29 January 2009

Karl Berger: Total Music Ensemble

Karl Berger, born March 30, 1935, is a six time winner of the Downbeat Critics Poll as a jazz soloist, recipient of numerous Composition Awards ( commissions by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, European Radio and Television: WDR, NDR, SWF, Radio France, Rai Italy. SWF-Prize 1994 ). Professor of Composition, Artist-in-Residence at universities, schools and festivals worldwide ; PhD in Music Esthetics.

Karl Berger became noted for his innovative arrangements for recordings by Jeff Buckley (”Grace”), Natalie Merchant (”Ophelia”), Better Than Ezra, The Cardigans, Jonatha Brooke, Buckethead, Bootsie Collins, The Swans, Sly + Robbie, Angelique Kidjo a.o.; and for his collaborations with producers Bill Laswell, Alan Douglas (”Operazone”), Peter Collins, Andy Wallace, Craig Street, Alain Mallet, Malcolm Burn, Bob Marlett a.m.o. in Woodstock, NY. New York City, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Paris, Rome.

He recorded and performed with Don Cherry, Lee Konitz, John McLaughlin, Gunther Schuller, the Mingus Epitaph Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Ingrid Sertso, Dave Holland, Ed Blackwell, Ray Anderson, Carlos Ward, Pharoah Sanders, Blood Ulmer, Hozan Yamamoto and many others at festivals and concerts in the US, Canada, Europe, Africa, India, Phillippines, Japan, Mexico, Brazil.

His recordings and arrangements appear on the Atlantic, Axiom, Black Saint, Blue Note, Capitol, CBS, Columbia Double Moon, Douglas Music, Elektra , EMI, Enja, Island, JVC, Knitting Factory, In&Out, MCA, Milestone, Polygram, Pye , RCA, SONY, Stockholm, Vogue a.o.

Founder and director of the Creative Music Foundation, Inc. , dba The Creative Music Studio, a not-for-profit corporation, dedicated to the research of the power of music and sound and the elements common to all of the world’s music forms; and to educational presentations through workshops, concerts , recordings, with a growing network of artists and CMS members worldwide .

Special areas of interest: Improvisation; world musical communications in ensembles/orchestras of soloists through modular compositions/arrangements; Rhythmic Training ( the GaMaLaTaKi system ): timing/attention/expression; R+ D of the elements governing the universal power of sound and music with emphasis on the healing power of sound and music.

Karl Berger: Total Music Ensemble
December 1968
Hamburg, Germany

FLAC
1 D'Accord
2 E.D.
3 Blue Early Bird
4 Tune In

Karl Berger (vib)
Marion Brown (as)
Becky Friend (fl)
Alan Silva (cello, b)
Kent Carter (b)
Jacques Thollot (dr)

ICP Orchestra Nov 14, 1999



Preston Bradkey Hall, Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago, IL

Nov 14. 1999

Sound Board Recording
FLAC




Misha Mengelberg - piano
Micahel Moore - clarinet, alto sax
Ab Baars - clarinet, tenor sax
Thomas Heberer - trumpet
Wolter Wierbos - trombone
Tristan Honsinger - cello
Ernst Glerum - contrabass
Han Bennink - drums

28 January 2009

Jeanne Lee Trio

1989-April-14
Zürich, Rote Fabrik, 1989

Jeanne Lee,voc Jack Gregg,b Steve McCall,dr

1 Announcement Speaker 1:45
2 Bruckner Boulevard 6:17
3 Announcement JL / Subway Couple 9:15
4 I Like Your Style 5:10
5 Journey 9:18
6 Announcement JL / New's Watch (PerryRobinson,comp,JL,voc-solo) 8:04
Total Time: 39:54


Jeanne Lee - Solo

1990-May-11
Bremen, 1990

Jeanne Lee,voc

7 Title 5:35
8 Title / Announcement JL 3:00
9 Title 6:08
10 Title 5:01
11 Title 9:31

Total Time: 29:15

Horace Tapscott's Arkestra - 15th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival

1993-09-12 FM Broadcast
Petrillo Music Shell, Grant Park, Chicago IL
1. Introduction by Arthur Hoyle
2. ONE FOR LATELY
3. Band introductions
4. THE BLACK APOSTLES
5. SANDY AND NILES
6. Tapscott Interview with Neil Tesser
Horace Tapscott - piano
Arthur Blythe - alto sax
Teddy Edwards - tenor sax
Michael Session - baritone sax
Oscar Brasheer - trumpet
Thurman Green - trombone
Roberto Miguel Miranda - bass
Fritz Wise - drums

27 January 2009

Instant Composers Pool Orchestra at the Guelph Jazz Festival 2008

River Run Centre, Guelph, ON Sep. 05, 2008

The Instant Composers' Pool Orchestra has a combative friendship at its heart - the Dutch duo of pianist and composer Misha Mengelberg and drummer Han Bennink has been going strong for more than forty years. Through the decades, they've nurtured an ensemble of musicians that keeps playful improvisation and creative composition at its core.

At this Guelph Jazz Festival concert, the players' solos butt up against each other, Han Bennink goes running across the stage and Misha Mengelberg keeps it all together at the piano.

1 12 Bars Herbie Nichols (composer) 6:57
2 Aan uit Misha Mengelberg (composer) 6:11
3 Ezels Misha Mengelberg (composer) 9:35
4 Gare Gueman Misha Mengelberg (composer) 6:20
5 The Tool & Toy Suite Thomas Herberer (composer), Steve Lacey (text) 9:54
6 No Idea Misha Mengelberg (composer) 8:21
7 Ktoel Misha Mengelberg (composer) 4:04
8 Criss Cross Thelonius Monk (composer) 9:26
9 The Mother of all Wars Misha Mengelberg (composer) 6:49


Instant Composers Pool Orchestra
Misha Mengelberg - piano
Han Bennick - drums, percussion
Ab Baars - clarinet, tenor sax
Tobias Delius - tenor sax
Ernst Glerum - double bass
Thomas Heberer - trumpet
Tristan Honsinger - cello
Michael Moore - sax, clarinet
Mary Oliver - violin
Wolter Wierbos - trumpet

Pat LaBarbera & Randy Brecker at The Rex


The Rex Hotel, Toronto, ON - Jan. 12, 2008


Randy Brecker is one of the foremost jazz trumpeters and he's especially renowned for the series of Brecker Brothers jazz-fusion recordings he made in the 1970s and 80s with his late saxophonist sibling, Michael Brecker.

Saxophonist Pat LaBarbera is now a Canadian jazz heavyweight based at Humber College in Toronto, but made his name in the '60s and '70s as a soloist in the bands of Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Louis Bellson and Elvin Jones.

