Funny Rat

[Д.Д.]

chatted with McPhee a bit after the concert. I asked him about any upcoming solo works, and he said he will indeed have one on Roaratorio, but it will be an LP-only release.

Thanks for the link -I could't resist this one & I placed an pre-order.

I'll be spinning this one tonight thanks again Д.Д

Let us know what it's like. As mentioned, I am not a fan of McPhee's non-tenor playing, so I am cautious on this one (not to mention that I don't have a turntable).

[Gary]

On first listen its a bit more subdued than any Mcphee Ive heard before & a bit patchy.

Theres a track for Bill Dixon , which is played in a very similar style to Dixon- that unusual style of trumpet playing.

The 2 standout tracks for me were the Ellington tune & the title track both played on alto, & both are excellent.

I'll need to listen to it again over the next couple of days & I'll hopefully enjoy a little more now I know what to expect.

[blake]

i noticed a seemingly new cd by gustafsson's "the thing" the other day, does anyone know if this is new material or a re-issue of their first album?

Edited May 14, 2005 by blake

[Д.Д.]

i noticed a seemingly new cd by gustafsson's "the thing" the other day, does anyone know if this is new material or a re-issue of their first album?

From what I know, there three The Thing CDs - self titled, "She Knows..." with Joe McPhee and "Garage" (recently released on Smalltown Supersound). Looking through the Smalltown Supersound website I found also a 7" LP by The Thing.

[king ubu]

From our mails yesterday

(chronologically ordered)

*********************

ubu:

Hi everybody, since the Org is down, and I am missing the rat already (despite my rather limited activities there - I was always lurking a bit, at least), I thought I'd go this way...

I got my Rossbin order! (Packed very cheaply, though everything arrived in ok shape - not great, inprints of CDs on the booklets... not bad, but still...).

I gave nmpergign/günter müller's disc "More Gloom. More Light" a first listen on cheapo headphones while on the way to work this morning, and I loved it a lot!

The synthesis of artificial/electronic sounds with some pretty straight instrumental sounds (notably some sax stuff - not conventional phrasing at all, but techniques known from free jazz sax playing) works very well.

The tracks on this disc, and the disc as a whole, develop something - I don't know quite what, but I don't feel like I really need to know, either.

Anyway, this comes recommended!

Next: I got my hat order - "Ramifications" and Lacy's "N.Y. Capers & Quirks"

were not delivered, seems they're gone already. Can anyone tell me if they're worth looking for? (I think I can live without the Eskelin, but at 6.6 CHF I'd gotten it anyway - but I'd be very glad about a bit of feedback on the Lacy disc!)

And last: I saw the Grimes-Cyrille-Crispell trio on Wednesday, and they were quite good. Crispell was wild and absolutely great! (I feared she might be in her ECM-ish lyrical mood, but not at all!) Cyrille was sometimes a bit restrained, but he was playing masterfully, witty, swinging (in that free manner, never or hardly ever really playing time). Grimes was too heavily amplified (pick-up, bass-amp, microphones in front of that amp), but all in all I thought he was playing rather well, too. Though often he played so fast and mostly so low down on his bass that it all amounted to some boomy bottom where one wasn't able to hear the actual notes - this got annoying sometimes, but at other moments it fitted the music very well. He also bowed some - I'm not sure he's good at that.

The major question the concert rised is: has he got problems with time? I

mean: he played walking bass at the beginning of two segments, and it all sounded a bit awkward... maybe it was Cyrille who wasn't in sync with Grimes, but I rather thought Grimes was struggling a bit. Maybe his speedy re-learning of how to play the bass was not that successful yet?

Has anyone of you seen him live?

D.D.:

Re: Grimes and his playing, check out this interesting, if bitter discussion at Bagatellen: http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/000872.html

Got my Rossbin order today as well. Hate it when the CDs are shipped not in jewel cases.

ubu:

Quite a ride, that bagatellen discussion!

Thanks for pointing the way, I should read that site more often!

I got pretty much the same impression of Margaret Davis from her appearance and behaviour during the concert. She's totally, absolutely, partial to and in awe of Grimes and applaudes as loud, herself, as the rest of the crowd together...

