J Larsen

I posted on this in the "what live music are you seeing tonight" thread, but the incident cited was far from the only pretentious moment at that show. I was half expecting him to walk up to the mic and start talking about when he first realized he was a genious/how hard it is, etc.

Tonight is going to be pretty packed. First I'm going to go to Vision Fest: Saturday Night June 23 Poet/Host David Budbill 7:30 Ganelin Trio Priority Vyacheslav Ganelin piano, synthesizer, percussion / Petras Vysniauskas soprano sax Klaus Kugel drums, percussion 8:30 Eddie Gale All-Star Band Eddie Gale trumpet / Prince Lasha reeds / Kidd Jordan tenor saxophone Valerie Mih piano / William Parker bass / Alvin Fielder drums / Patricia Nicholson dance 9:30 Rob Brown Quartet Rob Brown alto saxophone / Lewis Barnes trumpet Todd Nicholson bass / Guillermo E. Brown drums 10:30 Whit Dickey Trio Sabir Mateen reeds / Todd Nicholson bass / Whit Dickey drums 11:30 Amiri and Amina Baraka’s Blue Ark Amiri Baraka poetry / Amini Baraka poetry, vocals Dwight West vocals / Rene McLean reeds / Adegoke Steve Colson piano Curtis Lundy bass / Pheeroan akLaff drums I'm probably going to leave after the Eddie Gale set, though, because I got tix for Panda Bear at the Bowery Ballroom months ago (before the album was even out). Eddie Gale/Prince Lasha/William Parker followed by Panda Bear should make for an entertaining evening.

When I was in HS I spent a lot of time over at a friend's house. I was really into punk/indie/rap at the time. His father had what at the time seemed like a massive cd collection to me (this was at a time when not yet everyone had switched over and there were still large vinyl and cassette sections at Tower). Anyway, the guy had a lot of jazz, in addition to a lot of semi-obscure 60s rock that I got into. He used to make me one or two tapes a week, always rock, except one day he gave me a tape with Kind of Blue on one side and A Love Supreme on the other. From there I explored.

My cat knows better. But that is a funny video (it being someone else's record/cat and all...)

Yes, that's her.

50 Violins was very cool. There was a part that went on a bit long that reminded me a whole lot of the music to Psycho, but other than that, a very cool piece of music surprisingly well executed (I only say that because of the large number of people in the group and the improvisational nature of the performance). In additiont to Hwang and Bang, the ensemble included Reggie Workman, Henry Grimes, Rebecca Moore, a woman I recognized from Braxton's big band, and several others. The Roy Campbell set was very good, and surprisingly inside. It was about the most straightahead thing you will ever hear at a Vision Fest, which is to say it rated somewhere around Dialouge on the Outometer. It was very good, but could have benefitted from about 20 minutes of editing. Matthew Shipp was his typical amazing self on solo piano. God I wish the records sounded like that. It seemed a sure bet for highlight of the evening.... until Fred Anderson took the stage. Now THAT set was one for the ages. I'm not going to do that performance the injustice of trying to put it in words... suffice to say that someone better have been recording. I wanted to like the Melford thing, but it just sounded bad to me. It is probably still going on.

I have to say his last concert in NYC was *painful* (I wrote a short, informal "review" somewhere on the board at the time). But based on Corsano and hte reviews, I am mildly intrigued.

He uses so much delay that it is hard to tell. But the composition was very good.

To me, this band always sounded like Led Zeppelin with all the interesting parts removed. The guy can play, but he sounds awfully short on ideas to me (and Meg has to be one of the worst pro drummers I've ever heard).

Just saw him debut a 2 hour piece. Go, by all means. It was very cool stuff, and he frankly didn't look like he was in great shape.

A gun to my head. As soon as it is removed, I'm out of here.

It should be good. Jason Kao Hwang has been very impressive when I have seen him perform.