Drummer Joe LaBarbera has a similarly rich resume, with the notable addition of a stint in the trio of the late pianist Bill Evans.

Together with pianist Brian Dickinson and bassist Neil Swainson, Brecker and the LaBarbera Brothers became a quintet for a fiery performance at The Rex in Toronto during the recent IAJE conference.

1 While My Lady Sleeps Bronislow Kaper 12:10
2 Chief Crazy Horse Wayne Shorter 11:43
3 Dirty Dogs Randy Brecker 13:16
4 There's a Lull in My Life Matt Gordon/Harry Revel 11:47
5 Crossing the Line Pat LaBarbera 12:02
6 Bye Ya Thelonious Monk 14:33


* Randy Brecker - trumpet
* Pat LaBarbera - saxophone
* Joe LaBarbera - drums
* Brian Dickinson - piano
* Neil Swainson - bass

François Houle, Benoît Delbecq & Evan Parker


Recorded: Jun. 20, 2008

Venue: Roundhouse Community Centre, Vancouver, BC
Vancouver clarinetist extraordinaire François Houle is joined in his adopted city by two greats of the improv jazz scene, French pianist Benoît Delbecq and legendary English saxophonist Evan Parker.

They met in 2005 for an improv show in Montreal and immediately hit it off. They come together again at the 2008 Vancouver Jazz Festival's Innovation series, held at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown, Vancouver.

1 Stone Through Sunlight 20:48
2 Moonlight Through Stone9:02
3 Stone On Stone16:30

* François Houle - clarinet
* Benoît Delbecq - piano
* Evan Parker - tenor saxophone

26 January 2009

Dave Liebman Quartet


Dave Liebman Quartet
Recorded: Jan. 11, 2008
Venue: The Rex Hotel, Toronto, ON
CBC HD FM

Saxophonist Dave Liebman is probably best known for spending the 1970s playing on trumpeter Miles Davis' albums "On the Corner", "Big Fun", "Dark Magus" and "Get Up With It". He's also toured and recorded with pianist Chick Corea.

Dave Liebman's solo career continues to flourish and, together with his former student - Canadian jazz saxophone icon Mike Murley - Liebman leads a quartet including bassist Jim Vivian and drummer Ian Froman in this dynamic set recorded at The Rex in Toronto during the 2008 I.A.J.E. conference.

1 [introduction & applause] 0:26
2 Day And Night Dave Liebman (composer) 18:38
3 That's What You Want Mike Murley (composer) 14:35
4 Off A Bird Dave Liebman (composer) 12:22
5 Nadir Dave Liebman (composer) 8:25
6 Get Me Back To The Apple Dave Liebman (composer) 7:00


* Dave Liebman - saxophone
* Mike Murley - saxophone
* Jim Vivian - bass
* Ian Froman - drums

25 January 2009

Schiano/Mazzon/Schiaffini/Geremia/Tommaso/Rusconi – The Unrepentant Ones - Fonit Cetra CDP 005 (Italy)


Translated from the liner notes in italian

“The Unrepetant Ones began just for fun since I was talkin’ by phone with Guido (Mazzon)” (Mario Schiano).

After 17 years of parallel and crossed journeys in the world of jazz, largely documented by encyclopedias, reviews and "less or more" specialized handbooks (from 1966 Gruppo Romano Free Jazz to 1969 Gruppo Contemporaneo) they meet all togheter for the first time in Rome in an Italian Radio Studio (RAI) for a Live Concert as guests of A certain speech broadcast series. “I’ve found myself with people who express their feelings in such a particular way, so similar to my way of talking, to my thoughts. They always make me feel comfortable” (Renato Geremia). “I want to express my strong excitement since today, here, just after 20 years, perhaps something is going to happen. This Unrepetant Ones are fine musicians, and show very promising, they show they can be even better musicians and play genuine music” (Franco Pecori). Free jazz, Free Music “..in Europe musicians 45/50 years old go on playin’ this rather distinctive music, rather creative, quite free. I noticed that they aren’t so frustrated as we are” (Guido Mazzon). “I want to remind you that jazz music, in about 90 years of life, has covered the whole itinerary of the great western music, reaching even the Darmstad School. The Free Jazz, greatly berated, is the most advanced peak of the evolution of this music history. Before Free Jazz is nothing!!!” (Mario Schiano)
“All that is solid melts into air”. That’s the reason why, in this recording made by this musicians for whom (since the ’60) the reference points are totally relative, they can use historical jazz shapes for their own musical ends. From the most classical blues in L’arte in questione, to the most contemporary one, the tense and biting free jazz of Feel better, running up and down through musical quotations, moods, fashions to personal and collective models of any jazz musician.
From the unfielding practicisizin' of the “Innovative selfdistrucion” of jazz shapes (Mobil Oil advertisement dating to 1978) grows out the awareness (sometimes ironical Antenne Justine, others lirycal Tout Doucement A Marghera, sometimes serious Virtù Appassite, others realistic Ich Mag F. M., others of fantasy) that this is the only way trough which we can feed true individual musical meanings. In those sound and music meanings the individual creative freedom is the condition for the creative freedom for the whole group.
Finally Armi e Bagagli is for all those who dream of a music that can “sign the time, that isn’t all day long seated in a museum, that comes to the surface, that is fluid, unpredictable, erratic, contradictory, stressful. A music who can help old ladies to cross the road” (Claes Oldenburg)
Pasquale Santoli

To the above, almost ruffled, liner notes I only want to add a brief annotation.
For this important Italian musicians the opportunity to meet, perhaps for the first time, at an almost official date as a Radio Broadcast/Concert/Album can be seen today as a seminal and starting point for the birth of that “marvellous dream became true” called Italian Instabile Orchestra.
Not only this date has been important among the others (before and after) along the eighties: the founding from Andrea Centazzo of the Mitteleuropa orchestra (in 1980), the Bruno Tommaso tentet for “Dodici variazioni su un tema di Jerome Kern”, and than the scoring for the Rava’s “Carmen”, and then the DOM orchestra and the Gaslini’s Solar Big Band.
Other recordings that document the meetings between jazzmen from the same “creative” area that were later to join the Instabile are: Mazzon/Schiano – Gospel, Schiaffini/Iannaccone/Colombo - Pezzo e Altro Pezzo, Schiano/Bellatalla/Liguori – Concerto della Statale.
In the eighties: Italian Art Quartet (Rusconi, Mazzon, Geremia, Tommaso) Discretamente il fascino…, Liguori/Schiano/Liguori/Mazzon – Effetti Larsen …and obviously the one posted here.

