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Robert Middleton

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Everything posted by Robert Middleton

  1. I recently read that this was recorded at the Gate with a single overhead mic. So, very often, the drums overpower all the other instruments. The flute sounds very far away in the opening Dolphy flute solo of Favorite Things. Boy, I would have loved to hear that mic'd well. But the sax, being louder, is picked up much better. But overall the set is just killer. So much better than the recent Love Supreme set that I really had a hard time listening to. However, I feel they're hitting the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Coltrane discoveries. The last truly great one was with Thelonious Monk at Carnegie Hall in 1957. Released in 2005. That recording was perfect. Maybe something else of that quality will be unearthed one day. But don't hold your breath. You'd think with the advent of AI they could balance and equalize these recordings better. I suspect they will be able to do it soon. Then we'll hear re-releases of all these masterful performances as they were meant to sound. Here's an example of how it was done with Nirvana and Beatles songs.
  2. My very first jazz album, at the tender age of 18 was released in 1970 - Bitches Brew. So my jazz collection started with fusion - more Miles, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin and Weather Report. Over the years I’ve filled out my collection of 70’s jazz. But Scott is unearthing some real gems I’ve never even heard of. Reading this blog has become a daily ritual. And it's really good, to boot, with some wonderful observations and insights about artists and the music of the time. Check it out, for sure. Cheers, R.
  3. This is a very listenable album. I like it.
  4. Hutch, this is fantastic. I know what it takes to write something regularly. I’ve written an ezine/blog for my business once a week for 22 years. But I can’t quite imagine writing something so comprehensive for a full year. And your writing is terrific. Full of color and love for you topic. I will be a dedicated reader!! And I expect to discover some real gems. Cheers, R
  5. My main thought about Nate’s list is that it’s simply another subjective list. There’s really no such thing as an ‘essential jazz album’ that all jazz fans should own. There is only what someone personally likes. That’s why I hate the title, ‘Best of Year List.’ Yet I’m more than happy to see what people like and check out stuff I haven’t heard. For me, I like about 20% of what’s on this list. Some highly touted artists I simply can’t stand. Some stuff that I think is the juiciest jazz ever recorded was missed by almost everyone. So I guess we shouldn’t get so worked up about this shit. Cheers, Robert
  6. What is your 70’s blog project? 70’s Jazz, the decade jazz changed dramatically? Do you have a link? Cheers R.
  7. Boy, not only do I not have any of these, I haven’t heard of most of the artists! The jazz world is vast. Cheers, R Ok, well, I do have the Steve Lehman! Pretty amazing album. His latest is great, too. I’ll check out the others. Cheers, R
  8. Not everyone likes lists like this, but I do. I'm kinda obsessed with creating playlists of my favorite albums. This is not a "best of the decade list." Who knows what the best really is? But you do know what you liked the most, listened to the most and generally obsessed over. Here's my list of favorites from 2010 through 2019. What are yours? Current albums only, not reissues. Deluxe - Chris Lightcap Dulces - Billy Fox Pathways - Dave Holland Beat Therapy - Dmitri Tymoczko Hearts Wide Open - Gilad Hekselman On the Go - Matthew Halsall The Creep - Ted Nash The Troubles - The Troubles Quartette Humaine - Bob James, David Sanborn Trios - Carla Bley Harmonious Creatures - Sarah Manning Instead - Collocutor Live in Larissa - Nat Birchall New Song - Omer Avital Blue Blue - Bengt Berger Madeleine - Ghost Rhythms Silent Understanding - Double Pulse The Time Inside a Year - Dave McDonnell Beam Me Up - Shauli Einav Early Americans - Jane Ira Bloom Homage - Adam Niewood I Long to See You - Charles Lloyd Oceanic Suite - Atlantis Jazz Ensemble What We Bring - Ben Wendell Hudson - Hudson La Saboteuse - Yass Ahmed Layers of the City - Ben Allison Translator's Note - Oded Tzur Awase - Nik Barsch's Ronin Nubaya's 5ive - Nubya Garcia There is a Place - Maisha Blume - Nerija Fyah - Theon Cross Glitter Wolf - Allison Miller Good Hope - Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Zakir Hussain My album of the decade: Nubaya's 5ive - Nubya Garcia NOTE: I culled this list of 35 down from a list of 100. These really are my desert island disks of the decade. Cheers, Robert
  9. A playlist of the first 20 years of ECM. About 200 albums in all. I think these were the greatest ECM years with a lot of classic, beautiful albums. And, for the most part, a lot more distinctive than the last 30 years. Albums from these artists: Arild Andersen, Bass Desires, Bennie Maupin, Bill Connors, Bill Frisell, Carla Bley, Chick Corea, Collin Walcott, Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Eberhard Weber, Egberto Gismonti, Enrico Rava, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, Jan Garbarek, John Abercrombie, John Surman, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Wheeler, Miroslav Vitous, Pat Metheny, Paul Bley, Ralph Towner, Steve Kuhn, Steve Tibbitts, and Terje Rypdal. An amazing body of work.
  10. Yeah, this looks like a good one! Garzone is great but only have a few of his albums. Plus Erskine and Pasquale. And three discs!
  11. Well, they're spitting 'em out as a prodigious rate. Ninety-three for me so far this year. Makin' 'em and bakin' 'em. And some are mighty delicious.
