Funny Rat

[Д.Д.]

I've just been listening to this one for the second time:

and it's gone right to my "get rid of" pile. What a waste of time! Another "guitar-infested" album - Brad Shepik this time. I dislike this kind of guitar playing immensely, it sounds totally out of place to me in free / improv.

Hmm, I haven't heard this CD, but I normally like Shepik's playing a lot - it's Douglas I have problem with...

This is one of very few hatOLOGY CDs I plan to skip.

[J.A.W.]

I'm not too fond of Douglas' playing on Constellations either. I need to listen to my other Dave Douglas CDs (In Our Lifetime, Dave Douglas Five and Convergence) again...

[Guest Chaney]

I've just been listening to this one for the second time:

and it's gone right to my "get rid of" pile. What a waste of time! Another "guitar-infested" album - Brad Shepik this time. I dislike this kind of guitar playing immensely, it sounds totally out of place to me in free / improv.

I must admit that I'm a bit surprised that you don't care for this one.

While it's been quite some time since I'd listened to Constellations, I remember liking it quite a bit. (I believe it was the first hatOLOGY title that I'd bought.) ON THE EDIT: My copy is hatART 6173

I'll have to take it for another spin.

Edited February 15, 2004 by Chaney

[king ubu]

I'm not too fond of "Constellations", either. I wouldn't give it away, but I prefer the trio's Songline disc by miles! Far more imaginative, in my opinion.

ubu

[Guest Chaney]

This from the AUM FIDELITY site:

The SHRIMP BOAT Project. AUM Fidelity has been working on this project for some time now, and is finally in the midst of the final lap of production. SHRIMP BOAT was a phenomenal band that made music out of the soil of Chicago from the mid 1980s clear through to 1993.

Taking inspiration from bluegrass, jazz, country, rock and roll, and their own collective gung-ho, their ability to voluminously manifest new song form from the air around them left the open heads of those exposed awestruck. Three albums were released in the band's lifetime; great/beautiful documents all, but they aren't even the half of it.

Having recorded everything that they ever played together, countless hours of their impeccable music remained unheard, tapes upon tapes collected in cardboard boxes and storage trunks. And so, counting those hours became a zealous mission. The SHRIMP BOAT project will be manifest as a multi-disc box set of all previously unreleased material. Drawn from 16-track studio sessions, radio shows, live performances, and 4-track cassette creations, it will be SOMETHING GRAND. Yes. You who read this will all be very grateful.

Originally sheduled for release as a 3xCD set in the Autumn of 2003, it now looks like it may well be a 4xCD set, and at any rate, will definitely ring in the New Year 2004.

Mek'toub. - Steven Joerg, November 2003.

Questions: Anyone familiar with this band? Do we care?

[Д.Д.]

Never heard of them (which does not mean too much).

[Д.Д.]

Has anyone heard any recordings by Gavino Murgia? He appears on Rabih Abou-Khalil's most recent disc and I have really been enjoying his singing. AMG lists one disc, without review, that he appears on, but I haven't been able to find out too much more about him.

Gavino Murgia in addition to being vocalist, is a fantastic alto saxophonist and Sardenian bagpipes player. "Fantastic" means super-human technique and great sense for melody.

hmmmmn...I don't recall postingthat quote here... B)

any recommendations for discs of his to explore?

Took me some time to find this disc in my collection.

Riccardo Lay Quartetto "Frammenti" (il manifesto, 2001)

Riccardo Lay - bass, perc

Gavino Murgia - ts, ss, fl, and some Sardenian bagpipe-like instrument(s)

Nico Casu - trumpet

Fabrizio Sferra - drums

Beautiful stuff - somewhat close in style to Don Cherry's "Complete Communion", but with a strong Italian flavor, meaning very melodic and joyful. Very positive music.

I think the only place to find this disc on-line is through Felmay: http://www.felmay.it - it is available there for €8.

Edited February 15, 2004 by Д.Д.

