David Ayers

Wow. I just try to put it out of my mind and listen to the ones I already have. My wish list is I wish I had time to listen to the stuff I've got!

A TOCJ 24 of this is due in March. Worth waiting for maybe?

Actually no - they allowed for 4 disc sets in the original trailers for this series - its good to see they don't stick rigidly to three (and lose or damage a good set concept in the process).

Opinion is divided on whether you are a virgin bastard though...

Maybe their vinyl is overpriced, but maybe more from the US point of view. From my point of view they always have something interesting that I can't find so easily over HERE, and their service is very good.

From Sound 323 mailing: "Hugh Davies RIP 1943-2005 Sad news: Hugh Davies died on the 1st January, 2005. Born in 1943, Hugh was a pioneer of live electronic music, an inventor of musical instruments, a composer, educator, and renowned researcher into the history of electronic music. An assistant to Karlheinz Stockhausen from 1964 to 1966, he participated in the recording of Stockhausen's Mikrophonie I in 1965. Other recordings included wonderful LPs by Music Improvisation Company and Gentle Fire, and his solo albums for FMP and Grob. Anybody involved in live electronics, electronic improvisation, hardware hacking, or, come to that, anybody who needs a table in order to be able to perform, owes a debt to Hugh. He will be sadly missed."

I held off on the Stanley Antivibe - I'm waiting until they RVG it...

Derek wrote a book called Improvisation, which is essentially a survey of the role of improv. in different types of music. Worthwhile, for those who are interested and (I think) back in print. In fact, here it is.

I don't know. I had a few in my head, but when I saw this thread and tried to get hold of them I found I had immediately forgotten them.

There you go - you're an enemy of freedom!

I notice that Naxos are now releasing Robert Craft's Schoenberg and Stravinsky recordings originally done for Koch. Very worthwhile. I'll second what others have said about the Naxos British music recordings - it really is the case that you more or less can't go wrong, especially recordings by the Maggini quartet, and a variety of vocal discs plus Britten operas from the old Collins Classics label which are in the process of being reissued by Naxos. Among the American Classics the Barber symphonies with Marin Alsop are a stand out. With the major symphony cycles I think it is better to search around and pick out the more recommended versions on whatever label - I wouldn't go to Naxos for my Mahler or Shostakovich. That said, the Tintner Bruckner is worthwhile though in most of the later symphonies there are better recorded and perhaps more interesting verions available.

See the BBC thread.

Currently featuring the Cecil Taylor gig (highlighted in red), flanked by features on Taylor and Dixon. Taylor feature includes the voice of Henry Grimes! http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio3_aod.shtml?jon3 17 December 2004 Friday 17 December 2004 23:30-1:00 (Radio 3) Jez Nelson presents one of this year's most talked about concerts at the London Jazz Festival - a rare appearance by the pianist Cecil Taylor at the Royal Festival Hall. An uncompromising master of jazz's avant-garde since the '50s, Taylor is a legendary figure in jazz history and continues to produce powerful music today. For tonight's performance, two other legendary improvisers join him - trumpeter and leader of 1964's October Revolution in jazz, Bill Dixon, and pioneer of European free improvisation, drummer Tony Oxley. Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes Playlist Cecil Taylor retrospective Kevin Legendre takes a look at Cecil Taylor's recording career Artist Cecil Taylor Title Wallerin' Composer Cecil Taylor Label Boplicity Cat No. Cdp030 Duration 5'23' LP Title Lookin' ahead Artist Cecil Taylor Title Conquistadore Composer Cecil Taylor Label Blue Note Cat No. BLP 4260 Duration 3'26" LP Title Conquistadore Artist Cecil Taylor Title Jitney no. 2 Composer Cecil Taylor Label Freedom Cat No. Fcd 41005 Duration 3'57" LP Title Silent Tongues Artist Cecil Taylor Title B Ee Ba Nganga Nan'a Eee! Composer Cecil Taylor Label Soul Note Cat No. 121139-2 Duration 4'54" LP Title OLU IWA Artist Cecil Taylor Title Lagozo Scampers Composer Cecil Taylor Label Mole Jazz Duration 4'58" LP Title The Feel Trio Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley and Bill Dixon recorded at the Royal Festival Hall On 15th November 2004 as part of the London Jazz Festival Artist Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley, Bill Dixon Title Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley, Bill Dixon improvisation Composer Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley, Bill Dixon Duration 36'37" October Revolution Feature Kevin Legendre remembers the 1964 October Revolution with Bill Dixon Artist Bill Dixon Title Voices Composer Bill Dixon Label RCA Victeur Cat No. Rca fxlt 7331 Duration 2'45" LP Title Intents and Purposes Artist Bill Dixon Title Dance Piece Composer Bill Dixon Label Soul note Cat No. Sn 1011 Duration 2'25" LP Title Bill Dixon in Italy volume 2 Artist Bill Dixon Title Nightfall Piece 2 Composer Bill Dixon Label RCA Victeur Cat No. Rca fxlt 7331 Duration 2'37" LP Title Intents and Purposes

That's great news - when I saw the images on the website I thought they looked crappy and feared the worst... Glad I was wrong!

Would you like to give us a ranking order or is that it?

In French, g before e or i is soft, before a, o, or u it is hard. You asked!

Brad - where is the bit about the road to recovery - I seem to have missed it! I have realised, in myself, that buying and listening are only semi-related activities, so I try to give time to listening rather than to planning purchases, and often take out and review older CDs. I'm now only an occasional purchaser, though I do periodically binge when the price is right. That's my road to recovery - what's yours?

Oh goody an easy one. Ask me another! Ask me another!

No. We prefer to generalize.

The way that jazz recordings are set up is to mix and match artists who sell in order to obtain a crossover effect of sales. If you tried, you would probably find that every musician in your collection could be linked to every other by virtue of a chain of who recorded with who. That means to buy on spec is rare and only my earliest purchases were (occasionally) that under-informed! Actually I sampled an Andrea Bocelli CD before I knew who he was and quite liked it. Little did I know how monotonous he would turn out to be. I regretted that purchase! The one track sampling thing seems to have been a staple of the BN post-Sidewinder ethos and of the jazz-rock era. Jazz rock (or -pop) albums were often found to have one vocal track designed for airplay, combined with other instrumentals of doubtful interest to the general punter (e.g. Breezin'). So personally I don't go much by the odd track. I would have to be absolutely rivetted... In the old days I bought things just for the cover or obscurity value - oddly enough, that worked very well...

I don't like cheesy jazz christmas tunes! My favorite Christmas listening is Bach's Christmas Oratorio. And not the jazz version!

David, try this search. It yields all 15 titles, and you get to read some very understated prose from our favorite bards ... Thanks! Wow, it seems that these are going to be more 'stunning' than anyone could have imagined! Some of the 'best ever' that these artists ever made!!

Does anyone have a convenient text-list which they can post, please? The website is very inconvenient and (wwhen I tried it) slow.

I like people who 'don't get it' - sometimes they are on to something. A lot of people have expressed reservations about this work. I have never been very fond of it myself.

Many are out of print. You can check what is still in print at hmv.co.jp and order from Early Records (which has much cheaper shipping).