B. Clugston

Miles Davis, On the Corner. I never tire of listening to this.

Here's more on the Switzerland 1974 release. This is a long way from Robert Wyatt, but I really like this incarnation of the band. "On July 4, 1974, Soft Machine were invited to perform at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, sharing the spotlight with such headliners as Billy Cobham’s Spectrum, Larry Coryell’s Eleventh House and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. This alone was evidence of the band being a dominant presence on the now widely popular jazz-rock scene, which had evolved out of the unique and edgy sound that the band had pioneered a few years before... http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/softmachine.html

That's a good one.

This is nuts. $299 for Dave Mason's Alone Together? I could get you 4 for them for a dollar at my local thrift shop. It's weird they don't specify what pressings they are actually selling. For example, Lee Morgan's The Cooker apparently sounds real good, but is it an Blue Note, Liberty, Scorpio? For the price they are asking, you'd think they'd be more forthcoming.

Thank you all!

That's Hugo Queirós on bass clarinet in the clip. He's got lots of videos up on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JeBmqf-x5s

It is heavy on recitation, but with a recognizable Sound & Fury sound. There are some very short instrumental breaks, but mostly you are getting a reading from the Kalevala in Finnish with some musical accompaniment. I really like it, but I must admit I don't spin it that often.

Walter Zuber Armstrong played some nice bass clarinet. Pharoah Sanders got bass clarinet workout during "Leo" (in duet with Rashid Ali) on Coltrane's Live in Japan marathon.

He's credited with both bass and contrabass clarinets on the Yoshi's GTM discs.

Cecil Taylor, Looking Ahead (Contemporary) Cecil Taylor, Conquistador (Blue Note/Liberty)

It's nice one from the early days of Ocora. More ritualistic than musical than some of the other African recordings from that period, but really fascinating.

Good one. ?

Steve Lacy, Raps (Adelphi) LES DOGON Les Chants de la Vie Le Rituel Funeraire (Ocora) Booker Little, Out Front (Candid/Barnaby) Mal Waldron, Sweet Love Bitter (Impulse/Sparton)

It's called Blossoms. Can't find the website. Thanks, I found information about the single disc on the Senators site. Maybe the box set never came into fruition. I thought I saw a photo of it once, but perhaps I made that up. I recall seeing a photo too on a Belgian website, but there was never any ordering information.

It's called Blossoms. Can't find the website.

It's my favourite Monk recording. Hmm. .... Interesting, as a big Monk fan I rate this fairly low, it's a bit of a mess IIRC but I've not played it in a while. Being a favourite doesn't mean it's his best, but I find the newcomers bring a freshness to the date that I find really entertaining. Some of Monk's later quarter dates can sound rote, but this one is lots of fun.

It's my favourite Monk recording.

I bought mine for $30 two years ago. I do occasionally see copies at that price. Weber's piece is liner notes for a reissue, but I don't know if that's wishful thinking or if someone is planning a reissue.

It's good, but it's sheer size is daunting. You really have to spend a lot of time with this music. There's a one disc CD of this band on Victo if you prefer smaller portions.

All of the Miles bios are full of holes--it seems every author has a period they dislike, skip over, etc. Maybe getting a different author for each decade is the answer.

He also knocks some of Miles' more interesting recordings and goes all Shunryu Suzuki for a bit. But overall, a good book, thanks to his extensive interviews of musicians who played with Miles.

Mark Weber on John Carter's Echoes from Rudolph's. http://markweber.free-jazz.net/2014/11/11/john-carter-echoes-from-rudolphs/

Onzy Matthews, discs 1 & 2

Probably my all time favorite Braxton album. Mine too and arguably the best introduction to him. A shame it never had a standalone CD release.

Anthony Braxton, Five Pieces 1975 (Arista).