Early Roscoe Mitchell Session

[Joe]

Wonderful news.

[jlhoots]

I'm in.

[.:.impossible]

Fantastic!

[Hot Ptah]

I will order when you are ready to receive orders.

[AndrewHill]

NICE! Is this going to be released on your label then? Can't wait to see what the artwork is going to look like!

[Chuck Nessa]

Me too. Roscoe, Alvin and I are contacting everyone we can think of for photos.

[clifford_thornton]

Fantastic. Gotta call Alvin this week on other matters, will be expressing joy that it'll be possible to finally hear this music.

FWIW, has anybody here tried a Kickstarter campaign online? Considering how tied-in a lot of us are with facebook and social media, it might be a good way to get dough raised for projects like this. I know bands who use it to raise money for releasing LPs, etc.

Edited May 25, 2010 by clifford_thornton

[Joe]

Fantastic. Gotta call Alvin this week on other matters, will be expressing joy that it'll be possible to finally hear this music.

FWIW, has anybody here tried a Kickstarter campaign online? Considering how tied-in a lot of us are with facebook and social media, it might be a good way to get dough raised for projects like this. I know bands who use it to raise money for releasing LPs, etc.

Funny, just yesterday "turned on" a Kickstarter page for a publishing project in which I'm involved. Not sure I should have much hope for it, and it requires a bit of nursing along, but I am interested to see what comes of it. (In case anyone is interested, said project can be found here.)

IndieGoGo might also be worth investigating. Unlike Kickstarter, funding is not an "all or nothing" affair... but the site does not quite have the cultural profile of Kickstarter.

[BeBop]

I missed this thread in its first life. And, I didn't check the date of the original post when I started reading. Going from first post to most recent in just a couple of minutes was quite a ride. Glad to have a happy ending!

[colinmce]

I'd be curious to know, was Roscoe on his own trip by this point, or is the music more in a contemporary hard bop mold? The instrumentation suggests something in a post-Ornette vein ...

I don't doubt at all that it's worth hearing either way!

[Chuck Nessa]

Post-Ornette is a good way to describe it.

[clifford_thornton]

Alvin's recollections of meeting Roscoe were pretty awesome - comparable to what I imagine the images of Ornette or Ayler in the clubs during the early days were like. Unpacking his horn to sit in, blowing some things that were deemed pretty far-out by most of the locals, packing back up and leaving without many words.

[Chuck Nessa]

Interested parties should read Clifford's interview with Alvin at AAJ.

[colinmce]

Wow, great interview. A lot of personalities there.

[paul secor]

Interested parties should read Clifford's interview with Alvin at AAJ.

Beautiful interview, Clifford. Hope that everyone here takes the time to read it.

[ep1str0phy]

When I was still going to Mills, Roscoe gave a lecture on (IIRC) his early Art Ensemble days; he had some of these files on his computer. He only played maybe one track from these sessions ("Tatas-Matoes" from the box, too--that's about all I can remember). It did sound very post-Ornette, but the playing was of a high caliber and it swung hard. (My memory is, again, shaky, but I remember the tune being mid-uptempo, with sort of a grooving head.) Very random aside, but I remember Roscoe's computer or iPod not working with the interface--unbelievably common at these sorts of lectures; I, for whatever reason, had the Nessa box on hand, and Roscoe was about to use my copy before we got everything working. (Just a weird, surreal moment that sticks in my memory.)

[clifford_thornton]

Awesome story, ep1 - I hope someday to get the chance to have a sit-down with Roscoe. Don't know if I could ever feel prepared enough, but then again, when does one ever?

I'll just reiterate that every time I talk to Alvin (which isn't a ton, but some) - I learn a hell of a lot. He's a fascinating human being. Glad the interview is being dug!

[ep1str0phy]

Every time I've run into Roscoe, he's been extremely good natured and friendly. I think, as with anyone else, he talks a different talk in media situations. The interesting thing I've observed about that particular brand of genius is that he's very deeply involved with the procedure of his art, rather than the rhetoric. Maybe this makes him more enigmatic or more difficult to pry information out of, I don't know; what I can say is that that sort of stoicism and lack of bullshit was very inspiring to me--treating everything like an experiment, having fun with it, and always looking ahead to your best work are good ways for any musician to operate. I do kind of love that old gunslinger vibe--"shut up and shoot"...

It reminds me of another situation... ROVA had set up a lecture for Roscoe to talk at, and the introduction was so detailed and overflowing with praise that, IIRC, it walked a bit into the lecture that Roscoe was going to do. I showed up late, but, in lieu of a flat-out talk, Roscoe played (what I was later told was) like a 5-10 minute long tone. It's sort of a quirky and deep situation at the same time, which is very much the impression that I get from watching the man play.

[paul secor]

Awesome story, ep1 - I hope someday to get the chance to have a sit-down with Roscoe. Don't know if I could ever feel prepared enough, but then again, when does one ever?

I'll just reiterate that every time I talk to Alvin (which isn't a ton, but some) - I learn a hell of a lot. He's a fascinating human being. Glad the interview is being dug!

Just want to add that Alvin Fielder's comments in your interview were like a mini-history lesson of jazz drumming. Made me want to LISTEN.

[clifford_thornton]

I feel the same way. Thanks.

[AndrewHill]

Nice interview Clifford. Behind the 8-Ball here, but at the end of the article it was mentioned that Alvin is very ill. That was back in 2007. Is that still the case? Hopefully he hasn't died.

[Chuck Nessa]

Alvin was in hospice care but is now home and he says he's back to "where I was"! None of his friends or family expected him to live.

He said he was taking a medication and every possible side effect happened at once and his entire system started to shut down.

Roscoe even mentioned a reunion/record release party with Alvin in the band.

Regarding Alvin's "history of drums", I spent a long time on the phone with him this week and he was singing different player's drum patterns. He made special mention of J. C. Heard's patterns on Night in Tunisia and sang different drummer's adaptations of J. C.'s work. He's a wonderful resource.

[AndrewHill]

Really glad to hear he's doing well. Thanks Chuck!

[.:.impossible]

That is great news. I met him in Boston five or six years ago. I had to speak to him. His drumming was so impressive. He was absolutely fascinating. More knowledgeable than you'd expect a historian to be, much less a working drummer. Please take that as I mean it. His knowledge was so incredibly thorough. The other musicians just listened to his recall as they packed up. I could not leave! Totally captivated.