corto maltese

Sold on Ebay yesterday for $1,775...These were the seller's comments: "looks like an unreleased Dogtown LP !! matrix n° on side a is "dogtown 7"/side b "dogtown 8" (hand-written); very spare and out there music, one side it's under Byard Lancaster/other side by Khan Jamal. could be two different sets as i don't hear for example any vibes on the Lancaster side and viceversa (no sax on Jamal side) ?! unfortunatly not much info on who plays on it (it'd be a trio or 4et on each side ?!) and where it was rec. but without any doubts one of the rarest LP i ever offered for sale in the last 20 years, could easily be the only copy in existence". I am unconvinced, but I'd like to hear other opinions.

In the late 1980's - early 1990's, Yves Charuest was a member of percussionist Michel Ratté's trio, of which I still have a couple of CD's. In fact, Charuest's name awoke my interest in the trio, because at that time he was also playing with Peter Kowald (trio with Louis Moholo; never recorded). I didn't really follow his career since then, but your post will be an invitation to catch up with him again .

My expectations might have been too high because of the calibre of the other players (Sunny Murray, Byard Lancaster...), but none of his three records really works for me. Or maybe it's just the covers that kill them...

That cover probably was received very well, because one year later his next album looked like this:

He was in fragile health, so probably the news doesn't come as a surprise. But still... it's a terrible blow. I'll just say this: it was because of unique artistic voices like Misha Mengelberg that I was initially attracted to and will always love this music.

That's a great find, Clifford. I've never even seen a copy. There's been a CD reissue some years back, but this is really music that should be enjoyed on vinyl.

AFAIK the only album cover designed by Dick Bruna. Unfortunately, it's not very appealing, especially compared with his often beautiful graphical work for paperback covers. He would have been great at designing abstract covers for modern jazz records...

Your Dutch is actually quite good. Jochemsen, who is a big fan of Mobley, also tells about the (at best) lukewarm response to the 1968 concerts in Holland, where the New Thing (Breuker, Mengelberg, etc.) was all the rage. There's a review of the Rotterdam concert in one of the newspapers referred to above, that goes something like this: "Today, Hank Mobley's role in the jazz business is played out. You can tell that from his performance on Friday night. Currently, Mobley isn't much more than a rather pale bopper without any prospects for further development."

OK, so Mats will plead guilty for possession of that "Smile Sessions" box set (although the defence will emphasise that a certain Dutch dealer has been offering copies everywhere for ridiculous prices). But he's not too lazy to search for real music, on the contrary, he's playing real music himself.

Wonderful pictures! The number of records is really not important, but Mat's collection (strictly vinyl) is extraordinarily deep in non-mainstream jazz and "off-the-beaten-track" music.

There's even a Discogs entry for this record: https://www.discogs.com/Miles-Davis-And-His-Band-Dig-Part-One/release/8791948 The 7" 45rpm and the 10" 78rpm have the same catalogue number (prefix 45- added for the single).

About track 3: me too, I was initally guessing one of Arthur Blythe's Columbia-period albums, but the guitar is too clean (certainly no Blood Ulmer) and there's no cello (Abdul Wadud plays on most of those records). Checking Bob Stewart's discography learns that this is a much more recent track: "Nubian Stomp" from his 1996 "Then & Now" album, with Carlos Ward, Graham Haynes and Jerome Harris. About track 7: I have many of Shelly Manne's 50's and early 60's quintet/sextet albums (including this one) and I like them a lot. Just recently I stumbled upon a copy of "My Son The Jazz Drummer", also from 1962, where the band, with Teddy Edwards and Shorty Rogers, improvises on traditional Jewish melodies. Great stuff and they played this 30 years before Zorn started Masada. The David Holland/Barre Phillips duet is lovely and once again a reminder of why I dearly love those early ECM albums.

About 12: I didn't really listen closely the first time, because I generally don't care much for organ jazz. But now I think I actually have this in my collection: I don't have my records here, but is it SoulBrass Inc. with Hans Dulfer, that live album with the fluo spray painted cover?

Like I told you before, I like both Japanese Circle LP's (a lot) more than the ECM "Paris Concert". Just last week I talked about this with someone who was actually present at the 1971 concert. He told me the complete concert was recorded by French radio for broadcasting and included a first set which featured just one long and very "free" improvisation. When ECM released the concert one or two years later that first set was left out. Luckily, we've got those Japanese LP's to get an impression of what this quartet was really about.

My first thought for track 3 (Monk cover) was low-grade Italian bootleg label (great concerts in horrendous sound), but that's Bernie McGann from the "Modern Jazz At Wayside Chapel" LP, a recent release of a 1966 recording by the so-called "Australasian jazz avant garde". Tracks 7 and 9 are really naggingly familiar, but I can't put my finger on them. I'm preparing myself for shame and dishonor upon the reveal.

My condolences, Clifford. What the world needs now is music, sweet music. Your BFT can help!

Yes, that's the one I was thinking of (although it's an EP rather than an LP): I always thought (and have read) that Camus substituted this "freakbeat" soundtrack for the free jazz soundtrack (like Ornette's Chappaqua soundtrack that was commissioned, but not used by Conrad Rooks). But I won't argue with optatio because he has seen the film and I haven't. Anyway, thanks for the info, optatio! And how's the film?

Steadily progressing and now reaching track 10, which is unmistakably of the UK improv school. Plink, plonk & scratch aka "insect music". Lovely! After checking a couple of records, I discovered that it's Ian Brighton's Balance (Incus, 1973) with Phil Wachsmann, Frank Perry and Radu Malfatti, who, at that time was still playing more than 3 notes an hour. The cello put me on the wrong foot first, but that's Colin Wood (Spontaneous Music Ensemble) who guests on the track "Cogito Ergo Sum".

I'm down to track 6 now: that's Evolution Ensemble Unity, a trio with Toshinori Kondo and the great Mototeru Takagi. They recorded one album ("Concrete Voices", 1976), which featured a Monk and a Lacy composition ("Bone", this track).

The first track is "Nisshimbo", the opening track of "Nu!" by Hugh Steinmetz (Debut, 1966). What a great way to open a BFT !

Good! And even if you don't like them, they at least look better than that boring yellow cover.

Nice story. It brings back memories of my fondness for the (I suppose small, but apparently vibrant) experimental post-punk scene from Australia and New Zealand at that time: stuff on labels like M-Squared, Flying Nun (the early years)...

And, more importantly, which are both far superior to the ECM.

May I chip in and recommend "First Visit" (Philips Japan 1973 - with Richie Beirach, Dave Holland and Jack De Johnette)? If you like Trane and Ali on "Interstellar Space", you should really hear the title track...

Actually, I don't think "albums" are still particularly relevant to young listeners (or musicians) today.