Jarrett was fine. Inoffesensive, very capably played music, a little boring and too safe for my taste. It wasn't bad, though, and the lady liked it which was sort of the point. But man, what a bunch of arrogant jerks! "Every time this band gets together, it is an historic occassion for me, and it should be an historic occassion for you, too." - Keith Jarrett before starting the second set. In a very angry tone of voice: "I wish you would turn off that red light in the back. It is very disrespectful. Now respect our wishes!" - Jack DeJohnette. I'm not certain, but all I think he was talking about an exit sign that was in his line of sight. "The really stupid people in the audience are still taking pictures. Here is your big chance to not take pictures, because after this song you get to go home, and you will have a prize in the mail. It won't be a camera." - Keith Jarrett, before the last song. Also, the audience was WAY to in to them. They were fine, but goddamn it wasn't the resurrection of Bud Powell or anything. So tonight it is back to the more down-to-earth vision fest: Friday June 22 Poet/Host David Budbill 5:30 Panel Discussion Part I – Art in America: A Grassroots Struggle 7:00 50 Violins for Leroy Jenkins Memorial tribute led by Billy Bang, coordinated by Jason Kao Hwang 7:30 Matthew Shipp Solo Piano 8:30 Roy Campbell’s Ahkenaten Suite – World Premiere Roy Campbell trumpet / Billy Bang violin / Bryan Carrott vibraharp Hilliard Greene bass / Zen Matsuura drums 9:30 Dance/Music/Art Installation “A State of Mind” by Patricia Nicholson Dance: Miriam Parker, Julia Wilkins, Gus Solomons, jr Music: Lewis Barnes, Rob Brown, William Parker, Hamid Drake Artists: Amir Bey, Jo Wood Brown, Katie Martin, Kazuko Miyamoto, Phyllis Bulkin-Lehrer, Lili White 10:15 Fred Anderson Trio Fred Anderson tenor saxophone / Harrison Bankhead bass Hamid Drake drums 11:15 Spindrift for Leroy Jenkins Myra Melford piano, melodica / Mark Taylor French horn Brandon Ross guitars / Shuni Tsou di-zi Really looking forward to the 7:30 and 8:30 sets. Now off to work so I can actually get be there by 7:30!

I keep waiting for them to announce the alleged Braxton Arista box.

My feet remain firmly planted on the ground.

Tonight I'm taking a break from Vision Fest to check out the Keith Jarrett Trio at Carnegie Hall.

This was a good show. Bill Dixon's performance was the clear highlight - he conducted and played trumpet in a 90 (or so) minute piece that drew heavily from 20th century avant-garde classical (I heard strong nods to Feldman and Varese, so one more knowledgable would clearly have heard a lot more), with occasional improv solos thrown in. It was a very powerful performance. The Co-Pilots set was interesting; at it's best moments it was very poignant and gripping, at its worst it was a bit meandering (and there was one very painful stretch where the piano was *way* to high in the mix so that it sounded very unnatural). Overall it was very good. McPhee was McPhee, which is a good thing.

Players are paid bi-monthly, on the 1st and 15th, but their entire salary is paid over the six months of the regular season. So if you're making, say, 12 million a "year" you will get paid a million dollars on the 1st and 15th, April through September. The only thing I may be wrong on is the start and end dates. For regular people, you get paid for the work you've performed. That suggests that players get paid starting the 15th of April and carrying through to the 1st of October. Must be rough having to budget for the entire winter.

"Difficult" music? It's not only that. More like gratuitous.

I think that is actually one of the better sounding of the old mastering jobs. That may partly explain why it has not been RVGed yet. It actually sounds quite good in my system.

Actually, you'd reduce world electricity consumption by about 15% if you replaced every incadescent bulb with a fluorescent bulb. It is not trivial.

The piece GOM posted is just about the best/most poignant Bangs I've ever read. Honestly, his other stuff didn't really inspire me to even try to find out what the "cult" was about. But that was a very, very good piece on Lennon.

It isn't small to the coach who was fired, the program that was dismantled, or especially the three young men who had their entire lives turned upside down. But it should be "small" to the rest of us. Chuck is right. Guy No, that's a silly argument. One might just as well say that the wars and genocide going on now are "small stuff" too compared to what might result, long-term, from global warming or the eventual explosion of the sun. There are always "bigger things" to worry about, but that doesn't mean we should ignore the lesser issues. I agree. As somebody who has been involved in criminal defenses, it scares me how easily an innocent person can have their life turned upside down due to the ambitions of a prosecutor looking to further his career. Really. My top issue is global warming, by far, but this is one of many smaller issues that deserves attention IMO.

Glad you are ok... that's the kind of thing that will really get you thinking about life.

I don't think that is the point of the graph at all. The point of the graph is "if I (as a society) am going to try to reduce carbon emissions, where do I get the biggest bang for my buck?"