James Newton and David Murray Solomon’s Sons, flac and lame

Circle Records RK 16177/5
Circle Records, Aachener Str 60/62, 5000 Koln, Germany

Dedicated to Martin Luther King

I’m honoured to be invited to join the contributors to one of the most interesting blogs around. I’ve just managed to get hold of a copy of James Newton and David Murray’s Solomon’s Sons , so I thought I’d start off with this one. It’s one of the final records I needed to complete my David Murray collection. (I’m still missing Live at Peace Church and Sur-Real Saxophone, if anyone has copies they want to sell at a reasonable price). If you’ve read any of my blog entries on Murray, you’ll know I like the detail. Hope there’s not too much here.

James Newton Flute
David Murray Alto and Tenor Saxophone

Monk’s Notice (James Newton) duo 13:29
The Dean (James Newton) flute solo 6:47
Theme For The Kidd (David Murray) duo 9:05
3D Family (David Murray) sax solo 7:09
Solomon’s Sons (James Newton) duo 9:05

Recorded in live at the Smudge Pot, Claremont, California on January 16th 1977

Recorded by Bruce Bidlack
Produced by Rudolf Kreis

Recordings of three duo performances and a solo each for two reunited musicians back where they started playing: Claremont, California. By this point Murray had become the darling of the loft jazz scene in New York, as well as a regular feature on the European festival circuit. Murray tended to work in a quartet setting in the late 1970s, and so along with a couple of solo recordings, it’s interesting to hear Murray work in such a challenging context.

The album is credited to Newton and Murray, and the inverse alphabetical order suggests Newton had the key role here. Nevertheless Murray plays an equal role in the playing and composition stakes. Murray worked with Newton on three further recordings that I am aware of: a 1995 release of recordings made under Jon Jang’s leadership (Two Flowers on Stem); a jointly led quintet CD released in 1996; and a1998 work with Guadeloupian musicians (Creole)

Two note-worthy asides of interest to Murray fans. First, the album credits suggest he plays both alto and tenor on this recording. Although I think I’ll need a couple more listens to spot where he uses the smaller horn, the back cover photo shows both in evidence. Second, although not noted on the cover, Newton’s 'The Dean' is dedicated in the live announcement to Stanley Crouch. It’s certainly possible to draw the conclusion that ‘The Dean’ was a the affectionate name for Crouch who, as a staff member at Pomona College (where Murray studied), became a mentor for many black musicians involved in the local black arts movement.

The associations of this recording with Murray’s past and future resonate particularly strongly in one track. This was also the first time '3D Family' was recorded; although he returned to the theme on three further occasions in 1978, ‘81 and ‘90. The importance of the composition to Murray is apparent in the 1978 release where he makes it the title track and dedicates it to (I think) his father Walter P Murray. When Murray Jnr moved to Paris he took the title as the name for his production company. Murray also recorded Newton’s 'Monk’s Notice' almost exactly a year later on Last of the Hipman.

Elvin Jones Trio (with Joe Farrell and Jimmy Garrison) - Live Berlin 1968

Hope you are all fully recovered from the excesses of Christmas (though I guess there are always some who go carry on non-stop into early January, may their livers stand up to the punishment!).

This post is a radio recording from 1968, probably an old mono AM broadcast, predating FM. Certainly there are a few crackles and pops on it, but hopefully not enough to spoil your enjoyment. my thanks to ricola for seeding.

Details:

Live at Jazztage Berlin,
Philharmonie Berlin, Germany, 1968-11-08
LINEUP:
Joe Farrell ts, ss,
Jimmy Garrison b,
Elvin Jones dr.
TRACKS:
1. Reza 17:05
2. Gingerbread Boy 3:58
3. Softly as in the morning sunrise 14:37
4. Sweet Little Maia (inc) 3:40

Some excellent soloing from all three artists, though sadly, the 40 year recording quality does not quite do justify to Garrison's flamenco-style solo. Judging by the brevity of the concert, I guess this was only one set from the whole concert, chosen by the radio station.

This post is dedicated to gimir, a good friend to this blog, who once pee'd alongside the great man.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year.