Discographycal infos

Mario Schiano alto sax, voice (in # 1-5);
Guido Mazzon trumpet (except # 8), clarinetì (in # 6), piano (in # 7);
Giancarlo Schiaffini trombone (in # 2-4-5- 7), tuba (in #1-2-3-4-6-8-9);
Renato Geremia soprano sax (in # 2-7), tenor sax (in # 4), piano (in #5),
violin (in # 2-3-6-8), flute (in # 9), voice (in # 1);
Bruno Tommaso bass (except # 8);
Toni Rusconi drums (except # 8), percussion (in # 2-6)

Recording made in Rome sala M - Centro di Produzione Radiofonico RAI in 1986 february the 17th during the Radio Broadcast named “Un certo discorso” ( A certain speech)

Published in. 1986 - Fonit Cetra IJC 005 (LP) - Italia , 1990 - Fonit Cetra CDP 005 – Italia

1. Antenne Justine 2:48
2. Feel better 8:26
3. Tout doucement a' Marghera 2:00
4. Lottuso (softwar) 4:12
5. L'arte in questione 4:53
6. Virtu' appassite 4:24
7. Ich mag F.M. 4:04
8. Skies off 1:03
9. Armi e bagagli 3:56

All the compositions are collective improvisations

Links in comments

David Murray Big Band feat. James Newton plays 'The Obscure Works of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn'

David Murray Big Band featuring James Newton plays 'The Obscure Works of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn'
Jazzfest ñ Haus der Kulturen der Welt, November 7th 1998.

African Flower 19:03
Such Sweet Thunder 7:53
Chelsea Bridge 7:36
Love You Madly 7:51
Bloodcount 6:18
Wig Wise 11:11
Praise God 4:21
Warm Valley 12:10
Blue Pepper (Far East Of The Blues) 6:02

Carmen Bradford (vocals)
David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet, conductor)
Ricky Ford (tenor sax)
James Newton (flute, conductor)
James Spaulding (alto sax, flute)
John Purcell (saxello, clarinet)
Pablo Calogero (baritone sax)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Frank Lacy (trombone)
Gary Valente (trombone)
Ravi Best (trumpet)
Hugh Ragin (trumpet)
DD Jackson (piano)
Jeff Chambers (bass)
Andrew Cyrille (drums)
Klod Kiavue (percussion)

"James Newton and myself are interested in bringing to light some of Ellington's obscure extended works, while at the same time realizing Billy Strayhorn's influence on Ellington and unveiling the uniqueness of their collaboration" David Murray (http://www.festwochen.de/jazzfest/2002/archiv/jazzfest98.html)

I am in debt to LYM for a copy of the recording.

The first indication of Murray's interest in Ellington in the former's recordings came when Come Sunday appeared on one of the the saxophonist's solo albums, Conceptual Saxophone, in 1978. Given Murray's gospel background the choice may have been connected to the opportunity that the theme gave to Murray to explore his interest in the ecstatic.

There are, though, indications that Murray's interest in Ellington preceded this recording, and goes someway back into Murray's musical origins. Murray grew up in California, and studied on Stanley Crouch’s Black Studies programme at Pomono College and, according to Brian Case's sleeve notes to Conceptual Saxophone, Murray originally came to New York on a research trip for a thesis on Jazz saxophone. According to an interview in the Washington Post with Hollie I West he says specifically the paper was on changes in Saxophone playing since 1959. Case’s sleeve notes also cite Murray’s interest in Paul Gonsalves – Ellington’s long time tenor player – as an influence, and Gonsalves would certainly have been one of the key players in influencing post-1959 players. Many of Murray's later works signaled an interest in Gonsalves, Murray even gave a composition on his 1991 big band recording the title 'Paul Gonsalves'.

Murray went on to record 13 Ellington and seven Billy Strayhorn compositions with his own bands or the WSQ, and many more pieces from the Ellington band book. 'In A Sentimental Mood' gets four outings with different bands. Gary Giddins has suggested other Gonsalves-inspired thinking beyond the debt in muscular tone, when he notes that Murray's solo on Ellington's 'Take the Coltrane' is 27 choruses long, the same length as Gonsalves' solo insertion in the famous Newport performance of 'Diminuendo and Cresendo in Blue'.

Murray also seems to owe a debt to Ellington in his bag band work. Although large ensembles had been a key feature of the California new jazz scene in the early 1970s, and many of Murray's earliest New York appearances were in large bands, his big band recordings always seem (to me at least) to have much of the majesty of Ellington's classic performances.

In this context it's not surprising that Murray would get round to a detailed investigation of the Ellington oeuvre. And this is it: 'The Obscure Works of Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn'

I'm not sure why Murray titled the whole performance 'The Obscure Works' because most of the compositions will be well known to Ellington fans, and a number have standard status. This project has clearly been in development for some time, and Murray used the basic idea many times. Giddins refers to a performance of the project in 1997 in Paris with big band plus string orchestra. He also suggested that the concert was recorded, edited and released in 1998, but I haven't been able to track down a copy, let alone another mention of the record. Giddins doesn't give a recording label, like he does for every record release in the book, so I'm even less sure how to find it (if it exists). There is clearly a recording, though because Giddins discusses it over several pages of the book. The band and set seem to be very similar as this one.

The project had several performances including:

Paris 1997
Carmen Bradford (vocals)
David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet, conductor)
Ricky Ford (tenor sax)
Hamiet Bluiett (sax)
Arthur Blythe (sax)
James Newton (flute, conductor)
James Spaulding (alto sax, flute)
John Purcell (saxello, clarinet)
Charles Ownes (sax)
Craig Harris (trombone)
George Lewis (trombone)
Ray Anderson (trombone)
Bobby Bradford (trumpet)
DD Jackson (piano)
Art Davis (bass)
Andrew Cyrille (drums)


JazzFest Berlin 98, Saturday 7th November 10:30 pm Auditorium
Carmen Bradford (vocals)
David Murray (tenor sax, bass clarinet, conductor)
Ricky Ford (tenor sax)
James Newton (flute, conductor)
James Spaulding (alto sax, flute)
John Purcell (saxello, clarinet)
Pablo Calogero (baritone sax)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Joe Bowie (trombone)
Gary Valente (trombone)
Bobby Bradford (trumpet)
Ravi Best (trumpet)
Hugh Ragin (trumpet)
DD Jackson (piano)
Art Davis (bass)
Andrew Cyrille (drums)
Klod Kiavue (percussion)


Brecon Jazz Festival, August 1999
Hugh Ragin
Rassul Siddik,
Nathan Breedlove (t)
Craig Harris
Gary Valente
Joe Bowie (tb)
James Newton
John Purcell
James Spaulding
Ricky Ford
Hammiet Bluiett (rds)
Hilton Ruiz (p)
Jaribu
Shahid (b)
Andrew Cyrille (d)
Klod Kiavue (perc)
Carmen Bradford (vo)

A scaled down version of this group played the North Sea Jazz Festival in July 1999 consisting of Murray with, Ragin, Harris, Newton, Purcell, Bluiett, Ruiz, Shahid and Cyrille and possibly one other (http://johnjazz.homestead.com/davidmurray.html).

