Funny Rat

[Д.Д.]

Hmm, I'm not so sure about that... I recall somebody telling me there's quite a lot of vocalizing on Pigs, so there's your answer.

No vocalising, no bowed bass - only pigs.

OK, maybe no vocalizing, but pigs tend to scream a lot.

Boy, you're not kidding. LOTS of porcine squeals on Pigs.

Hmm, I really don't remember them. I probably have a gentler version than yours.

[king ubu]

Thanks for your write up about the NYAQ!

Sounds like a concert one should have been there!

I have nothing to add to your pigs debate (except that I do occasionally eat them)

ubu

[Д.Д.]

Mark Dresser - Frances-Marie Uitti "Sonomondo" (Cryprogramophone, 2000). Bass-cello duets. Like two giant snakes dancing around / strangling each other. Beautiful.

Edited March 15, 2004 by Д.Д.

[king ubu]

Does Tomasz Stanko get any love here?

I'm listening to a broadcast of his quartet right now, and I love it!

Saw him live once (and will again end of this month), also have a couple of discs, and I consider him one of my favourite trumpet players ever.

ubu

[John B]

Does Tomasz Stanko get any love here?

I'm listening to a broadcast of his quartet right now, and I love it!

Saw him live once (and will again end of this month), also have a couple of discs, and I consider him one of my favourite trumpet players ever.

ubu

Definitely! I really enjoy the albums of his that I have heard. From the Green Hill and Litania, in particular come to mind.

edit - I almost forgot, he is fantastic on Krzysztof Komeda's Astigmatic as well.

Edited March 15, 2004 by John B

[Д.Д.]

Does Tomasz Stanko get any love here?

I'm listening to a broadcast of his quartet right now, and I love it!

Saw him live once (and will again end of this month), also have a couple of discs, and I consider him one of my favourite trumpet players ever.

ubu

Not a fan, actually. I find there is some sameness in his playing and compositions. I wiwll have to check again, though - ahven't listened to Stanko for a long time. I think the last one I've heard was Stanko as as sideman on Vlatko Kucan's True Muze live recording, annd he sounded too harsh and one-dimensionally aggressvie there. What's your opinion, Tony?

[John B]

Ramon Lopez - Eleven Drum Songs

This one gets a conditional from me. I wasn't really enjoying the first few tracks..it seemed as if Lopez didn't know what he wanted to do and wasn't saying anything interesting as a consequence. The disc started to pick up after that and I really enjoyed it more as it went along. That being said, I certainly do not consider this one to be essential, by any means, but, for $3, I'll recommend it.

This reminds me that I still have a few more Leo Labs discs from Berkshire to make my way through....

[king ubu]

Saw Stephan Wittwer live yesterday, with Bernd Schurer. Both on electronics, Wittwer also on guitar for some parts, but not that you would have really taken note of any guitar sounds...

Pretty strange situation, two guys sitting face to face at a desk, each with his ibook and lots of other equipment, and then they announce this as a "concert" or "performance"...

The sounds they produced ranged from outright boring (particularly the two Schurer only segments - "Variations on Vexations" he calls them, bad recordings of Satie, reworked with some sounds, cut to pieces, etc - really boring) to pretty stunning and also beautiful.

I will maybe do a radio programme (with interview) on Wittwer (focusing most probably on his solo recordings, mainly), and therefore we asked him (and Schurer if we could try to do a recording (with Minidisc). Did not yet check if it's ok, though.

Schurer is involved with a small label which has just released new albums by himself as well as by Wittwer. Here's the website: http://www.domizil.ch/main.htm

By the way, yes, the new Schurer disc seems to consist exactly of those vexation things I found so boring.

And Wittwer's I did also not hear, but if it's only the stuff he "composed" to these Fischli/Weiss photographs (another boring thing, I never understood why Fischli/Weiss create such a stir, they even got their installation in London's Tate Modern), it should be a pretty boring disc, too.

He played one track (partially, it would have lasted 50 minutes otherwise) from the disc (I think at least it was from the new one), and after some two or three minutes grabbed a mike and started commenting the music, how he "composed" it (computer-generated, mostly, the actual work being programming, then the computer puts together the pre-recorded guitar samples following the rules of the programme - in performance, this would mean that each time the composition is played, it's different, but based on the same grounds, the same samples). Also he made lots of funny comments, and was really turning into a funny entertainer (in a good sense, believe me).

