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Yes. That's how he could fund the Brotzmann Tentet project, for one.

Re: collaborations -- was glad to have Vandermark and Fred Anderson come to Michigan back in '95. That was Fred's first appearance in Michigan since 1966 when he played Detroit with Jarman's band. And Fred dominated that band (Kent Kessler, bass; Tim Mulvena, drums). He and Ken got into some real throw downs. At one point both of them honked out stacatto blasts in what sounded like a T-rex come to life. The sounds came at you like giant squares, just huge blocks of sound launched out of machine guns with 6 inch diameter barrels. About 180 people in a nice art gallery loft space. No amplification needed. Roscoe played there, too, with his Note Factory featuring Reggie Workman on bass, and that turned out to be Gerald Cleaver's "audition" with Mr. Mitchell. Fun.

On Fred's return to Michigan (Grand Rapids) in 2002 with Roscoe Mitchell's Quartet the tables were turned and Roscoe took the lion's share of the attention, though Roscoe's band overall made an incredible impression (Craig Taborn, piano; Harrison Bankhead, bass; Vincent Davis, drums).

Just heard Sonore recently in Kalamazoo, with Vandermark, Brotzmann and Gustaffson (sp) and that music benefitted from their ablility to play so many horns. This wasn't the balanced, based on string-quartet model the saxophone ensemble often comes from -- it was wilder, unpredictable, with Brotzmann the idea man in solo, both Ken and Mats responding with empathetic spontaneous accompaniments and turn on a dime dynamic shifts. What Ken has going on is that he is in BANDS that take their music out on the road and work it into shape. That sounds so trival, but in this day and age....

I suppose the repertory aspect of jazz has permeated the post-Ornette Coleman world of jazz, too, where players approach those developments as merely another style to be played "correctly."

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Further notes (after re-listening) on some of those recent Chicago Scene recordings:

Dragons 1976's "On Cortez" is even better than I remembered. Only caveat is that Aram Shelton, a strong player, likes to mix himself down. I 'd suggest adjusting the volume until Shleton sounds life-size and then live with the larger-than-life-size bass of Jason Ajemian and drums of Tim Daisy. Perhaps that balance is what Shelton wants. (BTW, the band's name comes from the fact that all three members were born in 1976, a year of the Dragon on the Chinese calendar.) And the band is two years further down the road from this recording (made in Jan. 2003).

I forgot to mention Grey Ghost's "How To Create Words" (482 Music) -- Grey Ghost being the duo of Shelton and drummer Jonathan Crawford (plus in-real-time laptop and synthesizer stuff by both men). Most of it is very strong playing, and even this Luddite feels that some of the electronic stuff works.

A re-listen to Matana Roberts' "Sticks and Stones" (Thrill Jockey) was very disappointing. Not only is it almost as claustrophobically recorded as the group's first album, but Roberts also is only intermittently in representative form. I heard this band play much of the program in person around the time they made this recording and was bowled over. A missed opportunity.

Which reminds me of how much of a difference people like Chuck make. That he captured on record the young masters of the AACM (Roscoe in particular) at the level of their best in-person performances of the time -- not only sonically but also in terms of emotional intensity and all the rest -- and got it out into the world so it it could be heard by people who hadn't yet or weren't going to hear this music in person.... Those opportunities are matters of the moment that need to be seized in the right way, then and there.

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Which reminds me of how much of a difference people like Chuck make. That he captured on record the young masters of the AACM (Roscoe in particular) at the level of their best in-person performances of the time -- not only sonically but also in terms of emotional intensity and all the rest -- and got it out into the world so it it could be heard by people who hadn't yet or weren't going to hear this music in person.... Those opportunities are matters of the moment that need to be seized in the right way, then and there.

Amen to that.

You Chicago Jazz Mafia guys didn't create the revolution, but you sure as hell midwived it. The world ain't been the same since. And for that, I am grateful.

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Not knowing exactly what it takes to be a good organizer, I have to ask: Is Vandermark generally judged to be a good organizer because of some particular ability or is he a good organizer because of the freedoms he's able to realize because of the MacArthur?

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Not knowing exactly what it takes to be a good organizer, I have to ask:  Is Vandermark generally judged to be a good organizer because of some particular ability or is he a good organizer because of the freedoms he's able to realize because of the MacArthur?

I think he got the "award" for his work "on the scene" together with his "trust fund baby" friend John.

AND I think he repaid the debt by further works.

