jeffcrom

Just wanted to say that I've long been fascinated by this program without ever having heard it - and I don't know why, in this age of magical internet tubes, I had never heard it until this thread prompted me to do so. I downloaded a bunch of episodes in podcast version from iTunes (for free). So far I've listened to two: Woody Herman from the 1980s, and a recent one with conductor Marin Alsop. I'm hooked.

Calgary - 55 This yearly contest is a hoot. Thanks GA Russell!

Grachan Moncur III - Some Other Stuff (BN, 1995 issue)

The only thing I've heard by Pettersson is his 16th (and final) Symphony, for alto saxophone and orchestra; I have it on a Swedish Society Discofil LP. It's oddly constructed - in a single movement, with the saxophone featured throughout. I like it, although saxophonist Fred Hemke gets kind of strident in the louder passages. Larry's first sentence in the second post above is one of the best lines I've read here in awhile.

Red Norvo in Stereo (RCA Victor). Charts from Red's 1930s big band, with Helen Humes in the Mildred Bailey role - all given 1958 state-of-the-art treatment.

This is tough. Here's last night's list, in the order they occurred to me. Variety and complexity were two factors I considered. Tomorrow's list might be different. King Oliver - Canal Street Blues Charlie Parker - Embraceable You Duke Ellington - Harlem Howlin' Wolf - Commit a Crime Steve Lacy - Shuffle Boil (from 5 x Monk, 5 x Lacy) John Coltrane - Crescent Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 (Furtwangler/Bayreuth) Cecil Taylor - Conquistador

Ok, I'd be interested in hearing what the appeal is for you, you know, compare notes. To me, the issue preventing my fuller enjoyment is what I hear as a tentativeness/lack of a real center like there is on Odyssey, which I hear as highly focused, almost laser-like so. Moto almost strikes me as a rehearsal or a loose jam. Maybe that's what you like, the openness? Different strokes, and all that. . OTOH, I took off "Montezuma" and played it on gigs for about a year. Seriously, I'd like to know what grabs you about this one, because I've been coming back to it for 30+ years thinking there's something there that I've missed. If you can lead me closer to finding it, I'd appreciate it. Again, seriously. Lon, you too. I know you guys don't react to music casually or carelessly. Just listened to Moto Grosso Feio, prompted by a desire to respond intelligently to this request. Now I find that I don't want to "explain" anything. This record gets under my skin and touches my heart. That's all I care to say about it. I used to play "Montezuma," too.

Miles Davis - Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel; disc 4

The level of affection I have for Moto Grosso Feio is not shared by anyone else, so I'm willing to believe that it's a quirk of mine. Listen to the other opinions.

Pres and Sweets, from The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve

Abdullah Ibrahim - Cape Town Fringe (Chiaroscuro)

Dewey Redman - Musics (Galaxy). Not essential Redman, but there are some good moments.

Wonder whose promo it was? They wrote my name on the box logo. No name on mine.

Michael J. Smith - Moments (CCRI)

I bought the Cecil Taylor FMP Berlin box when it was issued. I really had to scrape together the money at the time, but it was something I had to do - it was like I didn't have a choice, even if it meant eating ramen noodles for a month.

Nancy Sinatra Boots Randolph Ace Cannon

New York Art Quartet - Call It Art (Triple Point); record two. And I guess I'm coming out of the closet as a buyer of this expensive and incredible box set. I didn't pay full price; I bought someone's promo copy. But after living with this set for four months, I have to say that it would have been worth the retail price. This is an incredible box set.

Rev. Johnny L. "Hurricane" Jones - Secret Storm (Jewel)

I love Atlantis; I love the early Chicago stuff; I love the composed stuff; I love the improvised stuff. One of the the things I love about Sun Ra is that no two albums sound alike. The only Ra albums that have left me cold are some bootlegs that are extremely poorly recorded or a few very late albums where Ra and/or the band just sounded tired. My first Ra album was the Impulse reissue of The Magic City, purchased back in the day. I was becoming familiar with free jazz, but I immediately knew that this was another kettle of fish. It seemed to be based on an esthetic different from anything I had previously encountered. It was a beautiful mystery to me, and to some extent it still is.

New York Contemporary Five - Consequences (Japanese Fontana)

This again. A nice little record - not earth-shattering, but nice. Gourley is the hero here.

Thanks for the report.

I think this is what happened: Columbia made two albums with Mose: The Transfiguration of Hiram Brown and I Love the Life I Live. After he went to Atlantic, Columbia still had some unreleased material in the can, but not enough for a full album. So they put out V-8 Ford Blues on their Epic subsidiary, with some unreleased tracks, but filled out with recycled tracks from the first two albums. The box set is just the three separate albums in a cardboard sleeve, so those tracks appear twice. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about this.

There were a few more things I wanted to say in my post, but my wife was rushing me out the door to go to dinner with some friends. Nilssen-Love's drumming was powerful and complex, but also very responsive to what the other musicians were doing. I was very impressed. I bought a CD from him - his duet with Brotzmann. I also enjoyed Swell's playing more than the brief mention above would indicate - he has a large palette of sounds, and knew just when to change sonorities. I assume he's got a good instrument repairman, because several times he went out to 7th position and shook the horn in a way that must be hell on the slide. It was a cool sound, though. I sat with a bass-playing friend who was amazed by how good Strom sounded, even though some aspects of his playing were "wrong" technically. He plans on stealing some of the techniques. And this has nothing to do with the concert, but I stayed in that friend's barn outside of Columbia. He and his wife have built an apartment over their barn that's amazing. Great views, an iPod (with Von Freeman, Lucinda Williams, and lots of cool music), good beer in the fridge, and interesting art on the walls. So, yes, it was a great trip for a lot of reasons.

I'm on the email list of Conundrum Music Hall, a tiny, but adventurous little venue in Columbia. Very much look forward to hearing your impressions of the band That's funny, because I had already decided to post a Steve Reynolds-style report. Conundrum is a tiny little hall, but it was packed - which means about 50 people. Frode's suitcase didn't make it onto his flight, so he was wearing a University of South Carolina t-shirt he had picked up. The band hit at full force; after about five minutes textures started evolving. "Full force" was very exciting; the phrase that occurred to me was that the music swung on the molecular level. I'm not sure that actually means anything, but that's what popped into my head. Gjerstad and the trio have great rapport, and Steve Swell did indeed fit in very well. Melodic leads changed hands, instrumentation and textures kept changing, and everyone listened and responded to each other at a high level. The difference between Gjerstad's alto playing and clarinet playing is interesting. On alto, he's abstract, but very melodic; on clarinet, he's even more abstract - he almost never played a "regular" note on clarinet. It was almost entirely multiphonics, overblown sounds, etc. And I have been to enough free jazz concerts that I thought I had seen it all in terms of bass technique, but Strom came up with some stuff I had never seen/heard before, like "bowing" with the palm of his hand. Frode had good things to say about Chuck, and is very pleased to be on the Nessa label. Anyway, it was great show.