king ubu

A guy called Pierre Cornuel (conception and illustration). This is in fact my beloved Zentralquartett (Sommer-Petrowsky-C.Bauer-Gumpert), rec. May 3 & 4, 1984 at théâtre Dunois (I guess that's in Paris? If they can record music and it's in France it's just got to be Paris, no need to mention that, especially...) Just started playing it, a bit more out and wild than usual, at least that applies to the first tune (and to the tune on the 3CD "Chronatoscope", too).

Happy Birthday!

May I join in on this eltitist vinyl-eating forum again? Bought some vinyl again, just to be allowed in here... Joe Malinga's Mandala feat. Clifford Thornton: "Tears for the Children of Soweto" (Canova CA113) (can't find a scan, and not much info about it on the WWW either) Günter Sommer et trois vieux amis: "Ascenseur pour le 28" (Nato 329) (partial front cover) Marion Brown Quartet: "La Placita" Live in Willisau (Timeless SJP 108) (but the front cover is black/red/white, too, no yellow on mine!) Phillip Wilson Quartet: "Live at Moers Festival" (Moers Music 01062) (no scan either) Now am I allowed to play with you again?

Sorry, I missed this thread, but my last extra-org contact was before August, so I don't know more - just that already a year or more ago he mentioned that several things kept him from doing something he did for me (and himself)... which in the end had no connection to Big-O, but I guess he was (and hope he is) just busy with lots of other things, and I hope nothing bad has happened (didn't exactly sound like that a year ago, but then who knows... cyberspace is a weird world and one does not always get a very good idea of what's actually behind the e-person we are in touch with...

Thanks Jon - it does sound like most of Niblock's music is somewhat similar, yes... but the two sets I ordered added up to 25£ (for 5 discs), so I figured I'd get both... maybe not a smart move. That "Young Person's Guide" disc was mentioned in the article, too, and I guess it would make for a good starting point.

All the best to your wife, Lon. Yes, Lon, all the best.

Flo Stoffner is a good young Swiss guitarist. He plays with Harald Haerter and is on a fine recent disc by Christoph Grab, a local sax player: Those who still have my BFT can hear him on the last tune, Ayler's "Ghost". Then there's Phillip Schaufelberger, member of Lucas Niggli's band Zoom (also Big Zoom, photo below): l.t.r.: Claudio Puntin (clars), Nils Wogram (tb), P.S. (g), Peter Herbert (b), Lucas Niggli (d) The Zoom band is actually a trio, Wogram-Schaufelberger-Niggli, but Niggli has expanded it for many a project to Big Zoom and other larger formats (also did a meeting with a new music ensemble), playing an interesting blend of composed and improvised music. They have several discs out on the Swiss Intakt label.

you old egaliatarian, you! and welcome back to our resident ruminant who found out in a minute where the important discussions take place

Late as usual... hope you had a good one, Claude, and congratulations!

I missed this post first time around. No, I don't believe I've heard of him, but I'll keep an ear out. I heard Freddy Bryant on a radio broadcast of Ben Riley's tasty Monk tribute. Without a piano - a smart move for a project like this - Bryant was rather present and did fine. edited for mis-spellink of Bryant's name, sorry!

Funny that Gebbia pops up again... I bought this one cheap on saturday and enjoyed the first spin very much: This is a trio recording with Gebbia on alto and soprano, and notably a great bass player. To his trio is added Massimo Simonini who does some electronic processing and some sounds stuff, which I found quite likeable, and quite fitting with the rest of the music. ******************** Phill Niblock anyone? Some info here (sorry, I can't insert any links or use any Big-O buttons and I don't know how to manually insert a link): http://touchshop.org/index.php I just ordered the new 3CD set and the previous 2CD set (did not order the 1CD release... hurdy-gurdy anyone? Except for the excellent Intakt disc with Frith, not me...) - "Touch Three" and "Touch Food" (cover below). Not sure what to expect, but after finally reading Dan Warburton's title story of the March Wire, I just had to order some of Niblock's music - sounds totally intriguing, to say the least.

Just ordered my Bailey. Ouch... errr, OUCH!

Very sad news, read about it yesterday

Their fantastic new album, "Influence," was what my second post was to be about, but I made some mistake and lost all what I had written... Here's the cover: And here are the liners: Will post more later - just let me add that this is one of the most impressive albums I've heard during recent months! Highly recommended

There are plenty of threads about Yusef Lateef, but no longer, corner-like one, so far, so I figured I'd start one. Thread about (and with link to) an article written by Assif Tsahar on Brother Yusef Yusef's funk-thread Two threads on Psychicemotus I first heard Lateef on an LP called "This Is Y.L.", which I think was a Riverside reissue of another album (Three Faces?). Next was Cannonball Adderley's sextet - what a wonderful band! "Nippon Soul" and the only recently reissued "In Europe!" feature some terrific playing by Lateef! Then the first "Live at Pep's" disc was probably among the first 50 CDs I bought. In the late fifties, this man did so many great albums - think about all the Savoys (Jazz Moods, Jazz for Thinkers), the Prestige and Riversides, plus the lone great Verve album. So Lateef, the man who looks like a prophet, has been around for more than six decades now, as a performing musician. He played with Lucky Millinder, then in Dizzy's bebop big band, went on to produce great albums of his own in the fifties and sixties, founded his own YAL label when times for jazz weren't that great, explored other musical territories, met tenorists Ricky Ford, Archie Shepp and Von Freeman for a series of Tenors albums... of course he did many more things... played terrific tenor sax, great flute, introduced a number of unusual ethnical instruments to jazz (arghol), and other funny instruments (balloons and 7-up bottles and the like), played with Mingus, considered Coltrane a friend... This man has simply been around forever. Last year two guys made a film about Lateef, which is quite beautiful and shows the scope of thought and music he embraces. Also the film shows what a unique person this man is. Very touching, at moments it almost moved me to tears. So let's discuss Lateef her, share stories, impressions, discuss favourite recordings etc! (and wait for the second post of mine to see what made me start this thread in the first place!) [edit: added a new photo after the initial one has disappeared...]