Edited by Chuck Nessa
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Dave Rempis' trio Triage is captured well on "Twenty Minute Cliff" (Okkadisc) and another disc I think whose title escapes me;

his new one is American Mythology- OKKA- it's very good IMO , but then again I still like what little KVM I've heard especially the various School Days discs on Okka..

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I think Larry is a bit missing out on certain things. I don't agree with his take on David Boykin. I am not sure what else he could do to challenge himself. His group Expanse has some of the brightest young players (Josh Abrams, Mike Reed, Jim Baker and Nicole Mitchell) and he is playing in other groups too. Have you heard his trio with Reed and Karl Siegfried? Same for Nikki Mitchell. Have you heard the Nicole Mitchell/Ed Wilkerson/Harrison Bankhead /Avereeayl Ra 4tet?

Also young cats like Isiah Spencer, Greg Ward, Aaron Getsug and more are imho certainly on the level with their terrific counterparts from the North side.

And in the same breath as Matana Roberts, one could certainly mention Maurice Brown who comes out of the same scene and is no longer a Cicagoan as well.

Finally, I think Corey Wlkes deserves a little break. The cat is not even 25 years old. What's wrong with a little showboating?

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Uli: If I said that Boykin need to challenge himself more, what I really meant was that IMO he need to focus more, weed out to some extent what seems to me to come to him too easily and bit formulaically and in turn really develop his good/original ideas and/or realize better what those good ideas imply about what he might do next. The guy has a whole lot of talent.

Greg Ward sounds OK to me but only OK. He tries hard, but there comes a time in his solos IMO where he sounds more excited than what he's actually playing warrants. Mike Reed has grown a lot, I think, and may grow a great deal more. Haven't heard the Nicole Mitchell/Ed Wilkerson/Harrison Bankhead /Avereeayl Ra 4tet. I've heard Wilkes more often than Maurice Brown, but they both left me much the same feeling. I know what you mean about showboating being a natural part of youthfulness, but my sense of Wilkes and Brown was that there was something kind of jive going on there -- that they were playing like their hair was on fire when in fact it really wasn't, that were trying too damn hard to sound delirously excited. When Lee Morgan was young and hot, he usually really WAS hot.

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Jazz Consumer Guide

Updates, Not Throwbacks

Gypsies and Jews, Afro-Cubans and avant-gardists, led by two smashing piano players

by Tom Hull (Village Voice)

January 4th, 2005 1:55 PM

Pick Hits

MATTHEW SHIPP

Harmony and Abyss

Thirsty Ear

Shipp's early records were minimal affairs, often duos where he would project long melodic lines like Bud Powell swept into the avant '90s. Until he hooked up with Thirsty Ear he never showed much interest in rhythm, but working for a rock label brought out his inner David Bowie as he veiled his increasingly percussive play behind horn leads. This one is the breakthrough he advertised on Nu Bop and promoted on Equilibrium, because finally the masks are gone: no horns, no vibes, just a piano trio plus programmer Chris Flam. Shipp's piano (or synth) is always up-front, the pieces are all differentiated by rhythm, and the rhythms are as diverse as Shipp's melodic lines once were. A

DON PULLEN

Mosaic Select [1986-90]

Mosaic

Pullen had a gimmick: he would turn his hands over and smash out huge clusters of notes with his knuckles. It was an astonishing sound, and he could produce it long enough to take your breath away. But it was less a gimmick than the ultimate example of his unprecedentedly physical attack on the piano. He built up harmonies with explosions of dissonant color and rhythmic complexity, as fast as Art Tatum with his curlicues. But he died in 1995, at 51 neither a shooting star nor a living legend, and his records have vanished—especially the eight he cut for Blue Note from 1986 until his death. This limited edition squeezes the first four onto three CDs. The first two are quartet albums with r&b-flavored saxophonist George Adams. Both are rousing, especially the first. The next two were trios, where the focus is even more squarely on his piano. He was also the most interesting organist to emerge since Larry Young, and his later Ode to Life is poignant and moving. But this was the pinnacle of his pianistic power. A

RABIH ABOU-KHALIL

Morton's Foot

(Enja/Justin Time)

The Lebanese oud master's albums shift as jazz collaborators come and go. Tarab features Selim Kusur's nay flute and is in the improvisational tradition of Arab music, while Charlie Mariano's alto sax turns Blue Camel into his most cosmopolitan showcase. This mostly Italian band showcases a new mix: with accordion, tuba, and clarinet it sounds gypsy (meaning a genre, not the ethnic Rom), while Gavino Murgia's traditional Sardinian vocal style can be taken for doo-wop. A MINUS

