29 April 2008

David Murray Trio: Live At The Peace Church



David Murray Trio: Live At The Peace Church
Danola DA001

David Murray (ts);
Fred Hopkins (b);
Stanley Crouch (d)

1. Beauty from Elsewhere 23:26 (David Murray)
2. Future Sally's Time* 8:21 (David Murray)
3. Low Class Conspiracy / Turquoise Cement Flower 14:42 (David Murray)

*Future Sally's Time was originally presented over two sides of the vinyl LP, and so there is an abrupt stop and start in the middle of the track exactly as it appeared.

Recorded live in concert at St Mark's Church NY 1976

This LP has been a rather illusive David Murray recording for me. In fact adding it to my collection (as far as I am aware) now completes a set of commercial recordings by Murray as leader or co-leader. This is certainly his rarest release. It has been long out of print, second hand copies hardly ever come up for sale, and dealer prices are some what inflated. But thanks to the generosity of a fellow Murray fan I now own the final piece of my Murray odyssey. Thank you so much Dale. The quality of the original digital transfer is really outstanding, thanks to one of Dale's friends. I hope my reformat has kept that.

The record was also worth the wait, because Murray's performance does not disappoint. This was a trio of musicians that played together, but not what one could consider a stable band. The recording is one of the few to feature jazz and cultural critic Stanley Crouch on drums soon after his arrival in New York. He was to make a much bigger name for himself as a rather opinionated journalist, but he has always been rather self-effacing about his drumming skills. I think he acquits himself perfectly well here. Although Murray is the strongest player, with Fred Hopkins in rather more subdued mood than usual, Crouch gives interesting percussion fills, and a clear grasp of the music. He had been a mentor and teacher to Murray in California, and his role is equally supportive here.

Although the sleeve notes make the point that the approach of musicians on what the writer calls "the New Jazz, Avant Guard Jazz, or Free Jazz" scene was away from the traditional role of leader and sidemen, Murray is credited as author of all the themes here, and dominates throughout. There are no alternating solos here, with Murray improvising strongly throughout a number supported by Hopkins on plucked and bowed bass and Crouch's fills. Hopkins does have some solo space on 'Future Sally's Time' but he remains uncharacteristically introverted. His playing circles downwards like water running out of a plug hole.

The statement of themes is far more diffuse when compared with recordings of the same pieces made within a few months of this date, but his often plaintive playing dominates. I struggle with musicological comparisons, but just jumping between different sections of different tracks suggests that they are more part of one approach to improvising ideas than distinct as themes.

As I've noted in an earlier post, Low Class Conspiracy was an oft used phrase in the Murray lexicon at the time, and it seems particularly associated with projects involving Crouch, so I'm guessing he coined the phrase. Here it is used for the name of one theme in a longer improvisation, is a very different performance from that on the LP of the same name, and is run into 'Turquoise Cement Flower'. I can't actually tell off my first few listens through where one stops and the other starts. The surreal title of the latter part wasn't used again, and the style of titling is notably different from the far more personalised approach Murray usually took, even within the titles on this LP. Does that suggest the name didn't come from Murray?

'Future Sally's Time' is somewhat closer to his usual personalising approach, but still has that sense of abstraction. I'm not aware of another recording of 'Beauty from Elsewhere', and again there doesn't seem to be the strong writing common to almost all the rest of his work.

This is a far more pensive performance than other records I've posted, with far fewer of the usual gospel ecstatic moments that Murray would become associated with, and far less of the flash than one finds on contemporary concerts made in Europe.

The title of the album is significant, not simply because it indicates that the music was recorded at St Mark's Church in Manhattan, but that this fact reveals something interesting and significant about the jazz scene in New York at that time. During this period Murray and his fellow musicians are often referred to as members of the 'loft scene', and music like this termed 'loft jazz'. The term, of course, referrers to the reuse of industrial spaces as domestic residences and artistic venues outside the mainstream of commercial live music. Murray played extensively in these venues, and a number of his early releases were recorded at places like Ladies Fort and Rivbae, and Crouch ran his own venue from the loft he lived in. Many musicians, though, have expressed their annoyance at the term 'loft scene' because they felt it inaccurately limited an understanding of the spaces in which the new music was made; and fighting against limitations on understanding were a central tenant of musical practice of this time.

The Peace Church, though, was one of a whole series of equally important venues outside the lofts where musicians played. While the postwar jazz clubs may have had very little space for the new jazz, these venues were integrated into other cultural activities and neighbourhood politics. The Peace Church had been a significant location for anti-Vietnam war activity and other radical political causes in the 1960s, and these ideas are embedded in the notion that it was also host to creative musicians in the 1970s.

