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AllenLowe

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Posts posted by AllenLowe

  2. Mother's Day Sale; get the CDs a critic just described as ""a startling achievement that sits amongst ESP-Disk’s best releases."

    in Offering and Looking For...

    Posted · Edited by AllenLowe

    4 hours ago, Dmitry said:

    After a move to Maine in 1996, there was a period of what Lowe describes as an “involuntary musical retirement.” He did pick up the guitar again (important to America: The Rough Cut) along with writing a series of books on music history, including American Pop from Minstrel to Mojo...

    I hope it's a Stratocaster.

    I played guitar throughout my years in Maine, and even recorded on it. And I play guitar on two cuts on America: the Rough Cut (was trying to prove a point about how easy it is to play "free" on the instrument; I should win a McArthur for my impersonation).

    10 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

    Was that review in Jazz Times?

     

    no, the review is here: https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2023/04/graded-on-a-curve-new-releases-from-esp-disk/#more-431415

  3. Mother's Day Sale; get the CDs a critic just described as ""a startling achievement that sits amongst ESP-Disk’s best releases."

    in Offering and Looking For...

    Posted · Edited by AllenLowe

    I kid you not. That includes albums by Ornette, Paul Bley, Albert Ayler (and one in Esperanto).

    I have confirmed that this is from a living critic, and he was not influenced by the check I just sent him to pay for his son's college tuition.

    This sale is only good until this Sunday.

    It is a package deal; In the Dark (3 CDs) and America: the Rough Cut (1 cd) -

    Both; Shipped media in the USA: $27   paypal is allenlowe5@gmail.com

    this is for all you mothers out there, regardless of sex or affiliation.

    And here's the review, just in case you don't believe me: https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2023/04/graded-on-a-curve-new-releases-from-esp-disk/?fbclid=IwAR0deiWYGrhYYh2OCiTGTzCreYPgqIoXyLiIMzyVouCggnAO0voAcOQWQ0I#more-431415

    Two satisfied customers:

     

     

     

    stewardesses copy.jpeg

  5. Youre most memorable gig/concert?

    in Live Shows & Festivals

    Posted

    in 1968 when I was a mere 14 years old (and it may have been 1969 when I was 15),  the RFK family had, in his memory, formed the Bed Stuy Corporation to aid the community. They held an outdoor concert, and I played with a very young jazz band, and we opened for Eubie Blake, who was in the beginning stages of his comeback.

    All  I remember about the gig was that he seemed a little agitated, and kept wandering around, sitting at the piano occasionally before the concert and repeating "now that's what they called ragtime."

     

  16. I Will Be at Dizzy's May 3

    in Live Shows & Festivals

    Posted

    Well ok; in my entire time here I have never seen a member of Organissimo Forums show up at one of my gigs. Some of you live in or around NYC. You can't hide forever. 

    And, though I hate to admit it,  I won't live forever

    So here's your chance; we will have an 8-piece band at Dizzy's this Wednesday night; the program is called Really the Blues?  First set 7:30.

    Allen Lowe - tenor

    Frank Lacy - trumpet and trombone

    Aaron Johnson - alto

    Lewis Porter - piano

    Kenny Berger - baritone sax

    Alex Tremblay - bass

    Ray Suhy - guitar

    Rob Landis - drums

  17. Yeah, there's More Reviews (by George Grella, NYC Jazz Record:

    in Jazz In Print - Periodicals, Books, Newspapers, etc...

    Posted · Edited by AllenLowe

     

    "(On America: The Rough Cut) Allen Lowe is the great contemporary jazz outsider....especially aided by the great guitarist Ray Suhy. The blues is fundamentally modernist, because it’s a framework for making old ideas new...Lowe is stylistically close to Mingus because they share similar values: they see the story of American popular music, especially the music made by Black musicians, as a continuing story of modernism before there was any kind of codified jazz. Mingus played modern jazz that was really modernist gospel music, and Lowe plays modern jazz that is really New Orleans brass band and march music, or hymns, or country music, even heavy metal.
     