I understand some of the obvservations made ("slipping fingers" etc - I guess that goes in a direction that is close to what I meant when I was talking about the fumbling... same for amplification... not a nice bass sound...) And on the Ribot project: I haven't heard the disc, but I have a partial live recording from their Willisau appearance, last year, and that does not at all make want to get the CD - compared to that, the trio with Crispell and Cyrille was much, much better!

David: what Rossbins did you get? I got nmperign/müller, assumed possibilities, Curran/Sciajno, and that "luwa" disc John likes so much.

John B:

I have seven Rossbins now and Luwa is still my favorite.  More Gloom, More Light is right behind it, as is Our Ur.  The one that I didn't really connect with on first listen was Eine Gitarre. I agree about the lack of jewel cases being unfortunate but the very cheap price, including shipping to the U.S., means I will not be complaining.

It seems like the mythology of Grimes' "exodus in the wilderness" and rediscovery has taken precedence over the ability to objectively hear and criticize what he plays.

D.D.

John, how good is Grimes' playing on that Dennis Gonzalez CD?

John B:

I have not listened to that disc in a while, but my recollection is that his playing is ok, but nothing that really impressed me.

Hope it's alright to post this all in one go!

[Д.Д.]

ubu:

David: what Rossbins did you get? I got nmperign/müller, assumed possibilities, Curran/Sciajno, and that "luwa" disc John likes so much.

I got:

1. Blue Collar "____is an apparition"

2. Kawasaki / Akiyama / Kahn "Luwa"

3. The Bohman Brothers "A Twist For All Pockets"

4. Assumed Possibilities "Still Point"

5. HISS "Zahir"

6. Alvin Curran / Domenico Sciajno "our ur"

7. Punctual Trio "Grammar"

Listening to "our ur" tight now - quite a breathtaking ride! Will post more after I am done with it.

Edited May 14, 2005 by Д.Д.

[king ubu]

To add something new, too... Got this disc used yesterday and spinned it immediately:

Love it! It has that similar group feel that "Normalology" also has (see an earlier post of mine in this thread). Francis much-maligned Davis who did the liners stresses the collective character of much of the music, and goes on saying that this "music is post-free, not pre-bop". This is quite true (and not that trivial, I think).

Sidemen are Steve Swell (tb), Bob DeBellis (ss,ts,bari,bcl), Bob Henke & Ron Horton (tp), Kevin Norton (d,vib), David Hofstra (b), and Joe Ruddick (p,keys,as).

The disc came out in 1996 on Black Saint (D.D.: I'm slowly getting a few Black Saint and Soul Note discs together... probably not the most essential ones, but still...)

Spinning now: a live recording of the Hal Russell Story (and loving it all as much as I have loved all Hal I heard so far).

Oh, and one more thing regarding the above Bagatellen-discussion: I just listened to a 72 live recording of Noah Howard's, featuring Frank Lowe - you may have noted the point someone over on Bagatellen makes regarding players who listen and players who don't - I'm not sure how good that point is, or rather, how good his division between Brown/Howard/... (listening) vs. Wright/Lowe/... (non-listening) is. I mean, the problem with many of those really noisy sax players (and yes, it may indeed be an alto vs. tenor thing, too, as there simply are not as many alto players that can and want to play as loud as those screaming free tenors can - it has got to do with the instrument, too, on a purely technical basis) - ok, starting again: the problem with many of those really noisy sax players (mainly tenors) is that I think it's more difficult to really judge on how they interact, how they listen to the others, since they're taking so much space with their own playing - that does not necessarily mean they're not listening, I'd say. What I want to say, in short, is just that mellower and less noisier players are not necessarily listening more and better at all.

[Д.Д.]

Oh, and one more thing regarding the above Bagatellen-discussion: I just listened to a 72 live recording of Noah Howard's, featuring Frank Lowe - [...]

Flurin, you are referring to the Live at the Village Vanguard released lat year by Phantom Limb, I guess. This is definitely not a good representation of either Lowe's or Howard's talents, and is indeed a pretty standard spiritual fire-music blow out. I think at their best neither Lowe, nor Howard can be accused of not listening and interacting with their musical partners.

