Leeway

Has that beguiling hand-crafted, DIY quality to it, pulls you in. i

The recent reissue but it gets the job done. The energy is tremendous.

Book 2 of the Alexandria Quartet. I'm enjoying Durrell's work so far, although with some reservations. Three is occasionally a bit of "artiness" the creeps in from time to time, but I suppose I'll need to complete the Quartet to form a more complete judgment.

I'm a fan of George Eliot, and that goes for Middlemarch, which I've read at least a couple of times. However, I've never had any luck with Scott. Not that I've tried very hard.

Atmospheric...

Travis Laplante (ts), Darius Jones (as), Andrew Smiley (g), Jason Nazary (d). Been a while since I heard this one, and found myself pleased with it. Skronky, energized, all-in.

First of the Alexandria Quartet by Durrell, a novel of sensibility. If I had a criticism to make, it would be that Durrell occasionally lays on the exotica too thickly, but nevertheless a compelling novel.

Sam Rivers (sax, fl, p), Dave Holland (b, cello), Barry Altschul (d, perc). A lot of excitement in this one. I like Sam most on sax, then flute, then piano. Wonder how others view his flute and piano playing?.

That Richardson bio is a good one. I'm a devotee of the Transcendentalists, and I should delve into them again.

Reissue but nice. Love the music.

and Fine British jazz with overlapping rosters of players.

Don't know if you've sen it, but PBS is currently broadcasting the miniseries, "The Durrells in Corfu," which is quite entertaining and depicts (among other aspects) Gerald's budding efforts as a naturalist. Coincidentally, I'm reading Justine, the first volume in the Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell.

Sounds cool! i have to get the CD as i understand it has different material: NP:

Recorded at Cafe Oto Jan 2015. Anyone at that session?

Moran and Lovano don't exactly get me revved up, but who knows, might be OK at that.

Finally caught up to this modern classic. Despite some faults, it still has some great characters and scenes.

Yes, there are some marvelous characters and scenes. Perhaps if one took Dickens mixed with a bit of Genet, one might come up with Nelson Algren. Just finished reading his story of small-time bums and crooks in Chicago in the aftermath of WWII, in particular the central character of Frankie Machine, card dealer and junkie. Wonderful lyricism on Algren's part, but in contrast with today's underworld, it seems a bit quaint.

I was looking for a "big book" to rumble about in for a while, and Dickens Bleak House , at about a 1000 pages seemed to suit that need. I'm not really a Dickens fan, but I do manage to get caught up in his massive fictional constructs.

That's a nice run of shows!

Some interesting new releases from Emanem. The Giuffre is almost mandatory: 5044 VERYAN WESTON Discoveries on Tracker Action Organs (2014)After superb solo CDs on piano (5001) and luthéal piano(4095), Veryan Weston makes an equally fine solo organ album. Touring England in search of tracker-action organs, Weston tried about 40 to see if both the instrument and the space were suitable for the planned trio TUNING OUT TOUR (5207). In several cases there wasn't the opportunity to try them extensively, but in others it was possible to get beyond the discoveries of the particular instrument, and make some magnificent music. This collection consists of seven such instances in seven locations, with the resulting pieces lasting from two to twenty-four minutes. 63 minutes5208 JIMMY GIUFFRE 3 Bremen & Stuttgart (1961) 2-CD setThe Jimmy Giuffre 3 with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow only lasted about a year, but their work, which ranged from blues to tempo-less group improvisation, became a major influence on a wide variety of subsequent music from 'soft jazz' to 'hard-core' free improvisation. This double CD reissues their only known well-recorded concerts, originally released in 1992/3 on hat ART 6071/2. In addition, there are six previously unissued performances from the Bremen concert, three trios and three piano/bass duets. Also included are the two tracks from their FUSION album which were not included in the ECM double-album reissue. 158 minutes.5209 SPONTANEOUS MUSIC ORCHESTRA Search & Reflect (1973-81) 2-CD setContemporaneous examples of some of the pieces described in the classic manual, SEARCH & REFLECT, by John Stevens. Outrageous sounds produced by a workshop orchestra directed by him in 1973 - an SME-type improvisation; instrumental & vocal drones; a mechanically rhythmic yet unpredictable piece; and an all-out improvisation featuring non-vocal mouth sounds, vocal sounds & instruments. This is followed by what is perhaps the pinnacle of Stevens' attempts to make music with a large (21 strong) group made up of both experienced improvisers (including Evan Parker & Trevor Watts) and workshop musicians. This 40 minute performance from 1975 starts off with just the 11 workshop musicians for a few minutes, and then everyone joins in for a long mainly sustained section, before ending with an all-out improvisation. The 1981 London concert features two more of Stevens' didactic pieces, performed by nine or ten musicians.141 minutes. This double-CD is a reissue of Emanem 4039, and A LP 003 (later on Emanem 4062), and SFA LP 092 (later on Emanem 4150). One lesser orchestral piece has been omitted from 4062, as have the trio performances from 4150.psi 16.01 EVAN PARKER as the wind (2012)A 2012 set of trio improvisations by EVAN PARKER playing soprano saxophone, MARK NAUSEEF playing metallophone based percussion and TOMA GOUBAND playing lithophone based percussion. Recorded by genius engineer Adam Skeaping in the warm, natural acoustics of St Peters, Whitstable. Parker feels strongly that this is one of the best records he has ever made. 61 minutes.

Another novel that divides its time between England and Italy. The story concerns an artist who is believed to have died in WWII, only to turn up alive and blind years later. The author, J.I.M Stewart also wrote detective fiction under the name o Michael Innes, and this novel, while not a mystery, has mystery elements in it. A good book for a plane or train ride.

Wharton's first published novel (novella actually). Quite good, with a distinct Jamesian flavor to it.

Rempis played alto, tenor and bari. The band members were new to me: Albert Wildeman, bass; Ryan Packard, drums and electronics. Wildeman is the tallest bass player I've ever seen, with a bass to match; a striking presence. Packard is an extremely intense drummer.