John B

I'll file this one under "an embarrassment of riches." The Ayler discography site is listing an upcoming ESP records release of additional live Ayler, previously only available on an Italian bootleg: " hot on the heels of the Revenant set comes another NEW AYLER RECORD! Or, to be precise, a legitimate reissue of an incredibly rare Italian bootleg. As speculated on a few months back, ESP are releasing a CD of the first Fondation Maeght concert - the quartet recording issued as Albert Ayler Quintet 1970 - Live on Blu Jazz (Italy) BJ023CD. According to the ESP site the new CD (available in both traditional stereo CD and 5.1 surround sound DVD-Audio formats) will be released at the end of November under the title Maeght Foundation (ESP 4001/ESP DVD-A 101). If you’re a fan of the original Shandar album, Nuits de la Fondation Maeght, then this is great news since this recording of the July 25th set is comparable in sound quality and music. It also contains Ayler’s final recording of his signature tune, ‘Ghosts’."

I believe so, but I have no idea if they archive all of their shows or not. I'm guessing "Ralph" is Raphe Malik in this review I just got in my email. I've never heard of this label, or of a few of the musicians, but this sounds like it mighht give the Brotz / Eneidi disc a run for it's money in terms of sheer sonic assault: "Daniel Carter / Randall Colbourne / Paul Flaherty / Ralph Malik / Sabir Mateen - Resonance CD $12.99 (Zaabway Music) "’Truth’ is a concept I lost touch with long ago, but ‘truths’ I've still got a handful of; two that've seemed particularly durable are that the three greatest collective improv recs ever are Free Jazz, Ascension, and New York Eye & Ear Control, and that I won't live to hear a fourth. Not that the number of superior free-playing individuals isn't currently at an all-time high; but as most of today's worthwhile recs are inhabited by at most four people, the saintly mix of mutual leadership and all-star collectivism uncannily shared by the Holy Trinity seems unlikely to re-arise. And while I haven't yet burned that last scrap of personal Bible, Resonance has me considering it. That these six individuals actually inhabited one building simultaneously (Amherst Unitarian Meeting House, Amherst, MA, May 16 1997) is history enough; that they proceeded to turn their flaming insides fully outward next to a fire-proof tape recorder is the kind of ulti-moment civilizations build archives for. Of the 10 or so climaxes spread out among the 70 raging minutes of what may be jazz's Fourth World War, the eye-stretching outburst of gut-yelps, throat-calls, and heart-hacks that arises about 2/3rds into 'Piece II' is the candidate most likely to reintroduce you to every millimeter of your skull. Tempting to isolate individuals for appraisal (particularly Flaherty and his virus-carrying tenor coughs), but, much like three other albums I've heard, Resonance's group weight wipes out the concept of sound-separation. Nothing here exists in and of itself; everything is defined by that which it surrounds (and is surrounded by). The only work left is to figure how we're going to wrestle the remaining 37 minutes that Flaherty couldn't fit on this CD from his endlessly strong hands.” - Marc Masters, Opprobrium"

Cecil Taylor to Star in NYU Jazz Masterclass Series Webcast NEW YORK - The New York University Jazz Masterclass Series live webcast premiers 4 p.m., October 10 and will feature pianist Cecil Taylor at the Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., New York City. Taylor will be in a solo performance setting as he critiques a variety of student performers. The students will be asked to research Taylor and will be assembled for questioning prior to the masterclass in a round table discussion. They will also be interviewed after the masterclass to share any insights they may have learned. Log on to www.artistshousemusic.com or www.cjh.org to view the webcast on Sunday.

I'm continuing my crawl through albums I haven't listened to in quite a while and, after finishing with Dollar Brand's African Piano, which all of you should check out at some point (it is a beautiful solo piano album) I am now listening to this one: Gregg Bendian's Interzone - Requiem for Jack Kirby Bendian on vibes, Nels Cline on guitar, Alex Cline on drums and Joel Hamilton on bass. It took me a while to get into this disc, perhaps due to its length, but, once I did, I found this album to be fascinating! Excellent writing, great music and wonderful playing by all involved. I can't say that Joel Hamilton really stands out in any way, but he supports the others ably.

Is anyone here familiar with any of Burnt Sugar's discs? I've been hearing praises of them for a while now and finally want to get around to exploring some of their work. Dustygroove has, go figure, heaps of praise for them: "A mesmerizing set of jazzy space funk from the ever-evolving Burnt Sugar collective -- captured live at Banlieus Bleues in France, in March of '04! The Arkestra tag in the group's moniker couldn't be more appropriate for these cats -- as the vibe indeed runs through the cestial groove of Sun Ra and electric Miles, but the crew also dips heatily into the play book of prime Art Ensemble and the lowdown funky drive of Funkadelic. " and "Arranger/producer Greg Tate and his titanic Burnt Sugar collective continues to ascend into its own intergalactic space station of heavy cosmic jamming, instrumental funky jazz, and wildly spacious trippiness with this double disc -- by far the most unique and individualistic indie funk album we've heard in a long, long time! As on their previous sets, Burnt Sugar takes the past three or more decades worth of avant funk and jazz, from the celestial influence of Sun Ra projects, to the bass thumping righteousness of Blacksploitation soundtracks, to the dancefloor oriented 70s fusion funk of Larry Mizell's productions -- but the loose collective looks as much inward and forward with their approach, giving the recordings as much of a profound newness as anything in the latter day avant garde" Of course, these reviews make these discs sound essential. Anyone have a suggestion for which disc(s) to start with?

I'm glad you enjoyed the disc! Lisle is playing a free show here on the 16th with Larry Ochs and Donald Robinson. I will not be able to go, as I will be out of the state all weekend. I am really dissapointed by this.

