B. Clugston

I saw this album sitting in a second hand shop the other day. I remember seeing Bill Cowsill performing covers in a pub back in the early 90s during one of the many mini comebacks he had in those days. It was sad and kind of surreal. Now spinning: Giorgio Gaslini Jean-Luc Ponty...et al (PA USA) & Philly Joe Jones/Dameronia, Look Stop Listen

Anthony Braxton and the Three Rivers Tri-Centric Ensemble, Ensemble (Pittsburgh) 2008. Excellent concert organized by saxophonist Ben Opie featuring some of Braxton's older creative orchestra songs. Braxton conducts and plays. There's also a CD-R featuring a high school ensemble doing a great job on some Braxton tunes.

Sad news. Baker is great on those George Russell Sextet dates and is a big reason why they were so good. Glad he went on to have a long, impactful career in music.

??? Hungarian String Quartet, Bela Bartok, The Six String Quartets (DG). Endlessly fascinating music.

John Coltrane, Black Pearls (Prestige).

Walter used to come up to Vancouver to record, teach and busk. I met him a few times and he was a nice guy and quite a character. I've always liked this LP, but certainly it's not in the top echelon of Lacy's works. The CD version has two further duets which appeared on the LP Call Notes. Now playing... John Coltrane, Offering, Live at Temple University (Resonance). It's late period Coltrane, but compared to the Japan and Olatunji concerts, this one comes across as mellow.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

Watazumido-Shuso, The Mysterious Sounds of the Japanese Bamboo Flute (Everest)

I spin Judgement, Compulsion and the Blue Note Mosaic Select the most, but you really can't go wrong with any of the Blue Notes.

Bill Dixon, Aaron Siegel, Ben Hall, Weight/Counterweight (Broken Research)

John Coltrane, Impressions (Impulse, mono) John Coltrane, Coltrane (Prestige/AP) Steve Lacy, Saxophone Special (Emanem)

Ottawa 45

John Coltrane, Soultrane + and the Red Garland Trio (Analogue Productions). Great stuff from the Prestige era. Steve Lacy, School Days (QED). All Monk, before it was fashionable, with Roswell Rudd.

Sign me up for a download please.

Kodaly String Quartet, Contemporary Hungarian Chamber Music (Hungaroton).

RIP. He also did a lot to bring Schoenberg's work to a wider audience.

Those albums seem to get forgotten amongst Giuffre's output, but they are great. Kiyoshi Tokunaga and Randy Kaye are an excellent rhythm section for this music. Evan Parker/Derek Bailey/Han Bennink, The Topography of the Lungs (Incus)

Joseph Jarman and Famoudou Don Moye, Egwu-Anwu (Sun Song) (India Navigation). Nice showcase of both talents without the other guys. Jimmy Giuffre 3, Music for People, Birds, Butterflies & Mosquitoes (Choice). Great album from Giuffre's 70s trio. Lots of flute.

Paul Desmond Quartet Live (Horizon). Great quartet date with on Ed Bickert on guitar, Jerry Fuller on drums and Don Thompson on bass (and engineer). Desmond's solo on Jobim's Wave is packed with interesting moments.

Happy Birthday to the guy who knows the difference between Roughriders and Rough Riders!

Ovary Lodge (RCA)

Howard Riley, The Other Side (Spotlite)

? Whenever I come across a clean ESP pressing, I feel like there's something wrong with it. Yes, it doesn't feel right. Listening to New York Art Quartet now which is surprisingly blemish free Globe Unity Orchestra - Jahrmarkt/Local Fair [Po Torch] first listen.Side 2 might just be the maddest piece of music I've heard in a very long time That is wild stuff. Local Fair sounds like a precursor to Sergey Kuryokhin's Pop Mechanics projects in the 1980s and '90s.

? Whenever I come across a clean ESP pressing, I feel like there's something wrong with it.

Great choices. "Flute music" is also well worth getting if you do not have it. I just finished spinning that Hemphill LP myself as your post inspired me to play it again. The music is excellent, but to me it suffers a bit due to that typical Black Saint tinny/trebly production. Right now: Black Unity Trio "al-fatihah" (salaam). Probably one of my favorite free jazz albums ever...if I ever did my own "top ten free jazz list" a la Thurston Moore then this would definitely be on it. Black Unity Trio is a masterpiece--I love that album and thanks to you, I've heard it. I'm spinning the Hemphill again. I agree with you about the sound, but the playing is tremendous.