David Ayers

I told Tom Rainey after the two sets that I need to wait at least a week to listen to the new disc. I have to let what I just heard from 8 feet away sink in. The band is perfectly balanced, full of twists and turns and doesn't rely on their brilliant technique to show off. Cerebral yet powerful. Plus they don't take themselves too serious. No arrogancd or pretentious in anything they play. I'm they do wonder why more people don't listen as they are as accesable as any so-called avant-garde jazz trio I know. One reason might be that they get into a good place and the easy crowd pleasing way would be to milk it as far as it goes. They never stay in a groove or a mode too long - they are always looking for the next unexpected invention. No 7 or 10 minute solos over rhythm with this group. Helias was playing an awesome fast bass line with Rainey at one point and it would have been great if they played it for 30 minutes with Malaby coming in with a roaring free bop tenor - but this trio is way more than that. Way more than that. People got ears - maybe they might listen.... I've now heard the band play most or all of the new Helias compositions twice over 4 sets (last night and last December). The band was on a higher level last night. They extended the shortish tunes (they range from 3 to 6 minutes or so on the disc) or they meld them into others. They only played 2-3 older compositions each night. Rainey was roaring last night and my guy Malaby is playing the soprano better than he ever has. There were a few passages that I could barely believe what I heard. As has been said previously this is the first recording or shows with Open Loose to feature Tony on the straight horn as well as the tenor. He probably played soprano about 35-40% of the two sets. Fwiw, my wife said this band is as good as it gets:) Reason being for her is that they combine great tunes and groove with the best saxophonist in the world:) at least by far her favorite!!! I didn't realise that you were going to hear the actual same band. Well you were lucky, and I know exactly what you say you heard from the CD. The music is excellent and as you say quite different. I think I agree with your wife how great this band and this music is. PS And to come back to your 'giants walk the earth' theme, this looks to me like a classic unit and a classic recording, right up there in the sax/bass/drums trio lineage.

The London Times described the launch as well meant but naive in thinking the emphasis on sound quality would make any difference to the people who just torrent all their music and never pay for anything anyway.

Oh, well, I did talk to EP and Matt Wright after they played but they were tired so I preferred not to go geeky by asking about Karyobin. So I talked about Brian Eno instead. By the way I love that Mark Helias disc. A lot of shorter compositions and many richly worked ideas. Also beautifully recorded in a studio. If you get it I'll be interested to hear what you think.

I hate having old stuff lying around. Wish I could get rid of it all.

So this guy thinks that it is harder to find out about and hear music than in the past. In fact people can just copy their mp3 collection for you, browse it at will. The streaming services have quite a few things to listen to and enable the exchange of playlists. I could go on. Got to go - getting in to Skip James now - about fifteen albums to get through...

PS - we really *do* need an 'archival releases' forum...

Folks seem to be forgetting that it was Martin Davidson who issued the first Carter/Bradford on CD about twenty years ago, and has kept it continuously in print, even remastered it again. That was followed a couple of years later by Hat's CD reissue of Comin' On, which was around a long time and subsequently again remastered by them. Then the 2006 Hat CD reissue of Seeking. It is good that Emanem and Hat kept the door open for the more complete treatment this catalog is now getting in the twilight of CD.

100% with you on that. I'm pretty much done these days with these old LPs - I get it, I've had them around a long time - but it really IS a pity that these really vivid and present new transfers have only now finally come around.

:

I bought some CDs! I must be going mad. I know I know - it's all on Spotify. But I bought them in a STORE (new policy - no more online purchases) and I was feeling CHEERFUL on my way to an LSO/Eötvös concert featuring Rite of Spring and Boulez' Rituel. Nuff said. Tomorrow night local luminary EP. I will badger him about a reissue of Karyobin. You're welcome.

Happy birthday! Time to slow down yet and think that less may be more? Or...

Mini-classics https://youtu.be/d85gkOXeXG4 HAH! SNAP!

I just hope you happen to have the Bat Shark Repellent in your Bat Utility Belt.

The reason for the choice of tracks is that Babe's Blues is the *only* track which was not recorded at the August 13, 1961 session, while Billy Boy is the only track from that session marked as 'unissued' - not 'rejected' - which was not included on the Babe's Blues CD. What this probably means is that these new issues will tidy up some of the extra tracks that are lying around. Or maybe not.

Well almost - here is the post in the thread where we already started to discuss these...

Except that there is another duplicate of this thread in New Issues, where there is a request to merge it with the existing discussion of Blue Note SHMs...

Already two threads on this so why not three more.

Would you really pick and choose? It's all you can eat for $200.

More music than I for one could handle - but CHEAP! Is that down to sponsorship or low pay? I'm curious to know how many the venue accommodates....

We're waiting for you. You're the expert!

Art after art goes out...

The new Carter/Bradford certainly will be good enough for several months! But do we need an extra sub-forum, I don't know ... would only be useful, I guess, if some old threads got moved there as well. Of the first 15 threads in New Releases at this moment, four are archival, one is reissues, one is a plug for something on soundcloud, and one is about a website. The other eight are about new commercial releases. I would like to see Archival either put in with Reissues or with its own thread.

Yes I know that, although there are hardly any examples of anyone else adopting Braxton compositions, and I am really struggling to think of any example of any AACM composition which has been taken up independently.

Amusing. Leads to the reverse question - which AACM-descended compositions have been adopted by non-AACM musicians?

Except that it's 'Gibert Joseph' and, while you should definitely go to their bookshop also on Boul. St. Mich, the jazz/classical store is at a separate address on the same street. Good selection of japanese import CDs.