ep1str0phy

Welcome to the club... (To chime in...) Borbetomagus is well worth the price of admission--it's virtually a one-note affair, but a good one-note. Hardcore, guitar-laden, ultra-altissimo noise skronk--like a less "spiritual" Last Exit (I find myself using that adjective with reservation, but there's surely something to the ceremony and violent ecstasy of that latter group). B. was a seminal group, and often formidable (for that sorta thing...). Believe it or not, tonight is the first night I spun For Adolphe Sax/Morning Glory. After hearing about this one for so long, I'm happy to hear that it isn't a historically inflated Aylerian bashfest. The similarities are certainly there, but there's absolutely nothing tentative about the ensemble (Brotzmann in particular). What it lacks in polish and mastery it compensates for in force, militant fervor. I like these "there's a riot going on" free music albums. (A completely different note: I'd be thrilled to hear Brotzmann with the Peacock/Murray rhythm team--especially, in a "what if?" sorta scenario, at this vintage).

Look at Henry go!

I hadn't heard about it, and other sources (like Penguin, for example) don't seem to have picked up on it. I'd think that there'd be cooperation from someone (e.g., someone with access to tapes), granted the fact that Shapes contains previously unreleased material. Too bad, as the situation with at least pseudo-legitimate labels reissuing without permission only compounds the royalty hazards ingrained in the CDR trade (e.g., with DMG).

As someone who was introduced to Monk through his Columbia recordings, I have a few favorites of that later vintage... the "master" solo takes of Ruby, My Dear and Round Midnight are a big reason why I'm in this music. Also, count me as a fan of Live at the It Club and Underground. And then there's Straight, No Chaser, which few people seem to like, but which I feel contains some of his strongest studio work in later years (his comping/articulation behind Charlie Rouse on "Locomotive" is unbelievable).

More an ensemble session, but I like News from the Shed--early-ish EAI in a fashion one might expect, but the playing here is so galvanizing that I'd tend to ignore that these same sounds have since become de rigueur among numerous less interesting musicians. Then again, I'm a fan of the more sanguine of EAI contexts, and there's as much fire as you can get from Butcher and anarchic guitarist John Russell (who's always struck me as a harsher Derek Bailey) here. Then there's Radu Malfatti in almost-ultra-minimalist mode, which is as enjoyable (to me), in its own way, as gutbucket Radu...

http://nopunctum.blogspot.com/search?q=Ogun+Records This seemingly defunct blog has a pretty nice overview of the Ogun catalog, including the numerous OOP pieces.

I've got the Turtle of the Osborne (that one and the John Taylor 'Pause and Think Again'). The 'Outback' by the way did come out on CD (FMP?) - not sure if it's still in print. FMR did bootlegs of those Turtle sessions. They're interesting, though I'm not sure I'd say anything watershed occurs on them. Not for me, anyway. The Howard Riley is pretty cool, though. Is bootleg really the proper terminology here? I was always always under the impression that they at least got Osborne's permission... (and so I'm still, on some level, smarting at the sheer volume of bootlegs/sordid releases coming out of the UK/SA jazz reissue axis)

I've got the Turtle of the Osborne (that one and the John Taylor 'Pause and Think Again'). The 'Outback' by the way did come out on CD (FMP?) - not sure if it's still in print. Both Outback and Shapes are still available, although I'm not sure if they're in print (my CD issue of Outback is a pretty good sounding master with a pretty shodding packaging job--listed under the "FMR Legacy" imprint).

Naw, I don't have a copy of the Turtle (it's the reissue), tho I've been having conversations with folks regarding putting together more complete collections of SA/UK recordings. Honestly, I don't think I've ever even seen an Ogun LP anywhere in either LA or the Bay Area. Technically not for this thread, but--well, then again... Next--Sam Rivers: Streams (one of several woefully unavailable small group Rivers sessions from the 70's, which I'll probably also get to...)

Yeah, that session puts Barbieri in a pretty good light--not quite the formless rant that one might expect from a screamer of this vintage, but also not a staid or baldly commercial affair. I think Latino America achieved a pretty decent mix, but the ESP disk has lots of fire and none of the occasional dross. Right now (first time) spinning Mike Osborne's Outback, and all the players come off extremely well. A special note in the way of the McGregor/Miller/Moholo section, which plays here with as much fire, creativity, and poise I've heard in an extended context. I can see why so many people wanted this one re-released.

