mracz

One rumor is that Coltrane was nodding out, Monk called his name, and he sprung to consciousness and played a great solo, but I've also seen this account questioned. I always assumed that there was confusion about whether Hawk or Trane was to go next, but who knows. Also, as I recall Monk displaces the rhythm of the tune at the end of his solo and that may have caused a moment's confusion. The other thing that really grabbed me on that track was the way that Gigi starts his solo with a little two note lick which Monk immediately copies and then persists with like a dog with a bone. It gives you just a little sympathy with Miles wanting Monk to lay out when he soloed. I suspect you needed a steady nerve to keep your line going with such strong comping.

I'm 14 years old, it's the day after Christmas, in 1969 in suburban central NJ. I'm hanging out with my next door neighbour, exchanging news on what presents we'd received. My neighbour has a set of stereo headphones (a rarity in those days). The record on the turntable (one of his older brother's) is Miles Davis, who is just a vague name to me. To save us the trouble of finding another LP to put on, he drops the needle onto the first track. It's The Surrey with the Fringe on Top, and within about 20 seconds I'm hooked: the time feel of the rhythm section (not that I would have known what that meant) and the sound of Miles' harmon muted trumpet (not that I knew what a harmon mute was). The next day I go to the local Korvette's and buy Round About Midnight (they don't have the Prestige album with The Surrey), and that's the start. BTW, Keith Tippett has said that it was Jimmy Cobb's cymbal crash at the end of the intro to So What that got him into jazz. I like the specificity of the moment as catalyst...

Monk's astonishing solo on Well you needn't, there's a moment's pause, Monk shouts "Coltrane, Coltrane", Art Blakey plays a bloody great press roll, Trane steps up to the mike and starts wailing. Magic... Not my first experience but an important early one.

The Blue Potato on Milestone, late 60s, never on CD as far as I know. All solo, 12 or so tracks, short, sharp, to the point and wonderful. Does anyone else know this one?

Well, I do know THAT... but such things might be used to keep various guitar playing Richards apart, and I'd never heard of Dick being referred to as Richie or whatever. Second mention of Bacsik! Speaking of Bacsik, his Tribute to Bird and Diz (or whatever it's called) has a couple of killer Warne Marsh solos. My memory is that Bacsik plays violin on this album, but I haven't heard it in a while. The Warne solos are what have stuck in my mind!

Baa-cheek is the correct Hungarian pronunciation (accent on the first syllable as always in Hungarian) Don't forget the wonderful stuff DeArango did in the 40s with Dizzy, Ben Webster, Red Norvo and his one own 78 date (also with Ben). Would make a marvellous single disc. There was also a single late album (90s?) that Gunther Schuller had something to do with which I don't know.

Get the Rare Live Recordings issue (RLR), which is speed-corrected. The Columbia LPs and the other issues I've heard are all mastered at the wrong pitch (too high); after decades of listening to the uncorrected versions, hearing the RLR version was a revelation. The music is just as exciting, but it sounds so much better... mark Does that include the UK 4CD Parker Birdland Box (1995)? I've never heard that set, so I can't say! But as everyone else has said, essential in whatever guise you can get it. BTW, the Fats biography from a few years ago has an excellent discography and detailed critical consideration of the recordings. It's a good read in any case.

Get the Rare Live Recordings issue (RLR), which is speed-corrected. The Columbia LPs and the other issues I've heard are all mastered at the wrong pitch (too high); after decades of listening to the uncorrected versions, hearing the RLR version was a revelation. The music is just as exciting, but it sounds so much better...

I finished reading the book last week. Yes "afram" and "euram" are annoying, there are some style issues that a sympathethic copy editor could have resolved easily, he is rather sketchy on the historical background to the development of bebop, and quite cursory in his comments on the actual music. BUT, this book represents a really extraordinary amount of careful, detailed historical research, including the medical and criminal records, Maxwell Cohen's legal files and countless detailed interviews with just about everyone who knew Bud. He gives carefully argued and balanced judgements about conflicting evidence, and has created a credible and compelling narrative (this does get better as the book goes on, and it's worth perservering). The story that emerges is deeply tragic, in some ways even more so than what we all think we know from the standard literature, and very few players in the story emerge with much credit (some honourable exceptions like Hentoff, Wolff/Lion, Randi Hultin and a few others). The graphic accounts of the mid-fifties Verve sessions produced by Leroy Lovatt or the final ESP recording with Scotty Holt and Rashied Ali are genuinely horrifying, as is the story of his last two years in NY. What really emerges in general is a sense of how badly Bud was exploited (financially, emotionally, artistically) even by individuals who thought they had his best interests at heart. A few odd omissions, like no mention of the late 50's RCA albums (how did they come about?). For all its relatively minor faults, they are far outweighed by the virtues, and I'm glad that this work was does with so much care while so many of the leading players were still alive. Essential reading, IMO. Most of all it has taken me back to the music (most recently the 1953 Birdland broadcasts, the 1962 Swiss recordings that have been recommended elsewhere on the forum)as well as to Ethan Iverson's lively, extended post on his blog. Glorious music, a wonderful artist.