GERI ALLEN/DAVE HOLLAND/JACK DEJOHNETTE

The Life of a Song

(Telarc)

The achievement here is sonic as well as musical. Holland's bass line has rarely been rendered so clearly. It is the center of the universe, the pulse all heavenly bodies orbit around—even the Detroit horn players who crash the trio on the last cut, a serenade for Mal Waldron. A MINUS

STEVEN BERNSTEIN

Diaspora Hollywood

(Tzadik)

What if the Jews who scored '40s Hollywood movies and the Jews who chilled West Coast jazz in the '50s had reached deeper into their ethnic legacy? That's the concept here: traditional pieces played soundtrack-style not as social music but for atmospheric effect. Special treat: X drummer D.J. Bonebrake on vibes. A MINUS

BIG SATAN

Souls Saved Hear

(Thirsty Ear)

Tom Rainey's perpetually broken time gives this trio a lurching stutter step that Tim Berne's abstract sax only renders more cartoonish. Marc Ducret's guitar provides the sinew that keeps the works from flying apart, and fills in stretches of relative calm when his cohorts take a breather. Berne's albums always hew close to the edge. It's a pleasure to hear one that doesn't crash. A MINUS

CHICAGO UNDERGROUND TRIO

Slon

(Thrill Jockey)

The first cut is acoustic, with Rob Mazurek's cornet racing over a fast beat. The second is electronic, a fractured beat with the cornet providing a bare wash of color. The rest work between those poles, with the electronics more prevalent, but the real kick coming from the cornet soaring over Chad Taylor's drums. Synthesis isn't the point; why be "underground" if not to experiment? A MINUS

DENIS COLIN TRIO

Something in Common

(Sunnyside)

An update, not a throwback to the black power jazz of the early '70s. The trio is French; the instruments are bass clarinet, cello, and zarb; the lead song is Wyclef Jean's "Diallo." But black power is the spirit. Most songs have vocals: rappers, soul sisters, gospel group. They play Hendrix ugly, Stevie Wonder sweet and sour; they channel Coltrane, Rollins, Shepp, John Gilmore; they go Pan-African to Beaver Harris. If the years haven't blunted anger at injustice, that's because they haven't blunted injustice. A MINUS

SATOKO FUJII QUARTET

Zephyros

(NatSat)

Her crashing entrance shows why she gets compared to Cecil Taylor. Then she backs off and lets the band do some work. Propelled by Takeharu Hayakawa's electric bass, the rhythm section was built for speed. But husband and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura prefers to wax lyrical even when surrounded by chaos—which gives this music a touching voice on top of the finely drawn manga violence of Fujii's piano. A MINUS

JERRY GONZALEZ

Jerry Gonzalez y los Piratas del Flamenco

(Sunnyside)

In the flamenco that Gonzalez encountered when he moved from New York to Madrid he found a third ingredient to add to his fusion of rumba and Monk. The old world is evident in Nino Josele's guitar and Diego El Cigala's vocals, but the beats sound Afro-Cuban. This record came from a rehearsal tape, with most tracks limited to two or three musicians. One is just conga and cajon; others muted trumpet, guitar, and percussion. And, of course, Monk goes flamenco, with hand claps. A MINUS

GONZALO RUBALCABA

Paseo

(Blue Note)

The title translates as "stroll": a leisurely walk through pleasant surroundings, but with a contemplative distance. For Rubalcaba this means back in time to his Cuban roots, and sideways through the maze of modern jazz. With his New Cuban Quartet the dominant voice is saxophonist Luis Felipe Lamoglia, who owes more to Coltrane than to the Caribbean. But the pace and variety come from the rugged Afro-Cuban terrain that keeps the stroll interesting. A MINUS

SEPTETO RODRIGUEZ

Baila! Gitano Baila!