I hope you enjoy this, and the next set of posts of music I'll put up here; all very kindly shared by Dale.

Misha Mengelberg and ICP play Monk and Ellington - Radio Broadcast


Jazz Middelheim 1999
Antwerpen (Belgium)
August 1999 (prob. August 13)

Source: FM broadcast

The first 3 tracks consist of Mengelberg in a trio with Masada rhythm section, Greg Cohen (b) and Joey Baron (d) who were appearing at the festival with Zorn. The tracks are
1) Unknown (possibly Monk tune)
2) Well You Needn't (Monk)
3) The Man I Love (Gershwin)

The remainder of the concert is played by MM and the members of ICP, thought to be:-

Michael Mengelberg (p)
Thomas Heberer (t)
Wolter Wierbos (tb)
Michael Moore (as,cl)
Ab Baars (ts,cl)
Tristan Honsinger (vc)
Ernst Glerum (b)
Han Bennink (d)

Tracks are:-

4) Unknown
5) Unknown
6) Ellington Medley - Caravan, Mood Indigo, Solitude and the Mooch.

Dutch speakers may be able to make out the identity of the unknown tracks. There is quite a bit of conversation between MM and Bennink going on.
Thanks to seeder and taper.

Link in comments.

27 April 2008

Roscoe Mitchell - Solo Saxophone Concerts



Continuing with AACM-related material, this is a solo saxophone record by Roscoe Mitchell, basically composed of solo concert appearances in 1973-74. Nine pieces in all, some of which was known by the time of recording and others to be more fully developed in later Mitchell albums.

The album is bookended by two shortish versions of "Noonah" which was to be given much more extended treatments on the later Mitchell album by the same name. Here a version of the basic theme is stated and which to these ears would not be out of place in a Braxton repertoire with its staccato phrasing and knotty rhythmic tempo. The second piece is the only one not composed by Mitchell, a slower, sedate tune by Malachi Favors and a staple of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It'll be interesting to go back to the AEoC album of the same name and check the Mitchell solo work-out against the full Ensemble treatment. The two following pieces are austere, almost minimalist, in which Mitchell seems to be working with sound elements in a very tentative, exploring way hinting at a melody yet to be found. "Eeltwo" sees Mitchell in a lyrical mood, slowly running through a somewhat elegiac melody repeating and varying it along the way. "Ooboma" is back to the austerity of "Enlorfe" and "Jibbina". "Ttum" sounds like a companion piece to "Noonah", again with certain characteristic Braxtonish features. Perhaps less of a pleasant listen than the Braxton-Lewis duo with less "playing to the audience" and more focus on introversion and contemplation of pure sound. More than a step removed from "jazz".

Titles:

01_Noonah
02_Tutankamen
03_Enlorfe
04_Jibbana
05_Eeltwo (Part One)
06_Eeltwo (Part Two)
07_Oobina (Little Big Horn)
08_Ttum
09_Noonah

All compositions by Roscoe Mitchell except "Tutankhamen" by Malachi Favors

Roscoe Mitchell plays soprano, alto, tenor and bass saxophones, recorded at Kalamazoo, Michigan October 22, 1973 (tracks 5,6), Montreal, Quebec, November 2, 1973 (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8) and Pori International Jazz Festival, Finland, July 12, 1974 (track 9)

Braxton up next ...

25 April 2008

David Murray Solo: Organic Saxophone (flac and Lame)




David Murray Solo: Organic Saxophone
Palm 31

David Murray tenor saxophone

1. Body And Soul (dedicated to Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster) (Johnny Green)
2. Chan Pour Une Nouvelle Afrique Du Sud (David Murray)
3. Ballad For Matthew and Maia Garrison (David Murray)
4. Hope/Scope (dedicated to Mary Hope Lee) (David Murray)
5. All The Things You Are (dedicated to Ntazake Shange) (Jerome Kern)
6. The Prominade Never Stops (dedicated to George Brown) (David Murray)
7. Monica In Monk's Window (Stanley Crouch)

Recorded February 6 &; 7, 1978 live at the Theatre Mouffetard, Paris

Recorded by Jef Gilson

This recording is one third of a concert recorded in Paris in 1978. The other two parts were released on the Italian Red and British Cadillac labels. The Cadillac Conceptual Saxophone is, amazingly, still available commercially from the label. When you order you’ll get a vinyl copy from the original pressing. Let me know if you’d like one.