Good work on one or more of Andrew Hill's Blue Notes as well. I heard RTF at Rutgers in the early 70s in a small auditorium, presumably before they were famous. Airto on kit as I recall, Joe cooking. A great gig.

I don't believe it! What an amazing find. The master...

Evan has said that it's named for the Greek letter Psi,which has connotations in Maths, psychology and parapsychology, an interesting nexus of associations, to say the least! A great label both for the classic reissues and for a very wide range of new music. Hans Koller's CD Cry, Want features both Bill Frisell and Evan; His forthcoming big band CD is also worth looking out for. I also like Gerd Dudek's CD with John Paricell; his very first as a leader after decades in the business. This last typifies Evan's vision and generosity as a producer.

Definitely pressed, seen a pile of them for sale. I haven't got a copy though Yes, I have a copy. It has two tracks of Lacy with Monk and Charlie Rouse. A magical disc.

Just downloaded it from emusic yesterday and started listening to it on the bus this morning. Tyrone goes for it. Thumbs up! There's something of the George Russell feel about the writing/concept, and I look forward to hearing the rest...

Why was that trio called Joseph Holbrooke? I've read it was named after the British composer. Can't see a connection as all I've heard from him is late 19thC romanticism - Wagnerian tone poems etc. Seems an odd hero. Footnote in Derek Bailey's Improvisation: "The group's name came from Tony Oxley although it could quite easily have come from Gavin Bryars who at the time was beginning to show what was to become a lasting interest in early 20th century English music. Joseph (sometimes Josef) Holbrooke, once described as the 'cockney Wagner', was a composer of prodigious output who, although creating something of a stir in his own lifetime has been almost totally ignored since. Investigations about him produced different dates for his birth (1875 or 1878) and different dates for his death (1958 or 1961) raising the consideration that there might be more than one Joseph Holbrooke, a speculation reinforced by the staggering amount of music published under that name. It seemed like a good cover for our activities." The early Holbrooke w/Kontiz has circulated in the blogosphere. My first impressions (upon last listen) were that the non-Kontizi sounded like fine jazz backing but, ultimately, only intermittently inspired. It's foolish to formulate any sort of sweeping statements on the merit of a single dusty recording, but my instinct told/tells me that Derek was an intelligent but only technically "good" jazz guitarist. On the other hand, I can say with some certainty that Bailey was a motherfucker in his own idiom--in a way analogous to, but quite different from, Ayler's virtuosity (I remember Jim calling Ayler a "freakin' virtuoso saxophonist" a while back, and the words continue to ring in my ears). There are certain elements of his technique that are baldly primitive--specifically all the pick scraping and pitchless slurs/seemingly chaotic muting, which is akin to the dubbed tracks on all those "shreds" videos--but other parts point to a very, very sophisticated musical mind (or rather, a mind that is so sophisticated that it has unraveled much of the technical straightjacketing that jazz guitar is heir to). For one thing, Derek was a monster with harmonics. His integration of harmonics into streams of pure tones is unparalleled in terms of clarity and sheer variety. He was like a swiss army knife of harmonics--truly mind-boggling. On a similar level, his early use of distortion and feedback (which he seemed to eschew, for the most part, in later years) was really innovative--check out Topography of the Lungs, which is one of my desert island discs. I always thought that Topography could pass as a modern indie improv album (i.e., something Thurston Moore or something the guys from Don Caballero would do on an off day)--excepting the fact that Evan Parker is clearly the technical better in the late-60's/early-70's of most any contemporary new music saxophonist and that Bailey is so staggeringly creative with such a minimal setup. I think that Bailey's only real "rivals" (though that's an inherently stupid concept) in terms of sheer control, invention, and versatility of modern techniques are Fred Frith and Keith Rowe (guys like Takayanagi and Sharrock are ultimately pitch and distortion/feedback players, although they're the best at what they do--and Ulmer is just his own weird thing, really)--the rest of us are just learning this stuff secondhand. Here's the other thing, and this really shines on Bailey's "later" work (later is an obscure term, but I mark it where Bailey transitions into semi-hollow playing with a greater emphasis on pitch and pure tones--like mid-80's or so)--Bailey is the best atonal melodist in all of free guitar, and one of the best improvisers in this realm, period. Cecil isn't really atonal, but it isn't really a stretch to say that Derek's solo work operates at Cecil's caliber. Derek's whole deal with non-idiomatic playing always struck me as subtractive in nature, having to do with clearing the mind and playing without deliberate style. That being said, it's extremely difficult to chord atonally on guitar (pick up a guitar and try it, doubters of the world--it will just sound like muted, plinky noise when an unpracticed musician does it), but maybe because Derek had the jazz training--and, moreover, because he retained some of the finger/wrist facility while unlearning the jazz guitarist's requisite voicing autopilot--he developed a truly "free" voice. Also, the man's energy was astounding--listen to the concentrated creative energy of Bailey on Aida, the sheer breadth of his ideas--it's overwhelming. He truly was the Cecil Taylor of the guitar, in respects. Great post: thanks for this. I would also second AH's list of recommendations. I discovered Moments Precieux (Braxton/Bailey) this summer: superb. There are some great duos with Lacy (not just the Company disc), another good duo album with Barre Philips (Figuring). In general I enjoy hearing the way the dynamic works with his duo partners, circling each other, looking for common ground, occasionally finding it, and when both players are in their zones, being a bystander to the process is a great listening pleasure. I also love the Cecil disc, and I hope at some point that later encounters with Cecil make their way onto disc...