(Tzadik)

Roberto Juan Rodriguez learned klezmer as a Cuban expatriate in Miami, working bar mitzvahs and Yiddish theaters. His synthesis of Jewish melody and Cuban percussion dreams of roots that never were, yet it is convincing enough that one can imagine generations of conversos gathering in private to keep the ancient secrets of their culture alive. This sequel to El Danzon de Moises is less surprising but broader and happier, with touches of tango and gypsy dance. A MINUS

TRIPLEPLAY

Gambit

(Clean Feed)

The delta from Spaceways Inc. to Tripleplay is the replacement of Hamid Drake with Curt Newton, but switching bassist Nate McBride from electric to acoustic shifts the feel from funk to blues. Both moves make the band more intimate, and Ken Vandermark responds with some of his most thoughtful chamber jazz. Even if it was made up on the fly, which it largely was. A MINUS

WARREN VACHÉ

Dream Dancing

(Arbors)

The difference between this and 2Gether, the duo Vaché and Bill Charlap cut for Nagel Heyer in 2000, is the difference between a fine Danish modernist antique and an overstuffed easy chair. With bass and drums, Charlap eases back, and Vaché settles into his comfort zone. Now that he's too old to be called a young fogey anymore, maybe the notion that his genteel swing is retro should also be retired. A MINUS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Consumer News

Honorable Mention

ADAM PIERONCZYK

Amusos

PAO

Free jazz as postmodern cool, an ether of saxes, bass, cello, beats, and voice where all that is solid melts into air.

FIREHOUSE

Live at Glenn Miller Café

Ayler

Jon Lindblom's punk-jazz guitar, with horns piled on because they're loud.

MATS GUSTAFSSON/ SONIC YOUTH

Hidros 3 (to Patti Smith)

Smalltown Supersound

A real-time mix of guitar noise and Mats's bull elephant contrabass sax, with Kim Gordon confessing her lack of fashion sense.

PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE/KEN VANDERMARK

Dual Pleasure 2

Smalltown Supersound

Leftovers from last year's Dual Pleasure—abstract clarinet, avant-honk, drums.

THE THING

Garage

Smalltown Superjazz

Mats Gustafsson's heavier metal power trio undoes your new wave faves, then plays Brötzmann to relax.

JAN GARBAREK

In Praise of Dreams

ECM

Sax with strings, only Garbarek's such an ascetic he allows himself just one viola and a dash of percussion.

PARADIGM SHIFT

Shifting Times

Nagel Heyer

Less a throwback to the organ-guitar soul jazz of the '60s than an update, ready to cross over but not to beg.

SATOKO FUJII TRIO

Illusion Suite

Libra

With Mark Dresser and Jim Black, one long and three short pieces full of texture that escalates into energy.

EDDIE GALE

Afro-Fire

Black Beauty

Black rhythm's still happening, but these days Sun Ra gets filtered through Afrika Bambaataa.

THE GREAT JAZZ TRIO

Someday My Prince Will Come

Eighty-Eights/Columbia

Last chance to hear something new from Elvin Jones.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duds

HELEN MERRILL

Lilac Wine

Sunnyside

BOB MINTZER BIG BAND

Live at MCG With Special Guest Kurt Elling

MCG Jazz

STEVE SWALLOW/OHAD TALMOR SEXTET

L'Histoire du Clochard: The Bum's Tale

Palmetto

KIM WATERS

In the Name of Love

Shanachie

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dud of the Month

CHICK COREA ELEKTRIC BAND

To the Stars

(Stretch)

The problem with fusion wasn't that good jazz was cheapened by crass rock and roll. The problem was that so many fusioneers were suckers for bad rock. Here Corea reconvenes his 1986-93 Elektric Band to power through a suite of pieces based on the L. Ron Hubbard sci-fi novel, and you can guess the rest: vintage space opera that Pink Floyd or Hawkwind wouldn't have played on acid, soundtrack melodramatics without visual cues, and a fresh coat of Jelly Roll's Famous Latin Tinge. C

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Larry, I am not gonna drag this out. Usually, I just enjoy reading this site including your posts and abstain from comments . I get in trouble at jazzcorner. Unfortunately the North/Southside devide still very much exists, I just can't see it as a quality devide.

imho, Greg Ward is developping a nice big sound on the alto. A quality I am sometimes missing among others of his generation. If you get a chance, go and hear him in a trio lead by Isiah Spencer with Karl Siegfried on bass. Thant's a very nice goup imho.

An aspect I specifically lke about Boykin is that he is developiing "his own thing". I also like his compostions a lot.

I only heard Shelton in probably not ideal situations (sitting in with other' groups) I have the cortez record somewhere and I am gonna listen to it a bit more carefully the next time.

Some of your obeservations (cats seemingly playing at the top of excitement when it's really not) i see that a bit "all around".

Comparing all those young guys to their peers in the 50ies is gotta fail. Too much of the environment ain't what it usedta be.

