Funny Rat

[Д.Д.]

According to Southport Records website (http://www.chicagosound.com/) a duo CD of Roscoe Mitchell and Tatsu Aoki is being prepared.

Nice.

[John B]

I wanted to give a quick thumbs up to Golden Years of the Soviet New Jazz volume 1 on Leo. I have listened to the first two discs so far ( Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky / Vladimir Volkov and Sergey Kuryokhin) and the music is fantastic! These sets are also very reasonably priced, making it well worth the while of anyone who might be interested in this music to take a chance and order a set.

[Guest Chaney]

Hey John,

Where'd you get the set?

[AmirBagachelles]

Akisakala was over-recorded. Piano is clear but the low-end is terrible and a flooded signal crops again and again. I don't think anybody can be too happy with such sound at such prices.

[John B]

Hey John,

Where'd you get the set?

directly from Leo. Shipping is only about $2, regardless of how many discs are ordered.

[Д.Д.]

I wanted to give a quick thumbs up to Golden Years of the Soviet New Jazz volume 1 on Leo.  I have listened to the first two discs so far ( Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky / Vladimir Volkov and Sergey Kuryokhin) and the music is fantastic!  These sets are also very reasonably priced, making it well worth the while of anyone who might be interested in this music to take a chance and order a set.

John, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

If you liked Guyvoronsky (and how can one possibly not like him!?), I would highly recommend his other work on Leo: Choniy Together ( http://www.leorecords.com/?m=select&id=CD_LR_268 ) - a duo with accordeonist and (a little bit) vocalist Evelin Petrova. It's different in mood from the duo with Volkov - less jazzy and more somber.

Also there is an absolutely stunning (and really scary) Guyvoronsky's solo (with overdubbing) trumpet CD on Russian Long Arms label called For Sergey Kureokhin: http://www.avantart.com/longarms/ - there is nothing much I can write about this one - it has to be heard to be believed. Now, I know that our friend Leo Feigin has (had?) it, so you can get it from him - otherwise it will be quite hard to find...

Guyvoronsky is still playing, but the last concerts of his I saw were very bad - the man seems to have run out of ideas and chops. Volkov is very active with variuous projects, but he also seems to have lost something he had when he was a teenager (when Leo recording was made) - his chops are still formidable, but that's all that he seems to be interested in displaying now...

As for Kureokhin, I consider the man to be one of the most interesting pianists ever - in the same league as Cecil and Paul Bley, IMO (regular correction for slight exaggeration applies). He has a lot of records out, many suck big deal - but his solo stuff is.. phew.. Unfortunately looks like his solo record on Leo Some Combination of Fingers and Passion is OOP - but Leo promises to reprint it as soon as he has "some money"...

When you get to the forth disc of the set, you'll discover Anatoly Vapirov a mighty mighty saxophonist (think Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, really). Now, he has his own little label called AVA: http://www.vsjf.com/ava-frameset-1024x768_E.htm with some very very nice releases on it (including a saxophone quartet recording with our hero Gianni Gebbia).

OK, enough for now.

Edited April 21, 2004 by Д.Д.

[John B]

Unfortunately looks like his solo record on Leo Some Combination of Fingers and Passion is OOP - but Leo promises to reprint it as soon as he has "some money"...

This disc has been on my want list for quite a while now. I am really looking forward to hearing it someday. If the rest of set 1 and set 4 are as strong musically as these two discs have been I will be ordering sets 2 and 3 very soon.

Thank you for the additional recommendations! I enjoyed Guyvoronsky very much, and look forward to exploring more of his work.

[Д.Д.]

Akisakala was over-recorded. Piano is clear but the low-end is terrible and a flooded signal crops again and again. I don't think anybody can be too happy with such sound at such prices.

Amir, are you talking about LP/Konnex releases or Japanese edition - or both? if Japanese editions don't offer any significant sound improvement, I'll go for Konnex CDs - they can be found pretty cheap...

[Д.Д.]

Hey John,

Where'd you get the set?

directly from Leo. Shipping is only about $2, regardless of how many discs are ordered.

Yeah, and there are only 500 copies of it.

[John B]

Disc three of Golden Years vol. 1 is not going to be getting a lot of play in my house. Ponomareva's vocals annoyed me right off the bat. I'm not a big fan of jazz w/ vocals, so I don't know how "fair" my dismissal of this disc is. I'm looking forward to disc four, the Anatoly Vapirov material. Hopefully it is closer to discs one and two, which are fantastic.

[Geoff]

As for Kureokhin, I consider the man to be one of the most interesting pianists ever - in the same league as Cecil and Paul Bley, IMO (regular correction for slight exaggeration applies). He has a lot of records out, many suck big deal - but his solo stuff is.. phew.. Unfortunately looks like his solo record on Leo Some Combination of Fingers and Passion is OOP - but Leo promises to reprint it as soon as he has "some money"...

I have 2 copies of 'Some Combination of Fingers and Passion'.

But just the other day, I give it to a friend as a gift.

So now I only have one copy.

[Д.Д.]

Received a newsletter from Leo Records (Webpage). A lot of good news.

1. Six new April releases (soon to be listed on the Leo website), including Frank Gratkowski quartet (looks liek the same one as on last year's "Spectral Reflections", Joelle Leandre quartet with Mat Manery, Fonda/Stevens group with Daunik Lazro (!) and others. As always, there is a buy 3 - get 1 free, buy 4 - get 2 free deal for new releases.

2. Projected May releases: fresh Ganelin Trio concert recording, Simon Nabatov Trio, 4-CD (!) Braxton "standards" box, Wally Shoup trio (last year's Wally Shoup trio CD on Leo was fantastic) and Eugene Chadbourne.

Not bad.

Edited April 23, 2004 by Д.Д.