Organic Saxophone was released by Jef Gilson – who also recorded the concert – on his Paris-based Palm label. I’m guessing Gilson selected from the takes at the concert because this is the best programmed of the three LPs. Romantic ballads intersperse with sharper, wilder, performances, and the whole is very satisfying indeed. The recording is excellent for a live performance, although there is a very strong pre-echo of the sound explosions to come in each of the quiet moments in Murray's solos. This is most likely the result of ‘print-through’ where the magnetic signal encoded on the tape is passed on to the next layer of the tape wound on the reel. I must try and see if I can find out the full running order of the concert. I did try and see if there were any aural clues to the order, but it defeated me. It would be marvellous to have the whole two days of recordings featured on the three LPs made available as one release in performance order. I know that at least one of the masters still exists.

It’s the music that makes this recording, though:

This is the first time on record that Murray tackles a standard (well two, actually). 'Body and Soul' is dedicated to Hawkins and Webster, indicating the importance Murray placed on investigating the saxophone techniques of the masters of the instrument. Murray plays the theme with all the romanticism that made the Hawkins’ rendition a jukebox hit forty years before. From that point on, though, it’s an exploration of both the musical possibilities of the piece and the saxophone. Just as Hawkins had transformed what was possible on a tenor, Murray looks to go beyond even that. However, this is a lovely, tender, rendition which would set a pattern for his later exploration of the ballad in the jazz tradition.

‘Chant for a New South Africa’ is a wonderful, well titled, piece. He seems to be exploring the sort of counter-point used so effectively in the World Saxophone Quartet, but here from one soloist. Quite remarkable. It is both a meditative chant and a blow of frustration, punctuated with saxophone and verbal cries. He was seldom as overtly political in the naming, or playing, of a composition.

It is interesting how many of Murray’s recordings have dedications. His music always sounds very personal to me, and the dedications tend to suggest the relationship between his selection of music, his playing, and his personal relationships. I tend to a degree of speculation when trying to map out the dedications, and I’d be very interested to hear if I’ve got any of these right (or wrong), but they suggest a network of fellow musicians and friends who stimulated and supported his work. Ballad for Matthew and Maia Garrison feels a very personal piece, and I’m guessing that it’s named after the bass player and dancer siblings born to Coltrane’s bassist, Jimmy Garrison, and his wife, the dancer Roberta Garrison. The younger Garrison’s would have been ten and seven at the time of the recording, and the dedication suggests something of the creative world in which Murray operated at the time.

Hope/Scope is a much tarter piece featuring lots of Murray’s squeals and low to high leaps and runs, and the fast alterations between quiet and high volume. It feels right that this would be for the poet and writer Mary Hope Lee, whose poem “on not bein” is often a part of compilations of African American women’s writing. I’d like to think her 'A Song for David' from the following year was a reciprocal dedication. Murray reused the theme a further seven times on record in a variety of settings for quartet, octet and duo’s with piano players Dave Burrell and then Donald Fox. Murray's later playing is even more ecstatic than it is here, and usually set against piano clustered discords. Such an observation rather undermines the view that Murray became more mainstream as his career progressed.

The treatment of ‘All the Things You Are’ mirrors that of Body and Soul. A romantic statement of the theme and some lovely flights of playing that bring out the edge of a standard that’s often given a saccharin treatment. It’s dedicated to Murray’s then partner, poet Ntazake Shange, with whom Murray had been performing in New York for much of the previous year, and there are suggestions that they worked together in Europe during June 1977 (West 1977). I don’t know of any recordings of these performances, but I’d sure like to hear them if they exist. It’s pretty much an avant-lovesong.

Murray’s own ‘Promenade’ and Stanley Crouch’s ‘Monica In Monk's Window’ finish off the LP. The latter has a jolly theme which I think is pretty good writing from the EngLit-teacher-turned-drummer-turned-cultural-critic. Murray certainly does an excellent job with it in this five minute or so performance. As far as I am aware this is the only recording of both pieces. The earlier number is dedicated to George Brown, who I assume is the same GB who plays drums on the January Quartet Paris concert that appears on Last of The Hipman and Let the Music Take You [I featured Hipman in an earlier post here]. If you know anything more about George Brown I’d be very interested to hear.


References:

Mary Hope Lee (1979): ‘A Song for David’. Callaloo, No. 5, Women Poets: A Special Issue (Feb., 1979), p. 89

Mary Hope Lee ‘on not bein’ collected in Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua (eds) (1981): The Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. Women of Color Press.

Hollie I West (1977): ‘The Development of a Bright Star’ Washington Post 12th June 1977.

