king ubu

Here is an interview with Bowie, remembering his months with Fela:

John, I know a little by all the three guys you mentioned - some best of from Mapfumo, some broadcast from Touré, both good! Fela of course, well, is Fela... was it Lester Bowie that came to Nigeria somewhen in the seventies? I remember reading some great story! Gotta look for that, it's on the www somewhere. ubu

Based on 2-3 songs, he appears to be a pop/standards singer. His rendition of Stevie Wonder's For Once in My Life is being played to death (every few hours) on my local Lite & Easy channel. You know, I'm resistent to radio, unless it's jazz live broadcasts... I can even be in a room with a radio playing, but I usually remember NOTHING... (and the Buble guy sounds too good to be played here, anyway, all we get is cheapo pop and dance shit...)

nope, the Bebop date is with Nat Peck, Don Byas & Bernard Peiffer; recorded 7 July 1949 for Blue Star in Paris. I stand corrected! Sorry for mixing things up!

That Moody date is on the Jazz in Paris release simply called "Bebop", if I remember right (don't have it at hand to check the date of recording, though).

Well, this is slightly good news, guys! We're slightly hip! (But who's that Buble guy?) ubu

D.D., I'm not much into this music (simply for lack of knowledge), but it really seems you ought to check out Roswell Rudd's recent MALIcool (Universal France)! There's a thread somewhere in the new releases section! ubu

If you're into indian music, you should definitively check out Hariprasad Chaurasia! Probably my all time favourite. When you get a chance to, go see him live too (I've seen him twice) - an astonishing, and wonderful musician! If you're lucky, you'll hear him with Zakir Hussain, one of the best (if not simply the best) tabla player. Beautiful stuff!

I heard/saw Remember Shakti live only a few months ago, and it was a great show! I can understand that some people could think of it as some self-indulgent virtuoso-playing without too much depth, but then I think McLaughlin really has learned a lot about classical indian music, and you ought to consider that when listening to his newer music, as he's as much (or even more) into that as into jazz.

well well well well well, I'm over there in the jihad, so I don't have time to save these poor souls and keep'em from hanging themselves...

He-he, McLaughlin I cannot stand at all. All these fast up-and-down runs, too many notes and boring sound. I normally go to restromm during McLaughlin's solos on electric Miles discs. McLaughlin is one ofthe main reasons I don't listen to "Bitches Brew" too much. I still have to hear his early disc with John Surman, which is supposed to be good, but other than that there is not much hope I'll become a McLaughlin fan. Now what am I supposed to answer to that? Should I say: my dear gentleman, I consider this statement to be intolerable, impossible to say, and thus, never spoken? Or should I say: has someone mentioned anything about John McLaughlin, I haven't heard anything... Well well well well well, you, my dear friend don't know what you miss! Don't you just love his soloing on "In A Silent Way"? Also the very early stuff by the original Mahavishnu Orchestra I consider to be GREAT! ubu

exactly. you know, I had a feeling that " " was what you were looking for... B)

I like the phrase "musically astute terrorism" a lot . However, it would rather fit some Brötz or Ayler or such stuff, than this trio... but you know your Jurek, don't you

I haven't. These look really interesting. Hopefully they will get reissued by HatHut. I guess they will, sooner or later - why not drop Mr. Uehlinger an email? On Doran again: listening to a few tracks from the Doran/Studer/Wittwer disc, his playing quite reminded me of McLaughlin. As with McLaughlin, what Doran does is a very competent (technically speaking) and creative handling of the WHOLE guitar tradition, from Charlie Christian to Jimi Hendrix. All there. I guess Wittwer, in the end, is more interesting, as he's a loner and not that prone to influences, but together, they make for some interesting walls of sound. And these walls are quite transparent, as there's no bass included. ubu

I've been not able to warm to Doran so far. I've heard a couple of his works on Leo and Enja (the Enja one is with Robert Dick -a stunning flute player as far as (very extended) technique goes, but also not very interesting to me)... a competent player, for sure, and a lot of ideas, but something does not click. Talking about ECM guitarrists, anybody's here into Steve Tibbets? I find him an extremelly talented musician, but a bit confused (I haven't heard his last one, though): too many things crowding on each other in his mucis. I am looking forward to him distilling all his ideas and coming up with a masterpiece (he is still a relatively young guy). Have you heard the discs of the Anderson-Doran-Bennink trio on hat? I haven't had them for a long time, and listened to only a couple of times. Will listen again and post some comments. Also what I know of Doran is his recent project, the "New Bag" band. Some tough and straight, pretty dark, and pretty rock-drenched music, with the astonishing vocalist Bruno Amstad. I'm not sure how much I like that group, however. Tim Berne and Jim Black sat in with them for a concert at Willisau in 1999 - this to make it understood in what general "direction" the music belongs. ubu

Juliette?... Justine? Oh la la... les vices de la vertu B) That site is blocked here (at work) - what's its contents?

