Larry Kart

Maybe so. After all, it's often not easy to pay attention. But seriously, I pretty much meant what I said. I can't count the number of times I'd be sitting in a club and literally say under my breath, "Notice, notice" and then write down brief phrases that seemed to be linked to what I'd heard. Then when I began to write, those verbalized bits of noticing almost literally began to talk to each other and virtually dictate what one would go on to say. This was especially the case when one went straight from the event back to the paper and filed a review before midnight at the latest. The Lost Quintet review I must have had more time to think about, maybe a day or so, but I think I sat down and wrote it first thing the next day because I was still so excited by what I'd heard.

I like that review myself, but the music and the band more or less wrote it. All I had to do was pay attention.

My first wife and I caught a Niquet performance of works by Charpentier in Paris some 12 or 15 years ago in the chapel of Les Invalides. The way the music rose to the large room's very high domed ceiling was magical; Charpentier was a master of manipulating sounds in space. Delighted, I wondered in passing what Morton Feldman would have made of what I was hearing. Walking to the performance down a boulevard, we passed a mansion in which lots of elegantly dressed people had gathered for a party in brightly lit rooms. Later on we learned that it had been the home of the late cosmetics empress Helena Rubinstein.

The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions Box set, Extra tracks Edition by Davis, Miles (1998) Audio CD.webloc Just picked this up (have no idea what took me so long) and discovered, much to my surprise, that Bob Belden's notes refer approvingly to a 1969 Down Beat review I wrote of a Plugged Nickel performance by the Lost Quintet. The review FWIW: Outside of Charlie Parker’s best units, I don’t think there’s ever been a group so at ease at up tempos as Miles Davis’s current quintet. Their relaxation at top speed enables them to move at will from the “hotness” up-tempo playing usually implies to a serene lyricism in the midst of turmoil. This “inside-out” quality arises from the nature of human hearing, since, at a certain point, musical speed becomes slow motion or stillness (in the same way the eye reacts to a stroboscope). Yet the group doesn’t move into circular rhythms wholesale. They generally stay right on the edge, and, when the rhythm does seem ready to spin endlessly like a Tibetan prayer wheel, one prodding note from Davis or Shorter is enough to send them hurtling into “our” time world, where speed means forward motion. Recent changes in the group’s personnel and instrumentation have had important effects. Chick Corea is playing electric piano, and while this move may have been prompted by the variable nature of club pianos, Corea has made a virtue of necessity, discovering many useful qualities in the instrument. In backing the horns, its ability to sustain notes and produce a wide range of sonorities frees Holland and DeJohnette from these roles. Corea is now the principal pattern maker in the rhythm section, a task to which Ron Carter and Tony Williams previously had given much attention. As a soloist, Corea has found a biting, nasal quality in the instrument that can be very propulsive. I heard a number of first sets, and each time it seemed that the rhythm section really got together for the night during Corea’s solo on the first tune. As mentioned above, Holland and DeJohnette don’t often set up the stop-and-go interludes of Carter and Williams. Instead, they burn straight ahead, creating a deep, luxurious groove for the soloists. Holland is as fast as anyone on the instrument, but it is the melodic and harmonic quality of his bass lines one remembers, as cohesive and austere as Lennie Tristano’s. Shorter, in particular, responds to this kind of musical thought, because it so closely resembles his own. At times it seems as if he and Holland could improvise in unison if they wished. Tony Williams had a greater range of timbres and moods under control than DeJohnette does, but the latter is just right for this group. He sounds something like Elvin Jones with a lighter touch, and he really loves to swing in a bashing, exuberant manner. Wayne Shorter’s approach to improvisation, in which emotion is simultaneously expressed and “discussed” (i.e., spontaneously found motifs are worked out to their farthest implications with an eyes-open, conscious control), has a great appeal for me. The busyness and efficiency of a man at work can have an abstract beauty apart from the task. Of course, Shorter’s playing has more overt emotional qualities of tenderness or passion which can give pleasure to the listener. The problem with such an approach lies in keeping inspiration open and fresh, maintaining a balance between spontaneity and control. Here, Shorter’s recent adoption of the soprano saxophone is interesting. A master craftsman of the tenor, he already has great technical control of the second instrument, and its newness seems to have opened areas of emotion for him on both horns. Often, while Davis solos, one can see Shorter hesitate between the soprano and tenor before deciding which to play. It’s a fruitful kind of indecision. Shorter once referred to his soprano as “the baby”, and I think I know what he meant. About Davis there’s not much new to say, except to note that he is to some degree responsible for every virtue of the group’s members mentioned above, and that he uses all of them to achieve the effects he wants. He is the leader in the best sense of the term. Playing almost constantly at the limit of his great ability, he inspires the others by his example. There is no shucking in this band, and if Davis occasionally is less than serious in his improvising, as he was one night on “Milestones,” mocking the symmetrical grace of his mid-fifties style, one soon realizes that he is serious after all. With this version of the Miles Davis Quintet, one aspect of jazz has been brought to a degree of ripeness that has few parallels in the history of the music. Now let’s hope that Davis and Columbia decide to record the group in person.

Barbirolli's RPO Sibelius 2 is a gem, but the version I prefer is Tauno Hannikainen's.

I also like"The Great Session" with Dave Friesen and Philly Joe and "Duke's Artistry" with Art Farmer, a natural pairing.