Howard, IMO, has a very uneven discography. The one I like the most is Red Star (Boxholder, 2001) - a recording from 1977 with Bobby Few on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, Richard Williams on trumpet and Kenny Clarke (!) on drums. This is actually a very musch "in" date with Williams providing some smoking pyrotechnical solos (what a longpower, I tell ya!), Clarke laying some real groove and Howard doing all this lyrical, soulful and "spiritual" stuff that he is good at (Howard has sxome of my favorite alto sound out there).

I feel that with years, this "spiritual" side got out of proportion a bit, and while Howard retained the sound and technique, his music sounds very mannered and non-creative after a while (I am referring to Howard's disc on Ayler, and some other staff on is own label I've heard).

Edited May 14, 2005 by Д.Д.

[king ubu]

Oh, and one more thing regarding the above Bagatellen-discussion: I just listened to a 72 live recording of Noah Howard's, featuring Frank Lowe - [...]

Flurin, you are referring to the Live at the Village Vanguard released lat year by Phantom Limb, I guess. This is definitely not a good representation of either Lowe's or Howard's talents, and is indeed a pretty standard spiritual fire-music blow out. I think at their best neither Lowe, nor Howard can be accused of not listening and interacting with their musical partners.

Howard, IMO, has a very uneven discography. The one I like the most is Red Star (Boxholder, 2001) - a recording from 1977 with Bobby Few on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, Richard Williams on trumpet and Kenny Clarke (!) on drums. This is actually a very musch "in" date with Williams providing some smoking pyrotechnical solos (what a longpower, I tell ya!), Clarke laying some real groove and Howard doing all this lyrical, soulful and "spiritual" stuff that he is good at (Howard has sxome of my favorite alto sound out there).

I feel that with years, this "spiritual" side got out of proportion a bit, and while Howard retained the sound and technique, his music sounds very mannered and non-creative after a while (I am referring to Howard's disc on Ayler, and some other staff on is own label I've heard).

I think that Howard is from a different date. It also includes a French horn (otherwise the same band). It has a hum that is pretty disturbing (and would be too bad for an official release, in my opinion, even for a cheap CDR).

This disc that I have has two lenghty tracks (27:28 and 19:30). Could you compare with the official CDR, please, and tell me if they are identical?

[king ubu]

And that Boxholder disc sounds like it's down my alley! Thanks for mentioning it, I'll have to look for it! Weird how some of those hardbop drummers end up in such contexts, now and then (Philly Joe and Art Taylor come to mind).

[Д.Д.]

Next: I got my hat order - "Ramifications" and Lacy's "N.Y. Capers & Quirks"

were not delivered, seems they're gone already. Can anyone tell me if they're worth looking for? (I think I can live without the Eskelin, but at 6.6 CHF I'd gotten it anyway - but I'd be very glad about a bit of feedback on the Lacy disc!)

Flurin, I think this Lacy disc is scippable - mostly due to not-too-original playing by CHarles and Boykins.

Eskelin's Ramifications is the one I like the most out of the Eskelin-Parkins-Black hatOLOGY CDs, but I would need to go back to all of them to be able to specify what exactly I like about it.

[Д.Д.]

Oh, and one more thing regarding the above Bagatellen-discussion: I just listened to a 72 live recording of Noah Howard's, featuring Frank Lowe - [...]

Flurin, you are referring to the Live at the Village Vanguard released lat year by Phantom Limb, I guess. This is definitely not a good representation of either Lowe's or Howard's talents, and is indeed a pretty standard spiritual fire-music blow out. I think at their best neither Lowe, nor Howard can be accused of not listening and interacting with their musical partners.

Howard, IMO, has a very uneven discography. The one I like the most is Red Star (Boxholder, 2001) - a recording from 1977 with Bobby Few on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, Richard Williams on trumpet and Kenny Clarke (!) on drums. This is actually a very musch "in" date with Williams providing some smoking pyrotechnical solos (what a longpower, I tell ya!), Clarke laying some real groove and Howard doing all this lyrical, soulful and "spiritual" stuff that he is good at (Howard has sxome of my favorite alto sound out there).

