6 February 2013

Burton Greene-Alan Silva-Sunny Murray-Firmanence 1979



Here's another superb piano trio, the beautiful Firmanence , on the Elusive, Fore (Rare tone,Music library) label , an independent Italian label , that briefly flourished    between 1980 and 1982, with a handful of releases ranging from Bill Dixon's Considerations , posted here a few years ago , to Scelsi string quartets, and a couple of albums by Alvin Curran.

A reunion of old friends , all Had previously played and performed together in the mid to late 60's,
its a subtle, restrained largely spacious , session consisting of one free improvisation, 3 tunes by Greene ,and one by Silva..
 All in all , a spirited generous record by three venerable free jazz,21st Century Masters!
still out of print , and sadly unlikely to be reissued , who knows ?one can only hope for a deluxe complete edition!


Firmanence- 
Fore (2), (Rare Tone Music library) published 1980, recorded 1979
A1 Introduction-Encounter 
 Composed By – Silva*, Greene*, Murray*  
A2 Firmanence 
 Composed By – Greene*  
A3 Sunny Monk 
 Composed By – Greene*
B1 Any Resemblance Between A Double Aquarian Mother And Planet Earth Is Purely Coincidental 
 Composed By – Silva*
B2 Mints Are Fo(u)r Moon People 
 Composed By – Greene*


Burton Greene -Piano, Piano ,Prepared, Percussion, Voice 
Alan Silva -Bass, Vibraphone, Percussion, Voice  
Sunny Murray -Drums, Percussion 


BTW , all three  are still vigorously productive , and have numerous Cds and Lp's currently In print
some recommendations , here , here, and here
please support them!

ENJOY!

29 comments:

  1. Flac & Pics
    Split Archive
    http://www34.zippyshare.com/v/57076932/file.html
    http://www62.zippyshare.com/v/36556423/file.html

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  2. Thanks Sotise

    Wonderful to hear this

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  3. Fantastic. Thank you vey much.

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  4. Sorry to rain on the parade, but this ,in Bozo-speak, is awful-probably the worst album of these three guys great careers. Not every dropping of the gods is magical!

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  5. Alan Silva has the most astonishing bio-discography of any musician I know. Starting with Burton Greene, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor’s Unit, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Dave Burrell, Michael Mantler and Sunny Murray before the 60’s were out, he continued with Frank Wright, Globe Unity and Bill Dixon in the 70’s & 80’s along with a host of other short-term liaisons. Anyone who has yet to hear his “Seasons” 3LP or 2CD live in Paris 1970 is in for a monumental treat. Follow that up with his keyboards on "A Hero's Welcome" from 1998.

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  6. HarshBozo, Harsh!!
    i genuinely like it a lot, i'd go as far as to say its one of Greene's Best albums , of course i Havent Heard them all!
    what dont you like about it?

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  7. I am glad this is here, thanks Sotise, because regardless of my opinion on this session, it does represent a unique moment in there careers. It is good we can now all take a listen. I would rather not nit-pick my problems with the music-each should make up their own view of it!
    These three are beyond musical masters, but as fans we must remember the difference between "Electric Ladyland" and "Crash Landing"!


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  8. while this lacks the fire & brimstone of the 60's stuff, it has a dynamism of its own , so rather than crash landing , perhaps
    say 'band of gypsies'always a favourite of mine!

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  9. Sotise, Jimi's BOG was one of the great short-lived bands of all-time, his different takes on Machine Gun are both soul-wrenching and epic at the same time!

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  10. Marvelous!!! Burton Greene and Alan Silva are always welcome.

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  11. oh and Bozo - please don't say that you think its the worst record any of these 3 guys have ever made - and then decline to say why you formed that view By all means dislike it, but don't then mumble about not being a jazz critic and refuse to say more. Lets talk music ?.....