22 April 2008

Archie Shepp a massy(UNI_22_975_YX2 lp1975) FLAC, and lame




Pierre who has little time to post, sent this a few days ago.
its not one of the better known shepp albums, but its a great one about on par with steam ,shepp's stunning enja recording from the same year, and just as free wheeling and exploratory.
check out the ACE version of grachan moncurs classic hipgnosis and that WILL dispel any skepticism!!
click on the images to enlarge.
personnel
shepp, dave burrell-pno, charles greenlea- trb
cameron brown-db, beaver harris-dr
murky beans Pierre!!

21 April 2008

Skidmore, Oxley, Haurand - SOH (1979)

Here's a terrific post from glmlr's vinyl collection. Many thanks to him for allowing us to enjoy this rare LP.

Details:

Alan Skidmore - Tony Oxley - Ali Haurand
"SOH"
Ego 4011 LP
Recorded Ludwigsburg
February 1979

Skidmore Alan, tenor, soprano
Haurand Ali, bass
Oxley Tony, drums, percussion.

A1 - One - Two - Free
B1 - Das Ist Alice
B2 - Trio nr. 10
B3 - Lost in W. G.


There are far too few Alan Skidmore recordings available. This one, long since unobtainable, is one of the best I've heard. For most of the tracks, Skidmore is in unashameably Coltrane mode, and nobody does it better than him. Curiously, as a contrast, the track "Trio nr. 10" sounds more like Evan Parker. I have my doubts about that track, but it's only short, and the rest of the tracks more than make up for it.

Glmlr informs me:-
"By complete coincidence, the latest issue of Cadence magazine contains a review of a newly-released SOH recording, called "Live in London" on the Jazzwerkstatt label, number 16, recorded in 1983."

That I believe is the only other recording the trio made, so if you can track it down you can have their entire recorded works.

Links in comments. Flac and MP3.

Anthony Braxton/George Lewis Duo - Elements of Surprise



Following the earlier posting of the Braxton - Mitchell duet, here is another duet from about the same time, more specifically the New Jazz Festival at Moers, June 1976.


This time Braxton is paired with George Lewis, another member of the AACM, though not quite among the founders as he joined in the early 70s. But he's taken upon himself to write the full history of the AACM, just published by the University of Chicago Press.

Four pieces in all:

01_Composition 64 (Braxton)

02_Ornithology (Braxton/Parker)

03_Composition 65 (Braxton)

04_Music for Trombone and Bb Soprano (Lewis)

This one is, I thought, less "austere" than the Mitchell - Braxton duet, which to some extent may be explained by the live concert setting which means they have an audience to interact with. Again, a great sense of rapport, almost intutitive, between the two. Great playing, needless to say, and an ability to do the classics and add their own prsonalities to it. Not at all inaccessible, as one may have thought, a sense of humour throughout which is easily noticed by the audience. Long stretches of virtuoso playing and an uncanny talent to make their instruments "speak". At some point, I was thinking of "Peter and the Wolf" as the two almost "act out" imaginary characters.

Very enjoyable and one to come back to. More to come, but I'll have to figure out what will be up next. Stay tuned!

20 April 2008

James Carter Quartet - Marseille 1995

Serviceton wrote:-

"JC fans should enjoy this concert of his quartet from 1995 (No organs here though!)Nearly 2 1/2 hours of music.Sound is a good-ish audience recording
MP3s - LAME 320

rapidshare.com/files/108687506/jc_marseilles95.part1.
rarrapidshare.com/files/108723233/jc_marseilles95.part2.rar

Details got left out of the RARs and are copied verbatim here

"James Carter
Espace Julien
Marseille,
France1995,

November 2002

James Carter - soprano (#02), alto (#07, 08) & tenor (#03-05, 09, 10) saxophones
Craig Taborn - piano
Jaribu Shahid - bass
Tani Tabbal - drums

1st Set (58'39)
01 - introduction - 01'01
02 - 1944 Stomp (D.Byas) - 14'49
03 - - 11'01
04 - - 14'34
05 - The Stevedore's Serenade - 17'13

2nd Set (79'44)
06 - introduction - 00'39
07 - - 24'12
08 - The Intimacy Of My Woman's Beautiful Eyes (J.Carter) - 23'20
09 - Worried And Blue (D.Byas) - 14'22
10 - JC On The Set (J.Carter) - 17'10

Total Time: 138'23
This from a torrent - "berbilbe" is the credit-worthy individual

Hope someone enjoys."

Many thanks to serviceton for upload
19 April 2008 16:50:00

17 April 2008

James Carter Organ Trio - Live Montreal 2002

I'm a bit short of time, so I'll be brief with this.

