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HomageToDonByas

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Everything posted by HomageToDonByas

  1. Please correct the spelling: It should be Hasaan Ibn Ali, not Bin Ali. The New Yorker piece, written by Richard Brody, seems to me an absolute dream of a review, one that very few musicians will see in a lifetime. Hasaan, if he's observing the re-awakening of his name, 41 years after his death in 1980, can feel that, at last, his achievement has been fully appreciated. Brody's review will serve as a beacon to those who are trying to understand Hasaan Ibn Ali's colossal talent. How ironic that a person whose moniker is TraneMonk can say that they'd never heard of Hasaan before. It's not your fault, dear TraneMonk. Now you have some splendid hours of listening ahead of you. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-solo-performances-of-hasaan-ibn-ali-expand-the-history-of-jazz
  2. In this brief 2017 Interlude article, Gulda is cited as Martha Argerich's biggest pianist influence. She says he taught her how to listen. https://interlude.hk/sorcerers-apprentice-friedrich-gulda-martha-argerich/
  3. This coming Tuesday, April 6th, at 7 p.m. EDT, the Philadelphia Jazz Legacy Project will present a Philly Jazz Talk, an online discussion with Odean Pope and two of the producers about Hasaan Ibn Ali and his long-lost but now about-to-be-released (April 23rd) Metaphysics. Here's the link for registering (which is free): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-legendary-hasaan-ibn-ali-philly-jazz-talk-tickets-148068975291. An edited version of the event will later be posted on the Philly Jazz Talk channel of YouTube. There's a sterling review by Duck Baker in the April edition of the New York City Jazz Record. http://www.nycjazzrecord.com/ Here's a brief excerpt: "Rumor of a surviving tape copy persisted, however, and this unissued date assumed legendary status in its own right, the stuff jazz dreams have been made of, ever since the idea of a Buddy Bolden cylinder recording first circulated. Some of these dreams have materialized over the years, such as Dean Benedetti’s recordings of Charlie Parker or the session featuring Albert Ayler with Cecil Taylor. And it’s wonderful to have these, even when the historical value supersedes their musical worth, but it’s hard to remember a case where the reality of one of these dreamed-of lost sessions exceeded expectations. Metaphysics will exceed expectations. It is even stronger in some ways than the trio record and helps us understand why people like Roach, Johnny Griffin and so many other musicians considered Ali a genius. The presence of Odean Pope is essential."
  4. This coming Tuesday, April 6th, at 7 p.m. EDT, there will be an online discussion, with Odean Pope and two of the producers about Hasaan Ibn Ali and his long-lost but now about-to-be-released 1965 album, which is being called Metaphysics. Here's the link for registering (which is free): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-legendary-hasaan-ibn-ali-philly-jazz-talk-tickets-148068975291. An edited version of the event will later be posted on the Philly Jazz Talk channel of YouTube.
  5. In total, including the 3 alternate takes, it's just a bit over an hour. Expect a somewhat different view of Hasaan from the one you got from the Max Roach Trio record. The restoration by Michael Graves is superb. The two takes of "True Train" are at surprisingly different tempi.
  6. Fourteen years have passed since Rooster_Ties said he was only kidding. As of this morning, the question of the lost Atlantic Hasaan Ibn Ali quartet sessions, with Odean Pope, Art Davis, and Kalil Madi, has been resolved in the best possible way. Omnivore has announced that it will be releasing these sessions, recorded on August 23rd and September 7th of 1965. The release date will be March 5, 2021. See announcement at That was then. Now — or rather as of March 5th, 2021 — there'll be another. See this morning's announcement by Omnivore Records at
  7. This morning, Omnivore Records announced that it will be issuing the lost Atlantic Hasaan Ibn Ali quartet sessions on March 5, 2021, fifty-six years after they were recorded. See the announcement at
  8. As of March 5, 2021, there will be! See this morning's announcement by Omnivore Records at
  9. Two years have passed since the previous post, and this morning Omnivore Records announced that on March 5, 2021 it will be issuing the long-lost Hasaan Ibn Ali quartet sessions. Perhaps not so coincidentally, one of Hasaan's compositions on the new release is entitled "Richard May Love Give Powell." This may not answer the question of the identity of the Philadelphia pianist McCoy Tyner had in mind, but it provides some interesting resonance.
  10. Finally, the lost Atlantic quartet album is being issued. See this morning's announcement by Omnivore Records. It contains a link to a trailer, where one can hear short snippets of two tracks, "Viceroy" followed by "Atlantic Ones." Release date is specified as March 5, 2021.
  11. Finally, the lost Atlantic session is being issued. See the announcement, issued today, by Omnivore Records. It links to a trailer, where one can hear brief snippets from two of the tracks, "Viceroy" followed by "Atlantic Ones."
  12. Drummer Donald "Duck" Bailey, in a 2008 interview with writer Don Alberts, said, "And who was [Thelonious] Monk's idol? Hasaan Ibn Ali. Nobody knows that!" Ref: Alberts, Don (2011) A Diary of the Underdogs: Jazz in the 1960's in San Francisco. p. 120. Chill House Publishers. ISBN 9780557232703. The quotation can be read in context online at https://books.google.com/books?id=7iN_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=%22And+who+was+Monk's+idol%22&source=bl&ots=ADd_rZ7hhJ&sig=Kb4T9oQduSSq6HCaRCwngc2Oouk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=INeWVYv8Bcj7-AGd546gDw&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22And%20who%20was%20Monk's%20idol%22&f=false.
  13. Drummer Donald "Duck" Bailey had another take on the question of Monk's favorite pianist. In a 2008 interview in San Francisco with the writer Don Alberts that appears in Alberts' book "A Diary of the Underdogs: Jazz in the 1960's in San Francisco," Bailey said, "And who was Monk's idol? Hasaan Ibn Ali. Nobody knows that!" (page 120--interview begins on page 118) A Google search for "And who was Monk's idol?" will find the passage at books.google.com. From the context, it appears that Donald Bailey was talking about a time around 1950 when Bud Powell was living in Willow Grove, outside of Philadelphia, and was in the process of composing "Un Poco Loco." Monk would have been about 33, Hasaan about 19. Tantalizing.
  14. Welcome back! Would you please tell more about his behavior, on or off the stand? Was he easy to get along with? Solitary? Prickly? Angry? Spacey? (Not too specific there, I know! Just trying to get a better picture of him.) He was extremely eccentric. He was not prickly, not angry. He was an only child and was doted on by his parents, with whom he continue to live as an adult. He titled his letters. I remember one title: Retrospect in Retirement of Delay. You can learn more by speaking to Odean Pope (215-242-6202?) and David B. Shrier (215-563-6183?).
  15. Re Veteran Groover's posting of 15 May 2012: "Hasaan had the habit of buying new ties and cutting them in half, a practice that still seemed to baffle Heath." Hasaan did not cut his ties in half. What gave people that impression was this: Hasaan would position his tie with the narrow, back part in the front, adjust the length so that the narrow part hung only to mid-chest, and wind the remainder of the tie around his trunk so that it would be hidden under his shirt. I know this to be true because I once saw him do it.
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