John B

In Vermont I would recommend Higher Ground, which is now closed but will be reopening in a new location this fall. They cater to more of the Medeski Martin and Wood jamband crowd, which I could easily see you guys crossing over to. The big venue for jazz up here is the Flynn Center, which has two rooms. The main room is quite large and books shows by Randy Weston and Dave Holland, for example. They also have a smaller room called Flynnspace that might work for you. I'll be seeing the Willem Breuker Kollektief there in a few weeks. It is a nice sized room, not a lot of shows seem to happen, so I have no idea how difficult they might be to work with. Good luck! We'd love to see you come up to these parts!

sorry to hear about your stereo. That is a fantastic price on the Golden Years set! You will really enjoy it, once you are able to hear it.

I'll be in Chicago for the long weekend, and am trying to convince our friends to go with us on Sunday night. I really want to see the 5:05 – 5:55 Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake and 7:10 – 8:10 The Monksieland Band with Don Byron, Roswell Rudd, Dave Douglas, Jean-Jacques Avenel, and John Betsch shows. I wouldn't mind staying for Toshiko Akiyoshi at 8:30, but don't want to miss out on those two.

Dan - I'm finally getting to disc #2 and really enjoying it! It's looking like I will be stumped again, but I will post a few guesses. 1) Summertime, to start, then heads off into an extended jam. I really dug this track. It is a blast, and you can hear that the band, whoever they are, are having a lot of fun. I'll guess Gene Harris, but have no clue if I am correct. 2) No clue who this is. I really dig this track as background music. I don't mean that in a bad way, per se. When I listen to this while doing some work I really love its late night, smoky club vibe. When I stop working and pay too much attention to the track it almost sounds a little too polite and easy-listening-ish to me. 3) Nice, swinging tune. No clue who this is. I like what the tenor player is doing, not so sure about the rhythm section. This is a nice track but nothing that excites me too much. 4) Again, I really enjoy what is happening on tenor but find the rest of the band to be fairly blah. No clue who this is but enjoy listening to it casually. If there could be better musicians backing the tenor this would definitely be a keeper. 5) Back at the Chicken Shack, but I have no clue who this is. The organist sounds very familiar. I'm guessing once the answer is revealed I will kick myself for not getting this one. This version of BATCS plays it a little too safe for my taste. It is nice enough, and I enjoy it, but it could use a little more fire. 6) Again, no clue who this is and no clue what the tune is. I'm not usually a fan of straight-ahead big bands but this was a nice track. 7) No clue who this is. I really am not a fan of the NHL hockey rink style of organ. Thank god for Jimmy Smith...all in all this is not a bad track. It had a nice balance of grease and slow-burning fire. But the organ kills it for me. NMCOT. 8) the playing makes this sound like an older (1950's) recording to my ears but the recording quality makes me think it is much more recent. No clue who any of the players are. Nice enough swinging tune, but nothing I will rush out and buy. 9) I really dig this track! I sound like a broken record but, again, I have no clue who this is. I love the relaxed yet very intense vibe here. If the rest of the album is anything like this I'll have to track this one down. (Oops, just got to the "vocoder" vocals. That is unfortunate...I would prefer this track without the vocals.) 10) No clue who this is. NIce track, but nothing I would rush out and buy. Again, I think this BFT is stronger as a whole than as the sum of its parts. Great job putting thsi together, Dan! Nice flow and I really enjoyed listening to disc #2.

I just learned that Tim Berne is releasing live albums directly throght his website. The first one is out and, if it sells well enough, more will follow. Acoustic and Electric Hard Cell Live Tim Berne: Alto Craig Taborn: Electric keyboards and electronics 2 and 4 and acoustic piano on 1 and 3 Tom Rainey : drums There is a rave review of this one up over at JC. I'll be picking up a copy of it one of these days.