Let's call it an English sense of humour/irony.

Another fan here. Let's not forget his work with Cecil, both Love for Sale and the amazing 1965 Newport set on Wolfgang's Vault with BB and Jimmy Lyons. The BB/Curson material is all worthwhile, and Hot Line is another favourite. Another vote for a CD reissue of Motivation: don't know that one at all!

Wow! This just makes me all the more curious to actually see/hear the thing...

Thank you all. I will explore the suggested links in due course!

Blues Hot and Cold is another great one: great arranging for the quartet and great playing from BB and Jimmy Rowles. And BB's funky gutbucket trombone onLanguid Blues,ESP. When Rowles start knocking out the tremolos! And that Cheltenham gig was good: with Kenny Wheeler in Hans Koller's band ( one of the very best UK pianist-composers, no relation to the other HK)

The recent Twardzik biography had quite a lot of material from Zieff, Was he still musically active when you were in touch?

Yes, it's curious that neither hide nor hair of this ever appears. Has anyone here actually seen it? BTW, I don't think it was a documentary, but a scripted film (with Brock Peters?)

And don't forget that live Paris recording of the Giuffre trio with Don Friedman and Barre Phillips where Giuffre on tenor produces his own take on mid-sixties Trane; weird but interesting is the right phrase!

Yes, a wonderful player. I look forward to reading the interviews later this w/e. There's a marvellous Laura from the early 50s (recorded in Norway) which is very adventurous harmonically for that time. Jazz for Young Moderns is another good one, one side arranged by Nat Pierce and the other by the mysterious Bob Zieff (composer of most of the Chet/Twardzik quartet tracks). An original voice,distinctive and individual!

Yes, for me this should be the priority. The band never recorded in the studio (except for half of Filles de Killimanjaro, or did that have Tony on drums? Can't remember), there's the one Japanese only from Antibes, and the rest is bootlegs, often in excellent sound (the Andorrans have a couple of these out. This is truly the Lost Quintet, and as Jim says, the odyssey is amazing, and hearing them night after night over a period of weeks is one of the essential pleasures of modern jazz. One of the best documented examples there is of the music developing on the bandstand before our ears. Having said that, there's more good stuff from the 1967 tour, the 1964 European tour, 1971 and 1973 and so on, but for me the 69ers win hands down. I don't expect it, but who knows, I would never have imagined the excellent and reasonably priced Bootleg box we've just had. I think the relatively small size (3CDs + DVD) might reflect a toe-in-the-water approach. Let's hope that the sales encourage Sony to keep the stuff coming...