Details:

James Carter Organ Trio
Jazz Festival
Montreal,
Canada
July 4, 2002

Disc 1:
1) (19:04)
2) (22:00)
3) (12:07)
Total: (53:11)

Disc 2:
1) (19:42)
2) (27:30)
Total: (47:12)

James - reeds
Gerald Gibbs - organ
Leonard King - drums

For those who are not familiar with James Carter, he played in Lester Bowies bands, particularly in the New York Organ Ensemble, which may explain why he decided to form his own mini version. If you like the Hammond B3 organ, you'll love this. If you don't, well Carter is phenomenal so just shut your ears to the organ. Myself, I love it.

Unknown lineage, perhaps a soundboard recording. The quality is excellent. Thanks to seeder.
Link in comments, MP3 - I have flac, but it's quite a big upload and I'm not sure how popular this will be.

12 April 2008

Roscoe Mitchell Creative Orchestra feat. Anthony Braxton

Another quick one, for Sotise this time. This is the Roscoe Mitchell Creative Orchestra, featuring Anthony Braxton and recorded live at the Konfrontationen '84, more specifically at the Jazzgalerie, Restaurant Falb (outside in the court yard), Nickelsdorf, Austria on 30. June 1984.

One contiguous piece only, lasting close to one hour.

Line - up:

Anthony Braxton - as,cond
Roscoe Mitchell - as,ss,bs,fl
Anthony Holland - as, bs
Faruq Z.Bey - ts
Michael Mossmann - tp, flh
Pinguin Moschner - tuba
Conny Bauer - tb
Johannes Bauer - tb
Martin Mayes - horns
Ursula Opens - p
Spencer Barefield - g
Susanna Heilmeyer - vla
Richard Teitelbaum - synth
Jaribu Shahid - b, eb
Ponda O'Bryan - perc
Tanni Tabbal - dr

This is a dense, orchestral piece which shifts across several moods and passages, some rooted in jazz, others in collective improvisation and yet others in formally composed contemporary music. As such it may be representative of the AACM philosophy of not recognising any stylistic boundaries in music, drawing as much on the Afro-American jazz tradition as on the European classical-contemporary tradition. Mitchell and Braxton were (and are) explicit exponents of this worldview, at the risk of not being fully accepted by either camp. But they know what they're doing and are fully able to defend themselves. Needless to say, perhaps, I'm in full sympathy with this view and with the deconstruction of artificial boundaries in music.

By the way, George Lewis has now published his book on the AACM which can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/6nj9ep

Braxton and Lewis up next, but that won't be quick as it's back to the vinyls again ...

Anthony Braxton Standards Quartet - Bergamo, Italy 2003

A quick one for Boromir now. I thought that his suggestion to lay off the Braxtons and Baileys for a while and get into real music required a quick response, so what could be better than Braxton doing standards! I believe Bailey did a cd of standards, too, but that may still be in print, so better lay off that one for the time being.

What we have here is ureleased material from the same European tour in 2003 that resulted in two four-cd sets on the Leo label. This is from what I understand off a concert at the Bergamo jazz festival, recorded at Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, Italy on Feb 21, 2003.

Four pieces in all:

01 East Of The Sun [Oscar Peterson]
02 Afro Blue [Mongo Santamaria]
03 Nancy (With The Laughing Face) [P Silvers & JV Heusen]
04 Little Melonae [Jackie McLean]

Line-up:

Kevin Norton - dr
Anthony Braxton - as. sop.
Kevin O'Neil - gtr
Andy Eulau - cb

In the words of one critic,"In an era when the jazz past is regularly bowdlerized, trivialized and travestied - reduced to little more than a marketing plan - Braxton presents it in much of its true potentiality as the authentic discourse of its time, making both the past and the present (even the future) that much richer than it was before". Yep.

Do lend an ear to "Afro Blue" and then dig out your Coltrane at Birdland album for comparison.

Superb playing from all concerned and Kevin O'Neil is a minor revelation IMHO. Right, then, and I'll get to the heavy-duty stuff later on, Sotise.

11 April 2008

Peter King Quartet - Live at Bulls Head Barnes 2008

Peter King Quartet
The Bulls Head
Barnes
LondonUK

29 March 2008

Set One
1. E’s Blues (Melling)
2. My Ideal (Chase, Robin, Whiting)
3. Yes and No (Shorter)

Set Two
1. Untitled (Gascoine)
2. Deluge (Shorter)
3. Spain (Corea)
4. Lush Life (Strayhorn, sax solo)
5. Joshua (Feldman)

Peter King – alto sax
Steve Melling – piano
Geoff Gascoigne – double bass
Martin Drew – drums

I don't know how well this one will go down here, as there is a preponderance of free jazz. This is much more mainstream. Pete King is one of Britain's great altoists, who's been around since bebop days. He played at the opening night of Ronne Scott's club in London in 1959 (no I wasn't there - before my time). Since then he's led his own band and played along with the likes of Ronnie Scott, Stan Tracey and Alan Skidmore. He is said to be very "Parkerish" (and indeed he's done many tribute gigs to Bird), but I think he has a style more similar to Phil Woods.

