colinmce

My wife and I are in the middle of watching The Sopranos for the 6th or 7th time through. His achievement there is simply titanic. When we watch the show I always have something to look forward to that day. It will be sad tonight.

The Minnesota band Low sparked a bit of a controversy recently regarding a set they played at a local festival. For those not familiar with them, they are, in my opinion, one of the very great American bands period. Their music is quiet, slow and melodic, but can also be very loud and noisy. The short of it is that their set consisted of one of their signature songs played for 27 minutes, most of it improvised drones and noise. At the end of the performance singer Alan Sparhawk said "Drone, not drones" and that was it. Many people were very upset as a result and felt that they were shafted having paid to see the band perform their songs. Now, obviously, coming at this as an afficianado of avant, abstract, improvised music I see no problem here. Improvised sound sculpting is a thing, and a fair bit of the music I listen to consists of just this. But beyond that, I support their decision on the level of art. I am a firm believer in the auteur perspective, which is to say that I will follow the artists I trust and admire absolutely anywhere they want to go. It's up to ME to make meaning out of what THEY decide to create. I can like it or not, but I cannot judge it based on my preconceived notion of what they "should" do. And so when I go to see them play, I come at it from the same perspective. Now of course, doing something like being an impudent asshole and not putting anything into the performance is one thing. That's not what Low did at all. Had I been there, I would have been enthralled, personally. I paid not to hear the songs I know, but to see them in the act of creating art. This is the faith I have in them as creators. But it is interesting to see this debate play out in the independent rock world. Thoughts? Links: http://blog.thecurrent.org/2013/06/the-audacity-of-low-what-does-a-band-owe-us-when-we-pay-to-see-them-perform/ http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/211809701.html

Ran has a new album of duos with drummer Jon Hazilla out on CIMP called Kaleidoscope. AFAICT it's only available at Klompfoot. I was glad I read the email I got or I wouldn't have known. The CIMP website hasn't been updated in years and most places don't stock their newer releases. No recording date known, but I'm placing my order tomorrow.

Added some titles.

Up with price reductions.

Deer Head Inn is titanically great. One of my favorite jazz albums, period. I've heard relatively little of the Standards Trio but really liked Yesterdays. I might check this one out.

I feel sorry for this guy. On multiple levels.

I've noticed that if a seller lists dozens of LPs in a certain vain at once (usually free, creative, private press), all of them get bid up way higher than when they're listed "alone". I don't get that.

Pretty sure. Came out later on a Fresh Sound CD. Several vocals by Al Jarreau, then studying at U of Iowa.

PM sent.

Bump with new listings.

That would make for an interesting concept for a whole different company. My first vote would be Out To Lunch. But I wonder, and I'm sure some here knows, are the master reels themselves "edited" in a sense? Were bum takes discarded or recorded over? Or does the reel for Moanin' just have everything the band played that day? Certainly this varies by session, engineer, label etc. I'm referring mostly to RVG-era Blue Note specifically.

Jeez, terrible way for him to go. So sorry to hear that.

Happy 68th to Anthony!

I was once perusing a book from the 70s or so in a shop and in it there was a photo of a group consisting of (I think) Ornette, Bobby, Charlie Haden & Charles Moffet at Atlantic studios ca. 1961-2. I've never seen this photo again, including on the Internet. I'm assuming they were recording and further assuming that this was part of the music lost in the warehouse fire. I'm wondering if anyone can find this picture or know of the book and can scan it.

The only Hargrove I've heard is the big band album Emergence, which I thought was spectacular. I'll check this one out.

I'll take Hemingway & Eisenstadt.

Replied!

Any Mary Lou set would be very valuable.

Dusty Groove has it for 24.99. I think the label is just trying to get rid of them.

I thought since this was a Mainstream release prices on it might be reasonable but uh, nope!

LARK (Laubrock, Alessi, Rainey, Kris Davis) out 9/15 on Skirl.

So I can get the 2CD ECMs they want $40 in-store for the price I can get them anywhere else. Sounds good!

Also forthcoming is a 4xCD set on Firehouse12. btw, the new Clean Feed releases all look amazing: -Revis trio w/ K Davis & Cyrille -Tresspass Trio + Joe McPhee -H Eisenstadt September Trio -LAMA + Chris Speed -Agenel/Edwards/Noble -Mirage (Eskelin/Formanek/Alcorn)