Links in comments as usual.

berne ,sclavis, akchote

Lee Konitz/Paul Bley Trio - Live Cambridge Ma 2002

Details:

Lee Konitz Trio w/ Paul Bley and Larry Grenadier

Regatta Bar, Cambridge, MA

April 12, 2002

Lee Konitz - alto

Paul Bley - piano

Larry Grenadier - bass

First set

01 intro 0.55

02 sweet and lovely 18.13

03 long ago and far away 14.33

04 i can't get started 11.06

05 star eyes 9.18

Second set

01 intro 01.13

02 ??? 6.08

03 all the things you are 11.50

04 body and soul 12.48

05 star eyes 9.27

Audience recording, but the sound quality is very good.

It's great to hear these two legends still performing so well. I see from his discography that Konitz made his first recording the year I was born, and I'm not exactly in the first blush of youth. He has played and recorded with Bley many times, so I guess they know each other's music very well. I don't know why they decided to include a bass player, I think he's sometimes a little intrusive at times during the more delicate interplay.

This is definitlely one to savour over the Christmas holiday, so send the wife and kids out shopping with the mother-in-law, fill your glass, put another log on the fire and enjoy.

New visitors to this blog should search back to find the fantastic post that sotise put up a while ago - "Duplicity", which features Konitz in a duo with another great pianist, Martial Solal

.
Links are in the comments (mp3 and flac). My thanks to gchrisnick for seeding.

Steve Lacy Quintet - Live Paris 1976 FM broadcast

DSteve Lacy Quintet
Studio 104
Maison De Radio France
Paris, France

October 17, 1976

Steve Lacy - ss
Derek Bailey - g
Irene Aebi - cello,v,voc
Kent Carter - b,cello,harp
Noel McGhie - dr

This quintet seems to be Lacy's usual pals, with the addition of Bailey. Good news for many, but not for me, I can't say I'm a fan of his. I know this is sacreligious in these parts, and not wising to speak ill of the departed, but I never could see where he was coming from. Somewhat spoils this concert for me. However, I'm sure that many of you will have different opinions than me and enjoy it.

As it's an FM recording, sound quality is excellent. Thanks to "qchrisnick" for seeding. Links in comments. Please let me know if you actually like this. Personally I'd rather listen to Lacy in Monk rendition style.


1. The Crust (Lacy) 2. Micro Worlds (Lacy) 3. The Throes (Lacy) 4. Flakes (Lacy)

lysis with kenny wheeler- lysis plus 1979 (mosaic gcm 791) lame 320

here's one, by roger deans group lysis, with a guest appearance ( he plays throughout)by Kenny wheeler.

roger dean is not only a great pianist in a jazz/improv tradition, hes a true renaissance man who plays double bass in the context of contemporary chamber music, and has performed pieces by Scelsi and Xenakis among others.

having moved out here to Australia in the mid 80's this group with changed personnel still performs and records regularly under the name australysis.

i ve seen them live a few times in either context.

this one seems to me a minor classic somewhat reminiscent of very early sme albums like karyobin, and also successfully eclectic and ambitious composed pieces such as Barry guy's ode.

as an attempt at fusing advanced late 20th century compositional procedures and jazz it works rather well and seems more memorable than most similar attempts.

Kenny wheeler plays his challenging parts with aplomb, at times stealing the show.

amazing stuff.

this is a vinyl rip that is a little bit crackly(taken from the mosaic LP), its very listenable though far from mint, so I've ripped it to 320 lame only

still well worth checking out.

the music was composed with Kenny wheeler exclusively in mind.

one piece -destructures six , spans the entire lp.

personnel

roger dean- piano, db, vibes, xylophone

Ashley brown- percussion

Marc Meggido- db, Geoff warren- flute and saxes

John Wallace -tpt, Kenny wheeler- tpt, flg hrn

enjoy

Joe Harriott Quintet - Movement

Originally released in 1963 on Columbia, Movement was a follow-up to the earlier, fairly straight-laced Southern Horizons as well as to the experimental Free Form and Abstract. Movement draws upon both styles, the hard bop of the former (with Count Twelve reappearing on this album) and the daring explorations into time, harmony, melody and rhythm of the latter two. The album is roughly evenly divided between the two.

As innovative as the original Coleman quartet, but far less known and appreciated, Harriott was an innovator whose contribution to jazz is still criminally underrecognised. Though, rereleases keep seeping out, so there may be hope still ...

To me, this is as good as it gets. I'm an unreserved Harriott fan and this is another opportunity to pay tribute not only to the South African influence on British and European jazz (of which there will be more on this blog), but also to the Caribbean influence of Harriott and Keane (and others).

Taken off a cdr copy of a vinyl rip, acquired from a seller in the UK. The actual album is long gone.

