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How was this Steve? Sounded potentially fascinating. UK half wasn't in London sadly I'm thinking it would not have been similar to his Electro-Acoustic Ensemble

I don't go to Oto as much as I used to but do remember pre-pandemic how encouraged I was by the number of 30-somethings there were attending. It made me feel old but in a good way as I remembered how great it was to discover new music at that age myself. I do wonder whether Ms Mitchell is not Avant enough, or even not known enough, for a lot of the Oto crowd. I saw her there 4/5 years ago and no more than 20 turned up. Hope they'll be a good mix for Brotzmann in February The Vortex is interesting in the way it pulls in a younger crowd with its programme on younger, local players. Sometimes it seems it's all band mates in the audience

👍

This now. I haven't followed her career closely which by the sounds of this needs amending

Me too now, thanks for the nudge. Beautiful album

Oh, this is sad news. Terrific musician, generally under the radar I think I bought some LPs directly from him and he was a delight to deal with

He's good and possibly better than Mount but I'm not convinced he would have made the difference. Not taking Saka off may have done so though and bringing Rashford on sooner but that's all hindsight and doesn't matter now. "We're coming home..." 😃

Loving this Montreux release, on many levels

Still recovering here...a more clinical and cohesive French side just outclassed a talented and likeable England team. C'mon Morocco! Because as a collection of individual talents they should be one of the best but Football's a team game and Belgium have never found a way to fully realise those talents collectively

That's a good one, need to dig it out again

Nice to see 'Jumpworld' on there. It made a big impression on my early Jazz listening when I was hoovering all things M-Base and JMT, although I think 'Days Aweigh' ifs stronger. I must listen to them both again. Of the other two, I don't know the Cowell but need to rectify that. The Brown I only bought recently, nice enough but didn't make a huge impression.

Great Jazz album 😄

Two really impressive albums

Yes, that was a disappointment

Thanks for responding, interesting points about the enduring impact of the Spanish Civil War (that would be a great discussion but for elsewhere). The first LMO on Impulse and 'The Ballad Of The Fallen' albums are now 40-50 years old. Of the other 3 studio LMO albums only 'Dream Keeper' continues with Spanish Civil War material. The two last don't feature it at all so it looks like Bley/Haden moved on as well after the 1991. The 'Montreal Tapes' whilst released in the 90s is an '89 concert and is Spanish influenced. Time to relisten to all six albums again. Thanks for the prompt.

OK,thanks for the recommendation then!

Which becomes absolutely apparent when you hear it performed. I found the first experience very impactful. To someone with little or no understanding of musical theory?

So just finished listening to 'Ballad Of The Fallen' and it still stands up as a tremendously powerful statement for me. However, I do hear some 'Spanishness' in a couple of tracks that could be heard as overegging it a bit, especially the flamenco-style guitar solo early in side one. I still think that this is musically also a homage to Spanish marching band music. On a slight tangent, I only relatively recently heard Pedro Iturralde's 'Flamenco-Jazz' and was instantly struck by how much elements of 'Ballad...' owed to it. Bley and Haden must surely have known the earlier album

I will be interested in your thoughts when you do should you wish to share them. Enjoy it!

My apologies necessary HutchFan! I agree completely about subjectivity. I'm interested in the opinions of @soulpopeand @Rabshakehas two board members whose opinions I respect. Their different takes to an album I hold very dear intrigues me and I've just dug it out for another spin with their comments in mind. Nothing whatsoever about attempting alignment of views just want to hear if I hear it differently with other's perspectives in mind It won't stop me loving it 😀 And now I find myself agreeing with this too! So now I'm just going to listen to some music whilst watching the World Cup...

Thanks, all new names to me. This and another of their albums is streamable so I shall have a listen

Interesting, which parts? As an album that addresses the US actions in El Salvador and Nicaragua, using some old Spanish Republican tunes to do so, I agree it plays them perhaps more straight than on the Impulse issue and therefore is more brass based (almost brass band, as you often find in even the smallest Spanish towns) which moves it off the Jazz spectrum a notch. 'Ballad....' was one of the very first contemporary Jazz releases I connected with and I did so on an emotional level as well as having great sympathy for the message Perhaps I need to step back and have a more objective listen. The version of 'Silence' is heartbreaking.

Ouch, kitsch really? In what way? I find the Spanish Civil War elements essential and very moving but maybe that's just me I agree about the slant. They very deliberately address issues if the release's time, as per 'Not In Our Name', a definite statement and fine album In fact didn't Bley or Haden say somewhere that they waited for the times to feel as if they needed another LMO release each time

Sorry, yes obtuse request. That's what I was hoping to hear, thanks

Never been un-appraised here. Desert Island album for me