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"New" Don Cherry?


ep1str0phy

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Guest donald petersen

aldo romano on drums?

i have some CDRs of that stuff...

even though i wish karl berger would go away, i liked this stuff if i remember. sort of in the vein of "complete communion"...not too crazy and had a nice swing to it though definitely with an edge.

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Romano sounds right for the vintage, but without a link on espdisk.com (just a little teaser), there's no way of knowing for sure. Pharoah was with Don around '67, although those were stateside gigs/sessions, IIRC. In other words, there's a lot floating around which should tell us what this band probably is (and certainly what it probably sounds like), but with so little of Don's late-60's European output readily available, this could be something to watch.

On a whole other note, I like Karl Berger--there's a cuspate quality to his sound that I quite enjoy. It's certainly a lot "smaller" than the Hutcherson approach, and perhaps less weirdly idiosyncratic than what many other forefathers of "avant" vibes (e.g., Walt Dickerson) achieved, but it's got its own virtues. Berger has a sort of melodic directness that I really, really admire (I reviewed a recent duet album with John Lindberg recently--it just shines when Berger is doing what he does best...).

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Honestly, it's just his piano playing that runs hot and cold with me. I'd take Karl Berger now over Hutch now any day of the week, if only because I don't get the feeling that Karl gave up on trying "new" things (if not the new thing) somewhere down the line.

Re: multiple Dons--the top hits on many-a-famous search engine are not the Don we know and love, but rather Don's Clem. Almost as bad as that "Leroy Jenkins" debacle that clogged up youtube a while back.

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Don't judge this one by the cover, but Crystal Fire (Edward Blackwell, Dave Holland) is a great place to hear a very musical Karl Berger. I'm normally not a fan of his style for the most part. It is one of those things where people say it is more fun to do than to listen to...

Anyway, Crystal Fire is a top-notch trio record with Berger alternating tunes between vibraphone and piano. His vibraphone style on this one reminds me of Dave Pike sans-Jarrett vocalizing, while his piano style somehow reminds me of some Dollar Brand stuff.

Recommended.

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Guest donald petersen

well if concord hadn't purchased the fantasy team perhaps there would some day be a CD reissue of berger's milestone album. after all, dave holland does sell....

that one's a good album.

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I'm right with you on Crystal Fire, .:., although I thought of a four-square Andrew Hill before I did Dollar Brand. Maybe, like Holland, Berger has had a more comfortable time at the more "inside" part of the inside/outside space--which doesn't say that he's abandoned his more esoteric elements, only that that's not what it's really about (if it's ever been about that, anyway). Walt Dickerson is definitely my "avant" vibe man, but I can appreciate where Karl's at now.

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From here I get five sessions by Cherry led groups at the Monmartre from probably late 1965 through March 1966. There was a two disk set on Magnetic - Don Cherry Live at "The Monmartre", vols. I and II, Magnetic MRCD 111 and 112 - that is now out of print. According to here the Magnetics are from the March 17 and 31, 1966 sets. Romano and Berger are on 4 out of 5.

Pharoah recorded with Cherry in 1964 and 1966. The one live NYC gig I know of was in '66 with the "Symphony for Improvisers" band.

Berger's ESP sounds a lot like "Symphony..." except with a quartet. Carlos Ward plays alto. Blackwell and Grimes are the rhythm section. The pieces are similar to "Symphony..." and run together like a medley the way Cherry's Blue Notes do.

The Berger commentary is...interesting. I only know him from this mid-late 60's material. I thought his vibes fit pretty well. His piano...I thought Cherry used it well on the B side of "Symphony...".

It will be even more...interesting...if the ESP's are not reissues of the Magnetics.

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I'm not sure I've heard enough of what KB's done lately to justify any opinion on such matters. Saw him in a trio with Ingrid and it wasn't too great.

That said, his ESP is really wonderful and I've gotten some serious mileage out of the Calig and Quark dates too. Also dig his work on the Marzette ESP and my namesake's Freedom and Unity (Third World Productions). Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Muun Music Universe set... yeechh.

The master tapes for the ESP are long gone, from what I understand. Not that that stops people from reissuing things, but...

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  • 4 weeks later...

This from ESP's new blog:

"ESP has now moved to larger quarters at 990 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, at the corner of DeKalb Avenue.

In May, 2007, ESP will release a previously unissued live performance by Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Karl Berger, Aldo Romano and Bo Stief at the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen in 1967."

Don't know if that adds much to the discussion except that now we know who the tenor player and bassist are.

Also of note — ESP (or rather Bernard Stollman) claims that they will no longer be selling CDRs of their back catalog. Instead, the "entire" back catalog is supposed to see actual CD reissue. If true, some titles (though not too many) will be seeing compact disc issue for the very first time.

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This from ESP's new blog:

Also of note — ESP (or rather Bernard Stollman) claims that they will no longer be selling CDRs of their back catalog. Instead, the "entire" back catalog is supposed to see actual CD reissue. If true, some titles (though not too many) will be seeing compact disc issue for the very first time.

:excited:
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  • 3 weeks later...

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