Tracks

(side 1)
1. Movement
2. Beams
3. Count Twelve
4. Face In The Crowd
5. Revival

(side 2)
6. Blues On Blues
7. Spaces
8. Spiritual Blues
9. Movement

All Harriott originals, except (4) and (6) by (Michael) Garrick.

Line-up:

Joe Harriott - alto sax
Shake Keane - trumpet and fluegelhorn
Pat Smythe - piano
Bobby Orr - drums
Coleridge Goode - bass

Recorded in London 1963, originally released as (Columbia 33SX1627).

Both Free Form and Abstract should be obtainable on CD. The Horizons is long, long out of print (but I do have all three on vinyl, just in case).

AIR- LIVE IN SALZBURG AUSTRIA, (2nd april 1982) FLAC and LAME

more, great live ..Air..
a stunning show in decent sound ( for an audience tape)
for centrifuge, ghostrancedance neeroonoo1
and other air lovers.

Last track is a jimmy garrison dedication, which the great fred hopkins ...lord bless him takes solo.

AirSalzburg (Austria)Jazz im Theater – Elisabethbühne

Henry Threadgill as, ts, fl,
Fred Hopkins db
Steve McCall dr
1) 08:50 Subtraction2) 11:29 R.B.3) 29:374) 09:235) 05:58

enjoy

ENRICO RAVA- ROSWELL RUDD QUARTET LIVE IN BREMEN (feb 13 1978) ,lame vbr

here's a superb broadcast in good sound, of Enrico rava's great 1978 quartet.

the band that made one of the great albums in the ecm catalog (self titled 1978).

both Rava and Rudd in playfully good form, and with jf, jenny-Clark and Aldo Romano ,who provide a propulsive constantly shifting textural backdrop, things couldn't possibly be any better.

i don't have the flac's for this.

thanks to the original trader, taper , seeders

only one track is carried over from the ecm (studio album)'Lavori Gasalinghi '

Enrico Rava Quartet-Bremen,Römer1978/02/13
Enrico Rava tpt Roswell Rudd tb J.F. Jenny-Clark db Aldo Romano dr

1) medley (suite) 53:58

King in Yellow / Lavori Gasalinghi / Out of Nowhere/Maranjao

company- fictions 1977 incus.. flac and lame

An early improv purchase , thats long out of print and hasn’t seen cd reissue.
This is an often misunderstood album.. almost universally panned by critics who tend to miss the pervasive whimsy and obvious self parody.
In part it stems from the fact that each of the group read from Derek baileys book ‘improvisation its nature and practice in music’ as the music unfolds.
Nothing portentious or even remotely self important here though at times they appear to be hamming serious pretense..

Mengelbergs solo and interaction with coxhill( in particular) on side 2 where he builds an incredible solo which incorporates quotes and dissections of several Beethoven sontas,(including the’ hammerklavier’) seemingly tossing them all in a rhythmic blender.

Beautiful stuff.



Great to hear bailey, mengleberg,and coxhill together, I hadn’t listened to this in years .. what a joy !!!



Info
Side 1
Consisting of-
1) theology
2) ontology
3)speak up lad

side 2
1) so few
2) so many
3) so so
4) so what
5) so long



Derek bailey- guitar, voice
Lol coxhill- soprano sax , voice
Steven Beresford- piano ,toys, voice
Mischa mengelberg- piano, celeste, voice
Ian croall- voice

Recorded in London, august 1977

Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Kent Kessler - Live Chicago 2002

Ken vandermark / Kent Kessler / Joe McPhee

June 15, 2002

Gallery 37

Storefront TheaterChicago, IL
June 15, 2002

1...09.58

2...14.41

3...09.18

4...04.51

5...06.14

Ken Vandermark - reeds

Joe McPhee - reeds/tp

Kent Kessler - bass

I think this is a killer recording. Not quite up to the historical uniqueness of the previous posting from sotise, but nevertheless, a farely rare combination of artists. Kessler has long been associated with KV in his bands, particularly Vandermark 5. This trio has in fact made a recording together, in 1996, still available on OKKA records.

There's some great trumpet work (or is it cornet ?) from McPhee, particularly on the first track (which is my favourite of the set).

I think the recording is an audience boot, but very good quality (I've heard far worse commercial recordings). Thanks to "guitars" for seeding.

Links in comments.

