T.D.

I like all periods of Pepper. Probably listen to the (late) live Vanguard package the most. I've read Straight Life, twice even, and still crack it open periodically to revisit certain passages. The main thing that struck me is that Pepper was (OK, came off in the book as) just about the most extreme addict/addictive personality I've ever seen (and I've seen quite a few). With all the accompanying personality defects. Likely also some inferiority complex / fear of being "not good enough" as a musician. The latter came off vividly in some racial encounters in Straight Life, but also non-racially in (Laurie's iirc; at work now so can't check) liner notes to the Vanguard box (which related how Pepper responded to the insecurity by snorting massive amounts of coke in the hotel each night). I also find Pepper's audience patter in the Vanguard set preternaturally assholic, which ties in with a lot of the behavior chronicled in Straight Life. [Regardless, I believe he was an excellent musician. Plenty of high achievers in all fields are/were not exemplary figures.] Anyway, I'm inclined to think that his life trajectory was the (scary) result of personality traits and not a conscious art (pun?)-related choice.

That one's pretty good.

Never heard of him until now. I've gotta demur for the moment. His wiki page dropped the term "New Complexity", which is an area I spent some time on 20-30 years ago but wound up throughly disliking. Couldn't make it through much of the first clip because it reminded me of a Richard Barrett piece (Vanity) that I once had on CD but culled. Listened to bits of others, and Paxton at least has playfulness and a sense of humo(u)r, which are qualities lacking in N. C. KInd of enjoyed the (mostly) chamber piece, but overall I'm not much into his soundworld yet. IMO there definitely was a big Eastman revival involving a lot of performers, groups and composers. Never thought about what kicked it off, that's an interesting theory.

Beethoven now, maybe Schumann later.

Thanks. That is an excellent and unusually expressive AAJ review. Although that site's coverage is wide, I don't usually pay much attention to their reviews : while well-written, they rarely express strong opinions and often come off as "polite" or cookie-cutter IMO. Possible experiment: If this album is placed on the same shelf (or hard drive sector) as Andre 3000's 7 piano sketches opus, will some kind of bizarre chemical meltdown or spontaneous combustion occur?

Big "loft jazz" enthusiast, so looking forward to this one! And on Thursday to boot (better than Sunday). I was there last Thursday and it's nice to have the kitchen open. The .png and design .jpg aren't displaying, btw.

The Kempff DG mono set. While fetching an image from DG, I discovered that it was reissued in 2012 by Regis (UK budget reissue label). Hadn't known that.

True, that. Before purchasing any Morris, I heard the "Treasure Box" (though not in that format) recordings of Alan Silva's HR 57 material and thought the results merited more listening. I currently attend monthly concerts of the Creative Improvisers Orchestra (founded by the late Karl Berger), and they AFAICT in effect involve conduction (almost always by Peter Apfelbaum). Everyone appears to get along, and I like the results.

Thanks. I'll look for video of that. I started listening to those conductions only a few years ago, and the background info on Morris I dug up (at the time) was positive. OTOH, I've heard many unsavory anecdotes about d**kish conductors and composers in the classical realm, so nothing would surprise me.

A local offbeat venue presents good Indian music (mostly Hindustani) concerts. Next week: santoor (hammered dulcimer) / tabla duo with Vinay Desai (who I've seen 3 times before) and Sapan Anjaria (tabla).

Nice. I didn't buy the box set, but accumulated all the titles in a few installments. New World was kind enough to comp me (unasked) with a copy of the booklet in one (large) order.

PM sent on Rudolph Johnson and ICP.

I looked on discogs and don't fully trust my search, but the most recently recorded release with Ray Drummond seems to have been dated 2014. Lot of reissues since then, but AFAICT nothing new. Listening to the 3 Andrew Hill East Wind albums (Nefertiti, Hommage and Blue Black). I've posted them in recent memory (few months ago), but they're damn good and deserve more listening.

