corto maltese

My condolences, Clifford. What the world needs now is music, sweet music. Your BFT can help!

Yes, that's the one I was thinking of (although it's an EP rather than an LP): I always thought (and have read) that Camus substituted this "freakbeat" soundtrack for the free jazz soundtrack (like Ornette's Chappaqua soundtrack that was commissioned, but not used by Conrad Rooks). But I won't argue with optatio because he has seen the film and I haven't. Anyway, thanks for the info, optatio! And how's the film?

Steadily progressing and now reaching track 10, which is unmistakably of the UK improv school. Plink, plonk & scratch aka "insect music". Lovely! After checking a couple of records, I discovered that it's Ian Brighton's Balance (Incus, 1973) with Phil Wachsmann, Frank Perry and Radu Malfatti, who, at that time was still playing more than 3 notes an hour. The cello put me on the wrong foot first, but that's Colin Wood (Spontaneous Music Ensemble) who guests on the track "Cogito Ergo Sum".

I'm down to track 6 now: that's Evolution Ensemble Unity, a trio with Toshinori Kondo and the great Mototeru Takagi. They recorded one album ("Concrete Voices", 1976), which featured a Monk and a Lacy composition ("Bone", this track).

The first track is "Nisshimbo", the opening track of "Nu!" by Hugh Steinmetz (Debut, 1966). What a great way to open a BFT !

Good! And even if you don't like them, they at least look better than that boring yellow cover.

Nice story. It brings back memories of my fondness for the (I suppose small, but apparently vibrant) experimental post-punk scene from Australia and New Zealand at that time: stuff on labels like M-Squared, Flying Nun (the early years)...

And, more importantly, which are both far superior to the ECM.

May I chip in and recommend "First Visit" (Philips Japan 1973 - with Richie Beirach, Dave Holland and Jack De Johnette)? If you like Trane and Ali on "Interstellar Space", you should really hear the title track...

Actually, I don't think "albums" are still particularly relevant to young listeners (or musicians) today.

Well, it was released on the Rough Trade label, home for a lot of my favourite post-punk/diy/experimental... bands at that time (early Cabaret Voltaire, Raincoats, Swell Maps, Red Crayola, This Heat, etc.). I probably didn't even realize I was buying a "jazz record". I could have picked this one too: Not a "jazz record", obviously, but bands like The Pop Group were very important in showing (the young and impressionable) me the way to a whole new world of avant-garde jazz and free improv. And yes, sure, I still like those records; especially The Pop Group.

Re: Olly Wilson. One of his first recorded works, on a CRI LP from the mid '70s ("Other Voices"), was the electroacoustic "Sometimes", a quite powerful composition for tenor and tape based on the spiritual "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child". It reappeared later on a CD by Videmus with contemporary chamber works by African American composers who were influenced by modern/avant-garde jazz. One of the composers was Donal Fox, who also played on the CD, as did Oliver Lake. In fact they performed a piano-saxophone duet (composed by Fox) called "Jazz Sets and Tone Rows". That could have been a nice 13th track for this BFT.

Well, okay, since you seem a tiny bit desperate (all these hints), I have to bite: it's from Olly Wilson's song cycle "Of Visions and Truth", performed by the New Black Repertory Ensemble (cd "Recorded Music of the African Diaspora"). It's even on YouTube (although the video is "not available" here...).

That's more or less what the Japanese are doing today: offering 100 % exact repro copies of vintage Blue Note records (cover and vinyl; yes, even including the deep groove).

A couple of nights ago both "Golden Circle" records and the Town Hall 1962 record were played almost in full on a Belgian radio station. Just imagine: two hours of the great Ornette Coleman Trio on nationwide public radio... In 2016!

I just noticed the bonus points offer. It's Maro Ajemian playing, a close friend of Cage's and the dedicatee of the work. For quite some time, she and the composer himself were the only performers of the Sonatas and Interludes. She also made the first recording of the work for the Dial label in (I think) 1950. This recording was released on two Dial LP's in 1951 (in those thick sturdy cardboard covers). What we're hearing in the BFT is the 5th sonata, although it's obviously taken from a remastered CD reissue, because the sound is much cleaner than on my Dial vinyl. I keep saying this: it's wonderful, thrilling music (not at all "difficult"), but you really should hear the complete cycle.

Thrift store find, I suppose... Did you look for the solo "Space Who" in the $1 bin?

Track 10 is indeed an aria from an opera by a "jazz composer", as was suggested by randyhersom. Not Braxton, but Anthony Davis. It's from "Tania", Davis' opera on Patty Hearst. Track 12 is a very young Mr Sangrey experimenting with the 4 track cassette recorder he got from Father Christmas. I liked this BFT.

Track 7 is George Crumb's setting of "Lonesome Road" from his "American Songbooks", all gorgeous music for soprano, piano and percussion quartet.

Track 5 surely is John Cage's prepared piano music. One of the Sonatas and Interludes. Splendid choice.

The first reissue was on the Voiceprint label; the recent one (with two unreleased tracks by an earlier Riley trio - which I haven't heard) is on Dusk Fire. You can find (and buy) both issues on Discogs and elsewhere, I suppose. I've been told only 99 copies of the original record were pressed to avoid UK sales tax (treshold being 100 copies). Ditto for some other jazz records like the releases on the Nondo label (One Music Ensemble) and the "Kwela" LP with Dudu Pukwana and Chris McGregor. Anyway, all of these are very hard to find.

This guy (Ruben Toledo) is the leader and conga-player of Grupo La Lleva, a Colombian salsa dura band (he has also posted some great clips of his own band live). So the source of these vintage clips could be Colombian TV.

I have hundreds of records fitting into that definition, but I'm afraid not many of them would meet the topic starter's expectations (musically, that is).

Nice piece, Clifford. One remark: the music of "Le Temps Fou" was actually never used by Camus. His film was released two years later (titled "Un Été sauvage") with a completely different soundtrack. Marion Brown's European years are fascinating: I've read about live improvised music for avant-garde theatre, a recording session with a symphony orchestra, etc. I'm thankful for the records we have from these years, but any additional recordings would be wonderful.