FRANK WRIGHT WITH THE BLUENOTES- eidhoven june 21 1978 FLAC AND LAME

Hi all
Heres an electrifying gig by ecstatic honker frank wright with one of the greatest European based groups, the blue notes.
There is apparently some doubt that its wright playing tenor here, the first few bars dispel those.
This is a great concert one of the best ive heard in a long time.
Wrights at his most searingly lyrical, the bands pulsating fractured kwela and afro beat rythms suite wright ,amazingly well.
Im not a totally unreserved wright fanatic, but he and the bluenotes are fucking on fire here,and its positively joyous ive been somewhat depressed lately and this has really helped I felt salved after listening to it.

The level of wrights invention and mastery here is staggering.

louis moholo on this wow the way christian vander always wanted to play!! but couldnt.

The sound is about as good as a good 70’s jazz boot.
Which is to say pretty midrangy even quite flat at times, but the music’s incendiary.
Probably a broadcast , on a few occasions there are hints of oxide flake even tape erasure but they are brief.
Brothers and sisters prepare to be posessed by the holy ghost hope and redemption itself.


Ive ripped this 2 disc set to both low quality vbr, and flac so you can try it out and give it a listen before you balk at the big download.

enjoy

The Blue NotesEindhoven, NetherlandsJune 21, 1979

AUD > ? > CDR > EAC > FLAC(8)

Chris McGregor - pianoFrank Wright(?) - tenor saxDudu Pukwana - alto saxJohnny Dyani - bassLouis Moholo - drums
Disc 11. (42:13)
Disc 21. (45:34)

jacques coursil- black suite 1969 , 320 lame

brent , has ripped this to 320

and says'just thought i'd also send along a 320 rip of coursil's black suite.you can post if you like, or if you think what was posted at the church is fine then that's cool as well.'

sorry its taken me so long brent

i hadnt checked my hotmail address in a while.

this is a favourite of mine, but my vinyl is pretty scuffed

so i appreciate your upgrading to 320... thanks

the standout performer on this for me is braxton on contra bass clarinet, he sets a mysterious slightly ominous tone nice.

here's a review by dr Eugene chadbourne.. who is'nt all that kind to the rythym section which i think are great!

'This amazing trumpeter led two album sessions for BYG, both highly respected projects. This might be the one to take off to the desert island, as the presence of Anthony Braxton as part of the band really makes for an intoxicating brew, if abstract free jazz is the cup of tea on order. Braxton is just fantastic in a collaboratory role, cutting loose with even more of an edge than when leading the band and adding texture with his contrabass clarinet that brings to mind the fog rolling into the forest right before the scene where the villagers storm the evil castle. Arthur Jones cuts loose on alto sax in the manner that makes all his appearances on this label so delightful — fiery, full of spirit, always an exciting presence. As kind of the lost voice of the trumpet in modern jazz, Coursil is not only a great discovery for the modern jazz fan, but a fine creative vintage that holds up to repeat visits over the years. His control of the difficult horn and totally original melodic thinking really makes his playing stand out among the admittedly thin ranks of avant-garde trumpet players. None of the players who have Coursil's technical mastery play with as much heart and soul. He also proves himself a great bandleader, passing some of the key tests of this distinction with the music featured on this album. One composition after which the record has been titled takes up the entire slab of vinyl, clocking in at a bit over a half-an-hour. Only a good bandleader can pull off an epic of this sort, and only a good bandleader can pull together a rhythm section that on paper promises the excitement of the local newsboys sitting in. The French bassist and drummer featured here were this label's Grade Z rhythm section, and sound better playing quietly than they do when hitting loudly. That's because of the recording, which distorts the drums and bass after a certain level of attack. On the other hand, the quiet sections are not picked up as well by the microphones — assuming there were microphones — and, as a result, the horns have even more room to maneuver. Let's allow the artist to serve as his own critic in the case of pianist burton greene, who would later publicly dismiss all of his playing from this era as being claptrap. Like another much more famous and prolific modern jazz trumpeter and bandleader, Coursil takes even questionable music contributions, such as the entire existence of this rhythm section, and turns it into a highly useful musical function. Jazz scholars who feel rhythm sections are unimportant can, of course, gloat over the musical success of this particular album. At any rate, it is one of the best examples of just how beautiful modern jazz can be.

JC, trumpet; Anthony Braxton, contrabass clarinet, soprano sax; Arthur Jones, alto sax; Burton Greene, piano; Beb Guerin, bass; Claude Delcloo, drums, percussion

thanks brent