jeffcrom

Earl Hines - Quintessential Recording Session (Chiaroscuro). Hines' 1970 remakes of the eight sides he recorded in 1928 for the QRS label. A great album, still not available on CD, I don't believe.

Three discs in, I'm very favorably impressed. These are long pieces, but there is a lot of variety in each one. Written melodies lead to improvisations; new melodies appear underneath improvised passages; the colors and textures change frequently. This music must be fiendishly difficult to perform well, but this ensemble makes it sound easy. And Steve Lehman's quarter-tone scale near the end of disc two cracked me up.

Thanks to all for your input. I ended up buying it tonight, for some reasons that are logical and some that are emotional. The latter includes the fan-boy excitement I have felt over the past two days. The music has been intoxicating, and I suspect that this is the last time I will hear Braxton in person. More rationally, I've listened to some samples, and liked them. The price was right, and I assume that Braxton will get a considerably larger chunk of that than if I bought it elsewhere. But the deciding factor was that, as I drove around central Alabama today, I listened to several discs of Six Compositions (GTM) 2001. I was disappointed in this album when I bought it, but today it clicked with me as never before. The monolithity* of the ensembles didn't bother me at all, and I heard the changing colors in a way I hadn't previously. I think I have turned a corner with the Ghost Trance thing. *I don't think this is actually a word, but I like it, and will use it in the future.

Alto saxophone only for the solo concert. I'm high as a kite after tonight's concert. I could let myself be slightly disappointed that Braxton himself did not take a more active role, either as conductor or instrumentalist, but I'm not disappointed at all, because the music was of very high quality. Taylor Ho Bynum conducted all three pieces, alone or assisted by one or two other conductors, depending on the piece. First up was Composition 174, for percussion ensemble and recorded voices. It was 35 minutes long, and magical. The recorded "actors" (members of the percussion ensemble, maybe?) recited dialogue that could be interpreted as a science fiction story about a visit to another planet, or a commentary on the music, or both. It's the kind of thing I hate, except that I loved it. Like I said, this was a magical experience. Then the University of Alabama jazz ensemble played a long collage piece that started as Composition 134 (which I recognized from the Eugene (1989) album) and which contained large chunks of Composition 100 and bits of other pieces. (I only know that because I talked to one of the saxophone players afterwards.) There were some tentative moments - these were student musicians, after all - but it was excellent, overall. The finale was a glorious version of Composition 58, the twisted march from Creative Orchestra Music, played by the big band, the percussion ensemble (with several vintage field drums), and three saxophone soloists - Braxton on sopranino, Andrew Raffo Dewar on soprano, and the U of A saxophone professor (whose name I don't know) on alto. This is likely to be the only chance I have to hear some of the large ensemble music of Braxton, who has been a hero of mine since I was 18. As I said elsewhere on the web, I'm kind of glad I have to go home in the morning, because I don't know how much more excitement I can take.

Okay, I was amusing myself between Anthony Braxton concerts by doing some geocaching (look that up if you're curious) in rural Alabama, between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. I enjoy exploring old cemeteries, and when I'm traveling, I often look for geocaches hidden near graveyards. So today I visited the small Mt. Hope Cemetery in the country outside of Vance, Alabama. There were some interesting stones and epitaphs, but I was astounded to come across the grave of Sun Ra trumpeter Jothan Callins, out in the middle of nowhere:

Okay, I'm in Tuscaloosa for the first two concerts of the Anthony Braxton's residency at the University of Alabama. He brought some copies of the Iridium box set, which are for sale at somewhat below market price. So - should I buy one at the concert tomorrow night? Braxton's Ghost Trance music is my least favorite part of his output, but I'm open to new things and willing to learn. I've been wanting to hear Steve Lehman with Braxton. You've got 20 hours or so to advise me. Go!

Anthony Braxton's solo concert at the Bama Theater in Tuscaloosa tonight was magnificent. He (probably wisely) started with a lyrical piece and a conventionally virtuosic piece before moving on to more challenging material - multiphonics, overtone manipulation, circular breathing, extreme register changes, etc. During the opening piece he briefly quoted "Four," which he played in full later in the set. My favorite piece was one from one of his early series of compositions (Cobalt, maybe?). There was a clear additive/subtractive structural process going on - I was fascinated. I hadn't heard Braxton in person for 20 years before tonight, and I was struck with how beautiful his sound was - rich and full, even with the touch of air that has always been part of his tone. Tomorrow night - orchestra music with the University of Alabama big band, then home. I wish I could stay until Saturday to hear him with Alvin Fielder, but I have to get back to Atlanta to play myself.

Jeez; somebody needs to grab this one quickly.

I've never heard this band, but one of them lives two blocks from me. How's that for an unimportant post? I'll check out the video later - listening to Warne Marsh right now.

I know that a lot of folks think that getting up to turn over the record every three minutes is a pain - but I just figure that, at my age, the exercise does me good.