[Matthew]

This cd, Ellery Eskelin & Han Bennink: Dissonant Characters, is very good. Eskelin has a great grasp on the blues roots of jazz and it shows in his playing on this disk. Very controlled, precise playing, always to the point, that is always on target. Like the way he's playing on the Monk tunes especially, gets into the heart of the tune and digs deep. This Bannik guy is also interesting, you never know what he's up to next. Too bad I'm going away on business for a couple of days, lost my portable cd player.

[Swinger]

Since you folks are talking about avant-garde jazz,could you recommend

me something similar like Tony Oxley's The Baptised Traveller?

It's an AMAZING album and I'd really like to hear something similar.I also

recently bought Oxley's "4 Compositions for Sextet" but didn't like it

very much.

[John B]

Has anyone heard any recordings by Gavino Murgia? He appears on Rabih Abou-Khalil's most recent disc and I have really been enjoying his singing. AMG lists one disc, without review, that he appears on, but I haven't been able to find out too much more about him.

Gavino Murgia in addition to being vocalist, is a fantastic alto saxophonist and Sardenian bagpipes player. "Fantastic" means super-human technique and great sense for melody.

hmmmmn...I don't recall postingthat quote here... B)

any recommendations for discs of his to explore?

Took me some time to find this disc in my collection.

Riccardo Lay Quartetto "Frammenti" (il manifesto, 2001)

Riccardo Lay - bass, perc

Gavino Murgia - ts, ss, fl, and some Sardenian bagpipe-like instrument(s)

Nico Casu - trumpet

Fabrizio Sferra - drums

Beautiful stuff - somewhat close in style to Don Cherry's "Complete Communion", but with a strong Italian flavor, meaning very melodic and joyful. Very positive music.

I think the only place to find this disc on-line is through Felmay: http://www.felmay.it - it is available there for €8.

thank you for posting that! I'll have to grab a copy.

[couw]

you mean circus music?

[Guest Chaney]

I just had a further listen to Constellations and L V E what I heard. I find the entire album to be beautifully arranged and played, which must be considered especially challenging considering the instrumentation of trumpet, guitar and drums.

On Schoeppach (name changed to Shepik?), I find his playing to be wonderful. I believe Hans and I find the same faults in certain types of guitar playing but I guess we'll have to disagree on this one as even when Schoeppach's playing gets more abstract -- which is seldom --, as his style of play is so (searching for a word)......... clean, I don't find it at all objectionable.

There's not a thing that I, in my great musical wisdom ( ), would change.

[John B]

I just had a further listen to Constellations and L V E what I heard. I find the entire album to be beautifully arranged and played, which must be considered especially challenging considering the instrumentation of trumpet, guitar and drums.

On Schoeppach (name changed to Shepik?), I find his playing to be wonderful. I believe Hans and I find the same faults in certain types of guitar playing but I guess we'll have to disagree on this one as even when Schoeppach's playing gets more abstract -- which is seldom --, as his style of play is so (searching for a word)......... clean, I don't find it at all objectionable.

There's not a thing that I, in my great musical wisdom ( ), would change.

Have you heard any of Shepik's discs as a leader? (I can't remember if we have discussed this before.) I highly recommend both The Well and Drip, in that order. Great music and great playing on each.

[king ubu]

Have you heard any of Shepik's discs as a leader? (I can't remember if we have discussed this before.) I highly recommend both The Well and Drip, in that order. Great music and great playing on each.

I picked up "Drip" recently, used, for almost nothing, and I do like it! Tom Rainey is an astonishing drummer, and Scott Colley is, well, Scott Colley.

ubu

[J.A.W.]

I just had a further listen to Constellations and L    V E what I heard.  I find the entire album to be beautifully arranged and played, which must be considered especially challenging considering the instrumentation of trumpet, guitar and drums.

