king ubu

Indeed - maybe Cables wasn't able to make the gig yet - Duke Jordan in Copenhagen, Levy in Velden, then Cables? Checking the Copenhagen booklet, Laurie's notes seem to support that: "That this date was more than usually groovy is a lucky accident that didn't seem so lucky at the time. We'd arrived in Europe without our pianist. it was Art's second long tour of Europe in a three-month period. He was at the top of his form, and at his age, with his bad health, he was at the end of his last and brightest comeback and he knew it. He was past exhaustion. Triumph and a desperation to do it all were carrying him; he was steadily writing, traveling, performing, recording. "Art traveled with his own band because he felt he could only say everything he had to say within the context of the tunes he wrote himself, and his charts were hard to play. They had to be rehearsed and lived with for a while. The absence, for the first few days of this tour, of George Cables, Art's regular accompanist, was going to make this Copenhagen date, he feared, lackluster. Even though Art looked forward to working with the sub, the legendary Duke Jordan, he didn't look forward to playing standards, and when Danmark's radio proposed recording the first of those nights, Art was annoyed. He didn't want to seem to be just another bebopper playing the usual things." Not sure how it all fits though, as "first of those nights" would usually refer to a multi-day gig at the Café Montmartre, not "first of the tour's nights" ... but if read like the later (which isn't impossible at all) it would make sense then, and the Velden gig the day after with yet another subbing piano player would make sense, too.

Checked the info I have (from the Pepper recording shared on Dime years ago) - and indeed, it seems the Velden gig took place a day later than scheduled according to the poster. My info says July 4, 1981 (which is not confirmed ... is there any Austrian daily paper that has a - digitally accessible to anyone reading here - archive to check this? Not that I assume newspapers at that time would have necessarily reported about all jazz concerts, but maybe there are updated ads or anything?) The recordings in circulation for which I have info handy are these: July 4, 1981 - Velden (Austria) July 6, 1981 - Genoa (Italy) July 7, 1981 - Vienne (France) The Genoa recording is an AUD, the others come from radio broadcasts. The March 1981 tour is much better documented in terms of recordings, it seems: May 12, 1981 - Leicester (UK) (AUD) May 13, 1981 - Slough (UK) (unknown source) May 14, 1981 - Croydon (UK) (BBC radio broadcast, released by Laurie as Vol. III of the series) May 19, 1981 - Paris (France) (Radio France RB) May 22, 1981 - Bruxelles (Belgium) (RB) May 24, 1981 - Stuttgart (Germany) (prob. RB from Süddeutscher Rundfunk/SDR, released by Laurie as Vol. V of the series) May 28, 1981 - Roma (Italy) (AUD) There are probably more but I'd need to search through various external drives ...

It's quite good but not a masterpiece in my opinion ... the best and most notable thing is that Holland gets involved in this kind of music again - and he still has the ear and abilities to so, no doubt about that! Parker is masterful as was to be expected. But the sheer amount of music is a bit too much for regular consumption.

Not sure what that list is about ... if you want people to vote, why not compile a list of (fasten yer seatbelts!) all jazz albums (and compilations if you want to include jazz before 1950 as well) ever released? Obviously no one would go through the pains and vote then, but like this it suggests a kind of poll/majority thing, but the basis for it is totally botched. Also, several albums are listed twice it seems (or the list keeps morphing while you add votes)?

Thanks all for this thread! I continue to be amazed by Gould's Bach (and Beethoven and other stuff, too), exactly because of what Larry chose the word "pecking" for. I adore the clarity and no-nonsensicalness of his approach when playing Bach solo (and the same applies to his album of English consort musicke - I know it's totally "wrong" in many aspects, but it's so darn good, why should I care?) ... I am always annoyed, when Bach performances are blurry (not when they are bubbly, mind me -- Blandine Rannou is fine with me, to name just one different and more contemporary approach). I want to hear the lines and the tones, I want to hear the architecture I guess, the structure.

'mkay ... something fishy there! Not sure I have any better info at home, but the Velden poster would indicate the Copenhagen release being mis-dated.

There were two tours in 1981, one in May and one a bit later in summer, I think (must be mentioned in the notes to the releases). Quick search yields among other things this (David Williams indeed): http://www.cyberseekers.com/s_211039-j.htm (nothing to buy there, so I hope the link is alright) -- The Copenhagen recording - with Duke Jordan sitting on piano - comes from the second tour as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Pepper_with_Duke_Jordan_in_Copenhagen_1981

The series is generally worth getting, that's for sure! And the booklets are fun, I actually enjoy reading Laurie's reminiscences whenever I stumble over them (should finally read her book, too).

I know ... the main reason I could provide info was that I knew the recording already (a radio broadcast that did make the rounds ...) I love the series and am saddened that the pace of actual CD releases has slowed down to a drizzle (and the fact that Laurie closed the "kitchen cabinet" which was kind of a subscription, without telling subscribers, sucked, too ... I kinda stopped following all the freebies and lone tracks that kept coming for a while, it all seemed to lack a concept more and more, alas).

