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blajay
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Posts posted by blajay
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Opus 95 for Two Pianos is a piece I keep returning to. I've listened to it probably 4 times since getting the box, and last night I think I came close to having a religious experience about 25 minutes in. It was very odd.
That's one of the best little-discussed Braxton albums out there. It didn't get a wide release. I think Arista cut the corners off about a minute after they put the shrink wrap on. Arista also "forgot" to include Braxton's liner notes when it was released. I was lucky to find a copy a few years ago. Ursula Oppens and Frederic Rzewski are a dream team for this kind of music. I really like the use of zither and melodica on 95.
I liked For Two Pianos, but it didn't thrill me at any point. I love the melodica, though. That is an instrument I have to check out!
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For a brilliant discussion of all of the scope of this topic, I highly recommend Fred Moten's book In The Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition.
Be warned that it is extremely dense, full of theory, and largely written in a post-structuralist style. If you consider parts of George E. Lewis' book intellectual masturbation, then you will certainly not benefit from this. However, it is exactly about this topic, and if you come from a philosophy, rhetoric, or ethnomusicology background, you will be thrilled at its clever discoveries.
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For me, the only Mosaic box I bought that I dislike is the Tristano/Konitz/Marsh set. I enjoy the Warne Marsh stuff, but Konitz to me is the audio equivalant of watching paint dry. The Tristano solo stuff was interesting to hear once, but I just can't get into it. This set gets no play anymore.
Wow, I'm surprised to hear that. It is one that I like more than I anticipated, in fact. Hope you still liked Larry's booklet notes! Brilliant articulation of the Tristano-ites there, if I recall.
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My real point in all this, though was a simple one - the music(s) under discussion here are at root languages. So of course there's going to be formulas, and patterns, and all that stuff, just as in any language, and no, nobody will say "stop me if you've heard this one before", because even if you have (and of course, you more than likely have, nobody even thinks about saying that if they're certain of their originality, they just say it and let you get to it when and how you can, if you can), they're hoping that you'd like to hear it again (at least from them), and reality proves that they are not completely off-base in that hope.
No, music is not quite a language in the way that verbal languages are (as I've tried to explain above -- assuming I know what I'm talking about).
About your "We can hear something we've never heard before and understand it right away, no codification involved.
Then as more people get hold of it and use it to represent at least as much as to present, it gets codified" -- focusing on your "as more people get hold of it and use it to represent at least as much as to present" (which fits some but certainly not all of what happens; there'd be, for one, no Ben Webster without Coleman Hawkins, but was Webster representing at least as much presenting? no way), our immediate understanding of something we've never heard before becomes over time, under circumstances that frequently occur, a different understanding. Think of codification not as finger-wagging but as an organic elaboration of what's potentially, often irresistibly [always already] there. I know, "codification" can be and has been both, but ... as that old commercial says, it's a life form AND a disease.
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It is only recently that people have been rediscovering his orchestral works. He wrote a waltz "Eccentricity", an orchestration of "Liberty - A March Fantasia", and a one-movement "Sonatine No. 2". It turns out that a piano solo arrangement of "Sonatine No. 2" was published by Mills Music in 1948 under the title "Reflections."
I've been curious to hear and/or see a performance of one other work, which is of musical, cultural, and historical interest. James P. Johnson collaborated with the poet Langston Hughes to create The Organizer – A Blues Opera in One Act. The Organizer was performed at Carnegie Hall in 1940 as part of an International Ladies' Garment Workers Union convention, but it then disappeared. It is a pretty brilliant, radical theme--about organizing sharecroppers. It was recently restored by a U Michigan Professor Dr. James Dapogny, and has been performed in Michigan a couple times. Here's the story from the New York Times.
He had another one-act opera "The Dreamy Kid" (based on the one-act play by Eugene O'Neill).
I should have figured someone already posted another threadabout this... Anyone know if it has been recorded yet?
