John B

9. Tiziano Tononi – “Attica Blues” We Did It, We Did It (Splasc(h)) Herb Robertson – trumpet Daniele Cavallanti – baritone sax Renato Geremia – alto sax Riccardo Luppi – piccolo flute Beppe Caruso – trombone, tuba Alberto Tacchini – Fender Rhodes Roberto Cecchetto – electric guitar Tito Mangialajo – acoustic bass Victor Beard – recitation Tiziano Tononi – drums, congas

7. Pino Minafra – “A Margherita” Sudori (Victo) Lauro Rossi – trombone, percussion, vocals Giorgio Occhipinti – piano, synthesizer, percussion, vocals Pino Minafra – trumpet, prepared trumpet, bugle, didjeridoo, speaking pipe, whistle, ocarina, percussion, vocals Daniele Patumi – double bass, vocals Carlo Actis Dato – tenor and baritone saxophone, percussion, vocals Vincenzo Mazzone – drums, percussion 8. Mauro Negri – “3 3 3” So Funky (Splasc(h)) Mauro Negri – clarinet Fabrizio Meloni – clarinet Bebo Ferra – guitar Fiorenzo Delegà – bass Christian Meyer – drums

5. Enrico Fazio Quintet – “Gardel” Euphoria (Splasc(h)) Alberto Mandarini – trumpet Francesco Aroni Vigone – alto and soprano saxes Carlo Actis Dato – tenor and baritone saxes, bass clarinet Enrico Fazio – acoustic bass Franca Silveri – voice Fiorenzo Sordini - drums 6. Michel Godard – “Una Serenita” Castel del Monte (Enja) Michel Godard – tuba, serpent Pino Minafra – trumpet, flugelhorn Gianluigi Trovesi – alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet Jean-Louis Matinier – accordion Renaud Garcia-Fons – bass Pierre Favre – drums, percussion Lucilla Galeazzi – vocal Linda Bsiri – vocal, trumpet marin

3. Gianni Gebbia – “Magician” Arcana Major / Sonic Tarots Session (Rastascan) Gianni Gebbia – alto and Eb sopranino saxophone 4. Mauro Negri / Zlotko Kaučič – “Sqaurci 5” Squarci (Splasc(h)) Mauro Negri – alto saxophone, clarinet Zlatko Kaučič – drums, percussion

1. Italian Instabile Orchestra – “Scarlattina” Litania Sibilante (Enja) Eugenio Colombo, Gianluigi Trovesi, Carlo Actis Dato, Daniele Cavallanti, Mario Schiano - reeds Guido Mazzon, Alberto Mandarini, Pino Minafra trumpets Giancarlo Schiaffini, Sebi Tramontana, Lauro Rossi trombones Martin Mayes french horn Renato Geremia violin Paolo Damiani cello Umberto Petrin piano Giovanni Maier bass Tiziano Tononi, Vincenzo Mazzone drums Guests: Enrico Rava trumpet Antonello Salis accordion 2. Aldo Romano Quartet – “T’ho voluto bene” Canzoni (Enja) Aldo Romano – drums Franco D’Andrea – piano Paolo Fresu – trumpet Furio Di Castri – bass

My goal in compiling this test was to highlight a specific non-U.S. "scene." Track #1 inspired me to choose Italy. I was listening to this track and was blown away (again) by the humor (not as wacky as the Dutch), the passion, the improvisation and the composition contained therein. In my opinion, the Italian jazz scene combines a healthy respect for " the tradition" while always expanding the vocabulary of jazz. Traditional European folk music, avant-garde, swing, be-bop, funk, it's all here, being played by fantastic musicians whose names are not as familar as they should be to most. I'm not sure if it is a function of the limited size of my Italian jazz collection or if it is inherent in the small size of the country, but many musicians pop up on multiple tracks, as leaders and as sidemen on each others recordings. I hope you all had as much fun listening to this disc as I did compiling it. And now, on to the answers.

It is really interesting to hear Jandek with a competent rhythm section. Until his voice comes in the first track sounds like a lost psychedelic / krautrock gem from the early 1970's. His voice however, is unmistakable. One of the reasons that I really enjoy this album is the expansion of his sound, given accompanyists who are able to play well and are willing to work within Jandek's limited palette without feeling constrained by his "history." Richard Youngs on bass and Alexander Neilson on drums (both uncredited on the cd) do a fantastic job working with "the representative from Corwood here. All of the audience noise and boomy, echo-ey room sound are still here, although, as I mentioned before, the sound has been cleaned up from earlier files that were floating around and his voice is a lot more prominent in the mix. Lyrics? - someone left him again. Highly recommended, unless you are tied to the myth more than the music.

The Place Perhaps my opinion is colored by the European vacation photos gracing the covers of this album and the two preceeding it, but I hear this album as a reflection on the transformative nature of travel. Travel in both the physical and mental sense. All of the songs reference the narrator's location, along with images of movement, confusion, hallucination and transformation. This album is still fairly harsh and atonal, but I really enjoyed it.