I would be very interested to find out any further information, hear other performances of the project, and track down a copy of the record Giddins mentions.

Dewey Redman - The Struggle Continues

In solidarity, and hoping that sotise will return, after all he invited me to join this blog, here's my contribution for today:

The Struggle Continues
Dewey Redman | ECM Records (2007)


By Budd Kopman

Dewey Redman, who died September 2, 2006 at the age of 75, will be best remembered for his work with Ornette Coleman from 1967-1974 and Keith Jarrett's "American" quartet in the mid-1970s, with an overall reputation leaning towards the freer side of jazz expression.

The Struggle Continues, recorded in 1982, is making its first appearance on CD and is quite welcome. The overall style is on the straight-ahead side, but rather than merely play changes using the well-known language of bop, hard bop and post bop, chances are taken — the mark of the creative artist. For Redman, there is no need to play outside of the boundaries of the music at hand. Indeed, his playing on one of his last recordings, alto saxophonist Francois Carrier's freely improvised Open Spaces (Spool, 2006), is exactly what is needed, but at the other end of the spectrum.

Redman's supporting band is very sharp, featuring bassist Mark Helias, who plays aggressively with a full, deep sound, while maintaining a strong connection to drummer Ed Blackwell and pianist Charles Eubanks. They sound like a band and not merely a collection of good players brought together for a recording session.

Redman wrote all the compositions except the last, "Dewey Square," which is by Charlie Parker, and each shows a different side of his personality within the more structured confines of the mainstream. However, because Redman is such an original artist, The Struggle Continues is anything but a pure straight-ahead session as every note becomes personalized and hence recognizable as coming from him.

"Thren" starts out clearly enough with its bebop-ish theme. However, over the straight drumming and walking bass, Redman plays with rhythmic freedom, while never losing touch with Helias and Blackman. Eubank's answering solo takes up the challenge and things get hot. Once it gets going, "Love Is" initially sounds like a straightforward jazz ballad, except that the meter refuses to be in 3 or in 4, making for a lovely effect underneath Redman's expressive playing.

"Turn Over Baby" is a real low-down, slinky, deep bluesy piece that makes you realize that Redman can do that convincingly too, but this and "Joie De Vivre," a delightful light swinger, act as an aural cleanser for "Combinations." Here, the free Redman surfaces, as he and the band play an intense, harmonically static, racing track that is just long enough to show that Redman can do this too, without losing the album's balance.

The set ends with "Dewey Square," and Redman is again himself, playing rhythmically free lines against the Parker changes. The Struggle Continues presents an artist who is a true original, putting his stamp on every note played. Redman and the band are clearly having fun, playing accessible music of the highest quality.




Track listing: Thren; Love Is; Turn Over Baby; Joie de Vivre; Combination; Dewey Square.

Personnel: Dewey Redman; tenor saxophone; Charles Eubanks: piano; Mark Helias: bass; Ed Blackwell: drums.

24 January 2009

A way ahead

Official Poster Picture for "Art & All That Jazz" 2005. "Jazz Sax Player" by Joe Holiday [http://www.stlucieartleague.com/artjazzshow2005.htm]

I am worried that sotisie's and Boromir's departure, and some of the comments on the blog which stray into areas outside the topic of the posts, will lead to its demise. It is marvelous that you have joined us Bill, and it worries me that you are wondering whether you should post some new music. Personally I'd like to see if we can keep it going through these difficult times, to carry on the work sotisie and Boromir started, and to show that an interest in exploring new musical sounds is the most important thing here.

May I propose a way ahead?

Let each of the contributors post something over the next few days to refocus attension.
If we leave comments unmoderated, let each person who comments keep the discussion to the music that is being posted. If others have other things to say, we should let them stand, but we should not respond; keeping our contributions to the subject of great music. As any musician will tell you: an unresponsive audience is a pretty poor one. If we're talking about music, and others want to talk about other things, they will need to find a new venue.

Finally, if others would like to join the music posters, please do get in touch. This is a community for music lovers, everyone is welcome. I know that over the years the comments page has featured thanks to the people who made the effort to post music and explanations of why the music matters to them; but the vast amount of the comments go to praise the musicians who made it. Those who share music from their collection here attend these musican's concerts, buy their records, and promote their music to others. Most of the music that you can download through this blog is currently unavailable in commercial release. We share the music and all these experiences. We welcome your contributions to the community. When you make comments about the music, and respect others in the community, you make both stronger. Now that's worth working for, I think.

I'm writing up something on a David Murray concert of Duke Ellington music, which I'll try and get up this weekend.

well......

I just got here, more or less and am shocked. At first I misunderstood that Sotise had died (glad to see I was wrong). I don't know you folks personally or even in the blogosphere really so I am a bit at a loss as to what to think of all this. I was getting my Maarten Altonen ready but now feel less inclined to go on with it as some key figures are leaving.
I think part of the problem is certainly the anonymity of the net (sort of like being in a car, shielded from everyone you can feel untouchable hence act like an asshole). I would've hoped a common love and respect of the music had attracted a different caliber of person. Maybe I was naieve.
I'm sorry to see you (two) go as I just started my own blog though I too will probably weary of it as well. I notice the same tendency- namely- hit and run. One, two comments, 80 downloads. Maybe there's just so much to download people are in a rush to grab the next free album.... makes me wonder how much they really LISTEN to the music.
I am sorry to see such luminaries go. I am sorry to see such nastiness in evidence as well. As a paramedic of 20+ years I have seen the worst of people (and also the best from time to time) but I didn't expect it here.
I wish all who are departing well. I hope to see your moniker in a comment section from time to time.
Be well.

Bill

21 January 2009

John Zorn's Essential Cinema - Rose Hobart



A special post from me this time. The most thrilling concert experience for me last year was 4 hours of John Zorn's ensembles, only broken up by short intermissions. He had brought over from New York the Dreamers, Essential Cinema and Electric Masada which as you may know are basically composed of the same people. The middle set was given to the showing of four short movies with the band providing the live soundtrack, playing in pitch darkness, only illuminated by the light from the screen.

This is a video clip, recorded by my son, using the video camera on the Nokia N958gb cell phone. Of course, the clip may not be up to professional standards, but it will give you a sense of having been there, even if it's only watched on a computer screen. It looks like I may have missed the beginning, but most of it is certainly there.