    "Both musicians also work through specific personal experiences and forms of expression. a series of books and accompanying musical anthologies that make for a strong argument that American music should have some sense of roughness and irreverence. His work represents a Whitman-esque rejection of “the polite trappings of (primarily but not only white) society.
     
    "His experience has also yielded In the Dark, 31 tracks across three CDs that came from his nights struggling to sleep and even breathe. He calls it, “a commemoration of the worst time of my life.” It’s a remarkable document, which sprawls across blues, song forms, free playing and all sorts of rhythmic styles, and yet remains focused. Each track is satisfying; there’s not a dull moment.Part of that is Lowe’s compositional style, where everything sounds familiar even as the themes and personality are new. The mid-sized band includes inventive and energetic players including Lewis Porter (piano) and Aaron Johnson (alto) whose explosive energy makes him the de facto lead voice."
     
    -George Grella NYC Jazz Record

     

  18. Saxophone Colossus - The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins

    in Jazz In Print - Periodicals, Books, Newspapers, etc...

    Posted

    On 1/6/2023 at 10:56 PM, T.D. said:

    I saw the book in a shop this week, wanted to start right away, so bought it and cancelled the library hold.

    Getting near the end, having trouble putting the book down.

    I have found one funny gaffe...no disrespect to Mr. Levy and some slips are unavoidable in such a long book.

    pp. 453-454: May 5, 1965, Sonny plays at the Vanguard with Miles's rhythm section of Herbie, Tony Williams and Richard Davis (who sometimes subbed for Ron Carter). It doesn't work out, and only lasts one night.

    pp. 569-570: Jan. 10, 1977, Carnegie Hall. "It was Sonny's first meeting with Tony Williams. 'I have a strong sense of rhythm, so his playing complemented me perfectly,' Sonny said."

    Wasn't looking for errors, but saw the "first meeting", thought "WTF?", had to go back and check. [Added] Looks like the first account was taken from an interview with Herbie. A later Sonny interview contradicted it.

    this is very interesting to read - I have seen Richard Davis only twice in my life in person, and both times he got lost on tunes with chord changes. You gotta figure Sonny would notice this.

  19. Review of the New Cds: "There's no genre at which he doesn't excel."

    in Jazz In Print - Periodicals, Books, Newspapers, etc...

    Posted

    Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra - In the Dark/America: The Rough Cut (ESP-Disk’)    FROM THE BIG TAKEOVER

    26531.jpg

    26 April 2023

    Saxophonist Allen Lowe has lived one hell of a music-obsessed life. Outside of his own albums, which stretch back to the mid-eighties, he’s curated jazz festivals, worked as a freelance audio and mastering engineer, written a half-dozen books about music, and worked with a murderer’s row of musicians in both the bop and avant-garde camps: Matthew Shipp, Julius Hemphill, David Murray, Roswell Rudd, Marc Ribot, Doc Cheatham, Don Byron, and tons more. Plus he co-founded the brilliant twenty-first century free jazz outfit East Axis. He also had to go through fourteen cancer surgeries, one of which left him with a near-debilitating case of insomnia, topped off with neuropathy. During that period, he dealt with it as musicians would: since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he might as well make music, and his prolific rate of composition resulted in two new albums: In the Dark, which directly addresses his health, and America: The Rough Cut, a state of music declaration.

    With Lowe backed by keyboardist Lewis Porter, clarinetist Ken Peplowski, saxophonists Aaron Johnson and Lisa Parrott, trumpeter Kellin Hannas, trombonist Brian Simontachhi, bassists Kyle Colina and Alex Tremblay, and drummer Rob Landis, In the Dark spreads thirty-one songs across three disks. Essaying everything from blues to bop to ballads to even tango, Lowe leads his troop through the tracks with a commitment to his vision, but the flexibility to allow his pals to play the way they need. Tributes like “Poem For Eric Dolphy,” “Memories of Jaki,” and “Goodbye Barry Harris,” as well as tunes like “Velasco’s Revenger,” “Out to Brunch,” and “Nita’s Mom,” show equal devotion to melody and improvisation, not to mention a deep reverence for old-fashioned swing and the blues. Then there are the eight “In the Dark” songs, traversing intense discomfort (“Night Terrors,” “Desperate Circles”) to post-trauma relief (“For Francis,” “For Helen”). In the Dark is a long journey, but a fruitful one.

