colinmce

I'm looking forward to finally getting an affordable copy now that it's been reissued. For me this week it's Chris Connor singing "Moonlight In Vermont" on Criss Craft.

^^ I had the Brown on last week. Wonderful record. I always forget how good it is.

Personally not too big on this stuff myself. I like Tauhid best.

These are out.

Speaking of the French, lets not forget Daunik Lazro.

Man, how could I forget. The Blue Note set is one of the first things if grab in a fire. Love that music to death. Also, nice to see the discussion of Sinton earlier on. He's a quiet guy (literally) who doesn't record all that much. But he's got one of the clearest, sharpest improvising minds around. I think he's one of the greatest living improvisers under 50. His playing simply blows me away on both baritone and bass clarinet.

Billy Higgins with Ornette. Never more inventive. Obviously he cut a purple patch in Englewood Cliffs with Butch Warren but I think his hard bop stuff barely hints at the ingenuity he was capable of. Though I suppose that only works for Higgins. Obviously Ornette did even better with Blackwell and just as well with Moffett and Denardo.

Good buys. Chris Connor - A Jazz Date With Chris/Criss Craft Ideal Bread - Beating The Teens Ran Blake & Jeanne Lee - Free Standards, Stockholm 1966 The latter is an official issue (Columbia France) the first I've ever come across

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I've never gotten around to watching it, but maybe I'll do that tonight.

I think there's none, no? That would be incredible!

Well, Ran's Chris Connor tribute from 2011 is finally out, but appears to be a Europe-only release. Maybe it'll make its way stateside eventually? One can hope. What a joke, otherwise, this nu-Impulse! business is. Ranblake.com should have copies soon; currently it's available from frustratingly few online retailers.

Undoubtedly.

Nice to hear someone say that. I put it on last week too and was pretty unmoved, as usual. It's a one-of-a-kind album no doubt but it never totally pulls me in. "All Blues" remains the highlight to me while the slower tracks like "Flamenco Sketches" and "Blue In Green" just come off as dull. I'm not trying to suggest the album doesn't deserve its status-- but it does take up too much space. In a discography that encompasses Walkin', Milestones, In Europe, ESP, Nefertiti... I guess I get why this one rises to the top, but I also don't.

Yep, but IMO Warne Out is even better. And what a price! Truly essential jazz, no ifs ands or buts.

PM

I'll say this: I would never bother with the Fischer if Jonathan hadn't put it out and I hadn't read his take on the session. On the face of it, it's maybe more or less what you'd expect from a mid-size Pacific Jazz date from the early 60s. It's airy, melodic, concise. I don't have a great ear for the subtleties, but I take Jonathan at his word that what's happening is unique. It's certainly not at ALL boring or by the numbers. So, as a person who doesn't listen to a ton of stuff like this, I get a lot out of it and am pretty well enraptured when listening to it. That says a lot. Of course, the package is gorgeous, too. I would fully recommend it.

I wish WXU hadn't lopped off the bass solos. I had a line on the 2nd Revelation LP that had these but missed out on it. Still kicking myself for that one.

It's all worth having. I don't think these are bootlegs, no. Just because the company isn't totally active doesn't mean the stock isn't genuine.

Wouldn't know! I lucked into a copy of 4 Compositions For Sextet. Baptised Traveller is terminally troll-priced. Really part of a larger problem at this echelon. Nobody knows any better so anyone in the circle who wants to speak, can speak. It's no coincidence that those in the circle are artistically conservative, no moreso than when it comes to jazz. How else did a guy like Stanley Crouch become so esteemed?

Glad someone's picking those up. They're exceptional.

He may have been mentioned upthread, but Chuck Domanico is astounding on the Anthony Ortega Revelation material.

A crucial bass album not for the faint of heart is Vinny Golia's Haunting The Spirits Inside Them with Joēlle Léandre & Ken Filiano. Nuts. Filiano in general is under appreciated. He brought a lot to Bill Dixon's late music, especially Tapestries. Then, of course Bill Dixon's music is bass heaven, two or three going at a time. I love that. Max Johnson always impresses me. I really wish more of his free improv groups were on record, since what he's released thus far is all very composed. But lots of fine sets on YouTube, usually with Weasel Walter.

Without trying to be leading or antagonistic, I truly wonder what he thinks of Brötzmann, Parker, Bailey, et al in the late 60s-early 70s, or the early AACM recordings, given that the "trap" of free jazz had "run it's course" as early as 1966?

I respectfully disagree. It's legitimizing junk writing and criticism like this that keeps the ignorance flowing right into the minds of people who don't know any better and take essays like this at their word. It's damaging. Mainstream culture may never really get jazz right, but it never had to get is this wrong.

If you want to shell out, sure. But you could get a lot of the rest elsewhere, cheaper.