5 December 2010

MICHAEL J. SMITH "ELVIRA MADIGAN...AND OTHER DANCES" (HORO, 1977)



I have heard this double LP for the first time while making the rip.
The LP was still sealed when I got it some weeks before. The pressing is mediocre as mostly with Horo LPs. Still - the music is idiosyncratic and I enjoy it a lot.

Thanks to Sotise who made me aware about M.J.Smith's music through his previous posts on IS.
http://inconstantsol.blogspot.com/2010/10/michaeljsmith-geomusic-3-polskie.html
and
http://inconstantsol.blogspot.com/2008/12/michael-smith-geomusic-polskie-nagrania.html

On this recording you can hear on the first side of LP 1 a solo from M.J.Smith. A solo for piano and computer generated sounds on side b of the second LP and two sides in a duo setting.



MICHAEL J. SMITH "ELVIRA MADIGAN...AND OTHER DANCES"

Michael J. Smith,p
Knut Riisnaes,ss,ts (LP 1 Side B & LP 2 Side A)

LP 1
Side A
1. Ballad Of Elvira Madigan 21:07

Side B
2. Thoughts On A New Found Friend 22:26
a. Forethought
b. Forethought
c. Afterthought

LP 2
Side C
1. Geomusic 3715 11:21
2. A Face In A Mirror (vers.1) 05:38
3. A Face In A Mirror (vers.2) 05:28

Side D
4. Interaction 24:43
(for piano and computer generated sound)

Arne Bendiksen Studio, Oslo on September 9, 1977.

HORO HDP 11-12




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18 comments:

  1. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth5 December 2010 at 15:54:00 CET

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. SOTISE5 December 2010 at 23:40:00 CET

    Great find thank you so much.. this is a super rare one!.. cant wait to hear it!
    M

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  3. wightdj6 December 2010 at 16:40:00 CET

    Many thanks. I once had access to many of the HORO releases when they were issued, but I don't recall ever seeing this one.

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  4. kinabalu6 December 2010 at 20:48:00 CET

    Interesting. I haven't heard Knut Risnæs in quite a while (but a major player back in the day).

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  5. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth7 December 2010 at 00:25:00 CET

    I had never heard about M.J.Smith's recording on Horo until the day I saw it.
    And Knut Risnæs was only a distant name to me upon hearing this music.

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  6. Igor8 December 2010 at 19:02:00 CET

    Many thanks for sharing this rarity, onxidlib.

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  7. Anonymous9 December 2010 at 10:38:00 CET

    thankyou onx, this one i've always wanted to hear. i'm glad to have your wonderful transcription of it.

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  8. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth31 March 2017 at 21:00:00 CEST

    1fichier_LP1
    1fichier_LP2

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  9. correct silence2 April 2017 at 00:12:00 CEST

    The preview post of Michael Smith were all great so I expected a treasure with this one and it is the case. Fantastic album thank you Ernst for this share. It is a pity to consider that Michael Smith is more famous to have been the side man of Braxton, Noah Howard or Steve Lacy, than for his own recordings. It is also a pity to see that he haven't recorded since the end of the seventies. This one is a masterpiece.

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  10. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth2 April 2017 at 10:48:00 CEST

    Hi Correct Silence, Smith has recorded also in the 1980s (with a.o. Jonas Hellborg). And from what I found at the web I'm quite sure he still does make music.
    Although it seems he's more active in the field of movie production.
    And he has worked for a longer time (maybe still does) with Chinese Pop-music superstar Wei Wei. For a start he played original piano music from the age of six. Later he studied electro-acoustic composition for ten years but also medicine.
    In the early 1970s he embarked to Europe. That's were he started to gain an interest in Jazz and improvisation.
    In 1980 he went back to the USA from were he released 55 compositions in 17 countries etc. etc.
    So it is clear he is a prolific and seemingly still active artist. But Jazz and related are only a (minor?) part of his activities.
    For more background about him go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Joseph_Smith

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  11. correct silence2 April 2017 at 13:53:00 CEST

    Thank you Ernst for all the informations, yes I was only thinking of jazz and didn't imagine that Mr Smith could have done many others things. it is clear by listening his music that his influences comes from the classical contemporary music. If you have some records of Wei Wei featuring Mr Smith it is not urgent to share them

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  12. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth2 April 2017 at 15:59:00 CEST

    @ Correct Silence, I'm rather sceptical about the music of Wei Wei to put it mildly...
    Take a look and expose your ears.....
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63ItwgKwvUE

    Off course it could be that she and Smith together made something more substantial.
    I've read that she had a classical education in singing.
    However I've no CDs from the works both made together and surely not any from her work.

    And here's a documentary about Smith
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=082jkEJzSrc

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  13. correct silence2 April 2017 at 19:28:00 CEST

    Thank you Ernst for this share, after a quick listen I'm not sure who's music I like more between Wei Wei and Michael J Smith... Really difficult to decide

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  14. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth2 April 2017 at 20:07:00 CEST

    Correct Silence, don't be so cruel ;-)

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  15. correct silence3 April 2017 at 08:19:00 CEST

    After watching the documentary about Michael Smith I think of Takashi Kako. Free jazz was just a short part in Kako's musical journey and it seems to be the same for Michael Smith. Obviously he doesn't play free jazz no more and it is the same for Takashi Kako but both had a really strong and personal voice in the field of avant garde. perhaps both think that they have told all what they have to tell in this style of music.

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  16. correct silence5 April 2017 at 08:46:00 CEST

    Hi Ernst

    Is it possible for you to provide a picture of the back cover and the inside left and right? Thank in advance.

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  17. Ernst Grgo Nebhuth6 April 2017 at 17:56:00 CEST

    Hi Correct Silence - I've made a photography of the inside and added it to the discogs entry.
    https://www.discogs.com/Michael-J-Smith-Elvira-MadiganAnd-Other-Dances/release/4130419
    From the backside I haven't made a picture. It is exactly as the front - minus the letters...
    Hope that's OK.
    If not I still have - for a few days - the original - bigger - files on my pc.
    Cheers

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  18. correct silence7 April 2017 at 15:36:00 CEST

    Hi Ernst
    many thanks

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