The other guys in the band have played with Pete on and off for years. Martin Drew was Oscar Peterson's drummer for many years. Melling has worked with such notables as Elvin Jones and Benny Golson, but more fequently with Skidmore and other British artists.

As regards the venue, the pub is located right by Barnes Bridge on the Thames, and is one of the best regular jazz venues in the country. Unfortunately I don't live near, so I've only been there on a very few occasions when I've been in the area. It's a great place - all that jazz and Youngs Bitter as well - can't be bad !

This is an audience recording, excellently taped and seeded by "youngsbest" (see he even named his moniker after the beer). My thanks to him.

So forget your Braxtons and Baileys for a while and listen to some real music.

Link in comments.

9 April 2008

Frank Lowe- the other side 1976 (palm lp 25 f) FLAC


Pierre who is too busy at the moment to post has just sent
FRANK LOWE / The Other Side

Frank Lowe, tenor saxophone; Lawrence Butch Morris, cornet; Didier Levallet, double bass;
George Brown, drums.

01 The Other Side (07:19); 02 Zap (06:18); 03 Up (05:13); 04 Pretty (05:38); 05 Carmen (07:32); 06 Fresh (06:00);
Recorded 19 December 1976 at Palm Studio, Paris.
this is in a similar vein to lowe's other
70's albums "fresh" and "the flam"
its been out of print far to long.
as i recall this was posted sometime last year by antanase at church#9 , at 192kbs

Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Lyons, Andrew Cyrille- live at berlin jazz days 6th nov 1975 , FLAC, and LAME (NEW LINKS)

This is a very special concert, the finest cecil taylor roio ive ever heard .

Its simply incredible both as a performance ,and in terms of the recording quality.

From the most under documented period in cecils career.


Even a cursory comparison with “akisakila”(the only official release by this magnificent edition of taylor's unit) will reveal I think that this is of equal ,if not superior sound quality!

many thanks to the original taper/archiver of this stunning set, and virtual sonic hugs to black forrest the dime seeder.

Exhilarating stuff.. I can’t recommend it stongly enough.

Thanks also to glmlr who passed it on to me some months ago, and has rightly insisted on it being shared here.


cecil taylor trio
live at berliner jazztage , philharmonie berlin (d)

1) untitled improvisation 83.00

cecil taylor- pno
jimmy lyons -alto sax
andrew cyrille- drums .

Enjoy!!!!



Ps, can anyone provide an upload of a recent dime seed of roscoe mitchell’s creative orchestra featuring Anthony Braxton.
If anyone can help out, we here on this board would be most appreciative.

7 April 2008

Alan Skidmore and Third Eye - Live Cologne 1978

Details:-

Third Eye
'Kauri' ,
Köln (Germany)
12th January 1978

Alan Skidmore - ts,ss
Gerd Dudek - ts,ss
Rob van den Broeck - el p
Ali Haurand - b
Frank Köllges - dr

K.A. Blues (Skidmore, 14:29)
Rhum (Huydts, 18:38)
The Healer (Gaynair, 20:03)

This combo released just one commercial recording in 1982 on a label called View VS, long since gone. Skidmore and Dudek of course need no introduction, but I don't know much of the rhythm section. Apparently, Haurand, the German bass player, recorded in a trio called SOH (not to be confused with SOS) along with Skidmore and Tony Oxley.

This is not groundbreaking stuff, but devotees of Skids will not be disappointed with this rare recording. I particularly like the 2nd track where both reedsmen play soprano, and is very evocative of the track title (Rhum, for non-UK folk, is a beautiful and remote island in Western Scotland).

This was a radio broadcast (excellent sound quality), transmitted in a lossy format, so no flac available. My thanks to seeder and taper.

Link in comments.