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It is only recently that people have been rediscovering his orchestral works. He wrote a waltz "Eccentricity", an orchestration of "Liberty - A March Fantasia", and a one-movement "Sonatine No. 2". It turns out that a piano solo arrangement of "Sonatine No. 2" was published by Mills Music in 1948 under the title "Reflections."
I've been curious to hear and/or see a performance of one other work, which is of musical, cultural, and historical interest. James P. Johnson collaborated with the poet Langston Hughes to create The Organizer – A Blues Opera in One Act. The Organizer was performed at Carnegie Hall in 1940 as part of an International Ladies' Garment Workers Union convention, but it then disappeared. It is a pretty brilliant, radical theme--about organizing sharecroppers. It was recently restored by a U Michigan Professor Dr. James Dapogny, and has been performed in Michigan a couple times. Here's the story from the New York Times.
He had another one-act opera "The Dreamy Kid" (based on the one-act play by Eugene O'Neill).
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No James P. Johnson-->No Thelonious Monk.
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On end of Disc 3 into Disc 4 from For Trio Arista AB-4181 I prefer the second version with Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman. Maybe that's because my mind got adjusted already to these sorts of theatrics about midway through the first version, though. Reminds me of Varese, which I am fond of.
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On to the end of Disc 2-Disc 3 solos from Arista A2L-8602 Alto Saxophone Improvisation 1979
Sort of cavernous sound to borrow a term from Chris Albertson. Beautiful music. The ending climax of Opus 77A feels like such a catharsis followed by pure relief, and I mean that all in a positive sense. Opus 26F on Disc 3 aggressively raised my hairs, while Opus 77F had me nearly in tears. Back in outer space via some subaltern lingering in the breaks sounds like Chevy Chase putting on the green in Caddy Shack--Opus 26B. Hey, let's mix in fucking swinging versions of Along Came Betty and Giant Steps for a sentimental touch. This one man ensemble can take me anywhere.
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I think they are unrelated problems. Not sure about the hole being too small, but it sounds like either way you just have a warped disc. Sucks.
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Not twofers, but I wasn't sure where to post this. I just picked up ten of these still sealed for $38 bucks. Seemed like a good deal. Any comments on this Best Of Blue Note Years Series? Apparently they were for Blue Note's 50th Anniversary, issued in 1989. Is this the full set of them? How is the sound?
So, this was an Ebay find. I received them short after and finally got around to listening this weekend. The records looked just as described, and I just broke the seal on them. Most of them look exactly as expected, but when I took one out of its Jimmy Smith LP jacket, it is in fact a completely different LP--Bobby Mcferrin-Spontaneous Inventions (BT-85110)!! This is definitely a let-down, as the album out of this set that I was most excited about was the Jimmy Smith best of Blue Note Years LP. I figured it'd be the only way to have "The Sermon" on decent vinyl because I've only seen scratched copies of other Blue Note legitimate issues. I realize there is no way the seller could have known because it was factory sealed and obviously a mistake from the plant itself. Has anyone else ever had this happen with a sealed LP that turned out to be something completely different? Hilarious but also tragic.
-Jay
Lucky! The seller had another one! DON"T WORRY>>BE HAPPY indeed Bobby Mcferrin.
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Sonny Clark Trio w/Max Roach and George Duvivier on Time (Original Stereo S2101 deep groove )--NM
$24
I know the Mono goes for hundreds more, but I still consider this a great find, no? I'm happy to replace my crappy fill-in recent reissue that is probably digital.
let me know if they have another one left !!
Is it sick of me that this makes me happy?
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Just out of curiosity, do you consider yourself a Heideggerian?
Just from your heavy emphasis on emotion (care).
Although I guess the noticing the aspect part of that isn't really phenomenological; that iconicity is more in the spirit of Wittgenstein...
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Just out of curiosity, do you consider yourself a Heideggerian?
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Indeed. I'm just saying that anybody who listens to anything with attentiveness long enough will begin to recognize the codification aspect of whatever language it is that is being listened to. Whatever "emotion" one then brings into the mix upon this recognition is probably going/likely to be more variable than the music itself.