As for the movie "Rose Hobart": It was made by Joseph Cornell in 1936 and it's a montage from a longer Hollywood "exotica" movie called "East of Borneo" and consisting of scenes with the actress Rose Hobart (hence the title), largely freed of whatever context or plot there was, which gives it a somewhat strange, abtract, poetic quality.

More information here: http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/01/17/hobart.html

This movie was the first of the four showed and was followed by Wallace Berman 'Aleph', Harry Smith 'Oz: the Tin Woodman's Dream' og Maya Deren 'Ritual in transfigured time'. The second, a flickery, hyper-rapid imagery set to a free jazz blow-out soundtrack by Zorn was followed by Smith and Deren, both returning to the dreamy floating visions of the first.

The band:

John Zorn - alto sax, conductor
Marc Ribot - guitar
Jamie Saft - keyboards
Kenny Wollesen - vibraphone, drums
Trevor Dunn - bass
Joey Barron - drums
Cyro Baptista - percussion
Ikue Mori - electronics

The clip is in the mp4 format and best watched using Quick Time which can be downloaded for free from Apple.

20 January 2009

Cecil Taylor Ensemble, Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen; July, 1993


Here’s a great concert from the Cecil Taylor Ensemble from the '93 Konfrontationen.

Cecil Taylor (piano, voice) 
Charles Gayle (tenor sax) 
Harri Sjöström (soprano sax) 
Tristan Honsinger (cello) 
Reginald Workman (bass) 
Rashid Bakr (drums, percussion)

Improvisation - 1.09.43

Jazzgalerie, Festival Konfrontationen
Nickelsdorf
18th July, 1993

This is wonderful music, and seems to me to carry on the line from Sunny Murray and François Tusques that has already been covered on this blog so well by Pierre and sotise, and which has been inspirational for me. I hope you all enjoy this, and many thanks to Owombat who made the original recording. 

In passing, I’d also like to say that this will be my last post on this blog. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn so much about music that I wasn’t aware of before, and I have felt a bond of sorts with sotise and the other posters and contributors, some of whom have become friends. There was no blog committee, and no rules, which was refreshing and enjoyable and I hope that my posts weren't too out of kilter with the general direction of this blog. It would have been good to have had a few more comments from those who download the music – it’s a bit odd to see downloads stretch towards the thousand mark, and to have only 8 or 9 comments – but not to worry. After all I’m also guilty of downloading with the intent of listening, only to build up a backlog that leaves me not knowing at times where to start. That’s one of my reasons for leaving – so that I can listen to less music more often and more carefully. A second reason is that I would like to spend more time on my photography.
 
Cheers – enjoy the music and perhaps we’ll meet again somewhere sometime.
 
Tantris

19 January 2009

Steve Lacy - Outings - Nueva NC 1012 (1986) / Nexus - Open Mouth Blues - Red Record VPA 169 (1983)


AMG Review by Brian Olewnick

Though soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy recorded many volumes of solo music, on only a handful did he use overdubbing and rarely to the extent of this obscure album recorded in Italy in 1986. Sponsored by the official Italian radio station, RAI, and apparently intended as the first of a series of radio broadcasts called Sounding Islands, Outings consists of two lengthy pieces very much in the inimitable Lacy style: clean, almost singsongy themes that gradually expand, fracture, and wend their way into unexpected and beautiful territory. The first piece, “Labyrinth,” dedicated to the painter Giorgio de Chirico, overdubs three saxophones at the beginning and end but is otherwise given over to a “standard” solo performance with Lacy keeping to the lower ranges of his instrument and eschewing any shrillness or abrasiveness. “Islands” opens with a sextet of overdubbed soprano saxes playing a repeating, minimalist theme in the foreground with plaintive moans in the rear (reminiscent of some work by the duo of Anthony Braxton and Richard Teitelbaum) before reverting to a duo format, here recorded with substantial room ambience. The reverberations of the soprano and the generally mournful tones provide a fine, melancholy aura. In fact, this selection features some of the calmest, almost pastoral playing that one is likely to hear from Lacy until some squeaks and multi-phonics set in during the final third of the piece. If lucky enough to find a copy, Outings is a worthwhile addition to the Lacy catalog and should be of substantial interest to the serious Lacy collector.

I must add that this recording was sponsored not only by the Italian radio station RadioUno but even, I say almost by the important ISMEZ (Institute For The Musical Development Of Southern Countries) which was, through the figure of musicologist Gianfranco Salvatore the producer of the record.

From the cover notes written by Gianfranco Salvatore he says:

“In preparing for ISMEZ, of a research project on the Mediterranean musical archetypes that also provided for the production of relevant original compositions by contemporary musicians, it was easy to think of Steve Lacy as the ideal musicians…a musician to whom one could entrust the ancient achetype of the Labyrinth. In all of Lacy’s work in fact, one can perceive something that looks like a geometry of the Arcanum: his soprano sax(“divine, perverse instrument, not yet quite determined”, as he once said to me in an interview) has always expressed a “reasoning spirituality”, a music that appears at the same time visionary like an oracle and convincing like a science”


Steve Lacy soprano sax overdubbed

Recorded in Rome 1986 april 12 and 13 and june 20.

01 Labirinth 20.05

02 Island 20.50

All compositions by Steve Lacy





Centra


NEXUS - OPEN MOUTH BLUES - RED Record VPA 169

In my opinion one of the most exciting records of Italian (European?) jazz in the eighties.

The first output of a neglected group, and a little known album never reissued on cd. Music so strong and yet lirycal, swingin’hard and with themes that fills in your head without givin’ up to timbrical and compositional research.

The source of this music is in Andrew Cirylle groups (Tiziano Tononi studied with Cirylle who is by his admission his musical and life teacher) and perhaps Tim Berne.


Recorded & mixed at Studio Barigozzi, Milano, 1983 June 24th and 25th
Released September 1983

A1) Amanita Muscaria (P.DallaPorta) 16.20
A2) Open Mouth Blues (T.Tononi) 6.46
B3) Night Raga Falls (D.Cavallanti) 8.22
B4) Song for the Seals (T.Tononi) 11.22

NEXUS:
Daniele Cavallanti tenor & baritone saxes
Pino Minafra trumpet, flueghelhorn, pocket trumpet
Luca Bonvini trombone, sackbut
Paolino Dalla Porta bass, tambourine, kalimba
Tiziano Tononi drums, percussion, gongs


A music post seemed to me the only possible way to THANKS Sotise and Boromir. and try to overcome the great sadness in me.


No More Words. Listen And Enjoy the music!


See YOU. :-) LYM


..and it's goodbye from me (boromir).