Roscoe Mitchell - Duets with Anthony Braxton




Continuing with the AACM flood and also responding to a request from Cent, this is a mid-70s recording with two of the AACM veterans, Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton. No prices for guessing who is who. This was done for the Canadian Sackville label and the notes on the back reveal that both of them made more records for the label at about this time. I do have the Mitchell group record in case there is an interest in that one.
Seven pieces in all, with Mitchell credited with the four on side one and Braxton with the three on side two, the latter with "graphical" titles. Most of the pieces are what one might call minimalist "tone poems" with the players throwing phrases back and forth and demonstrating in the process an amazing rapport with each other and an astounding ability to listen and to respond. The odd one out in this collection is "Composition 40Q" which to me sounds like a warped marching tune for an unspecified furry or feathered creature, demonstrating that there's an underlying sense of humour in Braxton's work, too. And as familiar listeners will expect, they keep switching between a multitude of reeds and woodwinds throughout the set, but leaving out the "little instruments" this time. A record for the long haul, I thought, and one to return to now and then.
Titles:
01_Five Twenty One Equals Eight
02_Line Fine Lyon Seven
03_Seven Behind Nine Ninety-Seven Sixteen or Seven
04_Cards - Three and Open
05_Comp. 40Q
06_Comp. 74A
07_Comp. 74B
There seems to be numbering theme behind Mitchell's pieces, but I've no idea about what significance to attach to it. Braxton's pieces are in general numbered.
Now, with a little more time on my hands, I hope to do more Braxton 70s vinyls, so stay tuned!


6 April 2008

Don Cherry- 'cool' live in europe 1971 ? or a bootleg composite of his byg oeuvre... flac and lame

This don cherry bootleg compilation is very similar to the blue lake album which was originally released by byg and orient with bits of mu#1 and #2 thrown in for that matter.

This ‘cool’ boot seems to contain at least half of the material from that album.
I don’t have blue lake , but I have heard it a couple of times and judging by the results of cursory research ive conducted it appears to be the case that there is crossover.
Certainly the first few tracks amejelo, and bamboo night do not appear on blue lake

To my ears( this boot contains no personnel info or dates) the drummer on the above cited two tracks is definitely ed Blackwell who didn’t play on the byg record.
The following tracks don’t sound like the drummer is Blackwell (exept track 6), so they could well feature ok temiz who did.
This also features a variation of orient vol 1 which sounds different to the version on the album of the same name.
So my guess is that it’s a composite of two concerts from around the same time as blue lake.
Johnny Dyani can definitely be picked out both by the bass playing. And singing in a few passages though cherry does most ( and there is a lot) of the singing.

No date or personnel cited
My guess is
don cherry- tpt ,flutes , piano and voice, perc
Johnny dyani- db, voice, perc
Ed Blackwell –drums on at least track 2 and possibly track 6, okay temiz- drums
Tracklist
1) Amejelo- possibly from mu part 1( it sounds different, and that was credited as omelejo)
2) bamboo night- possibly from mu part 2 (sounds remarkably similar)
3) blue lake- ( possibly from blue lake)
4) east part 1 (possibly from blue lake)
5) east part 2 (possibly from blue lake)
6) smiling faces other places
7) orient #1 ( perhaps lifted from the album of the same name.. they sound very similar but could at a pinch be different)

so its ither a composite of cherrys byg albums, or exerpts from 2 or 3 concerts performed at similar times.

Perhaps someone else has this boot , and knows the particulars more thoroughly than i.
There are so many bootlegs and even official; releases of don cherry from this period it becomes confusing.

Whatever this is despite the monochrome slightly recessed sound its very beautiful and successful satisfying example of cherry’s ethno trance out.
The balance is not great either cherrys vocal mike at times to loud!
Dyani’s free roaming bass is clearly heard , as well as the tonal range of the kit.

its the bad balance which is similar on all the tracks which makes me think this could all be from the same (live) source.
its possible that the tracks were carefuly chosen from each of cherrys byg albums and deliberately remixed that way...
but the first 2 tracks featuring blackwell and possibly track six which appear on the mu albums seem like much rawer mixes.

Juhani Aaltonen trio- raahe, finland july 1st 2001, FLAC

Here’s a truly great concert by legendary alto saxophonist Juhani Aaltonen.
A player who has been a visible presence at least since the late 60’s.

I kow him mostly through the records of the drummer/ bandleader /composer Edward vesala, but also through a few recordings with arild Andersen and the album on tum with reggie workman and Andrew cyrille.

I haven’t heard much that he has recorded under his own name( judging by the discography on his website there are many) ,and after hearing this concert which is superb in every way im certainly going to investigate and aim to check this band out further ( any recommendations would be welcome).
According to his website he also played in the legendary progressive rock band tasavallan presidentti.
I actually bought one of their albums in my late teens not quite knowing what it was , but gave it away because it didn’t appeal at the time.