    With a different and more varied lineup (primarily guitarist Ray Suhy, Tremblay, and drummer Kresten Osgood) and a more playful tone, America: The Rough Cut is a satirical commentary on the state of American music. Thus the record includes sly nods to country music (“Cheatin’ My Heart”), rock (“Blues in Shreds,” “Metallic Taste”), gospel (“At a Baptist Meeting,” featuring the late, great Roswell Rudd), folk (“Eh, Death?”), free jazz (“Blues for Unprepared Guitarist”), and blues – lots and lots of blues. Indeed, the blues is where the album’s beating heart lies, whether it’s the country blues rib “Cold Was the Night, Dark Was the Ground,” the blues-into-bebop showcase “It’s the End,” or the straightforward expression of “Full Moon Moan.” The intent ranges from gentle pokes to snide attacks, but never falls into bitterness or being mean for meanness’ sake. That doesn’t mean Lowe doesn’t have things on his mind, particularly on “Unprepared Guitarist,” but he’s more interested in making us think than in scoring points. Plus he’s happy to drop the criticism to simply pay tribute to his wife on “Hymn for Her,” a sign that his intent isn’t to sneer his way through the record. Besides, being both the player and the historian he is, there’s apparently no genre at which he doesn’t excel, making America: The Rough Cut a pleasure whether you get the jokes or not.

  22. Walter Bishop Jr. - Bish At The Bank: Live In Baltimore

    in New Releases

    Posted · Edited by AllenLowe

    29 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

    Just received from amazon as a pre-order. Very much looking forward to hearing it. I didn't make any other pre-order commitments so hoping someone comments on the Shirley Scott and maybe the Stitt too.

    I did a month of Mondays in Hartford with Bishop back in the '80s, nicest guy I ever met. Amazing to hear him play (Dick Katz said that in Bish's prime "there was no one who sounded closer to Bud"). All we talked about was Bud Powell, who he described as "infantile in every respect except music."  I will say that though he could still play, his playing was harmed by his attempts to sound "contemporary," with the use of fourths and modal forms. It's too bad.

    I will say that Harold Vick, who I heard a lot in the 1970s, is a completely different player on this album (listening on bandcamp); he seems to be aiming for Trane and doing a very nice job of it. Later on he settled into almost a Houston Person feeling, few notes, a lot of tone. I like him much better here.

  23. What Am Listening to? Myself (for those who think those who can't, just complain and teach) -

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    2 hours ago, mjazzg said:

    I really don't want to extend this much further but I will say that I didn't really feel personally attacked but the somewhat abrasive nature and words used I found unnecessary. Maybe I'm just too sensitive or "muddle class" to coin a phrase (which actually makes me smile, in a good way).

    I shall enjoy investigating your interpretations further but by download only as the CD doesn't seem to available over here.

    Edit to add: found the CD set, didn't realise it was 3Cds, saving up...

     

    let me know what price you end up with and I'll see if I can do better; the big problem is that overseas postage from the USA has gone through the roof,

  24. What Am Listening to? Myself (for those who think those who can't, just complain and teach) -

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    7 hours ago, mjazzg said:

    Yes, really like this. A lot. May have to buy the album on the back of it

    I obviously hear the difference in approach with JM but do still like that as well.

    As I don't know much about James Europe I think the Moran gives me an easier reference and a more direct in. For the same reason, I wouldn't have known this was necessarily referencing JE unless it says so on the box. 

    it's all history, and I don't expect other people to have the same degree of obsession as I have with the details, aesthetic and otherwise. The other thing I would note is that I understand that when someone attacks something that you admire, it feels personal. It's not, but I know it's an unavoidable response.

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