I realise you're all still in mourning for the passing on of sotise, but I feel it's an appropriate time to announce my decision to cease activities on this blog. Sotise's departure has not caused my decision, but it perhaps has accelerated it a little, I have been pondering it for some time.

I don't have the same issues as sotise. Whilst I don't like the back-stabbing and innuendos that sotise mentioned, I am not so sensitive about them. It's not nearly as bad as a lifetime of infighting and jealousies at work, as I'm sure many of you will testify. Having said that JR's attack on centrifuge was most distasteful.

My issue is the common one among bloggers - a feeling of being taken for granted. The level of feedback on posts is really quite pathetic. I reckon about 95% of downloaders here are simply taking without so much as a word of thanks. The majority of people who do leave an acknowledgement are themselves contributors to this or other sites. After getting on for 2 years of this I've had enough. Music and blogging for me is not a passion, merely a pastime.

Thanks to those precious few who have commented. To the rest... well, nevermind. I wish the blog much success in the future.

18 January 2009

Farewell message from Sotise























Hello ,just a brief message.
in the last few days i've been away enjoying a yearly festival of improvised music in a small village near to where i live.
Its truly a drag to have to come back to people telling each other to fuck and piss off, on the blog that i originally started.
I have decided that i no longer wish to share music with people who have so little respect for each other,i have no desire on a forum such as this to put up with jarring insults and the narcissistic self obsessed behavior that prevails endlessly out THERE in the brutal light of day.

I have no desire to create rules that my co contributors must obey, no inclination to sensor, or castigate those who have affronted me with their comments...no wish whatsoever to play god and master.
Nor is my sense of self in anyway bound to the ephemera of anonymous file sharing... it IS simply easier to remove myself.

I have staked no ego on this whimsy , which was the fruit of longing for a lost distant past(the tape culture hey day) and a wish to recapture partaking of the limitless marvels afforded by shared musical journeys with friends.

i know it all sounds so Ernest and doubtlessly trite...some of you I'm certain have no idea what I'm talking about.
Its been fun at times.... thanks to all who have contributed here, either with posts or comments!
As of now i am hereby removing myself as a contributor to this blog.. and leaving you who visit and participate in the capable hands of those still contributing here.

regards to you all..
thank you
S

17 January 2009

Jemeel Moondoc - Live Medford Ma 1985


Jemeel Moondoc Quartet
Jazz Now Festival
Cohen Auditorium, Tufts University
Medford, MA
February 13, 1985



1. Nostalgia in Times Square (Charles Mingus) [15:29]
2. Double X... ? (Moondooc) [15:50]
3. unknown title (Campbell) [14:25]
4. Broadway Blues (Ornette Coleman) [12:57]

[Total time 58:41]

Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax)
Roy Campbell, Jr. (trumpet)
William Parker (bass)
Gerard Faroux (drums)

Looking back through this blog I see no Moondoc has been posted here before. I guess his recordings are few and far between so possibly there aren't any OOP commercial recordings around. This live recording turned up on dime a while ago (thanks to seeder and taper). Heritage unknown, but sounds like a radio broadcast or soundboard recording.

For those of you who may not know much about him, here follows an article from the New York Times from a couple of years after this gig reviewing a concert by the same band, but with a different drummer:-

"MANY younger jazz musicians treat the free jazz of the 1960's as dangerously extreme music; they've settled back into the comforts of structure. But Jemeel Moondoc, an alto saxophonist in his 30's, leads a quartet that plays roiling, volatile, wide-open - and sometimes surprisingly tender - free jazz. MANY younger jazz musicians treat the free jazz of the 1960's as dangerously extreme music; they've settled back into the comforts of structure. But Jemeel Moondoc, an alto saxophonist in his 30's, leads a quartet that plays roiling, volatile, wide-open - and sometimes surprisingly tender - free jazz. The quartet played a muscular, melodic set - one continuous streak of tunes and improvisations - last Monday at the Knitting Factory, 47 East Houston Street, where it will return on Monday. Mr. Moondoc can evoke the bluesy openness of Ornette Coleman, the articulateness of Jimmy Lyons and the harsh tones of Albert Ayler. He can fire off pyrotechnics, but he doesn't just shriek and moan; he uses his technique to create long wordless narratives, shifting from a sprint into aching, ballad-like phrases or pressuring a bright melody until it cracks. His foil is Roy Campbell on trumpet, clear-toned and extroverted, who chases Mr. Moondoc through the music or goads him with upper-register trills and interjections. William Parker on bass and Rashied Bakr on drums, who have worked extensively with Cecil Taylor, are a volcanic rhythm section, rumbling and sputtering and splashing the music forward. The quartet's skill and commitment keep the music utterly contemporary.By JON PARELES Published: June 18, 1987"

14 January 2009

Giorgio Gaslini Quartetto “Live” – Murales – Dischi della Quercia Q 28001

Here is one of my favourite Gaslini’s recording and, in my opinion, one of the best of the ’70 no only in European jazz. Giorgio Gaslini, has been, without any doubt, one of the most important musicians in modern jazz in Italy (I think in Europe too) and the one who gave an invaluable contribution to the growth of jazz knowledge in Italy, both from a theorical and a technical point of view. He has been the first in Italy who teached jazz music in an accademical place it happened in 1972 at the Conservatorio di S. Cecilia in Rome. But It’ almost impossible to summarize here Gaslini’s story and his contribution to the growth of Italian musical culture. Piano player, composer for movies (about 40 soundtracks amongst which the Michelangelo Antonioni score for “La Notte” is undoubtedly a masterpiece), jazz and classical music composer and player, teacher, fine theorist, writer, political activist…


Excerpt from the cover notes (traslated from italian)

“Murales” is a Suite for quartet (piano, alto sax, bass and drums) in four movements. The general feeling of the suite is amongst the epical and the lirycal.

But I’m such an enemy of labels and of all the misunderstandings and outbursts to which they give rise, that I prefer let the audience, to which this music is dedicated, to think what they want.

The first three movements were performed for the first time at the “Italian Jazz New Trends Festival” organized in the Main Hall of the Milano’s State University by the Student’s Movement with a resounding outcome.in 1975 november the 30th.

The fourth movement was born a litte later for the concert-play named “Murales” on stage in Rome at the “Teatro delle Arti” (Arts’ Theater) in 1975 january the fifth.

In this last occasion the suite has been played in it’s entirety and recorded live: so it’s where come from the music here contained.

During the following three years “Murales” was played by the same original quartet in about 250 concerts all over Italy, so becoming the symbol of the whole new musical wave that was growing with the new generations. Essential, this time again, has been the contribution of my three wonderful workmate: Gianni, Bruno and Andrea.

