John B

If you go to Andrew Hill's website you can sample tracks off of this one as well as hear an otherwise unreleased solo performance from London.

I haven't heard all that many 2004 discs. Out of the ones I have heard, these are my favorites so far: Rowe/Dorner/Hautzinger - A View from the Window Keith Rowe / Fennesz - Live at the LU Oren Ambarchi - Grapes From the Estate Dennis Gonzalez's NY Quartet - NY Midnight Suite Dennis Gonzalez - Nile River Suite Cecil Taylor - Incarnation Assif Tsahar/Tatsuya Nakatani - Come Sunday Cooper-Moore - Deep in the Neighborhood of History and Influence Rabih Abou-Khalil - Morton's Foot Warne Marsh - All Music (reissue) I know there are a few discs out there that I need to hear that would knock one or two of these off of the list. I'm not sure if finances will allow me to hear any of them before the end of the year. If so, I'll post an updated list.

It seems as if I have the Funny Rat thread to myself today! I picked up a used Paul Dunmall disc very inexpensively a few weeks back: Cocteau's Ghost is a limited edition cdr on Dunmall's DUNS label, recorded in 1997. Dunmall plays tenor and electronic saxophone, the sound of which, I felt, takes some getting used to. All tracks are duets with Tony Irving on drums. Once I got past the unique timber of the bagpipes I really enjoyed this disc. I will have to explore more Dunmall at some point. Other than Mujician I have not really heard much of his work.

I read a review of this concert in the Chicago Tribune while I was out there. They gave a thumbs up to most of the set, but savaged Ravi's reflections on ALS, going so far as to say the Jazz Institute should get a refund on the comisison they gave to Ravi. The review is online, but requires registration to read.

another disc that I heard recently and really enjoyed was Evan Parker and Keith Rowes Dark Rags, on Potlatch. My first impression was that, while this album could have been edited back a but, it is a compelling listen, and finds a nice balance between Rowe and Parker's usual styles. Each participant really seems to be listening to the other very well and aren't afraid to be drawn out of their comfort zones. I need to spend some more time with this one but, as of right now, I highly recommend it.

Thank you for posting this! I've been curious about the Boticelli release and hadn't seen any reviews / comments on it so far. I'll pick it up when I get around to buying Tales.

I just got back from Chicago, where I was able to attend one night of the Chicago Jazz Festival. Copied from the Live Shows thread: "I was most impressed by the Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake set. I had never seen any of these guys live before and I was blown away. My friends and wife were in no rush to get to the event, so I left them behind, planning to meet back up on the lawn, and I found a seat three rows back from the stage just to the side of Hamid. He was awe-inspiring. I've been a huge fan of his for quite a while, but seeing him perform live takes the music to a whole other level. Fred Anderson and Kidd Jordan were on fire. They were playing quite freely, yet still were very lyrical and definitely, to my mind, swung. Hamiet Bluiett was fairly restrained for most of the set, letting Kidd and Fred blaze the trail, dropping in now and again to add color from the baritone. I couldn't really hear Harrison Bankhead from where I was, so I have no opinion on him. I'm not sure if it was the acoustics where I was sitting but I had a difficult time figuring out what Jeff Parker contributed to the set. For the most part he was drowned out by Fred and Kidd and seemed to be lazily strumming chords in the background. All in all, this was my favorite set of the night."