Barbirolli, Halle Orchestra, Sibelius 5 (EMI originally, now in this inexpensive Warner Classics set) Quite a difference between this -- for want of a better term, humane -- performance and the machine-tooled Karajan DGG Berlin Philharmonic Sibelius 5. The latter, stunningly precise, also at times brings to mind the Nuremberg Rally. Indeed, I like all these Barbirolli Sibelius recordings.

OK.

Again, I'm sorry and will never do it again.

My confusion arose because there are two delete buttons -- one under "options," which deletes only the post that's just been posted, and one under moderation actions (it's down at the lower right corner) which unfortunately deletes the whole thread. But what do you mean by "just edit the stupid post"? No amount of editing would have made it less stupid. I did try to erase all the words from it, but the then empty post box still remained there with my name on it, so I then hit the wrong delete button, the "moderation actions" one at the lower right corner, in order, mistakenly, to get rid of that empty post box. The only answer then is to post the stupid post that you now don't want to post and then quickly delete it using the options/delete button and stay far away from the moderation actions delete button forever? Excuse me, President Trump is asking for advice on how to use the red phone.

My fault. I was making a post on the thread that I realized was dumb, tried to delete it, hit the wrong delete button and kaboom -- there went the whole thread. If Jim can remedy this goof, I'd be grateful.

Unusual? Rybar was a fine violinist.

I think the Evans-philes' problem with "Empathy" is that they feel that RVG's usual close-in way of mic-ing the piano significantly distorted Evans' touch. See p. 136-7 of Peter Pettinger's Evans biography "How My Heart Sings" for details and opinion on this.

Yes, I can imagine that, but not in the case of Murray's "Home."

"There's a difference between deliberately playing out of tune and doing so unintentionally." So if they're deliberately playing out of tune, to what end would they be doing that?

Upon checking, it was the spring of 1987, late May or early June -- Murray was at Sweet Basil.

FWIW, a musician friend comments on Murray's "Home": "The piano is painfully out of tune. Assuming that this was a studio recording, Anthony Davis was a saint to tolerate it. At least two of the horns -- George Lewis’s trombone and Henry Threadgill’s bass flute (he plays an F below middle C, which is below alto flute range) -- are at times seriously sharp. This compromises all of the voicings. Lewis was at one time on the Basie band, whose intonation standards were pretty high, so I’m surprised at him." I'm only reporting what Spaulding said to me circa 1982.

RE: my post above. What Spaulding had to say about Murray's writing and band-leading that night was not at all favorable. IIRC, what he said to me was, in essence, "It's a gig -- let's talk about something else." I should add that I had more or less opened the door by saying something to Spaulding that implied that my reaction to what I'd just heard also was not favorable, and that his reaction to this was more or less one of relief -- a la, "I'm not the only one who notices." And we did go on to talk about other things.

All well and good on your general points, Jim, but aren't the opening ensemble passages on Murray's "Home" pretty sour? And, if so, to what expressive end? Again, I think that Murray's intent was to pay homage to and extend a certain Ellington vibe, but given that Murray wrote the piece and directed his accomplished musicians to play it thusly, I don't think that intent and results matched up well here. As for Murray as a writer-bandleader, FWIW some years ago James Spaulding (then a member of Murray's ensemble) gave me an earful on that subject after he got off the stand.

The opening close-voiced neo-Ellington wind/brass passage! And then the muted trombone comes in! Aieee! As for the neo-Ellington aspect, one can point to a number of Ellington pieces where a certain "friction" crops up from time to time, especially in the reed section (Jack Teagarden, who supposedly had perfect pitch, notoriously stated in a DB Blindfold Test that the Ellington reed section was often out of tune), but that almost without exception was a different matter altogether -- an offshoot of a quite deliberate mode of writing and a choice of executants on Duke's part in which a density of overtones/timbres was an expressive necessity. While I think it's safe to assume that Murray had such effects in mind here, it would seem that on the level of conception and execution, he and his bandmates didn't have much of a clue.

Those last two games were keepers -- very gripping.

In addition to those mentioned above: Diane (with Paul Bley) Steeplechase Chet's Choice (Criss Cross) Live from the Moonlight (Philology) The Improviser (Cadence)

Sunday, October 27, 2019 3:00 PM Sunday, October 27, 2019 3:00 PM Venue Orchestra Hall Descriptio PROGRAM Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major, Op. 30, No. 1 Shostakovich Violin Sonata Kurtág Tre Pezzi Franck Violin Sonata PERFORMERS Christian Tetzlaff violin Lars Vogt piano Sorry for the goofy characters above. Don't know why they're there.

Spur of the moment 1986 studio date with pianist Bradley Young, bassist Larry Gray, drummer Rusty Jones, and tenorman Ed Peterson (on three tracks). Topnotch latter-day Chet (you may not believe this free-wheeling "Funny Valentine"), captured in excellent sound. 54 minutes plus.

Previous posts from this "messenger" (not that I have them on file, but I do recall their general nature/slant) suggest that he agrees with the sentiment on the jacket. I told him publically, and in terms that made my point clear, because PMs in the past have had no effect on him. Further, it is a political statement, no? And those are forbidden on Organissimo, as this poster knows full well -- as does everyone else here, I assume.