Does anyone here know Wittwer, by accident (or otherwise)?

ubu

[John B]

Frode Gjerstad / William Parker / Hamid Drake - Remember to Forget

Recorded live in October of 1997. Some great playing by all involved. Highly recommended!

[J.A.W.]

After a not so inspiring Jimmy Cleveland album, it's a relief to listen to

Great album! Hearing Parker and Ibarra together is always a pleasure.

[Д.Д.]

I heard Evan Parker's Monoceros for the first time today. What a fantastic disc! Four tracks, all solo soprano. The first track, which is about 25 minutes long, is mesmerizing. I think it was Nate Dorward who said that this disc might be oop, so grab a copy if you see one. I think I'll grab The Snake Decides and Lines Burnt in Light next. Between this disc and Arcana Major it's been a great week for amazing solo sax discs!

Amazon.co.uk confirmed the availablity of Monoceros. Looking forward to hearing it.

[John B]

I heard Evan Parker's Monoceros  for the first time today.  What a fantastic disc!  Four tracks, all solo soprano.  The first track, which is about 25 minutes long, is mesmerizing.  I think it was Nate Dorward who said that this disc might be oop, so grab a copy if you see one.  I think I'll grab The Snake Decides and Lines Burnt in Light next.  Between this disc and Arcana Major it's been a great week for amazing solo sax discs!

Amazon.co.uk confirmed the availablity of Monoceros. Looking forward to hearing it.

Good news! Let us know what you think.

[Guest Chaney]

Dusted Reviews

Artist: Cecil Taylor Quartet

Album: Incarnation

Label: FMP

As with any niche community, free jazz musicians have a habit of running in the same collaborative circles. For example, even with his proliferation of projects, William Parker still pretty much sticks to the same orbit of close colleagues. The same holds largely true for Cecil Taylor, Parker’s previous employer. Taylor’s work for the FMP label now logs in at twenty-odd titles. While it’s an exquisitely diverse body of work, several names still crop up fairly regularly. There’s also the familiar context of the Total Music Meeting, from which the majority of material for the discs is drawn.

Incarnation signals a welcome break. Chief among the catalysts is Curacan guitarist Franky Douglas, a new name to me, but one I’ll be keeping an eye on from now forward. Douglas injects ideas and elements previously foreign to much of Taylor’s performances. Mutant rock, funk and Afro-pop riffs intersperse with gonzo pedal and whammy bar effects and he effectively jostles the band out of any semblance of a safety zone.

The November 1999 date is also noteworthy as a long-overdue reunion between Taylor and Andrew Cyrille. The drummer’s part in Taylor’s pair of late ’60s albums for Blue Note, Unit Structures and Conquistador, was a crucial agent in the reshaping of the role of rhythm in creative improvised music. Cyrille’s affection for percussion devices peripheral to his standard kit further varies the sound floor here. Cellist and regular Taylor confrere Tristan Honsinger completes the quartet and even gets in on the rampant divorcing from antecedents, laying down a jagged pizzicato groove in the opening minutes of the half-hour long “Focus.” Taylor’s own listening habits have long-included healthy amounts of classic soul and funk, so it’s actually not all that surprising that echoes of these styles have finally found more audible purchase in his own music.

Broken into three pieces, the concert, like nearly all of Taylor’s FMP albums, is an endurance test, but one well worth the mental sweat and concentration required of the listener. Thanks to Taylor’s willingness to ease up on structural strictures, much of the music has a freewheeling feel. “Carnation,” the middle piece, starts off deceptively sedate, but Taylor’s restless fingers and the biting, danse macabre tones of Honsinger’s barbed bow swiftly carry the music into wilder regions. Douglas hangs back much of the time and Cyrille resorts to steady malleted pulse leaving the other two to go head-to-head in a pugilistic dance of cascading notes and craggy arco sketches. The four players revisit pockets of calm throughout the remainder of the piece, but an undercurrent of delicious tension sustains as a natural by-product of their communion

The disc closes with the twenty-five minute “Cartouche.” Cyrille’s cavernous tympani create a barrage of stentorian beats spaced by inky silence. Taylor’s freely associative vocals soon appear amidst mercurial piano chords than dash across the length of his keyboard. Action expands to include the others with Douglas’ sci-fi style of riffing doling out scattershots of odd globular notes as his partners affect equally agitated bursts of activity on their own instruments. During the closing minutes, Honsinger’s frenzied bowing in league with Cyrille’s kulintang-flavored percussion is nearly show-stealing in its sustained intensity.

