Alexander Hawkins

One track - Johnny Hodge playing 'Don't Sleep in the Subway'.

Seeing this thread in close proximity on the page to the one about Meade Lux Lewis made me think - there's quite a kinship between their sounds, at times. Listened again to 'Young at Heart' last night. It just gets better and better. Abrams really is one of those players who conveys a sense of the whole history of the instrument/idiom, without overt copying of styles - quite a difficult thing to do, I think.

Just been listening to Conquistador. I absolutely love the double bass team of Grimes and Silva. Also, I was more impressed by Bill Dixon on this than I have been before, especially on the first track.

Thanks - I keep meaning to have a listen to Bright Moments! Looks like a nice lineup.

Well, I got 'Forces and Feelings' this morning. It's a fascinating front line - female voice, guitar, and tenor (by and large; a little clarinet as well). Much as I'm growing to love these early AACM works, I generally struggle with the vocalists (e.g. on 'Levels and Degrees of Light' and 'As if it were the Seasons'). However, on occasion here, I think the voice is used to brilliant effect. I think it's something to do with the chemistry between the particular sounds the musicians get on their instruments, but there are times where you almost can't tell one from the other. It brings home, in a most favourable way, the cliches about horn playing being 'vocalising', and so on. Two other observations: the guitarist is great. I don't know many guitar players, to be honest...but I really enjoy what's here. Listening to Sarnie Garrett set me thinking. In Graham Lock's 'Forces in Motion', Braxton talks about how from the records, we only have a very slim picture of the AACM at the time, which had around 60-70 members (I think this was the ballpark figure he cited). He also reflected on how different many of these players were. I think this record gives a real glimpse of how amazing the entire scene must have been. How many other Wesley Tyuses or Sarnie Garretts were out there? And then, Fred Hopkins...Wow. I initially couldn't get the hang of him. I think this was because I first heard his bass recorded in a way I really didn't like at all - on Don Pullen's 'Warriors'. But increasingly, I think of him as one of the most distinctive bassists there is, and certainly one of my favourites!

Has anybody heard the new set of duets with Walter Frank (is that the name? I saw this in a store and can't remember)? Is it recommended?

Wow. That would be phenomenal to have that materialise (I'll be first in the queue!). I'd personally be rather pleased with myself if I'd given Braxton the call for his first record date On a different note, just thought I'd reiterate how much I like Graham Lock's 'Forces in Motion'. Picked it up and dipped into it again last night, and it's fascinating.

We certainly agree it's a great album though!!!

Isn't he??? Can't think which one I'm thinking of... Are you sure? Doesn't he play that intro to 'Barnyard Scuffle Shuffle', or whatever it's called?

I really enjoy the two piano album with Amina Claudine Myers. There's also a cool one with Leroy Jenkins ('Lifelong Ambitions', I think), and one with Braxton. I'm not so keen on the one with Cecil McBee ('Roots of Blue'); but then, in its instrumentation, it begs comparison with 'Sightsong' (with Malachi Favors), which is fantastic. I love those Delmarks - Levels and Degrees of Light, Young at Heart/Wise in Time, and Things to Come From Those Now Gone. All three I wouldn't be without. In a similar vein, I love his playing on Joseph Jarman's 'As If It Were the Seasons' (although he's only on one track). Also, he's on Braxton's '3 Compositions of New Jazz' to great effect. And those AEC recordings - I love his playing on 'Fanfare for the Warriors'. Hmmm...sometimes I'm wary of 'recommendations' posts which look a little bit like a list, but all of these I genuinely like and listen to often. If I were t prioritise, I'd probably take the Delmarks, the AEC and 'Sightsong' over the others, but still, not narrowing it down that much!

I pulled out 'Humility in the Light of the Creator' last night and realised what a wonderful player I think Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre is. I subsequently ordered 'Forces and Feelings' this morning. Does anyone else have any recommendations for his playing (off the top of my head, I own HITLOTC, Roscoe Mitchell's 'Sound' and the one track from George Freeman's 'Birthsign')? The band(s) on 'Humility...' are great as well. The two basses/drums are brilliant - I was also thinking listening last night to 'This Dance is for Steve McCall' how well it can work - and I particularly enjoy Amina Claudine Myers' piano playing here. Anyway, I think he's a very underappreciated player (certainly he was by me - no longer!)!

Paul McCartney's drummer is an absolute Monster

I noticed the other day that the AACM New York Chapter has quite a nice website. Nothing particularly unusual, but some nice bios/links. Sorry - edited for the link: AACM NY

Thanks Chuck. I may well pick up that Delmark. I wonder - were you ever tempted/in a position to record Braxton on your own label in the early days when he was still in Chicago? Maybe the Hank Jones reflects my 'newcomer's awe' at Braxton. Maybe a few more years with his music and I'll get over it! I just really like that Warne Marsh tune they do at the end of the album...

How is the relatively recent GTM on Delmark (is it Six Compositions (2000)?) I'm curious to hear a piano quartet do GTM. I really enjoyed the GTM box on Ratascan (some of the compositions more than others, admittedly!). Thanks! p.s. my favourite standards by Braxton are the piano quartet and solo, although I'm increasingly keen on the volume with Hank Jones (is it 'In The Tradition'?).

Bev, I agree - the Butterworth is great (and I can generally live without much of that era of English music).

Art Cane Cain and Abel Frasier Crane

Actually, can I have two more words? Malachi Favors. Both Ware and Favors have hugely distinctive, and appealing, sounds to my ears at least. Fred Hopkins as well.

Two words: Wilbur Ware.

Trot Nixon Nixon McLean Jackie McLean

Due to the kindness of a fellow board member, I've just been hooked up with Braxton's double album of solo piano standards (1995). I sometimes feel in a (small, at that) minority, but I find his piano playing really intriguing. Having been listening a lot lately to the Yoshi's quartet discs, I'd have pointed to Monk and Elmo Hope as clear influences. This solo outing reminds me, in addition, heavily of Mingus Plays Piano. It's a little bit like 'composer's piano', but in no way in a pejorative sense. Part of the intrigue is the deliberateness with which he does everything; this is another Monkish trait, apart from the touch. It's almost as though he's playing pieces he knows and loves for something like the first time - feeling his way around them on the keyboard. This often leads to really interesting approaches - Remember Rockefeller At Attica is a good example. Anyway, once again, I'm amazed by Braxton. Whereas the 23 Standards are fairly conventional blowing vehicles, I really hear the piano standards to be far more compositional and musically daring.

Will have to listen again before posting anything more extensive on this, but I remember enjoying the compositions a lot here. Clearly more than blowing vehicles.

Wow, what a great site!

I'll try to have a listen to that Threadgill. I wonder if it's just coincidence he's on it - from what little Threadgill I know (a couple of the Air albums, basically), he and Rollins seem to be pretty cognate players.

I very much enjoy this record, as I do many of the other Milestone Rollins I own. However, this is usually in spite of: 1) the other musicians on the dates (obviously, there are exceptions!) and 2) the horrendously glossy production of the sound If I were going to 'name and shame' on 1), I'd have to say that Jerome Harris and Mark Soskin just do not do it for me, the former in particular. What has always struck me about this is that despite Branford playing very derivative Rollins, he does VERY well. He does get whooped, but in a friendly way, and he comes out of it well. I think it's because he correctly realised that in a situation like this, he was never going to scorch Rollins technically, and so had to 'play the music', which he did. Maybe just not as well as the master.