[Thirsty Ear Corner]

While I haven't heard that much Thirsty Ear material, I've always been impressed by the label aesthetic. The Blue Series is one of the rightful heirs to the ESP-Black Saint/Soul Note-Hat experimental tradition. The strong avant bent would be enough, but there's something wonderfully cohesive about the series oeuvre. At the same time, the Blue Series has one of the finest collaborative rosters of any modern improv label. There's something going on, a school, an ideology--there's this Blue Note vibe to the whole thing.

That being said, I really love the Shipp albums. Equilibrium is my favorite, melding "contemporary" urban sounds with an Andrew Hill slant. I mean, where are you going to hear Khan Jamal these days? The DJ Spooky set--the non-remix album with Joe McPhee, Shipp, etc.--is pretty nice, too.

I'm pleased to think that the rap/electronica contingency can make a positive contribution to improvised music--even pushing the boundaries a bit. There's a sort of manic recklessness to the younger cats, a willingness to experiment without recourse to conventional notions of "acceptability." I just hope that--somewhere down the line--the "urban" inflections don't sound as dated as they could.

[Happy Birthday Marion Brown]

He is hoping to record in the near future, so it gives us Marion-ophiles something to look forward to.

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Great news! I pray that he's feeling healthier these days (granted all the reports).

[CBBB - OPEN DOOR (Muse 5056)]

Yes, I really like the McRae collaboration (though I hardly think it's HER best work!) 

The Rearward cs from Italy are very nice!  (Only the Strauss is really a Clarke Boland Big Band date; the others are small group sessions with personnel drawn from the band).  They come in a sort of pressboard digipak with a separate booklet that is bound and packed with pages. Wonderful cd sound too and great performances!  There is also a jewel case cd from them of a Karl Drewo lp that is "sort of" a CBBB small band date.

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I've slowly accumulated several of the Rearward sets--all phenomenal. I actually bought the Sahib Shihab on a lark some ways ago... I was shocked at how good it was. Stellar repertoire, deft solos, and phenomenal sound quality make for some terrific listening. Shihab has always been the surprise of the CBBB for me--wonderfully versatile and quite idiosyncratic. An underrated baritone for sure... his trenchant, exciting solos on the Rearward set could be the highlight of the series.

[Happy Birthday Marion Brown]

A little late, but I'm a big fan of Marion Brown (one of my favorite altos). "Three for Shepp" is an all time favorite of mine. While I'd love to see him out and about again, he's already given more than enough... I just wish more of his old material would get reissued. Damn it, Impulse (although I'm pretty sure most of it was reissued--in excellent fidelity--in Japan some while ago).

[Night of the Cookers]

Long time listener, first time caller. I didn't see an actual topic for this gig, although it's been mentioned often enough. Regardless, I went to the 8 p.m. show last night... it was pretty hot. The lineup was phenomenal, the compositions were tight, the playing was excellent.

Not one person should be worried by the recent lineup shuffle. Tolliver and Harper carried out the front line duties commendably. Harper was breathing fire from square one, intermittent microphone problems notwithstanding. Tolliver started off a little cold, but warmed up fast--by the second number, he was breaking the place apart. John Hicks was wonderful--I sat right in front of him--and provided an excellent foil for the horns' derring-do. Dwayne Burno and Roy McCurdy--the two "lesser" (take or leave the term, if you will) names in the group--held up the bottom end just fine. Altogether, the band was shockingly flexible, wrangling the difficult charts with ease. Then again, at this level, superlative is kind of redundant, right?

I can't recall all the numbers, but they did play Harper's "Thy Will Be Done," "Pensativa," and "Right Now." Tolliver really let 'em have it with the last one... made me seriously reconsider his playing. The cat has a phenomenal command of the middle register, juggling loping harmonic twists with staggering timbral control. It's almost a pity he didn't play on McLean's version (right after the show, I ran out and bought "Jacknife," by the way).

If you're in the bay area, drop what you're doing. Who knows how long these guys are going to last? It's nice to see that what once verged on the avant-garde--now the old guard--is still playing with fire.

Thoughts? Violent criticism?