John B

thank you both for the feedback. I'll most likely pick up a copy of this.

Has anyone here heard Tony Oxley's disc Floating Phantoms? Here is what I posted over in the Funny Rat thread: Remniscent of AMM, but far more indebted to european free improvisation. It has many sounds that evoke Keith Rowe, AMM, MIMEO / John Tilbury's The Hands of Caravaggio, while still keeping it's feet firmly planted in the FMP / Emanem "scene." On first listen I'm not sure every piece is completely succesful, but I found enough of interest to keep me coming back for more listens. I also think this disc might make for a good "get your feet wet" album for someone interested in eai who is coming from a jazz background and isn't ready for pure sinewaves quite yet.

another disc to recommend to my Funny Rat friends: Tony Oxley The B.I.M.P Quartet - Floating Phantoms (a/l/l) Tony Oxley - percussion, Phil Wachsmann - violin / electronics, Pat Thomas - piano / keyboards / electronics, Matt Wand - sampling Remniscent of AMM, but far more indebted to european free improvisation. I'd be curious to read Jon Abbey's thoughts on this one (I just bought this from him as part of his cd purge) as it has many sounds that evoke Keith Rowe, AMM, MIMEO / John Tilbury's The Hands of Caravaggio, while still keeping it's feet firmly planted in the FMP / Emanem "scene." On first listen I'm not sure every piece is completely succesful, but I found enough of interest to keep me coming back for more listens. I also think this disc might make for a good "get your feet wet" album for someone interested in eai who is coming from a jazz background and isn't ready for pure sinewaves quite yet.

whoever that is, perhaps it would be best if their home address and phone # were not posted on a public bulletin board. and, going back on topic, I agree: this is a fantastic album. I was lucky enough to buy a copy from another board member a few months back and really enjoy it.

The Chicago Tentet / Octet set has been oop for a few years now, too. Live at the Velvet Lounge is fantastic, imo. Very highly recommended. I have never heard Birdhouse, and will have to track down a copy now. Off topic, but I really recommend all of you grab a copy of Larry Kart's Book Jazz in Search of Itself. I recently bought a copy and have been very impressed by how readable and interesting the book is, even when discussing musicians I really do not care for. One of the best Jazz books (or any music, for that matter) that I have read in a long time.

I've seen this set mentioned in the What Are You Listening To thread, so I thought it might be time to ask a question I've had since I saw that this set was being released. I've been very tempted by this set but have been put off by the high price. Not considering any "investment potential," what are people's opinions of this set musically and aesthetically? Is it worth the $120 plus shipping?

if you want to get a little more "out" I also really enjoy Wadada Leo Smith's Procession of the Great Ancestry and Roscoe Mitchell's LRG/The Maze/S II Examples. I would definitely recommend the two Von discs to you first, however.

I'm not Larry, so I hope you don't mind the recommendations: I would highly recommend all of these: Von Freeman - Serenade & Blues (absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite albums on Nessa) Von Freeman - Have No Fear Fred Anderson - The Missing Link Air - Air Time Also, the Art Ensemble box is a limited edition, and somewhat close to being out of print, if I remember correctly. Great music and a truly historic set.

Darn you Chaney!!!!

off topic just a bit, but Drag City just reissued Bastro's Sing the Troubled Beast and Diablo Guapo as a twofer cd. Blue Cathedral (a subsidiary of Drag City) just issued Antlers:Live 1991, a collection of live recordings of Bastro. Bastro was David Grubbs' band prior to Gastr del Sol.

I just edited my above post to read a box of 20, not 40. Thanks for the offer but, due to the kindness of a friend, I have had a chance to hear several Jandek albums recently. While not something I would choose to listen to regularly, I have enough interest to buy a box of 20. There is no way I'll be able to match you and Chaney for commentary, but I'll post my thoughts as I explore.

Steve, thanks for he show review! I would love to have seen these two together. Hemingway is a monster live and some of my favorite eai discs right now are the ones featuring Lehn. Unfortunately I'd have to drive 3 to 6 hours to have a chance to see a show like this.

Have either of you ever seen this? One of the most bizarre (and pointless) Jandek related sites I have come across. Oh, and once my tax refund comes in, I'm buying my box of 20 discs. About time, no?

Thank you all for posting the dates/tracks for the Forensic Tree!

Not at all. Their releases look very interesting, thanks for the link! I'll start going through their sound clips.