I feel that with years, this "spiritual" side got out of proportion a bit, and while Howard retained the sound and technique, his music sounds very mannered and non-creative after a while (I am referring to Howard's disc on Ayler, and some other staff on is own label I've heard).

I think that Howard is from a different date. It also includes a French horn (otherwise the same band). It has a hum that is pretty disturbing (and would be too bad for an official release, in my opinion, even for a cheap CDR).

This disc that I have has two lenghty tracks (27:28 and 19:30). Could you compare with the official CDR, please, and tell me if they are identical?

No, that one does not have french horn (tambourine and bells instead ). There are three tracks: 12, 8 and 14 minutes.

[Д.Д.]

And that Boxholder disc sounds like it's down my alley! Thanks for mentioning it, I'll have to look for it! Weird how some of those hardbop drummers end up in such contexts, now and then (Philly Joe and Art Taylor come to mind).

If you decide to buy this disc, I'd recommend getting it from indiejazz (they actually don't have this disc at the moment, but you can ask them to get it and they will do it) - excellent service (including some fuckyoucustoms arrangements ).

[king ubu]

Thanks David for all these infos! I'll yet have to try out indiejazz, but I would have asked you for advice anyway, so thanks!

The Howard date is probably similar to the released CDR - the person who offered it on that bit-torrent-site I got it from said so, at least.

I'll scrap the Lacy off the list and continue looking for the Eskelin, in that case!

[gnhrtg]

i noticed a seemingly new cd by gustafsson's "the thing" the other day, does anyone know if this is new material or a re-issue of their first album?

Blake - if it's by the band with Ingebright-Haker Flate and Paal Nilssen-Love, then it's probably the first, self-titled, disc by the band The Thing. A good album in itself and the best by that particular trio, overall, I think. I've seen that disc with two different back trays (though the front tray was the same) so perhaps that might be why it might have looked different, new - that is if you'd seen it at all before. Anyway, it's not easy to come by so I'd recommend that you pick it up.

Edit: Looks like I replied without properly reading your message, so I'd think that it's a reissue, then. Their most recent album, Garage, came out not too long ago so I'd think it's unlikely that they have yet another new release.

Edited May 14, 2005 by gnhrtg

[jon abbey]

Howard, IMO, has a very uneven discography. The one I like the most is Red Star (Boxholder, 2001) - a recording from 1977 with Bobby Few on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, Richard Williams on trumpet and Kenny Clarke (!) on drums.

have you heard Howard's The Black Ark from the early seventies? barely reissued on CD (Japanese Tokuma), this is not only the best Howard I've heard, but the only Arthur Doyle I've ever liked. a real classic from this area of music.

[blake]

i noticed a seemingly new cd by gustafsson's "the thing" the other day, does anyone know if this is new material or a re-issue of their first album?

From what I know, there three The Thing CDs - self titled, "She Knows..." with Joe McPhee and "Garage" (recently released on Smalltown Supersound). Looking through the Smalltown Supersound website I found also a 7" LP by The Thing.

It was Garage I saw; completely missed that release. I've got to spend more time following this thread. Any reviews? And thanks for the label link.

Edited May 15, 2005 by blake

[Д.Д.]

Howard, IMO, has a very uneven discography. The one I like the most is Red Star (Boxholder, 2001) - a recording from 1977 with Bobby Few on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, Richard Williams on trumpet and Kenny Clarke (!) on drums.

have you heard Howard's The Black Ark from the early seventies? barely reissued on CD (Japanese Tokuma), this is not only the best Howard I've heard, but the only Arthur Doyle I've ever liked. a real classic from this area of music.

Never heard (of) it. Will look for this disc.

[gnhrtg]

i noticed a seemingly new cd by gustafsson's "the thing" the other day, does anyone know if this is new material or a re-issue of their first album?

From what I know, there three The Thing CDs - self titled, "She Knows..." with Joe McPhee and "Garage" (recently released on Smalltown Supersound). Looking through the Smalltown Supersound website I found also a 7" LP by The Thing.

It was Garage I saw; completely missed that release. I've got to spend more time following this thread. Any reviews? And thanks for the label link.