Given that JSngry is ready to start mailing the next BFT at the end of this week I'll get my answers posted in the next few days.

Dennis Gonzales has a new cd out, featuring Oliver Lake: "Although many of you have my new release, Idle Wild, I would like to officially announce the release of this little gem of a CD. It features the great Oliver Lake on alto and soprano saxes, Ken Filiano on acoustic bass, and Mike "T.A." Thompson on drums. It's selling fast, so get your copy now. The first pressing of N Y Midnight Suite is already sold out, and Clean Feed is set to repress it in the next few weeks. The cardboard digipak will be replaced by a jewel case." ordering

Any recommendations for titles in the Emanem sale? I've heard LUNGE "Strong Language", but that is about it. I've had this one: 4084 MARKUS EICHENBERGER "Domino Concept for Orchestra" (2001) on the list for a while, so would most likely grab a copy. I'd like to get this one: 4022 EVAN PARKER / BARRY GUY / PAUL LYTTON "at The Vortex" (1996), too, but it is not part of the sale, unfortunately.

I still don't have a lot of Dunmall outside of Mujician in my collection, but I would still definitely recommed this disc to everyone here, if you can find a copy. I'm now listening to Peter Brötzmann – Dare Devil, recorded live in Tokyo the day before Funny Rat was recorded. This disc also features Hano, as well as an electric bass and electric guitar, which brings the sound to a more sedate, less "Laswell-y" Last Exit region. The disc is ok, but not one of my favorite discs of his. (on further listening I'm thinking my initial comment was generous. Don't go out of your way to track down a copy of this one.)

I just checked the liner notes and this tune, which is titled " T'ho voluto bene," became known as "Non dimenticar." So I was incorrect. This track is labelled under the original name for the tune, but the song is the same. The album, however, is not called Non dimenticar, although Romano does have another disc, recorded at the same time, under that name. I hope that clears things up! Apologies for any confusion I caused.

You've all been busy! Time for em to think about placing that Potlatch order.

I still haven't had time to dig into the box yet, as I was driving all over New England yesterday with my wife, who is not a huge fan of Jandek. I have, however, spent a little time with Glasgow Sunday, and compared it to my previous mp3-sourced copy of the set. The sound quality is better on the official release. Primarily Jandek's voice seems to be more up front in the mix. The recording still sounds as if it was recorded in a cavernous room, but everything does sound slightly crisper. I'm not sure I'm ready to do the in-depth reviews Dave and Chaney have been posting, but I'll definitely give my thoughts on each album as I have a chance to absord it.

Eremite has two new releases due to be out soon. The Fred Anderson disc I mentioned previously, as it was recorded at a concert I attended, The other release will be a new Sunny Murray double disc set, with Sabir Mateen, Dave Burrell, Alan Silva, Louis Belogenis, Oluyemi Thomas & John Blum appearing on various tracks. I'm really looking forward to hearing Oluyemi with Sunny. For the Gino Robair fans on the board, he reviews Explosions, by Bob James in the new issue of Signal to Noise. The article is on ESP Disk and various people reiew odd, underrated and / or essential ESP releases.

Chaney's original thread was about Funny Girl, starring Barbara Streisand and Omar Sharif. People didn't go for it, so he switched to Broetzmann and Hano, which at least got some discussions going.

sending an email now.

for anyone who has listened to Drive By, by the Necks: doesn't the piano line Chris Abrahams plays at about 23:30 sound remarkably like a quote of "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson?

I appreciate the thought, but twenty copies of Worthless Recluse? That seems a bit excessive... Dave - a friend kindly helped me prepare for the challenge, so I have no doubt I'll be happy with my order. I've been listening to six or seven Jandek albums over the past few months and know what to expect. Corwood sent a very brief answer to the two questions I asked in my order letter. On the back of a current catalog the words "yes" "yes" are written in what looks like two different sets of handwriting. The questions being answered are "is the Glasgow 2004 DVD still going to be released?" and "will the two 2005 live performances be released?" So, good news on both of those.

as far as I can tell, my check has still not been cashed. However, when I got home from work today, I had a note from the post office that a package from Corwood arrived. Now that is service!

I will plan on posting answers by Tuesday, July 5th, at the latest. That will be just in time for JSngry's mailing for BFT 27, and will give the remaining 12 people who haven't chimed in so far a chance to post any thoughts they might have on this disc. Again, I would love to read people's guesses, thoughts or impressions, both positive and negative, on the tracks I chose. I've really enjoyed the discussion so far and am looking to reading some more great posts before this wraps up.

off current topic, but I heard Noah Howard's At Judson Hall (ESP) for the first time last night. I really enjoyed it. In my opinion it was more interesting than the disc on Ayler, although it does have something of the typical "late 1960's free jazz blow out" to it. Two tracks, each just over 18 minutes long. The sound quality was servicable, but I was listening to an emusic download, so I can't comment on the actual release itself.

please post your thoughts once you have a chance to listen to them. I'd like to read your impressions before deciding if I am going to order any more titles.

sometimes I feel like I don't even know you anymore.