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  12. Bozo the rebuked Clown9 February 2013 at 14:03:00 CET

    Dear everybody, there is no good way to say, as an experienced listener who has been playing this album off and on for well over 30 years[approx.!],that it is casual to the point of sloppiness. You know what? - To me, it sounds like a soundcheck that wound up being issued.You know the engineer saying "goof around and jam a bit so I can check the recording levels,guys".
    This is one of those records that I have spent an inordinate amount of time with over the years, trying to see if it would finally snap into place, and it doesn't.And remember please people, these guys were villified back then, not now!, as cats that couldn't really play. BS, of course, but albums like this gave ammo to those tin-eared types!
    I am glad my honest but perhaps, un-p.c. way of stating my view will spark people to make up their own mind, whereas just another "thanks, this is great" may not...

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  13. BTW,fellow music-lovers: no ever asks "WHY" a particular show or album is called fantastic, or great, or classic, or mind-blowing. No justification needed. But how does that get us to a fuller picture of the truth? [which is somewhat subjective when it comes to art and music.]
    I forgot that since all this stuff is free for the TAKING now, people don't have to count their $ as much when it comes to deciding what album to buy on payday, like in the glorious good ol'days. Do I get the new Oliver Lake Black Saint,or should I get an Elmo Hope? I can't get 'em all,hmmmm. But everything is a pearl, so it doesn't matter... Wait,I will ask afriend who has both which she likes better! An opinion to help me choose-gee!

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  14. Bozo, while i respect your opinion
    i couldnt disagree more, this is a thoughtful , considered and to me coherent session , if anything the BYG sessions by all three are loose and sloppy (enjoyably so i might add), the sound on those BYG things is at times extremely murky too , here at least they are accorded proper decent sound!

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  15. Hmm...Bozo, I wonder if it's Burton Greene as your prime culprit here? He plays a whole lot of stuff on this LP very square-on rhythmically - a sort of free man's Dave Brubeck approach.
    Anti-swing? Dumb on purpose? I suppose by the time he plays Dixie (literally) on side 2, one has made up one's mind..
    For mine, Silva is great, and I relish hearing Murray doing this more 'spare' thing than his usual style. Bozo if you have been listening to it (fruitlessly, sadly) for 30 years , you are much more familiar with the record than me though.
    I totally agree with you that it's better to state your honest response rather than "Thanks, great, yeah".
    There are many records that I don't much care for that I'm told are stone classics, and still others I love despite widespread opprobrium
    This one? It's not bad, not bad...

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  16. Funny you mention Dave Brubeck. Just saw a clip on TV[anyone remember that?] of the DB QT, and it wasn't bad,either! Now I wish I had checked him out more on my own over the years-I am coming to the conclusion that critics, at least in jazz,classical and rock have often held our appreciation of the music back with their banal,group-think nonsense. There are, of course, sincere and passionate ones,but I think many just want free records and tickets!

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  17. If done in a respectful to the artist spirit,I would love to see what others thought were over-rated,or,even,bad albums that they keep and listen to,anyway! Or got rid of... Be interesting.

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  18. Sotise, do you have the Fore edition of Scelsi's string quartets, played by the Arditti Quartet? As far as I know, those specific recordings haven't come out on CD, and they probably won't, since the Arditti re-recorded them for CD about six years later on Éditions Salabert. I have that, but I wish I had the earlier one.

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  19. @Scraps
    The Scelsi Quartets have been recorded by Arditti several times... and have appeared on Editions Salabert, and Montaigne, the Montaigne CD is readily available...and no i don't have the Fore LP unfortunately Be awesome if someone did i'm almost certain that is a different recording.

    http://www.discogs.com/Giacinto-Scelsi-Quatuor-Arditti-Les-Cinq-Quatuors-Cordes-Trio-Cordes-Khoom/master/262149

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  20. Here's the first set of the Scelsi Quartets, recorded by the Arditti in 1982;

    Paralipomena

    This isn't my rip, and I think I picked this up several years ago. It's 192kbps mp3, but fine to listen to. These versions certainly compare well with the later Arditti set (now reissued on Stradivarius STR 33805), with several differences in attack and tempo, but both are excellent. It would be good to see this reissued, and I hope one day to find a set languishing in some dusty bin of LPs.

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  21. Oh, thanks! I know these because I lived with a guy who had them. But it's been years. Thank you, thank you.

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  22. Hi, is it possible to repost please? Thanks!

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  23. Just discovered the existence of this record - thanks again

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