Aged a handful of years, this is still vital and topical evidence of Taylor’s musical supremacy and as such, easily recommended. The advantage of new and venerable colleagues and an open-ended approach make it even more enjoyable. Taylor’s place as prime pianistic provocateur remains secure.

By Derek Taylor

[John B]

after selling some old cds I no longer listen to I placed an order for this one, along with a few other Cecil's on FMP that I have been desiring for a while, from Cadence. I am really looking forward to hearing this set. I have heard a lot of praise for the role Franky Douglas plays in the music from a few people who have heard this disc.

[alejo]

I recently purchased Frode Gjerstad’s Ultima and am really enjoying the interplay between Drake, Parker, and Gjerstad.

I’ll add Remember to Forget to my long wish list. The Assif Tsahar trio disc also sounds very interesting…Damn! I should have never ventured over to the Funny Rat thread. Until today, I was doing great with my monthly CD/LP budget. Oh well, there is no turning back now!

[Д.Д.]

Cecil's Incarnation is nothing special, IMO.

alejo, you made a dangerous move entering the Funny Rat thread. REad all the thread attentively, and think again.

BTW, you are the next one after ubu to buy Funny Rat CD.

[John B]

Cecil's Incarnation is nothing special, IMO.

What would you consider to be "essential" Cecil Taylor?

I only started exploring his work recently and have been primarily focusing on his solo albums. All that I have heard so far: Silent Tongues, Double Holy House, Tree of Life, Indent, Air Above Mountains and Trance have all been fantastic. My recent order included Looking (Berlin) Solo, Incarnation, Erzulie Maketh Scent, Nailed, Leaf Palm Hand and Remembrance. (catching up on his FMP output.)

I'll probably pick up the RVG of Conquistador soon after it comes out, too.

[John B]

I recently purchased Frode Gjerstad’s Ultima and am really enjoying the interplay between Drake, Parker, and Gjerstad.

I’ll add Remember to Forget to my long wish list. The Assif Tsahar trio disc also sounds very interesting…Damn! I should have never ventured over to the Funny Rat thread. Until today, I was doing great with my monthly CD/LP budget. Oh well, there is no turning back now!

You will love Remember to Forget.

Leave your wallet somewhere out of reach when reading this discussion. It can get to be very expensive, indeed.

[Д.Д.]

What would you consider to be "essential" Cecil Taylor?

John, I am far from being a Cecil specialist - I doubt I heard even 20% of his ouevre. The ones you picked up are great and quite different: Nailed is sheer aggression and abandon, Leaf Palm Hand has unbelievably inctricate interplay and Rememberance is a pure joy.

I still prefer Cecil in solo setting, and In Willisau (Intakt) and is probably my favorite.

I don't care too much for early Cecil with exception of Looking Ahead!, a charming record with Earl Griffith playing some interesting vibes (I think this is his only recording).

The one that I would consider essential though is Two Ts for a Lovely T 10-CD set on Cadanza. This is 10 (plus-minus) consequtive concerts of Cecil Taylor Feel Trio (Cecil, Oxley, William Parker) recorded in 1990. As I mentioned, Oxley-Taylor interplay has to be heard to be believed (and probably several PhD theses could be written analyzing it based on this set) - I can't imagine how Oxley is does it (and I think it's more Oxley, than CT who is the ears here) - he seems to know in advance what exactly CT would play and prepare a perfect counter-statement to it. This really seems to stimulate CT and he throws idea after idea after idea challenging Oxley, but at the same time knowing that he would respond with something beautiful. In between there is poor William Parker trying to incorporate something of value into the completely perfect self-sufficient material - he succeeds not too often, IMO (well, I am biased against Parker anyway), but it is nevertheless it's interesting to hear what solutions he comes up with.

A very important factor in these recordings is sound quality - it is prestine here: you can hear every little sound that each of the musicians makes in perfect balance (and you realize how structured and logical CT's music is when you have a chance to hear him recorded that well). Also, these 10 CDs demonstrate how diverse these musicians are - each concert is different, and I am glad all of them are included in this set (and no, I am not writing this to persuade myself that I spent big ££ appropriately).

I think ubu also has this set, so he might add his comments as well.

Edited March 18, 2004 by Д.Д.

[John B]

I have wanted to pick up that set for a while but just can't justify the price right now. Perhaps some day...

[Д.Д.]

I have wanted to pick up that set for a while but just can't justify the price right now. Perhaps some day...

If I remember correctly,, this was a limited edition of 1000 copies, and it was released nearly two years ago so it might be not that easy to find now.