[Guest Chaney]

Any idea if the Braxton is newly recorded material or a re-release (of older material)?

Can't imagine him ghost-trancing the standards.

Edited April 23, 2004 by Chaney

[Д.Д.]

Any idea if the Braxton is newly recorded material or a re-release (of older material)?

Can't imagine him ghost-trancing the standards. 

No info in the press release.

It just says: "23 Standards" by Braxton's quartet.

Could this be a compilation of the Braxton-Hemingway-Crispell-Dresser concert recordings (Leo seems to like this band a lot)?

I want to hear some Braxtone'd Monk - he did a nice job on his mid-80s "Six Monk's Compositions" (Black Saint /Soul Note).

Edited April 23, 2004 by Д.Д.

[Д.Д.]

......................just received

Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come, quite exciting stuff

Well, themusicresource.com is predictably unpredictable:

TAYLOR,CECIL NEFERTITI,BEAUTIFUL ONE H Compact Discs $25.95 Unavailable

But at the same time:

BROTZMANN,PETER & GUEST DARE DEVIL Compact Discs $18.50 Invoiced

OK, I'll try CD COnnection for Nefertiti...

[king ubu]

......................just received

Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come, quite exciting stuff

Well, themusicresource.com is predictably unpredictable:

TAYLOR,CECIL NEFERTITI,BEAUTIFUL ONE H Compact Discs $25.95 Unavailable

But at the same time:

BROTZMANN,PETER & GUEST DARE DEVIL Compact Discs $18.50 Invoiced

OK, I'll try CD COnnection for Nefertiti...

Try ANY POSSIBLE SOURCE for "Nefertiti"!!!

And: be aware that large (50$ plus) orders from cdconnection can cause serious custom fees - don't ask me why, but the few times I ordered lots of discs from cdconnection, I had to pay pretty much, more, in fact, than a comparable order from another us-source, I think.

ubu

[Late]

Wait! I'd order this one directly from Hiroshi Tanno or Ray Mizutani.

Cecil Taylor: Live at The Cafe Montmartre (TKCB 70310) 2 CD's.

Same thing as "Nefertiti" — and this edition has great remastering, along with all the alternates.

Edited April 23, 2004 by Late

[king ubu]

Wait! I'd order this one directly from Hiroshi Tanno or Ray Mizutani.

Cecil Taylor: Live at The Cafe Montmartre (TKCB 70310) 2 CD's.

Same thing as "Nefertiti" — and this edition has great remastering, along with all the alternates.

Better remastering than the Revenant? And more music?

[Chuck Nessa]

Wait! I'd order this one directly from Hiroshi Tanno or Ray Mizutani.

Cecil Taylor: Live at The Cafe Montmartre (TKCB 70310) 2 CD's.

Same thing as "Nefertiti" — and this edition has great remastering, along with all the alternates.

The Revenant was copied from the Japanese cds (as I stated somewhere else).

[king ubu]

Wait! I'd order this one directly from Hiroshi Tanno or Ray Mizutani.

Cecil Taylor: Live at The Cafe Montmartre (TKCB 70310) 2 CD's.

Same thing as "Nefertiti" — and this edition has great remastering, along with all the alternates.

The Revenant was copied from the Japanese cds (as I stated somewhere else).

Thanks, Chuck! I didn't know this.

ubu

[J.A.W.]

Wait! I'd order this one directly from Hiroshi Tanno or Ray Mizutani.

Cecil Taylor: Live at The Cafe Montmartre (TKCB 70310) 2 CD's.

Same thing as "Nefertiti" — and this edition has great remastering, along with all the alternates.

As far as I know the Japanese 2CD-set is no longer available. It's pretty hard to find at a reasonable price.

[Д.Д.]

And: be aware that large (50$ plus) orders from cdconnection can cause serious custom fees - don't ask me why, but the few times I ordered lots of discs from cdconnection, I had to pay pretty much, more, in fact, than a comparable order from another us-source, I think.

There are some ways to avoid that - I'll sensd you an e-mail later.

[Д.Д.]

I'm looking forward to disc four, the Anatoly Vapirov material. Hopefully it is closer to discs one and two, which are fantastic.

John, let us know what you think of Vapirov. I find the stuff on this disc pretty uneven. But better tracks are astonishing, so I think it's worth it.

[Clunky]

......................just received

Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come, quite exciting stuff

Well, themusicresource.com is predictably unpredictable:

TAYLOR,CECIL NEFERTITI,BEAUTIFUL ONE H Compact Discs $25.95 Unavailable

But at the same time:

BROTZMANN,PETER & GUEST DARE DEVIL Compact Discs $18.50 Invoiced

OK, I'll try CD COnnection for Nefertiti...

try cduniverse that's where I got mine in double quick time,

sound quality is significantly better than I was expecting ( apart from the alternate takes)

[Д.Д.]

try cduniverse that's where I got mine in double quick time

CD Connection is cheaper and has more humaine shipping rates to Europe...

New Sam Rivers release with Adam Rudolph (perc.) and Harris Eisenstadt (dr) on Rudolph's Meta records: http://www.metarecords.com/vista.html

Could be nice.

Talking about Meta Records, I assume everybody has Spirits (http://www.metarecords.com/spirits.html) - a great release of Mr. Pharoah Sanders (in absolutely top form!) with Adam Rudolph (perc) and Hamid Drake?

Also, according to DMG there are two new Boxholder relases:

1. Sonny Simmons Cosmosomatics Trio (!)

2. Raphe Malik - Joe McPhee - Donald Robinson "Sympathy"

Nice.

As far as I understand, the guys at Indiejazz will soon stock the whole Boxholder catalog at $12 a piece, so this will be the best on-line source for Boxholder stuff (and there are some nice releases on it...).