I didn't do well at identifying artists or tunes but, just like with the first disc, I had a lot of fun listening! 1. Very military band sound at the beginning, goes into a 1920’s brass band revival thing later. Very well recorded, tight band. No clue who they are. 2. No clue, but funny. 3. Very nice version of Sunny Side of the Street. I’m not normally a fan of vocals with my jazz but I’m enjoying this guy. 4. No clue at all. Not really my cup of tea, but nice enough. Nothing more to say on this one. 5. Nice tune, a little short to really latch onto. I’m not sure what I think of this one. SINOW, for now. 6. The vocals are similar to track 3, but they are losing me here. Not my cup of tea. 7. I like this track a lot. I’m not sure who it is….I’m going to guess Lacy with Rudd. Perhaps a live recording from the 1960’s? I’m looking forward to seeing who this is. 8. Again, a very nice tune that is played too safe for my ears. Very soft, almost sounding restrained. I like the sounds each instrument gets and I like the tune, but I wish that, especially at almost 12 minutes in length, the players had cut loose a bit more. 9. I’m not sure who this is…nice sounds from all involved. The pianist keeps surprising me with his/her choices. I’m interested in seeing who this is. 10. Organ, sounds a bit more like Jimmy Smith as the tune goes on, but I don’t believe it is him. Perhaps someone who was heavily influenced by Jimmy, Joey Defrancesco, perhaps? 11. See my comments on #8. Too long, not enough happening for my ears. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice enough tune, but, after a while, I start to wonder if there wasn’t more they could say here. 12. Again, this one goes on for too long, but I like it a bit more than the last one. Perhaps a bit too sparse to require the full 12 minutes. Same final thoughts as track 11. 13. Elvin, no? 14. Nice way to end the disc! No clue who this is, but I really enjoy this track. Two great discs, Flurin! I really enjoyed listening to these.

I've been meaning to post my thoughts on these discs for a few days now, but have been much busier than I expected. Overall, I don't really know who any of these tracks are by with any certainty, but I sure did enjoy trying to guess! With that said: 1. No clue who this is. I am really enjoying this track. Great tone from the sax. Nice, relaxed vibe. I will have to explore more work by this artist. 2. Very short excerpt from some track…I assume you are isolating the portion of the track featuring the sax player. Hawk? Not really my style of jazz, but I enjoy this clip very much. 3. No clue at all. I’m not enjoying this one as much as the excerpt from track 2. SINOW. 4. Hawk again? Still not in my era, no clue who this is. 5. Kind of bop, kind of swing. Not sure who this is, but I’d guess it is someone from the swing era staying current and incorporating some bop into their repertoire. This track is a lot of fun, if not something I would go out of my way to hear. The guitar solo is kind of corny. Hamp? 6. No clue who this is. A nice enough track, although it sounds a bit too formal and restrained for my liking. Ok, the tune loosens up a bit towards the end. This one went on for about three minutes longer than I expected it to. It is definitely growing on me. Probably a tune I would appreciate more as I give it more listens. For now, Solidly ok. 7. Nice drive, but the vocals don’t do anything for me at all. I’m just really not a fan of jazz with vocals. Nothing I don’t like about her voice, it’s just the style itself that leaves me cold. 8. Very nice! Is this from one of the Jazz in Paris discs? I really, really like this track. I would very much like to hear more by this group. Nothing trite about this jazz accordion. Great sound, good ideas, wonderful tune. 9. This one is sounding very familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on who this is. 10. Very influenced by Cecil, but not him. William Parker on bass? I’m not sure I think this track quite “comes together” completely, but I like it, the pianist in particular. 11. Boogaloo vamp. Very fun track, no clue who this is. Not enough here for me to latch onto. 12. Very nice! This sounds very familiar. Fred Anderson with Hamid Drake and Peter Kowald on bass? I’ll have to buy a copy of this one. 13. Vandermark? I really like the bass here. I would guess this is a gfroup of European musicians, too. Perhaps one of the AALY trio w/ Vandermark discs. 14. Not really grabbing me. Nice enough, but goes on for too long with nothing new to say. 15. same as 14, although I enjoy the tune a bit more. 16. Nice funky beginning. Slightly “out” big band. European, early 1970’s? 17. Ghosts! Very nice version of this. My first thought was Ribot, but that is obviously wrong. No clue who this is, but I really enjoy the version. 18. Duke.

I was convinced you made this up. I was wrong. He can sink to new lows. Who knew?

thanks for posting this! I was going to place an order for some of these Pi discs soon.

The boots I have heard from '89 have material from Tweez and Spiderland, as well as the odd Neil Young cover. Albini worked on Tweez, had nothing to do with Spiderland other than praise it once it was released.

I had never seen that site before. Thanks for posting the link! And you call yourself a Funny Rat. I hang my head in shame. now playing:

I had never seen that site before. Thanks for posting the link!

Ubu, I'll try to get my thoughts together and post them later on today. I'm fairly certain I won't be able to identify a single track but I've really enjoyed listening to your selections. We had disc #1 playing during dinner last night and my wife was really enjoying the music, too.

Yes! I forgot about that one. Excellent, excellent set.

have you all seen jon abbey's sale list? some very interesting discs. have any of you heard this one: Gianni Gebbia-H Portraits (Rastascan)?