.. many thanks to the taper/seeder/traders

heres a link to Aaltonens website
http://juhaniaaltonen.com/index.php?target=1&subtarget=5&language=en


Juhan Aaltonen Trio
Fantti
Raahen rantajatsit
Raahe
Finland
2001-July-01 SB

Juhani Aaltonen (ten, fl)
Uffe Krokfors (bs)
Tom Nekljudow (dr)

1. (12:10)
2. (8:01)
3. (12:48)
4. Nature Boy (11:38)

5 April 2008

Cecil Taylor - Yoshi's, December 1998


Thanks to glmlr for this music - three complete consecutive nights of Cecil Taylor (solo, and in quartet and sextet) at Yoshi's, Oakland, California in December 1998. The music is outstanding.

Details are:-

4th December, 1998

Cecil Taylor Quartet 
 
Cecil Taylor - piano 
Joe Locke - vibraphone 
Santi Debriano - bass 
Jackson Krall - drums 

1. Set I (60.34)
2. Set II (65.16)

5th December, 1998

Cecil Taylor Sextet / Quartet 

Cecil Taylor - piano/voice 
Joe Locke - vibraphone 
Santi Debriano - bass 
Jackson Krall - drums 
Oluyemi Thomas - bass clarinet (set I) 
Ijeoma Thomas - voice (set I) 

1. Set I/1 (voices intro) (3.57)
2. Set I/2 (14.16)
3. Set I/3 (25.10)
4. Set I/4 (18.46)

5. Set II/1 (24.45)
6. Set II/2 (12.55)

6th December, 1998

Cecil Taylor - Solo, Quartet, Sextet

Cecil Taylor - piano, voice
Joe Locke - vibraphone
Santi Debriano - bass
Jackson Krall - drums

Olyemi Thomas - bass clarinet
Ijeoma Thomas - voice

1. Cecil Taylor solo (16.30)
2. Jackson Krall drum solo (2.53)
3. Santi Debriano bass solo (7.02)
4. Quartet - 1 (18.52)
5. Quartet - 2 (27.09)
6. Quartet - 3 (13.43)
7. Sextet - 1 (60.22)
8. Sextet - 2 (30.09)

4 April 2008

Art Ensemble of Chicago - Eda Wobu


Since we got a little AACM flood going here, I thought I'd chip in with this one. This one has always remained a bit of mystery in the AOEC discography. It's listed as released on the JMY label, but very hard to come by these days. Found this on the fine free jazz group on Usenet and thanks to "Tom F." for putting it up in the first place.
What you get here is one close to fifty minute slab of Paris 69 AEOC in the original quartet format. Regular listeners to Paris-period AEOC would know what to expect. This has to my knowledge not been out in any other form(at) before, so it fills in a hole for those of us who do not like any holes in our AEOC collection.
It nicely complements the earlier posting of the Smith-Jarman-Mitchell concert from 2000, so listeners are advised to draw comparisons across time and space.
Dig in!

Rototor- live at ulrichsberg Austria, may 5th 2005 ,flac


serviceton says
"If anyone is interested - From large ensemble to Trio...'ROTOR' is - sadly, now "was" - Paul Rutherford, Keith Tippett, & Paul Rogers (all here in Iskrastra too).
They became 'ROTTOR' when joined occasionally by Julie Tippett ('The First Full Turn' on Emanem recommended highly)http://www.emanemdisc.com/E4026.htmlThis ROTOR gig recorded Ulrichsberg Austria May 5, 2005.It's an audience recording but sound is pretty darned good.And there's some quite wonderful improvising here..(w/ big thanks to 'tricko')

Muhal Richard Abrams- lifea blinec 1978 , flac

serviceton says
"Muhal Richard Abrams is wonderful. Too often seen as just some 'progenitor' or father-figure ("Founded AACM blah blah") - and not enough listened to, in my view.Harmonically, texturally, even structurally, MRA's music is never less than interesting and frequently much, much better than that.If you download this and enjoy it, you must go out and buy some other Abrams records (or stay in and buy 'em if you like)Happily (even unusually!) - most are still in printWell over a dozen on the wonderful BlackSaintlabel http://www.blacksaint.com//Artists/muhal+richard+abrams/77ALL of these are worthwhile, with some, like 'Hearinga Suite' & 'Sightsong' being minor masterpieces.The 3 Delmarks under his own name are reissuedhttp://www.delmark.com/delmark.jazzbyart.htmAnd that's about it for the 60's and 70's save for a record of solo piano on the Japanese 'Why Not' label (briefly issued too on India Navigation).- And 2 albums on Arista Novus in 1978. As you point out sotise, these are probably in no danger of being issued any time soon.2nd of the 2 is called Lifea Blinec. It's a quintet w/ Joseph Jarman, Douglas Ewart, Amina Claudine Meyers and Thurman Barker.
Cover scans included."

HOPE SOMEONE ENJOYS IT.