I've been reading a book that many of you might find interesting - Haunted Weather, by David Toop. From the back cover: "Is it possible to grow electronic sounds, as if they were plants in a garden? Can the resonance of an empty room be played like a musical instrument? Why are childhood memories of sound and silence so important to our emotional development? Is it valid to classify audio recordings of wind or electrical hum as musical compositions? Can computers replace more conventional instruments like the piano or the electric guitar? How can improvisation coexist with computer software? Why have the sounds of our environment become so important to sound artists and why is atmosphere so important in music?" So far I am really enjoying it. The book is not perfect. I have some problems with the overall coherence and narrative of the book...it seems a bit scattered and too stream-of-conciousness at times. Overall, I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in post-AMM electro-acoustic, laptop improvisation, musique concrete, film scores, soundscapes and field recordings.

a kind soul is sending me a compilation of his favorite Jandek tracks, so I'll finally have a chance to hear his music soon. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I am definitely looking forward to hearing it. I wonder if a large part of his appeal is the "mythology" that has been built up around him. Hopefully hearing the music will not be anticlimactic. Getting 20 cds for $80 is very tempting but, as I need to curtail buying music for a while, it makes sense to test the waters slowly. Let us know what you think of the documentary and of any cds you pick up!

Dan - I've been swamped with work and haven't had as much time as I would have liked to have spent with your BFT. I'm not sure that it would have mattered all that much because, other than naming a few tunes, you have me stumped. That said, I did have a few guesses: 1. Ike Quebec? Not anything I have heard before but something about his phrasing and tone remind me of Ike. 2. Hawk? 5. Horace Silvers The Preacher, right? I'm guessing that this isn't Horace, but I have no clue who else it would be. 10. Maiden Voyage, but I have no clue who this is. Both the tenor and the organist sound very familiar, but I wouldn't even hazard a guess. Overall you have compiled one of the strongest BFTs in terms of tracks flowing together into a coherent whole. I really dig the vibe on a lot of these. I really have enjoyed listening to this and am looking forward to spending some time with disc #2. If this disc is any indication, I am in for quite a few HAFCs.

Funny Rat was probably responsible for at least 2% of all Arcana Major sales. Someone should point Gono Robair over to this thread to see all of the reviews of his records. I need to cull my collection a bit. I've decided that, unless I sell some discs from my collection and use any proceeds, I'm not going to buy any new music for a few months. I know I have more than enough music to keep me busy, but there are always new discs I would really like to hear. I listened to AMM's Newfoundland again last night, during a long drive for work. Since I was by myself in the car and there wasn't a lot of traffic I was able to really play the disc at a volume level that brought out more detail and nuance than I had heard before. It was almost like hearing an entirely different album. I really was caught up in its beauty and restrained / overt power. I think some more AMM will be in my next order, whenever that is, along with Zen Widow and the Ayler box on Revenant and, and, and......

I have a few cds for sale, two of them still sealed due to shipping errors. Shipping in the U.S. is $1, internationally $4. Sonny Rollins - Newk's Time RVG (from BMG, still sealed) - $6 Matt Wilson - As Wave Follows Wave (Palmetto) holepunch in UPC - $5 w/ Dewey Redman, Cecil McBee, Larry Goldings Ella Fitzgerald - Forever Gold - $4 (compilation spanning her career.) SOLD - Efzeg - Boogie (Grob) w/ Burkhard Stangl, Martin Siewert,, Dieb 13and Boris Hauf PM me with any questions, thanks!

I'll second (or third...) the recommendation for Combustication. It is still my favorite album of theirs. I also highly recommend the Electric Tonic album that was mentioned earlier. I believe it is only available through their website, and is well worth seeking out. Another self-released album of theirs that seems to be OOP now is Farmer's Reserve. It is a completely improvised disc and a lot more "out" than most of their work. If you see a copy floating around used you should grab it. Also, MMW allows taping of their shows, so trading for a few live sets or dowloading them from sharingthegroove (for example) would be a good, inexpensive way to start exploring more of their work.

This one is essential. Great news that it is back in print.

I don't have a problem with Ducret's playing, in and of itself, I just don't think it fits very well in context of the Bloodcount tunes. I have yet to hear the Shell Game, but I wouldn't describe any of Berne's playing as "safe" on this disc or on the Unwound box, so these might be more to your liking. Poisoned Minds is on JMT and therefore OOP for the time being, but the Unwound box is available very inexpensively directly through Screwgun.