I didn't see any of the performers pictured above, but the sets I saw were fantastic! I was most impressed by the Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake set. I had never seen any of these guys live before and I was blown away. My friends and wife were in no rush to get to the event, so I left them behind, planning to meet back up on the lawn, and I found a seat three rows back from the stage just to the side of Hamid. He was awe-inspiring. I've been a huge fan of his for quite a while, but seeing him perform live takes the music to a whole other level. Fred Anderson and Kidd Jordan were on fire. They were playing quite freely, yet still were very lyrical and definitely, to my mind, swung. Hamiet Bluiett was fairly restrained for most of the set, letting Kidd and Fred blaze the trail, dropping in now and again to add color from the baritone. I couldn't really hear Harrison Bankhead from where I was, so I have no opinion on him. I'm not sure if it was the acoustics where I was sitting but I had a difficult time figuring out what Jeff Parker contributed to the set. For the most part he was drowned out by Fred and Kidd and seemed to be lazily strumming chords in the background. All in all, this was my favorite set of the night. Butch Thompson's “Tribute to Fats Waller at 100” was enjoyable. I wasn't familiar with Butch prior to his set and I'm not familar with Fats Waller, so I really had a good time during his performance. I was highly anticipating the Monksieland Band with Don Byron, Roswell Rudd, Dave Douglas, Jean-Jacques Avenel, and John Betsch, and they did not diappoint. We had to leave during their set, which was unfortunate, but I was glad to have had a chance to see them. As much as I enjoyed their music, I kept thinking that something seemed slightly "off" during their set. It might just have been my imagination, but I felt thatthere was a sadness mixed in with the joy of the music and that the band, who had decided to continue on after Steve Lacy's passing, were lacking a focus or "center" that Steve would have brought to the set. That said, we really enjoyed their performance. Unfortunately we also had to miss Toshiko Akiyoshi with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. I'm looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts on the festival. This was my first time visiting Chicago, and I would love to go back next year!

Persuaded by your recommendation and a few sound samples on AMG, I just ordered Blood Sutra and Black Water from CD Connection. Let me know what you think! I think you'll really both of those.

Thanks, it's on "the list"... (as are many of those Verve LPRs, too many)

yes, but I haven't listened to it in a very long time. I'll pull it out tonight and let you know how it compares to Karma vs. later Coltrane. edit - the live Giuffre sounds very good, indeed!

OK, I start with the ones I didn'tlike Next is Pharoah Sanders "Live At The East" (Impulse! Japan) -and also a pretty big for me. First I would like to note that Sanders' tenot sound is one of my favorite sounds in music. His best solos (as the on on Coltrane's "Olatunji" concert.... pheeeew). I love the man, to put it short. So I didn't hesitate spending some big $$ on this OOP, and was disappointed quite a bit. To me this sounds like flower-power find-the-peace-in-your-inner-self type of jazzy improv. Easy pretty hummable mid-to-slow tempo "spiritual jazz" themes repeated all over again (I guess you should be clapping along.. or shake your tambourine), pink volcano piano solos, some droning idian instrument at the background (tampura?), chants (of course), a little bit of groove, some catharsis saxophone screaming (but not too much)... Predictable and very dated. I was expecting some interesting interplay from two bassists (one is Cecil McBeee, the second one I don't remember) - but they just play some groovy walking lines, pretty somilar to each other - nothing particularly challenging or exciting. I really find this all much more "commercial" that later-perioud Pharoah playing mainstream (which I like). Of course, I cannot say that Sanders was just following the trend or was not sincere in what he was doing - not at all, but the result despite its obvious "spiritual" inclination sounds very shallow to me. I have a couple other Sanders' Impulse! CDs, and I think they follow more or less the same pattern as on this one (the one I remember has Leon Thomas singing "the creator has a master plan..."), except for Thembi, which I thought was beautiful (with some amazing Henry Grimes). before I got to the end of your review I thought that you were describing something very like his album Karma, which is where the "creator has a master plan" line comes from. I was shocked when I first heard that run of Impulse albums. I had been expecting something more in line with his playing on Coltrane's Live in Seattle.

I've never heard the Mosaic but those other ones (Free Fall and the 1961 set) are the only discs by him I have heard, and I enjoy all of them. I was lucky enough to find those at the local library back before I moved.