  12. Yeah, pure vinyl. But I haven't bought one in more than 30 years.
  13. Well, we focus on what we like the most. I'm kinda obsessed with collecting new jazz. It's a little overwhelming because there's always something new coming out. When I think of my collection, I think of "old jazz" as everything before 1969 and "new jazz" as everything after. My collection is 20% old and 80% new. Nice to see you here, HF. It's been a long time since the AAJ Forum! Cheers, RM
  14. You DO need it. LOL. I love jazz albums that stand alone, that don't sound quite like anything else. And this fits the bill. Hussain has some amazing solos and Llloyd really soars. It's in the top 50 of all my albums. Cheers, RM By the way, I mentioned the one by Ghost Rhythms. Their previous CD "Madeline" is an alternate soundtrack to Hitchcock's Vertigo. An astounding piece of music. Nothing out there remotely like it. Double album. You can hear it on: Bandcamp: https://ghostrhythms.bandcamp.com/album/madeleine
  15. It's really good. Love anything that Holland and Potter do, but with Hussain, it's a magical combination. One of the best of the year, IMHO. Do you have Sangam by Charles Lloyd with Hussain and Eric Harland? One of my very favorite albums. Never gets old. Thanks, I'll check out some of these!
  16. There have been some really good jazz albums released this year - especially by my favorite artists. These are my 20 favorites for 2019, so far (in the order in which I got them). My only criteria for favorite albums is that I'm compelled to listen to them many times (sometimes for years). * for albums from artists that are new for me this year What are your favorites for this year? Glitter Wolf - Allison Miller Infinity - Tom Harrell Animi - Shauli Einav Voyage - Daniel Herskedal Stomping Off From Greenwood - Greg Ward Pacifica - The Vampires Come What May - Joshua Redman Scopes - Scopes, Ben Van Gelder, Tony Tixier Ten - Beats & Pieces Big Band *Very Stable Genius - Bryan McAllister The Balance - Abdullah Ibrahim Hidden Corners - Jamie Saft Quartet Beyond Us - Angles 9 Where are You? - Kevin Hays, Mark Turner & Marc Miralta *The Hunter - Skyjack SuperBigmouth - Chris Lightcap Live At Yoshiwara - Ghost Rhythms Golden Valley is Now - Reid Anderson, Dave King & Craig Taborn Good Hope - Dave Holland, Zakir Hussain & Chris Potter Blue Dawn - Blue Nights - Wallace Roney Cheers, RM
  17. Yeah, I keep discovering old stuff that I kinda missed the first time around. I listen to most of my jazz on iTunes through a pre-amp and amplifier, so my whole collection is at my fingertips. I create a lot of segmented playlists so I can easily get back to the music I enjoy the most. Kinda wish I could get rid of more stuff. But I'm attached... Every once in awhile I get rid of something I just don't like. But everything else is on tap 24/7.
  18. Ever heard of the 80-20 principle? It states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. And 20% of the results come from the other 80% of the actions. More or less. In jazz collections, I hypothesize that 80% of your jazz listening is from 20% of your albums. And the other 80% get just 20% of your listening time. More or less. For instance: I buy about 100 or so albums a year from the current year. And I'm lucky if I have 15 or 20 that I like enough to listen to over and over again. And the other 80 mostly get ignored after hearing them once or twice. The problem is that I have albums going back to the '50's. Thousands of 'em. And I know that some I will never listen to again in my lifetime. Is this true for you? Do you care? Does your unlistened-to-music miss you? Cheers, RM
  19. I have the three albums Lloyd released in 1967 - Journey Within, Love In and In the Soviet Union. I liked all of these, so hoping the Montreux set is comparable. Clearly, Lloyd is coming to the end of his career/life, but I love everything he does. His tone is not as strong as before, but something truly radiant pours out of him. I've only seen him live once at the Monterey Jazz Festival when he was playing with his Sangam trio which was incredible. (That album is one of my favorites of all time.)
  20. Coleman also played on five of Chet Baker's albums for Prestige in the mid-60s. They kinda paralleled Miles' Cookin', Steamin', Relaxin', and Workin' of about 10 years earlier. They were held in a marathon session on August 23, 25 & 29, 1965, also like Miles did for his final Prestige albums. They were condensed into 3 albums sometimes later. Lonely Star, On a MIsty Night and Stairway to the Stars. Good playing from both Chet and George.
  21. What the hell happened to Garbarek's recording career? I have just about all his albums and a ton of them as a sideman. 59 in all. Witchi-Tai-To may be my favorite, but I've enjoyed them all to some degree or the other over the years. The last one I have is the double live album, Dresen from 2009. Officium Novum came out in 210 and nary a peep since. But according to his website he still doing a lot of concerts all over Europe. But no more recordings for almost 10 years. Wonder why?
  22. OK, I bought it, I downloaded it. I listened to it. I liked it. But wasn't wowed by it. Two Directions at once was much more interesting. It's just that there was only one new track, Blue World. On to the next. Liking the new Nat Birchall tribute to Yusef Lateef, The Storyteller. Most of Birchall's albums have been inspired by Coltrane's spiritual side. So this one is a nice change. If it was a toss-up, I'd get the Birchall.
  23. Yeah, I’m a member and post occasionally. Lisa A has been a wonderful, gracious host.
  24. I ultimately found this used somewhere. It's good but hardly stunning. But glad to have it as I'm a kinda John Abercrombie completist. Stan Gets appears on two tracks. The story of how it was lost and found in the liner notes is quite fun. Think of all the music out there that got lost and never released. But old stuff is being found al the time My favorite in that category is Way Back When by John Surman.
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