Alexander Hawkins

I also think this is quite different to '3 Compositions of New Jazz', but taken in tandem, what a stunning pair of records to debut as a leader! I don't have the contemporary knowledge of various people here, but I'd have thought it's fair to say that Delmark, in 'For Alto' and 'Sound', had two seminal works of the music.

Can't decide how to fill out the 10, but... 1. Lonnie Smith - Live at the Club Mozambique 2. Reuben Wilson - Love Bug 3. Grant Green - Grant's First Stand ...is a start.

...And here is something quite interesting: some liner notes Braxton penned for the original issue, but which - for whatever reason - weren't actually included. Edit: Gary - to be perfectly honest, I don't know! I can't afford any discographies (yet!), and online, I couldn't after a brief search find anything.

And here is a typically hyperbolic, but quite nice, I think, review from AMG by Thom Jurek.

This is our discussion of Braxton in general

Well, in order to fill in I suggested on that other thread that we discussed Braxton's 'For Alto'. I did post on this in the recommendations forum not too long ago: For Alto But the discussion - very usefully, I might add! - turned into some recommendations about solo saxophone music more generally. So, For Alto. Recorded 1969, and Braxton's second album, I believe. This seems to be heralded as the first full-length solo saxophone album, and it's a double-LP length at that. Some thoughts, in no particular order: 1) I think this is the record to play those people who think Braxton is somehow cold or passionless. Moments in the John Cage tribute are almost frighteningly intense. 2) As I've listened to this CD over the few weeks I've had it, I'm struck by the coherence of it all. In the (IMHO excellent) Graham Lock book, 'Forces in Motion', AB talks of his terror during his first totally solo recital. After however long, he says he simply couldn't summon the ideas; hence him developing his various schemas for improvisation. I think this is very honest: althought the romantic image of the 'free' improviser is to go up on the stand and 'play what you feel', perhaps it is that being of limited cognitive abilities, as humans we probably are at our freest and most creative with certain stimuli (such as AB takes from his compositions). 3) A relatively unimportant point, but I really like the sound on this. I don't know the story, but it sounds like a 'home-made' recording. Sure, it's not perfect - and nobody get me wrong, the sound of a recording never put me off anything - but it's very natural. It's not over-produced in the slightest, and it makes the horn sound very real. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this makes it very listenable and direct: I listen almost in the same way as I might if he were in the room. 4) His technical control of the horn is awesome, by the sounds of things (I'm not a horn player, so don't appreciate it like some might). Again, I'm never overly hung-up by technique, but for those who are impressed by it, or respect it, Braxton seems to be all there. The jumps in and out of the altissimo register are awesome. 5) I think this record places him very clearly in the historical lineage. Sure, just the titles (they're subtitled as a series of dedications, e.g. to John Cage, Cecil Taylor, Leroy Jenkins, as well as to various (presumably) personal friends of his) - suggest the Braxton is aware of debts. But as well as this, it's easy to hear him as part of what he might call (I can't remember his precise terminology from the Lock book) the post-Parker/Ayler continuum. More precisely, I hear lots of 3 influences: Bird, Dolphy, and Ornette. I'm always interested by his comments on Dolphy in the Lock book. Basically, he says that although he likes ED's playing, he doesn't regard him as much of an influence. This may well be the case - we probably have to take him at his word - but to my ears, he sounds temperamentally a lot like Dolphy (and although it's not an issue on this single-instrument album, his multi-instrumentalism always brings Dolphy to mind). 6) Given the above, this music is very hard to classify. I think this is good; classification is treacherous, and by and large useless, I suspect. Is it avant-garde? Sure, in many respects - the use of extended techniques, the use of graphic scores, the concept of a complete solo album etc. But then Bird, Dolphy etc. are so explicit in this music (at least to my ears). Maybe, in fact, this recognition just colours our interpretation of the term avant-garde, in illustrating that there is no conceptual problem in linking the avant-garde to the tradition. You've got to know where you've been to know where you're going, to know the rules to break them, etc. etc. 7) Related to where the discussion on the other thread (linked above) went, this is a great place to get started on solo saxophone repertoire, I think. Simply, you don't miss other instruments, as I as a relatively inexperienced listener had feared I might.

Great - I'd be happy to. Perhaps I can post my thoughts later rather than sooner on Sunday - I'm on a gig almost all day!

Maybe we could do Braxton's 'For Alto'? I can't get enough of it just now, and it's pretty seminal!

I recently got 'Durability', and love it. It opens with a great reading of Shuffle Boil, one of my favourite Monk Tunes.

Thanks - I'll take a look!

How is the version of 'People in Sorrow' on the Emergency 'Homage to Peace'? I think this is a beautiful tune - I'd really love to hear how it's done by a group other than the AEC!

I just did a couple of searches and didn't turn up anything, but is there any more information on when this might appear? I'm certainly keen to read it!

I was listening to some of the Ornette Atlantic box earlier today, and actually, I take this back. I can really here the influence now. In fact, I can't really see what I was getting at there!

That's a pretty cryptic review! What do you take him to mean by 'leav[ing] Bird in his dust'? Is it a reflection on the actual tempi taken?

That said, I would almost invariably play the crappiest, most beaten up piano going on a gig than play a keyboard of any sort...But that's off-topic! Already mentioned in this thread - some of the most egregious examples which sprang to mind were the pianos used on 'Nefertiti...' and 'At the Five Spot'.

Just listening to 'The Magic Triangle' with Don Moye and Joseph Jarman. Some great playing all round. I especially like the 3 way blues!

'Man of Words' from 'Out Front' is beautiful - really haunting. The scoring for Dolphy's bass clarinet is wonderful here.

I was just thinking listening to it earlier how much I enjoyed the alternates from 'Way Out West'.

Is anyone familiar with the record (on Infinite Chug) of The Thirteen Ghosts featuring Thurston Moore and Derek Bailey, The Legend of the Blood Yeti? I wonder what sort of music this is, and is it worth picking up? (I can't find any reviews or anything through a google search!)

Am really enjoying 'This Dance is For Steve McCall' and 'The Flow of Things' at the moment. The double rhythm section is great on the former - I really like the idea, and the outcome. Joseph Jarman's 'Ericka' is such a great tune.

Thanks! I wondered if it was something like that. FWIW, we get a little baseball here on UK tv, but not enough that I really understand what's going on in the season. It's fun to watch, though!

I picked this up the other day, not having read this thread and known it was a boot... Great stuff! The tune 'Go Chi' is awesome...I certainly recognise it from somewhere though...Does it go by another name on the 'Live in Berlin' record, perhaps? The AEC waltz numbers are great, though. The feel they get is just awesome.

Check out any of the (tragically small) output of Jehan Alain. The piece 'Litanies' in particular is a mutha.

A propos of absolutely nothing... Is there a correlation between Chicago geography and whether you support the White Sox or the Cubs? I visited last year and saw almost exclusively Cubs merchandise...

Reuben Wilson - Love Bug. This is SWEET.