Is anyone here a fan of Time Berne? I have never been very impressed by his technical skill, but I have enjoyed each album of his that I have heard. Right now I am listening to Poisoned Minds: The Paris Concert, by his band Bloodcount. This disc was recorded live in 1994 and, on this recording, Bloodcount is Berne, Chris Speed on tenor and clarinet, Michael Formanek on contrabass, Jim Black on drums and Marc Ducret on electric guitar. I'm not crazy about Ducret's playing here, but the rest of the band is on fire! Overall I still prefer the Unwound box set of live Bloodcount recordings, even though the fidelity is not as good. As far as I recall Ducret is not on that set, which might be what makes the difference for me.

up for some fresh air... Jandek on Corwood is being released on dvd November 23rd. I am really looking forward to seeing this. I have yet to hear Jandek, but I find the concept fascinating. Anyone here have recommendations on which 2 or 3 Jandek discs would make for a good entry point into his music?

No, that would not be wrong at all! I'm glad you enjoyed this one.

I would assume it refers to additional material not on original LP. Correct. These three tracks: Flüchtige bären, The bar seems to vanish in the distance and Milan-Milan! were not on the original lp.

Not at all your fault! I got a burn of that, since. ubu what do you think of this one? I have only listened to it one and quite like it. I have never heard Rivers in a duo setting before. If you like Sam Rivers in a duo setting, you really should try the wonderful but hard to find 1998 album Winter Garden (Nato) with Tony Hymas at the piano. JPC Germany seems to have it, though. Another fine Rivers album is Configuration (Nato) with Noël Akchoté (guitars), Tony Hymas (piano), Paul Rogers (bass) and Jacques Tholot (drums). I had never heard of either of these. I will try to track them down. Thank you for the recommendations!

He-he, Conference of the Birds I found too simplistic with quite poor soloing by both Rivers and Braxton. This is how we treat the callssics here. ouch! I definitely disagree with you on this one. COTB is a classic album.

Not at all your fault! I got a burn of that, since. ubu what do you think of this one? I have only listened to it one and quite like it. I have never heard Rivers in a duo setting before.

it is always strange to see a picture of someone you "know" only through online contact. That photo of Nate looks nothing like what I would have expected. To be fair, I will also post a picture of myself, taken fairly recently. I'm sure this will surprise none of you: Due to constant houseguests and time spent with family, I have been unable to listen to anything even remotely Funny Rat-ish recently. (Although my sister did get to hear the end of track 3 off of Sheer Hellish Miasma when I picked her up at the airport last weekend. Her response: "This is music?") Hopefully that will change in the next few days.

Dan - I have received both discs. I'll start giving them some time and try to have my comments ready by next week. thanks again!

No, the last album I heard by them was Seventh Son. I might have heard the album after that once, but can't really remember. Predictable would not be a problm for me, as I stopped expecting innovation from them many many years ago.

"Scream for me Long Beach! SCREAM FOR ME LONG BEACH!!!!" I was listening to Live After Death a few days ago. I saw Iron Maiden in concert 16 or 17 years ago and still have a soft spot for the 1980's albums.

For those in the U.S. I have found that Erstwhile distribution has the best prices for Matchless. I agree with the recommendation for Newfoundland. It is a beautiful album and a great place to start with AMM. I've picked up a few interesting discs recently and will post my thoughts as soon as I have some time to listen to the music. My wife will most definitely not be a fan of any of these, so I either need a long car ride or some time with headphones on. I bought used copies of a Sam Rivers / Alexander von Schlippenbach disc on FMP (apologies to ubu!), an album by Tim Berne's Bloodcount band, who I have been meaning to post more about for a while. (Their Unwound live 3cd set is fantastic.) and what looks to be a limited self-released disc from Paul Dunmall, in duet with Tony Irving. On the EAI front I also got a copy of Kevin Drumm's Sheer Hellish Miasma, which is fantastic, and discs by SSSD (Taku Sugimoto, Martin Siewert, Burkhard Stangl and Werner Dafeldecker) and a nice solo disc by Martin Siewert. All of these are really good, on first listens, but the Drumm album continues to astonish me. It is, by far, the best disc I have heard by him.