I still wonder about that ... actually finally bought the Stuttgart Liederhalle concert - guess it took me so long to get over the ignunce ... and searching for this thread, I see that Laurie even asked the question a second time, a few weeks later, and got the very same reply and another possible source of information to reach out to by Big Beat Steve ...

I'm one of those that isn't usually bothered with warbly cymbal sounds but reacts strongly to foogly bass sounds - part of it, in my case, is problably that I love the bass in jazz (and pop) so much that it really makes me cringe ... but yeah, the Woody Shaw on Elemental suffers from badly sounding cymbals as well (they don't even mention what hall or location it was recorded in--bet Woody III knows but dosen't want us to know as much as he does ... the main notes are by Cuscuna as well btw --- and don't forget that Elemental is the label that did the amazing Giuffre 2-CD-set a couple of years back, it seems to be a spin-off or sister-label/project of Resonance in some way, so probably about as legit as it gets) - anyway with the Shaw, it was the drunk piano that I noticed (but it doesn't keep Mulgrew Miller from playing excellently).

Picked up the Lang/Venuti at the post office today ... packaged safely and everything in excellent condition

I like it quite some! The Tokyo set (with Tootie in great form) is under 40 minutes though, so they added two bonus tracks from roughly the same time ... second one is with the "Homecoming" band, Woody taking a break ... now more by that group would be great!

Thanks Chuck, will gladly check out her website!

done ordered

Interesting, thanks! Wasn't yet aware of that one! But there's a companion release on Dutch Jazz Archive, incl. tracks with Sims: https://www.jazzarchief.nl/en/product/lee-konitz-soot-sims/ I think some of this material was out on a vinyl bootleg I once was allowed to borrow from a friend's late dad ... very good to have some of it available in decent reissues! -- The Horace Silver is nice, too, btw! And so is the Basie (which duplicates most or all of the 2-disc-set that used to be on Trema/Laserlight) And the Q, and the Nat Cole/Q,

... which is why I think doing something like that on Intakt (as opposed to, I don't know who'd actually this in the classical world) is quite a good idea. On the label's site (linked) above you can sample the new disc. I'll check out the vimeo link later, thanks!

Got this new release by Intakt yesterday and gave it a first spin right away. I remember how, travelling to Willisau by train last year, I met Patrik Landolt (Intakt producer) and how he almost wouldn't stop talking of this piano quartet and their performances of music by Julius Eastman. I had never heard the name of Eastman before but my curiosity was piqued for sure! The concert that took place in Zurich in November I couldn't attend alas (I was between jobs and taking some time off to travel, thus missed the entire Unerhört festival, including a re-union of sorts of the London Jazz Composers Orchestra, which was in fact a mixture of Barry Guy's Blue Shroud Band, adding some of the old cohorts--but I bet it was amazing!). The CD was recorded a few weeks after that concert, but the quartet has been together for a few years and has played many concerts--right now they're doing a series of "guerilla concerts" and I hope to catch one next week, on a worday afternoon at an arts gallery ... I guess they will bring their battered uprights, not use concert grands like they did in the studio. Details on the CD can be found here: http://www.intaktrec.ch/306-a.htm The music, I canno't really describe, it's minimal of sorts, it's very intense ... sometimes, the pianos are prepared, sometimes they're not, structures keep evolving, tension keeps building, sometimes almost to the point of becoming unbearably intense. Blurb from the Intakt website: The Kukuruz Quartet was first seen and heard making their contribution to a production at the Zurich Schauspielhaus. Kukuruz was engaged with notated classical music, advanced new music, with jazz and improvisation. 2014 Kukuruz started their involvement with Julius Eastman and his musical works. In 2017, their performance at documenta 14 in the Megaro Mousikis concert hall in Athens earned a standing ovation. They performed works by Julius Eastman: 'Evil Nigger', 'Gay Guerrilla', 'Buddha' and 'Fugue No. 7'. The recording of these compositions followed in November 2017 on four Steinway D pianos in the main hall of the historic Radiostudio Zürich. Composer, trombonist and scholar George E. Lewis, who knew Eastman personally and played with him, writes in the liner notes: "This brilliant recording by the Kukuruz Quartet constitutes an important new contribution to the growing corpus of performances of music by the composer, pianist, and singer Julius Eastman (1940-1990), who came to prominence in the experimental music scene of the 1970s and 1980s ... On this recording, the Kukuruz Quartet renders Eastman's spirit of adventure audible and sensuous, exemplifying a new, creolized formation of contemporary classical music that is able to embrace a multicultural, multi-ethnic usable past and thinkable future that can affirm our common humanity in the pursuit of new music." -- There's stuff on youtube which I still need to check out myself--maybe this for starters (the piece is on the Intakt disc as well): If you go over to YT to play it (be aware, they'll track you! but so they do when you play the above in this window), you'll be directed to more. New World has a three-disc release titled "Unjust Malaise" as well as a release of "The Zurich Concert" from 1980--guess these would be fine additions to the new one on Intakt. Does anybody know them? http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=94885 http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=15097 Julius Eastman in 1974 (photo: Christine Rusiniak) Some more stuff to read (I borrowed the photo from the first of these): https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/05/02/hammered-into-clouds-nine-beginnings-for-julius-eastman/ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/14/julius-eastman-american-composer-pianist-femenine https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/22/the-genius-and-the-tragedy-of-julius-eastman