But most important of all has been the truthful contribution of thousand of new young listeners in the whole Italy. Taking part, in these years, to the concerts the contribute to create, with us, the atmosphere, the meaning and the shape of the music of our quartet.

Giorgio Gaslini

Excerpts from Andrea Centazzo’s book: Musician Withoud Boundaries

Section II -. Music At Last


Centazzo's remarkable debut with the Quartetto Gaslini took place on the 23rd of November 1973 al the Piccolo Scala in Milan. Gaslini had chosen this concert to introduce his new concept for making music: the Total Music Concert. Gaslini explained, "Mine is a different way of conceiving music, it's more open, it takes in a whole series of experiments. It is the passing from a sectorial musical mentality to one that is completely open to the totality of possibilities available."

A chorus of approval greeted Centazzo in this first phase of his career as percussionist. "He has brought new energy and freshness to the music of the group His druniming presents remarkable characteristics, and wholly personal traits He has brought to the percussion of the quartet a variety, an opening to a new and very pertinent dimension.”

Important album recordings were added to this touring activity in Italy; Concerto della Resistenza, Concerto della Libertà and Murales were released in the space of just two years.

The '70s in Italy (and Europe, in general) were times of extreme political tension charged with subversion, terrorism and bombings. Looking back at those times, Centazzo remarks on how demagogic it was to have played that type of music in those situations, where the public, although always numerous, was present for politicalmotives rather than from any real desire to hear the music itself.

"Unfortunately the experience with Giorgio Gaslini came to a traumatic end, leaving me with a bitter taste in my mouth. This was truly a shame, since for me it was an exciting period musically and not simply because of the very essence of the music (which, in my opinion was the best that Gaslini has written in his long creative life). As is often the case, it wasn't the musical differences that divided us but personality conflicts. Effectively the age difference continually brought us to an unresolved father-son conflict, which went beyond the purely musical considerations to invade the everyday aspects of our lives. In final analysis, Giorgio wanted to recapture the classic values of jazz: the theme, melody, swing, four-four scansion; whereas I was going through a period of considerable cultural and political unease and wanted to get as far away from these things as possible. Giorgio was aiming to reconstruct the music and I, in turn, to disintegrate it."

Andrea Centazzo

Links:
http://www.giorgiogaslini.it/en/biografia.html
http://www.andreacentazzo.com/Books/book02.html
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifixqu5ldae~T1

Readings:
http://www.giorgiogaslini.it/libri.phpò


An important annotation: the Gaslini’s jazz legacy has been partially re-issued in its entirety (Integrale- Antologia Cronologica) by the Soul Note label (recently bought by Italian CAM Records). The Integrale consists in a series of double cd. At this moment the last album re-issued (Vol. 7 & 8) is “Colloquio con Malcolm X- a musical action” originally publishe on PDU.

Murales, recorded in 1976, will certainly be, perhaps in the next months, in the next double album. For this reason I’ve decided to let the links active for only two weeks. I apologize but this seemed to me the only possible way to post this amazing music. Enjoy it!


Links in comments as soon as possible.

11 January 2009

Grigori Sokolov - Beethoven piano sonatas nos. 11 & 32

Yesterday RAI3 broadcast part of a concert that Grigori Sokolov gave in Rome in March 2004. It is so exceptional that I thought I would post it here, even if it is a bit different from the usual fare. Sonata no. 11 is read as if it is a Tolstoy novel - uniquely observed epsiodes held together by an inexorable narrative thread. The reading of no. 32 is extraordinary; never have I heard the Maestoso played with more bite and venom, and never have I heard it contrasted in the later movements with more aching pathos.

7 January 2009

Reggie Workman Quartet - Live Cambridge Ma 1986


Details:

Reggie Workman Quartet
Cambridge – Mass. (USA)
Charlie´s Tap
1986.04.18 – April 18, 1986

Reggie Workman b, leader
Joseph Jarman as
Marilyn Crispell p
Andrew Cyrille dr

1) 10:28 Conversation
2) 10:25 Synapsis II
3) 09:50 5432
4) 12:25 Oshoon´s Ardor
5) 06:51 Visitation
6) 08:53 One South
7) 25:27 Dear Lord/After the Rain/Wise One/ Coltrane Time
8) 03:48 Chant n.c.


This seemed a bit of a curiosity when I picked it up off dime some time ago. Workman, Crispell and Cyrille had played and recorded together on a number of previous occasions, but the quartet that Reggis led at the time comprised these three plus Oliver Lake. The inclusion of Joseph Jarman, to me anyway, seemed a little odd (though I believe he had made a recording with Crispell). Jarman's style of play, least what I've heard of him, seemed a little alien to this type of quartet. Maybe he was just standing in for Oliver Lake, I can only guess.

Much of this concert is Coltraneish. Track 6 sounds like a tune that either Eric Dolphy or Jackie Maclean recorded. I can't make my mind whether or not Jarman is entirely comfortable playing this sort of stuff. On track 4, the bells, whistles, gongs and flutes come out, which is more like the familiar AEC material on which he surpasses.

This is an audience recording. Listenable but not brilliant sound quality, with a bit of microphone rustle here and there. Also the excellent Ms Crispell soldiers on gamely with an out-of-tune piano, that bane of a pianist's life. All in all, the quality will not be enhanced by a flac version so I'll just post mp3.

5 January 2009

The Sea Ensemble- Donald Rafael Garrett and Zuzann 'Kali' Fasteau Garrett' Manzara AND after Nature 1977 (red records VPA 122 &130)


Now for the icing on on Anon P's EXTREMELY RICH..and GENEROUSLY proportioned cake.
A couple of albums of incredible free improvisations which are extremely eclectic and feature elements and material inspiration from all over the world, this is no slick lame ethno fusion.
Nor do the 'world music' inflections feel like gimmicky super impositions ,used purely for added colour.
No affectation here whatsoever, these records are qualitatively similar to the best of Don Cherry's explorations in this vein.

No question either of the abstract nature of the music here, heartfelt deeply thoughtful music at that.
No mere fusion ,but rather a very personal synthesis.
Most here will remember Donald Rafael Garrett as having played with John Coltrane (kulu se mama, ascension)Joseph Jarman,and Muhal Richard Abrahms among others.
Kali z. fasteau Continues the legacy on her own label.
here
http://www.kalimuse.com/

here's an excerpted review of 'memoirs of a dream' fasteau's recent double cd release of previously unissued Sea Ensemble material.