Now you're talking! I'd like to see that concert, for sure, but I guess it'd be slightly more than 15 minutes!

I hope to catch some of that on the radio later tonight... I guess I could tell you around midnight

sorry to interrupt your advanced and electro-acoustic conversations to mention two much more down to earth discs I picked up yesterday: Gave both a spin by now, and the Sclavis is excellent I must say! Very short (which is definitely a plus, in these years of too long CDs by too boring musicians), but full of ideas. Just (overdubbed) clarinet & bass clarinet, with two guys adding some percussion (each on one tune only). From Ellington to yurpean folksy grooves... recommended! The Tchicai/Schweizer is some other kind of thing... more a traditional free blowing disc, but Tchicai does some nice things. I'll have to listen more to decide how much I like it, though.

Indeed Always intrigued by these 'scientific' studies... which explains why neutral Switzerland scores so much better than France Hey, wait, you got something wrong here! If it weren't for the Ticinesi and the Romands, we'd be pure Aryans and right on top there with them Germins! Some of our ablest men in the thirties and forties of the past century were sort of "mentally" taking part in the military conflicts, I am quite sure of that. And would the Reich have incorporated us, I am sure... oh, wait, now it's not funny any longer (It never really was funny, anyway - this crap should have landed on the rubbish of history at least by 1945! Be it psychologists or historians or politicians, just make them stop "scientifically researching" such dangerous smelling brown crap, willya!)

I wonder what kind of instrument that is! And I agree about the greatness of the Holiday Verve recordings! But I think it's wiser for me to stick to the 10CD box for now.

she was, very much so I'd say, judging from her (super-? extra-?)natural grin:

Two or so years ago a local store used to have the full Universal Jazz catalogue... I always compared it to the previous one, side by side, taking notes of the missing items of interest... most often already by then it was too late to find the vanished albums... "Number Two Express" and "Fingerpainting" have been OOP for a couple of years, and Barron is treated like he's some avant garde nut, in terms of availability of his music...

Humphrey, cat; born 1988, died 2006 Michael White Tuesday March 21, 2006 The Guardian Humphrey the cat, who has died at the advanced age of 18, was one of the most prominent felines in British political life since an ancestor emerged as a significant backstairs adviser to Sir Richard Whittington in his bid to become mayor of London in the 14th century. In a career that straddled late Thatcherism, the turbulent years when John Major struggled to sustain the Tory hegemony and an unhappy twilight under Tony Blair, Humphrey occupied a unique position in Downing Street that allowed him both to observe and influence great events. In his capacity as official designated mouser in what remained, despite enormous sums spent on renovations, a fine example of a jerry-built 17th-century speculative building, Humphrey was an invaluable member of the team. He even appealed to Margaret Thatcher because, at £100 at year (mostly for cat food and paid from the Cabinet Office budget), he was cheaper than the previous pest control contractor. This was practical Thatcherism in action; Humphrey at the cutting edge. Yet his early years were spent in relative obscurity. Little is known of his parents and he was a stray when he first arrived at No 10 in 1989. Found in the street by a civil servant, he was named after Sir Humphrey Appleby, of the TV series Yes Minister, and landed in the middle of a monetary battle between Thatcher and Nigel Lawson. His lack of social connections among the cats of nearby Belgravia only served to increase his appeal to the grocer's daughter. "I can do business with Humphrey," she was once heard to observe. There is no firm evidence that Humphrey took an active role in the battle with Lawson, and claims that he once scratched Michael Heseltine are discounted by feline scholars. Major's famous interpersonal skills ensured he was persona grata with Humphrey long before he succeeded Thatcher in 1990. It was during the decline of the Major premiership that Humphrey came into his own as a distraction from the government's troubles. Whenever the pound fell through the floor or another cabinet minister was found murdered, it was convenient to announce that Humphrey had been put on a special diet or (in 1994) that he had been accused of killing four robins. "I am afraid Humphrey has been falsely accused," Major himself told reporters on that occasion. Given the falling level of trust in the premier, this was widely assumed to mean that Humpo had indeed whacked the birdies, though whether for a fee or merely for fun was never established. His latter years were marred by controversy. In the early Blair era it was reported by tabloids not yet ready to attack the new PM directly that Cherie Blair had decreed that she was allergic to Humphrey and that he must go. A photo of Cherie with Humphrey was later issued, but did little to assuage fears that he was a marked cat. When Humphrey retired to south London, Tory MPs claimed he had been murdered and insisted on seeing the corpse. Independent observers dispatched to the scene confirmed he was still alive. Thereafter, the Press Complaints Commission won agreement that his privacy be respected. He died "last week some time", No 10's spokesman has now confirmed. Demands for an inquest will be refused.