corto maltese

Funny thing about this record is that on most copies the labels are switched, so that many listeners who know AMM and MEV only from this LP, will have a complete wrong idea about the music of both groups.

I also have both issues. The "regular" is on Kabell Records (Kabell 1 - blue label) which of course was (is) Leo Smith's own private label. But the one with the silk screened cover (blank back cover; notes included in a small stapled booklet) is on TMS Records (TMS 1000 - yellow label). Was "TMS" the originally intended name of his label and did he change this for the second pressing, somewhere between 1972 and 1975 (release of Reflectativity), or is there another story? Anyway, I've never been troubled by the pressing quality of either of these. And I love the music very, very much.

I've seen them performing this live. It was big fun and quite exciting, but I'm not sure if I would want to hear this at home.

Nice. Do you know his earlier ICP album "Handicaps"? He recorded that while recovering from a broken wrist, so he decided to "handicap" his double bass too by putting a plaster cast around its neck. A free improv concept album, as it were...

Much as I love her early sessions, I find myself returing more often to some of her later recordings. Jelena Ana Milcetic, her "Croatian" record, is a particular favourite. Not a conventional vocal jazz album by any means and her singing voice may have lost all traces of "pillow talk" by that point, but it's hauntingly beautiful and very moving.

Nihil sub sole novum, apparently: The $2000 cd made from glass We should have a "What glass cd are you listening to right now"-topic.

Any mention of those two albums has to be encouraged, so that's okay with me.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say that here, but I never cared much for Prime Time. Ditto for that Odeon Pope Trio record. My aversion might have something to do with an over-exposure to Mr. Laswell in my tender years.

That's funny: not so long ago, I was talked into buying this as a private press free jazz album. I was hesitant because of the electric bass, but decided to give it a try (the price was reasonable). To be honest: I didn't even get to the end of side 1. I like to think I don't have many musical prejudices, but an electric bass in a (free) jazz context...

I remember the first edition of the Penguin Jazz Guide describing the Just Music album -en passant- as a "thoroughly forgettable session" or something to that effect. Now, I've learned a lot from that book, but the British bias of the authors in covering free music was all too obvious.

Don't worry, I just forgat that one. It's "Witchi-Tai-To" (not a bad album by any means, but I don't have room for it) and the later ones that had to go. The trouble with first pressings of those early ECM's is that not many people seem to know or to care. Of course, it's perfectly fine (and understandable) not to care about such details, except for sellers who ask premium prices for so-called "1st original pressings" when they're actually just offering a pre-1977 pressing (without label code). The Just Music you have is indeed very rare.

Yes, I think so. There are several pressing variations of "Free At Last", but the first came in a fold out cover with a sheet music booklet inserted in one of the "flaps" inside..

Yes, it did. My copy of Sart is spineless. We might need an uber nerd (preferably from Japan) to help us here... No, seriously: I think 1015 might actually have been the last one. "Sart" and "Triptykon" are the only Garbarek ECM's left in my collection. It's not that I disliked the later albums, but I felt no urgent need to keep them. It's a great album by a terrific singer. I recently found an original Seeds pressing in its original cover, which, to my surprise, is slightly different from the Earthforms cover.

How about the cover? Real nerds of course need a copy of this with a spineless cover.

He surely was one of Fred Van Hove's favourite playing partners. I saw them together many times in different combinations. He always seemed to be around really. When a trombone was called for in a free jazz ensemble, Hannes was there. Not the most subtle player, but always generous, good humoured, playing with full commitment and lots of gusto. And a most agreeable man too. RIP

It isn't (not for me, anyway). And that was obviously not the point of my remark.

Denying "format" is like telling the Blue Note story leaving Reid Miles out, isn't it?

Thanks for a very enjoyable BFT. I feel a bit embarrassed about not recognizing the Hampel and Gilson tunes. In my defence, I could only listen once and the track you picked from "Heartplants" (actually it's "Without Me" not "Without You") is, although beautiful, probably the least representative of the album (esp. Schlippenbach plays a lot more "out" elsewhere). Anyway, it's a great album that should be wider known. The same goes for the genius of Jef Gilson... Many of his records are quite unique and completely different from each other and yet all of them unmistakably Gilson. So another splendid choice!

I've had a chat with someone from BE!Jazz at the Utrecht record fair last month (they were selling there). He was very adamant that their releases are 100 percent legit. That's just his word of course. But it's a fact that BE!Jazz releases are carried by some reputable retailers over here.

In the 1980s there have been several issues of the Jazzjaarboek (Yearbook of Jazz), that would fit the bill very nicely. Although relatively small format books, they covered a broad spectrum (mainstream to free) with essays, reviews, interviews, etc. You can find used copies quite easily and they're not expensive (usually less than 10 euro).

Clifford, I found this video of the concert for you (hope this can be viewed outside Belgium): http://cobra.canvas.be/cm/cobra/videozone/archief/redactietips-cobra/jazzmiddelheim-museum/1.1056671

Around 20 years ago Cecil Taylor was invited to play at a (mostly mainstream) jazz festival in Antwerp, Belgium. Cecil had planned a duo performance with Thurman Barker on marimba. Because the organizers were worried that free jazz without bass ànd drums would be a bridge too far for their audience, they talked him into bringing a "regular" drummer on stage too. That was Richard Bakr. Barker and Bakr are both fine players in their own right, but I wouldn't have missed either of them if Cecil had performed solo.

Track 9 is Helen Merrill. Because a HFTF blindfold test wouldn't complete without at least some Masahiko's thrown in, this must be the version from the "Affinity" album (with Sato and Togashi). Lovely record. One of many, of course.

In track 7 I hear Nordic fiddling and "shades of Chet" (the Rava-Fresu tradition) - plus: HFTF was never shy about expressing his love for ECM... Mathias Eick's "Midwest" album fits the bill.

Track 3 is the opening track of a big favourite of mine: Giorgio Gaslini's "Nuovi Sentimenti" (1966) with Steve Lacy. A splendid album by a fantastic band.