Is that to say, then, while logic makes its demands, emotion lends its voice?
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Braxton sounds almost like Sonny Rollins on Disc 2, Tk 1--You Stepped Out Of A Dream from Arista AL-4064 Five Pieces, 1975--is that contrabass cl?
That's got to be contrabass s on Tk 4, Opus 40P! I hadn't heard this Duets album with Muhal Richard Abrams. This is great! Abrams has to be one of a handful of pianists who could do that tune without laughing a bit.
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Braxton sounds almost like Sonny Rollins on Disc 2, Tk 1--You Stepped Out Of A Dream from Arista AL-4064 Five Pieces, 1975--is that contrabass cl?
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I'm so happy to have this set. This is one I will treasure forever. I'm unsure about better ways to go about sinking my teeth in. I'd listened to spots here and there because of their particular acclaim, but now I'm just listening disc by disc, the way Mosaic has it laid out.
Disc 1 highlights are Opus 23B and Opus 23E. The opener--Opus 23B from Arista AL-4032 New York, Fall 1974--is one of the tunes that I've always enjoyed--one of the few catchy Braxton melodies I find myself whistling down the hallway frantically, to my co-workers' displeasures, haha.
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overall it is just wicked corny to my ears.
Do I detect a New England native?
I've probably mentioned it before, but the Illinois Jacquet box was a patchy and disappointing set for me.
Haha. Indeed, I'm the guy who mentioned I'm from Sharon, MA when the topic of Jewish holidays came up.
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A second thumbs up on the Woody Shaw set. I agree there is a bit of a 70s vibe to it, but not at all in an overbearing way. Perhaps it is because this is the only music I really had a chance to listen to contemporaneously, but I really love this set. It is mostly original music (by Shaw and his bandmates) and I find it to be quite memorable. The playing is also first rate and Woody had some nice sidemen (Gary Bartz, Carter Jefferson, Mulgrew Miller and Joe Henderson, among others). The intro by Cuscuna is also quite moving.
Easily in my top three Mosaics (and I own a bunch). Give it a second chance
Eric
I am really having trouble getting into this Woody Shaw set. I got it on ebay recently, and while I occasionally find my foot tapping, the musicians are obviously talented, and it is undeniably funky at times, overall it is just wicked corny to my ears. I'm mid-first listen, so maybe it will improve, but I'm not thrilled.
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The Complete CBS Studio Recordings of Woody Shaw
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btw, Dan, I read the thread about your preparing to interview Bob Weinstock years ago. Is that interview archived somewhere? I'd love to read it!
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I am by no means sick of Blue Note recordings, but my attention, too, has recently been more directed towards other labels, like Prestige after feeling somewhat overwhelmed and also recently reading stories of Bob Weinstock's general benevolence in Mike Fitzgerald's Gryce book and Joe Goldberg's Jazz Masters of the 50s.
Lion and Wolfe cast a nearly mythical shadow in the history that has been rewritten. Not only in books like Richard Cook's or Ashley Kahn's, but also the Wolfe photography books and numerous volumes of album cover books. I think this is also built up by RVGs, Mosaic Records, Hoffman's 45rpm project (the Music Matters Blue Note one seemed to be more of a spectacle than the previous issues, whichever way it was spun), Classic Records, the cheap vinyl reissues that are ubiquitous, and now Blue Note's own vinyl reissues. Not to mention gokudo-Vintage Vanguard and the entire Japanese ideal of authenticity in the Blue Note aesthetic. There is just a lot of attention right now on Blue Note it seems. I still love nearly everything I listen to from the label, though...
"Formulaic" Hard Bop/Blue Note ...
in Miscellaneous Music
Posted
You mean exuberance vs. aggression, not anger. Important distinction. It is overly simplistic to say Swing=good feelings and Hard Bop=anger. You can feel "good" listening to both styles, regardless of exuberance or aggression.