That's an f'ing awsome title, to state the obvious.

True about the "stamp of Roach" thing, and a lot of the Candid dates have that feel. I find that the album is a great showcase for Lincoln, although it will inevitably incite comparisons to other dates of this kidney. The more successful Roach/Lincoln dates of this vintage are, for me, those where the vocals are more fully dissolved into the ensemble context--and hence less explicitly vocalistic or "vocal-centric" in character. We Insist!, for example, has as much Lincoln as any of the Candids outside of Straight Ahead, but it's strictly a group affair (for whatever anyone says, and as potent as Brown and Roach's lyrics are, I fail to hear a dominant voice on those sides--appropriately, I suppose). Whatever the case, Roach-Lincoln were a startlingly powerful team in those days, and I think it really came out where the sides were as violently aggressive as could match that power (some, but not all, of Straight Ahead).

That title sounds really poignant right now. As far as listening is concerned, I really wish I had my copy of Vietnam up here with me. Peace to Leroy... As it is, I'm spinning (not Leroy-related) a copy of the Mike Nock album Almanac (a collaboration w/Bennie Maupin, Cecil McBee, & Eddie Marshall). It's extremely Miles/BN post-bop, and in a good way.

The Mingus tribute is pretty good, IMO. My girl got a copy of one his more recent projects (it's pirate-themed and co-produced by Johnny Depp), Chanteys and Sea Songs. It's got the usual cast of characters (Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell), but--typically--a few weird-ass oddities (John C. Reilly singing some raunchy tune about peg-legged persons...). For my money, these tributes are a million times more interesting than the scores of remix projects and "straight" interpretations that regularly flood the tribute bins.

I'm interested in the Interpretations sets, but I haven't heard them. The Rundgren thing/album is one of Hal Wilner's tribute grabbags--maybe not the taste of the hard-bop/post-bop fan (lots of avant/noise rock on these sets, although the "jazz" content of the Monk album is evident in the lineups involved). I guess the proper phrase would be "multi" or "trans-idiomatic", and it may look like a train-wreck, but I find this brand of tribute album pretty engaging.

Caesar Chavez Caesar Romero Caesar Salad

Much appreciated, thanks.

Althea isn't outright unlistenable, and the backings are potent enough. I think the best moments on Contrasts are every bit the match of everything Larry led on BN short of Unity. Later Larry, though, is probably best served on Lawrence of Newark--now that one is hard core.

To cool this down a bit, the thesis work at this point is prospective. I recently completed an Ayler/AACM thesis at Berkeley that almost--but due to several unfortunate factors--included a third section on the Europe/Blue Notes axis, but it's more foundational than anything else. If my scholarly work indeed gets underway, then I'll have something more concrete in a month or two... Here's hoping, as there aren't too many places that would accomodate research of the focus I'm aiming toward (i.e., centered on the improvisational factor in SA jazz as a coequal to sociological/historical elements). We'll see (thanks for the interest, though)...

Big, BIG sadness here. He was a giant, a revolutionary of the music. I'll miss those twisty melodies, that searing sound of love. The celestial orcehstra just got its first chair violin...

Just got a few releases that may appeal to the folks here: Hugh Masekela's Union of South Africa (w/Jonas Gwangwa)--a poppy, funk-jazz affair with a few well-placed fireworks. It's fun listening to these more rockish affairs and hearing the stylistic congruities (close harmonies, diatonic melodies, aggressive, expressive soloing) with the other strains of SA music. I like this one. Also up to bat are Zim Ngqawana's Vadzimu and (finally tracking it down...) Mike Osborne's Border Crossing/Marcel's Muse.

"Way, Way Out" is a favorite of mine. Late nails it. Credit goes to those involved for the extremely potent string arrangements, which rank among the more effective "contexts" within which Makanda played. It's all much more of a concerto than a spontaneous ensemble music (and that might even apply to the traditional "rhythm section", which doesn't take to many risks), but the McIntyre blows his heart out. Phenomenal writing and playing... The two dates available (?) on OJC are also quite good, but Stone Blues is somewhat more conventional than the knotty hard/post-bop that McIntyre is known for. The date with Dolphy is great, and the two altos match up pretty well.

For all we know, it's what he's working on there...

WORD.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Guess we're targets, huh?