tonym

For a cut and paste job i got this from AAJ a week or so ago: http://www.kind-of-blue.de/seiten/boxen/bi...verside_box.htm http://www.kind-of-blue.de/seiten/boxen/mo...verside_box.htm cheers, tony.

Thanks, i was tempted by the Bass Desires a while back as i like Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine. Hate to say it but from what i have heard, i am not overly impressed by Scho. I'll brace myself for a barrage of insults! cheers, tony.

Unfortunately, I have yet to hear any Frisell I have been impressed with and therefore when it comes to buying albums on which guitarists appear, I often tend toward my favourites; Abercrombie, Krantz, McLaughlin etc. I suppose the ones with the 'crunchier' sound. This was partly to blame; I attended a Kenny Wheeler gig a few years back when he was playing his Angel Song stuff and as Frisell couldn't appear that night, Abercrombie sat in. I loved his playing and when I bought the CD at the show I was, dare I say it, disappointed when I listened to the album. A short while later I tuned into the excellent radio show 'Late Junction' on BBC Radio 3 (weeknights at about half ten-ish). They had a large part of the show dedicated to Frisell; his contributions to other artists albums and his collaborations with Gavin Bryars etc. The stuff they played smacked of overtly emotional 'Americana' and his take on a Madonna tune 'Live to Tell' basically irritated the bejesus out of me. Jazzwise didn't think much of his last effort either. SO, convince me there are some recordings out there where Frisell is really something else. I have big open ears.

Great tune, well played on a classic album --- Art Pepper's 'Gettin' Together' (Contemporary). Perfect tune for someone like Pepper, he IMO is just like Sonny in that he can stretch out melodically, harmonically --- you name it, and this tune needs a player like that. Plus, he's playing with the 'other' rhythm section here; Cobb, Wynton Kelly and P.C. --- at their peak! love this sort of thread.

isn't there an important artery flowing into the tongue (i know they are all important), somewhere along the middle? i seem to remember reading about people who had had their tongue pierced only to find the bleeding wouldn't stop. AT ALL!!! much as i like the pierced look though, the 'forking' does nothing for me. i'm sure marilyn manson will be blamed.

i'm hoping to see them early june at 'the wardrobe' leeds. will he be in a quartet setting? i believe he'll be playing stuff from his latest albums; dusk and the other one. what is it like? it's such a good venue, i'll probably go anyway!

saw the band last night. thanks to all for the persuasion. i thoroughly enjoyed it. they didn't play for that long but apparently the gig was recorded by the BBC so i hope it will be broadcast on Jazz On 3 soon. i'll then get it down on md. i hope you enjoy the cheltenham show bev. and maybe some of you will go to brighton tonight. the band played well together, in that it was very much a band performance and not so much of a leader supported by 'some other guys'. i'm not sure how long they've played together for but, again, like any good band, they were able to alter the dynamic of the sound when the emphasis was shifted from one player to another. they steered clear for the most part, of themes and solos; a couple of tunes felt like developments from an intro (gilmour certainly made his presence felt here -- at times coming over all Hendrix meets Schofield) into a full blown freak out. when solos were taken, for example, during an absolutely stunning second tune with some wonderful 6/8 groove (i'll have to get some discs --no idea what these tunes are called) seamus blake avoided hystrionics but stayed amazingly restrained which only emphasised the wide palate of the music. gilmour added fantastic django-like rhythm here. fantastic. i wasn't overly perturbed about the use of electronica, guys like binney, douglas, rypdal etc., are not just jumping onto some hip bandwagon in order to appeal to more people (if this does happen, i'm sure they're very happy) they know how to add textures and sounds in a very effective way. a very musical way. shame they weren't selling cds. cheers, tony.

i quite like this one. i'd heard an interview with dave leibman and he'd described miles' recruiting process which left me in no doubt about getting it. the mix is so muddy though you have to really listen to all the things going on in there but it pays off. at first listen it can sound very repetitious, esp. the variations on a theme of those following tracks. however, (and i'm sure i won't be the only one here) it sounds terrible when compressed to atrac for minidisc recordings. there are gaps all over and something weird happens with the stereo effect from the different instrument tracks. i'm not up on the recording technology of this album. i'll have to listen to it on my system thro' headphones.