I'm really enjoying these sound samples. They've got a Fela-meets downtown NYC crowd vibe going for them. I'll definitely be adding this one too the list. Shipp has been doing less and less for me of late. Hopefully this one breaks him out of the rut I hear him in.

Yes, but I had to get special permission and they still won't play any Brotzmann on their stereo. The set is stunning visually. I could spend a few hours just going through the book and assorted goodies enclosed in the box and not get bored. You are in for a real treat when this shows up on your doorstep. I have to keep reminding myself that there is some music tucked away in there, too. All 10 cds worth!

I received notification that my set shipped yesterday and, when I went to UPS to see where it was, found that it was delivered two hours ago. I can't wait to get home from the gym and take a look at this set!

A few favorites that have not been mentioned so far: Sergey Kuryokhin - Some Combination of Fingers and Passion Cecil Taylor - Indent, Silen Tongues, The Willisau Concert Andrew Hill - Live at Montreux

Based on what I have heard and read these all seem like solid choices. I don't really know enough so far to comment intelligently, unfortunately. Chaney and dave would be better equipped to speak to the first few albums. I'm looking forward to reading your comments!

strange coincidence, this was my order from JazzLoft yesterday. I also picked up Ayler's Music is the Healing Force... and Fondation Maeght from cduniverse with some Paypal credit I had left over.

Has anyone here heard this disc? I've been listening to his album Elevated and really enjoying it. I was wondering if Kingdom of Champa was worth tracking down? The AMG review has me intrigued, but I would love to hear some comments from people on the board before buying a copy.

no, I did not know about that one. I'll have to add it to my list. I need to grab many more recordings of Blackwell's. I can really hear a lot of his playing in Hamid Drake, who I never get tired of.

Blasphemy!!!!!! Actually, I have never enjoyed listening to Ascension all that much (nor Free Jazz, for that matter) but have a lot of respect for both of them as historically essential documents. I'll take this opportunity to relisten to Ascension and see if my opnion of it as music has changed.

I just finished listening to You Walk Alone, which follows Blue Corpse in the Jandek discography, for the first time. While not quite as strong as BC, it is still a solid album. I could do without the drums, but they are a minor annoyance.

Well, it's not that bad, it's just that, yet again, too much has been released and not enough editing, and at times a re-take, has been done, in my opinion. Sprinkled, though perhaps all too sporadically, are quite good solos by all involved. The sense of sloppiness is most noticeable in the ensemble sections, the heads in particular - both in terms of cleanly nailing the actual melodies and as well as when/where to enter. Again, however, there are more than a few solos by Braxton, Smoker, Brown, and Mengelberg that I'm rather fond of - not to mention the lively interplay throughout disc 1. Perhaps I overstated my aversion to this disc but, given all of the albums I really want to hear, this one will not be something I'll buy anytime soon.

I am also not a fan of jazz with vocals, but the disc Nuba, with Lee, Andrew Cyrille and Jimmy Lyons is wonderful! As I posted elsewhere, this might be some of the most lyrical playing I have heard from Lyons and Cyrille spends most of his time playing some fantastic percussion, very influenced by African tribal music, imo. Jeanne Lee really fits in well. I enjoyed her vocals a lot more than I expected to. Very highly recommended

Another disc that I would recommend to everyone here is Don Cherry / Ed Blackwell - Mu Parts 1 & 2 Both Cherry and Blackwell are in fine form here but, in my opinion, Blackwell really steals the show. He is just monstrously talented, and his abilities and imagination really shine through as he supports and responds to Cherry. Fasinating album, and one that has really continued to grow on me since I first heard it.

Well, I've never owned that Cecil disc, so I'll be grabbing a copy asap. Most likely the Eskelin and the Fennesz/ErikM discs, too. The one I'll be avoiding like the plague is the Braxton Charlie Parker project disc. I've heard nothing but bad things about that one.

That is too bad. After listening to Gongol I was really hoping for another album written at the same level. Thanks for saving me a few bucks!

Has anyone here herd this disc? I just finished listening to Gongol, by Kaplan's Percussion Ensemble and really loved the album. I looked him up on AMG and saw that Le Magus, from 2002 was his last release as a leader. The AMG review seems to spend more time stating what Le Magus isn't (too "out") rather than describe what it is, so I was hoping someone here could tell me if it is up to teh level of Gongol?

One more disc I would like to recommend to all of you tonight: Ori Kaplan Percussion Ensemble - Gongol (Knitting Factory) Kaplan plays alto, Susie Ibarra and Geoff Mann are on percussion and various other instruments and Andrew Bemkey is on piano. There is a litle bit of Ellington in the writing, a little bit of Coltrane (both John and Alice) but, for the most part, this is a really fresh album that stands on its own quite well. This is the only albym I have heard of Kaplan's and it really makes me want to hear more. I think all Knitting Factory discs have gone oop, which is too bad. This one is really a winner!

I'm listening to an absolutely beautiful album that everyone on Funny rat should hear at some point in their lives: Andrew Cyrille / Jeanne Lee / Jimmy Lyons - Nuba. (Black Saint) This might be some of the most lyrical playing I have heard from Lyons and Cyrille spends most of his time playing some fantastic percussion, very influenced by African tribal music, imo. Jeanne Lee really fits in well. I enjoyed her vocals a lot more than I expected to. Very highly recommended.

I keep wishing someone would give all of this material the "Mosaic" treatment and release it in the best possible fidelity and with any available bonus material. Now it seems that, between the Revenant box and the most current remasters / reissues, it will be almost possible to do so piece by piece. These really are great (and expensive) times to be a fan of this music!