I just remembered that Iyer's Panoptic Modes also features Mahanthappa. That is another great album. I'm not as fond of it as I am of Blood Sutra, but I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Mahanthappa and Iyer.

by the way, if all goes well I should have a new computer with a functioning cd burner (for the first time in almost a year) by early next week. If I do, I'll be offering up a few goodies to my friends in Funny Rat-land.

I've added it to "the list" along with the Von Freeman mentioned above. That one sounds fantastic!

To quote Chaney and D.D., from back in May: "QUOTE (Д.Д. @ May 18 2004, 02:23 PM) Both are solid, if not outstanding works. I like this and so I've decided to honor it with a newly created acronym - full credit to David - we'll split the royalties: SINOW So often, when I've wanted to recommend a particular CD, I've searched for the proper words to convey the idea that you'll like this one alot but it probably won't change your life. A good, solid effort which you'll enjoy but may not revere. SINOW Doesn't quite roll off the tongue but it'll do."

I believe the only Blythe I have as a leader is Hipmotism, on Enja. This is another disc that would fall under the patented SINOW description, imo.

I've been listening to Rudresh Mahanthappa's Black Water (Red Giant, 2002)again today. It features Mahanthappa on alto, Vijay Iyer on piano, Francois Moutin on bass and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums. In my opinion this is a fantastic album! It really reminds me, in a way, of the Pullen / Adams discs I have heard in its ability to stretch the boundaries of "in the pocket" post-bop playing while never going too far "out." I'm also a fan of Mahanthappa's playing on Vijay Iyer's Blood Sutra. I have heard that Mahanthappa has a new disc scheduled for release in October, which I am very much looking forward to hearing. So, is anyone else here a fan of his? Any recommendations for other albums as a sideman to track down? I know that he had one album as a leader released prior to Black Water, but I have no idea how easy it would be to track down a copy. AMG mentions that it had "limited distribution."

so, I've been relistening to this disc today: Rudresh Mahanthappa - Black Water (Red Giant) Mahanthappa - Alto Vijay Iyer - Piano Francois Moutin - Bass Elliot Humberto Kavee - Drums This is a fantastic album! It reminds me a lot of the Pullen / Adams discs I have heard in its balance between "out" and "in" playing, although I feel that it stays more in the pocket than not. Great playing and nice tunes.

welcome back! I'm surprised by some of the discs that you panned. I'd really be interested in hearing your thoughts on the ones I quoted above. After not listening to any music for almost a week I've been listening to eai pretty much nonstop at work. MIMEO with John Tilbury - The Hands of Caravaggio, Gunter Muller / Voice Crack - buda_rom, Otomo Yoshihide / Voice Crack - Bits, Bots and Signs, Gunter Muller / Le Quanh Ninh - La Voyelle Liquide, Toshimaru Nakamura / Keith Rowe - Weather Sky, Sachiko M / Toshimaru Nakamura / Otomo Yoshihide - Good Morning, Good Night, Keith Rowe / Franz Hautzinger / Axel Dorner - A View from the Window, AMM - Newfoundland as well as the last Sonic Youth album and some Bardo Pond. I'll start back in on some jazz tomorrow. Ive been anxious to hear Last Exit's Koln disc and a few albums by and Vijay Iyer. Is anyone familiar with their work? I highly recommend Black Water, by Mahanthappa, as well as Panoptic Modes and Blood Sutra, by Iyer. Great albums!

I will be out in Chicago next weekend and just found out that our visit will coincide with most of the 26th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival. The festival is free, so I think I will be able to convince everyone to go with me on Sunday night. I am really excited by the prospect of these two shows: 5:05 – 5:55 Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake 7:10 – 8:10 The Monksieland Band with Don Byron, Roswell Rudd, Dave Douglas, Jean-Jacques Avenel, and John Betsch Dedicated to the late great Steve Lacy

I own Optometry and am really underwhelmed by it. I can't get past the first few tracks without getting really bored.

I don't know how ambitious you guys are with touring plans, but Montreal, Burlington, Boston and NYC are all in easy succession for a four night run.