corto maltese

I think you are confusing him with Roberto Castelli and his legendary "Jazz and Improvised Music Auction List".

Fair enough, but your initial argument (to which I reacted) was that the FMP "clique" played free, because they didn't have the skills to play ("real") jazz. I don't think any of those musicians ever claimed that they were playing on a higher artistic level than other musicians. Besides, as Clifford rightly points out, many of them were also very skilled in more "classical" jazz (or other music).

It happens all the time and may be difficult to avoid, but it makes little sense to label freely improvised music as "(free) jazz" and then judge it according to criteria specific to "jazz".

This one and (even more so) "Concepts In Unity" are perennial favourites. Superb stuff.

The original album from 1974 was called: "The Black Breast Has Produced Her Best, Flesh Of My Skin Blood Of My Blood". On later issues (which have completely different covers) the first part of that spectacular title has been omitted.

It's the 4th song on side 1 of this album. If you own an original pressing, you are a rich man.

Dry your tears, the Pharoah is available again.

Earlier today, this album was advertised and immediately sold (for 1.000 euro) on the website of Record Mania (Swedish record store). Described as follows: "Ultra rare test pressing of never released double LP recorded in Italy with Franco D'Andrea, Bruno Tommaso and Pepito Pignatelli. Features stellar versions of "Maiden Voyage" and "So What" plus six more tracks, nice listening through all four sides. Records appears unplayed, just light signs of storage, plays great. Comes in generic white plain sleeve with RAI stamp + Dymo-sticker ("Gato Barbieri") on front, has a white sticker on front, some humidity spotting and minor paper tear off on back (just white paper torn off, there's no print at all on sleeve). Italian only original." You can listen to a 4 minute sound clip on the website . Information about this release (on Discogs and elsewhere) is scare and incomplete. A French seller offers longer sound clips here . Does anyone know more about this particular record or about this session (or other Barbieri sessions for Italian radio and TV, apparently there are many)?

No heads turned? Then why are we discussing it here? In fact it was even you who brought it to the attention here with your initial post about his piece for Sons d'hiver.

Yes, he can. Just as Tony Herrington has the right to express his opinion on Evan's views and the way in which they are expressed. I think you may be underestimating Evan's position as a "Grand Old Man". Few other musicians (in this, admittedly, small world of free jazz) would cause so much disappointment and dismay with such statements. When I read the Wire piece, it is mainly about that, not about Evan's freedom of speech (which TH obviously acknowledges).

That's all well and good, but surely the younger me will not be the only one here who, as a novice listener and fan, has benefited greatly from reading liner notes or record reviews? And I often got a lot of pleasure out of it too.

I sincerely want to believe it's legit (through the Hampel connection). It's just that they overemphasise this a bit on all channels without giving much concrete information. For example, they put the following post on their webpage: "What an important task you undertake reissuing such seminal recordings AND with the ethicality of benefiting performers and protecting their moral and artistic (and financial) rights. Thanks guys/gals and look forward to your future releases." Sounds a bit artificial, doesn't it? It could just be my suspicious mind, but some more info about the source would be welcome. It seems that this new release will be a reissue of the Earthforms (second) pressing, which has a cover design that's slightly different from the original.

There was a reissue of this album a couple of years back, but that was labelled "unofficial" by Discogs. Can we be sure that this new release is not a bootleg? I don't know the label (apparently it's their first release). The bandcamp page doesn't dispel all my doubts. "An independent label reissuing music that is important but out of print. artists that should be heard more and remunerated. All the artist (or there families) retain all copyright & publishing ownership, and the royalties/benefits from there compositions. The label only profits from its share of selling LPs" (sic)

Transversales has indeed released several live recordings in cooperation with the INA, but only on vinyl (no CD's).

I'm sorry, but I don't see the logic in your reasoning. Would Mr. Thomas deliberately have fewer records (or CDs) pressed than he could sell, just so that he would not have to pay an acceptable fee to the artist? I also believe that you are grossly overestimating the profit that Mr. Thomas could ever make from this release. I have a lot of respect for your efforts in the interest of the artists and I agree with much of what you write, but are you really sure about your allegations in this particular case? To be clear: I am in no way involved in this release or other projects of Mr. Thomas, with whom I only had a conversation once when I was in Paris. It was about music and it was very pleasant.

I don't know if they have the right to make a download available. I guess that will depend on the terms of the licence agreement with the owner of the recording (INA). Let me be clear: I would love to have this music (maybe the complete concert?) on a CD produced with the same care. But that, for whatever reason, is apparently not an option.

