John B

Yes, the interview material is fascinating (and a bit eccentric). Go for it! I have finally had a chance to hear this and you are quite right. The music is fantastic and the interview is wonderful.

I'm just finishing the first disc of this: but I can already give it a thumbs-up. Great disc! The music is fantastic, and the interview is fascinating.

also, a new(?) label called Free Elephant is just about to release a new live solo cd by Peter Kowald:

When you have time, I'd appreciate it if you'd post your thoughts on which Ganelin discs are the most essential. I'm going to start grabbing a few of their discs on Leo in the next few weeks.

I've only heard one Ivo Perelman disc, The Ventriloquist, but it's a good one. Christine Wodrascka is really scary on it, & Louis Sclavis is surprisingly pungent (no trace of his ECM persona!). (They're not on the same tracks--it's a compilation of a sax/piano/drums trio session & a two-horn/bass/drums session.) I see the Penguin Guide gives it 4 stars. I'll probably pick up Suite for Helen F one of these days as the lineup sounds intriguing. They have The Ventriloquist, so I've added it the list of upcoming dowloads. Thanks! EMusic also has the complete set of Golden Years of the New Soviet Jazz, so I'll be "reacquiring" the ones I sold as well as picking up coluems 2 and 3.

I just joined emusic again, and am about to start exploring the Leo catalog. I'll be able to hear Ivo Perelman for ths first time, and plan on exploring a lot of the Braxton they have, too. For Ivo, I was going to listen to Seeds, Vision and Counterpoint, Sieiro and The Hammer first. Any other discs of his on Leo that should be on that list or ahead of any of those discs?

There are some great albums there. Tao of Mad Phat is teh one I would recommend starting with. This sounds like a joke to me, but Downtown Music Gallery is reporting that "Zorn says he is more inspired than ever and has nearly finished a second book of Masada songs, composing 206 songs in the past two months!! There will be a 4 night Masada Festival at Tonic from December 8th - 11th, where different musicians will perform only the new Masada songs!"

I agree about the recording levels on Medicina. have you heard the Brotz/Eneidi/Ellis/Krall disc? This might have just what you are looking for. I've never heard Ivo, but have meant to for quite some time. I'll have to bump him up on "the list."

Did you ever get a chance to hear this one? I just did for the first time and am very impressed.

I just noticed some really nice additions today: Von Freeman – The Great Divide Duke Ellington – Piano in the Foreground Duke Ellington – Blues in Orbit Duke Ellington – Piano in the Background

is there a more appropriately named song than this?

I would recommend taking a break from music completely for a week or so. I find that giving my ears a break every once in a while brings me back to my old favorites with renewed appreciation. Also, listening to a genre of music that has no connection to jazz for a while can also work.

I was looking into Quartet Coventry 1985 and saw that each disc is comprised of one track of music and one track of interview. How interesting is the interview material? Is it anything you would choose to listen to more than once?

It was probably a recent film called "Winged Migration." We took our kids to see that. Great stuff! I agree, Winged Migration is fantastic! If you enjoyed it you should track down a copy of the film they did first, called Microcosmos. Same basic concept, except substitute insects for birds and not so much noticable migration. Other than that, eerily the same.

I finally had a chance to sit down with Brotz' Medicina and I don't find it any better or worse than Nefertiti, just different. Medicina is a studio disc and is more focused and direct than Nefertiti, but I also enjoy the wild abandon the group exhibits on the live disc. I highly recommend both, for different reasons.

I agree with this assessment. I stll say that Blue Corpse is the most essential Jandek I have heard so far, but this disc is a lot of fun. One of my favorites, right up there with BC and the live tracks from last month. The first track is very poppy, for lack of a better word. Almost a surf vibe to this one. The drumming is still incompetent and, to my ears, unnecessary, but this is a great disc. The skies are still cludy and gray, but some rays of sun are breaking through into Jandek's world here. plus, the track "Time and Space" just flat out rocks.

on the other hand, I also picked up a cheap used copy of Knysna Blue, and it is a bizarre album. AMG describes it as a solo disc, recorded upon his first return to South Africa. That is a bit deceptive, as, yes, it is technically a solo disc, but not just Ibrahim on piano. Ibrahim sings, chants, programs an annoying drum machine, plays horns and bass, etc... This would have benefited from a real band and, imo, less vocals. Not recommended as an essential Ibrahim disc.

Right here

I love the fact that the "music link" on her website doesn't work. She must not love the Ozone 4tet all that much.

This sounds like a bad idea, but some of you might be interested in checking this out: 2 hours. 38 albums, up to 10 playback devices. How much Jandek can you plan in 120 minutes?

I recently picked up inexpensive used copies of African Sun and Voice of Africa and they are fantastic! I highly recond Ubu's recommendation of these discs.

For the holidays could you change your signon to "JazzBlitzen," JM?

My favorites would be the DHBB, the Barry Guy New Orchestra and Italian Instabile Orchestra. The Vienna Art Orchestra and the Brotzmann Chicago Tentet also have their moments, but both have fairly uneven output.

I heard there's another album due in 2005. Earlier this year Robin Eubanks told me that there was a live BB disc in the works. I'm hoping it comes out before too much longer.

For just over $10 I couldn't resist preordering this one.