On Schoeppach (name changed to Shepik?), I find his playing to be wonderful.  I believe Hans and I find the same faults in certain types of guitar playing but I guess we'll have to disagree on this one as even when Schoeppach's playing gets more abstract -- which is seldom --, as his style of play is so (searching for a word)......... clean, I don't find it at all objectionable. 

There's not a thing that I, in my great musical wisdom ( ), would change.

Hmm, I might give it one more chance - better wait a while, I guess, until the bad taste in my mouth from yesterday's experience is gone

I'm now listening to this one:

What's it with DD's (err... Dave Douglas') playing that annoys me, I wonder - can't quite put my finger on it...

[John B]

I'm listening to Open Systems, a 2001 release on Marge featuring Assif Tsahar, Hugh Ragin, Peter Kowald and Hamid Drake. It took me a while to track down a copy of this one after having it recommended to me but it was most definitely worth it! This is one of my favorite albums, regardless of genre. A month or two back I listened to it twice, back to back, which is unusual for me. I have a hard time describing why I love this disc. The playing, the writing and the atmosphere these four players create all come together in one complete whole. Very highly recommended.

[J.A.W.]

Where did you get the Assif Tsahar disc, John? I tried the Marge website, but the links don't work.

[John B]

I ordered my copy through Verge. It took them a while but they were able to supply it. FMP sells it, too.

[Guest Chaney]

Since you folks are talking about avant-garde jazz,could you recommend

me something similar like Tony Oxley's The Baptised Traveller?

It's an AMAZING album and I'd really like to hear something similar.I also

recently bought Oxley's "4 Compositions for Sextet" but didn't like it

very much.

Wish I could be of some help but the only Oxley I own is him with Cecil Taylor. Д.Д. perhaps could help? Д.Д. seems to be AWOL.

John: Thanks for your recommendations of The Well, Drip and Open Systems. (Cadence lists Open Systems. I'm trying to resist the urge to phone in an order as I've been such a good boy lately, not buying music and paying the bills. Not at all fun but oh so responsible.)

[brownie]

Where did you get the Assif Tsahar disc, John? I tried the Marge website, but the links don't work.

J.A.W., try this site

http://www.ifrance.com/disquesfuturaetmarge/index.htm

[J.A.W.]

Thanks Brownie, but "the links in your link" aren't working either, even with my firewall disabled. Anyway, according to the Verge site there's some vocalizing on the Tsahar disc; I hate that, so I think I'd better pass. Pity.

Edited February 17, 2004 by J.A.W.

[John B]

Thanks Brownie, but "the links in your link" aren't working either, even with my firewall disabled. Anyway, according to the Verge site there's some vocalizing on the Tsahar disc; I hate that, so I think I'd better pass. Pity.

I believe the vocals are limited to one track. I'll spin the cd again and let you know.

[Д.Д.]

Since you folks are talking about avant-garde jazz,could you recommend

me something similar like Tony Oxley's The Baptised Traveller?

It's an AMAZING album and I'd really like to hear something similar.I also

recently bought Oxley's "4 Compositions for Sextet" but didn't like it

very much.

Wish I could be of some help but the only Oxley I own is him with Cecil Taylor. Д.Д. perhaps could help? Д.Д. seems to be AWOL.

I have this Oxley's disc, but I frankly don't remember it. I will listen to it again and will let you know if can think of anything in the same vein.

What's "AWOL" - amassed with otherworldly love?

[John B]

I thought "AWOL" meant "always wants 'out' listening."

back to the Tsahar - the vocals are just on track 4. (The shortest on the album.). Hamid is chanting in Arabic and Kowald is doing something that sounds like Tibetan throat singing in the background. Tsahar and Ragin sit this track out. I dig it, but could see how others might not.

[Д.Д.]

I thought "AWOL" meant "always wants 'out' listening."

Ah, OK then.

Regarding the throat singing (or overtone singing) - I am quite a fan of Tuvan version of it, but Kowald's attempts don't sound too convincing to me. But not too disturbing either.