Marcus, I bought countless number of oop CDs on Djangos Music. Me too! Highly recommended! Also the notify-list feature is very cool! I always got a list of some discs, and they sooner or later turn up! Their shipping costs are rather human, too. ubu

Well, still only the first two CDs from the Kelly/Chambers, but HELLYEAH! The music SOUNDS beautiful, and the playing is great! The album with Lateef is a treat! I have forgotten about Lateef being on this set, as I haven't looked at the discography for a long time before buying it, and his arrangements are a great surprise! Good playing, more Tommy Turrentine (Blumenthal's comments seem accurate: T.T. is great in this "modal" context), more of Fuller's big sound, and then Lateef himself... Chambers is all front and central, too, and I like that! I love his playing ever since I got "Whims of Chambers" (which, I remember, was in Athens - somewhere between Omonia and Syntagma, in October 1998, back in the days when my jazz addiction had already developped, but my collection was only some dozens of discs... Got the Turrentine Up At Minton's there, too...) ubu

Also got a burn yesterday of another great disc by Stephan Wittwer: Not you usual ECM album! Christy Doran Fredy Studer Stephan Wittwer Red Twist & Tuned Arrow Christy Doran electric and acoustic guitars Fredy Studer drums, percussion Stephan Wittwer electric guitar, synthesizer, sequencer programming Canon Cannon 1374 Quasar Belluard Backtalk Messing D.T.E.T. Recorded November 1986 ECM 1342 Doran is actually of Irish origin, but has been a mainstay of the swiss jazz/rock/free scene for several decades. He might be the best-known of the three. He was, together with Fredy Studer, part of the legendary swiss jazz-rock group OM (the other half being saxofonist Urs Leimgruber and bassist Bobby Burri) (I have yet to hunt some of their LPs or CDs). Doran and Wittwer are both incredible, and it's great to hear them with just a drummer, as there is some space around them (which would probably be cluttered up by a bassist). ubu

P.L.M., I just took that Columbia disc with the wonderful (playing & looking) Susie Ibarra home from the radio station I occasionally do some programmes for. Will report. Of course I have one of the discs Ware made with Cecil, namely the Enja disc "Dark to Themselves", which I like quite some. And I don't find the duo track with Harris too weak - it's just more the "your usual kind of free jazz" stuff than the solos of Harris, which are great! ubu

For those interested, "All About Rosie" was reissued on CD as part of the Columbia Legacy CD "The Birth of the Third Stream" in 1996. A great disc! And All About Rosie is indeed a killer! I wish they'd reissue the Modern Jazz Society disc in its entirety!

Yep. Monday or so. ; ) Oh, well, that neato classy divider is, well, a neato classy divider ubu

I had the Bill Mays CD with ray Drummond, and I'm sure this is not the version. It does not sound like Red Mitchell on bass either, whose sound I know pretty well, so the album king ubu linked is not the one. No clue who it might be ... I just provided the link to the guess of cannonball addict, not having my disc with me then (and too lazy to compare since then)... and here goes just to show I can do that, too...

I think I mentioned that I got the disc in the mean-time (well, a CDr, only), and it's friggin' great stuff! D.D. you ought to check this out! From the Grob blurb: "he [Wittwer] has absorbed the lessons from Hardcore and Trash Metal and transferred them elegantly and without compromise into his own idiom". You know, I still have sentimental nostalgic Trash/Death Metal attachments, so there is no way I will want to miss this one. He also has a classical guitar education. Mentioned the "usual suspects" in the interview (Hendrix, mainly, as he was coming of age at the time of Hendrix's greatest success and musical achievements). Also told us a funny story about him and Elliot Sharp, but he can't relate to Sharp too much, musically.