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I think that what has happened is that Pharaoh Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp and Sun Ra how now become very mainstream as "Spiritual Jazz", along with a few other names that younger listeners regard as similar, like Dorothy Ashby. I know lots of younger people for whom those artists represent their main experience of jazz. It is quite specific periods for each artist, mostly corresponding to their time on Impulse! or in the case of Sun Ra, his move towards less obviously extreme music, and particularly the Languidity, Disco 3000 and Nuclear War records. So no ESP or BYG stuff. I get the sense that these records have an aura of "conscious" afro-centric spirituality with good visuals that appeal to the Instagram and tiktok creators, but they also have a transgressive edge from the fact that they are associated with the avant-garde, without actually being difficult to listen to. I don't get the sense that the wider avantgarde jazz is really growing at all. I don't think these people enjoying Alice Coltrane's meditation records are checking out Frank Wright or Lester Bowie, let alone more recent figures like Gustafsson etc. The three exemplary figures of the avantgarde back when I got into the music: John Coltrane, Don Cherry, and for other listeners, John Zorn, seem to be much less famous with younger people than they were before. I am always a bit shocked at the collapse in name recognition for Cherry in particular. More shockingly, I have come across really quite a number of people in both real life and on the internet who profess to like avantgarde jazz, who turn up their nose up at Coltrane. I think it is because the name Coltrane is too widely known and they, in their ignorance, mistakenly regard Coltrane as music for normies. The famous cover of "My Favorite Things" seems to get mentioned as an example of creative compromise or selling out, which is obviously completely bizarre. Ascension, which for anyone learned about this music retrospectively in the text based media era was the obvious example of an avantgarde jazz record, seems to be MIA in modern discourse. I think a lot of the reason for this is that the interest in these records is spurred by social media. I.e. the growth of interest in these artists is coming in large part from short form videos where an attractive young person shows you his or her "Five essential spiritual jazz records that just hit different" and then pulls out records whilst nodding. It is generally the same records on Impulse!. That is partly because the algorithm incentivises picking the same records (the more people that mention a specific record the more likely the video is to trend) but also partly because Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders and Sun Ra records look otherworldly and cosmic. A lot of the people making these videos appear to just be recycling the same themes, so there isn't much way to break their narratives. That may explain why the previously talismanic records are retreating: John Coltrane records just have photographs of him looking serious, Don Cherry records look a bit messy and John Zorn is not handsome and his records are all on CD. As a separate phenomenon, I have also come across increasing recognition of Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann and Anthony Braxton, although typically not connected to actually listening to their music. I think that these three get held up online as "really extreme" or "really experimental", which adds up to name recognition and some curiousity. I went to see e.g. Parker or Brotzmann (RIP) recently and the gigs were full of curious younger people who hadn't actually listened to the records but we're excited, often having travelled quite far, listening in rapt attention. Again, I think that this reflects the fact that these people's records are showing up on Instagram and Tiktok as examples of the most avant-garde or experimental jazz. I don't think that any of this is really a sign of wider interest though, any more than the resurgence of interest in Gil Scott-Heron a few years ago heralded a growth of interest in 1970s soul and funk. It is just an intersection of politics, youth culture, nice looking covers and short form video. Finally, I should add that these "young" people are in their 30s. In generational terms the popularity of these records is strictly a millennial thing. I have seen no sign whatsoever that listeners under 25 are getting into this music.

I sent a copy of this to my pal Dave Laczko in Austin and he was raving about it as I knew he would so I’m spinning disc 1’ I can’t believe how great the sound is everytime I break out this set! Art Tatum “Jewels In The Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings” Resonance Records 3 cd set, disc 1

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And on to disc 2. Really like this set from last year.

The estate has made smart moves and marketing has been well-applied. The fact that the releases and re-releases have sounded so darned good has gotten me to buy and replace earlier copies (made a few new fans that way by giving earlier editions away). I think the fact that the Arkestra was still active and growing its own post-Sonny following helped. Is the avant=garde music of jazz itself more popular, slowly growing a fan base, as well? Perhaps. I am totally out of the jazz scene, I'm not young and really know no jazz fans or many jazz fans outside of forums.

Bill Evans “Further Ahead: Live in Finland-1964 to 1969” Elemental Records 2 cd set, disc 1

Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line

It really interests me how Sun Ra has been defanged in the popular culture. Some sort of pivot happened around 2010. Where he went from being perceived as an exemplar of the avant-garde that Sonic Youth was going to tell you about, to being someone whose work you could use to sell tote bags. The focus has also shifted quite radically away from his New York era records that used to define him in wider culture.

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Thanks

Disc 1

An engaging assortment!

A few discs from this box set of electronica/musique concrete.

