there is much less intricacies in his playing here than usual. Barry Guy seems totally lost here and his contribution, while not too bad per se does not add too much to the cohesiveness of the total ensemble sound. Oxley is good, but again there are some examples of his much better work elsewhere. Also, he is mostly focused on interacting with Cecil (not the other way around, I feel), and it comes into conflict with what Parker is playing.

To sum up, now I have a feeling of Nailed being a quite mediocre work. Can't even call it a "failed experiment", as I don't hear that much of experimentation here. I'll listenn to it again in a year or so. we'll see how I perceive it then.

[king ubu]

Transformations of my perception of music are perplexing sometimes.

This weekend I listened to Nailed (FMP), which is a quartet of Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, Tony Oxley and Barry Guy. This is the CD I enjoyed immensely when I got it. I though it was wild, brutal and cathartic music.

Well, I could hardly listen to it till the end this time. I tried it again next day with the same result. Now I can hardly find what is possibly there to enjoy. First and foremost, Parker is extremely repetative here, spitting out bursts of ultra-fast sounds. These 3-second bursts could have easily been sampled, looped and played all through the set -they are absolutely identical to my ears. The sound itself is not particularly interesting either: very "compressed" to my ears - as if after being "extracted" from the instrument it is immidiately captured, without time to unfold and breathe and to really "play". Overall, nothing intellectual, but nothing particularly emotional either - very mechanistic instead. Listening to his playing I was reminded that Don Cherry gave a "Machine Gun" nickname to Brötzmann - I think applying it to Parker on "Nailed" would have been much more appropriate.

Cecil does not treat us to too much variety either here (some piano-bass-drums passages are particualrly meandering here), and there is much less intricacies in his playing here than usual. Barry Guy seems totally lost here and his contribution, while not too bad per se does not add too much to the cohesiveness of the total ensemble sound. Oxley is good, but again there are some examples of his much better work elsewhere. Also, he is mostly focused on interacting with Cecil (not the other way around, I feel), and it comes into conflict with what Parker is playing.

To sum up, now I have a feeling of Nailed being a quite mediocre work. Can't even call it a "failed experiment", as I don't hear that much of experimentation here. I'll listenn to it again in a year or so. we'll see how I perceive it then.

Maybe you just didn't notice the experiment that was successfully pulled here: Parker never was in the same studio, in fact, he never went to any studio in connection with "Nailed" - they just cut fragments of his from many other discs and inserted them where they thought they'd fit, thus in my opinion, this is at least a failed experiment

I hasten to add I never heard "Nailed"... B-)

[Д.Д.]

Maybe you just didn't notice the experiment that was successfully pulled here: Parker never was in the same studio, in fact, he never went to any studio in connection with "Nailed" - they just cut fragments of his from many other discs and inserted them where they thought they'd fit, thus in my opinion, this is at least a failed experiment

I hasten to add I never heard "Nailed"... B-)

That's a live recording.

[king ubu]

Maybe you just didn't notice the experiment that was successfully pulled here: Parker never was in the same studio, in fact, he never went to any studio in connection with "Nailed" - they just cut fragments of his from many other discs and inserted them where they thought they'd fit, thus in my opinion, this is at least a failed experiment

I hasten to add I never heard "Nailed"... B-)

That's a live recording.

Oh, and you believe them?

Fake applause is my guess...

I told you I don't know it, didn't I?

[Guest Chaney]

This may be a first: On a particular disk, David coming around to my way of thinking. I'm stunned.

I've never particularly cared for Nailed and have always wondered why others thought of it so highly. As quite a few of those others were (and still are) persons whose opinions I respected (David), I wondered what it was that I wasn't hearing.

I've never been able to express it as well as you just did but I believe we (now!) hold a shared opinion on this one.

I'll have to pull this one off the shelf, blow off the dust and have another listen.

[Д.Д.]

Yes Tony, I remembered your dislike for this disc from way back when.

I think to some extent my opinion change could stem to from my better (although not at all exhaustive) knowledge of Evan Parker's ouevre. Hearing some examples of his good tenor playing (like on terrific Chicago Tenor Duets (Okka) with Joe McPhee) sets a good benchmark against which the comparisons should be made. Also, I feel that the more music I aquire the less tolerance for non-outstanding recordings I have - there are so many masterpieces in my collection already that spending time on merely good music has little value in it for me.

[John B]

Well, I still disagree with both of you, but I haven't litened to Nailed in a while. I'll try to give it another spin later this week.

You do know the story behind that performance, right? I don't remember the specifics off the top of my head but I think at least three out of the four performers couldn't stand each other. I imagine that must have affected the level of communication and exploration.

[Д.Д.]

Friends, a VERY enjoyable release:

The Lost Trio with special guest Adam Levy - "Live at Avalon & the Graves" (Evander, 2001).