Tonight's 45 RPM Mardi Gras playlist: 1. Professor Longhair - Go to the Mardi Gras/Everyday, Everynight (Ron) 2. Professor Longhair - Big Chief, parts 1 & 2 (Watch) 3. Earl King - Street Parade, parts 1 & 2 (Kansu) 4. Olympia Brass Band - Mardi Gras in New Orleans, parts 1 & 2 (Olympia BB) 5. Olympia Brass Band - Gotta Woman/Tuba Fats and Drums (Olympia BB) 6. Dave Bartholomew - Yeah Yeah/People Are Talking (Imperial) 7.Fats Domino - So Long/When My Dreamboat Comes Home (Imperial) 8. Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Blackbird Special, parts 1 & 2 (Mad Musicians) 9. Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Lil Liza Jane/Feet Can't Fail Me Now (Mad Musicians) 10. Bill Sinigal and the Skyliners - Second Line, parts 1 & 2 (White Cliffs) 11. The Wild Magnolias - Iko Iko/Smoke My Peace Pipe (Make It Right) (Polydor) 12. The Wild Magnolias - They Call Us Wild/Jumalaka Boom Boom (Barclay) 13. Chuck Carbo - Second Line on Monday/Meet Me With Your Black Draws On (sic) (504) 14. Chosen Few Brass Band - Food Stamp Blues/Big Leg Woman (Syla) 15. Rebirth Brass Band - Put Your Right Foot Forward/New Second Line (Syla) 16. Lee Dorsey - Ya Ya/Give Me You (Fury) 17. Jessie Hill - Oop Poo Pah Doo, parts 1 & 2 (Minit) 18. Oliver Morgan - Who Shot the LaLa/Hold Your Dog (GNP Crescendo) 19. Al Johnson - Carnival Time/Good Lookin' (Ron) and my favorite New Orleans R & B single of all time: 20: L'il Queenie and the Percolators - My Darlin' New Orleans/Wild Natives (Great Southern) The Dirty Dozen and Rebirth records have never appeared on an album, and a few others here are equally rare.

Yul Brynner Santa Claus Big Nick Nicholas

Cootie & Rex: The Big Challenge (Jazztone). All the cool kids are doing it.

Johnny Littlejohn - Funky From Chicago (ABC Bluesway)

Jerome Richardson Goes to the Movies (UA mono). I found this one, as well as the Med Flory above, at a "pop-up" LP sale in a warehouse not far from my house - 40,000 unsorted records in boxes on the floor. I spent about an hour there and probably only looked through a quarter of the boxes. Mostly junk, of course, but I walked out with seven LPs, in exchange for which I gave the guy the five bucks he asked for. Anyway, this Jerome Richardson album, which I thought could be pretty lame, is very good. Later: To elaborate - no matter how unpromising some of the material looks ("Never on Sunday"?), the arrangements are imaginative, and Richardson plays as if his life depends on it. Really glad I discovered this one.

Med Flory - Jazz Wave (Jubilee). 1957 West Coast big band stuff.

Given how you just slipped that it, I didn't want to let it pass without saying congratulations.

Schubert - Trio No. 1 in B flat, op. 99: Thibaud/Casals/Cortot (Victor 12" four-disc set). This was another test for the new turntable/cartridge, and it displayed the most improvement yet over the old rig. When Victor began recording electrically, they wasted no time in putting out a series of great chamber and orchestral music as the "Musical Masterpieces" series. This one was recorded in London in 1926 (the first recordings by this trio, I believe) and issued in the U.S. the next year. My copy is visually in pretty good condition, but never sounded good when played on my old 78 turntable - there was some nasty hissing beyond the usual crackly surface noise. The hissing is gone, I think due to using a truncated needle which doesn't drag the bottom of the groove. I really enjoyed this music this morning.

Eric Quincy Tate - Drinking Man's Friend (Capricorn). 1972 Southern blues/rock from my youth. Since Eric Quincy Tate is unlikely to be familiar to many folks here, I'll point out that it's a band, not a person. I spent a summer in Macon, Georgia in 1974, and put many quarters into the jukebox to play "Brown Sugar" (not the Rolling Stones song) from this album.

Cosmos is not a great album, but I kinda like it. To me, it's the last LD Blue Note album that sounds like a Lou Donaldson album, if that makes sense. It would be stronger without the vocal trio that's on most tracks, but I still like it. Don't expect desert island quality, though. Because Jerry Jemmott.

Henry Townsend - Hard Luck Stories (Swingmaster). The great St. Louis bluesman on a Dutch label, from 1981.

Chico Freeman - Morning Prayer (India Navigation). Originally on Japanese WhyNot. One of Chico's most interesting albums; Muhal and Threadgill are on board, among others.

Tried out some "troublesome" 78s on the new rig. Coleman Hawkins' rare Asch album doesn't sound much better, even though my copy is in excellent condition - Asches are just lousy pressings on noisy shellac. My perhaps two most worn 78s, by blues singer Maggie Jones on Columbia, still sound terrible - they're just too far gone. But one of my treasures, Blind Willie Johnson's "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes/Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" sounded pretty good with the right stylus and some careful EQ-ing.

Not common, but one of my colleagues in Atlanta is pretty eccentric about reeds. He went through a period where he kept his reeds in a mixture of mouthwash (with alcohol) and water. This was followed by a period where he drilled a small hole in the top of the reed - right in the heart (!), a part of the reed I never touch. I don't think he's doing anything weird with his reeds now, but he'll probably come up with something new to try.

Duke Ellington - Black, Brown and Beige (Victor 12"). I've mentioned this set before, but, wow, this two-disc album sounds really good on the new rig.