[J.A.W.]

All this talk about CT... What do you guys see in him, I wonder...

(Now listening to

)

[J.A.W.]

This is wonderful stuff:

Horace Tapscott - The Tapscott Sessions, Vol.10 - Nimbus West

[Late]

What would you consider to be "essential" Cecil Taylor?

I first heard Silent Tongues when I was 16, and, for me, it still remains the most essential Taylor recording to have in a collection. There are other solo performances that probably equal, or even surpass, this particular document's musical accomplishments, but I think, in some ways, that they often all point back to this one album. To be sure, I haven't heard everything (far from it!) that Taylor's recorded, and I readily admit that I tend to concentrate on revisiting familiar Taylor records rather than searching out new ones — thus, some large gaps in my Taylor collection. That said, here's what tops my list of "essential" Taylor:

• Jazz Advance — Look for the Japanese RVG of this album. Malcolm Addey remastered the domestic edition (and it sounds fine), but Rudy seems to have spun some gold here. I think it can be had, right now, for under $20 at Red Trumpet. Remastering and price aside, I adore this album, and have always thought it to be the most ground-breaking debut in the history of recorded improvised music. A grand claim, but the music backs it up! No one, in my opinion, would have, or even could have, played "Bemsha Swing" like that. Hard to imagine it's 1955 here, but perhaps it's not so hard when one considers the advances that had already played out in "classical" music by this time. Essential, both historically and (hoorah!) musically.

• The Candid Recordings — I actually prefer the remastering on the Mosaic as opposed to the newer remasters made available just a few years ago. But never mind that; this music is vital. There's so much of it to describe, and everyone has their favorite "highlight reel" from this era — as well as opinions on the merits of the sidemen performances (e.g. I'm not so fond of Archie Shepp's contributions, but always like what Lacy has to say) — so I'd just say jump in where and when you can. Of all the Mosaic's that I wish could stay in-print indefinitely, this would be numero uno.

• Live at the Café Montmartre on Debut — Or, as I think it's alternatively titled, Nefertiti, the Beautiful Has Come or Trance. The package with the original title that I've listed here is the 2-disc Japanese edition (TKCB 71261) with original cover art. Gorgeous, both sonically and musically. To me, this is the turning point in Taylor's music (at least what I know of it). The doors are at last open, and he's playing what he hears — without the fetters of current musical convention. Jimmy Lyons and "Arthur Murray" (as he's listed here) already have a good sense of what Taylor wants out of a performance, and they respond with some inspired playing. One note: the original tracks for this LP set come out of the speakers with unusual clarity for a live performance; the alternate tracks, however, seem to have come from a different source, and are considerably muddier. (Still, never mind that in light of the music.)

• The New World Recordings — The Cecil Taylor Unit and 3 Phasis. Perhaps Taylor's finest band? I don't know his recordings well enough to make that call, but these records, despite their often violent sense of drama, are actually quite musical. They still take considerable endurance to "hear" all the way through, but there's so much to go back to, and to re-discover. Pick these up, spend some quality time with them, and you may actually not have to purchase any Taylor recordings for a while. (What? Blasphemy!)

• For Olim — Maybe Taylor's most (choose your favorite adjective: [A] sensitive, emotional, [C] tender) recording? Well, at least it is from those that I own. Not that there's not the usual Taylor fire, but his approach seems more considered here, more reflective.

• The Willisau Concert — I would list this solo recording (and, again, the standard disclaimer — I haven't heard that many solo performances) as one that most successfully reaches past the "standards" set by Silent Tongues. When I hear it, I'm tempted into "true master" remarks.

Well, that's probably enough! While I'm certainly a fan of Taylor's music, I do want to say that I don't often play the albums I own. Their intensity usually demands that I somehow be "ready" for them, and sometimes this means months in between "Taylor Listening Sessions." But, when the time's right, almost nothing's better. I'd also want to say that I sometimes find a sameness in his solos — a certain recycling of ideas and tendencies that, no matter how much they're modified or altered, make me question just how vast Taylor's musical palette really is. That's a vague statement, to be sure, but perhaps some other Taylor listeners could weigh in — concurring with, or disputing that claim.

Edited March 18, 2004 by Late

[J.A.W.]

I don't have much to add to Late's post, except that I'm not too fond of the Candid recordings; like Late indicates, Shepp doesn't sound "right", and it spoils the music for me, in spite of Lacy and Neidlinger - it even made me sell my Japanese Candids...

Edited March 19, 2004 by J.A.W.