This is a larger excerpt from the interview with Steve Feigenbaum (Cuneiform) cited above. Some interesting observations and a lot more nuanced than that one sentence about sales figures. I’ve read a lot about the vinyl revival, does vinyl sell? I released a lot of vinyl and the only way it sells is if the band is playing a lot, and is selling it themselves from the merch table. The big legacy is going to be all these people with unsold vinyl albums and unsold CDs. I went very broke chasing the vinyl thang. If the artist sold it, it sold. If the artist didn’t sell it, it didn’t sell. That’s really it. And when I say the artist sold it, I mean they took it on tour with them. What about these small, boutique vinyl stores? They seem to be selling records. They may be doing great, but it’s not enough to pay for the huge amounts of money you have to spend to make a vinyl record. The amount you have to spend to make a vinyl record is huge compared to making a CD. Are CDs still relatively cheap? Yes. When I release something on CD, I can sell between 300 and 1,000 copies, even now. That’s what I am doing now. That’s what Cuneiform is doing now. I was selling a hell of a lot more than 1,000 of my better titles when I had a staff that I was paying. A great title was selling 10,000 copies. You don’t see much about CD sales. They don’t talk about it because it isn’t perceived as interesting or hip by the media. Something that I can sell 1,000 copies of as a CD, if it comes out on vinyl, and the band doesn’t take any from me, maybe I can sell 75 or 100. That’s what I can sell. Now if the band takes the rest, it can work, but they have to take them. It is very nice when the band buys copies of the CDs from me, but I don’t require it to release a recording. But if the band says to me, “WE WANT VINYL.” I say, “Great, my minimum quantity is 250, and I want 30 of them. Are you going to take 220?” If they say, “Sure,” then we do it. If they say, “What the fuck are we going to do with 220 copies?” I say, “Well, what the fuck am I going to do with 250?” Why does it work if the band sells vinyl? Vinyl is great to sell off the bandstand. People want a souvenir. They want a shirt—they had an incredible time at the show—they want to talk to you after the show, and shake your hand, and tell you, “I had an incredible time.” Even if they don’t have a record player, a record is this nice big thing, and it’s a perfect thing for the band to autograph. It’s a way to show how much you loved the show you just saw, but it’s not necessarily the way people are listening to music. There are people who like vinyl and they do buy it either mail order or from stores, but it’s not enough. At Wayside Music, which buys other people’s releases from distributors and makes it available to people through mail order and online sales, we have a lot of vinyl customers. We sell a lot of vinyl, but it’s all one of this and one of that. It’s 1,000s of things, but one of this and one of that. A really big vinyl seller for Wayside Music is three or four copies. That’s great. And since I am buying them one at a time, that’s fine. But if they cost me a fortune, and my minimum quantity is 250, selling four copies kind of sucks.

Format war all over again. Sigh. I don't know if the situation is different in the US, but friends - musicians and others - who are active in niches within the niche (decidedly "non-commercial" music) assure me that they sell a lot more vinyl than CDs today. To such an extent, in fact, that it makes little sense to release their music on CD, even though it is a lot cheaper (and therefore potentially much more profitable) than releasing a record. That is not a value judgment, but an observation. And it's not the same thing as the largely artificial vinyl-hype on the commercial music market (the music as lifestyle accessory you refer to).

My post was not about the format war. I was surprised by the (implicit) allegations against the Sam label and this particular release. The care (and undoubtedly expense) that was spent on the production of this release seems to testify of great respect for the music and the musicians. If my impression was wrong, I would like to know why.

But you criticised the "limited edition model" because it brought the artist less income, didn't you? Mosaics sell out too... Isn't it possible that the licence agreement with INA also contain provisions on the size of the pressing? And would the "percentage of the pie" offered to the artists not be determined by INA, the owner of the recording? The Sam Records website mentions that the album is released "with the full permission and cooperation" of Billy Harper. Is there any reason to doubt this? Of course I have no intention of accusing you of anything and I want to respect that you cannot reveal all your information on a public forum, but I honestly don't really understand your criticism on this specific release and label. Taking into account the high quality of the production and presentation and the very reasonable price, this can hardly be considered as an example of making quick money on the backs of the musicians. I don't need to tell you that there are hundreds of new releases in the shops every week where such practices are taking place.

These are recordings from the archives of Radio France, owned by the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA). INA works with Fred Thomas, but also with other labels, to make selected recordings from these archives available to the general public.

Roy DuNann left Contemporary in the early 60s. The number of recordings with him as a sound engineer is surprisingly (and disappointingly) small. The funny thing is that he started working for Koenig recording dixieland jazz (for the Good Time Jazz label). That's where his heart was. He didn't like at all the modern jazz that Koenig started recording for Contemporary. I remember from an interview I've read the question what his thoughts were when he was recording those historic first sessions of Ornette Coleman. His answer was something like: "I would have sent the boy home."

I am tempted, but have yet to overcome my aversion to Laswell.

Forgive my ignorance, but why do you have to choose?

Sad news. He was a great player. From the late 80s onwards, he seemed to be omnipresent, but I cherish his playing on recordings from the late 60s and early 70s with Paul Bley, Annette Peacock, Nature's Consort and so on. Quite an impressive curriculum. I also have a soft spot for his 3 records on (his own?) Alacra label: Shodo, Digit and Sharpeville. Thank you for the music.