Anecdotal sample size of one, but this squares with my late father's experience.

That's it! I was unable to image what was being referred to. But upon hearing that clip, the memory circuits switched on.

Bark Culture (+ Blue Lake + Ezra Feinberg) at Tubby's, Kingston NY. I don't go to bars very often. Sometimes feel weird at classical / Indian concerts because of the senior demographics. Last night I was the oldest person in the house. Don't know which is weirder. 🥴

Recent BGO reissue. I like the album, and having enjoyed Edward Lear's nonsense poetry in childhood I think this track is especially cool:

Could be. I actually remember hearing the big hit "Hey Ya!" on the car radio 20-25 years ago. Didn't know he was involved until reading about the Shipp brouhaha. But Andre 3000's an incipient "old fart/curmudgeon" making loads of dosh from the pop culture machine.

[Italics added] I (also?) was unaware of the album until the Shipp-related post here. Agreed on "only bad PR is no PR", a concept that dates back to Oscar Wilde if not earlier. Not clear that it's "grift" IMO. Dictionary definition is "way of getting money dishonestly that involve tricking someone". I don't see that here: the recording was promoted as pianism by a non-pianist, and ample clips are available for potential buyers. The interesting question relates to Andre 3000's intent (which is unknown): Does he regard this as a con, or does he think it's music worth attention? I lean slightly to the former, but the latter is by no means out of the question. Agreed that his PR rep is doing a great job. The idea of the "Met Gala" (whatever the f**k that is...I've never paid attention but it's apparently a big thing) appearance was definitely hatched by a flack. Obligatory old fart/curmudgeon comment: Over the years I've intentionally become completely out of touch with popular culture (don't use social media, quit watching TV long ago, etc.), and this episode seems to vindicate my stance. 😁

I haven't noticed him on recordings (that I own), but have seen him live several times at a (roughly) monthly concert series that Michael Bisio organizes in Kingston, NY. Liked his playing a lot on those occasions, and would consider his presence on a recording a +.

Thanks. The analysis is indeed interesting. [Most of the Sciarrino liner notes, etc. I read were impossibly gaseous.] Though the author makes a point that the sonatas are "among the most rebarbative piano scores of the last hundred years" (granted the typography is a big factor). This performance is a lot more enjoyable and I can better hear the progression. But it's just not something I want to hear multiple times. I do listen to Ustvolskaya now and then, and greatly prefer her in the "relentless clangor" category.😉 There are plenty of "minimalist" pieces with progressions that I find more pleasing. I haven't followed Sciarrino since the early oughts, but I very much like Un Immagine d'Arpocrate (which is kind of a piano concerto), Sei capricci (solo violin) and Lohengrin (opera).

Damn. It's sold out. I phoned the library when it opened this morning, asked if it would be worthwhile to walk up, and was told "I wouldn't". 😢

I listened to the "Hotel Lobby Pianos" on Youtube. I won't be purchasing any recordings. The piece is awful in places, but fairly listenable most of the time (it's largely a takeoff of Take Five). Not being a trained pianist, he doesn't have enough of a grasp of harmony to be consistently enjoyable, and it's outright dissonant in a few places. He's already gotten a shedload of reviews, e.g. NPR, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, ..., so I suppose he'll do well with it. [Digression] Far from the worst thing I've heard...A couple of decades ago, Salvatore Sciarrino was a super-trendy contemporary classical composer. I enjoyed many of his works and bought several recordings. Then he released some solo piano recordings that totally repelled me (and I dig stuff like Ustvolskaya, Cage, etc). I listened to this piece 👎and decided that the Emperor was bare-ass. You can find a funny review on classicstoday, for example.

Eek. Raises the question: Should I check out the Facebook sample referred to? Probably will sooner or later, but not up for it right now.😶

Thanks. I never heard the record. This is funny! I grew up in nearby Evanston (IL) and the song title has always cracked me up.