Adam Levy - guitar

Phillip Greenlief - saxophones (tenor, moslty)

Tom Hassett - drums

Dan Seamans - bass

A mainstream recording, basically - a set of standards ("Body & Soul", "Lush Life" and other stuff like this) played in a relaxed, unpretentious manner. Not something I would be interested in theoretically, but here it all sounds very refreshing. Greenlief (who is at the frontline) is a very impressive on tenor, rhythm section is excellent (and very coordinated) and Adam Levy has a very appealing warm Burrell-ish sound and his solos are understated and tasteful. Again, I couldn't resist comparing this set with Braxton's "Standards" set on Leo - same band configuration, also recorded live, and I think there's even some overlap of the repertoir. At the same time Greenlief & Co. manage to deliver some creative non-bullshit playing (even if within a very traditional framework) without pompous attempt to make an ARTISTIC STATEMENT or to prove something to somebody (which is quite ridiculous with the tunes that have been played superbly over the last 70 years) - and with tunes' heads played in tune.

This double CD set is available at indiejazz.com for $14.

Edited March 30, 2005 by Д.Д.

[Д.Д.]

Upcoming on 482 Music:

Rosenberg / Baker / Hatwich / Daisy: "New Folk, New Blues" (April 12, 2005)

Scott Rosenberg (tenor and baritone saxophone)

Jim Baker (piano, analog synthesizer, aluminum foil)

Anton Hatwich (bass)

Tim Daisy (drums)

Surely looks interesting.

[Guest Chaney]

I think the word unpretentious describes well the Evander releases I have and enjoy. Doesn't bowl you over or strain to impress; just good, solid stuff. (Hmmm... I think I just repeated what David said... only not nearly as well)

I even enjoy the goofy Jettison Slinky.

I don't have Live at Avalon & the Graves. Have you heard Untitled? Phillip Greenlief - Sax / Trevor Dunn - Bass. Recommended.

[Guest Chaney]

PARISTranslantic: On ErstLive (scroll down)

[John B]

PARISTranslantic: On ErstLive (scroll down)

nice reviews! I've been very impressed by the four ErstLives so far. 1 and 3 are the most immediately gripping, but I've been spending a lot more time with 4 recently. I really can't recommend this disc highly enough. The four musicians work in an area closer to what I would expect from Sachiko than from Pita or Fennesz, but the level of communication and responsiveness is amazing. Never mind the fact that I really enjoy the sounds these four create, and I am most definitely not a huge fan of sine waves as a musical instrument.

The "editorial" at the top of the page is funny. I almost forgot what day today is.

Edited April 1, 2005 by John B

[jon abbey]

The "editorial" at the top of the page is funny. I almost forgot what day today is.

yeah, Mr. Rowe laughed really hard when I read him the one about him on the phone this morning. part of the joke there is that he believes that people perform Treatise too fast, he thinks it should take maybe 20 or 30 minutes for a page, and it's basically impossible to perform the entire score. pretty funny.

[J.A.W.]

I'm listening to

at the moment - so far, so good...

Had a first and fairly quick listen to Braxton's Donna Lee in the Universal "Free America" series, and found it rather disappointing; it sounded a bit dated to me, which, of course, isn't that strange with decades-old recordings, but still...

Edited April 1, 2005 by J.A.W.

[Д.Д.]

Well, I've been also doing some of "this music" listening.

Stilluppsteypa / TV Pow - "We Are Everyone In The Room" (Erstwhile)

After a couple of listens, I thouhgt it was extremely boring and uneventful.

More E I exploration to follow.

Edited April 1, 2005 by Д.Д.

[John B]

Well, I've been also doing some of "this music" listening.

Stilluppsteypa / TV Pow - "We Are Everyone In The Room" (Erstwhile)

After a couple of listens, I thouhgt it was extremely boring and uneventful.

More E I exploration to follow.

I had a similar reaction after my first listen to this disc. It has really grown on me with subsequent listens. I don't know if that had to do with my listening environment (better headphones and more ability to focus on the music) or my gaining experience listening to this kind of music and having a better appreciation for it.

[J.A.W.]

I know, this isn't the place to sell CDs, but if anyone's interested in taking John B's OOP avatar off my hands, send me a PM. It's $16.

[Guest Chaney]

I'm listening to

at the moment - so far, so good...

I'm also listening... in my office.

After listening to track one only, sounds pretty darned good.

I'm not familiar with drummer Johnny McLellan but he seems to have a Randy Peterson sound: a bit militaristic... and sounding as if he were musically stumbling forward / rushing headlong (?). Me likes!

Edited April 1, 2005 by Chaney

[Д.Д.]

Received the new ESP Ayler's "Spiritual Unity" remaster. After very quick A/B-ing, it seems to me that the Calibre reissue (from 2001, I think - the one in a red cardboard slipcase over the jewel case) sounds better (although, possibly a bit "pumped up" - the new reissue has a gentler, more "relaxed" sound - but Ilike my Ayler "pumped up")...