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Uli -- Were you planning to catch this tonight?:

AACM Great Music Ensemble: Ari Brown, Douglas Ewart, Tony Herera, Norman Palm, Ike Jackson, Nicole Mitchell, Steve Berry, Martin Alexander, Harrison Bankhead, Avreeayl Ra, Art Burton, Dushun Mosley, Ann Ward, Ed Wilkerson, Mwata Bowden, Ernest Dawkins, Darius Savage, Jeff Parker, Tomeka Reed, Junius Paul, Aaron Getsug

10 PM at the Velvet Lounge - 21281/2 S. Indiana

On the one hand, it's a lot of good players, on the other hand, it might get pretty messy. Any thoughts? If you're planning to go, send me a PM and maybe we can hook up.

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Heard them last nite, Larry. The lineup was a bit different (this is probably the lineup over two days, so from the more prominent players you may hear Ari and Dawkins who were not there last nite). Others are not listed (e.g. Bill Perry)They actually had 3 drummers Mosely, Ra and Vincent Davis which had me fear for it being a bit "messy" as well. However it turned out to be quite different. Mwata Bowden kinda conducted the group and they sounded quite "organized".

I've gotta get out of this bbs. Too much for me to talk on more than one.

Missed the hot house show last Sunday.

Edited by uli
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"Document Chicago" (482 Music) is worth getting, but there still is a somewhat frustrating gap between the guys who are the best IMO being able to get their best stuff on record and decently recorded. Aram Shelton's trio Dragons 1976 has made a representative album, "On Cortez"; his band Arrive, with vibraharpist Jason Adasiewicz, is in fine form on an album of the same name, and they'll have a new one on 482 Music coming soon. (The first two Sheltons are self-produced I believe and can perhaps be obtained through the Jazz Record Mart. If that doesn't work, let me know -- Shelton himself probably has copies under his bed.) Dave Rempis' trio Triage is captured well on "Twenty Minute Cliff" (Okkadisc) and another disc I think whose title escapes me; haven't yet heard his quartet album "Out of Season" (482 Music), but I bet it's at least as good. Tenor saxophonist Matt Bauder has an album on 482 Music, but while I've been impressed by him in live performance, I found this music impenetrable/aimless/pretentiously arty/you name it. Cornetist Josh Berman, tenorman Keefe Jackson, drummer Frank Rosaly, and Swiss tuba player Marc Unternaeher have a good new one coming on Delmark in March (disclaimer: I wrote the notes). Excellent altoist Matana Roberts' trio Sticks and Stones (bassist Josh Abrams, drummer Chad Taylor) has frustratingly not been captured whole on record yet, but "Shed Grace" (Thrill Jockey) comes much closer than its predecessor. (Roberts hasn't been a Chicagoan for a while, but her music is in the spirit.) Haven't yet heard the new Jeff Parker on Thrill Jockey; his Delmark trio album, "Like-Coping," is dully recorded but can be made to sound decent with a big treble boost and bass cut. The Jeb Bishop Trio album on Okkadisc captures him at his shaggy-dog best, but I think it's OOP. All in all, though, there's a lot happening in performance that hasn't made its way to disc yet.

Larry,

What label is the Arrive s/t on? I am interested in this recording.

Thanks.

Cary

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The first Arrive CD is a self-produced (though quite well-recorded) sold-on-gigs affair. I'll bet that the Jazz Record Mart (312-222-1467) has some copies; they did at one time. If they don't, let me know, and I'll ask Shelton if he has any left and put you in touch with him. There will be a second Arrive album (already recorded) coming from 482 Music some time this year. It's one hell of a band, I think. Shelton's playing you may already know; the vibes player, Jason Adasiewicz, is also special.

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In case anyone is interested in those two self-produced albums by altoist/composer Arma Shelton that I've touted on this thread -- Dragons 1976's "On Cortez" and Arrive's "Arrive" -- I got in touch with Shelton, who says that he still has copies he'd be happy to sell. He's at

aramshelton@yahoo.com

but won't be able to act on this immediately because he and Dragons 1976 are in the midst of a 10-day tour of Georgia. There are 10-days worth of places to play in Georgia? Who knew?

(BTW, I have no financial interest in this.)

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but won't be able to act on this immediately because he and Dragons 1976 are in the midst of a 10-day tour of Georgia. There are 10-days worth of places to play in Georgia? Who knew?

That is excellent. Already a favorable impression. Maybe they can blow through Rhode Island with a four day tour and I'll buy the discs at the gig.

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