Forums

I have that quarter-tone piano disc. I recommend this set (many samples at New World Bandcamp page):   Thinking about this, likely to pick it up sometime (samples at Another Timbre bandcamp page):

Yes, Harlequin was nice  - I'm saying "was" because it's been a long time since the Interstate conglomerate (Krazy Kat, Harlequin, Country Routes a.o.) put out any new reissues.

That's a fine and appropriate distinction you are making.  Anyone who is into Bix at least to some degree (or certain other white jazzmen of the 20s who were featured as soloists) will invariably wind up with a fair share of recordings by the Paul Whiteman orchestra on vinyl or CD reissues. So this is likely how this band is experienced today - as the background to the soloists. And as long as diehard reissuers (on certain of those "boutique labels" ) drool about almost any run-of-the-mill 20s dance bands just for the presence of 12 or 16 bars of "hot choruses" by this or that jazzman and push them onto the reissue market (which seems to have happened for decades) the Whiteman orchestra, by comparison, had the merits of always having had its act together musicality-wise and often with cleaner (for the time) recording and reproduction technology (for listenability to the average ears of today - not everyone will be able or willing to "listen through" the shattering sounds of jazz or jazzish recordings from the "acoustic" era for greater lengths of time. ) As for the Whiteman band on its own terms, for me the twofer on French RCA ("The Famous Paul Whiteman - Jazz à la King 1920-1936", Black & White series) does go a long way. 

Yeah, that affair, which was said to have been long deep, and painful to terminate for both  That whole album is really deep imo Take it at face value.

An exciting surprise addition to the schedule...   Roscoe Mitchell & Tyshawn Sorey FRI   MAR   27   2026 - 5:00 PMTHE STANDARD One of the great iconoclasts of contemporary music – founder of the legendary Art Ensemble of Chicago and the personification of their motto, Great Black Music Ancient to the Future – the legendary composer / saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell will return to Big Ears for the first time since 2019 performing in tandem with one of the leading musical visionaries of a new generation carrying that legacy forward, Tyshawn Sorey. Prepare for a mind-bending and ear-expanding journey.   Roscoe Mitchell is an internationally renowned musician, and composer. His virtuosic resurrection of overlooked woodwind instruments spanning extreme registers, visionary solo performances, and assertion of a hybrid compositional/improvisational paradigm have placed him at the forefront of contemporary music. Mr. Mitchell is a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and the Trio Space. He is also distinguished as the founder of the Creative Arts Collective, The Roscoe Mitchell Sextet & Quartet, The Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble, The Sound Ensemble, The New Chamber Ensemble, and the Note Factory. He is also Emeritus Darius Milhaud Distinguished Chair of Composition at Mills College (California) where he taught from 2007 to 2018.