All Activity

I'm fairly proud of my "Ken Peplowski for Lovers" playlist on Spotify... Not saying it's better than his regular albums, only saying it works better for me...

I think Cosmic Chicken is invaluable listening in order to place the (old) Directions albums on ECM in time and space... it's even less consistent but it gives you a sense of what is Eicher and what is DeJohnette on those later albums...

What is this crap?

Same here. 'One Step Beyond' is the other one I know would be on my list of 2-3 favorites by him.

Margo Price: Maggie's Farm

👍

I know 26 from the list, some better than others, my favorites are Low Flame and You talk that talk.... Regarding Patterson's People, the tracks are not used on Shangri-la, are they? (Patterson's People got ***** in Downbeat Back in the day, I have a Dutch Jazz magazine from back then which starts out with the question how that could happen)

Thoughts on Cosmic Chicken? I like it on the Quirk Factor alone.

Not sure what to make of this one, what it's not as well as what it is; Before we laugh...

That's also a really good one. I like the push-and-pull of Grossman nudging the music into Coltrane territory and the rhythm section vacillating between modalism and abstraction. There's something special about this period in the music. There's just so much crossover in the interval between roughly '65 and the early 1970s, where the boundaries between mainstream and fringe felt porous and mutable. And there were so many sub-factors influencing the development of the music, like the death of Coltrane, the exodus of American jazz musicians to Europe (and vice-versa), the cross-pollination of ideas from Europe, South Africa, Latin America, etc., monumental political upheaval throughout the world, and so on. Our reading of this music is (almost by necessity) informed by historical understanding, as so much of it went undocumented and what we do have in hand has been litigated in writing and discussion for over half a century. I know that some of the board members were there. As far as I know, however, so many of the inherited biases of 21st century jazz friction against the reality of what was happening at that time.

Still waiting for a Peter Brötzmann plays for lovers over here 😏

I played Jackie McLean's Demon Dance these days, it's another McLean favorite with great DeJohnette...

Jack is also on Corea’s The Sun, which is a little more concise. Is feels more like a search down various tributaries, which is interesting even if not all of those tributaries bear obvious fruit.

The Miroslav Vitous version comes to mind. There's some aggressively angular playing from John McLaughlin partway through. It's definitely in a post-Miles vein, but it threads the needle between fusion and modal/quasi-free jazz quite nicely: And then there's this version by the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, which is squarely free funk territory. I love the surrealist solos superimposed over the (very insistent) groove:

Yeah, Jacknife is the one I go to after the Moncur/Hutcherson groups. It's very early for DeJohnette, but his playing animates what might have otherwise been a routine session. I like the "Is" Sessions double CD, too. The music seems to occupy a midway point between the Lost Quintet and Circle. The energy is off the charts, even if the improvisations can feel a little incoherent at times. IMO the real knock on the recording is that the music lacks a guiding voice - there's no Miles to editorialize the rambling or a Cecil or Braxton to give the freedom explicit direction. It's a transitional moment for virtually everyone involved.

I have been listening to the original version of Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance” (from The In Sound) and am struck by how much its popularity in more avant-garde circles was already baked in to the original. Yes the beat is very “soul jazz”, but the melody is pretty angular and syncopated, not your stereotypical populist pitch. I think of the Davis version and its offspring as just taking what’s implied in the original and taking it to its obvious conclusion. Did anybody ever record a version that combines an avant-garde vibe with the soul jazz (or even funk/rock) rhythmic approach?

I put together a simplified mini-discography of Stitt's recordings with organ—both leader and sideman dates, studio and live. Here's what I came up with. Please post corrections/additions. (1961-1971 is a guidepost. There might be sessions outside this decade.) Thanks! Sonny Stitt Organ Dates 1961-1971 1. At The DJ Lounge 6/--/61 Argo 2. ‘Nuther Fu’ther 2/16/62 Prestige 3. Boss Tenors In Orbit! 2/18/62 Verve 4. Soul Summit 2/19/62 Prestige 5. Low Flame 4/4/62 Jazzland 6. Feelin’s 4/--/62 Roost 7. My Mother’s Eyes 5/--/63 Pacific Jazz 8. Move On Over 6/17/63 Argo 9. Soul Shack 9/17/63 Prestige 10. My Main Man 3/10/64 Argo 11. Shangri-La 3/19/64 Prestige 12. Soul People 8/25/64 Prestige 13. Night Crawler 9/21/65 Prestige 14. Made For Each Other 7/13/68 Delmark 15. The Boss Men 12/28/65 Prestige 16. Soul In The Night 4/15/66 Cadet 17. Deuces Wild 9/11/66 Atlantic 18. What’s New!!! 1966 Roulette 19. Parallel-A-Stitt 1967 Roulette 20. Soul Electricity! 9/23/68 Prestige 21. Funk You! 9/24/68 Prestige 22. Donny Brook 9/15/69 Prestige 23. Brothers-4 9/15/69 Prestige 24. Night Letter 10/27/69 Prestige 25. It’s Magic 1969 Delmark 26. Turn It On! 1/4/71 Prestige 27. You Talk That Talk! 2/8/71 Prestige 28. Just The Way It Was 3/21/71 Label M 29. Black Vibrations 7/9/71 Prestige 'Nuther Fu'ther was originally titled Stitt Meets Brother Jack. I left out Patterson's People because (if I'm not mistaken) the two tracks with Stitt are actually part of the Shangri-La session. Lastly, what are your favorites from this bunch?

Milestones' post reminds me... Jan Garbarek

Western Final preview https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/game-day-west-final-riders-host-lions-with-a-trip-to-grey-cup-on-the-line/ ***** ***** *****

Instant order! Thanks so much.

Definitely some mixed reactions. I get that.