Haven't listened to it yet ... but enjoy the Ray Charles and the Les McCann bigtime! The Monk and Ellington seem to overlap (with the "Monk in France" and "Alhambra 1958" releases respectively, but info provided is slim ... on purpose surely, which is lousy for a generally serious label like Frémeaux ... but we know the record biz by now, don't we? They have other measurements of decency and thoroughness than honest people). The Getz is quite good for sure though, a most welcome addition to the series! Gourley btw is not present on the three studio tracks at the end (which make up around 21 of the 78/79 minutes). But I guess for me the best is how heavily featured Solal is throughout. He has several trio tracks in the concerts and his soloing and accompaniment are both highlights of the disc. Getz on the other hand, around that time, is somehow not a real favourite. I dearly love his Roost sessions and other early leader stuff, I enjoy the band with Brookmeyer (and later for just a couple of cuts Fruscella), I love the West Coast sessions on Verve ... but late 50s/earliest 60s are a bit less favoured in my house and I guess that's the case here (but I took some of the mentioned 1958-60 recordings off the shelves to give them another spin soon - "at Large" on Storyville and the Dragon set). Later in the sixties, Getz has done stuff I love again, starting with some of the solos on the bossa albums, then "Focus" and "Mickey One" (not as ingenuously charted as "Focus", but listen to Getz ripping it up!), the band with Burton, the album with Corea, then the late 60s date with Stanley Cowell ... he was really exploring stuff then! Same later with Joanne Brackeen (the two Resonance discs are terrific!)

Much too cumbersome to try and find any general Stan Getz thread (I think there's none or it was closed - there's a multi-page-thread on "where's the Stan Getz thread", so there's that) ... either way, this came out as part of the on-going "Live in Paris" collection by Frémeaux. Great series with releases by, among others, Duke Ellington, Les McCann, JATP, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk etc. - there's also a website that includes a few additional, DL only items (Lou Bennett Trio w/Klook and guest Barney Wilen - how's that for cool?!): http://www.live-in-paris.fr Latest in the series is a generously filled disc by Stan Getz, recorded mostly (#1-9) on January 3, 1959 at the Olympia Theater in Paris, the rest (#10-12) originating from a radio studio session ("probably first week of January 1959"). The band may be the best Getz had during his extended European sojourn of that time (he got married in Sweden, among other things, releases from the period include "Stan Getz at Large", "In Sweden 1958-60", "Live in Zurich", "Stan Getz at Nalen", "Stan Getz at Nalen - Featuring Jan Johansson", and "Polish Radio Jazz Archives 01 - Stan Getz & Andrzej Trzawskowski Trio"). Stan Getz (ts), Jimmy Gourley (g), Martial Solal (p), Pierre Michelot (b), Kenny Clarke (d) Solal gets several trio features, Gourley is providing some fine solos, so does the leader ... Klook, Michelot and Solal keep things very, very lively. Sound is pretty okay, some phasing issues on the cymbals here and there, but generally it's very listenable. And on top of all that, the French stage presenter announces "Miss Stan Getz" on tenor sax at the end of the opening "Cherokee" Repertoire is fairly standard, with Bop classics (Cherokee, 'Round Midnight, The Squirrel, Yardbird Suite) standards (All the Things You Are, Softly as in a Morning Sunrise, Tenderly, Too Marvelous for Words, Over the Rainbow) and a few other classics (Lover Man, Topsy).

I actually scored real CDs of several of the lower numbers, too (and I haven't forgot your help with several of these @brownie ) - but about four or five I've not (yet) attempted to find real ones (via Discogs would indeed be the best chance, I guess ... but then you'd have to rely on vendors being honest and knowledgeable enough). Two of the ones I've got are really weird, they look like a mix of CD and CD-R - the colour is less bluish/greenish than with the clearly-CD-R ones, and on the inner ring, there is the usual black serial number (CD-R), but then there is also printed stuff like the catalogue number (which would indicate CD) - I wonder if CD-R printers have become so good that they can reproduce all of that stuff (label, catalogue numbers etc.) by now?

First one seems to be more the bebop classics (mostly Bird-related), second one standards ... guess that could have been programmed differently, but I don't really mind. But the two takes of "Un poco loco" have me wonder if more material (alternate takes) have survived? There would have been plenty of additional space between the two CDs. One detail/inconsistency: in his liners, Pujol mentions the recordings being made on three consecutive days (July 19-21, 1966), but the info gives them as three days with the break of one day in between (July 18, 19 & 21, 1966). Either way: a major find!

Gave Vol. 2 a first spin last night ... it's as wonderful as Vol. 1 had me hope

('xept that Rava made most of his finest albums elsewhere ... and that ECM for Stanko and Wheeler is only half the story - but yeah, all three made wonderful - Stanko and Wheeler some outstanding - albums for the label)

Congrats! Good catch! The Lang/Venuti will be delivered tomorrow, I hope (or else picked up Wednesday at the post office as possibly no one will be home)!