Dick Bowman

Bought "Intercommunal Music" when it came out - doesn't stick in the memory and as I don't have it any more I must have decided it wasn't worth hanging on to (big fan of both Shorter and Murray, so I assume the record must have been a disappointment).

It's been a long time, but my recollection is that Hutson/Rahsaan were the limiting factor, sidemen better served in other contexts (something of a record of its times - tail end of the NYC Loft scene).

Didn't he play the "I'm retiring" card once before?

I really can't get my head around all this "Windows X is great, Windows Y is unuseable" stuff. You install a version, it mostly works, some GUI stuff might look different but at the end of the day it's all point'n'grunt (same as Apple/Linux - put a reasonably intelligent person in front of any of these and they'll get stuff done). What's interesting is what we don't see from the user perspective - the technicalities under the covers, which are mostly improving and seem to be making less demand on hardware these days. That said, I've had Windows 10 Tech Preview on a laptop with light daily use for some months now - there have bene a few issues, but nothing especially harmful or out of the ordinary for Beta software. Given the open nature of the PC world (as opposed to the rigid control of the Apple environment) it's not unexpected, and I'd anticipate it being mostly in good order as they proceed to a formal release. But what I don't like - and don't like a lot - is the trend towards treating the client base as marketting fodder getting sucked into "App Store" and "the Cloud" for nobody's benefit other than the mega-corporation. Punchline - one day some software you rely on (the OS is only there as a platform) is going to require you to upgrade. When that day comes you'll need to either upgrade the OS, find alternative software, or just live without updates.

Was thinking along similar lines a couple of weeks ago - he seemed to arrive fully-formed and disappear just as abruptly when the Cyrille Maono quartet ceased. Definitely saw him in the flesh and it's not a case of someone better-known working under a pseudonym.

I rather enjoyed the Alex Cline "For People In Sorrow" that came out a year or so back.

Aya Aton - aka Robert Underwood I believe. Recollection of having seen him as part of a weird Sun Ra celebration (group led by Vandy Harris) in Chicago mid/late 1980s (don't have the full details to hand right now - could try to search them out if anyone is particularly interested - remember enjoying the concert). But I know nothing of Ka'Tetta.

There are better things to spend your lottery money on - "Orange Fish Tears" was a rather disappointing record.

And that's a good one. Somewhat preferable to the TUM, I think (Graves a bit more prominent in the mix, for one thing). Some searching around found me two others that I hadn't run into before Laswell with Leo Smith - also called "The Stone" on the M.O.D. Technnologies site (MP3 and FLAC downloads) - sample sounded promising. Leo Smith "Taif - Prayer In The Garden of Hijaz" - 27 minute MP3/FLAC download on the Naxos label, With Anthony Brown and string quartet - sample sounded a continuation of the "Ten Freedom Summers" concept.

Only listened the once, but the focus on the Graves/Laswell seems to be more toward Laswell. If it weren't for the scarcity of recordings by Graves...

I've felt for a long time that labels/retailers are fixated on selling physical items rather than music. Hence overpriced "collector" vinyl and mishmashes like this. Speaking personally - at this point in time - I'd be happiest to purchase high-quality downloads. I can see some point in reluctance by people worried about copying - but copying has always been with us. Don't know how the finances balance out between selling a few overpriced vinyls versus a lot of sensibly-priced vinyls (maybe there just aren't enough of us to matter). But I really don't want to pour money into the pockets of couriers and post offices to move physical items around - when I'm really trying to pay for music. Let alone the graphic designers, liner note writers and other hangers-on who probably get a higher place in the getting-paid queue than the musicians. And don't let me even get started on the shortcomings of "streaming".

Something I can't help figuring into my "do I buy it?" process is "where does the money go?". Particularly when now-dead musicians are involved. I'd have bought this in a moment had it been released in 1974/5 with Lowe still active (and at a price in line with other records). But now - at that price - it doesn't even get onto my "would like to buy if I win the lottery" list. My priority is with the living, the (deluded?) belief that some of my hard-earnt will end up supporting them and that it will encourage more current record/release activity.

I wonder if this is the same Brandon Evans that took my money and failed to supply any CDs.

[... deleted ...] I feel it has a "bite" that was somehow missing on his other recent trio sets (which seemed to be smoothing out the edges a little too much).

I'm also a bit ambivalent about Evans - like the technique but sometimes there seems to be a sense of floundering for context. The Zebulon disc and group is an interesting - to me at least - case. Reacted very positively when I heard the disc (still do) - but went to hear the trio in person a few months later and somehow they seemed to have rehearsed/performed all the life out of the music. Left with a feeling that unlike some of the great trios of the past which grew their music over time this particular ensemble had said it all at the outset. Maybe there was that difference you get between hearing musicians on their home ground and when they've flown a few thousand miles to become "visiting strangers", or maybe it was just an offish night. I have very few good words to say about MOPDTK.