Blake - Sorry not one for reviews - just too lazy, but: I got Garage when it first come out - near the end of last August - and I do enjoy most of it. It's short, about 38 minutes and about 28 minutes of that material is what one would expect to hear The Thing play (prior to hearing this album or their double bills with Cato Salsa), namely energy-laden free improv. So here, you have a 12 minute and a 5 minute improvisation, and their readings of Norman Howard's Haunted and Brotzmann's Eine Kleine Marschmusik. Then you have covers of Art Star, Aluminum, and Have Love Will Travel, none of which is longer than five minutes, and I think they're all good fun. Nothing subtle, if you're looking for that, but you get to hear Gustafsson doing perhaps the best impression of a rock electric-guitar solo on Have Love Will Travel and the other two are equally ridiculous.

Anyway, as I said, it's short but good fun and you get to hear both their free-improv-stuff and the short, loud and charged readings of the three tunes. I like it and most people I've played it for tell me they've enjoyed it in one way or another.

[king ubu]

Gave a first listen to this little puppy:

And it is fantastic! It's a duo recording of Slava Guyvoronsky (trumpet) and Evelin Petrova (accordion and voice). He seems to be a seasoned master musician/teacher/mentor/composer/whatever, while she is a young pupil of his. The music is all his, the direction seems to be given by him, exclusively, but she performs very well, too.

The music meanders between folksy (Russian, the liners say) and free, composed (audibly so) and improvised... really a beautiful set of performances! Thanks to our cyrillic poster for making me pick it up!

Highly recommended for all those of you that are interested in European (I know, this is Russian, but still...) folksy/jazz/impro stuff. And of course for accordion geeks such as my humble self.

[John B]

There is a nice article on cellist Erik Friedlander over at Bagatellen. I have yet to hear his solo cd Maldoror, which is something I need to correct quickly. He also has a new (?) solo cello dvd, Vanishing Point: A Road Journal, that sounds fascinating. It was recorded live on tour and features 50 minutes of live performance as well as footage shot while travelling and backstage. It is fairly inexpensive through his website, so I'll add that to "the list," too.

There is a nice review of the dvd posted here.

Edited May 17, 2005 by John B

[gnhrtg]

ubu - Haven't heard that one but I'm guessing you'll enjoy Evelyn Petrova's Year's Cycle on Leo. I picked it up a few months ago and after the first few spins it's provided nothing but an enjoyable time throughout.

John B - Yes, Maldoror is a good one, lots of chilling, spine-tingling, passages on that disc, I think.

[Д.Д.]

Gave a first listen to this little puppy:

And it is fantastic! It's a duo recording of Slava Guyvoronsky (trumpet) and Evelin Petrova (accordion and voice). He seems to be a seasoned master musician/teacher/mentor/composer/whatever, while she is a young pupil of his. The music is all his, the direction seems to be given by him, exclusively, but she performs very well, too.

The music meanders between folksy (Russian, the liners say) and free, composed (audibly so) and improvised... really a beautiful set of performances! Thanks to our cyrillic poster for making me pick it up!

Highly recommended for all those of you that are interested in European (I know, this is Russian, but still...) folksy/jazz/impro stuff. And of course for accordion geeks such as my humble self.

I am really glad you liked it.

[king ubu]

Thanks for the other Petrova recommendation, gnhrt!

John, "Maldoror" is pretty close to if not indeed da shit! Don't miss it! It's my only Friedlander so far, but I really like it!

[gnhrtg]

John - Also, if you get the Wire, one of the earlier Wire Tappers (9 or 10 maybe) has the first track from Maldoror.

I've been listening to lots of stuff lately (as always) but I just happen to remember two from yesterday,

Ned Rothenberg - The Crux (a favorite of mine since I first got it some years ago, highly recommended, the more recent 2 disc Intervals is good too - though I would certainly pick The Crux over it, will also give that a spin soon for some fresh impressions)

Vienna Art Orchestra - From No Time to Rag Time (now since the tastes here seem to cover a pretty wide base, I'll say this is also easily and highly recommended to fans of VAO, it's a really good one with their classic, early, line-up, some fantastic solos here)

lots of other things as well, oh one more

Alexander von Schlippenbach & Tony Oxley - Digger's Harvest (another favorite of mine right here, great)