Although the rhythm section is fairly conventional, ie. Billy Higgins, Sonny Clark and Butch Warren, there are at least a couple of tunes that lean away from the standard hard bop fayre. unusual constuction of tunes, eg. 40 bars., and a move away from 'ryhthm' changes toward modes. not as 'out' as many of the selections above but definately a transitional album that attempts to incorporate some elements of Ornette. recorded less than it's more 'progressive' successor 'Let Freedom Ring' i think it hints at what McLean is about to embark upon.

Tommy Turrentine on McLean's 'A Fickle Sonance'. BTW does anybody else find the RVG recording of this a bit 'bright', at times unbearably so?

i'm thinking about seeing said band next week at the Wardrobe in Leeds, UK. is it a good prospect? ive heard a few things off his Thousand Evenings album -- not too impressed, however since then i hear he's been doing a few more projects in the vein of Miles' Directions stuff. anyone feel strongly about this band? let me know. cheers,tony.

Belated yes, but the Beeb have just updated the playlists; you know which track etc. now but the rest might be handy. Cheers, tony. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/playlists/2003...zfile0313.shtml

Bebop --- big up Roger de Vlaeminck and Adrie Van Der Poel, the two kings of cyclocross as far as i'm concerned. De Vlaeminck actually used to ride between mountain hairpins, ie. taking a shortcut -- straight down, when he rode in road events. Interesting to note that many World Cup events for cyclocross have been basically kermesses on hard packed dirt circuits, with no need to dismount. I even saw one where the Italian national squad were going through and off a la road racing!

Don't worry too much the BBC website playlist is often a week or so late in coming... the playlist for the programme on 29th March (it must have been Jazz File) willl appear soon, i'm sure. You've got me curious now too.

forgot about that one, the title track of 'Lush Life'..... that piano solo from Red, then Don Byrd comes in, it's like an iceberg looming into view. Love it.

Me too David, in fact i wanted to nominate 'Soultrane' for album of the week for the simple reason of loving everything Red plays on it -- Trane is pretty good aswell mind! Not sure if it qualifies as a jam session but it does have that "let's call a few tunes" relaxed feel to it. That is surely a testiment to how good these guys were.

Had one of those moments yesterday - you'll all be very familiar with - in local HMV. It doesn't often happen here but i was torn between purchasing the new ECM by Yves Robert - In Touch, Anour Brahem - Les Pas du Chat Noir or spending the same money on a couple of Coltrane's Atlantic remasters plus one Columbia reissue, Ah Um by Mingus. Went for the Robert release; very French, very modern and extremely subtle. The leader plays trombone, but not in a hardbop way. Instead it's quite high up the register, at times very whispery and quite vocal. Vincent Courtois is on cello which seems appropriate given the very expressive qualities of this instrument - often he sounds like tenor sax, at times like a bass played high up (which is very much in vogue). Cyril Atef plays drums. They are modern, urgent yet non - intrusive, much as you'd expect from the label. Shouldn't be dissmissed as 'chamber jazz' or an exercise in proficiency - it's just good music, well recorded and a bit out there. Obviously after only a few spins i'm still trying to get my head 'round it all. Impressed though. I'll go for the others at a later date. I'm enjoying the board BTW.

Drew Gress - Spin & Drift (Premonition), Yves Robert - In Touch (ECM), the two Wayne Shorter gigs i have recorded over the last month - Montreaux & Edinburgh, likewise, The Bad Plus live in London's PizzaExpress & Ralph Towner - Anthem (ECM)

funny you should have brought this up because last week i was cleaning (yes, cleaning) and i regressed several years (in terms of what was on heavy rotation then). tumbling from the speakers were Soundgarden - Superunknown, Veruca Salt - American Thighs & The Amps - Pacer. Fantastic stuff. The Soundgarden album must surely be one of my all time favourites, putting me in the mood for anything that requires raising my pulse 40 or so beats.

A Grammy winner if ever i saw one!

fro what i can hear from memory, herbie regularly used lots of suspended chords; ie. ones that suggest neither resolve to a minor or a major but give an ambiguious feel. this may have been ideal for settings when the harmony was a bit 'out'. i'm not a pianist so forgive me if this sounds rubbish.

Fantastic album, light years ahead of its time (despite many forward thinking releases at that time). That dark insistant rhythm going on throughout Mephistopheles draws me in every time i hear it. Superb band, great compositions, wacky liner notes and it's on BN as we used to know it. What more could you want.