“The vintage of the tapes is somewhat problematic to the sound quality of the performances, particularly on the second disc, but this pales in importance to the beautiful sounds that are unveiled. The first disc presents two studio pieces, both of which make use of overdubbing to allow Fasteau and Garrett to add a second layer of instruments. Garrett’s bass and balafon merge with Fasteau’s harp and piano on “Zenith” in an oscillating dance of binary rhythms. Soon the former’s corpulent strings stretch across a spiraling progression radiated from Fasteau’s ivories. Further along in the temporal continuum Fasteau’s piquant cello streaks playful brush strokes against a clattering, vaguely metallic percussive canvas. “Bamboo Groove” is more grounded than it’s companion. Rooted firmly with Garrett’s rich bass shakuhachi anchor Fasteau’s ghostly nai sails emotively above before joining with clarinet, and later voices, to create a fathomless aquatic landscape of brightly plumed harmonic cilia.

“Disc Two gathers performances from a public concert the pair gave in Turkey opening with the greeting that could fit well as the overarching mantra for this entire set, “welcome to a feast of sound and movement…non-sound and non-movement…eat heartily and chew your food.” Audiophile listeners willing to sift through the thin veil of static will find aural treasures beneath. Broken into eleven interlocking fragments, the performance covers a wide range of emotions and sonorities. Passages blend from one to the next and several of the pieces seem devoid of an appreciable beginning or end, but this kind of cyclical framework appears integral to the Sea Ensemble’s sound and esthetic. Garrett and Fasteau even touch on the cosmic influence of Sun Ra turning in an ethereal rendition of his “Calling Planet Earth” to the tune of oscillating shakuhachis. Compared to the studio offerings on the first disc these in-the-moment creations have a visceral facet to their execution that is easily intoxicating.

“With Garrett’s passing the Sea Ensemble necessarily dissolved, but Fasteau has continued her investigations into improvised music, releasing a half dozen or so recordings in the last few years (predominantly on Flying Note). This worthwhile set works as a beautiful point of ingress into her earlier work with Garrett as well as a stirring testament to the time they shared together, and will hopefully garner a wide audience.”
Derek Taylor, ALLABOUTJAZZ
Anon ,thanks again for these exceptional records.


THE SEA ENSEMBLE (DONALD RAFAEL GARRETT & ZUSAAN FASTEAU GARRETT) - AFTER NATURE
Red Record, VPA 130, 1977
side 1:
1. INFINITY 13.25
Garrett - bass, voice
Fasteau - cello, voice
2. EVLENMEK 4.20
Garrett - sol clarinet
Fasteau - ramazan, divul
side 2:
3. OH YEAH 6.56
Garrett - bass, ney, voice, flute
Fasteau - sheng, voice, casabash, sansa
4. FEZA'S SONG 5.55
Fasteau - sol clarinet
Garrett - bass flute, voice
Milan, 22/7/77

THE SEA ENSEMBLE - MANZARARed Record, VPA 122, 1977
side 1:
1. ABIDA'S DANCE 6.55
2. OUGADOUGOU 5.45
3. AKAGUNDUZ 2.50
side 2:
4. BINALI 7.00
5. YOLAN 7.45
Don Rafael Garrett & Zusaan Fasteau Garrett - voices, clarinets, piano, contrabass, cello, shakuhachi, ney, sansa, sheng, tambour, cumbus, percussion & more
Milano 22.2.77

4 January 2009

Gunter Hampel-(Ballet) sympony#5 and 6(birth lp 03 1971)


Yet another wonderful Contribution from Anonymous P...
Again there seems to be little info about this lp anywhere on line..For those who aren't familiar with hampel's oeuvre, i suggest a visit to his own comprehensive website.
http://www.gunterhampelmusic.de/

http://www.gunterhampelmusic.de/about_gunter/mygunterlife-2.html

GUNTER HAMPEL - (BALLET) SYMPHONY NO. 5 & 6
Birth, 003, 1971
side 1:
BALLET - SYMPHONY NO.5
NYC, Jan 1970
Jeanne Lee - voc
Maxine Gregg - cello
Jack Gregg - b
Bob Moses - d
GH - fl, vib, perc

side 2:
SYMPHONY NO. 6
Den Haag, May 1971
Michel Waisfisz - putney synth
GH - ss, vib, ocarina


see also
http://www.bagatellen.com/?p=2029

Glmlr says "For the record, and perhaps for those who weren't then born, but also perhaps for Americans too, it's worth taking a moment just to step back and ponder the extraordinary length, breadth, height, depth and width of Gunter Hampel's remarkable contribution to improvised music. Some of his earliest moments were, in my opinion, his finest. His early bands, 1964/65, had some then-unknown sidemen named merely Manfred Schoof, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Buschi Niebergall, and Pierre Courbois. He was one of the original members of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and an early collaborator of Willem Breuker. His 1968 band included an unheard-of guitar player named John McLaughlin. His marriage to vocalist Jeanne Lee brought in a black-American consciousness to his music. His extensive Birth label did much to document not only his own path and direction, mostly on vibes and bass-clarinet, but that of a vast number of ad-hoc collaborators from both continents. In short, this fellow is a walking encyclopaedia of one corner of free-jazz and free improvisation. May the gods bless him."

1 January 2009

Don Pullen Quartet - Grenoble 1978


Happy New Year to one and all !

Pullen was an artist who must have slipped under my radar until quite recently. I'd heard him on one or two Mingus records, but not on anything else. He started out as an avant gardist in the 60s, playing with the likes of Guisseppi Logan and Milford Graves, but must have cleaned up his act to occupy the piano spot in the Charles Mingus band for much of the 70s. On Mingus's death, he formed a great quartet with fellow Mingus sidesmen, reedsman George Adams and drumme Dannie Richmond, along with bassist Cameron Brown (formerly with Archie Shepp). This quartet endured for much of the 80s and produced some fine recordings.

This concert, an FM recording (thanks go to blackforest for seeding) predates the formation of the Adams quartet, and is the same line-up that produced the album Warriors in 1978.

Details:

Don Pullen Quartet
Grenoble (France)
Maison de la Culture - Grande Salle
19780322 - March 03, 1978

Don Pullen p
Chico Freeman ts, ss, fl
Fred Hopkins b
Bobby Battle dr

1) 31:36 Richard´s Tune (Don Pullen)
2) 27:52 Joycie Girl (Don Pullen)....
3) 24:20 …u.t.

Much criticism has been levelled at Pullen, suggesting he was a poor man's Cecil Taylor. Well he can pound the ivories as well as the next man, as passages of this recording show, but I think he is much more than that.
Freeman is superb on this. He doesn't appear until about two-thirds the way through the first track (perhaps he was held up in the traffic). He plays freer than on anything else I've heard by him.

If anyone is interested in a solo Don Pullen recording, "Five To Go" is still available on fredito's now defunkt blog at
http://huppeshyalites.blogspot.com/2007/05/don-pullen-five-to-go.html. Quite rare I think, and well worth a listen.