Although I never thought of the Valentine's day connection, JSngry did correctly deduce that all of the tracks on the BFT were led by women. 1. Wildwasser - Rebecca Trescher from Character Pieces Rebecca Trescher – Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Composition, Arrangement, Conception Julian Hesse – Trumpet, Flugelhorn Joachim Lenhardt – Tenor Saxophone, Flute Markus Harm – Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet Anton Mangold – Concert Harp, Alto Saxophone, Flute Juri Kannheiser – Cello Andreas Feith – Piano Roland Neffe – Vibraphone Christian Diener – Double Bass Silvio Morger – Drums Released 2024 I mentioned that I obsessively replayed this, and it was a motivation to arrange for my BFT to be sooner rather than later. Not on ECM, but perhaps it could have been. The leader is a fine clarinetist, but her arranging and composing for tentet was the real attraction for me. She has 8 albums as leader, 7 on Bandcamp. It was a Best of Bandcamp blurb that got me to check out her work 2. Black Crow - Joni Mitchell from Shadows and Light Joni Mitchell – electric guitar, vocals Pat Metheny – lead guitar Jaco Pastorius – electric bass (Fender Jazz) Don Alias – drums, percussion Lyle Mays – piano, electric piano (Rhodes), synthesizer (Oberheim FVS-1) Michael Brecker – saxophones The hard driving riffs of this track seemed to me to be a perfect fit to follow the previous track. Probably one of my top 5 favorite albums, I play it way more than any other Joni. 3. Language - Myra Melford from Snowy Egret Myra Melford - Piano Stomu Tasheki - Bass Guitar Ron Miles - Cornet Tyshawn Sorey - Drums Liberty Ellman - Guitar And more hard driving ensembles. I saw this band just after Ron Miles's passing, and Liberty Ellman was missing due to a hand injury, but Cuong Vu fit in nicely and it was an excellent show at Big Ears. 4. Andromeda - Patricia Brennan from Of the Near and Far Modney - violin Pala Garcia - violin Kyle Armbrust - viola Michael Nicolas - cello Sylvie Courvoisier - piano Miles Okazaki - guitar Kim Cass - bass John Hollenbeck - drums and percussion Arktureye - electronics Patricia Brennan - vibraphone with electronics, marimba Eli Greenhoe - conductor 5. Red Velvet in Winter - Geri Allen from Flying Toward the Sound Geri Allen - piano 6. Gloria - Mary Lou Williams from Live at the Keystone Korner Mary Lou Williams - piano Larry Gales - bass Eddie Marshall - drums Mary Lou Williams was both a pioneer and a highly contemporary player. This is from Mary Lou's Mass I believe, possibly right behind Duke Ellington's three Sacred Concerts as prominent large scale religious works for jazz ensembles. 7. Evil Blues - Jeanne Lee and Ran Blake from The Newest Sound Around Jeanne Lee - vocals Ran Blake - piano George Duvivier - bass 8. Rapid Shave - Shirley Scott from Queen of the Organ Shirley Scott - organ Stanley Turrentine - tenor saxophone Bob Cranshaw - bass Otis Finch - drums 9. Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love - Betty Carter from Now It's My Turn Betty Carter - vocals John Hicks - piano Walter Booker - bass Eddie Moore - drums 10. Kool - Mary Lou Williams on either The Asch Recordings or Chronological Classics 1945-1947 Mary Lou Williams - piano Bass – Grachan Moncur Guitar – John H. Smith, Jr. Trumpet – Kenny Dorham The Frankenstein trombonist was only 10 when this was recorded, the bassist is his father. But this is some very early Kenny Dorham. and John Henry Smith Jr. is better known as "the" Johnny Smith who shares a Mosaic with Stan Getz among many other highlights. 11. What's New - Helen Merrill from Helen Merrill Helen Merrill – vocals Clifford Brown – trumpet Danny Bank – bass clarinet, flute, baritone saxophone Jimmy Jones – piano Barry Galbraith – guitar Oscar Pettiford – cello, double bass (tracks 3, 4, and 5) Bobby Donaldson – drums (tracks 3, 4, and 5) Quincy Jones – arranger, conductor An emotional and moving performance that has always resonated with me. 12. Stone Song - Maria Schneider from Data Lords Greg Gisbert – trumpet, flügelhorn Tony Kadleck – trumpet, flügelhorn Nadje Noordhuis – trumpet, flügelhorn Mike Rodriguez – trumpet, flügelhorn Marshall Gilkes – trombone Ryan Keberle – trombone Keith O'Quinn – trombone George Flynn – bass trombone Dave Pietro – alto saxophone, clarinet, piccolo, flute Steve Wilson – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute Donny McCaslin – tenor saxophone, flute Rich Perry – tenor saxophone Scott Robinson – baritone, Bb, bass & contrabass clarinets, muson Gary Versace – accordion Frank Kimbrough – piano Ben Monder – guitar Jay Anderson – bass Johnathan Blake – drums, percussion Our Grammy winner. Rebecca Trescher does evoke Gil Evans for me, and Maria Schneider does so even more so. 13. Aussichtsreich - Rebecca Trescher from Character Pieces personnel same as # 1

The vibe is unmistakably fuquitous, with which I am fully sympathetic.

I never had heard about it. The personnel sounds great. All of them favourites of mine. oh my Godnesses, that´s outa sight ! Soooo great ! I MUST purchase this. And never heard Hank Mobley so hip, so modern, it´s so much power on it, with that stellar rhythm section, and it´s cool to hear Cedar Walton playing Fender piano here, that´s really music I dig !